Andy's Film Blog: 1959

Showing posts with label 1959. Show all posts

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Pickpocket

Pickpocket tells the story of a young intellectual who, judging from his ragged suits and barren and modest Paris apartment, hones his skills at petty thievery simply for the thrill. Through his own narration and journal entries, we learn how he gets in with a gang of pickpockets and his eventual downfall, during which he neglects his dying mother and the woman he loves. The film is lovingly and carefully crafted by Robert Bresson, one of the most patient and virtued of directors and a primary influence on The French New Wave. Take the opening scene, for example, with the lead character at a racetrack. Filmed with precision, we see him study his mark, a female onlooker, and take his place behind her as she watches the race. In an extended shot that seems out of place, we wait alongside him for the perfect moment to pop the button on her purse, reach inside, and relieve it of its contents. Other scenes, such as this, allow Bresson to demonstrate his considerable skill as a director, often making sublime use of close-up and minimalism. The movie, in addition to being carefully directed, takes a basic plot while adding existential elements to it, and has often been cited as resembling Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. Again, it has been extremely influential to subsequent filmmakers and the final and penultimate scenes are unforgettable.

*** 1/2 out of ****

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

The Apu Trilogy

In this series of films, which consist of Pather Panchali, Aparajito, and The World of Apu, life is viewed through the eyes of a young, penniless Bengalese boy who loses his sister and then moves to the big city before again suffering the loss of his father, mother, and, as an adult, his wife, all the while succeeding as a student and attempting to stake his own claim in the world. From the writings of Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, Satyaji Ray's The Apu Trilogy is a succession of gracefully made films that capture a harsh, tragic, and impoverished life while also noting the joys of childhood and maturation, often through keen and beautifully poetic observation. The films positioned Ray on the international map and are made with a unique, fluid, and seemingly effortless hand.

**** out of *****

Monday, March 10, 2014

The Adventures of Antoine Doinel

In 1959 Francois Truffaut, along with other members of the French New Wave, shook the world when he introduced the character of Antoine Doinel, a class clown quickly graduating to juvenile delinquency with disinterested parents and an affection for Balzac, in his masterful and intensely personal The 400 Blows. Played by Jean-Pierre Leaud, whose earnestness won over his director during the casting process, would return to the character with Truffaut five times over the course of twenty years in a series of films that turned away almost entirely from the inward emotiveness of the debut to a more lightly comic but still mostly masterful touch.

As part of the 1962 anthology Love at Twenty, Antoine and Colette was the first followup and shows Antoine surprisingly on his own as a young man and attempting to woo a young woman whose feelings aren't exactly reciprocated. The film is observant and an excellent example of short form storytelling.

After a six year hiatus, Truffaut and Leaud returned to Doinel with Stolen Kisses, a light, disarming, and insightful picture showing their hero discharged from the military, job hopping, and taking up with an ex-girlfriend.

1970 saw the release of Bed & Board which was a little more dense and mostly focused on the story's comic highs. Here, Doinel finds himself married with a child on the way but still manages to entangled himself in an affair with a Japanese client.

Love on the Run concluded the series five years before Truffaut's death in 1984, although he claimed it was the final installment. Its story shows Antoine's marriage still intact although he continues to seek extramarital company elsewhere. The film imposes a flashback structure composed of clips from the other films which doesn't really work, but the new material is presented in the same vein as the others and is generally entertaining.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Hiroshima, mon amour

A French actress (Emmanuelle Riva) shooting an anti-war film in Hiroshima has an affair with a local architect (Eiji Okada) and the two sustain a lengthy conversation which conjures up both memories of the bombing and, for her, those of her childhood and a disturbing incident during the German occupation. With its dreamlike, unrestricted narrative, Alain Resnais' Hiroshima, mon amour was an instrumental work that helped to break the mold of conventional filmmaking and usher in the French New Wave films of the 1960s. Written by Marguerite Duras, it features tremendous performances from Riva and Okada and stunningly bleak photography.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Some Like It Hot

When two caddish band members (Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis) inadvertently witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre while paying on a bet, their surest way out of town (and to stay gainfully employed) is to don a dress and hop a train as members of an all-girl band bound for a gig in Miami. On board they meet a voluptuous fellow member of their company (Marilyn Monroe) and are both immediately smitten. While Lemmon becomes distracted by an infatuated millionaire (Joe E. Brown, hysterical), Curtis feigns his way as his own self-made man to win the girl's affections at the same time as the mob hosts a convention in town. Billy Wilder's witty and hilarious seminal classic hosts finely tuned performances from Lemmon and Curtis and features Monroe at her screen sexiest and a finely tuned acting turn as well.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Floating Weeds

