#37 - Time Bandits

So this is one of the few films so far I can honestly say I have seen multiple times, and that I saw it as a kid - it's a kid's film and more - Time Bandits

Directed by Terry Gilliam - (Monty Python and the Holy Grail - as well as lots of Monty Python illustrations) - it has the FEEL of a Monty Python film - the dry over the top British Humor, the at times outlandish sets and visuals - it's a very striking visual film, and there hadn't been a lot of kids films up to that point in recent years - more than any other this one takes it over the top

A young boy is caught up with a half dozen little people who work for the Supreme Being (God) and have stolen his map and are skipping thru time, stealing stuff and skipping off to another time and place before the crime was committed.   There are some excellent performers here by David Warner and Sean Connery, and the idea of a child's movie told from the point of view of a child worked because his costars - the adults shorter than him, never overshadowed him.

Some great special features - it wasn't QUITE as fun as I remembered it as a kid seeing it 3 or 4 times in the theater, but still a nice quick walk down memory lane.  I found out George Harrison had a hand in producing it and in doing some of the music.  (I doubt I was old enough to know who he was at the time) but interestingly enough I do remember liking the music and sitting thru the credits - no doubt because as a kid I'd watch movies two or three times and just rewatch them - LOL   (cheap babysitter)

Anyhow, its got that vibe that I think made it worthy of a Criterion release, and some special features including a making of from a design POV which is always good stuff and a horrible trailer I don't remember and some good commentary stuff.

anyhoo - back to adult films

RB

#36 - The Wages of Fear

For number 36 we have another Suspenseful film from Henri-Georges Clouzot - and boy is it a zinger - The Wages of Fear

taking a different tack than he would take two years later with Diabolique, this is about a group of down on their luck guys driving volatile explosives across South America to an oil well fire.

The first 40-50% of the film actually shows us the lives of the guys who have arrived in this South American Town where it's virtually impossible to get out without money - it tries to establish a dynamic between who are the tough guys, the good guys, and then it throws them into a life or death situation and you see those relationships and assessments get re-evaluated.

By the time the trucks get rolling, you think you know who is going to make it and who is going to have issues with their nerves as the drive goes along and it's an interesting dynamic to watch them flip around - it's also interesting to watch young vs. old - and experienced vs. new - (one character alludes to working in the Salt Mines for 3 years for the Nazis, which would probably age anyone by a hundred years)

I guess the film was edited partially for America - (not in this release) and I could see how a bunch of right-wing moralists looking under every rock for a Commie would be concerned that the oil company is American and seems to not put much value on life as it sends these guys out to deliver the explosives.   I'm sure the oil companies are relieved they didn't get bad P.R. - douchebags

but the tension in this second half you can cut with a knife as the trucks get underway - I know there were a few times I was holding my breath - great movie and I'll look forward to more Henri-Georges Clouzot hopefully later in the series

Both of these last two films, by the way, - I have really loved the lighting and the way they are shot - I don't know if I can put a finger on it - but he really uses the light and shots to build the suspense in a way that's very effective - almost film-noir'ish - good stuff

of course, several interviews and extras are on this edition, including a small documentary on what was censored for American audiences, and the print looks great in Blu-Ray

RB

#35 - Diabolique

Ah - another new Director - and another new story about a fascinating film.

Diabolique is a 1955 thriller directed by Henri-Georges Clouzet - Now I never heard of him but apparently he's a master of the thriller genre in France and this may be his best known work.

What makes this particularly fascinating for me is I had no idea how influential this film is.  Watching it, you are reminded of many elements of suspense thrillers, but many of them borrow from this - This is one of the first films to truly use some of these elements which would become so well known, and almost cliche, in modern Suspense thrillers.

The movie goes so far out of it's way to protect the ending that there is a warning at the end of the movie to NOT spoil the ending for friends coming to view it - so there you go - all I need to say is two women plot to kill the abusive husband of one of them and it goes downhill from there - LOL

I guess Hitchcock was so impressed with this he bought rights to the next book written by the author who wrote the story this movie was based on, and that became Vertigo.   There are also some interesting homages, or influences likely in Hitchcock's Psycho to scenes in this movie.   Of course, Alfred would become more famous, but he would try for years to match the level of suspense that this movie put out.   As film standards and audiences opened up, he would get a chance but at this time, French audiences were more open than American audiences.   (The two women are the wife and mistress, respectively, of the abusive schoolmaster - would that kind of adultery be given free reign among characters in a US movie?   Nah.)

Some great special features on the dvd including commentary on scenes, and film essays on the film and how Clouzet did his work where he was a kind of guy who was into ultra realism, even going so far as making his actors eat rotten fish in a scene where there is conflict over the Headmaster's decision to purchase mediocre quality fish.   Most directors would at least let them eat good stuff - I guess he was also a fan of 30 or 40 takes in some scenes.

Whatever you do, don't confuse this with the 1996 Sharon Stone version - ugh..

