Saturday, October 04, 2003
Modern Times
Directed by Charlie Chapin
This review which is based on the DVD recently released by Warner Brothers is an astounding collector’s item with introduction, documentary of the film as well as extras remotely related to Modern Times such as a US government sponsored propaganda film to promote the ideology of assembly line production which in turn inspired Chaplin’s movie. The transfer of Modern Times into this DVD is accomplished brilliantly into clear and well-defined visuals equipped with Dolby digital sound doing justice to Chaplin’s supposedly last silent film; though the little tramp did a nonsensical Italian gibberish and there were some spoken words in the film.
Like many other great directors, it is difficult to review Modern Times as the ingenuity of Chaplin has been written and offered so many different angles by critics and other directors that it is almost impossible to offer anything new without duplicating the efforts of predecessors.
The only other Chaplin movie that I have watched is The Kid, a few years ago on video; and I was rather unimpressed. Modern Times however changed my mind. I think partly because of the gorgeous transfer which allows me to view it differently.
Modern Times is Chaplin’s take on the industrial explosion; as well as reflect the American Depression, serves as a timely reminder post 9/11. The message is so simple that most of us would probably miss it - Don’t let machines or supposedly logicality overtake humanity.
The Firemen’s Ball
Directed by Milos Forman
The Firemen’s Ball, a veiled attempt at satirizing the Russian communist system in Czech, was banned in its own country. The subsequent clampdown on artistic freedom results in Milos having to leave for Hollywood and went on to direct other award winning and popular movies such as One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and People Vs Larry Flynt among others.
Forman’s The Firemen’s Ball recalls Loves of a Blonde with similar set ups and in using non professional actors. The dancehall scenes in Loves of a Blonde is remade into the “ball” scene in Firemen. But that is where the similarities end for Firemen’s Ball is not a romance comedy, but rather, a portrayal of the then Czech society.
The synopsis: A group of firemen is organizing a ball for their retired veteran and to present him with an axe to commemorate his service. The ball turns into a disaster when the beauty pageant they are organizing for the event is halted by reluctant contestants. The attention on the ball is temporarily diverted when an old man’s house catches fire as they try to rescue him. When they return to the ball, the lucky draw prizes are stolen.
There are memorable hilarious episodes in The Firemen’s Ball. The rehearsal scene in a private room where the firemen address the beauty pageant girls on what they have to do later reveals how unprepared the committee was. The entertainment committee who tried looking for participants have different opinions on beauty. One is interested in legs while another decides the balcony will allow them to find the best bosom. Another thinks the face is more important.
The fire that broke out in the old man’s house suspends the elation of the joyous crowd who throws in their lucky draw prizes for the victim. The receiver is however unappreciative and he reveals that he prefers cold hard cash. One is left wondering about the generosity of the donors and the skepticism of the old man. Subsequently, after the fire is put out, the old man went to sleep on his bed, outside in the freezing cold. He is the parallel of the old veteran whom we hardly see in the ball until towards the end; when the firemen presented him with the gift. Forman, mischievously cracks another cruel joke with this presentation.
Twilight Samurai (2002)
Directed by: Yoji Yamada
When watching Twilight Samurai, I was constantly thinking about Kurosawa’s samurai movies. Yoji’s Twilight Samurai is a more literary form of samurai film extolling the virtues of Eastern wisdom, in contrast with the effects laden, swashbuckling martial arts movie exemplified by Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
Iguchi Seibei (Hiroyuki Sanada) is a lowly ranked samurai earning a pitiful 50-koku stipend who is recently widowed after his wife died from tuberculosis. With two young daughters and a senile mother to take care of, he hardly mixes around with his colleagues after work. When Seibei accepts to a duel with his former childhood playmate, Tomoe (Rie Miyazawa)’s ex drunkard and abusive husband, he unwittingly gets into trouble later. His extraordinary fighting abilities was learned of and his clan master ordered him to assassinate Yogo Zenemon (Min Tanaka).
