tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20178320402759634282024-03-18T08:32:46.871+05:30CinemascopeMy movie viewing journal since May 2008Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.comBlogger1835125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-57788655191957544312024-03-17T20:57:00.000+05:302024-03-17T20:57:37.953+05:30The Teachers' Lounge [2023]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhS0b6mGrHZYGUq_DZsSoXjQIYUQYjL-wcnenkDy-cjtNU1ud0Hv-quf9O5v1p1U52pG0ZfAPr5SpX5fnPqicKwBeNQo4GwowyGe6F4xH5N1MDJTI_zuBiCLVXKJEdwH-qdTkZZOdX9_bhy4B3NWgughNDVyFEeLz1FkX218tydkfJaVTGJKEdHyJD/s1023/The%20Teachers'%20Lounge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1023" data-original-width="690" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhS0b6mGrHZYGUq_DZsSoXjQIYUQYjL-wcnenkDy-cjtNU1ud0Hv-quf9O5v1p1U52pG0ZfAPr5SpX5fnPqicKwBeNQo4GwowyGe6F4xH5N1MDJTI_zuBiCLVXKJEdwH-qdTkZZOdX9_bhy4B3NWgughNDVyFEeLz1FkX218tydkfJaVTGJKEdHyJD/w270-h400/The%20Teachers'%20Lounge.jpg" width="270" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Packed
with paranoia, anxiety, angst and outrage, amidst a rapidly escalating scenario
and multipolar confrontations, İlker Çatak’s <i><b>The Teachers’ Lounge</b></i> is a
rare pulsating thriller that’s set rigorously within the confines of a school.
And this dynamic, variegated, ostensibly hallowed and supposedly tightly
controlled space, in turn, served as microcosmic representation of the broader
society, and a sharp critique of it too. Carla Nowak (Leonie Benesch) is a
young teacher recently hired at a junior high school, where she teaches math
and PE to 7<sup>th</sup> graders. She’s passionately committed to her pedagogy,
idealistic in her world-view, and – given her Polish origin and therefore aware
of the challenges at integration faced by foreign-born persons – possesses an
innate protectiveness towards social outsiders. The film begins with an
uncomfortable scenario wherein, on account of a series of small thefts, Carla
witnesses her colleagues manipulating a couple of young students into
denouncing their classmates, which soon extends towards false accusations being
levelled at a student of Turkish origin. Fuelled by her idealism and intent on
getting to the bottom of this issue, she decides to entrap the culprit;
however, by doing so, she herself indulges in an ethically dubious act, and inadvertently
sets loose an uncontrolled chain reaction that puts her in conflict with many
of her fellow teachers, some of the students and nearly all their parents. Benesch
put in a stunning performance, rippling with emotional turmoil, arresting
intensity, and a growing sense of helplessness, as did Leonard Stettnisch as a
gifted but increasingly troubled student, in this taut work that, despite its
narrative brevity, touched upon quite a few themes, including bullying, misinformation,
systemic racism, privacy rights, censorship and cancel culture.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicIaBuj2xI5PBJLGKKsnhRXfoCiCPiLpe6a3w8f7lda5j2HO3HOgxu3MsV5BjdhHgF1u_x7uPz4Bi5gLwK1OQmHcd4alAXXvmgMKMORdpupa2oGfWu1F6naFTkb4iJFvupCzCnHYNJw1MVsO_eOkR_We3Im1-7Q9D-j5s4FW4i4JF24x4HpMeB7uuV/s290/3.%20Recommended.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="54" data-original-width="290" height="54" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicIaBuj2xI5PBJLGKKsnhRXfoCiCPiLpe6a3w8f7lda5j2HO3HOgxu3MsV5BjdhHgF1u_x7uPz4Bi5gLwK1OQmHcd4alAXXvmgMKMORdpupa2oGfWu1F6naFTkb4iJFvupCzCnHYNJw1MVsO_eOkR_We3Im1-7Q9D-j5s4FW4i4JF24x4HpMeB7uuV/s1600/3.%20Recommended.jpg" width="290" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Director: Ilker Catak</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Drama/Thriller</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Language: German</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Country: Germany</span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-13140145154274832012024-03-16T21:16:00.006+05:302024-03-16T21:16:58.021+05:30Monster [2023]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFBU3-gd6QTV2zbvbjQS6NDw702cctOMe2g51aDz5-apiXz3oznvx9yxMDrS9CJx1LyrhqHSjEdXZkOde955jg4Ldu6NeO6mQbckS3Z1xgixAIag7mYOty6h-DzC9j4pz-YHhb7uNMjsuTy6V5CxygyFAq0-C82hZ4GAQsNi7hmpgSzKkbdMh9OiKL/s755/Monster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="515" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFBU3-gd6QTV2zbvbjQS6NDw702cctOMe2g51aDz5-apiXz3oznvx9yxMDrS9CJx1LyrhqHSjEdXZkOde955jg4Ldu6NeO6mQbckS3Z1xgixAIag7mYOty6h-DzC9j4pz-YHhb7uNMjsuTy6V5CxygyFAq0-C82hZ4GAQsNi7hmpgSzKkbdMh9OiKL/w273-h400/Monster.jpg" width="273" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <i><span style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Monster</b></span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;"> – Kore-eda’s first film in Japan since his feral
found-family masterpiece <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2019/12/shoplifters-2018.html" target="_blank">Shoplifters</a></b></i>, having made <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-truth-la-verite-2019.html" target="_blank">The Truth</a></b> </i>in
France and <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2023/03/broker-2022.html" target="_blank">Broker</a></b></i> in South Korea since then – is a sensitive and
delicately-strung queer coming-of-age film. Though his first exploration of this
topic, it felt connected to the rest of his canon as he’s made multiple films on
social outsiders and tangled human relationships both centred around kids and featuring
them in significant roles. He crafted this like a three-act play, wherein “<i>Rashomon
Effect</i>” is resorted to in showing the same chain of incidents from three
different perspectives. However, while the celebrated Kurosawa work demonstrated
the fallacy of an objective truth and posited the co-existence of multiple
variants of it, here the objective was decidedly simpler, viz. to clarify what
actually happened through revelation of new information from each subsequent
POV. While this intricate plotting device added an air of unfolding mystery to
the proceedings, Kore-eda’s inclinations for sentimental flourishes (and
contrivances) were detrimental to its cinematic integrity on occasions. The
evolving bond between Minato, an emotionally confused fifth-grader, and Yori
(played with heartbreaking liveliness by Hinata Hiiragi), a sweet if oddball
kid who’s continually targeted for his non-heteronormative behavioural
manifestations, is first shown through the eyes of Minato’s single-mother (Sakura
Andō) who believes that his son is facing abuse at school. The contexts and
meanings, unsurprisingly, dramatically change when we then witness what had
transpired from the perspectives of school teacher Hori (Eita Nagayama) and
Minato, thus delivering overarching commentaries on pat judgements, bullying,
dysfunctional relationships, and conformity. Renowned musician Ryuichi Sakamoto,
whose resplendent piano compositions added emotional resonance to many of the
sequences, sadly passed away before the film released.</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt-V1UhaI257MxVlvhQCAMyYOGA_iX7OCfqSaR06l9ARmHHYaImkFuXpbIwcJ_f9mInI-5GiA3dOjByY2wlyUvMCArGCwRdbftSzk3RmzCt4v7_q3P5Su3wGDCVkTCONnhGdACRiI3MgQ3kcEDakMv5Bg1awwq8CNTZJdxe6MLs6BkmN61sRBkRmoo/s260/4.%20Worth%20a%20Look.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="53" data-original-width="260" height="53" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt-V1UhaI257MxVlvhQCAMyYOGA_iX7OCfqSaR06l9ARmHHYaImkFuXpbIwcJ_f9mInI-5GiA3dOjByY2wlyUvMCArGCwRdbftSzk3RmzCt4v7_q3P5Su3wGDCVkTCONnhGdACRiI3MgQ3kcEDakMv5Bg1awwq8CNTZJdxe6MLs6BkmN61sRBkRmoo/s1600/4.%20Worth%20a%20Look.jpg" width="260" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Genre: Drama/Buddy Film/Coming-of-Age</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Language: Japanese</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Country: Japan</span></span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-57186787402101504702024-03-15T22:39:00.000+05:302024-03-15T22:39:07.114+05:30Anatomy of a Fall [2023]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUhnWMivAjRaRPZwq2w_lxderlsPqTD1lEBFWJxXOqgiHFBdkAcj0Tyca_mr3_m4qn98QayKQRjQa1kH-l8LyGbrKjxBw1P6FwkFvsLjEBJbUXLvZs6j58W3AXVN07qzOaU0ZualMJZDdu8jSQXu02R7veoLYGceqEHLF1E9ip8MWYbSeiJlZIyPz9/s1027/Anatomy%20of%20a%20Fall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1027" data-original-width="700" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUhnWMivAjRaRPZwq2w_lxderlsPqTD1lEBFWJxXOqgiHFBdkAcj0Tyca_mr3_m4qn98QayKQRjQa1kH-l8LyGbrKjxBw1P6FwkFvsLjEBJbUXLvZs6j58W3AXVN07qzOaU0ZualMJZDdu8jSQXu02R7veoLYGceqEHLF1E9ip8MWYbSeiJlZIyPz9/w273-h400/Anatomy%20of%20a%20Fall.jpg" width="273" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Riveting,
piercingly intelligent and tantalizingly orchestrated, Justine Triet’s <i><b>Anatomy
of a Fall</b></i> had multiple thematic elements woven into its gradually unfolding
narrative – marital decay to the point of mutual damage; the penchant for conflating
art with the artist; blurring of lines between fact and fiction in autofictions
where the former shapes the latter; the glaring pitfalls of confirmation bias,
be it in personal spaces or forensic analyses – thus expanding it beyond a
courtroom thriller. The captivating opening scene, where Sandra (Sandra Hüller)
– a successful German novelist who lives with her French husband (Samuel Theis)
and their visually-impaired 11-year-old son (Milo Machado-Graner), at an
isolated chalet in the French Alps – gets awkwardly disrupted by the blasting
sounds of an edgy and enrapturing instrumental composition by 50 Cent played by
her husband in another room, while engaging in a flirtatious banter with a
young female interviewer. Shortly after the interview ends, the husband is
found dead on the snow. Did he die on account of an accidental fall or was it a
suicidal act or was he pushed by Sandra? If the latter, did she do it on an
impulse or was it premeditated, and what was the motive for it? A stunning
pivotal scene towards the end, wherein a conversation between the couple
explodes into a violent confrontation – reminiscent of a similarly explosive
sequence in <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2019/12/marriage-story-2019.html" target="_blank">Marriage Story</a></b></i> – delivered a clinical dissection on the
subjectivity of laying blame, and provided the icing on Hüller’s ferocious turn.
Her deliciously enigmatic performance, in fact, made it impossible to assign culpability.
The courtroom proceedings were sharply etched too, thanks to an intelligent
script co-written by Triet and Arthur Harari, who’re ironically live-in partners.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUOlZ6WloacNwt92mGLGjy6pRhxUwcTGyaYRb84q1ymKedlpCsuR4ciwhnc04Zde6BxBTj3sIB7tkBNUkzNskmdwtZYv09oAwYYOcrs4l4nnAOQbM4sK9IobHYOQWwNAq__BoZgvH8xs6EPYBOQ0XHIBVDHNRMxjiEFPilYEX3DedARgdgAtIP22W1/s290/3.%20Recommended.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="54" data-original-width="290" height="54" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUOlZ6WloacNwt92mGLGjy6pRhxUwcTGyaYRb84q1ymKedlpCsuR4ciwhnc04Zde6BxBTj3sIB7tkBNUkzNskmdwtZYv09oAwYYOcrs4l4nnAOQbM4sK9IobHYOQWwNAq__BoZgvH8xs6EPYBOQ0XHIBVDHNRMxjiEFPilYEX3DedARgdgAtIP22W1/s1600/3.%20Recommended.jpg" width="290" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Director: Justine Triet</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Drama/Legal Drama/Marital Drama</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Language: French/English</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Country: France</span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-53225220344791954492024-03-13T22:11:00.000+05:302024-03-13T22:11:12.311+05:30Aprile (April) [1998]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4LDmafKJCqfV2TqGbWCfekCM3Bpkj3nkWUiLyPMWRGVfkz8zhZL314H3oaoSuQj1Uez4X_sdq-n_f8vhpmBZbIbO6OV3mZVLFrksGsPLR3FJEzxJ75WxgZqZ0-uFJZqQyqgzasoFs78W7IkaRiS1q7s2zW0DLjBGg6jz8K_l3TOq7a9upsgR7bZ4f/s606/Aprile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="606" data-original-width="420" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4LDmafKJCqfV2TqGbWCfekCM3Bpkj3nkWUiLyPMWRGVfkz8zhZL314H3oaoSuQj1Uez4X_sdq-n_f8vhpmBZbIbO6OV3mZVLFrksGsPLR3FJEzxJ75WxgZqZ0-uFJZqQyqgzasoFs78W7IkaRiS1q7s2zW0DLjBGg6jz8K_l3TOq7a9upsgR7bZ4f/w278-h400/Aprile.jpg" width="278" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Nanni
Moretti’s delightfully eccentric, endlessly amusing and disarmingly
accomplished <i><b>Aprile</b></i> was made in a similar vein as his magnificent
previous film <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2023/12/dear-diary-caro-diario-1993.html" target="_blank">Dear Diary</a></b></i> – viz. as an idiosyncratic, episodic and
heavily self-reflexive diary film; albeit, more political, and crazier too. It wryly
manifested opposites – private and professional spaces, high and low art,
artifice and authenticity, infantilism and adulthood, fiction and reportage,
etc. – and, in turn, blurred the intersections between the personal and the
political with self-effacing humour and deadpan irony. Starring the filmmaker as
his neurotic, tad snobbish, politically engaged and chatterbox onscreen persona,
it criss-crossed through three interlocking strands over a particularly
eventful 3-4 years in his life. Italy’s operatic political developments played
out in the background, starting with the 1994 elections won by the right
coalition headed by media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi – that made a terribly
disillusioned Moretti light up a joint – and the victory of the Left 2 years
later that thrilled him as much as the birth of his son in the same year;
various events, in parallel, shaped that era, be it the drowning of a boat full
of Albanian immigrants by the Italian coastal guard or an attempted secession.
