Les oliviers de la justice (1962)

 English title: The Olive Trees of Justice.

In the late 1950s, a man returns to his native Algeria to be beside his dying father. He remembers his childhood in his father's farm and experiences the current turmoils in Algeria.

This film's main attractiveness is its location shooting in the streets of Algeria and at its countryside. The storyline provides some reflexive views about identity and colonialism. The acting and mise-en-scène is not really very polished, and overall the film is a little dull in some parts. 

The title is a little mysterious, because, although there are olives in the farm, it's really a vineyard, not an olive plantation (at least that's what the film shows us). So, a more appropriate title would be The Grapes of Justice; perhaps the author thought it would be too much like The Grapes of Wrath, which, either way, seems to be the inspiration for the source novel's title. 

Another mystery, which perhaps the novel clarifies, is how the protagonist finally decided to stay in Algeria. That decision is revealed in the captions in the beginning of the film, and, though apparently confirmed in the very last sentence he utters (in thought only), is not preceded by any previous hint; I guess the implication is that he resisted that decision till the very end, and suddenly all the events in the movie overflowed into it. But how realistic that is, considering that his wife and children are still in France, is an open question. How sincere it is from the part of an author who, himself, did not make that decision (he lived in France until his death), is also dubious.

Rating: 43

Cancel My Reservation (1972)

 Second viewing; previously viewed on May 29, 2020.

I decided to view this film again because I didn't understand some of the dialogue on my first viewing. I reviewed it on that date, and maybe I was a little too harsh on it:

A TV show host living in New York takes a vacation in Arizona and is framed for the murder of a young Native American woman. His wife joins him and both join efforts to prove his innocence. The owner of a big ranch is involved in some shady businesses and might be the culprit.

This film has a mix of serious criminal drama and comic gags. Most of it does not work, but can be viewed with a small effort. Some of the one-liners are funny but most are just intrusive.

Rating: 39 (unchanged) 

This movie may be viewed on the Web:

Unfaithfully Yours (1948)

 Second viewing; previously viewed on May 31, 1990.

An orchestra conductor begins suspecting his wife of infidelity, after his brother-in-law commissions an investigation on her.

Ingenious comedy with some hilarious sequences and a splendid leading performance.

Rating: 63 (unchanged)

Bean (1997)

 Second viewing; first viewing with original audio; previously viewed, on a Portuguese-dubbed copy, on May 07, 2008.

Here's my previous review:

A painting by an American is bought from an English museum by an American one. Due to some internal conflict, the English museum sends a clumsy security guard passing off as an art expert.

Decent comedy: imaginatively written, expertly directed, and of course with a remarkable comic performance in the lead role. (...)

Honestly, I find it odd that I had considered it "imaginatively written". It is actually very repetitive, and, to be honest, after a funny first half, the second half drags and the humor veers into corn.

Rating: 47 (down from 55)

The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)

Second viewing; previously viewed on April 14, 1996.

 An ex-junkie just out of rehab plans to quit his card-dealing job and start a new life as a drummer in a band. His chair-ridden wife is not too encouraging, and his former employer wants him back at his service. The drug pusher also keeps tempting him with a fix. The beautiful bar hostess offers him some help.

The characters in this film are such over-the-top caricatures they imbue the protagonist's drama with a comic-book dimension. Within those psychological constraints, the film is indeed electrifying at its peak moments.

Rating: 67 (down from 74)

In the second trailer, the director talks to columnist Drew Pearson.

The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

Second viewing; previously viewed between 1983 and 1986.

A cruise ship is hit by an underwater earthquake and goes down. A religious minister with progressive ideas leads some of the passengers in a quest for survival. Some of the other characters are a policeman, his ex-whore wife, a teenage girl and her younger brother, an insecure young singer, a shy bachelor man, a Jewish couple on their way to Israel, and a member of the crew.

Clichéd but gripping early disaster movie. The original touch here is the making of a religious man into a positive, energetic, and even God-defying person.

Rating: 50 (up from 43)

The Drowning Pool (1975)

Second viewing; previously viewed between 1983 and 1986.

 A private eye is hired by a woman who wants to know who is writing anonymous letters to her husband denouncing her infidelity. A murder happens and the suspects range from members of the household to a hireling who happened to be also in the service of an oil mogul who wants to buy her mother-in-law's land.

Lavishly produced hardboiled thriller. While the individual sequences are well made, the whole comes across as cold and soulless. The beginning is especially problematic, coming across as very mechanical. Toward the end, the film gets more exciting, culminating in the highlights in the hydrotherapy clinic. For those who read the novel, it makes for a nice visual complement. Others may have some trouble getting engaged in the plot.

Rating: 50 (unchanged)

Superman (1978)

 Second viewing; first viewing of the director's cut; previously viewed in 1979 (I think).

An extraterrestrial is sent to Earth when his home planet is about to explode. He is endowed with super-strength and other superpowers. He gets a job as a reporter, while keeping his real identity hidden.

This is a parody (if I may use that word) of the Christ story. The necessary changes were made to make it more, say, palatable to modern audiences.

Rating: 58 (unchanged)

The Go-Between (1971)

Second viewing; previously viewed on December 29, 1988. 

A 12-year-old boy goes to spend his summer vacation in the country house of a rich family. While there, he serves as a messenger between the owners' young daughter and her lover, a lower-class farmer who lives nearby.

This starts out a little dull, but soon becomes an exciting game of manipulation and secrecy. Furthermore, it's marvelously directed and at times dazzlingly beautiful. However, there is an unfortunate wrapping up to all this which sacrifices plausibility for dramaticity. After young Marian had dragged an innocent boy into her rather depressing sexual affair, her mother seemed determined to make sure he wouldn't come out of the experience without a lasting trauma. Really, this author mustn't have had a high opinion of women. But the worst was yet to come, with a cringeworthy epilogue.

Rating: 67 (up from 64)

A King in New York (1957)

Second viewing. Previously viewed on January 12, 1989.

A deposed European king goes to live in the U.S., where he has trouble adapting to the American way of life. He gets involved with the son of a couple who is suspected of being communist agents.

This satire of America has a very contrived plot and a sudden shift to the dramatic at the end. Its initial section is moderately funny, but its political subplot, being obviously an exaggeration of the historical events it is based on, is not very relevant as a political statement.

Rating: 51 (down from 62)

That Cold Day in the Park (1969)

Second viewing; previously viewed between 1983 and 1986. 

