jrglaves-smith Reviews

Ghosts (1915)

A long way after Ibsen

[5/10 · 26 September 2006]

This is a very approximate adaptation of Ibsen's play in which inherited syphilis is a metaphor for corruption. The basic theme is preserved although not surprisingly it is not explicit. We are just told of an 'inherited taint'. The skillful dramatic structure of the original is sacrificed for melodramatic contrivance and most of Ibsen's political point is lost. The film comes into its own at the end with Henry Walthall's magnificent attack of 'artaxia motor'. Admirers of the play will be pleased that we do get 'the sun' but will also note that Ibsen's disturbing and emotionally challenging conclusion in which Oswald's suicide is actively assisted by his mother was obviously deemed too strong. Here he just drinks the poison by himself. Worth seeing for Walthall's powerful acting at the end and for checking out just exactly how far a 1915 film could go when tackling a controversial subject.

There Was a Father (1942)

perfect death

[10/10 · 16 August 2005]

What would be your perfect death? After an evening out with friends you suddenly are taken ill the following morning, living just long enough to deliver a perfectly honed homily from your hospital bed before slipping peacefully away. It doesn't usually happen like that, of course, but in this Ozu film it appears as the reward for an exemplary life. A widower bringing up his son alone feels obliged to resign from his post as school teacher after the death of a pupil for which he feels responsible. His search for work elsewhere leads to separation from the son even while the latter is still at school. The close bond between them is evoked by shots early and late in the film of their fishing together. These are beautifully economical, the pair framed together from behind. Later when the son himself has become a teacher he wishes to resign his post to be closer to his ageing father who is now a bureaucrat in Tokyo. The father explains to him the importance of dedication to duty as the only path to happiness, a message accepted by the son who is only able to spend a brief time with the father who dies shortly afterwards. As this might suggest it is more simplistic in its morality than later better known films such as 'Tokyo Story'. The poignancy of the film derives from a much simpler conflict between social duty and family ties. This is doubtless partly accountable in terms of the war time context in which the 'good father' would be the one who cheerfully accepted the absence and possible death of his sons. Nonetheless a certain psychological complexity is permitted. The father blames himself for the death of the student in a boating accident on his failure to exert proper authority. However what we see is his involvement in a game of 'Go' which distracts his attention while the boys disobey his instructions not to go boating. Lack of competence and authority he can confront. Neglect of duty he cannot. At the time of writing (August 2005) a pretty dreadful copy of this is drawing very respectable audiences in a Paris cinema. It is certainly a moving experience but its problematic political subtext should not be ignored.

The Voice of the Moon (1990)

Fellini's last film not quite vintage but still striking.

[7/10 · 13 September 2003]

It is a pity that Fellini's last film is not better known as it represents something of a return to form after a series of disappointments. .Fellini's visual imagination is still intact but some of the wonderful precision of imagery is no longer present. Perhaps by the end of his career too many of his old collaborators had died or retired. The best part is the first half hour seen entirely from the perspective of the insane central characters. Their obsession with the moon provides the alibi for many evocative night shots, (I've often thought that one thing that distinguishes great film makers is how they film the night), as well as the spectacular climactic sequence when they imagine that they have trapped the moon. Elsewhere there is typical Fellini fun with the crowning of 'Miss Flower' complete with an outsize King and Queen of the Gnocci and a final shower of flower on all the contestants. 'La voce della Luna' shares much of 'Ginger and Fred's' distaste for the contemporary world summed up in a sequence in which a disco rave is interrupted by a Strauss waltz. This is far more poetic and unexpected than anything in the predictable 'Ginger and Fred'. Those worried by the narrative incoherence of Fellini can bury their boring heads in a screen writing manual. Perhaps the current international popularity of Roberto Benigni, little known outside Italy when the fim was made may yet allow this flawed but haunting film to gain the audience it deserves.

Robinson Crusoe (1954)

Bunuel's rare optimism

[10/10 · 29 March 2003]

Defoe is not obvious Bunuel material in the way that Wuthering Heights is but the very tension between director and writer makes it the more interesting film. One scene especially should be viewed by anyone who holds that Bunuel's brilliance lies primarily in his surreal imagery marvelous as this. Crusoe in despair at his his solitude calls out 'The Lord is my shepherd' at the hills. As he he hears only the echo of his his voice even the lush tropical landscape appears to mock him. Once seen and heard(Dan O'Herhiley's voice is wonderful here) the VCR and DVD become redundant. The ending low key and unrhetorical is one of the rare moments of uplift offered by Bunuel. Relish it! Bunuel's adaptation of Defoe is one his rare films,others are 'Cela s'appelle l'aurore','The Young One' and 'Nazarin' in which some sense of optimism in human solidarity moderates the general bleakness of his view of the human condition.