Month: August 2021

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Resurrection (1980)

After surviving a car wreck that killed her husband, Ellen Burstyn discovers she has the power to heal. Unfortunately the Bible thumpers in her hometown, including potential love interest Sam Shepard and her own father, can’t just let her do her thing and require that she dedicate her powers to their god. There is also a bit of additional religiosity in the portrayal of an afterlife, but the incredibly talented Burstyn commands the entire film with a serene agnosticism which carries the whole power of the film.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress in a Leading Role; Best Actress in a Supporting Role

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The Ascent (1977)

I unfortunately shouldn’t have watched this so soon after Come and See (directed by the husband of Larisa Shepitko, this film’s director). The setting and themes being so similar probably lessened the impact here. The story here is more focused, settling on one day’s experiences of two partisans who are sent to search for food and find themselves directly interacting with Germans. The events here are just as harrowing; the feelings of hunger, cold, and the deep snow palpable. War changes everyone; the two men discover that many of those changes come from the choices one is forced to make.

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Deluge (1933)

This is like the granddaddy of all disaster films. I’m super happy that an English version was finally re-found. Luckily it starts with a Biblical quote so you can be certain that what comes next is all fiction. They don’t even bother at all giving a real explanation for the disaster just a vague ‘barometer falling’ and an unexplained solar eclipse. The viewer just needs to know that the world is falling apart. And indeed those lovely models of NYC fall apart in hundreds of different ways. Luckily there’s enough to salvage for the survivors to be clothed and fed beautifully, but the story then becomes rather drawn-out and boring. Poor Peggy Shannon has to spend too much time running, and swimming, away from awful men. In all seriousness when rebuilding a new society, you really shouldn’t hold yourself to the stodgy conventions of the old. Build back better!

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Lust, Caution (2007)

Watching the NC-17 version, I have never seen such lengthy explicit sex scenes outside of porn. While framed beautifully, I’m not sure the exact purpose the length of these scenes offered to the narrative. The rest of this tale, set in China during the days of World War II, is similarly beautiful. Tang Wei is transformative in her lead role. She believably switches from shy college student who is a member of a patriotic drama club to worldly, seductive spy bent on assassinating an agent of the Japanese puppet government and back again several times over the course of the film. Tension is held throughout the film and there are incredible subtleties in the performances of each character as their expressions do and don’t bely their feelings.

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One Eyed Jacks (1961)

I truly don’t understand Marlon Brando’s acting. He certainly has a presence on screen, but his weird, mumbly elocution pulls me away from his characters almost every time. His direction is similarly uneven. There are scenes where it seems he’s going for ultra-realism, but then it’d veer into the convenient coincidences of any light-weight film. Here he’s Rio, a bank robber who was deserted by his partner, played by Karl Malden, when they are tailed by the Mexican police after one of their big scores. Later escaping from prison, he’s dead-set on revenge. Malden, now a sheriff, won’t let that happen, though his motivations, along with those of deputy Slim Pickens, are questionable beyond that. Katy Jurado plays his new wife and the beautiful Pilar Pellicer is his stepdaughter. The love story between Pellicer and Brando comes out of nowhere and there is no chemistry whatsoever, but the beach setting is both gorgeous and unusual in a Western.

Oscar Nomination: Best Cinematography, Color

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The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)

Ugh, this film took me forever and more than one watching to get through. My lack of interest in the subject was not helped by a poor quality print and the fact that Franchot Tone and Richard Cromwell look a lot alike. Those two men are newcomers to a regiment of British soldiers during the days of the British Raj. One is a cocky, seasoned soldier and the other is a newly commissioned officer and son of the Colonel. Gary Cooper’s job is to guide these new recruits. The story of the three soldiers is familiar and was done much better in other films of the era, Gunga Din, The Four Feathers, and Beau Geste to name a few.   Best Picture Nomination

Oscar Win: Best Assistant Director

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture; Best Director; Best Writing, Screenplay; Best Art Direction; Best Sound, Recording; Best Film Editing

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Tiny: The Life of Erin Blackwell (2016)

After watching Streetwise, I had wanted to see this follow-up to the life of Erin Blackwell. There had been a couple of other short updates over the years. I wish I had watched those before seeing this one as they provide a much better introduction than immediately starting with Erin’s more recent life. This film jumps between original footage from Streetwise to the shorts to recent footage with little division or clarity even to which of Erin’s ten children are being featured. I wish they had chosen to include an intro similar to the Up series and then jumped into the current update instead of interspersing the timelines. While there is evidently a pattern to be seen from generation to generation, there is no commentary on that or any other contemporary issues that could be explored with the subjects. The film stays solely in the Where Are They Now category.

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You’re a Big Boy Now (1966)

One of Francis Ford Coppola’s earlier works, You’re a Big Boy Now is ostensibly a comedy. While it is certainly light hearted, the comedy is completely absurd rather than bringing forth any actual laughs. Peter Kastner’s Bernard is a 19 year old virgin who still lives with his parents. When his father decides it’s time to leave the nest, he moves from Great Neck to Manhattan and tries to hook up with a former classmate and a sexy misandrist. The characters are one dimensional and the plot doesn’t go much further than that. There is a very cute Old English sheepdog named either Dog or Rover.

Oscar Nomination: Best Actress in a Supporting Role

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Harry and Tonto (1974)

When they are evicted from their NYC apartment, Harry and his cat Tonto are given opportunities to live with various friends and relatives. Instead, what they end up doing is journeying across the US that the circumstances of life had discouraged them from undertaking earlier in life. Turning away from the cranky old man trope, Art Carney’s Harry takes the various events and obstacles that come his way in a good-natured, straight-forward way, only displaying any anger when someone tries to separate him from his cat. Tonto on the other hand looks displeased at his lot in life during almost all moments save when he’s eating.

Oscar Win: Best Actor in a Leading Role

Oscar Nomination: Best Writing, Original Screenplay

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Late Spring (1949)

Almost immediately after watching a film directed by Yasujirō Ozu, I forget all the details I have just seen. His films are like a gentle breeze to just ride along in the moment. While the events portrayed are undoubtedly important to the characters, there is no pressure or urgency for the viewer. 27 year old Noriko wants nothing more than to just live her days as a companion to her widowed father. Unfortunately everyone else thinks it’s way past time for her to be married. Post-World War 2 Japan adds complexity as the country and its people were re-evaluating their identity both by choice and as forced by their occupiers. Setsuko Hara’s Noriko is dutiful, self-sacrificing, and unwilling to rock convention, but her facial expressions betray the words she speaks.

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