Il gattopardo (1963)

Second viewing; first viewed between 1983 and 1986.

English title: The Leopard.

During the Italian unification wars in the nineteenth century, a Sicilian nobleman and his nephew devise strategies for preserving what they can of their position and way of life.

It's beautiful to look at, and at times provides a good glimpse at a small town and its little people during a period of turmoil. The character of Tancredi has little or no psychological consistency and exists chiefly to utter the famous sentence and lay out the basic thesis of the film. If you enjoy very extended sequences of balls, dinners, masses, etc., and very little in the way of plot, then this film is your very thing.

Rating: 65 (down from 66)

The World According to Garp (1982)

First decent viewing; previous viewing in 1983 was experienced without understanding much of the dialogue.

The life of Garp, an individual who was conceived with the help of an unconscious soldier, and raised by Garp's mother. He grows up to be a novelist, but is overshadowed by his mother, who is an instant success with her memoir. He marries and has children, while his mother founds a sort of refuge for abused individuals.

There is an expression in Portuguese for which I found no equivalent in English: "crônica de costumes", whose literal translation would be "customs chronicle". Maybe this film fits in that category. Some could argue against that, saying that this is a social chronicle, and no less. Well, whatever. To be extremely frank, I wondered while watching it what fun was to be found in the contemplation of these characters' lives. But, as usual, I reprimanded myself, pondering that it had an extremely well-structured and economic screenplay, that the impeccable mise-en-scène was especially visible in sequences like the one where Garp lets his manuscript's leaves get scattered about, and that the casting choices were a work of genius. The multi-incident narrative never quite conceals that the core of the film is the somewhat sad story of a fatherless man who strives to be the best father in the world.

Rating: 55

Ice Age (2002)

In the beginning of an ice age, a sloth joins a mammoth and a sabertooth tiger in the task of returning a stray infant to its father, who has left for warmer climates with his herd. The sabertooth has a hidden agenda, though.

Very poor in plot, unremarkable in graphics, and with gags which will cause a mild chuckle at best, this film's success is thus perfectly explainable.

Rating: 32

A Madona de Cedro (1994) (TV miniseries)

Based on the novel by Antônio Callado, first published in 1957.

Delfino, a modest sculptor living in the Brazilian historical city of Congonhas, receives the unexpected visit of Maneco, a childhood friend who has been living in Rio de Janeiro. Maneco works for an art thief and tries to coax Delfino into stealing the statue of the Virgin Mary from the local church.

The nineties were probably the prime of Brazilian TV channel Globo, whose average production is of mediocre quality, and has been decaying steadily into unwatchability since that decade. They made a few watchable miniseries, for example Agosto, and this one. It has a nice plot, and overall decent acting, the highlights of which are Paulo José as a blend of the hunchback of Notre Dame and the Phantom of the Opera, and Humberto Martins as Maneco.

Rating: 56

Foxcatcher (2014)

A weird billionaire offers sponsorship to a wrestling champion and his brother, who is also a wrestler. The offer is accepted by the former only, and he moves to the billionaire's estate. The relationship between the two becomes weirdly affectionate, but things go sour. Then the brother decides to come too.

I watched this at the end of last year, but could not bring myself to write these notes. It is an interesting movie, but abides by the current trend of lack of intelligence in certain scripting choices. Certain real-life events were omitted which would considerably clarify the movie. For example, before the fatal event near the end it is known that the real Dave Schultz was leaving Du Pont's team. This would provide a reasonable clue to the latter's feelings and thus to his gruesome act, and yet that fact was omitted in the film. Is it because the filmmaker thought insane people need no justification for their acts? If so, it's ridiculous. There is also the real-life accident which injured Du Pont in his youth, and which gets no mention in the movie. Perhaps it would bring light to some issues, but, again, omitted. Perhaps they were afraid that it would imply that every person with Du Pont's physical history would be prone to his personality and behavior. It seems nowadays everyone is afraid of being offensive, and as a result nothing but anodynous stuff gets said or done.

Rating: 60