Diva (1981)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Diva (1981) – J.-J. Beineix

The debut feature from Jean-Jacques Beineix (who went on to make Betty Blue, 1986, which I still haven’t seen) is rather hard to pin down.  At first, it seems to be about a teenager, Jules (Frédéric Andréi), with a passion for opera, who secretly records a concert by a famous diva who refuses to be recorded, Cynthia Hawkins (real opera singer Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez), and also steals her dress from backstage after the show. Later this becomes important to the plot, the recording at least.  But parallel to this is a whole other story about an international prostitution ring that the cops are working to expose and a cassette tape that contains damning evidence against a prominent figure.  The two narrative threads intertwine when the cassette ends up in the basket of Jules’ moped. I have to admit that I was not particularly engaged by the film at first, but as it progressed I found myself more and more drawn into the story, which contains a number of intriguing side characters (Alba played by Thuy An Luu and Gorodish played by Richard Bohringer – who may actually be the main focus of the source novel and other books by Delacorta).  The thriller frame probably helps to support the various digressions by giving the viewer something to hold on to.  Moreover, the proceedings here are stylishly staged and photographed -- and enjoyably unpredictable.    

Fantastic Voyage (1966)

☆ ☆ ☆

Fantastic Voyage (1966) – R. Fleischer

High concept science fiction that sees intrepid travellers suit up and head not for outer space but instead for “inner space”: after a scientist is nearly assassinated, a team is miniaturised (yes!) and sent into his bloodstream in a special submarine to destroy a blood clot in his brain.   Donald Pleasance is the doctor on board in charge of the mission (run by military command personnel, Edmond O’Brien and Arthur O’Connell back in the lab) which also includes neurosurgeon Arthur Kennedy and assistant Raquel Welch, submarine captain William Redfield, and the hero, communications officer Stephen Boyd (who is also charged with determining whether there is an enemy agent hidden on the team).  Of course, the main attractions here are the special effects – can it really be true that this film was shown to medical students because of its accurate depiction of the body (specifically the circulatory system)?  It seems a rather quaint set of analogue camera tricks and set design now (in line with the “futuristic” computers and technology).  It probably comes as no surprise that all of the various dangers in the body due make an appearance:  a trip through the pulsing heart and the windy lungs, attack by antibodies and later the dreaded white corpuscles, the booming inner ear.  I found the film a bit slow (it is in real time – the team will only remain miniaturised for 60 minutes and the clock is ticking) but Amon (aged 7) had a lot of questions and seemed absorbed by the onscreen action.     

Leave No Trace (2018)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Leave No Trace (2018) – D. Granik

Director Debra Granik (Winter’s Bone, 2010) offers a rather sombre look at the way that one veteran (Ben Foster) copes with PTSD – he goes off the grid.  The complicating factor is that he is raising a 13-year-old daughter alone (his wife presumably deceased).  Off the grid in this case is way way way off the grid – the father and daughter (Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie) are camping in a state park near Portland, Oregon.  They head in to the city to pick up supplies, paid for by selling the benzedrine that the father receives (but does not take) as a treatment for his symptoms.  In some ways, we might be ready to cheer this escape from the negative influences of screens and commercialism, but it soon becomes apparent that the daughter is longing for social connections with peers and perhaps mother surrogates.  Both actors do a nice job of subtly conveying their psychological profiles, although the reticence of the dad does make it harder to understand him.  Along the way, Granik shows us a host of other people who are coping with or in modern America (shown warts and all), at the lower end of the SES spectrum, possibly by choice.  It’s a thoughtful film but its resolution leaves a lot of questions hanging in the air. 

