| Movie | Rating | Review | Date | Your Rating | Match | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sweet Movie - Unrated |
- Hitler! DirtyJew!
- They call me... Neanderthal." Director: Dusan Makavejev Country: Canada / France / West Germany Genre: Comedy / Drama Length: 98 minutes  Delicious, scandalous, expressionistic and controversial Yugoslav provocateur Dusan Makavejev is clearly one of the most misunderstood poets of complete self-destruction. Sweet Movie is a film with such audacity, such gorgeous poetry, such supposedly "disturbing" and "nauseating" sequences, that any lover and supporter of all artistic expressions and the instantly implied subjectivity of both of the terms "art" and "beauty" willl find ultimately impossible not to fall in love with. This complete cult masterpiece is arguably the sexiest and most gorgeous and orgasmic attack towards capitalist authoritarianism and Communism, not to mention the most daring magnum opus ever thought by a brilliant human brain. Sweet Movie alternatively tells two stories. On one hand, we have the shocking story of a beauty queen, Miss Canada, who slowly descends into a catastrophic life of existentialist madness and depravity after winning a virginity contest (that's right) denominated Miss Monde 1984, denying to have sex with a golden penis (that's right), having sexual intercourse with a possibly Mexican singer named El Macho and getting stuck with her vagina (that's right) and moving to a bizarre anarchich community who celebrate food feasts with orgies of vomit (that's right) and excrement. On the other hand, we have the story of Anna Planeta, possibly the sexiest, non-porn character name in existence, brilliantly interpreted by Anna Prucnal, a beautiful actress who was exiled from her native Poland for seven years after her role in the film and was denied a Visa so she could see her dying mother. She plays the role of a philosophical and pedophile, demented killer who is constantly travelling through the canals of Amsterdam in search of lovers who want to have sex with her and subsequently killing them in a pool of sugar. Her boat is named "Survival" and it has a giant face of Marx with a tear on his eye, and it is in that boat where she makes candy. If this wasn't enough, real documentary footage is shown, portraying the camps that were near the city of Smolensk, where the Soviet Army held more than 14,000 Polish prisoners of war under inhuman conditions. In 1943, after Germany had seized the region, rumors of a mass grave containing the Polish corpses were investigated by an international medical team, revealing that actually more than 14,000 Polish prisoners were killed. Moreover, it was not until 1992 when it was confessed that Joseph Stalin was the one who had authorized the killings. Sweet Movie is the result of the work of a visionary auteur that actually dared to establish his filmmaking style through a groundbreaking and controversial perspective, slapping the face of totalitarian anarchy. Symbolism may be a very adequate interpretation of the sickening events that take place through a relativelty short running time that, consequently, is felt like an eternity. It is one of the most representative samples of scandalous filmmaking that fully represent the nature of cult and envelope-pushing cinema of the 70s. Most of its political influence comes from the fact that Yugoslavia was a Communist country at the time, an event that may justify the complete explicitness and demented nature of Sweet Movie. The importance of the screenplay and the performances are lost, although not completely, since they are still complementing elements. The true anathematical brilliance of Sweet Movie can be found in its complex symbolism, in its shriek-type-of direction and in its underlying layers of absurdity, constantly suffering a transformation from complete shock value with substance behind to a state of pure absurdity and, yes, hilarious comedy... a comedy that is originated from the criticism that is made towards how degraded the human condition has turned out to be. Of course, degrading and repulsive acts was the most logical and adequate measure for faithfully representing the negative influence that degrading and repulsive authoritarian Communism and Fascism has imposed over the weak will of a highly dependent society. The destruction of Marx's ideals is emminent, thus the tear on his face is justified, sailing aimlessly in search of grotesque feverishness and sexual perversion. Sexual liberation is not precisely the topic here, and that is hilariously explained through the happenning of an unsuccessful sexual intercourse with a random, supposedly handsome singer in the Eiffel Tower. Elegance and class collide with external degradation. If such cinematic project is released, any financial ambition will meet its doom, so it is obvious at some extent that such hypocritical ambition was not in Makavejev's mind. He wanted to shout and be heard. It is a political and liberalist shout, a shout that was obviously destined to be rejected and catalogued as "depraved". Directors like Nagisa Ôshima, Pier Paolo Pasolini, John Waters, Norifumi Suzuki and Peter Greenaway had to go through the same injustice. Perhaps it should not be seen as an artistically political act. Perhaps it should be perceived as a merely funny spoof towards the process of political overpowerment, or perhaps it should be seen as a kick in the balls to an audience that relies and trusts in its particular government... not to call it "anarchy" or "dictatorship". Films of this calibre have the power to trascend. People are still talking about Sweet Movie. People still talk about Salò o le 120 Giornate di Sodoma (1975). However, coward (not the sensitive and weak of stomach, since they are excused, but coward) audiences keep avoiding them, but if a film is surrealistic, then it is pretentious nonsense. If a film is slow-paced, it is dull. Moving from a shrewd depiction of the "mysteries of the organism" to a "sweet movie", these are the films that clearly strengthen the statement that implies that modern censorship is preposterous. A woman having sexual relationships with children and an orgy of food and vomit is immediately rejected, but nauseating measures such as organizing and authorizing(!) events such as Katyn Forest massacre... F#ck, people! Open your eyes! Choose a side and promote this type of art. This is not a pretentious and fun piece of crap like Pink Flamingos (1972). This has substance and an inevitable, unique brilliance. 98/100 |
January 7, 2010 | N/A | |||
| In the Realm of the Senses - NC-17 |
"A girl like you can stab a man's heart without a knife, huh?"
Director: Nagisa Ôshima Country: Japan / France Genre: Drama / Romance Length: 108 minutes  Ahhh, yes... the beauty of sexual intimacy, the great variety of sensations felt during the most beautiful act of love, the very emotions of the human being reaching an extreme point of pleasure. Ai no Corrida is the most cinematically graphic representation of a fully-developed study on human eroticism, but what is often confused with either a strictly pornographic film or with a fully perverted movie is actually an essay of political ideas depicted with extreme liberalism. Audacious and poetical Japanese director Nagisa Ôshima directs his definitive masterpiece, a controversial work of art of impecably explicit proportions that awakens the very human reactions of denial when sexual content is mercilessly displayed on the screen, a reaction that, ironically, people do not posses towards mindless, bloody and nonsense action films. Why is sex banned in a larger scale than violence? How far can cinema really go? To make such questionings, three more important questions have to be asked beforehand: 1) How big is the envelope that this film has to push? 2) Did the film actually pushed such envelope? 3) Was there a significant purpose behind this? Based on a true story set in the pre-war Japan of 1936, a man and one of his female servants, who was once a prostitute and sought for work in a brothel as a maid, begin an affair. Their torrid relationship grows so strong and begins to be exaggeratedly based on obsessive sexual encounters that their emotional connection is completely erased and their respective lives are utterly threatened. Director Nagisa Ôshima won the Sutherland Trophy at the British Film Institute Awards. Tatsuya Fuji won a Hochi Film Award for Best Actor also in 1976. The film does not only take liberalist ideals to the most extreme level and parallels them with the influence of an imminent political war; it also shares some parallelisms with the real-life human condition. The sole premise of the film is absolutely fatal and terrifying, covering the tragic consequences of an uncontrollable obsession and contrasting them with extraordinary decisions, such as being part of a World War. In order to play a nostalgic role, the pace and the art direction beautifully decorate what seems to resemble a medieval Japan, where an ancient way of living has not been completely forgotten and erased. The performances are superbly desperate, and although the budget is noticeably ridiculous, it is one of the most controversial and scandalous films in Japanese history and of all time. Nagisa Ôshima directly questions the censorship moralistic measurements. It is interesting how Japan's filmmaking has been famous during the past decades because of the quantity of violence they usually have, not to mention their explicitness. Ironically, if a penis is briefly shown on screen, the film is banned in case such scene is not erased. The MPAA shares the exact same characteristics, where notable displays of violence such as Saving Private Ryan (1998), Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003) and The Passion of the Christ (2004) receive an R rating, but films of harmless, sexually explicit nature like The Dreamers (2003) are immediately slapped with an NC-17 rating. Because of Japan's strict censorship policies, the film had to be shipped to France for development. Several countries confiscated the film as suspected pornography and several years had to pass in order to be released theatrically without any cuts. It may be flawed, but a wonderful visual style and a not-so-common artistic craftsmanship make up for them. To make such a powerfully sexual manifesto is an audacious task, and to do the homework of shocking audiences is not an easy accomplishment. The cinema of the 70s were subject to heavy censorship, but important pieces in the history of cinema were released and these were the ones that made audiences and censorship controls to actually question the subjectivity of art. It was the highest point of expressionistic surrealism that covered very important ideologies. Ai no Corrida has divided audiences, originating the eternal and rather senseless debate of porn versus art. However, the purpose of the film and the societal issues that it implicitly involves reached milestone levels. With an unnerving approach towards impulsive eroticism and a haunting cinematography, Ai no Corrida has positioned itself among the most horrifying and memorable tales of pre-war Japan, and it is much better than its sequel Ai no Borei (1978), which missed the original nature of this film and became more of a ghost story rather than the original intention of taboo extermination that Ai no Corrida represented. It answered the three aforementioned questions positively. Do you approve? 98/100 |
January 7, 2010 | N/A | |||
| Blowup (Blow-Up) (Blow Up) - Unrated |
"Someone's been killed. I want you to see the corpse."
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni Country: United Kingdom / Italy / United States of America Genre: Drama / Mystery / Thriller Length: 111 minutes  Michelangelo Antonioni had a huge transition of vision. From passionately bourgeois to intellectually experimental, Antonioni proved to be a symbolic genius of brilliant metaphors and appealing reflections of the human condition and the absurdity behind that defines it. With Blowup, he presents yet another very interesting argument: it is all relative. Gathering several symbolisms and graphic allegories, he constructs this utterly mysterious masterpiece from a simple premise, yet complicating it through the collision of the hyperactive London of the 60s and the fashion world with what seems to be a crime. Often considered as a nonsensical, pretentious film and regarded by others as one of the most influential movies of the twentieth century, Blowup dares to venture into the realm of subjectivity and transforms a material, perceivable, breathing world into internal confusion. Thomas is a mod London fashion photographer that sees his life as an authentic source of senselessness and boredom. One random day, he goes to a park and secretly starts to photograph a couple. After he studies and latterly blows up the negatives, he notices little shocking elements that he had not seen before. Putting the pieces together and being fascinated by his discovery, he arrives to the conclusion that he caught the commission of a murder. The film received 2 Academy Award nominations for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen, and for Best Director. Director Michelangelo Antonioni won a Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival of 1967, a Critics Award for Best Foreign Film at the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics of 1968, and a Silver Ribbon for Best Director - Foreign Film at the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists of the same year. From the very first moment of the film, we are suggested that the plot that is about to be presented is the least important aspect of the final result: what really matters are its elements. Resembling the storytelling structure of any suspenseful detective story, Antionioni masterfully scatters throughout the ambitious running time several clues that should be subjectively interpreted. From a surreal music band concert where everyone seems to be completely bored and lifeless to a climatic, extraordinarily filmed sequence with a group of mimes that play tennis, Blowup makes a powerful statement: it all depends on the perspective. Perspectives were never meant to coincide between each other, and the random sequences presented throughout the film's length carry a symbolic, creepily indefinite meaning. Antonioni's style of direction possesses a much heavier European influence (which would directly influence Dario Argento), making the atmosphere of the film to feel captivating, avant-garde and even cinematically alienated from both the genre and British filmmaking. Whereas he paid much more attention to the cinematography and the little details found in each sequence in his "Incomunicability Trilogy", he creates an hypnotic, sometimes claustrophobic mood through the use of sudden editing this time. At the next moment, however, Antonioni composes, through beautiful frames of suspense, thrilling sequences of silence which at first seem boring, but the nature of the film is whispering to our ears that we too, just like the main character, should pay attention to the details in case we may miss one. Simultaneously, Thomas rejects it and focuses on emotional escapisms, from ridiculous, forced orgies to drugs and music. Incredible sequences of cinematographic mastery and an unconventional style decorate this groundbreaking masterpiece that uses photography as the vehicle of relativity and catharsis. A wonderfully written screenplay distracts our attention from the intentionally uninspired performances and makes us focus on the dreamlike (or nightmarish?) direction. No matter how much the very stylish and explosive pop soundtrack tries to overshadow the macabre environment found outside the mental and material world of Thomas, no matter how obvious the facts may seem to the protagonist (and to us), no matter how much the beautiful, urban scenery of London tries to camouflage what may be the scene of an atrocious crime, Antonioni hides little things inside the intelligible and reveals shocking truths to the viewer in a discreet manner. Visually gorgeous and emotionally captivating, Blowup is unconventional cinema structuring at its best. Even a talented artist cannot fully understand the art he/she creates. How can we? 91/100 |
January 7, 2010 | N/A | |||
| Nóz w Wodzie (Knife in the Water) - Unrated |
"Always remember that there is nothing more dangerous than a concealed weapon under the water."
Director: Roman Polanski Country: Poland Genre: Drama / Thriller Length: 94 minutes  Few directors have achieved the supposedly impossible task to direct one of their best masterpieces in what is their directorial debuts. Roman Polanski is no exception to this remarkable achievement. Throw away the simplicity and start reading between the lines of Nóz w Wodzie, one of the most interesting and symbolic thrillers of the 60s. Polanski's only Polish feature film is a feast for the eyes, creating its sense atmosphere from the power of a breathtakingly shot cinematography. With surprisingly good performances, a heavy erotic environment and a nearly flawless style of direction, Nóz w Wodzie is the film that Polanski used for strengthening his macabre vision and for offering us a brief glimpse of the most characteristic elements that would define his filmography. The sports columnist Andrzej and his dazzlingly attractive young wife Krystyna are driving on their way to a sailing trip in his yacht. In the middle of the road, however, the couple brusquely stumbles upon an unknown young drifter. With rejection and a forced attitude, Andrzej agrees to give the young man a ride. At some point, when the couple arrives to the marina, Andrzej inexplicably invites him to sail with them. The more the yacht starts to advance towards the vastness of the lake, the more the very tense love triangle begins to intensify through a dispute of power. The film received an Academy Award nomination in 1964 for Best Foreign Language Film which lost against Federico Fellini's 8½. However, director Roman Polanski was nominated for a Golden Lion, which lost against the directors Valerio Zurlini and Andrei Tarkovsky for their films Cronaca Familiare (1962) and Ivanovo Detstvo (1962) respectively, and won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. This exceptional, little and seemingly simple thriller is one of Polanski's most accessible films. Under the thought that simplicity is the source of complexity, Polanski beautifully composes frames that picture a claustrophobic environment where the absurdity of human emotions and the motivations behind their decisions are as vast and big as the deepness of the lake. What Polanski is constructing here is much more than a random love triangle put in an ineluctable environment; he is also using odd Christian symbols, erotic metaphors, and the contrast between the dangers of the water and the deepest fears of a common individual. Territorial struggles collide with an extraordinary black-and-white cinematography, lies and utterly unpredictable moments of top-notch suspense. The typical young couple assumes the role of a materialized illusion. Their psychological backgrounds are unimportant; the brief, humorous glimpse of their respective personalities shown in the very first minutes of the film helps us to slightly determine their attitudes, their priorities and their financial situation. He is a sports columnist of big ambitions; she is his wife. Period. The abrupt appearance on-screen of the young man, however, may lead the audience to think that we are seeing the antagonist for the first time. As the plot advances in a peaceful manner, the atmospheric nature of the film starts to grow more invigorating, reaching a point where we, as the audience, and they, as the characters, must simultaneously accept the situation the plot has put them in. Slowly, we actually start to question who the antagonist of the film really is. Is it the unknown drifter, is it the surrounding environment or is it the protagonists themselves? Polanski directs with an impeccable precision, focusing on the little details, assuming a minimalist perspective when it is required and perfectly capturing the water landscapes at the next minute, a fact that helps us to notice about the vastness of the "inescapable" scenario. The plot, naturally, goes beyond the predictable and clichéd deceptions and affairs; there is a huge diversion from the original mood of the film near its climax, suddenly becoming a suspenseful little flick of ambitious proportions. The screenwriters Jakub Goldberg and Roman Polanski assign personalities to the characters, the situations and the lake itself. Everything comes to life, and every corner seems to be expecting us with an unpleasant surprise. Resembling an unconventional drama during the first two thirds of its modest running time, depicting regular companionship, games and music, and transforming the story into an absorbing thriller, Nóz w Wodzie is definitely one of the most surprisingly effective early film projects of a cinema legend, a triumph for Polish cinema and a macabre gem that hides more than what it shows. Unbelievable performances, an extraordinary camera work that uses water and glass reflections of images for playing with the perspective, and a solid script are the reasons behind this film that make it an unexpected masterpiece. 96/100 |
January 7, 2010 | N/A | |||
| La Strada (The Road) - PG |
"The fool is hurt."
