GOTTA SEE IT # 19 - "DON'T LOOK NOW"

“DON’T LOOK NOW”

Starring: Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland, Hilary Mason, Clelia Matania, Massimo Serato, Renato Scarpa, Giorgio Trestini, Leopoldo Trieste, David Tree, Ann Rye, Nicholas Salter, Sharon Williams, Bruno Cattaneo, Adelina Poerio.
Written by: Daphne Du Maurier (story), Allan Scott, Chris Bryant
Directed by: Nicolas Roeg
Colour – 1973
110 mins
Italy/UK

Thrillers are a dime a dozen. Make that a nickel. They come and go and most are not even worth mentioning – stuffed, as they are, with cheap shocks and even thriftier twists. Then there are thrillers like this eerie, arty entry from the peak period of British filmmaker Nicolas Roeg’s career. Part thriller, part romance, part ghost story, DLN uses the complex, cobblestone maze of Venice, Italy to create a haunting film about the gruesome consequences of not being able to move on after a tragic loss.

Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland play Laura and John Baxter, a young married couple trying to pick up the pieces after their young daughter dies in a drowning accident. Traveling to Venice, where John has a job working to restore a church, the Baxters cross paths with two very odd sisters - one of whom is psychic and who, delightfully and creepily, informs Laura that her daughter is still with her, in ghostly form, and that she’s never been happier.

Ostensibly a cautionary tale about leaving the dead to the dead and life to the living, DLN benefits from terrifically naturalistic performances by its’ leads, beautiful cinematography and stunning editing. The opening is a remarkably cut sequence that goes back and forth from Laura and John Baxter inside their country home to their kids, outside, playing in their spacious backyard. As John studies slides of the Venice church that he will soon be working on, his young daughter - blonde mop of hair bouncing as she runs here and there in her little red raincoat – plays by a small pond. Quick cuts crisply match movement and colour, including a cute doubling of Laura’s gesture with her daughter’s. Suddenly, John thinks he sees the back of his daughter, dressed in her hooded red raincoat, sitting in one of the pews in the church pictured in one of his slides. What follows is a searing moment that serves as an unheeded warning and a moving and devastating depiction of a truly tragic event.

Short on plot, but long on mood and character, DLN is genuinely creepy - taking its’ time to build towards a real shocker of a finale. Venice has never been so beautiful and so creepy at the same time – often times resembling one massive graveyard, as dead bodies and ghostly forms turn up with alarming frequency.

There is another stunner of a sequence that has little to do with the thriller story at hand, but, nonetheless, is essential to the film. It’s a sex scene. More accurately, it’s a love scene and it’s shot, edited and scored with such attention to detail and overflowing with so much emotional that it can almost be labeled as a separate short film within the larger feature film. Roeg and editor Graeme Clifford (Images, The Man Who Fell to Earth) piece together a beautiful sequence that transcends all time as it simultaneously takes place in the present , the future and the past as the Baxters’ make love, get dressed after having made love, while looking back fondly on the love they just made. Got that? It’s glorious and cinematic and should be studied in film schools, if it hasn’t been already.

So, nuke a bag of popcorn, drop DLN into your dvd player, turn off all the lights and sit back and be prepared to get creeped out. Come on, you owe it to yourself.

GOTTA SEE IT # 18 - "THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP"

“THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP”

Starring: Anton Walbrook, Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr, John Laurie, Muriel Aked.
Written by: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Directed by: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Colour – 1943
163 mins
UK

The sad news of Deborah Kerr’s passing this past Tuesday made me think back to her wonderful performances in this beautiful and moving 1943 Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger film. I say performances, because she played not one, not two, but three roles. In lush and stunning Technicolor, Kerr’s delicate beauty and genuine warmth are on triple display as she repeatedly pops up as women in the titular character’s life over the course of some forty years - once as a governess, secondly as a nurse and, then, finally, as a member of the military assigned as his driver. Clearly, the filmmakers knew she was simply too good to cast in just one role and I couldn’t agree more.

Based on a comic strip, the film spans some forty years in the life of this career military man – from the Boer war to WW2. When we first meet Blimp (Roger Livesey), he’s brash and full of piss and vinegar and ready to take on any mission thrown his way. His superiors are not at all impressed, when, early in the film, he heads to Berlin and stirs things up in his attempts to protect the reputation of his beloved British homeland. Livesey is just remarkable – all charm and wit and able to play a character full through from anxious youth to out of touch old man without missing a beat. Anton Walbrook (a personal favourite of mine) gives a steady and touching performance as German soldier Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff whom Blimp befriends after, well, I won’t spoil it for you. Let’s just say that it’s probably not the best way to kick off a friendship.