Yogo is a top swordsman of the challenging faction within the clan (that was split after the death of their lord) who refuses to commit seppuku after his master died. Seibei who refuses a marriage with Tomoe initially after her brother’s earlier proposal, wants her to get married to her after he returns victorious. Unfortunately, she has already agreed to another retainer’s hand.
Twilight Samurai is effused with poetical beauty showing us the sufferings of the characters who are repressed by their roles within the caste system. The love between Tomoe and Iguchi is fraught with difficulties. Iguchi has to battle against rising costs and conventions expected of him at work. Yomada also made references to the division between farmers and warriors. The infighting within clans and stories of traveling samurai reflects imminent societal changes and breaking up of the Edo system; heralding a new age to come.
Despite these uncertainties, Yoji Yomada’s characters are imbued with a sense of wise morality. For example Iguchi tells her daughter, Kayana Iguchi (Miki Itô) that studying might not appear to be useful in reality but it helps one to think. In another instance, Tomoe rebels against her sister-in law when she wants to talk to Iguchi in public (which was frowned upon in those days). She questions an elder’s authority and public norms of expectations on single women. It is ironic that given Iguchi mother didn’t know anyone including her son, she could recite Buddhist sutras.
The most memorable scene is the one where Iguchi meets Yogo. The conversation about their lives reveals not only the plight of warriors but also the crumbling system. When Yogo consumes her daughter bones, an analogy of eating one’s young, it implies the corruptibility of the then feudal Japan portrayed as defeating itself by repeating a vicious cycle. The fighting scene shows us that traditional simple camera movements are enough to build up audience expectations.
As I’ve said many times before, I much prefer Twilight Samurai (2002) to the overhyped Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. This is modern eastern cinema espousing traditional values without blindly subscribing to it.
Directed by Charlie Chapin
This review which is based on the DVD recently released by Warner Brothers is an astounding collector’s item with introduction, documentary of the film as well as extras remotely related to Modern Times such as a US government sponsored propaganda film to promote the ideology of assembly line production which in turn inspired Chaplin’s movie. The transfer of Modern Times into this DVD is accomplished brilliantly into clear and well-defined visuals equipped with Dolby digital sound doing justice to Chaplin’s supposedly last silent film; though the little tramp did a nonsensical Italian gibberish and there were some spoken words in the film.
Like many other great directors, it is difficult to review Modern Times as the ingenuity of Chaplin has been written and offered so many different angles by critics and other directors that it is almost impossible to offer anything new without duplicating the efforts of predecessors.
The only other Chaplin movie that I have watched is The Kid, a few years ago on video; and I was rather unimpressed. Modern Times however changed my mind. I think partly because of the gorgeous transfer which allows me to view it differently.
Modern Times is Chaplin’s take on the industrial explosion; as well as reflect the American Depression, serves as a timely reminder post 9/11. The message is so simple that most of us would probably miss it - Don’t let machines or supposedly logicality overtake humanity.
The Firemen’s Ball
Directed by Milos Forman
The Firemen’s Ball, a veiled attempt at satirizing the Russian communist system in Czech, was banned in its own country. The subsequent clampdown on artistic freedom results in Milos having to leave for Hollywood and went on to direct other award winning and popular movies such as One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and People Vs Larry Flynt among others.
Forman’s The Firemen’s Ball recalls Loves of a Blonde with similar set ups and in using non professional actors. The dancehall scenes in Loves of a Blonde is remade into the “ball” scene in Firemen. But that is where the similarities end for Firemen’s Ball is not a romance comedy, but rather, a portrayal of the then Czech society.
The synopsis: A group of firemen is organizing a ball for their retired veteran and to present him with an axe to commemorate his service. The ball turns into a disaster when the beauty pageant they are organizing for the event is halted by reluctant contestants. The attention on the ball is temporarily diverted when an old man’s house catches fire as they try to rescue him. When they return to the ball, the lucky draw prizes are stolen.
There are memorable hilarious episodes in The Firemen’s Ball. The rehearsal scene in a private room where the firemen address the beauty pageant girls on what they have to do later reveals how unprepared the committee was. The entertainment committee who tried looking for participants have different opinions on beauty. One is interested in legs while another decides the balcony will allow them to find the best bosom. Another thinks the face is more important.
