Heaven Can Wait (1943)

Heaven Can Wait (Ernst Lubitsch, 1943)

An old roué arrives in Hades to review his life with Satan, who will rule on his eligibility to enter the Underworld.

Continuing the quest into my first goal in film watching, to watch the entire list of the 1000 Greatest Films of All Time of TSPDT, and my mini quest into this objective, watch in priority the films of the Pantheon Directors as stated by the late Andrew Sarris in his reference book American Cinema. I had only two films from director Ernst Lubitsch to see. Along with Heaven Can Wait, I have Angel to catch sometime soon. This one being my number 527 on the big total of 1000 I am slowly getting through the list one title at a time. Then it’s 473 films to watch, it means that I’ll be blogging and watching movies for a long time. In the same time you have some retro reviews I’m constantly writing to try to cover every entry on this list. Of the 527 movies I’ve seen almost half the films have been reviewed here. To get to those films quickly I have a 1000gf label that you can click on and discover the many titles already reviewed. I’m planning a whole big post about this obsession some time soon.

Let’s get to the movie directed by Ernst Lubitsch,  of his films I’ve seen and loved to different degrees; The Shop Around the Corner, To Be or Not to Be, Ninotchka, Design For Living, and Trouble in Paradise. Everyone who gets into his films will sense something called the “Lubitsch touch”. Many have tried to imitate it or reuse it but no one was Lubitsch other than Ernst Lubitsch himself. This so-called touch is a balanced mix of comedy, witty dialogues, quirky behaviors, a sense for bourgeoisie, and something a little bit of chivalrous.

In Heaven Can Wait, Henry Van Cleve (Don Ameche) arrives in Hades and must recall his life with the prince of darkness to see if he should be down in Hell or up in Heaven. Shot in bright colors and filled with superb costumes, the delicious dialogues and the subtle humor of the script makes this film a nice companion piece to a Max Ophüls film.

However, it felt a little flat for me and amongst the many Lubitsch films I’ve seen, this is my least favorite. The themes of a man loving beautiful women and getting to Hell for it seems a little conventional and too much Hayes coded. Far from being as great as Design For Living, his pre-code movie about a ménage à trois where two men a woman talk freely of sex, passion, and love. Heaven Can Wait is a little too sophisticated and of good taste in the filmography of our talented director.

At last, the role of Martha portrayed by beautiful brunette Gene Tierney is a much appreciated presence. Of all the beautiful young ladies in Heaven Can Wait she is the prettiest.

All in all, this average Lubitsch is not a torture and his lesser films are far better than any film from an average director. Recommended.

Midnight in Paris

Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen, 2011)

A family travel to the French capital for business. The party includes a young engaged couple who are forced to confront their differing views of a perfect life.

Directing a film per year since the early 1970’s, Woody Allen might become one of the most productive directors of all time. Let’s not count John Ford’s early Westerns or the many short films some directors may have directed in a year. Writing and directing a film every year at 76 years old might be a challenge since the Woodman has been occasionally accused of repeating himself over and over again. However, Midnight in Paris, released in 2011, became one of his most successful movies at the box office. So it was with high expectations I sat through the 94 minutes of this ode to the Paris of the 1920’s.

Gill (Owen Wilson) is about to marry Inez (Rachel McAdams), obviously the wrong girl and moreover the wrong family. He is a daydreamer and he wants to escape his screenwriter job to become a “real” writer and finish his novel. Gill is another Woody Allen-like protagonist, about that there is an interesting fact about the names of his characters. They are always short because he doesn’t like to lose too much time writing them. But here I digress, the couple is visiting Paris with Inez’ parents (Mimi Kennedy & Kurt Fuller). They also encounter Carol (Nina Arianda) and Paul (Michael Sheen) a couple of Inez’s friends. The latter is an old crush of the young woman. Completely exasperated by Paul’s scholar bragging, Gill decides to go walk alone one night. This will lead him to taste the dreams he always wanted.

Similarly structured as The Purple Rose of Cairo, Midnight in Paris is a movie for cinephiles and daydreamers. The romantic depictions of Paris, the encounters with historical figures are elements that I don’t want to spoil for those who haven’t seen the picture. It feels like if Woody wanted to connect with his own nostalgia like his very autobiographical movie Radio Days. The Gill character, played by Owen Wilson, got all the ticks and fads that Allen did when he used to star in his films. Wilson does a good job but it is more an impersonation than actually a composition. Not having read on Allen’s directing to Wilson might be a flaw for this review, but I tend to think that Wilson was on his own (no real directions from Allen) and rewatched early films of Woody and did his best to catch the unique character.

With my high expectations, Midnight in Paris felt a little flat for me and it is because the story isn’t that original or surprising. Even if Darius Khondji’s cinematography is warm and beautiful, the whole of the film lacked in depth and the script could have used some fresh air. However, we are in a Woody Allen movie and the recurring themes, the characters, and the unique Allenian feeling is there. Recommended.