Film Persona

  William Cameron Menzies' "Things to Come" Famed writer H.G. Wells brings a vision of global future to life in the 1936 British film " Things to Come ." To write the screenplay, Wells used many of his previous writings for story structure and concept, including his 1933 book " The Shape of Things to Come ," his 1931 work on society and economics " The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind ," and his 1897 story " A Story of the Days to Come ." Produced by Alexander Korda and directed by William Cameron Menzies, " Things to Come " is considered by many to be the first foray into the world of science fiction and futurism in film.  The story begins in 1940 as a global war breaks out (coincidence?). After mayhem and destruction, the film progresses in the 1960 in a post-apocalyptic world full of pestilence. By 1970, this pestilence has been eradicated and a new order is founded by a warlord. The members of this society are the...

  David Lean's "Blithe Spirit" Of the two films that David Lean directed in 1945, " Brief Encounter " is by far the better and more memorable film. That being said, his first effort that year, " Blithe Spirit ," despite its poor commercial  reception at the time, has since been reappraised as being a classic British-style screwball comedy. Even more notably, its use of technicolor.  The film stars Rex Harrison as a middle-aged writer named Charles who is happily married to his second wife. After inviting a medium over to perform a séance, Charles' first wife appears as a ghost. This angers Ruth, who is committed to having her removed. As far as the production was concerned, everybody was unhappy. The film was adapted from the popular stage play by Noel Coward. Coward, because he was very unhappy with the way his previous adaptations had been butcherered by American studios so he sold the rights of the film to an independent British studio. However,...

  Alain Resnais' "Hiroshima Mon Amour" I am of the firm opinion that it was Agnes Varda that started the French New Wave movement with her 1955 film " La Pointe Courte ." The film's freeform style, mixed with realism, is drenched in creative liberties while it decommissions conventionality. The way the film is shot, edited, and written has a quality that is almost untethered to a tangible viewpoint of reality. Varda's editor on this film, Alain Resnais, once stated his reluctancy to work on it because it was "so nearly the film he wanted to make himself." He was so inspired by the project, that it influenced him to make 1959's " Hiroshima Mon Amour ."  After making his 1956 documentary " Night and Fog " about the recent holocaust, Resnais was then commissioned to shoot another short documentary. This time, about the atomic bomb. However, Resnais felt that making a documentary about the war would be too similar to the doc...

  Kenji Mizoguchi's "Sisters of the Gion" Kenji Mizoguchi's second film from 1936, " Sisters of the Gion " acts as a diptych to his previous effort, " Osaka Elegy ." Both films had the same cast and production teams and were filmed back-to-back. They both also contain similar themes of female oppression in Japanese society.  The film centers on a pair of sisters who work as geishas. They both share differing outlooks on women. The elder of the two, Umekichi, believes that she should stay loyal to her patron who recently went bankrupt and can no longer afford to pay her. She is a more traditional woman. She underwent classical geisha training and wears kimono. The younger sister, Omocha, went to public schools and wears Western clothing (except while working as a geisha). She believes that one shouldn't trust men because they have no problems abandoning them without a care. Because of this, she lies and manipulates men to her own advantage. This...

  Charles Vidor's "Gilda" I typically can find so much value in every film I watch. When I sat down to watch " Gilda ," I was very excited as I knew it had a great reputation. It was a classic film noir, lauded by the classic film community, and featured the most iconic role of Rita Hayworth's life. What could go wrong? I am very displeased to say this, but I was not only underwhelmed by the film, but very antagonistic towards it. " Gilda " stars Glenn Ford (whom would go on to star in a much more masterful noir with Fritz Lang's 1953 film " The Big Heat ") as an American hustler finding his way through the casinos of Buenos Aries. He meets an incredibly wealthy casino owner, Ballin, and decides to join his ranks. Things get complicated when his ex-lover Gilda comes into the picture as his boss' new wife. Gilda's unruly behavior threatens her new husband's power grab at orchestrating a capitalistic monopoly. Ford's cha...

  Agnes Varda's "Cleo from 5 to 7" In 1962, Agnes Varda completed her second feature film, " Cleo from 5 to 7 ," a full 7 years after her directorial debut, " La Pointe Courte ." Notably, " La Pointe Courte " was the film, in my opinion, that single-handedly ignited the French New Wave film movement. After setting such a precedent, I was highly anticipating viewing Varda's second attempt. She did not disappoint and even elevated the bar even further.  The film centers on a contemporary French pop star named Cleo, during the hours of 5 pm to roughly 7 pm. She spends these few hours awaiting the results of a medical exam. She traverses the city, meets people, and attempts to reconnect with her own sense of self in the process. A completely simple premise, however Varda somehow creates magic with it. When we begin the film with Cleo, Varda demonstrates this pop star's superficiality and her spoiled nature. Right from the onset, we view C...

