The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, 1943)

Structured a lot like Lawrence of Arabia, a film that constantly reminds The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp even if Lawrence was made twenty years later, Colonel Blimp feels fresher and deserves as much if not more recognition than the other British film. The structure evoked before, is how the prologue of the film opens with actions that will brings us back in the story where it all begins. Another War drama influenced by this film of The Archers: Patton, the persona of the main character especially, reminds of the romantic good hearted Colonel Blimp. Made in vibrant colours like many of The Archers’ films of the 1940’s, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is one of the most notorious films of this prolific duet. Although the saturation of the colours didn’t overshadows the quality of the ensemble of the film.
The strengths of the Powell/Pressburger “mise en scène” is the sober approach and the clear subtext to every script they directed together. Their classic placing of cameras, the terra cotta palette used in Colonel Blimp gives a clear naturally neat feeling to the package.

Secondly, the subtext of their scripts is important because every story told by The Archers has its meaning in terms of sexuality, violence, philosophy, and life. The mainstream appeal of the story is the perfect setting to reach a wider audience while spreading concepts that goes beyond the actual script. The imagery of Powell & Pressburger is clear and the situations have plenty of deep meanings. The camaraderie between Colonel Blimp and his fellow military men is important and it shows how romantic Blimp conceives War and life in general. There’s also the aspect of time passing by the characters without any other clear indicator than the aging of the main character getting grades and being more and more into the bourgeoisie of high military ranks. The lesson we feel like getting is that success always isolate those who are earning it. This is the case here with Colonel Blimp.

Overall, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is a nice gem of British Cinema that most of the times is shadowed by Powell/Pressburger’s other great films like The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus and also by other epic films like Lawrence of Arabia, Patton, and The Bridge on the River Kwai. There’s probably the age factor, made in 1943, and the fact that The Archers are not as widely known as Francis Ford Coppola or David Lean. Anyhow, they deserve much more recognition for their extraordinary work on their films. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp ranks amongst their strongest efforts. Highly recommended.

Un prophète

Un prophète (Jacques Audiard, 2009)

Nominated for best foreign film at the 2010 Academy awards, Un prophète, beaten by a lesser film, sets itself amongst the great films of the first decade of the 21st Century. The story of the young Arab of 19 years old Malik entering in jail for 6 years. He has no family, no friends, no allies, no enemies, he doesn’t know how to read and write. Shortly he’ll understand that his only chance to survive is to “work” for the Corsicans. But our protagonist is a fast learner, he’ll learn to read, to write, to speak Italian, and more important to make connections and be influent. His stay in jail will bring him from a nobody to the head of one of the most important group of gangsters.

Life in prison is hard and the hierarchy of the groups must be respected as for the dominant ethnies. This is more than the passage of a man from boyhood to manhood or the adoption of a lone kid by a substitute father or even the orphan recreating his own family. Well, this is the amalgam of all these elements blended together as for the religious journey a man must handle to get through in his life. This last element is symbolized more than actually being explicit to the viewer, there’s some kind of purification through the process and even if Malik conspires against the law he tries to unite and instore peace amongst the many gangs who wants to control the drug traffic. There’s also a deeper symbolism when the “propos” of the film is analyzed with the religious aspects of Muslim, but this critic isn’t a specialist of religions. The further comments will get on the filmic qualities of the film.

For the visuals, Audiard took an almost documentary style of filmmaking to shoot Un prophète. Even if this technique seems to be the way to shoot films nowadays, the treatment of it really fits well with the story. It gives an objective point of view as for a slightly realistic feeling to the images. The editing is traditional and we don’t feel too much cuts or too many overuses of axis. The cinematography gives a lot of latitude to the performances of the wonderful actors. Speaking of which, the presence of Niels Arestrup as Cesar Luciani and Tahar Rahim as Malik is unsettling in their truth and transparent work. They completely inhabit their characters without pushing too hard or even overplaying the dramatic emotions. The subtle but captivating soundtrack of Un prophète gently mixes the different heavy moments of solitude and meditation of the main character.

The love of foreign films seems to grow slowly amongst the cinephiles and sometimes the fact that the North American audiences should “read” the film stops them from seeing it at all. However, the most challenging movies are sometimes the ones that are most worth the look. Un prophète especially qualifies for that instance; its many levels of understanding, the quality of the acting, the richness of the script, and the mastered “mise en scène” are the main reasons why every film enthusiast should watch it.

