knives wrote:Can't it be both poignant and funny though? I doubt anyone would deny how beautifully that illustrates the whole of the film, but it is also a true gut buster.
Well, I mean, it's a comedic touch, but I didn't think it was laugh-out-loud funny. I giggled at the office worker's situation in the bar, though.
I note the comic shades to his work but I think the overarching social messages in movies like Floating Weeds or An Autumn Afternoon are too intense or, in the latter case, grim, to let myself laugh.
I agree that Equinox Flower is more light-hearted than a lot of his work. I'd put this closest in tone to Early Summer or The Flavour of Green Tea Over Rice from his post-Late Spring period.
puxzkkx -- We are never EVER going to agree on Autumn Afternoon. Almost surely Ozu's funniest film (despite touches of darkness) since Lady and the Beard.
Getting back to the 50s. I think Green Tea may be a less "complex" film, but not Early Summer. Green Tea is _almost_ a remake of the funny (and sexy) What Did the Lady Forget, but has some puzzling notes. (The hero is just too noble). Perhaps more than any other Ozu heroine, Early Summer's Noriko knows her mind and isn't going to be budged -- even if she can indulge in a fit or nerves once her mission's success has been assured.
Lightning is a pleasant Naruse picture with a very strong cast and some good moments but its wandering, episodic structure lacks some of the focus and throughline of something like Flowing, nor do its ellipses work as well as the ones in Older Brother, Younger Sister. The ultimate effect is almost soapy. Takamine again shows that she can play anything, and the supporting cast is an embarrassment of riches. There is an intriguing commentary on a changing Japan here - apparent in the contrast between the Takamine and Miura characters and subtly satirical in the depiction of Takamine's bus tours, where she tells a fully-Japanese busload about the aspects of their city that foreigners find exotic - but it moves in and out of focus. This was fun and solid, but I wish it had been tighter.
Lightning is actually another of my (many) favorite Naruse films of the 50s. I _like_ the relaxed structure here -- and the sense of (modest) hopefulness. The performances are all essentially perfect (even in the smallest parts). I think think this is definitely better than the intriguing (but flawed) Older Brother, Younger Sister (with poor Masayuki Mori woefully miscast -- a rare mis-fire in Naruse's usually flawless casting).
Another Ozu - this one however is sure to find a place near the top of my list. Tokyo Twilight is more grim in subject matter than any other film he made in this period - its story promises melodrama but skirts it continuously, the effect is like watching a pot about to boil over for two hours. This intensity and charged emotional undercurrent reminded me of Floating Weeds.
As Michael said earlier the 'father does not know best' message here is scathing. Ozu sees the war - during which Takako and Akiko's mother would have left them - as an earthquake that ripped an incredible crevasse between generations. The mother's departure denies Takako (who would have been old enough to know her well) and the infant Akiko from knowing comfort and they are left with only patriarchal control. This controlling power drives Takako, a child from another time, into an unhealthy relationship and lacks the communicative ability necessary to guide the much younger Akiko, who is left to fend for herself and falls into a similarly unhealthy relationship on her own. And Akiko is the image of a disenfranchised generation, a 'sun tribe' member in waiting, tearing herself apart with her own pain in the face of a culture that is quick to write off this troubled girl as a delinquent. As a deconstruction of what happened to Japan and the Japanese family after WWII, this is perhaps Ozu's most in-your-face treatment of the topic from his late career, but being insistent about its subject robs this film of none of its power - chilly, dark both visually and thematically, but it cuts like a knife.
The acting is tremendous and this may be one of Ozu's best ensembles from the 50s: Hara's work is incredibly perceptive, vivid but in the dully glowing way of a woman whose life force is rotting in a stifling environment, and may be my favourite of their collaboration. Ryu is very strong and not as stolid as he could sometimes be. Isuzu Yamada is gorgeous and sad, like a fading light. Teiji Takahashi has an excellent scene where he relates, with equal measure of cruelty and compassion, the story of Akiko and her boyfriend in a sarcastic parody of a kabuki chorus. He is impressive in a small role and it is very sad that he died so young, in a car crash at age 32 - two years after this film's release. The real surprise here is Ineko Arima, who deserved the kind of career that the likes of Ayako Wakao and Mariko Okada got in the following decade. Her face is like the sea, letting emotions flow in and pouring them out again. She's elemental as the self-possessed tragic youth. Ozu films urban winter like no other - even in a film with so many interior scenes he can make you feel the bitter cold. This was the last film he directed before turning to colour, but it could only have been filmed in black & white.
What a wonderful commentary on Tokyo Twilight. It is hard to believe that this was generally (virtually universally) written off as a failure until Ozu's cenennial year -- and that there are still critics who view this as a _defense_ of Japanese patriarchy.
Daves' not released on DVD Never Let Me Go is playing on TCM tonight at 6:15 PST. Haven't seen it, but it's certainly within his wheelhouse by description.
knives wrote:Daves' not released on DVD Never Let Me Go is playing on TCM tonight at 6:15 PST. Haven't seen it, but it's certainly within his wheelhouse by description.
