An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Second viewing; first viewed between January, 1983 and December, 1986.

Two American guys are touring the English countryside when they are attacked by a werewolf. Their fates are different but equally ghastly.

I don't much see what the fuss is all about when it comes to this movie. It's moderately enjoyable but that's about all. If I can indulge in a bit of analysis, I would say that what strikes me as singular about it is that this is one of the forerunners of a new trend in what I would call evilless horror. Werewolf movies are ideally cut out for this kind of take because ever since the 40s they are somewhat unlike most horror movies in that the monster is also a victim. But this films takes it one step further by erasing all references to absolute evil as a source of the events; things just happen, and then it is an ethical problem of sorts for the afflicted protagonist. Vampires, on the other hand, were traditionally distinct from werewolves in that they were just pure evil, unworthy of sympathy -- well, until one day of course they were not.

Rating: 50 (down from 60)

Alexis Zorbas (1964)

Second viewing; first viewed on February 25, 1997.

English title: Zorba the Greek

An Englishman is traveling to Crete to take over a mine he has inherited. In the ship he meets a Greek old man who offers him his services.

Lately I don't know how to explain my feelings towards movies. It is certain that I deeply dislike most of them, and yet I enjoy them in a cynical, detached way. This is exactly what happened with this film. I basically despise anything that tells me to "enjoy life to the utmost" or that sort of thing. My response to that is: will I regret it if I don't? When?

Rating: 56 (down from 57)

My Man Godfrey (1936)

A rich young woman brings a homeless man to live with her family and persuades them to employ him as a butler.

The satire of rich people is purportedly the more serious aim of the film. The actual development of the plot has more silliness than seriousness, though. Neither the really serious bits nor the silly ones are devoid of amusement value, in my view. I think the crucial factor that makes the film work is its felicitous casting. The nice TV Guide review may be read here.

Rating: 55

Hombre (1967)

Third viewing; previously viewed on August 16, 2002, and, before that, between January 1983 and December 1986.

Based on a novel which is itself a reworking of Stagecoach, also a novel adaptation, which in turn was a reworking of the short story Boule de suif, by Guy de Maupassant, first published in 1880.

A stagecoach with a motley assembly of passengers is held up. One of the passengers, a half-breed, saves the day.

Not as remarkable as I thought previously, but still an engaging, well-made Western, albeit with an unmistakeable undercurrent of white guilt-tripping. One of its themes, perhaps the main one, is how social prejudices crumble under situations of distress in which the social outcast's skills become an essential tool of survival for a group of people. The problem is that the situation here feels a little more contrived than the previous avatars of 1939 and 1880, and the main character is obviously only a conceptual entity devoid of psychological verisimilitude.

Rating: 64 (down from 82)

Mary Poppins (1964)

Based on the novels Mary Poppins and Mary Poppins Comes Back, by P.L. Travers, first published in 1934 and 1935, respectively.

The Banks family's last nanny quit and they're looking for a new one to take care of their two kids. Mary Poppins applies. She has eccentric methods and habits, such as flying.

Agreeable musical fantasy. The mood is light, the songs are nice, the choreography is interesting. The plot and characters include airhead suffragettes and cold capitalism, but the problems they cause are eventually solved by sheer goodwill.

Rating: 64

Rooster Cogburn (1975)

Marshal Cogburn from True Grit is reinstated and assigned the task of capturing a gang who stole nitroglycerin. A middle-aged woman whose husband was killed by that gang joins him, along with a young Native American.

Not a disagreeable watch, but hardly a memorable one. There are some well-filmed action sequences, but the dialog's triteness may get cringeworthy at times. There may be even a subjective discomfort for viewers who liked the first movie a lot as I did, a feel of desecration or something of the sort.

Watched it in pan-and-scan.

Rating: 37

Midnight Run (1988)

Second viewing; first viewed on October 27, 1991

A bounty hunter is hired by a bail bonds company to find a man and bring him to Los Angeles to serve time. The bail jumper is an accountant who stole money from his mafioso employer and gave it to charity.

Consistently entertaining comedy, whose limitations nevertheless became more apparent on this second viewing. The interesting thing about it is how it performs a balancing act between multiple -- and at times colliding -- ethics: of resourcefulness, of integrity, of flexibility. This is not always convincingly resolved.

Rating: 69 (down from 86)

Swamp Water (1941)

Drama concerning a community in Georgia, near a swamp. A man encounters a fugitive hiding in the swamp area and establishes a business partnership with him.

This is one of those movies of which it is customary to say that Geography is the main character. Location shooting is the film's main asset. It tells a very melodramatic yet sufficiently entertaining story. The theme of miscarriage of justice is handled fairly; the death penalty is correctly seen as hazardous yet still profitable. Its risk of sacrificing good people is worth taking, since without it those people would still be harmed by bad people, and with it there is a good chance of getting rid of most of those bad people.

Rating: 54

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

Second viewing; first viewed on August 22, 1992

In a small Central European country several English people are at an inn waiting for the train which will take them back home. An elderly lady befriends a young woman and they sit together on the train. After a while the old lady disappears and all except the young woman claim to have no recollection of ever having seen her.

Intelligent mystery story with plenty of humor and a bit of suspense in the final section.

Rating: 73 (up from 50)

A Grande Cidade (1966)

Second viewing; first viewed on February 21, 1988

English title: The Big City

A young woman from poor Northeastern Brazil arrives in Rio de Janeiro in search of her fiancé who had left earlier and had promised to send for her but never did. In the big city she is befriended by a man who makes a living out of petty thefts and odd jobs. He finds her a place to live with a construction worker who is also a migrant from the Northeast. She learns that her fiancé is now a big criminal wanted by the police.

An examination of the plight of the migrant. Both imagery and dialog are strongly stylized away from realism, with moderately interesting results. A similarity in style with Italian Westerns is detectable in the form. The good camerawork and overall command of the technique is impressive for a Brazilian movie, but the script leaves something to be desired.

Rating: 51 (down from 60)

Mitt liv som hund (1985)

Second viewing; first viewed on February 18, 1989.

English title: My Life as a Dog

Ingemar is a Swedish boy whose father is allegedly away on business somewhere in South America. He has a brother with whom he is always fighting, and a mother who is a bookworm and has a serious debilitating illness. When the burden of raising two kids on her own becomes too much for her, the boys are sent each to a different relative. Ingemar gets to live with a very nice uncle and his wife, along with a couple of elders (the uncle's parents, perhaps). On his new hometown, he makes many new acquaintances, most notable among whom a tomboy who likes him and is good at soccer and boxing.

While I may have been too severe with this film on my first viewing, I still do not get exactly what is so special about it. The situations and characters are obviously conventional, even in their occasional attempted unconventionality. I had a less excrutiating time on this second viewing, and acknowledge that the film, within its limits, is well-made and well-acted. For those interested, it offers a glimpse at Nordic people's sense of humor and sense of pathos, or what they were like in the early 1980s anyway. Given that most of the Western world liked the film, one may conclude that there is a vast receptivity for this kind of humor and pathos outside its country of origin. As a final note, I was curious about the historical circumstances, if any, which the presence of a Greek family in a Swedish house was supposed to mirror.

Rating: 41 (up from 28)

O Canto da Saudade (1952)

The action is set in a farm, and in its adjacent little town. The farm's foreman, named Juvenal, has a daughter, named Maria Fausta, who is loved by a farm employee named Galdino, who plays the accordion as a hobby. She, however, does not love him back and is having a secret affair with another man, named João do Carmo. When Juvenal finds out about his daughter's affair and forbids her from continuing with it, she disappears from the farm. A subplot has the farm's owner, "Colonel" Januário, running for town's mayor.

Not altogether uninteresting little drama with some musical interludes. At times the filmmaker lets himself be carried away from realism into the display of aesthetically appealing images. The acting is mostly amateurish, but the diretor keeps it serviceable; his own performance in one of the main roles, on the other hand, is good. The political subplot is a fine register of Brazil's political culture of the period.

Rating: 33

True Grit (1969)

Second viewing; first viewed between 1983 and 1986.

A teenage girl hires a Deputy Marshal who is famous for his efficiency and ruthlessness to hunt down her father's murderer.

Excellent western, with unforgettable characters and an almost non-stop brilliancy in the dialog. The concept of justice is very dear to Civilization, and resonates even deeper in the hearts of those of us who see the world crumbling down today through all forms of relativization and distortion of that concept.

Rating: 72 (up fom 55)

Network (1976)

Second viewing; first viewed before January 1987, and probably not earlier than January 1983.

A deranged TV news anchor is exploited by his employers with unpredictable consequences.

As some people have noticed, this derives in part from Meet John Doe. Most critics have lauded this film highly. A minority didn't like it, the most notable among them being Dale Thomajan ("Cinema as hysteria") and Pauline Kael (excerpts of hers and of others may be found on Wikipedia). Both its lovers and its haters make valid points, I think. This is a film with many good ideas which were poorly materialized. The fact is, the film is extremely odd in tone. The sense of humor is heavily satirical, yet the film's mood is predominantly that of a serious drama. Furthermore, there is the facile recourse to a mad central character, from whom anything may be expected, and whose behavior obeys neither the laws of logic nor the existing psychiatric classifications. I do not believe films like this have a significant influence on solving the ills they point to, some of which are imaginary anyway. Thus, at least they should try to please viewers, to achieve which a better thought-out script would be required. As it is, it stands dangerously close to its own object of critique.

