Film Persona

  Valerio Zurlini's "Violent Summer" Despite thoroughly enjoying the performances of the two leads, I was a little disengaged with the romance at the heart of Valerio Zurlini's 1959 Italian drama " Violent Summer ." The two leads in this case are Eleonora Rossi Drago, who had recently done Michelango Antonioni's " Le Amiche ," and Jean-Louis Trintignant, the up-and-coming French actor who would go on to make a name for himself in both French and Italian cinema. Being disengaged from the romance translated to being disengaged from the film entirely, as the romance is the whole crux of the film. The film centers on a 30-year-old widow and a 21-year-old military exempt young man who engage in a passionate love affair in the middle of the ongoing World War. As Mussolini's fascist regime crumbles, their love affair is tested by the backdrop of the chaos.  My sentiments towards the film are slightly dismissive, as it was difficult for me to reall...

  Jacques Demy's "The Young Girls of Rochefort" Although he would go on to make nine more films in the remaining 23 years of his life, Jacques Demi's final popular statement was his highly beloved musical " The Young Girls of Rochefort ." Perhaps not as universally praised and remembered as his previous film, " The Umbrellas of Cherbourg ," " The Young Girls of Rocheofort " is still often considered as one of the greatest musicals in history. Its vibrancy, its music, and Demy's usually romanticism are on full display. Much like with a typical Demy film, his ensemble of characters are all lonely souls desperately searching for connection of a specific love that evades them. They are are intertwined and yet, don't seem to connect throughout the film. His films often comment on the beauty of life and how we are so connected to each other as humans and yet constantly feel so distant. He romanticizes these feelings in the form of film ...

  Otto Preminger's "Anatomy of a Murder" Many, especially in the legal community, have praised Otto Preminger's 1959 legal drama " Anatomy of a Murder " as being one of the best courtroom dramas ever put to screen. Firstly, it a film far more interested in the more mundane aspects of defense trials, namely: the research. Secondly, the first does not spend erroneously to sensationalize aspects of these proceedings or its overall tone in general. What " Anatomy of a Fall " does so well above all else is dive deep into the moral confusion of such a seemingly black-and-white case. The film stars Hollywood icon James Stewart as a small-town lawyer tasked with representing US Army Veteran Lieutenant Manny Manion, accused of murder. The motive for the murder is clear: revenge against a man for raping his wife. As Stewart's Mr. Biegler acquires research, the film does well not to continue unveiling brand new information. Rather, the information acquire...

  Robert Altman's "MASH" Not only did it launch the careers of many of its stars, 1970's black comedy " MASH " also launched the career of its director, Robert Altman. It even went on to be adapted into a television comedy, one that would be far more in the cultural memory than its respective film source. One of the reasons for the film's success, and perhaps its biggest, is its sense of irreverence - an irreverence that was absent in studio films during the days of the Production Code. That is, up until the Production Code was replaced with the Motion Picture Association film rating system in 1968. " MASH " centers on a group of medical personnel stationed on the front lines during the Korean War. Beyond the mutilated bodies they must operate on, the film's main focus is on the shenanigans and hijinks of its less-than-dignified officers. This is where the comedy comes into play - surrounded by the aesthetic of authority and war, these ragt...

  Alain Resnais's "La Guerre est Finie" Being that it was the last couple of days to watch it before it was removed from the Criterion Channel, I took the time to watch Alain Resnais's 1966 film " La Guerre est Finie ." Starring the incomparable Yves Montand as a weary underground Communist and his continued struggles to subvert the Spanish Franco government. Written by Jorge Semprun, the film was one of the many French films that were shifting into more political territories.  Although I found parts of the film utterly thrilling, there was a bit too much inconsistency for me. The emotional stakes of the espoinage-esque escapades were indelible touches, but the real character-driven narrative left something to be desired. I found myself continuously losing focus on the film's thematic intentions and would oft reserve my satisfactions for something more thematic coherent.  However, the importance of the film seems to be beyond its own artistic pursuance. ...

  Bernhard Wicki's "The Bridge" I've seen many lists of what films people consider to be the greatest "war films" of all time. Never on these lists have I ever seen Bernhard Wicki's 1959 war film " The Bridge ." The travesty of this became all the more palpable to me after watching the film. Not only is it one of the best war films ever made, the central perspective coming from the non-Allied Nazi forces is a radical and effective way to condemn the violence and destruction that was brought. Despite being from the perspectives of the Nazi soldiers, Wicki's intentions are pretty clear. Although Wicki himself is Austrian, the retrospective sentiment by those in West Germany at the time were of shame and condemnation. With their cinema, the Germans were able to see their past clearly. Hindsight is 20/20, after all.  " The Bridge " centers on a group of schoolboys in the closing days of World War II. The schoolboys live in a small Ger...

