Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

a film by Danny Boyle

In the Mood for Love (Bonus Track)

In the Mood for Love (2000)

a film by Wong Kar-wai

2001: A Space Odyssey

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
a film by Stanley Kubrick

Many times I had tried to watch this film before an all of them I ended up asleep or confused. I wanted to feel the impact I wanted to experience what people feel as master piece as a memorable art work. So I stepped into the Cinematheque to experience this film with the state-of-the-art projection technology in a 70mm copy and the three hour of devotion it deserves. By the intermission I was shocked, I was amazed. By the end of the film nothing made sense but I loved it.

2001: A Space Odyssey is a audiovisual work of art in three chapters. The first one brings us the "Dawn of Man", where a group of hominids face the complications of life as an early-human, the second brings us a scientist leading the investigation of a disturbing finding on the moon and the third one takes us to the spaceship en-route to Jupiter with the human crew and the memorable HAL. The binding thread for these stories is a mysterious monolith, which presence is equally disturbing for the hominids and the humans living in the space, and which bring the science fiction open-to-discussion background of the movie.

Lots of things have been discussed about this movie but for me it was an enjoyable experience because of the emotion it is able to transmit. Caring little about the discussion on extraterrestrial life or technical achievements I allowed my imagination to flow with the Blue Danube watching the spaceships floating in orbit. I enjoyed the uniforms, the furniture and the aesthetics of this imagined future. I was thrilled by the feeling of awe of the scientist on the moon or the desolation of the Jupiter mission crew. I left myself be terrified by the calmed voice of HAL and got lost in the avalanche of images. This movie delivered feelings and ideas and I value that beyond the story that I may guess or discussed.

This is an open movie, it won't send you home with any answers but with many questions instead. It is the wrinkle in the heart that produces this genius combination of images and sound what I took home. I opened my senses and I was filled with emotions and ideas. I could talk about science fiction but that doesn't move me that much.

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)

a film by Martin Scorsese

I couldn't believe this was an Scorsese movie until the music started playing and the narrative got me engaged. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore is an Scorsese movie that doesn't look like the rest of his works but keeps his great narrative power. This movie is funny, sensitive and thoughtful, it is a portrait of woman.

Alice Hyatt, a housewife in a small town in New Mexico looses her husband in an accident and decides to leave the town with her precocious son and travel to her hometown in California to follow the singing career she abandoned when she married. This is a story that happens on the road where mother and son find love, troubles and memorable characters.

The soul of this movie is Ellen Burstyn playing Alice. She is natural, funny, tough, sensitive, absent, smart and contradictory. Her role is really memorable and it blends perfectly with the role of the son who gives her a hard time with his insolent intelligence. On the road both of them discover the scary character played by Harvey Keitel, a smart and sharp androgynous girl played by Jodie Foster and a brutal but sensitive man played by Kris Kristofferson along other memorable characters.

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore is a entertaining and moving story. It is a love story full the human contradictions, a mix of great acting and a fresh story, a road movie featuring a woman that seems so real and interesting that you want to follow across the American Southwest after the first scene.

Airplane!

Airplane! (1980)

a film by David Zucker

It is hard to deny that Airplane! is a silly movie. It is silly, it has lots of cliches, it is predictable but very funny. It is so funny because is so predictable, clichéd and silly. Often I found myself wandering what was so awesome about this film that seemed so simple and the answer arrives when I laugh by myself when some of the lines come back to my mind.

There is no case in describing the plot of this movie so I will describe it. A delicate poisoning affects the passengers on a flight from L.A. to Chicago, the weather is terrible, the plane is on the hands of an inflatable autopilot, Leslie Nielsen is the doctor in charge of the situation and the only man who can land this airplane is heartbroken by a beautiful stewardess and traumatized after an unnamed war.

I picked this movie as an homage to Leslie Nielsen and enjoyed the lines that only he could deliver with a straight face. I'm serious, and don't call me Shirley.

Ghost World

Ghost World (2001)

a film by Terry Zwigoff

Ghost World is the only movie from the 1000 that I got to see in Antarctica. In the middle of work, excitement and social consensus it was hard to find time to watch a movie but somehow I managed to sit down ten people around the TV and watch Ghost World on a Sunday evening.

This is the story of Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johanson) after their high-school graduation. Both of them are outcasts trying to find their way on the gap between high-school and life. Enid is an interesting and talented girl who seems to have a hard time connecting with the world. Rebecca seems to be doing better. Together they face the discomfort of growing up, the fear of being trapped in their future and the pain of love while meeting eccentric and lovely characters.

I liked Ghost World as daring and original coming-of-age movie. I loved the freshness of the characters and the way in which they hover through the melancholic days with a great but dark sense of humor. It is a story made with the small characters, that are lovely but still seem to be trapped in their own lives. Enid is a fascinating, cruel and witty character and although her decisions are painful her humor and dark charm got me engaged with the story.

Ghost World is the kind of movie that provides great lines, memorable characters and a feeling of emptiness and melancholy sparkled with the finest sarcasm. It reminded me of the isolation feeling with a smile that brings Lost In Translation. A perfect pick for the loneliest place on earth.

Swing Time

Swing Time (1936)

a film by George Stevens

I liked Swing Time for what it is: a light-hearted comedy with outstanding dance sequences. This movie features the amazing dancing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers who hover over the dance floor in some of the most beautiful sequences in the history of cinema but lack the narrative power and brilliant lines of Dancing In The Rain. When they stop dancing the movie stops glowing.

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers are amazing. The scene in the dance floor of the dancing academy is outstanding both because of their excellent performance as well as the camera movements which follow them without losing their moving interpretation. This sequence lingers in the history of cinema for its technical complexity but mostly because it is gripping to see this couple move with such grace and charm.

The downside of this movie was on every gap between dancing sequences. I had a hard time liking the character of Pop, I didn't believe the story and it was for me just a weak thread connecting the scenes where the dance and the music sparkle the movie with beauty and perfection.

