Thursday, November 23, 2023
The Life of Oharu
- Commentary: Under construction.
Roger Ebert christened this movie as one of his Great Movies. He also called it "the saddest film I have ever seen about the life of a woman."
More later.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Kinuyo Tanaka Oharu Tsukie Matsuura Tomo Ichirō Sugai Shinzaemon Toshirô Mifune Katsunosuke Toshiaki Konoe Lord Harutaka Matsudaira Hisako Yamane Lady Matsudaira Jūkichi Uno Yakichi Ogiya Kiyoko Tsuji Landlady Eitarō Shindō Kahe Sasaya Akira Oizumi Fumikichi Kyoko Kusajima Sodegaki Masao Shimizu Kikuoji
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1952
Directed by by Kenji Mizoguchi.
Labels: Criterion7, feminist, toshirô-mifune
Thursday, October 27, 2022
The Stepford Wives
- Commentary: Roger Ebert did not like this movie (his review is linked to the title of this post). That delights me, because I love this movie! Roger Ebert didn't like this movie because he was a man. Men almost never get it. It doesn't occur to them that this movie isn't about Joanna Eberhart or Bobbie Markowe. It's about the men in the movie, all of them. And, not only was it about 1975 men, it's about men, now. Unfortunately. But, undeniably.
I have more to say, but I think I'll wait until I view this movie once again.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Katharine Ross Joanna Eberhart Paula Prentiss Bobby Markowe Peter Masterson Walter Eberhart Nanette Newman Carol van Sant Tina Louise Charmaine Wimperis Carol Rossen Dr. Fancher William Prince Ike Mazzard Patrick O'Neal Dale Coba Carole Mallory Kit Sundersen Toni Reid Marie Axhelm Judith Baldwin Patricia Cornell Barbara Rucker Mary Ann Stavros George Coe Claude Axhelm Franklin Cover Ed Wimperis Robert Fields Raymond Chandler Michael Higgins Frank Cornell Josef Sommer Ted van Sant Remak Ramsay Mr. Atkinson Mary Stuart Masterson Kim Eberhart Ronny Sullivan Amy Eberhart
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1975
Directed by Bryan Forbes.
Labels: feminist, goflexB, horror2, me-favorite4, psychological2, satire3, thriller3
Wednesday, April 20, 2022
Promising Young Woman
- Commentary: This movie created quite the buzz, initiating no less than four dedicated articles on Roger Ebert's site and a further flurry of mentions in compendium articles there. It also caught the eyes of many awards organizations and won more than a few of its nominations.
Update 4/21/22: I watched this movie last night, 4/20/22. Yeow! I was glued to the screen! Superbly watchable movie, very involving, no false performances or sloppy plot schematics that I could detect, subtly presented, expertly framed the protagonist's journey into revenge and, ultimately, horror! A wonderful job done by all, notably writer/director Emerald Fennell. Now, I'm curious about her other work, some of which, as an actress, I've seen. Really looking forward to more of her work in all categories of film making!
Of note, this movie has also inspired me to add another label category, "revenge". Turns out, another movie I recently acquired with this one also fits this category, so I've started out running. I'm about to add a third, an old one that clearly fits into this category. I'm sure I'll find more in my collection to which "revenge" applies.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Carey Mulligan Cassie Thomas Bo Burnham Ryan Cooper Alison Brie Madison McPhee Clancy Brown Stanley Thomas Jennifer Coolidge Susan Thomas Connie Britton Dean Elizabeth Walker Chris Lowell Alexander Monroe Alfred Molina Jordan Green (uncredited)
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2020
Directed by Emerald Fennell.
Labels: clancy-brown, dramaE, female-director3, feminist, revenge1, violence4, women's-movie2
The Accused
- Commentary: This movie turns on Sarah Tobias' (played with verve and extraordinary competence by Jodie Foster) dance in the game room of the bar she was in the night she was raped. The dance is joyously energetic, celebratory, expressive and, yes, seemingly provocative, except that it is clear she wasn't trying to provoke anything, she was merely expressing. That dance, more than anything in the movie, is what defines the criminal injustice in what happened to her next. The idea of rape was clearly present in the minds of the watchers even before the dance took place. The rapists were simply waiting for the opportunity to do the deed. It didn't matter on who they perpetrated the rape. It could have been any of the women in that bar. It just happened to be Sarah. It was Sarah because, if you notice, all the other featured women in the bar left as the rape took shape in the minds of the rapists and onlookers or as it commenced. This movie is, in my opinion, a brilliant commentary on male society's perspective on rape. To men, they are not the perpetrators, women are, for simply being, well, women. Although a dance preceeded this rape, rarely does anything objectively "provocative" preceed most rapes. Thus, the presence, or absence, of a provocative dance is not up for question. The movie clearly underlines that rape isn't something women, or men, for that matter, provoke, it's something that men perpetrate upon weaker members of the society, women, primarily, but not exclusively.