The fire that broke out in the old man’s house suspends the elation of the joyous crowd who throws in their lucky draw prizes for the victim. The receiver is however unappreciative and he reveals that he prefers cold hard cash. One is left wondering about the generosity of the donors and the skepticism of the old man. Subsequently, after the fire is put out, the old man went to sleep on his bed, outside in the freezing cold. He is the parallel of the old veteran whom we hardly see in the ball until towards the end; when the firemen presented him with the gift. Forman, mischievously cracks another cruel joke with this presentation.
Twilight Samurai (2002)
Directed by: Yoji Yamada
When watching Twilight Samurai, I was constantly thinking about Kurosawa’s samurai movies. Yoji’s Twilight Samurai is a more literary form of samurai film extolling the virtues of Eastern wisdom, in contrast with the effects laden, swashbuckling martial arts movie exemplified by Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
Iguchi Seibei (Hiroyuki Sanada) is a lowly ranked samurai earning a pitiful 50-koku stipend who is recently widowed after his wife died from tuberculosis. With two young daughters and a senile mother to take care of, he hardly mixes around with his colleagues after work. When Seibei accepts to a duel with his former childhood playmate, Tomoe (Rie Miyazawa)’s ex drunkard and abusive husband, he unwittingly gets into trouble later. His extraordinary fighting abilities was learned of and his clan master ordered him to assassinate Yogo Zenemon (Min Tanaka).
Yogo is a top swordsman of the challenging faction within the clan (that was split after the death of their lord) who refuses to commit seppuku after his master died. Seibei who refuses a marriage with Tomoe initially after her brother’s earlier proposal, wants her to get married to her after he returns victorious. Unfortunately, she has already agreed to another retainer’s hand.
Twilight Samurai is effused with poetical beauty showing us the sufferings of the characters who are repressed by their roles within the caste system. The love between Tomoe and Iguchi is fraught with difficulties. Iguchi has to battle against rising costs and conventions expected of him at work. Yomada also made references to the division between farmers and warriors. The infighting within clans and stories of traveling samurai reflects imminent societal changes and breaking up of the Edo system; heralding a new age to come.
Despite these uncertainties, Yoji Yomada’s characters are imbued with a sense of wise morality. For example Iguchi tells her daughter, Kayana Iguchi (Miki Itô) that studying might not appear to be useful in reality but it helps one to think. In another instance, Tomoe rebels against her sister-in law when she wants to talk to Iguchi in public (which was frowned upon in those days). She questions an elder’s authority and public norms of expectations on single women. It is ironic that given Iguchi mother didn’t know anyone including her son, she could recite Buddhist sutras.
The most memorable scene is the one where Iguchi meets Yogo. The conversation about their lives reveals not only the plight of warriors but also the crumbling system. When Yogo consumes her daughter bones, an analogy of eating one’s young, it implies the corruptibility of the then feudal Japan portrayed as defeating itself by repeating a vicious cycle. The fighting scene shows us that traditional simple camera movements are enough to build up audience expectations.
As I’ve said many times before, I much prefer Twilight Samurai (2002) to the overhyped Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. This is modern eastern cinema espousing traditional values without blindly subscribing to it.
Monday, September 29, 2003
Closely Watched Trains
Directed by Jiri Menzel
In the small railway town of where Kostomlaty nothing happens, its peace and quietness is easily shattered by scandals. Milos Hrma (Vaclav Neckar) belongs to a line of strange ancestory. His great grandfather is beaten to death for laughing at labourers while his grandfather tries to hypnotize invading German tanks, only to be crushed to death. His father is a pensioner who does nothing and Milos wants to continue the tradition of doing as little as possible, which explains why he is a guard in the train station.
Even though it is set during the German occupation, Closely Watched Trains reveals very little politically. The only clue is Dispatcher Hubicka (Josef Somr) who visits the station and warn its members to be constantly on the alert; while he talked about crushing allied forces using his map and reminding Milos the number of youths who died in the warfront for a unified Europe.
