Film Persona

  Fred Zinnemann's "The Nun's Story" To be perfectly honest, I wasn't expecting much out of " The Nun's Story " when I first put it on. It is a Fred Zinnemann film released by the Hollywood studio system in 1959 and features Audrey Hepburn in the lead. This wasn't exactly screaming 'Tarkovsky.' However, this quasi-commercial film really surprised me. The film centers on Gaby, a surgeon's daughter who enters the postulancy as a novitiate in the early 1920s. The film tracks her experiences in becoming a nun, receiving the name Sister Luke, and her travels to the Belgian Congo for scientific research and to assist in surgery. However, after World War II breaks out, she contemplates her place in the order and whether she should be out protecting her homeland from invaders. While the film isn't exactly dripping with existential spiritualism like " Diary of a Country Priest ," for Hollywood standards, it is something far more ...

  Ingmar Bergman's "Shame" The fantastic revelation about Ingmar Bergman's 1968 film " Shame " is that the narrative war taking place in the film is unspecified and uncontextualized. This narrative feature allows the viewer to submit themselves to the horrors foisted upon the protagonists completely. Does this war take place in the past? In the future? The beauty is that this lack of specification makes " Shame " feel so much more dystopian. It feels like you're watching a glimpse into your own apocalyptic future. The film centers on Jan and Eva, two former violinists who now live on a rural farm. When civil war breaks out across the country, the apolitical couple are thrown into chaos and authoritarianism. The film observes how war and invasion affects their marriage and how they are as human beings, shaping them into far different versions of themselves by the film's conclusion. Bergman begins the film in a state of martial bliss. The cou...

  Hiroshi Inagaki's "Samurai Saga" I was very much an admirer of Hiroshi Inagaki's 'Samurai Trilogy.' However, outside of this trilogy, I am not really vibing much with what he has to offer. Sure, 1958's " Muhomatsu, Ricksaw Man " had some merits to it. But after watching his 1959 film " Samurai Saga ," I came to the conclusion that Inagaki wasn't really for me. " Samurai Saga " essentially just asks: "What if a samurai had a big nose?" An age old question, right? Essentially what spawns from this question in the film is a carbon copy of the classic play " Cyrano de Bergerac ." In the context of 18th century samurai, however, it doesn't really make for anything too profound or entertaining.  That being said, I didn't completely hate the film. Instead, I found this absurdity to be rather amusing at times. Would I ever watch this film again? Of course not. Was the experience of watching a complete...

  Satyajit Ray's "Devi" With his 1960 film " Devi ," Satyajit Ray had to move forward without his beloved character of Apu, center-point of the Apu trilogy which began his career. Ray had now established himself as the most prominent voice coming out of Indian cinema and " Devi " proved that his craft style was more than just a single character story. What emerges is a new story on spirituality, fanaticism, and patriarchy.  The film follows a beautiful young woman named Doyamoyee, who is the daughter-in-law to the wealthy and powerful zamindar Kalikinkar Roy in 19th-century rural Bengal. Kalikinkar is a devotee to the goddess Kali, whom he suddenly believes to be inhabiting Doyamoyee after a frightening dream one night. After this proclamation, many Bengalese come to have her heal their sick. Doyamoyee's husband, Umaprasad sees this as delusional on his father's end and feels that his wife is trapped by this spiritual pedestal.  Although there ...

  Joseph L. Mankiewicz's "Suddenly, Last Summer" American cinema in the 1950s can best be remembered by colorful musicals, the exemplary period for Westerns, and the gothic adaptations of Tennessee Williams novels. To close out the decade, Joseph L. Mankiewicz directed an adaptation of Williams's 1958 play " Suddenly, Last Summer ," starring Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, and Katharine Hepburn. The resulting film had an odd tone, a prolonged amount of dialogue, and a stiff Clift who was chastised for his less-than-satisfactory performance. The film centers on Clift's character, Dr. Cukrowicz, a lobotomist who is hired by Hepburn's Cathy, a wealthy widower, to operate on her niece, Taylor's Violet. Violet is institutionalized for emotional disturbance related to the death of her cousin (Cathy's son), Sebastian. Dr. Cukrowicz, rather than being eager to operate on Violet, wants to investigate the truth of what really happened last summer t...

  Basil Dearden's "Sapphire" Basil Dearden's 1959 British film " Sapphire " takes the typical crime drama story and injects it with racial and social commentary. It was an incredibly progressive film for its time, given that stories about racial injustices wouldn't become popular until the decade after. Obviously, films like 1949's " Intruder in the Dust " and others have existed before, but the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s really encouraged more and more films of that nature to grow.  " Sapphire " centers on two police investigators investigating the murder of a light-skinned black girl. In their search, they uncover a sprawling tapestry of racism and bigotry in modern Britain. By the end of the film, it becomes clear that this systemic problem will take generations to fix. While I do feel as though the thematic points made about racial injustices are substantial, they can come across as clunky at times. I can afford these ...

