That sounds like a really interesting film mark. I had never heard of it, but I intend on tracking it down. I just got Batalla en el Cielo, which was, I think, well received at Cannes last year. It's director Carlos Reygades ( Japon), also makes films one could only describe as haunting. Anyway, maybe I'll write about it when I see it...

It wasnt the best movie ever and was a bit confusing at times but I liked the Jet Li movie, Hero, especially the use of colors and some of the fights

Well, i am hoping one you here can help me. i watched a french movie at a friends. i dont know the title or the actors because i only got a glimpse of that film.
its about a man in france end of 1970s beginning 1980s. he wants to write a book and does so in his bath without water etc. smokes a lot well really french actually. he writes abut his experiences with women. hope one of yoou guys can come up with something. i know there is not much to go on but maybe it rings a bell.
thanks

Iphigenia (Cacoyannis, 1977, Grade: B)

This is a simple, primitive, almost excruciatingly-powerful film, based on Euripides' classic play, which I highly recommend to anybody who has ever read or watched anything about the Trojan War. The acting is extremely powerful, and you may be shocked, but the film this mostly reminds me of is United 93. The theme of sacrifice and what it means to those who do it and those who are left behind strongly reverberates with me. Irene Papas (as Clytemnestre), Kostas Kazakos (as Agamemnon) and Tatiana Papamoshou (as Iphigenia) scratch the surface of the tremendously-raw performances on hand in this treasure.

I watched "Distant" last week. It was filmed and is about two citizens in Turkey. One is trying to cope with the fact that his art (photography) isn't paying him a lot, and because of this he's forced to sort of "sell out". And the other main character and his search to find a job and meaning to his life. It's a quiet, moody film with a strong visual style. The screenplay could have been a little more developed, though.
B

In the Mood For Love (Wong Kar-Wai, 2000, Grade: C)

Wildly-overrated, emotionally-empty "romantic" exercise-in-style from Superdirector Wong Kar-Wai reminds me that the only affecting thing I've seen from him is the admittedly-overlong second part of Chungking Express. By far, the best parts of this film are the Nat King Cole on the soundtrack and the chance to see the splendor of Angkor Wat at the end.

2046 is much better. I liked In The Mood For Love just fine, but 2046 is more stylish, more erotic, more badass, and just more of everything I liked about Mood For Love.

Anyone enjoy Indian films? I recently saw a semi-decent attempt at mystery called My Wife's Murder. It lacked the cheesy dialogue and horrible acting that usually taints Bollywood thrillers. Pretty harrowing at some points...and sad.

quote:

Originally posted by Buck "Sweetie" McGuck:
2046 is much better. I liked In The Mood For Love just fine, but 2046 is more stylish, more erotic, more badass, and just more of everything I liked about Mood For Love.

I agree with you, except that I only give 2046 a C+. I guess I'm just a jerk when it comes to Wong Kar-Godard.

Rome, Open City (Roberto Rossellini, 1945, Grade: B)

Screen Image

This is a simple, but powerful, example of Italian neorealism, but perhaps even more interesting is how it marries neorealism to outright melodrama to make a powerful statement. It's set and was sometimes shot during the Occupation of Rome by the Nazis. It's the story of the Resistance to the Nazis, led by a freedom fighter and a priest, and how the German authorities try to smash up their network. After a relatively slow-moving opening, the film tightens the screws by throwing in quite a bit of sadistic torture, implied lesbianism, murders and executions, and all much more blatantly than any Hollywood film of the era could've gotten away with. It also makes several powerful anti-war statements. This is a very serious, yet still humanely-humorous film, so I was a little bit shocked when IMDb says that "if you like" Rome, Open City, "we recommend Salo, or The 120 Days of Salo". I understand my mini-synopsis makes this film sound pretty extreme, but it's all done with some restraint and respect for humanity. My vote for the best Rossellini film.

I watched a Belgian film called The Memory of a Killer last night and would recommend it for anyone looking at picking up a gritty crime drama at the rental store.

Le Cercle Rouge (Melville, 1970, Grade: B-)

OK, I've watched it, and I'll watch it again soon, but I still don't exactly "get" Melville, although this was an interesting, if often slow and drawn-out watch. I guess it could be considered "preposterous", but that doesn't really bother me. I'm just not sure why it had to be 140 minutes. Oh yeah, that rating is a :thumbsup: .

The way everything plays out is quite fascinating, even if the heist itself pales to some of the other classics (Rififi, Topkapi, etc.) I really enjoyed the Yves Montand and the Bourvil characters. Montand's first scene when he's got the DTs was the highlight of the film for me; I was laughing out loud during that scene. The two oldtimers should have been central to the story, but I understand that Melville had to concoct a way to get them together, and that meant the younger, macho, sexy crooks had to be used as the gist of the plot. I also thought the Internal Affairs Chief should have had a few more scenes because the way he's used, especially at the end, kinda robs the ending of some power. (Somehow it just seems more flippant than it should.) I do actually wish that the ending was different, but then I didn't make the film, so that's the way it goes. I'll try to watch some more Melville flicks because he does have a different style, even if it does remind me of René Clement a bit.

Elevator to the Gallows (Louis Malle, 1958, Grade: B-)

This is a classic noir which has as much irony as an O.Henry story. It does seem better than I recalled, but I expected as much.