The socio-political gives way to the individual and it is the theme of awakening adolescence sexuality that takes center stage. Milos is eager to prove his manhood because he is unable to perform when he is intimate with his girl, Massa (Jitka Bendova), who works on the train. He suffers from premature ejaculation and the advice given by his doctor is to find a matured women to guide him along!
Closely Watched Train sense of humor is affectionately warm and most of the time, unexaggerated. When Milos tries to kiss Massa on the train with his eyes closed, it started and he was left without one. As Milos was looking for a suitable women to initiate him into manhood, he made ridiculous passes including the stationmaster’s wife while she was skinning a dead geese.
Menzel’s cruel perversion of men-women relationship is at times hilarious. Milos ran after Massa to wave goodbye to her as if he was the woman. Massa’s proactive approach in wooing Milos to bed was rejected because the latter was afraid of being heard by her uncle. Virginia Svata, the telegraphist (Jitka Zelenohorska) seduces dispatcher Hubicka (Josef Somr) with games only to infuriate her strict mother to demand for disciplinary action against the offender. The nurses who were parking on a sidetrack give themselves to a group of passing weary soldiers. Their come on is not prudish but seductive. Milos virginity is given to Viktoria Freie (Nada Urbankova) who happens to be the woman that brought them explosives to bomb up the station. She is the femme fatale who gets away with it.
While the ending of the Closely Watched Trains can be perceived as a form of martydom, one remembers the ridiculous way that leads to Milos’ grandfather and great grandfather’s death. His death seems more an unfortunate twist of fate; like being kidnapped earlier by enemy soldiers. Only, this time, chance has run out.
Directed by Jiri Menzel
In the small railway town of where Kostomlaty nothing happens, its peace and quietness is easily shattered by scandals. Milos Hrma (Vaclav Neckar) belongs to a line of strange ancestory. His great grandfather is beaten to death for laughing at labourers while his grandfather tries to hypnotize invading German tanks, only to be crushed to death. His father is a pensioner who does nothing and Milos wants to continue the tradition of doing as little as possible, which explains why he is a guard in the train station.
Even though it is set during the German occupation, Closely Watched Trains reveals very little politically. The only clue is Dispatcher Hubicka (Josef Somr) who visits the station and warn its members to be constantly on the alert; while he talked about crushing allied forces using his map and reminding Milos the number of youths who died in the warfront for a unified Europe.
The socio-political gives way to the individual and it is the theme of awakening adolescence sexuality that takes center stage. Milos is eager to prove his manhood because he is unable to perform when he is intimate with his girl, Massa (Jitka Bendova), who works on the train. He suffers from premature ejaculation and the advice given by his doctor is to find a matured women to guide him along!
Closely Watched Train sense of humor is affectionately warm and most of the time, unexaggerated. When Milos tries to kiss Massa on the train with his eyes closed, it started and he was left without one. As Milos was looking for a suitable women to initiate him into manhood, he made ridiculous passes including the stationmaster’s wife while she was skinning a dead geese.
Menzel’s cruel perversion of men-women relationship is at times hilarious. Milos ran after Massa to wave goodbye to her as if he was the woman. Massa’s proactive approach in wooing Milos to bed was rejected because the latter was afraid of being heard by her uncle. Virginia Svata, the telegraphist (Jitka Zelenohorska) seduces dispatcher Hubicka (Josef Somr) with games only to infuriate her strict mother to demand for disciplinary action against the offender. The nurses who were parking on a sidetrack give themselves to a group of passing weary soldiers. Their come on is not prudish but seductive. Milos virginity is given to Viktoria Freie (Nada Urbankova) who happens to be the woman that brought them explosives to bomb up the station. She is the femme fatale who gets away with it.
While the ending of the Closely Watched Trains can be perceived as a form of martydom, one remembers the ridiculous way that leads to Milos’ grandfather and great grandfather’s death. His death seems more an unfortunate twist of fate; like being kidnapped earlier by enemy soldiers. Only, this time, chance has run out.
Alice
Directed by Woody Allen
I have yet watched a Woody Allen movie without Woody Allen appearing in it but Alice (Mia Farrow) which does not feature the director; is for once, a movie from the female perspective.
