#6 - Beauty And The Beast

So once again, I must preface this blog entry with "I had no idea what the hell I was getting into...

I knew the general storyline - (never saw the Disney version but don't we all kinda know the story a bit) - but didn't know the director or jest of what forms the story would take.  I guess Jean Cocteau was a painter, poet, writer and general artistic everyman who did 11 films - (this was his 3rd) and numerous poetry collections, theater, novels, etc...

At it's core, it's a fairy tale romance - so he has the source material of a 17th century version of the story

The thing is, the fairy-tale Romance - I don't do these so well, but the music and special effects stand out as a rather outstanding accompaniment to the story, which of course, centers on...well, do I need to even discuss the plot?

One of the intriguing things to me (and to others) was the ending.  I didn't walk away with Happily Ever After in my mouth - in fact, it almost leaves me distrusting the guy the Beast turns into.  Others have commented that the Beast is almost a more sympathetic character than the Prince that he turns into. Perhaps that is part of the tale when one does a movie three months after the fall of Germany and WWII. 

The first half seemed to fly by but I thought the 2nd half dragged a but, but some great music and exterior shots make this a good viewing and the use of backwards filming on some shots makes for some great special effects

The extras are on this disk.  (I watched the Criterion release, not the Art House one.)  Of course, we have the usual extra audio commentaries, a couple documentaries and one on film restoration - One thing that stuck out here is a Phillip Glass composed audio track that turns the dialogue and music of the movie into Opera - that wasn't my thing but maybe others would like it.   The little I heard made me think the music would be inferior to what was actually in the 1946 release

This will be the last entry for 2016 - see ya all in 2017 -

Pax
RB

#5 - The 400 Blows

So, we're in another one of those "I had no idea what I was getting" films - (I suspect this will happen a lot) - BUT I have seen a French New Wave film or two, and what I didn't know is this was one of the founding films of the French New Wave.

There are a lot of definitions of French New Wave, and wikipedia has a few but the best way I can say it is, it's cinema trying to be art - and it's generally a very beautiful and engaging thing.

I actually had gotten this copy initially from my library as part of the Art House Collection - I was a bit dissatisfied with that letterbox crammed into a 4:3 print, so I looked on Netflix, and lo and behold, they had one of the two or three re-releases - (and in fact, it's being re-released again in Jan.) - Imagine my even more pleasant surprise to find I had accidentally checked out the Blu-Ray - so we got to go hi-def on this one.   In one last bit of amusement, much of the film seems to take place around the holiday of Christmas, so here I was two days before Christmas reading Joyeux Noel on the windows in Paris and seeing Christmas trees :)

This is the film of a young adolescent coming to grips with a failed family and social structure and becoming a delinquent.  It actually reminded me a bit of the previous film I had seen, Amarcord, in how the youth are left to some degree, without the guidance or resources needed to develop properly.  The main character, Antoine, has a mother who doesn't like him, a congenial but not over-adoring step-father, and teachers with whom he just doesn't get along.   He has a good friend, Rene, who is a co-conspirator and fellow troublemaker, with another set of neglectful parents who aren't able to provide the stability needed.

What I found very interesting was how this was mostly a semi-autobiographical story of the Director, Francois Truffaut.  Many events shadow his life, and near the end, a monologue of questions about upbringing and life choices apparently were right out of the Director's life.   The director himself was almost saved from a life of petty crime, and so in this way, the movie is a lot like Jack Kerouac's "On The Road" as Antoine and his friend Rene were semi-biographical fictional representations of the Truffaut and his good friend, who also worked on this movie

A couple brief asides...this would end up being the first of Four movies (and one short) by Francois to feature the same actor as the character of Antoine over the course of 20 years.   In fact, they'll all be part of a boxed set up there in the 180's - and that's fine - (I don't think they all have the same flavor as the French New Wave) but knowing that the story goes on kinda spoiled the ending for me a bit which left us wondering what Antoine's future was or where he would manage to go or have one in the final shot

The other aside is merely this - Paris is a magnificent supporting actor in almost any movie.  It's my favorite European City, and the New Wave films such as "Paris Belongs to Us" and this one use it to wonderful effect.  I am reminded of a non-Criterion release that takes place in Newfoundland (The Shipping News) and how that locale as well, becomes one of the characters in the story.

