"LES ENFANTS DU PARADIS" (1945), STARRING JEAN LOUIS BARRAULT, PIERRE BRASSEUR, ARLETTY, ALBERT REMAY, DIRECTED BY MARCEL CARNE. THIS FILM, WIDELY ACCLAIMED IN ITS DAY AND STILL CONSIDERED A MASTERWORK, WAS FILMED BY CARNE ENTIRELY IN THE STUDIO WITH NO LOCATION SHOOTING AND WAS IN A POETIC STYLE PREDATING THE FILM NOIR OF THE AMERICANS AND THE NEOREALISM OF THE ITALIANS. (STAY TUNED)
"ATLANTIC CITY" (1980), STARRING BURT LANCASTER, SUSAN SARANDON, KATE REID, MICHAEL PICCOLI, DIRECTED BY LOUIS MALLE. "THE FRENCH DIRECTOR LOUIS MALLE WAS A CONTEMPORARY OF FRANCOIS TRUFFAUT AND OTHER NOUVELLE VAGUE DIRECTORS, BUT WAS NOT A MEMBER OF THAT GROUP. AFTER TEN YEARS OF MAKING FILMS, BOTH DOCUMENTARIES AND FEATURE FILMS ABROAD LIKE 'AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS' AND 'LACOMBE LUCIEN' AND AFTER WINNING OSCARS FOR WRITING AND DIRECTION FROM THE ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS, HE CAME TO THE UNITED STATES IN 1968. BECAUSE OF HIS ABILITY TO WORK IN DIFFERENT GENRES, HE DIDN'T ESTABLISH A 'PROFILE' AS DID JOHN FORD AND OTHER DIRECTORS WHO WERE FAMOUS FOR SETTING THEIR FILMS IN AN IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZABLE MELIEU. THE SETTING FOR THIS FILM, A DECAYED BUT RESURGENT ATLANTIC CITY, IS A METAPHOR FOR THE CONDITION OF THE U.S. IN THE POST VIETNAM WAR ERA. IT IS SIGNIFICANT THAT THE REASON FOR THE REBIRTH OF THE CITY IS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF LEGAL GAMBLING. THE MALAISE DEPICTED IN THE CHARACTERS AND THE MELIEU WAS MORAL AS WELL AS PHYSICAL. LANCASTER, THE SMALL TIME GIGOLO WITH IMPORTANT DREAMS, EMBODIES THE OPTIMISM INHERENT IN THE AMERICAN CHARACTER. IN THE MOST DESPERATE TIMES AMERICANS DREAM OF AN INFINITELY ROSY FUTURE. SARANDON IS THE NEOPHYTE LOOKING FOR THE KNOWLEDGE THAT CAN BE GAINED BY HER ASSOCIATION WITH THE OLDER, MORE EXPERIENCED LANCASTER. SHE, LIKE ALL AMBITIOUS GIRLS LOOKING TO MAKE IT IN A NEW ENVIRONMENT, FINDS SUPPORT IN THE OLDER MAN'S ADMIRATION AND HIS ENTHUSIASTIC DREAMS OF A BETTER FUTURE. THOUGH REPLETE WITH CHARACTERS INVOLVED IN DRUG DEALING AND SMALL TIME CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES, THEIR STORY IS A PARADIGM OF THE 'AMERICAN STORY'. MALLE MANAGES TO KEEP THE VIEWER'S ATTENTION FOCUSED ON THE HUMANITY AND COMPLEXITY OF HIS CHARACTERS AND USES THE SORDID BACKROUND DETAILS AS A CANVAS ON WHICH TO PAINT THE STORY OF HIS REAL INTENTIONS. THOUGH NOT BORN IN THIS COUNTRY, MALLE UNDERSTOOD WELL THE AMERICAN CHARACTER. TWICE MARRIED AND A FATHER HE TOOK AS HIS THIRD WIFE AMERICAN ACTRESS, CANDICE BERGEN AND SETTLED IN HOLLYWOOD. THE FILM RECEIVED NOMINATIONS FOR MALLE AS BEST DIRECTOR, LANCASTER BEST ACTOR, SARANDON BEST ACTRESS AND JOHN GUARE BEST SCREENPLAY. MALLE IS IN MY VIEW A DIRECTOR OF GENIUS AND 'ATLANTIC CITY' IS AN AUTHENTICALLY GREAT FILM."
"RAGING BULL" (1980), STARRING ROBERT DENIRO, JOE PESCI, CATHY MORIARTY, DIRECTED BY MARTIN SCORSESE. "AS A ROMAN CATHOLIC SCORSESE'S IDEAS OF SIN AND REDEMPTION MOTIVATE HIM AS A FILM MAKER ESPECIALLY IN FILMS LIKE THIS ONE THAT FEATURE THE GANGSTER INFESTED LIFE OF THE BIG CITY. AS A FIRST GENERATION ITALIAN AMERICAN WHO GREW UP IN NEW YORK CITY HE IS ABLE TO EXPLORE IN FILMS THE CHARACTERS AND SCENES FROM 'THE MEAN STREETS' THAT HE KNOWS FROM HIS YOUTH. THE FACT THAT HIS FATHER WAS A MASTER TAILOR AND A GREAT FAN OF FILMS WHO DISCUSSED WITH HIS SON THE VIRTUES AS WELL AS THE FAILINGS OF EACH FILM THEY ENJOYED SEEING TOGETHER INCULCATED IN THE YOUNG MAN A CRITICAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE MEDIUM EVEN BEFORE HE WENT ON TO NEW YORK UNIVERSITY TO STUDY FILM IN A FORMAL SETTING. IN 'RAGING BULL' SCORSESE MAKES NO ATTEMPT TO GLAMORIZE HIS PROTAGONIST, JAKE LaMOTTA, WHO WAS NOT A SYMPATHETIC CHARACTER. LaMOTTA PROJECTED MENACE, HE WALLOWED IN VIOLENCE AS HIS JUSTIFICATION FOR BEING. HE WAS CALLOUS AND INDIFFERENT TO THE EMOTIONAL NEEDS OF THOSE CLOSEST TO HIM EVEN HIS BEAUTIFUL WIFE AS PLAYED BY CATHY MORIARTY. HER ULTIMATE BETRAYAL OF THEIR MARRIAGE CAN BE UNDERSTOOD WITH SOME MEASURE OF SYMPATHY. WHEN HE WON THE MIDDLE-WEIGHT BOXING CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WORLD, HE ACCEPTED IT AS HIS FINAL VINDICATION. WHAT DISTINGUISHES 'GREAT' FILM DIRECTORS FROM 'GOOD' FILM DIRECTORS IS THE ABILITY TO FIND THE CENTRAL IDEA IN THE MATERIAL AND THEN CREATE THE PERFECT VISUAL METAPHOR TO ILLUSTRATE THE IDEA, THEREBY GIVING THE FILM AND THE STORY A DRAMATIC AND VISUAL UNITY THAT TRANSCENDS THE MATERIAL. DE SICA, FELLINI, TRUFFAUT, BERGMAN ET AL HAD THIS ARTISTIC ABILITY. IT'S A GIFT ONLY THE BEST HAVE. THE SCENE IN 'RAGING BULL' WHERE LaMOTTA IS IN THE TUNNEL APPROACHING THE RING (THE BULL EMERGING INTO THE DAYLIGHT OF THE ARENA) IS THAT UNIFYING IMAGE. IT'S A MASTERSTROKE.