A lonely woman invites a stranger to her house, and develops erotic designs on him.

From a review of the source novel one sees that this film departs somewhat from it. The reviewer reminds us that the novel's author probably took inspiration from the short story The Silver Mask, written by Hugh Walpole but misattributed to someone else in the review. Curiously, in that short story, it was the woman who became a prisoner; here, it is the lad. In that sense, the film might be viewed as a female version of The Collector, released a few years earlier. That Cold Day in the Park is very well directed, and the casting for the female protagonist was very fortunate, but it's otherwise a frequently dull movie. Its Wikipedia page quotes some perceptive remarks from a famous critic.

Rating: 49 (unchanged)

Day after the Fair (1986)

 Based on the short story On the Western Circuit, by Thomas Hardy, first published in 1891.

An illiterate girl who works as a servant to a household convinces her mistress to write love letters in her name addressed to a young barrister she met at a fair.

This female version of Cyrano de Bergerac is based on a 1972 play which changed several elements of the original short story. Here, the servant's mistress is married; in the short story she was a widow. Her husband, originally a wine merchant, now deals in beer. The servant girl didn't get pregnant in the short story. Here, the master of the house is roughly the same age of his wife, but he is business-obsessed and puts his wife down; in the short story, all we know is that he was older than her and died after three years of marriage, leaving her childless (it's unclear why they don't have children in the movie version). All these changes affect considerably how we should view the characters' behavior. In the short story, the mistress is a real competitor to the servant; here, since she is married, perhaps the whole affair is more life a fantasy she engages in, but we aren't really sure. But the main difference, in my view, is in the barrister's character. In the short story, he is a gentleman. In the movie, the young man is a cad -- he seduced the girl and wouldn't have married her out of obligation alone. The girl, in turn, is also different. In the short story, she is naïve and immature, but not as stupid and selfish as here. Also, she was not a slut. Side note: in Tess of the d'Urbervilles the protagonist is raped, not seduced. Christopher Mulrooney: "pseudo-19th Century pop-jazz score".

This TV film is available on YouTube:

THE DAY AFTER THE FAIR (1986)

The short story it is (loosely) based on is available on Wikisource:

On the Western Circuit - Wikisource, the free online library

Rating: 38

Mélodie en sous-sol (1963)

 U.S. title: Any Number Can Win

An ageing man is released from prison and plans to rob a seaside casino and then to retire. He partners with a younger man who had been his cellmate, also hiring the latter's brother-in-law as driver.

I had a feeling of déjà vu over this film's basic premise, and could not really remember which film had a similar one. A few days after watching it, I was randomly browsing the book 501 Must-See Movies (Bounty Books, 2004), and found the probable source of my previous encounter with this plotline: The Asphalt Jungle (1950), which I watched long ago. Here is the pertinent excerpt from that book:

Doc Riedenschneider (Jaffe), a criminal mastermind, is just out of prison and has a brilliant plan for a million-dollar jewellery heist. He recruits Louis (Caruso) as a safecracker, Gus (Whitmore) as the driver, and Dix (Hayden) as a strong-arm man to help with the raid. Initially the plan runs like clockwork but each member of the gang proves to have his own fatal flaw and each contributes to his own downfall.

The author of that synopsis is presumably Paul Frost-Sharratt, who is responsible for the book's Mystery/Thriller section. The authors of the other sections are, respectively, Ann Lloyd (Comedy, Musical and Romance), Rob Hill (Horror and Science Fiction & Fantasy), Ronald Bergan (War and Western), Chris Darke (Action/Adventure & Epic), and Cara Frost-Sharratt (Drama).

Back to Mélodie en sous-sol, it is a well made heist movie which has lots of suspense and makes for fairly good entertainment. However, the plot has some weaknesses toward the end of the movie, which I will discuss below -- warning: there will be major spoilers in what follows. Before that, one minor remark about the French title: it's really disgraceful, consisting in an unfortunate play on words. The U.S. title is no better, I'm afraid, because it simply does not describe anything about the movie except that it has a casino in it. The Brazilian title is also terrible ('Gangster in Overcoat', later changed to 'Gangsters in Overcoat') -- below I show the Brazilian poster. If you want to quit reading now, my rating is 62, so you may just skip the remainder of this text.

Spoilers ahead:

.

.

.

There isn't exactly a plot hole that I could detect, but the after-robbery events, while possessing a certain aesthetical appeal, reveal a certain lack of intelligence on the part of the robbers. They had chosen to hide the loot in a private cabin that the younger robber had rented for the season. When the older robber sees the photo of his younger partner on the newspaper, he abandons his initial plans to stay put until the heat is gone, deciding instead to flee at once with the loot. But in my opinion the assumption that the money would otherwise be safe in the cabin was unwarranted, photo or no photo. In the morning after the heist, the police was already around the swimming pool inquiring about the cabins, which suggests that the screenwriter is of the same opinion as me. The police search certainly wasn't prompted by the newspaper photo: the police didn't pay any attention to the younger robber while he was near them by the pool. Also, the poolside was perhaps not the best place for the robbers to meet; it isn't clear to me why they couldn't just choose a place away from the hotel. I would expect the police to be watching roads and train stations, not every single place in the city. Another easy precaution they could have taken would have been to move the loot to other bags (or, if in a hurry, at least provisionally put the compromised bags inside bigger ones).

Rating: 62

E.T. the Extraterrestrial (1982)

 Second viewing; previously viewed between 1983 and 1986.

An intelligent extraterrestrial gets stranded on Earth and a little boy befriends him.

The kids are good actors. The house is lovely. Otherwise I didn't really find much of value in this production; this second viewing didn't improve it to me. One curious thing about it is that the generally accepted notion that it is a paean to empathy is seriously problematic. The alien's "empathic" organism actually made the kid so sick that his life was in danger. If there's a moral to this story, it's that aliens are dangerous.

For further reading: The Alien (unproduced film) - Wikipedia

Rating: 32 (unchanged)

Un linceul n'a pas de poches (1974)

 International English title: No Pockets in a Shroud

Based on the novel by Horace McCoy, first published in 1937.

A newspaper reporter gets fed up with having his stories censored by his boss, and decides to start his own publication, a magazine. He specializes in denouncing the evil deeds of the powerful: bribery in sports, the illegal (and fatal) abortionist practices of a conservative deputy, and the liaison between the mayor and a teenage boy, which entailed the murder of the latter's father. This last case involves several powerful people, who set out to stop the journalist by any means necessary.

