Auf Wiedersehen

All good things--and this blog--must come to an end.

Fantômas

Fantômas (1998 Artificial Eye DVD)

Directed by Louis Feuillade

France, 1913-14

Silent with French intertitles and an English translation

(see review at Caravana de recuerdos)

Missing

Missing (2008 DVD)

Directed by Costa-Gavras

USA, 1982

In English and Spanish with English subtitles

(see the review at Caravana de recuerdos)

Let the Right One In

Låt den rätte komma in [Let the Right One In]
Directed by Tomas Alfredson
Sweden, 2008
In Swedish with English subtitles

"Would you still like me if I wasn't a girl?" is the question of the hour in this new Swede vampire flick set in a grim and wintry 1982, an atmospheric snowbound thriller that pairs intermittently gory scenes with a sweet love story between two twelve year old outcasts. The problem with all this is that one of the kids, the otherwise adorable Eli (Lina Leandersson, nearly perfect here), prefers human blood to candy, a trait that will severely test her ties to the socially-awkward, constantly-bullied Oskar (Kare Hedebrant, also convincing) who clearly has some measure of blood lust of his own due to the abuse he takes at school. Although the scenes of vampire carnage are almost entirely goofy in comparison to the chilling way that the first victim is done in by a human predator at the beginning of the movie, director Alfredson still deserves props for his great visual style, an accomplished use of silence and sound (Per Gessle's garagey "Kvar i min bil" is even reminiscent of Jeanette's "¿Porque te vas?" in Cría Cuervos), and for coming up with a non-sexual "romance" as convincing as it is unconventional. Worth seeing but nowhere near as flawless as some people would have you believe. Rating: 3/5 stars.

Lina Leandersson really sinks her teeth into the role of Eli

The Scarlet Empress

The Scarlet Empress (2001 DVD)
Directed by Josef von Sternberg
USA, 1934
In English

Although movie buffs of all persuasions have tended to portray this as a "camp classic" over the years, I can only agree with the first half of that description. Marlene Dietrich, a/k/a the sex symbol who's not very sexy, and John Lodge, sort of a poor man's Clark Gable, are downright ridiculous in their performances as Catherine the Great and one of her many legions of lovers here, and the film as a whole sports some of the worst acting and dialogue you'll ever see outside of an Ashton Kutcher vehicle--not that I've ever seen any of those beyond the TV spots! Control freak Von Sternberg's stupendous images, justly-famous lighting, and gargoyle-filled sets do make this worth taking a look at, but even Sam Jaffe's hysterical turn as royal halfwit Grand Duke Peter and some occasional moments of Buñuelesque humor (a shot of a man being used as a human clapper inside a gigantic bell suddenly dissolving into a scene of the frisky young princess riding on a swing; the take where an imperial doctor loses his wig while performing a just pre-code gynecological exam of the future empress to assess her potential for bringing a male heir to the Russian throne) make it hard to overlook the casting deficiencies. All in all, a rather inept film for the sound era but one that might have deserved the hype as a silent. (http://www.criterion.com/)

"Catherine the Great" and horse put an end to the rumors

Salvatore Giuliano

Salvatore Giuliano (2004 DVD)

Directed by Francesco Rosi

Italy, 1961

In Italian with English subtitles

(see the review at Caravana de recuerdos)

Eastern Promises

Eastern Promises (2008 DVD)
Directed by David Cronenberg
Canada and UK, 2007
In English with subtitles in French and Spanish

Well-crafted but ultimately unsatisfying mob film about the Russian mafia in London. While Viggo Mortensen (nominated for a Best Actor Oscar) and Naomi Watts do standout work as a mob "driver" and a midwife whose lives cross after a 14-year old sex trafficking victim from Russia dies in labor at the midwife's hospital, the actors who portray father and son villains Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl) and Kirill (Vincent Cassel) are annoyingly cartoonish as they try to outwit rival Chechens and each other. I'm willing to give Cronenberg some sort of serious props for making this normally jaded moviegoer flinch at least three times due to the in-your-face nature of the onscreen violence, but the film as a whole suffers from an increasingly implausible storyline and a pat ending that betrays the significance of its major themes. "Stylish" but a bit of a dud. Rating: 2.5/5 stars. (http://www.universalstudioshomeentertainment.com/)