The Killer Inside Me (2010)

The Killer Inside Me (Michael Winterbottom, 2010)

Michael Winterbottom’s film is a raw yet beautifully vicious film. Starring soon to become superstar Casey Affleck as a mild-mannered cop of the 1950’s, the beautiful Jessica Alba as a prostitute, and Kate Hudson as the main character’s girlfriend. From the first ten minutes to the end of the film us, the viewer, is completely immerged as a participant of the story. We are the witness of Lou Ford’s (Affleck) crimes, shenanigans and his perversions.


As conventional as the film would open, the first encounter of Joyce Lakeland (Alba), the prostitute, is vile and vicious, what seems like a cruel beating turns out to be a passionate session of sex. Some moments of The Killer Inside Me are unsupportable while others show deep intense, yet strange, love moments. The contrast of those moments is utterly disturbing for the viewer who is forced to be the partner of Ford’s evil plan. The structure of the film is modern and some elements and characters seem like if they are out of a David Lynch picture, see Bill Pullman’s unsettling performance, or from a David Cronenberg, see Elias Koteas’ intentionally cliché presence.

As you might think, The Killer Inside Me is a heavy film full of sexual games and violent pleasures. Set in Texas and in the 1950’s the themes of the film are a contrast to the conventional way of American life in those little towns where the suburbs and the giant house of Lou’s late father are a subtext of peace and common space. Lou Ford is an intriguing character filled with subtleties of Casey Affleck’s extraordinary performance. He seems like someone who never had to prove something and he just didn’t fit with the other people of the little town.

It was my first encounter with a film by Michael Winterbottom and I must admit that I am positively surprised by the freshness of the discourse and the quality of the images. Some frames reminded me of the mastered hand of Stanley Kubrick always inventing alternate ways to shot a dialogue scene or something commonly shot with textbook reaction shots. Aspects of Lynch and Cronenberg also occurs to me especially when we take part in Ford’s perversions and crimes. But the Winterbottom touch is how the psychology of the characters plays strong in the balance of this mastered mise-en-scène. It’s the human/horrible side of the character that keeps us watching but also loathes us to idolize the violence and acts of him. The use of music is important and some sequences are cinematic bliss in the juxtaposition of the music and the images. The Killer Inside Me will change the order of my Top 10 of the best films of 2010.

Easy Rider

Easy Rider (Dennis Hopper, 1969)
A man is looking for America but couldn’t find it anywhere... What a plot line! Dennis Hopper’s directorial debut, Easy Rider was a big commercial success at the box office but also at Cannes. Made with only 40 000$ it grossed 60 million dollars. The film reflected the changes and the problems America was facing in the late 1960’s, it also hooked the many young folks who were experiencing those liberating years while in the same time (around 1968) the US government was seriously entering into the Vietnam War.

The setting of Easy Rider is pretty simple, two hippie bikers Peter Fonda as Captain America or Hyatt and Dennis Hopper as Billie make a prosperous drug deal in some place that looks like New Mexico. From this point, with the money earned from the deal they will go on a road trip on their motorcycle to the Mardi Gras to do their dreams. On the road they will meet a hippie hitch-hiker that will bring them in his community where the people is trying to live from their crops and be independent from the rest of the world. Some kind of garden of Eden, especially represented with the sequence with the naked bath in the river. This whole sequence in the community is utopian and those little idealist “tribes” were temporaries escapes from the modern changing world. The main characters leave because this whole scene has some weariness and the simplicity of this life probably just doesn’t fit with their journey.

After a while our two bikers continue their trip in America and they’ll encounter a young lawyer (Jack Nicholson) after a stay in a little town’s jail. The lawyer, an open minded drunk will follow them and bring some explanations to the common hostilities towards the two hippies.

The freedom represented in Easy Rider, has many layers: the freedom of the two hippies from their moral obligations and their freedom of image (hairs, clothes, bikes, etc.). The film itself brought in American film the anti-heroes that will lead the way to the 1970’s films of the Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, Hal Ashby, Bob Rafelson, Michael Cimino, and the many directors of this decade. The low costs of the making of the film versus the profits opened the doors of the studios and also to the theatres for the filmmakers with a message and a soul. Something, earlier in the 1960’s, only the old guard of filmmakers could attain with their director’s cut in big studios.

