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Reviews
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Overrated
The trouble with a film like STRANGERS ON A TRAIN,' is that from the very beginning I've become aggravated with a supposedly charming, yet devious character. The problem is, he isn't charming, but he is devious -- but not in a deliciously wicked kind of way. Watching him I feel disgusted -- I want the hero of the film to run away, or to report this character to the cops. But this doesn't happen -- for reasons I'll state soon enough.
What happens, though, is that the tennis player (who as a celebrity, tries to play friendly with the common folk), makes the mistake of allowing the stranger (who is very obsessed with him), to become too friendly. But he isn't just obsessed by his status as a player, he's also got the athlete's personal life down pack. You see. He knows he's getting a divorce. And the lighter the athlete carries around, which contains him and his wife's first name initials -- the stranger knows what the initials stand for. And I wouldn't cancel out the possibility that he knows the size of his tennis shoes, and where he bought them.
The tennis player finds himself in a bit of a pickle, when he sarcastically agrees to the stranger's proposition, that: the stranger kill the tennis player's wife, and that the tennis player kill the stranger's father -- `criss-cross,' the stranger calls it. But sarcasm is something the stranger did not pick-up. Oh no. For a night later, he strangles the Tennis player's wife to death at a carnival.
Now, one may think, that once the tennis player receives news of this occurrence, he'll simply call the cops and quickly kick the stranger out of his life, for good. But there's a problem. The tennis player is an accessory to murder. The stranger asks, `Why would I kill a stranger?' Good point. It would seem plausible for a man to kill a woman who denies that they separate. So what must the tennis player do, in order to avoid imprisonment? Even I, who feel negative about the film, will not spoil.
But speaking of irony. I often watched certain passages of this film, through the eyes of those who've loved it, and I see a film that isn't so bad after all. That's clearly the wrong way to watch any movie. Then I watch the film through my 18 year old eyes, and see mediocrity.
I suppose, that for diehard Hitchcock fans, they see a personal work, which asks the question: `Would I ever kill someone?' and `how would I go about doing it?' This is obviously a question the filmmaker has posed one-time or the other, and I'd be lying if I said that I didn't.
But what makes the movie Titanic for me, is that the screenwriter didn't use a more practical. universal situation that would bring up such a question, for every person who watched it -- or anyone like me.
Movies, I know, are all about trips to: fantasy worlds, nightmares, and more practical locations. And there are movies that have gone the nightmarish, fantasy and pratical route, and I've loved them. But this movie. This one didn't quite move me enough.
For quite a long time, I've been watching a few `classics,' and found that the only `classic' thing about them were their age. Either that, or I'd deny my state-of-mind at the moment, just because I'm not enjoying it as much as every other critic is. But my state of mind is just fine. This film, I'm sorry to say, is very overrated.
Valentine (2001)
It Could've Been Better
"VALENTINE" is one of the worst films ever made, specifically because the film could've been better.
Here's where the film falters. In the beginning, we are to care for a young boy ugly-duckling. Ten or so years later, we are only NOT supposed to care for him [we never even see him after that), but we are supposed to care for the girls who berated him in middle school. But that's not the problem. The problem is that, although the girls are very beautiful, as far as dimension goes, they're stick-figures!
A much better film would've been in the vein of Francois Truffaut's 'THE BRIDE WORE BLACK.' By following the young man (who grew up to be much more attractive) and showing him seduce each woman, and then knock-them-off whenever they're at their most vulnerable. Instead of trying to make a "Guess-who's-behind-the-mask" kind of horror movie.
This would've made "VALENTINE" inspired! Maybe not scary, but at least -- as far as narrative goes -- the film would've made sense!
Posutoman burûsu (1997)
Works as a romance, a comedy -- it's a wonderful combo!
There's something in POSUTOMAN BURUSU for everybody: the romantic story, for women, about the postman who decides to date a woman on the brink of committing suicide; a quasi-detective story, where undercover cops try tracking down members of a yakuza gang; and a comical story, because they instead track down the postman since they think he may be their distributor, among other things. A light-hearted touch, involving the friendship between the postman and a washed-up hitman. Yeah, there's lots to find entertaining in this surprisingly flawless concoction of several genres by Japanese filmmaker, Sabu. What's great about POSUTOMAN is that the combo works!
The film begins, when Ryuichi Sawaki, the postman (played by Shinichi Tsutsumi), is caught by undercover cops, not only mailing a letter to the member of a yakuza gang, but walking in and staying there for quite a while. This gives the cops the idea that he maybe their distributor, so they follow him home. [NOTE: For the sake of plot-pointing, the mailman stays in the yakuza's apartment because they're high school buddies. They were just talking about stuff]
Returning home, they find him with bags of beer, figuring there may be other people inside.
Inside, Sawaki goes through a bag of mail he hadn't the time to send. One letter he finds, that touches him, is one of a woman, Kyoko (played by Kyoko Toyama), who has sent mail to her boyfriend that he hasn't replied to, and she's so lonely she's thinking about committing suicide. This prompts Sawaki to meet her, and hopefully change her mind.
The following day, after mailing his last batch of letters, he heads over to the Hospital where Kyoko is staying. He meets her, but only for a little while, she hands him a letter. He then meets a hitman, named Joe (played by Ren Osugi). These two have an engaging conversation on the lifestyles of assassins.
He tells him about a hitman competition he was in, and looks pretty confident that he won it. But as we hear his story, the judges were very worried about his health: he's getting too old.
Talking outside of the building, there are two undercover cops watching them from afar. Now, they figure the yakuza sent the postman to ask the hitman for a favor to kill someone.
Back at home, Sawaki reads the letter Kyoko gave him to send. This is about the time when he falls in love with her. So the next day, he meets her and talks to her.
Not looking all that confident about taking her on a date that moment, Kyoko gives a subtly sly speech about: "Not waiting to do something the next day, but instead, doing it now."
I'm going to quit plot-pointing right now -- I feel I'm saying too much. How 'bout some talk concerning 'why' this film is so good.
First of all, 'POSUTOMAN' isn't too timid about going deeper into the lives of its main characters. Particularly, the life of the hitman. If this were a Hollywood film, the hitman would have been younger and indestructible, not a "good guy," nothing to care for.
Sabu, working as both, director and writer, definitely gave himself a lot to work with, as far as making the romantic aspects romantic; the comical aspects comical; and the exciting aspects -- you know.
What made this all work, may be the reality of the characters. The postman is lonely and bored by his job, and has nothing to live for. So one day, he meets a girl who's going through the same dilemma, and they're able to comfort each other and eventually, love life -- and as seen in the last scene, the postman's only reason for going on (living and working) is so he'll meet her at the end of the day, as quickly as possible.
And the cops who are making themselves crazy out of the fear that there is a very dangerous man in their town, aren't that silly or cartoonish. These people are afraid, and will do anything their impulses tell them that'll extinguish that fear. [NOTE: This is all done in a very subtle manner, I might add.]
So, I think I've said enough.
Oh! The editing is one of the best I've seen. You'll notice this in the introduction of the postman character. I think I can guarantee that your jaw will be dropped for the duration.