La Roue

La Roue (2008 DVD)
Directed by Abel Gance
France, 1922
Silent with English intertitles

• Sisif: "There are no flowers amid the rails for us, son. You realize that, don't you? And if by some miracle one should blossom some day, we can be forgiven for reaching out for it."

Visually impressive, narratively underwhelming silent film effort from '20s legend Abel Gance. The lumbering pace of this four and a half hour "modern tragedy" only starts to pick up steam halfway into the movie, so take me off of the list of those tearing their hair out over the loss of the missing two and half hours of footage. Sure, it'd be nice to have that film back for historic purposes, but Gance has more than enough time to dwell on his characters' various beatdowns by the wheel of fortune. With an approach somewhat reminiscent of Zola re:the suffering of the working classes, Gance basically spends the film version of an eternity mapping out the story of Norma, a young orphaned survivor of a train wreck, who gets illicitly "adopted" by soot-faced master engineer Sisif (Séverin-Mars). Brought up as a baby sister alongside fellow motherless baby Elie, the adult Norma (Miss Ivy Close) eventually grows up both pretty and carefree--a bit of a problem since she and the sensitive, violin-making Elie (Gabriel de Gravone) begin to develop an "unhealthy" affection for each other. Others interested in Norma's charms include both the man she knows as Papa and a wealthy rail magnate named Monsieur de Hersan (Pierre Magnier), who uses the family's extreme poverty as an excuse to try to buy his way into Norma's affection. While a wealth of literary quotations (and a translator's misspelling of Baudelaire, tsk tsk!) help Gance hammer his heavyhanded points home in a manner much less worthy of praise than Léonce-Henry Burel's inventive cinematography and special effects, I must admit that I eventually warmed to the characters in a sort of cinematic Stockholm Syndrome. Rating: 3/5 freedom stars. (http://www.flickeralley.com/)

Norma, Sisif, and Toby the dog

Chandu the Magician

Chandu the Magician (2008 DVD)
Directed by Marcel Varnel and William Cameron Menzies
USA, 1932
In English with French and Spanish subtitles

Chandu the Magician, one of three discs in the Fox Horror Classics, Vol. 2 collection that came out about a month or so ago, is a super-cheesy thriller that's probably more like a serial adventure than a horror classic when it comes down to it. I had a decent enough time watching it due to the old school special effects, "exotic" set designs, and clever cinematography that it's become somewhat famous for (face it, any film having to do with astral projection and death rays can't be all bad--and that one imitation thrill-ride dolly shot in the Egyptian rock temple is a real winner), but unimaginably bland lead Edmund Lowe is almost entirely devoid of charisma in the title role of the ex-army captain turned Indian-trained yogi known as Chandu the Magician. While the hero's lack of acting chops and wispy moustache will surely make you want to root for the bad guys, Irene Ware (undeniably lovely as Chandu's love interest, the Princess Nadji) and Bela Lugosi (at his hammy best as Chandu's nemesis, the megalomanical Roxor) help this film salvage a Gambling with Countess Dusy Told rating of 2.5/5 stars--by any sane person's standards, a good 2.5 stars more of entertainment than that full-on dud The Prestige from 2006! (http://www.foxhome.com/)

Irene Ware

Der Letzte Mann

Der Letzte Mann (2006 DVD)

Dirigida por F.W. Murnau

Alemania, 1922

Silente

Se puede encontrar la reseña aquí.

