A history of violence

I will need to digest it a bit before final judgement. It's a 'to put food on the table' job for Cronenberg but still retains his style and atmosphere, it could have all gone mainstream, but its slow dark and horrifying. As it is based on a graohic novel the plot is pretty simple, and not very credible, allowing to concentrate on Cronenberg's direction, punctuated by a pretty fucked up sex scene. Can one be turned on by violence and be repulsed by it at the same? Cronenberg thinks so. I am not sure I do, but it makes for compelling viewing.

Masculin Feminin

Shame that Chantal Goya (the Audrey Autou of the time) is the star, although in fact she is quite good, at being innocent but not particularly nice. So it is about the children of Marx and Coca-Cola (Pepsi in fact), being young at a time of social and cultural change, about life, what to do with it, relationships, love, prostitution, boredom and so on.

No Direction Home (Pt 2)

More of the same really, and I fell asleep again, thus can't really agree with people who have this is the greatest rock documentary of all time. Its a character study of Dylan in the fist half of the sixties and his impact and importance in the social and political events of the period, but it's way to long and repetitive. Lots of great footage and interviews, but it would have benefited from a bit more structure and rigour.

No Direction Home (Pt 1)

The lengthy documentary from Scorcese on Bob Dylan. This first part really concentrate on his burgeoning career, only a few concert extracts after he's gone electric. Very good but fell asleep a bit, as folk music is not really my thing.

Mr Skeffington

From Vincent Sherman, with Bette Davis and Claude Rains. Bette is the seductress who gets old and loses her beauty. Claude is the unloved husband who leaves for europe, to came back years later bling from the concentration camp. A good big romantic drama, something unusual from Warner, but a bit long at 146 minutes.

Clash by night

Far from being a film noir, but really a big romantic drama, and a disappointing film from Fritz Lang. Barbara Stanwick comes back to her home town, marry Paul Douglas and eventually falls for Robert Ryan, but still it ends well.

Mata-Hari

The Garbo box finally arrived today and Mata-Hari one of her most famous film was deeply disappointing. Corny dialogue, a Spanis looking guy playing a Russian, weak mise en scene, weak plot, and Garbo does not act that well.

Beau Travail

Another fantastic film by Claire Denis, with beautiful cinematography from Agnes Godard, shot in Djibouti. Minimal but fascinating.

Born to Kill

In honour of Robert Wise who passed away over the week-end, a great noir from 1947, from RKO (the house of noir), with Lawrence Tierney as Sam Wild the crazy killer, and Claire Trevor who is really greedy. Dark and twisted.

Call Northside 777

Not so much of a film noir as a docu-drama, filmed on location in Chicago. Jimmy Stewart is the reporter who tries to get new evidences to clear a man wrongly accused of being a cop killer, and jailed for life. Nothing outstanding apart for the docu style of it and the last 30 minutes and pretty thrilling.

Somewhere in the night

A great relatively unknown film noir from Joseph L. Mankiewicz, about a WW2 veteran looking for a Larry Cravat, meeting a few unsavoury characters and a few dames. It is set in LA, but not the glamourous side, and for some reason i would think that David Lynch has seen this film.

'Hairspray'; 'Lolita'; 'New Tales of the Taira Clan'; 'Gala' & 'Pourvu qu'on ait l'ivresse'

All these watched while on holidays in Sicily. Hairspray was disappointing. I wanted to see a John Waters after reading Pacadis, but the earlier ones sound wacky while this is just amusing and not really far out.

Lolita was very good, much better than I remembered it, even though Peter Sellers is a bit annoying, but James Mason is great lusting after Sue Lyon.

A great Mizoguchi (despite a poor dvd), showing how much better Mizoguchi at handling a shakespearian theme than Kurosawa, in particular is interest in female characters.

Finally early, almost silent (but with great jazzy scores), 2 short films from Jean-Daniel Pollet, with Claude Melki, set is night clubs (particularly striking since most of the clientele is black, which I guess was fairly unusual in the late 50's- early 60's in French cinema).

Cronaca di un amore

Michelangelo Antonioni's first feature film in which a very wealthy, but jealous, Milan businessman hires a private eye to investigate the past of his beautiful young wife, only for her to ironically meet again with her previous lover. Already some of Antonioni's themes are already presrnt and his style his devloping from the early documentaries he shoot. A great first film.

Leave her to heaven

The beutiful Gene Tierney loses the plot and gets rid of a couple of people as she is too madly in love with her husband, and turns really evil. A classic fox films, although Zanuck should have been more involved and do a few cuts, in particular during the first hour, but then it goes dark and fascinating. Great Technicolor cinematography from Leon Shamroy, who won an Oscar for his work on this film.

Dawn of the dead

The US cut, shot in a shopping mall, lots of great make up effects, zombies with blue faces who are hungry for human flesh and maybe some shopping too. Great shots, dark and funny, the portrait of a society gone crazy and hungry for more, forever.