Tess (1979)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Tess (1979) – R. Polanski

A young Natassja Kinski, aged 17, takes centre stage as Thomas Hardy’s tragic heroine in Roman Polanski’s version of the 1892 novel.  When Tess’s alcoholic peasant father discovers that he may be descended from a more noble lineage, he sets into motion events that will lead to her downfall.  Indeed, he is the first of many men who seek to exert their will over Tess.  First, she is sent by her father to seek out the real D’Urbervilles and to represent herself as a poor relation; as a result, she is given a job (tending poultry) but soon her richer “cousin” (Leigh Lawson) attempts to seduce her.  Eventually, despite her resistance, he bends her to his will – but she escapes to bear a child out of wedlock (which dies).  Tess moves to another job at a dairy farm and soon finds true love with Angel Clare (Peter Firth), son of a family of religious puritans. However, she fears what he will think if he finds out her past, as he eventually does.  The plot goes further (for 2 hours and 40 minutes) and I won’t spoil it here.  Suffice it to say that the screenplay emphasises the mistreatment of Tess but also her ability to endure every hardship, even choosing them in lieu of giving in to the desires of men which might nevertheless provide freedom from poverty.  In Polanski’s hands, the film has the gauzy feel of many period pieces set in rural England (but actually filmed in France); it’s marked by the occasional stunning shot, but is generally subdued in tone. Kinski holds her own but has relatively few lines – we observe her struggles from the outside. As the plot unfolds, it eventually achieves a certain emotional weight but it is difficult to know (without having read the source) whether this is an effect of the book or the film or a synergistic combination of the two.    

 

The Adventures of Tintin (2011)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Adventures of Tintin (2011) – S. Spielberg

After reading a couple of Hergé’s Tintin comics from Ayako’s collection, Amon chose this Spielberg film from amongst those available to stream from the university library.  We did not see it in 3D and, to be honest, I didn’t notice that it was designed for that format until close to the end when some giant cranes seemed to be rather obviously pointing right at the screen.  Although the plot is somewhat complicated (having to do with three model ships and the hidden parchments inside them that combine to offer the coordinates for hidden treasure when held up to the sun), this did not quite matter to Amon who declared the film “action-packed!” Indeed, given that it is animated (despite the use of motion capture for the many characters), the physical limitations of reality are not always honoured – the characters do seem to careen and carom pell-mell on land, air, and sea.  This is the adventure where Tintin first meets Captain Haddock who is an unrepentant drunk (somewhat weird for a kid’s movie) and they end up fast friends as they solve the mystery together – not sure if Tintin ever writes the story (he’s a journalist) but the bad guys (also chasing the model ships in an echo of Raiders of the Lost Ark) do end up in jail.  Thumbs up from Amon!

The Dead Don’t Die (2019)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Dead Don’t Die (2019) – J. Jarmusch

No doubt some viewers came to this film expecting a Shaun of the Dead styled zom-com starring Bill Murray or perhaps even an actual horror film.  Instead, they got Jim Jarmusch’s droll take on the genre, which is closer to George Romero’s original blend of horror and social commentary but slowed way down and speckled with the director’s trademark ironic humour. I agree with those who said that the film seems to be rather pointless – most of the social commentary is reserved for a monologue from Tom Waits’ Hermit Bob at the very end (basically “humans suck”).  The rest of the film is just opportunities for Jarmusch’s friends (Adam Driver, Chloe Sevigny, Iggy Pop) to play at being zombies or to lovingly recreate and/or offer some references to the genre (aping Romero’s idea that consumerism = zombie-ism) or to cool culture (comic books, movies), set to a guitar-driven soundtrack by Jarmusch’s band SQÜRL (and the title country music song).  Tilda Swinton gives a very weird turn as a katana-wielding Scottish mortician.  It’s all pretty easy-going, nothing new on the zombie front, nor really on the social commentary front. Given the pessimism here (and some of the music), I guess you might call it a dirge.  No one exactly seems like they are having much fun (except Swinton), Bill Murray most of all.

The Last Command (1928)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Last Command (1928) – J. von Sternberg

Emil Jannings won the first Best Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of a Russian general who lost his position during the Revolution and wound up as an extra in Hollywood. As directed by (pre-Dietrich) Josef von Sternberg, it’s structured as a first introduction to the character (and the Hollywood studio assembly line) and then a long meaty flashback in Russia, and finally a coda that returns us to Hollywood where the actor is given a final scene in a movie about Russian troops in WWI (still led by the Czar) and a final chance to recapture his dignity. Ironically, the director of the film (played by a young William Powell, who seems wrong without his voice in the Silent era) was one of the revolutionaries harassed by the General in the old days (alongside Evelyn Brent who became the General’s love interest despite her revolutionary goals) – even those in favour of regime change could see the General’s love for his country and its people.  As staged by von Sternberg, the Russian scenes are full of extras and action but somehow the film never quite scales the heights of other masterworks of the era (I prefer Jannings in Murnau’s The Last Laugh, 1924). Von Sternberg would have his heyday in the 1930s with Marlene.