Rating: 50 (down from 67)

Assassination (1987)

After a series of assassination attempts against the first lady, she and the head of security in charge of her go on a trip incognito. In the meantime the other security team members try to find out who is responsible for the attempts.

Routine thriller with some atypical plot elements.

Rating: 32

Brutti, sporchi e cattivi (1976)

Second viewing; first viewed between 1983 and 1986.

English alternate titles: Down and Dirty; Ugly, Dirty and Bad.

The daily activities of a large family living under the same roof in a slum. The head of the family is a rude and avaricious man who has received a considerable sum of money from the State after having burned his own left eye with whitewash. He keeps the bundle of notes with him or hidden and lives in a perpetual state of fear of being robbed of it.

Nearly perfect black comedy describing urban life at its bottom layer. The principle of the movie is precisely this simplification, so to speak, of the constraints involved in human interactions. It is an old story: economic progress does not necessarily bring civilization; it's quite the contrary, actually, for those who live at the margins of the economy. I found the film less shocking than on my first watching, but on the other hand perhaps now I had a sharper eye for its artistic perfections.

Rating: 90 (down from 100)

Crônica da Cidade Amada (1965)

Second viewing; first viewed on April 23, 1990.

Omnibus with eleven segments adapted from short literary texts, with the aim of jointly providing a panoramic and humorous view of social, cultural and natural aspects of the city of Rio de Janeiro.

Quite well-made by Brazilian standards, and featuring interesting takes on Rio's quirks. It suffers a bit from not being able to fully translate the literary element to the cinematic one. While it is far from a masterpiece, it is just as far from being the painful nullity that I perceived it to be on my first viewing. What was painful, however, was the laterally cropped version that I saw on TV, which I hesitate to call "pan-and-scan" as it leaves characters out of the frame with an annoying frequency.

Note: all evidences point to IMDB being in error while assigning 1964 as the year of release.

Rating: 51 (up from 21)

Enemy of the State (1998)

Second viewing; first viewed (in dubbed form) on September 20, 2001.

The murder of a politician who won't vote for a bill who allows wiretapping of common citizens is accidentally filmed, and the recording ends up in possession of a lawyer who is then chased by the criminals.

Thrilling and topical fiction on the subject of State surveillance and control. I do not have more to say about it. Christopher Mulrooney has some well-written considerations about it which may be read here.

Rating: 62 (unchanged).

Thunderheart (1992)

Two FBI agents go into a Native-American reservation to solve a murder. They suspect an activist is the culprit. The younger agent, who is part Native-American, uncovers a plot of corruption encompassing an ecological crime.

From The Flaming Star to Thunderheart, mixed-race is synonymous to mixed-up when it involves Native-American ancestry. This, for reasons one may speculate about, seems to not apply to African-Americans, for whom apparently the 'one drop of blood' rule settles also the self-identity issue.  Anyway, this is an eminently watchable thriller-cum-pamphlet and has stunning landscape as an additional charmer. Critics predominantly like subversive stuff, but some of them realize that leftist-liberal fiction tends to be the most formulaic, due to the imperative of delivering a message. Yet others have grown insensitive to anything other than social issues that affect people as atomized individuals (those issues being mostly of a sexual nature).

Rating: 50

É Fogo na Roupa! (1952)

Spoilers herein. In a posh lakeside hotel, a Symposium of Wives for Conjugal Happiness is taking place. The hotel manager intends to hire a Polish pianist, aiming to please one of the guests, a French countess. An employee of the radio station where said pianist works manages to intercept the hotel manager's telephone call, and schemes to pass up his pianist friend as the famous one. The countess takes a liking to him, and so the fraud is successful. Meanwhile, some male guests place a hairdresser in drag as a spy in the Wives' Symposium meeting. There is also a plot by some Japanese men to steal the Countess' necklace.

Musical comedy which is sort of a Marx Brothers movie without the Marx Brothers. It is poor in every aspect, but I reckon there will be something for people who take an interest in Brazilian music and popular culture of the fifties.

Rating: 31

Double Indemnity (1944)

Second viewing; first viewed on January 23, 1991.

An insurance salesman gets involved with a client's wife, and, abetted by her, devises a plan to murder her husband and collect a large insurance sum.

Very good criminal drama. There is not much I can add to the existing critical output, of which the TV Guide review is a good sample. Christopher Mulrooney, as usual, offers a slightly offbeat angle. I would only like to point out that this, like so many films, and perhaps ultimately all of them, one way or another, is about blindness. In this particular case, it is not so much that the thing is hard to see, as that its possibility is emotionally inadmissible. It concerns two cases of excessive trust, one by a man toward a woman he loves, and the other by a man toward an employee he likes. The point may be that love or friendly affection are mental constructs, built on imaginary foundations. The film refrains from a radical endorsement of that position by having its characters (the woman and the employee) having second thoughts at some point in the development. Subsequent films in the noir school went all the way. A sociological analysis would map this worldview to the atomized condition of people in a capitalist environment and the reification of money as a necessary component of that condition .

Rating: 83 (down from 90)

Monte Carlo (1930)

A woman runs off on her wedding day, heading to Monte Carlo. A nobleman who sees her in that resort is attracted to her, and pretends to be a hairdresser in order to get close to her.

Musical comedy which never gets below amusement level, but doesn't have a decent plot, nor remarkable music. The premise just does not make sense: why would any man conceive of such a lame seduction plan is beyond me. The situations to which this premise gives rise are not always that interesting either, or conducive to psychological clarity. There are some creative touches here and there, the songs are moderately funny, and so are the actors; there is a kind of self-confidence to the proceedings which somehow keeps the film afloat. I am not sure there is any kind of substantial statement on class relations, or anything else for that matter.

Rating: 52

13 Rue Madeleine (1947)

During World War II, the Allies had Intelligence agents working for them. We get to see their training, and then a mission whose goal is to destroy a German missile depot. There is a a complication in the form of a Nazi infiltrator among the spy candidates.

Although the plot is implausible both in the general lines and in some of its particulars, the film is entertaining and has a realistic tone. The most interesting philosophical point is probably the notion that agents must put aside all moral considerations which might pose an obstacle to the accomplishment of their mission. Viewed in times of peace, this is slightly subversive. Especially from the 60s onward, the concept of "peace" became very blurry. If the right's frontline was the military, the left's was the militancy. There was war on both fronts. That Morality as it was known would suffer a blow should surprise no one.

Rating: 51

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)

Second viewing; first viewed between 1983 and 1986

A white woman introduces her black boyfriend to her parents, saying she intends to marry him.

In my review to The Defiant Ones, I said that this film is that film's logical consequence. It is also a disagreeable film on purely artistic grounds, with a very schematic and artificial plot premise and a resolution crowned by a grand sermon but with not a hint to psychological explanations. In short, it's pure and simple propaganda, albeit well-filmed and with a lovely cinematography.

Rating: 40 (down from 51)

Reds (1981)

Second viewing; first viewed in 1982.

The exploits of John Reed and Louise Bryant, writers and political activists in the first decade of the 20th century, who were eyewitnesses to the Russian Revolution.

Basically a romantic drama about a conventional, conservative relationship between a man and a woman. The comedic ingredient is the discourse surrounding it, full of pretensions to heterodoxy and free-love advocacy. The main couple split and make up repeatedly, much in the same way as in Modern Romance, released that same year, another work which exposes modernity's contradictions. One could consider Reds as a follow-up to Bananas, starring an Allen actress as a sign of acknowledgement. Unlike its predecessor, however, it is not based on a succession of jokes, but rather on a single, very long one in which the punchline is precisely the eventual realization that there isn't going to be one. The revolution itself is filmed in a curiously cursory way, literally as a walk in a square.

Rating: 52 (down from 68)

Behind Enemy Lines (1986)

Alternate titles: P.O.W. the Escape (that's the title of the copy I watched); Attack Force 'Nam

A military detachment is assigned the task of rescuing American prisoners at a Vietnamese camp, just prior to the end of the hostilities. The mission faces a serious setback and its commander is made a prisoner at the same camp he had raided.

Action-packed yet basically absurd (like most of Cannon's films), this film's entertainment value lies precisely in those two qualities.

Rating: 36

Simón del desierto (1965)

Second viewing; first viewed on August 16, 1997

English title: Simon of the Desert

About a man who lives on top of a pillar in the desert. The IMDB trivia section says: "The film's eponymous ascetic is based on the 5th-century Syrian saint Simeon Stylites. While this film takes obvious artistic license with the story, Simeon Stylites also famously perched on a pillar in the desert, reportedly for 37 consecutive years."

Intelligent deconstruction of the Catholic religion, or some parts of it anyway. I am not sure I have much interest in the Catholic religion, especially the aspects the film deals with. The film takes care of demonstrating, by its ending, why those aspects are irrevocably out-of-date. In a way, this is the film's own indictment and perhaps also its redemption.

Rating: 69 (unchanged)

Viridiana (1961)

Second viewing; first viewed on March 24, 1990.

Loosely based on the novel Halma, by Benito Pérez Galdós, first published in 1895.

Viridiana, a nun, takes a few days off to visit her uncle, a landowner.

