Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

Reza
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

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Smart Woman (Gregory La Cava, 1931) 7/10

One of many delightful performances by the great Mary Astor who was usually stuck in subpar material forced onto her by the studios. Here she livens up an adaptation of a stage play as a woman who returns from a lengthy European holiday to find her husband (Robert Ames) has run off with another woman. Devastated at first she quickly devises a plan to win him back starting by inviting the "other woman" and her greedy mother to come stay for the weekend. Helping her with the charade is an admirer (John Halliday),whom she passes off as her lover, and a bumbling relative (Edward Everett Horton) who is also on her side. The ending is obvious, the screenplay witty and the cast appear to be having fun with their parts. La Cava brings his usual light sophisticated touch to the proceedings. Only Ames is terribly bland and one is left wondering why Astor is so desperate to win him back. It was the actor's last film as he died soon after of severe alcohol poisoning. The film has the MGM sheen all over it.

Those We Love (Robert Florey, 1931) 3/10

Sappy and boring story about a couple who meet cute during Armistice Day as WWI ends - he (Kenneth MacKenna) is a young author who has written his first book and she (Mary Astor) happens to pick up the first copy. They date, get married, have a child, years pass and then a vamp (Lilyan Tashman) makes a pass at him which he rebuffs. When he tells his wife her suspicious nature almost ends the marriage. Shoddy production is based on a play by George Abbott. Story starts pleasantly enough but disolves into soap opera. Astor disappears for long periods of time and the bland MacKenna just does not have any charisma to hold the story together. Fortunately Tashman is very good, dressed to her teeth mainly in butch attire which she carries off with great aplomb. Skip this one.

L'oro di Napoli / The Gold of Naples (Vittoria De Sica, 1954) 10/10

The film's most memorable scene has a tall and very slim Sophia Loren walking down a street in pouring rain as De Sica mischievously shoots her from the front as the camera focuses feverishly on her bouncing bra-less breasts followed by glimpses from the back looking on at her swaying sexy hips. A great star was thus born. It seems that De Sica took his cue from the film "Niagra", which came out a year before, in which Marilyn Monroe created her sexy walk across the screen to great acclaim. De Sica's film is an anthology of six short stories set in Naples and each is memorable in its own way. He uses the atmospheric and raw Neapolitan locations to create humourous, chaotic, sad and poignant vignettes acted to great perfection by a superb cast. A downtrodden family man (Totò), who works as a clown, lives in constant harrassment by his lodger - a hoodlum. Finally gathering strength he rebels against him and throws him out of the apartment. A pizza baker's sexy wife (Sophia Loren) loses her wedding ring during a sexual tryst with her lover and frantically searches for it with her cuckolded husband following her as they visit various households including that of a neighbour (Paolo Stoppa) who is utterly bereft and suicidal over the death of his wife. A heartbroken mother accompanies the coffin of her child to the cemetary as she is followed by a group of children unaware of the tragedy and only interested in getting candy. An impoverished nobleman and gambler (Vittorio De Sica) is reduced to playing cards with his doorman's young son. A prostitute (Silvana Mangano) is tricked into marriage by a rich man as he makes amends for the suicide of his real love. A bullying professor (Eduardo De Filippo) gets his comeuppance at the hands of his tenents. Despite the major stars in the film there is a strong touch of neo-realism (Cesare Zavattini had a hand in the screenplay) about the film with its natural settings away from the sound stages of a studio. The film was jointly produced by Dino De Laurentiis (married then to superstar Mangano) and Carlo Ponti (who would go on to marry the future superstar Loren). A classic of Italian cinema and a must-see.

Anna (Alberto Lattuada, 1951) 9/10

Anna, a nurse and a nun (Silvana Mangano), tends to patients at a hospital. When a man (Raf Vallone), critically injured in a car accident, is brought to the hospital she gets a shock when she recognizes him. The screenplay by Franco Brusati & Dino Risi - both would become acclaimed directors in the future - uses a flashback structure to examine the nun's former decadent life as a singer, dancer and sinner. Mangano gives a heartfelt performance as the nightclub samba dancer and torch singer sexually involved with a handsome and sleazy waiter (Vittorio Gassman) working at the club with her even though she is in love with another man whom she eventually marries. The former violent relationship intrudes into her married life resulting in murder which causes her to turn towards the Church. The film has two memorable hit songs - the catchy samba number, "El Negro Zumbòn" and the torch song, "Non Dimenticar", both enormous hits - which Mangano performs (dubbed by popular post-WWII Italian singer Flo Sandon's). Sophia Loren can be glimpsed in one of her very early wordless appearances during the nightclub sequence. Vallone and Gassman are both superb as the two very different men in love with Mangano and Gaby Morlay makes a strong impression as the stern but understanding Mother Superior. The film has a memorable score by Nino Rota, moody cinematography by Otello Martelli and was produced by Dino De Laurentiis and Carlo Ponti.
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

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La vena d'oro / Golden Vein (Mauro Bolognini, 1955) 9/10

Bolognini's romantic drama about an oedipal relationship is brought to the screen in sumptuous style delicately acted by a superb cast. A 16-year old boy (Terence Hill who still went by his original name here, Mario Girotti, years before he would find fame as "Trinity") lives with and dotes on his widowed mother (Märta Torén) who lavishes love in return. There is a playful intimacy between the two as she indulges her wide-eyed impressionable son. Into their cloistered life, also consisting of an old bossy maid, a flashy Contessa, who likes to chase after young men, and his childhood sweetheart, arrives a Professor of Archaeology (Richard Basehart) whom the boy idealizes and introduces to his mother. Jealousy rears its ugly head when his teacher and mother fall in love and the boy runs away. The film has a strong romantic current running through it which is capped during a magnificently staged new years eve celebration sequence set in a huge ballroom where the two adults deliriously dance staring into each other's eyes followed by a passionate kiss watched from a distance by the young boy quietly seething in anger. One of many period-set films masterfully directed with his usual sensitive touch by Bolognini.

