Shadows (1959)

Director: John Cassavetes

This is a film I admire more for its place in film history and its capture of a time and place than I do for its actual quality. This is John Cassavetes' first film, the man who is known as the father of American independent cinema. He took American film out from under the studio system and made films that were more experimental and more honest in nature and in turn influenced the great American filmmakers of the 1970's. For the late 50's this is a film that is very progressive, especially in its depiction of race. The film depicts prejudice against blacks, and the identity problems of someone who is half-white and half-black. The structure also is very unique for the time, it's not plot-driven at all, and the style is more handheld and improvisatory. The film represented a way of filmmaking that was spontaneous, low-budget, and free.

An aspect of the film I very much liked is the jazz score that goes very well with the jazz-like structure of the film. The movie is improvised heavily (though there is debate about what that means), there are seemingly random scenes that don't add much to the whole at all, but in the end the experience as a whole is satisfying. I'd say this is more a slight and minor piece of jazz than it is a major one. In today's standards, it's not a very ambitious film and it doesn't quite feel as new. The film is great if you really want a time capsule experience and want to see how a transgressive film of the late 50's is like. I found it more interesting in that sense than as I did for the actual qualities of the movie itself.

Grade: B-

All That Heaven Allows (1955)

Director: Douglas Sirk

 This is a film that was surprising, because it is an American movie made in the 1950's, and so you would not expect much rebellious subtext. But this is a film that is very subversive and is very perceptive of the ills of social status. The movie combats love vs. social status, very familiar theme in romances, but this movie focuses less on the love between the couple, and more on the unfair social status system threatening to end it all.

I've already reviewed a couple of films that criticize elitist culture in the past few months (The Rules of the Game, Smiles of a Summer Night), and this movie is definitely comparable to those great films. We have heard bourgeoise criticism before in the movies, but rarely from an American standpoint. Another great element is beautiful lush color photography that highlights the melodrama in the situation and the truly tragic nature of the romance. This is a wonderful film that is truly quite surprising.

Grade: A-

Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)

Director: Ingmar Bergman

 Nowadays we've got fairly low expectations of our romantic comedies. It's incredibly rare to see one that actually is funny and has something interesting to say about romance and love. But this film is a romantic comedy more in the sense of Woody Allen's movies (more accurately, Allen's movies have a Bergman-esque sensibility). This is a film about the never-ending game between the sexes, specifically the upper class. They treat marriage like a game, and respect fidelity only on the surface. The only reason the individuals in this film don't like being cheated on is because they have agreed not to cheat, and they believe that both "lovers" in a relationship should merely hold up their end of the bargain.

The film has a surprisingly modern sensibility towards marriage, especially concerning the lack of seriousness when it comes to marriage. The movie seems like it was written by a person who knows how it feels and has been in similar situations, and from what I know about Bergman, this seems to be the case. The movie is simple, but the characters are real, and Bergman treats the subject matter with class and responsibility. It might sound like a downer, but by the end it's a film about finding love and faith in the midst of the chaos of infidelity.

Grade: A-

M. Hulot's Holiday (1953)

Director: Jacques Tati

 A very charming and amusing comedy that feels very much like a silent comedy of the 1920's. Tati uses pantomime and slapstick comedy in a movie that technically has sound, but actually has very little dialogue. The movie uses sound in its comedy, but almost none of the comedy comes from the dialogue. What's also impressive is that it succeeds in creating an evironment and setting that is individual, and seeing the same bunch of characters over again helps create that world.

Most of the vacationing guests are rich and continue to do what they like to do despite Tati's shenanigans, and that makes it a gentle satire on that upper class lifestyle. But that's not to say that it's some scathing satire, the film is very light. The movie is composed of gags after gag, instead of a narrative, and that makes for a very effective comedy but I'm not so sure I was prepared for that style. The film is enjoyable, but it is not something that is all that deep. It's one of those movies thats a must-watch for fans of the style, but not all that necessary for everyone else.

Grade: B

Filmcap: The week of Oct 23-30

Don't Look Now, Hoop Dreams, and Morvern Callar are some of the highlights from this productive week of movie watching. In this post you'll two "adaptations" of classic novels by two very different authors, two mesmerizing movies about the different ways people deal with grief, and also a movie with a typewriter that is a bug. Many more reviews of 2011 movies that I'm catching up with coming in the coming posts. Now that it is winter break I hope to catch up a bit with these posts. Also, the movie posters for the movies this week are all pretty good (except for the In Time one).

Filmcap: The week of Oct 16-23

Vagabond, The Constant Gardener, and The Messenger are some of the movies reviewed this week. There's also a little bit of a World War II theme with Resnais' Night and Fog and Truffaut's The Last Metro, both French films coincidentally. In this post you can also find some words about how people view free spirited people, how we can avoid another Holocaust, and the different ways we all grieve. 

Filmcap: The week of Sept 18-25

Blue Valentine, Last Year at Marienbad, and A Streetcar Named Desire are highlights from this week. Yes I finally saw Blue Valentine and yes it's very good. In this post you'll find discussions on what is subversive in old Hollywood movies, conflicting emotions when a well-intentioned movie doesn't succeed, and how an artsy pretentious movie can still be a masterpiece.

Filmcap: The week of Sept 4-11

Fish Tank, Grand Illusion, Funny Games, and recently completed season of Louie are highlights from this abnormally great and lengthy week. Minimal amount of schoolwork, a realization that this is my last year of school and thus last chance to really go all out with my movie watching, and also the ending of two television show seasons all culminated in a lot of entries for this week. In this post you'll find discussions on how the differences between a great miserabilist film and a bad one, the benefits of personal filmmaking, and the lack of intellectual provocation in the movies. 

Filmcap: The week of April 24-May 1

Still a few days behind with this one because of finals, but they are now over thankfully. Finals are also why only 3 movies this week and expect something of the same for the next filmcap. This week though does feature a nice variety. A colorful Spanish film, a black-and-white American film, and a samurai Japanese western. 

Filmcap: The week of April 3-10

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. 

Filmcap: The week of Feb 6-13

This week I watched a couple great foreign movies from the late 50's (Bergman and Kurosawa), what is known as the first ever film noir, a contemporary movie about an infamous African dictator, a fascinating documentary, and an also fascinating TV movie.