vineri, 31 martie 2017
Entre Les Murs aka The Class by Francois Begaudeau and others, directed by Laurent Cantet
Entre Les Murs aka The Class by Francois
Begaudeau and others, directed by Laurent Cantet
A different
version of this note and thoughts on other books are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and
http://realini.blogspot.ro/
This is a
winner of The Palme D’Or, in my view the most important, prestigious and
relevant of all cinema awards.
And it is a
worthwhile, thought provoking work of art.
The themes
are:
-
Education, religion, race relations,
life in the banlieue, poor neighborhoods, values and role models, among others
The film is
based on the real experience of Francois Begaudeau, who has contributed to the
scenario and used to be a teacher.
Otherwise,
the dialogue is spontaneous and it seems that the production was based on
improvisation even if there is structure to the narrative.
I was
thinking that in some ways, this film resembles another masterpiece –To Sir
With Love, with Sydney Poitier in the lead role.
Notwithstanding
the fact that the teenagers are impressive and especially given their
inexperience, I thought the teacher is the most important protagonist.
He is a
role model, even if or because he breaks down and has moments when he comes
close to losing control.
To be faced
with such a huge challenge looks to me like heroism in the fiercest battle,
confronting enemies that you cannot injure….
-
Well, there are always reprimands,
lousy grades and more, but in these cases they do not seem to care
-
Indeed, some just take their lousy
performance and evaluations as a badge of honor and pride
So the
professor has to demonstrate incredible resilience, grit, bravery, calm, sense
of justice, compassion.
Psychology has
demonstrated the importance of the Pygmalion Effect and the excellent results
that can be obtained:
-
If a teacher believes in his
students, much like the sculptor of Ancient Greece loved his statue of Galatea,
the pupils will perform stupendously
-
Alas, the reverse is also true
And here I
am unhappy to mention my own frictions with the French educational system, in
which I have enrolled my daughter.
The local
Lycee Francais has some advantages, but it is plagued with some teachers who
are not just modest in performance, but they apply the reverse Pygmalion effect
and the leader of this school is impervious to some rather critical aspects:
I told her
for instance that the parking lot has hundreds of cars with engines running
while the drivers sit and wait, just because they want 21 degrees in the car
and although the temperature is often exactly that, they want to show off and
impress that they have the money for the diesel, on top of the amount needed
for luxury cars.
The leadership
was oblivious to this and a number of other aspects that make me worry and
upset that they are so limited.
Their attitude
and lack of perspective, in an area which they should have seen and reacted,
because after all, intelligent people are aware of the Climate Change- they
even signed protocols in Paris recently- and know better than to just send
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere for…really no reason other than vanity,
ignorance, stupidity and criminal negligence…
-
And if they do not see, react, do
something about that, what do they know and teach there then??!
-
If they do not have fundamentals
right, what do they know about values, virtues, strengths, skills??
-
At times it looks like little or
nothing
To end with
an anecdote that I remembered seeing this film, a chef d’oeuvre:
“You’ve heard that thing about Faulkner and
Clark Gable haven’t you? Howard Hawks was taking Faulkner out on a quail shoot
and came by to pick him up a little before dawn to get to where they were going
by first light. Clark Gable was in the car and Faulkner in the backseat. As
they rode along, Gable and Hawks got to talking. Gable said, ‘You know, you’re
a well-read man, Howard. I’ve always been meaning to do some reading. I never
have really done it. What do you think I ought to read?’ And Hawks said, ‘Why
don’t you ask Bill back there. He’s a writer, and he’ll be able to tell you.’
Gable said, ‘Do you write, Mr. Faulkner?’ Faulkner said, ‘Yes, Mr. Gable. What
do you do?’ ‘’
joi, 30 martie 2017
Ieri, Oggi, Domani aka Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow based on stories by Alberto Moravia among others and directed by Vittorio de Sica
Ieri, Oggi, Domani
aka Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow based on stories by Alberto Moravia among
others and directed by Vittorio de Sica
A different version of this note and thoughts on other books
are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and
http://realini.blogspot.ro/
This is a wonderful comedy, that will be followed in the
program of the National Television with another gem next Monday, another
Italian masterpiece.