  Jean Cocteau's "Orpheus" One thing that I really like about French director Jean Cocteau is his utterly unconventional and unapologetically fantastical sense of storytelling. With his 1950 film " Orpheus ," he takes the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and creates a contemporary psychological fantasy. I was expecting " Orpheus " to be a more untethered surrealist piece like its predecessor film, 1932's " Blood of a Poet ." However, despite its fantastical images, psychologically surreal, and effect-driven visuals, " Orpheus " is a far more realist piece than you would expect.  The film centers on a contemporary poet named Orpheus caught in a creative crisis. While once at the top of his game, he now finds that younger protegees have burst through the art world with their inventive new poetry. Orpheus becomes so obsessive over trying to retain whatever creativity he had before that not only does he steal the work of a poet dy...

  Rene Clement's "The Damned" After the end of the second World War, many wartime stories became the subject of many films all over the globe. In France, director Rene Clement had already established himself as a prominent film director and after the war, created a film that really captured the panicked end to the grisly event. Coming out in 1947, " The Damned " gained recognition for its depiction of the final days of a group of Nazis.  The film is most notable for its depiction of the interior of a wartime submarine, showing a group of wealthy Nazis and some French sympathizers head for South America on board a sub. After a female passenger gets a concussion, they port the sub and kidnap a French doctor to care for her. Knowing he could be disposed with after being useful and unable to escape, the doctor tries his best to scheme his way into his continued existence. When the sub reaches its destination, the Nazis realize that the war is over and there is not m...

  Ingmar Bergman's "The Seventh Seal" After the rousing global success of " Smiles of a Summer Night ," the Swedish studio AB Svensk Filmindustri granted writer/director Ingmar Bergman free reign to make any films he wished with complete creative freedom. The first of these films that he wished to make was vastly different than his sex comedy " Smiles of a Summer Night ." Rather, it was a film dealing with death. Bergman had decided to adapt one of his stage plays called " Wood Painting ." The result, " The Seventh Seal ," is considered a masterpiece by the filmmaker. Not only that, it is considered one of the greatest pieces of art in the 20th century.  The film takes place in Medieval Sweden, as a knight, Antonius Block, along with his squire, Jons, return from the Crusades to find their country ravaged by the plague. Antonius encounters a personification of Death, a pale man wrapped in a hooded cloak. Along their journey, the two...

  Gustaf Edgren's "Walpurgis Night" There is no denying that Victor Sjostrom is the father of Swedish cinema. However, after he stopped making films after the introduction of sound, there weren't very many Swedish artists making it to the global stage in cinema. This would all change with Ingmar Bergman, of course. But before making his appearance, Sweden's film output was consistent but never attained anything global, save for a few films by Alf Sjoberg. However, there was a young actress in Sweden during the 1930s that really started making a name for herself, first in Sweden and then globally. This actress was Ingrid Bergman and her career in Sweden was merely a stepping stone. In one her earliest roles, 1935's " Walpurgis Night ," she got to unite with the father of Swedish cinema himself, Sjostrom. Despite no longer making films, he was still acting in them. Their performative collaboration was a great middle ground between the history of cinema...

  Vittorio De Sica's "Bicycle Thieves" Vittorio De Sica's 1948 masterpiece " Bicycle Thieves " is without a doubt one of the most influential films in history. In many ways, its purity and excellence is what brought the Italian neo-realist movement into its final stages. It was impossible to replicate and impossible to improve upon. It was the pinnacle of the movement and even expressed coherent and simple truths not just about the post-war state of Italy, but of the post-war state of global society. The film centers on Antonio, a man desperate for work. He is offered a job hanging posters throughout the city, on the condition that he owns a bicycle. After his wife sells the family's bedsheets, Antonio buys his bike. While on the job, a man steals his bike (with the careful assistance of another man). Antonio and his young son Bruno spend the remainder of the film desperately searching for the missing bike. After confronting a man he believes to have sto...

  Leo McCarey's "Ruggles of Red Gap" Based on the 1915 novel of the same name by Walter DeLeon, Leo McCarey's 1935 film " Ruggles of Red Gap " was both a critical and commerical success. The success send Leo McCarey to the top of commercial comedy filmmakers. Despite having directed The Marx's Brothers' " Duck Soup " just two years earlier, McCarey did not garnish praise due to the film's commercial failure. That film wouldn't become a success until it was reappraised retrospectively. However, " Ruggles of Red Gap " sent the director to the top of the studio directing list. The film is set in 1908 and centers on British valet named Ruggles who is sent to America to valet a group of millionaires. Along the way, Ruggles encounters contrasting elements between American sensibilities and his gentleman's gentleman upbringing. He decides to stay in Ameria, 'the land of the free,' and start his own restaurant business...