He decides to make a documentary chronicling the Italian polity, while
harbouring an on-off desire to direct an outré musical about a Trotskyist
pastry chef, and struggling with both creative block and personal distractions.
The latter aspect was amplified by his anxiety and hysteria leading to
parenthood and beyond. Filled with hilarious visual gags, farcical exchanges, satiric
depictions and ample autobiographical components, including featuring both his
wife and mother as themselves, the film wasn’t just a formally adventurous work,
but an emotionally resonant one too.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHHQJYjxTHWRlFaQWzqKEi4f6m4jf6wDJm2tVXLxoP73AViOJ6Xv5Yb-l-xwb-q2o5v4raKTlKVm2ftRAiQu-R8KvXMk4ZIEr8zL8ATB6Omz2SMt4v853M64kJLm9BNERMdjZVLBxBKD2wNQP9FObkj0uUw1ylM1nI_-KPpmHlSARVeryoE_IvvN4R/s390/2.%20Highly%20Recommended.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHHQJYjxTHWRlFaQWzqKEi4f6m4jf6wDJm2tVXLxoP73AViOJ6Xv5Yb-l-xwb-q2o5v4raKTlKVm2ftRAiQu-R8KvXMk4ZIEr8zL8ATB6Omz2SMt4v853M64kJLm9BNERMdjZVLBxBKD2wNQP9FObkj0uUw1ylM1nI_-KPpmHlSARVeryoE_IvvN4R/s16000/2.%20Highly%20Recommended.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Director: Nanni Moretti</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Comedy/Political Satire/Social Satire/Diary Film/Film a Clef</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Language: Italian</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Country: Italy</span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-63012284588186666842024-03-11T21:33:00.002+05:302024-03-11T21:33:21.419+05:30Raining Stones [1993]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqJxaGxIMSN6p3E0YuQDbY-5lAfy8oACnXBCb3n7hUVXN1-9G7i4Fq1GwdFCH9Bp48jN1DcA5je6m213in74NimlbJZLY0itSHMeMurlaX_7Kdt4LopnXqrkXdGvr1Ngtrjuw9GZr1YWPROkoXpBWO1rndamgdrhVOg4xfIUQaxUe_K_cM9gQinSR_/s1156/Raining%20Stones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1156" data-original-width="791" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqJxaGxIMSN6p3E0YuQDbY-5lAfy8oACnXBCb3n7hUVXN1-9G7i4Fq1GwdFCH9Bp48jN1DcA5je6m213in74NimlbJZLY0itSHMeMurlaX_7Kdt4LopnXqrkXdGvr1Ngtrjuw9GZr1YWPROkoXpBWO1rndamgdrhVOg4xfIUQaxUe_K_cM9gQinSR_/w274-h400/Raining%20Stones.jpg" width="274" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <i><span style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Raining
Stones</b></span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;">,
like the best of Ken Loach’s working-class films, was interlaced with political
angst, social realism, profound empathy, solid old-fashioned storytelling, and
a terrific ear for local dialects. The film, that progressively transitioned
from being funny and picaresque to poignant and desolate to tense and furious, presented
a deftly realized look at the lives of the marginalized in post-Thatcher
England under the grips of a crushing economic depression, thus making it a fitting
companion piece to his brilliant previous film <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2024/02/riff-raff-1991.html" target="_blank">Riff-Raff</a></b></i>. Bob (Bruce Jones) is an unemployed Irish
Catholic man living on dole, which isn’t enough for the sustenance of his
family that comprises of his wife Anne (Julie Brown) and little daughter.
Hence, he, along with his gregarious unemployed buddy Tommy (Ricky Tomlinson),
keeps exploring ways to hustle some extra money – pilfering sheep from the
countryside, stealing turf from a private club, cleaning drains, working as a
bouncer, etc. – to make ends meet. However, his struggle gets amplified when his
van gets stolen, and more so when he – against the sensible advices of Anne,
his atheist father-in-law, and even the surprisingly atypical Father Barry (Tom
Hickey) – decides to purchase an expensive dress for her daughter’s Communion.
Things become especially awry when he borrows from a vicious loan shark (Jonathan
James). Loach infused humour, warmth and unanticipated hope into the otherwise bleak
storyline, and smartly deviated in his characterizations and narrative arc to
avoid stereotypes and predictability, thus adding nuance and depth into the
mix. The script by socialist playwright Jim Allen balanced the film’s political
and emotional cores, while exquisite turns by Jones, Tomlinson and Brown, and gritty
photography of actual Manchester locales, enhanced its rich authenticity.</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioNVOrap0KJjQhWvlCCgBRdnq27seHcYgsOKeRLeK2sE_hkI-emJwxrlzLHozHaQfuczWkfjrkjZQXJOEt6CrffNr6F8Kou1hp-cuplg-YnZJODrNjPo28YmWe-b_c98ex6QAXAIOvhxovOHoOY_LdStqF5q2Pr07Vurp1TxNdAoM8BojUWG03CbiY/s290/3.%20Recommended.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="54" data-original-width="290" height="54" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioNVOrap0KJjQhWvlCCgBRdnq27seHcYgsOKeRLeK2sE_hkI-emJwxrlzLHozHaQfuczWkfjrkjZQXJOEt6CrffNr6F8Kou1hp-cuplg-YnZJODrNjPo28YmWe-b_c98ex6QAXAIOvhxovOHoOY_LdStqF5q2Pr07Vurp1TxNdAoM8BojUWG03CbiY/s1600/3.%20Recommended.jpg" width="290" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Director: Ken Loach</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Genre: Drama/Comedy/Social Drama/Family Drama</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Language: English</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Country: UK</span></span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-5430701097168584382024-03-08T22:43:00.007+05:302024-03-08T22:43:55.668+05:30Illustrious Corpses [1976]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1wuOmYJzfFxCHnIb5X-pEocA123KbLnvfa0v04t_81JnYd6ZrXaoSV_kKPPkuoNtaUWPgs5qON63AWLVM0s2OcegUyMmEssTJnOBhRe61JVC2X6tZfYxlIjipo5-4kam1zIk8Jp6dcMHAXHRTIOSwoEHFpsjM2uF85zSPbPUnI2EwM60bN2hQL-HQ/s822/Illustrious%20Corpses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="520" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1wuOmYJzfFxCHnIb5X-pEocA123KbLnvfa0v04t_81JnYd6ZrXaoSV_kKPPkuoNtaUWPgs5qON63AWLVM0s2OcegUyMmEssTJnOBhRe61JVC2X6tZfYxlIjipo5-4kam1zIk8Jp6dcMHAXHRTIOSwoEHFpsjM2uF85zSPbPUnI2EwM60bN2hQL-HQ/w253-h400/Illustrious%20Corpses.jpg" width="253" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Rosi’s
brooding, ominous and gripping slow-burn political conspiracy thriller <i><b>Illustrious
Corpses</b></i> – adapted from renowned Italian writer Leonardo Sciascia’s novel <i><b>Equal
Danger</b></i> – emphatically ranks amongst the most accomplished films of this
sub-genre, that’d witnessed an explosion during the late-60s and 70s, even if
it’s not as widely celebrated as many others. It was as piercingly reflective
of that era of widespread governmental distrust on account of the growing
totalitarian tendencies in the Western world, as it’s frighteningly relevant
today in its unsettling depiction of a post-truth world where criminal connivance
and media manipulations by governmental agencies, military-industry complex and
deep state players have become par for the course. The shadowy collusion
between the reactionary state, army, big business and the church – in order to
combat left-wing ideas, mass protest movements and radical expressions of dissent
– which Inspector Rogas (Lino Ventura) gradually stumbles upon while
investigating the murders of several prominent judges, also imbued stunning
particularity in terms of the 70s zeitgeist in Italy. Ventura brought in a
magnificent mix of gruff stolidity, existential weariness and simmering
paranoia, which brilliantly juxtaposed the rotten state of affairs exemplified
by the thuggish Chief of Police (Tino Carraro), the sinister Security Minister
(Fernando Rey) and the arrogant Supreme Court President (Max von Sydow). The
gorgeous, washed-out photography and minimalist jazz score superbly accentuated
the film’s absorbing atmosphere dripping with cynicism, subterfuge, fatalism
and melancholy. The obliquely constructed narrative, interestingly, began with
an ironic sequence that mordantly underscored the ossified nature of the
establishment, and ended with a cynical utterance (“the truth isn’t always
revolutionary”) that was a desolate inversion of a famous saying by the iconoclastic
Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci who Rosi deeply admired.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid-43HPeIk-sgw8tgcxbRhsTTlSmEWZTg0lskJPFV0oMfojFUkc8D16itHIy2FSuO5i3LYTuiauhAQsGBCD7G20R6deLsEqIMrswUhFoBIrTCgJR9aUsdhh3xfoSosq-47cytkVIbLz1H3I0T73mDxJLsoNvtKhztCf2x3ae8eteaPWUqTkTswNyBu/s390/2.%20Highly%20Recommended.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid-43HPeIk-sgw8tgcxbRhsTTlSmEWZTg0lskJPFV0oMfojFUkc8D16itHIy2FSuO5i3LYTuiauhAQsGBCD7G20R6deLsEqIMrswUhFoBIrTCgJR9aUsdhh3xfoSosq-47cytkVIbLz1H3I0T73mDxJLsoNvtKhztCf2x3ae8eteaPWUqTkTswNyBu/s16000/2.%20Highly%20Recommended.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Director: Francesco Rosi</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Thriller/Crime Thriller/Police Procedural</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Language: Italian</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Country: Italy</span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-64684343954045450522024-03-05T12:34:00.004+05:302024-03-05T12:34:55.384+05:30Lucky Luciano [1973]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHW2rKI4sXt0VXWHitcsw2p4eAatQk9yvn8jEibP5-oRUmIdLCga5yNaceZkx9fgND2UHXNt31qXHd6uRJ8Jv1JHDD3Uy0cvEgUBmAhg9am33B6FxrS8CVeFOIpsSVfh9bpMAcMx07xmMk8UpcoPGUJoWVDVkAe5mKZ3z1ei6hv70-vAuCHeP86mK5/s1331/Lucky%20Luciano.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1331" data-original-width="956" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHW2rKI4sXt0VXWHitcsw2p4eAatQk9yvn8jEibP5-oRUmIdLCga5yNaceZkx9fgND2UHXNt31qXHd6uRJ8Jv1JHDD3Uy0cvEgUBmAhg9am33B6FxrS8CVeFOIpsSVfh9bpMAcMx07xmMk8UpcoPGUJoWVDVkAe5mKZ3z1ei6hv70-vAuCHeP86mK5/w288-h400/Lucky%20Luciano.jpg" width="288" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Rosi’s
terrific film <i><b>Lucky Luciano</b></i> – with its rigorous aesthetic palette,
overarching thematic preoccupations and an overriding sense of mundaneness that
made it radically antithetical to the gangster genre – released between
Coppola’s epic and baroque gangland sagas <b><i><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2008/08/godfather-1972.html" target="_blank">The Godfather</a></i> </b>and <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2011/07/godfather-part-ii-1974.html" target="_blank">The Godfather: Part II</a></b></i>. No wonder, it didn’t receive the attention that it
should’ve, even though it was as riveting and stylistically flamboyant as anything
that he’d made. Like his masterworks <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2024/01/salvatore-giuliano-1962.html" target="_blank">Salvatore Guiliano</a></b></i> and <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-mattei-affair-1972.html" target="_blank">The Mattei Affair</a></b></i>, this too was a boldly kaleidoscopic piece of investigative and political
filmmaking centred on actual, ferocious and powerful Sicilian men – where
sequences freely segued from one timeline and location to another – thus connecting
them into a cinematic trilogy. Furthermore, like those films, we see “Lucky”
Luciano (Gian Maria Volonté in a exquisitely restrained turn) – the formidable “boss
of bosses” who, upon being exiled to Italy by the US, set-up a sprawling international
empire – and are informed of the political contexts that enabled his rise and presaged
his death, without any intimate peeks into him whose bespectacled, unassuming