Director: Federico Fellini Country: Italy Genre: Drama Length: 108 minutes  Federico Fellini is a cinema legend for several followers of his direction style, his always controversial subject matter and his vision towards the world. Before embracing the passionately antibourgeois filmmaking style (La Dolce Vita [1960], 8½ [1963]), Fellini managed to obtain worldwide recognition and great popularity thanks to what are nowadays two of the most heartbreaking neorealist films of the Italian cinema: La Strada and Le Notti di Cabiria (1957). It is clear that the positivism and optimism of the times were most likely to reject such a crude reality. Nevertheless, Fellini followed the footsteps that Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio de Sica had left behind a decade ago. Despite that his two absolute masterpieces of neorealism never reached such giant and heartbreaking status, they have a very particular power and sincerity of their own; their success was unprecedented. Today, La Strada is much more than the first film ever to win an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film; it is a strong testament that glorifies the strength of the human spirit under unbelievable situations of hardship, spiritual growth and maturity. It is one of the most moving films ever made. Gelsomina is a young girl that lives in deplorable life conditions with her mother. After much deliberation, her mother decides to sell her to an itinerant entertainer of great physical strength named Zampanò. Nevertheless, Zampanò treats her inhumanly despite that she accepted to help him during his shows. Latterly, Gelsomina meets a funambulist called "The Fool". Although she desires to go with him and escape, "The Fool" confuses her greatly when he tells her that Zampanò may be in love with her. The film received two Academy Award nominations in 1957 for Best Writing, Best Screenplay - Original and for Best Foreign Language Film, winning the last Oscar. Director Federico Fellini won a Blue Ribbon Award for Best Foreign Language Film the next year, and the film won a CEC Award for Best Foreign Film at the Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain. The director also received a Kinema Junpo Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 1955, the film won two Silver Ribbons for Best Director and Best Producer at the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists. Finally, in 1954, Federico Fellini was nominated for the Golden Lion, which lost against Renato Castellani for his film Romeo and Juliet, and won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival. La Strada is a shining triumph of neorealist cinema that was received with great appraisal and empathy around the world. Whether it was because of its cathartic capacity or because of its captivating atmosphere of realism, Fellini managed to direct a memorable story driven by a deep character analysis. It is intentionally devoid of negative representations of stereotypes; rather, it seeks for the comprehension of the audience, an audience that is being spoken in the most accessible, yet brutally honest manner, thus achieving a balance in the process. Although the surrounding environment and the art direction is not strictly neorealist, it is the humanism that predominates in the character of the gorgeous Giulietta Masina the one that enhances her fragility and naiveté and, therefore, mirrors a weak society incapable of controlling external factors of great magnitude. This argument is addressed with poor life conditions, putting the film into a derivative category. Even so, it is a very impactful journey of great proportions, and la strada (the road) is life itself with Anthony Quinn as a devil imposing obstacles in the way. Gelsomina is the personification of naïve innocence. Her character is put in a context of injustice, unfairness and economical hardship. At first glance, her fate within the plot may be hard to watch; it seems that the factors that help us keep watching is her tender psychology and her clownish makeup that serves as a reminder of the happiness that, regardless of the difficult anecdotes that show their faces, must eternally endure. Instead of diminishing the lower class of Italy's societal structure, it suggests that monsters can exist in any stratum of the society. Anthony Quinn, the legendary Mexican director, offers what may be the best performance of his entire filmic career. Zampanò is the typical careless and irresponsible man that can be found in almost any dysfunctional marriage that disguises his low self-esteem and lack of meaningful sentiments with aggressiveness and bravura. This macho-type-of character, however, is very far from representing the antagonist. Regardless of the statements told by the funny funambulist, the personalities and reactions to certain events are two of the several main elements that define the persona. Whereas Gelsomina's relies mostly on her masterfully iconic facial expressions, Zampanò is shown screaming, being angered and breaking quarter-inch iron chains during his shows with the mere force of his chest. Not even his fakeness, nonetheless, is able to surpass the force of fate and the lives of the protagonist. Exceptional performances and unforgettable moments of physical and psychological pain strengthen the remarkable argument of the original screenplay written by the talented Tullio Pinelli with the collaboration of Federico Fellini and the visionary Ennio Flaiano. A haunting musical score of exceptional power by Nino Rota decorates the final result with a touch of discreet sentimentalism, and the unequivocally flawless direction of Fellini, despite being one of his first projects, applies a distinguishable signature of genius, despite it being referential. The cinematography and a marvelous camera work helps us to comprehend the symbolic context of the characters and the road itself, mirroring the course of life and inviting disappointed human beings to overcome the unjust inequities of the existence of oneself. La Strada is a tribute to neorealism, but instead of getting stuck in such description, it exalts humankind without resorting to grandiloquence or pretentiousness. It is one of those simple stories that find no difficulty in originating complexity through the analysis of the context and the most possible intentions of the director. Although it is not the best film of Fellini's neorealist period of filmmaking, it surely has a huge psychological appeal for the modern era. In order to be more accessible, the pace is gentle and sudden moments of strictly simple humor are added throughout, almost resembling the slapstick comedy of the 20s and 30s, this time featuring a tragicomic mime. It is its technical aspects and the honesty of the plot the ones that allow the film to feel natural rather than forced. External events are portrayed in an unfathomable way, but the human quality present in Gelsomina and the surrounding supporting characters are clearly pointing towards one single, clear direction: hope. 100/100 |
January 6, 2010 | N/A | |||
| Le Notti di Cabiria (Nights of Cabiria) - Unrated |
"Wandering the streets of Rome may sound quite good, but it is just the same as anywhere else on earth, truth be told."
Director: Federico Fellini Country: Italy Genre: Drama Length: 117 minutes  In the strictest sense of the word, Le Notti di Cabiria shares one cinematic characteristic with La Strada (1954): both are neorealism tributes. However, Fellini's third masterpiece shows several technical and cinematographic improvements. This time, he directs the best neorealist film of his sentimental and melodramatic period, briefly showing some of the features that would be alive in his provocatively passionate style present in La Dolce Vita (1960). Through an expressionistic main character, arguably one the best female leading performances in the entre history of the motion picture, he captures the desperation of a devastated Italy and the hopelessness of a lower society trying desperately to be accepted in an unfair social structure. Although it is not precisely Fellini's greatest achievement, it is one of the most nostalgically heartbreaking, undeniably inspirational magnum opuses of Europe. Being more a melodrama than a dramatic plot, Le Notti di Cabiria is often considered as the best Italian film of the 50s. It may be, but its mawkish power is immense, executing a huge influence in subsequent decades of direction, perhaps the reason it was so greatly welcomed around the world during the decade this shining jewel belongs. Giulietta Masina is back, this time playing the role of a wide-open, waif-like prostitute that wanders through the streets of Rome in search of love. She lives in a stark wasteland and dreams of a miracle to happen someday. As a viewer, we follow her numerous nights and days, meeting several cruel male characters, from a brutal boyfriend that steals from her 40,000 lire and tries to drown her, to a movie star and an accountant. However, she only finds heartbreak, disappointment, violence, selfishness and is subject to painful schemes. The film won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1958. Director Federico Fellini was nominated for the Golden Palm, which lost against William Wyler for his film Friendly Persuasion (1956), but won an OCIC Award - Special Mention and Giulietta Masina won an award for Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1959, the film won a CEC Award for Best Foreign Film at the Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain. In 1958, the film won 4 Silver Ribbon Awards for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Producer and Best Director at the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists. Giulietta Masina also received a Zulueta Prize for Best Actress at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. The film won 2 David Awards at the David di Donatello Awards for Best Director and Best Production, and it also received 4 Sant Jordi Awards for Best Foreign Screenplay, Best Foreign Actress, Best Foreign Film and Best Foreign Director in 1959. Federico Fellini, instead of going overboard with a controversial subject matter, decides to team up, once again, with his screenplay collaborators in order to construct a visually beautiful opera of humanism honesty. At first, we are introduced with Maria "Cabiria" Ceccarelli, a prostitute that lives in a desolate wasteland and dreams of a better future. She is talkative, vulgar, unconventionally sociable, joyous, inelegant and hyperactively loud. This odd representation of prostitution, however, is meant to suffer a huge psychological transformation. Masina is, one more time, drawn into an unfortunate series of events; nevertheless, it is this internal energy and never-ending optimism fuel the one that allows her not to fall into spiritual oblivion and existentialism. After going through several horrendous nights of indescribable misfortune, the aspect that predominates in the end is her illusory world. Mirroring Guido's juxtaposition of fantasy with reality through his emotional escapism in 8½ (1963), Fellini divides the world of this film into two parts: the real world and the indestructible dreams of Cabiria. Cabiria is a character of sensationalist nature smartly addressed with a universal appeal. She is the woman that stands for the seemingly unreachable dreams of a post-war Italy under a Fascist regime. The main purpose of Le Notti di Cabiria is not to constitute a political criticism though. Cabiria is the alienated individual living in deplorable life conditions, but with a materialized illusion. She is the member that seeks for comprehension and acceptance in an unjust society and, despite the constant rejection and disappointment, builds the hope that someday she will achieve such inspired goal. The farer this goal seems to be, the greater the intensity of Cabiria's fantasizing gets. Unfortunately, each time Cabiria retreats from the real world temporarily, she is brusquely brought back. Just like the film does not seek for the diminishing of the upper class through an extensive portrayal of materialism and cruelty, it does not fully empathize with the lower class, either. On the contrary, it questions the morality of bourgeois individuals and the very foundations of a democratic class division, being completely neutral with religion and the Virgin Mary's intercession in the process, but using it as a vehicle of spiritual redemption and consolation. Technically speaking, Fellini has improved his inspirational lens. The camera perfectly captures the landscapes through the breathtaking magic of black-and-white cinematography, making Cabiria to join harmoniously with the hostile environment surrounding her. Nino Rota nails it again through the creation of a wonderful, emotionally compelling score that mixes diverse feelings, from sadness to joy, from depression to hope. Landscapes seem to comfort Cabiria during her diverse misadventures while the surrounding characters that stand for an incomprehensive capital city are indirectly suggesting her to move on and to accept her existence without losing his inspirations. The influence that the performance and the unexplained psychological background of the character executed in Pier Paolo Pasolini is more than obvious, since he was a screenplay collaborator and his first neorealist tribute, Mamma Roma (1962), referenced Fellini more than Italian filmmaking itself. Ennio Flaiano and Tullio Pinelli, the screenwriters that caused the screenplays of Fellini's films to be plagued with memorable dialogues and powerful poetry, give to Le Notti di Cabiria that undeniably magical overtone. Le Notti di Cabiria is influential and inspired cinema. Giulietta Masina, through the best performance of her entire filmic career, allows Fellini to cinematographically evolve, constructing a landmark sonata where heaven and hell collide in a world of devastating selfishness and meaningless hypocrisy. Cabiria is the individual that stands for liberalism while a conservative society physically demands her to get used to an established set of societal rules. A prostitute is a very commonly degraded image for women; however, this great masterpiece of cathartic proportions has the capacity of exalting the human condition, making an objective evaluation of the universally accepted moral standards and inviting us to accept the realistic fact that the background of a particular individual will always remain unknown to us, either totally or partially. The poor Cabiria had to suffer a huge modification, but who are the real prostitutes of society? The women that patiently wait on the sidewalk for a car to stop in front of them throughout a rainy night, or the conservative whores that sell their souls to either a dictatorship-like government or to useless, earthly materialism? Thanks to Masina, Cabiria is a remarkable character with an already iconic, gorgeous image. 100/100 |
January 6, 2010 | N/A | |||
| Lawrence of Arabia - PG |
"I cannot fiddle but I can make a great state of a small city."
Director: David Lean Country: United Kingdom Genre: Adventure / Drama / War Length: 227 minutes  To describe the epic grandiosity of a landmark visual feast like David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia is not an easy task. More than being an absolute masterpiece in the entire history of moviemaking, wonderfully reaching a superior category of cinema in the process, the absolute and definitive work of art of David Lean is a cinematographic phenomenon. Moreover, it is a spectacle of giant humanistic proportions and a faithfully developed essay about one of the most inspirational and flamboyant personalities that played a giant role in the modification of the course that human history had during the times of World War I. It is also an examination on the very foundations of modern humanity. It adopts different faces throughout, from presenting a self-reflexive approach to drawing though-provoking topics that go from the persistence of the spirit to the unification of personal qualities in order to explode them in an unbelievable sequence of benign actions. With Lawrence of Arabia, the popularity of the director was propelled to such a height that worldwide audiences could witness it, but the description of its glory does not end there. It is an unforgettable and emotionally compelling experience of heartwarming humanism and a nearly-matchless brilliance. The film, simulating the opening narrative structure of Orson Welles' Citizen Kane (1941), opens with the death of the protagonist Thomas Edward Lawrence at the age of 47 in a motorcycle accident in London. From there, a magical flashback to the city of El Cairo in the year of 1916 is made, when he was an intelligence officer. He is order to leave in order to make a detailed research of the progress of the Arab revolt against the Turks. For two years, he ultimately decides to unify several Arab tribes in order to execute several attacks against the Ottoman Turks during World War I and to fight for their independence. The film received 11 Academy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, Best Costume Design, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color, Best Cinematography, Color, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Score - Substantially Original, Best Sound, Best Director and Best Picture, winning the last 7 Oscars. The Best Costume Design nomination is not officially reported since someone forgot to submit Phyllis Dalton's name for consideration. Director David Lean won the Silver Ribbon for Best Director - Foreign Film at the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists of 1964. Lawrence of Arabia is a magisterially composed analysis of the human condition, but most of its inspirational effect may be utterly derived from the fact that it is a biopic. Master David Lean follows the cinematographic footsteps he had left since the making of The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), footsteps that famous actor Richard Attenborough would track for directing Gandhi (1982). Consequently, it is much more than an epic film. It is a faithfully honest and spiritually memorable biographical portrait which considerably extended length of almost four hours is vanished in time because of its visual mastery. Being one of the last films in history to use the original 70mm format, cinema returns to its nostalgic roots. Also, a perfect balance between action sequences, sentimentalist issues, character development and historical detail is created, avoiding a pretentious grandiloquence that could have led the film to a highly disappointing outcome. However, it is its implicit and easily obtained talent the one that derived the plot from Hollywood melodrama and typical clichés of storytelling that had always been present even in the remarkable Golden Age. Lawrence of Arabia is plagued with early and soon-to-be giant Hollywood stars, from introducing Peter O'Toole in his most multilayered and important leading role as the revolutionary T.E. Lawrence to the outstandingly idealistic and neutral representation of Prince Feisal by Sir Alec Guinness. Anthony Quinn as Auda Abu Tayi and Omar Shariff, an actor whose popularity would be strengthened because of his leading role in Lean's next film named Doctor Zhivago (1965), as Lawrence's Arab companion are extraordinary. The cinematography has always been the most relevant and occasionally symbolic technical aspect throughout the art of filmmaking. Naturally, the film's description cannot omit the legendary, astounding and jaw-dropping effect of the perfectly executed cinematography by Freddie Young, becoming one of the best photographic efforts ever committed to celluloid. The whole magical and historical atmosphere is constructed with the significant aid of the unforgettable musical score composed by Maurice Jarre and is deliciously decorated with a groundbreaking art direction and a varied costume design. During the action sequences, the expertness in sound effects and well calculated editing play their roles, as if they were trying to maximize the glorious proportions of the story through the creation of realistic revolution and terror. T.E. Lawrence is an icon, a symbol of defensive resistance and liberalist ideals. To portray his personality transformation from being a surveillance officer to becoming an influential warrior was a necessary means. Through O'Toole's unparalleled performance, we realize that he is morally forced to challenge his corresponding authoritative figures while considering the idea of equality regarding all races. His decisions may not be the brightest possible, but the immovable ground he stepped on the whole time consolidated and solidified the straightforwardness of his personality. His overall and predominant attitude is orchestrated through the portrayal of his organization of guerrillas, camel attacks, desert raids and the memorable train-wrecking. With important acquaintances, the visible terror of the weak and vulnerable Arabs and the noticeable ambition of the Turks are the elements that unleash an unstoppable chain of events that Lawrence would never forget in his life. After being subject to a heavy controversy, he then decides to seek for discreet anonymity in the process of empathizing with the possibility of reconstructing his life. Once again, we face an ironic contradiction in both the beginning and the ending of the film. It is highly implied the fact that life has a certain and specific purpose regardless of its relevance, until an omniscient God decides to take it away. Undoubtedly, Lawrence of Arabia is one of the best films of all time, especially since it was strictly based in Lawrence's writings. It is one of those fully-developed masterworks that are worth of being called "epic". David Lean built a hypnotic and effective slow pace that paid the necessary attention to detail, like simulating the pace of life itself. Years pass in front of our eyes, new personalities start to appear, the priorities of the protagonist are challenged and latterly modified and World War I comes to an end, just to introduce us to a shocking struggle for human independence. Epic in scope and glorious in its attempts, it is among the most ambitious and cherished British productions ever made, and just like this singular character of history achieved a great status of admiration and respect after being labeled as a hero, an insane young man, a sadist and a charlatan, the director permanently gained worldwide popularity and the remembrance of both personal admirers and avid fan critics. 99/100 |
January 6, 2010 | N/A | |||
| The Red Shoes - R |
"You cannot have it both ways. A dancer who relies upon the doubtful comforts of human love can never be a great dancer. Never."
Director: Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger Country: United Kingdom Genre: Drama / Romance / Music Length: 133 minutes  The Red Shoes is much more than one of the best British melodramas of the decade. It is an allegoric fable of disorganized priorities and the film that established a landmark in musical filmmaking. Its reputation goes beyond the famous musical sequence found in the middle of the film and the popularity of the original fantasy tale. Thanks to its visionary perspective of the genre heavy in visual artistry and beautifully composed, colorful frames, The Red Shoes has iconic imagery, unforgettable performances and a breathtaking, collaborative direction by Powell and Pressburger that intelligently mirrors the psychological features of the character of the original tale with Victoria Page, the dedicated and unstoppably idealistic protagonist of the film. Not even Hollywood could see this visually gorgeous masterpiece coming. Victoria Page is a young, beautiful socialite that loves ballet wholeheartedly. She is promised by the authoritarian, yet undeniably ambitious theater businessman Boris Lermontov unimaginable, eternal stardom. However, she soon learns the total devotion and difficult dedication to the job that Lermontov demands and starts to despise him from the moment she falls in love with the naive Julian Craster, the composer of "The Red Shoes", since Lermontov will not allow it. After Vicky marries Julian and abandonds the company, she is found torn and hugely pressured between the demands of Lermontov and the feelings of her heart. The film received 5 Academy Award nominations for Best Film Editing, Best Writing, Motion Picture Story, Best Picture, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, winning the last two Oscars. The directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger were nominated for a Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, which lost against Laurence Olivier for his masterpiece Hamlet (1948). The Red Shoes mainly appeals to two specific types of audiences: those who appreciate cinema as an art, and those who have worked in the intrinsicate theater labor behind curtains, being in charge of the set decoration and consequently loving the art present in any play. For the eyes of Powell and Pressburger, "The Red Shoes", written by Hans Christian Andersen, is a fairy tale that directly indicates the negative outcomes of disproportionate obsessions and insatiable ambitions. Therefore, they use the plot of the film to contrast the similarities the fairy tale has with real life. Boris Lermontov, greatly played by Anton Walbrook, personifies the red shoes. He is the means that promises eternal happiness, but ultimately leads to frustration and perdition. Moira Shearer plays the role of Victoria Page, the innocent female dreamer that is eager to fulfill a personal dream, and is transformed into the peasant girl Karen. She offers an extraordinary and skillful performance, considering it was her first film. In the half of the film, although needless to be mentioned because of its fame, is the best ballet dancing sequence ever filmed in motion picture history. Fifteen minutes of pure visual glory, innovative technical aspects that mirrored the creativity of French filmmakers such as Jean Cocteau, groundbreaking art direction and a perfectly choreographed musical number are the aspects that enhance the grandiosity of a landmark craftsmanship. Perhaps this sequence was stuck with the purpose of lightening the accumulated tension and the rhythmic pace that characterized the film, influencing the direction style of Martin Scorsese. or perhaps, it was displayed with the mere purpose of provoking visual satisfaction and cinematographic awe. Despite that the film relies heavily on its memorably colorful style, The Red Shoes is a shining triumph of cinema mastery. Plagued with strong moral lessons and a melodramatic, climatic finale, the film is greatly strengthened by a strong and very precise screenplay that sufficiently develops the characters and provides the story with believable substance. Being more a tribute to the art of filmmaking than to the creation of theatrical pleasures, The Red Shoes is a stylistically innovational hommage to the talented artists that created a poetical form of entertaining and the incredible, exhaustive work behind the curtains. It literally transports the viewer to another world. 93/100 |
January 5, 2010 | N/A | |||
| Kárhozat, (Damnation) - Unrated |
"You should realize that things have an order in the world and you can't do anything to upset it."