I'll Get You For This (Joseph M. Newman, 1951) 6/10

British thriller, adapted from the pulp novel by James Hadley Chase, changes the book's Las Vegas location for Northern Italy giving the film an exotic touch. The lead character's profession however remains. A famous gambler (George Raft) is welcomed at a hotel on the Italian coast and provided red carpet treatment in the hope that his presence will attract a lot of gamblers at the casino. He meets up with a young woman (Coleen Gray) who has lost all her money at the table and while in his room both are drugged. When they awake there is a dead man in his room and he realises he has been framed for the murder. Going on the lam with the girl he tries to prove his innocence. Raft's strong presence and the rugged location (shot in San Remo) overcomes the clichés in the plot in what is a fairly atmospheric film.

Anna di Brooklyn / Fast and Sexy (Carlo Lastricati, 1958) 2/10

Corny comedy has Gina play a sexy (well duh!!) rich widow from Brooklyn who returns to her native village in Italy to hunt for a man to settle down with. The choice of men in town are the local cinema owner (Amadeo Nazzari), a randy old blueblood (Peppino De Filippo) and a dour blacksmith (Dale Roberyson). Obvious jokes fly fast and furious with none of them funny. She does get to take a bath in the garden while singing and then steps out from behind the makeshift curtain wrapped in a towel. It's always a thrill to watch this leading lady heaving her ample bosom as she struts about in tight outfits but the screenplay is too silly. The film's direction was "supervised" by Vittorio de Sica who plays the village priest. A complete waste of everyone's talent.

La provinciale / The Wayward Wife (Mario Soldati, 1953) 9/10

Solid melodrama with a superb central performance by Gina Lollobrigida. Based on the novel by Alberto Moravia the story has strong echoes of Émile Zola's "Nana" and Gustave Flaubert's "Madame Bovary". Moravia's stories were typically about the inability of the middle-classes to find happiness in traditional ways such as love and marriage. A young impressionable girl (Gina Lollobrigida) detests her hypocritical provincial life and falls in love with a childhood friend (Franco Interlenghi). However, she is forced by his rich father to stay away from him. The reason is not the obvious one she assumes and is shocked to discover the truth from her mother who had kept buried a shameful secret from her own past. Angry and dejected she gets married to a university professor (Gabriele Ferzetti) who rents a room in her mother's apartment. She finds marriage to be a bore as her husband spends most of his time buried in books. A friendship with a self-styled Romanian Contessa (Alda Mangini who is superbly slimy) introduces her to the "delights" of prostitution which she embraces at first with great relish as she flits from man to man as a means to escape her boredom. When the grasping woman starts blackmailing her she responds by attacking her with a knife. The screenplay begins with this episode and then a long flashback explains why she stabs her friend as a number of characters, through voiceovers, comment on the proceedings and relate the story. Soldati's film evokes the romanticism and sense of doom found in the cinema of Max Ophuls and Jean Renoir with the feisty Lollobrigida giving a remarkable performance as the naive young woman who quickly matures as she tries to keep afloat through the ups and downs of life.
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

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Gisaengchung / Parasite (Bong Joon-Ho, 2019) 10/10

Savage black comedy runs extremely close to home especially in households where the "master-servant" dynamics are very much the norm. Bong Joon-Ho's satire is not set during the era of "Downton Abbey" where that structure was fixed solid in a tight grip with nobody "crossing the line" between the class structures. It is of course different today and while that structure still exists in many countries there is an obvious undercurrent of danger simmering just below the surface. The brilliant screenplay goes on to present a situation where the line between classes gets crossed and does so in a scene that is almost farcical but ends with a horrific sadness at its core. A poor family elk out a dismal existence making cardboard boxes while living in a sub-basement hovel. Yet they are upbeat and enterprising and always on the lookout for a break. They get it in a big way when the son gets a job as tutor to the daughter in a rich household. He soon manages to get his sister employed there as art teacher to the young eccentic child of the rich couple. After first getting the driver dismissed, and later the housekeeper too, the two poor kids manage to get their father and mother employed there as well all pretending to be strangers to each other. At first all seems to be going well for both families - the rich masters and their four employees - but simmering just below the surface there is resentment about the social inequality on both sides as it surfaces gradually through conversations and small actions. When it finally explodes the initial exhilaration ends in devastation. The film is almost like an absurdist play - it can easily be adapted into one - where the director uses the magnificent modern house as his stage on which his characters can be seen interacting. In fact many scenes are shot from the backyard garden looking in through the large windows as we view the characters moving through this tragicomedy. Superbly directed - the film marvelously balances different tones (farce, horror, tragedy) and is acted to perfection by the entire cast, this is one of the best - if not the best - film of the year. It won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival and is South Korea's submission at the Oscars where it deserves not only to win in the foreign language category but also the top prize. A must-see.

The Catcher Was a Spy (Ben Lewin, 2018) 6/10

Old-school spy thriller, based on a true story, is set during WWII in Europe. Moe Berg (Paul Rudd), a major league baseball player with the Boston Red Sox, leads a double life working for the OSS (a precursor to the CIA). A Princeton graduate, proficient in seven languages, he is recruited after photographing key naval dockyards in Tokyo while on a baseball jamboree with his team just before the war. His assignment is to seek out a German physicist - Werner Heisenberg (Mark Strong) - thought to be working on the atom bomb project just like the Manhattan Project back home, and assassinate him. The screenplay touches on his private life hinting at his homosexuality - he keeps his girlfriend (Sienna Miller) emotionally at a distance - but does not develop it any further despite it being brought up numerous times. To get to a contact in Europe he accompanies the 5th Army, along with a soldier (Guy Pearce) and another physicist (Paul Giamatti), during their move to liberate Italy which involves them in the thick of battle finally making contact with a scientist (Giancarlo Giannini) who happens to be in touch with the target. The film has a great supporting cast - Jeff Daniels, Connie Nielsen, Ben Miles, Tom Wilkinson - playing small but pivotal roles. The best part of the film is the glowing cinematography - shot in yellow hues by Andrij Parekh - beautiful buildings, cobbled streets and churches in which many of the scenes are set. Enjoyable and entertaining.