Drama with a very serious subject matter. I suspect that it must feel a little dated in France, where corruption doesn't seem to pay anymore, and conservatism has lost its hegemony, but of course I could be wrong. Anyway, it's not a great movie, but it has some great sequences. The plotline is very complex, and the film is a bit long, with some parts dragging somewhat.

Rating: 50

Making a Living (1914)

Second viewing; previously viewed on January 6, 2006.

This is about a reporter and a man who keeps getting in his way and thus becomes a source of great annoyance and trouble to him. The reporter witnesses by happenstance a car accident and rushes to cover it. The jobless man, as expected, shows up at the scene of the accident.

Passable silent short comedy. The most interesting aspect of it is probably the way it portrays who is unsympathetic to people in a situation of need (the reporter gives money to the begging man with reluctance and mutters 'bum' after his initial encounter with him). Instead of being rewarded for his moderate generosity, he is punished with continuous setbacks. The film's implicit message seems to be that people without real compassion are always doomed. Or something like that.

Rating: 50 (unchanged)

Against the Wind (1948)

A team of saboteurs engaged in the Resistance during World War II must rescue one of their top men who has been captured by the Germans after an operation in occupied Belgium.

I've read that this is one of the first films about the WWII Underground. As such, many of its story elements will feel like déjà vu to modern audiences. Even so, it stands out for its excellent craftsmanship, and two or three sequences are really thrilling. There are some errors in the Wikipedia page for this movie.

(...) Michèle the Belgian émigrée (Signoret), whose sweetheart has died after the occupation of Belgium (...)

Michèle's sweetheart has not died; he has turned quisling.

On completion of their training Fr Elliott and Julie are parachuted into Belgium, briefed to destroy a Nazi records office in Brussels and to spring prominent SOE agent Andrew from custody (...)

The records office was destroyed by agent Andrew, who subsequently is captured by the Germans.

Rating: 51

Toda donzela tem um pai que é uma fera (1966)

 Joãozinho is living with his girlfriend in his apartment without the latter's father's knowledge. When her father finds out about it, he becomes enraged and tries to enter the building where Joãozinho lives. Joãozinho hears the ruckus and manages to hide his girlfriend with a friend who lives in the same building. A series of mix-ups ensue.

Comedy which artificially stretches the initial situation into the duration of a feature film. Although the plot development is in itself tedious and more than a little implausible, the film is done with such verve that it somehow succeeds, albeit only barely, at holding the viewer's attention. Other than that, the cinematography is fine, and the film has some interest as a record of a contradictory period in Brazilian history.

Rating: 34

Un drôle de paroissien (1963)

English titles: Heaven Sent (UK); Light-fingered George (US); Thank Heaven for Small Favors (unknown)

 A penniless aristocrat turns into robbing churches' alms boxes for a living.

Comedy which has no other apparent ambition except lightly entertaining its audience. All the same, one could draw some psychological truths (or truisms) from it, such as that one's morality is conditioned by one's familial environment. This is the theme of lots of Mafia movies. Here, however, the crimes are of a less shocking nature and no one gets hurt.

Rating: 51

Solo (1970)

Upon his return to France, a diamond smuggler looks his brother up and discovers he is a terrorist in hiding. He tries to locate his brother and in the process ends up becoming a suspected terrorist also.

Routine thriller with much dialogue and the most repetitive musical score you will ever hear. It has some entertainment value, but not much.

Rating: 44

Pygmalion (1938)

Based on the play by George Bernard Shaw which premiered in Vienna (in German) in 1913 and in London (in English) in 1914.

A phoneticist makes a bet that he can teach a flower seller to talk like a person from the nobility.

This follows the strange pattern of so many films of that era, starting out as though it were approaching an important or interesting social theme and later simply shifting into a purely romantic conflict. The way the character Eliza moves and speaks after her transformation resembles that of an automaton, which draws a weird parallel with Hoffmann's short story The Sandman. Despite lacking any kind of depth, this film is entertaining on a scene-by-scene basis.

Rating: 51

Topper Returns (1941)

 A young woman returns to America to meet her father of whom she has no recollection. On the first night she spends at her father's mansion, the friend she had brought along with her, and with whom she had exchanged rooms, is murdered and her ghost summons the help of a middle-aged man who lives nearby to find the murderer.

Entertaining comedy which makes fun of mystery movies. This is the second sequel to Topper, and is perhaps the finest film of the three. There's plenty of action, the comicity, while somewhat predictable, is quite effective, and the special effects are well done. 

Rating: 51

Una muchachita de Valladolid (1958)

 English title: Girl from Valladolid

The plot centers around a couple and the matrimonial conflicts brought about by the husband's activities as an ambassador, which involve courting other women as a way of influencing their husbands.

Sex comedy which is not badly made, but is pretty conventional and tame by today's standards. I suppose the film's main merit is that it managed to adapt a theatrical play in a reasonably non-verbose manner. I didn't have the curiosity to read the play, but, for anyone who does, here's the link:

Una muchachita de Valladolid | Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes (cervantesvirtual.com)

Rating: 38

Topper Takes a Trip (1938)

 Topper's wife is divorcing him and he must follow her to France in order to avoid it. Marion, the ghost who caused all his marital troubles in Topper, comes along with the intention of helping him, but as previously she causes a lot of trouble as well.

Sequel which is more than a tad repetitive. How many times in a row can one find people marveling at a man interacting with an invisible ghost funny? There is some humor in Cosmo's wife's daft utterances, but mostly the film feels creaky.

Rating: 35

Étoile sans lumière (1946)

 English title: Star Without Light

A silent film actress fears for her professional prospects with the advent of sound. When her lover hears the cleaning woman in their hotel sing, he has an idea that could save the actress's career.

This drama has a serious script problem in that the main character behaves in an absurd manner in the end. Aside from that, the film is curious because its plot's premise is the same as that of Singin' in the Rain. Also, there is an extravagent musical number featuring pirates which might be worth seeing. As for the rest of the movie, well, it's not unwatchable, but it's obvious that the whole enterprise is just meant as an exploitation of the fame and singing abilities of its star.

Rating: 36

La grande passion (1928)

English title: The Great Passion

A millionairess falls in love with a rugby player. Another player falls in love with her. While the first player is having an affair with the millionairess, he meets a younger woman.