Easy Rider was a phenomenon and also a revolution in filmmaking, Hopper was the leader of this revolution. Sadly, his subsequent films didn’t had the same critical praise and commercial successes. He practically died in the 1970’s with strong drugs addictions and multiple cases of wife beatings. He almost had a tragic end like his idol, James Dean, with who he starred with in Nicholas Ray’ s masterpiece Rebel Without A Cause. Well, Dennis Hopper had a miserable childhood and he always had anger problems. His film demonstrate that he had an exceptional talent and his script, co-written with producer Peter Fonda (son of Henri and father of Bridget) and Terry Southern, shows how he understood his generation and its issues. His camera accentuates the almost documentary vision of his script. The few dialogues and the metaphors of the motorcycles give to the film a Western-like blended with Road movie genre. The Western genre has always been a true American aspect of the Cinema. The “propos” of the film is mainly about America, especially about the Young or the New America. This revisionist version of a modern day Western/Road movie makes it even more appealing to the audience.

The leftist revolution in American movies was coming in part from the French New Wave that brought new liberties in filmmaking and many communist/maoist ideas especially from Jean-Luc Godard. In Easy Rider we are not in the presence of a political movie like if you are watching a Godard film but its revolution and new freedom is palpable.

Easy Rider is a turning point in American Cinema and probably in its History, without it you can forget about the second Golden Age of this art. With Hopper’s film, the Cinema got closer to the common issues of American young adults, with the introduction of drugs, violence, sex and the free spirited thoughts of this era.

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

The Day the Earth Stood Still (Robert Wise, 1951)


This Science fiction classic by Robert Wise the man who directed masterpiece noir films like The Set-Up, musicals like West Side Story (co-directed with Jerome Robbins) and The Sound of Music, horror films like The Haunting and who edited Citizen Kane, did a strong impressive film with The Day the Earth Stood Still. Shot in 1951, during the McCarthyist era, this film tells the coming of a stranger from outer space in a little town of America. The actual alien, in the form of a man is helped by a little boy to hide.

The alien has a message to deliver to planet Earth, stop the wars and unite all nations together to save planet Earth from its own annihilation. It may be bold that the film wants to tell the world to stop the Cold War and make peace. The visitor from outer space represents the terror of the communism. It recalls in Steven Spielberg’s War of the World the kid yelling are they terrorists? Both the rogue menace of their times: in the 1950’s the menace was coming from the communism inside America and in the 2000’s it was(is) terrorism, sometimes from inside the country. The Day the Earth Stood Still is a critic of the current witch hunt of the time. Robert Wise an inside filmmaker of Hollywood surely knew some of the show business people targeted and blacklisted in Hollywood. His film might have been some kind of gesture towards his contemporaries in support to them. Set in the Sci-fi genre, a film had a easier ground to tell a virulent message.

In the form, The Day the Earth Stood Still has a beautiful black and white picture as every other Robert Wise picture. However, the frames are classic but well shot and the subtle but strong “mise en scène” by Wise places this film amongst the greatest films of its time. The directing of a film doesn’t needs to be off the wall, a strong film like Lumet’s style or Polanski’s are almost absent like the best example: a Fordian picture. When you don’t think about where the filmmaker put his camera during the film it means that you are in the presence of a mastered subtle “mise en scène”. Unlike Hitchcock or Scorsese, a subtle directing gives a more realistic approach to a story and we don’t feel like we are at the movies. The Day the Earth Stood Still, is a Sci-fi film and the realistic approach could be absent but instead the way it was filmed makes it even more believable, it is also more efficient that way to believe that an alien actually landed on Earth. The same strategy as M. Night Shyamalan used in his slightly above average Signs.
The Day the Earth Stood Still influenced many Science fictions films to come and still stands as one of the best films in the genre. Even if it’s “propos” isn’t as actual as it was in 1951 it still deserves it’s recognition.

Crash (1996)

Crash (David Cronenberg, 1996)

Based on J.G. Ballard's novel, which I haven't read, David Cronenberg's Crash depicts the changes in  the lives of cinematographer James Ballard (James Spader) and his wife Catherine (Deborah Kara Unger), an open minded couple with no boundaries on fidelity. The film opens with each having sex with another partner and shortly after telling each other their experience. If this seems twisted you haven't seen the rest of the film yet.

eXistenZ

eXistenZ (David Cronenberg, 1999)

Have I already said how original and unique I find David Cronenberg’s films? Well, let’s just say that as of today I consider him as one of the most important Canadian director. Forget James Cameron or Paul Haggis, have you seen his A History of Violence and his Eastern Promises? If not, I recommend them it’s not mandatory but almost. I really like how he dismantle the human body and the sexual desires of modern day men and women. His special effects are unique and their touch is immediately recognizable.