It has won the Academy Award for Best Picture in a Foreign
Language and other prestigious awards.
Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroiani are superb in this
trilogy.
In the first part, Adelina Sbaratti is married to Carmine
Sbaratti.
She has to provide for him and their many children.
I don't even know how many they were...perhaps the two of
them have lost count.
Since Adelina Sbaratti is involved in an illegal trade with
cigarettes, having children is an odd way to stay out of...prison.
At least for some time.
From the start of the film, we have an authority who is
facing down Carmine Sbaratti:
-
You had to
pay a fine
-
Because
the wife did not, the sum owed is bigger now...
-
Do you
want to pay it?
-
How can I?
If I could not pay less, how could I get the money for more??
-
Then we
have to take the furniture and everything else!
Only when he enters the shabby rooms, there is nothing
left...
-
You took
everything!!
Indeed, after the authorities leave, from a side street
people come back with the Sbaratti belongings.
A lawyer scares them hard when he says that what they did
was very serious according to the Penal Code and he cites some articles and
laws.
In the known, agitated, humorous, effervescent and
passionate Italian style, Adelina and her spouse come to the lawyer and shout
something like:
-
Mamma Mia!
-
Come e
possibile!
-
Santa
Maria e mio Padrone!
She is very worried that she will go to jail.
But when the lawyer sees she is pregnant he mentions other
provisions of the law:
They cannot arrest you in this state!
And it now becomes a race to have children continuously.
For this is a pass out of prison and she wants to use the
stratagem to the end.
When the tax officials raid the streets, all the women run
away with their folding tables and their trafficked merchandise.
It is only the women who do this for some reason.
But Adelina stays put because she is other obviously
advanced in her pregnancy or she has a certificate from the doctor saying she
is that many months pregnant.
There is trouble and jocularity when poor Carmine becomes
exhausted with this task of fathering so many children:
When the children are in bed she always turns to me and
says...
Come on Carmine it's time to perform...or words to that
effect
The tired, malnourished man is resting at his mother's.
And his wife mocks this and even turns against him when
a new, perhaps tenth child fails to
materialize and there is no impregnation.
They get to a doctor, not an analyst as they would today or
even back then in a richer country.
The doctor examines Carmine and he says:
-
The
husband needs rest
-
He does
not eat well and he is fatigued.
-
Let him be
for a few months and then he will be alright.
Adelina protests with vehemence.
And indeed, given that she has no medical pass, she ends up
in jail, with the infant baby that covered for her last time.
In a remarkable show of solidarity, the community
participates in collecting the sum needed to pay Adelina's fine.
In barber shops and everywhere they have boxes for money to
be offered for her liberation.
And yet that is delayed on account of bureaucracy.
Adelina shouts at her husband when he is visiting...
-
You run at
your mother!
-
Feeble
man!
-
Why don't
you get me out of here?!
But she she is faithful.
When the occasion arises, she rejects the man who wanted to
give her another child and a pass for Prison Break...
Excellent chef d'oeuvre!
miercuri, 29 martie 2017
What's Between Us by Claudia Lorenz
What's Between Us by Claudia Lorenz
A different
version of this note and thoughts on other books are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and
http://realini.blogspot.ro/
Films about
sexual orientation, finding one's preference seem to be increasing in number
and prominence.
Moonlight
has won the Academy Award for Best Picture and in other categories.
Granted, it
took a second announcement to make it the winner, but a story of gay men can
now win the biggest and once more conservative prizes.
Brokeback
Mountain was favorite to win years ago, but the Award for Best Picture finally
recompensed a narrative about homosexual people.
In What's
Between Us, we seem to have a film about an average, "normal" family.
Alice has
been married to Frank for eighteen years.
They have
children and have a comfortable life.
They are
happy, apparently.
This is
about to change.
In a
computer, gay sites are visible and Alice is worried.