Silent movie about the romantic troubles of sportsmen. It has some nice moments, amongst which a sequence at the Lido featuring an indoor pond with people swimming and diving. The skiing and luging sequences are well done and provide the climax of the film. The plot is not very interesting, and the ending is rather abrupt. Some rugby sequences are poorly done with the players feigning running in front of a back projection of a crowd.

Rating: 40

L'invitée (1969)

 U.S. title: The Uninvited

Anne leaves her husband after he returns from a trip bringing a strange woman with him and confesses they have become involved with one another. Anne decides to sleep at her workplace (she is a draughtsman at an architecture office). The chief architect appears there and, as he is leaving on a business trip, she decides to come along with him.

This drama has a curious plot which is predictable but no less amusing because of that. It's a slow and well directed film with fine performances. Another curiosity is that the U.S. title is the exact opposite of the original one; one could argue that both make sense, but the original one is preferrable.

Rating: 60

The Morning After (1986)

 Second viewing; first viewed on January 9, 1988.

A former actress wakes up in a strange place with a dead body next to her. The body -- which has a knife stuck in his chest -- belongs to a photographer with a past in pornography. While on the run from the scene of the crime she meets an ex-cop who tries to help her; she also has to deal with her husband -- from whom she is separated -- filing for divorce to marry a rich woman.

This film's script makes a pathetic attempt at social commentary on California issues through a very contrived plot,  but the film itself is not as atrocious as it appeared to me upon my first viewing. It has a nice pace and the love story conveys some interesting dramatic moments at some points.

Rating: 40 (up from 24)

El buen amor (1963)

 English title: The Good Love

A young couple who's been dating for a year decide to secretly travel to another town to have a day away from everyone they know. The trip entails a series of quarrels between them, and also provides an opportunity for them to know each other (and themselves) better, and to plan for their future together.

This is a satisfactory drama about youth. It is quite realistic and the writer/director also displays a good mastery of mise-en-scène. The location shooting in Toledo makes for great visuals in black-and-white.

Rating: 62

Our Town (1940)

It centers on two families living next door in a small town, one headed by an editor and the other by a physician. Their two respective elder children fall in love and marry each other.

I guess I'm the only one in the world who didn't like this, and found its text just a collection of pseudo-philosophical platitudes, and its narrative a collection of conformist banalities. Well, anyway, I must admit that as a cinematic production, it is very well done in all its aspects of image and sound, and so I can't say it's a completely bad movie.

Rating: 42

No mundo da Lua (1958)

Zé da Foice travels from his native State in Northeastern Brazil to Rio de Janeiro to meet the widow with whom he had been exchanging love letters. He is accompanied by Mário, a younger man. Upon arrival, the pair is noticed by Nancy, a criminal in a gang. Said gang is planning to rob a rich industrialist who happens to be Zé da Foice's exact lookalike.

Comedy with a formulaic plot and few mildly funny moments. Some musical numbers are inserted, as usual in this kind of production, the most curious of which is a rendering of The Banana Boat Song by one George Green.

Rating: 19

Incomplete Cast:
Walter d'Ávila as Zé da Foice and Matias the industrialist
Violeta Ferraz as Dora (the widow)
Consuelo Leandro as Carolina (woman who claims to be Zé da Foice's wife)
Nancy Wanderley as Nancy (Northeast-born gang member)
Tiririca (Ubyrajara Vianna) as Matias's chauffeur
Hélio Colonna as Gang Leader's Son
Reginaldo Faria as Mário (Zé da Foice's young friend)
Aracy Rosas as Magali (the widow's niece)
Mozael Silveira as Thirty-Three (escaped lunatic)
Zélia Hoffman as Márcia (woman who seduces Matias)
Saluquia Rentini as Matias's wife
Frederico Schlee as Gang Leader
Leila Miranda as Matias's secretary
Renée Brown as Nurse in Psychiatric Hospital
Francisco Martorelli as Doctor in Psychiatric Hospital

The Troublemaker (1964)

 A country man moves to New York to open a café, and has to deal with the pervading corruption which plagues the city. He is helped by a cynical lawyer friend and starts a relationship with a free-spirited visual artist.

A comic view of several aspects of New York City life in the mid-1960s, which prefigures in a way some films which tackled in a more serious manner the problem of urban corruption, such as Serpico. Although made with some verve, its sense of humor is really far from sophisticated, and gets, at its worst, annoying.

(Admittedly, I couldn't understand some of the dialogue.)

Rating: 35

Proezas de Satanás na vila de Leva-e-Traz (1967)

 A poor village is shaken when oil is found in its vicinity. An artificial town is built around the exploration site, and all young healthy men move there, leaving only some women, old people and the invalid in the village. In the wake of that revolution, strange occurrences take place in the village. A stranger arrives into town who is revealed to be the devil himself.

Parable about economic development which makes use of popular literature and music from the Brazilian Northeast region. It's curious as an idea, but not very creative or exciting. The criticism towards it has been more of a political nature than one which would address its obvious artistic limitations.

Rating: 34

Fearless Frank (1967)

 Frank is a naïve young man who leaves his parents' farm to try his luck on the big city. Upon arriving there, he is killed by criminals belonging to a gang and revived by a scientist, who employs him in the fight against crime. That same gang hires another scientist who produces an evil replica of Frank.

Cartoonish comedy. It is a sort of parody of Frankenstein, Dick Tracy, and Superman, but the campy style is more reminiscent of Batman, the TV series, though the film reportedly was filmed before the airing of that series. Although it seems intent on annoying the viewer, it does not entirely succeed, and a few of them found it varying degrees of amusing.

Rating: 35

L'ibis rouge (1975)

 English title: The Red Ibis

Based on the novel Knock Three-One-Two, by Fredric Brown, in turn an expansion of his short story Night of the Psycho, both first published in 1959.

Raymond is in debt with a loan shark and asks his wife for her jewels, but she wants to divorce him and sell the jewels to open a hair salon. Meanwhile, a serial killer of women is on the loose.

Dark comedy. The plot has some details which do not make sense, e.g., why did the restaurant owner need the jewels at all  -- Raymond would give them as collateral in a loan -- when he could simply use his money directly to buy the house? Anyway, this is a film where the comicity comes from the characters, so the plot is not exactly the most important thing in it.

Rating: 57

A marcha (1972)

Laerte is the son of a landowner in 19th-century Brazil. His father is notorious for his mistreatment of slaves. Laerte joins the abolitionist movement, but hides his identity under a series of disguises. A side plot has a freed slave helping slaves to escape.