"THE GODFATHER" (1972), STARRING MARLON BRANDO, AL PACINO, JAMES CAAN, ROBERT DUVALL, DIRECTED BY FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA. "THIS FILM DOESN'T NEED ENCOMIUMS. IT ILLUSTRATES THE CREATIVE GENIUS OF THE DIRECTOR WHO WAS ABLE TO PRODUCE A FILM EXCEEDING ALL EXPECTATIONS. TO THIS DAY IT RANKS AS ONE OF THE GREATEST OF HOLLYWOOD FILMS AND IS SO LAUDED AROUND THE WORLD. THE MARIO PUZO NOVEL FROM WHICH THIS FILM WAS ADAPTED WAS A GREAT POPULAR SUCCESS - A POPULAR SUCCESS NOT A CLASSIC LIKE HEMINGWAY'S "FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS" OR MARK TWAIN'S "HUCKLEBERRY FINN". COPPOLA WHO WROTE THE SCREENPLAY WITH PUZO WAS NEVERTHELESS ABLE TO TURN THIS 'POPULAR' MATERIAL INTO A 'CLASSIC' FILM. THE REQUISITE PRUNING OF THOSE HUNDREDS OF PAGES TO FIND THE SCENES ESSENTIAL TO TELL THE STORY, THE INSPIRED CASTING, GORDON WILLIS' MASTERFUL CAMERA WORK, WHICH INVOLVES CAREFUL GRADATIONS OF COLOR TONES AND LIGHTING, AND NOT LEAST COPPOLA'S SOPHISTICATED UNDERSTANDING OF OPERATIC MUSIC WHICH WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN INSPIRING NINO ROTA'S DIRECTION OF THE SCORE ALL CONTRIBUTED TO THE FILM'S SUCCESS. SOME CRITICS HAVE NOTED THAT THE ARC OF THE STORY COPPOLA TELLS FILMICALLY IS OPERATIC. IN THE 'GODFATHER II' THIS IS ESPECIALLY NOTABLE IN HIS USE OF THE THEME FROM LEONCAVALLO'S 'CAVALERIA RUSTICANA'. THE 'GODFATHER' WON THREE OSCARS INCLUDING BEST PICTURE AND, FOR BRANDO, BEST ACTOR."
"INTOLERANCE" (1916), STARRING LILLIAN GISH, ROBERT HARRON, MAE MARSH, ELMO LINCOLN, DIRECTED BY D.W. GRIFFITH. "GRIFFITH'S 'BIRTH OF A NATION' COST $100,000 TO MAKE AND WAS A BOX OFFICE SUCCESS. 'INTOLERANCE' COST $2,000,000 AND DIDN'T RECOUP ITS INVESTMENT IN THIS COUNTRY. THE PROBLEM LIES WITH THE UNWIELDY CONSTRUCTION (FOUR SEPARATE STORIES IN FOUR HISTORICAL PERIODS BOUND TOGETHER, PRESUMABLY, BY THE THEME OF 'INTOLERANCE', I.E. THOSE WITH POWER AND MONEY LORDING IT OVER THE POWERLESS.) WHAT IS GREAT ABOUT THIS FILM AND WHAT CONFIRMS THE REPUTATION OF GRIFFITH AS A GENIUS AMONG EARLY DIRECTORS WAS HIS UNEQUALED INVENTIVENESS IN THE USE OF THE CAMERA AND HIS INCORPORATION FOR THE FIRST TIME OF FLASH BACKS, FLASH FORWARDS, NON LINEAR STORY TELLING AND OTHER NEW EDITING TECHNIQUES THAT ONLY A CREATIVE INNOVATOR OF THE FIRST RANK COULD HAVE IMAGINED. THE FOURTH SEGMENT OF THE FILM, 'THE BABYLONIAN STORY' INVOLVED THE ERECTION OF THE LARGEST OUTDOOR SET EVER CONSTRUCTED FOR A HOLLYWOOD PRODUCTION. ENCIRCLING WALLS 300 FEET HIGH AND WIDE ENOUGH ON TOP TO ALLOW THE PASSING OF CHARIOTS WERE JUST ONE FEATURE OF THE SET'S MAJESTIC SCOPE . THE CROWD SCENES INVOLVED 16,000 EXTRAS AND GRIFFITH'S MASTERY OF ALL THESE ELEMENTS HELPED SET HIM APART AS A MASTER OF THE ART OF FILM."
"POTEMKIN" (1925), STARRING ALEKSANDER ANTONOV, VLADIMIR BARSKY, DIRECTED BY SERGEI EISENSTEIN. "DECLARED IN 1958 TO BE THE GREATEST FILM EVER MADE, THE SAME YEAR OF THE REISSUE OF 'CITIZEN KANE', EISENSTEIN'S ANTI-CZARIST MASTERWORK HAS SINCE BECOME ESTEEMED MORE FOR ITS TECHNICAL VIRTUOSITY THAN FOR ITS DRAMATIC DEVELOPMENT. EISENSTEIN DOESN'T INDIVIDUALIZE HIS CHARACTERS NOR ARE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS DEVELOPED. THERE ARE SHOTS OF MASSES OF MEN MOVING TOGETHER. WHEN FACES ARE SHOWN, THEY ARE GROUPED AND NOT INDIVDUALIZED. THE DIALOGUE IS HORTATORY AND UNIDIOMATIC. NOT TO SAY THAT THE GENIUS OF EISENSTEIN AS A DOCUMENTARIAN AND HIS MASTERFUL USE OF MONTAGE FAIL TO INVOLVE THE AUDIENCE. MONTAGE, THE PIECING TOGETHER IN A PREDETERMINED SEQUENCE OF PIECES OF FILM TO CREATE AN EFFECT MORE POWERFUL THAN THAT INHERENT IN EACH EXPOSURE ITSELF, WAS DEVELOPED TO ITS GREATEST EFFECT BY EISENSTEIN. (ALFRED HITCHCOCK, ANOTHER MASTER OF MONTAGE, CREATED THE ELECTRIFYING 45 SECOND SEQUENCE IN 'PSYCHO' WHERE TONY PERKINS MURDERS JANET LEIGH IN THE SHOWER.) SEVERAL PARADOXES ABOUT EISENSTEIN AND THE MAKING OF HIS FILM BEAR MENTIONING. HIS FATHER WAS A CZARIST AND A SUCCESSFUL JEWISH ARCHITECT WHO MARRIED AN UPPER CLASS RUSSIAN WOMAN. THEY DIVORCED AND EISENSTEIN MOVED TO ST. PETERSBURG WITH HIS MOTHER. AS A YOUNG MAN HE WAS A REVOLUTIONARY AND JOINED THE COMMUNIST PARTY. THIS FURTHER EXACERBATED THE RIFT BETWEEN HIM AND HIS FATHER. THE MAKING OF 'POTEMKIN' ABOUT THE FAILED 1905 ODESSA REVOLUTION AS EXEMPLIFIED BY THE REVOLT OF THE SAILORS ON THE BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN WAS COMMISSIONED BY LENIN AND THE REVOLUTIONARY LEADERSHIP AS PROPAGANDA FOR THE ANTI-CZARIST MOVEMENT. YET AS COMMUNISM UNDER STALIN BECAME MORE AUTHORITARIAN, THE POLITBURO ORDERED THE FILM REMOVED FROM THEATERS BECAUSE IT EXTOLLED A REVOLUTIONARY SENTIMENT WHICH STALIN NO LONGER WANTED TO ENCOURAGE. LATER IN HIS CAREER, WHEN EISENSTEIN WAS TRAVELING AND FILMING IN EUROPE, THE U.S. AND MEXICO WITH PERMISSION OF THE REGIME, STALIN, BECAUSE OF EISENSTEIN'S LONG ABSENCE, BECAME SUSPICIOUS THAT HE MIGHT DEFECT AND ORDERED HIM TO RETURN HOME. THE FAMOUS MONTAGE ON THE ODESSA STEPS OF THE SOLDIERS MOVING RELENTLESSLY DOWNWARD SLAUGHTERING INNOCENT CITIZENS IN THEIR PATH, THE MOST BLOODCURDLING EVENT THE SHOOTING OF A MOTHER WHO IS TRYING TO SAVE HER BABY IN ITS CARRIAGE AND THE BONE JARRING DESCENT OF THE CARRIAGE AS IT CAREENS ON DOWN THE STEPS - ALL THIS NEVER ACTUALLY TOOK PLACE, BUT THE SCENE IS SO BRILLIANTLY SUSTAINING THAT IT IS BELIEVED BY MANY TO BE A TRUE HISTORICAL EVENT. THE GENIUS OF EISENSTEIN ALLOWED HIM TO CREATE THIS MONTAGE AS THE PERFECT METAPHOR FOR THE ANTI-CZARIST MESSAGE OF THE FILM.
"THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC" (1928), STARRING MARIA FALCONETTI, EUGENE SYLVAIN, MAURICE SCHULTZ, ANTONIN ARTAUD, DIRECTED BY CARL THEODOR DREYER. "FALCONETTI'S PERFORMANCE AS JOAN IS SAID BY SOME CRITICS TO BE HISTORICALLY THE SINGLE MOST OUTSTANDING PROTRAYAL BY AN ACTOR ON FILM. OTHERS SAY THAT HER PERFORMANCE IS THE REASON FOR THE SUCCESS OF THE FILM. HOWEVER, THE FILM WASN'T A SUCCESS FINANCIALLY WHEN FIRST SHOWN AND IT MUST BE SAID THAT DREYER WAS A DEMANDING DIRECTOR WITH CONSIDERABLE PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE BOTH IN DIRECTING AND WRITING FOR FILMS WHO PUSHED FALCONETTI TO DELIVER THE PERFORMANCE HE ENVISIONED FOR JOAN. FALCONETTI WAS SO STRESSED BY HIS DEMANDS THAT, AT TIMES, SHE WAS CLOSE TO COLLAPSE. IT MUST ALSO BE REMEMBERED THAT DREYER HAD ORIGINALLY SEEN HER IN AN AMATEUR PRODUCTION AND DECIDED THEN THAT SHE WOULD BE HIS JOAN. HE ASSEMBLED A DISTINGUISHED CAST FROM MEMBERS OF THE 'COMEDIE FRANCAISE' AND HIRED d'HERMANN WARM AND JEAN VICTOR HUGO TO DO SET DESIGN. IN 1920 IN GERMANY WARM HAD DESIGNED THE EXPRESSIONIST SETS FOR DIRECTOR ROBERT WEINE'S 'THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI'. IN THAT FILM SOME OF THE SETS WERE BUILT OUT AND SOME WERE BACKDROPS LIKE STAGE SETS. INARGUABLY THE FILM'S STYLE IS THE RESULT OF DREYER'S VISION AS THE AUTEUR. 'JOAN' HAS COME OVER TIME TO BE CONSIDERED A MASTERPIECE IN WHICH FALCONETTI'S INCOMPARABLE PERFORMANCE IS JUST ONE OF THE ELEMENTS IMAGINED FOR THE FILM BY DREYER."
"SCHINDLER'S LIST" (1993 B&W), STARRING LIAM NEESON, BEN KINGSLEY, RALPH FIENNES, DIRECTED BY STEVEN SPIELBERG, BASED ON THE NOVEL BY THOMAS KENEALLY. "SPIELBERG, MAKER OF MUSCULAR ACTION ADVENTURES LIKE 'INDIANA JONES' AND 'JURASSIC PARK', PROVES BY HIS DIRECTORIAL CHOICES IN 'SCHINDLER'S LIST' THAT HE CAN ALSO BE THE SUBTLE CINEMATIC ARTIST. A TELLING CHOICE WAS TO FILM IN BLACK AND WHITE. SPIELBERG INTUITED THAT WITH SUCH VISUALLY HORRIFYING SUBJECT MATTER (THE EMACIATED VICTIMS, THE BLOOD, THE BODIES STACKED LIKE CORDWOOD) COLOR WOULD HAVE BEEN TOO JARRING TO THE SENSIBILITIES OF THE AUDIENCE. HAVING VISITED CRACOW, AUSCHWITZ AND BIRKENAU TO GET A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF THE HOLOCAUST BEFORE FILMING, SPIELBERG UNDERSTOOD THAT HE WOULD HAVE TO FORGO SOME OF THE TECHNOLOGY LIKE THE BOOM AND THE DOLLY HE WAS USED TO EMPLOYING FOR HIS EPICS. IN HIS EFFORT TO BRING THE EXPERIENCE CLOSE TO THE AUDIENCE WITHOUT VISUAL OVERSTATEMENT, HE EMPLOYED A HANDHELD CAMERA. HE RESISTED USING THE CAMERA TO UNDERLINE OR EMPHASIZE EMOTIONAL MOMENTS. THIS ARTISTIC RESTRAINT LENDS A REALISM TO THE AUDIENCE'S EXPERIENCE THAT TRANSCENDS ANY ORDINARY REACTION. SPIELBERG HAS FILMED OTHER DRAMATICALLY REALISTIC STORIES LIKE 'EMPIRE OF THE SUN' 'THE COLOR PURPLE' AND 'SAVING PRIVATE RYAN', BUT 'SCHINDLER'S LIST' REMAINS A MASTERPIECE NOT ONLY IN HIS OEUVRE, BUT IN WORLD FILM LITERATURE."
"THE GENERAL" (1927 SILENT), STARRING BUSTER KEATON, MARION MACK, DIRECTED BY BUSTER KEATON AND CLYDE BRUCKMAN. "KEATON'S GENIUS LAY IN HIS ABILITY TO PROJECT SERENE UNCONCERN IN THE MIDST OF CHAOTIC CIRCUMSTANCES. SOME CRITICS OPINE THAT KEATON'S DEADPAN DELIVERY IS SUPERIOR TO CHAPLIN'S COMIC EXPRESSIONS, BUT THOSE ARE HIGHLY SUBJECTIVE OPINIONS EXPRESSED BY THOSE WHO PLAY THE 'GOOD, BETTER, BEST' GAME. DEADPAN DELIVERY IS AN OLD STANDBY IN VAUDEVILLE WHERE KEATON STARTED AND IS A GUARANTEED LAUGH GETTER. CHAPLIN ALSO TRAINED IN VAUDEVILLE AND IS EQUALLY ADEPT AT ELICITING LAUGHS. WHEN YOU ARE COMPARING THE WORKS OF GENIUSES, THE 'GOOD, BETTER, BEST' GAME PLAYED BY CRITICS TO CONTRAST KEATON AND CHAPLIN IS THE SIGN OF A SOPHOMORIC MIND SET. GENIUS DICTATES ITS OWN TERMS. IN THIS FILM KEATON MARRIED A POTPOURI OF GENRES - CIVIL WAR FILM, TRAIN FILM, CHASE, COMEDY - INTO ONE SUPERB CONSTRUCT. HIS EXQUISITE SENSE OF TIMING AND THE DARING, OFTEN DANGEROUS SIGHT GAGS AND PRATFALLS PERFORMED AS HE MOVES ABOUT THE ENGINE INSIDE AND OUT AS FAMILIARY AS HE WOULD A CHILDRENS PLAY SLIDE ARE CONCEIVED AND EXECUTED WITH SUCH ELEGANCE AND SEEMINGLY EASY GRACE THAT IN THE DELIGHT OF THE MOMENT THE AUDIENCE MAY OVERLOOK THE GRAND SCALE OF HIS ACCOMPLISHMENT. OF COURSE, THE NE PLUS ULTRA OF SUCH KEATON INSPIRED SCENES IS THE ONE FROM 'STEAMBOAT BILL' WHERE THE CYCLONE BLOWS A BUILDING WALL DOWN UPON HIS STANDING FIGURE AND, BECAUSE HE IS STANDING WITHIN THE FRAME OF AN OPEN WINDOW, HE IS ABLE TO STEP AWAY WITH IMPASSIVE UNCONCERN. IN THIS FILM HIS MATCHLESS ELAN AND DIRECTORIAL APLOMB PLACE HIM ALONGSIDE CHAPLIN AS A MASTER OF SILENT FILM COMEDY."
