Storm Warning (1951)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Storm Warning (1951) – S. Heisler

Ginger Rogers takes on the Ku Klux Klan in this 1951 noir-ish drama that also stars Ronald Reagan as the D. A. and Doris Day as the naïve wife of a dumbass Klan member.  But this isn’t the KKK you’ve heard about – the script evades any discussion of racism or religious bigotry and instead focuses on the murder of a reporter who threatens to undercover a tax evasion scandal involving the leaders of the Klan.  I guess Hollywood was afraid of making waves in 1951 (but see Crossfire, 1947, and No Way Out, 1950, for braver looks). Setting that aside, if you actually could, the film is actually better-than-average.  Director Stuart Heisler and his team use noir lighting and stage crowd shots in a you-are-there fashion that makes the film feel gripping.  Rogers plays things tough and when she caves in to Klan pressure (to protect her sister, Day) and lies under oath at the coroner’s inquest, her sense of shame and guilt is palpable.  Later, when she is whipped at the Klan rally (yes it happens, and it is shot in a way to heighten its sick and twisted nature), you can see her guilt turn into determination.  Reagan isn’t exactly convincing in his passion to destroy the Klan (he’s too genial here) but at least it is good to see him on the correct side of politics for once.  Day has only a minor part (and no singing) – but I’m glad her agents didn’t foist a Hollywood ending on us (the film makes a last minute pitch to be a true film noir after detouring into Streetcar Named Desire territory).  Steve Cochran is solid as the pathetic husband.  In the end, the film is gutless but perhaps viewers were smart enough to interpolate the real Klan into the plot to get the point?  If so, the entire community’s willingness to support the KKK (or succumb to its pressure) makes this actually a horror film.

Moontide (1942)

☆ ☆ ☆

Moontide (1942) – A. Mayo

Jean Gabin’s first Hollywood picture (he didn’t make many) sees him playing a dockworker who may have killed a man during a drunken binge that he can’t remember.  But that summary makes this film sound a lot more noir than it really is (despite Fritz Lang’s reported early involvement).  Instead, it is more of a drama about a group of people kicking around a dead end port city in Southern California.  Gabin has to put up with Thomas Mitchell’s character sponging off him (because he knows a dark secret from the past) but he’s easy-going about it.  However, when he falls in love with Ida Lupino (after rescuing her from attempted suicide by drowning), there is friction because Mitchell would rather leave and prevent their marriage.  (I didn’t notice the gay subtext until later).  Gabin also makes friends with Claude Rains’ night watchmen who seems a key suspect for the murder, particularly when he burns some of the evidence; however, this might also be read as his effort to protect Gabin.  Everybody loves the Frenchman and Gabin’s charisma mostly translates into English – but this vehicle is a bit too stodgy and less cool than he needed.  Still, there is some charm here and the sense of community that is built, particularly coming together for the wedding, is not really that far from what Renoir often achieved (and of course Gabin starred in one of that master’s greats).  The stellar black and white cinematography by Charles G. Clarke was nominated for an Oscar. But if you want the best of Gabin, stick with his French films (by Renoir, Carné, Becker).