She asks
her teenage boy if he was searching for videos with homosexual sex online.
The mother
thinks that the son may try to discover his sexuality.
He could be
gay.
But he
denies it in a manner that appears frank, open and amused
So Alice
has to look elsewhere…
She engages
her husband in a conversation and when asked, the man says that he did search
the web for porn…
-
Gay porn?
-
Yes
-
??
-
I was curious…
Only it is
not just that.
Psychologists
say that having an affair is not the cause of the breakup of marriages,
relationships and partnerships.
-
The affair is the symptom, not the
cause
-
Things Were Falling Apart (Chinua
Achebe) before and the affair is one manifestation…
When they
talk more on the subject, it turns out that Frank is attracted to men.
He does not
want or have a transformation like we see in Transparent.
But when
the spouse is trying to seduce, get him excited, she fails.
Miserably.
In one scene,
she is kissing and holding him only to be pushed on the floor.
The man is
not a bisexual, but a homosexual now…I think.
In another
instance, it is felatio that she tries and then penetration, but it is another
disaster.
So it is
going downhill for Frank and Alice.
He finds a
lover.
His spouse
is curious, mad or both and tries to see the man.
Her rival.
Alice enters
the shop where her enemy works and orders a sandwich and an ice tea, after
sniffing the cheese.
Invited by
the rather pleasant opponent.
And we are
familiar with the conflict that escalates in such circumstances, with
recriminations and the separation.
I thought I
identified the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as explained by The Ultimate
Expert in Relationships:
-
John Gottman in his masterpiece The
Seven Principles of Making Marriage Work:
-
Contempt
-
Defensiveness
-
Stonewalling
-
Criticism
luni, 27 martie 2017
Aguirre, The Wrath of God aka Der Zorn Gottes directed by Werner Herzog, with Klaus Kinski in the lead role
Aguirre, The Wrath of
God aka Der Zorn Gottes directed by Werner Herzog, with Klaus Kinski in the
lead role
A different version of this note and thoughts on other books
are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and
http://realini.blogspot.ro/
This is one of the best films ever made and it is included
on the TIME Magazine List of Best 100 Movies
It was filmed in extreme circumstances and the director
Werner Herzog gives some details in a documentary about His Dear Friend.
Klaus Kinski, who plays the lead role in Aguirre was a
fascinating and disturbed man.
I will return to the subject later.
But Don Lope de Aguirre is also an adventurous man, with
many psychological issues.
Klaus Kinski could have gone wild and perorate with emphatic
gusto.
But he keeps everything under control, even when he does get
worked up.
From the start we have a text that explains what we will se
and what it is based on.
It is more or less this:
After the conquest of the Inca by the Spaniards, the Indians
have invented the legend of
-
El Dorado
It was supposed to be a land of gold.
An expedition set off from the Sierras of Peru.
The leader was Pizarro and they departed in late 1560.
Only one document was recovered and it is the diary of the
monk Gaspar de Carvajal.
One important theme is religion, which was the main drive
for many of the participants in the expedition, apart from gold.
The number of people is impressive and they took along about
200 slaves.
One of them complains and talks about another important
subject of this masterpiece:
The ordeal that Natives suffered, the cruelty of the Spanish
and the priests, the humiliating disaster suffered by a noble people.
Pizarro understands that they cannot find their way to El
Dorado through the jungle.
He orders a smaller group to depart on rafts that will
navigate the river and return in ten days to lead the rest to the Land of Gold.
Don Pedro de Ursua is the leader and Don Lope de Aguirre his
second in command.
And de Ursua has his wife, Dona Inez and his daughter Flores
on this dangerous expedition.
Things fall apart pretty soon, with one raft caught in a
whirlwind and some Rapids.
Aguirre could not care less, but Don Pedro orders a halt and
help to be sent to the ten men that are trapped.
By the next morning though, they are all dead, with the
exception of the three that are missing.
Now the leader wants a burial with a service.
To prevent that, Aguirre shoots the canon and blows the raft
and the corpses away.