This is a happy movie made in the hardest times and it is a spirit-warming film. With Astaire and Rogers one feels that dancing reaches perfection, that beauty is possible, that the such ease and grace make the world a better place.

Seven Samurai

Seven Samurai (1954)

a film by Akira Kurosawa

The Seven Samurai is a great combination of epic and visual lyricism. It is the kind of movie that makes kids want to be samurai and practice their sword moves and it can at the same time inspire the most elaborate speeches about the aesthetics and symbolism of Japanese cinema. This film is both a great movie and an iconic piece, it is one of those movies from which others have found inspiration and rich ideas.

A village of farmers is terrorized by a gang of bandits and in despair they look for the help of a group of samurai to defend them offering nothing but food to pay for their services. That is the premise of this story in which Kurosawa explores the nature of society, the meaning of justice and the role of the individual constrained by the circumstances of its time. Using the elements of the samurai movies and introducing the elements of what will become the Western, this movie manages to address these deep and interesting topics with great care for the visual aesthetics and a strong narrative power.

The images in this film are powerful and evocative: bandits riding towards the town blighting the life of the peasants, peasants packed together unable of fighting back the dark destiny of their village, an archer points under the rain reaching the highest epic note on the climax of the movie. The composition of the images is rich and multi-layered: the is always something going on in the foreground and in the background and this simultaneity is also used in the narrative to drive the rhythm of the story, a trick that has been used again and again but seen in this movie feels like seeing an original Dali after knowing it only through gift-shop postcards.

It doesn't get anymore epic than in this movie. The action elements of this movie are smart and make the story really enjoyable and seed the ideas that lay underneath the wonderful surface of this movie. There is action, there are cool moves, great sequences, drama and humor and in the end there is the desolation of the samurai and the peasants that linger.

Taxi Driver

Taxi Driver (1976)

a film by Martin Scorsese

Finally watching Taxi Drive turned out to be a surprising experience after the multiple of images from this movie that are part of popular culture. Printed in t-shirts and quoted to exhaustion the image of Travis Brickle came to me in a different context that the one I found in the movie. Far from witnessing a pop culture icon I was shocked by the darkness of the story of this man descending in to madness. There is no reason I can find to wear a t-shirt with the image of this character on it, but I loved the movie and its crepuscular atmosphere.

Taxi Drive is the story of a man falling into madness, but also the story of the darkness in the human soul and in one of its greatest achievements: the city. In this case it is New York City who plays the role as a dark and perverted metropolis. Gray, filthy and populated by pimps and prostitute the city is the context in which Travis is alienated by the isolation that ultimately drives him into madness. The lack of sleep, the abuse of alcohol, the obsession with a woman, this character is an spiral to dementia.

The movie is brilliant at depicting the city and the character, and as Travis finds himself sinking deeper and deeper the city also seems to present a more hostile and depraved environment. The melancholic music that follow the images of the night in New York is as memorable as the images of this character that is brilliantly brought to the screen with the ambiguous image of victim and executor that Robert De Niro delivers. This movie is a great portrayal of madness, the madness of the character and of the society which isolates him and then exalt him as a hero.

Some of the images in this movie are really iconic, they are dark but they have the visual aesthetic brilliance that make movies live outside the screen and integrate into popular culture. Perhaps, I'll buy that shirt after all.

Blue Velvet

Blue Velvet (1986)

a film by David Lynch

with Isabella Rossellini

Tue., Oct. 12/10 - 10:00pm

TIFF Bell Lightbox

I don't know how David Lynch does it but works. Picked fences and flowers, firefighters saluting from the fire truck, colorful front gardens, all of them look really scary and without being dark this movie delivers the constant feeling of desolation and siege, that something is not alright in this town even before you reach the explicit scenes.

Blue Velvet is a the story of crime and obsession but there is more in the film than just the story. This film is more about the atmosphere of constant threat is about the feeling of distress that linger whether the crime is solved or not. This atmosphere is feed by a sort of theatrically in this film, like a layer of normality that lies on top of the darkness and that can be funny like the chicken walk or entertaining like the singing performances but that keeps only a facade.

This movie features brilliant performances. There is Isabella Rossellini as a club singer that is victim and tormentor, a masochistic character that seems to suffer from Stockholm syndrome. There is Kyle Maclachlan -from twin peaks- obsessed and in the edge of crossing the line between his quiet small town life and the world of depravation. There is Laura Dern, fresh and beautiful even with the 80s styling. And finally there is Denis Hopper playing a small time lowlife with such brilliance that becomes the incarnation of evil.

Blue Velvet is a memorable movie, and it is an example of pushing the limits of what movies can achieve and deliver. A visually disturbing and aesthetically brilliant film that will haunt you after the credits are over.

Fantasia

Fantasia (1940)

a film by Samuel Armstrong, James Lgar and Bill Roberts

Walt Disney got the essence of the music video era 40 years before MTV. Fantasia features breakthrough 2D animation as visual companion to the music of great masters.

Fantasia features pieces like the Dance of the Hours, Ave Maria and accompanies them with animation shorts that do not necessarily follow the original story suggested by the music but use its rhythm and dramatical emphasis to construct new settings and images.

The animations of this movie tackle really hard problems of animation and the result is visually beautiful. Particles falling, bubbles, water, this movie has them all as no other work of 2D animation before and that itself is enough to make it a milestone. It is the beauty of those images what gives Fantasia the status of a brilliant work of art in motion and yet it is quite entertaining.

As a visual work of art Fantasia can be watched again and again and new elements are found. I'm fascinated by the timing of the animation with the music and the aesthetic beauty of the images but this movie is so rich in contents that it gives ground to analyze the political situation in Europe in the segment of Night on Bald Mountain or the great care with which ideas of evolution and origin of life are recreated in The Rite of Spring. With this film, Walt Disney took animation to a whole new level and made a wonderful film that can defy the barriers of time, today as back in its time Fantasia is an enormous piece of art.