I Am Not A Witch (2017)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

I Am Not A Witch (2017) – R. Nyoni

This is the first feature of Zambian-born Welsh director Rungano Nyoni.  It takes place in Zambia.  I have never been there and the events it depicts seem very farfetched but some googling suggests that women may still be accused of witchcraft in this country.  The film tells the story of Shula (Maggie Mulubwa), a young girl who may be an orphan and who is convicted of this crime because of circumstantial evidence (what else could there be?).  She is then sent to a “witch camp” where a large group of older women, all tethered to gigantic spools by long white ribbons, live and work.  They entertain tourists but also perform manual labour on a farm.  The group welcomes Shula and you sense that they could be and would be a set of surrogate mothers for her.  But instead she becomes a sort of diviner for local politician Mr. Banda (Henry B.J. Phiri) who uses her at line-ups to point out thieves and other criminals (using supernatural means, of course), rewarding her (and the camp) with booze and other gifts.  Nyoni leaves it up-in-the-air as to whether Shula really can I.D. the perps.  Indeed, there is some wry comedy at work here, particularly in the depiction of Mr. Banda who seems rather hapless but may also be an exploiter. Later he goes on TV to sell “Shula’s eggs”, presumably magical, and tries to sell her guarantee of rain to a local White farmer.  Obviously, the mistreatment of women and their exploitation is a central theme of the film.  Shula soon laments that she ever allowed herself to be called a witch and felt that she should have taken the option of becoming a goat instead (by cutting the ribbon), even if the goat would be killed and eaten.  It doesn’t rain, casting some doubt on witchcraft’s ability but this may be due to Shula’s recalcitrance.  Later, however, it seems perhaps that Shula really does make it rain (through self-sacrifice or malice by some third party).  I had to watch the ending a couple of times and I’m still not sure I fully grasp what happened.  Of course, the ambiguous and mysterious aspect of events in Zambia leave room for interpretation – and for such bizarre practices to continue (if indeed they still do).  I’ll be interested to see what this director does next.

Black Panther (2018)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Black Panther (2018) – R. Coogler

The mythos is strong with this superhero fable, most likely because it connects itself to the music and culture of Africa rather than simply some artificial Marvel universe.  Yet, it is a “wish fulfillment” version of Africa, where a Shangri-la-like country (Wakanda) with advanced technology (due to vast stores of a powerful but fictional metal) has managed to hide away from the rest of the world.  These Africans have power and riches (and weaponry) beyond what most Black people in the rest of the world have, yet they have kept it to themselves.  This fact is the basic driver of the plot, which finds an alienated Wakandan returning to challenge the King for the throne in order to force Wakanda to open up to the outside world.  The King (Chadwick Boseman) is also granted superhuman powers in the guise of Black Panther (with a very high-tech skin-tight suit as well).  His army of women is led by General Okoye (Danai Gurira).  He is assisted by his ex, Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o) and his sister (Letitia Wright).  They must combat Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) when he comes to steal the throne (along with defector Daniel Kaluuya, so great in Get Out, 2017, but with little to do here).  Fortunately, the King (B. P.) is wise and strong and he has the counsel of elders (Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett in cameos).  But it is a difficult challenge.  For a while, the combination of mythologizing, African heritage, and superhero action felt vital and exciting but slowly slowly the necessity of action sequences started to grind me down.  The awkward presence of Martin Freeman as an American CIA agent who helps the King was like a fly in the ointment – it would have been better just to stick with an all-Black cast methinks (or retained only Andy Serkis in the grinning bad guy role). Overall, it’s an uplifting affair, looking great on the screen (CGI has certainly blossomed into something more palatable), and not bad for a superhero flick (but this may be the last one for me for awhile!).

Manji (1964)

Manji (1964) – Y. Masumura

Another strange film from Yasuzô Masumura.  The film opens with Sonoko (Kyôko Kishida) telling us (and presumably her psychiatrist) the story of her infatuation and love affair with Mitsuko (Ayako Wakao), a younger model who she met at an art class.  The remainder of the film is one long flashback to the events that transpired, with only occasional cut-ins to remind us that this is a narrative from Sonoko.  Although married, Sonoko throws herself passionately into her secret trysts with Mitsuko and soon she is brazenly and openly telling her husband Kotaro (Eiji Funakoshi) about the affair.  He demands her to stop.  She resists but when Mitsuko reveals that she has a fiancé Watanuki (Yûsuke Kawazu) and that she may be pregnant by him, Sonoko decides to cut things off.  Until Mitsuko and Watanuki begin to play games, luring Sonoko back into the relationship and encouraging Kotaro as well.  The characters here are all unabashedly driven by intense passions, sexual perhaps, but there is something even more inexplicable about Mitsuko that drives them all toward her. Indeed, they are so wrapped up in her mind games and their silly blood oaths (and eventually ritualistic sleeping-draught taking) that they seem immature, like children or teenagers playing in a fantasy world of their own making.  Almost from the start of the film, the characters speak of their love as something they would die for and Mitsuko repeatedly asks Sonoko to kill her because her love is too strong. It is strange – and perhaps it is linked to Japanese culture? At any rate, Masumura’s widescreen compositions are often beautiful with the characters sometimes constrained to just part of the screen with the remainder filled with a richly textured space (either a wall, latticed stairs, some textile, or some other rectangular shape); no doubt this adds psychological tension to the presentation (as does the occasional nudity, potentially shocking for the time).  Yet, despite all this, I found myself impatient at the silliness of it all.