While vaguely interesting for its depiction of an important historical period, it's decidely ridiculous from a dramatic point of view. The color cinematography is good, though.

Rating: 35

Logan's Run (1976)

 In the 23rd century, humans have built a domed city run by a computer, where individuals live a hedonistic life until the age of 30, when they are killed in a kind of ritual. Some people occasionally try to escape, but are chased and usually killed by members of an expert police squad.

The chief interest of this production are its visuals. Its plot, though riddled with logical inconsistencies, does serve a purpose of mildly provoking thought about some philosophical, sociological and political themes. Overall, though not a very stimulating film, it's far from an excrutiating viewing experience.

Rating: 40

The Monitors (1969)

 A group of aliens invades the Earth and establishes its dominance over mankind. Their tyranny is well meaning, and their objective is to eliminate wars and other chronic problems of our planet. Not everyone is happy, though, and a rebel group which aims at retaking power from the Monitors is formed. The film centers on an actor and pilot who does not accept the Monitors' rule, and the actress who is in love with him, but secretly works for the Monitors.

Comedy which has an interesting political dilemma as premise: must a dictatorship be rejected because it usually results in oppression and exploitation, or because suppressing freedom is intrinsically bad? There is little verbal discussion in the film, which prefers to concentrate on action and some humorous sketches which satirize political conformity. The result is not exactly brilliant or funny, but is not without some visual and verbal creativity.

Rating: 45

The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976)

 A bunch of Black baseball players break away from their exploitative boss and form an independent team. They travel from town to town playing the local teams.

Comedy about the vicissitudes of entrepreneurship. While racism sets the framework in which the story develops, most of the plot revolves around conflicts within the Black community. The humor is light, and the narrative is sufficiently eventful to keep one entertained. As many sports movies, this one is fairly nice to look at, and the good cinematography helps.

Rating: 50

Salve-se quem puder - Rally da Juventude (1973)

 A wealthy man promotes a car rally. Some young male racers get into a dispute with their girlfriends because the latter want to take part in the rally, which they do. Criminals plan to steal the gold statue which would be awarded to the race winner.

This is a bad movie, made to cash in on the success of American blockbusters such as The Great Race and The Love Bug. The plot is minimal, and the film is comprised mostly of unfunny situations and repetitive  and overstretched car sequences.

Rating: 19

The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960)

 Based on the novel Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift, first published in 1726. (The film adapts only the first two of the four parts of that book.)

Fantastical adventure narrative with satirical undertones. Although it feels a little lacking in energy at certain points, it is reasonably well made, and the actors mostly perform well. The special effects are good too. It is mainly targeted at a juvenile audience, but older people can certainly enjoy it too.

Rating: 52

Casanova's Big Night (1954)

 A tailor's apprentice impersonates Casanova as part of a plan to test the fidelity of a woman who is engaged to be married. He becomes an unwitting piece in a bigger plot by the ambitious doge of Venice.

Well made farce. The script is rather formulaic, but it all works to satisfaction and there is a good amount of laughs to be had, both from verbal exchanges and from visual gags. Sets and costumes are quite fancy.

Rating: 53

My Outlaw Brother (1951)

 A man travels to Texas to meet his estranged brother who now lives in Mexico. The border town he arrives at is being constantly raided by Mexican bandits. A sheriff is assigned the mission of going into Mexico and finding an American guy who is a lieutenant of the chief bandit. It turns out that the guy he is trying to meet with is the newly arrived man's brother.

Routine Western. The script has several weak spots. Overall this film is watchable but rather unexciting.

Rating: 36

Bang Bang (1971)

A guy argues with a taxi driver. Three outlaws ride in a car and terrorize everyone. A flamenco dancer dances on the top of a building. These characters interact in a freewheeling manner.

Plotless movie in which the characters behave in an absurd manner. Initially kind of funny, it soon devolves into sheer boredom, with plenty of noneventful sequences of moving cars. The ending suggests it's all a joke, and I suspect it's on the viewer.

Rating: 19

Les guichets du Louvre (1974)

U.S. title: Black Thursday

In 1942, the French effect a round-up of Jews; they would later be deported to Germany. A Gentile young man unsuccessfully tries to save some Jews until he encounters Jeanne, a Jewish young woman, and decides to protect her from being caught by the police.

Interesting but a little monotonous fictional dramatization of the Vel d'Hiv incidents. I had watched a movie based on the same historical event called Elle s'appelait Sarah (2010). 

Rating: 43

Day of Triumph (1954)

 In Judea, a group of rebels plots against the Roman rule. When Jesus becomes a mass following phenomenon, the rebels see in him a potential leader of their movement. But Jesus has another agenda.

This is an original take on the Gospel story, with Judas Iscariot being given a different role than what is established in the canonical version. I have come to see the Jesus story and teachings as rather funny in themselves; this merging of that story with elements from a real political movement is a fictional exercise which has some amount of entertaining value, but not much consequence. The acting here is good all around, and the production values are just passable.

Rating: 45

Le franc-tireur (1972)

Alternative French title: Les hasards de la gloire

English title (according to IMDB): Chinese Glory

A group of French Resistance fighters in 1944 flee the Germans in a contryside region. One of them has joined the group with the sole purpose of getting away from that place and from the German threat.

Well done war movie which resembles a stretched out episode of the TV show Combat!. It's repetitive because of the situation it depicts, but keeps the viewer interested all the same. It was banned for thirty years, for reasons which no one seems to understand quite well nowadays; perhaps the reedited version has eliminated the problematic portions, or perhaps the emotional attachment to the issues which the film tackles is gone.

Here's a review in French: Le Franc-tireur (1972) de Jean-Max Causse & Roger Taverne – L'Oeil sur l'écran (oeil-ecran.com)

Rating: 50

Juno and the Paycock (1929)

 An Irish family in the midst of the Irish Civil War. The father is averse to work; the son lost an arm in the Independence War. Mother and daugher support the family. News of an upcoming inheritance causes them to start spending the money they think they are about to receive.

Men are women's burden in this bleak yet also funny film which show the Irish in an unforgiving light. It is well staged and well acted.

Rating: 54

Une partie de plaisir (1975)

English titles: Pleasure Party; A Piece of Pleasure

Philippe lives with his wife Esther and their little daughter in a country estate. Philippe confesses his past infidelities to Esther and tells her that it would be OK if she had extramarital affairs too. During one of their house parties, Esther goes to bed with Habib, whom Philippe dislikes. Philippe is OK with that, but when Esther starts leading a double life, Philippe gets annoyed.

