Italian
filmmaker Elio Petri’s lauded but controversial Investigation of a Citizen above Suspicion reminded me of such
diverse films as Costa-Gavras’ Z and
Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove in the way
this politically charged film tore into socio-political corruption, arrogance
and high-handedness among the powers that be in pulsating fashion. This
bitingly satirical black comedy provided a scathing indictment on the
brazenness with which power is abused and how truth is what the ruling class
choses it to be. The film begins with the nameless Chief of Police (Gian Maria
Volonté), who’s slated to be in charge of expunging the country of Communists,
political dissidents and basically anyone who doesn’t conform to his fascist
and hetero-normative ideology, murdering his sultry and liberated mistress
(Florinda Bolkan) at her apartment, rumpling up potential evidences and then
pompously walking out, confident that he’s beyond reach of the law’s arms. As
the investigation proceeds, he diverts suspicion towards people – first her
cuckolded husband and then her Leftist boyfriend – and subverts the system at
his free will. In its lacerating and ironic climax, when he’s finally
overpowered by his conscience, everyone around him conspire to prove him of his
innocence. Volonté was frightening as the tale’s outrageously slimy,
authoritarian and literally bullying anti-hero, albeit with deep-set guilt
complexes and sexual insecurities. The sparkling photography (with a host of close-ups), Morricone’s
idiosyncratic score (reminiscent of The Sicilian Clan) and excellent support cast (portraying the quirky characters) made this acerbic, intensely
anti-establishmentarian and Left-sympathizing critique all the more compelling.
Director: Elio Petri
Genre: Crime Drama/Black Comedy/Political Satire
Language: Italian
Country: Italy
Happy Together, a ravishing and bittersweet elucidation of
Wong Kar-Wai’s love and penchant for doomed romances, melancholia, loneliness,
unhurried pacing and stylized visuals, and having a title that couldn’t be more
ironic, would certainly rank amongst his best works, alongside the likes of Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love and 2046.
Lai (Tony Leung), reserved and deep, and Ho (Leslie Cheung), impulsive and
self-destructive, have fled from Hong Kong to Buenos Aires with the intent of
giving a fresh start to their tumultuous and on-and-off relationship. They also
want to visit the Iguaza Falls, which formed a constant leitmotif in its
representation of longing, dream and freedom and jarring juxtaposition to their
dismal, confused, emotionally torn and penurious existences. The haunting tone,
and the pervading sense of loss and heartbreak, was very well complemented by
the film’s freewheeling form. Doyle’s breathtaking cinematography – muted black-and-whites,
washed out colors, tinted visuals, varying film speeds – made it ravishing for
the eyes, while also deftly adding to the tale’s moody atmosphere, edginess and
emotional power, revelation of the lost protagonists’ inner longings and
emptiness, and portrayal of the city’s apartments, alleys and bars. The rather
underdeveloped character of the friendly Taiwanese Chang (Chang Chen) seemed
tad superfluous, more so when placed alongside Leung’s enthralling performance
and Leung’s bristling supporting act; the 3-hour version of the film which never
got released (Wong had himself cut it down to its 97 minutes length), hence,
makes one all the more curious.
Director: Wong Kar-Wai
Genre: Drama/Romantic Drama/Urban Drama
Language: Cantonese/Mandarin/Spanish
Country: China (Hong Kong)
Fat City, based on Leonard Gardner’s novel of the same name,
one of John Huston’s late-career successes and a fine example of a sports movie,
was a grim and lyrical film that nicely captured the themes of loneliness,
disillusion and disappointment among has-been and wannabe small-time professional
boxers. The story’s two main protagonists were Billy (Stacy Keach), an
alcoholic former boxer who believes he could have been someone during his prime
but now all he intends to do is get back in shape and once again step into the
ring in order to make his ends meet, and Ernie (Jeff Bridges), a naïve 18-year
old who just doesn’t have it in him to go the distance despite the potential in
him noticed by others. Two others who played key roles in this deft character
study were Oma (Susan Tyrrell), a perennially depressed barfly who gets engaged
in a brief fling with Billy courtesy their affinity towards cheap liquor, and
Ruben (Nicholas Colasanto), a manager of average abilities who has a plethora
of losers under his wing. Dashed hopes, false illusions and pain, both physical
and psychological, were thus the dominating emotions here. The few boxing
sequences that were there, were filmed with utmost grittiness and in-your-face
realism, and unlike most sports films, the opponents, wherever delved into, too
turned out to be tragic characters; thus the finale, where Billy is pitched
against a grim-faced Mexican in considerably physical pain, turned out to be
heartbreaking as they smash each others already broken down bodies. Competent
performances and excellent photography of the town’s dirty lanes, rundown
buildings and dimly lit bars, made the film all the more naturalistic and affecting.
