Friday, July 30, 2021
The Illusionist
- Commentary: I watched this movie last night, 8/20/21. As with most of the movies I acquire, I'd seen it before, only once, as I recall, with my mother, and have been intrigued by it ever since. Not with the magic. Although I find watching magic immensely entertaining, it's not an entertainment upon which I've much ruminated.
That's what I realized, last night, I enjoy about the movie. It does my ruminating for me, sparks questions in my mind about illusion, suggests answers, asks more questions, swirls all this around a romance story that could go either way, around the character developments of all the principal participants in the movie, all of which could go any way, and then comes to a satisfying but still mysterious end.
I've called the end "mysterious" because, well, I had trouble following Inspector Uhl's (played masterfully by Paul Giamantti) summation at the end of the movie. At first I thought it was me, but as I considered the movie further after watching it and then replayed the scene containing his final summation, I realized that I think it was meant to be confusing, as, the magic of illusion is that everyone sees something different because considering any illusion has different consequences for each person who sees it. Some don't even consider an illusion illusory. Prince Leopold certainly didn't, and look what happened to him.
Which brings us to the resolution of the romance. By the end of the movie it seems inevitable that Sophie and Eduard come together, something they've both been fighting for all their lives. But the final scene of them together has an otherworldly quality about it, as though, somehow, their lives were ended and their romance takes place in some sort of afterlife.
Which I found satisfying to contemplate. It's as though, well, you don't get what you're striving for until you can no longer strive for it.
'Nuff said, I think.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Edward Norton Eisenheim The Illusionist/Eduard Abramovich Aaron Johnson Young Eduard Abramovich Paul Giamatti Chief Inspector Walter Uhl Jessica Biel Duchess Sophie Von Teschen Rufus Sewell Crown Prince Leopold Eddie Marsan Josef Fischer Jake Wood Jurka Tom Fisher Willgut
The Wikipedia write-up for this movie is here.
Release Date: 2006
Directed by Neil Burger.
Labels: dramaD, edward-norton, fantasy4, historical4, period6, romance4
Thursday, July 29, 2021
The Virgin Suicides
- Commentary: Under construction.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role James Woods Ronald Lisbon Kathleen Turner Sara Lisbon Kirsten Dunst Lux Lisbon Josh Hartnett Trip Fontaine Michael Paré Adult Trip Fontaine A. J. Cook Mary Lisbon Hanna R. Hall Cecilia Lisbon Leslie Hayman Therese Lisbon Chelse Swain Bonnie (Bonaventure) Lisbon Jonathan Tucker Tim Weiner Noah Shebib Parkie Denton Andrew Gillies Principal Woodhouse Mairlyn Smith Mrs. Woodhouse Robert Schwartzman Paul Baldino Scott Glenn Father Moody Danny DeVito Hayden Christensen Joe Dinicol Dominic Palazzolo Sherry Miller Mrs. Buell Kristin Fairlie Amy Schraff Giovanni Ribisi Narrator
Here is the Wikipedia write-up for this movie.
Release Date: 1999
Directed by Sofia Coppola.
Labels: §, Criterion3, female-director1, james-woods, kirsten-dunst
White Material
- Commentary: Under construction.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Isabelle Huppert Maria Vial Christopher Lambert André Vial Nicolas Duvauchelle Manuel Vial Isaach de Bankolé Le Boxeur Adèle Ado Lucie Michel Subor Henri Vial William Nadylam Chérif David Gozlan Hamudi
The Wikipedia write-up for this movie is here.
Release Date: 2009
Director: Claire Denis.
Labels: §, Criterion3, female-director1
Smooth Talk
- Commentary: I watched this film a couple of months ago when I first received it. It was probably the one film in the batch that arrived that I was most excited to watch. I mean, Joyce Chopra as director? Teenage angst over sexuality? Laura Dern and Treat Williams? Of course I was on board.
Much is said about the yearning and excitability of naive, sexually awakening young women but nothing is explicit. Because of this, so much more is left unsaid. We are never told, for instance, what the details are of Connie Wyatt's partially forced, partially willing assignation with Arnold Friend, whose given name in the movie, by the way, I almost immediately began to doubt. Treat Williams plays Arnold's finagling touch with naivete so expertly that, although I was fearful for Connie when he visited her house and convinced her to go for a ride, I was a curious as she, remembering my own excitement and curiosity about men and sex when I was her age.