Director: Béla Tarr Country: Hungary Genre: Drama Length: 116 minutes  The unparalleled direction style that characterized the graphic poetry and cinematographic mastery of the acclaimed Hungarian director Béla Tarr is seen for the first time in his ambitious and emotionally cathartic magnum opus Kárhozat, better known by its English title "Damnation". The first impression this masterpiece may give is that it stands for an existentialist representation that successfully accomplishes to mirror life itself. Perhaps it is, but it is also a reflection on the futility of materialism, the emotional escapism that religion may represent for some people, the importance of establishing priorities, the influence of external acquaintances and a direct slap to the cheek of the irresponsible man. With a landmark style of filmmaking directly inspired by the magnificence of Andrei Tarkovsky and the vision of Theodoros Angelopoulos, Kárhozat is undoubtedly one of the best dramas of the decade. A rainy, dark, depressing and muddy environment is the one that surrounds the main character Karrer, a man who has led an unsuccessful emotional relationship because of erroneous decisions. His existence would be utterly doomed if it weren't because of the existence of a place called "Titanik Bar". In there, a hauntingly beautiful singer performs every night. However, she is married, a detail that will cause Karrer to be determined to keep her husband away. With religious reflections and cathartic epiphanies, the main character will suffer a huge transition and his actions will unleash an unprecedented set of events. In 1988, the film won an European Film Award for Best Young Film. Fifteen years later, Béla Tarr received a France Culture Award for Foreign Cineaste of the Year at the Cannes Film Festival. The world of Béla Tarr is unforgiving, realistic and ordinary. Despite it being dark, depressing and rainy (like in basically the rest of his films), it is filmed with extraordinary aesthetic balance and cinematographic gorgeous awe. The characters share the same psychological characteristics. First and foremost, they are vivid incarnations of the daily living: confused, bored, imperfect, sinful, ambitious, surprised. A stunning use of black-and-white cinematography and hypnotizing, unusually prolonged takes emphasize their strictly human condition. The director has the magical capacity of creating an atmospheric mood of realism. It is this faithfulness towards life itself the one that destroys any possibility of the audiences' boredom, and the one that assigns certain degree of interest, uniqueness and relevance to the world depicted through a dreamlike, sometimes nightmarish scope. Just like any member of a society plays a certain role inside of a whole, each element, each drop of rain, each seemingly insignificant physical object inside the conventional sets and filming locations, has a particular meaning. They are just there for satisfying the eye, but all of them have a very characteristic uniqueness. The characters have the exact same function, just like in real life. Each living and inert entity is sharing a message, sometimes screaming it. A breathtakingly precise camera work follows the several events of the characters, mirros their internal psychology and reveales their most inner thoughts. With the remarkable aid of a wonderfully developed screenplay that contains several religious references, Kárhozat builds an impactful catharsis through the depth of the poetical dialogues, dialogues that assure that the path the main character is taking leads to ultimate nothingness. The pursuit of happiness is always expecting us to start it; what really matters are the means and the motivations behind it. Kárhozat contains Tarr's cinematic signature and began the collaboration between him and the writer László Krasznahorkai. The intention of the film was its intrinsic naturalness through a strikingly effective lightning that transforms the people into wandering ghosts of reality in search of a meaningful existence. The anticipation of personal plans and ambitions have always a drastically different outcome, a fact that is shockingly mirrored in what may arguably be the most awkward and least passionate sex scene ever filmed, irradiating the emptiess of Karrer and offering a brief glimpse so it can be used as an introduction for the imminent emotional destruction of the town. The inescapable, internal doom of the protagonist is shown in the most despicable, degrading, and yet accessible form when he starts to crawl barking to a dog and feeling triumphant after his victory against an animal. The conclusion is: we are animals also, only slightly more rational. Tarr is as impactful as an emotional bullet, and whereas his two absolute masterpieces Sátántangó (1994) and Werckmeister Harmóniák (2000) relied more on visual trascendentalism and philosophical material of surreal imagery and their influences on modern society, this grandiose little baby was starting to mature, becoming a masterpiece for the past century and a landmark piece of cinema. It is cinema of sounds, images, music and facial expressions... nothing more... 99/100 |
January 5, 2010 | N/A | |||
| Jag är nyfiken - en film i gult (I Am Curious (Yellow)) - R |
"Are there any interesting social cases here? People in sleazy flats? People with unpaid dental bills? Drug cases will do, too. I work for "Expressen" the paper with a sting. My paper is planning a conservative victory in the '68 elections. We're doing a series on the ten most sordid social welfare cases."
Director: Vilgot Sjöman Country: Sweden Genre: Drama Length: 121 minutes  People who support cinematic conservatism and will refuse liberalist ideals: BEWARE! Vilgot Sjöman directs what may be the very first masterful cult film ever comitted to European celluloid. This gorgeously sensationalist work of art has come to shatter the current morality, to question the foundations of the social structures, to take that very peculiar and characteristic insatiableness of youth to an extreme, and to question your political beliefs. With an irreverent sense of humor, a style that established the bases of mockumentary filmmaking, a controversial subject matter and a still-unparalleled avant-garde boldness, Jag är Nyfiken - En Film i Gult is the first of two Swedish liberalist manifestos that use the colors of the Swedish flag as symbols of political and democratic libertarianism. Lena is a 20-year-old girl of controversial curiosity. Archiving the different sources of knowledge in categories, mainly regarding sex, politics and religion, Lena embarks on a visceral journey of Eastern and Western culture, sexual exploration, political activism, yoga and existentialist ideals while interviewing random people about the Swedish class system and socialism. Throughout this story, a secondary plot unfolds that involves the director, cast and crew making humorous appearances and stating their personal opinions, coexisting with the fictional characters and intentionally resembling a "making-of" that works hard for the effectiveness of the final outcome. Applying a nihilistic delusion to the already controversial formula, Vilgot Sjöman and Lena Nyman combat against the established social order and present a vast repertoire of political ideologies and statements regarding social equity. The brilliance of Jag är Nyfiken - En Film i Gult is its originality, confusing the viewer with the authenticity of the ideas presented with the mixed style. Ultimately, the film is a complete and absurd mess, but one of the most intelligent, clever and audacious ones that cinema has ever witnessed. Sjöman refuses to adapt a conventional storytelling and decides to replace it with an alternative story, representing the thin line that divides the realm of reality and fantasy, of fact and fiction, of documentary direction and true filmmaking. Although these terms represent the opposite poles of a battery, the sum of these elements as parts form part of a whole: a universal law, the collision of ideological agreements and the catastrophic usefulness of a rebellious anarchy for the sake of the society's necessary progress. The main terms that define Jag är Nyfiken - En Film i Gult are audacity, inventiveness, revolution and societal (neutral) libertarianism. From normal people to important political figures like Palme and Martin Luther King, the film enters a world of artistic subjectivity, heavy in visual mastery and thought-provoking substance. The representation of the European class division of the 60s is not intended to appeal to a particular audience; it has a worldwide appeal, incarnating a universally accepted truth. Most of the technical aspects, although brilliantly constructed, do not seem to matter at some point and, latterly, they do. It is a mix of talents, like a non-idealistic filmmaker trying to conglomerate all of the thoughts that govern his conscience and showing them in the most random order that keep appearing in his mind, thus transforming the oddly sexy and gorgeous Lena Nyman in his vehicle of mass destruction, politically speaking. What is most likely to happen regarding international cinematic censorships when you are mercilessly gathering explicit sex and controversial politics in a two-hour feast? Rejection, banning, dissemination condemnation and complete miscomprehension are the most obvious answers. Fourty years later, the film makes complete sense to a more expert audience that is able to catalogue the past mistakes of any society disguised with false democratic promises and identities for making a productive use out of them in the present. The screenplay is incredibly complex, despite how simple it may seem and how much it relies on the perspectives of other members of a whole. Sex is used as the graphical representation of anarchich liberalism not with the purpose of establishing chaos, but with the intention of questioning the societal bases of conservatism and the senselessness of political overpowerment. It is a human impulse that latterly leads us to either grave decisions or to tragic results. Sjöman deserves a huge amount of cinematic credit. Inspiring several future filmmakers of the 70s to stand against governmental censorship and to challenge established parties and organizations, Jag är Nyfiken - En Film i Gult is the most controversial and definitely best color in comparison with the blue one, which is milder. What aspects of society are still predominant? Nature and socialism never made such a gorgeous and provocative collision of political discussion with an orgasmic intercession. It is a unique masterpiece, misunderstood by those who will strictly stay glued to the Hollywood standards. 99/100 |
January 5, 2010 | N/A | |||
| Religulous - R |
From this moment on, I'll try my best NOT to curse throughout this small, quickly-written review.
Ok, here I go: With the popularity of "Seinfeld" and Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006) behind, Larry Charles grabs an ex-comedian puppet named Bill Maher. The reasons why he actually chose him, although pretty obvious, are unknown. So, here we are with the talktative, FUCKING racist Maher, making fundamental questions about the current state of the different religions that can be found around the world, mostly focusing on the existence of God and attacking ignorant Catholics and Christians. It is more than obvious that, instead of applying the concept of objective neutrality, a concept that all documentaries should have, Religulous is devoid of morality and decides to laugh at the beliefs of religious people. It refuses the style of a brutally thought-provoking Deliver Us from Evil (2006) and relies on mockery. One thing is to direct a fucking insulting piece of goddamn shit like Religulous from an atheistic point of view, and another one is to show respect towards these beliefs and even try to show your own (Pasolini's Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo, anyone?). Naturally, atheists will find this documentary either "amusing" and "accurate", or "daring". This means, they will love it. If not, at least they will find the nonstop jokes within very smart and intelligently crafted (give me a break). However, there are two kinds of audiences that will protest against Religulous: those who DO own a religion, and those who can actually read between lines and see the stinking conservative and irreverent aroma that predominates in the documentary. Maher is an atheist. That's OK; he refuses to accept the existence of God and WILL go to hell. What can be done? There are no gray tones in accepting the factual existence of God. Nevertheless, religious people attacking atheists and atheists insulting Catholics, Christians, Buddhists, Islamics and Muslims are the base of today's societally conflictive issues. Maher, through Charles, is one of the endless examples of society's incapacity of differentiating the divine religions and the human institutions and horrendous, disciplinary customs and rituals. Just becase a stupid atheist had the balls of exposing his God-is-a-ridiculous-statement-and-the-Byble-is-a-senseless-book-of-fairy-tales-written-by-men-with-penises ideas does not mean that he is the brilliant comedian that is inviting us to start stepping towards the right direction for the sake of society's progress (hahaha, for those retards who actually believe that, I really feel sorry for your asses). Obviously, as any good example of a manipulative and fake documentary, Religulous is so obviously edited that smart people cannot help but to laugh at it, but not with it. Charles obviously sought for easy targets to attack and laugh at. From authors of religious books to American Senators, the whole cast including Maher becomes joyful each time they question ignorant persons and edit the sequence so it can be transformed into a "gotcha!" scene. However, in order to achieve effectiveness for the final outcome of Religulous so it can make atheists laugh happily, the documentary evidently ommits those interviewees that were able to surpass the arguments of Maher, a stupid man that swears in one scene he is "trying to believe" and stating in another scene that he feels worried " because people who believe in a talking snake are running his country". Unintentionally, the documentary hits few points from the right angle. Seeing a man that swears HE is Jesus Christ helps us to witness another breed of monsters that slows down mankind's religious evolution. Therefore, there are several shocking moments that fairly attack people's blind fanatism and miscomprehension of the Holy Byble, including the absurdity of their arguments, and that also makes us notice of the misinterpretation of the Byble laws that used to correct mankind's behavior BEFORE the times of Jesus Christ (Old Testament) and the ones that apply now since the Holy Spirit started to exist since the New Testament, a concept that Maher will NEVER understand, and a concept that, sadly, modern religious governors and other political and religious figures also do not understand(!) "You don't have to pass an IQ test to be in the Senate, though." So you think that An Inconvenient Truth is manipulative and lousy? LOL! Religulous is one of the most untrue, insulting, misleading, stereotypical, intentionally racist, moronic, manipulative, irreverent, lousy, propagandistic, conservative, narrow-minded, unfunny, randomly edited, controlled and disrespectful documentaries ever commited to celluloid. Just with the purpose of adding irony to this crappy, amateurish formula, Maher "gets serious in the end" and provides the true lesson of Religulous but stating the exact opposite. He is actually calling religious people "stupid" and is stating that they are the cause of basically every single major internal and international conflict throughout history, ludicrously using WWII and Vietnam footage (haha, now THAT's funny). Do you think that pop culture references and sudden insertion of cartoons and film clips compensate a huge lack of talent and meaningful substance? Do you think Bill Maher is actually funny? Did you laugh? Then YOU, my dear "deaf" and "blind" atheist reader, are the cause of the actuality's ignorance for the truth, especially when agreeing with every single word of "The Puppet" Maher. Larry Charles cowardly hides behind the camera and lets the jokes to roll endlessly, but the problem of nowadays' political conflicts is not religion, but intolerance. It is the immortal and never-ending pride and ego of the human being that does not accept his rotten nature, his original sinful state, and is afraid of accepting the mistakes of oneself. It is the fear of conceiving a superior, omniscient and invisible entity of imminent presence. Are you Catholic? Congratulations. Are you Christian? Congratulations. Are you a homosexual? Congratulations. Screw the people that do not accept you. Are you an atheist? Good. We will keep praying for you daily. Do you disrespect the beliefs of others? FUCK YOU! Do you consider religion as the opium of the masses? Think again, my dear repulsive Marxist, since God exists. Did you laugh / found the jokes smart? You clearly know nothing about comedy AND morality. Did you like / enjoy / find this documentary entertaining? You, sir, clearly don't know SHIT about good documentaries. Go watch Deliver Us from Evil (2006) and learn several valuable lessons. At least Amy was able to be accurate, honest and objective, contrasting the usefulness of believing in God and the strength of faith with the repulsive, Catholic institutions. Oh my, Bergman and Tarkovsky would be so offended... 36/100 |
January 5, 2010 | N/A | |||
| L'Atalante - Unrated |
- Don't worry, Ma. She's married a fine man.
- She'll be back someday! Director: Jean Vigo Country: France Genre: Drama / Romance Length: 89 minutes  L'Atalante is one of the greatest films ever made. With that fact already stated, we may now proceed comfortably. Jean Vigo composed in 1934 a truly remarkable drama of impeccably moving proportions. If D.W. Griffith was the father of epic filmmaking, Sergei M. Eisenstein the author of editing, and F.W. Murnau the promoter of an innovative camera work, Jean Vigo is definitely the creator of a groundbreaking, ambitious photography. To call L'Atalante a romance film is an understatement; although it is true, it is not precise. It is a study of the human condition under an unsuccessful love relationship. Therefore, it could be vaguely referenced as the French response to Murnau's Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927). The film signed the period of a cinema era where benign positivism and inspirational melodramas predominated. These projects were abundant in mastery thanks to their influential characteristics and their unique storytelling. Despite Jean Renoir being recognized as a new master of cinema during that period, Jean Vigo's only complete masterwork is a testament aimed directly to the heart that specifically tried to appeal to the sentiments of past decades, yet it has hold a modern universal validity and a noticeable, graphic poetry nowadays. The film opens with a celebrated wedding between the gorgeously-looking Juliette and Jean, the owner of a ship. Juliette immediately accepts to live on his ship, on board of which is the scraggly second mate Jules and a cabin boy. After they come to Paris, Juliette grows increasingly bored and decides to sneak away in order to appreciate the nightlife of the city. This results in the anger of Jean, who impulsively leaves Juliette behind. However, his character will suffer a transformation since the repentance of his actions towards his wife leads him to a deep depression. Due to the censorship measures of the 30s, the main focus of such simple story is not the suspense, or the thrilling wait for the finale. Fortunately, we already know how the film will end. It is all about the innocent naturalness, the great performances and landmark cinematography, not to mention the cathartic appeal it built (and still builds) with the viewer. We are introduced with what may seem typical characters: the curmudgeon and manipulative husband, the tender and naïve wife with romantic and escapist ambitions, the sloppy and often humorous supporting character, and a cabin boy of almost null, but complementary presence. The appeal is primordially derived from the portrayed romantic entanglement and the believability of the strictly human personages. Naturally, Jean Vigo attempted this by creating a purely human sense of humor based on the dialogues of the characters, the dailiness of the depicted events aboard the ship, the facial expressions and the constant personality contrasts. Cinema was barely escaping its silent era, and the effort involved in the improvement of the technical aspects is noticeable, but very much appreciated. The film first offers us a great glimpse of a colonial France, constructing considerably long shots and achieving a visual balance of great effectiveness, and all of this with the purpose of emphasizing the atmospheric happiness of the protagonistic newlyweds. From there, we accept to aboard the ship with the couple in the same way Juliette does: it is like accepting a new adventure of unpredictable outcomes. The comedy (or tragedy) of the film is first encountered in the uncomfortably painful relationship between Jules and Juliette and the short time that had to pass so they could perform their first argument. Vigo depicted a marriage we could empathize with. He does not force us to adopt a particular side; the sequences are just shown without debating morality or what is right and what is wrong. An unreachable emotional escapism is the symbolic role given to the city of Paris. The worldly known place because of its romantic fame is transformed in the supporter of the separation between Jules and Juliette. In order to average out the seemingly depressing atmosphere of the film, Jules assumes the comedic role of the careless, disinterested, patriotic and womanizer male of incredible stories of high doubtfulness that defines "consultation" as visiting a fortune teller just for seducing her. Just like the city of Paris is contrasted with the life on the ship, the ship itself contrasts the room of Jules. It is a space full of odd artifacts that, according to him, have several worldwide origins derived from unbelievable anecdotes. There is a particular scene where Jean encounters Juliette in the room of Jules and severely questions them both. Out of hatred, Jean ends up messing up the room and being angered to his wife, symbolizing the destruction of their emotional stability because of the intolerance towards external issues. His role may seem inappropriate especially when directing an essay of the human impulses and the childish attitudes that are originated from an impotence of empathy and romantic companionship. Nevertheless, the protagonist's remorse comes when the analysis of the past actions is executed, actions that were based on manipulation, tactlessness and jealousy. This forces him to jump into the river. The most obvious cinematic conclusion of such act may lead us to think that this idea involves suicide; nevertheless, Jean is plagued by the beautiful and "ballet-ish" image of his wife and starts to gather past moments of their lives in his head. Now, this is a true allegory! What aspects or features are the ones that define the escapist measures of a particular individual? It is understood that the purpose of this scene, which is undoubtedly the most outstanding and moving, works for achieving a merely artistic emphasis, besides obviously explaining more about the character and metaphorically inviting the viewers to reflection. The ship is the motor of the psychology of the characters and the beautifully photographed Paris is the background for their melodramatically tumultuous relationship. However, the purposes of L'Atalante, although simple, are not as easy as they seem. It goes beyond a "chick flick" or a romantic tale of separation and redemption. It is a film that mirrors the impulsive acts committed by man when in front of a new situation or a new life stage. It serves the purpose of being an analytical masterpiece of delicate proportions. It is the remarkable direction and the unparalleled cinematography the ones that sweeten the plot with elements of humanism and an effective reflection. More than attempting to bring separated couples together, it is one of the most sublime French projects of the 30s, almost reaching the quality and universality of Renoir, and rivaling the scope of Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927), despite that the film clearly borrowed some plot elements from the original silent masterwork. 100/100 |
January 1, 2010 | N/A | |||
| Jules and Jim - Unrated |
"You said, "I love you," I said, "Wait." I was going to say, "Take me," you said, "Go away.""
