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