Empire of the Sun

This isn’t so horrible, but it’s not that great either.  Spielberg does have a terrific eye for grandiose imagery and although the film is a bit repetitive, it never gets dull.  But Spielberg’s usual oversentimentality puts a damper on everything.  The schmaltzy Williams score, the tug-at-the-heartstrings moments (the “I can save everyone!” scene is nearly as awful as the “This watch!” scene from Schindler), “stirring” moments of awe, innocence and innocence lost.  And of course, there’s nothing on Earth that Spielberg loves more than putting children in danger.  OH THE CHILDREN!  Young Batman is not bad in the lead role… a little obnoxious at times, but not terrible.  I just couldn’t help thinking that Nikolay Burlyaev was so much better in Ivan’s Childhood.  In fact, pretty much everything about Ivan’s Childhood is better than this.  But you know, it’s decent for Spielberg.  Rating: 6

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That Hamilton Woman

Wartime propaganda piece disguised as historical romance.  The portrayal of Lord Horatio Nelson battling the tyranny of Napoleon is clearly meant to stir British audiences against the Nazi threat.  No wonder it was Churchill’s favorite.  And that’s the only point of distinction.  The romance in this movie is awfully tepid, even more surprising (or perhaps less so) when you consider that Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier were married at the time.  There’s no spark, they really don’t seem all that interested in each other.  The movie is generally well-done but it just has no oomph to it.  Rating: 6

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Trinity and Beyond

A doc (narrated by William Shatner) about atomic weapon testing and development from 1945 to about 1965.  There’s a few fascinating things to be learned, and the footage is impressively horrifying (I wonder if my 80′s nuclear nightmares will come back tonight).  But it quickly becomes mighty repetitive.  Too much of it is simply the cataloging of locations and dates for different tests.  The film really needs more of a human perspective.  Rating: 6

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Le jour se lève

Although I wouldn’t say this was a bad film by any measure, I don’t see what the fuss is about.  The cinematography is quite nice, but the story is mundane, and the characters are uninteresting.  When they’re not being uninteresting, they’re acting in ways that make little sense to me.  I usually enjoy Jean Gabin, but I found his performance here to be subpar (especially during his little tirade at the window).  I never cared much for Carne anyway, but at least Drole de drame is funny.  This one just didn’t do a damn thing for me.  Rating: 5

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Quadrophenia

I’ve been a fan of The Who for roughly 25 years, and Quadrophenia is my favorite album by them.  So why did I wait so long to watch the movie?  I don’t have a good answer for that.  Maybe I was put off by Tommy, or maybe I just never thought the material would make a good film.  I dunno.  But at last I’ve gotten around to it, and I would say it’s one of the better rebellious youth pictures I’ve seen.  My complaints are minor.  Jimmy has the character trait of wanting to be a big fish in a small pond but being too insecure to really pull it off, and that’s a trait I find unappealing.  I just don’t like watching that type of person.  Fortunately it doesn’t dominate his character and only becomes manifest in a few scenes.  The other thing is that the Quadrophenia music feels incongruous with the period and the other songs, especially the synthesizer bits.  I love the music, but it doesn’t fit.  It’s also rather self-indulgent to make a movie about a guy who’s a fan of your music, but I guess that’s pretty much what Rock n’ Roll High School is, too.  Other than these small issues, the film is very dynamic and engaging.  In fact, the more I think about it, the more I like it and understand its cult appeal.  It reminds me a bit (especially with the ending) of Harold & Maude, but without all the hippie life lessons.  Although sometimes it’s somewhat hard to comprehend: the DVD is loaded with special features but doesn’t include subtitles (also non-anamorphic boooooo).  Rating: 9

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Minato no nihon musume (Japanese Girls at the Harbor)

Having now seen all the films in the Hiroshi Shimizu set, I wouldn’t classify any as an outright masterpiece, but they’re all very good and I’d probably buy the box if I had more shelf space.  This one is least like the others, not only because it’s silent but also it doesn’t have that same gentle humor.  Instead, it’s more like a Mizoguchi film, about a young woman whose jealousy drives her towards geishadom.  It’s not particularly compelling subject matter, but the characters are quite well-drawn and the film has a lovely lyrical quality.  The use of fades and axial cuts is intriguing.  A few of the scene changes feel a bit abrupt, though, as if there should be a little more connecting tissue.  Rating: 8

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Wallace and Gromit shorts (rewatch)

Wallace and Gromit in “A Grand Day Out”
Wallace and Gromit in “The Wrong Trousers”
Wallace and Gromit in “A Close Shave”
Wallace and Gromit in “A Matter of Loaf and Death”

I’ve written about these before, and there’s really not a whole lot to say about them.  My ratings for the first three are staying the same, with “The Wrong Trousers” as the masterpiece, and “A Grand Day Out” being a little too rough around the edges.  I’m dropping the score for “Loaf and Death” because, despite its numerous charms, it really does feel like a retread of “A Close Shave”.  It seems like Park is getting stuck in a formula and hopefully the next one will go a little more out on a limb (“Grand Day Out” may be crude, but it has a lunatic surrealism that I’d like to see more of).  Watching these in hi-def is an absolute delight, bringing all that meticulous detail to light… the level of craftsmanship that goes into these is insane.  Rating: 8/10/9/8

Dreams

Much better the second time around!  Earlier I thought the Harriet Andersson character was weak and her half of the film was the less interesting one, but now I prefer it.  Her interactions with Gunnar Bjornstrand are pure gold, and the story has more nuance.  The Eva Dahlbeck thread is good, too, but seems a bit stuffy next to the vivacity of Andersson’s.  Some great camera stuff, too, like the carnival rides.  Rating: 8

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Gervaise

Based on a Zola novel, this is the tale of a crippled woman, coping with her drunken lout husband, her philandering cad ex-husband and her back-stabbing friend, while pining for the man she really loves but who is always just out of reach.  It’s an extremely downbeat story, with one miserable episode after another, but always with a glimmer of hope for Gervaise.  She’s a Cabiria-like character, independent yet achingly vulnerable, and played expertly by Maria Schell (the rest of the cast is quite fine as well).  It’s also the best-looking Clement film I’ve seen yet, with the dingy Paris streets coming to life with naturalistic lighting and a roving camera.  A powerful and engaging film.  Rating: 8

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I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone (rewatch)

Revisiting Tsai’s previous underrated film while waiting for a chance to see the new underrated film (to me, they’re all underrated).  This is one of his warmest and most optimistic works.  Yes, there is the trademark isolation, but the characters manage to overcome it, in their own small way (well, most of them).  Actually, this happens in a lot of Tsai films, and they’re not always as bleak as they seem, but here it’s especially notable how tenderly he handles his characters.  I do wish there was a little more of his usual deadpan humor in this one, but there is some… such as the passionate kiss constantly being interrupted by coughing fits brought on by the toxic haze over the city.  Rating: 9

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