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| The Passion Of Joan Of Arc |
Oh the mountain of must-see-movies and my humble attempts to scale it...
Progress will be compiled at the end of each month and the films are listed in order of preference.
The Passion of Joan of Arc
Carl Theodor Dreyer (1928)
Decades ahead of its time and with an otherworldly
performance from Maria Falconetti dominating the screen, Dreyer’s silent
masterwork on the doomed trial of Joan of Arc still packs an almighty punch.
Shot in crisp lighting and unforgiving close ups, the film’s stripped down
style broke so much new ground it’s impossible to imagine just how cathartic
the film must have felt back in 1928.
Throne of Blood
Akira Kurasawa (1957)
Kurasawa adapts Macbeth in Feudal Japan for this wonderfully
lit visual stunner. Kurasawa’s Wildman Toshiro Mifune plays the tragic lead.
All
That Heaven Allows
Douglas Sirk (1955)
The dark underbelly of suburban American life may seem a ubiquitous
theme these days but the white paint was barely dry on the picket fences when
Douglas Sirk made this wonderful film back in 1955. A recently widowed Jane
Wyman must face the judgement of her local community when she decides to fall
in love with her gardener instead of burying herself in a television. Great art
should always rise above the mundanity of life. Here’s a film about doing just that.
Ikiru
Akira Kurasawa (1952)
A civil service stooge makes a late attempt to embrace life
when he is diagnosed with stomach cancer. Broken from the spell of his daily bureaucratic grind this antihero immerses himself in the ecstatic Tokyo night-life and the
friendship of a vibrant female co-worker as he attempts to leave the earth having accomplished something of use. Ikiru is
bursting at the seams with life and while the story’s final stretch might drag
a little, Kurasawa still manages to nail the kind of levels
of human regret which Franz Kapra could only have dreamt of depicting.
The
Death of Mr Lazarescu
Cristi Puiu (2005)
A dying man must suffer an Odyssey of arrogance, malpractice
and indignity for his final night on earth in this brutal satire on the
Romanian healthcare system. Puiu’s realist gem was to be the first great tremor felt of the Romanian new-wave.
Alphaville
Jean Luc Godard (1965)
Eddie Constantine and Anna Karina prowl the streets of
Alphaville, a dystopian city where passions have been outlawed and a
supercomputer calls the shots. When combined, Film Noir and Dystopian Sci Fi can
be such a blast. Godard lashes on French new-wave and surrealism for good
measure.
Yojimbo
Akira Kurasawa (1961)
In a lawless rural village a maverick Samurai pits two rival
families against each other to bid for his services. Kurasawa’s brilliant
adaptation of the old gunslinger-with-the-heart-of-gold staple also boasts some
of his finest action set pieces.
F for
Fake
Orson Welles (1973)
Orson Welles’ investigation of charlatans and fakers centres
on one of the world’s most notorious art forgers with Welles himself acting as
some sort of caped detective magician trying to get to the bottom of it all.
Welles cuts it like a Godard film and allows himself to explore tangents
frivolously. It’s riveting stuff and just oozing with class.
The 39 Steps
Alfred Hitchcock (1935)
The most famous of Hitchcock’s pre-Hollywood films shows
plenty of the director’s later hallmarks; packed with intrigue, wit and –for
1935- a bold use of sexuality.
Il
Divo
Paulo Sorrentino (2008)
Anyone without a decent knowledge of Italian politics (i.e. me)
might get lost in the intricate web of names and double crossings but not to
worry, with strong performances all round and a soundtrack of Sergio Leonie
style gumption the film still delights as a super-slick, confident and
ultra-slimy political thriller.
The
Straight Story
David Lynch (1999)
With a pace about as fast as Alvin Straight’s John Dear
tractor David Lynch ponders perhaps his most conventional story as an old man treks
across the state line to meet his estranged and very ill brother. Richard
Farnsworth and Sissy Spacek are both excellent. Twin Peaks scorer Angelo
Badalamenti provides some Midwest Americana. Late bonus points for Harry Dean
Stanton.
The
Unbearable Lightness of Being
Philip Kaufman (1988)
Juliet Binoche wears a turtle neck and a leather jacket and moans
about her photo journalism career and the Russian invasion of Prague all from
the safety of her Geneva apartment and the arms of a brilliant as ever Daniel
Day Lewis. By no means a bad film- the 160 minutes didn’t even feel so long-
the brief scenes in Prague are excellent and one of the characters seems to
have done quite well from airbrush art, which is pretty rad. It's just while that privileged student
dream of European life might have got the blood pumping back in 1988 it
feels awfully dated now.
Cutter’s
Way
Ivan Passer (1981)
What was this all about? Czech new waver Ivan Passer directs
Jeff Bridges as the witness to a murder. John Heard plays his drunken veteran
friend who obsesses with proving a local oil man was the person responsible. What
could have been an interesting take on morality is marred by a stack of
continuity errors and some truly bizarre moments- what was that bit with the horse
about? Baffling stuff. Someone please explain.