This film had a deep impact on me when I first saw it. Now seeing it for the second time, it still impresses me positively for its refined sense of humor and its uncondescending view of social issues. In a way, it is a perfect movie. It is especially topical in these days of Angela Merkel and barbarian invasions (the German Chancellor should be made to see Viridiana in the Clockwork Orange way). All that being said, I am a different person now, and I do not need to be educated on things I already know. That is why these days I prefer films which either teach something I do not already know (if that is possible) or are utterly devoid of a message (supposing there can be one).

Rating: 87 (down from 100)

Il futuro (2013)

English title: The Future

Based on the novel Una novelita lumpen, by Roberto Bolaño, first published in 2002.

Teenage orphaned brother and sister get mixed-up with two slightly older guys who move in with them. The guests have a plan to rob a recluse ex-actor with the help of the orphan girl's sex services to him.

Sordid story from which all disagreeable characteristics of sordidness were carefully removed. This is the rule now. But it is watchable, sort of, and the acting is terrific, even though the actor playing 'Maciste' just does not have the physique du rôle.

Rating: 50

Alice in Wonderland (1951)

Possibly not my first viewing; many of the scenes were familiar to me, but I may have read a comic book version, so I really don't know. Anyway, if I saw it before, it was before 1983.

Based on the books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871), by Lewis Carroll (b. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson).

A dreamy little girl, while being read to by her older sister, sees a white rabbit and follows it to and through an oneiric realm, full of quirky characters.

This refined work of art lovingly blends a very British character with a more flamboyant American spirit. I forward you to a fine review written by Christopher Mulrooney on the Walt Disney entry of his filmmaker encyclopedia.

Rating: 74

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Second viewing (I think); first viewed in 1978 (I think).

Strange electromagnetic interference affects household appliances. One man and one woman, in different places, are disturbed by weird mental images. They eventually get together for the adventure of their lifetimes. The Earth is being visited!

The subject of extraterrestrial intelligence is a conceptually interesting one. It is too bad that it gets such a poor treatment here. Barely anything insightful is produced, and it sucks as a mere thriller too. Some people have found its underlying worldview disturbing (Dale Thomajan calls it "psychologically unhealthy", two other guys say it is fascistic). I am not sure I agree one hundred per cent with either of those opinions, but I do find somewhat perplexing that the diretor years later directed a remake of War of the Worlds, an exact conceptual opposite to this film. It is a little like Bergoglio inviting Third World masses into Europe and the U.S.A., and when that produces the expected response and then some, expresses fears about anti-Vatican jihadi infiltrators amidst them.

Watched it in pan-and-scan.

Rating: 32 (unchanged)

Racing with the Moon (1984)

Second viewing; first viewed on July 31, 1994.

*mild spoiler ahead*

Two friends living in a small town are soon to be sent overseas to fight in World War II. One of them is rude, the other sensitive. The latter meets a girl whom he mistakenly takes for rich.

Formulaic and artificial drama. It is done with much professional competence, and thus becomes watchable. Not much more I can say, it is a polished product but has no soul.

Rating: 40 (down from 68)

The Sting (1973)

Second viewing; first viewed between 1983 and 1986.

Based on the non-fiction book The Big Con, by David W. Maurer (1st ed. 1940).

A con man whose partner gets killed by their latest victim's gangster boss approaches an experienced con man in the hopes of acquiring expertise in his line of activity. They decide to con the abovementioned gangster in a fake horse betting scam.

The theme is survival as a constant deceit of impending death. Set in the depression era, it only shows explicit poverty in a couple of outdoor scenes. In the rest of the movie we witness the workings of a criminal underworld inhabited by greedy outlaws and callous underlings. The protagonist guides us through the perils of contravention, leading a life of constant persecution where quick wits are essential. There is a certain infantility to the proceedings, perhaps not unlike that of the Italian criminal and Western movies of around that time. The script's construction is a case of form mirroring content the culmination of which is the ending plot twist: the viewer's identification with the deceivers is compounded with the realization he has also been deceived.

Rating: 72 (down from 85)

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988)

Second viewing; first viewed on September 9, 1990

Alternate spelling: The Navigator: A Mediaeval Odyssey

A group of people from a village in Northern England, during the Middle Ages, is scared of the Plague. Led by a boy, they hope to ward it off by placing a metal cross on the top of a big church. To get there, they follow a subterranean path which they are told will lead them to the far side of the Earth.

I was greatly disappointed at my experience of viewing this film for the second time. Its story runs entirely (as far as I remember) by night, which makes for almost exclusively dark scenes. Furthermore, it is not directed for clarity. All this makes for an often rather enigmatic visual experience. The screenplay is not especially engaging either: the two concepts it plays with (medieval existential drama and time travel) seem arbitrarily pasted together and not given proper individual development. The film has been generally well received, and this must have an explanation; considering that I also gave it a good rating on my first viewing, I probably have this explanation within me somewhere, if only I could remember how I felt and what I thought 25 years ago. Speaking of which, I was quite spooked by the exact coincidence of the dates of my viewings, more so for it happening with a film as charged with mysticism as this.

Rating: 42 (down from 62)

Le choix des armes (1981)

Second viewing; first viewed between 1983 and 1986.

English title: Choice of Arms

Escaped convicts seek shelter in the house of one of the felons' ex-partner, who is now a respectable horse breeder and has a beautiful wife. The couple will have troubles due to this act of hospitality.

Intellectual thriller which explores questions of identity and personal history. World War II's shadow is personified in the former Resistance fighter who became a thief after the war, and later retired a wealthy man. His peaceful life is disturbed by a young criminal who becomes his enemy, yet whom he cannot help but identify with. The film presents a critical view of French society as a mire of police incompetence and class inequality. Dramatically, it fails to produce engaging situations and convincing characters.

Rating: 31 (up from 27)

Rua Sem Sol (1954)

As the beginning credits are displayed, we see two agents of the law on their way to arrest someone. The suspect is Marta, a young woman accused of having murdered her lover, a drug dealer and nightclub owner. She is taken in custody and tells her entire life to the cops, which is displayed in a flashback. An orphan, she was adopted by a couple who later gave her, by natural means, a sister, who was born blind. Her foster parents died, first her mother, then her father, leaving the two daughters in financial straits. She supported herself and her blind sister by working as a seamstress at home. This soon became insufficient to make ends meet, and she switched to making jewels at a jewelry store. This still didn't bring her enough income, and one day law officers came into her house and assessed her household items, which were later taken as payment to hanging debts. When her sister injured herself during a fall and needed an x-ray, she, in a desperate act, stole a jewel from her place of work in the hopes of selling it. An expert's assessment, however, judged it to be a fake. Upon leaving the expert's office, she was approached by a man who had been watching her and threatened to turn her over to the police. Frightened, she accompanied the man into a restaurant and then into a nightclub, where he blackmailed her into becoming his lover. She seized the opportunity of his momentary absence to flee with the money he left her to pay the bill. Days later, her sister's exam results showed she had a serious injury which needed surgery. She returned to the nightclub of earlier and asked the owner for a job as a taxi dancer. The owner, taking an interest in her, gave her the job. She could thus pay for her sister's surgery. After some time, her boss proposed that they became lovers. She didn't immediately agree. Upon leaving the nightclub, she was seen by a longtime friend of the family, who was the only one who remained a close friend after her father died. He scolded her for her choice of work, making her promise she would quit. Meanwhile, at home, her sister was in a steady relationship with the doctor who helped her when she first became ill. He told Marta that she could see again if she underwent surgery in Europe. The next day Marta, despite her promise, returned to the nightclub and, without being seen, witnessed a quarrel between her boss and another man over money. The man left in a rage. As she was leaving her spot, her boss heard her and called her. He then made advances on her and she resisted. She grabbed his gun, shot, and then lost consciousness. When she came to, her boss was lying dead beside her. The flashback is interrupted at this point. Everything seems to incriminate her, but the police is more interested in arresting the dead man's accomplice than in jailing her. They submit a series of mugshots to her, and she recognizes the man she had seen quarreling with her boss. They arrest that man, and he confesses to not even having left the nightclub after the quarrel and having returned to see the nightclub owner a few moments later, only to find him and Marta lying unconscious. He shot his nemesis on the back of the neck and left (the police knew that he was killed by a shot in the back of the neck, so that exculpates Marta of the murder). Marta was found guilty only of theft. Her sister traveled to Italy where she got married to her fiancé and had an operation which made her able to see. Later they all went to Italy and lived happily ever after.

The plot combines realism and ridiculous tear-jerking melodrama. The execution is unprofessional at times (especially in the scenes not directed by the principal diretor). Some parts of it, on the other hand, are well directed and exude a realistic atmosphere, especially the scenes at the nightclub.

Rating: 32

Hollywood Ending (2002)

A film diretor is hired by indication of his ex-wife, who is now engaged to the studio boss. He develops psychosomatic blindness and his agent convinces him to conceal it from the others and direct the film anyway.