Eagle Eye (D.J. Caruso, 2008) 5/10

The concept of "Big Brother" watching every move is taken to an absolute extreme in this highly prepostrous plot which is certainly not without fun. It's a slapdash, extremely manic and absurd action packed film with lashings of Hitchcock ("Rear Window" and "North By Northwest" get a strong look-in) borrowed quite freely. Two ordinary Chicagoans are suddenly thrust together and go on a rollercoaster ride literally to hell and back with the FBI (Billy Bob Thornton) and the Air Force (Rosario Dawson) in strong pursuit. He (Shia LaBeouf ) is a non-conformist layabout and she is a divorced mother (Michelle Monaghan) of a little boy. Both receive a mysterious phone call and are forced to go on the run receiving instructions as they go along. They are surrounded by watchful eyes as cameras, cell phones, computers and every kind of technology closely follows their every move. As in all such plots there is a deep rooted conspiracy involving higher ups in the government and a mother computer â la "Hal" (from the old Kubrick film) which seems to be in total control and seems to be in terrorist mode. The action set-pieces involve a lot of CGI, car crashes, assorted chase sequences and on top of it all we get to see LaBeouf's disgusting habit of drooling spit which bathes his lower lip in disgusting close-ups. It all leads to the Pentagon where the woman's son is part of a school choir with the sound of his trumpet a catalyst for destruction (shades of Hitchcock again - "The Man Who Knew Too Much"). Just put your brain in quarter mode, buy a tub of popcorn, sit back and go along on this ludicrous ride.

Cult of the Cobra (Francis D. Lyon, 1955) 6/10

This takes its cue from the Val Newton horror films of the 1940s ("Cat People") and Maria Montez's "Cobra Woman" and comes up with a fairly exciting B-film. In actuality it's almost a remake of the two classic Indian films, both called "Nagin", where the female snake (played in human form by Vyjayanthimala in the 1954 version and Reena Roy in the 1976 version) takes revenge on a group of men who have killed her lover. Here the snake-woman is played by Faith Domergue who goes after six American GIs. While on a sojourn in Burma and about to head home after the war, the six close buddies manage to secretly attend a cult religious ceremony and see a cobra transform into a woman. Discovered they manage to run away but not before the High Priest puts a curse on them, promising that the Snake Goddess will kill all of them. The six actors playing the GIs all later became famous in hit tv series - Richard Long ("The Big Valley"), Marshall Thompson ("Daktari"), William Reynolds ("The F.B.I."), Jack Kelly ("Maverick"), David Janssen ("The Fugitive") and James Dobson ("Boots and Saddles"). The plot thereafter takes on an Agatha Christie turn as one by one the cobra strikes while falling in love with one of her proposed victims. Domergue plays the snake-woman with a deep sense of vulnerability, hidden beneath a sexual and exotic exterior, which adds interesting shades to the character. Campy fun despite a slow middle section.
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

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Wounds (2019) Babak Anuari 2/10
Emitai (1971) Ousmane Sembene 6/10
Hagbard and Signe (1967) Gabriel Axel 4/10
The Tomorrow Man (2019) Noble Jones 3/10
The Empty Canvas (1963) Damiano Damiani 6/10
Foreign Body (2017) Raja Amari 4/10
The Mover (2018) Davis Simanis Jr. 4/10

Repeat viewings

Bell Book and Candle (1958) Richard Quine 6/10
The Bedroom Window (1987) Curtis Hanson 7/10
The Killing of Sister George (1968) Robert Aldrich 10/10
Pauline at the Beach (1983) Eric Rohmer 9/10
Invincible (2001) Werner Herzog 7/10
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
Reza
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

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Les noces rouges / Wedding in Blood (Claude Chabrol, 1973) 8/10

Chabrol's story about adultery and murder, based on a true scandal, led to the film being banned in France. We are in James M. Cain territory with a pair of fornicating lovers, trapped in passionless marriages to others, who desperately grapple every chance they get. The sex scenes take on an almost animalistic frenzy as the couple paw at each other like beasts aiming for a kill. A leftist politician and deputy mayor (Michel Piccoli), married to a frigid and sickly woman, takes up with the wife (Stéphane Audran) of the town's conservative but corrupt mayor (Claude Piéplu). When the sick woman dies suddenly the town gossips think it's suicide but there is more to it than that. It is soon followed by the mayor's discovery of his wife's affair which leads to further complications for the lovers. Chabrol alternates the frenzied sex with scenes of numbing dullness as the characters go about their daily lives interacting with each other at the dining table or watching television. The film is a scathing and very funny indictment of provincial France, a theme common to most of the director's films, as he reveals the suffocating courtly existence of the rural bourgeoisie as forbidden passions simmer just below the surface ready to erupt in the most unexpected ways.

Sommarlek / Summer Interlude (Ingmar Bergman, 1951) 8/10

The film that finally brought an upward shift in Bergman's career. It was his tenth film, vaguely autobiographical and based on a summer affair he had with a woman years before. The film takes on the tone of a lyrical memory piece. A successful but jaded and depressed ballerina (Maj-Britt Nilsson), at 28-years of age, feels that her life is missing something concrete. When she receives an old diary it jogs her memory of the time spent years before at an old summer home. Frolics on and around the lake and a romance with a handsome student form the basis of the plot. It is to the credit of Nilsson's charming performance, full of youthful exhuberance, that enhances what is essentially a rather simple story about loss of innocence, returning to the realities of present life and moving forward despite the odds. She plays the part as very dour during the scenes set in the present but is full of energy during the flashback as Bergman shoots his film on lovely locations. This was in sharp contrast to his set-bound previous films as locations would play a stark and important part in almost all his films to come. He also uses dramatic close-ups of faces. The ballerina's face appears at the beginning with the camera a few inches away from her face reflecting the depth of her anguish. Such shots would become his trademark as the female face, body and form would be observed at extremely close quarters displaying the slightest of emotions which would magnify on the big screen creating many dramatic moments. The film's dream-like past is joyfully filmed with the actor's framed and making love against the backdrop of magnificent lakes, hilly greenery and the seashore. There is also a sense of foreboding at its center - a creepy older male relative, strange bird-like sounds and jagged rocks - foreshadowing a tragedy to come which forms the inner turmoil of the ballerina. This is a lovely little film full of themes and directorial touches which Bergman would improve on during the decade and beyond.