"OSSESSIONE" (1942 B&W), STARRING CLARA CALAMAI, MASSIMO GIROTTI, JUAN DE LANDA, ELIO MARCUZZO, DHIA CHRISTIANI, DIRECTED BY LUCHINO VISCONTI. "THIS, THE FIRST OF THE ITALIAN NEO-REALIST FILMS, PAVED THE WAY FOR DIRECTORS LIKE ROBERTO ROSSELLINI, VITTORIO DE SICA, MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI, FEDERICO FELLINI ET AL TO PRESENT THEIR PERSONAL VISIONS OF POST WWII ITALIAN SOCIETY. BECAUSE IT WAS BASED ON JAMES M. CAIN'S 'THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE', A BRUTALLY REALISTIC STORY OF ADULTERY, BETRAYAL AND MURDER, THE FASCIST GOVERNMENT OF THE DAY AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WERE OPPOSED TO VISCONTI'S UNCOMPROMISINGlY BLEAK PORTRAYAL OF THE LOWER STRATA OF ITALIAN SOCIETY. THE CENSORS DEMANDED EXTREME CUTS, BUT VISCONTI WENT OVER THEIR HEADS TO MUSSOLINI HIMSELF. THE DICTATOR, WHO HAD BEEN EDUCATED AS AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER AND HAD SOME PRETENSIONS TO ARTISTIC TASTE, LIKED THE FILM AND ALLOWED IT TO BE SHOWN WITH A FEW EDITS. THOUGH A KNOWN COMMUNIST AND AN INTELLECTUAL ENEMY OF FASCISM WHO ALLOWED COMMUNIST MEETINGS TO TAKE PLACE IN HIS FAMILY'S PALACE, VISCONTI WAS A NOBLEMAN. MUSSOLINI'S SON-IN-LAW AND MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, GIAN GALEAZZO CIANO, WAS ALSO A NOBLEMAN. AT THOSE SOCIAL LEVELS COMMUNICATIONS CAN SOMETIMES TAKE PLACE THAT WOULD BE STIFLED BY ORDINARY CONVENTIONS. ULTIMATELY, THE OPPOSITION OF THE CHURCH AND THE CENSORS FORCED THE FILM TO BE REMOVED FROM THEATERS. IN THIS COUNTRY COPYRIGHT DIFFICULTIES WITH THE CAIN NOVEL PREVENTED THE FILM FROM BEING SHOWN UNTIL THE '70s. TWO VERSIONS WERE MADE HERE, THE VERSION WITH JOHN GARFIELD AND LANA TURNER AND THE LATER ONE WITH JACK NICHOLSON AND JESSICA LANGE. CRITICS IN RETROSPECT HAVE GIVEN VISCONTI'S FILM HIGH MARKS AS A MASTERPIECE AND THE FIRST OF THE ITALIAN CANON OF NEO-REALISTIC FILMS.
OPEN CITY (1945 B&W), STARRING ANNA MAGNANI, ALDO FABRIZI, MARCEL PAGLIERO, DIRECTED BY ROBERTO ROSSELLINI. "IT'S NOTABLE THAT ROSSELLINI HAD AS A CO-WRITER FEDERICO FELLINI WHO WOULD GO ON TO BECOME AN ESTEEMED DIRECTOR HIMSELF. WITH A BUDGET OF ONLY $25,000 ROSSELINI HAD TO USE ODDS AND ENDS OF FILM STOCK AND SHOOT WITH AVAILABLE LIGHT AND WITHOUT SOUND SUPPLYING DIALOGUE IN THE EDITING ROOM. THE PARADIGM FOR ITALIAN NEO-REALISM WAS EXEMPLIFIED IN THIS FILM - ORDINARY, UNSTRESSED EPISODIC EVENTS LIKE THOSE SEEN IN DOCUMENTARIES, CHARACTERS PLAYED BY NON-PROFESSIONAL ACTORS, SCENES SHOT IN NATURAL SETTINGS (NO MONEY FOR FILM SETS), AND THE FASCINATION OF THE NEO-REALIST DIRECTOR WITH THE LIVES OF THE DISPOSSESSED POOR RESULTING NATURALLY IN AN EMPHASIS ON COMMON DEMOCRATIC VALUES. THE UNWILLINGNESS OF THE DIRECTOR AND HIS WRITERS TO PROSELYTIZE, ONLY TO PRESENT THE VERISMO OF THE STORY, LENDS A UNIVERSAL QUALITY TO THE FILM THAT REVERBRATES TODAY.
"THE BICYCLE THIEF" (1948 B&W), STARRING LAMBERTO MAGGIORANI, ENZO STAIOLA, LIANELLA CARELL , DIRECTED BY VITTORIO DE SICA. "THE WORDS 'SLICE OF LIFE' ACCURATELY DESCRIBE DE SICA'S STORY TELLING TECHNIQUE. HE AND HIS WRITER-COLLABORATOR, CESARE ZAVATTINI , DIDN'T PURSUE AN ARISTOTELIAN STORY LINE IN THREE ACTS. THE FILM, BASED ON LUIGI BARTOLINI'S NOVEL, PRESENTS POST WORLD WAR II ITALIAN LIFE IN ALL ITS URBAN SQUALOR AND FOCUSES ON THE LIVES OF THE DEPRIVED POOR. THE LOOK OF THE FILM, SHOT WITH AVAILABLE LIGHT, HAS A DOCUMENTARY REALITY. BY THROWING OFF THE FORMULAIC RESTRAINTS OF PRE-WAR MELODRAMAS AS EXEMPLIFIED BY THE POSTER OF RITA HAYWORTH AS 'GILDA' WHICH APPEARS IN THE FILM ON A CITY WALL, DE SICA MADE CLEAR THAT, THOUGH HE WAS KNOWN AS A PRE-WAR MATINEE IDOL FAMED FOR HIS ROLES IN LIGHT COMEDY, LIKE ROSSELINI, FELLINI AND OTHER NEO-REALISTS HE WAS DEDICATED TO FINDING A NEW, VITAL PARADIGM FOR ITALIAN FILMS. THE NON-JUDGEMENTAL VIEWPOINT OF THE DIRECTOR TOWARDS THESE ORDINARY ITALIANS CAUGHT UP IN STRUGGLES RESULTING FROM THE THEFT OF A BICYCLE ESSENTIAL TO THE JOB OF THE FATHER AND THE SURVIVAL OF THE FAMILY IS CHAPLINESQUE IN THAT DE SICA ATTEMPTS NO EX-CATHEDRA PHOLOSOPHICAL PRONOUNCEMENTS ABOUT HIS CHARACTERS. HE SIMPLY PRESENTS THEIR LIFE STORY AND BECAUSE OF THIS APPROACH THE FILM TAKES ON A UNIVERSAL QUALITY. THE NON-PROFESSIONAL ACTORS ARE ENTIRELY CONVINCING IN THEIR PROTRAYALS. DE SICA-ZAVATTINI CONCEIVED THE FATHER AND SON SOMEWHAT IN THE MOLD OF DON QUIXOTE AND SANCHO PANZA, THE YOUNG SON PLAYING SANCHO PANZA. THE FILM WAS AWARDED AN HONORARY OSCAR IN 1949 BEFORE THE ACADEMY HAD ESTABLISHED A BEST FOREIGN FILM CATEGORY."