The flow of jokes is steady, and there is no real pain in watching it. For the analytically inclined, there are curious aspects about it, especially as it relates to Allen's filmography. The first really odd thing that came to my attention, and apparently no one else's, is how this relates to Crimes and Misdemeanors. We have here characters or situations that appear to be derived from that movie's. Williams' character closely resembles Alda's character in that movie, Leoni's resembles Farrow's, and Allen's resembles Allen's. Adding to these parallels, both films have characters who go blind (Allen's here and Waterston's there). Both films are about the need to conceal something dangerous -- blindness in one case and graft in the other. Beyond these mysterious analogies, however, there is a more fundamental connection with Allen's entire oeuvre. There are multiple blindnesses on display in Hollywood Ending, besides the central character's. The need to conceal his predicament is itself another inducement of blindness; in other words, this is a ploy to make people blind to his blindness. But there is more. The film is a complicated scheme to divert the viewer's attention from its most glaring aspect: Allen is old and ugly. If you add to that his character's panoply of quirks, you would find it hard to accept that Leoni would ever have been drawn to him in the first place; the ostensive drama around her betrayal of him for a more attractive man only seems to try to conceal that fact. The same goes for his new girlfriend: she is a second impossible event which obfuscates the impossibility of the first one. Thus it seems that a recurrent subtheme of his other films has come to the foreground here: the embarrassment of being of no real attractiveness to the opposite sex. In this sense, what seems to be the film's conspicuous flaw, namely the miscasting of over-aged Allen in the main role, is actually the key to its decipherment. If the film's theme is blindness, how better to convey it than to induce blindness in the audience?

Rating: 55

Unconquered (1947)

Second viewing; first viewed on June 21, 1998.

The film is set in 1763 during the so-called Pontiac's rebellion. An English woman has her death sentence commuted to indentured servitude in America. A weapons trader lusts after her and is opposed by a military who gradually becomes enamored of her.

Not very different in structure from the previous film in this blog. Here, too, we have the implausible notion of a man entangled in a terrible conflict who finds extra time to recurrently save a woman in peril. Again, the plot offers little insight into the mechanics of the conflict, choosing melodrama instead. As a spectacle it is not totally negligible. The film portrays Native Americans as primitive (they almost burn the heroine at a stake on the urging of a jealous woman) and treacherous, well beyond plausibility.

Rating: 38 (up from 30)

Knight Without Armour (1937)

Second viewing; first viewed on May 8, 1997.

U.S. title: Knight Without Armor

Prior to the Russian Revolution, an English correspondent in Russia becomes a spy for England, and infiltrates a revolutionary group. He goes through several misadventures before and after the revolution and crosses paths with a Russian countess.

Well-made melodrama which does not have a remarkably interesting plot nor offers much insight into the inners of the turbulence in revolutionary Russia. Dietrich has one or two facial expressions which she uses in the course of the film.

Rating: 38 (up from 14)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)

Professor Moriarty plans the crime of the century, and has a plan to deceive Sherlock Holmes. His plan involves letters addressed to two different persons, one a certain society woman and the other the guardian of Britain's jewels.

Slightly amusing mystery story, filmed with fitfully dark atmosphere and naïve energy. Good reviews by Robert J. Maxwell and Ted Goranson may be found on IMDB -- browse the User Reviews filtered for 'prolific authors'.

Rating: 52

Love Is All There Is (1996)

During the staging of a school production of Romeo and Juliet, the two adolescent leads fall in love with each other. Their respective families, who are business rivals and from different social backgrounds, oppose the relationship.

If I hadn't been told, I wouldn't be able to tell this apart from a below average Woody Allen movie. Anyway, the premise from the original Shakespeare play -- family feud -- has been transformed into a merely economic and cultural problem, and even that seems utterly secondary to the plot. The main theme here is the parents' delusion that their kids somehow will act differently from how they -- the parents -- acted when they were their age, despite their genetic commonalities. Although this is potentially interesting, this film is a parade of vulgarity and uninspired scripting which is barely watchable only due to the somewhat competent acting and staging.

Rating: 30

1941 (1979)

Second viewing; first viewed in 1980.

In 1941, after the Japanese attack in Hawaii, Californians are somewhat worried that they are the next target. A Japanese submarine is advancing towards the West Coast hoping to strike something "significant". The U.S. military forces mobilize against this as well as some misperceived threats. Adding to the confusion are several concurrent incidents: one officer tries to score with a secretary who will only get aroused while airborne; a dance contest sets the stage for some sexual rivalry between two young men; a tank is set at a coastal residence's front yard; a lone aviator sets about in a maniacal shooting spree; two shooters are placed on a ferris wheel.

This is a military satire that looks like it was written by a bunch of overexcited 15-year-olds, and yet is done with such conviction that it is hard to deny it some merit. Films needn't be elegant in concept, comedies needn't be funny; it is better when they are, but the important thing is that they have some distinctness about them. I couldn't laugh much with 1941; but I admit it has some degree of originality and a consistent style. That, and the fact that it wasn't morally offensive, was enough for me.

Rating: 50 (down from 55)

Prince of Foxes (1949)

In 1500, Cesare Borgia wants to rule over the entire Italic peninsula; his favorite agent, one Andrea Orsini, is a man who conceals his humble origins and has artistic tendencies; Borgia assigns him with eliminating the sovereign of an independent City State, towards whose wife Orsini feels attracted.

The distinguishing feature of this production is the location shooting in Italy (San Gimignano, Siena, Florence, Rome, and Venice) and San Marino, which gives it a remarkably realistic as well as aesthetically pleasing look. Aside from that, it is the usual Hollywood fare, professionally done yet decidedly melodramatic in nature. As usual in Hollywood melodrama, characters, both central and supporting ones, act in less than plausible ways, which nevertheless are very convenient in regard to shaping the plot, and the dialog is not ashamed of anachronism, conspicuously so in a reference to romantic love. There is even a devoted mother of peasant origin who is played with adequate gusto by Katina Paxinou, but could just as well be done by Anna Magnani. Machiavelli's thought is summarized in the usual popular way as "the ends justifies the means". In short, it is entertaining and not too enlightening regarding History, but far from preposterous.

Rating: 57

Flaming Star (1960)

The Kiowa have a new chief who has vowed to rid their land of all Whites. Sam Burton is married to a First-Peoples wife and has one son with her. He has also another son, from a previous marriage to a White woman. Their family faces difficult questions of identity which will translate in decisions of allegiance.

With the 60s a crucial era of transformations in America's inter-ethnic relations was being launched. Hollywood was a staunch promoter of the liberal agenda, and sometimes resorted to Westerns to convey its message in a safelier fashion. With integration, inevitably would come the problem of miscegenation, and its consequences. This film deals with some of these problems, and does it well, despite its political bias. The half-breed character exemplifies what happens to a society when races mix: allegiance to immediate family trumps allegiance to an ethnicity, thus atomizing a nation or community. There are some smart turns of the script which push the character into one side of his biological inheritance (in this case, the Kiowa), only to later restore him to his initial leanings toward his next of kin. An interesting film, and entertaining too.

Seen in pan-and-scan.

Rating: 55

Kaos (1984)

Second viewing; first viewed between 1984 and 1986.

Based on five stories by Luigi Pirandello collected in the series "Novelle per un anno" ("Short Stories for a Year"): "L'altro figlio" ("The Other Son", 1st pub. 1902), "Male di luna" ("Moonsickness", 1st pub. 1913), "La giara" ("The Jar", 1st pub. 1906), "Requiem aeternam dona eis, domine!" ("Eternal Rest Grant Unto Them, O Lord!", 1st pub. 1913), "Colloquii coi personaggi" ("Conversations with the Characters", 1st pub. 1915).

All stories are set in Sicily. (1) An aging woman is sad because her emigrated sons do not answer her letters; she has one son who stayed in Sicily, whom she cannot stand; (2) a man has a strange sickness about which his wife will only find out after the wedding; (3) a rich landowner buys a big jar to store his harvest of olives, but one morning he finds it broken; he hires a man to mend it; (4) a small community demands from the local baron a place for a cemetery; (5) a writer visits the place where he grew up and has a conversation with his dead mother; they recollect events in his childhood.

 Admittedly, this is an honest depiction of Sicily at a certain time in the past. However, the episodes are not especially well written or well filmed. It is a mildly agreeable film.

Rating: 56 (down from 66)

Le diable et les 10 commandements (1962)

English title: The Devil and the Ten Commandments

Seven episodes each of which purports to provide an ironical view of one or more of the ten commandments. (1) a handyman at a convent who has the habit of cursing reencounters his old school chum who is now a bishop visiting the convent; (2) two married women, one rich and the other poor, are mad about jewels; (3) a seminarist vows to avenge his sister's death which he attributes to the evil influence in her life of a pimp and drug dealer; (4) a man claiming to be God arrives at a small farm; (5) a medical student learns that his biological mother abandoned him as an infant and is now a famous actress; (6) a bank cashier is victim of a robbery on the last day at his job; (7) the handyman and the bishop from episode 1 are playing cards on a Sunday and recollecting their school adventures.

It is a pleasant watch, and occasionally makes some fine observations about the moral issues associated with the commandments. However, on average it is a bit bland and some of the stories just do not illustrate adequately the respective commandments. The only ones that do it satisfactorily, in my opinion, are numbers 1, 5, 6, and, combining several commandments, number 2. Number 3, although not bad in itself, has only a trivial relation with 'Thou shalt not kill'. Number 4 artificially inserts, as an element of connection with 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me', a pagan monument which has little relation with the main plot. In number 7, it is not clear that the characters are violating the commandment in question (but I am no expert in such judgments).

Two of the stories were adapted only a little time before to TV episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, namely, number 2 (Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat, uncredited) and number 6 (Profit-Sharing Plan, probably, here in a loose adaptation).

Rating: 50

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)

Conclusion of the trilogy. Senator Palpatine is kidnapped, Padmé gets pregnant, Anakin is frustrated with his lack of recognition, etc.