  Elia Kazan's "A Streetcar Named Desire" Perhaps one of the most iconic stage-to-screen adaptations in Hollywood history is Elia Kazan's 1951 film " A Streetcar Named Desire ." The film was completely translated from the stage to screen and included the director Kazan, along with all of the original cast, save Vivien Leigh who replaced Jessica Tandy in the role of Blanche Dubois. Many consider the film version to be a completely transformative and elevated version of the stage play. In fact, the film version has gone on to be one of the most quotable, memorable, and iconic films in the history of American cinema. The film stars Vivien Leigh as a Mississippi girl named Blanche Dubois who moves into the French Quarter in New Orleans with her sister and her sister's abusive husband. Her flirtatious Southern-belle presence causes problems for the household and sends Marlon Brando's Stanley Kowalski into fits of rage and violence. The film's tragedy ...

  Elia Kazan's "Gentleman's Agreement" Elia Kazan's adaptation of the 1947 novel " Gentleman's Agreement " by Laura Z. Hobson was both controversial and widely praised after its release. The film was able to break through with critics praising it as an 'important' film and was even a box office success, much to the surprise of those who made it. The film was so successful that it received many Academy Awards nominations, and secured a win for Best Picture, Best Director (Elia Kazan), and Best Supporting Actress (Celeste Holm).  The film stars Gregory Peck as a widowed journalist who goes undercover as a Jewish man to uncover the daily antisemitism that everyday Jews face in the United States. Along the way, he uncovers surprising results. The more hateful rhetoric of bigotry is to be expected. What he doesn't expect are all the sly and beneath-the-surface ways that everyday people harbor passive hatred and how those passively allowing suc...

  Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars" By the early 1960s, Westerns had become the mainstream genre of Hollywood cinema. It had gotten so popular, there were now dozens of television shows to accompany the onslaught of films being released every week. This level of popularity mirrors the 'superhero' genre of modern cinemagoers. However, because of the Western genre's immense popularity and overproduction, it seemed like there was nowhere else to take the genre. All the groundwork had been laid, all the construction had been completed, and the genre had been lived in and every room and closet had been inspected. However, there was one final interpretation of the Western genre left and Italian director Sergio Leone would be the director to seize it. In the early 1960s, there was also post-modernist cinema. The French New Wave movement had demonstrated how cinema itself could be deconstructed, how genre, stereotype, and the basic conceits of film could be broken...

  Henri-Georges Clouzot's "Diabolique" Sitting here staring at my computer screen trying to come up with something to say about Henri-Georges Clouzot's 1955 thriller " Diabolique " is proving to be rather difficult. Normally, I'm at a loss of words when a film has nothing to offer and I felt completely detached and unengaged with it. For this film, it is quite the opposite. I was completely floored after finishing the film and sat in my seat in utter astonishment.  I don't wish to provide the synopsis for the film other than to say that a woman and another woman hatch a plan to kill one of the women's husband. What transpires from there is a story full of twists and turns that leaves knots upon knots in your stomach. The film was based on the novel " She Who Was No More " by Boileau-Narcejac. However, Clouzot changed many optics for his film version. It is rumored that Clouzot narrowly beat Alfred Hitchcock for the film rights to the no...

  Jean-Luc Godard's "Vivre Sa Vie" After watching Jean-Luc Godard's 1962 film " Vivre Sa Vie ," I walked away from the screen feeling a sense of emptiness. Where did this emptiness come from? I wasn't sure. I felt like I had to really sit and ponder the film in order to obtain any sense of emotional connection. What intrigued me most about the film was not the 'New Wave' elements that Godard uses far more subtly than his other work. It was also not the storyline itself revolving around a woman's descent into prostitution. Rather, it was the woman herself, Nana. Nana starts the film aspiring to be an actress (and in need of money). The film is broken up into 12 vignettes, each one detailing chronologically how she slowly ended up in the business of prostitution. What is surprising really, is that it's not some big, elaborate circumstance. Rather, it is a very mundane process. Nana goes to the movies, plays pinball, dances to a jukebox, wor...