A traveling theater company visits a small seaside village as the troupe's leader attempts to reconnect with a former lover and his estranged, now grown son, all to the dismay of his scheming, jealous current mistress. Yasijuro Ozu's Floating Weeds is a beautifully understated remake of his own 1934 film featuring radiant coloring and excellent emotive acting, all resulting in a thoughtfully poignant picture that is impossible not to respond to.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Imitation of Life

While at the beach with her daughter, an aspiring actress (Lana Turner) meets another single mother (Juanita Moore), an African-American raising a fair skinned daughter, and is convinced to take her on as a maid. As her career begins to take off, she finds herself spending less time with her daughter (played as a teen by Sandra Dee), who is being raised by the maid who is having her own difficulties with her own ashamed, ungrateful child (Susan Kohner). Douglas Sirk's "Imitation of Life" is a surprisingly pointed and exceedingly well done melodrama shot in effulgent Technicolor and featuring some fine performances, especially from Moore as the beset, angelic maid.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

The Hound of the Baskervilles

Sir Charles Baskerville has just died on the moors on his estate near Devonshire from an apparent mauling by a giant hound. His death, and the story of his family's curse, is related by his and physician and friend to Sherlock Holmes whom he implores to take on the case before the state his transferred to Charles' relation Sir Hennry. In his stead, Holmes sends his dear friend Dr. Watson to investigate and, after meeting up with him later, uncovers the truth behind the Baskerville curse. This adaptation of the popular Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel is notable for the strengths of its lead performers. Peter Cushing makes an excellent Holmes, finding his idiosyncrasies and avoiding tendencies to bring likability to the character. Andre Morell likewise makes an excellent Watson, and Christopher Lee turns in good work in an early role as the Sir Henry. I thought this version got bogged down by its unnecessary flourishes and silly asides, and doesn't really measure up to the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce 1939 version, but is worth seeking out due to the fine performances.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Rio Bravo

After shooting an unarmed man during a melee at the saloon, the brother of a wealthy rancher is taken into custody by the local sheriff John T. Chance (John Wayne). Having only his drunk deputy (Dean Martin), a crippled old codger (Walter Brennan), and a talented young sharpshooter (Ricky Nelson) on his side, Chance must fend off the mounting threat set to spring the rancher's brother from the jail before the U.S. Marshals arrive to haul him away. With its leisurely pace, character development, and leisurely asides, Howard Hawks' "Rio Bravo" plays more like a good play than it does a typical Western. The film contains a great performance from The Duke, who shows a really surprising and endearing softer side here (don't get me wrong, his character his still tougher n hell). His supporters are very fine as well. Dean Martin is excellent as the self-hating drunk and has many of the films best scenes. Walter Brennan is a hoot as the cantankerous trigger happy old coot who watches the jail. Angie Dickinson is extremely sultry and appealing as the card cheat who wins Wayne's heart. Hawks' approach to the material is really brave and what makes it work. The film is long, about 2 hours 20, but that gives his characters room to breathe, as we get to know them, and allows for wonderful scenes that you wouldn't think would work, such as well Dino and Nelson sing a duet in the jailhouse. "Rio Bravo" is a great film that offers a little bit of everything we love about the movies.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

North by Northwest

Tonight at the Cleveland Cinemateque, Turner Classic Movies presented Robert Osbourne and Eva Marie Saint as they participated in a question and answer session before screening North by Northwest. It proved to be a truly wonderful evening indeed. Osbourne proved to be as fine of a host as he is when introducing classic films on television and by the time Mrs. Saint took the stage still carrying herself with a movie star swagger, the crowd roared and from the second last row she still appeared to look the same as that beautiful young woman who seduces Cary Grant aboard the Chicago bound train. During her address to the crowd and the Q&A session, she appeared vibrant, witty, funny, and altogether lovely. A perfect introduction to a magnificent from a classic actress.

North by Northwest is one of those few films that I have held dear since childhood that I always make a point of seeing when I have a chance. It is mentioned in the shortlist as one of Alfred Hitchcock's best films, but never mentioned as the best, which is usually reserved for Vertigo, Psycho, or Rear Window. Still, it is no less than the most entertaining and crackling of his films. It has a wrong man's plot, one of Hitch's favorites, and involves a Madison Avenue ad man (a droll and wonderful Cary Grant) getting mistaken for a government agent by dangerous espionage types, a mistake which will put him in harm's way several times, lead him into the arms of a mysterious woman (the wonderful Mrs. Saint), and lead him across the country by way of plain, train and automobile. The plot is so silly it would surely spell disaster in any other hands, but thanks to a smart script from Ernest Lehman (West Side Story, Sweet Smell of Success), brilliant direction by the master, a bristling score by Bernard Herrmann, and wonderful acting from Grant, Saint, and James Mason as the wry and debonair bad guy. Filled with sly humor and many memorable scenes including the unforgettable crop dusting scene and the finale atop Mt. Rushmore, North by Northwest is a trip always worth the ride