La truite / The Trout (Joseph Losey, 1982) 7/10

Losey again explores the theme of power struggle between the classes using sex as a tool, a theme he also used with ferocious intensity in "The Servant" and "The Damned". A trout breeder's daughter (Isabelle Huppert) learns very early on in life, closely observing her own father, that men are pigs and decides to use sexual allure to get what she wants and move out of her grimy environment. At the local bowling alley she and her gay husband con a rich businessman (Jean-Pierre Cassel) much to the annoyance of his wife (Jeanne Moreau) who sees through the girl her husband is so smitten by. Both he and his business partner are instantly attracted to her and she takes off to Japan with the younger of the two but keeps him at arm's length while also attracting the attentions of an elderly Japanese man and a rich American woman (Alexis Smith). When her husband falls ill she returns home and gets involved with the rich old man while trying to destroy his marriage. Losey, using flashbacks and a constantly moving camera (the great Henri Alekan shot the film), shows us this woman as a young girl who quickly learns the ropes of manipulation which she uses with guileless frigidity as she toys with people's emotions during the present. Losey had planned this film during the 1960s with Brigitte Bardot who seems more in keeping with the character. It's hard to believe why so many men are attracted to Huppert at first - one can much easily picture someone like Bardot in the part instead - but the actress manages to brilliantly inhabit this intensely flawed character getting into her skin completely. She remains detached from the men she is seducing while retaining her innocence. Well acted film with a great cast of veteran actors supporting Huppert.

Mission Mangal (Jagan Shakti, 2019) 3/10

"Mangalyaan", the Mars Orbiter Mission, is the space probe orbiting Mars. Launched by the Indian Space Research Organization in 2013 it was the country's first interplanetary mission which created two records. It made India the first Asian nation to reach Martian orbit and the first nation to get there on its maiden attempt. Bollywood, in its usual patriotic fervour, has taken on this eventful national episode and has come up with a typical masala potpourri with lashings of sentiment aimed squarely at the common man on the street. If you are expecting something like "Gravity" or "The Martian", please look elsewhere. The star-producer, Akshay Kumar, is on a roll with his films - made toilets and feminine hygeine products fashionable in India courtesy of two previous hit films. Now he brings space exploration to the masses with an underlying political whiff very much in tune with PM Modi's putrid ethnic cleansing rant. There are not too subtle digs at Islam when a young Hindu boy wishes to explore an alternate religion - reads the Quran, prays, praises the Urdu language and writes Sufi songs only to be constantly ridiculed by his father. This is supposedly played for laughs but the message is quite obvious and these moments just come off as pathetic, trite and cringeworthy. Kumar, as a senior space scientist, surrounds himself with a bevy of female co-stars who play saree-clad space scientists as his rookie team on the project - the project manager / homemaker (Vidya Balan) with a whining husband (Sanjay Kapoor) at odds with his teenage son who is exploring Islam - the recently married (Nithya Menen) under pressure from her in-laws to get pregnant (which she does), a modern woman (Sonakshi Sinha) - she smokes and is first seen in bed with a man (although she is fully clothed - hey, this is a "family film") who wants to work for NASA, an Army officer's wife (Taapsee Pannu) struggling to pass a driving test, a divorced muslim (Kriti Kulhari) discriminated against by landlords. The two men on the team are an old man wondering why his son ignores him and another (Sharman Joshi) who is still a virgin and the butt of the women's jokes. When a rocket launch goes awry the leader of the project (Akshay Kumar) is shunted aside and given the impossible Mars mission to work on. Funds assigned are low, his team consists of mainly women and the building assigned to them is decrepit (allowing the women to spruce it up while singing and dancing to the song "Dil Mein Mars Hai" - a corny WTF moment). The screenplay's simplistic approach avoids scientific jargon and explains momentum, thrusts and other complicated technical rocket movements using cooking techniques as examples. Only Vidya Balan's character gets a complete arc - with scenes at home with her family and as the obsessed scientist at work who comes up with all kinds of solutions mainly from her experiences at the kitchen stove. All the other stars are totally wasted playing underdeveloped characters including Akshay Kumar who flits about barking orders, saluting the rocket, passing wisecracks or getting drunk (a funny sequence on the subway has him drunk and acosted by male passengers and all his female colleagues beat the shit out of the attacker with their handbags - a scene written strictly for and played to the gallery). Oh yes, the Mars mission is a success against all odds but getting to it you have to wade through a lot of sentimental rubbish and pariotic breast thumping. The film has been a massive success at the boxoffice. Films like this actually make me happy that our government has banned Indian films at the cinema.

Padre padrone (Vittorio & Paolo Taviani, 1977) 8/10

Harrowing story of Gavino Ledda (Fabrizio Forte / Saverio Marconi), son of a Sardinian shepherd (Omero Antonutti, who grew up to become a famous linguist. At age 6 the child is taken out of school by his father and made to work on their farm. The child is repeatedly beaten by his harsh father as the Taviani brothers frame these two characters amongst the vast Italian landscape taking on a scathing look at the ignorance and brutality of a patriarchal rural life. The screenplay focuses on the young boy's life of loneliness and alienation - he talks to the sheep and they talk back - as he struggles to make sense of his life finally finding an outlet in language as he learns to read and write despite fierce opposition from his father. There are other boys around him similarly mistreated by their fathers and this appears to be the way of forcing sons into subjugation to carry on their family business. Army life becomes an escape when he comes of age where he learns to read and write. A confrontation with the father results in his absolution and escape to University, freedom and his final coming of age as a famous linguist. The film is strongly influenced by the neo-realism movement - the directors decided to make films after seeing "Paisan" as teenagers and it was the director of this classic neo-realist drama - Roberto Rossellini - who was on the Cannes film festival jury which voted this film the Palme d'Or.
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

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/Green Book/ (Peter Farrelly) - 3.5/10

Not entirely sure why I rewatched this film. But here we are.

My assessment of the film after a first viewing was that it had some charm but narratively and message-wise it was a mess. Watching it now, the charm is reduced and the problems are pronounced. Just too damn much of this film is miscalculated down to its bones. Tony might not be a Klan member at the start of the film but he's truly racist, to the point where the film goes out of its way to depict like power games he plays with POC at the start of the film. The film is telling us that he has a character flaw that needs to be fixed by the journey of the film -- and it doesn't. Not only does it fail to teach Tony anything, it does one of the most baffling 180's I've seen in a while. The film decides almost halfway through the film that Tony is healed (despite eating no crow or put through any trials). Not only that, but in the scene where Tony is completely tolerant of homosexuality, it is telling us "There is more to Tony that meets the eye." It paints this racist as enlightened in a way that absolutely does not line up with the character we've seen. From there on out, the film is about how Shirley needs to change and the film is just not equipped to deal with his character and the message goes entirely flat. For starters, the meaning behind the tour is quite unexplained. There is mention that Shirley is doing this tour to confront racism yet every spark of racism seems to catch him completely off-guard. He's truly baffled by it at every turn. This choice makes him look foolish. The film paints Shirley as simultaneously elevated and tragically pessimistic. In this sense, Mahershala Ali's Oscar was not undeserved in how he makes the character make any kind of sense.

