Belle toujours Posted 25 September 2008 in Screening log with No comments 2007 Portugal / France Dir Manoel de Oliveira Cast Michel Piccoli, Bulle Ogier, Ricardo Trêpa IMDb

I had been looking forward to this for so long, and what a disappointment it turns out to be. The quasi-sequel to Belle de jour doesn’t do for the original what, say, Wide Sargasso Sea does for Jane Eyre in terms of revisiting and reimagining it. It’s more like the cinematic equivalent of Cliffs Notes. Half the film is spent between Husson and a bartender in Socratic dialogue rehashing the events and motivations of Severine’s past; the other half shows the reunion of the two over an uncomfortable dinner Husson finally forces her into. The film is essentially two long conversations, in which every element of Severine’s psychology is laid on the table, first in his words and then in her own, in the most plain and facile terms imaginable, until all the joy of analyzing the original film is removed. But that is what this is: criticism brought to life. An interesting idea in theory, I suppose, but the possibilities the subject matter affords make this look like a painfully wasted opportunity. I can’t imagine someone who hasn’t seen Belle de jour being interested in this, and I can’t imagine someone who has seen Belle de jour finding this entirely satisfying, but still from any perspective there are qualities and moments in this that are beautiful: shots of Paris, of dimly lit hotel rooms, the occasionally successful wryly funny homage, and the lingering weight of the regret that comes with age. In the last five minutes it achieves something of what the rest of the film might have been, and finally has the good sense to leave one or two questions unanswered. A good film, but altogether a story of might-have-beens.

Duel in the Sun Posted 16 September 2008 in Screening log with 2 comments 1946 US Dir King Vidor Cast Jennifer Jones, Gregory Peck, Joseph Cotten, Lionel Barrymore, Lillian Gish, Herbert Marshall, Walter Huston, Charles Bickford IMDb

Sleazy good fun, what a slut Jones was for Selznick. Wears foundation three shades too dark to play a feral half-breed, exoticised Other, lust object. It’s all absurd and possibly a bit offensive, but it creates an interesting dynamic where men are powerless before her (endless depravity — her father can barely restrain himself) but she has no real agency whatsoever — entirely & only the lust object. So after much rambling about and detours with a parade of hammy has-beens, it ends the only way it can, really: mutually assured destruction in the titular duel in the sun. One of the most satisfying climaxes ever, possibly, arguably in both senses. The film thinks way too highly of itself (prelude and exit overtures?) and is silly as often as it is impressive, but it’s an original.

Dragonwyck Posted 14 September 2008 in Screening log with No comments 1946 US Dir Joseph L Mankiewicz Cast Gene Tierney, Vincent Price, Walter Huston IMDb

An intermittently enjoyable sort of patchwork mess, but when it’s good it actually approaches brilliance. Don’t know what to say about the thing as a whole, but the middle third makes for pretty remarkable Gothic romance. What begins almost insufferably good-naturedly turns fitfully darker (and strangely, wittier) throughout till it reaches a crest of compelling creepiness… then goes completely off the deep end in a poorly conceived and oddly paced climax. Mankiewicz is all there as a writer and getting there as a director. It’s just that the film wants to be too many things at once, and everything ends up sticking out sorely — a traditionally Gothic story and setting, lines fit for a screwball script, a dementedly wry twist on things that only half the cast seem to understand… This is a plain oddity that classic film lovers have unaccountably canonized.

Lubitsch was slated to direct before he became ill, and I can’t imagine what he would have done with it… would have made an interesting item in his body of work, certainly.

The Spiral Staircase Posted 13 September 2008 in Screening log Comments are off for this post 1945 US Dir Robert Siodmak Cast George Brent, Dorothy Maguire, Ethel Barrymore, Kent Smith, Gordon Oliver IMDb

An elegant and moody psychological thriller, its delicious moments of suspense not diminished for a moment by my knowing from the first glimpse the identity of the killer. [Spoiler: Hells yeah I recognize George Brent's eyeball in extreme close-up!] It’s pure glee watching all the manifestations of silence and watching unfold, one character always lurking in the shadows of a scene, observing; one clearly outlined suspect entering the mansion through the door another has just exited. Dorothy McGuire, as the fragile mute pegged as the murderer’s next victim, carries the film with just the right level of silent expressiveness in a role that could have easily been overplayed and broken the film’s flow. Ethel Barrymore steals the show among a cast of delightful oddball support, hilarious and creepy as the half-mad bedridden matriarch of a socially maladjusted clan. Every character in this is somehow weak and wounded, and at its core are the two fraternal rivals who, in different ways, never could live up to Daddy’s manly ideal. Brilliantly puzzled together, full of clever compositions, gorgeous to look at. I need more Siodmak immediately.

The Man Who Knew Too Much Posted 13 September 2008 in Screening log with No comments 1934 UK Dir Alfred Hitchcock Cast Leslie Banks, Edna Best, Peter Lorre IMDb

Early Hitchcocks strike me as being overly concerned with the boring technique of constructing mystery plots, and lack the inventiveness and pace and smart humor of his later work. Indeed the humor here is as flat and awkward as the “tense moments” it’s meant to relieve. Many wasted opportunities that stick out particularly because they remind me of what he later did with similar set-ups; for example, the Albert Hall scene lacks all the tension and interest of the auction in North By Northwest or the Mr Memory show of The 39 Steps, this film’s immediate follow-up. Most of what is interesting, and at least camp-level effective, in this routine genre film lies in the gradual initiation into the world of the bizarre assassination plotters, and particularly in Peter Lorre’s character, who gets his first English-language role here and is still doing good trade on his M creepiness.

Tell No One Posted 1 September 2008 in Screening log with No comments [Ne le dis à personne] 2008 France Dir Guillaume Canet Cast François Cluzet, Marie-Josée Croze, André Dussollier, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Marina Hands, Nathalie Baye, Jean Rochefort IMDb

A French gloss on Hollywood thrillers past and present, the abiding love story and windbag confessional of yesteryear married to today’s inventively staged chase scene and twist ending. I felt like I’d seen much of it before, and that I still couldn’t see a cohesive plot behind it, but still it works. If it’s a formula psychological thriller, it’s a better one, and if the plot is just a little too convoluted for its own good, a deeper emotional honesty carries it through. Excellent performances all around, very enjoyable, probably top-notch world popcorn fare.