appujosephjose

Recently I saw the submarine movie, 'Phantom' and I liked it. This inspired me to look for more submarine movies and I stumbled on to this.

This is a brilliant movie. The story line is simple enough. Clark Gable plays captain Rchardson, a submarine commander demoted to a desk job following the sinking of his vessel by the Japanese. He gets another chance to captain a sub. In defiance of orders, he goes after the Japanese destroyer that had sunk his original sub. He has to fight not only the Japanese but also his own lieutenant and a reluctant crew. He eventually triumphs. However, it is a costly victory. Captain dies of the wounds sustained during an action and is buried at sea before the vessel can reach the port.

This film reminded me of Captain Ahab and his pursuit of Mobydick.

That this old black and white film made more than half a century ago could keep me entranced is proof that this is a great film. After all only classics transcend limits of time and geography. I rate this film as a classic movie.

I like historical films. Recently I watched three historical films all made in the early 1960s. These are 'El Cid', 'The Spartacus' and 'The Agony and The Ecstasy'. Of the three, I rate The Agony and the Ecstasy as the best. This film is based on the eponymous novel written by Irving Stone. I had read the book nearly a decade back and it was nice to see the film finally. The film is about the circumstances under which Michelangelo came to compose his famous frescoes in the Sistine Chapel of Rome in the 16th century. The Sistine fresco, the 'creation of man' has become almost an emblem for the artist. But not many know that Michelangelo painted the Sistine frescoes reluctantly, only because he was forced to do so by his patron, Pope Julius II. The film is about the war of wits between these two great men Pope Julius II is a warrior pope, a worldly Pope. His concern is to protect the papal states from being over run by warring European powers. For this he is willing to take up arms. The pope knows that the posterity wont remember him for his spiritual prowess or leadership. Therefore he want to leave great works of art as his legacy. He therefore hires Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The artist is not very keen on painting and considers sculpture to be his true calling. He is also not willing to conform to the prevailing canons of artistic excellence. He feels constrained by the limits of time and money that is set. All the great moments of the film occur when the Pope and the Artist clash. It is a clash of ideas and world views: (1) Whether sculpture is a superior form of art as compared to painting; (2) Whether it is appropriate depict biblical figures in their raw humanity; (3) Whether it is moral for a man of god to take arms for his principles and so on. For me the finest scene in the film is where the Pope and the Cardinals come to see the frescoes and judge it as lacking in good taste. The Artist is forced to give a strong rebuttal and in the process he expounds the humanist philosophy of art. Shot in beautiful Technicolor, the film still looks spectacular. It is a visual and intellectual treat.