I will say this: I want Green Book to work as a film. I don't necessarily want it to ever win Best Picture but I am not against movies like this existing. They just need to be better... Actually, screw that. They need to be competent. Green Book is not. It is painfully confused. The most charitable reading of the film is that it's a bunch of stuff that happened that was written into a script and plays out with bafflingly off-kilter results, occasionally making great use of its beautiful cast, but just as often making them look foolish. Extra points bc Peter Farrelly is just too good at making road movies.

To sum up, Green Book avoids being a White Savior Film and a Magical Negro Film and ends up being nothing.
"How's the despair?"
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

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Les Maudits / The Damned (René Clément, 1947) 9/10

Memorable film is shot on a remarkable set depicting the interior of a U-boat with cinematographer Henri Alekan's extraordinary tracking shots through the length of the cramped and claustrophobic submarine. On the eve of Germany's defeat during WWII a number of wealthy individuals board a U-boat in Oslo which is bound for South America. During a depth charge attack a woman (Florence Marley), wife of an Italian fascist nobleman (Fosco Giachetti) and lover of a Nazi general, is seriously injured. A french doctor (Henri Vidal) is kidnapped from shore and taken on board. The passengers also include a sadistic Nazi (Jo Dest), in a homosexual relationship with his traveling soldier companion (Michel Auclair), a french journalist (Marcel Dalio), a Swedish businessman and his teenaged daughter. When news arrives on the radio of the German army's defeat and Hitler's death it sets off a chain of reactions - disbelief by the Nazis who think it is a hoax, panic amongst the sympathizers who either attempt suicide or try to escape. The french doctor, in constant danger, also tries to escape or face certain death at the hands of the Nazis. The gradual psychological collapse of this group depicts the disintegration of the Nazi empire which is viewed through the eyes of the doctor who is also the film's narrator. Gritty war film mixes elements of noir with suspense as Clément keeps the action moving at a fast pace inside and above the submarine while providing a probing look at each individual character and their dynamics with each other. The film won a special prize at the Cannes film festival.

Une Vie / Una Vita / One Life (Alexandre Astruc, 1958) 8/10

Guy de Maupassant's celebrated first novel comes to the screen in a truncated version. Like William Wyler's adaptation of Emily Brontë's "Wuthering Heights", only the first part of the novel is filmed. Both stories revolve around tragic heroines born during a time when women were mere pawns in the hands of men to do with as they pleased. The great Maria Schell was born to play tragic roles. Her doe-like trusting eyes spoke volumes of the hurt her characters kept hidden deep inside. A waif-like idealistic woman of means (Maria Schell), just out of a convent and gifted a farm by her wealthy parents, falls madly in love with a self loathing young neighbour (Christian Marquand) who is a compulsive womanizer. Soon after they are married he begins to treat her like dirt taking up with his wife's best friend (Pascale Petit) and getting her pregnant. He follows that by having an affair with the wife (Antonella Lualdi) of his newly-married best friend (Ivan Desny). The cuckold's revenge is one of the film's highlights along with the beautiful Normandy locations shot in stunning colour by the great Claude Renoir. Every image - in dramatic reds, greens and yellows - is like an impressionistic painting as these tragic characters move through life accompanied by a lilting score by Roman Vlad. The equally tragic second half of the story, involving the woman's son, is not filmed which is almost a relief considering the relentless downbeat life of this woman which is shown in such painful detail.
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Il bidone (Federico Fellini, 1955) 9/10

What starts off as a comedy quickly turns sour, cruel and ultimately tragic. The film is the middle chapter of Fellini's "trilogy of loneliness" (sandwiched in between "La strada" & "Le notti di Cabiria") with its cynical tale of three conmen fleecing peasants dressed as priests. Augusto (Broderick Crawford) is the veteran leader, a petty scum, utterly without remourse and always on the lookout for a good time. Picasso (Richard Basehart) is a would-be painter and family man with a wife (Giulietta Masina) and adoring young daughter. Roberto (Franco Fabrizi) rounds out the trio as their driver. When Augusto runs into his grown-up daughter, pangs of guilt hit him about the life he has so far led. His decision on yet another swindle to help her out has tragic consequences for him which Fellini shoots with heavy religious overtones. The screenplay mixes sentiment with tragedy and a longing for beauty and this "journey" of the con is directed in a simple manner by Fellini completely devoid of all the excesses found in his later films. It is superbly shot on location by Ortello Martelli and there is a memorable score by Nino Rota. Classic film totally overshadowed by the other two in the trilogy.

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (Joachim Rønning, 2019) 4/10

When Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning) agrees to the marriage proposal of Prince Philip (the bland Harry Dickerson) it sets off a chain of events that leads to an all-out war between the fairy and human kingdoms. At the centre of it is the spectacular bitchfest between Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) and her goddaughter's prospective mother-in-law (Michelle Pfeiffer) probably recalling many of the best episodes from the campy tv series "Kyunki... Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi...". Jolie's spectacularly iconic get-up - the all-black outfit, alabaster cheekbones shaped like the edges of the Chrysler building, resplendant ruby red lips, dramatic horns on her head and majestic black wings - is still a fetishistic delight. And she gets her match in Pfeiffer's tightly coiled and cunning Queen nursing a massive chip on her shoulder. With these two characters in full campy bloom the rest of the characters come off as total drips and their storyline along with the subplot about Maleficent's discovery of her "kin", an entire tribe, who live hidden away from fairies and humans - Chiwetel Ejiofor is completely wasted as their leader - is a total bore. The film creates the magical fairy world through the usual CGI machine but sadly this time round the three delightful fairies (Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville) get no close-up and are mainly seen flitting about at a distance. The main problem now with most of these Disney fairy tales is that they are taking a cue from the DC & Marvel comic book film universe and including plots that end in spectacular battle scenes. Disney has merged completely into that avatar making their small scale intimate stories into a bloated mess. I came away from this film hoping that both Jolie and Pfeiffer now need to stop wasting their talent in such tripe and get back to more meaningful parts.

