Él

 

Él (Luis Bunuel, 1953)

Francisco is rich, rather strict on principles, and still a bachelor. After meeting Gloria by accident, he is suddenly intent on her becoming his wife and courts her until she agrees to marry him.

With the important number of films by Luis Bunuel that are available from his Spanish period, his Mexican exil, and his late French cinephiles from around the world can at least get something for their tastes. Even if he is more reknown for his French surrealistic films, Bunuel took many genres under his particular signature and directed essential timeless films.

With Él and its story of an obsessive lover filled with jealousy, frustration, and paranoiac persona Bunuel will go on and make one of the most interesting thrillers that will go and inspire the great Alfred Hitchcock with his scene in the church bell tower. He also used jump cuts to let his viewer know the anti-hero’s point of view and how he perceives people.

Él was the kind of film I went into with no idea what was the subject and a little bit of a reluctance for another Mexican film from Bunuel fearing this might be a lesser film from the filmmaker. However, this is one of his films I enjoyed the most lately. The only negative comment I would have to say is not even about the film itself but the french subtitles that were poorly translated. As a french speaker, Spanish is also a Latin language and I understand some bits here and there of Spanish and Italian but I could sense that some subtitles needed to say more or were just not right for the scenes. This is a case where the old adage of lost in translation is right for the moment.

Personally, I would rank Él really high but not quite a masterpiece despite the elegant cinematography by Gabriel Figueroa, the elegant but pompous sets of Franscisco’s house, and the use of modern psychology for the central character’s mental disorder. If I would make a list of the 1000 Greatest films of all time, something I am planning to do sometime when I’ll finish the one from They Shoot Pictures, Él will be on it without a doubt.

Of the fifteen Luis Bunuel films listed on the 1000 Greatest Films list, I know have seen eleven and I enjoyed each and every one of them. Needless to say that I digged Él very much. The thriller value and the obsession of love portrayed here makes it one of the most efficient films on paranoia and mental illness.

The Naked Spur

 

The Naked Spur (Anthony Mann, 1953)

A bounty hunter trying to bring a murderer to justice is forced to accept the help of two less-than-trustworthy strangers.

Famously being the third movie that united star actor James Stewart to director Anthony Mann, The Naked Spur holds a sweet spot for the Western lovers. Also with Janet Leigh and Robert Ryan other A-List actors, this film is in the vein of great classic American Westerns that populated the 1950’s. While John Ford was making them one after the other, Anthony Mann was also mastering the genre with an obvious admiration for Ford’s style, themes, and actors.

The concept of community of survival à la Ford and the idea of a group of professionals taking care of a serious business is a theme that was dear to Howard Hawks and his popular Westerns like Red River. Bankable actor James Stewart with his average Joe presence is making a clear difference in this story. Much of the silences in this film bring the violent tension with the murderer as for the sexual tension with Janet Leigh. Anthony Mann captures a lot of the male psychology in this blend of male with the aging prospector (Mitchell Millard) as the father figure for the adults and their disputes. Just as kids who play cowboys and fight for the right to be with the lady.

This is a deep film that demonstrates all of Mann’s talent in storytelling and analyzing human nature. The cinematography by William C. Mellor is splendid just as in any Anthony Mann picture with lots of exteriors and action sequences that elevated the art of the time.

Now more than sixty years since its release The Naked Spur has been a classic Western that steps up for its originality, its themes in a conventional matter, and its deep cinematic language. As being in the shadow of John Ford and his plethora of great films, Anthony Mann never shined as much as the most celebrated American movie director but in made films in a way that influenced many of his followers including the long respect and tribute of Martin Scorsese towards many of his lesser known films.

Sawdust and Tinsel

Sawdust and Tinsel (Ingmar Bergman, 1953)

An aging circus ringmaster visits his estranged wife to see his young sons. Meanwhile, his jealous young lover has an affair with an actor.

Ingmar Bergman has left a tremendous amount of film to his fans behind him and his later career was more internationally followed by fans and media. But his pre The Seventh Seal films, prior to 1957 if you prefer, are lesser known except for the hilarious Smiles of a Summer Night and the sexy Summer With Monica. Back then, only initiated cinephiles watched and enjoyed early Bergman films.

Staring Harriet Andersson, Sawdust and Tinsel is seen as one of the most rewarding gems that Bergman directed. Involving the lives of the members of a moving circus, we follow the constant humiliation of his characters and how they are outcasts of the conformist society. Bergman observes the lives of artists he sure could relate to. His career of film and theater director led him to pass into many difficult process that can be compared to what is seen in Sawdust and Tinsel.

Apart from the fact that much of the story and the character involvement are recurrent themes in Bergman’s films, the photography by Sven Nykvist easily links to the wonderful shots of The Seventh Seal and the presence of travelling performers like in his The Magician and the aforementioned masterpiece.
On the other hand, the story is quite heavy and feels very academic in its treatment of structure and its approach to drama. I believe that Bergman was still in his shell with his storytelling abilities and he later had his own voice with Wild Strawberries or Cries and Whispers for instance.