Singin' in the Rain

Singin' in the Rain (1952)

a film by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen

The most amazing feature of Singin' in the Rain is that despite of being a brilliant musical it is also a great movie about movies. What make this movie a classic is the combination of memorable dancing sequences and a simple but entertaining story sparkled with sharp humor and vibrant characters.

Singin' in the Rain is a comedy for movie lovers. It talks of the transition to the sound-era, it plays around with stars and the studio dynamics. But what really stands out are the musical featuring a talented cast: the screwball Cosmo and his memorable "Make 'em laugh", the extremely athletic and talented Gene Kelly and the beautiful and sexy Debbie Reynolds. The dancing is modern and great, the music is beautiful, the lyrics are witty and really entertaining.

Despite being a product of a great studio and one of many musicals produced in the 40s this movie seems to defeat time and remain enjoyable many years later and provides many elements that are interesting and brilliant. The story is simple but memorable and is the testimony of an age of changes in cinema, the costumes are great and the sets are impressive. I really like the structure of the movie inside of the movie and the sequences in the studios or in the movie theater that add a sense of circularity to the mere act of watching this joyful film and trully enjoyable.

Pillow Talk

Pillow Talk (1959)
a film by Michael Gordon

I don't know what I was doing when I was a kid, but everybody seems to have watched at least one Doris Day film. I've seen clips of her movies but I was never encouraged to watch a whole movie. It took the limited selection of Netflix Canada and the distant memory of a film of a more recent film (Down with love) to get me to watch Pillow Talk. It proved to be a nice and entertaining experience. It is a fun and refreshing movie with a tone of romantic comedy that never ages even when people don't have to suffer party phone lines anymore.

Doris Day plays an independent and stylish interior decorator who has to share a phone line with Rock Hudson who plays a chauvinistic and handsome music composer. They hate each other and I don't want to spoil the movie by describing how they fall in love.

Rock Hudson and Doris Day make a really funny duo and their dialogs and the scenes are fullof humor and grace. In this sense pillow talk seems to be a manual for making a good romantic comedy. There is a best friend of the couple, there is teasing and there is romance. What is memorable about Pillow Talk is the freshness and the perfect combination of the elements that are still in use for this kind of stories.

This film is not an art-house production but it is great in its own style and addressing a wide audience. It is an aesthetically beautiful and stylish film in the lighthearted spirit of a fresh and entertaining romantic comedy.

Sweet Smell of Success

Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

a film by Alexander Mackendrick

It was the news of Tony Curtis dead what drove my attention to this movie. All columns coincide in pointing towards his great talent for comedy and his role in this film as his best performance in drama. Pretty early in the film it is evident what the columns are talking about as Tony Curtis seems processed by the ambitious and bold press agent Sydney Falco who serves as the right hand of J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster), an almighty and really scary columnist and media celebrity.

The thing I enjoyed the most about the movie were the dialogues which are fast and fluent and full of the 50s lingo. Characters often seem to be wrestling with really well delivered lines that make vibrant this plot full of intricate connections. Burt Lancaster is great at playing this almighty columnist, laking of any moral but rich in powerful connections and with an incestuous obsession for his sister.

Tony Curtis is the emerging character, full of new tricks and energy but willing to jump any moral barrier to get to his objective. He surprised me sometimes as the representation of an evil spirit when he moves around Burt Lancaster and whispers in his ear the latest details of his plot. His presence in the screen is handsome in an unconventional way with a touch of evil and lots of energy. The praise for his work in this film is well deserved as he grants the energy, the ambition and a soul to this character. As a counterpoint to these two giant characters is the two female roles which I found too weak in the chauvinistic aura that surrounds the male characters.

This movie surprised me as a really engaging and stylish film noir. The camera work is superb and delivers some memorable sequences like the ones of the Jazz quintet in the bar or J.J. facing Dallas in the theater where his show is recorded. It has a great rhythm and great dialogues delivered with great acting and memorable lines, "The cat's in a bag and the bag's in a river".

North by Northwest

North by Northwest (1959)

a film by Alfred Hitchcock

One of the great things about movies is that they can transport the story to places and situations that you wouldn't expect to be driven to and in a blink of an eye you find yourself in the middle of an intricate plot in an exotic or at least unexpected destination. This is exactly the experience that I had with North by Northwest and although some of the scenes that compose this movie have been so widespread in popular culture, the story itself unravels in a surprising and entertaining way.

Cary Grant plays an executive mistaken with Mr. George Kaplan when he summons the hotel attendant who is paging Kaplan. This triggers a series of situations which include his kidnap, an attempt of fake suicide, an assassination in the United Nations, falling in love with a beautiful blonde and escaping from a biplane in the middle of an Illinois cornfield -one of the most memorable scenes of the history of cinema- among many others.

North by Northwest surprised me as a mosaic of preposterous situations that nevertheless compose a really amusing story. This movie is great catching the ambient of the Cold War with an organization in shadows with interests that go beyond any individual and that twist the life of this successful and socially recognized character who becomes a victim by pure coincidence.

I was amazed by the interpretation of Cary Grant who seems to carry the movie on his back as the secondary characters seemed somewhat opaque. It is his expression and his versatility as an actor what articulates the story, and as he jumps from action to comedy so easily he keeps the rhythm of the film. This is a great interpretation and it is delivered in the great scenes that Alfred Hitchcock manages to create, with this brilliance he transported me from New York to North Dakota in the blink of an eye and send me home with a great smile.

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)

a film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger

I looked for this movie right after the reading the review written by the Spanish writer and columnist Javier Marias. He included it in his Top 10 review this epic story with so much enthusiasm that I was driven directly to it. The search was not in vain. I really enjoyed the story of this warm-hearted character and his adventures which are a brave summary of the history of the first half of the XXth century with refinement, freshness and English humor.

The first thing that impressed me about this movie was the long view on history that it takes and this is remarkable given the date in which it was made. In the darkest times this movie is full of braveness, courage and humor in the times of the Blitzkrieg. Although this film is evidently pro-British, the sympathy that it shows for the character of the German officer and the satiric and cartoonish view of the British army are visionary and refreshing. The topic is this movie is dead-serious and the fact that it doesn't take itself so seriously is brilliant.