"PSYCHO" (1960 B&W), STARRING JANET LEIGH, VERA MILES, JOHN GAVIN, MARTIN BALSAM, DIRECTED BY ALFRED HITCHCOCK. "TO CHOOSE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY AT A TIME WHEN COLOR IS UNIVERSALLY AVAILABLE, AS HITCHCOCK DID IN THIS FILM AND LAWRENCE OLIVIER DID WITH 'HAMLET', MEANS THAT THE DIRECTOR BELIEVES THE VISUAL PRESENTATION MUST BE CONSONANT ARTISTICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE STORY. IN BOTH INSTANCES THE CHOICE IS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT. A LEXICON OF HORROR/SLASH FILMS LIKE 'HALLOWEEN', 'FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH' AND 'NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET' HAVE BEEN INSPIRED BY AND, IN THE CASE OF JOHN CARPENTER'S 'HALLOWEEN', DIRECTLY INDEBTED TO 'PSYCHO'. 'HALLOWEEN' IMITATES THE STRIDENT, DISCORDANCE OF BERNARD HERRMANN'S 'PSYCHO' SCORE TO INTRODUCE BLOOD CHILLING MOMENTS, CASTS JANET LEIGH'S DAUGHTER, JAMIE LEE CURTIS, AS STAR AND BORROWS THE NAME SAM LOOMIS FROM THE HITCHCOCK SCREENPLAY FOR A 'HALLOWEEN' CHARACTER. THE FORTY-FIVE SECOND SHOWER SCENE IN WHICH JANET LEIGH GETS STABBED TO DEATH BY ANTHONY PERKINS IS THE TECHNICAL AND HORRIFIC HIGH POINT OF THE FILM. HITCH'S MASTERY OF THE CAMERA AND OF FILM EDITING ARE MATCHED ONLY BY AUTEURS AS CREATIVE AS WELLES, FORD AND KUBRICK. THIS DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 'PSYCHO' AND 'VERTIGO', THE TECHNICAL PERFECTION OF THE FIRST AND THE EMOTIVE, INTROSPECTIVE QUALITY OF THE SECOND, CAUSES MOST CRITICS TO COME DOWN ON THE SIDE OF 'VERTIGO' AS THE BEST OF HIS FILMS."
"PULP FICTION" (1994), STARRING JOHN TRAVOLTA, SAMUEL L. JACKSON, UMA THURMAN, HARVEY KEITEL, CHRISTOPHER WALKEN, BRUCE WILLIS, DIRECTED BY QUENTIN TARANTINO. "ART CRITICS ARE FOND OF SAYING THAT 'ARTISTS GRAPPLE WITH SMOKE TO CREATE REALITY' OR ITS COROLLARY 'ARTISTS CREATE ORDER OUT OF CHAOS' AND TARANTINO IS AN ARTIST WHO IS TOTALLY CONVERSANT WITH CHAOS. HE MANAGES TO CONTAIN CHAOS IN HIS STORIES AND DIALOGUE. HE FASHIONED SCRIPTS FOR THIS AND HIS FIRST FILM, 'RESERVOIR DOGS' THAT GRAB YOU ROUGHLY BY THE SCRUFF OF YOUR ATTENTION. TARANTINO DOESN'T EDIT HIS FILM IN A LINEAR FASHION, BOOKENDING THE FILM WITH AN OPENING SCENE IN A RESTAURANT WHERE A DITZY DUO IS PLANNING A HOLD-UP AND A CLOSING SCENE IN WHICH THE HOLD-UP ACTUALLY TAKES PLACE. THE INTERLOCKING STORIES OF THESE TWELVE CHACTERS DOUBLE BACK ON THEMSELVES, BUT TARANTINO'S DIALOGUE IS LINEAR AND CAUSES WHAT SEEMS TO BE CHAOTIC ACTION ACTUALLY SEEM SEQUENTIAL. THIS FORMER VIDEO STORE CLERK AND STUDENT OF HITCHCOCK, HOWARD HAWKS, SAM FULLER AND OTHER NOIR FILM MAKERS, USES A SHOCKINGLY CONTEMPORARY VOCABULARY BECAUSE HE GROKS THE KIND OF SCATALOGIES AND PROFANITIES THESE LOW LIFES ACTUALLY SPEAK. HIS CHARACTERS FIND THEMSELVES IN DESPERATE SITUATIONS AND IN TRYING TO EXTRICATE THEMSELVES END UP IN EVEN MORE DESPERATE SITUATIONS. GIVEN HIS UTTER FEARLESSNESS IN PROCESSING DROSS AND TURNING IT INTO UNFORGETTABLE CINEMA AND HIS GIFT FOR ENDOWING THE MOST UNSAVORY OF OUR CITIZENS WITH REDEEMING QUALITIES THAT MAKE THE FILMGOER ACTUALLY SEE THEM AS APPALLINGLY FASCINATING, IT HAS TO BE SAID THAT TARANTINO OCCUPIES THE FIRST RANK OF FILM AUTEURS. HIS WINNING OF BOTH THE PALME d'OR AT CANNES AND THE OSCAR SEAL THAT JUDGEMENT.
"DR. STRANGELOVE: OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB" (1964 B&W), STARRING PETER SELLERS, GEORGE C. SCOTT, STERLING HAYDEN, KEENAN WYNN, SLIM PICKENS, DIRECTED BY STANLEY KUBRICK. "ONLY THE MOST CREATIVE MIND CAN TREAT TRAGEDY AS COMEDY WITHOUT DILUTING THE MESSAGE (THINK OF CHAPLIN'S 'CITY LIGHTS') AND KUBRICK ACCOMPLISHES IT HERE INCORPORATING WILDLY COMICAL, FARCICAL SCENES PERFORMED BY A BRILLIANT CAST INCLUDING THE COMIC GENIUS PETER SELLERS WHO ESSAYS THREE ROLES. THE OTHER ACTORS, EVERY BIT AS INSPIRED, IN SUBVERSIVE, OVER-THE-TOP SCENES LIKE THOSE IN THE WAR ROOM, INTUIT OUR PARANOID FEARS ABOUT RUSSIA POST WORLD WAR II, AND KUBRICK PUNCTUATES THE TRULY, UNDERNEATH IT ALL, BONE CHILLING STORY WITH THAT FAMILIAR IMAGE OF THE MUSHROOM CLOUD."
"THE RULES OF THE GAME" (1939 B&W), STARRING MARCEL DALIO, NORA GREGOR, JEAN RENOIR, MILA PARELY, DIRECTED BY JEAN RENOIR. "THOUGH RELEASED IN FRANCE TWO YEARS BEFORE 'CITIZEN KANE' IN THE U.S. AND THOUGH BOTH FILMS EMPLOY DEEP FOCUS PHOTOGRAPHY LIKE THAT PIONEERED FOR JOHN FORD BY GREG TOLAND, IT IS UNLIKELY THAT RENOIR'S FILM INFLUENCED WELLES' BECAUSE BOTH WERE POORLY RECEIVED BY THE PUBLIC UPON RELEASE AND IT WAS SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE EITHER WAS WIDELY VIEWED, WHICH ALLOWS US TO PRESUME THAT THESE GREAT ARTISTS WERE SO ACUTELY ATTUNED TO THE TRENDS OF THEIR TIMES THAT THEY SIMULTANEOUSLY ANTICIPATED NEW TECHNIQUES THAT WOULD BECOME THE FILMIC VOCABULARY OF NOUVELLE VAGUE DIRECTORS LIKE TRUFFAUT, GODDARD AND RESNAIS WHOSE FIRST FILMS APPEARED IN THE '50s AND '60S. BECAUSE THE STORY UNREELS LIKE A CLASSIC FEYDEAU FARCE WITH RENOIR HIMSELF PLAYING OCTAVE THE RAISSONEUR, THERE IS A VENEER OF HUMOR MASKING WHAT CAN BE AT TIMES SHOCKINGLY BRUTAL EVENTS LIKE THE SLAUGHTER OF THE RABBITS DURING THE HUNT AS OPPOSED TO THE FARCICAL SWAPPING OF BEDS AND PARTNERS UPSTAIRS AND DOWN, THOUGH THE ARISTOCRATS MAINTAIN A CERTAIN APLOMB WHILE THE SERVANTS INDULGE THEIR EAGER EROTICISM WITH A VULGAR INTENSITY. THOUGH RENOIR FOCUSES HIS CAMERA ON THE ACTORS IN THE FOREGROUND, HIS OLYMPIAN WORLD VIEW, PERHAPS LEARNED FROM HIS FATHER, PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR, THE GREAT IMPRESSIONIST PAINTER, ALLOWS EVERYONE IN THE CHATEAU TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ACTION SIMULTANEOUSLY AS THE CAMERA EXPLORES, LIKE A CHARACTER ITSELF, DEEP INTO THE FRAME TO CATCH OTHERS MOVING INTO ROOMS AND ALONG CORRIDORS LENDING THE FILM THE EFFECT OF LIFE AS IT IS ACTUALLY LIVED. FROM HIS HEIGHTENED PERSPECTIVE RENOIR SEEMS TO BE ECHOING PUCK'S REMARK FROM 'A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM', 'WHAT FOOLS THESE MORTALS BE."