The Man Who Would Be King

The Man Who Would Be King (John Huston, 1975)

Entering in a John Huston film is always a challenge for because I tend to not like his films very much: The Maltese Falcon was ok but take Bogart apart and it's never the same movie. The Asphalt Jungle is in my opinion a better Noir than Maltese... As for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The African Queen, they are adventure movies that tend too much of crowd pleasers to my tastes. Moby Dick is probably my favorite of his films I've seen so far! Well, you would say I need to see The Misfits, Beat the Devil, The Dead, Wise Blood, Key Largo, Under the Volcano, etc. Probably, but for now I catched The Man Who Would Be King on a specialised movie channel and I surprisingly liked it.

India and those Arabian countries were gold mines to directors of the old generation(s), Fritz Lang, Jean Renoir, Louis Malle, Roberto Rossellini, and others I surely forgot. The Man Who... is the story of two adventurers British soldiers (Sean Connery and Michael Caine) who would be (Kings) rich, free, and on their own. They decide to travel to an almost inhospitable country to fight for a land and become kings. They learn that no white men have returned alive from that land. We they arrive there they form an army and decide to conquer to learn that they are on the path of the Greek almost god Alexander The Great. One of them is then considered as his son.

This epic story about the will to become great men, kings shows how the power can lead to greatness but also to excesses in every aspect. The presence of Connery is extraordinary and his character's evolution is well mastered with his ever growing taste for power.

The cinematography is interesting and the vast landscapes are filming really well as the close-ups of the stars and the natives actors. Without knowing the year the movie was made, 1975, I couldn't have guessed if it was in the 1960's 1970's or in the 1980's. It has an unperishable glow on it and some interiors reminded me of the firsts Indiana Jones in their lighting and presentation.

The two leads, Sean Connery and Michael Caine did an excellent job. Their pairing is interesting and also really British comedic. This is maybe one of the aspects I was the more surprised about, how the dialogues included lots of jokes between the two main characters and how it felt right in this genre that is wildly and boldly over serious.

With The Man Who Would Be King John Huston gain some points in my personnal Director rating. I probably have this negative approach to his films mainly because of François Truffaut who used to constantly bash Huston's films... After all, we all have our opinions on films and whether they are great or dull.

The Hustler

The Hustler (Robert Rossen, 1961)

This picture is famous mostly for Paul Newman's strong lead as the talented billiard player: Fast Eddie. He'll try to make a fortune by being a real winner with a real life. Piper Laurie as his love interest will play the part of morale that keeps Eddie on the right path. Fast Eddie is one of the first anti-heroes of his generation. Besides his conventional settings he'll forge the path of the new American hero or antihero. Not as interesting or extreme as Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle, we sense that maybe Fast Eddie was one of its precursors.

The clean black and white photography reminds us the beautiful Noirs of the 1940's that probably inspired the many scenes shot in bars and billiard clubs. In comparison with Scorsese's sequel, The Color Of Money, the billiard scenes were shot in a more naturalistic way. Scorsese's film was more of an artistic experiment of moving cameras and angles.

The billiard is the wallpaper of the plot, Fast Eddie's approach to his relationships is the center of the story. His struggle against his weaknesses is his path.

The way the story evolves is very 1960's, because the filmmaker takes all the time to set up his story. In some way, I found some similarities between The Hustler and À bout de souffle. They aren't in the same category but I think that it treats of the same generation that grow in the post-Second World War era of plenty and freedom. Those kids represent the fallen heroes of the pre-1970's pictures. This generation of the Cold War era pre-hippie "fashion or trend" was the pivot between conformism and liberalism.

I don't think that The Hustler is a movie as important and as revolutionary as Godard's. But I think it slowly opened the way to a more progressive point of view in American Cinema.

It is indeed a great piece of film that I really enjoyed in the richness of its plot and the wonderful performances by Piper Laurie, George C. Scott, and Paul Newman. A Classic!