This is truly a beautiful film in every imaginable way. Visually wondrous and unconventional, it is filled with moments of cinematic play that, to this day, are a breath of fresh air. The cast - Livesey, Walbrook and the enchanting Kerr - are perfectly chosen and, together, are a delight to watch. Walbrook’s subtle work - which reaches its’ peak in a late scene in which he calmly explains his reasons for leaving Germany and his desire to become a UK citizen – is a study in less is more acting that just stops you cold. His performance is so good and so filled with dignity and graciousness that it’s no wonder his portrayal caused controversy back in the UK when the film was first released. Remember, it was 1943 and WW2 was raging and victory was in doubt. A sympathetic portrait of the enemy, especially infused with the humanity that Walbrook brings, was, simply - to use a German expression – verboten.

The point of the film, made through the evolution, or, more appropriately, lack of evolution of the Blimp character, is one that, no doubt, needed to be made at a time when the fate of the world, in general, and of the British people, in specific, was in doubt. Though I don’t possess enough knowledge of the details of WW2 to offer an opinion as to whether I agree with the film’s central point or not, I couldn’t help but apply its’ reasoning to the current struggle in Iraq and the overall fight against Al-Qaeda. What I’m trying to say is that, though I love every single second of this movie, its’ concluding argument is one that, in the context of the current war, I cannot embrace. Love the film – understand the message in the context of the times - hate the message as it applies to the context of my time. Though, it might be best not to strip the point of its’ context and just let it stand.

So, pushing all that aside, I want to say that, though, Deborah Kerr is gone and though I knew nothing of her off-screen life and knew only a little more about her on-screen one, she has left a lasting impression of grace and warmth and beauty that has, with little effort, proven its’ ability to easily outlive the 163 minutes of running time in which it was initially expressed. Rest in peace Deborah Kerr. Rest in Peace.

GOTTA SEE IT # 17 - "THE VIRGIN SPRING"

“THE VIRGIN SPRING”

Starring: Max Von Sydow, Birgitta Valberg, Gunnel Lindblom, Birgitta Pettersson, Axel Duberg, Tor Isedal, Allan Edwall, Ave Porath, Axel Slangus, Gudrun Brost, Oscar Ljung.
Written by: Ulla Isaksson
Directed by: Ingmar Bergman
B & W – 1960
89 mins
Sweden

I’m not a Bergman fan. I wanted to get that out of the way right off the bat. Now, as to TVS - yes it’s a Bergman film starring Max Von Sydow and shot by Sven Nykvist and it’s terrific. But, I’m still not a Bergman fan. Got that?

Based on an old Swedish ballad, TVS is a sad, harrowing and ultimately moving piece of religious filmmaking. Set in 14th century Sweden, it concerns a religious ritual wherein a virgin is tasked to take candles to church for Easter mass. The virgin, Karin - sweet and spoiled daughter of Tore (Max Von Sydow) and Mareta (Birgitta Valberg) - pleads with her too pliant mother to let her skip the ritual this year. Her mother would oblige her, but stern Tore simply will not allow it. So, off she goes with her polar opposite - pregnant, disgrace servant Ingeri - by her side. Though at its’ core a simple tale of revenge, TVS also aims its’ arrows at jealousy, religious superstition and guilt on its’ way to becoming a Christ-like story of martyrdom, redemption and resurrection.

Karin is the point of focus for every other character in the film - from her mother, who smothers her with love and lets her dictate to her instead of the other way around, to jealous, disgraced, and very pregnant servant girl Ingeri who sees through Karin’s "purity" to the self-absorbed, spoiled and flirty girl within. Envious of Karin’s stature and looks, Ingeri is so consumed that, in an intense and memorable opening scene, she calls on Odin - the Pagan Norse God of wisdom and war - to come to her aid.