My main comments are: 1) Brenda asked me after the opening titles, "Is he going to kill her husband or his wife?"; 2) I realize that he was distracted by the receptionist's phone call and probably a bit flustered, but forgetting about the grappling hook AND leaving the car running?; 3) I'm pretty good with a camera, including using a timer to shoot photos with me in them, but those photos in his mini-camera developed at the end seemed to include some which had to be shot by a third person. Who was the third person, or does anybody disagree?

The main reason I want to include number 3 above is that I also watched (twice):

Caché (Michael Haneke, 2005, Grade: C+)

My personal opinion about this movie is that it's indecipherable. It covers lots of Hitchcockian ground. It details racism, childhood misunderstandings, Imperialism, etc., but all in the context of a huge mystery. My actual opinion of who was shooting the videos, based on everything presented in the movie, is that it was God. I realize that's ridiculous, but first, Georges walked right by the cameraman and didn't see him. Plus, if it was Majid's son, and he's the best human choice, then he musta been inspired by Allah, unless it was an unseen character, and that's not really fair, is it? The ending certainly doesn't imply that it was Georges' own son. That scene seemed more like a first meeting to me then a planned occurrence. I think the movie is worth-watching, but only if you want to be confused or consider that "We are not alone."

Cache, which was really intriguing. Also, La Moustache and Backstage at the Tribeca Film Festival.

The French Institute screened a Diane Kurys film called PEPPERMINT SODA yesterday and I caught it. Basically, it is a coming of age story set in the early 1960s in Paris and focuses on two sisters and all their travails growing up. The film was made in the late 1970s and it is no doubt autobiographical. I didn't think the film was bad nor was it very good, just kind of middling. Kurys has gone on to do better work later on, including ENTRE NOUS.

quote:

Originally posted by NButler11:
I watched a Belgian film called The Memory of a Killer last night and would recommend it for anyone looking at picking up a gritty crime drama at the rental store.

Good call. This film is very underrated. I don't think the critics gave this one the credit it was due. A unique film. I was blown away by this one. The premise is that there is a hired killer and he has Alzheimer's and keeps losing his memory. So, there is the cat and mouse game between the killer and the cops, the killer and the people who hired him and the killer and his memory. Pounce on this one if it pops up in your local video store.

I watched Amelie a little while ago, Even though it was my second time seeing it still had enough charm and charisma to keep me bewildered.

quote:

Originally posted by mark f:
Le Cercle Rouge (Melville, 1970, Grade: B-)

OK, I've watched it, and I'll watch it again soon, but I still don't exactly "get" Melville, although this was an interesting, if often slow and drawn-out watch. I guess it could be considered "preposterous", but that doesn't really bother me. I'm just not sure why it had to be 140 minutes. Oh yeah, that rating is a :thumbsup: .

Different strokes for different folks I guess, but Melville is one of my favorite directors and I love many of his films, including LE CIRCLE ROUGE/THE RED CIRCLE. I found Montand mesmerizing and I believe Alain Delon was in this one too. Just a great cat and mouse game between the cop and the crooks and the big set piece where they pull off the robbery reminded me of that scene in RIFIFI.

I am also a big fan of LE SAMOURI, which Delon and Melville hooked up in an existential classic. A great Melville film that is virtually unknown and very difficulty to see is SECOND BREATH with the *great* Lino Ventura. As far as I know this one isn't out on video and rarely screens. When the Museum of Modern Art conducted a Melville retro back in the 90s they could only obtain a 16MM print. I was completely blown away by the film, which is a gangster yarn. For the life of me I can't understand why SECOND BREATH isn't as well known as other Melville films.

One other great Melville film is called LE DOULOS/THE FINGER MAN from the early 1960s that starred Jean Paul Belmondo then at the height of his stardom. An excellent yarn set in the criminal mileau. Belmondo plays a snitch.

The French Institute in NYC has a weekly screening series and the current series is called DAYS OF YOUTH. Yesterday I caught one of the offerings called LE PETIT CRIMINEL/THE LITTLE GANGSTER by Jacques Doillon from 1990. As far as I know this one wasn't picked up by a distributor so it never received a first-run release in the U.S. I didn't care for the film; it was filmed in a flat tv style and was real prolix as so many French films seem to be. Basically, the petit criminel kidnaps a cop at gunpoint and demands that the cop drive him to meet his sister. The cop does and the cop, criminal and criminal's sister bond. Just a loopy film with lots of chatter. I don't know much about Doillon, but his most famous film in the U.S. is PONETTE, a film that did receive a commercial run and was a moving account of a little girl dealing with the death of her mother. I've seen a couple of other of his films, RAJA, which I don't remember anything about, and PETITS FRERES, which I also can't remember much, if anything, about.

Tonight I watched, on dvd, Charisma, a Japanese film from director Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Pulse, Seance, Cure). Guess the film could be categorized as an ecological horror fantasy. Detective Goro Yabuike leaves Tokyo after a hostage situation turns tragic. The ransom demands in that hostage crisis had been to "restore the rules of the world". The detective had a chance at ending the crisis but failed as he wanted to save both the hostage and his captor. Yabuike heads to the forests outside of town for some soul searching. It's in one odd looking, mostly dying forest that he meets some forest rangers who want to remove a certain tree which they believe is a strange mutation. The tree is cared for by a dangerous man who used to live in a nearby sanitarium. However, two sisters who reside near the forest want to destroy the tree which they believe is a monster whose roots contains toxins that is destroying the forest. So the detective is constantly asked to choose sides. What he wants to do is "restore the rules of the world" to the forest. Can he redeem himself for the hostage situation he failed to control? I really enjoyed the film, it asks more questions than it answers and is up to interpretation on what really happens. Definately worth a rental.