The Naked Jungle

The Naked Jungle (Byron Haskins, 1954)

This wonderful adventure movie starring Charlton Heston as Christopher Leiningen, a wealthy self-made man living on his cocoa plantation in Amazonia, diserves much praise than it actually received. Christopher has built his fortune with his own hands and bought everything he owns himself. He took great care in his choices choosing only new, never touched, furnitures for his immaculate white house. Even his piano is new from the factory, but as you learn studying music and in The Naked Jungle, a piano always sounds better when it's been played before. The story is set in the beginning of the twentieth century.

Leiningen has many Amerindian workers and in all his kindness he doesn't beat them or tie them to keep them working for him. He also understands their culture and laws. Christopher is a good master and a good diplomat. However, there's one thing he can't quite understand and master: women. When Joana (Eleanor Parker) arrives he'll have to handle this strong woman who by the way can play the pianoand confront Christopher with strong arguments. Even after their wedding Leiningen still have problems to understand his wife and her secret.


Meanwhile, a great menace will change their lives. Ants. Leiningen will have to sacrifice everything he'll have to save his workers and his wife from this danger.


The Naked Jungle is a film filled with symbolism on humanity, virtue, and how sacrifice is mandatory in the fight for their lives. The invasion of ants symbolizes how Leiningen has to struggle and forget everything he knows and owns to become a real man and open his heart to his wife. There is also the symbolism of purification with the deliberate fire of the furnitures to protect the villa from the ants. The morning after, we discover Joanna in her white dress in bed with white sheets like if she was born again from this purification. Shortly after, Leiningen will open the dam that was keeping the river's water from flooding the plantation. The water washes the last ants away and finalizes the purification. It also represents how Leiningen must open his mind and his heart to love and recognize his love to his wife.

Byron Haskins mostly made Noirs that I'll try to catch sometime soon because The Naked Jungle is a very interesting film that showed real mastery from its filmmaker. I highly recommend this very enjoyable Adventure film.

Greenberg

Greenberg (Noah Baumbach, 2010)

Since The Squid and the Whale I always been an admirator of Baumbach's offbeat comedies. The story of his film of 2005 was so close to what my family was living that I immediately put it in my all-time bests.

Greenberg is an unpretentious little breezy film about a man trying to get out of his depressive antisocial patterns. Once again, a character I easily can get associated with. Sadly, I'm a little antisocial and I have a facility to fell into a depressive state... But in the case of Greenberg, the "propos" doesn't get annoying at all.

The rythm of the story is right and it never gets over dramatic. The plot and the chjaracters evolves in a good way and little redemption is at the end. Meanwhile, it doesn't get over cheezy or too melodramatic.

Ben Stiller as Greenberg gives a fine performance and he lets his character get all the subtilities it needs. The other actors that populate the film are very good in this well constructed play.

Baumbach's film isn't as flamboyant or exhilarating as the next indie comedy but it brings something new to a subject that has recently populated many films.

Waking Life

Waking Life (Richard Linklater, 2001)

Richard Linklater is one of the most versatile directors working out there. He goes from doing a authorist oeuvre like Before Sunrise to a more mainstream film like School of Rock and having success in both cases. This original animated feature made with an uncommon technique of "drawing" over actual shoot footage results in a beautiful, but dreamy, graphical picture.

Apart from being visually stunning this Odyssey of dreams into dreams recalls Luis Bunuel's Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie for its many states of awakening dreams. Waking Life is mostly philosophical and alike Before Sunset/Before Sunrise the story evolves around many conversations. Some of these conversations are set with concrete matters and others just play on the metaphysical level. Waking Life feels like a film essay about life and our perceptions of the present time.

I actually enjoyed most of the film and how the story slowly evolves around the main character. The lower point of the visual effects is that sometimes there are so much movement that it makes you a little dizzy. A must see.

The Social Network

The Social Network (David Fincher, 2010)

This movie is about the story of the most infamous addictive 500 millions + members website: Facebook. Based upon the book The Accidental Billionnaire and brilliantly adapted by screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network is more than just worth a look. The central character, Mark Zuckerberg co-founder of Facebook is strongly impersonnated by the young rising star Jesse Eisenberg (The Squid and The Whale, Zombieland, Adventureland).

Sorkin's script evolves simultaneously around the two poursuits against Zuckerberg and on the beginnings of the 25 billions dollars enterprise to be. Tighly constructed and perfectly written The Socail Network hits in the middle of the target. It doesn't have a substory where it slows tha pace of the movie. Everything is important in the plot and many elements are crossed-referenced within the film.