Alice is married for 16 years to Doug (William Hurt). She visits a Chinese physician, Dr Yang, hoping to cure her back. Instead, the doctor prescribes her a series of herbs that allows her into a secret fantasy world which will make her invisible and talk to ghosts from her pasts. Meanwhile, she is trapped by her desire to have an affair with Joe (Joe Mantegna) who is a divorcee, and still sleeping with her ex-wife.
Without the presence of Woody, Alice somehow seems an “unWoody Allenesque” film even though Mia Farrow replaces Woody as the psuedo – paranoid chattering women who couldn’t bring herself to admit that she is dying to sleep with Joe. The gags are weaker but Mia manages to crack a few laughters in some situations. After she drank Dr Yang’s potion and started seducing Joe in her daughter’s school, we are treated to a dose of puny sex jokes.
The theme of women empowerment is portrayed through Alice when she leads the life she wants and bring up her children the way she think they should be, despite estranging her husband.
Black Narcissus
Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger
Shot mostly in Pinewood Studios, Black Narcissus commands some of on screen’s most beautiful sceneries – high mountains covered by clouds and a palace sitting on top of its peak.
A group of nuns are sent to a palace in a mountain to set up a chapel, school and dispensary to aid the villagers. Their leader is Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr) who is confounded with various problems from physical spots in their hands to psychological calls of their haunted past. Sister Ruth (Kathleen Byron), who is often sick and in bed, is especially intolerant towards Clodagh, whom she thinks the former carries a touch for their British overseer within the district, Mr. Dean (David Farrar).
Black Narcissus is seen by some critics as the failure of the British empire to maintain their hold on their Asian colonies. On a similar note, it reflects that differences in culture and tradition cannot be easily eroded or replaced away despite colonialism. The inability to tame the young Indian girl and Clodagh thinking of her past are metaphors of the mystery of the highland. It is Mr. Dean, who chose to live with the villagers, without trying to change them, that allows him to be part of the community.
L'Avventura
Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
Anna (Lea Massari) went missing after her boyfriend, Sandro (Gabriele Ferzetti) and friends stopped to rest on an island during a private cruise. Everyone starts searching for her; but the only two people most concerned is Sandro and Anna’s close friend, Claudia (Monica Vitti); who went on to other parts of Italy, trying to find the missing girl. During their search, Sandro falls in love with Claudia, who feels awful that has similar feelings towards her best friend’s man.
Critics think of L'Avventura as a film with characters that seems motivated by their impulses, rather than a storyline which trods along, explaining why it might feel a bit slow for some audiences.
The first half of L'Avventura is shot basically outdoors with the crashing waves and sky as a backdrop. Unusual angles of profile or character’s location amidst a bare backdrop creates pictorial beauty. The casual summer atmosphere clashes with the urgent need to find missing Anna. Earlier on, when Anna told her friend’s the lie of seeing a shark, the story is also told with minor aberrations or thrilling effects.
Back on land, Claudia and Sandro felt more emotional turmoil. The affair between the 17 year old prince (Giovanni Petrucci) and Giulia (Dominique Blanchar) is in contrast with both’s inability to be together; without having the shadow of Anna’s lurking at the back of their mind. The decreasing importance of Anna’s disappearance was relegated to a joke during a tea conversation - a subtle hint that the people are accepting the fact. It doesn’t help that people who claimed to have seen Anna, gave filmsy evidence, building up an urban myth. At one point in time, someone even said more than 40,000 are reported missing in Italy! Where have these people gone to?
Michelangelo Antonioni’s Cannes statement pondered on the irreconcibility of the modern man between his scientific and moral self. His view of humankind is that we have progressed far to look for future answers in science but lacked behind due to “a rigid and stereotyped morality”; indirectly explaining our obsession with erotica in literature.
The conclusion of L'Avventura is fraught by an unspoken chaos of whirling emotions between Anna and Sandro. It is the same with Anna as she explains to Sandro on the island, why she did not know what she feel anymore.