Technically, this is distinct from the rest of the series. CGI technology  had by then reached a mature stage, and the visuals are impressive. Narratively, I venture saying that we have here a definite epic style (whereas the first one was done predominantly as comedy and the second one predominantly as tragedy). The dialog remains resolutely at the same elementary level as in the previous installments. Overall, the film avoids rising above strict mediocrity, and yet it confirms my assessment of the trilogy as significant cultural articles, rather than merely the product of careful advertising hype, as the intellectual elite implied.

Rating: 50

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

There is an assassination attempt on Padmé, and Anakin is assigned to protect her. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan tries to get to its authors.

In terms of the tone employed, the first film in this trilogy was a comedy, whereas this second one approaches tragedy. Both films are mediocre, but even so seem to have been misunderstood by many, perhaps by most. I will try to explain things, but cannot do much about it, for reasons that are too complex to mention here. The Star Wars films are labeled by some as 'mere entertainment' or 'escapism', chiefly because of their postmodern aesthetics. And yet they deal with some of the gravest issues of our times, concerning geopolitics and things like that. It is not within my powers to discern what goes on inside the minds of film creators (or of anybody else, for that matter), but, consciously or unconsciously, Lucas has employed escapism aesthetics around the deep ideas he conveys in his films in such a way that nobody (or nobody that is said to matter, anyway) has managed to make sense of them. The fact is, many concepts with which the films toy are fast becoming taboo in civilized discussion. There is a tension in the writing that is only too revealing. For example, a character which, in the first film, was defined as a queen is, in this one, referred to as 'the youngest queen to be elected', and becomes a senator after her majestic term is over. How can anyone not find this ridiculous? There is ludicrousness of a more elementary order too, as when a decrepit leader reveals himself as an expert swordsman and, after the battle is over, all too casually  fetches back his walking cane. Some guardians of the hegemonic order seem to have detected something wrong -- one David Walsh at a 'socialist' site, although too obtuse to fully penetrate the films' logic, or lack thereof, in his review of The Phantom Menace rabidly shoots in all directions just in case (among other things, he is alarmed about Anglo-Saxons in the leading roles). Anyway, I will not delve any deeper into these matters. For a superficial understanding of the two first episodes I recommend the reading of the IMDB FAQs, and a thread in that site's discussion board in which users earnestly explain why the plot does not make sense. Well, it probably doesn't -- unless hidden variables are considered, that is. I expect to be back soon with my review of the third one, and an assessment of the trilogy.

Rating: 50

A Madona de Cedro (1968)

Based on the 1957 novel by Antônio Calado.

A man who works as an artisan in Congonhas do Campo is contacted by a childhood friend who has connections with a shady art collector; the proposition is that the artisan should steal a religious sculpture from its church in exchange for a considerable sum of money.

Somewhat lacking in regard to script, it has nevertheless some interesting ideas and competent camerawork and cinematography, and also a good score. There is a striking similarity between some events in its plot and the main plot of O Pagador de Promessas (1962), which is based on a 1959 play by Dias Gomes. Both films have the same main actor, and the diretor of the 1962 film is an actor and producer in the 1968 film.

Rating: 40

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

Second viewing. I first viewed it on September 26, 2006. On that occasion, I wrote in this blog:

[quote]
Synopsis: The Trade Federation establishes a blockade on planet Naboo. Two Jedi
knights are sent by the Senate of the Galactic Republic to try to settle the
conflict.

Appraisal: There is no denying the visual beauty of this film. The screenplay is
mediocre though. Things that rubbed me in the wrong way: an entire robot army is
controlled by one central device, without which it simply ceases to function
(you don't have to go to Engineering School to realize this is plain stupid, not
to mention hardly necessary technologically; on the other hand, it is very
convenient dramatically; see also my review for 'Reign of Fire'); on the other
hand, it becomes clear that the concept of descentralization is not alien to the
screenwriter, and he is willing to employ it as long as it is advantageous to
the 'good guys': a queen uses a double who (implausibly enough) is prepared to
speak for her when it is necessary, while she parades along as a maid (does no
one know what she looks like?).
[unquote]

Except for the misspelling of 'decentralization', I am very pleased with that text. Even though this is not a particularly remarkable film, one has to bear in mind that it was intended for a younger audience, and also that it is part of a greater set of films, and is better judged thus. I am planning on seeing the subsequent films in the cycle, and of course posting my considerations here.

Rating: 50 (down from 51)

La symphonie fantastique (1942)

English title: The Fantastic Symphony

Loosely fictionalized biography of 19th-century French composer Hector Berlioz.

Very conventional and taking many liberties with its real-life subject. Watchable nonetheless, thanks to the competent craftsmanship by everyone involved, and also to the high production values.

Rating: 31

The Birds (1963)

A socialite travels to a seaside town in the hopes of finding a man she had met the day before in San Francisco, and in whom she seems to have developed an interest. The man's mother, at whose house he is staying during the weekend, is not very friendly toward the newcomer. However, these dramatic incidents soon take back seat to the fact that the local birds begin attacking the people.

This is a very interesting concept, superbly translated into images. The question of interpretation must be dealt with. One of course is not obliged to look for scientific explanations, and the filmmaker has even explicitly disavowed them. Allegoric interpretations are welcome, of course, even if they are done in a purely ludic spirit. In a trivial sense, the birds are there with the purpose of bringing a couple together; they neutralize, by effect of sheer havoc, the initial dispositions of Mitch's mother, and bring all characters together. They are love-birds, in a word. Beyond that, and perhaps even beyond allegory in a strict sense, the film is the manifestation of a symptom of a political and social order. This symptom is a certain fear which could only happen in imperialist countries (the source story was written by an Englishwoman). Those countries must perpetually live under the menace of those other countries or peoples which were touched by their actions. Sometimes this menace is not physical, but translates into guilt. One can look for historical examples of what I am talking about, which were relevant for the year in which this film was made (e.g., 'Melanie' occupies herself as a guardian for a Korean orphan). One can also look into the future of that year and see what would happen. In 1963 the U.S. was starting a war in Vietnam. Racial integration was also occurring around that time period. And 1965 was the fatidic year when the U.S. would open the door to immigration through the Hart-Celler act. So, The Birds was indeed a symptomatic film, and a prophetic one too.

Rating: 72 (up from 68)

The Apartment (1960)

Second viewing; first viewed between 1983 and 1986.

An insurance executive has been allowing his corporate superiors to use his apartment for erotic purposes on a regular basis; he expects promotions in return. Things complicate when he becomes interested in an employee who is having an affair with a company big shot.

The first hour is pretty good, I think. The remainder of the film is strictly predictable. It is hard to object to the film on a strictly intellectual basis, perhaps. But films should be stimulating and exciting from beginning to end, and this film ceases to be so at the middle, around which time it becomes a purely mechanical device. Another point which perhaps should be made more explicit by critics and commenters is that this is a tale of universal greed, meaning that all three parties (boss, underling, girl) suffer from excessive greed for most of the duration of the movie. The resolution comes from the realization by two of those parties that their greed was excessive.

Rating: 66 (unchanged)

Meatballs Part II (1984)

This is not exactly a sequel to Meatballs, having only its summer camp settings in common with that film. In 'Part II' we have as a main character of sorts a juvenile delinquent who has been assigned as counsellor in Camp Sasquatch. He is invited by the camp director to be the contender in a boxing match against rival Camp Patton, which is militarily ruled and threatens to take exclusive possession of the lake between the two camps.

Weak comedy, not badly directed, which in the very least serves as a document of 80s aesthetics, frame of mind and even physical appearances.

Rating: 31

The Children's Hour (1961)

Second viewing; first viewed between 1983 and 1986.

The owners and administrators of a school for girls are accused of lesbianism.

Based on a real event in 1810, this film reportedly follows its real-life source in a faithful manner for its first hour, and this is the best part of the movie. The remainder introduces some fictional elements and, while still having interesting dramatic points, does not fare as well in its analysis of the characters' behavior. The film's point, it seems, is the characterization of the school environment as a torturous one, and the demonstration of how this ends up bouncing back at the torturers.

Rating: 69 (down from 77)

Fear and Desire (1953)

Second viewing; first viewed on October 28, 2005.

In a generic, non-historical war, some soldiers get stranded behind enemy lines after a plane crash.

Very low-budget and with pompous dialogue and narration, this is a poor yet watchable movie. One shot, of the jungle covered in mist, is very beautiful, although I would not know who is mainly responsible, whether the cinematographer or the director, or even mere chance.

Rating: 32 (up from 31)

The Lost Weekend (1945)

Third viewing, probably; previously viewed on November 24, 1992 and, possibly, once before that between 1983 and 1986.

An alcoholic man is getting ready for a weekend in the country away from liquor with his brother. Things do not go as planned, though.

The excellence of this drama comes from an  honest screenplay, a taut narrative, and the expert technique with which it was filmed. It is not, in my opinion, a complete analysis of alcoholism. Many troubles the protagonist goes through do not seem to be directly derived from alcohol itself -- some of them are caused by the repression of alcoholism, and some others might be attributed to his personality. And, on the other hand, many noxious traits found in some alcoholics, e.g. physical violence, are simply absent from his behavior. There is a philosophical aspect to addiction on which the film touches very slightly, namely the fact that the distinction between a bad habit and good one is not that easy to establish, and both in the final analysis are psychological constraints on the individual which could become real mental prisons. As we all tend to form habits, we all tend to become addicts one way or the other. I found Milland's resemblance to Nicholson in this film remarkable, and apparently something of that perception is shared by Paul Mayersberg in this review of The Shining. And here is a fine review of The Lost Weekend by TV Guide.

