#22 - Summertime

This was a beautiful film, shot almost entirely outdoors in Venice - it's no wonder that tourism doubled in the years after, or that the Director, David Lean ended up getting a 2nd home there where he stayed part of the year.

A lonely secretary goes to Venice, in the form of Katherine Hepburn -there she ends up falling for an Italian who sweeps her away, but of course there must be tragedy in these things - I had never heard of the film before now, but it definitely inspired me to want to go and see Venice for myself.

According to source, 90% of this was shot outdoors - Venice is front in center the entire film and you are immersed in some wonderful scenic shots in what must be one of the most romantic cities in the world.

Although I didn't know David Lean by name, I certainly know several of the movies he would make after this one - The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, etc...his last five films would be big long epics - this was his last short film, but he captured a time and place in Venice that probably doesn't exist anymore except in the romanticized imagination and for that I am grateful

AND, hey, i was a little surprised to find the morality of this film to not exactly be Ozzie and Harriett - Adultery plays a role here - and while some parts were censored for certain countries, the full effort is here.  

I could say a lot about Katherine Hepburn's performance, but the truth is, this is really the first film I've seen her in that I've paid attention to - No doubt though if this film were made today, it'd feature a much younger woman than Kat, who was near 40 by the time she did this film.   Today's filmmakers have no respect for middle-aged actresses - Katherine here does give the impression of the spinster who used to believe in love and doesn't anymore - and she does it with very little dialogue, which is something most modern filmmakers and actresses wouldn't pull off well, IMHO

This DVD IS still in print although it really has no extra features to speak of - maybe someday they'll release a restore HD version - the city of Venice alone would make it worth the effort

RB

#21 - Dead Ringers

Sorry for the delay - took a week off to go to Ireland, and life, bills, etc -

so I know OF Cronenberg's work - but I haven't been conscious of having seen stuff that's he's directed till now - I went back to IMDB and I have seen some of his films, but I think this one is more representative of the kind of stuff I think of him for.

IMDB calls him the king of venereal horror or the Baron of Blood although this was much more of a suspense film than a gruesome fest.  I guess his earlier work was famous for having some pretty grotesque scenes of bodily horror.  But as the Criterion Essay puts it, David eschews his usual work portraying the disintegration of the body for a different take on the disintegration of the mind.

The biggest thing that stands out about this right away, obviously, is the incredible Jeremy Irons.   One can imagine playing a complex character, but playing two different characters, trying to leave a mark and technique for each one, while allowing for the occasional muddying of who is Elliot and who is Beverly is a difficult challenge that Irons rises to.  It's a fascinating film about a man's descent into obsession and drugs and what it does to his twin brother, who up till now has been the sophisticated one of the pair.   To rewatch it again, and watch how the brothers start out and end up is to watch a roller coaster go off the rails

I was a bit surprised at the turn of the third act, but there was a lot of this film that kept me on the edge of my seat - I enjoyed it quite a bit even though I tend to not like these 80's US films that dominated the early years of the collection

I was unable to find a Criterion DVD for this one - (out of print) - SO...you're outta luck - there's a list of some features on the website and there are always essays about the films at criterion.com - so go check it out - there's also some interesting trivia there about how Jeremy WAS using two dressing rooms, one for each character, until he realized part of the suspense was wondering which brother was which and brought them together.  It also discusses the method he used to get a different energy out of each brother as in all other respects they were completely identical

RB

Travel delays

Been on vacation for a week in Lovely Ireland - I'll get back to the movies shortly - I'm also going to watch some more Irish movies and yada yada yada