There are many interesting things at work here, not the least of which is Karin’s supposed virginity. Her parents think she is a virgin. At one point, her mother, after having had a bad dream, suggests that another girl bring the candles to church, but Tore reminds her that a virgin must be the one to make the journey. Yet, Karin isn’t as pure as she puts on - maybe not even a virgin at all. During their long trek to the church, Ingeri confronts Karin about seeing her with the man by whom she was impregnated. Ingeri suggests that Karin’s behaviour was not becoming of a virgin. Did she have sex with the man? It’s not entirely clear, yet, one could come to that conclusion. Whether she has or hasn’t, clearly, the idealization of the virgin as a role model for all unmarried women - lifting them up on this pedestal of purity - is the mistake that leads to everything else that follows. Without it, you have no ritual, no trek and none of the consequences of that trek. You also don’t have the rejection and punishment of Ingeri, whose jealousy of Karin would also cease to exist. It’s the ultimate irony that, all of the corrosive thoughts and tragic actions in this story are born out of the worshipping of the virgin and the idealization of Karin as the embodiment of this icon of virtue. When all is said and done - purity begets tragedy.

The acting is first rate, with Von Sydow stealing the show as the proud and towering figure of the father. It is not difficult to see how he made the jump from Swedish star to International sensation. He is equal parts cheery, stoic and ruthless. He’s a man at once in control and out of control. His final “conversation” with God is a stirring scene of great sadness, anger and determination.

So often I come away from Bergman films unmoved, bored or indifferent. Whether this is his fault, my fault or a combination of the two, I cannot say. In this instance though, in a story of a tragedy piled on a tragedy, with sadness so palpable that a simple snowfall, timed to perfection, left me in awe. It’s little wonder, then, that this Bergman film made me, at least for 89 minutes, a true fan.

GOTTA SEE IT # 16 - "TREES LOUNGE"

“TREES LOUNGE”

Starring: Carol Kane, Mark Boone Junior, Steve Buscemi, Bronson Dudley, Anthony La Paglia, Michael Buscemi, Elizabeth Bracco, John Ventimiglia, Debi Mazar, Chloe Sevigny, Mimi Rogers, Samuel Jackson, Michael Imperioli, Daniel Baldwin, Seymour Cassel.
Written by: Steve Buscemi
Directed by: Steve Buscemi
Colour – 1996
95 mins.
U.S.A.

There’s a neat moment early on in "Trees Lounge" where two men meet and shake hands for the first time. Doesn’t sound too dramatic, does it? They don’t argue or throw punches. Heck, they don’t even say so much as a bad word to one another, yet, this clever, subtle bit resonates for the rest of the film.

Representing actor Steve Buscemi’s feature writing/directing debut, TL is a well-observed character study about a man who refuses to grow up. Buscemi, himself, plays Tommy, an out of work mechanic who is still reeling from being dumped by his now pregnant girlfriend - who has since hooked up with his best friend. Now that’s painful enough, but what’s really hurting Tommy has nothing to with unemployment or the betrayal of a close friend. They are the dominos. The initial "push" that caused them to fall, one by one, is where the title comes into play. A neighbourhood bar that functions as a home away from home for many of its’ regulars, "Trees Lounge" is where Tommy’s problems begin and end. He’s an alcoholic, not doubt about it, but, somehow, he can’t see the forest from the...you get it.

Filled with solid, naturalistic performances, Buscemi offers up a convincing portrait of a working class world of the responsible and irresponsible. There are those who have moved on from the adolescent world of excuses and excesses and have embraced the demands of the adult world. Then there are those like Tommy who are still making it up as they go along, certain that one day, magically, all their problems will disappear in a drink and they will, finally, find themselves to be who they always wanted to be.

There are two key people orbiting around Tommy who keep him firmly mired in his long past due adolescence. One is Mike (Mark Boone Junior) - a married man and father who, though he has accepted the added responsibilities of adulthood, consistently fumbles the snap and is forever calling the wrong plays. He’s a gloriously goofy mess. Then there is Chloe Sevigny. Ah, Chloe – my vote for the one actress who could get wood from a dead man. Here, she plays Debbie - a cute, flirty teenager for whom Tommy clearly has a thing. They are both symbols as much as people. She represents the illusory promise of eternal youth – all excitement and silliness with fleeting, shallow pleasures always just a kiss, a puff or a sip away. She is the pretty wrapping paper. Tear it off and open the gift and what you’ll find is Mike – an embarrassing oaf of a man who has mistaken a game of chess for checkers.

Sad, funny, haunting, TL is never phony and almost always dead on target. Pick it up, give it a look and, depending on your age, you’ll either find it to be a funny reflection of your current life, a queasy/pleasant trip down memory lane, or a nagging reminder of a To-Do List with one key item that has yet to be crossed off.