This week saw a whole lot of stuff, much more than usual. We've got the end of a television show, two Italian films from the 50's, an impressionistic Terrence Malick-like film, a meta Iranian film, two films from Joe Wright, and a tale of a recent election. It's a lot, but I'm only preparing for what I assume will be less film watching in the summer. Have at it.
Light's Out: Season One (Warren Leight, 2011): I'm going to start this post with a television review. Light's Out first started airing on FX in January, and the ratings it got weren't all that impressive. As a result it was cancelled a couple weeks ago, leaving one complete 13 episode season, but no chance for more. The show was a boxing drama, and lots of emphasis on the drama. In many ways it was similar to "The Fighter" with it's family issues coupled with the chance at boxing success. But where it differed from that movie is the fact that this is a 13-episode series. In addition to tackling issues of family, it also tackles financial issues of retired boxers, medical issues, and corruption. The ideas of the show were big and ambitious, and they were the right way to go. Holt McCallany played the main character, and his performance I think was one of the main reasons this show was good. You felt that even though he used to beat up people for a living, he has a moral compass and has compassion. In general though, I can't say that this was a "great" show, in the same way that my other favorite shows are, but this was a very good one. It was better than most everything else on TV, especially in the third act of the season, and had lots of potential. Even though the show was real good, I'm still not devastated it got cancelled. I wish it got picked up because I felt like there was more story to tell and the show was getting better and better, but the ending of the show was fairly perfect I thought. Even though it was not planned that way, the ending added dimension to the character and to everything we saw in the season.
Grade: B+
Umberto D. (Vittorio De Sica, 1952): The Italian Neo-Realist movement in the 40s and early 50s was notable for the way it broadcast human emotion without any tricks. Everything was as real as can be, and the audience just relies on the similarities of the human condition to sympathize with the characters on screen. The director of this film, Vittorio De Sica, made what is arguably the most influential Neo-Realist film in 1948's "The Bicycle Thieves," he then went on to make this particular film, one of the last of the movement. What I found the film to be most effective at was its depiction of the hardships a retired old man can have. That's essentially what the film is about, an old man struggling with paying his rent. All the man is his dog as he struggles to figure out ways to keep his room. If you've seen Kelly Reichardt's 2008 film "Wendy and Lucy" starring Michelle Williams, you'll find the premise a bit familiar, it's not a remake, but it's fairly similar. The most interesting thing about the movie was that it's main fault might also be one of the most impressive things. The reason the film is not a masterpiece for me, or at least I initially thought it wasn't, was the overly sentimental last act of the film. The film becomes kind of a man loves his dog story, and it's very sentimental and pulls on your heart strings. But the thing is, the film doesn't use stirring music, the characters don't cry, there are no people running after anyone, it's all very real. The fact that I thought this film was overly sentimental, even though the film never used the familiar sentimentality achieving techniques is very impressive.
Grade: B+
George Washington (David Gordon Green, 2000): If you're a film buff of movies only released in the last 5 years, you will only know David Gordon Green as the guy who has directed crude comedy films like "Pineapple Express" and the recently released "Your Highness." But as you'll see in this post, Green used to be an incredibly talented and poetic filmmaker. This was his first film, he also did three more indies of which I've seen one ("All The Real Girls"). This particular film makes an amazing impression on the viewer by way of the photography, acting, and pace. The movie is very slow paced, the first third of the film is more of a slice-of-life type of deal, where it's just rural kids talking about stuff. One of the kids though accidentally dies when they're playing, and that one situation engineers the main crux of the film, which is how people react to crises. A couple of the kids are scared, and it makes them want to run away, another one though feels like he needs to amend his action and decides to do good. The rural and poor setting of the film informs the decisions these kids make, but it's the way Green captures the setting that is so remarkable. Visually the film is one of the most gorgeous films I've seen in a long time, every angle and frame seems to be choreographed the way it is on purpose. The beauty of the images add to the poetic nature of the pace and narration, it gives it a very Terrence Malick like feel. The film actually feels very much like a smaller, low key Malick film, which is not something you can emulate easily. Not everyone will be affected by this movie as much as I was, it's slow paced and fairly plot-less, but if you get it, you'll be greatly rewarded.