A mutiny is in progress.
It has reminded me of Mutiny on the Bounty, with Don Pedro
captured and kept in a cage.
There are attacks of the Indians and the Spanish kill and destroy
their share of villages that they encounter.
There are some funny moments in what is otherwise a tragic
account.
The proclamation through which they declare that the
treasures they find will be theirs is one such preposterous scene.
Then the anointing of...An
Emperor, no less.
He has twenty men that do not even respect him and yet he is
an emperor.
Klaus Kinski acted as a mad man.
He even injured the extras that participated in the filming
of Aguirre.
In the documentary about Kinski, one showed the scar he was
left with, for all his life.
But then Aguirre declares at one point:
-
I am The
Wrath of God
-
When I
wish it, birds fall from the trees.
Klaus Kinski was the man to act, especially since he
believed pretty much the same thing.
Baby Face with Barbara Stanwyck
Baby Face with
Barbara Stanwyck
A different version of this note and thoughts on other books
are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and
http://realini.blogspot.ro/
TIME Magazine has included Baby Face of its list of best 100
movies.
It was made in 1933 and given the period, it is in Black and
White.
And the star is the excellent Barbara Stanwyck.
A couple of weeks ago I have posted a note on Double
Indemnity.
By the time she acted in that, she was the highest paid
actor in America.
And if I am not mistaken, she had the highest paid job in
any domain.
She was reluctant to act in Double Indemnity though, given
that her image had been so different.
In Baby Face, she plays the role of Lily Powers, the
daughter of the owner of a dubious cafe, called a speakeasy.
The clients are not just rough, but outright offensive,
brutal and lascivious.
They try to grab, pinch and get her to sleep with them.
The degenerate father is encouraging instead of throwing
them out.
He actually wants to use his child as a bait, an attraction
that gets customers in his speakeasy.
No wonder the poor girl gets very tough, to the point of
insensitivity.
She appears to want a Payback and may have a revulsion for
most men, who have been so heinous to her.
After the father dies in a fire, Lily Powers takes her
African American friend with her and they depart for New York.
Since they have no money, they need to get there by cargo
train.
Only they are discovered in a carriage and threatened with
jail.
Lily knows what to do to make men give up their aggressive
manner.
-
Why don't
sit and talk it over?
Once in New York, she tries the same tricks.
She is guided by some quotes from Nietzsche.
A professor from home told her about the philosopher.
He mentioned exploitation and the need to win.
-
Use men! He advised his young friend
And she did.
First she gets a job by using her good looks.
I must say that I wondered how on earth could she be not
just clean, but with decent clothes and makeup, after a journey on a cattle
train?
But this is Baby Face.
One of her superiors has sex with her in the women's rest
room.
She has invited him there.
But when they get caught, she plays the naive girl forced by
the intruder into submission.
With this, she keeps her job and moves up the ladder,
becoming the mistress of a yet more important boss.
This one has a fiancé, and when Lily finds that she is on
her way to the office, she makes sure to be found in the arms of her lover.
There is a scene, the man is asked to fire her.
Lily's attitude recalls the lectures of Harvard Professor
Tal Ben Shahar.
He says that we should see stepping stones and not stumbling
blocks.
Every incident is an opportunity for Baby Face
John Wayne has a small role in this classic film.
duminică, 26 martie 2017
Breaking Away by Steve Tesich and directed by Peter Yates
Breaking Away by Steve Tesich and directed by
Peter Yates
La Divina Comedia!!
A different
version of this note and thoughts on other books are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and
http://realini.blogspot.ro/
This is astounding,
a feast and a great joy to watch.
It won the
Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, the
Golden Globe for best comedy and many other awards.
One of my
favorite comedies and I say like Dave, the hero, in his crazy Italian phase,
when all things Italian were divino…
-
Grazie Padre!!
-
Santa Maria and Mama Mia
-
What a Meravigliosa Comedy
From the
start, there is a funny conflict between young Dave and his father or Dad, who
is played to perfection by Paul Dooley.
