Month: April 2022

Posted on 2022-04-10 | No Comments |

Flesh and the Devil (1926)

When German soldier John Gilbert is sent away to Africa as punishment for killing Greta Garbo’s husband in a duel, his best friend Lars Hanson marries his love while he’s away. While it’s a bit disappointing to see Garbo blamed for the actions of all the men, the theme of friendship through the film is sweet, especially to the point where the characters regularly meet on an island they’ve dubbed the Isle of Friendship. For a silent era film, I was impressed by a number of the perspective choices through the film. There’s a hokey alternate ending that was included on the DVD that I’m really glad was not used in the actual release.

Posted on 2022-04-09 | No Comments |

Amarcord (1973)

It is hard to not immediately compare this to The Hand of God as they are both Italian films featuring a teenager as he comes of age surrounded by a cast of eccentric characters. It’s obvious this influenced that other film. While I’m still rather done with films centered on white, teenaged boys, especially when they all seem to feature adults sexually taking advantage of children, this one exceeds the others as it allows the focus to move away from the boys and let the other characters have time to shine. Set in a Northern Italian seaside village during the 1930s Mussolini era, it offers a real sense of time and place while also having just enough surreal, dreaminess to invoke a feeling of nostalgic memory.

Oscar Win: Best Foreign Language Film

Oscar Nominations: Best Director; Best Writing, Original Screenplay

Posted on 2022-04-09 | No Comments |

Story of a Dog (1945)/One Survivor Remembers (1996)

As a dog lover, it’s difficult to enjoy Story of a Dog. The film follows a group of dogs as they go through Basic Training so they can serve with their trainers during World War II. The dogs are forced into unnatural situations, such as remaining calm during gun fire, just to fight in man’s war.

Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissmann Klein died this month, so I thought it was a good time to watch the short film that serves as her testimony, One Survivor Remembers. As the only survivor of her family, she was sent to various work camps along the German border, finally forced into a months long death march which killed all of her remaining friends, only to finally be liberated by the man she would eventually marry. Unlike some other Holocaust films that can verge on tragedy porn, this one maintains a steadfast focus on Gerda’s gracious telling of her story.

Oscar Win: Best Documentary, Short Subjects (One Survivor Remembers)

Oscar Nominations: Best Short Subject, One-reel (Story of a Dog)

Posted on 2022-04-09 | No Comments |

West Side Story (2021)

When this remake of West Side Story was announced, I wondered what purpose it could possibly serve. The 1961 version has received high acclaim since it was made and seems better situated to exemplify the preceding decade. After watching this film, my misgivings weren’t allayed. In this take on Romeo and Juliet, Rachel Zegler, whose brother David Alvarez is a leader among the Sharks, spontaneously falls in love with Ansel Elgort, a former member of rival gang the Jets. While the film doesn’t establish their ages, the actors look as if there is about a fifteen year difference. It also doesn’t help that Elgort is rather weak in the role, particularly when he’s singing with the much talented Zegler. Overall there are some bad (constantly overpowering the view of the actors with light sources), neutral (changing the tomboy character to a trans man and the Jewish doc to Rita Moreno), and some great changes (little bits of added backstory and casting Latinx actors who intersperse more Spanish into their dialogue) but as a whole don’t give enough difference in vision to explain why anyone wanted to make this version happen.

Oscar Win: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Oscar Nominations: Best Motion Picture of the Year; Best Achievement in Production Design; Best Sound; Best Achievement in Costume Design; Best Achievement in Cinematography; Best Achievement in Directing

Posted on 2022-04-09 | No Comments |

San Antonio (1945)

Cattle rustling is rampant in Texas and Errol Flynn has the evidence that Paul Kelly is responsible. He has to survive the general lawlessness of San Antonio and the attraction to visiting singer Alexis Smith in order to arrest his prey. The stakes don’t feel particularly high in this film, but there is plenty of gun-play especially in a full-throttle, no holds barred, barroom brawl. The costumes are prettier and less rugged than a John Wayne western, but that helps to highlight the athleticism and charm of Flynn.

Oscar Nominations: Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color; Best Music, Original Song

Posted on 2022-04-09 | No Comments |

56 Up (2012)

While I recently watched both 49 Up and 56 Up, this is my review for the majority of the series. For 56 years, director Michael Apted revisited a group of Britons every seven years to establish the changes that individuals undergo in life. While Apted only worked with the director of the first installment, that one began with the idea that you could see the adult person simply by looking at that person at the age of seven. I have no idea how really true that is (I personally think there are some hints in comparing the progress as they age), but it is truly a gift that this group allowed the world a glimpse into their lives and the wisdom they have to share in being compelled to reflect on the turns their lives take every seven years. It’s very personal to try to compare myself at various ages, particularly when watching the episodes most close to my current age, and feeling how universal some milestones are.

Posted on 2022-04-08 | No Comments |

The Gay Parisian (1941)/ Forty Boys and a Song (1941)

The Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo interprets the story of The Gay Parisian, about a visiting Peruvian falls in love with a dancer who is already in love with a baron, through dance. It’s rather chaotic with many people on the set dancing at once, which made me glad for the introductions to all the main characters before the start. The costumes and set are beautifully expansive as a result.

In 1934 Robert Mitchell established a special school for young boys that forms the choir shown in Forty Boys and a Song. The film features scenes with the boys in class and on a camping trip, all as a showcase for the singing talents of the choir. I like little behind the scenes shorts on Hollywood such as this. The choir performed in over 100 feature films over the years, including the Best Picture winner Going My Way.

Oscar Nominations: Best Short Subject, Two-reel (The Gay Parisian); Best Short Subject, One-reel (Forty Boys and a Song)

Posted on 2022-04-08 | No Comments |

The V.I.P.s (1963)

A group of rich and famous people are majorly inconvenienced when they are stranded at Heathrow Airport due to fog. The film delves into all the mundane details of the rich people problems that these rich, white people are facing and how the delay could bring ruin to each of them. It’s generally boring, particularly as it insists on focusing mainly on Elizabeth Taylor leaving Richard Burton for a more appealing younger man. Even young Maggie Smith is underutilized as a secretary unrequitedly in love with her boss The airport setting is somewhat fun, particularly in its period details, and Margaret Rutherford is a delight, though also underused, as a scatterbrained duchess trying to save her family’s estate.

Oscar Win: Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Posted on 2022-04-08 | No Comments |

Dracula’s Daughter (1936)

Beginning immediately where the events of Dracula left off, Dracula’s daughter Gloria Holden steals her father’s body and begins her quest to remove the vampiric curse from her person. Most of the acting and writing holds up to 1930s B-film standards, including two bungling British detectives and a weird romance between the doctor Holden hires to help her and his shrill secretary. But it has great atmosphere and Holden is a sight to behold. She’s equal parts vulnerable and tortured while also maintaining a completely commanding presence. Attempts to reign in her sexuality, too overt even by Pre-Code standards, were incapable of smothering her raw sensuality or Sapphic undertones.

Posted on 2022-04-08 | No Comments |

The Sandpiper (1965)

Single mother and artist Elizabeth Taylor’s delinquent son is forced by the courts to attend headmaster Richard Burton’s school. Though he is married to Eva Marie Saint, he begins an affair with the free-spirited Taylor. All the men in the film seem to have been in love with Liz at some point and she is really gorgeous in the film. I suppose audiences at the time might have enjoyed Taylor and Burton carrying on an extramarital affair onscreen in a way that somewhat mirrored their own lives, but I personally don’t feel much chemistry between the two of them. I relate most to Saint’s level-headed, sensible character and the film wastes her power.

Oscar Win: Best Music, Original Song