Film Persona

  Pier Paolo Pasolini's "Mamma Roma" Pier Paolo Pasolini's films would get far more controversial into his directing career, but even his more neo-realist pieces in the early 1960s had some edge to them. His second directorial effort, 1962's " Mamma Roma ," which starred the incomparable Anna Magnani, had a police complaint filed the day of its release for being "offensive to good morals" and "contrary to public decency." Pasolini was even confronted by neo-fascists in front of the Quattro Fontane Cinema, where he got into a scuffle.  Personally, I don't understand the outrage over the film. There was nothing inherently sadistic about the film, beyond some of the thematic points it was making. Perhaps its inclusion of prostitution, or its sympathies with a petty criminal were enough to drive people over the edge. " Mamma Roma " centers on former prostitute Momma Roma, who starts a new life as a marketer in Rome after her...

  Jean-Pierre Melville's "Le Doulos" After the critical and commercial success of 1961's " Leon Morin, Priest ," Jean-Pierre Melville returned to a familiar crime formula with 1962's " Le Doulos ." Another commercial success, " Le Doulos " and its crime thriller format would become a normality for Melville. Aside from the simplicities that the genre provides, Melville still manages to inject this format with bleak, fatalistic themes. The plot at times can be a bit convulsive. This is perhaps the intention, given that there is a bit of a revelation that clarifies things later in the plot. This confusion also adds to the lack of distinction between good and evil, cop and crook, etc. There is so much double-crossing, informing, and manipulative measures that is sufficient to make one's head spin.  The ending of the film, along with its thematic point, reminded me a bit of Martin Scorsese's 2006 film " The Departed ." En...

  Masaki Kobayashi's "Harakiri" Masaki Kobayashi's 1962 jidaigeki film " Harakiri " is one of the most striking and subversive samurai films of its era. Starring the incomparable Tatsuya Nakadai, the film centers on a ronin in 1930 who presents himself before the estate of the Iyi clan wanting to commit seppuku within their courtyard palace. What really drives the film is the mystery surrounding the reason of this request.  Aspects of Kobayashi's direction felt Hitchcockian to me. There's a solemn intensity in the atmosphere that creates an inherent sense of suspense. Kobayashi is very kinetic with his shots and camerawork. Throughout the formal environment of the estate, he seems to revel in an anti-formalist approach to his direction. This deftly benefits the sense of growing intrigue. The plot creeps along knowing its audience is anticipating its next step. As we continue down the path of revelation, the protagonists intentions grow increasingly c...

  Yasujiro Ozu's "An Autumn Afternoon" A bittersweet end to the great career of Yasujiro Ozu, 1962's " An Autumn Afternoon " is a summation of a great man's oeuvre. I find myself melancholic after having watched his expansive career of the past several years of my life. His films are gentle, yet impactful. My comfort with his familiar style meshes with the domesticity of his characters. Watching an Ozu film almost feels like returning home. Before dying at the age of 60 the following year, Ozu completed " An Autumn Afternoon ," in which he institutes themes of finality and coming to terms with the ever-changing nature of life. It centers on an aging widower who enlists the help of his family to get his two unmarried children married. The plot is not very atypical of an Ozu, nor is his quiet musings on life's loneliness.  Chishu Ryu, who had worked in Ozu films since Ozu's debut in 1928, plays the aging widower. In in a way, Ryu is a sta...

  Robert Mulligan's "To Kill a Mockingbird" The very first time I ever watched the 1962 classic " To Kill a Mockingbird " was when I was in high school. After reading the Harper Lee novel, we spend multiple class days watching the film version. I don't remember having much of an impression of the film, other than mild admiration. This time around, I felt the film was still admirable, yet diluted.  The film centers on a small Alabama girl who observes her father, Atticus Finch, defend a black man accused of raping a white woman in court. At the time of the film's release, 1962, the film was a far greater impact due to the civil unrest that was swarming the country over race laws. The importance of the film is recognizable in this context. However, there can often be oversimplifications throughout.  Despite this, I still stand by the film's integrity of grit in its unflinching observations of racial prejudice. Overall, the overarching theme is prejudic...

  Stanley Kubrick's "Lolita" It has been almost a decade since I've seen Stanley Kubrick's 1962 adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's 1955 novel " Lolita ." I remember the film not resonating with me, and felt that it was one of Kubrick's weaker pieces. The second time around, I thought that there was perhaps something I had missed. After giving it another chance, I have reached the same conclusions about the film as I did the first go-around. The film centers on a man's chase after a 14-year-old girl named Lolita. The outright pedophilia of the novel is tampered down for the film version. However, the outrighedness is simply swapped for unspoken obviousness. The disturbing pining and suppression of this young girl is the story itself. Yet, I don't feel as though it truly means anything.  The film comes across as a black comedy, with the pedophilia meant to act as a driver for the propulsion of the protagonist's purpose. But, the lack of t...