Dave is
cycling a lot and he fell in love with Italian food, language and music, which
is actually “noise” for his father
-
Dad: What is this?
-
Mom: It's sauteed zucchini.
-
Dad: It's I-ty food. I don't want no
I-ty food.
-
Mom: It's not. I got it at the
A&P. It's like... squash.
-
Dad: I know I-ty food when I hear
it! It's all them "eenie" foods... zucchini... and linguine... and
fettuccine. I want some American food, dammit! I want French Fries!
-
Mom: [to the cat] Oh, get off the
table, Fellini!
-
Dad: Hey, that's *my* cat! His
name's Jake, not Fellini! I won't have any "eenie" in this house!
-
[to the cat]
-
Dad: Your name's Jake, you
understand?
Dad is
evidently annoyed, even if mother points out that his body is all right now…yeah,
but his mind is gone, comes the reply
There is a
fine balance though, because the acting and direction are perfect, avoiding the
area wherein tension could have escalated and the parents could have been just
abusive, instead of funny or the boy annoying and not likable as he is and
keeps calling his father Numero Uno Papa, the last being contradicted- I am
your goddamn father and not papa.
There are
other moments where Papa, who is a used car salesman, shows his son the “real
horror show” of life, wherein one has to lie (really?) to get cars off the
property and then to deny promises and reject refunds:
-
I dreamed all last night, that
everyone I ever sold a car to come back for a refund. And there you were,
handing out the checks! One for you, and one for you...
Looking back
on this film I say that every other scene, if not all of it, is a gem and the humor
is excellent.
The boy is
shaving…his legs, calls a girl called Katherine Catarina, is full of Arrivedercis,
Amore, Ciaos and La Grande Belezza
But after disillusionment
with the Italians that come to town and play against this type casting by
cheating and being the opposite of what poor Dave thought they must be, there
is a new, French phase:
-
Dad: [Last lines] Hi ya, big shot!
-
Dave: Bon jour, Papa!
Mother has
a solution when Dad or Papa talks about the crisis, the clients who wanted
refunds and the boy was more than willing:
-
We
could strangle him in his sleep- but it is obviously another- very good I
think- joke
They touch
on other subjects, including religion and confessions, about the latter one
character says that he went to confession twice…
-
Dave: Moocher, you're Catholic,
right?
-
Moocher: Yeah.
-
Dave: Did you ever go to confession?
-
Moocher: Twice.
-
Dave: Did it make you feel better?
-
Moocher: Once.
And then on
the same subject, more or less:
-
Cyril: When you're 16 they call it
Sweet 16 and when you're 18 you get to drink and vote and see dirty movies.
What the hell do you get to do when you're 19?
-
Mike: You leave home.
-
Cyril: My Dad said that Jesus never
went further than 50 miles from his home.
-
Mike: Well, look what happened to
him.
Resplendent
movie!!
Charade written and then adapted for the big screen by Peter Stone
Charade written and then adapted for the big
screen by Peter Stone
With Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau and Cary
Grant
A different
version of this note and thoughts on other books are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and
http://realini.blogspot.ro/
This film
is included by scholars as one of the best films ever made:
The cast is
fabulous, with Walter Matthau, one of my favorite actors in an unusual role,
the only one that I know of its kind.
On second
thought, the lines are interesting, the humor is dry, simple and outré, but
without the proper acting it could hit a wall.
Audrey Hepburn
reminds me of her role in Breakfast of Tiffany’s and perhaps Roman Holliday,
with her royal presence.
-
Reggie
Lampert: You're blocking my view.
-
Peter
Joshua: Ohh... which view would you prefer?
-
Reggie
Lampert: The one you're blocking.
Reggie Lampert
is Audrey Hepburn or the other way around and this is one of the first
dialogues she has with the personage played by Cary Grant.
She is both
sophisticated and naïve, aristocratic but also rather credulous, or is it just
in love with a man who keeps changing names.
Three people
are chasing after a quarter of a million dollars, if we do not include
Bartholomew and Peter Joshua.