Rating: 83 (unchanged)

The Great Gatsby (1974)

Second viewing; first viewed between 1983 and 1986.

A man of obscure origins who has acquired great wealth tries to reapproach the woman with whom he had once a brief relationship, and who is now married.

People generally say there is a problem with this film, but perhaps the problem is that people took seriously what is undoubtedly a dark comedy. There is nothing, not one scene in it that is not laugh-inducing, and that is not a bad thing for those who like a good laugh. Even the bad performances fit like a glove when you look at it that way. You might say it is not the best comedy ever made about rich people, and there I would agreee with you, but that is a different matter.

Rating: 56 (down from 60)

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

Second viewing; first viewed between 1983 and 1986.

Lawman Wyatt Earp allies with dentist-turned-gunfighter 'Doc' Holliday to fight outlaws in the old West.

Decent Western, competently written and directed. Its most appealing point is perhaps the analysis of how a friendship develops in somewhat uncommon circumstances.

Rating: 67

The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939)

Some events in the life of the inventor of the telephone.

Energetic biographic story with a dire subject (technology always is). The Hollywood treatment has some respect for the viewer's intelligence and the film is watchable, if only barely.

Rating: 40

American Gigolo (1980)

Second viewing; first viewed between 1983 and 1986.

A male escort and prostitute is framed for the murder of one of his clients.

Viewing this film for a second time was a pleasanter experience than my first one. Formally, there are evident qualities in it. In other aspects as well, it is not as bad as I previously thought (e.g. the main actor's performance). Nevertheless, I could not completely shake off a certain boredom over the progression of the plot and certain pieces of dialogue. Furthermore, the film's underlying concept seems unfocused, and what superficially seems to be an utterly secondary plot point came across, in my analysis, as the film's underdeveloped real center. The point in question, as expressed by one character, is the situation when "you have stepped on too many toes, and nobody cares about you". It is very hard to gather, from the movie itself, what exactly those "toes" are, but then again the events in question may be of a strictly imaginary order.

Rating: 40 (up from 30)

Crime et châtiment (1956)

English title: Crime and Punishment

Based on the novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, first published in 1866, in serial form.

A student kills an old woman whom he despises expecting to steal her money. An investigation ensues.

I do not remember the novel very well, but its themes seem to be present in the movie as well. I do not think it is a particularly brilliant movie, because, although in its first half it lays out the basic problem in an intelligent way, the second half provides somewhat poor solutions to it, appealing as it does to the religious nature of a prostitute and her influence being too easily applied on the protagonist. It has merits, though, and the leading player, and most supporting ones, do their parts well.

Rating: 59

The Westerner (1940)

Second viewing; first viewed somewhere between 1983 and 1986.

A community of cattle herders conflicts with newly arriving homesteaders because the latter start to build fences around their properties. Amid this scenario, a wandering man is accused of horse theft and stands a summary trial presided by the leader of the cattlemen.

This Western has a comedic form which clashes with its dramatic background plot. It is made with the utmost care and the end result is perhaps flawed yet interesting. A good review  was written by Robert J. Maxwell on the IMDB user review section (you will have to browse this page).

Rating: 58 (unchanged)

A Pensão da D. Estela (1956)

The film depicts the life of the dwellers at a boarding house during a few days. The owner is a widow and has marrying designs on one of the customers, who is her accountant and has a mistress on the side. The latter shows up unexpectedly at the boarding house one day and decides to become a guest too. The owner's daughter is a singer who dates an unemployed young doctor. The new cleaning lady is also a struggling singer. Another customer is a monarchist who never pays his rent. And there is also a solitary woman who pretends to be married. The boarding house has a mortgage which has to be payed but there is no money.

Very tame comedy which was very successful in Brazil when it came out. Here you can find some stills and a text in Portuguese with some information.

Rating: 31

Totò sceicco (1950)

English title: Toto the Sheik

Antonio is a majordomo who travels to North Africa to rescue his employer who joined the Foreign Legion.

I am probably not going to do justice to this movie, so I will refrain from reviewing it. A sympathetic review is found on Wikipedia, so I suggest you just read it (provided you know a little Italian, that is).

Rating: 34

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

A struggling musician struggles also with a cat.

The folk phenomenon of the 1960s was a cooptation of popular aesthetics by urban youths, gathering mostly in New York City. So, it was a bourgeois capitalist phenomenon from the outset, and thus an illustration of the alliance between Capital and the Cultural Left. One of the tropes of historiography is the conflict of, on one side, the several races in their respective homelands, and, on the other, foreign elements which come and go with catlike ease. The literary reference for this film seems to be Joyce's Ulysses with its circular narrative (I have not read the book). The templates for the novel's hero Bloom are many, from its ostensive Greek model to the Wandering Jew legend, who in turn may be a later version of Cain, the first homicide, who was doomed to perpetually roam the Earth. So, it is striking that both Capitalism and Leftist Liberalism have this in common, that they abhor borders. That they have joined to ape and profit from that which was essentially -- to quote the name of the book by Kip Lornell -- an ethnic, grassroots and regional genre is ironic, but what isn't in modernity? The film in question is a humorous piece, moderately enjoyable, as are the schoolgirlish attempts by critics at deciphering its erudite in-jokes.

Rating: 57

Cape Fear (1962)

Second viewing; first viewed on September 25, 1996

A man, seeking revenge against a witness whose testimony sent him to prison, moves to his target's town and makes veiled threats against his wife and teenage daughter.

A very thrilling movie, despite its far-fetched premise. It postulates a very sound and plausible main thesis, namely that the law tends to decrease in effectiveness as it increases in liberalism. In real life, one is not likely to find the violence and the organization displayed by Cady in one single individual. Thus, for the film to be properly understood, one must consider that he and his surrounding characters are a simplified fictionalization of a sum of forces: on the one hand the disorganized violence of individual criminals and on the other the organized ideology of leftism.

Rating: 77 (down from 82)

An American Tail (1986)

A family of Jewish mice in Russia emigrate to America. At mid-trip the young son falls overboard and is given as dead.

Disappointing animated fictionalization of the immigration phenomenon at the beginning of the 20th century in America. While it manages to evoke certain real-life events and characters with some success, certain incidents in the narrative, such as the cats, poorly translate to real-life concepts. Ultimately, the film sacrifices meaning to the need to entertain an audience of kids in the usual corny way.

Rating: 40

Pas de problème! (1975)

English title: No Problem!

A man dies at a young woman's apartment, and she asks a man she meets at a nightclub to help her dispose of the body. The situation gets complicated, involving further people.

Comedy which borrows, as IMDB user dbdumonteil reminds us, the premise from The Trouble with Harry. The film is funny, the actors are marvelous, everything works well. It is not meant to be groundbreaking or anything, but it made me laugh several times. A series of stills from it are featured in this review.

Rating: 60

Path to War (2002) (TV)

A dramatization of the Johnson administration, focusing primarily on the Vietnam War.

This film does make for a very acceptable crash course on the Vietnam War, and I am glad I watched it. However, no TV drama is complete without those ridiculous human interest adornments which, among other dubious points, will lead an ignorant man like myself to deduce that Mrs. McNamara's stomach problems were just another nasty effect of the war. Johnson comes across as a semi-moron, and I have no further information that will put this labeling into question. The Negro question serves as a countertheme, and is perhaps useful for an analysis of what really happened both in American and in Asian hearts and minds at that period. The question of why would America get involved in the affairs of a distant country at all, apart from the sound military considerations by George Ball, is not once raised in the movie. Vietnamese division into two countries makes for a stark contrast to the cohesiveness of the North Vietnamese people, and is a matter of wonderment to me. Why would anyone try to politically divide a people which is so homogeneous in everything else? The reverse of that question is, why is Johnson so emphatic in his speech about his policies being not for the North, nor for the South, but for the whole America? Why would anyone try to politically unite a people which is so heterogeneous in everything else?

Rating: 63

The Big Knife (1955)

Second viewing; first viewed on February 7, 1998

A Hollywood actor is facing a matrimonial crisis. The crux of the matter is his wife's opposition to the renewal of his contract with a producer. He can't get away from it without facing some dire consequences, though.

The review by Bosley Crowther, while it gives a good idea of the movie, is perhaps a little short-sighted (or narrow-minded) about it (the same probably goes for Pauline Kael, who called it "garish and overdone"). It all pivots on the question of whether the flaws pointed at were intentional or not, whether they were funny or not, and whether it matters whether this comicity is intentional or not. I am not able to settle this matter, but surely enjoyed the movie more than Crowther did. The obviously stupendous performances are Palance's and Winters'; on Steiger's hangs a similar doubt as I have about the movie.

Rating: 67 (unchanged)

El bruto (1953)

English title: The Brute

A slum's landlord issues a note of eviction to all the slum's tenants so that he can sell the land. Some tenants will not take this quietly, and that's when the titular character -- an employee at a slaughterhouse and the landlord's protégé -- enters the picture as an agent of dissuasion to the rebellious tenants.

As IMDB user dbdumonteil remarked, this has parallels with Frankenstein; perhaps it's even closer to The Golem, being the Marxism and Class Consciousness analysis of that story. The plot practically writes itself once the premise is established, but it is a nice watch all the same, with the usual cruel touches which are the director's trademark.