"ANNIE HALL"(1977), STARRING WOODY ALLEN, DIANNE KEATON, SHELLEY DUVALL, TONY ROBERTS, CHRISTOPHER WALKEN, DIRECTED BY WOODY ALLEN. "THIS, ALLEN'S SIXTH FILM, IS A QUANTUM LEAP IN STORY TELLING AND FILMIC TECHNIQUE FROM HIS FIRST, 'TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN', WHICH WAS A PASTICHE OF JOKES EVOCATIVE OF HIS ORIGINS IN STAND-UP, AND SHOWS HIS INDEBTEDNESS TO ADMIRED FILMAKERS LIKE FELLINI AND BERGMAN (CHIAROSCURO LIGHTING, MOVEMENT WITHIN THE FRAME, LONG COMPELLING SCENES COMPOSED SOLELY OF DIALOGUE BETWEEN TWO PEOPLE) WHILE FREELY INCORPORATING NOUVELLE VAGUE TECHNIQUES PIONEERED BY WELLES, TRUFFAULT ET AL (SPLIT SCREEN, FLASHBACKS, NONLINEAR STORY TELLING) AND ENLARGENING HIS SELF ABNEGATING INTELLECTUALIZATIONS TO INCLUDE, INDIRECTLY, TRUE REFERENCES TO GUT-FELT, HEART-FELT REFERENCES THAT RESONATE EMOTIONALLY WITH THE AUDIENCE MAKING THIS HIS BEST FILM AND ONE WORTHY OF ITS FOUR 1978 ACADEMY AWARDS INCLUDING BEST PICTURE."
"CITIZEN KANE" (1941 B&W), STARRING ORSON WELLES, JOSEPH COTTEN, AGNES MOOREHEAD, EVERETT SLOAN, DOROTHY COMINGORE, DIRECTED BY ORSON WELLES. "THE FILM DEAL GEORGE SCHAEFER, PRESIDENT OF RKO, OFFERED THE TWENTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD WUNDERKIND OF 'MERCURY THEATER' AND 'THE WAR OF THE WORLDS' FAME WAS UNPRECEDENTED IN HOLLYWOOD, I.E. TOTAL CONTROL INCLUDING FINAL CUT ALLOWING WELLES TO CONCENTRATE HIS CREATIVE GENIUS ON THIS HIS FIRST EFFORT. THE FILM IS CONSIDERED BY MANY CRITICS AND FILM MAKERS AROUND THE WORLD, BECAUSE OF ITS STORY TELLING AND TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS, TO BE THE GREATEST FILM EVER MADE. THESE INCLUDE IN-DEPTH FOCUS, NON-LINEAR, CIRCULAR NARRATIVE DEVELOPMENT, FREQUENT FLASHBACKS, SURREAL CHIAROSCURO LIGHTING AND OTHER TECHNIQUES THAT INSPIRED A LATER GENERATION OF NOUVELLE VAGUE FILM MAKERS LIKE TRUFFAUT, GODARD AND RESNAIS."
"PATHER PANCHALI" (1955), STARRING KANU BANNERJEE, UMA DAS GUPTA, REBA DEVI ET AL, DIRECTED BY SATYAJIT RAY. "AS SEEN THROUGH THE SENSITIVE AND DISCERNING EYES OF DIRECTOR RAY, THIS REALISTICALLY FILMED STORY OF APU, A BRAHMIN BOY LIVING IN ABJECT POVERTY IN INDIA, BECOMES A PAEAN TO THE UNDYING BONDS OF FAMILIAL LOVE THAT PERSIST UNDER THE DIREST CIRCUMSTANCES AND BY EXTENSION FOCUSES AN UNREMITTING LENS ON INDIAN SOCIETY ITSELF."
"GARDEN OF THE FINZI CONTINI" (1971), STARRING HELMUT BERGER, DOMINIQUE SANDA ET AL, DIRECTED BY VITTORIO DE SICA. "IN HIS MASTERPIECE DE SICA ALLOWS US TO FALL IN LOVE WITH THIS FAMILY OF EDUCATED, CHARMING, ARISTOCRATIC JEWS SO THAT, AS THE INEXORABLE NAZI NET CLOSES AROUND THEM, THEIR FATE BECOMES A HORRIFYING AND PERSONAL LOSS."
"THE LEOPARD" (1963), STARRING BURT LANCASTER, DOMINIQUE SANDA, HELMUT BERGER, DIRECTED BY LUCHINO VISCONTI. "AMONG AN INTERNATIONAL CAST OF FRENCH AND ITALIANS LANCASTER, OFTEN THE MUSCULAR ACTION HERO, PROVES IN THIS ITALIAN PRODUCTION HIS SUBTLETY AND RANGE AS 'THE LEOPARD' UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE ALWAYS PASSIONATE, ALWAYS THOUGHTFUL VISCONTI WHO DOES GREAT JUSTICE TO GIUSEPPE DE LAMPEDUSA'S LAUDED NOVEL."
"THE FOUR HUNDRED BLOWS" (1959), STARRING JEAN-PIERRE LEAUD, PATRICK AUFFAY, CLAIRE MAURIER, ALBERT REMY, DIRECTED BY FRANCOIS TRUFFAUT. "IN 1959 TRUFFAUT, FILM CRITIC WITH THE INFLUENTIAL MAGAZINE 'CAHIER DU CINEMA', INFLUENCED BY THE TECHNICAL AND STORY TELLING INNOVATIONS OF JEAN RENOIR'S 'RULES OF THE GAME' ,ORSON WELLES' 'CITIZEN KANE' AND ITALIAN NEO-REALISM VAULTED ONTO THE WORLD CINEMA STAGE WITH HIS SENSITIVELY OBSERVED, FUNNY-SAD AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MOVIE ABOUT THE COMING OF AGE OF THE HAPLESS YOUTH, ANTOINE DOINEL, AND JOINED FELLOW DIRECTORS LIKE ALAIN RESNAIS AND JEAN-LUC GODARD IN TRANSFORMING FRENCH CINEMA." (SEE REVIEWS BELOW)
"THE SEVENTH SEAL" (1957 B&W), STARRING MAX VON SYDOW, GUNNAR BJORNSTRAND, DIRECTED BY INGMAR BERGMAN. "VON SYDOW, THE KNIGHT RETURNING FROM THE CRUSADES, VIES WITH DEATH OVER A CHESS BOARD AND BERGMAN, AS HE DOES IN 'WILD STRAWBERRIES', EXPLORES AGAIN THE LIFE-DEATH, GOD-MAN CONUNDRUM WITH SOUL JARRING INSIGHTS."
"CITY LIGHTS" (1931 B&W), STARRING CHARLES CHAPLIN, VIRGINIA CHERRILL, HARRY MYERS, DIRECTED BY CHARLES CHAPLIN. "IN THIS FILM CHAPLIN TELLS A STORY OF UNREQUITED LOVE THROUGH STRUGGLES AT TIMES COMIC, AT TIMES BATHETIC AS THE LITTLE TRAMP STRIVES TO RAISE MONEY TO RESTORE THE SIGHT OF A BLIND FLOWER GIRL AND PROVES AGAIN THAT 'SILENTS' ARE GOLDEN."