The acting in this movie is superb. Roger Livesey and Anton Walbrook are really entertaining on the screen as Candy and Kretschmar-Schuldorff. Livesey really sets the rhythm of the story with his great performance and Deborah Kerr in her triple role brings the lights to the screen. This movie is successful at aging its characters and settings with great care for detail while keeping the story interesting and fluent.

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp works as a historical document and an entertaining story. This movie delivers an original vision that is remarkable in its historical context but that also transcends time and feels fresh and punching. Be brave and go for the 163 minutes version!

Videodrome

Videodrome (1982)
a film by David Cronenberg

Many things can be said about this movie except that it is a conventional film. This is the original and daring proposal of David Cronenberg that bombs the screen 80s style with the interesting premise of technological obsession.

Videodrome is a really shocking film. It features some memorable images that seem taken from a Nam June Paik exhibition and others that belong to the tradition of visceral gore of the mondo films. But it is not only the images what make this story so appalling, it is also the premise of a world in which mind can be infected through the television images, in which reality can be bend by the exposure to the images that produce obsession and desire.

It makes me shiver the devotion that some fans profess to this film. For me it was uncomfortable to watch it -it could be the horrendous style of the 80s- and it gave me a feeling of desolation, but I can see the great creativity and work put into this story. I liked the scene where the characters of Debbie Harry and James Woods are interviewed for a talk show, the idea of the Cathodic Tube Church and the original score. I don't know if was more horrified by the organic videotape or by the image of Toronto having the same streetcars 30 years ago.

I did not like Videodrome but nevertheless the way in which ideas as the ones proposed in this movie come from somebody's mind, make a story on the screen with such a particular style and provide ground for discussion about the contemporary world are a proof of the vision and genius behind this story despite my personal taste.

Bringing up Baby

Bringing up Baby (1938)

a film by Howard Hawks

Bringing up Baby is a comedy with a wild leopard and trained leopard who get loose at the same time. It is a movie with a dog that buries a valuable object and has the whole cast at his feet. It is the story of two completely different characters that find love amidst chaos. And it would be the ensemble of this and other comical routines if it wasn't for the brilliant and fresh execution that make this movie timeless and funny.

This is the story of David, played by Cary Grant, a paleontologist about to get married, completing the work of his life and trying to convince a millionaire to give a donation for his museum. And all these big plans go bananas when he meets the beautiful and scattered brained Susan Vance, played by Katherine Hepburn. The chaos that comes next and the preposterous situations in which they get involved are just the playground to see the great performances executed by this couple.

Katherine Hepburn is sensual, fashionable and very natural in her role. The freshness that she shows in every single gag only adds to her already huge status as a dramatic actress and her character is the motor that drives this movie. On the other hand there is Cary Grant in a role that could easily fall into ridiculous but that he keeps up providing him with a great touch of pride although the situation is completely against him. They both prove themselves as great professionals executing very physical gags with great ability.

This movie is worth seeing to remember the values that make good comedy. It is fresh and well acted and overall it is simple and very funny.

50 movies later, 10 films from TIFF2010 (Bonus Track)

After watching the first 50 movies from The List there is no better way to celebrate than enjoying the Toronto International Film Festival. This is a chronological list of the films I watched and the impressions I had after the screenings.

Love Crime (2010)
a film by Alain Corneau

Sat., Sept. 11/10 - 8:00pm

Winter Garden Theatre

with Ludivine Sagnier

What is it?: Love Crime is a meticulous thriller. It is the story of the sensual head-on collision between two women in the top of an international corporation.

The best: The roles of Ludovine Sagnier and Kristin Scott Thomas are great. The attention to detail and the cold blood of the character are the signatures of Alain Corneau in this -his last- film.

I took home: The kindliness and spontaneity of Ludovine Sagnier during the Q&A session. She is a really beautiful woman, a great actress and was really warm to the audience.

The Illusionist (2010)
a film by Sylvain Chomet

Sun., Sept. 12/10 - 2:30pm

VISA SCREENING ROOM (ELGIN)

What is it?: The creator of The Belleville Triplets takes Jacques Tatis' last script and comes out with of the most beautiful and sad movie I have seen in a big screen.

The best: It is stylish and detailed. The animation contains the bitter sweet spirit of the story of a profession that disappears, and the story is beautiful and moving. In the best tradition of Jacques Tatis, it is whimsical with a heart. Don't miss this movie wherever it is playing.

I took home: The closing sequence is superb and memorable, just thinking about it renews the happy-sad feelings. I was inspired to watch Tatis's movies.

Quote: "This is a movie for a limited audience: people that think and feel". Bob Last, producer.

Norwegian Wood (2010)
a film by Anh Hung Tran

What is it?: The director of the Scent of Green Papaya brings to the screen an emotional adaptation of Murakami's book.

The best: The photography and the images in the film are memorable. Nature is one of the great characters and it is greatly introduced in the story.

I took home: I had problems connecting with the characters in this movie and although it starts really well it ends up dissolving in emotions that were not accessible to me. The characters are so enclosed in their feelings that I can see that this movie can work better for other people. I won't call it an "emmo" movie but that is the atmosphere it transmitted.

The music is exasperating as much as I loved the image treatment I disliked the soundtrack.

Our day will come (2010)
a film by Romain Gavras

Mon., Sept. 13/10 - 3:30pm

Varsity 8

with Romain Gavras

What is it?: In his expected film debut Romain Gavras brings the story of a crazy and daring trip of two troubled characters.

The best: This movie is daring and shocking. The story is far from conventional and is told with a great and original visual style.

I took home: The acting from Vincent Cassel is superb. He embodies the provocative style of this movie and his presence makes memorable many scenes of this movie. I looked out for all the redheads in the audience after the credits ended.

Quote: "There is no reason for her being in that scene but she had to be there". Romain Gavras, director.

