Retour à la vie (1949)

  "World-wide (English title) (festival title) Return to Life" (imdb.com)

Five segments comprise this film: (1) a woman is released from a concentration camp, and is in a state of catatonic apathy; her family members are concerned about getting her signature on an inheritance paper; (2) a barman working on a hotel has to attend to requests from guests who happen to be female army personnel; (3) a curmudgeonly ex-soldier shelters a fugitive German, unaware that he is a former torturer; (4) upon his return, a former prisoner of war finds that his girl is gone with another man and his apartment is occupied by former resistance members; (5) a returning soldier must face the rejection of his fellow villagers towards his new German wife.

I didn't really find these postwar stories very satisfactory, save one (number 4). That exception is the only story which deals exclusively with issues firmly rooted in real situations faced by people returning from World War II. The others derive their mild appeal from their dramatic constructions and the ability of the actors and the directors; they are part of the myth-building around that war, but not, I assume, of the widely experienced situations which it brought about.

Rating: 40

Oto Lara Rezende ou... Bonitinha, Mas Ordinária (1963)

"Also Known As (AKA) 

(...) 

                                          Pretty But Wicked" 

(IMDB.com)

Edgard, a poor office worker, is approached by a superior with the proposition of marrying the company owner's daughter, who, according to him, has been raped. Edgard has qualms of conscience about accepting the proposition; they are compounded by the fact that he has a crush on his neighbor, a poor teacher in a school for young kids.

This is the second adaptation I have watched of the same play. The other one is more recent (of 1981), but I saw it a long time ago, at the time of its cinematic release. If memory serves me, this older one is the better -- though by far also the lesser known -- one. It's a simple production, obviously operating on a shoestring budget, but the actors give very serviceable performances, and the text seems to have been understood in its totality, or almost so. It's possibly not the best play by Rodrigues (I haven't read or seen them all), but it's possibly the funniest among the ones I know. In a sense, it's more at home as cinema than as a stage play, because of all the car rides and similar scenes which become so more natural when staged in a realistic way. The film adds at least one original touch -- the references to Crime and Punishment's protagonist -- but mostly it's a faithful adaptation. The play's author was a self-styled reactionary who, perhaps involuntarily, exposed the ridiculous face of reactionary ideologies. That may be observed in this film, which, though ostensibly reactionary in ideology, provides an examination of the deleterious effect of the economic power wielded by the bourgeois class.

Rating: 51

O Doce Esporte do Sexo (1972)

 Film consisting of five segments: (1) A man and a woman set up a date in an apartment; the man is concerned about keeping it secret; once they are in the apartment, numerous obstacles to the accomplishment of the sexual act happen; (2) A man has an unrequited love with a prostitute, and keeps on trying to win her affections; (3) the president of a big company takes a day off to indulge in a pleasure afternoon: he is buying a pornographic film and plans to watch it at his house with some guests; (4) in a small town, a yearly event is taking place; is consists of pitting one of its inhabitants against another from a neighboring town and watching who can outperform the other in the number of sexual acts; (5) the devoted wife of a rich landowner suspects her husband is having an affair.

These short comedies are not exactly funny, and at their worst (number four, "The Tournament") may get annoying due to the repetitive nature of its humor. The most interesting one is possibly number three ("The Little Film"), in which a film within the film is shown and explores the effect of expectation in the fruition of films. The first one ("The Apartment") is uneven, but perhaps the most visually elaborate of the lot. Number two, "The Quarter" -- literally "The Mouth", but really a slang term referring to the prostitution quarter -- is mildly interesting as a psychological study in masochism. The fifth and final one ("The Suspicion") is shorter and tries to provide an ending with a bang, but is very dated and will fail to shock present-day audiences.