I initially saw this movie a long time ago, possibly on television, but I can't be sure. I'd forgotten about it until it popped up in a sale of film products featuring female actors and other crew. Suddenly, I was remembering the extraordinary effect it had on me. It did not make me afraid, so much, as disgusted at the shenanigans through which the legal system put this case. It smartened me up right quick, as they say in the trades. I've never had to participate in such a case, and hope I never do, but thinking, yet again, about this movie still kindles a sense of righteous anger in me.
Let me state this clearly: As a woman, and, only, as a woman, I neither like nor trust men. I learned this, first from my father, not explicitly, but implicitly, ambiguously. Even when some man, somewhere, says or does something with which I concur, which is often, I am guarded. I am always thinking, in the back of my mind, that at any moment that particular man is going to say or do something else that will completely undercut any act of seeming fairness or support. That's just what it is to be a woman in this society, and many others. It could be different but, in 1988, when this movie was released, and now, in 2022, as I just completed watching it for the second time in my life, this remains true. And, men wonder why in the world some feminists want to separate from, or get rid of, men.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Jodie Foster Sarah Tobias Kelly McGillis Kathryn Murphy Bernie Coulson Kenneth Joyce Ann Hearn Salley Fraser
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1988
Directed by Jonathan Kaplan.
Labels: 20th-century-chick-flicks1, character-study, dramaE, feminist, jodie-foster, legal, violence4
Friday, May 07, 2021
Dance, Girl, Dance
- Commentary: Under Construction.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Maureen O'Hara Judy O'Brien Louis Hayward James Harris Jr. Lucille Ball Bubbles/Tiger Lily White Virginia Field Elinor Harris Ralph Bellamy Steve Adams Maria Ouspenskaya Madame Lydia Basilova Mary Carlisle Sally Katharine Alexander Miss Olmstead Edward Brophy Dwarfie Humblewinger Walter Abel Judge Harold Huber Kashulian Sidney Blackmer Puss in Boots
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1940
Directed by Dorothy Arzner.
Labels: §2, Criterion1, dramedy1, female-director1, feminist, pussy-flick
Monday, April 05, 2021
The Witch
- Commentary: I finally watched this film last night, 6/30/21. I know. I've had it since April. My only excuse is that, although since that time I've added several movies (seen and unseen previous to purchase) I've wanted to own, at the same time I entered into a period, not the first I've experienced, when I just didn't want to spend much time staring at the screen, no matter how much any particular movie excited me.
Anyway, interesting, interesting film! First of all, there's not a false performance in it. Second, the setting is exquisitely managed. Third, the story, itself, slips, expertly between "witches, yes" and "witches, no". Third, character development and relational portrayal between characters are never neglected. I ended the movie with no questions or holes in my understanding. In addition, my attention was riveted from beginning to end.
Truthfully, having been born on Halloween, I have a special relationship with horror movies that focus on witchery. I have, by no means, seen all of them and tend to avoid the hundreds (if not thousands) of horror films, witched or not, that cluster-release around Halloween. This movie, though, is designed, I think, to be thought provoking and decidedly eerie any time of the year, especially since it unfolds slowly. Impressive job for a directoral first. It would, in fact, be an excellent job for a film made in the middle or end of a long film-making career.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Anya Taylor-Joy Thomasin Ralph Ineson William Kate Dickie Katherine Harvey Scrimshaw Caleb Ellie Grainger Mercy Lucas Dawson Jonas Julian Richings The Governor Bathsheba Garnett The Old Witch Sarah Stephens The Young Witch Charlie Goat Black Phillip Wahab Chaudhry Human Black Phillip Axtun & Athan Dube Samuel
Here's the Wikipeda write-up on this film.
Release Date: 2015
Directed by Robert Eggers.
Labels: A24, drama1, feminist, folk-horror, period1, popcorn-and-soda1, psychological1, spiritual1, women's-movie2