  Ousmane Sembene's "La Noire de..." One of the more significant things I noticed about Ousmane Sembene's 1966 film " Black Girl " is that the English translation of the original title, " Le Noire de... " seems to omit one of its most important aspects. The French word 'de...' means 'of...' which literally translates the full title of "the black [girl] of..." The intentional omission of a location is the essential point the entire film is making. Thereby, the English translation of the original French title completely ignores the film's central themes.  " La Noire de..."  centers on a young Senegalese woman named Diouana who is taken to France by a wealthy white family to work as their maid. Her excitement to integrate into the French culture and explore a new country are soon vanished after realizing that she is trapped by her new employers and even resented by them. Diouana is confused about what she is sup...

  Jean-Pierre Melville's "Leon Morin, Priest" Jean-Pierre Melville's 1950s period really felt like a huge letdown after I completely fell in love with " Le Silence de la Mer " in 1949. However, my faith in this director was restored after watching his 1961 adaptation of the 1952 Beatrix Beck novel " Leon Morin, Priest ." The emotional and spiritual struggle at the heart of the film really had an affect on me. Although it didn't surpass " Le Silence de la Mer ," " Leon Morin, Priest " certainly tugged at my desires. The film centers on Barny, a widowed single mother during the Nazi occupation of France. A faithless atheist, Barny begins the film confronting one of the members of the church about the church's decadence, its corruption, and it being an 'opioid of the masses." The church member, a young priest named Leon, shocks her when he opts not to be offended by her criticisms and instead engages in good-faith ...

  Yasujiro Ozu's "Good Morning" When I first sat down to watch Yasujiro Ozu's 1959 film " Good Morning ," I was under the impression that it was a direct adaptation of his 1932 silent film " I Was Born, But... " However, as the film progressed, I became increasingly aware that it was only loosely based on this previous film. " Good Morning " is completely its own thing entirely.  The film centers on two young boys who start a silent protest after their parents refuse to buy them a television set. While all this is happening, there is drama between the various adults living in their neighborhood that extends from confusion on whether someone paid their neighborhood dues. This confusion leads to miscommunications and misunderstandings that are never truly reconciled.  While " Good Morning " is a far more thematically complex film than its counterpart, I found myself being less emotionally affected. To me, Ozu continues his streak ...

  Jack Clayton's "Room at the Top" My immediate take after watching Jack Clayton's 1958 British film " Room at the Top " was that it felt like a charmless Ernst Lubitsch film. That being said, I didn't necessarily hate the film. There were many aspects from its themes that I found very resonant. However, its characters to me felt too unlikeable for the kind of romantic drama it was attempting to pull the viewer into.  Although the film released wide in January of 1959, it had its premier in Luton, UK on December 29, 1958. It centers on an ambitous ex-army vet vying for the affections of two women. One, Susan, is the young daughter of a wealthy industrialist. The other, Alice, is an older married woman thought of by the locals as nothing more than an 'old whore.' Our protagonist, Joe, must decide whether to pursue a nice, comfortable life with Susan (something he never had), or actual true love (and possible embarrassment) with Alice. The main are...

  Michelangelo Antonioni's "Zabriskie Point" As someone who is an Antonioni fanatic who constantly defends his works against people who 'don't understand' it, I was ready with my defenses when I saw how much his 1970 film " Zabriskie Point " was slammed by critics upon its release, along with being an utter commercial failure. However, after watching the film, I was caught off guard by how vehemently opposed to the film I was.  I feel as though I can understand Antonioni's intention with this film: the American youth and their attempts to escape the rampant capitalism and consumer culture. However, the execution of this thematic point was completely 'cringe,' as the kids say. I rolled my eyes numerous times throughout the film at the excruciating attempts to portray an 'artistic' atmosphere that only feels forced and contrived. With his Italian films (and even his one U.K. film), many critics pointed to this 'forced artistry,...

  Grigory Chukhray's "Ballad of a Soldier" During the 1960s, there were a few Soviet films that were distributed in the U.S. as a method of thawing tensions from the ongoing Cold War. One of those films, released originally in 1959, was Grigory Chukhray's " Ballad of a Soldier ." Although the film is centered around war, the actual thematic crux of the film is about love.  The film centers on a 19-year-old soldier given a two-day leave after proving himself to be a hero in combat. He wants to spend his leave visiting his mother, but along the way, he meets characters that have been affected by the war in various ways. On top of this, he falls in love with a young girl. There are many Soviet films centered around the preceding war and its affects on the population. " Ballad of a Soldier " does this, along with demonstrating the unity of the people and the sacrifices made. It is a tapestry of love triumphing over anger and bitterness despite their pr...

  Jacques Tati's "Playtime" Jacques Tati's 1967 satirical comedy " Playtime " is nothing short of perfection in every way. Its immaculate sets, array of comedic situations, and its commentary of modern consumer culture all blend into an impressive cocktail of pure cinematic euphoria. While it may seem a bit hyperbolic to laud such high praise on Tati's film, I would argue on the contrary opinion that it is, in fact, a masterpiece. Essentially, there is no plot in " Playtime ." The only piece of narrative is the presence of the famed film character, Monsieur Hulot, Tati's stand-in, along with an unnamed America tourist. The film revolves around these two characters and their various happenstances as they explore the city of Paris. Along their journey and interactions, it becomes clear that this ultramodern "utopia" is nothing short of soulless, mechanical, sterile, and homogenous.  What " Playtime " does so effectively is...