Author Topic: Essentially - A movie orgy  (Read 17255 times)

DarkeningHumour

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10453
  • When not sure if sarcasm look at username.
    • Pretentiously Yours
Re: Essentially - A movie orgy
« Reply #120 on: August 30, 2015, 10:52:59 AM »
Singin' in the Rain
Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly (1952)

If you know anything about life at all you know there is nothing like getting soaked under the rain in the right circumstances. There are places that only reveal their best magic through that pearly curtain. Paris is such a place as Midnight in Paris recalls us - it is in fact the place. Then  there are moments when there is nothing as appropriate to our hidden selves than the humid hug of a myriad droplets. Whether it be to melt one's soul into a solitary puddle or kiss watery ghosts in the air the rain can be your best friend - and that is never as true as when someone is in love. So when you make a movie featuring rain, a romance and some singin'  thereabouts I am down for it.

Singin' in the Rain is about Cosmo, a vaudeville expert turned movie piano player who spends his days practicing being perfect and rising the ladder of the movie industry, continuously getting promotions and raises as he establishes his superior competence. He is the friend everyone wishes they had. Perpetually in good spirits, unfailingly witty and possessing an unusual propensity to break into song and start dancing.

« But I've got - what have I got ? »
« I don't know. What have you got ? »
« I gotta get out of here. »

Oh no you don't. Don't you dare go anywhere mister.

There are also less important characters and they are given enough screentime that I should spend some time writing about them. Gene Kelly tries out for the first time the role he will later reprise in The Artist under his new name Jean Dujardin. Incredible how little he has changed physically all these years. The rest of the cast is unknown to me but everyone plays their part well, including Lina who has that perfect shrieking voice that instantly makes you murder someone and their entire family.

Now, by the fourth paragraph I should probably have started talking about all the singing and dancing but there is one thing I must address before and that is the writing. Oh the writing…It is so great from the first seconds. The dialogue is not only sharp and quick, it is full of great jokes that somehow liven up a movie that is hardly dead-numb to begin with. Don's speech in the beginning where he describes a bollocks version of his life whilst the real thing unfolds before our eyes is a treasurable bit of comedy and spot-on timing. The rest of the movie is filled with similarly outstanding bits. There are even a few saucy double-entendres if you catch them. I am not sure that they would have worked as such back in the fifties but for the modern viewer there are such delicious tidbits to be found as « Well I can't make love to a bush ! ». Oh Lina, you naughty old you.

So, for the pièce de résistance. There are some marvellous musical numbers here and Singin' in the Rain is far from being the only memorable song in the film. I also thoroughly enjoyed Good Morning and some other bits whose names I ignore. But by no means was it a total success for me. For starters I am not as fond of the dancing as I am of the music because these kinds of acts don't appeal to me - as opposed to a ballet piece in, say, The Red Shoes, which can be fantastic. So the parts that featured only dancing ended up feeling a bit dull to me. What's more, the first numbers in the movie are not as good as the rest and Make 'em Laugh is full of slapstick humour that made me almost cringe. It very much looked like Cosmo was having a mental breakdown, especially since at one point he gets to a place in the studio where his audience of one cannot see him anymore. As for the piece that is supposed to serve as the beginning to the movie they are shooting, it is too long. My senses got dull after a while and the middle part was not as good as the bookends.

I still somehow managed to love this movie. It is contagiously cheerful in an almost deceptive way. Even when two characters are fighting or someone has a problem you cannot help but feeling the palpable glee getting out of the screen. It really is unfair. How is one to objectively judge a movie in such conditions ? I need my cold-hard analysis, stop throwing your wonderfulness at me.

9/10 - Wonderful
« Society is dumb. Art is everything. » - Junior

https://pretensiouslyyours.wordpress.com/

chardy999

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 3550
Re: Essentially - A movie orgy
« Reply #121 on: August 30, 2015, 06:18:52 PM »
It's not a film saying "Love me" but one singing "Try not to love me" with a big Cheshire cat grin.
Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.
- Groucho Marx

DarkeningHumour

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10453
  • When not sure if sarcasm look at username.
    • Pretentiously Yours
Re: Essentially - A movie orgy
« Reply #122 on: August 31, 2015, 03:31:26 AM »
It's not a film saying "Love me" but one singing "Try not to love me" with a big Cheshire cat grin.

This. Just this.
« Society is dumb. Art is everything. » - Junior

https://pretensiouslyyours.wordpress.com/

DarkeningHumour

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10453
  • When not sure if sarcasm look at username.
    • Pretentiously Yours
Re: Essentially - A movie orgy
« Reply #123 on: September 10, 2015, 06:02:28 AM »
Do the Right Thing
Spike Lee (1989)

It is a bit daunting to tackle Do the Right Thing. Not because the movie has a reputation as being very cerebral or dealing with emotionally extenuating themes mind you but rather because of its reputation as a black culture movie. From what I understand, if I don't like it, it pretty much means I am racist - or at least that is what the internets tell me.

