Author: Sasa

Rashomon

There is a great danger when you look up beforehand what a certain story is going to be. In the case of “Rashomon”, I expected a crime story whose truth is going to be gradually revealed. Certainly this was actually the case, but ultimately the versions of the crime story given by the people at the place were not too utterly different. I wanted drama and action!

Well, what can I say. The story itself makes a lot of sense, and I am happy to have seen it finally. It was extremely well done, the actors were absolutely brilliant (especially Mr. Mifune here) and I was also a big fan of the sweet end of the story. But then again, there is something I find utterly underwhelming about the film. I am always very vary of the first ranks in those “greatest movies of all times” lists. I think that “Singin’ in the Rain” is great, but not that great to warrant being number 9 (the same thing goes for “Battleship Potemkin” or, oh my God, “Casablanca”). In the same way, I was just not that impressed by the film. It was supposed to be a good story, which it was, but nothing more. People seem to see deeper philosophical meaning behind it, and it inspired other artists and even theorists, but in my opinion, this is just a film that self-proclaimed intellectuals can boost with, because it’s not that difficult to do.

I do see a great potential in Kurosawa’s films though. I like his very Western style a lot, because it comes off as very natural to me, and so far prefer him over Ozu’s style (even though I am a big fan of “Ukigusa”). We’ll see; one day I have to see “Seven Samurai” after all – and all his other films.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Or so it seems. Whereas both of them suffer horribly from overload of testosterone, I see an incredible beauty in Western stories now that I have seen some of John Ford’s beginnings. My background with Western is very weird though – most of it comes from reading Disney parodies (these Donald Duck in the Wild West stories in the Lustiges Taschenbuch), but I barely have seen any actual Western films.

With science-fiction it’s pretty much the other way around: I have seen a few of the classics very early and perhaps my first genre-crush in terms of books was, in fact, dystopian science-fiction. But most science-fiction is actually not very good, and there is a big difference between those that are thoughtful mind games and others which are only supposed to tell a story – unfortunately often in a very shitty way. “The Day the Earth Stood Still” probably had the silliest message I have ever seen in science-fiction, and while it beautifully appeals the every human’s most superficial wish – peace on this world – I don’t think this film has any valuable contribution to that. Even though the aforementioned wish is universal, the way the message was carried out and the context of WWII which just ended are enough for me to find this film to be awfully dated. (The bad special effects don’t help either, but normally I find those to be rather cate.)

Ultimately it is a good story, and most of all, I have actually enjoyed the alien’s friendship with the little boy, as random as it might sound. I know that this film is something of a cult and many people have grown up with it, but as for myself, I hope it is going to be a relic from the past like certain 80’s films as well.

Holiday

This is the problem with playing it safe when choosing films to see: It is increasingly tough for them to exceed your expectations if you already have very concrete expectations of the film. As for me, I think that screwball comedies are my favorite genre of all times, but then again – how many I have seen! For many reasons, I assume that nothing can dethrone “His Girl Friday” as my favorite, very closely followed by “The Shop around the Corner”. Even in terms of screwball love comedies with Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn, I’d say that “Bringing Up Baby” was better because it had so much more energy.

But what can I say, ultimately this is a very lovely screwball comedy after all. There are a few more I am particularly interested in but at this point I have probably seen the major ones. I wonder why there isn’t all that much more, but maybe it is not too easy to come up with a good story, good lines and good actors. Plus there are comedies, such as “The Women” which cannot technically be classified as screwball even though the humor comes very close.

Ultimately I suppose I don’t really buy this “man wants to marry woman but falls in love with her sister” kind of story, especially since (yet again?) Cary Grant’s role did not seem to have much of a choice than having to “settle” for the sister since the fiancée didn’t want to go with him. It is just ultimately not a story where the main couple displayed all that much chemistry, but some of the characters (the friends, the brother!) as well as many wonderful scenes (“It looks like me”) saved the day. I laughed out loud a few times, though perhaps Cary Grant’s clumsy face alone makes me want to burst into laughter.

But still, “Bringing Up Baby” had a much better, fierce Katherine Hepburn. This is an absolutely great film in itself, it just can’t compare to certain others of its genre.

12 Angry Men

The premise is great, there is no doubt about that: There is a sure-fire case and the whole movie discusses nothing but, well, the jury’s discussion. I think there is a certain beauty associated with that: A film that does not try to be too much, but delivers one simple story effectively.

