Posts

Splendor in the Grass (1961)

Image
  Elia Kazan's "Splendor in the Grass" Coming out of the 1950s, there was a certain eye-rolling quality in American cinema that continued to persist. The films very either very propagandic or very overdramatic. I felt the sting of stupidity emanating from Elia Kazan's 1961 film " Splendor in the Grass ." Although it doesn't an egregious amount of offense and does contain some engaging elements, its attempt at continuing Kazan's pulse on American youth felt very dried up. It stars Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty as a teenage couple, Deanie and Bud, in 1928/29 Kansas. The pressure from all the adults in their life about their future and status cause their relationship to spiral. This eventually leads to their separation and individual problems that stem from it. There's really nothing more to the story. In the beginning, I felt a sense of promise on its initial themes. Kazan had made plenty of film's dealing with the problematic upbringing of mo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Satyricon (1969)

Image
  Federico Fellini's "Satyricon" Loosely based on the 1st century Latin work " Satyricon ," Federico Fellini's delirious concoction of a film, 1969's " Satyricon " is a madcap work, even for the likes of Fellini. When the film was first screened at the 30th Venice Film Festival, it was met with a generally positive reception, albeit critics wrote about the film with "stunned bewilderment." Although set during the Roman times of Nero, the depiction of Imperial Rome is far more like a surreal dream. The film is broken out between 9 episodes, most featuring a character called Encolpius. While there is a loose narrative structure, the film can be difficult to surmise a consistent plot, as most of the scenes are filled with too many abstractions to coherently build linear cohesion. However, we follow Encolpius, the pansexual, as he attempts to traverse the delirious and wild environment of paganist debauchery and violence in Imperial Rome....
Post a Comment
Read more

Divorce Italian Style (1961)

Image
Pietro Germi's "Divorce Italian Style" There are certain films that have a thematic resonance that overpowers the film's sense of entertainment value. Then there are films that are so entertaining, you don't even attempt to mine any semblance of theme or greater point. Pietro Germi's 1961 comedy " Divorce Italian Style " is one of those films. The film centers on a 37-year-old impoverished nobleman named Ferdinando who daydreams about the various ways he could end the life of his wife of 12 years, Rosalia. He decides to hatch a plan to break off his marriage in order to secure a marriage between himself and his 16-year-old cousin, Angela, whom he only sees during the summer. To enact his plan, he hires his wife's former lover to come and pain their ceiling, hoping he can catch them in the act and murder them. While the plot of the film may sound dramatic or intense, it is actually done incredibly farcically. Every bit of what's happening in t...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Two of Us (1967)

Image
  Claude Berri's "The Two of Us" Titled " Le vieil homme and et l'enfant " when it was originally released in France, " The Two of Us " was Claude Berri's directorial debut. Despite being released in 1967, the film feels like a throwback to classic French cinema - the era of "tradition of quality." It also happens to be one of Michel Simon's greatest roles, especially in the twilight of his career. The film centers on Claude, an 8-year-old Jewish boy living in France during the Nazi occupation. To reduce the chance of being sent to Auschwitz or a similar fate, his parents change his name and send him to live on a farm with the elderly parents of their Catholic friends. The only issue is that this elderly couple is antisemitic and have no idea the young boy is Jewish.  I was expecting some sort of conclusory realization at the end of the film, not that it was necessary. But, as I was watching the film, I was predicting that the eld...
Post a Comment
Read more

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Image
  Blake Edwards's "Breakfast at Tiffany's" The most likeable aspect of Blake Edwards's 1961 film " Breakfast at Tiffany's " is that it is aesthetically pleasing. Beyond its sheen and shine lays a hollowed out attempt at Truman Capote's classic novella. Of course, nobody will remember Capote's classic over the film adaptation. My main point about the film's ability to aesthetically please attributes to this, but I think it is the iconic performance of Audrey Hepburn that cements the film into the collective consciousness. There are numerous problems I had with this film. Firstly, the notoriously racist depiction of the Japanese landlord, Mr. Yunioshi, played by Mickey Rooney. Not only is it a caricature, the use of bucktooth is incredibly shameful.  My second gripe with the film is the ending's final, seemingly romantic, message. Throughout the film, Hepburn's Holly is a 'free spirit,' unwilling to be caged in by anyone. Wh...
Post a Comment
Read more

Paris Belongs to Us (1961)

Image
  Jacques Rivette's "Paris Belongs to Us" I watched Jacques Rivette's 1961 film " Paris Belongs to Us"  on the Criterion Channel. Had I watched it in the theater, it would be a rare instance in which I walked out. In this case, I simply stopped watching with 40 minutes left. It is very unlike me to completely give up on a film, so this particular instance was very strange and fascinating to me. I read all the time about people "walking out of theaters" for films that they do not like. I've always thought that was a foreign concept. I never understood the reasoning for not staying until the end. Was the film that bad? You simply couldn't stand it any longer? Well, for me and " Paris Belongs to Us ," the answer was yes.  The film revolves around a character named Anne, who spends the entire film trying to uncover the mysterious death of Juan, an unintroduced character that everyone around Anne seems to know. She ventures through the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Who's That Knocking at My Door? (1967)

Image
  Martin Scorsese's "Who's That Knocking at My Door?" It was very strange to sit down and watch Martin Scorsese's debut feature film, 1967's " Who's That Knocking at My Door? " The reason for this strangeness is not because of any fault within the film (although it certainly has many faults). It is because the film is so bare-bones Scorsese. All of his elements are here. It's interesting to see an artist you're so familiar with at his most elemental and amateur. The film centers on J.R., a Catholic Italian-American young man who spends most of his time drinking, partying, and engaging in violence with his do-nothing friends in New York City. He meets a girl he believes to be a virgin. After getting involved into a sexual and romantic relationship, she confides in him that she was raped by her former boyfriend. He angrily rejects her and returns to partying with his friends. After attempting to reconcile with her, she rejects him back. He ...
Post a Comment
Read more