Another thing I gathered from the web was that this was an angry movie. I did not know what it was supposed to be angry about exactly but there was an aura of discontentment about it. Turns out it is not an angry movie but a movie about angry people. The neighbourhood (or rather, block I should say) Spike Lee shows us during the course of this very hot day is filled with angry people and the director spends on them. But he does not do so to condone what they do or say. The movie is very much sorry about the way some people in this community behave - and yet it doesn't judge, merely laments. There is a scene where a group of young black people (I want to say teenagers ? I have no idea how old these characters all are but if I did know I  am sure some of those numbers would depress me.) harass the Mayor, a homeless man. They are aggressive and almost seem personally offended by the existence of the Mayor. It is not him they are angry at though, that much is clear. He is merely the days outlet to their frustrated rage. What they are really angry about ? I am sure there are a thousand things that would justify any amount of anger. Nothing justifies the behaviour that ensues however and the film makes that clear. The Mayor's speech at the end of that sequence is a brilliant moment of humanity on Lee's part and his aggressors'' reaction is a brilliant moment of human villainy.

In fact, the Mayor's character is an excellent one from the first second and most of the characters are similarly fantastic. Not because they are great human beings - many are terrible ones in at least one way - but because they flirt with heaven and hell without ever committing to one of them. Violence cohabits with friendliness, good sense holds the door for idiocy and responsibility stops at racism's door. After the Mayor my favourite character was Sal who whose business grew up with the block kids. He doesn't care that they are all black and feels at home here. One of the reasons the end of the movie is so terrible is that he did not deserve what happens to him. And then of course there are the many details and idiosyncrasies Lee came up with to render the characters more colourful and the movie more vibrating. There is Massive Radio Guy, who reminds me that the 1980s were a very different time indeed, « cheese string hair » Guy, Mother Sister, who I would have guessed was a southerner from her name…

I said the movie vibrated. It does much more than that. Do the Right Thing has a living pulse to match that of the neighbourhood it portrays. It beats to the sound of the now cult Public Enemy song and the film's fantastic soundtrack and flows with the movement of the camera. Lee's flair for direction shines as he moves it around to follow his characters or angles it in awkward ways for a variety of different purposes - but always successfully. There is more than that of course. It all gives the movie a rhythm that brings the viewer's experience closer to what it might be like to actually experience the he is witnessing : we get to experience part of the intimacy born out of a lifetime of living in the same block and the shared understanding of the same subculture.

We see the ending of the movie coming from far away. Any film that starts by telling you how hot the day is going to be is sure to end in a heat fuelled explosion. But the tragedy remains nonetheless. It stems to me mainly from the idiocy of the whole thing. Lee does not moralize, he merely shows us what motivates the string of ghastly decisions that escalate the situation. He shows the pent up anger of a forlorn generation and the fear of those who find themselves in dangerous situations. He shows us how misguided everyone is. He shows us good and bad people who become victims and culprits ; and not necessarily on the side of that line you would like. He shows us aghast spectators of that ruinous evening who like him lament the foolishness of those around them. The Mayor shines as a beacon of reason among the flames of indignation, righteous or not. In this upside down world, it is almost fitting that he should be so destitute a character. How did things get to be this way ? is one of the questions the movie would like us to ponder. A trio of characters wonder just that as they see first generation immigrants climb the social ladder quicker than their families ever did. The biggest disaster on screen is perhaps the stagnation of it all. An entire group of people condemned to never make it and to remain on the fringes of society. Some of it is its fault, much is not. Is that what they are all so angry about ? Is that where the wanton violence and the hopeless aimlessness come from ? Surely, at least in part.

I expected outraged vociferations from the infamous Spike Lee. This is so much better. It understands and empathises but does not condone ; portrays but does not caricature ; asks questions without providing oversimplified answers. Only one question remains : does this all make me racist or not ?

8/10 - Virtuoso
« Last Edit: September 10, 2015, 06:04:46 AM by DarkeningHumour »
« Society is dumb. Art is everything. » - Junior

https://pretensiouslyyours.wordpress.com/

Bondo

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 23082
Re: Essentially - A movie orgy
« Reply #124 on: September 10, 2015, 09:08:59 AM »
With all the events of the last year, I should really rewatch this (seen it twice and it is borderline top-100 for me).