They have
been in the same team with Charles Dyle, who has recently died, or so we think
and taken a loot from the Nazis.
Dyle has
run away with the treasure and the former team mates are now focusing on the
widow- Reggie Lampert.
But she
does not know anything, the few belongings that she received contain nothing of
value and she tells the villains.
Only they
would not take her answers to be real and try to press her and even blackmail
the young woman.
Reggie relies
on Peter Joshua, then on alexander Dyle and eventually Adam Canfield to protect
her from dangerous adversaries only…
-
Reggie
Lampert: So it's goodbye Alexander Dyle and welcome home Peter Joshua.
-
Adam
Canfield: [shakes his head] Sorry the name is Adam Canfield.
-
Reggie
Lampert: Adam Canfield? Wonderful! Do you realize you've had three names in the
past two days? I don't even know who I'm talking to anymore!
And to
complicate matters even more, Reggie has established contact with a diplomat at
the American Embassy.
Mr.
Bartholomew is played excellently by Walter Matthau, who is not in a comedy
here, even if jocularity is frequently used.
And the American
official is warning Reggie on the identity of Peter/Alexander/Adam who is a
known criminal.
Actually, this
is what he claims, whenever he changes name and explains that he cannot be
interested more in Reggie than the quarter million…
-
Or
can he?
Throughout the
film, I was somewhat annoyed by the naiveté of the heroine, who loves a man
that keeps changing names, lies, justifications.
But then…
-
‘The course of true love never did run smooth’
There are
complications, murders, Reggie Lampert is chased and does not know who to trust
anymore.
Indeed, the
audience must feel compassion for a woman who is surrounded by enemies and she
has no idea about the whereabouts of the money.
Furthermore,
the man she loves is not interested in her- for a good while I thought he might
be gay- and even seems to be after the same thing.
It must be
terrifying to fear for one’s life, especially when there are harden criminals
who want your money or your life…
In most
cases both, because they want no witnesses.
sâmbătă, 25 martie 2017
Closely Watched Trains adapted and directed by Jiri Menzel
Closely Watched Trains adapted and directed by
Jiri Menzel
A different
version of this note and thoughts on other books are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and
http://realini.blogspot.ro/
This is one
of the best films, included on the TIME list that you can find here:
It won the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Picture and it is a compelling tragicomedy about
a young man, Milos Hrma.
He is both naïve
and heroic, somewhat slow and brave, if not all at the same time, at least at
different stages of development.
Milos is a
virgin.
When he
tries to have sex, he is unable to perform and a doctor tells him about
premature ejaculation.
It is
normal, he is told and the advice is to get an older woman to help him…and an
extreme is reached when he tries to convince a woman who might be seventy years
old and does that while she is force feeding a goose…
The boy
descends from a family with an outré passé.
One ancestor
got stoned on a bridge in Prague, later argued with some miners who had lost
their jobs and got killed.
His grandfather
was a hypnotizer who came out as the only one trying to stop the Nazis from
occupying his country.
The man
stopped in front of the tanks, perhaps like the famous Chinese who stood in
front of a column in Tianmen Square during the students’ protests, and tried to
hypnotize the troops, only to be crushed by a tank.
Milos is
taken with Masa and there is an early memorable scene wherein he tries to kiss
her and the train departs.
World War II
takes place in the background, as Milos and his colleagues work at a railway
station and remind one of Chekhov
-
Unfinished Piece for Mechanical
Piano -for instance…
The behavior
of Milos Hrma recalls another character, that of Forrest Gump, with its
tendency to say and do wrong things.
The jokes
are sometimes simple and at others they are mixed with a dramatic sense and it
is difficult to know…is this a crying or a laughing moment?
An inspector
keeps coming to the station and he is grotesque and perhaps funny when he keeps
claiming that the glorious troupes are in a splendid position:
-
They are retreating…
-
Why? Keeps asking Milos Gump
-
It is a strategic retreat
-
Why?