Technicolor Dreams

Rancho Notorious
Directed by Fritz Lang
USA, 1952

This was the first of two back-to-back movies I saw last Monday night as part of the Harvard Film Archive's Technicolor Dreams series. While not without some snappy dialogue and the occasional artfully-crafted scene, Lang's garish-looking, extremely melodramatic western is basically a dud when it comes right down to it. Some of the material's datedness is to be expected, of course, but Arthur Kennedy is horribly miscast as the whiny, revenge-minded "tough guy" Vern and then there's this annoying cowboy song on the soundtrack called "The Legend of Chuck-a-Luck" that goes on and on about "hate, murder and revenge" with very little subtlety. Marlene Dietrich and Mel Ferrer are kind of amusing as troubled lovers Altar Keane and Frenchy Fairmont, but this is easily the least interesting/worst acted work I've seen in quite a while.

Madigan

Directed by Don Siegel

USA, 1968

After that Lang letdown, Siegel's Madigan was quite a lot of fun. One of the canonical late-60s/early-70s NYC cop movies in which all the police and criminals still seemed to know each other by name, this film is aided and abetted by an excellent ensemble cast, a high-energy pace with the requisite dialogue to match ("Can I fix you a drink?" Detective Madigan is asked. "Yeah, easy on the water."), and the urban decay of the Big Apple captured in all its technicolor glory. Adultery, police corruption, and race relations all intrude on the story without overwhelming it, but this is basically a hard-boiled buddy movie about a pair of semi-dirty detectives (played with panache by Richard Widmark and Harry Guardino) trying to keep the bad guys off the streets and their wives off their backs. Recommended.

• Viewed at the Harvard Film Archive (Cambridge, MA) on 7/7/08.

Encounters at the End of the World

Encounters at the End of the World

Directed by Werner Herzog

USA, 2007

Click here for review at Caravana de recuerdos.

Asphalt

Asphalt (2006 DVD)

Directed by Joe May

Germany, 1929

Silent with English intertitles

See review at Caravana de recuerdos.

La Voie lactée

La Voie lactée (2007 DVD)

Directed by Luis Buñuel

France, 1969

In French with English subtitles

Click here for a bilingual review at

Caravana de recuerdos.

Haz click aquí para una reseña bilingüe a

Caravana de recuerdos.

The Most Dangerous Game

The Most Dangerous Game (1999 DVD)
Directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack and Irving Pichel
USA, 1932
In English

I hadn't seen this movie since I was a kid, but I became super interested in seeing it again after it was mentioned a couple of times in David Fincher's riveting 2007 true crime epic Zodiac. Oft considered something of a dress rehearsal for King Kong both because of the people involved and its use of that cool Kong set, The Most Dangerous Game takes a genuinely creepy idea--man hunting man for sport--from Richard Connell's prize-winning short story, throws in some creaky anthropological observations about civilization and savages, and then milks the subject for all the entertainment value it's worth. Joel McCrea is OK in his starring role as American sportsman-turned-survivalist Bob Rainsford and Fay Wray is sufficiently swoon-worthy as the damsel in distress/jungle eye candy Eve Trowbridge, but it's Leslie Banks' crazy Count Zaroff who gets all the juicy lines and close-ups in this game of island bloodsport he memorably equates with a round of "outdoor chess." To my surprise, the film provides way more of an adrenaline rush than I'd ever remembered: a lean 63 minutes of thrills and adventure that'll make you pity anybody who's ever had to suffer through a Lucas or Spielberg movie at nearly twice that length. But I digress. (http://www.criterion.com/)

A rarely-seen still in which R-Lo comforts Fay Wray and hopes his wife doesn't find out about it!