David Fincher handles the dark interiors of Harvard with soft warn colors contrasting with the clear cold lights of the glassed rooms of the offices of the lawyers and even in the offices of Facebook themselves.

The character himself, Mark Zuckerberg, is intriguing and many subtilities of his persona are lighted. However, Zuckerberg isn't a very known face to me and unlike a public person like Bill Gates for example, I can't really compare the personification with the real man.

On the popularity of The Socail Network, I think it stands for most part because of the popularity of Facebook, the website. Let's face it, who's not on it?Even bth my parents have their own accounts at 54 and 53.
Moreover, I think the success of The Social Network relies on the clarity and the concise script it stands on. You don't have anything useless. Also the fact that this is a true story based on real events and real poursuits and mostly because this is the story of a successful man living the American Dream in the 21st Century with the methods of the 21st Century.

David Fincher now stands as a major name in filmmaking and his attempt to make his own Citizen Kane proves he is good because it felt personnal and not like an imitation of something else. This is a work of his  own. A must see!

The Silence (1963)

TSPDT Greatest Films #452 The Silence (Ingmar Bergman, 1963)

Bergman's films always had simple stories presenting complex and intense emotions. The Silence is no exception here. Two sisters, Ester (Ingrid Thulin) and Anna (Gunnel Lindblom) travel with Anna's son. Ester is terribly ill and must pass most of her time in bed. She is an intellectual and writes a lot. Anna is still young and pretty and she easily makes contact with other human beings, getting a lover as soon as she arrives in the city. On the other side Ester would like to meet someone but she can't even leave her room. Meanwhile, Johan (Anna's son) discovers life in the corridors of the hotel meeting a troop of midgets for example.
The story, as stated before, may seem very simple but the emotions between the two sisters is so intense that sometimes we feel that this relationship always crosses the line of love and hate.

Sven Nykvist cinematography is once again impeccable with lots of crude lights and perfect camera positionning in every scene. The actress are, like every Bergman picture, tight and they inhabit their characters.

The Silence is simply another masterpiece in Ingmar Bergman long list of landmarks.

Pather Panchali (1955)

Pather Panchali (Satyajit Ray, 1955)

When I discovered Pather Panchali it was the first Satyajit Ray film I've ever seen, and it was also the first Indian film I watched. I knew it was the first part of the Apu Trilogy and that it was considered as a true masterpiece. But I didn't knew that it was gonna be one of the most recognized "foreign" film. 

Its narration is very subtle and lets lots of space to the actors to actually live on the screen. I know there was a novel on which the trilogy is based but I also read somewhere that it is almost Satyajit Ray's autobiography.

Pather Panchali is the story of an Indian peasant family living with the grand mother, a son Apu and his sister. It depicts how Indians lived in the begininng of the 20th century. The discovery of modernity illustrated by the train and the fragility of life represented by the daughter's death.

The most important aspect of this filmmaking is how Satyajit Ray wants his film to be naturalistic and realistic. It possesses a documentary-like narration of objective camera and almost a non-existent plot. It depicts life itself and what is Cinema if it's not about life? Ray's films are hard to get and sometimes as Occidentals we are a little confused about what's going on the screen but for a glutton and curious cinephile like me Pather Panchali leads you in something completely different and very interesting.

Fort Apache (1948)

TSPDT Greatest Films #920 Fort Apache (John Ford, 1948)

The first chapter of John Ford's heroic trilogy on the American cavalry, Fort Apache represents everything about a classic Fordian offering. With his two favorite lead players; guy next door Henry Fonda and the ultimate American father; John Wayne. It's very interesting to see a film where Henry Fonda portrays the antagonist. Once Upon A Time In the West is probably his most famous performance as a bad guy. In a Ford picture, supporting roles are very important, here you have Shirley Temple as Colonel Thursday's daughter Philadelphia, and many Ford regulars like Pedro Armendariz, Ward Bond, and John Agar to name a few. These roles played by regular Ford players are important because they all have a very distinctive mission in the community that cavalry reprensents. The community and the strenght of the people together is the central theme of John Ford's entire oeuvre. The cavalry itself represents this concept and its success relates on the bond, the gentleness of the entire group and the order of this fellowship.

