Film Persona

  Douglas Sirk's "Magnificent Obsession" While I completely understand some of the thematic ideas in Douglas Sirk's 1954 film " Magnificent Obsession ," I still found myself lacking in interest with the film's execution of these themes. Starting with this film and continuing on with a string of technicolor melodramas that would follow, Douglas Sirk became synonymous with the style and aesthetics of the 1950s. His films almost seem like representations of the decade themselves. However, this particular entry left me a little hollow. The film centers on a spoiled playboy named Bob Merrick, who decides to change his life after a reckless incident causes the death of a respectable local doctor. After another incident he partially causes, the doctor's wife, Helen, is left without sight. Bob then spends his time attempting to reconciling for his mistakes.  The themes of the film are relatively tied with the film's visual format. The colors and technico...

  Kenji Mizoguchi's "A Story from Chikamatsu" There's nothing quite like late-period Mizoguchi films. " The Life of Oharu ," " Ugetsu ," and " Sansho the Bailiff ," all released between 1952 and 1954, are considered to the be pinnacle of Mizoguchi's filmography. They are also considered some of the greatest films Japanese cinema has to offer in any time period. However, there is one particular film that is often overlooked, released in the same time period: 1954's " A Story from Chikamatsu ."  The film revolves around two lovers forced together through excruciating circumstances. During the Edo-period of Japan, Osan, the wife of a wealthy grand-scroll maker, goes to his employee, Mohei, to ask for money to help her indebted cousin. After a series of misunderstandings and accusations, Osan and Mohei are forced to flee after being branded as adulterers. If caught, the punishment for adulterers is crucifixion. They spent th...

  Roberto Rossellini's "Fear" Although Roberto Rossellini's 1954 film " Fear " did not do well at the Italian box-office, I found this to be a great treat in his filmography. The premise of the film is rather simple: a woman attempting to negotiate with another woman blackmailing her over infidelity. However, the primary thrill of the film is through the Hitchcockian suspense of being found out.  The Hitchcockian aspects of the film are intentional by Rossellini. His atmosphere, camera angles, and touches of German Expressionism all create a nourish suspense element that is palpable. In the end, the notions of shame and morality are the driving point. However, my engagement with the film lies purely in the maneuvering of how our protagonist deals with blackmail. I found myself putting myself in her shoes and pondering what I would do in such a situation.  Despite the film's relatively simple plot, Rossellini's execution of said plot creates the enter...

  Youssef Chahine's "The Blazing Sun" Although " The Blazing Sun " was not Omar Sharif's film debut, it was the film that made him a star. In fact, the film also stars another gem of Egyptian cinema, Faten Hamama, who is otherwise known as "The First Lady of Egyptian and Arabic Cinema." The director of the film, Youssef Chahine, has worked with both of them before. He worked with Sharif on " Devil of the Sahara ," which was Sharif's film debut. He also worked with Hamama on 1950's " Father Amin. " " The Blazing Sun " centers on Ahmed Salam, an engineer and the son of a sugar cane farm owner. After increasing the production of the peasant farmer's sugar cane, wealthy land owner Taher Pasha is threatened by the peasant's prosperity. He floods their land and ruins their crops. After the Sheikh privately accuses Pasha of doing this, he has him murdered and frame's Ahmed's father. Ahmed attempts to r...

  Jean-Luc Godard's "Made in USA" There is always a certain level of confusion involved with a typical Jean-Luc Godard film. Whether that's the breaking of narrative, the way he edits shots together, or the intentionally convoluted nature of the plot. With his 1964 film " Made in USA ," I would attribute the latter. However, this attribution of the film does not make it off-putting. To some, absolutely. But to me, I find it utterly refreshing to watch a Godard film, even when there are elements and plot points that confuse me.  In fact, I could not even tell you what the plot even is from my own understanding of what I witnessed. By my accounts, a writer named Paula goes to the French town of Atlantic-Cite to investigate the death of her former colleague and lover, Richard. She then gets thrust into a world of conspiracy and political maneuvering. Surrounded by lies, misinformation, bad actors, and ideological struggles, her search for Richard's killer b...

  Keisuke Kinoshita's "Twenty-Four Eyes" During the largescale creative output of Japanese cinema in the late 1940s and 1950s, the filmmaker Keisuke Kinoshita varied wildly from his contemporaries. Rather than making subtle films that depicted cultural changes or criticism of the war, Kinoshita's films were not subtle at all. His films were very direct in criticisms of the Japanese government and the resulting fallouts. With his 1954 film " Twenty-Four Eyes ," his criticisms are just as pointed. However, his soft touch of humanist story remains. " Twenty-Four Eyes " takes place over the course of two decades, from 1928 to 1946. Its protagonist, a teacher named Hisako, arrives on the island of Shodoshima to teach a class of twelve first-grade students. She becomes attached to them and them to her. Over the years, she watches as the children's futures are squandered by economic depression and the rise of Japanese nationalism. Many of her male stu...

  David Lean's "Hobson's Choice" Going into David Lean's 1954 film " Hobson's Choice ," I was expected some droll, silly comedy. What I got was something completely unexpected. I certainly do consider the film a comedy, by all means. However, a layered comedy was not on my radar. The film stars Charles Laughton as an autocratic proprietor of a moderately upmarket boot shop in 1880 Salford. He is authoritarian in nature, disallowing his daughters to marry for fear of losing free labor and forking over a settlement fee. However, his eldest daughter Maggie, devises a plan to set forth on her own. She marries Will Mossop, a lowly, educated boot maker. The two of them leave the restraints of her father and set up their own competing boot shop, eventually surpassing him. The film's charm is perhaps its most admirable quality. I was completely won over by the simple, but loving nature of Will Mossop and the headstrong fortitude of Maggie. Their paring l...