One of the most powerful scenes to me was Antoine crying as he is hauled away in a paddy wagon, looking out over the neon and city lights of Paris, no longer free to wander them like a giant playground.   He is being hauled away ironically, for attempting to right a wrong he had committed.  I almost expected to see him running to Paris at the end of the movie with the Eiffel Tower in the background.   Paris is his playground for much of the movie, and much of French New Wave shows the youth of Paris coming of age and making the most of this wonderful and ancient city

This is another movie where if I have time, I may try and catch the commentaries - (There are two) but there are over 800 films to go and a long time to get there :) - I prefer to play them on the PC where I can speed up the audio and get it done a bit quicker the 2nd time around which is much harder with blu-ray, but in any case, this is a very good film, and was famous in ways I didn't know about before starting and wouldn't have probably seen had I not started these in numerical order of release - I definitely look forward to more French New Wave after seeing this and "Paris Belongs to Us"

RB

#4 - Amarcord

I'll just start this one by coming right out and saying it - I had no idea what to expect.   I was totally unaware of the cinema of Federico Fellini and I think I've only seen one or two Italian films in my lifetime.   Evidently he's quite a character who in some ways, has defined how the world views Italians

So I went into this pretty wide open - I found it to be beautifully shot, and a very entertaining comedic film.  The title is translated as "I Remember" and the film apparently is a look back at some of Federico's early memories of an Italian seaside town on the Cusp of Fascism, with Il Duce taking center stage in one of the town's scenes.   It is meant to be reminiscent of the town of Remini, on the Adriatic Sea

It is more than anything else, an examination of a year in a small Italian village with a rambunctious cast of characters.    There is no discernable plot, as it were, so much as a photograph of time.   It offered some risqué humor, and some sad moments as well as the year goes on.  It primarily focuses on a young teenager, Titta, and the people and places around him, including his obsession with the town's (and DVD cover's) curvaceous Lady in Red, Gradisca, who often reminded me of Sophia Loren.

The film flows from one moment to another, starting in Spring, to the arrival of regional fascists, to the summer and great events like the arrival of a famous Italian Cruise liner, to a country picnic, and later, to foggy fall, to winter, and death, and life again in the spring with the wedding of Gradisca, (sadly, to a Fascist.)   I did not walk away from this movie feeling nostalgic for that time, interestingly, but perhaps that is because in some respects, the characters and the depictions are a bit cartoonish.  (One essay said it was a circus and they were circus performers)   There is also a general theme here where it is implied (mostly in the School scenes) that the older generation is not doing right by the younger generation and not giving them what they need to be full adults.

However, as I said at the start, it is a beautifully shot and entertaining film and I enjoyed it throughly.

The usual DVD extras, interviews, commentary, and restoration clips are here in the two disk edition.   I did something I won't always do here which is I re-watched the DVD with the commentary to learn more about Fellini, his life, history, and extras about the film.  The one thing I was slightly aware of and only more so on the second viewing is that the town and it's togetherness is slowly disintegrating and the implication is that the cause is Fascism.  It was a powerful point that you could miss in all the comedy and surrealist behavior, but once it was pointed out to me in the commentary I couldn't help but notice it.  

And of course, being an American in the 21st Century under the impending presidency of Donald Trump, the disintegration of community under fascism or authoritarianism feels extra close and may make for a great film about us in 40 years time - let's hope not...but enough digression

RB

Series 40 - Late Ray

So with the last post, I made it pretty clear that I was going to intermittently pursue the Eclipse Collection as time permitted, starting with this one - Series 40 - Laty Ray - - These are 3 of the last 4 films that Satyajit Ray did in his lifetime

I won't get into a big exposition here except to say that Satyajit Ray is one of the most famous of all Indian (and Bengali) directors and that no less than Akira Kurosawa said if you haven't seen a Ray film, you haven't seen the sunrise

on that theme, these films are the sunset, as it were

The first one, the Home and the World, from 1984, is his last period piece and was the one he suffered a heart attack while doing and got assistance finishing from his son.   The last two - An Enemy of the People (adapted from a Play by Henrik Isben) and The Stranger are much more constrained visually.  Ray was forced to work on studio sets with a doctor nearby, and as such they are extensively dialogue driven.   There is often only one or two exterior shots in the last films, and we get less of some of the glorious exterior shots that he had in  his earlier career.

Strictly speaking, he visits some of the same Indian themes in these pictures that he has done before - Ideas such as corruption in business, the role of women in traditional and modern society, and family bonds have all played a role in his previous films.  It has beens stated that he was becoming more activist, and perhaps he wanted to make a stronger statement than he had in the past but compared to films like "The Big City" or the films of the Calcutta Trilogy, I feel like they still hold back still a bit.

The Stranger is a wonderful swansong to end a career with.  At least one comment I read on it stated the Director felt that with it complete, he had no more need to make any more films, and he would pass away about a year after it's completion  - The story is that a long lost uncle pays a visit to a great-niece, and the intrigue and comedy with which they attempt to discover his true roots and origins make this one of the more interesting films I've seen on the subject.  

Key moments include a conversation in the film that a friend from Bengal asked me to watch ahead of this viewing between the Uncle and a Barrister that is an interesting commentary on what Civilization has brought/taken from humanity that needs to be seen a couple times to get the full force of, and of course, one last dance number for old times sake near the end.