Director: François Truffaut Country: France Genre: Drama / Romance Length: 105 minutes  Jules et Jim is one of the most specially made films in the entire history of the motion picture. After seeing Jean-Luc Godard's colorful Une Femme est une Femme (1961) asking "How is Jules et Jim proggessing?" for then grinning at Burt Lancaster, we could have been led to think that the film would share a similar style, especially considering the first post-neorealist effort made by Truffaut three years earlier: Les Quatre Cents Coups (1959). However, the film had a much more ambitious and unprecedented purpose. Combining the plot elements of a thought-provoking and ultimately multilayered drama with the revolutionary features of the Nouvelle Vague, Jules et Jim is commonly considered as the director's best film and a landmark in French filmmaking. This film was also meant to contain the specific film characteristics and the unique style of Truffaut, from unsuccessful and utterly unconventional love stories to Hitchcock homages. With a breathtaking pace, a provocatively improvisatory nature, an invigoratingly precise editing and a huge universality, this film explores the human condition in a groundbreaking way, addressing its complexity with intelligent humor, a remarkable screenplay, a rare cathartic impact and an incredibly talented direction. In 1912 Paris, the French intellectualist and optimistic Jim meets the Austrian insecure and naïve Jules, beginning a great friendship. When they meet the French extroverted and mercurial woman named Catherine, both fall in love with her. Even so, Catherine is attracted by the naiveté and innocent behavior of Jules. Finally, the First World War separates Jules and Jim, losing years of contact in the process. The war ends and Jim is reunited with Catherine and Jules in their isolated cottage, who now have a daughter named Sabine. Jules confesses Jim that her wife has been having extramarital affairs, but that he is compelled to not leave Catherine because of the love entanglement he has been subject to. Jim is asked to stay with Jules and Catherine falls in love with Jim. Despite the fact that they willingly form a love triangle, the original friendship between Jules and Jim is never lost. Director François Truffaut was recognized as Best Director at the Mar del Plata Film Festival and won a Silver Ribbon for Best Director - Foreign Film at the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists of 1963. Jules et Jim, from an objective point of view, is the exploration of a love triangle and their different adventures and anecdotes throughout the decades. Through the lens of Truffaut, we go through their respective life stages at an incredibly fast pace that shows how life can pass in an eye blink. This provocative love triangle is the center of the story; the characters are the sun in this unconventionally geocentrical theory of tumultuous impulsiveness. Henri-Pierre Roché's original novel allowed François Truffaut and Jean Gruault to develop an extraordinary screenplay of rapid character development and the improvisatory depiction of random events and key moments in the life of the protagonists. Also, the adaptation determined the literary tone of voice that the narrator acquires, helping the viewer to become accustomed to the storytelling style and the visual inventiveness that accompanies the story throughout. In order to achieve character believability, external events that could be typical of an epic story are efficiently added, such as the First World War, a massive event of destructive proportions that molded the respective fates of several people around the world, including their psychologies. It is not an excuse, but it is used as the point-of-no return of the protagonists. The First World War is the event that Truffaut uses in order to emphasize the deep affection he has towards habits of a Paris belonging to a past era. Regardless of the art direction and the times in which the film is set, Truffaut focuses, for the first time, on the psychological analysis of the characters which are specifically constructed on a nostalgic background of the past and the repercussions of such memoirs in the present. Therefore, there are certain events that only the characters know, certain plays that only the know they have seen, certain pieces of literature they have had the pleasure of reading, certain arguments they held between each other. Consequently, the nature of the film intends to be surprising, resulting in the inexplicableness of certain actions or decisions: Catherine jumping off a bridge and then drawing a triumphant smile, Jules accepting the fact that her wife has affairs, Jim deciding to be governed by its emotional sentiments and falling in love with Catherine. Any conclusion we build is based on assumptions instead of facts. The brilliance in the direction of Truffaut is mirrored with such characters: the screenplay allows random stuff to take place unexpectedly and the explanations do not matter. It is all about the magic of life, the magical realism added to the formula and their contrasting, celebrative attitudes of peculiar uniqueness. Despite their oddities, we cannot prevent ourselves from loving them. The technical aspects play a huge role in Jules et Jim, a very important characteristic in the Nouvelle Vague. The editing is suffering several sudden transitions of atmospheres, actions, facial expressions, randomness, physical spaces and improvised conversations. The screenplay is constantly paying attention to details that seem to hold no significant importance but, in the end, they acquire a meaning. They are little pieces of a puzzle that form a sensational explosion of humanly passionate sentiments and indescribable feelings when put together. The streets of Paris propel their personalities while we are on board of a controversially joyous ride, and all of this is accomplished thanks to a wonderful black-and-white cinematography, sometimes minimalist, sometimes vast. A splendorous camera work and historical footage contrast the difference of relevance between the Great War (and its emphasized futility), and the different scenarios in which the characters are transported throughout the decades, singing and jumping off bridges in one scenario, and composing a guitar song in other. Plagued with a sensuous atmosphere and some of the most stylish performances ever committed to French celluloid, Jules et Jim is a shining triumph of revolutionary direction and a cinematically iconoclastic narrative structure. It is the fusion of Godard's non-conformist aroma with the celebration towards life that the European films started to represent in the 60s. Few movies have reached such status, but it is a tribute to nostalgia, an examination of the hardships of love and the exploration of characters that are incapable of loving because of their misconception of the term. However, instead of slowly drawing them each time nearer to an internal doom, a satire is constructed. This is a comedy, and quite possibly one of the cleverest ever made. Forget the haphazardness of the anticlimactic ending: this is a very daring and unique masterpiece, and a huge influence for future filmmakers to come. Truffaut is a genius, but discreetly disguised with intellectual humor and the construction of romantic, social satires. Jeanne Moreau? Oh my God... she's the female acting phenomenon of the decade! 100/100 |
December 31, 2009 | N/A | |||
| La Nuit Américaine (Day for Night) (The American Night) - PG |
"Cinema reine!"
Director: François Truffaut Country: Italy Genre: Drama / Comedy Length: 115 minutes  François Truffaut, as the multiphacetic director that he is, decides to change the Nouvelle Vague style he adapted during the 60s, and constructs one of the best visionary concepts about metafilm ever committed to celluloid. By definition, any metafilm project constitutes a tribute to cinema. In this case, Truffaut adopts a face of modesty and explains the process of filmmaking while referencing the giant icons of cinema that have defined such art throughout the decades. In order to be more effective and even appealing, he disguises this difficult attempt with a very innocent and simple touch of comedy. Few are the films that have molded the bases of cinema, and few are the films that have brought such concept to the screen so effectively. In the end, La Nuit Américaine is much more than a reference to a film technique that consists in filming night scenes in broad daylight: it is the process of such technique and every variable it involves. With a superbly written screenplay and a more accessible atmosphere, Truffaut shows the sentiments, thoughts and terrific anecdotes that constitute the world of cinema. It is an art, an imitation of life and the representation of a particular portion of the world through the lens of an imaginative illustrator of moving images. Truffaut inventively assumes the role of a director named Ferrand that works at "La Victorine" Studios. The film he is directing is called "Je Vous Presente Pamela" (May I Introduce Pamela), which tells the story of an English married wife that falls in love and latterly runs away with the father of her French husband. Through several hardships, surrounding liaisons, schedule conflicts and unbelievable situations, La Nuit Américaine deals with the making of the movie, the personal and professional crises that the director faces, the adventures and deceptions of the cast, and the troubles that Ferrand faces with the technical crew. In 1974, the film won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The next year, it received 3 Academy Award nominations for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Writing, Original Screenplay and Best Director. Director François Truffaut won a Critics Award for Best Film at the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics. In La Nuit Américaine, Truffaut divides life into three different worlds: the real-life world, the world of cinema and the world of filmmaking. Towards the end, Truffaut's character (Ferrand) says that cinema is more important than life for those who were born to be dedicated to such art. Life is full of deceptions and has several pauses; cinema does not, since you control them. The character who is told this refutes the idea while being in a period of crisis. Personally, I am highlighting this idea since the purpose of Truffaut was to contrast the naturalness and random unpredictability of life with the organized diagram that determines the direction and, therefore, the course of a film project. This was the origin for transforming the plot into a brilliant metafilm. Truffaut has a huge heart and, through one of his most lovable and entertaining films, he depicts the three different worlds and how, while sharing elements in common, result in an anecdotic explosion of incredible elements when they intertwine. When it may seem that the director is the nucleus of the film and the supporting characters and crew are the main focus, they are not. The real center is the film and its direction. The comedy of Truffaut's film can be found in the fact that life itself is also humorous. Tension, technical conflicts and the sudden death of an actor (inside the film's plot, not in real life) propitiate an atmosphere of never-ending constant work in which the most practical solution is commitment. The narrator of La Nuit Américaine is Ferrand himself, suggesting that the hardest work for the creation of a movie is the director. Through graphical and hidden references, Truffaut expresses his love towards cinema and, despite all of the aspects that involve the filmmaking process, towards the process itself. Empathizing with worldwide audiences, mentions of Orson Welles (considerably emphasizing Citizen Kane [1941] through a psychological flashback), Roberto Rossellini, Ingmar Bergman, Jean-Luc Godard, Luis Buñuel, Jean Cocteau and Howard Hawks are made, not to mention that the film is dedicated to the Gish sisters (Lillian and Dorothy). All of this suggests that the nature of the film is self-explanatory, trying to share the passion towards cinema that both the filmmakers and film critics have. Whether it is "La Nuit Américaine" or "Day for Night", quality cinema owns a universal language that appeals humanity regardless of the cultures, folkloric differences, religions, direction styles and morality concepts. The means used to add more naturalness to La Nuit Américaine is to portray human characters, thus mirroring the personality of the real life actors, including the one of François Truffaut. We have the naïve and brokenhearted protagonist who, ironically, plays a very important role in the film. We have the adventurous and deceitful woman that causes a funny turn of events. We have a remarkable Valentina Cortese who incarnates the old age actress of bourgeois attitude and celebrative psychology. We have the committed director that feels his role consists in being ready to face unexpected events, satisfying the demands of foreign producers and answering hundreds of questions per day. As for the cinematic scenery it is offered throughout the plot, we go through liaisons, affairs, press conferences, interviews and great filming locations. The film was very careful not to resemble a simple and boringly nonsensical "making-of"; the director made a plot within a plot, and the tasks required to bring such plot-within-plot to the big screen. The first mockumentary in movie history had barely been made two years ago; however, Truffaut aimed towards a more natural construction of the story and decided to stick to a more traditional style that remembered the masterworks that geniuses had made during the past decades with a nostalgic tone. With an exceptional camera work and one of the cleverest scripts ever written, La Nuit Américaine is one of the best films by François Truffaut and an ambitious project that follows the steps Federico Fellini's 8½ (1963) had left behind. The direction is magnificently splendid and it is aimed towards a very specific audience: cinema lovers. That is why this movie is a dream come true. You may interpret it as a film that homages the revolutionaries of cinema, or it may be seen as the representation of Truffaut's alter ego. The truth is, Truffaut is modestly mirroring the genius of his abilities through a fictional character that lives in a world that the real director routinely lives in. Splendid cinematography and a vigorously joyous pace sweeten this masterpiece, which definitely is one of the best foreign films of the decade and a very appealing tribute to the cinema all of us admire. 100/100 |
December 31, 2009 | N/A | |||
| We the Poor (Nosotros, los pobres) - Unrated |
"¡Pepe el Toro es inocente!"