RB

#34 - Andrei Rublev - (and Filmstruck)

Lots to go thru here - let's get started

My first Russian film for the collection as I recall - and ironically one that wasn't shown in Russia for years for it's depictions of faith and other uncomfortable ideas to authoritarianism

This is the second film by Andrei Tarkovsky - and I know he's going to pop up again so I'll save that for another time

This is quite simply a beautiful film about the life of a famous Russian Icon Painter - to be fair, much of it is episodic and dramatized - (i.e. probably fictional) but it still tells a good story of a man trying to bring beauty to a time and place that was anything but.   One of the things I picked up along the way of researching this movie was how it tried to accurately depict life and situations in the 1400's in Russia, and it did occur to me while watching it that living then would have really, really sucked

There's a lot of scenes that could have been talked about, but I think the one that sticks out to me is Andrei recounting his impression and story of the Passion of the Christ - what makes it unique is that as it is acted out, it is done so with Russian Peasants, in the dead of winter, with a Russian looking Jesus.   It's those little things that make you rethink sometimes the story you think you've heard a hundred times before

Of course, there's some excellent overhead shots and stuff that no doubt would be done with a drone today - the introduction makes no sense to me, but then again, that's part of the fun :)

now - the downside - lots of good features here on the DVD - Audio commentary (didn't catch if it was the whole movie or just certain scenes but some great in depth technical commentary) - and it's the 205 minute "director's cut"

Having said that - there is a 186 minute cut out there that Tarkovsky said is his true version - I did some compares and aside from a few extra gory scenes that might have been removed - (they killed a horse in this film - but they got it from the slaughter house that day so it was a goner either way)  - I don't THINK the missing scenes added anything to the overall story.

So onto my second issue - the DVD is 2.35 to 1 but it's actually framed in a 4:3 window - so that means if you have a 1.85-1 TV you end up with a 2.35-1 letterbox compressed in the 4:3 space.

That brings me to the last part of my title - I decided to sign up for a trial of Filmstruck - let's face it - now that I'm not in the cities anymore, there's a lot I won't be able to easily get besides Netflix - AND...in some of these cases where I"m looking at DVD's from 1999 the streaming quality exceeds the DVD

AND my final point - (not to beat a dead horse - AUGH) - the Filmstruck edition was the 186 minute edition and is SUBSTANTIALLY cleaner than the DVD print - someone got this thing cleaned up for blu-ray quality and that's what Criterion is streaming right now - wasn't even close - the DVD had lots of print scratches and the streaming was almost flawless - SO at some point maybe they'll release it on Blu-Ray - the DVD also had those blocky subtitles that I don't really like looking down for away from the screen

BUT otherwise - a great movie - the 3 hrs seemed like, well, 2 - LOL -

Side Tangent - Russian Ark

I recently found this on my Sling TV in High-Def - I have it on DVD but a quick check showed the hi-def was better and it's out on Blu-ray - my copy will be in next week :D

This SHOULD be a Criterion film, IMHO - but in any case, it's a splendid piece of work - Roger Ebert gave it four stars, and at it's core, it's a story told in a single, continuous 90 minute camera shot.  The story itself is very interesting, and apparently was concocted specifically to showcase the Hermitage, the famous Palace/Museum in St Petersburg, Russia.  Two strangers wonder from room to room and find themselves bouncing around from time to time - the 18th century in one room, modern day tourists in the next, attempting to discern why they have found themselves in this strange predicament.

There are some beautiful music scenes and performances, and some humorous Russian inside jokes, like the guy who's following them everywhere like a slightly incompetent KGB agent.  I just think as a whole, it's probably my favorite Russian movie, and it came to mind as I was getting ready for Andrei Rublev....

So there you go - if you have Sling Blue, it should be available in HD as desired -

#33 - Nanook of the North

#33 is the silent classic "Nanook of the North"  - He wasn't really called that and a chunk of this movie is staged or filmed using traditional behaviors that the Inuit had stopped using by 1920 - (they were hunting with rifles by then) - but nevertheless, it's a classic.

I spent a few years up north with Alaska Natives - this way of life has gone but small traces of it remain here and there.  

From a film history standpoint, this is considered the first real historical documentary - so the idea that some stuff was staged, well, there were no guidelines for that sort of thing yet - nowadays though, reality tv is staging so much of this kind of thing anyways that the animals they catch would already be dead and frozen and brought out for the "kill" shot

it was interesting with a nice soundtrack composed in 1999 to go with the silent film - there is a brief feature with his widow but not much else to this Criterion release

As a side note it's not in print by Criterion anymore but it's in the public domain, so the wayback archive has a copy of it - it's also on youtube - in fact I'm not sure 100% of the source, but this copy seems like it's in even higher def. than the copy I got from my library -

In fact, in retrospect, I wish I had watched this on youtube instead of my DVD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoUafjAH0cg

RB