This is one of those films that is so brilliant that its bad points stand out more than if it were ‘merely’ a mediocre film. First, I didn’t like how some of the characters were too easy to see through. Especially the racist guy’s final monologue was excruciatingly long and painful because of that – nobody would ever talk like this, even though aspects of its speech were exactly mirroring certain people’s (“I have a lot of gay friends” or “Of course there are exceptions”). But nowadays, racists are beyond the point of saying things like these which would uncover them as obviously racist, people are much more subtle, making it so much more difficult to talk to them. Second, I am not a huge fan at how the main character was bringing out one argument at a time. It’s wonderful for the film’s development and suspense that goes with it, but I just find it too unbelievable for its own good. Most of all, though, I was horribly annoyed at how some of the arguments were played out. At first, some guy wanted to say “not guilty”, was asked why to which he replied something like “I can make my own decisions, I don’t have to tell you”. Later on, somebody else wanted to plead “not guilty”, is being asked the same thing but for no reason is being forced to give reasons. This movie is a little bit too partial for its own good, and slightly inconsistent at that.

But, what can I say – wonderful premise and absolutely great execution; the actors were fairly brilliant. This film could (might?) have been shot on a budget and would work perfectly as a theatre play. Maybe I am partial to the type of film that could as well have been a theatre play, but in many ways, this is quite a unique yet simple story. I think this is something quite educational for children to see indeed.

Coco Before Chanel

I’m not sure if I liked the movie. There is not all that much to say about it, and to be honest, most of the story is absolutely forgetful. It’s a very, very typical biography in which you don’t really know if it’s supposed to be a love story or not, with the intent of depicting a real person’s life, all the while knowing that this depiction is disgustingly unfaithful to the true Coco Chanel.

So perhaps my biggest annoyance with the film is indeed how un-truthful it is to Coco Chanel – that she is not that ‘cool’ of a woman; that her views of life are perhaps not exactly how she is described in this film, considering that she has had love affairs throughout her life, and used her connections extensively. She had a great style, but I really am not sure whether she is more influential because of her style but more because she knew all those people. We used to look down on women who sleep through the world to get what they want, but it seems like there is the Napoleon effect here: If you made it big, suddenly you have to be viewed as revolutionary woman who is ambitious instead of slutty.

At any rate though, I am very in love with the Coco in the film. She is a lovely young lady and even if I don’t quite always agree with her treatment of the poor baron, she puts on an attitude which I adore very much. Everybody wants to be somebody, especially when you are proud and talented, and I think it is portrayed in a lovely way here.

Ultimately I don’t recommend this film to anybody else, considering that I watched it for three reasons: a) Audrey Tautou, b) Anne Fontaine, c) the clothing style of Mademoiselle Chanel. Apart from that, there really is absolutely no reason. I wonder when they will make a movie on Vivienne Westwood – women in fashion are indeed so much more fascinating. Why is it that we have to let men dictate what we wear, after all?

Patriotism

A must after seeing Mishima, of course. Oh my God, I can’t believe they are lying in a zen garden at the end of the movie. So, nothing actually happens in the film, and the storyline is very obvious ever since the beginning. However, I have strangely enjoyed the slow pacing of the film – it did not exactly feel slow at all, because the slowness suits its atmosphere perfectly. (Plus, it was accompanied by lovely yet dramatic music.)

What can I say, right now, this film feels like an addendum to Schrader’s Mishima film, except it was very exciting to see the actual Mishima as an actor here, as expected. You really don’t need to be that much of a actor to pull this film off, or so it seems to me, so the mood of the film was perfectly incorporated by the characters.

Considering that this is Mishima’s only film I suspect that Mishima just wanted to lie around naked with that actress, but on a second thought, he was sort of gay after all.

PS. This was the 69th Criterion movie I have seen. Quite special indeed, especially right after Salò.

Salò or 120 Days of Sodom

Of course it’s entirely different, but both films had the capability of making me want to stop watching and never go back again. It’s probably the most impressing film I have seen in a long time, and I don’t know if I can recommend it or not. In terms of human cruelty, this film is worse than I imagine Lilja 4-ever could ever be. Ultimately we just really don’t see that much cruelty, and this film itself is no exception. The worst scenes (the ones in which the characters are tortured to death) are only seen through the lenses of opera glasses so that you can’t actually see blood or torture.

The hour after seeing about half of the film and skipping through the rest, I have ranted on how the film made an impression on him. It made me wonder why we are so cruel and weak at the same time. I feel ashamed to be human; and that I was no better than them after all – I am one of the soldiers dancing at the end of the film. Ughh. I also watched the film shortly before going to sleep, and really, even though the film’s esthetics are impressive, I could not help but want to puke when the play with excrements was starting and by the end, I felt nauseating… That was how bad it is. You don’t really want to see them put male genitals on fire, not really.

I admire the male character who ran out of the car at the very beginning. He was shot immediately and definitely had the most dignified death out of all of them – and the most painless too.

So, all in all, this film was an experience and I am glad to have stumbled upon it, but I think I am still too much in shock to say anything substantial about it. I did think that it was a wonderful portrait of humanity (and its perverseness) though.