The Story of Film: A New Generation (2021)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Story of Film: A New Generation (2021) – M. Cousins

Filmmaker and critic Mark Cousins waited ten years to offer this four-hour sequel to his 15-hour mini-series, The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011). Whereas the first series covered the history of film up to that point, the new release aims to highlight trends and new contributions in film in the 21^st century specifically.  As before, Cousins narrates in his soft-spoken Northern Irish lilt (which some have called soporific in comments on IMDb but which I quite enjoy), pointing out aspects of the various clips that he’s chosen and making connections across films. The organisation here is very loose and rambling and whatever trends and themes Cousins has found don’t always become especially explicit.  At times, he seems to be grouping films by genre (horror, documentary) but in other places, he seems to want to argue that advances in technology or the onset of the pandemic are the contributing factors to new trends. But the overall feel of the film is just a relatively random, stream of consciousness presentation of cool movie clips accompanied by interesting insights. It pales in comparison to the earlier opus but it’s still a fun watch and a place to find out about art-house and experimental films you may have missed.

 

Harry in Your Pocket (1973)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

Harry in Your Pocket (1973) – B. Geller

James Coburn is the suave pickpocket “cannon” (Harry) who, with his older partner (the “steer”) Walter Pidgeon, take on a pair of young people, Michael Sarrazin and Trish Van Devere, as “stalls” in order to form a team that steals some “pokes” from rich folks in Seattle. The mechanics of pickpocketing is the main focus here, using the lingo above, and with repeated demonstrations, as the young folks learn the trade. Sarrazin’s Ray, in particular, is keen to become a cannon, the one who picks the pocket, but Coburn’s Harry refuses to teach him. Instead, Harry does the deed and quickly hands over the poke to one of the others, because “Harry doesn’t hold” which also means he hasn’t ever gone to jail.  That’s not to say that the police don’t know who he is – soon the group is asked to move along, to find another city to loot. As the film progresses, the relationship tensions (particularly between Harry and Van Devere’s Sandy) start to simmer: Ray is jealous and begins to work on his own (with guidance from Pidgeon’s Casey) which eventually causes the team to unravel a bit. This being the 70s, there’s a downbeat ending, although it’s more abrupt than it should be. The flat TV-style cinematography and rather prosaic settings don’t add much to the proceedings. This film deserved a Jean-Pierre Melville in the director’s chair but got Bruce Geller instead (only other feature: The Savage Bees, 1976).

 

Pagan Peak (Season 1; 2018)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Pagan Peak (Season 1; 2018) – C. Boss & P. Stennert

Looking for another TV series to stream when there isn’t time or energy to watch films and I came across this one on SBS On Demand.  Although it seemed at first to have supernatural overtones (due to the serial killer’s use of Krampus masks and iconography), it quickly turned into just another police procedural, albeit one that takes place in a very scenic location – in the Alps on the border of Germany and Austria.  The two detectives do get fleshed out across the 8 episodes with Ellie Stocker (Julia Jentsch) from Germany transforming from optimistic and even bubbly to more beaten down and world weary and Gedeon Winter (Nicholas Ofczarek) from Austria moving in the opposite direction from cynical and disengaged to sensitive and involved.   We also eventually get to meet the killer and learn about him.  So, yes, this is one of those shows where the suspense slackens and it turns to a game of cat-and-mouse rather than whodunnit.  The ending of Season 1 is poignant and fitting. Overall, Pagan Peak is watchable but not particularly thought-provoking.  I’m not sure I need to watch Season 2.