DarkeningHumour

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10453
  • When not sure if sarcasm look at username.
    • Pretentiously Yours
Re: Essentially - A movie orgy
« Reply #125 on: September 10, 2015, 10:44:11 AM »
It did feel incredibly relevant, which is maybe the most depressing thing about the whole affair, the timelessness of it all and how nothing seems to change.
« Society is dumb. Art is everything. » - Junior

https://pretensiouslyyours.wordpress.com/

DarkeningHumour

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10453
  • When not sure if sarcasm look at username.
    • Pretentiously Yours
Re: Essentially - A movie orgy
« Reply #126 on: September 20, 2015, 06:18:44 AM »
Two Days One Night
The Dardenne Brothers (2014)

It would be easy to condemn Marion Cotillard's coworkers in Two Days One Night for lacking the compassion to sacrifice their bonuses so she could remain on the payroll. Or at least it could be easy if this were another movie ; but the Dardennes brothers leave no room for simplicity or comfort as they weave their narrative of anguish. These are not selfish people who are incapable of helping out their fellow man - well, if one notable exception at least. These are people who have their own problems that can seem large or petty to us but have an entirely personal proportion to them. Money is a delicate subject that originates excruciating decisions of which this is one. Some of them simply cannot afford to forgo their bonuses. They have children to take care of, bills to pay, unemployed relatives whose salaries they must make up for. You can see how hard the situation is for them on their faces. Shame and awkwardness are written on so many of them. Some people cry, others get angry, one cannot bring herself to meet Cotillard face to face.

All must come to a decision by the end of the movie. They do so under the duress of a myriad motivations that reflects the diversity of real life. There are the personal issues I mentioned by they must also contend with the influence of their families. One character changes his answer at one point seemingly to teach his son a lesson ; another makes a major life decision after an argument prompted by Cotillard's visit. The premise of the movie has all the simplicity of any clear cut dichotomy. The movie itself has no simplicity at all. Everything is difficult. Everything is complicated. When Monday comes, no one is right and no one is wrong. There are only 17 people in a room who must deal with their consciences and the consequences of their choices.

And why make complicated when you can make even more complicated ? The second major issue of the film is Cotillard's supposedly cured depression that she and her family must deal with as she attempts to keep her job. Her performance is very true. She plays a woman who is physically and emotionally exhausted and cannot go through all this without medication. Her endeavours to convince everyone to vote to keep her are meek. She argues a little but barely. She displays no energy nor any emotion and almost looks resigned already. She hates herself for the situation she is putting her coworkers in and barely bears the awkwardness of it all. Her empathy for them as they are on the brink of voting her out of her job is amazing. She does not blame anyone nor does she harbour any ill will.

Cotillard's husband must talk her into convincing everyone to vote for her and jumpstarts her efforts when she is ready to give up. Their rapport is uneasy ; they have clearly been through a rough time. He is good for her ; the same cannot confidently be said of her. She is scared she is not up to the job anymore and that her illness has diminished her definitively. I would have to agree that she does not seem ready to deal with any amount of responsibility or pressure.

In the end Cotillard retains her job but that must come at a price, as everything must. Unwillingly, the success of her efforts will come at the expense of someone who chose  to help her despite the risks he would incur. The irony is cutting.

8/10 -  True

I would say this was a very good introduction to the Dardennes. I will be glad to check their other stuff, especially as it has been said by people here that this is one of their weaker movies.
« Society is dumb. Art is everything. » - Junior

https://pretensiouslyyours.wordpress.com/

chardy999

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 3550
Re: Essentially - A movie orgy
« Reply #127 on: September 20, 2015, 08:20:43 AM »
I find the way they pose these problems so uninteresting. I am not willing to write them off but it all seems ill-timed and exhausting. Cotillard was amazing in Two Days One Night and without her I feel I would have turned it off. I here about nuance but to me it is blunt and repetitive.
Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.
- Groucho Marx

DarkeningHumour

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10453
  • When not sure if sarcasm look at username.
    • Pretentiously Yours
Re: Essentially - A movie orgy
« Reply #128 on: April 04, 2016, 10:35:42 PM »
Updated the index with:

Ikiru
Meek's Cutoff
Grave of the Fireflies

And I thought to mention that I have watched the following movies since starting the marathon but never wrote about them:

Blazing Saddles
Eraserhead
The Seventh Seal
Floating Weeds
« Society is dumb. Art is everything. » - Junior

https://pretensiouslyyours.wordpress.com/

chardy999

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 3550
Re: Essentially - A movie orgy
« Reply #129 on: April 04, 2016, 11:52:30 PM »
What did you think of Floating Weeds? I watched it only a week ago so (almost!) fresh in my memory.

My Letterboxd reviews vary from an actual review to a one-line quip - this was one of the one-line quip ones: "Class is in the eye of the beholder." I remember that sounding more clever at the time!  ;D
Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.
- Groucho Marx