and routine-bound nature, ironically, belied his mythic persona. This grand
indictment of the US’ Machiavellian political machinations, which enabled the
rise of the Mafiosi only for it to become a Frankenstein’s Monster, also
starred Rod Steiger as a loquacious informant and – continuing Rosi’s love for
“authentic” casting – Charles Siragusa, the American narcotics agent who’d
relentlessly pursued Luciano, as himself. While shot like a journalistic
docudrama, it veered briefly for a hypnotic, breathtaking and operatic montage
– recalling <i>The Godfather</i>, albeit near the beginning itself – that dizzyingly
intercut between the clinical elimination of all his rivals on the same day that
Luciano had orchestrated and his celebratory dinner.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9MYnsnfJaF-QP65mQ5LneUNUFT-LNnXu6LnXbWbhqZ8Nkl8cy_zcBrGR-KQNd6vaWBFLFkhnFW1VdyStsWQJ6XTLC1VctBXA335m6qFc2jB2F-v-JNTKHrFoHh7X7gWNDIGXcQIkRasLXtC14biWwj7BX-MXMvpP3MUO7dETfChzRFDjEv0dxfIpL/s390/2.%20Highly%20Recommended.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9MYnsnfJaF-QP65mQ5LneUNUFT-LNnXu6LnXbWbhqZ8Nkl8cy_zcBrGR-KQNd6vaWBFLFkhnFW1VdyStsWQJ6XTLC1VctBXA335m6qFc2jB2F-v-JNTKHrFoHh7X7gWNDIGXcQIkRasLXtC14biWwj7BX-MXMvpP3MUO7dETfChzRFDjEv0dxfIpL/s16000/2.%20Highly%20Recommended.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Director: Francesco Rosi</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Drama/Crime Drama/Historical Drama/Gangster Movie/Biopic</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Language: Italian</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Country: Italy</span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-27785155068931583382024-03-02T14:06:00.001+05:302024-03-02T14:06:27.652+05:30The Mattei Affair (Il Caso Mattei) [1972]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9vc2_Mgg4kGWNDgfbW4R6guHLXdBBPpfXtHkX6vuEM7lZveduOihq17zcBfoWTtXN0MpxhiGXJY674KRWTBnarCf0r04axeq-Tmy4v_TV9HddjKAjP68F6fTN6Vef4PlNoZd7nny4M6Pt_6DqBK8McWPQDDNck-FesiLv7UN-2Y7hOuojkTZv8gG5/s738/The%20Mattei%20Affair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9vc2_Mgg4kGWNDgfbW4R6guHLXdBBPpfXtHkX6vuEM7lZveduOihq17zcBfoWTtXN0MpxhiGXJY674KRWTBnarCf0r04axeq-Tmy4v_TV9HddjKAjP68F6fTN6Vef4PlNoZd7nny4M6Pt_6DqBK8McWPQDDNck-FesiLv7UN-2Y7hOuojkTZv8gG5/w271-h400/The%20Mattei%20Affair.jpg" width="271" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Rosi
made dazzling use of a polyphonic, multi-perspective and non-linear form in <i><b>The
Mattei Affair</b></i> – recalling his landmark film <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2024/01/salvatore-giuliano-1962.html" target="_blank">Salvatore Guiliano</a></b></i> –
which made it an exhilaratingly kaleidoscopic biopic, thrilling piece of
investigative journalism and complex historical document rolled into one. He counterpointed
documentary realism with the riveting tempo of a conspiracy thriller, and walked
a delicate line between questioning official verdicts while avoiding populist
postulations, which combined to make this astonishing work a formally audacious
exercise and a seminal example of political filmmaking. At the core of its
intricately orchestrated tapestry was the towering figure of Enrico Mattei –
played with electrifying charisma by Gian Maria Volonté – a former anti-fascist
partisan who’d been tasked with dismantling the ailing Mussolini-era petroleum
agency AGIP after WW2, but instead converted it into the gigantic behemoth ENI
which came to rival the Big Oil oligopoly, and made him an immensely
influential business magnate and public figure. He radically challenged the status
quo by brokering deals with Soviets, Arabs and Africans; he was openly critical
of French colonialism in Algeria; and his allegiances cut across Italy’s political
spectrum. Consequently, when his private plane mysteriously crashed in 1962 – which
formed its starting point and around which it hinged – anyone from the CIA and
OAS to the Mafiosi could’ve engineered the alleged sabotage. As a discomfiting afterword,
journalist Mauro De Mauro, who was investigating into Mattei’s death in 1970 on
Rosi’s behest, disappeared too, further indicating a cover-up. Interestingly,
this vividly shot and ominously scored film shared that year’s <i>Palm d'Or</i>
with Elio Petri’s downbeat <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-working-class-goes-to-heaven-1971.html" target="_blank">The Working Class Goes to Heaven</a></b></i>, another
political film that had Volonté in the lead and became obscure despite the coveted
prize.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMD_8nCrdgxIYZKg_3i0alDRYeTe0letr8BJEfoH8GzueYr_WdIyJjGUjTGLihdFoH2KIuHGJ9E-x22Njc4b5lOYVop2TcXBB_X1NJ2WYpBdqumWkZOAl2kSlOAhsmciNIE3Y8UAHDNOnD_C53IfI6DApaFNme2pokBUWhdmz0DwaldYbfNZ1W3kZs/s319/1.%20Essential%20Viewing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="53" data-original-width="319" height="53" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMD_8nCrdgxIYZKg_3i0alDRYeTe0letr8BJEfoH8GzueYr_WdIyJjGUjTGLihdFoH2KIuHGJ9E-x22Njc4b5lOYVop2TcXBB_X1NJ2WYpBdqumWkZOAl2kSlOAhsmciNIE3Y8UAHDNOnD_C53IfI6DApaFNme2pokBUWhdmz0DwaldYbfNZ1W3kZs/s1600/1.%20Essential%20Viewing.jpg" width="319" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Director: Francesco Rosi</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Drama/Political Drama/Historical Drama/Biopic</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Language: Italian</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Country: Italy</span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-41345441359167384042024-02-28T20:05:00.000+05:302024-02-28T20:05:33.860+05:30Léon Morin, Priest [1961]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLna1SpgE832ss3P5DmEWrwMiu-To-WXhfJiWdC3FQuy3WSj0OitYBXW_A9zJVCqMFeBYqmIBef_wbV7Zop_aMJgYPbkrqh0nrf0KnpNHKD02YBhv0inANQ_6qODngSN_BY1jfGNrh1_8KYCnq2CB0ppTIOF4kyCNziOOgkYglBWltIn3JHuwGNdfN/s1013/L%C3%A9on%20Morin,%20Priest3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1013" data-original-width="706" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLna1SpgE832ss3P5DmEWrwMiu-To-WXhfJiWdC3FQuy3WSj0OitYBXW_A9zJVCqMFeBYqmIBef_wbV7Zop_aMJgYPbkrqh0nrf0KnpNHKD02YBhv0inANQ_6qODngSN_BY1jfGNrh1_8KYCnq2CB0ppTIOF4kyCNziOOgkYglBWltIn3JHuwGNdfN/w279-h400/L%C3%A9on%20Morin,%20Priest3.jpg" width="279" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <i><span style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Léon
Morin, Priest</b></span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;">
remains a fascinating anomaly in Melville’s filmography, considering that a
secular Jew and left-wing atheist made this seemingly straight-faced work so
heavily invested in theological and religious discourses. Yet, scratch the
surface, and one finds its sly, ambiguous, enigmatic and roguish aspects aimed
at subverting conventional spiritual portrayals. Adapted from Béatrix Beck's
renowned novel, it additionally formed the middle-chapter in Melville’s famed
trilogy on the Resistance, preceded by his austere debut feature <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-silence-of-sea-1949.html" target="_blank">Le Silence de la Mer</a></b></i>, and followed by the exhilarating <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2012/08/army-of-shadows-1969.html" target="_blank">Army of Shadows</a></b></i>.
However, unlike the other two films, inquiries into the Occupation didn’t
occupy the foreground here, even though they undeniably informed the context
and proceedings. It’s centred on the tantalizing relationship between the
eponymous pastor (Jean-Paul Belmondo, fresh of his smashing success in Godard’s
<i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2022/10/breathless-bout-de-souffle-1960.html" target="_blank">Breathless</a></b></i>, in his first collaboration with Melville) – a deadpan,
charming and articulate working-class priest who’s persuasive in his job as a
man of cloak, while also being aware of the impact he has on the women in the French
Alpine town, as the men are either away or arrested or have died – and Barny
(Emmanuelle Riva, who’d become a Nouvelle Vague icon through her engrossing
turn in Resnais’ <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2012/06/hiroshima-mon-amour-1959.html" target="_blank">Hiroshima Mon Amour</a></b></i>), an atheist, sensual, cynical,
politically engaged and unsatisfied single mother who’s vocally supportive of
Communist rebels, dismissive of the church, and bold in her carnal desires. On
an impish whim, she visits Léon to tease him, but ends up getting converted as
well as attracted to him. Though not one of Melville’s greatest works, this luminously
shot film, led by gripping turns by the two actors, made for an intelligent,
nuanced and beguiling work in his canon.</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMLIULg5_rWsFglmosG6mmUwymYzWPgZxDMpHSmVJQZxFa3EWba8m51xNu_Nn-SvyYgY6icbIu3qm_PNXHRYekozOXUGaCYOFdwTcTcv8shm8Yo7FUcLyj7WmXUU5v4IDYtl-n2MQOgx3eKNM53m7S63J87EEElqlnclJWnx4ozZwHZBOJW-TnVs2i/s290/3.%20Recommended.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="54" data-original-width="290" height="54" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMLIULg5_rWsFglmosG6mmUwymYzWPgZxDMpHSmVJQZxFa3EWba8m51xNu_Nn-SvyYgY6icbIu3qm_PNXHRYekozOXUGaCYOFdwTcTcv8shm8Yo7FUcLyj7WmXUU5v4IDYtl-n2MQOgx3eKNM53m7S63J87EEElqlnclJWnx4ozZwHZBOJW-TnVs2i/s1600/3.%20Recommended.jpg" width="290" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Director: Jean-Pierre Melville</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Genre: Drama/Psychological Drama/Religious Drama/War</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Language: French</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Country: France</span></span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-25746805694631363152024-02-24T20:23:00.000+05:302024-02-24T20:23:23.303+05:30The Silence of the Sea [1949]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ_33AtL3e18nutUlYHxia1ZeAgi7fil1NLNKuq7HUkKlkg8Pfe4gZQV5ZzAmCGvapINXIJTKg8YY_kR9-FEjiydGvBZPCgkNRY8J6tR9LJ8dr13irO9jgDr7LzgCgWLGTLMtC-qSlV1vN39OV0jgQ6xhs-AiMo2f_1eMPwg48ZsLJM49MKCS-Kvgj/s1020/The%20Silence%20of%20the%20Sea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1020" data-original-width="676" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ_33AtL3e18nutUlYHxia1ZeAgi7fil1NLNKuq7HUkKlkg8Pfe4gZQV5ZzAmCGvapINXIJTKg8YY_kR9-FEjiydGvBZPCgkNRY8J6tR9LJ8dr13irO9jgDr7LzgCgWLGTLMtC-qSlV1vN39OV0jgQ6xhs-AiMo2f_1eMPwg48ZsLJM49MKCS-Kvgj/w265-h400/The%20Silence%20of%20the%20Sea.jpg" width="265" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> It
was only appropriate that Jean-Pierre Melville, who belonged to a left-wing family
and adopted this <i>nom de guerre</i> during his involvement with the French
Resistance, made his filmmaking debut with <i><b>Le Silence de la Mer</b></i>, an
adaptation of the book by Vercors (<i>nom de plume</i> of Jean Bruller), who
too was a member of the Resistance during the Nazi occupation of France. The
book was secretly published and distributed, and became an influential underground
text, which Melville eloquently acknowledged in several ways – the opening scene
indicated its clandestine and dissident nature; he filmed in the same house in
which it was written; and he’d agreed to pull the plug on the film, including destroying
the negatives, if Bruller refused approval for release. This Bressonian film –
that is to say, spare, austere, minimalist and poetic parable with a deep moral
core – clearly presaged Melvelle’s formal and aesthetic signatures that he’d
take to bravura heights in subsequent years. In what he’d ironically quipped an
“anti-film”, it focused on verbose one-way exchanges – brilliantly shot indoors
in heavily expressionistic B/W by Henri Decaë – involving just three
characters. A German officer (Howard Vernon), with a gushing love for French
literature, is stationed in a house inhabited by an ageing French man (Jean-Marie
Robain) and his young niece (Nicole Stéphane). Over the next few months, the
naïve lieutenant indulges in sentimental monologues every evening, while the
French pair refuses to acknowledge his presence, leading to a solemn meditation
on political naïveté and passive resistance. It ended with a powerful line,
which is the uncle’s sole response to the German during his departure, “It’s a
noble thing for a soldier to disobey a criminal order.”</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJBvUkhNMc-U9fekaK4iWj-fN0DSqAKcM_X5M5YfTohyphenhyphenRjjVBZ0ZQggUo0ygugwofhM9Hqf9Z3sqWKlUp8ak5UXpV2QblI1-2ZkuzXxkwoxVnQtQDxoIWADO1-14kzB3GIxPmVDAq1e9u3bGQmqIludJU_2DIA1i0N47MyddlJYoUM_gA5pu4DCp5u/s290/3.%20Recommended.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="54" data-original-width="290" height="54" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJBvUkhNMc-U9fekaK4iWj-fN0DSqAKcM_X5M5YfTohyphenhyphenRjjVBZ0ZQggUo0ygugwofhM9Hqf9Z3sqWKlUp8ak5UXpV2QblI1-2ZkuzXxkwoxVnQtQDxoIWADO1-14kzB3GIxPmVDAq1e9u3bGQmqIludJU_2DIA1i0N47MyddlJYoUM_gA5pu4DCp5u/s1600/3.%20Recommended.jpg" width="290" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Director: Jean-Pierre Melville</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Drama/Political Drama/War</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Language: French</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Country: France</span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-70606230018190678282024-02-22T21:01:00.000+05:302024-02-22T21:01:11.472+05:30The Wonders [2014]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPGAazhPvxZrW6msYhkVFwtc_1IV6VeRZxJRjlf_P-gWbEgnPWhRfOt2a0XlUgb6OpEww9ba69CM5ihDjr_pEh5H1flWweRVFLfdvDl0IJFqbr9hTEj-u9AEezWK96TfigwRgbe4Rw8QWfdf1UsPRjdVlt9d8TjCDER7FyWnaAcB1WSFRPVngL8hTY/s840/The%20Wonders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPGAazhPvxZrW6msYhkVFwtc_1IV6VeRZxJRjlf_P-gWbEgnPWhRfOt2a0XlUgb6OpEww9ba69CM5ihDjr_pEh5H1flWweRVFLfdvDl0IJFqbr9hTEj-u9AEezWK96TfigwRgbe4Rw8QWfdf1UsPRjdVlt9d8TjCDER7FyWnaAcB1WSFRPVngL8hTY/w286-h400/The%20Wonders.jpg" width="286" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Italian
filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher stitched together <i><b>The Wonders</b></i> with such
deceptive simplicity, delicacy and lightness that it’s easy to miss the various
elements interwoven into it. Balancing naturalism, lyricism, understated
immediacy and observational approach with undertones of wry satire, social
commentary and magic realism, she crafted a spare yet emotionally resonant coming-of-age
story that unfolded against a fading way of life outside the grid. Her
interlocking portrayal of familial chaos against a vividly sunny countryside,
on the verge of violently unravelling, reminds one of such films as Lucrecia
Martel’s <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2023/03/la-cienaga-2001.html" target="_blank">La Ciénaga</a></b></i> and Carla Simón’s <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2023/05/alcarras-2022.html" target="_blank">Alcarràs</a></b></i>; hardly
incidental that all were helmed by women filmmakers adept at complementing
ferocity with nuance, and political underpinnings with evocative intimacy. This
last aspect was laced with additional meanings through its
semi-autobiographical touches. Rohrwacher was born to German beekeeper father
and Italian mother. The film’s adolescent protagonist Gelsomina (exceptionally performed
by Alexandra Maria Lungu) – the introspective eldest of four sisters –
similarly has a German beekeeper father in the form of the brusque and
irritable Wolfgang (Sam Louwyck), who’s fiercely adamant of retaining their
austere lifestyle and agricultural purity borne out of his deep distrust of modernization
and consumerism, and a loving if frazzled Italian mother (played, interestingly,
by Alice’s elder sister Alba Rohrwacher). Their rural summer, spent collecting
and processing honey with steadfast rigour, gets ruffled on account of two arrivals
– a troubled German boy who’s taken in as temporary help, and a stunning buxom
beauty (enacted with self-mocking irony by Monica Bellucci) spearheading a
kitschy reality TV show patronizing and fetishising local culture that
Gelsomina is hypnotized by. Hélène Louvart’s terrific soft-hued photography –
anachronistically shot in 16mm – impregnated rich authenticity into the
proceedings.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEenDrD_yV_RCZ9PajRQLVN4tiRLo7dk9rPwwJlnZVqjk3-5NsC0N-s6FE3m-OhZfI6dNUcdIcx_wlw6rna9WgY8yDiz-tBcRviFofpn5sDdwmyKBavWG0z3WspCX3qTDgmPTuH-JPSw0JPgAbpNhkvhPDYuVesqqBVaUFHooojgvFpSqO1j6R6Rgf/s390/2.%20Highly%20Recommended.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEenDrD_yV_RCZ9PajRQLVN4tiRLo7dk9rPwwJlnZVqjk3-5NsC0N-s6FE3m-OhZfI6dNUcdIcx_wlw6rna9WgY8yDiz-tBcRviFofpn5sDdwmyKBavWG0z3WspCX3qTDgmPTuH-JPSw0JPgAbpNhkvhPDYuVesqqBVaUFHooojgvFpSqO1j6R6Rgf/s16000/2.%20Highly%20Recommended.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Director: Alice Rohrwacher</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Drama/Family Drama/Coming-of-Age</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Language: Italian</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Country: Italy</span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-1274770087544048442024-02-19T21:28:00.001+05:302024-02-19T21:28:48.951+05:30Divorce Italian Style [1961]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyOLQN95Q2uALQIHsuYO1iU_Ijaeh9X4DVVclJX4No1HEh9kywECxLy1_0RrRjiEA36IJ5ViLR_SV0SAy_blqLXDPRVddEScrw8xRMVG7dClHGQqs_d45pid3AmT6HffF_bdYvdp2UsXwBvPRc7Di5Wtznwt9HmLqmk7gGMauu3HE8oZEC2qAZh-zF/s756/Divorce%20Italian%20Style.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="539" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyOLQN95Q2uALQIHsuYO1iU_Ijaeh9X4DVVclJX4No1HEh9kywECxLy1_0RrRjiEA36IJ5ViLR_SV0SAy_blqLXDPRVddEScrw8xRMVG7dClHGQqs_d45pid3AmT6HffF_bdYvdp2UsXwBvPRc7Di5Wtznwt9HmLqmk7gGMauu3HE8oZEC2qAZh-zF/w285-h400/Divorce%20Italian%20Style.jpg" width="285" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <i><span style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Divorce
Italian Style</b></span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;"> –
Pietro Germi’s magnificent first foray into comedy and a pioneering work in the
“<i>commedia all’italiana</i>” or “Italian-style comedy” sub-genre, which
derived its name from this very film – reminded me of such films from that
decade as Buñuel’s <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2013/04/viridiana-1961.html" target="_blank">Viridiana</a></b></i>, Imamura’s <i><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-pornographers-1966.html" target="_blank"><b>The Pornographers</b></a></i> and
Herz’s <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-cremator-1969.html" target="_blank">The Cremator</a></b></i> in how gallows humour, outré characterizations and a
narrative seeped in grotesquerie can be audaciously employed for lashing satires
on social mores, political happenings and human behaviour, and contain a moral core
too. Its oily anti-hero, “Fefè” (Marcello Mastroianni), is a sleezy, lecherous
and murderous louche, whose placid demeanour, facial twitches,
Brilliantine-soaked hair and dapper suit amusingly informed his decadent
aristocracy and machismo, and in turn the pervasive atmosphere of hypocrisy,
male chauvinism and bad behaviour in provincial Italy. A smug and vacuous
nobleman burdened by debts, living in a dilapidated house in a Sicilian town,
he hatches an elaborate scheme to murder his overly fawning and clinging wife
Rosalia (Daniela Rocca) – by luring her into the arms of her former flame,
which will therefore earn him a lighter punishment as the patriarchal law,
whose overt religiosity forbids divorce, would view it as a justifiable redressal
of one’s honour – in order to satisfy his raging lust for his nubile, enticing
and young cousin Angela (Stefania Sandrelli). The film was raucous, hilarious,
unapologetically offensive, glorious filled with ironies and exaggerations, and
cutting in its lampooning; idiosyncratically shot to amplify the farcical tone
and sticky atmosphere; boasted of a fabulous comedic turn by Mastriano, who was
courageously cast against type; and sly meta-commentary through references to Fellini’s
<i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2010/06/la-dolce-vita-1960.html" target="_blank">La Dolce Vita</a></b></i> where Mastriano, in a dramatically different persona, is
seen seduced by Anita Ekberg.</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAKJ7zhz7jVtirQg9f3IUUUXU07xy1Vq8gFZvQ-J0crfChydw6GcAg3oAFaJ_eT0hYtJ2BOZqmxikvmOQ0Bpt_GyLbthoLfiM4T07FkwkAE-fMdGlFmJKw7-YcXMpyTaPpGrwVLXMLx-TXtQtGKYaA3iDksAA5sjO31yIGcKi2rcvgUHfWuMYUeLDO/s319/1.%20Essential%20Viewing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="53" data-original-width="319" height="53" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAKJ7zhz7jVtirQg9f3IUUUXU07xy1Vq8gFZvQ-J0crfChydw6GcAg3oAFaJ_eT0hYtJ2BOZqmxikvmOQ0Bpt_GyLbthoLfiM4T07FkwkAE-fMdGlFmJKw7-YcXMpyTaPpGrwVLXMLx-TXtQtGKYaA3iDksAA5sjO31yIGcKi2rcvgUHfWuMYUeLDO/s1600/1.%20Essential%20Viewing.jpg" width="319" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Director: Pietro Germi</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Genre: Comedy/Black Comedy/Social Satire/Marital Satire/Crime</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Language: Italian</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Country: Italy</span></span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-35282634962030443622024-02-15T22:27:00.002+05:302024-02-15T22:27:31.738+05:30Riff-Raff [1991]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMIfFP14wHE6qLIbz-2lyhQfv5CRjCm83aNI8t135e0f9Y-KeyTMtDxaO3ojL7jJ8l88O26MKvQjWKTU_Watlu5tztopgnxTtV0iAQpQ1-nKuueGuoXkdKstLeqMqYxPGAb_qAQIaVJiWZwBOHXVVO7jBzzrXgQ9ZFopD-K2nDk0SLHcFZol6Tf6nG/s965/Riff-Raff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="965" data-original-width="663" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMIfFP14wHE6qLIbz-2lyhQfv5CRjCm83aNI8t135e0f9Y-KeyTMtDxaO3ojL7jJ8l88O26MKvQjWKTU_Watlu5tztopgnxTtV0iAQpQ1-nKuueGuoXkdKstLeqMqYxPGAb_qAQIaVJiWZwBOHXVVO7jBzzrXgQ9ZFopD-K2nDk0SLHcFZol6Tf6nG/w275-h400/Riff-Raff.jpg" width="275" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> After
a difficult time in the 1980s when he struggled to have his works broadcast and
distributed, Ken Loach begun blending ferocious political commentaries with
narrative storytelling in the 90s, thus making them more palatable. He started with
<i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2015/01/hidden-agenda-1990.html" target="_blank">Hidden Agenda</a></b></i>, a terrific political conspiracy thriller foregrounded on
the Northern Ireland “Troubles”. <i><b>Riff-Raff</b></i>, his marvellous next film,
set the tone for many of his subsequent anti-establishmentarian dramas centred
on regular working-class people at the receiving end of governmental apathy.
And, like the preceding movie, it too presented a lashing critique of
Thatcher’s damaging reign. The film, interlacing infectious seriocomic tone
with bleak social realism and bold left-wing politics, progressed from funny
and boisterous to tender and poignant to furious and blazing in its depiction
of a crew of construction labourers working without any physical or financial safety
nets. They’re hired without background checks – thus enabling them to continue
receiving benefits – and in lieu of that they’re forced to work in hazardous conditions,
manage their own insurances and fired without any notice. Lending profound
authenticity, it was written by Bill Jesse based on his personal experiences,
while actors Robert Carlyle – in a smashing turn as Glaswegian jailbird Stevie
attempting to walk the straight and narrow path – and Ricky Tomlinson – former
union activist who gave a memorably gregarious turn while also serving as the
film’s political conscience – too had experiences in this line. Ironically, the
derelict North London hospital where work is shown happening to convert it into
luxury apartments, anticipated what actually transpired. The raucous
camaraderie and stirring class solidarity between the culturally diverse
blue-collar workers was counterpointed with Stevie’s heartbreaking romance with
fragile girl-woman and wannabe singer Susan (Emer McCourt).</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpHwi0LlVlai5b6L-86dLTLXKpPfedcn8ME7JvhUApbnfnRSVYky9faQ2ZM1ERKON7znAJINYqiEeU-JxyET_tpqQkiixtk2rhHX3LBGYnOMRgfFDRFqVtW4Y3XK3oy4zcGnpBLzjDrZbT_-864UbbEEE_ApYQLlJs5v08GnaugB6Y7WA1XArbd_gh/s390/2.%20Highly%20Recommended.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpHwi0LlVlai5b6L-86dLTLXKpPfedcn8ME7JvhUApbnfnRSVYky9faQ2ZM1ERKON7znAJINYqiEeU-JxyET_tpqQkiixtk2rhHX3LBGYnOMRgfFDRFqVtW4Y3XK3oy4zcGnpBLzjDrZbT_-864UbbEEE_ApYQLlJs5v08GnaugB6Y7WA1XArbd_gh/s16000/2.%20Highly%20Recommended.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Director: Ken Loach</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Drama/Comedy/Social Drama/Romance</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Language: English</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Country: UK</span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-91547164806366045392024-02-11T22:05:00.004+05:302024-02-11T22:07:59.382+05:30Bill Douglas Trilogy: My Childhood [1972], My Ain Folk [1973], My Way Home [1978]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN4ul9yHyMLzQ2enRn5U2Dzl6cbMEtEEpycxe-_vIqOP9Z4S5QghkZ28xpdqS9nUXhl1yS469Z0PDgvpM56aLllpgm3GFtB3v-RAK1Of1nGVOw645k2YPcBsO33GnV6tShxnl8_vZcEzVb569c0Wt5SGURrWCLnw-0dK9fEUAv_wMn7uJ867GPL0Aw/s950/Bill%20Douglas%20Trilogy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="950" data-original-width="675" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN4ul9yHyMLzQ2enRn5U2Dzl6cbMEtEEpycxe-_vIqOP9Z4S5QghkZ28xpdqS9nUXhl1yS469Z0PDgvpM56aLllpgm3GFtB3v-RAK1Of1nGVOw645k2YPcBsO33GnV6tShxnl8_vZcEzVb569c0Wt5SGURrWCLnw-0dK9fEUAv_wMn7uJ867GPL0Aw/w284-h400/Bill%20Douglas%20Trilogy2.jpg" width="284" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Scottish
filmmaker Bill Douglas’ remarkable trilogy evokes irony as much for its
cinematic legacy – criminally under-watched despite being celebrated British
New Wave films – as for its formal and thematic interplay. The three films were
relentlessly bleak, on account of their grubby and desolate industrial setting,
grim portrayal of socioeconomic and familial impoverishment, and rigorously
spare and grainy monochrome treatments with both aesthetics and narratives
pared to the bones. Yet, in parallel, they possessed deep emotional lyricism,
visual poetics, hope, tenderness and warmth. And, while it’s impossible to
understate the trilogy’s eloquent working-class politics, it was, above all, an
intensely personal work. Essentially a reimagining of Douglas’ own experience
and memories of growing up amidst extreme poverty, hardships and estrangements
in the mining village of Newcraighall, during and after WW2, the three slender films
covered the childhood and teenage years of his alter-ego Jamie (played with
taciturn impassiveness by Stephen Archibald, whose weather-beaten face belied
his young age). Douglass, in fact, had found Archibald – a deeply troubled kid
with whom he developed a life-long kinship – through complete chance at a bus
stop. In <i><b>My Childhood</b></i>, 8-year-old Jamie – abandoned by his dad upon his
mom’s internment at a mental institution – is seen living with his loving
granny and elder cousin brother Tommy, while forming a close bond with a
Germany POW. In <i><b>My Ain Folk</b></i>, Jamie goes to live with his difficult and
neurotic maternal grandmother, where he becomes close to his aged granddad. And
finally in <i><b>My Way Home</b></i>, post shuttling between foster care and barren
home, he’s conscripted into RAF, and thereafter develops friendship with Robert
– who has difficulty in understanding his thick Scottish accent – while
stationed in Egypt.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvaJ3DB54ipSE_RsdMdQfXTr5MZ0kGbpTUisT7kzlziajCeHStHk6oyo_n34K0fPetByNiMhhdq7O98DXZknsrpq9ly5sIt4LbigrtDoEyoBUyPbJ3kskka-uNsXMv6LP-IUK-PadfXEGUvRizN65wQHVrjMw-zGTtnLejOybRFT4-dvMzwsS3l8sC/s390/2.%20Highly%20Recommended.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvaJ3DB54ipSE_RsdMdQfXTr5MZ0kGbpTUisT7kzlziajCeHStHk6oyo_n34K0fPetByNiMhhdq7O98DXZknsrpq9ly5sIt4LbigrtDoEyoBUyPbJ3kskka-uNsXMv6LP-IUK-PadfXEGUvRizN65wQHVrjMw-zGTtnLejOybRFT4-dvMzwsS3l8sC/s16000/2.%20Highly%20Recommended.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Director: Bill Douglas</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Drama/Film a Clef/Semi-Autobiographical/Coming-of-Age</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Language: English</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Country: UK/Scotland</span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-31285185460761351072024-02-09T21:53:00.003+05:302024-02-09T21:56:19.173+05:30The All-Round Reduced Personality (Re-dupers) [1978]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSDEtibZb-_DymK4P-mJuo6tKmQ-pkb1pK4ypzFyWMebdL7A31N9_z1tZqoy1YzWjFcToTAcm3lNiNU1ewxxijkNa0cGOIidzr0r-E3uRoLZVK5S-RdaKkSN-YLGBsGRiKNQ9E0oQRs3mFCl4vvCgbvCh1Rqi9nG9b8QTXSH3SGQO-9vz18_GcUL0O/s1024/The%20All-Round%20Reduced%20Personality.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="711" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSDEtibZb-_DymK4P-mJuo6tKmQ-pkb1pK4ypzFyWMebdL7A31N9_z1tZqoy1YzWjFcToTAcm3lNiNU1ewxxijkNa0cGOIidzr0r-E3uRoLZVK5S-RdaKkSN-YLGBsGRiKNQ9E0oQRs3mFCl4vvCgbvCh1Rqi9nG9b8QTXSH3SGQO-9vz18_GcUL0O/w278-h400/The%20All-Round%20Reduced%20Personality.jpg" width="278" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Helke
Sander, who was a pioneering feminist activist, influential voice on the left and
experimental filmmaker, existed in the overlapping intersections between
cinema, politics and womanhood. Edda, her alter-ego in her brilliant
feature-length directorial debut which she herself essayed, also had to
similarly juggle between artistic impulses, political activism, low-paying job,
economic survival, subaltern status as woman, and role as a single working
mother in BDR. She works as a freelance photo-journalist that necessitates
navigating through multiple assignments to make ends meet, wherein she mustn’t
imbue any progressive political meanings into her stunning B/W images; she has
a little daughter who loves clinging to her; she often has to work out of her
tiny flat – which she shares with her lover and a friend – thus coalescing her
personal, political and professional spaces; and she’s a member of a collective
of politically minded women artists like herself. When they win a coveted government
commission to create open-air photographic installations across West Berlin – a
public album to further the city’s glamorous consumerist conception, and in
turn undermine the socialist associations of their counterparts in the East –
they decide to push the envelope by presenting a sardonic critique of the
city’s self-image and subversive interpretations of the ubiquitous Wall. Unsurprisingly,
their project elicits unfavourable reactions among the establishment and men. The
film’s tone was one of tenderness and empathy, despite its spare aesthetics and
stark monochromatic visuals, which were counterpointed by its mock-serious
nature – wryly underscored by its ironic title which was a play on a communist
maxim –, urgency, solidarity, and modernism. Its long tracking shots of the
city, interestingly, reminded me of Akerman’s haunting <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2021/01/news-from-home-1977.html" target="_blank">News from Home</a></b></i> from
the previous year.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcR0WEHZGE_M9cSGRr9AdUELUOvfHmUmp5-YoPLQ5FG9Mm7k8gmXPpdkFEITKsmaEd5UYmUQ8XeK8k-kgGgb42AJ9dLLPYyh3E7LEwCiSO_k-luH5rW2wukjGk7zfeIz39Oo6LtOv74B_kfk4leg5YOBJe1CbXfBGLrIxATUL97mLxW3ilI0eOAM_2/s390/2.%20Highly%20Recommended.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcR0WEHZGE_M9cSGRr9AdUELUOvfHmUmp5-YoPLQ5FG9Mm7k8gmXPpdkFEITKsmaEd5UYmUQ8XeK8k-kgGgb42AJ9dLLPYyh3E7LEwCiSO_k-luH5rW2wukjGk7zfeIz39Oo6LtOv74B_kfk4leg5YOBJe1CbXfBGLrIxATUL97mLxW3ilI0eOAM_2/s16000/2.%20Highly%20Recommended.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Director: Halke Sander</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Drama/Political Drama/Feminist Film</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Language: German</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Country: Germany</span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-45923064557023632862024-02-07T22:15:00.000+05:302024-02-07T22:15:13.658+05:30State of Siege [1972]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcvJWQJFWfkPPatgrYM_tUaAUlBXlGy-19Lh6OI25i8xhVg5K6l4R2YpsYmNoPcWYSht0BQsaBj000vBPjBF4mmqXhFjuKpVwxUPbXRlXVm4bxEioUEKDXrh7vGfRXyTEBG5-kJaZtsxTlmp6YWkauK4VclkKQ8Pd5qDG1BmvWNdSaszViS4JMtZiz/s960/State%20of%20Siege.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="719" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcvJWQJFWfkPPatgrYM_tUaAUlBXlGy-19Lh6OI25i8xhVg5K6l4R2YpsYmNoPcWYSht0BQsaBj000vBPjBF4mmqXhFjuKpVwxUPbXRlXVm4bxEioUEKDXrh7vGfRXyTEBG5-kJaZtsxTlmp6YWkauK4VclkKQ8Pd5qDG1BmvWNdSaszViS4JMtZiz/w300-h400/State%20of%20Siege.jpg" width="300" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> With
<i><b>State of Siege</b></i> – the scintillating final chapter in his landmark trilogy,
and presaged by <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2012/03/z-1969.html" target="_blank">Z</a></b></i> and <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-confession-1970.html" target="_blank">The Confession</a></b> </i>– Costa-Gavras resoundingly established
himself as a transnational political filmmaker unafraid of cataloguing abuses
of power across diverse geographic milieus. While the previous films were set
in Greece and Czechoslovakia, respectively, he shifted his focus to Latin
America here for a daring indictment of the US’ interventionism, wherein it
used nefarious means to propel and strengthen brutally repressive right-wing
leaders and military juntas, in their quest for ideological supremacy in that
part of the world. Unsurprisingly, it riled American conservatives to no end.
Incidentally, while it was based on Uruguay, he shot it in Allende’s Chile – a
country that he’d cover 12 years later with <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2019/05/missing-1982.html" target="_blank">Missing</a></b></i>, his compelling inquiry
into the CIA’s role in the <i>coup d'état </i>against Allende. It began on an
electrifying note with Montevideo literally in a state of siege, audaciously
orchestrated through a flurry of cuts and angles, and a bevy of actors, with
Martial Law declared and a combing operation underway. The reason, as is soon revealed,
is that the Tupamaros – a left-wing guerilla outfit which had challenged the
country’s civic-military dictatorship – have kidnapped a U.S. government
official (Yves Montand) who’s there to train the Uruguayan police in the use of
torture and violence against dissidents. Co-written with Franco Solinas – best
known for <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2024/01/salvatore-giuliano-1962.html" target="_blank">Salvatore Guiliano</a></b></i> and <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-battle-of-algiers-1966.html" target="_blank">The Battle of Algiers</a></b></i> –, composed
through a bravura use of flashbacks, and circling through a stunning array of
characters – impassioned rebels, courageous journalists, draconian cops, zealous
politicos, sanctimonious priests – the film interlaced anger, irony, urgency
and politically engaged conversations into a brilliant work that was both thrilling
and sobering.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWT5G3j-iPNPXqLkoggp8sWYTCZAPG48Hpbbanf-s1xIlShR4ITS4yrniDf9lgDmFMb03H2eoYkw1tdaRNFymb65tFLyu3Q3jU4UgnINo2Vny_e52XJfcd-iDSWmyj2Acw1AXvdFjUHfDFY4DhBBywK_Cd6BaTFPeMEV7v9bVjy1W5Ob8cCuOajF9e/s390/2.%20Highly%20Recommended.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWT5G3j-iPNPXqLkoggp8sWYTCZAPG48Hpbbanf-s1xIlShR4ITS4yrniDf9lgDmFMb03H2eoYkw1tdaRNFymb65tFLyu3Q3jU4UgnINo2Vny_e52XJfcd-iDSWmyj2Acw1AXvdFjUHfDFY4DhBBywK_Cd6BaTFPeMEV7v9bVjy1W5Ob8cCuOajF9e/s16000/2.%20Highly%20Recommended.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Director: Costa-Gavras</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Thriller/Political Thriller/Film a Clef</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Language: French</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Country: France</span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-44274112310070675082024-02-03T20:09:00.001+05:302024-02-07T22:16:15.762+05:30The Confession [1970]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbNPttJoOjRSEqsYhe7cn4bE5RvRR2AzOoZJycNvfl85pWL58YAZc_SQzlc5CPkn67QFeiljhII0_OW7FDvlgqjREgCp8uVlzr4GfrdSKqficUd6YmkRXgxJzs8WwhpofxFTYhIxExpmUpJQckTYmXWwjAPSuk-rXavMtC8IwLdX-JnRXA5JuNZA5t/s1020/The%20Confession.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1020" data-original-width="677" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbNPttJoOjRSEqsYhe7cn4bE5RvRR2AzOoZJycNvfl85pWL58YAZc_SQzlc5CPkn67QFeiljhII0_OW7FDvlgqjREgCp8uVlzr4GfrdSKqficUd6YmkRXgxJzs8WwhpofxFTYhIxExpmUpJQckTYmXWwjAPSuk-rXavMtC8IwLdX-JnRXA5JuNZA5t/w265-h400/The%20Confession.jpg" width="265" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <i><span style="line-height: 107%;"><b>The
Confession</b></span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;">, Costa-Gavras’
follow-up to his pulsating masterpiece <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2012/03/z-1969.html" target="_blank">Z</a></b></i>, couldn’t be more dramatically
contrasting in form, tone and milieu. Yet it was bound to the preceding smash
hit as well the electrifying next film<i> <b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2024/02/state-of-siege-1972.html" target="_blank">State of Siege</a></b></i>, in that this formidable
trilogy catalogued judicial overreach and abuse of power by the state against
those it construed as political dissidents, and was bolstered by Yves Montand’s
charismatic presence. Harsh, harrowing and disorienting, and yet also gripping
and darkly irony, this edgy and compelling film made no bones about the
filmmaker’s disdain for Stalinist totalitarianism and excesses despite his
steadfast leftism. This crucial nuance was also underlined by association of multiple
other people on the left in different capacities – actors Montand and Simone
Signoret, writer Jorge Semprún, Chris Marker who served as still photographer
during production, etc. – even though it inevitably evoked sharp political
reactions. Based on Czechoslovak communist veteran Artur London’s memoirs <i>L’Aveu</i>,
it chronicled his sudden arrest, long stretches of dehumanizing torture and deliberate
manipulation into self-incriminating confession – on charges of Trotskyism,
Titoism and Zionism – and thereafter the Slánský show trials he was made to
stand along with many others; these, despite his past involvements in Spanish
Civil War and French anti-Nazi Resistance, his internment in Mauthausen
concentration camp, and his long-standing party position. Montand’s remarkable
performance – he lost twenty-five pounds for the role – was matched by Gabriele
Ferzetti as a hideously cunning interrogator, while the film’s bleak mood and claustrophobic
spaces were impressively captured through washed out images by Raoul Coutard.
Gavras’ political voice was matched by his narrative brilliance, in how he
often jumped back and forth in time, invoked collective memory and demonstrated
the underlying farce.</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWG5JR3l91a8d-ASP2164Z5ld4HvWm2X0YyirT00Dq1dr3MSA7RisnmZqpJAKTLbdbpMgyBtGkXLc5wedD26_9bPer6xW3BynqZCugqhjFaMbSNgpTCP45TpUcTWaf1FV4wux4S2VjosSvrf4Iw4RSGeY8zChFwLvSCclfodw8d2spWz5Yw34gSTii/s290/3.%20Recommended.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="54" data-original-width="290" height="54" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWG5JR3l91a8d-ASP2164Z5ld4HvWm2X0YyirT00Dq1dr3MSA7RisnmZqpJAKTLbdbpMgyBtGkXLc5wedD26_9bPer6xW3BynqZCugqhjFaMbSNgpTCP45TpUcTWaf1FV4wux4S2VjosSvrf4Iw4RSGeY8zChFwLvSCclfodw8d2spWz5Yw34gSTii/s1600/3.%20Recommended.jpg" width="290" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Director: Costa-Gavras</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Genre: Drama/Political Drama/Historical Drama/Biopic</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Language: French</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Country: France</span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-56238398944691119682024-01-30T21:36:00.006+05:302024-01-30T21:36:49.232+05:30Hands over the City [1963]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMIcYTBSD27IMUbDR8zfsSqNUQkX9zvxCNPa2mjxlJD-DGfcPKNMnmTo9gqXjWLr-KX8ZRrGhcxK54zNa86xbA_zAEAn9qda3fwdUJNHijTcgEOG6Uy7s-emCBnhEKhFf25Pn6eh6egoNekg-EyR06VT8bBm1k3zKfYgUvXo7x9BMmobuRS9WBI0Bu/s1120/Hands%20over%20the%20City2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1120" data-original-width="750" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMIcYTBSD27IMUbDR8zfsSqNUQkX9zvxCNPa2mjxlJD-DGfcPKNMnmTo9gqXjWLr-KX8ZRrGhcxK54zNa86xbA_zAEAn9qda3fwdUJNHijTcgEOG6Uy7s-emCBnhEKhFf25Pn6eh6egoNekg-EyR06VT8bBm1k3zKfYgUvXo7x9BMmobuRS9WBI0Bu/w268-h400/Hands%20over%20the%20City2.jpg" width="268" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <i><span style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Hands
over the City</b></span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;">, Rosi’s
electrifying follow-up to his dazzling <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2024/01/salvatore-giuliano-1962.html" target="_blank">Salvatore Guiliano</a></b></i>, firmly
established him as one of the greatest practitioners of political cinema, whose
left-wing defiance for unearthing murky governmental collusions, corruptions,
criminality and cover-ups through investigative filmmaking made him a powerful comrade
to Costa-Gavras. While Sicilian polity served as the canvas for his landmark previous
feature, he trained his lens here on Naples. Through an arresting blend of
social realism and baroque stylizations – thus both leveraging his
apprenticeship in neorealism while also transcending it – Rosi delivered a blistering
exposé on how real-estate speculations and constructions were making a mockery
of due processes, and in turn violating the city’s architectural character and
the interests of its working-class population, through rotten hand-in-glove
complicity with the political establishment. His use of architecture as
political and existential inquiries, therefore, drew interesting parallels to Antonioni’s
<i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2014/06/red-desert-1964.html" target="_blank">Red Desert</a></b></i>, Godard’s <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2020/12/alphaville-1965.html" target="_blank">Alphaville</a></b></i>, Tati’s <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2019/01/playtime-1967.html" target="_blank">Playtime</a></b></i>, etc., despite
their formal disparity. When an old residential building collapses with tragic consequences,
the city council is eager to bury the incident – not least because Nottola (played
with imposing heft by Rod Steiger), a wealthy real estate shark who’s part of
the right-wing party that’s in power and with which he has a quid pro quo
relationship, is potentially to blame for it. Communist party member De Vita (passionately
enacted by real-life council member Carlo Fermariello) is the only person who raises
his voice and even propels a futile departmental enquiry. Shot in stunning B/W
and punctuated by a pulsating brassy score, it was filled with fury, ferocity,
urgency, and bleak irony, as sealed by the riveting sequence where the politicians
operatically call out in unison, “our hands are clean!”</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_dQomeOm3hbx-30fb469yeJ8-q02FORgjRPqzxkVjLyaGBW7_J5pDznea8StOjg0wieITAXRWTxvjAG8rBp5F7wvAFPvrSEfbWIGc-pHKVStJDRpxnQdorPmIgZW5OOSKvzfEaP_C4l49Pqf8PjcsY0HJ6uGNdV7UxwHvVnxRIN4yneuZAVR6k1dl/s390/2.%20Highly%20Recommended.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_dQomeOm3hbx-30fb469yeJ8-q02FORgjRPqzxkVjLyaGBW7_J5pDznea8StOjg0wieITAXRWTxvjAG8rBp5F7wvAFPvrSEfbWIGc-pHKVStJDRpxnQdorPmIgZW5OOSKvzfEaP_C4l49Pqf8PjcsY0HJ6uGNdV7UxwHvVnxRIN4yneuZAVR6k1dl/s16000/2.%20Highly%20Recommended.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Director: Francesco Rosi</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Genre: Drama/Political Drama</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Language: Italian</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Country: Italy</span></span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-70267817005234533842024-01-26T21:57:00.001+05:302024-01-26T21:57:45.582+05:30Salvatore Giuliano [1962]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAioZsegsaf-CweUDPtE2E-PglGm86N-zOSCjfdUx5sPXFJ1MhPC781vCPOO-adYwSQ-Q32oneBQ8wZnm1YqO59OfxI8ifrrvMHgB1iYRSiEr8D0h_sTxXgZsEXDD8hoDdrdWfG3Ifhx4xvfer6HyGvuZHCfH-41ci43H3fq5jq4pg745wyA__YJuT/s769/Salvatore%20Giuliano.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="520" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAioZsegsaf-CweUDPtE2E-PglGm86N-zOSCjfdUx5sPXFJ1MhPC781vCPOO-adYwSQ-Q32oneBQ8wZnm1YqO59OfxI8ifrrvMHgB1iYRSiEr8D0h_sTxXgZsEXDD8hoDdrdWfG3Ifhx4xvfer6HyGvuZHCfH-41ci43H3fq5jq4pg745wyA__YJuT/w270-h400/Salvatore%20Giuliano.jpg" width="270" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> In
the annals of landmark political filmmaking, <i><b>Salvatore Guiliano</b></i> – the scintillating
film that established Marxist and post-neorealist filmmaker Francesco Rosi as
one of the most electrifying voices of post-War Italian cinema – remains a work
of piercing analytic brilliance, formal bravura and blazing ferocity. Having
earlier assisted Visconti on <i><b>La Terra Trema</b></i> and <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2023/11/senso-1954.html" target="_blank">Senso</a></b></i>, he
combined visceral realism, remarkably dialectical approach, and uncompromising
diagnosis of historical artefacts into a thrilling piece of investigative
journalism that provided a scalding examination of the rotten state of affairs perpetuated
by the government, army, police, Mafiosi, feudal class and law – foregrounded
in Sicily’s gritty sociopolitical landscape – that first led to the titular
outlaw’s phenomenal rise in power and popularity, and thereafter the massive
manhunts that eventually led to his death and posthumous trial. Instead of a
classical approach, Rosi adopted a dazzling multi-perspective form –
reminiscent of <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2010/06/citizen-kane-1941.html" target="_blank">Citizen Kane</a></b></i>, <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2009/01/rashomon-1951.html" target="_blank">Rashomon</a></b></i> and Peruvian writer Llosa’s
magnificent novel <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues1.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-real-life-of-alejandro-mayta.html" target="_blank">The Real Life of Alejandro Mayta</a></b> </i>– for a powerful
inquiry into corruption, complicity and expediency, and in turn deconstruction
of the Sicilian bandit’s life, death and myth. Rosi crafted this complex,
clinical and non-linear mosaic, and forensic diagnosis, with a mostly non-professional
cast – as desperado, partisan, hired-hand, fugitive – and filmed in the same
locations where Guiliano’s meteoric persona unfolded, through magnetic B/W palettes
that evoked a striking sense of here-and-now. In a fascinating artistic choice,
we hardly ever see Giuliano; yet, the enigmatic desperado’s shadowy presence pervaded
every episode, including his enlisting for Sicily’s secessionist ambitions, his
repute among the poor for his antagonistic persona vis-à-vis the oppressive <i>carabiniere</i>,
his noxious participation in the massacre of Sicilian communists, and the power
structure’s turbid, tangled and malleable links to him.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVYiDPyVn8PoEc-G46QzjhY7XHzoWggKVUt9-60cTpSHoZdp1uOvaYd9gluPuAfmnP9ugOUviFTYMJWJsH_omfli7G4PFawV1vRq3pa6YCpSF8EwOdMkHUdZAxe1B8h3THo4kMcr9bESubWy4aw0sTbBIfIIDlojQM6JM6QXh7FnDcpxjYE3YNSoX8/s319/1.%20Essential%20Viewing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="53" data-original-width="319" height="53" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVYiDPyVn8PoEc-G46QzjhY7XHzoWggKVUt9-60cTpSHoZdp1uOvaYd9gluPuAfmnP9ugOUviFTYMJWJsH_omfli7G4PFawV1vRq3pa6YCpSF8EwOdMkHUdZAxe1B8h3THo4kMcr9bESubWy4aw0sTbBIfIIDlojQM6JM6QXh7FnDcpxjYE3YNSoX8/s1600/1.%20Essential%20Viewing.jpg" width="319" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Director: Francesco Rosi</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Drama/Historical Drama/Biopic/Docudrama</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Language: Italian</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Country: Italy</span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-3828943205809095022024-01-24T12:05:00.007+05:302024-01-24T12:08:03.442+05:30Out 1: Noli Me Tangere [1971]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCNyp5lQrdGW8BqkJ8TVppiKwRW1IMmoRZXmP68RYEYIx7vvJa3W275N6w1Uy0NgS5PrJtmMeVHzTQE-frRwMHY38Gl-_Z2SiIT_r2fxTaXNEXG53Gj_8ewVPjxPHNBXrTucYEwrSaiEGMGa9U1u7GLHPJmhPCMbbo8TPrgHSCBD8lCHvEvyzkOfwA/s891/Out%201.PNG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="891" data-original-width="643" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCNyp5lQrdGW8BqkJ8TVppiKwRW1IMmoRZXmP68RYEYIx7vvJa3W275N6w1Uy0NgS5PrJtmMeVHzTQE-frRwMHY38Gl-_Z2SiIT_r2fxTaXNEXG53Gj_8ewVPjxPHNBXrTucYEwrSaiEGMGa9U1u7GLHPJmhPCMbbo8TPrgHSCBD8lCHvEvyzkOfwA/w289-h400/Out%201.PNG" width="289" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Jacques
Rivette eschewed time and narrative, and deconstructed the experience of making
and watching movies, in <i><b>Out 1</b></i>,<i> </i>his grandest and boldest
experiment. Often considered one of the "holy grails for cinephiles", it remains
an audacious, enigmatic and baffling work, what with its staggering 13-hours’ length,
wildly freewheeling structure, extraordinary exercises in improvisation, and
unavailability for many years. It began with exacting and bemusing dives into
the immersive workshops of two avant-garde theatre collectives rehearsing Aeschylus’
plays – a rigorously analytic troupe led by the avuncular Thomas (Michael
Lonsdale) and an idiosyncratic one led by the spirited Lili (Michèle Moretti) –
whose outré drills and heavy improvs metatextually mirrored the film itself.
Two neurotic outsiders, meanwhile, provoke a parallel thread – one of paranoia,
subterfuge and conspiracy reminiscent of <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2022/12/paris-belongs-to-us-1961.html" target="_blank">Paris Belongs to Us</a></b></i> – presented as a
cackling anti-thriller. On one hand there’s Colin (Jean-Pierre Léaud), a shapeshifting,
harmonica-playing drifter who becomes drawn into a quixotic investigation to uncover
a sinister secret society linked to Balzac and Lewis Carroll; on the other
there’s Frédérique (Juliet Berto), an alluring hustler and vagabond who too loiters
into an analogous quest. Packed with extraordinary long takes – including a
bravura one following an increasingly manic Léaud through the Parisian streets
– the film also had Françoise Fabian as a crafty lawyer, Bulle Ogier as the
proprietor of a shady joint, and the great Éric Rohmer as a deadpan Balzac
scholar. Claustrophobic interiors were juxtaposed with radiant exteriors in
this wry, dazzling and monumental opus often interpreted as an expression of post-May’68
disillusionment and malaise. Rivette, interestingly, cut a four-hour version
which he called <i><b>Spectre</b></i> – or “ghost” – as opposed to this longer version’s
subtitle which ironically means “touch me not”.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiFEtYuLj_-pfrSqfhz389O_ZbkGPUrFp_I3ClGBNYQt3AEkL3omLUQtXkSkvUR-itMThtnmQLYqjuvUbxUkxMD5587i0J5ZAIZwWlglTyK_MiJwdvvrbgdu7FPXF7UFM7LGJW39UY-Aj_zgMoa9WULui00mHCv7Jf85eF94vcdtndI4UWrLiWT9BL/s319/1.%20Essential%20Viewing.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="53" data-original-width="319" height="53" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiFEtYuLj_-pfrSqfhz389O_ZbkGPUrFp_I3ClGBNYQt3AEkL3omLUQtXkSkvUR-itMThtnmQLYqjuvUbxUkxMD5587i0J5ZAIZwWlglTyK_MiJwdvvrbgdu7FPXF7UFM7LGJW39UY-Aj_zgMoa9WULui00mHCv7Jf85eF94vcdtndI4UWrLiWT9BL/s1600/1.%20Essential%20Viewing.jpg" width="319" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Director: Jacques Rivette</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Avant-Garde/Experimental/Social Satire/Black Comedy/Mystery/Mini-Series</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Language: French</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Country: France</span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-48218797574051253212024-01-21T20:11:00.000+05:302024-01-21T20:11:06.454+05:30Four Days in July [1984]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggX3UpIqFsZ0SY47aunm29nMADzVIKsyjmg239LenNzAk1zU80HliTPLVCaUr-byzrM8gApSKTj5UF85s0zIR9bxVNMnSXKlgSE-IKwM7eK0JQAZyZp4MPMni-AZFcIPDfiRWQbYhy2OrqN35v0ryTOCZg9AyQ9ZW5IFA8wak8jlc8qPCQupj2GdZU/s1397/Four%20Days%20in%20July.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1397" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggX3UpIqFsZ0SY47aunm29nMADzVIKsyjmg239LenNzAk1zU80HliTPLVCaUr-byzrM8gApSKTj5UF85s0zIR9bxVNMnSXKlgSE-IKwM7eK0JQAZyZp4MPMni-AZFcIPDfiRWQbYhy2OrqN35v0ryTOCZg9AyQ9ZW5IFA8wak8jlc8qPCQupj2GdZU/w286-h400/Four%20Days%20in%20July.jpg" width="286" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Mike
Leigh’s final television film and the middle chapter in his terrific trilogy on
Thatcher’s harsh regime – sandwiched on either side by <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2024/01/meantime-1983.html" target="_blank">Meantime</a></b></i> and <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2024/01/high-hopes-1988.html" target="_blank">High Hopes</a></b></i> – <i><b>Four Days in July</b></i> remains a remarkable, albeit criminally
underrated, work in his canon. Like the two other films, it too was a defiantly
political film, filled with rousing left-wing solidarity and radical
compassion. Its tone, however, wasn’t one of anger or disillusionment; rather,
it was enveloped in understated warmth, fragility and melancholy, which made it
even more touching and eloquent. Set in Belfast at the peak of “The Troubles”, the
turbulent Northern Ireland conflict provided a politically-charged backdrop, informing
the characters and their personal stories, but rarely overshadowing the intimate
tale of two couples – at opposite ends of political and religious divides –
expecting their first children during the 12<sup>th</sup> July “Orange
Marches”. The gregarious, warm-hearted Collette (Brid Brennan), and the withdrawn,
soft-spoken Eugene (Des McAleer), who’s been crippled by bullets and shrapnel,
are Catholics and republicans quietly hoping for a free Ireland. Leigh’s
kinship, unsurprisingly, was steadfastly with this unassuming couple that was
magnificently brought to life by the two actors. Their gentle banters with
similarly humble and memorably portrayed neighbours – deadpan window-washer
(Stephan Rea) and modest plumber (Shane Connaughton) – added nuanced undertones
to their milieu. The other side of the spectrum was represented by the brash
army officer Billy (Charles Lawson) and his unsettled wife Lorraine (Paula
Hamilton), who’re Protestants and unionists. Two exceptionally stitched
sequences especially stood out – Collette pensively singing the haunting IRA
ballad “<i>The Patriot Game</i>”; and the two new mothers, in adjacent hospital
beds, realizing their divides by the fundamentally contrasting names they’ve chosen
for their babies.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ0rT_CrIlPbyuetgZYP74bC45eovMKW-Bqu0Yq8fIbi3JVB9ktzKC0ceUui_wDW22uRJTaWEFkZUUj8R16jqiotf3_v7bETPHOrB2VZ1KfwhND_M8PUEJTLGHVm3ENzVtg3c6ysNYV3lhvtzarjoarjyw6rd474YwM7RfTAlT91wB7siJWBazH6OZ/s319/1.%20Essential%20Viewing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="53" data-original-width="319" height="53" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ0rT_CrIlPbyuetgZYP74bC45eovMKW-Bqu0Yq8fIbi3JVB9ktzKC0ceUui_wDW22uRJTaWEFkZUUj8R16jqiotf3_v7bETPHOrB2VZ1KfwhND_M8PUEJTLGHVm3ENzVtg3c6ysNYV3lhvtzarjoarjyw6rd474YwM7RfTAlT91wB7siJWBazH6OZ/s1600/1.%20Essential%20Viewing.jpg" width="319" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Director: Mike Leigh</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Drama/Political Drama/Marriage Drama</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Language: English</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Country: UK</span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-68547732963625750992024-01-16T21:10:00.005+05:302024-01-21T20:12:05.398+05:30High Hopes [1988]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVjp5g7VwAqnOy1fJ1IXzQYmwYhNpSMfJSRNbk9igkrUXKjLXH3DGDrHH0UhhyphenhyphenptTdmwxk88UB44TkmJNTCZJP4vnDkS-aO845HXAD1_lNphOqXZ01pe1yBTiuiQPC9EPgWPqulo41h5TSEzEE5MWPSraui59xRCCma_e0Gx-JG1UNdxXbQG19PUw7/s749/High%20Hopes.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="749" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVjp5g7VwAqnOy1fJ1IXzQYmwYhNpSMfJSRNbk9igkrUXKjLXH3DGDrHH0UhhyphenhyphenptTdmwxk88UB44TkmJNTCZJP4vnDkS-aO845HXAD1_lNphOqXZ01pe1yBTiuiQPC9EPgWPqulo41h5TSEzEE5MWPSraui59xRCCma_e0Gx-JG1UNdxXbQG19PUw7/w268-h400/High%20Hopes.jpg" width="268" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> The
title of Leigh’s <i><b>High Hopes</b></i> – the third film in his so-called <i>“Anti-Thatcher
Trilogy</i>”, which was preceded by <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2024/01/meantime-1983.html" target="_blank">Meantime</a></b></i> and <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2024/01/four-days-in-july-1984.html" target="_blank">Four Days in July</a></b></i>
– wasn’t just ironic and sardonic, but quietly mournful too, and with a tinge
of bitterness. It pointed to the vacuous, self-centred “high hopes” that the <i>nouveau
riche</i> associates their class mobility and entitlements with. Conversely, it
also underscored the despair and disenchantment that come for a progressive and
conscientious person for harbouring high ideals, or “high hopes”, and the
futility thereof. Made with a cheeky mix of parody, humour, pathos and anger,
this seriocomic film had at its core one of the most delectably whimsical,
lovable and infectious married couples in cinema – Cyril (Phil Davis), a
Marxist working-class man who’s become profoundly disillusioned with Thatcher’s
England and the glib upper-class around him who he observes with scorn and
befuddlement, and Shirley (Ruth Sheen), an affable woman who shares her
husband’s left-wing beliefs, bohemian outlook, love for the pot and disdain for
the then British Prime Minister, while still retaining a streak of optimism – who
live an unassuming life in their little flat in King’s Cross, North London. The
philosophy with which they live their lives, unsurprisingly, is at complete
odds with that of Cyril’s shallow, neurotic sister (Heather Tobias), who’s
unhappily married to a wealthy, philandering clown. Meanwhile, Cyril’s taciturn
widowed mother (Edna Doré), suffering from dementia, lives a distanced
existence at one of the last council houses in a rapidly gentrifying
neighbourhood, as sharply accentuated by her smug, upper class next-door
neighbour (Lesley Manville). If some of Leigh’s caricatures were broad, that’s
how he probably intended, in order to demonstrate which side he’s on.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0xOYhYJ1OO9QvLChEYxuzdARfJ5ZaAMBC22-c2upNbBmRkExDh_Ays7YzgjGFN_cof_pnyHuKmt3g6SX6w1huA6Fld3GPogfrcidpUNVe6RzKkXWYlHwVcNvGfn6QYDHmRPTurL1magFPxtARtcFoBKVs2PxBj22LItqVn1JilR1okzH-Hyyi7V0T/s290/3.%20Recommended.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="54" data-original-width="290" height="54" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0xOYhYJ1OO9QvLChEYxuzdARfJ5ZaAMBC22-c2upNbBmRkExDh_Ays7YzgjGFN_cof_pnyHuKmt3g6SX6w1huA6Fld3GPogfrcidpUNVe6RzKkXWYlHwVcNvGfn6QYDHmRPTurL1magFPxtARtcFoBKVs2PxBj22LItqVn1JilR1okzH-Hyyi7V0T/s1600/3.%20Recommended.jpg" width="290" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Director: Mike Leigh</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Drama/Black Comedy/Social Satire/Political Satire</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Language: English</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Country: UK</span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-84292222188047995232024-01-14T19:28:00.002+05:302024-01-21T20:11:50.742+05:30Meantime [1983]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0K4rtyR3y6yu9K2YzFq3NM6QWzpTMsqGRokWzDdrow5r66hejxNmXjJSM9O-41_MVcYOwhGQb1N1-T2MKnQZjzNceNooihyHP_tmXu6pO8ZuSLxrPfkixBFD3-eodQ6JHJBFdBzDxYVtLjfGgVoUyNYIai5Qk-l8o0qPPBGC_5iENJVkC7NDaMY5N/s975/Meantime.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="975" data-original-width="655" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0K4rtyR3y6yu9K2YzFq3NM6QWzpTMsqGRokWzDdrow5r66hejxNmXjJSM9O-41_MVcYOwhGQb1N1-T2MKnQZjzNceNooihyHP_tmXu6pO8ZuSLxrPfkixBFD3-eodQ6JHJBFdBzDxYVtLjfGgVoUyNYIai5Qk-l8o0qPPBGC_5iENJVkC7NDaMY5N/w269-h400/Meantime.jpg" width="269" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> Often
considered the pinnacle of Mike Leigh’s acclaimed work in television, and the
first chapter in his searing trilogy foregrounded on Thatcher’s Britain – it
was followed by <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2024/01/four-days-in-july-1984.html" target="_blank">Four Days in July</a></b></i> and <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2024/01/high-hopes-1988.html" target="_blank">High Hopes</a></b></i> – <i><b>Meantime</b></i>
presented a blistering portrayal of the economic degradation and existential disillusionment
of the working-class during her cruel premiership. Crafted using a combustible
mix of anger, despair, irony and cutting humour, the filmmaker’s profound
empathy for the disenfranchised and the marginalized shone through above all. An
impoverished and dysfunctional blue-collar family of four – middle-aged couple
Frank (Jeffrey Robert) and Mavis (Pam Frier), and their two adult sons Mark
(Phil Daniels) and Colin (Tim Roth) – who’re living a grubby existence in a
shabby, cramped flat in London’s working-class East End, has been hit hard, like
numerous others, by recession and widespread unemployment. Consequently, all
three men in the family are unemployed, and therefore compelled to depend on
the meagre dole distributed by the council office and Mavis’ menial job in
order to meet ends. The film’s primary focus was on the two diametrically
opposite brothers having a complex love-hate relationship – Mark is cynical,
bitter and alienated, while Colin is naïve, gauche and vulnerable – which made
it an interesting precursor to <i><b><a href="https://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2023/04/life-is-sweet-1990.html" target="_blank">Life Is Sweet</a></b></i>, which too had featured a similarly
complicated relationship between two contrasting sisters. Leigh loved dealing
in pointed class juxtapositions, and that manifested through Mavis’s sister
Barbara (Marion Bailey) who’s unhappily married to a well-off man (Alfred
Molina) and lives in suburban comfort. The marvellously enacted film, which
also featured a bare-knuckled turn by Gary Oldman as an unstable skinhead, was
filled with gritty locales that brilliantly counterpointed its bleak mood and
sardonic tone.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjD97I1Fa4THufifuWUTh6oNHIqyDbtYtjwn32E-rrTzEFAncctkkkImK0YJ3AiaNvFeA_jDE0zVsRf4_7YJNtFaUNPS5LgRAEZ_O0zQF2XMGBTDfscoiPhZuilAj_dQUbayGDxWGu2RmMPPS1YgxPVqulBWN5LLMrQQ1IT0uppHWPSlCap_gzr36W/s390/2.%20Highly%20Recommended.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjD97I1Fa4THufifuWUTh6oNHIqyDbtYtjwn32E-rrTzEFAncctkkkImK0YJ3AiaNvFeA_jDE0zVsRf4_7YJNtFaUNPS5LgRAEZ_O0zQF2XMGBTDfscoiPhZuilAj_dQUbayGDxWGu2RmMPPS1YgxPVqulBWN5LLMrQQ1IT0uppHWPSlCap_gzr36W/s16000/2.%20Highly%20Recommended.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Director: Mike Leigh</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Genre: Drama/Family Drama/Social Drama/Black Comedy/Social Satire</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Language: English</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Country: UK</span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-67426868481446206992024-01-09T19:49:00.000+05:302024-01-09T19:49:16.220+05:30Teorema [1968]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDEqjWxeF7Mr1zrwjUSNKnlQTGxfGeBRm8U6cWr3Ca2cNpcDmWWfygmSMi55KZVDRkzIXhDbAAUQxs8PpWAbI1JJzmOdQjfgWOK7In3bk5JTfEWVEhvJ65Mj2LboawaDpX4ozTjPagqpHwt5j28OT00vdpH8SOSx_ksDlm3TLaQL-dCtxZr_-n5Nqk/s900/Teorema.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="591" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDEqjWxeF7Mr1zrwjUSNKnlQTGxfGeBRm8U6cWr3Ca2cNpcDmWWfygmSMi55KZVDRkzIXhDbAAUQxs8PpWAbI1JJzmOdQjfgWOK7In3bk5JTfEWVEhvJ65Mj2LboawaDpX4ozTjPagqpHwt5j28OT00vdpH8SOSx_ksDlm3TLaQL-dCtxZr_-n5Nqk/w263-h400/Teorema.jpg" width="263" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <i><span style="line-height: 107%;"><b>Teorema</b></span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;"> – a work of stunning bravado, intellect and
force – remains amongst the most politically and formally radical films in
Pasolini’s oeuvre. It posited, with smouldering fury and elliptic allegory,
such an inflammable discourse on the existential barrenness of the bourgeoisie
– a class for which he had profound disdain – that it evoked a sharp furore
upon its release. While its cutting Marxist dialectics troubled conservative
audience, its subversive religious subtexts enraged the Vatican to no end. And,
in what can only be called unintentionally ironic, advertisements in the
American market exploited its unsettling minimalism by promoting it as having
only “923 spoken words.” The eerily magnetic parable was hinged around a
strikingly enigmatic “visitor” (Terence Stamp) – a god or a devil or a mix of
both – who comes to stay for a few days with a Milanese bourgeois family, in
their decadent mansion, comprising of wealthy industrialist and paterfamilias
(Massimo Girotti), his wife (Silvana Mangano), their daughter (Anne Wiazemsky,
who was nudged by her then boyfriend Godard to work with Pasolini), son, and
middle-aged maid (Laura Betti). All five get seduced by him – which he gladly
partakes in – before departing as mysteriously as he’d arrived. Their sexual union
with him take their lives towards breathtaking repercussions. While the impact
is positive for the maid as she gets bestowed with miraculous abilities, it's
one of devastating desolation for the family – the son becomes a manic artist
(presaging, interestingly, Warhol’s “piss art” by a decade), the daughter
becomes catatonic, the mother starts picking up younger men, and the father abandons
literally everything. The film’s desaturated visuals and idiosyncratic
soundtrack – which segued from Morricone to Mozart – complemented its feral
tone and modernist palette.</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUw0SmTLGhQwOLosiy2lEBx_Upjh1_MwFzRkyk5HyWDhmBQJ3IHQysibQkHBURLx_a9k-dDj4aMNMAlgX3V_qejs3VpYS_nyajpaxqVj1T5pqNoVienCI6y_K-ShE8I6j6cQ6lkxbESQV2PYVlItX7w0Ss5DCOPDZ2PmrRpwLdRzyqfqusrmqEUZLO/s319/1.%20Essential%20Viewing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="53" data-original-width="319" height="53" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUw0SmTLGhQwOLosiy2lEBx_Upjh1_MwFzRkyk5HyWDhmBQJ3IHQysibQkHBURLx_a9k-dDj4aMNMAlgX3V_qejs3VpYS_nyajpaxqVj1T5pqNoVienCI6y_K-ShE8I6j6cQ6lkxbESQV2PYVlItX7w0Ss5DCOPDZ2PmrRpwLdRzyqfqusrmqEUZLO/s1600/1.%20Essential%20Viewing.jpg" width="319" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Genre: Drama/Psychological Drama/Mystery</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Language: Italian</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Country: Italy</span></span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2017832040275963428.post-74169060787618307072024-01-05T21:46:00.005+05:302024-01-05T21:46:50.886+05:30The Gospel According to St. Matthew [1964]<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjFmQIY7TZK4yJYJRkvcIUHyvqjA_g8WUasIg1elyXHCL0OuZ7KaFNmJR27k9uGDG2gBIQexcVYqltUAUUKFMWij8XiVjwjhXu8PPaJRV-w12-lagNijqLdi7r05HmmMaHL2q4u26zfg1K_LGjHpvNaUdYF7-456h1GZV0wnDR7wvF623tCrfv4zcl/s1200/The%20Gospel%20According%20to%20St.%20Matthew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="810" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjFmQIY7TZK4yJYJRkvcIUHyvqjA_g8WUasIg1elyXHCL0OuZ7KaFNmJR27k9uGDG2gBIQexcVYqltUAUUKFMWij8XiVjwjhXu8PPaJRV-w12-lagNijqLdi7r05HmmMaHL2q4u26zfg1K_LGjHpvNaUdYF7-456h1GZV0wnDR7wvF623tCrfv4zcl/w270-h400/The%20Gospel%20According%20to%20St.%20Matthew.jpg" width="270" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"> <i><span style="line-height: 107%;"><b>The
Gospel According to St. Matthew</b></span></i><span style="line-height: 107%;"> was
a great conundrum as much for the inherently contradictory context surrounding
it, as it was for the fierce work that it was. The towering Italian poet,
filmmaker and intellectual Pasolini was an avowed Marxist and steadfast
atheist; he’d received a suspended prison sentence for his short <i><b>La Ricotta</b> </i>from
the previous year – part of the omnibus <i><b>Ro.Go.Pa.G.</b> </i>– as it was deemed
“blasphemous”; and, one would be hard placed to find something more
outrageously ribald, sacrilegious and subversive than his extraordinary <i><b>Trilogy
of Life</b></i>. It’s therefore astonishing that he made such a faithful, and
almost reverential, adaptation of a religious text and unironic inquiry into
Jesus’ life and myth. Furthermore, the film’s unflinching neorealism, visceral force,
bleak austerity and spare minimalism – and the political readings into Jesus’
radical humanism – placed it at singular odds to the bombastic genuflection in conventional
cinematic representations of the Bible, thus drawing parallels to Caravaggio’s
blazing, unsettling and violent Biblical paintings. Heading its
non-professional cast was Enrique Irazoqui – 19-year-old Economics student and
Communist activist from Spain who’d go on to become a computer chess expert – whose
searingly intense enactment of Jesus reminds one of El Greco’s paintings, while
such intellectuals like Natalia Ginzburg, Enzo Siciliano, Alfonso Gatto, etc.
played various supporting roles. Made with the rigorous touch of <i>cinéma verité</i>,
shot in grainy and unsparing monochromes, filmed in gritty Southern Italian
towns to mimic Palestine and Galilee, comprising of an incredibly eclectic
soundtrack that ranged from Western Classical to African-American gospel blues
and Congolese hymns, and evoking Renaissance-era paintings, it covered the
preacher’s life – right from his birth, through meteoric rise, till death – with
cutting and desolate ferocity.</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjELpBHtr7lo2XSnW3tv1ziHKspa10fhEQUZSkKFFX9_CT4HVJyK9ecOhUe6sAdowlWnEZkc32oKcTDBBvFPM9-IfhuhGxOeGQ8-6eDXEknlNY2aB7UecNNOp6gbi-q-CQic84qW2f9OMkru_RvYF2IBiLwvO4L1n8aBnlG1nSUxH5DhrSx88XLbYEt/s390/2.%20Highly%20Recommended.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjELpBHtr7lo2XSnW3tv1ziHKspa10fhEQUZSkKFFX9_CT4HVJyK9ecOhUe6sAdowlWnEZkc32oKcTDBBvFPM9-IfhuhGxOeGQ8-6eDXEknlNY2aB7UecNNOp6gbi-q-CQic84qW2f9OMkru_RvYF2IBiLwvO4L1n8aBnlG1nSUxH5DhrSx88XLbYEt/s16000/2.%20Highly%20Recommended.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Genre: Drama/Religious Drama/Historical Epic</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Language: Italian</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Country: Italy</span></span></p>Shubhajithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040495040897333606noreply@blogger.com0