La Niña santa

La Niña santa (2005 DVD)
Dirigida por Lucrecia Martel
Argentina, 2004
En español con subtítulos en inglés o francés

Aunque no me gustó tanto la película anterior de Martel (La Ciénaga, 2001), me encanta esta atrevida continuación de los sucesos que tienen lugar al ficticio Hotel Termas en la provincia de Salta. El argumento tiene que ver con lo que pasa cuando se celebra un congreso de medicina al hotel. Un día, un tal Dr. Jano (Carlos Belloso) la toca obscenamente a Amalia (María Alché) en la calle, un acto que suscita una desconcertante mezcla de emociones en la adolescente. Influida por su grupo de reflexión católica, la joven empieza preguntarse si el encuentro podría ser "una llamada" desde El Señor para salvar al hombre del pecado. "Es cosa mía", la dice a su amiga Josefina (Julieta Zylberberg), "es mi misión, ya yo sé". Como con Hables con ella de Almodóvar, esta materia delicada está manejada con destreza y sutileza. La actuación de Alché y Belloso es impecable, y Martel contrasta los temas de la enfermedad y la curación, la pasión sexual y la compasión celestial con gran autodominio. ¡Un fuerte aplauso! (http://www.hbo.com/)

Lucrecia Martel

Anna Boleyn

Anna Boleyn (2007 DVD)
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
Germany, 1920
Silent with English intertitles

I don't know much about the flesh and blood Anne Boleyn other than the small amount I looked up today, but Ernst Lubitsch's 1920 big budget historical drama about the famous 16th century British queen/royal beheading victim seems to offer up a reasonably accurate portrayal of her from a sympathetic perspective. Henny Porten does a decent enough job at eliciting admiring glances and/or sympathy as the onscreen Anna of die Titelrolle (below, unfortunately appearing in one of her many uniformly unattractive pieces of women's headgear), but evil Emil Jannings steals the show as the gluttonous, womanizing serial husband King Henry VIII in a performance that's like a spiritual ancestor of Forest Whitaker's take on Idi Amin. Wow! While the two-hour narrative does tend to drift a bit in spots from my perhaps unduly caffeinated point of view, Javier Perez de Azpeitia's regal piano track, some elaborate crowd sequences, and a perfectly-realized final scene make this well worth taking a look at if you get the chance. Otherwise, heads will roll! (http://www.kino.com/)

"I heard say the executioner was very good, and I have a little neck."

(words attributed to the real-life Anne Boleyn)

Ascenseur por l'échafaud

Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (2006 DVD)

Directed by Louis Malle

France, 1957

In French with English subtitles

Click here for a review on my other blog, Caravana de recuerdos.

Muerte de un ciclista

Muerte de un ciclista (2008 DVD)

Dirigida por Juan Antonio Bardem

España, 1955

En castellano con subtítulos en inglés

Muerte de un ciclista cuenta la historia de Juan Fernandez Soler y María José de Castro, dos burgueses cuya relación adúltera está amenazada cuando ellos huyen de la escena de un accidente después de matar a un ciclista al principio de la película. La cosa se complica cuando los amantes se convierten en víctimas de chantaje a las manos de un tal Rafa, un asunto que introduce los temas del miedo, la paranoia y la conciencia de clase por parte de Bardem. Aunque muchos críticos opinan que la obra es un clásico del cine español en cuanto a sus referencias veladas al franquismo, tengo que decir que su mezcla de neorealismo italiano y melodrama hollywoodense ya me deja un poco frío. Su estructura, su montaje, y la actuación de Alberto Closas como Juan son estupendos, pero hay algo demasiado "teatral" aquí que me distrae un poco también (sea lo que sea, la interpretación del papel del chantajista por Carlos Casaravilla no me hizo buena impresión). En resumen, es un buen film elegantemente rodado pero quizás un poco sobreestimado. (http://www.criterion.com/)

Die Nibelungen

Die Nibelungen (2002 DVD)
Directed by Fritz Lang
Germany, 1924
Silent with English intertitles

