Film Persona

  Ralph Nelson's "Lilies of the Field" The only reason the 1963 film " Lilies of the Field " registers in the zeitgeist of cinema is due to its lead actor, Sidney Poitier, becoming the very first black actor to win for a leading role at the Academy Awards. Beyond this outstanding achievement, the film itself has little effect in the public consciousness. After watching the film, it did little to move the needle in terms of my own personal recognition. However, its admirable themes and solid lead performance made it notable at the very least. Poitier stars as a drifting handyman named Homer, who stops at a remote Arizona farm seeking water for his car. A group of nuns from East Germany who occupy the farm believe that Homer has been sent by God to build them a chapel. Homer begrudgingly agrees to the task and ends up uniting the entire community. Despite my admiration for the progressive themes, the film is too simplistic to contain much depth. Its drama lies in ...

  Jack Clayton's "The Innocents" Despite having a cult-esque admiration by a sect of the film community, " The Innocents " did not engage with me in the slightest. Beyond its admirable gothic psychology, its contents felt hollow. The film is adapted from a 1950 William Archibald play of the same name, which in turn was adapted from Henry James's famous 1898 novella " The Turn of the Screw ." Along the line of adaptation, an atmosphere was kept that renders the film watchable, but something was lost along the way indeed. The film follows a Miss Giddens, a first time governess of an absent, wealthy bachelor. Her duties are to keep accompany of his orphaned niece and nephew, who are exhibiting strange behavior. During her duties, she uncovers the startling truth that perhaps these children are the conduits of the previous residents of the estate. I was utterly intrigued by the potential plot of the film, only to be let down by its mundanity. Sure, the...

Kaneto Shindo's "Onibaba" After being utterly floored by " The Naked Island ," I was very excited to sit for Kaneto Shindo's 1964 film " Onibaba ." It has quite a reputation, so I felt that it had the ability to surpass its former. However, aside from the style and visual prowess of Shindo's direction, I was less than enthused about its feeble attempts at symbolism.  The film centers on an older woman and her daughter-in-law in the mid-14th century. As war rampages the country, the two women hide away in a marsh field stealing supplies and food from passing, lost soldiers. After one of their neighbors returns having news of their son/husband's death, he entices the widow to sleep with him. She does, making the mother-in-law very angry. The mother-in-law then uses a samurai demon mask to scare her daughter-in-law from continuing in the sexual engagement. The best quality " Onibaba " has is its biblical aesthetic. It has the visual ...

Robert Bresson's "Four Nights of a Dreamer" Robert Bresson's 1971 " Four Nights of a Dreamer " is the second adaptation I've seen of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's short story " White Nights ." The other was Luchino Visconti's 1957 film. Of course, Bresson's version is very...well...Bressonian.  The film centers on Jacques, a depressed and alienated Parisian artist who meets Marthe - a woman pondering suicide at the edge of Pont Neuf. She spends her nights awaiting the return of a past lover, who has yet to come and see her. Jacques spends the next four nights with Marthe, comforting her while waiting. The two eventually fall in love. However, on the final night, Marthe's lover returns. In Visconti's version, the story is told through a more romantic lens, even its final melancholy. But, in pure Bressonian fashion, " Four Nights of a Dreamer " is a far more cold, clinical imagining of Dostoyevsky's work. That being said,...

  Stanley Kramer's "Judgement at Nuremberg" The 1961 American film " Judgement at Nuremberg " features a dramatization of the real-life Nuremberg Trails that took place between 1946 and 1949. Specifically, it features the "Judges' Trial," in which multiple jurists and lawyers were put on trial for their association with carrying out unjust laws. The main takeaway I got from watching this classic Hollywood piece is the desire to study the very real trials that took place. Beyond that, the film is a moderately good courtroom drama. While it was interesting to see a theatrical version of the real trials, along with very effective quick zooms, the oversimplification of the events leaves one to be desired. That being said, the film does its very best to layout all the complex notions it's bringing to the table. There is far more happening than the posited question: should the Germans be held accountable? The film muses on this question while providi...

  Robert Wise's "West Side Story" Based on the acclaimed 1957 Broadway Musical of the same name, the 1961 film adaptation of " West Side Story " is one of the most memorable movie musicals in history. The original story is based on William Shakespeare's famous play " Romeo and Juliet ," but updated for a 'modern' New York City. While it remains a classic of Hollywood history, to me, it does little to distinguish itself from the other colorful musicals of the time. The best aspect of the film's impact, beyond its critical recognition, is its timely politics on civil unrest and race relations. In the film, two teenage gangs rival for control over of the Upper West Side. One gang is white, the other Puerto Rican. While the representation of some of the Puerto Ricans by white actors is a bit undermining of its main point, I still feel its central thematic focus was an important social commentary at a time when civil rights were heating up i...