The new Colonel Owen Thursday (Henry Fonda) is sent to Fort Apache to reinstore peace with the tribes living on the reserva near the border of Mexico. He is dreading this assignment and on his way there he says to his daughter that the War in Europa was more interesting. This stubborn character is fueled by a thirst of military honour. His arrival marks the interruption of a dancing night (recurring Fordian mise-en-scène sign of civilized community) illustring his inability to have human relationships and to represent, the strict but, comprehensive leading "father" figure this group diserves. His hate towards this assignment leads him to demand "strictness of military procedure that the men have never found necessary" (Robert Kolker, A Cinema of Loneliness).

The second dance of the film is a long musical sequence that serves the narrative of the film in many ways. First, it holds our breath on the return of Captain York from his encounter with the Indian chief. But also, the evolution of the dance represents the symbol of unity and how the cavalry community should hold together and move on the same rythm and music with synchronized footsteps and tight order.

The characters in Fort Apache all have Irish names, Ford was a proud Irish man and he widely populated his films with Irish people. We found many other recurring aspects Ford's films in Fort Apache, the humouristic supporting cast parts, whiskey drinkers, splendid Monument Valley shots, heroic music, and the sad but realistic racism towards Indians. Realistic because it was the perception Ford had about Indians and sadly many Americans had too. Later in his career John Ford will correct this situation with another Western that tries to replace these errors: Cheyenne Autumn.

In John Ford's filmography, Fort Apache represents one of the many great films he directed. Like Robert Kolker wrote in his book A Cinema of Loneliness; Fort Apache was one of the films that inspired the form of Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory. I recommend both films even if their conclusions differ from one another: Ford vision of life was that humans must live in community to reach for a perfect society and everyone must participate. On the other hand, Kubrick's vision is way more nihilistic and he concludes with the inevitable impotency of Colonel Dax in his request in front of the Generals and the heaviness of these buffons. Kubrick's film is more based on antimilitarism in a time of the Cold War. His film tries to denonciate the State, the Army, and how it litteraly uses young men has cannon flesh (chair à canons).

The Naked Kiss (1964)

The Naked Kiss (Samuel Fuller, 1964)

Directed by Samuel Fuller, The Naked Kiss is an amazing film for its time and its modernity. The themes treated are serious and mature. They surprised me like some elements of the plot of Anatomy of a Murder's sexual references and subjects.

The films begins with Kelly (Constance Towers) giving a series of hits towards the moving and shaking camera. We understand that she is assulting a man but for which reason? She only is in her bra and she losses her wig and we see that she is completely bald. With these first minutes and with even the first image of the film the viewer is involved in the story. The scene tells us that she is a prostitute and the man being savagely hit is her "pimp". Tired of this life of degradation and abnormality, Kelly moves to Grantville or if you prefer Anytown USA*. After one last job as "selling champagne", she decides to start a new life. Kelly becomes a nurse at the well-known hospital for handicaped children of Grantville. Her devotion to the children and her love for them is very maternal. All along the movie this is the feeling that Kelly needs to fulfill a void of being childless. Kelly's deiser is to get a "normal" life and be a better person. At the hospital she gets involved with Dr. Grant and they planned to get married, but a tragic event will force Kelly to change her plans and learned another lesson on maternal instinct.

Samuel Fuller has been knowed for his style categorized has "Cinema fist", it came from a shot in one of his films where the actor punches directly into the camera and breaks it. He makes tough movies and looking at The Steel Helmet or The Big Red One we feel that Fuller is a real man with raw shots and sometimes weirdly framed images that fit surprisingly well together. Anyhow, he can direct some very sentimental scenes, especially in The Naked Kiss when all the children are singing together with Kelly. This scene is very efficient and the children loooked straight into the camera in plain shot. A moment after the tape of the song is used again in a whole other situation and the song has a whole other dramatic effect on the audience. Fuller demonstrate a strong use of music and he is not afraid to put more than once the same song in the movie and transpose it in another context to suggest different emotions with the same tune.

This is no surprise that the French New Wave love his films; they are true and they represent filmmaking like it should be; propose multiple emotions and feelings to the public. The Naked Kiss is a little American Film Noir gem that deserves way more recognition that it actually has. I hope that it's reedition by Criterion (18 January 2011) will get him a wider audience.

