Down by Law (Jim Jarmusch, 1986)
Jack (John Lurie), Zack (Tom Waits), and Bob (Roberto Benigni) three complete strangers, are put together in the same prison cell for crimes they did not commit. One day, Bob tells them how they could escape.
Showing posts with label 1986. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1986. Show all posts
2013-11-04
2013-10-04
The Sacrifice (Offret)
The Sacrifice (Offret) (Andreï Tarkovsky, 1986)
The final film of Andreï Tarkovsky, Offret is his most obvious attempt at making a film like his idol : Ingmar Bergman. The comparison with the Swedish master will be aborded later in this review, but that fact diluate the value of the work of Tarkovsky in this film. His signature, of superb cinematography and philosophical plots of spirituality are present but so bergmanian in their execution that it fades his personality as a creator.
2012-02-25
Le déclin de l'empire américain
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".
Le déclin de l'empire américain aka The Decline of the American Empire (Denys Arcand, 1986)
Nominated for the Oscar for Best foreign film in 1987, Le déclin(...) is one of the few films that Quebecois are truly proud. Even if it didn't aged really well, this "auteur" film is the first part of the sequel to Les invasions barbares aka The Barbarians Invasions that won the Oscar for Best foreign film in 2004. Both films written and directed by respected director Denys Arcand who came into filmmaking by the documentary feature first, like many Quebecois directors Pierre Perreault and Michel Brault just to name a few. Early in his career he was a committed documentary filmmaker but with the coming of the referendum of 1980 he decided to emancipate himself and make films for the US market. Letting aside his personal aesthetic and the long monologues that characterized his direct Cinema, Arcand didn't succeed with his two English langage films. However, success came with the release of Le déclin(...), a very personal film made with a bunch of very talented and well known actors of the Province like Dominique Michel, Dorothée Berryman, Louise Portal, Pierre Curzy, Rémi Girard (Incendies), and Yves Jacques amongst others.
A synopsis of the film isn't necessary, it reprensents well educated adults who discuss about life, sex, relationships, and the preoccupations of our society. It fells like a nice mix of Eric Rohmer, Woody Allen (Hannah and Her Sisters), late 1960's Jean-Luc Godard but everything with a little bit of Maple syrup just to keep it Québécois enough. The monologues and the storytelling is quite unique and the modern day viewer may find some characters annoying, it is indeed done in purpose. Lots of characters are more than despicable, the represent they bourgeois Baby boomers of the Quebecois society. The plot is thin and this is clearly an observation by Arcand on his peers and probably on his life. He depicts how the men and women are in a battle of sex and how social success and accomplishment is only available by the number of partners or how your sexual life makes you happier than the next person. It is filled with sardonic and cynical commentaries with an erudit sense of rightness and an immersing society study. The documentary eye of the director is never far and the way he lets the scenes flow and take place without editing uselessly feels like he puts a microscope on the group of people he choose to observe.
In his country, Denys Arcand is a celebrated director and of the living director he is regarded as the most brilliant. However, in the Province of Québec people tend to have a short memory when it comes to Art or Culture and they easily forgot Claude Jutra, Gilles Carle, Frédéric Back, Michel Brault, Pierre Perreault, Gilles Groulx, Jean-Claude Lauzon, Jean-Claude Lord just to name a few.
Arcand's film might not please everyone's tastes but it is a Classic and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to know just a little more about my part of the world.
Rating:
Nominated for the Oscar for Best foreign film in 1987, Le déclin(...) is one of the few films that Quebecois are truly proud. Even if it didn't aged really well, this "auteur" film is the first part of the sequel to Les invasions barbares aka The Barbarians Invasions that won the Oscar for Best foreign film in 2004. Both films written and directed by respected director Denys Arcand who came into filmmaking by the documentary feature first, like many Quebecois directors Pierre Perreault and Michel Brault just to name a few. Early in his career he was a committed documentary filmmaker but with the coming of the referendum of 1980 he decided to emancipate himself and make films for the US market. Letting aside his personal aesthetic and the long monologues that characterized his direct Cinema, Arcand didn't succeed with his two English langage films. However, success came with the release of Le déclin(...), a very personal film made with a bunch of very talented and well known actors of the Province like Dominique Michel, Dorothée Berryman, Louise Portal, Pierre Curzy, Rémi Girard (Incendies), and Yves Jacques amongst others.