Rating: 61

Vou Te Contá.. (1958)

The infant son of a wealthy man is kidnapped. A reporter wants to find it and get the reward. At nearly the same time, another baby is taken from its carriage during an absence of its caretaker and, by a coincidence, the reporter is the baby's uncle and lives in the same house. Also coincidentally, the maid at that house is courted by a man who works for the kidnapper of the first baby.

As you may have noticed, the plot is full of coincidences. The film is a near-total disgrace, a disjointed mix of unfunny narrative and musical numbers. The latter are nothing special, although the kind of Brazilian music they show is not unpleasant. The most remarkable thing about the movie is the abundance of racial references in the dialogue and even in one song. The most curious one is perhaps a line by the black male servant about the mixed-race gangster: "when a guy is neither white nor black, beware of him!" This article (in Portuguese) has a commentary about this and another remark by the same character, besides similar ones in other Brazilian movies. Here is an extensive online review (also in Portuguese) which, despite getting the plot appallingly wrong, has some useful information about the actors and singers in the movie.

Rating: 12

Rue de l'Estrapade (1953)

English title: Françoise Steps Out

A woman finds out about her husband's infidelity and leaves home, setting up a new home at a modest apartment in a building with some other interesting lodgers.

This is possibly a seminal film for a genre that has become very popular, especially from the 1970s onwards, having as protagonist a cheated-on woman who after separation acquires a new outlook on life. While this is a genre that has steadily radicalized itself towards hatred of the male sex, this is not the case in question here, as this early item is very circumspect and would be deemed conservative by modern-day feminists. Anyway, it is not an especially inspired film, struggling as it does in its middle section to find incidents to fill the void between separation and reconciliation. But the acting is good, and the mood is light and agreeable.

Rating: 40

Sahara (1983)

Young American heiress to an automobile industry, and auto racer, goes to Africa to take part in a Sahara rally. Trouble is, there is a tribal war along the rally route.

Reportedly a variation on The Sheik (1921), with echoes also of The Wind and the Lion (1975), it is also an allegory on World War II, where Gypsies stand for Jews, and the two warring desert tribes stand respectively for the Nazis and the Allies. It would not be an unreasonable interpretation to say that circumstances dictated that America, a young virgin, would go to bed with the Soviet Union. Further parallels could be drawn at one's own risk. Apart from this amusing allegorical aspect, the film is antiquated, and will provide for some entertainment only on the most basic level.

Rating: 33

Baby It's You (1983)

The late sixties. A well-behaved high school girl with acting ambitions is courted by an academic misfit from a lower social class than her. If their relationship seems improbable even while they live in the same city, will it survive after high school is over and they have physical distance between them?

I suppose many people have known or heard about couples like the one in this film. Probably not exactly identical, but sharing some aspects with them. Anyway, this kind of story is always interesting. The "firstness" factor is crucial, and the filmmaker himself says as much. The film relies on this appeal, and handles the development in a correct way. Among the curious incidents, a teacher proposes a "puzzle" about Ulysses S. Grant to his class.

Rating: 50

Bullseye! (1990)

An American nuclear physicist develops a fusion technique for energy generation and, in partnership with an English aristocrat, has plans to sell it to the highest bidder. Two criminals who happen to be their respective lookalikes try to rob them, and in the process are coopted by the American and English secret services to help them get the recipe.

Moderately entertaining farce, fast and eventful. The dual lookalike premise dates way back (The Comedy of Errors), and, more recently, was used in Our Relations (1936). The editing is quick and the filming has a penchant for odd low-angles and very near close-ups.

Rating: 50

Le cercle rouge (1970)

Second viewing; first viewed on January 25, 1998

English title: The Red Circle

A man who has just been released from prison teams up with a fugitive from police custody and an alcoholic ex-policeman who is an expert marksman in the spectacular robbery of a jewelry store. The police detective from whose custody the second man escaped leads the investigation to catch them.

Strangely compelling, slow-moving policier. Crime is a sordid business which the fiction machine transforms into a seductive dreamworld very much analogous to a casino where desperate characters lay all their chips on one job, and callous lawmen eschew ethics in the pursuit of their goals. Both cops and robbers lead lives on the margin of society. You could say this is Rififi on ice. A curious bit of dialogue is when detective Mattei's chief wonders about the race of his subordinate ("he has blond hair and light eyes, he's very much unlike a Corsican"). If you care to read some reviews, I suggest Christopher Mulrooney's and Ted Goranson (tedg)'s (in both cases, you will have to browse the page).

Rating: 66 (unchanged)

My Foolish Heart (1949)

An unhappily married woman recollects a wartime love affair.

There are some good moments here and there, and the theme of war and its effect on sexual morals is interesting, but mostly it is a lame melodrama, being neither convincing nor engaging.

Rating: 36

The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)

Second viewing; first viewed on December 10, 1995

Based on the play and the novel, both 1903, by Emma Orczy.

An English aristocrat leads a group of his peers to save French people from the guillotine in 1792 terror-ruled France. His identity is kept scrupulously secret.

Very well-made adventure. The premise is quite depressing, as are all films about fictitious interferences in historical catastrophes (except for those "what if" stories where history is significantly changed). The general tone is juvenile, but the film is fairly enjoyable and the actors do a good job, especially Howard as the titular character.

Rating: 56 (down from 68)

A Baronesa Transviada (1957)

The IMDB plot summary ("Manicurist finds out she's the daughter of a rich baroness, and inherits her fortune. Now, she'll have to fight her mother's parents, with help from some of her friends.") is almost right: "parents" should be replaced by "relatives".

The title of this Brazilian comedy has, perhaps involuntarily, a double meaning; the apparent one ("the perverted baroness") and a less obvious one ("the stray baroness") related to the premise of a child which got separated from her mother. Although this film was made to please general audiences of all ages, its display of moral wretchedness is somewhat disturbing. The emphasis on grotesque elements wouldn't be out of place in a movie by John Waters or Jack Hill, for example (except for the sex, that is absent here). Some of the verbal wit is heavily dated; take, for instance, the line (the accuracy of whose transcription is as good as the poor audio and my ear allow): "Inteligente é o cor de abóbora, que tem o Pedro Álvares Cabral nas costas." ("The orange-colored is the intelligent one, because it's got Pedro Álvares Cabral on its back."). You would be clueless about its meaning, unless you knew that at that time there was a money bill in Brazil which was orange-colored and had the portrait of Cabral on it (come to think of it, even after knowing that I am still not sure about its meaning). Although it screams low-brow on every frame, there is a sense that there might be something more to this film than a superficial glance will show, a sort of anarchy in its conception (or lack thereof) that attenuates its obvious shortcomings.

Rating: 31

Le vice et la vertu (1963)

English title: Vice and Virtue

In occupied France, two sisters choose opposite paths: one becomes a German officer's mistress, the other marries a Resistance member.

Pulpish dialogue and situations, well filmed, with a penchant for mirrors. The association of Sade and the Axis is a seminal one which would spawn the nazisploitation genre in the 70s and Salò.

Rating: 51

O Homem que Comprou o Mundo (1968)

Englisht title: The Man Who Bought the World

A working-class man receives a trillionaire check from a dying man, and all of a sudden disturbs the balance of power in the world.

A variation on The Man Who Could Work Miracles, without supernatural elements. Unlike its predecessor, it is very shallow on its psychological and political considerations, favoring absurdist comedy instead. Released during the military regime in Brazil, it displays some mild criticism  of that period's authoritarianism.

Rating: 31

The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936)

Second viewing; first viewed on March 9, 1997.

Based on the 1898 short story by H.G. Wells.

A man is suddenly given extraordinary powers over the material reality around him (but not over other people's minds). He goes around consulting various people on what to do with his newly acquired powers, and in the process his own mind matures about it.

Amusing fable about power, which, by disturbing the state of things, analyzes its many aspects. There are excellent special effects, and the performances are very good too. On the negative side, there is a bit of repetitiveness about the proceedings, and also the development is not exactly full of surprises (I hope my having seen it before has not conditioned me into this perception). It is never unpleasant though, and its insights into human nature and the workings of society are mostly correct. As for the phenomenon of concentration of excessive power in a single individual, it finds alarming parallels in present-day reality and its power-wielding billionaires, who far surpass in political influence those of the time this film was made.

Rating: 65 (up from 50)

Lance Maior (1968)

I have reviewed this film in July, 2007, which is the date of my first viewing.

You can go to the link of that blog entry, or just read it below:

[begin quote]
Synopsis: Mário is a young law student who works at a bank. He starts a relationship with a humble yet attractive shopgirl. He then starts a concomitant relationship with a rich girl.

Appraisal: Urban drama whose grim candor in character depiction and economic narrative style make for an interesting portrait of how the Brazilian upper and lower middle classes of the late sixties behaved and interacted. Although it abides by a realistic worldview, it has a certain theatricality to its dialogue and mise-en-scene that betrays some roughness in the overall execution; in spite of that, it is a worthy film, probably one of its director's better ones.
[end quote]

I have little to add, except that the aforementioned "theatricality" was possibly a misperception of mine, and that I found the dialog hard to decipher in several instances. I also note that I may have finally understood the meaning of the film's title, something like "Higher Bid" or "Highest Bid". Films which have thematic or plot points in common with this one are A Place in the Sun (or An American Tragedy) and Les bonnes femmes.