Director: John Huston
Genre: Drama/Sports Drama/Urban Drama
Language: English
Country: US
Kes, Ken Loach’s 1st feature to release
theatrically and a landmark in British cinema, belongs to the pantheon of films
which showed rare mastery of telling a tale through the eyes of a young protagonist.
Adapted from Barry Hines’ novel A Kestrel
for a Knave, the social-realist drama provided a bleak, unflinching and
unsentimental portrait of working-class life and deeply engrossing peek into a
young boy’s attempts at finding a ray of hope and freedom from the apathy and despair
surrounding him. Billy Casper (David Bradley), a frail 15-year old boy, lives
with his single mother and elder brother in a cramped apartment. He starts his
day early delivering newspapers, goes to a school that he doesn’t like on
account of the regimentation he faces there, is perennially bullied by his
abusive half-brother Jud (Freddie Fletcher), and is destined to eventually
become a coal miner once he grows up. The cold, dreary weather and the
industrial grime add to his suffocation and his inherent, but futile, desire to
break free. Hence, when he spots a kestrel while aimlessly roaming around,
starts learning falconry and tries taming the bird, he suddenly finds something
to look forward, viz. momentary escape from his dead-end life. Bradley, with
his deadpan expressions and evocation of his fast receding innocence, gave a
startling performance – the brief moments he spends with “Kes” imbued the brilliantly
photographed and scored film with warmth and poignancy. The hilarious football
match, conducted by the stern PE teacher Sugden (Brian Glover), a failed
sportsperson who daydreams himself as his ManU heroes Bobby Charlton and George
Best, added a dash of humour to this otherwise heartbreaking tale.
Director: Ken Loach
Genre: Drama/Coming-of-Age
Language: English
Country: UK
Carol
Reed created an instant masterpiece with The
Third Man, which ranks, along with Dassin’s nightmarish Night and the City, as the greatest
instance of British Noir. The signature of celebrated British author Graham Greene, who wrote the screenplay and also published it as a novel, was palpable
from the murky Cold War era climate, moody doom-laden atmosphere, moral
corruption and bankruptcy, tussle between idealism and cynicism, wry humour and
pervading sense of melancholia, fatalism and heartbreak. The film begins with
Holly Martins (Joseph Cotton), an American writer of pulpy Westerns, arriving
at the political hotbed of Vienna, which is occupied by Allied forces, in order
to respond to a job offer that had been shared by an old friend of his, Harry
Lime (Orson Welles). Upon arrival he’s informed that Harry has mysteriously
died in a road accident; however, the more he delves into the matter, the more
he gets sucked into an elaborate and seedy netherworld of lies, betrayals and
black-market racketeering that Harry was allegedly a mastermind of. He becomes
acquainted to the opposing forces of Major Calloway (Trevor Howard), who’s
relentlessly pursuing after Lime, and Anna Schmidt (Alida Valli), an beautiful,
sad-faced illegal refugee who works as a bit-actress, is besotted with Lime,
and who Martins starts falling for. The excellent cinematography, with the
striking chiaroscuro and frenetic camerawork, was memorably juxtaposed by the
iconic zither score that added a dose of irony and an air of lamentation to the
proceedings; on the acting front Welles was particularly unforgettable despite
his brief screen-time; and these culminated into a feverish crescendo at Vienna’s
dank, grimy and labyrinthine underground sewer system.
p.s. My earlier review of the film can be found here.
Director: Carol Reed
Genre: Thriller/Crime Thriller/Film Noir
Language: English
Country: UK