An investigation of the new conjugal mores and their psychological effects on modern men and women. I couldn't decide whether it is reactionary -- Philippe's dream of civilized liberalism is shattered -- or progressivist -- masculine power is incompatible with progress, and thus would have to be suppressed. However one looks at it, it's a strong movie, with smart dialogue and a fairly tense story progression. The two main parts are played by the screenwriter and his ex-wife, an arrangement which gives the movie an extraordinary sense of verisimilitude. This is a work of imagination which drew on autobiographical events. The physically violent parts are inventions, I suppose. Although it's fairly grim, I highly recommend this film.

Rating: 79

Un rincón para querernos (1965)

A honeymooning couple finds it difficult to enjoy a moment alone. First they are crowded with other people in the train, then, in Pamplona during the San Fermín festival, they can't find a room, and must "enjoy" the tumultuous festivities in town.

In equal parts comedy and tourist-sploitation, this is an agreeable throwback to simpler times, though animal lovers will perhaps frown upon the depiction of the famous running of the bulls, and political fanatics will doubt that everyone could be that happy during a dictatorship. A segment of Manicomio (1954), which I have reviewed recently, depicted a similar situation as the one seen here during the train ride.

Rating: 55

A navalha na carne (1970)

English title: Razor in the Flesh

The tense interaction between a pimp and a prostitute because of some stolen money gets tenser when they bring into their room the homosexual janitor who stole it.

The interesting text based on a play is the strong suit of this drama, which also boasts some interesting cinematic ideas such as the initial silent half-hour, and good performances by the trio of actors. A low point are the sex sequences, which were badly filmed due probably to fear of the Brazilian censorship, but became a problem anyway, delaying the film's opening by a few months.

Rating: 50

Le Gendarme et les gendarmettes (1982)

 U.S. titles: The Gendarme and the Gendarmettes; The Troops & Troop-ettes

The St. Tropez policemen move to a new office, and get a computer to aid in their work. Their team is expanded to include four female officers, who unfortunately are kidnapped as part of a scheme which poses a great threat to the nation.

In a certain way this is the worst film of the franchise, because the amount of cringeworthy humor is simply intolerable in itself. But interspersed with those awful sequences are some passable action ones, and one which is actually very good: a nun goes on a driving rampage and her car disintegrates in the process. The previous film in the series didn't get as annoying as this one is at times, but it was also more monotonous.

Rating: 34

Bara no sôretsu (1969)

 English title: Funeral Parade of Roses

Loosely based on the play Oedipus Rex, by Sophocles, first published around 429 B.C.

Eddie, an effeminate man who works entertaining customers at a homosexual bar vies for the position of "madam", which is occupied by the bar owner's current lover. Eddie has a troubled family past which will bear tragic consequences for his future. A parallel plot centers on the (fictional) actor playing Eddie as he performs his work and interacts with his friends.

While this film's critical status is in part due to its use of pop art techniques, which can be a little annoying at times, and its fame probably stems significantly from its (once) controversial subject matter, it's only fair to say that its narrative bits are quite competently staged, especially in its ability to elicit convincing performances from its actors.

Rating: 50

Link to an online copy (I watched it on TV though): Funeral Parade Of Roses : Toshio Matsumoto : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Manicomio (1954)

 English title: Asylum

Based on the short stories The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether (1845), by Edgar Allan Poe, La mona de imitación (1923), by Ramón Gómez de la Serna, Putanitsa (tr. 'Confusion') (1897), or its variation Oshibka (tr. 'Mistake') (1900), by Aleksandr Kuprin, and Mysl (tr. 'Thought') (1902), by Leonid Andreyev.

A man goes to visit his fiancée at the madhouse where she works as a psychiatrist. He encounters several persons there who tell curious stories about mental patients. Each story is developed in flashback: a man whose wife one day starts repeating everything he says; a woman who feigns madness on a train in order to better enjoy her honeymoon; a man who feigns madness so as not to be punished for a crime he is planning to commit.

Collection of stories about mad people framed by Poe's story. The joining of stories with different styles and moods into one coherent whole has been passably achieved; the film doesn't aim for subtlety or depth, but the mise-en-scène is serviceable, and the result is curious and entertaining.

Rating: 51

Links to all but one of the short stories (one may use the machine translation button to convert the ones in Russian to one's preferred language):

Александр Куприн: Путаница (kuprin-lit.ru)

Александр Куприн: Ошибка (Вариант рассказа "Путаница") (kuprin-lit.ru)

A Dilemma - Wikisource, the free online library

The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether - Wikisource, the free online library

Le Gendarme et les extra-terrestres (1979)

 English title: The Gendarme and the Extra-Terrestrials

St. Tropez is visited by extra-terrestrials who take on the appearance of existing humans. One of the gendarmes see a flying saucer and the others do not believe him. Then another one sees it. Meanwhile they meet alien impostors who sound hollow and drink oil.

A weak installment with a few funny sequences. The reckless driver nun is back. The same joke of mistaking alien copies for their human counterparts is repeated ad nauseam.

Rating: 34

Le Gendarme en balade (1970)

 English title: The Troops on Vacation

The Saint-Tropez gendarmes are forced into retirement. They have a hard time adapting to an idle life. When they hear that one of their squad is in a mental hospital with amnesia, they set out to rescue him. Later, they must stop a bunch of kids who plan to launch a nuclear missile.

This fourth installment of the Gendarme franchise deals with the problems of retirement in middle age. The humor is very bland and aimed at a very undemanding public. However, the general idea of a bunch of (not very) old guys looking for something to do and clinging to old times has a certain pathos to it.

Rating: 34

A infidelidade ao alcance de todos (1972)

 Two segments: (1) The Tuba ("A tuba"). In a small town, an attractive woman does not get the attention she deserves from her husband, who is focused on his tuba playing in the municipal band. She is approached by the town mayor, who has an unusual proposition for her. (2) The Shag ("A transa"). During a new year's eve party, a bunch of couples engage in adulterous affairs.

Though devoid of any higher artistic ambition, this sex comedy does not hit rock bottom either. The acting is passable, and the script, adapted from a popular Brazilian play, while hardly brilliant, works as a vehicle for some mildly interesting sequences. The segments are different in tone, the first one slightly surreal and the second one more sprightly.