Spin a Dark Web / Soho Incident (Vernon Sewell, 1956) 5/10

Brit noir turns out to be a rather middling affair despite it's dark and promising plot. A Canadian drifter (Lee Patterson), wanting to make a quick buck, gets involved with an Italian mob leader (Martin Benson) and his psychotic sister (Faith Domergue). After the hoods kill a man he wants out but the femme fatale has other plans and uses his former girlfriend (Rona Anderson) to get him back. Domergue has the best part - the tough brains behind the gang - but she mostly underplays instead of being an outright bitch which the role calls for. Predictable little film uses the tatty Soho locations well but the tepid screenplay unfortunately lets it down.

Hamid (Aijaz Khan, 2018) 8/10

Small-scale drama that takes on some weighty historical, political and cultural issues. Khan’s film, set in the backdrop of Kashmir, promises to engage both children and adults with an involving narrative and authentic performances, providing a sympathetic perspective. The film is a poignant human tale of loss, resilience and hope as it tries to move between the two extremes of a peaceful reconciliation of the opposites and documenting what lies underneath an everyday reality. In retrospect, the film works best as a personal story of an inquiring boy in need of love and answers. The story revolves around 8-year old Hamid (Talha Arshad Reshi) who hatches a naive plan to bring back his missing father. Hamid is told that 786 is Allah’s number. Thinking it’s a phone number he dials it. After several failed attempts to connect, he comes up with an iteration of the number, which accidentally connects him to a CRPF jawaan (Vikas Kumar). He guilelessly believes he is in actual conversation with God. His innocent exchanges with the soldier form the narrative of ‘’Hamid’’ with the Kashmiri population protests forming a backdrop. The film shuns theatrics, evoking compassion and empathy leading to a devastating but cathartic conclusion.
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Pause (2019) Tonia Mishiali 6/10
Hustlers (2019) Lorene Scafaria 4/10
Her Job (2019) Nikos Labot 6/10
Gemini Man (2019) Ang Lee 1/10
When Tomatoes Met Wagner (2019) Marianna Economou 7/10
Skin (2019) Guy Nattiv 4/10
Double Feature (1984) Jose Luis Garci 5/10
Course Completed (1987) Jose Luis Garci 4/10
Paw (1959) Astrid Henning-Jensen 7/10
The Great Waltz (1972) Andrew L. Stone 1/10
Sandakan No. 8 (1974) Kei Kumai 7/10
The Little Ark (1972) James B. Clark 2/10
Ask Dr. Ruth (2019) Ryan White 6/10
Violins at the Ball (1974) Michel Drach 4/10
The Laundromat (2019) Steven Soderbergh 2/10

Repeat viewing

Love in the Afternoon (1972) Eric Rohmer 8/10
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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- Knock (Lorraine Lévy, 2017): 2/10
- Edmond (Alexis Michalik, 2019): 8/10
- The Dark Crystal (Jim Henson and Frank Oz, 1982): 7/10
- Perfect Strangers (Álex de la Iglesia, 2017): 7/10
- The Adjustment Bureau (George Nolfi, 2011): 6/10
- Jackie (Pablo Larraín, 2016): 6/10
- Captain Fantastic (Matt Ross, 2016): 7/10
- School of Rock (Richard Linklater, 2003): 8/10
- Sully (Clint Eastwood, 2016): 8/10
- Allied (Robert Zemeckis, 2016): 6/10
- Isn't It Romantic? (Todd Strauss-Schulson, 2019): 2/10
- The Good Dinosaur (Peter Sohn, 2015): 6/10
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Il viaggio / The Voyage (Vittorio De Sica, 1974) 3/10

De Sica's last film is set amongst the wealthy classes in Sicily during the turn of the century, is sumptuously shot on lovely Italian location but is absolute trite. A soap opera involving a seamstress (Sophia Loen) in love with a wealthy playboy nobleman (Richard Burton) but through a cruel twist of fate gets married to his younger ineffectual brother (Ian Bannen) instead. Like a soap opera the plot thickens - husband (conveniently) dies leaving the lovers to ponder if the impending scandal of their desired marriage plans is worth going through but then another twist of fate intervenes. Burton, bereft of his magnificent voice thanks to terrible Italian dubbing, and the lovely Loren make a listless couple. He is too stiff throughout while she looks too mature to be acting tremulous like a silly teenager. The film's only redeeming views are of the lovely period costumes and the interiors of homes and hotels. Skip this silly film.

Gun Glory (Roy Rowland, 1957) 5/10

Gunslinger (Stewart Granger) who deserted his family returns home and finds his wife dead and a resentful son. Conflict with cattlemen, a quietly simmering romance with the housekeeper (Rhonda Fleming) and the son's acceptance of his father form the basis of what is rather a bland B-Western from MGM. Granger, despite an American accent that comes and goes, is good playing his part in an understated manner while lovely Rhonda Fleming is always a welcome presence.

La Romana / Woman of Rome (Luigi Zampa, 1954) 8/10

Character study of a woman during the facist era is equal parts romantic melodrama and a noir-like look at the glitter and cynicism of Rome under Mussolini. An impoverished young woman (Gina Lollobrigida), daughter of a seamstress and former prostitute, dreams of becoming a wife and mother. Her mother wants her to grab a rich man and settle down but she is in love with and engaged to a poor chauffeur (Franco Fabrizi). When she discovers he is already married she turns to prostitution and enjoys the freedom it brings her as she earns money using her beauty and sex to attract men. She falls in love with an anti-fascist political militant (Daniel Gélin) who refuses to admit his love for her and also dates a fascist police officer who is obsessed with her. Life takes on a dark turn when a stolen jewellery box leads to her meeting with the brutal friend (Renato Tonti) of the chauffeur which leads to murder. Based on the acclaimed novel by Alberto Moravia the film showcases the sensual delights of the ravishing Lollobrigida who is not only at her most beautiful but gives a superb performance as well. The film is strikingly shot on the rain swept streets of Rome by Enzo Serafin.