Grade: A
Life and Nothing More... (Abbas Kiarostami, 1992): The premise of this film is very meta, basically a director goes to a part of Iran struck by a large earthquake to find the kid who acted in his last film. The film is Kiarostami's "Where is the Friend's Home," a film I talked about a couple weeks back. All the actors in the film are the real people they are portraying, except for the director and his kid, who are standing in for Kiarostami and his son. The film borders between fiction and non-fiction because we're not really sure if Kiarostami is doing a re-enactment of a previous journey to the region or if he's doing it for the first time during the course of the movie. You'll probably get more out of the movie if you judge it as a documentary than a regular fiction movie. It plays very much like a series of events and interactions, but when you take them all as a whole you begin to see a portrait of how people deal with devastation in their lives. It's because they are real people that the movie feels real, it's also an aspect of the Italian Neo-realist films I've talked about a couple times on this blog. After seeing so many of these realist films with non-professional actors, I actually almost prefer non-professional actors in films like these, especially with child actors. Children who act are nowhere near as experienced as children who have actually experienced the events. Speaking of the events, Kiarostami captures the earthquake's destruction in very real ways. There are some wide shots that are breathtaking, and then medium shots that never really draw attention the rubble. I wasn't blown away by the film, because it takes a while to sink in, but I feel like this is a film that will surely grow on me.
Grade: B+
Atonement (Joe Wright, 2007): When adapting acclaimed literature, you run the risk of trying to do too much in the film. "Atonement" has very high ambitions, and if it had reached those ambition surely you would be reading about it more often. It would be on many best of decade lists for sure as well. The scope of the story may be huge, but the most successful part of this film with two halves and a coda, is the first half. The half that features Briony as a young girl who witnesses something she doesn't quite understand. That half is all set in one house and the grounds surrounding the house, it's much more intimate than the second half which features James McAvoy as a British soldier in WWII. The first half is shot beautifully and edited brilliantly, it features differing point of views of action, one from Briony, and one from action itself. Besides those points though, a major reason the first half is better is because it features Saoirse Ronan as Briony, who does a really and truly mesmerizing job. When I say mesmerizing I really mean it, you can't take your eyes off her as she outwardly displays such maturity, but inwardly is acting very immature. Now, the second half is not horrible, it's just not as good. Joe Wright is really talented and it seems there are things he's great at and things he's not as good at. He loses it a bit in the second half when the scope is increased, but really the weak second half is only noticeable because of the great first half. The film is very good and I would definitely recommend it, but it's a shame that it's not a masterpiece.
Grade: B+
Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957): Fellini is really something. Before watching this film I could have probably said Fellini is one of my favorite directors, now after watching this film, I can definitely say he's one of my favorite directors. This maybe his most emotionally powerful film that I've seen. The film is patient and makes sure the theme is always evident. It centers on a optimistic prostitute who just can't get a break, and the film is poetic and so real at the same time in how it depicts her journey's. While I could talk a lot of about Fellini's directing and writing, a very large part of why this film works is the lead performance of Fellini's wife, Giulietta Masina. After seeing her in "La Strada" and now this, she really is one of my favorite actresses. Much of her acting is influenced by silent actors like Chaplin, and that style works wonderfully for her in these even though she talks. She infuses what really is a dark and pessimistic film with humor and optimism. You could watch her all day without getting bored. While the film is generally not considered a part of the neorealist movement, it still can fit in that category. It turns a light onto the harsh conditions of a poor working woman trying to go through life. Life is harsh for Cabiria, but she has this contagious hope that works wonders for her. And It all culminates in one of the best final scenes in film history that will make the most emotionless person feel something for her. This is an amazing movie that may be my favorite of all the movies I've seen since I started this blog.
Grade: A
Hanna (Joe Wright, 2011): My review of this film can be read here. My reason for watching "Atonement" was because I was going to watch this, and having watching two Joe Wright movies in one week I have found him really impressive. This film had a lackluster script but Wright made it really good and though I thought "The Soloist" was just okay, he is now definitely a director I will be looking out for.
Recount (Jay Roach, 2008): The 2000 election was a very complicated affair and one with many twists and turns, and turning a Political crisis like that, and one that is still fresh in many memories, into a film is a difficult task. Difficult, and possibly pointless. I guess it kind of depends on how old you are and how much you know about the election. If you're as young as me you may find this film an apt introduction to all that happened in the closest election in history, and if you found it interesting it's a good primer to more deeper studies into it. Even if you don't want to dig deeper, this film will provide you with enough information to be able to know the basics and repeat them if asked. The film doesn't really try to get too deep into studying the characters in the film, maybe besides Florida's then-secretary of state Katharine Harris who is examined a bit. The film is entertaining and well made, the pacing is nice, and the facts of the situation are well explained and not too complicated. Obviously the film can't go explain all the factors without becoming a documentary (maybe a better way for this film to have gone) but I feel it accomplished what it wanted to do. From a historical perspective, the film isn't all that valuable yet because it's the events are so recent for so many people, and from a dramatic and artistic perspective the film is entertaining but does not try to accomplish much. I'm not saying the movie is bad, I'm just saying it will affect certain people more than others, and ultimately it's not something you will remember the real life events of the film much more than the film itself.
Grade: B-
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