-
Well, it is a trap and they will surround
and defeat the enemy…
Another time
they joke about the man stealing sausages and then cutting one in the tram and
saying he has another three…with one version suggesting he has cut his own
thing by mistake.
And speaking
of cutting, Milos himself thinks he can’t take it anymore, for life is too
difficult and needs to end it.
Fortunately
he fails and moves on, trying like a character from Monty Python to find a
woman to teach him about intimacy, about which he talks to a priest that has
another great and truthful line about the church;
-
The church has been doing psychoanalysis
for 600 years
And he is
right, for the confession is not much different from the act of the patient who
talks about his repressed desires to the analyst.
Sex is very
present in this film, albeit there is no nudity except for the buttocks of the
girl that works in the telegraph office of the railway station, who gets to
play an undressing game and gets stamps all over her body.
It is the
only instance that I know of wherein a public official’s stamp is used for
erotic purposes that become very funny as well.
Another case
of humor and official stamping was the hilarious comedy Top Secret, wherein the
authorities in communist East Germany made it easier to deal with the many
executions that were necessary and had a stamp:
-
Find him and kill him!
vineri, 24 martie 2017
American Beauty written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes
American Beauty written by Alan Ball and
directed by Sam Mendes
A different
version of this note and thoughts on other books are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and
http://realini.blogspot.ro/
This is a
fabulous film.
-
“Sometimes there's so much beauty in
the world, I feel like I can't take it, and my heart is just going to cave in.”
And there
is beauty in this work of art, which has a stellar cast, wonderful script,
beautiful cinematography, memorable lines, a resplendent music that I loved so
much that I used it for my ringtone.
The characters
are complex, with Kevin Spacey magnificent in the lead role of Lester Burnham,
the hero and narrator.
He tells us
from the first lines what will happen to him, so there is no need for a spoiler
alert, with the story remaining fascinating in spite of the revealed grand
finale.
Lester is
married with Carolyn, even if this is just a “front” and they have a daughter,
Jane, who has a friend Angela.
Lester is kind,
likable, funny, smart, and sociable and the man who blackmails, throws
tantrums, smokes marijuana, encourages a young man to sell him illegal
substance and has perverse thoughts concerning his daughter’s friend.
The lust
for a teenager and the effort to go to bed with her could be an illegal
activity and it certainly is immoral and abject, depending on the age of his “paramour”.
It is also
true that the complexity of the hero is emphasized when he finds more about the
real status of a girl that likes to boast about many lovers, sucking d...k and
other shenanigans and has a change of heart...or maybe better said of mind?
-
“Ricky Fitts: It's like God's
looking right at you, just for a second, and if you're careful... you can look
right back.
-
Jane Burnham: And what do you see?
-
Ricky Fitts: Beauty.”
The storyline
is so challenging, it includes so many angles and it is so sophisticated that I
think this is one of the best films around.
The humor
is mixed with drama, like when Carolyn accidently comes to the burger place
where she meets her spouse and is caught in the act of kissing someone else…the
King of Real Estate, who had just been honored with – f..k me your Majesty…who
is the king? You are the king…who is the king!? Do it your majesty!
The satire refers
to the fact that so often suburbia, middle class families, ordinary people hide
such terrible stories.
Carolyn Burnham
wants to project an image of success, by that meaning money, power, sales,
status and good social position.
Positive psychology
studies demonstrate that money is important only in as much as they offer
stability.
Past the
level of comfort- about $ 3- 4,000 income per month- additional wealth does not
bring about significant increases in life satisfaction.
Carolyn has
a very bad opinion about her husband, even if for most of the movie the
audience is inclined to hate her and sympathize with the poor man, seeing as
she appears cold, robotic and cuts the trees of her neighbors.
Looking beneath
the surface however, we see a woman that is close to breakdown, tries hard to
be “successful” and live the “American Dream”, which is itself in question
here, seeing as most envisage it as having more “stuff”, buying more and more
useless items just because we can and they are advertised as necessary or
boosting status.
The Dalai
Lama comes to mind and his visit to the supermarket where he said: “Wow, so
many things I don’t need!!”