  Jean Cocteau's "Les Parents Terribles" Jean Cocteau's 1948 film " Les Parents Terribles " is a screen adaptation of his very own stage play. Translating a stage play to the screen is always very tricky. But Cocteau somehow managed to make cinematic magic with this adaptation, which was revered by critics and audiences at the time. The film takes place in a crampy apartment where a young Michel, his mother Yvonne, his father Georges, and his aunt Leo all live. When Michel decides to announce with love for Madeleine, a young woman he's been seeing, he ends up revealing dark secrets from within the family. The family members concoct a plan to drive Madeleine and Michel apart in order to save their decency. Cocteau was faithful to his original stage play, despite some additional dialogue. However, in filming the sequences, he wanted to experiment with the camera in order to elevate the story from its typical stage appearances. He employed frequent boldly f...

  Ingmar Bergman's "Smiles of a Summer Night" To call Ingmar Bergman's 1955 film " Smiles of a Summer Night " a 'sex comedy' would be too much of an oversimplification and perhaps an undermining phrase, given the additional modern context of that particular genre. You have to remind yourself that this is Bergman. So, there is an existentiality and philosophical underpinning to this 'sex comedy.' Even so, it's a quality film experience with plenty of laugher and levity, far more than a typical Bergman affair.  The film is set in the early 20th century, as a middle-aged lawyer named Fredrik has yet to consummate his marriage to his 20-year-old wife. Meanwhile, Fredrick's son finds himself increasingly attracted to his new stepmother and her to him. To make matters worse, Frederik's old flame Desiree creates a scenario to win Frederick back at a romantic weekend retreat where the four couples convene, swapping partners and pairing of...

  Jacques Feyder's "Carnival in Flanders" Perhaps French director Jacques Feyder's most memorable film is 1935's " Carnival in Flanders ." It's a satirical comedy that, since its release, has caused much controversy and uncertainty. The film was either banned or praised but received a strong reaction from all nonetheless. The film is set in 1616 in a small town called Boom as it prepares for a carnival. However, upon hearing that the occupying Spanish forces are set to visit the town, the town council of men grow cowardice and incite fear that the women of the town will be raped and pillaged. The town leader, Korbus, hatches a plan to pretend to be dead upon their visit. His wife, Cornelia, has other plans. When the Spanish march in, they are welcomed by the women on the town and are treated to the carnival. The men grow in paranoia and hide from the Spaniards as the women run the stores and inns. The women, because of their increased responsibility ...

  Michelangelo Antonioni's "Le Amiche" While watching " Le Amiche ," I felt that it was a sort of a proto-" La Dolce Vita ." However, where Federico Fellini fills with " La Dolce Vita " with maximalism, Michelangelo Antonioni fills " Le Amiche " with restraint. This restraint was perceived by critics at the time of being a limitation of the film. But in retrospect, this restraint is lauded and is properly recognized as a style that Antonioni would mature further in his career, especially with his '60's films.  The film is an ensemble but is mostly centered on the character of Clelia, who discovers that a young woman named Rosetta in the room next to her has attempted suicide. Clelia, who is visiting Turin from Rome in order to supervise an opening of a fashion salon, becomes well acquainted with the group of Rosetta's friends. The film encircles the interpersonal dramas amongst the friends until Rosetta finally succeeds ...

  Max Ophuls' "Letter from an Unknown Woman" After his successes in Europe in the early 1930s, Max Ophuls spent some considerable time in America making films for Hollywood. It wasn't until 1948 that he made perhaps his most acclaimed American film, " Letter from an Unknown Woman ." Although the film lost money for Universal, it has been reappraised in retrospect for its strange quality and uniqueness.  The film stars Joan Fontaine as Lisa, a young woman living in Vienna who becomes obsessed with a pianist, Stefan, who lives in her building. He has no idea she exists but she continues to stalk him. After waiting outside his window every night, he finally notices her and take her out on a date that very night. After sleeping with her, she leaves and runs out on her the very next morning. She eventually has his child and marries another man to help take care of the child. One night, she sees him again and he doesn't remember her at all. Her son, now 10, is...

  Roberto Rossellini's "Germany Year Zero" In the final installment of what many call Roberto Rossellini's war trilogy, " Germany Year Zero " continues the neo-realist style that Rossellini helped popularize globally. The first two installments of this unofficial trilogy, " Rome Open City " and " Paisan ," both center in Italy either directly before or directly after the Allied liberation. However, " Germany Year Zero " takes place in Germany in the aftermath of the war. The film follows a young German boy as we navigates the ruins of Berlin looking for food, money, and resources for his family. His father has a bed-stricken malady, his sister frequents bars hooking up with Allied soldiers, and his brother is a former Nazi soldier who spends his days hiding and afraid to go out into the world. The young boy, Edmund, finds work by selling Hitler recordings for a former teacher. After Edmund's father's condition worsens, t...