I’ve had flu this week which has meant even more films watched and an extra-long omnibus Sunday post.
A Matter of Life and Death (1946) - Rewatch
David Niven is unflappable in the face of Nazis, death and nationalistic rivalries. At its core a story of love flowering under duress in clipped language of radio etiquette, The Archers take it in the most breath-taking directions. The camera lingers on massed ranks of the dead as the most ornately rhetorical court case in cinematic history fizzes before them. They all look so alive. Despite the mandated play to soften the hearts of Americans, this has such audacity it’s impossible not to love it.
Megamind (2010) - Rewatch
An evil genius attempts to insert a puppet leader for a large population when the previous incumbent is vanquished. For a role-reversal animation that toys with the conventional archetypes of hero and villain, this ends up being a throw-back to the screaming and helpless damsel-in-distress era. It lacks much of the charm of serials and comics yet it does have wit. It is competently constructed and contains the requisite city-destroying thrills. Ultimately doesn’t stand out in a crowded field.
Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter (1972) aka The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty KickWim Wenders ponders the awareness of goalkeepers. In a slow 1970s tour of the eastern borders of West Germany, the film struggles with the motivations of a goalkeeper when the only rules he cares about are inconsistently enforced. The uneasiness that malingers throughout make this compelling and disturbing viewing. The claim is made that paying attention to what he’s been doing might give you a headache and blurred vision. If so, the film is worth the price of admission.
Abducted in Plain Sight (2017)Skye Borgman creepily re-enacts the abduction of a 12 year old girl by a paedophile with psychopathy through Instagram filters. It’s a troubling approach to documenting the decision-making that lay behind the trauma of many of those involved. Almost accidentally this exposes the scale of the naivety and gullibility of American families raised in absolute safety and easy trust. Their vulnerability to a charming salesmen illustrates how such a population can be induced to support malice and corruption.
Bullet to Beijing (1995)Harry Palmer is older, wiser and in urgent need of cash. He will stoop to anything, including making a TV movie. A sad decline for one of my favourite actor/role combinations. This suffers from all the major flaws of a 1990s TV movie. Bad acting, bad writing and bad haircuts. The soundtrack seems to have been automatically generated using Tandy 1000 randomly selecting themes from 1980s TV movies. There’s nothing of Len Deighton’s imagination or wit in this effort.
Stalag 17 (1953) - Rewatch
William Holden has a miserable Christmas in the mud. Otto Preminger’s charming camp commandant stays chipper despite the mud threatening his highly polished boots and several sheds stuffed full of sergeants all of whom can crack wiser than the last. Dry humour in wet conditions, both of which enhance the essential tragedy of their situation. Billy Wilder’s writing and direction is certainly versatile. He loves down-trodden men laid low, and here’s a camp stuffed full of them.
12 Years a Slave (2013)Steve McQueen shows us the truth, and it does hurt. Horror upon torture upon rape upon murder. One abominable act only leads to worse later, often casually encountered and smartly dressed. The perversity of the idyllic landscapes populated by a hatred so deep and reflexively defensive has rarely been rendered so clearly. Our eyes and minds are not spared. The performances, and directing have been rightly lauded, but a moment for the cinematography and production design. Beautiful is exactly the wrong word.
The Night Caller (1965) aka Blood Beast from Outer SpaceJohn Saxon only makes bad decisions in a sleazy take on a Quatermass scenario. Despite its essential cheapness, the quality of the acting and dialogue constantly surprises. Especially in some of the smaller roles notably Warren Mitchell, Marianne Stone, Aubrey Morris and Ballard Berkeley’s moustache. Also refreshing is the willingness to kill off any character who isn’t John Saxon. Even the directing and cinematography exceed what might be expected for a plot that is a teenage boy’s private masturbatory fantasy.
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)Ryan Gosling broods in inclement weather. Variations on a theme by Ridley Scott. Now there are fewer vehicles in Los Angeles, is all that smog generated entirely from the toxic masculinity? This suffers from the need to hit all the right notes from the original (although not necessarily in the right order). It’s subtly and slowly done, and less overt than some other recent remakes. More than countering the negatives are the mood, design and magnificent cinematography. Only Hans Zimmer lets the side down.
Carry on Constable (1960) - Rewatch
While the male members of the Carry On team get to round up all the usual entendres, the female supporting cast seem to take this one more seriously than might be expected. Rarely for a Carry On, there are as many female comedians in this as there are male, and they aren’t all Shirley Eaton having her bathroom privacy invaded. Top marks to Joan Hickson for her drunk and Sid James, both for reigning it in a bit, and the sweet kiss with Hattie Jacques at the end. Compulsory Hawtrey cross-dressing as per.
White Zombie (1932)A Madeline gets lost in a Proustian moment. While the pacing of this is glacial, like many of the early horrors, this has many interesting and innovative touches. The diagonal wipes, the composition and framing, and the mirroring between the set architecture and the lead actress’s costume all intrigue. Proper Haitian zombies, Bela Lugosi’s dimple curtains, a pre-code Madge Bellamy in her scanties and a cliff-edge zombie conga add to the appeal. It’s still bloody slow though.
The Fall (2006)Tarseem Singh paints, as a broken stuntman perverts a child with language. It’s a toothsome, curious orange of a film. The awe of the opening sequence never leaves, but is joined by it’s five friends beauty, bruising, decay, deviance and sorrow. It’s an ornate filigreed cage carved from a single piece of celluloid bone containing a grieving heart at its centre. Mister pharmacist won’t prescribe you this for your pains, but it might be what you need. No one is saying ‘As you wish’ in this.
En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron (2014) aka A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on ExistenceRoy Andersson is the Prince of Beige and Disconnection. He uses the flattest colour palate in film to signal despair. Everyone in his films is adrift and floundering whether they know it or not. They send up hopeful signals to make contact with others, but are thwarted by their own need to preserve their precious isolation. Life has lost its flavour and smell and not even Karl XII and his 100,000 men can bring them back. An ordeal of absurdism and the horror of unwritten conventions.
The Medusa Touch (1978) - Rewatch
Richard Burton is literally out of his mind. The manifesto of this film is strikingly modern. Terrorism writ large. Weaponised misanthropy flinging planes into buildings, blowing-up religious gatherings and threatening nuclear installations. The 70s dressing of psychical-researches, space missions and the terror of electronic waveforms are unwisely underplayed in favour of conventional drama and talking in rooms. Barring the well-set up destruction of a national landmark this is not cinematic in any way.