It's an essential Daves film, hope you (or any interested parties) catch it
The Court Jester
This was an extraordinarily funny and smart film that unfortunately left behind many of its smarts in the climax. While still very funny and entertaining the whole raid sequence seems to forget that it's making jest out of those Flynn films and instead largely becomes one with just some more jokes. This does manage to heighten the grotesque nature of the cheering bloodbath that makes up the climax, but if anything that only harms what came before as it makes ugly this buffoon we're suppose to, and I certainly was, be in love with.
Jayhawkers!
This is an other uneven entry from the above though it's a case of boredom rather than forgetfulness that ruins the parade. The actors are game and the cinematography is just absolutely gorgeous to the degree I recommend it on that quality alone, but the script is flat and the direction just doesn't seem to want to lift it to anything compelling.
The Ten Commandments
While this eventually gets off the ground it is no where near as fun as DeMille's other effort this decade and that's really all he can offer in this mostly turgid adaptation. Even cameos from Vincent Price and John Carradine don't do much to lift the film beyond it's unfortunately stuff nature. That said once it's Bryner versus Heston the film does regain the light of fun, but it's way too little far too late.
Beast From Haunted Cave
Monte Hellman's first feature is a poor Corman film? That makes perfect sense actually. While it suffers too much from a variety of the typical problems you meet in '50s sci-fi the film does have enough spark to where the genius that Hellman would later become isn't obscured. The most interesting touch is how it is sort of a forefather to From Dusk till Dawn where we get a group of gangsters kidnapping innocents only to have to join them when a monster attacks. It doesn't go as far as the later film in this regard, but it's still nice to see it try something unique.
Siamo donne: This 1953 film was devised by Zavattini around the idea of having four short films in which four well known actresses play in a story taken from their own lives, introduced by a casting/talent contest. The latter is an amusing take on the craze about getting to star in a film, probably still relevant today even though as a critique of the cinema world it's no match for Antonioni's "La donna senza camelie". The main four parts are of different quality. We start out with Alida Valli in a vaguely engaging story about the boredom of the VIP life (directed by Gianni Franciolini); next is Ingrid Bergman in a rather silly piece in which she tries to kill her proprietess' chicken (no kidding), which only shows that comedy was certainly not Rossellini's forte. The final two episodes are wonderful, though. Isa Miranda, beautiful as ever, plays in a touching piece in which she takes care of a young boy and realises the loss that her stardom meant for her own life, intensely directed Luigi Zampa. And finally we get Anna Magnani in a high-speed comedy in which she argues with a taxi driver about the fare for her lapdog and gets herself into increasingly absurd situations in the process. Wonderful direction by Visconti whom I never suspected to have been able to do this sort of comedy.
Gli innamorati (Mauro Bolognini, 1955): A very endearing film that shows that the Roman society of the 50s not only had the luxury class and the (sub-)proletariat - as one could assume from neorealism on the one, and Antonioni on the other hand- but also a well-functioning lower middle class whose young people had quite a bit of loving going on, too... Apparently Bolognini wanted to have Pasolini to work on this, and PPP may have had a hand in it, as the portrayal of these people is certainly realistic and convincing, and we get some fine views of the Roman streets and city life here. Although the film is played very light, it still has its touching moments, especially in the conflict between an older husband and his younger wife. Very fine acting and direction, too. Not to speak of all those beautiful Roman ladies...
And two from France:
Marianne de ma jeunesse (Julien Duvivier, 1955): the story of a young man who falls in love with a woman apparently held captive on an island in a lake in the Alps. This owes a lot to Cocteau, especially in the scenes in the 'haunted' house, and the main male role would have been ideal for the young Jean Marais for sure, even though Pierre Vaneck does a good job here. The film has a dreamlike, otherworldly quality in its cinematography and plot which makes it worthwhile, even though Cocteau probably would have written some better dialogues. Never mind, this is definitely worth seeing.
Marguerite de la nuit (Claude Autant-Lara, 1955): this one's great, if you ask me. A modern and surreal retelling of the Faust story with colours and set designs that seem to come directly out of a Minnelli musical. Michelle Morgan is enchanting as the girl for whom the rejuvenated Faust falls, and Yves Montand in the Mephisto role is both stylish and fittingly sleazy. But the real stars are certainly the sets and the cinematography which create the effect of a fever dream. Perhaps some might find the film too unemotional which may be the price to pay for its mannerist style, but I was really surprised that something like this could come out of 1950s France, and from 'cinema de papa'-director Autant-Lara on top of it. I guess I have to put this one on my list.
I'm curious as to what 1950s films people would count among their all-time favourites/"bests". I rank films according to a letter-grade scale and anything that I give an 'A+' to would qualify for 'all-time best' consideration - it's a bit anal but I'm an obsessive self-quantifier!
The 50s films I have seen that I would give an 'A+' to would be Nights of Cabiria (which is in my personal Top 10), Kiss Me Deadly, A Man Escaped, Diary of a Country Priest, Floating Weeds, Tokyo Story, The 400 Blows, Flowing, Tokyo Twilight and The Cranes Are Flying. They will definitely head up my list.