Since many of the characters are despicable and are difficult to relate to it is a film that may leave its audience cold and loose points when compared to the best offerings that Bergman has done in his career. Still, lesser Bergman is still better than most director’s best films. For Bergman fans it is an essential viewing, for completists it is worth the look, and for the average movie-goer I’d suggest you get by The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries before getting to Sawdust and Tinsel. It is far from being an average movie but this is the kind of feature that could but that was essential to its director to get to better works. Finally, it is an Ingmar Bergman film that delivers a genuine Ingmar Bergman film.

 

The Big Heat

The Big Heat (Fritz Lang, 1953)

Homicide detective Sergeant Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford) is an honest cop who investigates the death of fellow officer Tom Duncan. It would seem to be an open-and-shut case, suicide brought on by ill health. Bannion, however, is contacted by the late cop's mistress, Lucy Chapman (Dorothy Green), who claims it could not have been suicide. From her, Bannion learns that the Duncans had a second home which would not have been possible on his salary.

Tokyo Story

Tokyo Story aka Tokyo Monogatari (Yasujiro Ozu, 1953)

Topping the recent Directors list of the Sight and Sound 2012 poll, Yasujiro Ozu’s, the most Japanese of all Japanese directors, Tokyo Story is another amazing depiction of his understanding of human relationships, representing the evolution of the generational gaps, the dehumanization of the cities, and the selfishness of the modern human. When someone is getting into Japanese Cinema, one must enter with Akira Kurosawa’s Sword plays that invented the whole action genre with the following of Sergio Leone’s Westerns and most of the Americans major movie makers. While Kenji Mizoguchi isn’t the hardest Japanese filmmaker to discover after being wowed by Kurosawa’s mise en scène and tremendous camera placing. However, when one gets to Ozu he must enter without any preconceived vision of Japanese films. Ozu is like an old man telling old tales who knows every trick but is satisfied with his effective formula of simple and direct storytelling. He made almost only contemporary films depicting family issues and the little moments of the everyday life. A while ago, I remember reading the line that Ozu is compared with a tofu maker that doesn’t need to be handling hot subjects or very expensive fish or meat to make you an unforgettable offer.

Tit-Coq

Note: this a new series of reviews I'm installing on Le Mot du Cinephiliaque. Since I was born and raised in the Province of Québec I've decided to present and review some of the films that populate my culture and that represents the Cinema of here. The feature will be called after our license plate motto: "Je me souviens" for "I remember". 


Tit-Coq (René Delacroix & Gratien Gélinas, 1953)

After returning home from war, an ill-tempered young soldier must deal with his sweetheart having married another man. 

One of the greatest plays ever written in Quebec by Gratien Gélinas who also co-directs and stars as the title character, it is his most acclaimed work. Of course, the film version of the play is shot in the same way that the writing is played on the stage.

Tit-Coq (Gratien Gélinas) is a French Canadian soldier and we follow his story before and after going to the Second World War. Before being sent in Europe, he falls in love with Marie-Ange (Monique Miller) but being a bastard weights on his head. His fiancée promises him that she’ll wait for him to return after the war. However, when he comes back, Marie-Ange married another man and he falls into complete desperation.

I believe this is a hard film to find and not a masterpiece but still a very good depiction of the French Canadian of the time and a story that is very moving and that can be compared to a Classic Tragedy. Gélinas was one of the many writers who understood the people of the Province of Quebec. It proved to be a very popular film and the Toronto International Film Festival honoured it in 2000.

While doing my researches for this post I discovered that at first Gélinas wrote Tit-Coq  in 1947 to adapt it to film but he didn’t had the financing and this is why it began on the stage doing more than 500 representations. In the 1940’s Quebec’s Cinema wasn’t very much developed and financing was harder. Just as the lack of studios except for the public television producers there wasn’t many options for storytellers.  

Having had to read and write about the play in College, it was interesting for me to discover many years later the movie that was adapted with the original material. This is a very good Historical Film to discover about the Quebec sentiment and one of our great writers. Recommended.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks, 1953)

The beautiful pairing of Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell with Producer/Director Howard Hawks couldn’t be more enjoyable than that. Opening with a Cabaret-like number the two stars present themselves as two little girls from little rock and the wrong side of the tracks. From the first lines they pronounce we clearly understand their motivations Lorelei (Marylin Monroe) loves diamonds and wealthy men while Dorothy (Jane Russell) likes to have her fun, well you know what they mean here. Lorelei gets engaged with the naive son of a rich man and they choose to get married in Paris. The girls are very different but also very close friends, Dorothy is the brunette always ready to party and to say a deadpan line and to crack up a joke at Lorelei’s naive but not stupid reactions. As the title says: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes isn’t really that important in the meaning except for one hilarious scene. However, one could easily find himself more interested in the brunette than in the blonde. The personality of Monroe isn’t to be discussed here since it is one of her most famous roles. But Russell’s performance really deserves a good praise. Her character has more depth than Monroe’s and is more closer to this reviewer’s tastes.

