The Mummy (1932)

Second viewing; first viewed on October 27, 1991.

The mummy of a priest from ancient Egypt comes back to life and assumes a new identity. He becomes obsessed with a young woman whom he thinks is the reincarnation of his lover in his previous life.

I am still pondering whether the sheer absurdity of its plot is just out of stupidity or something else -- something akin to genius. I am not talking here about the film's premise, which is silly, of course, and which has had an enduring influence on popular culture. I am talking about the specific plot point that has a character find his reincarnated lover, and makes him go to the trouble of killing her so that she may be revived with an ancient spell. Really, this is too precious for words. Aside from script matters, the film as a whole is, to my judgment, exceedingly well made, and lets out no clue whatsoever as to the humorous potential of its plot in general or the point I raised in particular.

Rating: 57 (down from 70)

Fogo Morto (1976)

English title: The Last Plantation.

Based on the novel by José Lins do Rego, first published in 1943.

Set at a decaying sugarcane plantation in Northeastern Brazil, the film has three main characters: a saddle-maker who lives in the plantation, the plantation owner who drives it to ruin and is obsessed with religion, and a man with political ambitions.

A flawed film, probably due to a deficient screenplay. Still, the subject matter and the characters are interesting, and some parts of it are reasonably well filmed.

Rating: 40

Adieu au langage (2014)

English title: Goodbye to Language.

There is only a faintly discernible semblance of a plot, which involves a young woman, her husband, and a new man she takes as a lover. There is also a dog who wanders by river banks and groves. The dialogue is mostly a series of repetitive slogans and scholarly or literary quotations. Political theory and human feces are some of the subjects of discussion. Some social turmoil is vaguely suggested in some scenes. Natural landscapes are filmed with color distorting filters. A big ship is recurringly shown as it docks at a harbor. A pun with the movie's title is shown in intertitles. There is an apparent segmentation into two sections named "Nature" and "Metaphor".

There is really little that can be said about this film. It seems to be a series of rough ideas for a movie which are shown "as is" instead of being elaborated further. I suspect that this is part of a strategy intended to conceal the probable badness of a hypothetical finished movie with another kind of badness which, somehow, poses as artistic attitude.

Rating: 17

Forushande (2016)

English title: The Salesman.

A couple has to move from their apartment because the building starts to fall apart. After a suggestion by a colleague of the husband, they move to a new one. A disagreeable incident occurs in there which provokes a crisis in their marriage.

Here is a film trying to be smart and failing in almost all counts. Although by the end of it what it is trying to say becomes reasonably clear, the paths it takes to say it are often puzzling. The most puzzling point for me was the whole subplot about the stuff the previous tenant left locked in their apartment. It is given an enormous emphasis which contrasts with the little to no bearing it has on what I perceived to be the main events of the movie. Maybe there is something here which is too subtle for my coarse sensibility. Aside from that, I am afraid that the film conveys a worldview which I do not espouse, and perhaps do not even understand. I call it defeatist, for lack of a better word. I was going to say weak, but I would be wrong, because I can sympathize with weakness, but never with defeatism. Looking back, I have the impression that this criticism might apply to The Separation as well, but I suspect the narrative there was fluid enough to trick me into liking it.

Rating: 40

The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)

Third viewing; previous viewings were on March 24, 1990 and March 6, 1991.

A worker at a small flower shop is growing a carnivore plant, and the shop's owner decides to take advantage of the exotic plant in order to attract customers.

Nice little comedy, with original ideas and a general atmosphere of irreverence. Nevertheless, I feel it doesn't quite deserve the high rating I had bestowed upon it. Its overall look and comic style is somewhat TV-like, and the humor is at times a bit facile.

Rating: 67 (down from 85)

Saint-Tropez Blues (1961)

Young man invites young woman to go to French beach town Saint-Tropez during school vacation, and asks her to take her father's car for the trip. Along the route they pick up another young man, and during their stay in that town they meet many beautiful people. There is a problem though: he wants her to be his girlfriend, but she refuses. Another complicating factor is that she is a virgin.

Not too densely plotted, as has been said by many, but as a chronicle of a place and a time it isn't bad. The locations are terrific, and there are some nice songs too.

Rating: 51

Meu Destino É Pecar (1952)

Woman moves to a farm after marrying a man she doesn't love. She must deal with the advances of his lecherous brother, the hostility of his sister, and the coldness of his mother. Above all this hangs the shadow of his former wife, whose death is wrapped in a cloud of mystery.

Atrocious rip-off of Carolina Nabuco's A Sucessora. There are however some minor niceties such as its locations, a lovely song number, and a well-choreographed dance with African motifs. An earlier rip-off of  A Sucessora was Rebecca.

Rating: 12

Les patates (1969)

English title: Potatoes.

During World War II, in the Ardennes, which was part of the zone interdite (forbidden zone), people are experiencing hunger due to strict regulations concerning the transportation of food items across its borders. One man decides to try to smuggle some potatoes from outside and use them to grow a new crop.

Comedy which makes for an interesting history lesson, and an entertaining one, too. Even though there is death and the overhanging shadow of starvation, humor sets the tone, in a very down-to-earth manner which never feels forced or improper.

Rating: 60

Witch Hunt (1994)

In the 1950s, magic becomes a common practice in Hollywood. A crooked senator opposes it vehemently. A private detective who refuses to use it is hired by a starlet to spy on her unfaithful producer husband. The two story threads intersect when the latter character is murdered.

Apparently, this is a silly movie. They have taken the titular figure of speech and de-figured it, that is, played it to its literal meaning in the same historical context. Christopher Mulrooney points to a second metaphor, namely, digital visual effects, of which this film gives abundant display.

Rating: 32

Cronos (1993)

A 16th-century alchemist builds a device for prolonging life indefinitely. Four centuries later, it is franticaly searched for, and accidentally found by an antiques dealer, who applies it to himself, with ghastly consequences.

Science-fiction with no real grip on science. Very tedious as storytelling, but people seem to have liked it. The main actor is good, anyway.

Rating: 21

Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)

Second viewing. I do not know the date of my first viewing; I estimate it to be around 1982.

An artistic photographer has visions of murders which actually take place involving her models or associates. A police detective takes on the case and gets into a romantic relationship with her.

American giallo with superior production values. People who have complained about the ending probably do not get the rules of the genre, amongst which is a disdain for psychological plausibility. Another rule is that the plot must be moderately to extremely tedious. I thought this to be on the side of moderately.

Ratio: 44 (unchanged)