Pane, amore e fantasia / Bread, Love and Dreams (Luigi Comencini, 1954) 3/10

Loud shrill romantic comedy with everyone shouting their dialogue and gesticulating wildly. It may be the Italian way but the silly plot is unbearably unfunny with two great stars wasted. The film made Gina Lollobrigida into a huge star, was a massive hit and even produced a sequel. I can understand the many reasons why Lollobrigida became a star - her heaving décolletage bound in tight dresses for one - but for the life of me I don't know why the film was such a success. Even the film's story was nominated for an Oscar. The slight premise involves a new police chief (Vittorio De Sica doing his usual shtick) being appointed in a small village. This lewd and lascivious man immediately sets his eyes on two women - the middle-aged local midwife (Marisa Merlini) and a sexy young woman (Gina Lollobrigida) the villagers playfully refer to as "frisky" as they think she is of easy virtue. The latter is loved by all the men in the village but loathed by all the women. Matters get complicated when the young woman is smitten by a handsome young man who works for the old police chief who in turn pursues her with a vengeance. Like most Italian films from that period this too benefits from its natural rural settings and a cast that actually feels authentic in their roles. Too bad the plot is so silly.
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Parasite (Bong Joon-ho, 2019): 9/10
Shoplifters (Hirokazy Kore-eda, 2018): 9/10
I, Daniel Blake (Ken Loach, 2016): 9/10
A Ghost Story (David Lowery, 2017): 6/10
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Uli Edel, 2008): 8/10
Avengers: Endgame (Anthony Russo & Joe Russo): 7/10
Pain and Glory (Perdo Almodóvar, 2019): 8/10
The Post (Steven Spielberg, 2017): 7/10
Life of the Party (Ben Falcone, 2018): 6/10
Closely Watched Trains (Jiří Menzel, 1966): 8/10
Through a Glass Darkly (Ingmar Bergman, 1961): 10/10
The Stranger (Orson Welles, 1946): 6/10
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Joker (2019) Todd Phillips 7/10
Bigger (2018) George Gallo 4/10
The Living Koheiji (1982) Nobuo Nakagawa 6/10
Amin (2018) Philippe Faucon 5/10

Repeat viewings

Van Gogh (1991) Maurice Pialat 8/10
Lust for Life (1956) Vincente Minnelli 7/10
Young Torless (1966) Volker Schlöndorff 7/10
Paperhouse (1988) Bernard Rose 7/10
The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) Jacques Demy 7/10
High and Low (1963) Akira Kurosawa 10/10
Risky Business (1967) Andre Cayatte 8/10
Diamantino (2018) Gabriel Abrantes & Daniel Schmidt 8/10
The Major and the Minor (1942) Billy Wilder 7/10
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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La bella mugnaia / The Miller's Beautiful Wife (Mario Camerini, 1955) 6/10

Rather silly farce has a number of endearing qualities going in its favour - handsome production values, a vivid sense of time and place set during 17th century Naples (occupied then by Spain) amongst the peasant lot, the frantic mugging of Vittoria De Sica, the ravishing beauty of Sophia Loren in one of her early teamings with the young and very handsome Marcello Mastroianni. The lusty and hardhearted Governor of Naples (Vittorio De Sica) keeps increases taxes on the poor peasants and has lascivious designs on other men's wives. When he attempts to seduce the boistrous and sexy wife (Sophia Loren) of the local miller (Marcello Mastroianni) all hell breaks loose as male honour is hurt and revenge becomes the order of the day. Typical Italian sex farce has the camera oogling the female anatomy with its titillating focus on legs and ample bosoms. An "attitude" considered pretty tame in Europe resulted in the Catholic Legion of Decency condemning the film in prudish United States. The cast clearly appear to be having a ball with the animated proceedings. Special mention to the lovely Greek actress Yvonne Sanson as the Governor's neglected but regal and clever wife.

Catherine the Great (Philip Martin, 2019) 7/10

Did Catherine the Great die while fornicating with a stallion? An urban legend claimed she was crushed to death when the harness holding the horse above her snapped. She actually died the old fashioned way in bed of a stroke which struck her while on the loo. Many rumours have run rife about the flamboyant and very powerful Empress Catherine II of Russia who was instrumental in modernizing the Empire and winning major wars - the Turks were massacred amongst other military victories. Her interest in erotic art - a notorious cabinet with penises for legs and carvings of vulvas and penises on it - were mere rumours and never substantiated. She did have an insatiable desire for sex with 22 lovers on record (including the King of Poland) who benefitted by the "association" with her and many of these lovers were much younger. Her long and very eventful reign deserved a longer mini-series instead of the four short parts we get here. Also Dame Helen Mirren, at 75, is far too old to play the 43-year old Empress when the story begins. It's to her credit that this great actress manages to carry off the role barking orders dripping with sarcasm and parrying with great humour with the Countess Proskovya (Gina Mckee) who was her official "tester of male capacity"; every potential lover was to spend a night with the Countess before he was admitted into Catherine's personal apartments. Mirren "gets" the regal bit down pat (she earlier played both Elizabeth I and Elizabeth II to great acclaim) dressed to her teeth in silk brocades and dripping in jewels. The screenplay jumps right to the period when she took over the throne after a coup and the murder of Emperor Peter III, her nasty ill-tempered husband. She has to contend with a weak but ambitious son who wants the throne (this idiot, when he finally came to the throne for a short while, ordered that henceforth no woman would be allowed to rule Russia. None ever did), serfs who are beginning to rebel, wars in the South and the Far Eastern Frontier and the nobility who are forever plotting. By her side is the great love of her life - the great military commander Grigory Potemkin - who rumour had it was her secret husband. Potemkin is spoken of as this gorgeous hunk all women are crazy about but its quite problematic to see the portly and very fleshy Jason Clarke take on the role. He too overcomes this historical inaccuracy by delivering a performance that is forceful, amusing and eccentric capturing a man who loved his Country and Empress with full fervour. The film does not skimp on opulence and like the two stars delivers a full scale scenery-chewing drama shot in and around glorious but gaudy palaces. Finally the film's success rests on the shoulders of the actress who also produced the mini-series and she comes up a winner ensuring she is in full DAME HELEN MIRREN mode making her character steely and saucy by turn. A fun look at Russian history.
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Le mura di Malapaga / Au-delà des grilles / The Walls of Malapaga (René Clément, 1949) 10/10