As I read on Ed Howard’s review of this movie, Hawks pretty much let the two girls do the talking, which they do very well and only their beautiful presence on film could have been enough for any gentlemen out there. However, the delivery of the lines and their reactions to each other is genuinely theirs and the chemistry between them is pure bliss. The Hawksian touch is palpable in the choreographed musical sections of the film. Those sections are well dosed and they don’t seem to break the action or the flow of the story. Like fellow critic Kevyn Knox stated before we kind of feel like there are some homo-erotic elements in the dancing scenes, see the US Olympic team training to understand. This scene doesn’t look like it is completely deliberate but like biographer Todd McCarthy writes Hawks has subconsciously sprinkled his films with lots of close male-male relationships.

Nevertheless, the conclusion when someone looks back at this refreshing musical/comedy one cannot forget the beautiful palette of Russell’s and Monroe’s dresses, the bright colors of the sets, the legendary musical numbers, the priceless one-liners, and the sexual subtext of Howard Hawks’ film. Since it stars one of the most iconic figures of Cinema this is a must see.

Madame de

Madame de (Max Ophüls, 1953)


Max Ophüls is the kind of director that could induce the greatest dose of romance without even being over the top. His film, Madame de sure demonstrates this in his remarkable mastery of perfect framing and camera movement. On every aspect Ophüls’ picture is the work of a genius, the story, the technical skills, the score, and the performances form a complete ensemble.

This is a magnificent demonstration of a well balanced masterpiece, everything has been concocted and shaped like a great work of art. The elliptic story, an Ophüls trademark, the multileveled dialogues and the subtle and graceful performances by Danielle Darrieux, Vittorio De Sica, and Charles Boyer complete the period drama that is Madame de. It is indeed appropriate to evoke the fact that this film is a piece of Art and not just another movie. The last two films of Max Ophüls; Madame de and Lola Montès are blissful demonstrations of perfection in the seventh Art. Medialfilm, a well respected institution that rates films since almost fifty years in the province of Québec placed it amongst the masterpieces of Cinema. Of the thousands of thousands films ever rated, only about 150 received this ultimate distinction.

Set in the late 19th Century, this drama tells the hypocrisy of the bourgeois milieu in French aristocracy. Even if many think that this period is not interesting, the film sure makes it enjoyable and amazing. Ophüls’ approach and his uncanny storytelling couldn’t be more well suited to illustrate the mystery around the countess Louise, aka Madame de, and her motivations. The story plays with the viewer so much that at some point we even get mixed up into the many lies that surrounds the lives of our three protagonists. Without being completely endearing the viewer is transposed in the story as if he were an omnipresent mute character that follows quietly the action. This involvement is represented by the sumptuous movements of the camera that captivates the audience into the plot.

Overall, Madame de is a strong cinematic achievement amongst the highly regarded career of Max Ophüls. The Switzerland born cineaste has made movies in America but offered the best of his oeuvre while in France during the 1950’s. It is hard to designate what is his greatest film but Madame de stands as easily in his Top 3. A masterpiece of good taste.

Stalag 17

Stalag 17 begins with the narration of a shadowed character of the film, Stalag 17 announces; I'm tired of War films. Well, it's not a traditional War film like The Longest Day or Saving Private Ryan. Stalag 17 may be one of the many influences of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. You have the context of World War II but you see none of it apart of the Nazi uniforms. Stalag 17 fells like Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion without being deeply involve in pre-War pacifist message.

Set in a nazi prison, Stalag 17 is the barrack where we follow a group of American prisoners that live together. They discover that there is an informer in their barrack. It's a story based on true American values: loyalty, pride, humor, friendship, and mercantilism. I always find it funny to watch a film that vehicles American values and ridiculing the German captors made by a born Germanized (Poland) director; Billy Wilder. Well, it's known that he earned his American citizenship and he had to escape from Germany after Hitler took power because of his Jewish ancestors. It's no surprise when we learned that he wrote Ninotchka for another German immigrate director; Ernst Lubitsch. The two films are about the American values and life. These outsiders tend to understand better the land that welcomed and rescued them from Nazi oppression.

Far from being a masterpiece, Stalag 17 is an efficient film and a very good entertainment. It's not a surprise to see this film in IMDb Top 250 movies. Billy Wilder's films have this quality of pure entertainment and this freshness that make them hold within all these years. The performances, especially William Holden who earned an Oscar, are strong and the story is fresh and funny. A classic in the prison film genre!

A Film Retrospective by Michaël Parent