There is a missing film here called Branches of the Tree that is similar to the last two - dialogue driven on small sets - I could see where that might be left off with all the other stuff - who needs a 3rd film of people talking for two hours, but it would have been nice to get it in for purity's sake

I heard on the Eclipse Podcast - (link last post) that Criterion got the rights to 18 of Ray's films, and that's not the entire collection - several have been released including the magnificent Apu Trilogy which inspired me to pursue all of Ray's feature films.   The Eclipse series fills a nice niche for some obscure genres (like my personal favorite, Nikkatsu Noir) but it also provides some nice blocks of directors who sometimes don't get the catalog fully explored.  With that in mind, these are great films for fans of Ray's work, but the other mainline Criterion films released, especially the Apu Trilogy, Charilata, the Music Room, and The Big City are a better introduction to one of the greatest directors in world cinema.   Start with the Apu Trilogy and try watching all three in one sitting and then follow the branches out from there

more about Satyajit Ray can be found at wikipedia

RB

Digression - The Eclipse Series (and Satyajit Ray)

just a quick post to set up my next one -

Although I plan on trying to do the Criterion Releases in order, I'm also including the Eclipse Releases, and those not necessarily in order - part of the reason is the fact that these are some great lesser-known films - (the first 9 films of Akira Kurosawa for example) and because they're only released on DVD, they are very accessible and affordable and also on Filmstruck  The other reason is sometimes, it's nice to take a break genre-wise with some Nikkatsu Noir or Documentaries, and I'll throw them in as they come to my attention or my library request queue

To that end, One of my favorite links is the Eclipse Viewer Podcast on Criterioncast - not only does each episode include a number of links to other materials, but you get two great film guys talking about the films - Sometimes what I'll do is listen to the part up to the discussion of the films to get the backstory, and then come back after going thru them.

To that end, I had a second project I was wrapping up as I was starting this one - I have been watching the films of Satyajit Ray in Chronological order,  and 3 of his last 4 films are part of an Eclipse Series - (I do not know why the 4th wasn't included) - but for that reason, since I was going to have to go thru this boxed set to complete my viewings, I felt it was time to throw an Eclipse Boxed Set in here.  If you live in the Midwest US, you'd know we've had a cold snap of -20 degrees F, and that is conductive to staying indoors and watching movies if everyone else in the house is asleep. 

One final point - although some of Satyajit's films have been unreleased here in the States, a large number of the unreleased ones are available on Youtube and in poor quality (illegal, I suppose) bittorrent downloads.   Most are, if not always decently subtitled, but as part of this quest I've watched some cruddy quality films, with no restoration and often subtitles from the opensubtitles.org website that didn't sync up.  My favorite headache is having a lower quality copy of "Hirak Rajar Deshe" but a higher quality YouTube stream BUT one that dropped the Subtitles for Bengal Karaoke lines during the songs - so I flipped back and forth about a dozen times. 

I also had a Netflix DVD for "The Elephant God" where something broke in Subtitle encoding and I had to burn the disk to a file and find my own subtitles because somehow the DVD was broke.

We tend to forget what a great time we live in to get great quality restorations with in sync subtitles (that can be turned off - many subtitles have been embedded in the prints.)   When trying to find these unreleased films, many of which have suffered physical damage - (See The Song of the Little Road, an excellent if slightly out of date documentary about preservation of Ray's legacy) -  you might find some films that don't look great blown up on a 55 inch screen, but it's a great opportunity to watch all of a Director's films chronologically, and I hope to do that with other directors that stick out to me during this blog -

Up next - Eclipse 40 - Late Ray

#3 - The Lady Vanishes

sorry for the brief delay - family vacations and all that...

I didn't read as much of the film essay material before starting this film because I don't obviously want to give away the elements of what is a mystery/thriller - but let me start with this

Hitchcock is one of those directors I don't know a lot about short of Psycho and The Birds - I knew he was English but had no idea he had a career in England prior to coming to the US.

This film was a total mystery to me - a romantic thriller with elements of Comedy - and to be honest, I didn't like it very much

the Essays make it clear that in one sense, this is a story about the English.  Several English Travelers are on a train in a foreign country - (a fictional Balkan one with a dictatorship) and are a cross section of English Life - you have an upper class barrister, a middle class artist, a couple of comedic chaps who are basically Cricket obsessed fans, and the spunky daughter of a businessman about to go off and get married - (and that's not even all of them) - As the story implies, a disappearance on the train starts the thriller part of the story

Looking back I can appreciate better what Alfred was doing, and there are definite shadows of the tensions rising with Nazi Germany - (by 1938, Germany had annexed Austria, most of Czechoslovakia, and was clearly mobilizing for war) - The comedic duo of Charters and Caldicott are introduced here, and a second movie (which I didn't watch) was included as part of the collection where they are the principal characters -

It's definitely a thriller that keeps you engaged, and there's some excellent documentaries that describe how it was shot (on a 90 foot set, basically) - and upon re-watching of the special features, one misses how much of the train atmosphere was captured on a regular set - to capture that kind of vibe always rocking and background shots, one could easily think it was shot in part on a train set, but it was all in the studios...

As a whole, a nice intro to the film, but I think I'll appreciate his later American stuff a bit more - this is clearly a British film with nuances I have missed, but it does get your attention

RB