Run of the Arrow (1957)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Run of the Arrow (1957) – S. Fuller

Sam Fuller brings his blunt brisk directorial style to the Western, not his first but a particularly even-handed look at White-Native American relations during the period just after the Civil War.  Rod Steiger plays a Confederate soldier who refuses to join the United States after the war, preferring instead to head out to the Western territories to join up with the Sioux/Lakota (kudos to Fuller for recognising and explicating these two names).  After falling in with an elderly Sioux man, Walking Coyote (Jay C. Flippen), who worked for the army, Steiger finds himself captured by some young braves led by Crazy Wolf (H. M. Wynant).  They give the pair a chance to escape called “The Run of the Arrow” (they have a head start as far as the arrow can fly but then must run for their lives).  Of course, Steiger succeeds with the help of Yellow Moccasin (Sara Montiel) who becomes his wife when he is accepted into the tribe (foreshadowing Costner’s Dances with Wolves, 1990).  Later, Steiger as a Sioux man is selected to negotiate with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (led by Brian Keith) who seek to build a fort on a Sioux hunting ground. He finds himself opposed by Ralph Meeker’s Lieutenant Driscoll (a Union solider once shot by Steiger’s O’Meara).  As you can see, Steiger is not a perfect hero – he still stands for the South (even when Fuller’s script challenges him with reference to the Ku Klux Klan) and his decision to join the Sioux may be more a reaction to the Civil War and less clearly a love for the Sioux (although he does love his wife and the young mute boy that they adopt). Incidentally, the Sioux are led by Charles Bronson and it seems likely that most of the Native Americans are played by whites; this was likely true of the times and Fuller still manages to make his film feel more progressive than most with this problem. You can see the influence this film had on Jim Jarmusch and his Dead Man (1995), a more recent progressive Western, particularly in the relationship between Walking Coyote and O’Meara.  If only Fuller had access to better resources, this could have had less of a B-movie feel – that said, this is also one of its charms. 

Elite Squad (2007)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Elite Squad (2007) --  J. Padilha

Brazilian action film with that gritty hand-held camera feel, very rough around the edges.  We follow members of the BOPE (Elite Squad), a special section of the police who deal with the hardest problems, particularly drug dealers in the slums.  The film makes Rio look like a hell hole.  Most of the cops are corrupt but those in the BOPE are supposed to be morally purer, more dedicated to eliminating crime and less willing to take bribes or require security money from the poor.  However, this doesn’t mean that they don’t indiscriminately assassinate and torture those who they see breaking the law – they do.  It is hard to tell whether our narrator (there is a constant voiceover presence here by Wagner Moura) is reliable or not.  He seems to be on the side of good, but the movie shows how he selects two recruits for BOPE (Caio Junqueira and André Ramiro) and then fashions them into tough guys who don’t hold back when there is an opportunity to bring some brutality to the bad guys.  Rich progressive kids working for NGOs ultimately get short shrift from them.  Moreover, our narrator knows he can finally retire when one of his protegees offs a baddie without trial.  The problem for me is that it is hard to tell where the filmmakers stand on this (the screenplay is apparently by some ex-BOPE squad members).  Do they really advocate killing those dealing in pot?  The amoral nature of the action reminds me of other violent films (where the violence itself seems to be what is meant to attract the audience) such as The Raid: Redemption (2011).  Still, this could be the actual reality in Rio/Brazil – and if so, that’s pretty scary.