Director: Ismael Rodríguez País: México Género: Drama Duración: 128 minutos  SPANISH REVIEW: Nosotros, los Pobres es básicamente el ícono gigante del cine y parte-aguas mexicano que debería aparecer bajo la definición de "México" en un diccionario. Constantemente referenciada como una de las más colosales, inspiradoras, revolucionarias, melodramáticas e importantes fuentes de la cultura moderna en México, la obra maestra más famosa de Ismael Rodríguez fue una de las películas más exitosas y taquilleras del Cine Colonial. Naturalmente, después de la devastación causada por la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el trabajo de Vittorio de Sica llamado Ladri di Biciclette (1948) llamaría la atención de audiencias mundiales y se convertiría en el testamento definitivo del neorrealismo europeo. Llamar a Nosotros, los Pobres como un derivado neorrealista sería un error. Es la idealización de un mundo colonialmente marginado que vive bajo extremas condiciones de pobreza. Sin embargo, son sus personajes inmortales, su exagerada emotividad, su estructura narrativa sumamente sentimentalista y "telenovelera", su naturaleza melodramática y sus memorables canciones que siguen vigentes las características que hacen de esta dedicación a la pobreza una de las mejores obras maestras cinematográficas de la Época de Oro del Cine Mexicano. También es considerada como una de las mejores películas mexicanas de todos los tiempos por una versión de la revista SOMOS publicada en 1994, ocupando el puesto número 27. El eterno y sumamente talentoso Pedro Infante interpreta a José del Toro, mejor conocido por su apodo "Pepe el Toro", el personaje más famoso en la historia de México. Él es un carpintero dedicado, honrado y romántico cuyas principales prioridades son el amor por su amada y tierna hija Chachita, y el cuidado de su madre paralítica. Estos personajes viven en una vecindad dentro de la Ciudad de México, la cual está llena de personalidades bastante peculiares con características únicas. Pepe el Toro debe lidiar con la mala fama que ha adquirido con el chisme de que él asesinó a su esposa. Él y su hija Chachita enfrentan problemas a partir de que Chachita se da cuenta de que la tumba a la que estuvo llevando flores constantemente no era la de su madre. Sin embargo, Pepe el Toro se niega a revelar la verdad. Tragedias y tiempos aún más difíciles e injustos aguardan a los personajes cuando Pepe el Toro es acusado por un crimen que, al parecer, él no cometió. La película abre con un par de niños pobres que encuentran un libro titulado "Nosotros los Pobres" dentro de un bote de basura. Cuando lo comienzan a leer, la trama de la película comienza. Este hecho probablemente asuma el rol de referencia nostálgica. Es un hecho de que la visión neorrealista de la Ciudad de México de Ismael Rodríguez es meramente arquetípica; en vez de asemejar la brutalidad y el crudo realismo mostrado en Los Olvidados (1950) de Luis Buñuel, Nosotros, los Pobres conglomera todos los sueños, ilusiones, deseos y romances exitosos y fallidos de una vecindad pobre. Dicha vecindad es el núcleo de la historia, y todo espacio físico y personaje externo a la vecindad es interpretado como un elemento ajeno a su naturaleza. Su positivismo y riqueza de talentos técnicos son grandemente fortalecidos por actuaciones extraordinariamente impecables y por números musicales poco convencionales. La representación del director de una sociedad que vive en condiciones deplorables no es precisamente fiel, y el vocabulario y argots que predominan en el guión, a pesar de haber influenciado enormemente al habla cotidiana, pueden ser incomprensibles para audiencias extranjeras, pero es el destacable talento en la dirección el que hace de la película un esfuerzo memorable. Ismael Rodríguez abre con la declaración de que, a pesar de las conductas de baja moral y las frases vulgares, la película representa una dedicación a la pobreza, presentando a ?uno de nuestros barrios pobres? en donde todo tipo de noblezas y virtudes pueden florecer al lado de los siete pecados capitales. Asimismo, cataloga a la pobreza como el más grande de los heroísmos. Pese a que la pobreza es mostrada de forma estereotipada, un tema muy recurrente en la filmografía de Rodríguez es la exaltación de la capacidad de aprendizaje del ser humano cuando es sujeto a obstáculos de vida de alta significancia. La naturaleza de la película adopta una naturaleza destacablemente positiva durante la primera mitad, casi asumiendo el bizarramente efectivo papel de ser un musical neorrealista a través de las canciones folclóricas más famosas del país. En la segunda mitad, la verdadera problemática es presentada. Dadas estas características, una trama con tantos defectos intencionales requería varios mensajes morales durante el su desarrollo y una conclusión en su final climático: "SE SUFRE..... ¡PERO SE APRENDE!" Nosotros, los Pobres es un melodrama que no necesariamente degrada la pobreza por la imagen idealizada que se otorga. En cambio, compensa todos los aspectos que fracasan cuando son analizados de una manera objetiva, reemplazándolos con elementos completamente inolvidables. La costumbre de asignar apodos a la gente también fue originada del estilo de Rodríguez, nombres dados por alguna anécdota pasada, por su semejanza física con algún objeto o ser, o por alguna acción hecha por el personaje con regularidad: La Tostada, La Guayaba, La que se levanta tarde, La Tísica (Yolanda), La Chorreada, La Paralítica? Todo ello es hecho con el mero propósito de ensalzar sus personalidades, algunas de ellas fuera de la realidad. Por ejemplo, el estado de ebriedad de La Guayaba y La Tostada es médicamente imposible; sin embargo, representan la ceguedad psicológica del típico mexicano que siempre puede ser encontrado en un bar desahogando sus penas. El oficio de carpintero dado a Pepe el Toro simboliza la nobleza y arduo trabajo de dicha dedicación. A pesar de que el guión se encuentra ligeramente sobrescrito en determinados momentos emocionales, la película posee la suficiente sustancia para mantener a la trama sólida. La música de Manuel Esperón y las letras eternas de Pedro de Urdimalas dieron a luz a canciones impactantemente conmovedoras que sieguen siendo compuestas por músicos contemporáneos 6 décadas después, elevando la popularidad de la película a un nivel que ni Rodríguez pudo anticipar. Un elemento sugestivo de gran peso es el retrato de la mujer de principio a fin. Introduciendo a la vecindad con la canción ?Ni Hablar, Mujer?, se nos presenta un breve avance psicológico de las mujeres que se presentarán a lo largo. De la desinteresadamente seductora cantinera a la tierna niña de prioridades exclusivamente familiares, de la mujer existencialista con terribles secretos familiares y decepciones pasadas a la codiciosa burguesa, la mujer no juega precisamente el rol de constituir un escapismo sentimental. Al contrario, son personajes con trasfondos psicológicos sumamente variados, pese a que estén basados en estereotipos sentimentalistas. El romance y las costumbres del México colonial de los 40s solían ser así. Sin la mujer, el Lic. Montes no podría ser introducido. Montes es el personaje que, dentro de la mente de Rodríguez, funciona como el ambicioso y presumido hombre materialista. Sin embargo, en vez de disminuir la calidad de las personas con grandes bienes materiales, comparte las cualidades humanas sin importar la abundancia económica, constituyendo un proyecto equitativo en vez de prestarse al favoritismo social. Completamente plagada de actuaciones sobresalientes e inspiradoras y con una trama cuyo inmenso suspenso emocional supera los defectos del largometraje, Nosotros, los Pobres ha ocupado un lugar gigantesco en el corazón de tanto las audiencias mexicanas como en los medios masivos de comunicación. Su popularidad y gran recibimiento inspiró a Rodríguez a constituir una trilogía, compuesta por Ustedes, los Ricos (1948) y Pepe El Toro (1953); sin embargo, esta es su película más espectacular y esplendorosa, más destacable por los elementos definidores de la cultura moderna que por su asombroso manejo de cámara, sus montajes técnicos innovadores, por sus escenas musicales memorables, por sus múltiples frases inmortales y por su elaborada cinematografía. Es México en su mayor expresión. 100/100 ENGLISH REVIEW: Nosotros, los Pobres is basically the giant and landmark icon of the Mexican cinema that should appear under the dictionary definition of "Mexico". Constantly referenced as one of the most colossal, inspirational, revolutionary, melodramatic and important sources of the modern culture of Mexico, the most famous masterwork by Ismael Rodríguez was one of the biggest box-office successes of Colonial Cinema. Naturally, after the devastation caused by the Second World War, the project of Vittorio de Sica called Ladri di Biciclette (1948) was meant to call the attention of worldwide audiences and to become in the definitive neorealist testament of European cinema. To define Nosotros, los Pobres as a neorealist derivative would be a mistake. It is the idealization of a colonially marginalized world that lives under extreme life conditions of poverty. However, it is its immortal characters, its exaggerated emotionality, its extremely sentimentalist and soap-opera-like narrative structure, its melodramatic nature and its still-current memorable songs the characteristics that make of this dedication to poverty one of the best cinematic masterpieces of the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema. It is also considered as one of the best Mexican films of all time by the 100th edition of a Mexican magazine called "SOMOS" published in the year of 1994, reaching the 27th spot. The eternal and considerably talented actor Pedro Infante plays José del Toro, better known by his nickname Pepe el Toro (Pepe the Bull), the most famous character in Mexican history. He is a dedicated, honest and romantic carpenter whose main priorities are the love of his beloved and tender daughter Chachita, and the care of her paralytic mother. These characters live in a neighborhood located in Mexico City full of highly peculiar personalities with unique characteristics. Pepe el Toro must deal with the bad reputation he acquired because of the gossipy regarding that he killed his wife. He and his daughter Chachita begin arguments from the moment since Chachita finds out that the grave to which she constantly sent flowers was not her mother?s. However, Pepe el Toro refuses to reveal the truth. Even harder and unjust times and tragedies await the characters when Pepe el Toro is accused for a crime that, seemingly, he did not commit. The movie opens with a pair of poor kids that finds a book titled "Nosotros los Pobres" inside a trashcan. When they start to read it, the plot of the film commences. This fact probably assumes the role of nostalgic reference. It is a fact that the neorealist vision of Mexico City held by Ismael Rodríguez is merely archetypical: instead of being similar to the brutality and crude realism shown in Los Olvidados (1950) by Luis Buñuel, Nosotros, los Pobres conglomerates all of the dreams, illusions, desires and successful and failed romances of a poor neighborhood. This neighborhood is the nucleus of the story, and every single character and physical space that is external to the neighborhood is interpreted as elements alienated from its nature. Its positivism and richness in technical aspects are greatly strengthened by extraordinarily impeccable performances and by rather unconventional musical numbers. The representation of the director of a society that lives under deplorable life conditions is not precisely faithful, and the vocabulary and slangs that predominate in the script may be incomprehensible to foreign audiences despite the fact that they influenced everyday talk; nevertheless, the outstanding talent of the direction makes of the movie a memorable effort. Ismael Rodriguez opens the film with the statement that, despite the low moral conducts and vulgar phrases that are shown, the movie represents a dedication towards poverty, introducing us to "one of our poor neighborhoods" in which all types of nobilities and virtues can flourish among the seven capital sins. Likewise, he catalogues poverty as the greatest of all heroisms. Although poverty is shown in a stereotypical form, one very recurrent matter present in the filmography of Rodríguez is the exaltation of the capacity of learning of the human being when subject to life obstacles of great significance. The nature of the film adopts a remarkably positive nature during the first half, almost assuming the bizarrely effective role of being a neorealist musical through the most famous folkloric songs of the country. In the second half, the real problematic issue is presented. Given the aforementioned characteristics, a plot with so much intentional flaws required several moral messages during its development and a conclusion in its climatic ending: "SE SUFRE..... ¡PERO SE APRENDE!" (You suffer? but you learn!) Nosotros, los Pobres is a melodrama that not necessarily degrades poverty because of the idealized image provided. On the contrary, it compensates all the aspects that fail when they are analyzed objectively, replacing them with completely unforgettable elements. The habit of assigning nicknames to people was also originated from the style of Rodíguez, which are names based on a past anecdote, on a physical resemblance held with some object or being, or on any action made by the character on a regular basis: La Tostada (The Toast), La Guayaba (The Guava), La que se levanta tarde (The one who wakes up late), La Tísica (The Consumptive) (Yolanda), La Chorreada (The dripped/poured), La Paralítica (The Paralytical)? All of this is done with the mere purpose of extolling their personalities, some of them out of this reality. For example, the constant drunkenness of La Guayaba and La Tostada is medically impossible; however, they represent the psychological blindness of the typical Mexican that can always be found in a bar unburdening his/her sorrows. The carpentry job of Pepe el Toro symbolizes the nobility and arduous work of such dedication. Though the screenplay is slightly overwrought in determined emotional moments, the film possesses enough substance to keep the plot solid. The music of Manuel Esperón and the eternal lyrics of Pedro de Urdimalas gave birth to impactfully moving songs that are still being composed by contemporary musicians 6 decades later, raising the popularity of the film to a level that not even Rodríguez could anticipate. One suggestive element of great weight is the portrayal of women from beginning to end. Introducing the neighborhood with the song ?Ni Hablar, Mujer?, we are offered a brief psychological advancement of the women that will be shown throughout. From the disinterested, seductive bartender to the tender girl of exclusively family-related priorities, from the existentialist woman with terrible family secrets and past deceptions to the greedy bourgeois, the woman does not precisely play the role of constituting a sentimental escapism. On the contrary, they are characters with extremely varied psychological backgrounds despite them being based on sentimentalist stereotypes. The romance and habits of the colonial Mexico of the 40s used to be like that. Without the woman, the character of Montes could not be introduced. Montes is the licentiate who, inside the mind of Rodríguez, functions as the ambitious and vain, materialistic man. Nevertheless, instead of diminishing the qualities of the characters that own abundant material goods, he shares the human qualities regardless of the economic abundance, constituting an equitable project and not a film of social favoritism. Completely plagued with astounding and inspiring performances and with a plot which immense emotional suspense surpasses the flaws of the feature film, Nosotros, los Pobres has occupied a gigantic place in both the hearts of Mexican audiences and the mass media. Its popularity and great reception inspired Rodriguez to build a trilogy formed by Ustedes, los Ricos (1948) and Pepe El Toro (1953); even so, this is his most spectacular and splendorous movie, more outstanding because of its defining elements of the modern culture than because of its amazing camera work, its technical innovative mountings, its memorable musical scenes, its multiple immortal quotes and its elaborate cinematography. It is Mexico at its best. 100/100 |
December 31, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Terra em Transe (Anguished Land)(Land Entranced) - Unrated |
- What does your death prove?
- The triumph of beauty and justice! Director: Glauber Rocha Country: Brazil Genre: Drama Length: 106 minutes  Two years before Costa-Gavras constructed the best political drama of the decade and one year after Algeria achieved independence thanks to the vision of Gillo Pontecorvo (cinematically speaking), Terra em Transe became a rare phenomenon. Few political dramas have achieved a giant status of mastery and technical innovation. Glauber Rocha, who mostly focused his filmmaking style and talents in the direction of westerns, dares to speak out loud for the sake of the Brazilian nation. Due to the heavy censorship of the tumultuous 60s, he disguises the truths of the country with a fictional creation, which is one of the smartest and most stylish decisions I have personally witnessed. The almost insignificant budget was no obstacle for Rocha, despite some obvious, yet justifiable technical flaws, and the governmental totalitarianism and mass media control did not stop Terra em Transe from being released. More than a spectacular political testament of passionate proportions and heavy Latin-American influence, it is a landmark in Brazilian cinema and an irrevocably influential masterpiece of unforgettable uniqueness and an unfathomable accuracy. Terra em Transe introduces us to a hypothetical and undeniably metaphorical Latin-American country called Eldorado. The protagonist is Paulo Martins, an idealistic and existentialistically anarchist journalist that fights against two equally corrupt parties. One party stands for the falsely populist form of government leaded by Felipe Vieira. The other party is headed by the conservative president Porfirio Diaz, who is supported by revolutionary forces. Amidst an imminent chaos, Paulo is taken to an emotional extreme when these two personages, who used to be two of his best friends in the past, unleash a catastrophic political turmoil derived from extremist measures and the mindless fanaticism and admiration of the masses. Director Glauber Rocha was nominated for a Golden Palm, which lost against Michelangelo Antonioni for his film Blowup (1966), and won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. He also won the Grand Prix for the best Feature Film at the Locarno International Film Festival. Terra em Transe is a political analysis loosely based on the history of Brazil since the director intelligently hides Latin-American elements that are supposed to be interpreted as metaphors. In order to cover up their respective symbolic meanings (just like corrupt activists inside governments hide their respective roles hypocritically after an atrocious and lawfully incorrect crime), Rocha disguises them. Naturally, Paulo Martins represents the jaded member of a corrupt society of indecisive citizens that are constantly expecting the best from the worst candidate. However, their political impotence is an irrevocable element given to them by an "organized" social system. Felipe Vieira is the exclusively "Eldoradian" politician of strong convictions and unstoppable motivations that, unfortunately, executes his actions through corrupt and destructive means of low moral. Porfirio Díaz criticizes the unpopular and conservative regime of the famous Mexican general that achieved to be in the presidency of the country continuously from 1876 to 1911, a regime characterized by its repression and corruption despite the modernization and economic growth that Mexico went through during those times. Finally, Eldorado references the legend invented by South American natives of the 16th Century mindlessly pursued by mindless and ambitious Spanish conquistadores. Consequently, the film's intentions are bigger than what they seem to be. Audaciously typical of the political dramas that stood out during the 60s, the film represents the blind submission of the masses towards political figures because of false promises given prior to their respective periods in power. Moreover, the film makes a very important and noticeably outstanding questioning in the middle of the film: "How could an elected Governor answer to the candidate's promises?" Not to mention that Paulo sees politicians as equally corrupt beings: "speeches, principles, promises..." Perhaps it was the director's intention to mirror the political contradictoriness and complexity of the Brazilian state during the 60s with an avant-garde style of filmmaking, unintentionally addressing it with grandiloquence, yet not failing to achieve an unconventional structure of cinematic awe and a breathtaking camera work. Money, instead of morality and reputation speaks for the status of people while political assassinations occur amidst disturbing turmoil and chaos. Those who live under deplorable life conditions are brutally beaten under the excuse that they are extremists and, therefore, deteriorate a snobbish and pretentious image of their Third World country. The film moves with an invigorating pace and suddenly reaches astonishing proportions of architectonic artistry and bourgeois lavishness. Despite some technical flaws, such as the sound editing and the original dubbing, Terra em Transe is an experience mandatory of political knowledge and a preconception of the governmental world status. Nevertheless, the bravery is highly rewarding throughout, naming the fictional country "Eldorado" with the mere purpose of enhancing and detailing the pursuit of an impossible golden land of social, political, religious and folkloric stability. Paulo's idealism may be exaggerated, but concise, and it serves a specific purpose of liberalism, no matter how disorganized it seems in the character. After all, democracy is supposedly about choosing who will own politically alienated lives. Hence the unpopular mentality of finding "speeches, principles and promises" doubtful and dishonest is strengthened. However, the film is not drowned into its own pretentiousness. It presents facts disguised with allegorical plot elements and captivating imagery, and remains dialectic. More than directly questioning the corruption of conservativism and modern democracies that slowly start to become dictatorships, it offers the responsibility of objective judgment to the viewer and finally says "goodbye" without even helping to digest the brutality shown. Terra em Transe has the shadow of Latin-American injustice and the colonial imperialism behind it. Unbeknownst to the director, he immediately surpassed the intellectual emptiness and forced liberalism contained in the films of the 21st century. It confronts inequality and exalts the human condition, despite putting it in psychologically unbearable situations of political turmoil and societal disorder. Surprisingly solid performances and a poetical screenplay allows the film to reach a higher level of grandiosity and effectiveness while Rocha rings the alarm not only for Latin-American audiences, but for the world as well. Few times has a masterpiece been so allegorically precise. Despite that the best film of the director got immediate criticism from film fans because it seemed to subjective and utterly incomprehensible just to be banned by the Brazilian government, the film was latterly released since the Cannes Film Festival considered it for a brand new Golden Palm. More "incomprehensible" than the film itself is modern dictatorship and corrupt social systems. Riots are incomprehensible. Manifestations, although senseless, are not. Priorities are lost and the overpowerment of political figures will always stop the objectivity and rational capacity of the humankind to fairly govern and lead a nation to prosperity. Glauber Rocha, I have good news for you: you have been finally understood. 100/100 |
December 31, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Z - PG |
"Concurrently, the military banned long hair on males; mini-skirts; Sophocles; Tolstoy; Euripedes; smashing glasses after drinking toasts; labor strikes; Aristophanes; Ionesco; Sartre; Albee; Pinter; freedom of the press; sociology; Beckett; Dostoyevsky; modern music; popular music; the new mathematics; and the letter "Z", which in ancient Greek means "He is alive!""