  Jacques Tati's "Traffic" Within the first several minutes of Jacques Tati's " Traffic ," I was struck by how similar in tone, theme, and visual execution it was to " Playtime ." Because of this, I was almost turned off immediately. Why retread the same ground? However, as the film progressed, I found " Traffic " to be far more chaotic and less particular in the minute execution as its predecessor. Unlike its predecessor, which seemed to have much a greater sense of tactfulness and ever-present creative control, this one seemed almost as confused and uncertain in the vast landscape of modernity as its characters. " Traffic " operates like traffic itself. Everyone seems to be in a great, big hurry and are constantly misaligned in communication with everyone else. Our cast is comprised of various nationalities of character who all don't quite speak the same language as one another. The vast array of confusion and misunderstan...

  Jean-Luc Godard's "La Chinoise" Watching a Jean-Luc Godard film, for me, is equivalent to drinking an ice cold water after midnight. It really hits the spot. And for every Godard film I watch, the themes seem to parallel one another. His films are full of spirited youth attempting to do radical things. Where do they get these radical ideas? Well from media, of course - movies, television, novels, advertisements, etc. And the final thematic point Godard makes in all his films is that real life is no movie, kids. As you get ingrained in the political ideologies of our main protagonists - a group of five youths in a Communist Revolutionary group - it becomes clear that their intentions are pure, but their inspirations are completely derived from popular forum. Not only this, but their ideas of class warfare and revolution are not entirely thought out or adherent to any strategic plan. Rather, they are filled with the impassioned spirit of popular revolutionary ideas intent...

  Masaki Kobayashi's "The Human Condition I: No Greater Love" In making " The Human Condition " trilogy, Masaki Kobayashi crafted perhaps one of the greatest Japanese epics of its Golden Age. Many of the film coming out of this cinematic renaissance either directly or indirectly reconciled with Japan's dark relationship with World War II. These films were deeply reflective of the war's far reaching effects - not just on the post-war period that followed - but on how it effected how an entire people reflected on their own complex complicity in the moral corruption that ensued.  " The Human Condition " not only directly touched on these themes, but epitomized the entire cinematic landscape of a nation. Part I of this trilogy, subtitled " No Greater Love " adeptly explores the difficulty in remaining pacifistic against a nationalistic machine that demands adherence to its depravity. This unflinching view of a nation's own recent past...

  Pier Paolo Pasolini's "Accattone" My first introduction to Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1961's " Accattone ," also happens to be his debut film. Starting out as a poet in the 1940s, Pasolini transitioned to publishing novels in the 1950s, which included much of his poetry. However, he was already starting controversy, as many believed his work to be 'obscene.' Despite the criticism, Pasolini would continue to publish narrative stories, poetry, and essays. It was in 1957 that Pasolini entered the world of film, in which he collaborated with Federico Fellini with the script for " Nights of Cabiria ." It wasn't much longer after that Pasolini got to make his own film. His debut, " Accattone " was much in line with the controversial subject matter from his writings. It centers on a pimp on the outskirts of Rome named 'Accattone,' or 'scoundrel.' After a rival gang injures his prostitute, she ends up in prison after givin...

  Marcel Camus's "Black Orpheus" Although Marcel Camus's 1959 film " Black Orpheus " takes elements from its story, along with its title, directly from the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, the real crux of the film rests upon the notion that black Brazilians will never be able to elevate themselves out of their economically disparate circumstances. Co-produced between Brazil, France, and Italy, the film directly adapts the Vinicius de Moraes 1956 Brazilian play " Orfeu da Conceicao ." Its legacy extends well beyond its release year, influencing a vast array of filmmakers, from Spike Lee to Bong Joon-Ho. The film centers on Orfeu, a trolley driver living in Rio de Janeiro, who has just taken Eurydice, a visitor, to the end of the trolley line. The two spark up a romance, despite Orfeu's romantic connection to another woman. Orfeu and Eurydice must go on the run. Not only from Orfeu's financee, but from a masked figure dressed like Death...

  Tony Richardson's "Look Back in Anger" There is a certain subgenre of British film called "kitchen sink dramas" that became very popular in the late 1950s and early 1960s. This unique type of drama centers on angry, young, lower-class men disillusioned with modern society. The ignition of this type of drama started in theater. More specifically, with John Osborne's 1956 play " Look Back in Anger ." The film adaption of this iconic play, directed by Tony Richardson, stars Richard Burton as the 'angry young man' protagonist. Living with his girlfriend and best friend, Burton's Jimmy is verbally and emotionally abusive to everyone around him. His low-income status and his inability to make anything of himself fills him with resentment and bitterness that comes out in bursts of anger and violence.  I had a very strange relationship to the film. The amount of hatred I felt for Jimmy radiated throughout the whole experience. This hatred mad...