Under Fire (1983)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Under Fire (1983) – R. Spottiswoode

American journalists get involved in the war in Nicaragua in 1979, first as amoral observers and then later with more sympathy and investment. The film is pretty clear and explicit about the negative contributions made by the US Government to the situation (supporting and arming a series of brutal dictators) even having one local express the sentiment that the killing of a US journalist might be the only thing that could get average Americans to pay attention to the tragedy (the fact that filmmakers need to include American characters in a film about the Nicaraguan civil war is a more implicit echo of the same idea).  These American journalists (Nick Nolte, Joanna Cassidy, and Gene Hackman) and, worse, a callous soldier of fortune (Ed Harris), demonstrate their self-absorption and neglect for the people of Nicaragua as they interlope looking for a story (or money).  And as Americans have often done when intervening in foreign nations, they muck it up.  The plot itself is rather aimless, focusing at times on the love triangle between Cassidy, Nolte, and Hackman, and at other times on their attempts to meet the rebel leaders.  Late in the film, an ethical and moral dilemma is presented (should the journalists take sides and “editorialise”?) but there are many unintended consequences despite their “right” choice (a nuanced aspect of the screenplay).  All told, it’s a thoughtful, although not quite focused, film that nobly sought to present an honest interrogation of US involvement overseas while also approaching something more acceptable to mainstream Hollywood. 

A Wanderer’s Notebook (1962)

☆ ☆ ☆

A Wanderer’s Notebook (1962) – M. Naruse

I’m a big fan of director Mikio Naruse, who similar to Ozu and Mizoguchi made many silent films before he moved into sound and made his mark chiefly with melodramas focused on the experiences and relationships of women.  A number of his best films were drawn from novels or stories by writer Fumiko Hayashi (1903-1951), such as Meshi (1951), Lightning (1952), Late Chrysanthemums (1954), and especially Floating Clouds (1955).  So, it comes as no surprise that he decided to make this film of her first autobiographical novel, again starring Hideko Takamine, his “go to” actress (see When A Woman Ascends the Stairs, 1960).  Hayashi’s life was not easy – her mother (Kinuyo Tanaka) remarried to a travelling snake oil salesman and they moved around peddling until she graduated from high school and left the family to live in Tokyo.  The film mainly begins at this point and shows a series of unfortunate relationships with men as well as her gradual path to literary success through poetry and stories in magazines.  I suppose it may be a case of method acting but Takamine does not seem her usual charismatic self here – as Hayashi, she’s awkward, even stoop-shouldered, at the start, gradually becoming more relaxed but she’s never a warm, attractive, or even likable character.  Mostly she’s self-absorbed and there are suggestions that her fiction reflects this, with its focus on her subjective experience of poverty and hardship (which may after all be universal; Naruse himself treats the social impact of money as a central theme in his work).  Even at the end, when she’s successful, she’s neither generous nor friendly – possibly a result of her hard knock life.  Although there’s a place for unromantic heroes in films, the dreariness of both events and character somewhat capsizes the film which is not amongst Naruse’s best.  But middling Naruse is still worth seeing.  

  

The Shooting (1966)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Shooting (1966) – M. Hellman

Monte Hellman’s tectonic Western moves inexorably to its final shot – and what a shot that is!  It blows the whole plot wide open, allowing multiple layers of (psychedelic) interpretation, if you are so inclined.  Or maybe that’s just me.  But let’s just say that it is all about Warren Oates’s Willett Gashade, the cowboy who accepts some money to help a rather ruthless young woman (Millie Perkins) track down a man on the road up ahead.  Forget the fact that this film is mostly known for an early appearance by Jack Nicholson (as a dandy hired gun) – he’s fine but doesn’t own centre stage.  Oates, however, does become our point of identification, as the (failed) protector for innocent and none-too-bright Coley (Will Hutchins) and the one character whose motivation for action isn’t clear – until the end.  (Which leaves me puzzling about, um, twins or not twins?).  Hellman (under the supervision of low budget producer Roger Corman) keeps things minimalist out there in the Utah desert but the result is mesmerising all the same.  Of course, your mileage may vary.