"VIRIDIANA" (1961), STARRING SILVIA PINAL, FRANCISCO RABAL, FERNANDO RAY ET AL, DIRECTED BY LUIS BUNUEL. "THE DIRECTOR HITCHCOCK THOUGHT TO BE THE GREATEST OF ALL EXPANDS UPON HIS FAVORITE THEME, THE UGLY CONFLICT BETWEEN IDEALISM AND REALITY, AS DRAMATIZED BY THE STORY OF A NUN, VIRIDIANA, WHO TAKES IN VAGRANTS OUT OF A SENSE OF MORAL OBLIGATION ONLY TO BE SAVAGED BY THEM."
"KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN" (1985), STARRING WILLIAM HURT, RAUL JULIA, SONIA BRAGA, DIRECTED BY HECTOR BABENCO. "IN THE NOVEL THAT IS THIS FILM'S SOURCE AUTHOR MANUEL PUIG PLACES AN EFFEMINATE GAY MAN AND A MACHO REVOLUTIONARY TOGETHER IN A PRISON CELL (THINK OF SARTRE'S 'NO EXIT') INVITING THE AUDIENCE TO PREPARE FOR A CLASH OF LIFESTYLES, BUT BABENCO UNDERSTANDS THAT PUIG HAS WRITTEN NO SIMPLE MELODRAMA, THAT WITHIN THE CONFLICTING ATTITUDES OF THESE ODD CELLMATES AND THE PREJUDICES THAT DIVIDE THEM LIE INSIGHTS THAT WILL ALLOW THEM FINALLY TO UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER AND THAT THE RESOLUTION OF THEIR CONFLICT IS A METAPHOR ABOUT MAN'S ETERNAL STRUGGLE TO ACHIEVE INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM."
"L'ASSOMOIR" (1956), STARRING MARIA SCHELL, FRANCOIS PERIER, SUZY DELAIR ET AL, DIRECTED BY RENE CLEMENT. "CLEMENT'S MASTERFUL 1956 NEO-REALISTIC FILM OF EMILE ZOLA'S GREAT 1852 NOVEL 'GERVAISE' PENETRATED THE INSULAR PREJUDICES OF FRANCE'S SECOND EMPIRE ARISTOCRATS TO EXPOSE THE INHUMAN DEGRADATION OF THE POOR LIVING IN THEIR MIDST."
"METROPOLIS" (1927 B&W), STARRING ALFRED ABEL, GUSTAV FROLICH, BRIGITTE HELM ET AL, DIRECTED BY FRITZ LANG. "IN THIS FILM, PRESENTLY BEING RESTORED WITH TWENTY-FIVE MINUTES OF LOST FOOTAGE DISCOVERED IN A SMALL ARGENTINIAN MUSEUM, LANG THE ARTIST GAVE BIRTH TO A MECHANIZED FUTURE WORLD TOWERING ABOVE A SURREAL UNDERWORLD OF ENSLAVED WORKERS TO CREATE THE TEMPLATE FOR FUTURE SCI-FI FILMS LIKE '2001', 'STAR WARS', THE INDIANA JONES FILMS, 'MEN IN BLACK' AND OTHER FILMS AS YET UNBORN."
"VERTIGO" (1958), STARRING JAMES STEWART, KIM NOVAK, BARBARA BEL GEDDES, DIRECTED BY ALFRED HITCHCOCK. " ADAPTED FROM A FRENCH NOVEL BY PIERRE BOILEAU AND THOMAS NARCEJAC THIS FILM WAS NOT RANKED AT FIRST AS AMONG HITCHCOCK'S BEST, BUT IS NOW ESTEEMED BY CRITICS WHO SEE THE JAMES STEWART CHARACTER'S OBSESSIVE LOVE FOR AND NEED TO MANIPULATE THE KIM NOVAK CHARACTER AS A PARADIGM FOR HITCHCOCK'S OWN NEED AS A DIRECTOR TO FILM HIS PERSONAL OBSESSIONS. IN DOING SO HE GIFTS US WITH AN INSIGHT INTO THE WAY A CREATIVE ARTIST TAKES THE MATERIAL OF HIS LIFE AND TRANSFORMS IT LIKE AN ALCHEMIST INTO THE GOLD OF ART. THIS IS OF ALL HITCHCOCK FILMS THE MOST CONFESSIONAL. BRIAN DE PALMA IS ONE DIRECTOR WHO HAS BEEN INSPIRED BY NOT ONLY THE REVELATORY NATURE OF THE STORY TELLING, BUT ALSO BY THE VIRTUOSO USE OF CAMERA AND COLOR AND THE INEFFABLE CONTRIBUTION BERNARD HERRMANN'S SCORE ADDS TO THE PSYCHOLOGICAL INTENSITY OF THE CHARACTERIZATIONS. "
"LAWRENCE OF ARABIA" (1962), STARRING PETER O'TOOLE, ANTHONY QUINN, OMAR SHARIF, ALEC GUINNESS, JACK HAWKINS, CLAUDE RAINS, JOSE FERRER, SIR ANTHONY QUAYLE, DIRECTED BY DAVID LEAN. "ALONE AMONG EPIC FILMS FROM 'THE TEN COMMANDMENTS' TO 'SPARTACUS' TO 'BEN HUR' TO 'THE GLADIATOR', LEAN'S FILM, BASED LOOSELY ON T.E. LAWRENCE'S 1926 BIOGRAPHY 'THE SEVEN PILLARS OF WISDOM', MOST EFFECTIVELY PRESENTS BATTLE SCENES OF EPIC GRANDEUR AS BACKDROPS TO INTIMATE CHARACTER INSIGHTS AND CAPTIVATES THE ATTENTION ON BOTH LEVELS MAKING IT OBVIOUS WHY THE FILM WAS CROWNED WITH A LAUREL OF SEVEN ACADEMY AWARDS GRACING THE PEAK OF AN EVEREST OF TEN NOMINATIONS."
"LA DOLCE VITA" (1960), STARRING MARCELLO MASTROIANI, ANITA EKBERG, ANOUK AIMEE, YVONNE FURNEAUX, ALAIN CUNY, DIRECTED BY FEDERICO FELLINI. "THIS MASTERPIECE FROM THE MOST ITALIAN OF ITALIAN DIRECTORS PRESENTS IN CARNIVALESQUE DETAIL THE DESCENT OF MARCELLO FROM ASPIRING WRITER TO PANDERING GOSSIP COLUMNIST AND OFFERS AT LAST FOR OUR CONTEMPLATION THE IMAGE OF THE SHAPELESS SEA MONSTER AS AN EXISTENTIAL METAPHOR FOR THE EMPTINESS OF HIS AND POST WORLD WAR II ITALY'S PERVERTED, DECADENT LIFE STYLE."
"BLOWUP" (1966), STARRING DAVID HEMMINGS, VANESSA REDGRAVE, SARAH MILES, DIRECTED BY MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI. "FELLINI AND ANTONIONI ARE CONCERNED WITH THE SAME EXISTENTIAL PROBLEMS ENGULFING POST WAR ITALIAN SOCIETY IN THAT THEIR PROTAGONISTS ARE CAUGHT UP IN A DECADENT MORAL SCENE AT THE SAME TIME THEY ASPIRE TO MAKE ART THROUGH THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH - FOR MARCELLO IN THE ACT OF WRITING, FOR HEMMINGS IN TRYING TO DISCOVER MEANING IN AN ULTIMATELY MEANINGLESS IMAGE ACCIDENTALLY DISCOVERED IN A PHOTOGRAPH."
"BREATHLESS" (1961), STARRING JEAN PAUL BELMONDO, JEAN SEBERG, DANIEL BOULANGER, JEAN-PIERRE MELVILLE, DIRECTED BY JEAN-LUC GODARD. "ONE OF THOSE 'NOUVELLE VAGUE' INNOVATORS LIKE FRANCOIS TRUFFAUT WHO WERE CONNECTED TO THE INFLUENTIAL MAGAZINE 'CAHIER DU CINEMA', GODARD SHREDDED THE FABRIC OF TRADITIONAL FRENCH CINEMA AND INNOVATED A FAST-PACED NON-LINEAR FILM, VISUALLY STUNNING IN ITS ABRUPT JUMP-CUT EDITING, RYTHMICALLY JACKED UP LIKE THE SORDID LIVES OF ITS CHARACTERS, THAT BECAME VASTLY INFLUENTIAL TO THE NEW INTERNATIONAL CROP OF FILM AUTEURS."
"HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR" (1959), STARRING EMMANUELLE RIVA, EIJI OKADA, DIRECTED BY ALAIN RESNAIS. " MARGUERITE DURAS' OVERLY INTELLECTUALIZED SCRIPT ABOUT A TEENAGE FRENCHWOMAN WHO, DURING WORLD WAR II, IS IMPRISONED FOR FALLING IN LOVE WITH A GERMAN SOLDIER AND AFTER THE WAR AS AN ACTRESS GOES TO TOKYO AND FALLS IN LOVE WITH A JAPANESE ARCHITECT WHO AT TWENTY-TWO EXPERIENCED THE DROPPING OF THE A-BOMB ON HIROSHIMA, COULD BE SUBTITLED 'SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY', BUT THAT WOULD TRIVIALIZE RESNAIS' FILM AND HIS DETERMINATION, ALONG WITH OTHER YOUNG TURKS LIKE, TRUFFAUT AND GODARD, TO RECAST FRENCH CINEMA IN A NEW PARADIGM OF FLASHBACKS, NON-LINEAR STORY DEVELOPMENT, ABRUPT INTERCUTTING, SILENCE TO INDICATE THE PASSAGE OF TIME ETC. THAT WAS SO MUCH LAUDED BY CRITICS HERE AND ABROAD AND WHICH THE BOARD OF 'CAHIER DU CINEMA' CALLED 'A CINEMATIC WATERSHED'."
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE" (1951), STARRING MARLON BRANDO, VIVIEN LEIGH, KIM HUNTER, KARL MALDEN, DIRECTED BY ELIA KAZAN. "THIS OSCAR WINNING FILM, LARGELY A FILMED VERSION OF THE TENNESSEE WILLIAMS 1947 PULITZER PLAY, FOCUSES ON THE SUPERCHARGED RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BRANDO AND THE FEMALE STARS ( KOWALSKI-DUBOIS, STANLEY-STELLA) DELIVERING AN EMOTIONAL WALLOP THAT CAN STILL, ALL THESE YEARS LATER, STAGGER AN AUDIENCE."
"RASHOMON" (1951 B&W), STARRING TOSHIRO MIFUNE, MICHIKO KYO ET AL, DIRECTED BY AKIRA KUROSAWA. "IN THIS EXQUISITELY PHOTOGRAPHED ADAPTATION OF RYUNOSUKE AKUTAGAWA'S ESTEEMED NOVEL ABOUT A SAMURAI'S MURDER AND THE RAPE OF HIS WIFE BY THE BANDIT TAJOMARU, KUROSAWA, THROUGH THE TESTIMONY OF FOUR WITNESSES - TAJOMARU, THE WIFE, THE DEAD SAMURAI (RECALLED FROM THE AFTERLIFE BY A PSYCHIC) AND A WOODCUTTER WHO DISCOVERED THE BODY AND PROFESSES TO HAVE SEEN EVERYTHING - EXPLORES THE QUESTION, 'WHAT IS TRUTH'?, AND ITS COROLLARY, 'CAN MAN BEAR TO FACE THE TRUTH OF HIS OWN UNFORTUNATE REALITY?'"
"HAMLET" (1948 B&W), STARRING LAURENCE OLIVIER, BASIL SYDNEY, EILEEN HERLIE, JEAN SIMMONS, NORMAN WOOLAND, FELIX AYLMER, DIRECTED BY LAURENCE OLIVIER. " OLIVIER CUTS THE TEXT OF THE PLAY, ELIMINATING ROSENKRANTZ, GUILDENSTERN AND FORTINBRAS, FILMS IN BLACK AND WHITE RATHER THAN COLOR AS HE HAD IN HIS 'HENRY V', USES THE CAMERA AS AN UNOBTRUSIVE OBSERVER SOMETIMES WAVERING IN FOCUS LIKE THE DETERMINATION OF HAMLET HIMSELF AND WITH THESE DIRECTORIAL DECISIONS PLACES HIS PERSONAL STAMP ON THE BARD'S OFT-PRODUCED PLAY WHILE INNOVATING AN EFFECTIVE APPROACH TO TRANSFORMING A FOUR HOUR PLAY INTO A 2-1/2 HOUR FILM THAT REPRESENTS WITHOUT STINT THE BARD'S DRAMATIC INTENTION."
"THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE" (1948 B&W), STARRING HUMPHREY BOGART, WALTER HUSTON, BRUCE BENNETT, TIM HOLT, ROBERT BLAKE, DIRECTED BY JOHN HUSTON. "THIS FILM ADAPTED FROM B. TRAVEN'S NOVEL, ARGUABLY THE BEST PERFORMANCE OF BOGART'S CAREER AND THE MOST ENDURING OF HUSTON'S FILMS, IS UNSPARING, EVEN RELENTLESS, IN ITS REVELATION OF CHARACTER WHILE PROVIDING A VISUAL (THE SIERRA MADRES) AND AURAL (MAX STEINER) CANVAS ON WHICH THE DIRECTOR PAINTS IN RICH DETAIL A TIMELESS STORY ABOUT HUMAN ASPIRATIONS CORRUPTED BY PARANOIA AND GREED."
"SOME LIKE IT HOT" (1959 B&W), STARRING MARILYN MONROE, JACK LEMMON, TONY CURTIS, DIRECTED BY BILLY WILDER. " IN HIS COMEDY WILDER EXPRESSES AN OLD WORLD SOPHISTICATION THAT ALLOWS HIM TO DELIVER A SERIOUS MESSAGE ABOUT HUMAN SEXUALITY WITH WIT, HUMOR AND 'JE NE SAIS QUOI', ALL OF THE ABOVE INFERRED IN THE FILM TITLE'S REFERENCE TO '...SOME LIKE IT HOT, SOME LIKE IT COLD, SOME LIKE IT IN THE POT NINE DAYS OLD....' AND IN THE LAST LINE OF THE FILM WHICH PERFECTLY ENCAPSULATES WILDER'S UBER SEXUAL THEME WHEN JOSEPHINE (JACK LEMMON) RIFFS THAT HE IS AFTER ALL ONLY A BOY AND OSGOOD (JOE E. BROWN) QUIPS, 'NOBODY'S PERFECT.'"
"THE SEARCHERS" (1956), STARRING JOHN WAYNE, JEFFREY HUNTER, VERA MILES, WARD BOND, HENRY BRANDO, DIRECTED BY JOHN FORD. "THOSE WHO KNOW THE WEST AND ITS PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT THOSE SANDSTONE ESCARPMENTS EXPOSE SUNDRENCHED PEAKS, BUT ALSO CONCEAL DARK SUNLESS CANYONS AND FORD IN THIS FILM EXPLORES THE DARK SIDE OF THE WESTERN PSYCHE AND PRESENTS JOHN WAYNE WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROVE THAT HE ISN'T JUST THE TABULA RASA ON WHICH THE DIRECTOR MAY DELINEATE HIGHLIGHTS AND SHADOWS, BUT AN ACTOR OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RANGE WHOSE ETHAN, THE CONFEDERATE ARMY DESERTER AND BANK ROBBER IN DESPERATE SEARCH OF A NIECE KIDNAPPED BY THE COMANCHES, IS A CHARACTER OF MOODS AND PREJUDICES, WHO EXPRESSES INCALCULABLE RAGE AND, IN THAT MEMORABLE SCENE WHERE HE STANDS IN THE DOOR AND CASTS AN AGONIZED BACKWARD GLANCE BEFORE DEPARTING, TEACHES US THAT THE COWBOY, REVEALED IN WESTERNS LIKE 'HIGH NOON' AS THE STOIC HERO, CAN ALSO WEAR THE MANTLE OF THE TRAGIC ANTI-HERO."