Miral (2010)
a film by Julian Schnabel

What is it?: A good hearted movie in which Julian Schnabel brings to the screen the story of Rula Jebral, a girl growing up on the middle of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The best: The heart in the movie. Beyond all political speeches I think Julian Schnabel tried to tell this story with good intentions. The love he tried to bring to this film is evident in the treatment of his characters and the hope that he looks to bring to the audience even when the story is so hard.

I took home: I took with me the compassion and love of the relationship between father and daughter. I think it is the intention of this movie to follow a personal story although it happens in such tense and polarized environment, and the relation between this two characters was my entry point to the film. The makeup work is really poor and that was a surprise that contrasted with the great treatment of the music and the archive images.

Controversy: I don't consider this to be a political film but after hearing some of the strong positions of the people in the questions formulated to the director I wonder if the feelings raised by the political context are so strong that they shadow the sense of hope that is embedded on the story.

Balada Triste de Trompeta (2010)
a film by Alex de la Iglesia

Tue., Sept. 14/10 - 9:45pm

Scotiabank 1

with Alex de la Iglesia

What is it?: The provoking and personal creation of Alex de la Iglesia. Two clowns and a beautiful woman are the protagonists of a roller-coaster story sparkled with the darkest sense of humor and daring scenes.

The best: The cinematographic proposal of Alex de la Iglesia is fresh and very original. He explores with his cinema the darkest places of his mind and construct with them a vibrant story with style and content. The confronting images are unique and its dark humor is memorable. The starting credits are an amazing prelude to what is coming. Don't miss this movie wherever it is playing.

I took home: Alex de la Iglesia is one of those characters that you want to invite for a beer. As great his movie were his answers and spirit during the Q&A.

Quote: "I'm a clown because otherwise I would be an assassin".

Attenberg (2010)
a film by Athina Rachel Tsangari

What is it?: The original and particular story of a girl trapped in a small town. An iconoclast proposal with characters deprived of feelings and animal-like features, this is a drama constructed like a David Attenborough nature documentary with elements from the Greek tragedy and Monty Python sketches.

The best: The tone of the images and the alien environment in which this story takes places. The main actress is beautiful and her role is memorable.

I took home: The proposal of feeling-less experience is really interesting but what I'll remember from this movie is the bird-like dancing choreographies performed by the two girls.

The Big Picture (2010)
a film by Eric Lartigeau

What is it?: A French thriller that starts a personal life-changing story and ends up in an crime story plus an ultimate road trip.

The best: Romain Duris makes believable this character and brings heart to this thriller .

I took home: This is an entertaining story with lots of plot twists and a sense of border-less Europe that I found interesting. However, after it was done the thing that I kept in my mind was Beck's song playing on the starting sequence.

Black Swan (2010)
a film by Darren Aronofski

What is it?: Darren Aronofski the director of The Wrestler and Requiem for a dream brings terror to The Lake of Swans. A devoted dance (Natalie Portman) becomes her worst enemy while preparing for the most important role of her career.

The best: The dancing scenes are really impressive. The camera movements while the characters are practicing and dancing are great and raise the tone of this film.

I took home: This is a scary movie with scenes which made me cover my eyes with my hands. It is a great experience but with not too much substance on it.

The Housemaid (2010)
a film by Im Sang-Soo

What is it?: A sexy thriller in which a Chabrol-esque atmosphere and the genius of Korean directors for suspense.

The best: The story is really solid and from beginning to end the characters are interesting and surprising.

I took home: The closing scene is daring and memorable portrait of the luxury and decadence.

Contempt

Contempt (1963)
a film by Jean-Luc Godard

A voice reading the credits while on the screen a dolly unit makes a travelling takes of an actress walking on a set sparkled with bright colours make the perfect prologue for a movie that is brilliant in its execution and touches deeply in to the soul and lingers in the mind after in ends.

I remembered 8 1/2 as this is also the story of a character working in the movie industry and facing the issues of creative production and personal life. This time it is Jean Piccoli playing Paul, a scriptwriter hired by an pretentious American producer to rewrite some of the scenes of his film, an adaptation of The Odyssey directed by Fritz Lang, generating problems between Paul and his wife, the dazzling Brigitte Bardot.

This movie is amazing in many levels. Visually it is brilliant, the bright colours contrast and the beauty of the images enhance the tragedy that is this story. To take home are the amazing travelling takes in Cinecittá, the amazing scene with Pail and Camille in their apartment with beautiful colours and creative camera movements, and finally the beautiful Villa Malparte with its Mayan temple steps and red walls contrasting with the blue Mediterranean. Godard in colours is an experience worth seeing, there is possibly not other director that handles such bright tones with so much versatility and dramatic intention.

On the other hand there is a brilliant cast. Jack Palance is great on the role of the tyrant American producer which he delivers with so much energy. Fritz Lang is amazing and it is quite a memory to see him on the screen, such a gentleman and such an intellectual and also such a firm director, I will take his advice and try to watch M soon. There is Jean Piccoli in the role of the script writer, he depicts the pride of the intellectual on his work and in his status, so confident when allowing his wife to become prey of the producer but so willing to sell himself for a large amount. And there is Brigitte Bardot, so beautiful and such a presence on the scenes, she is great playing the wife, disappointed and proud, she personalizes the contempt.

This is a brilliant film and so rich I don't think just one time will do enough for this story. I look forward the second time, with the colours, and Cinecittá ,and the great lines, and Fritz Lang. This is not an easy film so is worth giving it sometime, a nice screen to enjoy the colours and an open mind to let it flow.

Topkapi

Topkapi (1964)
a film by Jules Dassin

This could be just another heist movie but it is not. Topkapi has the amazing views of Istambul that make the audience dream of knowing this city. It is a comedy but also a carefully planned and executed heist movie with an ambitious goal. I knew that the idea of having character hanging from the ceiling over a touch-sensitive floor couldn't be the creation of Mission Impossible and in this movie I found its primary source.