Another must-see from Herr Lang! People who have been into silent movies for longer than I have won't be surprised by anything I'm about to say, but I was just blown away by the wave after wave of amazing images Lang's team presented here in the course of this nearly five-hour epic. In part one's Siegfried (Siegfried's Tod) alone, you get the hero's battle with the fire-breathing dragon (below), dwarves turning into stone before your eyes, an animated dream sequence with birds of prey foreshadowing Siegfried's eventual death, and a flaming landscape blocking the road to Brunhild's castle with an aurora borealis in the background. While part two's Kriemhild's Revenge (Kriemhilds Rache) moves away from the more fantastic subject matter to concentrate on its all too human narrative of war and vengeance, the visual spectacle continues with Kriemhild's desolate journey in the snow and multiple battle scenes pitting the Nibelungen against the Huns (Rudolf Klein-Rogge, last seen in 1922's Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler, turns in an almost equally iconic performance here as Attila the Hun himself).

Beyond the visuals, Lang and screenwriter Thea von Harbou offer up a complex story full of powerful, primal emotions set to a dramatic orchestral score (the Munich Radio Orchestra performing Gottfried Huppertz' 1924 original) that pays homage to the bards who "sing" the work's 14 cantos. While Die Nibelungen is sometimes criticized for being overly nationalistic in sentiment (it is indeed "dedicated to the German people" at the outset, and the Huns are portrayed as ape-like savages), I found its exploration of the pros and cons of personal loyalty and heroism to be a lot more nuanced than the contrast between the Nibelungen and the Huns would lead you to believe. Although Paul Richter's somewhat goofy Siegfried and Hanna Ralph's proto-feminist Brunhild have drawn their share of attention over the years, it's actually Margarete Schoen's austere Kriemhild who steals the show with her mesmerizing transformation from medieval trophy wife to the cold, calculating, revenge-minded empress below. She's neither all good nor all bad, something that helps make her the most complicated character of all. But is she a heroine or a traitor for choosing to avenge Siegfried's death at the cost of the annihilation of her royal family? I'll let you decide:

• Attila the Hun: "Thank you, Kriemhild. Although we never were one in love, we are at least one in hatred!"
• Kriemhild: "Never was my heart more filled with love!"

(http://www.kino.com/)

A Cottage on Dartmoor

A Cottage on Dartmoor (2007 DVD)
Directed by Anthony Asquith
UK, 1929
Silent with English intertitles

Since that decadent German aristocrat Herr Graf Ferdinand von Galitzien just weighed in with a more sophisticated analysis of this nitrate in his silent modern-day diary a couple of evenings ago, please bear with me as I add a few unpolished words in praise of this early British thriller from the perspective of a commoner. While deemed "Hitchcockian" by more than a couple of reviewers online, A Cottage on Dartmoor actually seems to have its own take on the manhunt-for-an-escaped-convict-on-the-lam genre that Sir Alfred almost singlehandedly made famous among the fish-and-chips eating peoples of the world. The story is told in flashback after barber Joe (Ugo Henning) falls in love with but is then spurned by his lovely coworker Sally (Norah Baring, a cutie), leading to an unfortunate "accident" involving Sally's new fiancé (Hans Adalbert Schlettow) and a straight razor (played by itself) that's held to his throat a tad too tightly. When Joe gets sent to prison for this crime of passion, he vows revenge, which he seeks to exact during his flight from justice. Asquith's visual style (featuring paired shots dissolving into each other and clever juxtapositions of barbershop chatter about sports with location shots taken at different sporting events) and sense of mischievousness (Joe's silent movie path down the slippery slope of terminal stalkerdom begins when Sally goes out on a date to a talkie filled with assorted bluehairs, unattended children, snorers, and other totally disruptive people still familiar to moviegoers today) constantly keep you guessing where things will lead next, a nice surprise considering how many 21st century tales of jealousy and rage have their outcomes given away in the course of each trailer. A fine effort. (http://www.kino.com/)

Spielen mit Gräfin Dusy Told

"We are bored and tired, Mr. von Wenk! We need sensations of a very special kind to keep us alive!"

--Countess Dusy Told in Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler