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Halloween (1978)
Historically significant and more...
The horror genre is full of significant low-budged movies, and maybe John Carpenter's "Halloween" represents the most important one of all.
The film, famous for popularizing the Slasher subgenre after defining it, might seem outdated to some viewers, but that's an unfair judgement considering the impact it had on cinema. Very few Slasher movies came close to the quality of Carpenter's classic, and that's more than admirable considering the film's original budget of only 300,000 dollars.
"Halloween" was definitely inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" and Tobe Hooper's "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre", but don't let yourself be fooled by this statement. "Halloween" is highly original (or was, back in 1978) and has enough to offer. The camera work is brilliant; the way it presents us the little town of Haddonfield as a peaceful place haunted by the unfortunate events of the past is more than enoguh to set the mood for the storm that's about to come. The cast is capable and delivers the terror in a realistic, believable way (something rarely met in the Slasher movies which spawned years later). We meet the beautiful Jamie Lee Curtis (the daughter of "Psycho" star Janet Leigh) , a then-unknown actress, in a role which marked one of the most important moments in horror.
Some dialogues might seem silly for modern standards, but they do not affect the final product (and they might seem pretty good compared to dialogues met in other films such as the original "The Evil Dead" and "Friday The 13th").
The music, composed by Carpenter himself, contains one of the most iconic movie themes of all time. I don't think anyone who has already watched the movie could imagine it with a different kind of soundtrack. Carpenter's compositions are brilliant through their simplicity, proving that the secret to a great movie is knowing when -not- to use music and rely on silence.
The ending of the movie is probably the main element that puts it in a different category than it's followers. The fear of evil and the awareness of it's presence in the everyday life is terrifying enough to make "Halloween" one of the greatest horror films of all time, and maybe more.
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
An essential American picture.
"You're a strange person, Robert. I mean, what will you come to? If a person has no love for himself, no respect for himself, no love of his friends, family, work, something - how can he ask for love in return? I mean, why should he ask for it?"
These are the words which mark a turning point in Bob Rafelson's film about a man torn apart between two different lives, two lives which both seem to offer no satisfaction to the protagonist of a story about trust, responsability and decisions.
What makes Jack Nicholson's character (Robert Eroica Dupea) so authentic is not his search for satisfaction, but the fact that he is not looking for any since he knows he can't find it. Robert ran all his life; he ran away from his family, he ran away from places and jobs. He ran away when things were getting nasty.
When we meet Bobby, he seems to be a simple man, a part of the working class. We can tell he is not pleased with the life he is leading by the way he treats his wife and friends. Rayette (Karen Black), Bobby's wife, loves him even though he thinks he deserves better and cheats on her several times.
Later on, we discover Bobby is the member of a well-respected family of musicians. Everybody asks him why he left the island where his family lives and gave up a succesful career in music.
Through these kind of conversations we can feel the snobbery that pushed Bobby away from this kind of life. This feeling is present especailly in a scene where Bobby defends Rayette in front of his brother's intellectual friends.
Does this mean he loves her? He wanted to get away from her several times, but later he felt sorry and came back. Rayette asks him several times through the film if he loves her, but he never answers. Maybe he doesn't know it himself.
In an emotional moment, Robert has a discussion with his ill father. The father can't speak; he had two strokes. But Robert says he wouldn't have talked with him anyway. As some kind of confession, Robert expresses his feelings of regret in front of his father and excuses himself for the fact that "things didn't work out".
Things never worked out for Robert, not only between him and his father. Things never worked out because he never tried to make them work. His decisions never had a real reason behind them and he knows it.
He could've been someone respected in the society or could've just find satisfaction in a simple life along his wife. But in the end he chose to run away from both options. It will be a new beginning, but will it have a different ending this time or is he just running circles?
The fact that we'll never find out what happened to Bobby is what makes the ending of this movie one of the greatest in American cinema.
The Nun (2018)
Clicheic, Predictable, Uneven...
Corin Hardy's "The Nun" represents an uncreative mess of modern horror clichés. Everything from inverted crosses to bloody pentagrams is present in the prequel to the popular "Conjuring" franchise.
Don't get me wrong; it would be absurd to expect a movie like this to be a masterpiece of cinema. But this is not the case. All we wanted as cinephiles was a movie which did not insult our intelligence. What did we get instead? Spit. Yes, we got "spit".
As a movie-goer I can accept many bad aspects of a movie and still appreciate the final picture as long as there is entertainment value. We can ignore the fact that the people from a Romanian village all speak English (also in the year 1953), sure, but can we also ignore how the blood of Christ is involved in "ritual" which is not even fully explained? That's a little too much to ask from your audience. How did the original owners of the artifact get the blood? Why wasn't the castle guarded? Why would 2000 crosses be more effective than a single one? These are questions which will never be answered, and I'm pretty sure nobody really has the answers.
"The Nun" also has little to no value as a prequel to the original franchise. The movie has too much "Nun" and not enough "Valak". It speaks too much (well, not that much really) about the new characters and too little about the central figure of the story. The plot got boring very fast because it did not contain what everybody hoped to finally find somewhere, hidden in all the unnecessary humour which destroyed even the smallest track of gothic atmosphere.
It wasn't an all terrible experience though. I laughed. I laughed because of the brainless characters and their predictable actions. I laughed at the mirrors because I knew there was a jumpscare just around the corner. I simply had to laugh, because I knew I'll never get my money and time back.
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
One of the most important film of the 50's.
The 50's marked an important period for filmmaking, mostly because of the transitory value the decade had. The pictures were changing, that's a certain thing. But in which way?
Elia Kazan, already a Broadway legend by the time he directed "A Streetcar Named Desire", is one of the most influential Hollywood directors of all time. His film "On The Waterfront" is widely considered one of most representative pieces of American cinematography and it's often quoted among critics. However, "A Streetcar Named Desire" is not a let-down either. The film is noticed mostly for two reasons: the use of jazz music (being the first film to do use it) and, of course, Marlon Brando.
I'll try not to create a Marlon Brando review out of this, so I'll tell you only what you need to know. Brando is one of the first actors to introduce America to the Stanislavski acting system (on screen that is). This style of acting proved to be somehow more effective than the traditional methods because the actors could show a more natural approach to certain feelings and emotions.
"A Streetcar Named Desire" is a highly significant film both culturally and historically, and it influenced many later films. Since most critics already spoke about the importance of the film and of Marlon Brando, I myself will try to talk more about the artistical value of the film and Vivien Leigh's performance as Blanche.
Blanche's conflict with Stanley (Brando) is destrucitve in every possible way; they hate each other, or at least that's what they think. She's feminine, seductive and easy to hurt; he's barbaric, sexual and strong. She lives in an imaginary world so she can avoid being hurt; he's a man who knows what he wants and how to get it. "I've always depended on the kindness of strangers", Blanche says. A most painful quote to hear (or read).
Stanley has a way to deal with reality while Blanche has another. They both have issues. Blanche uses the warmth of strangers to deal with pain while Stanley uses alcohol. It's obvious that one is a victim and the other is a dealer of pain, but they both represent different ways of survival. Blanche's way is self-destrctive and she's aware of this fact; she doesn't show her real emotions and adopts a submissive position. Stanley makes himself heard through the use of violence; the other people need to know who is the dominant individual and they'll learn it by any means.
Elia Kazan was one of the most influential directors of Hollywood, and "A Streetcar Named Desire" is just another proof for that fact. The use of unique music, beautiful imagery and memorable dialogue goes along very well with the performances of Leigh and Brando, who represent maybe the most important part of the film's magic. This film is a great study of character and conflict and...well, a great movie overall.
The Apartment (1960)
An important work of cinematography and a great study of character.
Billy Wilder proved himself to be one of Hollywood's titans, winning 6 Academy Awards during his lifetime with films like "Sunset Boulevard" or "Some Like It Hot" which have become classics of the American cinema. Out of his 27 credits as a director "The Apartment" seems to be his most lasting film, and it is also a personal favorite of mine.
Jack Lemmon plays the part of an employee (C.C Baxter) of a big corporation in New York. His superiors, who call him "Buddy-Boy", praise his performances at the place of work. He is intelligent and creative, and he also spends extra-hours at work. This is the result of his apartment becoming the nest were his superiors hide their mistresses, a fact unknown by Baxter's neighbour's who think he's a real ladies' man and are bothered by the noises coming from his apartment.