Directed by Woody Allen
I have yet watched a Woody Allen movie without Woody Allen appearing in it but Alice (Mia Farrow) which does not feature the director; is for once, a movie from the female perspective.
Alice is married for 16 years to Doug (William Hurt). She visits a Chinese physician, Dr Yang, hoping to cure her back. Instead, the doctor prescribes her a series of herbs that allows her into a secret fantasy world which will make her invisible and talk to ghosts from her pasts. Meanwhile, she is trapped by her desire to have an affair with Joe (Joe Mantegna) who is a divorcee, and still sleeping with her ex-wife.
Without the presence of Woody, Alice somehow seems an “unWoody Allenesque” film even though Mia Farrow replaces Woody as the psuedo – paranoid chattering women who couldn’t bring herself to admit that she is dying to sleep with Joe. The gags are weaker but Mia manages to crack a few laughters in some situations. After she drank Dr Yang’s potion and started seducing Joe in her daughter’s school, we are treated to a dose of puny sex jokes.
The theme of women empowerment is portrayed through Alice when she leads the life she wants and bring up her children the way she think they should be, despite estranging her husband.
Black Narcissus
Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger
Shot mostly in Pinewood Studios, Black Narcissus commands some of on screen’s most beautiful sceneries – high mountains covered by clouds and a palace sitting on top of its peak.
A group of nuns are sent to a palace in a mountain to set up a chapel, school and dispensary to aid the villagers. Their leader is Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr) who is confounded with various problems from physical spots in their hands to psychological calls of their haunted past. Sister Ruth (Kathleen Byron), who is often sick and in bed, is especially intolerant towards Clodagh, whom she thinks the former carries a touch for their British overseer within the district, Mr. Dean (David Farrar).
Black Narcissus is seen by some critics as the failure of the British empire to maintain their hold on their Asian colonies. On a similar note, it reflects that differences in culture and tradition cannot be easily eroded or replaced away despite colonialism. The inability to tame the young Indian girl and Clodagh thinking of her past are metaphors of the mystery of the highland. It is Mr. Dean, who chose to live with the villagers, without trying to change them, that allows him to be part of the community.
L'Avventura
Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
Anna (Lea Massari) went missing after her boyfriend, Sandro (Gabriele Ferzetti) and friends stopped to rest on an island during a private cruise. Everyone starts searching for her; but the only two people most concerned is Sandro and Anna’s close friend, Claudia (Monica Vitti); who went on to other parts of Italy, trying to find the missing girl. During their search, Sandro falls in love with Claudia, who feels awful that has similar feelings towards her best friend’s man.
Critics think of L'Avventura as a film with characters that seems motivated by their impulses, rather than a storyline which trods along, explaining why it might feel a bit slow for some audiences.
The first half of L'Avventura is shot basically outdoors with the crashing waves and sky as a backdrop. Unusual angles of profile or character’s location amidst a bare backdrop creates pictorial beauty. The casual summer atmosphere clashes with the urgent need to find missing Anna. Earlier on, when Anna told her friend’s the lie of seeing a shark, the story is also told with minor aberrations or thrilling effects.
Back on land, Claudia and Sandro felt more emotional turmoil. The affair between the 17 year old prince (Giovanni Petrucci) and Giulia (Dominique Blanchar) is in contrast with both’s inability to be together; without having the shadow of Anna’s lurking at the back of their mind. The decreasing importance of Anna’s disappearance was relegated to a joke during a tea conversation - a subtle hint that the people are accepting the fact. It doesn’t help that people who claimed to have seen Anna, gave filmsy evidence, building up an urban myth. At one point in time, someone even said more than 40,000 are reported missing in Italy! Where have these people gone to?
Michelangelo Antonioni’s Cannes statement pondered on the irreconcibility of the modern man between his scientific and moral self. His view of humankind is that we have progressed far to look for future answers in science but lacked behind due to “a rigid and stereotyped morality”; indirectly explaining our obsession with erotica in literature.
The conclusion of L'Avventura is fraught by an unspoken chaos of whirling emotions between Anna and Sandro. It is the same with Anna as she explains to Sandro on the island, why she did not know what she feel anymore.