Rating: 35

Les grands sentiments font les bons gueuletons (1973)

"World-wide (English title): Big Sentiments Make for Good Sports" (IMDB.com)

(spoilers!) A few days in the life of two middle-class families who live next door to each other in an apartment building. Irascible curmudgeon Georges' mother has died in a car crash. Authoritarian music-lover Claude's daughter is getting married. Funeral and wedding will happen on the same day. Other characters include Georges' brother Stéphane, who develops a crush on the marrying neighbor, and Claude's cousin Alphonse, a prankster. Claude doesn't own a telephone, so he borrows Georges' whenever he needs to use one, and also for his daughter's incoming calls. Georges likes to lie about his social status (e.g. while both are at the barbershop he tells Claude he has bought a boat). Claude listens to classical music in his cellar. Both families' boys disappear one afternoon and are found (by Claude) leaving a vacant lot in a state of intoxication from smoke and alcohol. On the way to the funeral, Stéphane gets lost in the Paris traffic for a while. One of Claude's wedding guest families arrives after it is over. The master of ceremonies at the wedding dinner is a weird type who goes into a tantrum with his clients for "not letting him do his job"; he imposes some infantile games on them. The deceased woman's sister is an extremely obnoxious woman who drives Georges into a fit of fury at the table and is thrown out of the house with her son and daughter. On her way out she demands a ring which she says she had lent her sister; Georges ignores her (he had already removed it from her sister's finger). There is also a busybody female who lives on the same floor as them and likes to stand in the hallway and berate them. And a wheelchair-bound man who is always trying to use the elevator, and irritates everyone.

Entertaining comedy which mines everyday disasters and people's pettinessess and quirks for comicity. It's very well made, and the cast -- especially the two leads -- is in great form. A film like this, which looks for a new gag at every scene, is bound to misfire occasionally, but overall it works well and is certainly an interesting watch.

Rating: 56

O Grande Xerife (1972)

A town is suffering raids from a gang of bandits. The inept local mailman is elected sheriff.

Mostly poor Western parody filmed with passable professionalism (though perhaps lacking closer shots at some scenes) and featuring a few offbeat comedic moments.

Rating: 35

63 Up (2019)

 Latest installment of the series which follow a bunch of people starting when they were seven, every seven years. This installment has the flavor of an ending, featuring a recapitulation of former installments for each interviewee; since the director died two years after its release, perhaps he had some doubts about his remaining time to live. I enjoyed watching it; there is not much to be said about it that has not been said by others, or by myself on previous installments. Without any implied demerit to any participant, there is a sense that some were more interesting to watch than others. In my opinion, the most interesting ones -- in completely opposite ways -- are Tony and Neil. Coincidence or not, in this installment the filmmaker has chosen to put them as first and last interviewee, respectively. The links to my reviews of former installments are given below:

Some Call It a Pastime: The Films I See: Seven Up! (1964) (thirdworldthreat2.blogspot.com)

Some Call It a Pastime: The Films I See: 7 Plus Seven (1970) (TV) (thirdworldthreat2.blogspot.com)

Some Call It a Pastime: The Films I See: 21 (1977) (thirdworldthreat2.blogspot.com)

Some Call It a Pastime: The Films I See: 28 Up (1984) (thirdworldthreat2.blogspot.com)

Some Call It a Pastime: The Films I See: 35 Up (1991) (TV) (thirdworldthreat2.blogspot.com)

Some Call It a Pastime: The Films I See: 42: Forty Two Up (1998) (TV) (thirdworldthreat2.blogspot.com)

Some Call It a Pastime: The Films I See: 49 Up (2005) (TV) (thirdworldthreat2.blogspot.com)

Some Call It a Pastime: The Films I See: 56 Up (2012) (TV) (thirdworldthreat2.blogspot.com)

Countdown (1967)

Second viewing; previously viewed between 1983 and 1986.

 The Americans are concerned that the Soviets are sending a man to the moon, and revive a previously discontinued program which consisted in sending a shelter capsule prior to sending a capsule with a single astronaut in it. Said astronaut woud then stay in the shelter until a rescue team could be sent.

Science-fiction which goes for realistic drama instead of sensation. The problem is that the drama isn't all that interesting. There is little in the way of special effects. Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of it is how it adopts a balanced view of patriotism, neither iconoclastic nor gung-ho. That was somewhat at odds with the turn of the ideological tide in the sixties towards the left, which during the 70s reached full deconstruction mode of all things that bore any relation to old notions of nationalistic pride; there was a reversion of this in the 80s. From the 90s onwards, with the end of the Cold War, new ways of collective thinking were needed.

Rating: 42 (up from 27)