Rating: 60 (up from 57)

Shadows and Fog (1991)

Second viewing; first viewed on October 11, 1992.

Based on the play Death, by Woody Allen, first published in 1975.

In a German-speaking European city, a homicidal maniac is on the loose. A modest bureaucratic employee is summoned in the middle of the night to take part in a vigilante group. He spends that entire night in a series of adventures involving, among others, a circus woman.

This is an oddly conceived film, at once heavily theatrical and heavily cinematic, swinging between those two aesthetic poles, or at times combining them into a scene, and not worrying about compatibility or unity. The film's plot also brings together two somewhat disjointed strands (the killer, the circus), with little reason for doing it. It is an easy watch, though, with pleasant enough dialogue and pleasant enough imagery. Allusions to persecution and to accusations of "well poisoning" are casually thrown in, but the word "Jew" is never mentioned.

Rating: 53 (down from 56)

Blade Runner (1982)

Second viewing, first viewing of the final cut; first viewed in 1982 or 1983.

Based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, first published in 1968.

In the future, androids have achieved a high degree of sophistication. A group of them rebel and are hunted by a bounty hunter. The persecuted machines try to survive and also seek the man who engineered their lifespan to be a short one.

I never really understood people's (mostly Americans', it seems to me) obsession with intelligent machines. I mean, I do understand that children would be somewhat fascinated by their human appearance, but that grown men should dedicate so much of their energy and time to philosophize over this is beyond me. As Michael Moorcock puts it: "the bulk of American sf could be said to be written by robots, about robots, for robots" (Wizardry and Wild Romance). There are even "scientists" who specialize in the problems of so-called "hard" artificial intelligence. As I said, go figure. In any case, there are some interesting real life issues that are structurally analogous to the ones posed in this genre of fiction, and in Blade Runner specifically (for example, Jews-related issues). However, the film is flawed in more than one aspect, involving both script and direction. There are positive qualities too, but they are mostly in the character construction (including the actors' work). Viewed as a series of set-pieces offering an assortment of bizarre types, the film is passable.

Rating: 51 (down from 63)

Harry and Tonto (1974)

Second viewing; first viewed on December 21, 1991

An elderly man gets thrown out of his apartment on account of its building getting demolished, and then goes on a tour through relatives and America.

Can I say phony? Can I say trite? Can I say that this is exactly programmed for unanimity, and achieves as much of it as anyone can? To give one example of a crack in that unanimity, someone in the IMDB's user comments area who calls himself Neil Doyle has observed that Harry's "most philosophical comment" is "Did you know that the strangest thing about being old is, all your friends are dead." This film is an inferior product in a very nice package, because the screenplay is inferior and everything else including the score, the acting, the cinematography, etc., is good. But I think the film is still interesting because it is a window to how people who know little about the world picture that world in their minds. In other words, it is an anatomy of its own ignorance.

Rating: 50 (up from 48)

Prophecy (1979)

An idealistic medical doctor takes some time off from his activities as a clinician to travel to a countryside area in the role of environmental inspector. There has been an ongoing conflict between a paper manufacturing company and some Native Americans, and environmental analysis is hoped to settle the dispute.

Grim ecological fiction. The issues it brings forth are really important, and the narrative and imagery are gripping and even shocking at times. Despite all that, I do not think films are an effective way of dealing with those matters. It just tends to alienate people, instead of motivating them. This includes me, as I do not consider myself to be any different from most people.

Rating: 50

How to Steal a Million (1966)

Second viewing; first viewed between 1983 and 1986

A art forger cedes a fake sculpture of his for an exhibition and that is when his troubles start. His daughter helps him get out of the jam, with the help of a mysterious character.

It is entertaining and funny, and also a reflection on the bizarre world of art trade. The plot is very imaginative, and everything is very elegant and good looking.

(pan-and-scan copy)

Rating: 67 (unchanged)

A Kiss Before Dying (1956)

Second viewing; first viewed between 1983 and 1986

A college student gets his girlfriend pregnant; this makes him very, very upset.

Although the production is somewhat classy, this movie tells an absurd story, which anyone with a brain will dismiss after a minute of reflection. Apart from the central performance, which I consider perfect, I do not see many reasons for watching it, and find it rather saddening that I liked it on my previous viewing.

(pan-and-scan copy)

Rating: 31 (down from 63)

Festa (1989)

Literal translation of title: Party.

At a big house a party is being thrown for very rich and famous guests. Three persons who have been hired to entertain the guests are told to wait in a downstairs parlor. They are a snooker player and his sidekick, and a harmonica player. They wait and talk while upstairs the party rages on.

Social allegory with little or no insightful or inspired dialogue and barely any action.

Rating: 22

Le pacha (1968)

English title: Pasha

A truck transporting valuable jewelry is robbed. The investigation is led by an aging policeman who is a childhood friend of the policeman who was escorting the stolen cargo.

I am probably not reliable concerning this film. I found the execution very professional, but the film a little dull. The underlying idea it conveys is one of police weariness in the face of mounting criminality and judicial ineffectiveness. This is an interesting subject, but somehow the film fell short of my expectations.

Rating: 31

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Second viewing; first viewed on November 10, 1996

During the Korean War, a platoon goes missing for a few days and returns with a common memory of a confrontation with the enemy in which the sergeant comes out as a hero. Back in America, some members of the platoon have similar recurring nightmares. The sergeant begins behaving strangely and meets with some shady characters who seem to have control over him. His stepfather, whom he hates, is a rightwing politician who acts under the influence of a domineering wife.

There is a strange asymmetry between comedy and tragedy (or drama, which is a more prevalent serious form in recent times). A drama or tragedy may be involutarily comic, whereas the reverse is never the case. This film, for instance, is deadly serious in tone, but everything in it had a comical effect on me. There are many issues with the plot, and some of them are discussed in IMDB's Message Boards. The most important observation to be made about it is that it is a critique of conservatism, and a hallucinating one at that, and the comicity stems mainly from that. There is not a bit of psychological realism in this movie, and the most flagrant violation of plausibility is of course the behavior of the woman who becomes Lt. Marco's girlfriend. Whatever interest the movie may have lies precisely in that it states a position, and is a symptom of a zeitgeist. The technical acumen with which it is made is important to make sure that it succeeds at its goal, which is evidently brainwashing its audience into an adherence to liberal principles.

Rating: 56 (down from 65)

Barry Lyndon (1975)

Second viewing; first viewed at some point of time between 1983 and 1986.

Based on the 1844 novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon, by William Makepeace Thackeray.

The life of an Irish man of modest origin who gets involved in a duel, flees, joins the army, deserts, marries a rich woman, etc.

Splendid film, unbelievably gorgeous, impeccably staged, and engaging at every point of its rather long duration. I speculate that the source novel (which I haven't read) follows an apparent pattern in English works of fiction from the 19th century, the carefully sadistic destruction of its main character, a pattern which first drew my attention when I saw Jude. I sometimes wonder who read these novels when they came out? Mainly women? Young ones? Of course, today everything is distorted by the academic apparatus, and mostly university professors read this stuff. Anyhow, I found that in this particular instance, the artistic imagination employed by the writer and diretor makes following the plot quite bearable, engaging even.

Rating: 74 (up from 66)

Bronenosets Potemkin (1925)

Second viewing; first viewed at some point in time between 1983 and 1986

English title: Battleship Potemkin

Fictionalized dramatization of the incidents surrounding the mutiny in the titular ship in 1905, followed by riots in Odessa, all of which were part of the first Russian revolution.

Revolutions are a serious matter, and everyone should worry about them, whether they happen in Moscow or Baltimore. They may be fair or unfair, but that is not necessarily what determines their success; furthermore, their success is never a guarantee of the ensuing regime's success. A mutiny in a ship is also a serious matter, and in this particular case it was not only an important element in the dynamics of the larger revolution, but a metaphor of sorts for it. Social upset makes for very moving drama, mainly, I think, because every break in conformism is instinctively seen as psychologically healthy. Unfortunately, there is also ample room for psychological manipulation, both in real life and in art, and, perhaps, there would be no revolution without some amount of that sort of manipulation. This film was very popular both among good people (e.g., Chaplin) and not so good ones (e.g., Goebbels). I assume the former were moved by the non-conformist side and the latter by the manipulative side. As such, this work of art will stand forever significant yet ambiguous, like a two-headed monster.

Rating: 66 (unchanged)

The Big Country (1958)

Second viewing; first viewed on August 31, 1997

A sea captain is engaged to be married to a rancher's daughter. His polite and diplomatic manners are viewed with suspicion by his fiancee and by the people living near her. A long-running feud between his father-in-law and another rancher seems to be the source of the violence he witnesses.

Interesting western, which nevertheless has some aspects which should be challenged. It belongs to a class of films in which the hero is an outsider who has a higher moral ground than the locals. This leads to a worldview which justifies many things which have wreaked havoc wherever they have been applied, for example in the case of American imperialism and its later-day offshoots. Also of note is the opposition of the sea person to the land person, about which philosopher Carl Schmitt has theorized, only applied to nations. Here too, the film is to be questioned, as one side appears to have the higher moral ground. All those caveats notwithstanding, the film is certainly of interest and not excessively unpleasant to watch. Christopher Mulrooney notes (here and here) the relationship with The Frisco Kid.

(pan-and-scan copy)

Rating: 53 (up from 42)