Director: Costa-Gavras Country: France / Algeria Genre: Crime / Drama / Mystery / Thriller Length: 127 minutes  Greek expatriate director Costa-Gavras was a political genius. Before the audacity of Bernardo Bertolucci's Il Conformista (1970) and severely influencing the subject matter of Theodoros Angelopoulos' Meres Tou '36 (1972), Z, despite holding the record for the shortest film title ever along with M (1931), is one of the greatest worldwide political dramas ever committed to celluloid. Governmental censorship was considerably heavy during those times, and releasing a brave project of such caliber always shattered the moral of international democracies and conservative parties. Nevertheless, Z screamed like a democratic society could have never done it. Manifestations always lost their impact despite being registered as national history. The director grabbed an astounding novel of political sincerity and subjected it to a nearly groundbreaking adaptation, attracting the attention of international film festivals, including the Academy Awards. Attacking totalitarianism and political dishonesty while mocking them in front of their very faces, this is the director's best film. Despite his future visceral efforts of political sincerity, Z is now considered as an absolute masterpiece among its genre, bringing tears to those who lived during those times and filling with anger to modern generations. When a prominent and liberal leftist is assassinated during a peace demonstration, the right wing immediately establishes figures in the military and the police attempt to cover up their respective roles, denying the murder in the process and disseminating it as an unfortunate accident. Acting as a detective in order to cover up the murder, the magistrate acts as a detective, unraveling shocking truths and achieving the obtaining of justice. The film received 5 Academy Award nominations in 1970 for Best Film Editing, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on material From Another Medium, Best Director and Best Picture, winning only the first two Oscars and losing the rest against Midnight Cowboy (1969). Director Costa-Gavras was nominated for a Golden Palm, which lost against Lindsay Anderson for his film If.... (1968), and won the Jury Prize unanimously at the Cannes Film Festival of 1969, in which also Jean-Louis Trintignant won an award for Best Actor. Z portrays a democracy in tumultuous times and exploits the concept of anarchy. This anarchy, however, is addressed with a discreet touch of liberalism and political justice. Costa-Gavras chronicles, in a historically accurate way, the overthrow of the democratic government in Greece. Nonetheless, the razor-sharp, jaw-dropping screenplay and the structure of the novel originally written by Vasilis Vasilikos allowed an atmosphere of mystery and suspense. This effect will surely work more effectively on those who have a low level of historical knowledge; consequently, one huge advantage of the film is that no complete knowledge of the topic is required in order to fully appreciate the intentions of this masterpiece, unlike the films of Angelopoulos demanded. Each event is described with extremely cautious exactitude and precision, not leaving room for pretentiousness and always sticking to an absolutely breathtaking film style that combines the characteristics of an ambitious documentary and the technical features of an elaborate magnum opus, offering an unparalleled final outcome. As for its political shock, the film may unfathomably sheer nostalgic terror to the viewers who had the unfortunate experience of witnessing and even forming part of the depicted events. The 60s were the times of the tragic assassinations of politically promising figures like John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. The 60s suffered the loss of revolutionary models that sought for equality, such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. The 60s represented, for Greece, the decade when the left-wing activist Gregoris Lambrakis was murdered while the country suffered the military's seizing of power in a coup d'état in order to overthrow the centre right government of Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, resulting in the Régime of the Colonels. Yves Montand assumes such role, a politically-driven character of strong convictions and immovable motivations with a mind invaded with emotionally disturbing past events and the visualization of a fairer social class division being governed by political transparency. When such character is insolently assassinated in front of eye witnesses who will definitely refuse to accept the truth in order to uphold the so-called reputation of their conservative side, Jean-Louis Trintignant personifies the idolized, yet highly dedicated and unstoppable deputy who just won't allow them to "get away with it". The ambitious direction features a great number of technical aspects developed in a brilliant way. Costa-Gavras features an invigorating pace of overabundant effectiveness and political tension, all of this aided by a grandiose screenplay. The performances are astonishingly and memorably extraordinary, featuring a socially accurate and psychologically exhausted Yves Montand and a shockingly resolute Trintignant, the magistrate constantly chased by the inequities of the authorities and morally challenged by an already-established governmental order. Mirroring the ambitious and noticeably developed technical aspects of Gillo Pontecorvo's La Battaglia di Algeri (1966), the film contains a matchless editing and a precise cinematography, sometimes universal, sometimes minimalist, and focusing on atmospherically closed spaces and expressions of terror that were originated from a shocking confession and from violent street riots. All of this is astoundingly decorated with a heart-pounding and innovative musical score by Mikis Theodorakis while a wonderful supporting cast incarnates the several hypocrite right-wingers that use their "political cleverness" as a means of societal destruction and democratic manipulation. "Any similarity to actual persons or events is deliberate!" With such infuriated phrase, Costa-Gavras conglomerates the patriotically disappointed sentiments of devastated democracies and portrays them through the best film of the year. The main dish of the day is people not paying the due respect towards authoritative figures while, ironically, these figures have a false and pretentious comprehension of the term "power" and government. New forms of dictatorships and Fascism arise while we, the mediocre and boring citizens, deposit our respective votes in senseless polling booths expecting for the "least bad" candidate to be elected. Moreover, the other side of the coin will never cease to exist: mindless conservatives of narrow-minded mentalities murdering revolutionary personages that could mold and even improve the current course of humanity just because of their "lunatic political stands" and their skin color. Z is a manifesto of groundbreaking proportions that contains an extremely disturbing realism and absorbing tension. We, as the spectators, are literally so involved in the events, that we may want to look back to see if there is not any dumbass conservative or right-winger with a huge stick standing behind us and wanting to kill us just because we are seeing the movie. It is like watching the news... 100/100 |
December 31, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road) - Unrated |
"Whatever God does is for the best."
Director: Satyajit Ray Country: India Genre: Drama Length: 122 minutes  Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1959): the song of a seemingly little road to walk, the unvanquished, and the world of a soon-to-be existentialist protagonist. And all of them form one of the three best trilogies ever committed to celluloid: The Apu Trilogy, directed by Satyajit Ray. Considered among international and Indian film critics as the absolute Indian masterpiece, it is also the result of the work of a true cinema master. Satyajit Ray raised not only his popularity, but also Indian cinema out of the blue and achieved international attention since the release of Pather Panchali. Despite the great neorealist influence of Italy (mainly from Vittorio de Sica), it is one of the strongest and most memorably powerful and heartbreaking movies ever made around the world. Rivaling the humanism of Masaki Kobayashi's Ningen no Joken (1959-1961) and the universality of other foreign masterworks, Ray's trilogy started slowly to be accepted and welcomed with open arms in several countries throughout the decades and is now referenced as the director's best effort. A single review will not suffice, since this absolutely complete and appealing work mirrors life itself: its impactful moments, key events, traumatic incidents, birth, happiness, sadness, disappointment, departures, growth, maturity and independence are few of the aspects developed in this beautifully orchestrated opera of conglomerated sensations. In Pather Panchali and Aparajito, the films open with the year of 1327 according to the Bengali calendar, which means 1920 according to the Gregorian calendar. Apu is born to a poor Brahmin family in a village located in Bengal. Living under extremely deplorable life conditions, each one of the family members faces several life problems individually and some others collectively. Apu is an innocent character who has a fantasized vision of the world, finding magic wherever he goes and being astonished by the natural wonders of the earth and by the extensive cultural diversity around the world. Durga is the problematic sister that won't stop stealing guavas from the orchards of the neighbors. Harihar is a poet and a priest who can't sop encountering difficulties in the process of finding a stable job and affording his family the necessary economy for their subsistence. Sarbojaya is the extremely caring and maternal, yet disciplinary and objective mother. Aparajito deals with the family living in Benares for some time after they had to surpass a very tragic incident and then moving in with Sarbojaya's uncle. Once there, Apu's curiosity for acquiring knowledge about the world compels his mother to subscribe him to a school in Calcutta, where his abilities and constant studying offer him a remarkable status of recognition. Nevertheless, the mother faces a huge emotional challenge when she must accept the fact that her little bird must leave the nest. After a huge separation between Apu and Sarbojaya, a terrible tragedy occurs, and a new stage in the character's maturity begins. Apur Sansar concludes the story in an astonishing way. Apu is now a jobless ex-student who lives a life of independence and solitude. While he is dreaming of a successful future as a writer and being largely inspired for writing an autobiographic novel, an old friend from school finds him and invites him to assist to a village wedding. Unfortunately, it is discovered that the bridegroom turned out to be insane, thus causing the wedding to be canceled. Because of the region's superstition, it is believed that the bride will be subject to a curse. Out of sadness and desperation, Apu's best friend convinces Apu to become the bridegroom. Since he makes this remarkable decision, he embarks on a journey of meaningful self-discovery, causing his vision towards the world to be significantly distorted, culminating in one of the best endings ever filmed. Director Satyajit Ray was nominated for a Golden Palm for his film Pather Panchali, which lost against Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle for their documentary Le Monde du Silence (1956), and won the OCIC Award - Special Mention and another Award for Best Human Document at the Cannes Film Festival of 1956. He also won two Golden Gate Awards for Best Director and Best Picture at the San Francisco International Film Festival of 1957. In 1967, he won a Kinema Junpo Award for Best Foreign Language Film. When Aparajito was released, Satyajit Ray won a Golden Lion at the Venice Film festival of 1957 and another Golden Gate Award for Best Director at the San Francisco International Film Festival of 1958. Thanks to Apur Sansar, the director won the Sutherland Trophy at the British Film Institute Awards of 1959 and the film won an NBR Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the National Board of Review, USA the following year. In total, the trilogy gathered 4 BAFTA Film Award nominations, besides other 12 wins and one single nomination. Reportedly, Satyajit Ray was a great admirer of Vittorio de Sica's Ladri di Biciclette (1948), one of the best neorealist films ever made. Thus, its similarity with the plot of Apur Sansar is obvious and justifiable. However, the nature and atmosphere of the trilogy started to change with the style of the director. Pather Panchali has a strictly neorealist environment, yet not deviating from the portrayal of Indian poverty. Despite being a very simple film, it is the absolute best of the trilogy. It shows the poverty with no clichés or pretentious grandiloquence. Like a masterful and faithful, loyal-to-life documentary, it shows a world that is very distant from us, yet it irrevocably finds a place inside our hearts. The depictions of poverty may be overwhelmingly difficult to endure; however, it is completely compensated with an indescribable visual beauty and a strong hope in the progress of humanity, mirrored in the characters and, most specially, in Apu. Pather Panchali is mainly composed of solid performances by an inexperienced cast, facial expressions, character development and daily hardships that stick to the basic necessities of man: food, shelter and security. The inevitability of death was a necessary topic to be treated, but instead of bringing the protagonists to their doom, it makes them grow spiritually. It is clearly said during the first film: "What God decides is for the best". Their main hope relies in the father getting a job and being paid fairly since his payment is delayed sometimes three months. The previous paragraph may seem ultimately depressing but, as almost all masters of cinema have, Satyajit Ray adds a very innocent and peculiar humor. Tenderness can be found in the faults of Durga; Apu's innocence and ambition is a relieving source of comedy (especially in Aparajito before he becomes an adolescent); the simplicity and well-intentioned pretentiousness of the father is inevitably laughable; the auntie in the first film represents the character that is alienated from the family because of her lifestyle and behavioral attitude and that, ironically, supports the thievery of Durga since "she has good intentions and is having fun", a fact that always upsets the mother. The visual beauty is derived from a surprisingly skillful and visionary cinematography, being surprising because of the country and the conditions in which it was made. Before letting us enter into a more civilized environment, the only glimpse of industrialized technology we are offered in Pather Panchali is a train loudly running over the railroads located beyond the beautiful rice fields. Excitedly, Apu and Durga flee home so they can see the train closer, becoming the most extraordinary thing they have ever seen. Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay is the author of the novel that inspired the direction of the trilogy, and he developed the screenplay exclusively for the first film, a piece of text that allowed good performances to be originated. Although its simplicity was predominant, it had enough thought-provoking substance to make of Pather Panchali an unforgettable, landmark and memorable Indian masterpiece. It was the financial success and international recognition that Pather Panchali received the one that allowed Aparajito to exist. Satyajit Ray, with a more improved photography, a more precise editing and better performances, directed a sequel that was not supposed to be made. Not staying away from the nature and the inspiration of the original novel, he stuck to a neorealist tone. Nonetheless, the literally astonishing cinematography of the first 10 minutes has a strong emphasis on architectonic beauty and colonial wonders typical of Benares, focusing on the visual stillness of the inhabitants bathing in the waters of a common river while doves fly in the air above them. This is the new scenery that we will receive for the first third part of the film, until the real purpose of the subject matter is launched. Apu, as a maturing and growing character, will show an insatiable ambition and curiosity of acquiring knowledge about the world and every single meaningful object and cultural element it contains. From the lifestyle of Africa to the basic definitions of geography and classical samples of literature, the character is now subjected to an intellectualist perspective. Bandyopadhyay never aimed towards the depiction of a progressive India mirrored in the psychology of the protagonist through scholar learning, but Ray still portrays the same neorealist elements he showed in the previous film in order to strengthen the emotional relationship between Apu and his mother. Although Apu will not cease to be the protagonist, Aparajito builds, at some point, a structure that allows Sarbojaya to be the main focus of attention temporarily, bringing along one of the strongest universal emotions that can be found in every single culture: the mother-and-son relationship. She will face a huge emotional obstacle when Apu, now an adolescent of outstanding knowledge thanks to his dedicated learning of the English language as a tool for opening new opportunities, must separate ways with her. Seemingly, this was the instrument of the director for achieving a universal appeal, strengthening the fact that, regardless of the folkloric diversities and international habits, there are strictly human and merely emotional laws that follow the same pattern thanks to the rational sensibility of mankind. Apu, on the other hand, will learn the price of personal decisions and will be forced to surpass one of the greatest and most landmark events in his life in the end, almost offering an open ending. Satyajit Ray was being threatened by the fact that there was not enough material in order to warrant a third film. However, avid fans of such groundbreaking story were willing to wait patiently for the new project of Ray. What was meant to be one single film was magically expanded to the trilogy we know nowadays. Despite this, the director kept in mind the atmosphere and the humanistic intentions of Bandyopadhyay, who kept being credited as the author of the original epic. Just like the direction of Ray throughout the trilogy kept being technically developed, so did Apu, both reaching a higher state of maturity and psychological complexity. In Apur Sansar, we are strictly taken to the mind of a man that now calls himself Apurba Roy perhaps with the purpose of assuming a more serious and independent identity. Even so, he is still Apu. Just like the direction and the main character, we are now transported to an extremely different scenario: a city of financial order and industrial features. The more the plot advances, the more our tears want to come out of our eyes when we remember the life conditions and story of Pather Panchali, culminating in an increasing nostalgia for the audiences. Suggesting that the nature of the story has not taken a drastically different course, the director makes Apu to start to reflect on the mistakes of his past and is inspired to construct an autobiographical book. After he is impulsively driven by solitude and decides to embark on his journey, abandoning all responsibilities (including his son), Ray grabs a much more Eastern influence, highly resembling Japanese filmmaking. The cinematography keeps showing an inspirational improvement and the musical score is still heartwarmingly joyful, but mysticism is added to the formula. Existentialist philosophy is now contemplated by Apu, who now owns a very Christian physical appearance that could be said it references Luis Buñuel's Nazarín (1959). Despite how different and alienated the first half of the film feels, the second one is very rewarding, achieving the audacious task of adopting an effective filmmaking style that contrasts considerably the neorealist tone shown in the past and that symbolizes rebirth. A new beginning has been propelled. Materialism and forced love is not the solution. Instead, we are offered a huge quantity of moral lessons of vast appeal. Human beings are still human begins, and man cannot embark on a journey of independence and successful relationships without prior self-acceptance and complete spiritual and religious awareness. Basically, there is nothing left to say. Being an almost-never paralleled experience, this is one of the most complete and multilayered stories ever told. The huge transition it suffers from neorealism to civilization and Eastern philosophy is as transcendental just as it is meaningful. Satyajit Ray is not only the master of spiritual strength, but also of the extermination of internal doom and earthly banalities. With an astounding technical progress and a great capacity of finding a huge place inside the hearts of international audiences, The Apu Trilogy is composed by transitioning layers with different purposes, all of them leading to a single, final conclusion. It must not be seen, it must be lived. Ray is mirroring his personal experiences since Aparajito just like the character reflects on his past. Stories within plots within stories within inspirations of life. We will be mirrored as well. 100/100 |
December 31, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Aparajito - Unrated |
"I hope you're careful on the roads. When are your finals? After that you can get a job and I'll stay with you. Will you have me? Will that ever be, I wonder? Who knows how long one has to live? Suppose I fall seriously ill,,,I'm not so well as I used to be. In the evenings I'm often feverish, I've no appetite. I thought of telling you... but I couldn't. I don't suppose you'd leave college to look after me, would you? Would you use your earnings to pay for me to have treatment? Why don't you answer me... Apu!"