Italian-French co-production, which won an Oscar, is one of the great doomed romances but sadly forgotten today. The two films that similarly won Oscars in the foreign film category right before and after this one were by De Sica ("Bicycle Thieves") and Kurosawa ("Rashomon") which are both fondly remembered and revived. Yet this masterpiece remains forgotten. It revived the career of star Gabin after the War years. It's a return to his familiar pre-war screen persona of the tough but doomed fugitive. A middle-aged drifter (Jean Gabin) escapes the authorities in Paris after murdering his twenty-two year old girlfriend, because she told him that he was too old for her. Escaping on a ship he is forced to disembark in Genoa because of a toothache. After getting mugged and having his tooth removed he decides to turn himself in at a police station. However, he sees an attractive woman (Isa Miranda) and follows her to a trattoria where she works and charms her into providing him a free meal after which he confesses his previous crime. Already intrigued by him she is grateful when he later comes to her rescue as she is being physically threatened by her ex-husband who keeps trying to kidnap their precocious teenage daughter. Soon both women fall under his spell as mother and daughter vye for his attention, each jealous of the other, leading to the stark and sudden downbeat ending which was de rigueur for such doomed romances. The film is in the style of French poetic realism but with strong overtones of Italian neo-realism (Cesare Zavattini was one of the writers) with scenes shot on location in bombed-out Genoa. Gabin is superb in his usual understated manner while the lovely Miranda, resembling the mature Garbo, provides a passionate portrait of a sad woman who lights up as love enters her life however briefly. Clément maintains a hauntingly melancholy mood throughout as the two lonely souls, caught in the undertow of life, play out their seemingly hopeful but ultimately doomed relationship. Both Clément and Miranda won richly deserved prizes at the Cannes film festival.

Stuber (Michael Bowse, 2019) 6/10

Two polar opposites meet under trying circumstances and on a long day's journey into night become buddies. A huge cop (David Bautista), just out of eye surgery and almost blind, goes after a seedy drugpin who killed his partner. Getting into an Uber taxi he involves the hapless driver (Kumail Nanjiani) into a nightmare of stakeouts and shootings. Slapstick pratfalls and a couple of laugh-out-loud moments intermingle with scenes of excessive violence. It's nothing we haven't seen before in countless similar films - "48 Hours" & " Lethal Weapon" were two of the best - but the two leads go through their paces milking their antagonistic chemistry for all its worth. And hey, we now have our own Oscar nominated Pakistani boy - Nanjiani - playing lead roles in Hollywood.

Les adieux à la reine / Farewell, My Queen (Benoît Jacquot, 2012) 6/10

Lavish production set during the last three days in the life of Marie Antoinette (Diane Kruger) in July 1789. The French Revolution rumbles on in Paris but the Royal family and courtiers continue life as usual at the Château de Versailles. Mild irritation turns to panic after the Bastille is stormed and a list is circulated with the Queen's name at the top as the first to be beheaded. Very unpopular with the Parisienne aristocrats and the common people, all of whom gossip about her indulgence in same sex proclivities and wild orgies - during the later hysteria at her trial she was also accused of incest with her son. Rumours are rampant about the Queen's sexual involvement with the Duchess of Polignac (Virginie Ledoyen), a longtime trusted companion, also hated by the Court. The screenplay covers these events from the perspective of a wide-eyed servant girl (Léa Seydoux) who is also the Queen's reader and in whom she puts her trust to carry out a special assignment related to her lover. The maid, smitten by the beautiful Queen, is more than thrilled to serve her every wish. The director presents all this court intrigue in an obscure manner with little fanfare as we see it all play out through the eyes and ears of the maid who is not a privileged witness to history, but she is clever and resourceful in using her palace friends to ferret out bits and pieces of information about the goings on around her. Unfortunately this muted manner in which the drama unfolds works against it. The extravagant and oversized characters are unfortunately held at arm's length when they should have been over-the-top. One keeps expecting camp of the highest order along with lashings of sex but sadly it's not to be. The entire film is shot inside the Palace at Versailles giving it a feeling of immediacy. The camera wanders through each opulent gold-tinted room, with mirrored walls and ceilings, capturing the place in all its garish splendor. The film won richly deserved César awards for the rich cinematography, costumes and production design. The film, Jacquot, Seydoux, its screenplay, editing and sound design were all nominated.

Brief Encounter (Alan Bridges, 1974) 6/10

Remake of the classic David Lean film which is based on Nöel Coward's play, "Still Life". This version has been moved from the War years to contemporary times and since it's a Carlo Ponti production the role of the quintessential British wife now becomes Italian and played by Mrs Ponti herself. A married social worker (Sophia Loren) by chance meets a married doctor (Richard Burton) at a railway station. It's a very brief encounter as he helps remove grit from her eye. They meet again by chance and this time talk and get to know each other. When he insists she agrees to see him yet again although she feels guilty. The relationship is platonic but gradually love begins to creep in forcing them both to come to terms with their feelings and deciding on a direction to take. Lean's version hangs ominously over this one but the two stars manage to easily keep the simple story afloat. Burton, who is quietly understated and heartbreaking, was a last minute addition to the cast after Robert Shaw jumped ship for a bigger paycheck from Steven Spielberg for a role in "Jaws" instead. It is unfair to compare Burton and Loren to the sublime Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson in the original. Both manage to subdue their huge star personas here and convincingly portray these two very "ordinary" characters. This was their second film appearance together and their great chemistry is clearly visible on screen.

La moglie più bella / The Most Beautiful Wife (Damiano Damiani, 1970) 6/10

In Sicily a Don's arrogant young nephew first courts and then rapes a fifteen-year old peasant (Ornella Muti) girl and later offers his hand in marriage. To his intense surprise she refuses and decides to teach him a lesson much to his annoyance. After openly going against this old custom, where victims relent and marry their attackers, she is made an outcast by the villagers and her parents. With the help of a cop she agrees to stand up to the Mafia despite still harbouring love for the man who had assaulted her and who continues to ridicule and insult her. Shocking scenario, true to the culture where it exists, is carried by the strong but deadpan screen presence of the very beautiful Ornella Muti (with those mesmerizing blue eyes) who at age 15 made her screen debut with this film.
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