A synopsis of the film isn't necessary, it reprensents well educated adults who discuss about life, sex, relationships, and the preoccupations of our society. It fells like a nice mix of Eric Rohmer, Woody Allen (Hannah and Her Sisters), late 1960's Jean-Luc Godard but everything with a little bit of Maple syrup just to keep it Québécois enough. The monologues and the storytelling is quite unique and the modern day viewer may find some characters annoying, it is indeed done in purpose. Lots of characters are more than despicable, the represent they bourgeois Baby boomers of the Quebecois society. The plot is thin and this is clearly an observation by Arcand on his peers and probably on his life. He depicts how the men and women are in a battle of sex and how social success and accomplishment is only available by the number of partners or how your sexual life makes you happier than the next person. It is filled with sardonic and cynical commentaries with an erudit sense of rightness and an immersing society study. The documentary eye of the director is never far and the way he lets the scenes flow and take place without editing uselessly feels like he puts a microscope on the group of people he choose to observe.
In his country, Denys Arcand is a celebrated director and of the living director he is regarded as the most brilliant. However, in the Province of Québec people tend to have a short memory when it comes to Art or Culture and they easily forgot Claude Jutra, Gilles Carle, Frédéric Back, Michel Brault, Pierre Perreault, Gilles Groulx, Jean-Claude Lauzon, Jean-Claude Lord just to name a few.
Arcand's film might not please everyone's tastes but it is a Classic and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to know just a little more about my part of the world.
Rating:
2010-10-17
Aliens
Aliens (James Cameron, 1986)
I may as well, be one of James Cameron's furiest detractors, I must admit that I had some fun way back watching True Lies and the first two Terminators. I should also say that I've never imposed to myself the torture of Titanic and Avatar, yet. I know, as a cinephile I should have seen those mainstream extravaganzas. For both, I don't really have the interest of watching them and having heard so much from them that this is sure I will get bored and predict every moment of them. But, one day, after I'll have seen all the Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, Jean-Luc Godard, and all the other filmmaker's films I have deep interest in I will have to see Cameron's movies.
I may as well, be one of James Cameron's furiest detractors, I must admit that I had some fun way back watching True Lies and the first two Terminators. I should also say that I've never imposed to myself the torture of Titanic and Avatar, yet. I know, as a cinephile I should have seen those mainstream extravaganzas. For both, I don't really have the interest of watching them and having heard so much from them that this is sure I will get bored and predict every moment of them. But, one day, after I'll have seen all the Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, Jean-Luc Godard, and all the other filmmaker's films I have deep interest in I will have to see Cameron's movies.
2010-09-25
Rohmer's Le rayon vert
TSPDT Greatest Films #679 Le rayon vert (Eric Rohmer, 1986)
The death of Eric Rohmer in early 2010 made me realize that I don't know anything about him and/or having see any of his films. The day after his death I saw Ma nuit chez Maud that I completely adored. Lately this summer I offered myself a DVD Boxset of his entire oeuvre. I didn't knew with which film I should have continued my discovery of his work. Well, I think it was too early for me to watch Le rayon vert.
Le rayon vert is a very unsettling film because of its lack of concrete action and its annoying lead character incarnated by Marie Rivière. Delfine, has seen her vacations plans turned down by the let down of her friend. She has no plans and it buzzes her to travel alone. Some friends invite her but her behavior and her constant insatisfaction makes her change plans many times until she goes at the beach alone. They she met a Swedish young woman and once again she goes away escaping all human encounters. The morning after she met a young man that she suddently falls in love with. With a headbutt she decides to travel with him and live a magic moment from a Jules Verne book, the observation of the green ray.
Apart the last fifteen to twenty minutes of the film, the other hour is only a setlement for us to feel a little happy for Deflfine when she accepts the presence of someone other than herself... This self centered, egoist character only annoys the viewer by her constant complains. I would have liked to read some explanations about the intentions of Rohmer's film.
Following this viewing my duty will be to watch the precending films of Rohmer's oeuvre. I will probably watch Le signe du lion, his first film. What's your favorite Rohmer film?
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