This is a carefully constructed heist film, the details of the plot are millimetrically calculated and set in the scenes, so even the twists in the plot are solved in ingenious and entertaining way. But heist stories have been told a thousand times and although Dassin is a genius of the details of the big hit -as he shows brilliantly in Rififi- what separates Topkapi from the bulk of stories of a group of people trying to steal something are two things: the city and the characters.

I'm pretty sure is not included in any city tour so it is definitively worth seeing this groups of thieves sneaking their way through the domes of the Topkapi palace. The music and the images of the city are an open invitation to Istambul.

The cast of this movie is probably one of the most particular that can be found in this genre. There is an English toy maker, an Italian trapezist and a German muscle man but there is also a fool: Arthur Simpson. It is this character what brings freshness and amusement to the movie and a story that could easily fall in taking itself too seriously. There is also the presence of Melina Mercouri who I find both disturbing and interesting and serves as pivotal point for this crew of thieves.

Topkapi is a film that may seem simple when competing with the modern heist films but that captures the essence of the genre. The story of a group of thieves trying to steal something has been told a thousand times so it is the details what ultimately make the film memorable and makes Topkapi a source where films are still drinking from. But who care about primary sources, maybe it is all about feeling in Istambul for a few moments.

8½

8 1/2 (1963)
a film by Federico Fellini

This is the second time I watch 8 1/2 and as in the first time, it strikes as a movie that connects to me not through the feelings or the emotions of the characters but through the subconscious of the main character shown in the screen. Fellini is great master and in this film he manages to recreate in fluent fashion the dreamlike world of Guido a director facing a creative blockade.

Guido is a director blocked in the middle of an important project. He is sick and smokes too much. He is under the pressure of his producer. He stands the frequent attacks of a film critic. He handles the producing assistants. He endures a marital crisis, his lover's visit and the stars that he cast for the movie. Meanwhile, he is immerse in a subconscious world that brings him to his memories and dreams, and where the strong female figures set a story with an atmosphere full of desire and delirium.

This movie is brilliant in setting the turbulent atmosphere of the creative process, so full of memories and desires. It is amazing to see the fluidity with which Fellini shows so many aspects of this character with so much humor and rhythm and I'm sure he enjoyed putting in film the elements that were also part of his life as a director.

All the female cast is superb, although Anouk Aimee is in the role of the wife -her glasses are awesome-. I dunno if this movie could be interpreted as male-centric but I found it really enjoyable and creative in the development of all the female character, they are who ultimately define the role of this director who seems to drift in the world of his dreams and desires.

Guido is interpreted brilliantly by Marcello Martroianni. His role is elegant and fresh at the same time and delivers memorable moments. He can dance in the hallway, sound smart or simply look overwhelmed as his wife meets his lover, this role is superb. One shouldn't look for role model in cinema but I want to be this guy!

8 1/2 is brilliant and entertaining. This movie features a magnificent set characters, a great protagonist and interesting strong female characters. The images are beautiful and the music is amusing and memorable. But be aware, something this good can come so easily and it takes time to enter this world but is absolutely worth the effort.

Doctor Zhivago

Doctor Zhivago (1965) a film by David Lean

Doctor Zhivago is a film which honors the old tradition of Hollywood superproductions.It brings to life a story of passion and destiny in which a man is trapped between the love for two women and the tortuous flow of history in the days of the Russian revolution. And it does not save in resources to do it: great photography, amazing landscapes, talented casting and a fervid story, this is one of the movies that awakes nostalgia for the times before computer-generated imagery.

This is my first contact with the work of David Lean and I found impressive and exorbitant the level of his work. Whether producing a complete reconstruction of Moscow or mobilizing thousands of extras to reproduce a column of Partisans, this movie reveals itself as a great movie but also as a great creative human enterprise. This is the kind of monumental movies that can not be done anymore but that reminds of the great resources that cinema can use to deliver a story.

This is a huge story, but ultimately the keys to enter it are given by the great performances of the talented cast. Omar Sharif is superb, Alec Guiness is great and Julie Christie and Geraldine Chaplin perform greatly and are two of the most beautiful women captured in a film. The army of secondary actors do a great job and I really like the short performances of the Revolution Committee members that take over the house in Moscow and the Party representative in the Partisan Column, they are really scary.

Not to forget when watching this movie is the Hollywood world view that is embedded on it. This movie was released on the darkest days of the cold war and this film doesn't save the critics to the situation in the Soviet Union, and this is evident in the rough face of the Soviet incarnated in cold characters who fight the free spirit of Zhivago. It is a vindication to Boris Pasternak's work that this movie spreads the voice his work after all the difficulties he suffered to publish it.

Political statement, titanic film, carefully elaborated photography, astonishing landscapes, talented actors, memorable scenes. The only thing I don't like about this movie is that the soundtrack has been over played and mangled to attract kids to ice cream cars and I won't ever will be as fresh again. This is a great and memorable epic film from other times and when you reach the time of the intermission you will find out why.

Bus Stop

Bus Stop (1956)
a film by Joshua Logan

I experienced a series mixed emotions while watching this film which was completely new to me. On one side I enjoyed the light entertainment provided by the cartoonish depictions of all the characters in this movie, particularly the cowboys. On the other hand I felt moved and desolated by the expression and the suffering of Marilyn Monroe, she is amazing playing this capricious, naive and unstable dreamer, and I just wonder how much of this emotional uneasiness is actually brought from her life outside of the screen because it looks very real.

This movie is full of images that well could be the perfect American postcard. The beautiful technicolor ads a lot to the appeal of the impressive mountains of Montana, the rodeo crows and stuns and the classic costumes of the characters. I loved the traveling in the scene that shows Bo and Virgil walking on Phoenix, the framing and the camera movement is so great that one feels as overwhelmed as the cowboys in the city.

