# 133 - The Vanishing

 

This was an incredible psychological thriller from a Dutch director that probably would have been more powerful if I hadn't seen the 1993 American Remake and knew the entire plot and ending from the get go - suffice it to say I think this is a better film than the remake.

I guess the Dutch director, George Sluzier,  did the American one too and was TOLD he could make the American version the same way, but departures and broken promises and test audiences changed the ending of the American version.   In any case, this is worth your time if you like that scary stuff

RB

#132 - The Ruling Class

 

man..I am never gonna get those 2.5 hrs back

didn't like this movie - wasn't too impressed by it - sorta hate British Humor and especially cult classics from a British Point of view which generally aren't as entertaining when you aren't aware of what the film is trying to mock due to cultural differences.

I mean, just no freaking way I would watch this again

#131 - Closely Watched Trains

 

#131 is another gem of the Czech New Wave - It's an interesting coming of age story about the life of a young man, working for the Train Service, trying to get laid in Nazi Occupied Europe - I did not see that story line coming - LOL

I doubt I'll know or see any of these actors or directors in the near future but I guess this was Menzel's most popular film in the west.   He'll do some more, and be forced to denounce the excesses of the New Wave

Times like this I wish I was better able to describe the technical details of what is going on, the camera, the framing, and the staging - but it is what it is - I am an amateur, and it was a good film - not one I'd buy but good.

RB

#130 - The Shop on Main Street

This was a great film and the 1965 Academy Award winner for best foreign film.  It's a product of what we would call the Czech New Wave, and featured some masterful acting.

The year is 1942, and a small village is starting to deal with the effects of Aryanization and the Nazi Ruling party starting to remove the Jews from their conquered territories.  A small carpenter is given the chance to take over a Jewish Widow's shop, but her inability to understand his role ends up with him more or less becoming her assistant rather than her boss.  In the end he's more her protector, repairing her furniture, and looking out for her as events ramp up in the 2nd half of the film.   The first hour or so is almost comedic and humorous, but as the film winds along, he has to determine if he is going to help the innocent, or collaborate with the regime coming to deport the Jews for the Holocaust..   This film is done without any shock or trauma as you might expect, but it ends up being the kind of film where you quietly watch in horror knowing what is going to happen, but is never said or seen on camera.   A woman cries out for a son who's missing, and she tells the protagnist to let her boy know where she is so he can join her, and inside you're recoiling as you realize if he does show up, it's a death sentence.  You also see the transformation of people who know what is right and are willing to do it turn into people desperate to save their own skins.

Meanwhile you see it all occurring, literally, from the p.o.v. of the Shop on Main Street listed in the title - it ends up becoming where everything plays out or where we see everything playing out.

I'm always fascinated by movies that happen under these Communist Regimes, and in this case it does make it a pretty good anti-Nazi film.   It's comedic and tragic, and is part of a big batch of Czech New Wave films currently showing up on the Criterion Channel this month as part of their features.

This kind of film is why I do this - otherwise it would have escaped my radar but it's a masterpiece of a film.

#129 - Le Trou

So back to some fun stuff - this is a thrilling prison break film set in the La Sante Prison Paris. 

I guess we're lucky to have the Criterion Channel as this is out of print and even the website doesn't have any essays on it - sorta slipped thru the cracks but I enjoyed this more than most of the films in the first half of the 100's so far

So one of the things I didn't know was at the beginning, one of the characters looks up from a car he is fixing, addresses the camera and says this is his true story of a prison break - (the 2nd guy on this DVD cover) - so a couple things..

This is based on a book that was based on a true story of a convict escape from this prison..

and, get this, this guy IS THE CONVICT who helped plan that escape and served as a consultant and under a stage name basically agreed to act the part he played in the escape - he seemed familiar to me and I thought he was an actor, but he was the real deal - which may be the most incredible "appearing as himself" cameo I've ever heard of :)

So, of course, what we have here is a prison break film - 4 guys get a new fifth guy and so they're going thru the motions of getting out as well as figuring out if the new guy is good news or bad news.   One of the things that struck me in this film are the long monotonous prison sequences - there is a 4 minute prison sequence banging thru concrete, and there's a long 2-3 minute sequence of a guard unlocking a cell, letting someone exit, on to the next cell, etc.   I suppose here we're catching the monotony of prison life, but during the concrete breaking, you're also freaking out that they can make this much noise in a cell without being caught and can they get away with it and the suspense keeps you on edge

Obviously I'm not going to spoil the film but it was very suspenseful and entertaining to watch   Something else that struck me, and it's probably fictional, was the easy way the convicts and guards got along - it felt more like Hogan's Heroes than the prison environments we're familiar with today. 

This is the first time I've heard of Jacques Becker, the director but he was assistant director on The Grand Illusion - (all the way back to spine #1) and this was his last film, from what it appears.   Obviously being French, and a dramatic sort of heist, it reminded me a lot of Rififi, especially the scenes where the illicit acts are carrying out - but the tension runs pretty high, and it's a really good film

on we go

RB

#128 - My Metier

Managed to get a copy of this out of my library and judging by the quality of it, it has never been played before - LOL - pristine disk

This was a documentary with some of the actors from Carl's films - it takes a timeline view of his work and ends with the last two films we saw - if you were a massive fan I could see why you'd want to watch this - I've watched similar films with Satyajit Ray - (who man, we are years away from getting to in this catalog)

Anyhow....I started it a 2nd time cause I was multitasking the first time and thought it deserved the credit - even made a copy cause it's so freaking hard to find - it was just a nice feature and I got thru it - onward!

RB

#127 - Gertrud

I believe we have another play here adapted into a movie, Dreyer's last one.   This one was really a struggle to hold my interest - I won't lie - I might have bounced into TikTok a few times and had to rewind - I won't pretend to write a lot here - I'm honestly....just glad it's done

Lots of long dialog and extended 10 minute shots about a woman in a loveless marriage, drawn to a man who doesn't love her, and rejecting a 3rd man who has never gotten over her.   When she flees for new adventures at the end you expect the story to end but instead you skip ahead 30 years to an old spinster sitting along wondering whether she made the right choices or not

Anyways...gonna need nitrous or weed to watch this one again - sorry, Carl

RB