Director: Satyajit Ray Country: India Genre: Drama Length: 110 minutes  Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1959): the song of a seemingly little road to walk, the unvanquished, and the world of a soon-to-be existentialist protagonist. And all of them form one of the three best trilogies ever committed to celluloid: The Apu Trilogy, directed by Satyajit Ray. Considered among international and Indian film critics as the absolute Indian masterpiece, it is also the result of the work of a true cinema master. Satyajit Ray raised not only his popularity, but also Indian cinema out of the blue and achieved international attention since the release of Pather Panchali. Despite the great neorealist influence of Italy (mainly from Vittorio de Sica), it is one of the strongest and most memorably powerful and heartbreaking movies ever made around the world. Rivaling the humanism of Masaki Kobayashi's Ningen no Joken (1959-1961) and the universality of other foreign masterworks, Ray's trilogy started slowly to be accepted and welcomed with open arms in several countries throughout the decades and is now referenced as the director's best effort. A single review will not suffice, since this absolutely complete and appealing work mirrors life itself: its impactful moments, key events, traumatic incidents, birth, happiness, sadness, disappointment, departures, growth, maturity and independence are few of the aspects developed in this beautifully orchestrated opera of conglomerated sensations. In Pather Panchali and Aparajito, the films open with the year of 1327 according to the Bengali calendar, which means 1920 according to the Gregorian calendar. Apu is born to a poor Brahmin family in a village located in Bengal. Living under extremely deplorable life conditions, each one of the family members faces several life problems individually and some others collectively. Apu is an innocent character who has a fantasized vision of the world, finding magic wherever he goes and being astonished by the natural wonders of the earth and by the extensive cultural diversity around the world. Durga is the problematic sister that won't stop stealing guavas from the orchards of the neighbors. Harihar is a poet and a priest who can't sop encountering difficulties in the process of finding a stable job and affording his family the necessary economy for their subsistence. Sarbojaya is the extremely caring and maternal, yet disciplinary and objective mother. Aparajito deals with the family living in Benares for some time after they had to surpass a very tragic incident and then moving in with Sarbojaya's uncle. Once there, Apu's curiosity for acquiring knowledge about the world compels his mother to subscribe him to a school in Calcutta, where his abilities and constant studying offer him a remarkable status of recognition. Nevertheless, the mother faces a huge emotional challenge when she must accept the fact that her little bird must leave the nest. After a huge separation between Apu and Sarbojaya, a terrible tragedy occurs, and a new stage in the character's maturity begins. Apur Sansar concludes the story in an astonishing way. Apu is now a jobless ex-student who lives a life of independence and solitude. While he is dreaming of a successful future as a writer and being largely inspired for writing an autobiographic novel, an old friend from school finds him and invites him to assist to a village wedding. Unfortunately, it is discovered that the bridegroom turned out to be insane, thus causing the wedding to be canceled. Because of the region's superstition, it is believed that the bride will be subject to a curse. Out of sadness and desperation, Apu's best friend convinces Apu to become the bridegroom. Since he makes this remarkable decision, he embarks on a journey of meaningful self-discovery, causing his vision towards the world to be significantly distorted, culminating in one of the best endings ever filmed. Director Satyajit Ray was nominated for a Golden Palm for his film Pather Panchali, which lost against Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle for their documentary Le Monde du Silence (1956), and won the OCIC Award - Special Mention and another Award for Best Human Document at the Cannes Film Festival of 1956. He also won two Golden Gate Awards for Best Director and Best Picture at the San Francisco International Film Festival of 1957. In 1967, he won a Kinema Junpo Award for Best Foreign Language Film. When Aparajito was released, Satyajit Ray won a Golden Lion at the Venice Film festival of 1957 and another Golden Gate Award for Best Director at the San Francisco International Film Festival of 1958. Thanks to Apur Sansar, the director won the Sutherland Trophy at the British Film Institute Awards of 1959 and the film won an NBR Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the National Board of Review, USA the following year. In total, the trilogy gathered 4 BAFTA Film Award nominations, besides other 12 wins and one single nomination. Reportedly, Satyajit Ray was a great admirer of Vittorio de Sica's Ladri di Biciclette (1948), one of the best neorealist films ever made. Thus, its similarity with the plot of Apur Sansar is obvious and justifiable. However, the nature and atmosphere of the trilogy started to change with the style of the director. Pather Panchali has a strictly neorealist environment, yet not deviating from the portrayal of Indian poverty. Despite being a very simple film, it is the absolute best of the trilogy. It shows the poverty with no clichés or pretentious grandiloquence. Like a masterful and faithful, loyal-to-life documentary, it shows a world that is very distant from us, yet it irrevocably finds a place inside our hearts. The depictions of poverty may be overwhelmingly difficult to endure; however, it is completely compensated with an indescribable visual beauty and a strong hope in the progress of humanity, mirrored in the characters and, most specially, in Apu. Pather Panchali is mainly composed of solid performances by an inexperienced cast, facial expressions, character development and daily hardships that stick to the basic necessities of man: food, shelter and security. The inevitability of death was a necessary topic to be treated, but instead of bringing the protagonists to their doom, it makes them grow spiritually. It is clearly said during the first film: "What God decides is for the best". Their main hope relies in the father getting a job and being paid fairly since his payment is delayed sometimes three months. The previous paragraph may seem ultimately depressing but, as almost all masters of cinema have, Satyajit Ray adds a very innocent and peculiar humor. Tenderness can be found in the faults of Durga; Apu's innocence and ambition is a relieving source of comedy (especially in Aparajito before he becomes an adolescent); the simplicity and well-intentioned pretentiousness of the father is inevitably laughable; the auntie in the first film represents the character that is alienated from the family because of her lifestyle and behavioral attitude and that, ironically, supports the thievery of Durga since "she has good intentions and is having fun", a fact that always upsets the mother. The visual beauty is derived from a surprisingly skillful and visionary cinematography, being surprising because of the country and the conditions in which it was made. Before letting us enter into a more civilized environment, the only glimpse of industrialized technology we are offered in Pather Panchali is a train loudly running over the railroads located beyond the beautiful rice fields. Excitedly, Apu and Durga flee home so they can see the train closer, becoming the most extraordinary thing they have ever seen. Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay is the author of the novel that inspired the direction of the trilogy, and he developed the screenplay exclusively for the first film, a piece of text that allowed good performances to be originated. Although its simplicity was predominant, it had enough thought-provoking substance to make of Pather Panchali an unforgettable, landmark and memorable Indian masterpiece. It was the financial success and international recognition that Pather Panchali received the one that allowed Aparajito to exist. Satyajit Ray, with a more improved photography, a more precise editing and better performances, directed a sequel that was not supposed to be made. Not staying away from the nature and the inspiration of the original novel, he stuck to a neorealist tone. Nonetheless, the literally astonishing cinematography of the first 10 minutes has a strong emphasis on architectonic beauty and colonial wonders typical of Benares, focusing on the visual stillness of the inhabitants bathing in the waters of a common river while doves fly in the air above them. This is the new scenery that we will receive for the first third part of the film, until the real purpose of the subject matter is launched. Apu, as a maturing and growing character, will show an insatiable ambition and curiosity of acquiring knowledge about the world and every single meaningful object and cultural element it contains. From the lifestyle of Africa to the basic definitions of geography and classical samples of literature, the character is now subjected to an intellectualist perspective. Bandyopadhyay never aimed towards the depiction of a progressive India mirrored in the psychology of the protagonist through scholar learning, but Ray still portrays the same neorealist elements he showed in the previous film in order to strengthen the emotional relationship between Apu and his mother. Although Apu will not cease to be the protagonist, Aparajito builds, at some point, a structure that allows Sarbojaya to be the main focus of attention temporarily, bringing along one of the strongest universal emotions that can be found in every single culture: the mother-and-son relationship. She will face a huge emotional obstacle when Apu, now an adolescent of outstanding knowledge thanks to his dedicated learning of the English language as a tool for opening new opportunities, must separate ways with her. Seemingly, this was the instrument of the director for achieving a universal appeal, strengthening the fact that, regardless of the folkloric diversities and international habits, there are strictly human and merely emotional laws that follow the same pattern thanks to the rational sensibility of mankind. Apu, on the other hand, will learn the price of personal decisions and will be forced to surpass one of the greatest and most landmark events in his life in the end, almost offering an open ending. Satyajit Ray was being threatened by the fact that there was not enough material in order to warrant a third film. However, avid fans of such groundbreaking story were willing to wait patiently for the new project of Ray. What was meant to be one single film was magically expanded to the trilogy we know nowadays. Despite this, the director kept in mind the atmosphere and the humanistic intentions of Bandyopadhyay, who kept being credited as the author of the original epic. Just like the direction of Ray throughout the trilogy kept being technically developed, so did Apu, both reaching a higher state of maturity and psychological complexity. In Apur Sansar, we are strictly taken to the mind of a man that now calls himself Apurba Roy perhaps with the purpose of assuming a more serious and independent identity. Even so, he is still Apu. Just like the direction and the main character, we are now transported to an extremely different scenario: a city of financial order and industrial features. The more the plot advances, the more our tears want to come out of our eyes when we remember the life conditions and story of Pather Panchali, culminating in an increasing nostalgia for the audiences. Suggesting that the nature of the story has not taken a drastically different course, the director makes Apu to start to reflect on the mistakes of his past and is inspired to construct an autobiographical book. After he is impulsively driven by solitude and decides to embark on his journey, abandoning all responsibilities (including his son), Ray grabs a much more Eastern influence, highly resembling Japanese filmmaking. The cinematography keeps showing an inspirational improvement and the musical score is still heartwarmingly joyful, but mysticism is added to the formula. Existentialist philosophy is now contemplated by Apu, who now owns a very Christian physical appearance that could be said it references Luis Buñuel's Nazarín (1959). Despite how different and alienated the first half of the film feels, the second one is very rewarding, achieving the audacious task of adopting an effective filmmaking style that contrasts considerably the neorealist tone shown in the past and that symbolizes rebirth. A new beginning has been propelled. Materialism and forced love is not the solution. Instead, we are offered a huge quantity of moral lessons of vast appeal. Human beings are still human begins, and man cannot embark on a journey of independence and successful relationships without prior self-acceptance and complete spiritual and religious awareness. Basically, there is nothing left to say. Being an almost-never paralleled experience, this is one of the most complete and multilayered stories ever told. The huge transition it suffers from neorealism to civilization and Eastern philosophy is as transcendental just as it is meaningful. Satyajit Ray is not only the master of spiritual strength, but also of the extermination of internal doom and earthly banalities. With an astounding technical progress and a great capacity of finding a huge place inside the hearts of international audiences, The Apu Trilogy is composed by transitioning layers with different purposes, all of them leading to a single, final conclusion. It must not be seen, it must be lived. Ray is mirroring his personal experiences since Aparajito just like the character reflects on his past. Stories within plots within stories within inspirations of life. We will be mirrored as well. 100/100 |
December 31, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) - Unrated |
"This is my world, the world of Apu, the jobless former student who is drifting through life as a writer."
Director: Satyajit Ray Country: India Genre: Drama Length: 105 minutes  Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1959): the song of a seemingly little road to walk, the unvanquished, and the world of a soon-to-be existentialist protagonist. And all of them form one of the three best trilogies ever committed to celluloid: The Apu Trilogy, directed by Satyajit Ray. Considered among international and Indian film critics as the absolute Indian masterpiece, it is also the result of the work of a true cinema master. Satyajit Ray raised not only his popularity, but also Indian cinema out of the blue and achieved international attention since the release of Pather Panchali. Despite the great neorealist influence of Italy (mainly from Vittorio de Sica), it is one of the strongest and most memorably powerful and heartbreaking movies ever made around the world. Rivaling the humanism of Masaki Kobayashi's Ningen no Joken (1959-1961) and the universality of other foreign masterworks, Ray's trilogy started slowly to be accepted and welcomed with open arms in several countries throughout the decades and is now referenced as the director's best effort. A single review will not suffice, since this absolutely complete and appealing work mirrors life itself: its impactful moments, key events, traumatic incidents, birth, happiness, sadness, disappointment, departures, growth, maturity and independence are few of the aspects developed in this beautifully orchestrated opera of conglomerated sensations. In Pather Panchali and Aparajito, the films open with the year of 1327 according to the Bengali calendar, which means 1920 according to the Gregorian calendar. Apu is born to a poor Brahmin family in a village located in Bengal. Living under extremely deplorable life conditions, each one of the family members faces several life problems individually and some others collectively. Apu is an innocent character who has a fantasized vision of the world, finding magic wherever he goes and being astonished by the natural wonders of the earth and by the extensive cultural diversity around the world. Durga is the problematic sister that won't stop stealing guavas from the orchards of the neighbors. Harihar is a poet and a priest who can't sop encountering difficulties in the process of finding a stable job and affording his family the necessary economy for their subsistence. Sarbojaya is the extremely caring and maternal, yet disciplinary and objective mother. Aparajito deals with the family living in Benares for some time after they had to surpass a very tragic incident and then moving in with Sarbojaya's uncle. Once there, Apu's curiosity for acquiring knowledge about the world compels his mother to subscribe him to a school in Calcutta, where his abilities and constant studying offer him a remarkable status of recognition. Nevertheless, the mother faces a huge emotional challenge when she must accept the fact that her little bird must leave the nest. After a huge separation between Apu and Sarbojaya, a terrible tragedy occurs, and a new stage in the character's maturity begins. Apur Sansar concludes the story in an astonishing way. Apu is now a jobless ex-student who lives a life of independence and solitude. While he is dreaming of a successful future as a writer and being largely inspired for writing an autobiographic novel, an old friend from school finds him and invites him to assist to a village wedding. Unfortunately, it is discovered that the bridegroom turned out to be insane, thus causing the wedding to be canceled. Because of the region's superstition, it is believed that the bride will be subject to a curse. Out of sadness and desperation, Apu's best friend convinces Apu to become the bridegroom. Since he makes this remarkable decision, he embarks on a journey of meaningful self-discovery, causing his vision towards the world to be significantly distorted, culminating in one of the best endings ever filmed. Director Satyajit Ray was nominated for a Golden Palm for his film Pather Panchali, which lost against Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle for their documentary Le Monde du Silence (1956), and won the OCIC Award - Special Mention and another Award for Best Human Document at the Cannes Film Festival of 1956. He also won two Golden Gate Awards for Best Director and Best Picture at the San Francisco International Film Festival of 1957. In 1967, he won a Kinema Junpo Award for Best Foreign Language Film. When Aparajito was released, Satyajit Ray won a Golden Lion at the Venice Film festival of 1957 and another Golden Gate Award for Best Director at the San Francisco International Film Festival of 1958. Thanks to Apur Sansar, the director won the Sutherland Trophy at the British Film Institute Awards of 1959 and the film won an NBR Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the National Board of Review, USA the following year. In total, the trilogy gathered 4 BAFTA Film Award nominations, besides other 12 wins and one single nomination. Reportedly, Satyajit Ray was a great admirer of Vittorio de Sica's Ladri di Biciclette (1948), one of the best neorealist films ever made. Thus, its similarity with the plot of Apur Sansar is obvious and justifiable. However, the nature and atmosphere of the trilogy started to change with the style of the director. Pather Panchali has a strictly neorealist environment, yet not deviating from the portrayal of Indian poverty. Despite being a very simple film, it is the absolute best of the trilogy. It shows the poverty with no clichés or pretentious grandiloquence. Like a masterful and faithful, loyal-to-life documentary, it shows a world that is very distant from us, yet it irrevocably finds a place inside our hearts. The depictions of poverty may be overwhelmingly difficult to endure; however, it is completely compensated with an indescribable visual beauty and a strong hope in the progress of humanity, mirrored in the characters and, most specially, in Apu. Pather Panchali is mainly composed of solid performances by an inexperienced cast, facial expressions, character development and daily hardships that stick to the basic necessities of man: food, shelter and security. The inevitability of death was a necessary topic to be treated, but instead of bringing the protagonists to their doom, it makes them grow spiritually. It is clearly said during the first film: "What God decides is for the best". Their main hope relies in the father getting a job and being paid fairly since his payment is delayed sometimes three months. The previous paragraph may seem ultimately depressing but, as almost all masters of cinema have, Satyajit Ray adds a very innocent and peculiar humor. Tenderness can be found in the faults of Durga; Apu's innocence and ambition is a relieving source of comedy (especially in Aparajito before he becomes an adolescent); the simplicity and well-intentioned pretentiousness of the father is inevitably laughable; the auntie in the first film represents the character that is alienated from the family because of her lifestyle and behavioral attitude and that, ironically, supports the thievery of Durga since "she has good intentions and is having fun", a fact that always upsets the mother. The visual beauty is derived from a surprisingly skillful and visionary cinematography, being surprising because of the country and the conditions in which it was made. Before letting us enter into a more civilized environment, the only glimpse of industrialized technology we are offered in Pather Panchali is a train loudly running over the railroads located beyond the beautiful rice fields. Excitedly, Apu and Durga flee home so they can see the train closer, becoming the most extraordinary thing they have ever seen. Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay is the author of the novel that inspired the direction of the trilogy, and he developed the screenplay exclusively for the first film, a piece of text that allowed good performances to be originated. Although its simplicity was predominant, it had enough thought-provoking substance to make of Pather Panchali an unforgettable, landmark and memorable Indian masterpiece. It was the financial success and international recognition that Pather Panchali received the one that allowed Aparajito to exist. Satyajit Ray, with a more improved photography, a more precise editing and better performances, directed a sequel that was not supposed to be made. Not staying away from the nature and the inspiration of the original novel, he stuck to a neorealist tone. Nonetheless, the literally astonishing cinematography of the first 10 minutes has a strong emphasis on architectonic beauty and colonial wonders typical of Benares, focusing on the visual stillness of the inhabitants bathing in the waters of a common river while doves fly in the air above them. This is the new scenery that we will receive for the first third part of the film, until the real purpose of the subject matter is launched. Apu, as a maturing and growing character, will show an insatiable ambition and curiosity of acquiring knowledge about the world and every single meaningful object and cultural element it contains. From the lifestyle of Africa to the basic definitions of geography and classical samples of literature, the character is now subjected to an intellectualist perspective. Bandyopadhyay never aimed towards the depiction of a progressive India mirrored in the psychology of the protagonist through scholar learning, but Ray still portrays the same neorealist elements he showed in the previous film in order to strengthen the emotional relationship between Apu and his mother. Although Apu will not cease to be the protagonist, Aparajito builds, at some point, a structure that allows Sarbojaya to be the main focus of attention temporarily, bringing along one of the strongest universal emotions that can be found in every single culture: the mother-and-son relationship. She will face a huge emotional obstacle when Apu, now an adolescent of outstanding knowledge thanks to his dedicated learning of the English language as a tool for opening new opportunities, must separate ways with her. Seemingly, this was the instrument of the director for achieving a universal appeal, strengthening the fact that, regardless of the folkloric diversities and international habits, there are strictly human and merely emotional laws that follow the same pattern thanks to the rational sensibility of mankind. Apu, on the other hand, will learn the price of personal decisions and will be forced to surpass one of the greatest and most landmark events in his life in the end, almost offering an open ending. Satyajit Ray was being threatened by the fact that there was not enough material in order to warrant a third film. However, avid fans of such groundbreaking story were willing to wait patiently for the new project of Ray. What was meant to be one single film was magically expanded to the trilogy we know nowadays. Despite this, the director kept in mind the atmosphere and the humanistic intentions of Bandyopadhyay, who kept being credited as the author of the original epic. Just like the direction of Ray throughout the trilogy kept being technically developed, so did Apu, both reaching a higher state of maturity and psychological complexity. In Apur Sansar, we are strictly taken to the mind of a man that now calls himself Apurba Roy perhaps with the purpose of assuming a more serious and independent identity. Even so, he is still Apu. Just like the direction and the main character, we are now transported to an extremely different scenario: a city of financial order and industrial features. The more the plot advances, the more our tears want to come out of our eyes when we remember the life conditions and story of Pather Panchali, culminating in an increasing nostalgia for the audiences. Suggesting that the nature of the story has not taken a drastically different course, the director makes Apu to start to reflect on the mistakes of his past and is inspired to construct an autobiographical book. After he is impulsively driven by solitude and decides to embark on his journey, abandoning all responsibilities (including his son), Ray grabs a much more Eastern influence, highly resembling Japanese filmmaking. The cinematography keeps showing an inspirational improvement and the musical score is still heartwarmingly joyful, but mysticism is added to the formula. Existentialist philosophy is now contemplated by Apu, who now owns a very Christian physical appearance that could be said it references Luis Buñuel's Nazarín (1959). Despite how different and alienated the first half of the film feels, the second one is very rewarding, achieving the audacious task of adopting an effective filmmaking style that contrasts considerably the neorealist tone shown in the past and that symbolizes rebirth. A new beginning has been propelled. Materialism and forced love is not the solution. Instead, we are offered a huge quantity of moral lessons of vast appeal. Human beings are still human begins, and man cannot embark on a journey of independence and successful relationships without prior self-acceptance and complete spiritual and religious awareness. Basically, there is nothing left to say. Being an almost-never paralleled experience, this is one of the most complete and multilayered stories ever told. The huge transition it suffers from neorealism to civilization and Eastern philosophy is as transcendental just as it is meaningful. Satyajit Ray is not only the master of spiritual strength, but also of the extermination of internal doom and earthly banalities. With an astounding technical progress and a great capacity of finding a huge place inside the hearts of international audiences, The Apu Trilogy is composed by transitioning layers with different purposes, all of them leading to a single, final conclusion. It must not be seen, it must be lived. Ray is mirroring his personal experiences since Aparajito just like the character reflects on his past. Stories within plots within stories within inspirations of life. We will be mirrored as well. 100/100 |
December 31, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Sukiyaki Western Django - R |
Another remake of Kurosawa's Yojimbo that features a visually impressive style, sex, rape, cartoonish violence, Japanese samurais with guns, inexplicably sudden snowy landscapes, a kickass final shootout, Quentin Tarantino with a hilarious makeup and some touches of Miike's insanity. In the end, it comes up right. It is as mindlessly retard and entertaining as it had to be, but this wasn't precisely the guilty pleasure I was expecting. Miike having fun, or being influenced by the Hollywood empire? I mean, the language was distracting!!