There are two defined levels in this movie and the story seems to find a comfortable path through them. On one side there is the comedic layer were the characters act in a cartoonish manner and were the naive character of Marilyn Monroe drives the story into droll situations. On the other side there are dramatic moments and bitter lessons. The fight and the talk between Cherie and Elma in the bus are heart breaking moments. It was the transition between this two layers, each one so good in its own way what did not work so well for me. Nevertheless, this was very entertaining movie with images that you would see in vintage Marlboro and Coca Cola posters and a great Marilyn Monroe both comic and pathetic.


, the dramatic struggle of Marilyn's

Taste of Cherry

Taste of Cherry (1997)
a film by Abbas Kiarostami

It has taken me a while to digest Taste of Cherry. It is hard to form an objective opinion when words as exquisite, extraordinary and masterpiece surround this movie and it almost feels like The Emperor's New Clothes when I'm not highly stricken by this film, which nevertheless I found really beautiful and original.

The key in this movie are the photography and the silences. Both of those elements create the minimalist environment in which this story develops and which leads to a spiritual connection with the events happening on the screen.

The camera is almost steady in most of the scenes and although sometimes provides a bird's view of the winding road, it maintains the realistic point of view of a non-priviledged observer. This movie features beautiful mustard shades that turn into blue and always have the day light as a protagonist. It has really nice shots of the characters and sometimes it is completely detached from them creating reflection over the ideas that their dialogues are introducing.

This seems like a fill in the blank movie. The idea of spirituality that was induced on me was provided by the elements I found in the dialogues, but I'm pretty sure that the focus can easily change into more dramatic or simply stylistic as the movie provides free ground for the spectator to develop its own reflection.

Taste of Cherry is one of those movies that asks for a lot of attention and patience but that manages to develop a feeling of contemplation that is really powerful. I'm not surprise that this film divides the critic and the spectators as it gives enough of ground for an spiritual experience or endless boredom depending on your take. The last scene for me was a mix of a nice surprise with a slap in the face, but I guess there is some space for discussion too.

You can count on me

You Can Count On Me (2000)
a film by Kenneth Lonergan

This is an entertaining and moving story of family and brotherhood. It enters my pantheon of great movies about everyday people in everyday situations right next to Yi Yi. And it is so great at describing this personal story thanks to the great work and Marc Ruffalo and Laura Linney that make such a great couple of brothers in the screen and give a touch of greatness to this story that could happen next door.

Sammy and Terry loose their parent when still really young. Sammy stays in their small town up-state New York while Terry leaves to become a drifter around the country. Sammy becomes a single mother and one day Terry drops a letter announcing his visit. That is the starting point of this memorable story that is moving but at the same time soothing and amusing.

It is amazing how regular life is also immortalized in film and the way in which this story lingers is through the great moments that the characters put together in the screen. This are not perfect heroes and they are distant from being heroes as all, it is that great touch humanity that makes this story accessible and beautiful.

Another great aspect of this movie is the smart and witty script. I was surprised to see Martin Scorsese in the opening credits and I think I understand him getting involved in a movie that although is distant from his favourite topics is full of fluent dialogues and great character development.

Both Sammy and Terry are charming characters, they are provided with so many details and natural reactions that the seem more articulated than just the image of them in the screen. A key moment showing was the scene in which they are smoking and a moth shows up and far from disturbing the scene the characters react to its presence naturally and fluently. This is great story about brothers and what it means to have sibling. So soothingly powerful, this story is going to make you long to hug your sister (or brother).

The Piano

The Piano (1993)

a film by Jane Campion

I don't know why I haven't seen this film before. Maybe it was because it is so acclaimed by critics and general public that I was fearing a major deception out of inflated expectations. Luckily that wasn't the case and this film blew my mind in a way I wasn't expecting despite of all the anticipation. This is great story with epic landscapes, amazing music and photography and most of all, a really memorable female heroin comes to life with Holly Hunter's brilliant performance.

There are many memorable things about this movie. There are marvelous sequences that are among the most beautiful I have seen in a movie screen. A piano abandoned in a beach with the furious Pacific Ocean in the background. A troupe of Maori's attired with Victorian clothes crossing the muddy forests. Anna Paquin running under the rain with angel wings.

If that wasn't enough this movie also features powerful and memorable characters. All the actors are at their best and is no surprise that this movie has been so celebrated and remembered. I personally like and celebrate the strong the depiction of this female character that beyond the conventions and limitations of her epoch finds will and strength to change her destiny. It is the force and beauty of this kind of female characters what sometimes is missing in modern movies.

The Piano is a must see, so I should stop inflating expectations that I could continue feeding talking about the great music, the marvelous photography and the awesome costumes. This movie is worth finding a big screen with good sound and surrender your senses.

Alice's Restaurant

Alice's Restaurant (1969)
a film by Arthur Penn

This movie is document of the counterculture movement and the young people in the end of the sixties. It keeps record of many aspects of the life of this generation and is greatly narrated by Arlo Guthrie in an entertaining tone of voice full of wit and irony.

This film features nice images and great music and I wouldn't doubt it is a milestone if you want to get a grasp of American culture seen through films. Some sequences such as the wedding or the old van in the road with the army trucks are really memorable because of its aesthetics and its satirical content. It is a story of the generation that lived the counterculture and broke the structure of society as it was thought until then and this is shown smoothly throughout the film in the clash of the citizens with the characters that integrate Alice's Restaurant.

I think it is a matter of empathy what made this story feel a bit distant from me. Maybe a deeper knowledge of American culture would make an instant classic. It is that sort of insight what separates this enjoyable story from the universal and memorable story I hoped it to become and leaves it in the limbo between light and vigorously critic entertainment.

I enjoyed the dynamic narration introduced by the music and the voice of Arlo Guthrie, who I did not know before finding this film but whose voice I can't get out of my head with his sticky tune: "you can eat everything you want at Alice's Restaurant".

La Genou de Claire

La Genou de Claire (1970)
a film by Eric Rohmer

Thu. Aug. 5/10 - 7:00pm

Jackman Hall - AGO

Thanks to the Cinematheque I had the great opportunity of watching three of the Rohmer's moral tales included on The List in a large screen with a restored film and in the company of a great audience and this really makes the difference when it comes to admire the beauty and the complexity of Rohmer's film.