Rating: 36

O ébrio (1946)

 English title: The Drunkard

(spoilers) A ruined farmer's son is helped by a priest who gives him lodging. He enrolls at a singing contest and wins first prize. With the money, he manages to finish medical school. He operates on a little girl who couldn't walk, and she then can walk again. He marries a nurse, but she is deceived by one of his relatives who convinces her to run away with him. The protagonist then becomes a wanderer and a drunkard. A final encounter with her provides a sort of closure to their story.

Inspired by a song by the leading actor, this is, with the exception of one sequence, one of the worst films ever made, so ridiculous it defies belief, and poorly acted by nearly everyone in its cast. The one sequence which arguably stands above the overall inanity is -- predictably -- the one featuring the title song -- it's practically impossible not to be moved by it, even though what comes before and after it is an appalling collection of absurdities. All that being said, anyone with an interest in popular culture will probably have a curiosity to watch it, especially since it has been very competently restored in the late 1990s.

Rating: 25

Adultério à brasileira (1969)

 Worldwide English Title: Adultery Brazilian Style

Film in three segments. (1) O telhado ("The Roof") is about a factory worker who suspects his wife is cheating on him; (2) A assinatura ("The Signature") shows a day in the life of a couple in an open marriage; (3) A receita ("The Recipe") has a a womanizer husband and his frustrated wife who has a younger admirer.

To be honest, this film was surprisingly good at parts, and overall quite entertaining. The first episode featuring a working class couple is very good, a small masterpiece or nearly. The factory environment was very well captured in images, and the home life of the protagonist was equally well portrayed. And the leading performance was excellent. The other two episodes, while somewhat inferior, are not without merit. Number two is a curious take on upper class people which, while perhaps not totally convincing, reflected the spirit of the times and was well filmed. The last segment depicts a middle class couple and is possibly the one with the most appeal to audience tastes, showing more nudity and some vulgarity. It offers a glimpse into the later style of this director and into a whole new genre of which he would be one of the founders -- the pornochanchada; that being said, this is superior to those later films.

Rating: 51

The Plainsman (1966)

Remake of the homonymous 1936 film, which was based on "Wild Bill Hickok, the Prince of Pistoleers" by Frank J. Wilstach, first published in 1926.

War is brewing among the Cheyenne. Two guys and a tomboyish woman try to avoid the worst, but a bigoted officer does not believe in peace.

Bland Western using real-life characters in a fictional story. It's made with the usual American competence, but the only thing which caught my attention was Dillman's performance.

Rating: 35

Le paltoquet (1986)

 Based on the novel On a tué pendant l'escale, by Philippe du Puy de Clinchamps, under the pseudonym Franz-Rudolf Falk, first published in 1945.

A group of 4 friends gather in a bar to play bridge; they are referred to as The Doctor, The Professor, The Journalist, and The Honorable Merchant. The only other patron is a woman who lies in a hammock smoking. There is also the manager (a woman) and the waiter. The murder of a traveling salesman introduces a new character: the policeman. The doctor's gun is found near the cadaver, and so an investigation ensues.

Though based on a novel, this is more like a filmed play. The dialogue is riddled with wordplay and the scenery is very stylized. It is a sort of meta-whodunit, humorous and self-referential. The actors are all good, some are excellent. Overall, a film which is not exactly a landmark achievement, but interesting nonetheless.

Rating: 50

Le dossier noir (1955)

English title: Black Dossier 

A young judge is appointed to a position in a small town which is riddled with corruption. An ongoing case about a dog trainer who confesses the murder of some dogs he was working with appears to have deeper political implications. An investigator from Paris is summoned.

Well made criminal drama which offers an analysis of the justice system through dark satire. It has an intelligent conception and is well acted and entertaining throughout. One could criticize perhaps the somewhat abruptness of the ending, leaving some plot lines unresolved, but I think that's a minor problem. There isn't much information about the movie on the web, but there are some sources who point to a few real life events which allegedly inspired -- though very loosely -- this film's plot. One of those events is the Paule Guillou affair; the other is the Cannac affair. Here are some links about those affairs and/or about their respective connections with this movie:

Paule Guillou est-elle l'auteur du triple empoisonnement de Vendays ? (lemonde.fr)

Gironde : une préparatrice en pharmacie empoisonne toute une famille du Médoc en 1945 | Actu Bordeaux

Question CLVI, Pharmacie et cinéma - Persée (persee.fr)

"Le dossier noir" de la Résistance Carcassonnaise dans un film d'André Cayatte - Musique et patrimoine de Carcassonne (blogspirit.com)

Rating: 59

A super fêmea (1973)

 A male contraceptive pill is developed and is ready to be marketed. The manufacturer seeks a female model to advertise its product.

Sex comedy which is actually more weird than funny. The premise mocks feminism: women unite to demand that men share (or rather take over) the "burden" of contraception. The remainder of the film is an essay on the objectification of women, and an opportunity to marvel at how natural their bodies still were in the early 1970s. This voyeuristic pleasure was then (and is now even more) the greatest one provided by this film. At any rate, Brazilian cinema at that point in time hadn't reached its nadir of vulgarity yet, so the film is a few notches above unwatchability.

Rating: 27

To Trap a Spy (1964)

 Cinematic adaptation of the first episode of the TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ("The Vulcan Affair").

An American industrialist is actually working for an evil organization which is planning a murder which bears some connection with the visit to the U.S. of the leaders of an African country.

Espionage thriller with some mildly comic elements. There isn't really any relevant connection to serious issues here; intelligence does not work like this, and neither does the world. But, despite -- or perhaps because of -- that, it entertains passably.

Rating: 45

Murder! (1930)

Second viewing; previously viewed on October 17, 1992.

 A juror reluctantly endorses the guilty verdict in the case of an actress accused of murdering another member of her theatrical troupe. He then sets out to find out the real culprit.

This is a very well made film which employs an array of creative filming techniques to tell a story which, unfortunately, is not very interesting. Though the loose ends are carefully tied up in the end, there isn't really much plausibility to the premise of someone who will not provide information which would save her from being hanged, to mention just one of the more conspicuously far-fetched elements of the plot. Upon my first viewing I apparently only had eyes for the film's shortcomings.

Rating: 50 (up from 17)

Speak Easily (1932)

 A college professor with no social life gets a letter telling him that he has inherited a fortune. He quits his job and decides to finally live life. He gets involved with a theater troupe and ends up financially backing them. Of course there is also a girl.