Fallen Angels (1995)

☆ ☆ ☆

Fallen Angels (1995) – K.-W. Wong

It has been decades since I watched Wong Kar-Wai’s breakthrough release Chungking Express (1994), so it comes as no surprise that I wasn’t fully prepared Fallen Angels, rumoured to have been the third segment for that previous film (but ultimately saved and expanded for this film).  As before, Wong’s work primarily emphasises style and cinematographer Christopher Doyle (who has also worked for Kaige Chen, Jim Jarmusch, Gus van Sant, and Philip Noyce among others) is more than up to the challenge.  However, this doesn’t mean the film is necessarily “beautiful” to look at – in fact, in many ways it is rather “ugly” to look at!  But there is no denying the panache accorded the proceedings.  Briefly, we are treated to several anecdotes involving Hong Kong denizens who experience a sense of loss, generally romantic loss but also loss of a parent, loss due to “retirement”.  Wong is pursuing a mood, in other words.  But, to be frank, I found it difficult to get on board with this film – the characters were difficult to identify with, the style a bit too much noise and flash (not my style), the episodes rather empty.  No doubt, Wong has much to offer (e.g., In the Mood for Love, 2000) but I wouldn’t start here. 

  

A Bittersweet Life (2005)

☆ ☆ ☆

A Bittersweet Life (2005) – J.-W. Kim

Character study of a meticulously ruthless “enforcer” (Byung-hun Lee) working for a gangster who feels a moment of compassion and ends up paying for it.  This came advertised with high ratings and I was initially sucked into the stylish drama (which has some cool camera shots by director Jee-woon Kim and cinematographer Ji-yong Kim). But as the movie wore on, the reticence of the protagonist kept him largely opaque and difficult to identify with (perhaps the model is Delon in Melville’s Le Samourai? His compassion is also toward a female musician).  After his “mistake”, things descend into a series of violent, even sadistic, incidents, as the enforcer suffers the consequences and then seeks revenge.  This quickly became boring, especially when so much of the violence feels gratuitous.  I’m not necessarily a shrinking violet – I have enjoyed the admittedly violent films of John Woo (such as The Killer or Hard-Boiled starring Chow Yun-Fat)  -- which leads me to wonder whether this film crossed a line or whether I am losing my tolerance for this kind of exercise. (That said, I never was one for horror films involving gore either).

  

Warlock (1959)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Warlock (1959) – E. Dmytryk

Fifties Western in Technicolor with more unusual character relationships than in the prototypic version (although truly the Western was a genre that explored unusual themes).  Warlock is a town that has not been around long enough to have a sheriff of its own; it is subject to marauding attacks from a local gang of cattle rustlers who get drunk and shoot up the place.  So, the citizens’ committee hire Clay Blaisdell (Henry Fonda), an infamous gun for hire, as local marshal to rout them out – he brings with him his partner, a casino boss (and secret gunslinger), Tom Morgan (Anthony Quinn). While this is happening, we see Johnny Gannon (Richard Widmark) hanging around the edge of the crowd – his younger brother is in the outlaw gang but Johnny belongs neither with them nor with the citizen’s committee.  He’s a weak character but when the opportunity presents itself, he’s the only one to step up to take on the role of deputy sheriff, representing law and order in Warlock.  The plot then unfolds as a test of wills between Blaisdell, Morgan, and Gannon with the fate of the outlaw gang and the town of Warlock hanging in the balance.  Will the community back the rule of law or the “might makes right” code of the gunslingers?  Dorothy Malone adds another twist to the plot, as a love interest for Gannon, previously Morgan’s gal – except he only has eyes for Blaisdell perhaps? After a nearly too pat ending, there’s a coda that ends things on a more satisfying note.  Worth a look, if this is your genre.    

The Incredible Journey (1963)

☆ ☆ ½

The Incredible Journey (1963) – F. Markle

Maybe we should have watched the 1993 remake but Amon and I stuck with this version of the true story (?) that I recalled from my childhood.  Two dogs and a cat made a 250-mile trek to return to their owners’ house, somewhere in Canada.  Fortunately, the animals don’t speak themselves – there is a narrator (yodeller Rex Allen) who details the events in a folksy (dated) style.  A few humans interact with the animals, usually helping them in some way; for example, one couple removes porcupine quills from the golden retriever’s face after an unfortunate encounter.  The animal actors really are quite good – interacting with a bear, for example – and did that cat really get sucked into the raging river rapids? But, at the end of the day, I have to concur with Amon who declared the film “too boring”.  (Perhaps attention-spans and tastes have both changed in the intervening decades?).