Naked
Mike Leigh (1993)
This great early film from Mike Leigh opens on David Thewlis' lowly Northern vagabond Johnny apparently sexually assaulting a woman down a dank London street. From there the Mancunian goes on an Odyssey of sorts around the British capitol; observing his fellow lowly citizens; gradually making his way back to his old girlfriend's house where a slimy- and quite bizarre- Thatcherite sex fiend awaits.
Naked's direction and acting are both remarkable- indeed, both were duly awarded at the 1993 Cannes film festival- but surely the most remarkable thing about this film is that from such base beginnings, not only do we learn to empathize with Johnny, we almost end up liking him too. Thewlis speaks pseudo intellectual rhetoric at ten words a second in the thickest northern drawl you could imagine. He's brash; bullish and is quick to belittle those who seem to send kindness his way and yet, despite all that, Leigh manages to make us understand the man's fury and frustrations, leading us, ultimately, to something close to endearment.
As British films of that era go this is as angry, disgusted and disillusioned as they come. Johnny seems to rape a woman in the opening shot but it's the greed of the times which, quite literally, seems to be raping everyone else. it's uncompromising, it's deeply moving and- in case you hadn't guessed it- it's often quite funny too. Terrific stuff.
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Steamboat Bill, Jr.
Buster Keaton (1928)
Keaton plays an intellectual young dandy who returns to his hometown after attending college in Boston. His dad captains the town's second most successful- by quite some distance- steamboat business and so, when he sees what big city livin' has done to his only son, decides it time to set him straight.
Almost nine decades after the film's release, the how-did-they-do-it factor still remains. The legendary vaudevillian breaks out every trick of deadpan, daring and physical comedy in the book to bounce around a very much pre-health & safety Hollywood set. The final 20 minutes- in which an inbound twister sends Keaton on a mad one as the entire studio comes down around him- should still set jaws dropping today.
The Player
Robert Altman (1992)
Tim Robbins plays a studio executive who begins to fear for his job, and his life, when a an up and coming hotshot (played by Peter Gallagher) comes on the scene, and a string of death threats follows.
Legendary ensemble director Robert Altman puts his Hollywood Rolodex to terrific use here in creating a Tinseltown tapestry which blends cynicism & greed; wheeling & dealing; quickfire conversation and satire.
The film, regrettably, hasn't aged particularly well but when it's good, it really is good; beginning, for instance, with a seemingly impossible 7 minute and 47 second shot and ending with an even less likely gag. It's not quite up there with the director's best, but as a biting satire on the Hollywood game, The Player still feels relevant. The film's fingerprints can be seen on much of the work of Paul Thomas Anderson and,more recently, on David Cronenberg's Maps to the Stars.