This comedy about "broadening experiences" is not too hard to view, but is not exactly brilliant either. The comicity is somewhat strained, especially at its climactic later section. The idea of achieving better results in a show through accident than on purpose is seemingly an often revisited one. F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre gives some examples of this in his reasoned review of this film. An obscure Brazilian film which I reviewed on this blog is another example. Christopher Mulrooney cleverly remarked Speak Easily's connection with The Blue Angel.

Rating: 40

Death Wish 3 (1985)

 Second viewing; previously viewed on July 16, 2009

My previous synopsis is sufficiently good: "An aging man with a past as a vigilante resumes that role in a fight to dismantle the rule of a gang in a New York neighborhood."

I raised this film's rating a few notches, though I still find it rather nondescript and formulaic; perhaps one could point out as its distinctive feature the tendency to exaggerate the implausibilities which normally inhabit this genre. Watching this middle-aged protagonist perform a task which would be nearly impossible even for a man in his prime gives the film a definitely unreal feel. The apotheosis consisting in all interested parties (vigilante, police, population) joining forces against the criminals intensifies that feel to the verge of oneirism. Here's my previous assessment, wherein I foolishly took the trouble of pointing out one of the numerous implausibilities: "Rather dismal sequel, with practically nothing besides scenes of shootouts in a severely deficient plotline (one thing I could not understand is how the protagonist could buy heavy artillery at a mall whilst the police enforced a strict limitation on firearm possession). Balsam's stupendous performance in a small role is so contrasting with the film's inanity that it becomes a sort of aesthetical oddity." Of course dullness, not implausibility, is this film's main problem.

Rating: 34 (up from 31)

Dreams That Money Can Buy (1947)

Film in episodes built around the work ("drawings, objects and suggestions") of different visual artists. The narrative thread linking the episodes concerns a therapist who is capable of inducing preconceived dreams in his patients.

This cinematic vehicle for a number of painters and sculptors is curious for its novelty but the end result is unsatisfactory. Not all episodes really strive for oneirism: only the first and last ones ("Desire" and "Narcissus") do. The remainder ones are mostly exercises in animation or abstraction ("The Girl with the Prefabricated Heart"; "Discs"; "Circus"; "Ballet"); the live-action "Ruth, Roses and Revolvers" is quite unclassifiable, oscillating between surrealism and self-parody. None of them really impressed me much; the soundtrack by various composers is perhaps the most interesting thing in the movie.

Rating: 36

La torre de los siete jorobados (1944)

 English title: The Tower of the Seven Hunchbacks

A young man has visions of the ghost of an archeologist who helps him win at the roulette in exchange for doing him a favor. The young man gets acquainted with the dead man's niece, who is under the spell of a mysterious man.

This is a collection of tropes from fantastic novels and movies from the 19th and early 20h century and feels like an affectionate send-up of those works. The imagery is quite atmospheric, and overall the film is entertaining.

Rating: 51

Les grandes personnes (1961)

 English title: Time Out for Love

A young American woman spending some time in France nurses a woman through her recovery from a suicide attempt. A friendship is born between them, which is strained when the younger woman falls in love with her new friend's former lover.

Drama about the love-related troubles of some upper-class folks; actually there is only one guy and three women who revolve around him. The main dramatic point derives from men (as represented by this one guy) being passionate yet fickle and women being transported to amorous ecstasy only to have their feelings shattered subsequently. These women react somewhat differently to the experience. The two French women stand at the opposite ends of resilient cynicism and suicidal despondency, respectively; for the American it all eventually becomes part of the growing pains. This is an elegantly made film, with dialogue which seems a bit on the artificial side, and not infrequently a little enigmatic (though that's possibly only me).

Rating: 51

Las mujeres de mi general (1951)

English title: My General's Women 

Set in the Mexican Revolution, the film centers on a rebel general and his troubles with two women. Lupe, his "soldadera", marched alongside him in the battlefield until he takes over a town and establishes himself as the local chief. That town, coincidentally, is the place of residence of one of his former lovers, Carlota, who is now married to a wealthy man who is away on business.

This unusual film goes to such melodramatic extremes as to become a sort of satire. The two titular women, though in polar opposites of the spectrum as defined by the film's moral frame of reference, have a point in common in that they exist only for the purpose of fighting tooth and nail for their "general", who apparently is endowed with magnetic attraction powers of a supernatural order. The film goes in a crescendo of sexist display with such hilarious touches as having the protagonist leading the town's defense with his infant daughter under his arm, through to the delightfully heroic ending.

Rating: 43

King Lear (1982)

Based on the play by Shakespeare, in turn based on earlier works detailed in this Wikipedia page.

King Lear decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters, but his daughter Cordelia falls short in her statement of devotion to him, and thus gets struck out of the inheritance. His other two daughters subsequently prove themselves very ungrateful and begin mistreating him. A subplot which intersects with that concerns the bastard son of a nobleman who plots against the latter's legitimate son.

This is a TV production with little cinematic value, yet with great actors and overall competently done. Based on its length I suppose it is one of the more complete movie adaptations of this play, though to be sure they did eliminate a few dialogue lines (and even an entire scene, if I remember correctly). The play itself is interesting, but frankly not among the best Shakespeare I know so far. And it has some problems. There is no doubt about whom we are supposed to think to be the good guys and the bad guys here, but the plot just seems to contradict that clear moral attribution. Because the supposedly good guys are in fact territorial aggressors, and the bad guys are the ones who are just defending their country. So, it's like we are manipulated into rooting for Hitler invading Poland, or something of the sort. Very weird. Maybe I am missing something, but I don't have a clue what it might be. Of course, rescuing old Lear and giving him shelter is a good thing, but it does not take a military invasion to do that. It's not like Goneril and Regan want to keep him. Even the terrible actions by the villains are a little more nuanced than one is led to believe. The original "fault" by the daughters is to cut down Lear's private entourage of one hundred men to a more modest size. This is perceived by Lear as the ultimate offense, but to be honest I think the daughters may have their reasons for not keeping a potential source of a coup within their premises. There is a book that raises other problems with the plot, named Macbeth, King Lear & Contemporary History, by Lilian Winstanley. I have read some excerpts where the author points out some apparent implausibilities, but I haven't read the whole book, which attempts to explain Shakespeare's choices historically. All that being said, the text of the play has enough entertaining bits, and it is surely admirable as a display of verbal creativity.

Rating: 50