They Were Expendable (1945)

TSPDT Greatest Films #451 They Were Expendable (John Ford, 1945)

During the Pacific War, John Ford wanted to support the troops with the one thing he mastered the best; filmmaking. He got in the Pacific Islands with color films to shot the battles of the US Navy. The ended up being the documentary Battle of Midway on those battles that earned him a permanent title of Captain for the US Navy. The filmmaking and the storyteller he was wanted todo even more, he directed They Were Expendable. A film about the self involvement of the US Navy into this war.

As many of his Westerns, Cavalry trilogy or any genre he would approach, with success I may say, Ford shows the collective effort and family-like involvement human beings must accomplish to realize their mission. This spirit of group is even stronger here in a film about the Navy. Every character has his strenght and should use it the best he can. This is not a film made for propaganda but to commemorate and honor those men who give their lives and soul for these battles. My favorite scene in the film involves Rusty Ryan (John Wayne) and Sally Harris (Donna Reed), the moment when they go dancing and they sit on the hamac. This is a very sentimental but also very well filmed with dark lighting and beautiful shots of the couple. It shows how Ford can film battle sequences with reality but he also can create a scene that recreates a real romance.

I did knew what to expect from The Were Expendable but it goes right into one of my favorite Ford films so far. Still, there are so many I haven't watched yet that it will be too soon to make a Top list of his films. Maybe in 2011 you'll have the chance to discover this list...

Le genou de claire (1970)

TSPDT Greatest Films #385 Le genou de Claire (Eric Rohmer, 1970)

One of the most sensual offering of Eric Rohmer's Moral tales. Le genou de Claire tells the story of Jérôme, a diplomat living for a month in the villa of his family in Switzerland near the Leman Lake. He mets one of his closest friend, Aurora a writer that convinces Jérôme to flirt with Laura and then he choose by himself to extend the play or simply by his own curiosity to seduce Claire, Laura's older sister.

This film would have had never seen the light of day if it was made today. The weirdness of the relationship between Jérôme, 35 years and Laura, 16 years old gives us a little uneasiness to care for the succes of the relationship. On some level, we actually are relieve to learn that there was no attraction, but the images are still weird. The first half of the film is all about Jérôme and Laura. But when Claire appears, the sexual desire is more palpable and the shots of Claire's knee and the rest of her body too, are very sensual and attractive. The strenght of the situations is fully exploited with the fact that the viewer knows that Jérôme is strongly appealed by Claire's knee. Rohmer undresses her knees and it appears in every frame of the scenes she is in.

Like the other Rohmer films I had the opportunity to see, there are lots and lots of dialogue. French films probably earn their stereotype of being laborious on the talks because of Rohmer only. Don't read me wrong, I love this kind of blabbering that reminds me of a Woody Allen or the Before Sunrise/Before Sunset duet by Richard Linklater. On the visual level, this is by far his most beautiful film, filled with images of nature and colorful outdoors. It's fact, Rohmer loved to shot in exteriors and I think that he simply mastered those scenes.

I am ashamed to say that I am discovering Rohmer's oeuvre and I think that this is way too late after his death earlier this year. In respect I will check everyone of them and report back my thoughts on every of them.

La boulangère de Monceau (1963)

La boulangère de Monceau (Eric Rohmer, 1963)

This nice little short also known as the first part of Rohmer's Six Moral Tales is told like a short story. The plot, a young man of Paris is captivated by a beautiful stranger he often met on the street. One day he decides to approach her and ask her to go out. But, their path won't cross again for a while. His life, is dedicated to the moment they will meet again, but time passes and he got bored of waiting so everyday he grabs a shortbread cookie in a little bakery. He agreeds to flirt with the little baker girl and slowly develops a relationship with her. The same day that the baker accepts a date, the stranger reappears...

Rohmer's moral tales are all narrated by the main character of each film and they have this literary feel to them. Their characters are often students or artists and the storyline is often about love and the beginning of relationships. La boulangère de Monceau is an excellent setting for the rest of the serie, it may have been your host's favorite one yet.

Obviously, this a film of the French New Wave and it feels a lot like one. The jump-cuts, the amateurish actors and the many wandering characters in many exterior scenes, well the film is set entirely in exteriors. The use of a beautiful black and white with many long and unedited shots and few multiple angles in the scenes. A trademark, or if you prefer, a trend very French New Wave. La boulangère de Monceau, has this something about it that gives you a good time and makes you ask for the following tales of Eric Rohmer.