Shirley MacLaine plays an elevator operator, Fran Kubelik, who's love life is just as empty as Baxter's. She's just one of the victims who fell into the pit of summer-affairs just to find out love's not as easy as it seems. Baxter on the other hand never had the guts to refuse someone, especially a superior. He catches a cold after one of the "visitors" gives him back the wrong key and he has to spend the night out in the rain, but the thought of a promotion never lets him say a bad word to his superiors. When the promotion arrives, so does the courage to invite a certain Kubelik to dinner. I will not develop the story further, because I'd steal away the magic of the film. But the real magic is how realistic the whole story actually seems, not the story itself.
The widescreen format allows us to feel the power of the empty spaces which surround the characters, or the emptiness they feel when they're surrounded by other people. The black-&-white image is beautifully made, and it's probably one of Billy Wilder's most visually stunning films. Even with that, Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine are the main reason why you should watch this film. Two actors who wer at the most important point of their carreer, and they made the best out of it. It's amazing how real their characters feel, how much emotion they transmit.
The film speaks about how we fall for our bosses, about how we comfort ourselves with the thought of succes and we accept misery in order to be recognized by our society. We are victims, but we want to be the victims and nobody forces us to be one. The film is also about how we want to be loved, but we're afraid to fight for love. We get used to loneliness and we use it as fuel for our everyday actions. We use for promotions, to avoid scandal or to keep us in our comfort zone.
"The Apartment" is not a period-piece, it is actual and it's still as powerful as it was in 1960. This film is a must-watch and it's probably Billy Wilder's best work.
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
The Power Of Reality
"Henry: Portrait of a serial killer" belongs to a certain type of films which are not wanted but needed.
The film raised many controversies ever since it's initial release, and nobody who already watched it wonders why. It's disgusting, violent, raw, but most of all it is honest. Imagine a combination of "Peeping Tom" and "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" and now amplify the final result.
The media and the society itself has always been fascinated about killers for several reasons: why they do it, how they get away with it, but most of all how they do it. The final question never got a fair answer in cinematography until Henry came along.
An extremly low-budget film, "Henry" manages to create reactions only because of it's honesty, showing explicit scenes of violence through the eyes of a tormented man. The characters are unhappy and live in a grey world where boredom is a routine and it destroys people from the inside.
Infamous scenes like the one when Henry (Micharl Rooker) and Otis (Tom Towells) watch a tape of their own murderous acts ruin society's fascination about serial killers. Most people will not want to watch this movie a second time, but everyone should watch it at least once. It may lack the vegetarian message of "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" or the love story of "Peeping Tom", but it shows us how reality is like and it doesn't lie to us about serial killers and violence. Henry is the " Unforgiven" of horror film.
The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
The Art Of Film
There was a time when words could not be spoken out loud and black-and-white cinematography overshadowed everything colour. I speak, of course, about the silent era of filmmaking, back when a still-young Buster Keaton released the 45 minutes-long masterpiece entitled "Sherlock, Jr."
Keaton's use of illusions and smart editing mesmerised the audiences, creating one of the most important short-films ever made. Woody Allen, one of the most significant filmmakers of all-time, made his own version of "Sherlock, Jr." back in 1985: The Purple Rose Of Cairo.
"The Purple Rose Of Cairo" is not only a tribute given to the works of Buster Keaton but also to the art of filmmaking itself. Woody Allen is never shown on the screen in this magical piece of cinema, but we can feel his presence everywhere. It's within the story, the script or, better said, the reel. We simply know he's there, even though we can't see him.
The plot is simple: an everyday woman escapes everyday problems (including a not-so-caring husband played by Danny Aiello) by going to the cinema. She already watched "The Purple Rose of Cairo" for about 4 times, but that doesn't stop her from watching it the 5th time when one of the characters (Tom Baxter, played by Jeff Daniels) is so impressed by how much she likes the movie that he jumps off the screen and runs away with her out of the cinema. Things go a little crazy of course, no story that plays with reality is simple. But what Woody Allen tries to tell us is that fantasy is just as important as reality itself, and it can help us remain sane. How many times have you said that one single book, film, or even song saved your day? That's the power fantasy has on us.
"The Purple Rose Of Cairo" is probably on of the most delightful films a cinephile could ever watch. It's beautifully crafted, funny, romantic and it has a lovely cast. It's not only the "Sullivan's Travells" of the 80's and Woody Allen's "Sherlock, Jr.", it represents the reason why we watch films and when you'll get to the final scene, you'll know what I mean.