Rohmer's work is not easily accessible, it demands lots of attention and patience but it is really worth for the payback, and when I talk about them I try to emphasize in the thoughts and experiences that his films have produce on me more than the actual set of actions that occur in the screen because in the end his movies are more about what is happening in the minds of his characters rather than his actions.

I found La Genou de Claire to be the most approachable of the moral stories I have watched. I found it to be provocative and delightful, full of really beautiful visual details and rich characters.

Starting with the landscape of the lake, all the images of this film are really appealing and they provide the environment of lavish beauty that sets the moral dilemma on the main character.
The great sense of style of Rohmer's movies is also present here with the careful choice of the clothes of the characters, the rooms and the landscape. The general composition of the images is brilliant and provoking, sometimes I reminding me of the paintings of Balthus.

The characters are really interesting, each one really elaborated throughout their dialogues which reveal so much about them and the mask that words put over the real thoughts. The moral dilemma and the temptation are evident in all the relations between the characters and Claire's knee becomes the vehicle in which all the tensions that are created find an objective and an apparent resolution.

This is a movie about temptation and desire. It provokes and it entertains with a great sense of aesthetics and intellectual richness which is provides ground for discussion and generates ideas that linger after the film. Rohmer's work is brilliant and beautiful, it is worth discovering and discussing. If you are willing to take the trip I would recommend to start with this film.

Green For Danger

Green For Danger (1945)
a film by Sydney Gilliat

Set in the last days of the World War II, Green For Danger is an entertaining thriller and a successful cocktail made with the intrigue of the relationships between the doctors and nurses in a hospital, the life in the English Home Front, a mysterious crime story and considerable amounts of dark humour.

Green For Danger has been another one of the great discoveries brought by The List. This short and refreshing films brings a Hitchcockian crime story with a little bit of romantic intrigue nicely set by the great cast and sparkled with the dose of dark humour provided by a clumsy but very proud detective that is both an omniscient narrator and a character in the story.

This is a movie made in the last year of WWII but touches topics that might have been very sensitive for the audiences of the time and that are greatly preserved thank to the success of this story. The English Home Front, the campaign hospitals and the terrible menace of the terrible V1 rockets frame this thriller. On the other hand it also features interesting characters greatly interpreted that set the tempestuous background for the story, I particularly enjoyed Dr. Adan and the elegant and independent nurse Linley.

A movie like Green For Danger is a document of their time. It preserves the elements of the life and its problems in its time but it is the great success in the mixture of cast, story and context what makes it accessible and entertaining more than sixty years later and will make it linger in time.

Mon Oncle

Mon Oncle (1958)
a film by Jacques Tatis

Watching Tati's movies is always a refreshing and cheerful experience and those lighthearted feelings are what I remember now when I'm writing about it. I'm also happy because I was looking forward to post the beautiful poster of this movie at EleKino.

This is the story of the clash between two worlds, the almost sterilized world of the Arpel family and world of M. Hulot. It is the clash between a world of conventions and the informality, between the world of modern bourgeoisie and rural life, a collision between a technology that seems to overwhelm life and simple life. All this is present from the opening credits and follows through all the movie with a great visual contrast between both worlds and in the middle the beautiful relationship of the kid with his uncle.

This movie has the great ability of disguising as naive and simple hiding the great meticulous and whimsical genius of Tatis. Each gag in this movie is carefully constructed and happens with great fluidity on the screen, and no detail is left behind as the images are beautifully composed with the nice touch of Technicolor that goes so well with the story. My favourites are the fish fountain scenes and the sequences on the plastic factory, but the visual construction and the soundtrack are amazing throughout all the film.

It is really difficult to see how tall is Jacques Tatis when you see him dressed as M. Hulot. And it is also difficult to see how great he is as a director and comedian when his movies are so accessible and enjoyable but his influence extends from Mr. Bean's Holiday to Apocalypse Now.

Anastasia

Anastasia (1956)
a film by Anatole Lytvak

Still recovering from the shock of The Butcher Boy I found Anastasia in search of some sanity and this greatly staged and solid movie was a nice shelter.

A story told a thousand times, the family of the Czar Nikolai II has been killed by the Bolshevik revolutionaries but the rumour that Princess Anastasia has survived has spread over Europe. Yul Brynner plays the strict and cold General Bounine who is determined to show that Anna, a recovering amnesic played by the ravishing Ingrid Bergman is the missing princess.

This movie has the great appeal of the classics featuring great costumes and the magnificence of the many European cities. It also sets the great contrast of the monolithic and impressive acting of Brynnerwith the freshness and the flexibility that Bergman gives to her character.
What really made this story worth seeing were those scenes in which they interact.

A nice story that makes justice to the myth of the loss heir of the Czar. A story that feels so strange now in the times of DNA tests but that will stand time with the great Ingrid Bergman in the role of Anastasia.

The Butcher Boy

The Butcher Boy (1997)
a film by Neil Jordan

This movie is a great finding. I didn't know it and when I found it I didn't have any idea of what to expect. It is a great story full of the darkest sense of humour and a vertiginous narrative.

I think it is accurate to say that I haven't seen a movie like this before. It features the vibrant narrative and stream of conscious of Francie Brady, the memorable character of a boy whose world continuously falls apart and retreats in to a violent fantasy world which provide the movie with a great mixture of vitality and dark humour. The performance of Eamonn Owens as Francie Brady is amazing.

Many times during this movie I found myself expecting it to drift into an endless drama, but it never cease to turn ludicrous. The main character and the great soundtrack kept the story fresh and even when there are moments in which the misfortune and the desolation seem endless it manages to keep the mixture of seriousness and absurdity that make it so original, driving you on the edge of laughter and shock.

This is the darkest comedy, at moments I didn't know if what I was watching was drifting in to insanity and often I found myself shocked by the unexpected situations in which this movie put me. It is a hard cocktail of sweetness, sadness and schizophrenia.