53/100 |
December 31, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - PG |
Inexplicably dumb decisions and emotional tensions between the main characters arise in Africa, the landscape that presents the plot of Madagascar's sequel. The result is STILL retarded, and with forced inclusions of non-funny humor and suggestive content, Dreamworks will never be able to surpass Shrek, being their best attempt Kung-Fu Panda. There is, however, a better camera use for the cinematography and the pinguins are still kicking ass.
50/100 |
December 27, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (Aguirre, the Wrath of God) - Unrated |
"I am the wrath of God."
Director: Werner Herzog Country: West Germany Genre: Adventure / Biography / Drama Length: 93 minutes  When it comes to bringing an adventure story to the screen, most of its impact comes from the exploration of a new world. Whether the story demands to be attached to the fantasy genre or not, an adventure film requires maximizing the awe of a first-person perspective. We either are taken inside the eyes of the protagonists, or witness it from an eagle-eyed sight, perhaps even both. The purpose is the variable that always differs. Through the lens of the German director Werner Herzog, this remarkable story pursued a more ambitious purpose. It is obviously a brilliant, slow descent into madness, but its catastrophic nature and atmosphere of dementia suggest that this magnum opus materializes a frustrated ambition and transforms it into the mental lunacy and spiritual desperation of the characters. It does not use surrealism, but it builds a nearly-schizophrenic tension and intensifies the fact that psychological destruction and an internal doom is imminent. Influencing Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979) because of its dense atmosphere of violent paranoia and being mirrored in Roland Joffé's The Mission (1986) because of its style, Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes is a feast for the senses, and a strong sonata of terror dedicated to the soul. Based on the surviving diary of the monk Gaspar de Carvajal, the film is set in 1560, the times that took place after the Spain conquest and destruction of the Inca Empire. Natives had invented the legend of El Dorado; therefore, ambitiously, a Spanish expedition of ruthless and cold-blooded conquistadors descends to the Amazon in an extensive search for wealth and riches. However, they find that the journey becomes more parlous as they advance. After finding many difficulties and hardships in the way, Don Lope de Aguirre, a mysteriously insane man, is chosen as their new leader. Director Werner Herzog won the Critics Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics of 1976. Thomas Mauch won the Film Award in Gold at the German Film Awards for Outstanding Individual Achievement: Cinematography and an NSFC Award for Best Cinematography. Although this film had a high possibility degree of falling into a vast realm of pretentiousness, it did not. Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes is superbly and meticulously crafted, offering a brief historical introduction to the story and opening with the endless quest, hence the short running time. The film possesses a mystical style of filmmaking that had never been seen before. It promises an extraordinary and unforgettable voyage into the jungles of the Amazon and, without throwing the viewer into violence and tension in an immediate way, the film acquires its own rhythm, giving the impression that something terribly wrong is about to happen... or is already happening. The premise, of course, is simple: some Spanish adventurers embark an expedition in search of riches. Despite that the psychologically disturbing development of the plot contains most of the memorable sequences, the most important element is the goal pursued. More than being a portrayal of madness, it is a complex study on the priorities and ambitions of the humankind and how these ambitions, when envisioned and materialized, are capable of offering devastating and regrettable outcomes. Showing both sides of the coin, a contrast of wealth and lifestyles is made between the fierce, but defensive natives and the mindlessly blind characters. Applying the omniscient and vengeful force that is implied in the title, God is, once again, an implicit protagonist of objective justice and brutal power. In fact, the plot may be interpreted as a metaphor of the wealth that powerful kings possessed in the stories contained in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible and how, due to their despotism and military madness, were taken to their respective destructions. Faith is what matters in the end. Nonetheless, since the film seems to be playing a role of apology for the European imperialism, it instantly acquires a cult status because of its unconventional style of storytelling, its groundbreaking and unparalleled direction, and its controversial subject matter that could be even criticizing the materialism held by Fascism. All of these human faults are conglomerated in Aguirre, a personage that we see in the beginning among several other characters that seem to be equally stubborn and relentless, but stands out because of his insanity during the second half of the film. As for the women, they become the emotional escapists for Herzog. They barely own a noticeable presence, but they are supposed to have a symbolic meaning, perhaps how glorified their images are by a monarchic society. Predictably, the female race encounters death, not transmitting emotional empathy to the viewer, but surely offering a final stare full of energy and life that introduces the climatic perdition of the characters, culminating in the last shot. Klaus Kinski offers what unarguably is one of the most terrifying and brilliant performances of the decade. Herzog's direction is absolutely flawless, always focusing on the psychology of the characters and the vastness of the new world in which they are located. Thanks to the outstanding work of Thomas Mauch, the film is plagued with extraordinary South-American imagery, a literally breathtaking camera work and perfectly calculated angles, defining beauty itself and contrasting it with the horror that Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes involves. Clearly, the influence of the photographic work is present in the subsequent Terrence Malick projects. The musical score is one of the best scores ever committed to celluloid, helping to the construction of a predominant mysticism and the patience of stillness that is demanded from the audience. Naturally, the final result is Heaven colliding with Hell in a cataclysmic showdown of desperate events. Moral messages, although provided, are the least important elements. The primary focus is the deep examination of the intentions of mankind and the true, non-justifiable motivations behind the conquest of an untouchable land. What is Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes? It is a masterpiece. What does it stand for? You decide. This kind of apocalyptic testaments proves the fact that, despite the endlessly different cultures and folklores of the world, universal truths are shared. The last thing Werner Herzog does is to exalt the goodness of mankind. He focuses on the black spots of the cow and smashes on the face of the audience the fact that we have forgotten about what made us as white and peaceful as doves. The conclusion is staggering, but self-destructive as well, and we are invited to reflect on the very bases of the modern society's existence. Deep inside, we are still rational beings, but the price we had to pay for such privilege is our primitive instincts of fear and involuntary reactions. Massive portrayals of violence are not necessary for creating an invigorating mood of atmospheric doom. This is the true road to perdition. 100/100 |
December 25, 2009 | N/A | |||
| L'Avventura (The Adventure) - Unrated |
"Giulia is like Oscar Wilde. Give her all the luxuries and she will manage without the little necessities."
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni Country: Italy / France Genre: Drama / Mystery Length: 143 minutes  Italian auteur Michelangelo Antonioni established himself as a poet for the first time since he released the first audacious part of his unofficial "Incommunicability Trilogy", which also included the films La Notte (1961) and L'Eclisse (1962). Whereas the subsequent two parts focused on unsuccessful love relationships because of the incapability of owning a respectful empathy and its impact on a surrounding society of snobbishness and delicacies, L'Avventura is a tale of thought-provoking exploration. Its hidden layers of complexity and psychological discussion made of this gorgeous masterpiece a commonly referenced landmark film of sensuous eroticism. When it was premiered at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival, it was received with extreme ridicule. Its hype and controversy grew to such extent that a new generation of film critics praised the film and granted it a much better reputation. Sure, after Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960), the lavishness of the modern European high class was morally challenged and significantly degraded. Along Antonioni's fully developed essay about the human condition of the aimless bourgeoisie walking towards senselessness, it was clear that an era of charming and delightful musicals was over, and cinema had to adopt a more mature and serious face. Arguably, it is the best film of the director and a legend in Italian filmmaking. A group of rich Italian friends head to a Mediterranean yachting trip, arriving to an isolated volcanic island. However, the mind of Anna is invaded with questionings about the authenticity of the love in his relationship with Sandro, his lover. When Anna reaches a point of confusion and desperation, she asks for some time alone and decides to explore the island alone. Magically, she disappears. The group of friends exhaustively looks for her with no success while, simultaneously, her lover Sandro and her best friend Claudia develop an attraction for each other. After finally returning to land, their relationship begins to intensify and the search for her missing friend Anna suddenly loses all of its importance once they become lovers. Director Michelangelo Antonioni was nominated for a Golden Palm, losing the award to Federico Fellini for the film La Dolce Vita (1960), but won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Giovanni Fusco won a Silver Ribbon for Best Score at the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists of 1961. There are almost no films that match the genius of Antonioni's L'Avventura. Unlike several other directors that establish their landmark styles, graphically displaying their particular ideologies and visions of an earthly sinful world, Antonioni opens, shows, develops and closes. He depicts a series of events, offers a conclusion and does not question the characters. This is a very generous invitation for an avid audience, but it is also a challenging decision. One as a spectator is about to omnisciently judge, from a purely third-person perspective, the respective motivations behind the actions and measures taken by the characters. From this perspective, however, the actions seem to be ultimately pointless and unexplainable. Through a wonderful scope and a Victorian cinematography in all of its visual glory and awe, Antonioni constructs strictly human personages that go from the extremists to the conformists. The cast is astoundingly accurate. Gabriele Ferzetti is Sandro, the unfaithfully impulsive male character whose true superficial and opportunist nature is revealed with the sudden disappearance of Anna, her former lover. Claudia is the spiritually empty female of unstoppable passion but troubled existence, brilliantly performed by the gorgeous actress Monica Vitti. Anna is the irrevocably confused character that possesses an unfathomable inner horror when her priorities and feelings are challenged, being finally taken to physical nothingness, ridiculously disappearing from the face of the earth. Primarily, this is the trio that ensues most of the analytical nature of L'Avventura, excluding the sensual and materialistic Giulia, a woman that will latterly become a constantly interruptive nuisance. Whereas most dramas involving an extramarital affair involve secret meetings and climatic deceptions and tears, Antonioni's cleverness goes beyond such basic concept. Ironically, that happens in real life, but he decides to literally make the third vertex of the love triangle to vanish. It is the most extreme version of a typical real life issue. Why does the director decide to exterminate Anna? Factually, Antonioni uses Anna as a symbolic object of internal doom and dissatisfaction. As members of an upper class, materialism is utterly destroyed and the nature of man is returned to its primordial roots: those ineffable impulsive acts derived from emotional motivations. Therefore, we as an audience should not focus on what happened to Anna. It is never described. The true protagonist is Claudia, the troubled woman whose reason ends up living under the government of emotions. So what if Anna was swallowed by the sea or eaten by a shark? Those events are not supposed to erase morality friendship and to start an affair. All of these aspects lead to one conclusion: the film is a complex exploration and a journey of self-discovery. Their lives should make the characters joyous and celebrative; nevertheless, they become soulless and blind human beings. The hope of achieving physical and emotional fulfillment slowly starts to dim into oblivion, and the concept of redemption is more distanced from their psychologies as the affair begins to intensify. Are physical attraction and the resulting passion capable of surpassing the top priorities of life? The true horror of the film relies on one possibility, regardless of its low probability: Anna may still be alive. Antonioni invented the story and developed a spectacular screenplay full of dialogues that consecutively reveal hidden sentiments and strong epiphanies. Along with passionate kisses, sexual symbolisms and breathtaking sighs, the musical score plays an extraordinary role, especially during the last minutes, just to close the film with a horrifying conclusion. No more words need to be spoken after the film has run 140 minutes, revealing the last shot. Isn't the heart the least rational artifact of the human organism? L'Avventura is an unforgettable journey into the deepness of the mind and the deciphering of several meanings of love. What is defined by love? What does love define? This film develops a forbidden love, La Notte (1961) suggests man's struggle for maintaining a successful relationship, and L'Eclisse (1962) destroys all sings of hope, revealing shots of isolation and introducing us to a nuclear era. If considered as a whole trilogy, Antonioni's take on the flaws of mankind is atrocious, and it seemingly suggests that European financial ambitions and an unnecessary political overpowerment is the most effective road to internal perdition, which is substantially worse than the external one. 100/100 |
December 24, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Viskningar och Rop (Cries and Whispers) - R |
It's true. I think... about suicide. I've often thought about it. It's... it's disgusting. It's very degrading and everlastingly the same.
Director: Ingmar Bergman Country: Sweden Genre: Drama / Romance Length: 91 minutes  Literary sentimentalism and soap-opera drama has finally reached the formula that, for decades, stood for Bergman's perception of the world. Despite that drama was the key genre for his entire filmography, the 70s was the decade where he made testaments about human redemption and spiritual oblivion through exaggerated drama. Does this mean the usage of stereotypes, clichés and pretentious, tear-inducing stories? Not exactly. Ingmar Bergman conglomerates an extraordinary cast of brilliantly talented women and constructs yet another testament of hidden words, incapacity for empathy and extreme situations that trigger underlying sentiments. One thing is to build a predictable melodrama, and another thing is to orchestrate a masterpiece with the noticeable help of a brilliant writing, adding unprecedented moments of emotional shock value and uncomfortable awkwardness, addressing this hard-to-eat cake with unpredictable adventures, flashbacks and confessions. With an impeccable musical score and the meaningful use of a reddish art direction, Viskningar och Rop is one of the 5 giant films released in 1972, and one of the best modern dramas released in European cinema. Set in the late 1800's of Sweden, approximating the turn of the century, the film displays an intense family drama when Agnes is visited by her sisters Karin and Maria in her rurally isolated mansion since she is dying of cancer. Her strongest comfort during her sickness has been her dedicated servant named Anna. The lives of the sisters are described through flashbacks throughout, revealing their respective pasts and their emotional difficulties that were derived from lies, deceit, insensibility, forbidden affairs and indifference. Meanwhile, the health condition of Agnes starts to drastically deteriorate, increasing her pain and suffering in the process. Thanks to this, the desperation among the sisters begins to be maximized and, finally, long repressed feelings and brutal confessions rise to the surface. The film received 5 Academy Award nominations in 1974 for Best Cinematography, Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material Not Previously Published or Produced, Best Costume Design, Best Director and Pest Picture, winning only the first Oscar and unfairly losing the rest against The Sting (1973). Director Ingmar Bergman won the Technical Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival of 1973 and a Silver Ribbon for Best Director - Foreign Film at the Italian national Syndicate of Film Journalists of 1974, among several other international awards. The international attention that the grandiose auteur Ingmar Bergman received during three decades is a remarkable achievement. Perhaps it was the empathetic psychological features he shared with universally accepted values and benign habits through his films. Perhaps it was his unusual way to heal injuries after periods of oppositions and world wars. Viskningar och Rop is no exception. Bergman is representing a time when an industrialized and progressive society was anticipating a new century of peace and productive evolution. Perhaps it was his intention to mirror, through the female characters, our constant desire of psychological improvement, hence the decision of the sisters to literally confess their guts out after the devastating outcome of an extreme event: a cancer-stricken protagonist with an imminent death. Its cathartic power relies on its self-reflexive nature. What event do we need to wake up and start mending past deceits, incorrect unfaithfulness and heart cracks? Therefore, Anna represents the woman that each of the sisters should have been: a comprehensive, supportive character of admirable strength and disinterested dedication and motherly caring. With a breathtaking camera work and a feast for the eyes derived from a beautiful art direction, the visuals are contrasted with the heartbreaking atmosphere. Words, shouts, cries and whispers are the unfortunate trophies of the day. The performances are simply extraordinary, from a 34-year-old Liv Ullmann as the passionate Maria (and her nostalgic mother) to a pain-striking, realistic Harriet Andersson as Agnes, a flawed and maternal Kari Sylwan as Anna, and a proudly snobbish Ingrid Thulin as Karin. In the end, the film does not end in the diminishing and criticism of the female genre. It shows the inescapability of human imperfection and the irrevocable feelings that characterizes the human race. Just as a good work of art that shows both sides of the coin, the characters are also plagued with egocentrism, despotism, opportunism, hatred and negative, non-productive resentments. The element that adds the cherry on the top is powerlessness and the ignorance regarding how to develop a scheme of redemption and effective mending. Due to the aforementioned aspects, the atmosphere of the film grows each time denser as the film progresses and we are invited into the minds of the characters, assuming their roles while we face death from a third-person perspective. Priorities radically start to be modified and pride is immediately challenged, leaving room for the analysis of the psychological and physical background. As we should know, Bergman is always identified because of his metaphorical ambitions which he captures through the direction of magnum opuses heavy in artistry. The following text fragment can be found in the book Images, written by Bergman: "All my films can be thought of in terms of black and white, except for Cries and Whispers. In the screenplay, it says that red represents for me the interior of the soul. When I was a child, I imagined the soul to be a dragon, a shadow floating in the air like blue smoke - a huge winged creature, half bird, half fish. But inside the dragon, everything was red." Through different and varied shades of red, the nucleus of the power of the film is the soul, represented by almost every single physical object and costume seen in Viskningar och Rop. Not only we are transported to the interior of the dragon, but we also see each of the organs working together with the purpose of keeping a huge organism alive. Agnes is the heart, and without the heart, everything is meant to die. Organ donation equals rebirth, allegorically speaking, which could explain the nature of the film's anticlimactic and depressing conclusion. In the end, Viskningar och Rop is one of the strongest humanism testaments to the strength of the human spirit and the implications of helplessness. The grace and tranquility irradiated by Agnes when she is suddenly restored to a more comfortable health state in a drastic way represents the ability that God, in his almighty wisdom, gave humans to always surpass the difficulties of life. Death is portrayed as an unfathomable stage of the cycle of life, while the atmospheric horror and tension between the siblings is shown in a context of futile crassness. Despite its short running time, the film flows like a river. It is a reddish spectacle to watch and reflect on, and could be accurately referred to as the last perfect film by such a legendary filmmaker. More than a film, it is a shattering and compelling experience, and an honor to modern celluloid. 100/100 |
December 24, 2009 | N/A |
1912 ratings
1912 reviews