Then there
is the family next door, with the repressed colonel Fitts, who is violent and
abusive with his son, a homophobic parent, but hiding sexual desires that he
cannot admit to anyone including himself.
The mother
appears to be a wreck, not able to remember that her son does not eat bacon and
acts like a ghost.
Ricky Fitts
gets involved with Jane Burnham, but he is a strange young man, selling dope
and recovering- perhaps- from earlier traumas, having been hospitalized and
traumatized by his father and his experiences.
Angela offers
some of the very beautiful moments of the film, within a bathroom covered by
rose petals, dancing and the same multitude of rose petals flying from her
opening cleavage and then firing up the imagination of Lester Burnham with the cheerleaders
‘dance.
“There is
so much beauty in this chef d’oeuvre”, in which the actors are almost perfect,
the images splendid and the message intense:
-
“I guess I could be pretty pissed
off about what happened to me, but it's hard to stay mad when there's so much
beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once and it's
too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst. And then I
remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it. And then it flows through
me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of
my stupid little life. You have no idea what I'm talking about I'm sure, but
don't worry, you will someday.”
joi, 23 martie 2017
luni, 20 martie 2017
The Conformist adapted and directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, based on the novel by Alberto Moravia
The Conformist
adapted and directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, based on the novel by Alberto
Moravia
A different version of this note and thoughts on other books
are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and
http://realini.blogspot.ro/
A few weeks ago, I have been mesmerized by The Contempt
written by the writer of The Conformist, Alberto Moravia.
Then I saw Le Mepris, the adaptation for the big screen with
the superb Bardot and I have included The Contempt among my favorite works.
Alas, I did not have the chance to read the original this
time, I just saw the film.
And it is a very good one, albeit I was tempted to say at
times:
-
"What's
your angle here?"
I thought that the approach is post modern or surreal,
perhaps both at times.
Many, if not most of the characters are monstrous, vile.
With Marcello Clerici, played by one of my favorite actors, Jean
Louis Trintignant as one of the worst of all.
He was a promising student, the best in his generation as
the professor Luca Quadri says, but he became The Conformist, a Nazi.
He is not even one of those complex personages who have a
dark side, but at least there is some aspect that you could like about them.
The Conformist appears to be Pure Evil.
Yes, he is sensitive to the beauty of Anna Quadri, but he is
married to Giulia and Anna is the wife of his former professor.
When he shows some concern for his mother, it is again with
extreme violence that he deals with what he sees as a problem.
The woman has a lover who is Japanese and is called Ki.
-
That
means...hemlock.
The poor Ki, who looked like he did a lot of good to the
older woman, who needed comforting and someone to show affection, is killed.
In order to prepare for his marriage with Giulia, Clerici is
supposed to go to confession.
It is stated that even those who attend church do not
believe...90% of them!
That sounds like way too much for me.
Nevertheless, the confession of The Conformist is an
exercise in arrogance and it is completed...
-
In Cold
Blood
And it is not just Clerici that is outrageous.
He speaks the truth when he says:
You are more outraged by an eventual sodomy than by the
murder...
He confessed to killing someone at thirteen, but the prelate
is more interested in the homosexual act that might have been involved in the
story.
Indeed, during the scenes that rendered the incident I
thought that the closeness between the older man and the boy was inappropriate.
And that recalls the filming of A Tango in Paris.
Bertolucci was accused by the actress of being more than
abusive on the set, especially during the sex scenes.
There are many shots that are beautiful, with impressive,
minimalist architecture.
Clerici is given the mission to assassinate his former
professor, Luca Quadri, who is an
anti-fascist and lives in Paris with his wondrous spouse Anna.
The Conformist is taken, attracted by this outstanding
beauty and the outcome is in question.
He even says that he would run away with her to Brazil.
About his wife Clerici only has this to tell:
-
"Mediocre,
she's all bed and kitchen"
-
So what
will he do?
-
Will he
abandon his "cause"?
-
Or will he
remain The Conformist?
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