Siamo donne: This 1953 film was devised by Zavattini around the idea of having four short films in which four well known actresses play in a story taken from their own lives, introduced by a casting/talent contest. The latter is an amusing take on the craze about getting to star in a film, probably still relevant today even though as a critique of the cinema world it's no match for Antonioni's "La donna senza camelie". The main four parts are of different quality. We start out with Alida Valli in a vaguely engaging story about the boredom of the VIP life (directed by Gianni Franciolini); next is Ingrid Bergman in a rather silly piece in which she tries to kill her proprietess' chicken (no kidding), which only shows that comedy was certainly not Rossellini's forte. The final two episodes are wonderful, though. Isa Miranda, beautiful as ever, plays in a touching piece in which she takes care of a young boy and realises the loss that her stardom meant for her own life, intensely directed Luigi Zampa. And finally we get Anna Magnani in a high-speed comedy in which she argues with a taxi driver about the fare for her lapdog and gets herself into increasingly absurd situations in the process. Wonderful direction by Visconti whom I never suspected to have been able to do this sort of comedy.
Yeah, that film is a real mixed bag. Magnani/Visconti is great, Valli/Franciolini is also well acted, Miranda/Zampa is a bit meh, with Bergman/Rossellini being absolutely dreadful. It's worth watching just for Magnani though. Such a great versatile actor, equally adept in both drama and comedy.
Tommaso wrote:Marguerite de la nuit (Claude Autant-Lara, 1955): this one's great, if you ask me. A modern and surreal retelling of the Faust story with colours and set designs that seem to come directly out of a Minnelli musical. Michelle Morgan is enchanting as the girl for whom the rejuvenated Faust falls, and Yves Montand in the Mephisto role is both stylish and fittingly sleazy. But the real stars are certainly the sets and the cinematography which create the effect of a fever dream. Perhaps some might find the film too unemotional which may be the price to pay for its mannerist style, but I was really surprised that something like this could come out of 1950s France, and from 'cinema de papa'-director Autant-Lara on top of it. I guess I have to put this one on my list.
I think the funny La traversée de Paris is Autant-Lara's best of the decade. But considering that Douce could not find a place in my ballot in the 40's, it hardly will make my list either.
domino harvey wrote:We don't really do that here, as star/grade rankings are the reductive opposite of conversation/discussion
If it's to be done at all shouldn't the place for it be in a thread whose sole purpose is to develop a list of films ranked by value?
I'm less interested in reading people's grades than seeing and discussing the films that come up - most of which would be canon flicks that probably get less pre-voting discussion here than more obscure 'show-and-tell' titles.
What happened to our sense of surprise in the final list? Lot of people have already given their preliminary top tens, which I'm assuming are also their A+ titles. As for me, I'll stump for the ones that need stumping, but the rest will only be revealed once the final list emerges.
domino harvey wrote:We don't really do that here, as star/grade rankings are the reductive opposite of conversation/discussion
If it's to be done at all shouldn't the place for it be in a thread whose sole purpose is to develop a list of films ranked by value?
I'm less interested in reading people's grades than seeing and discussing the films that come up - most of which would be canon flicks that probably get less pre-voting discussion here than more obscure 'show-and-tell' titles.
I get what you're saying and I'd welcome more discussion of canonical titles that many people don't feel the need to bring up, but simply listing titles out and assigning them grades doesn't seem much more productive to me than not discussing them at all. This is still kind of the "discovery phase" of the project, primarily for discussing recent viewings and sharing recommendations. Once someone starts sharing their list in toto or letter grades or whatever, it sort of implies that they've closed themselves off from the possibility of discovering anything else. If there is a film you love that you want everyone to seriously consider, please do bring it up and tell us why. But if all I have to go off is that you would give the film an A, or that it would make your list if you prepared one today, that's probably not going to encourage me to give that film the chance you feel it deserves.
Also, there's the risk that people might - even subconsciously - start second guessing the voting if they know what other people are voting for. Even in the innocuous sense of tossing up between two films by a given director and opting for what you perceive to be the 'underdog' because the other one doesn't need your support. Or conversely, going for the one you think has the better chance of making the final list.
And "I agree with everybody else in the entire world that undisputed classic A is a great film" is just dead air, as far as I'm concerned. "I think controversial choice B is a great film too" is not much better. Tell us why.
And in response to Tommaso's post above, I actually like The Chicken. I'm not going to vote for it or anything, but I find it (and mildly flustered Ingrid) pretty charming, and in the context of the other Ingrid / Roberto films it's a real change of pace, and quite revealing about their relationship. It's probably my favourite film in that portmanteau.
Two of Kind is one of the smartest, funniest, best films period of the decade even ignoring how exactly it is as noir. Nearly all of this can be blamed on how infectious the interactions between O'Brien and Moore are. That's not to say that is isn't an excellent movie before than. The script has a perfect tone for character and dialogue with each performance adding something special and tense even as it breezes by. When Moore enters the films though it takes on a second life because of just how fun Moore is. It's sort of like Audrey Hepburn as a child which shouldn't work for this sort of setting, but this is a well oiled machine that knows where to turn each knew wrench.
I giggled at the office worker's situation in the bar, though.
