Carlos (Bonus Track)

Carlos (2010)

a film by Oliver Assayas

What is it?

Carlos the Jackal was the world's most famous terrorist of the Twentieth century. He worked for and along communists radical movements, Arab nationalists and Islamists during the toughest years of the Cold War. This movie tells the story of Carlos life from his early involvement in terrorist actions in the 70s to his decadence and capture in the early 90s. This movie -as announced on the beginning of its three parts- is the mixture of journalistic research and fictionalization of the grayest areas of his life. This film can be regarded both as a historical document and as an action thriller. This movie jumps between the European capitals to the Middle East and North African countries, from the fashionable 70s to the decadent 80s, from the idealistic revolution to the bloody armed action and combines it all to tell the story of a man whose name meant terror.

Memorable scene

A group leaded by Carlos breaks into the meeting of the OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) there is shooting, confusion and screaming, the representatives take cover under their desks, it is the beginning the most thrilling section of this film.

Favourite quote

"You need me, my name is feared" - Carlos

Why adding this movie as a Bonus Track?

This film is a shocking game of Risk incarnated in the figure of Carlos. It gives a face and a story behind a feared man and articulates the game of power that was the Cold War. This movie gets the alluring spirit of rebellion and the rock-star character of Carlos' as celebrity, producing a Stockholm syndrome fascination, but quickly enough it is contrasted with his personal delusion, his lack of moral consideration and his intoxication of power.

Carlos has great narrative power, has great acting, has action sequences and political intrigue. A movie like Carlos is an example of the power of cinema to bring history to life, to validate what has been forgotten or obscured and provide a reflection of the world today in the mirror of history.

America, America

America, America (1963)

a film by Elia Kazan

What is it?

America, America is the story of Stavros Topouzoglou, a greek living in Anatolia at the end of the XIX century when the social conditions made life very difficult for minorities living in Turkey. This movie is the story of his journey from his hometown to America. This is the familiar story of director Elia Kazan, it is an epic story of immigration and family.

Memorable scene

In the deck of the ship that took Stavros to America, a group of first-class passengers accompanied with some musicians enter the third class section and start dancing a waltz and from the shadows jumps Stavros and interrupts the scene and starts dancing and spinning frantically while crying.

Favourite quote

"My name is Elia Kazan. I am Greek by blood, a Turk by birth and an American because my uncle made a journey"

Why is it worth watching this movie?

This is the movie that every immigrant would like to make of its own personal story, it is a movie about the sacrifices and risks of trying to make your life somewhere else when conditions force you to leave your homeland. But it is also a movie about the vitality and strength in human nature that drive people to look for a better life. It is an homage to the homeland, the portraits of the country and the life in Turkey are carefully composed with visual care, memorable characters and great music.

Á Nous La Liberté

Á Nous La Liberté (1931)

a film by René Claire

What is it?

Called an all-time classic comedy, Á Nous La Liberté is the story of Louis, who escapes prison with the help of his friend Emile to become a wealthy industrialist. He has everything he wanted, a huge business, a trophy wife, influential friends, but his past returns when Emile gets a job in his plant. This is a movie about friendship and about the alienation of man in the industrial society, it is witty and beautiful satire of wealth and industrialization from the early time of sound in cinema.

Memorable scene

The first sequence of this movie is great: from the assembly line, to escape from prison to winning a cycling race, it is surrealist, it is funny, it is narratively powerful and you feel empathy for the characters right away, it has it all.

Gossip:

It is true that this movie was the subject of a law suit in which Tobis, the German distribution company of Á Nous La Liberté, accused Chaplin's Modern Times of plagiarism. Chaplin's film was released five years after this film and although the similarities are evident, René Clair refused to participate in the law suit and claimed that if Chaplin was inspired by his film it would be a honor.
Why is it worth watching this movie?

A Nous La Liberté is a classic piece of its time, it features the social critique and the satire to industrialization and aristocracy, it shows the influence of the vanguards in surrealism inspired visuals and even in the faces of some characters and specially it shows the comedy style inherited from the silent film era.

This movie can be regarded as a left-wing film, but that would be underestimating what is a really optimistic story, in which assembly lines, work and wealth accumulation can not get in the way of friendship and hope. It shows a world in which the machines arrive for making life easier, for creating time and life quality for the workers, creating a world that at the time was the dream of a better world.

Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now (1979)

a film by Francis Ford Coppola

What is it?
When asked in the Cannes Film Festival about this movie Coppola said: "this is not a movie about Vietnam. This was Vietnam". Apocalypse Now is the haunting story of Captain Willard,

an officer appointed to find and "terminate the command" of a missing special forces officer lost in the jungle during the Vietnam war. Willard will travel up the river and down to the darkest corners of the human soul. This movie is a free adaptation of Joseph Conrad's the heart of darkness in which the Vietnam jungle is the setting for a hallucinatory trip through the war.