I purposely did not read anything in depth about the movie before I watched it. I wanted to wonder at the outcome of Connie's adventure, rather than know. Good choice because although she arrives back home, my heart had already sunk, pondering what happened to her and what she learned, and how perfectly this movie outlines the treachery of male sexuality in a patriarchal world. And, the fact that Connie perceives that she has no choice, being female, but to accept that treachery and attempt to negotiate around it, as all the women, especially the adult women, in her life do. Now, though, she's going to put that off, for awhile.
It is a deep, sobering, heartbreaking, on point film, but something tells me you have to be a woman to perceive this. Roger Ebert kind of got it, his review is attached to the title of this post, but, for all his sensitivity, not quite. He referred to Connie as "a certain kind of teenager". Oh, Roger, the point is, she's all teenage girls. Now. In this world. And for centuries before this.
One of my (many) final takes was, why, in the world, did Wonder Woman ever leave Themyscira, drowning man be damned, and, having left, why would she not return, immediately, whether or not she delivered her cargo safely? Turns out, although directed by a woman, Wonder Woman was written by men, three of them. Honeys, don't try to save the world of men. Leave it to its insane devices and let it destroy itself. You find a place to hide out in the meantime. Men are too entrenched, anymore, to learn and you are too valuable to risk destruction in order to teach.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Treat Williams Arnold Friend Laura Dern Connie Wyatt Mary Kay Place Katherine Wyatt Margaret Welsh Laura Sara Inglis Jill Levon Helm Harry Wyatt Elizabeth Berridge June Wyatt Geoff Hoyle Ellie
Here's the link to Wikipedia's write-up to this film.
Release Date: 1985
Directed by Joyce Chopra.
Labels: Criterion3, female-director1
My Brilliant Career
- Commentary: Under construction.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Judy Davis Sybylla Melvyn Sam Neill Harry Beecham Wendy Hughes Aunt Helen Robert Grubb Frank Hawdon Max Cullen Mr. McSwatt Aileen Britton Grandma Bossier Peter Whitford Uncle Julius Patricia Kennedy Aunt Gussie Alan Hopgood Father Julia Blake Mother David Franklin Horace Marion Shad Gertie Aaron Wood Stanley Sue Davies Aurora Gordon Piper Barman Simone Buchanan Mary-Anne
Here's the link to the Wikipedia write-up for this movie.
Release Date: 1979
Directed by Gillian Armstrong.
Labels: §2, Criterion3, female-director1
The Old Maid
- Commentary: This movie is a subtly horrific construction that can't escape the description "woman bashing", but, being a Bette Davis/Miriam Hopkins movie, it's incredibly engaging and fun to watch. I have to admit, even though it's a period piece and we're quietly encouraged to take this into consideration when judging Davis' and Hopkin's character's beliefs, actions and decisions, the circumstances proposed in this movie are almost too contrived to be believed. And, yet, watching Hopkins and Davis negotiate through them, well, you just kind of sit back, snuggle in for a good couple of hours and reach for the popcorn bowl.
This movie initiates the use of a new label, by the way, "mother-daughter-dynamics1". So far, it's the only one in this category, but I'm sure I have several that qualify, which is why I placed a "1" after the label name, and will search them out later. Right off the bat, for instance, Now, Voyager comes to mind.
For an interesting, thoughtful and wide-ranging essay on the subject of mothers sacrificing for daughters and other movie-mother insights, check out Mothers in the Movies. This movie is one of many mentioned in the essay.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Bette Davis Charlotte Lovell Miriam Hopkins Delia Lovell Ralston George Brent Clem Spender Jane Bryan Clementina Donald Crisp Dr. Lanskell Louise Fazenda Dora James Stephenson Jim Ralston Jerome Cowan Joseph Ralson William Lundigan Lanning Halsey Cecilia Loftus Henrietta Lovell William Hopper John Ward Frederick Burton Mr. Halsey
Here's the link to the Wikipedia write-up for this movie. As well, the link in the title of this post will lead you to DVD Savant's review of this movie; first review on the page.
Release Date: 1939
Directed by Edmund Goulding.
Labels: bette-davis, miriam-hopkins, mother-daughter-dynamics1, popcorn-and-soda7