Memorable scene

A napalm bombed forest and The Door's The End, provide one of the best first sequences I have ever seen. This scene summarizes what is about to come, it is clear you are descending into the heart of darkness, the helicopter propellers like the echoes of ghosts while you see the tree line engulfed in flames and the words of Jim Morrison saying "Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end".

Favourite quote

"Everyone gets everything he wants. I wanted a mission, and for my sins, they gave me one. Brought it up to me like room service. It was a real choice mission, and when it was over, I never wanted another." - Captain Willard
Why is it worth watching this movie?

There are many reasons for watching Apocalypse Now. It is worth watching Dennis Hopper, Robert Duvall, Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando and seeing the dementia of war incarnated in their faces. It is worth seeing the product of a the titanic effort to finish this production. But for me the most important one is because they don't make movies like this anymore. This is an ambitious and daring reflection on war, excessive but remarkable this film shows the main aspects of the war and the decay and contradictions of the human nature. From a the ritual sacrifice of a cow to a squad of helicopters ready to attack a village with the notes of Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries, this movie is full of original and daring images. This added to a suspenseful narrative and brilliant characters creates a brilliant and haunting film.

How To Marry a Millionaire

How To Marry a Millionaire (1953)

a film by Jean Negulesco

What is it?

A likable romantic comedy featuring three great actresses Betty Grable, Mariliyn Monroe and Lauren Bacall as charming gold-diggers in New York. This is a light hearted story in the spirit of Bus Stop and Pillow Talk where real love is the champion over ambition and social condition.

Memorable scene

Lauren Bacall's character, Schatze Page is trying to convince William Powell that their age difference doesn't matter to her and says: "Loot at Roosvelt, look at Churchill, look at old fella what's his name in The African Queen". The old fella is Humphrey Bogart, Bacall's husband at the time.

Favourite quote

"Most women use more brains picking a horse in the third at Belmont than they do picking a husband" - Schatze Page (Lauren Bacall).

Why is it worth watching this movie?

How To Marry a Millionaire is the kind of Hollywood production that will never age. It features a combination of smart script and charming actresses to bring to life the rose-colored and optimistic vision of what has become the romantic comedy genre. This movie is as a valid and entertaining after almost 60 years from its release and its story of independent women in New York is surely the cast from which stories like Sex and the City came from. I can see a remake of this movie coming into theaters really soon.

Fanny and Alexander

Fanny and Alexander (1982)

a film by Ingmar Bergman

What is it?

This is the story of the Ekdahl family and two of their youngest member. Circumstances take Fanny and Alexander from the little world that the family has created, and as they have to face darkness and meanness. This is a movie about love and friendship. The plot points in one direction but the story is told through the characters and their personal littles stories come together to create this portrait of family. At the same time sweet and sad, magical and wise, this movie is a superb film, a great work by Ingmar Bergman full of love and his cinema mastership.

Memorable scene

There is many scenes in this movie in which one of the characters tells a story. Then the light is dim, and the room feels warm and all you want to do it listen to their words as if your grandpa was telling you the story and all you want to be is a 5-year-old to listen to them. That is what Bergman manages to create with his cinema.
Favourite quote

"Aren't you afraid god will punish you for saying that?" - Fanny

"If a big know-it-all like him punishes a runt like me for so little then he is just the dirty bastard I suspect he is." - Alexander

Why is it worth watching this movie?

This movie doesn't feel like a play or a film, it feels more like looking through the window of your neighbors and seeing their life through it. This movie looks like a painting, carefully composed and with great care for the colors and the light, it is not only narratively powerful but also visually outstanding. This movie provides deep emotions and with great skill Bergman manages not only to move but to touch your soul. This movie has really sad scenes, some other are really scary, some others produce anger, but doesn't matter what is happening it feels sweet and magical, but also very human.

Tampopo

Tampopo (1986)

a film by Juzo Itami

What is it?
The entertaining and original story of a widow and a group of gastronomical samurai in the quest for the perfect noodles. A tribute to gastronomy and Japanese culture in the style of modern Western.
Memorable scene
In a class of Western table manners and etiquette, the teacher emphasizes in front of her audience of young Japanese women that when eating spaghetti they should try to avoid making any sounds. But, how to explain it to the class when in the next table a Western costumer sucks loudly on his spaghetti?
Favourite quote
"They say when you die you see something like a movie, a life kaleidoscoped into a few seconds. I look forward to that movie. A man's last movie." - The man in the white suit.
Why is it worth watching this movie?

This movie is a celebration of food. It re-edits the samurai/western story in which the quest for justice is transformed into a quest for gastronomical perfection. All the characters in this movie are rich and interesting, each one has its own story that crosses and enriches the main plot. This is an entertaining film that will make you crave for noodle soup.