The Housekeeper - Reaction

[Turkey]

A mildly interesting movie profiling women who serve as housekeepers in various parts of Turkey. The movie was audio interviews with the women overlaid onto images of them living and working. It's sad to see the struggle they've had to overcome, whether deadbeat husbands, abusive husbands, raising kids alone, and medical conditions resulting from repetitive stress. They express various levels of amusement with and resentment toward their employers, whether anger at snobby families who won't proffer an invitation to join them at dinner, or befuddlement at women who leave jewelry and money scattered about, and toward the government, which doesn't supply social security or a pension to housekeepers. Although each woman is unique, I found my attention wandering. Perhaps it's because my mind extracted the (sad) similarities in the stories and I got the idea--I didn't need to hear additional depressing information.

Forsaken Paths - Reaction

[Turkey]

A fairly boring twenty-minute film about how a village in Turkey has changed over time: traditions have been abandoned and the young people have left. Narrated by some of people remaining in the village, and one woman who's moved away and misses it.

Kiki's Delivery Service - Reaction

[Japan]

An adorable, quirky, fun Japanese animated film about a thirteen year old witch trying to find her place in the world. She and her witty cat travel together to an unnamed seaside European city; the movie is her coming of age story as she tries to live on her own and overcome her self-doubts. Like other Miyazaki films, it has no antagonist.

The Great Dictator - Reaction

A satire of Germany ("Tomainia") and Hitler ("Hynkel"). The story of a Jewish barber who returns home to Germany in the late 1930s, but, due to amnesia, doesn't know what has happened since WWI.

As a Chaplin movie (indeed, his first speaking one), it's a mildly entertaining film filled with much old-style humor. Chaplin show his great skill as a body actor. Some memorable scenes:

• running around the battlefield. humorous mistakes that can happen in a battle.
• flying upside down.
• German speech. Chaplin improvises hilarious fake German, tossing in words such as schnitzel, sauerkraut, liverwurst, and even banana. The main scene that does this was my favorite scene in the movie.
• the incredibly brief scenes in which Hynkel runs into another room to pose for a painter and sculptor for ten seconds (during which time they paint and sculpt furiously) before rushing back to work.
• the ballet with a balloon of the world. Memorable simply because it's so odd.
• the coin in the pudding scene. The resistance decided to choose who to give the job of assassinating Hynkel, losing his life in the process, by hiding a coin in pudding. This scene is classic, as each person finds a coin in his pudding and tries to hide it, secretly passing it. Great body acting.
• the shaving scene, in which the barber cuts a man's hair in time to Brahm's Hungarian Dance No. 5. Pretty cool.
• the scene in which the barber attempts to escape Germans while his head is in a bucket. Classic, old-style slapstick humor.
• secretary taking oration. Hynkel makes long speeches; she write one word. Hynkel uses a short word; she types for ages.
  * the barber shop seat height contest, as each dictator tries to get in the higher position, the position of implicit power.

The Great Dictator, made in 1940, was controversial in its time because the U.S. wasn't yet involved in WWII and many people weren't that comfortable criticizing German so heavily. The film's message, as exemplified by the passionate, populist political speech at the end which encourages brotherly love, kindness, and humanity for all people, is classic and timeless. The movie also stands out for another reason--one doesn't see modern movies make such strong political statements.

From the movie, I learned Italy and Germany fought over Austria. I wasn't aware of this event from WWII.

Incidentally, I thought the term storm trooper was coined in Star Wars. Nope. Apparently the term originally applied to Nazi soldiers.

Big Night - Reaction

A not bad, often lethargic movie about two Italian brothers who have one last big night in an attempt to save their restaurant. The movie is about the inspired food and about the characters' relationships. Although the situations are melodramatic, there's little dramatic tension; the film is not tightly paced. I particularly enjoyed the twenty minute segment near the end, in which everyone ate and partied, but that may simply be because the characters' energy and excitement (including regarding the food) was infectious. At the end of movie, I was disappointed that many relationships were left unresolved.

While reading reviews later, I realized in some sense it's about art versus commercialization, old country values versus integration, and more. The film doesn't make much, if any, motion to make a statement about these general themes, instead sticking tightly to its particular setting.

Wild Strawberries - Reaction

Ingmar Bergman's thoughtful film about an old man's meditation on loneliness, selfishness, emotional unavailability, and death. Basically, it's what one old professor sees, thinks, remembers, and dreams (yes, it has Bergman's typical weird dream sequences) while packing for and going on a road trip (a trip down memory lane?). Although it mostly deals with regrets about living a solitary life, it also has a number of other themes:

• the relationship between youth, spontaneity, age, and maturity
• rationality and the question of the existence of god
• family relationships and marriage, including marriages without love, and caring without marriage
• the fear one will be discovered to not know anything / be a fraud

The somewhat redeeming ending is happier than one might expected, especially for a foreign film.

The audio commentary, done by a film critic, is great, putting the film in the context of Bergman's life and his other films, and commenting on the symbolism. It's better than 95% of the commentary tracks done by directors.

The DVD also contains an interesting interview with Bergman done by another film critic. I particularly liked the discussion of Bergman's writing process, of the symbolism in this movie (and Bergman's others), and of Bergman's life, sorrows, rituals, and personal demons and how Wild Strawberries reflects them. Bergman's a solitary man: "generally speaking, chatter is an abomination." Perhaps this movie foreshadows his later experiences?

Dial M For Murder - Reaction

A very good mystery with a clever, complex plot and smart characters. Despite being almost entirely produced on a single set with only a few characters, the film maintains its tension throughout. Made by Alfred Hitchcock, it includes Grace Kelly. My favorite actor was the inspector: the way he phrases his hmmms and asks his questions is great. The palette includes lively, vibrant colors at the beginning and gets darker, appropriately, as the film progresses.

Although the language doesn't have the wittiness or repartee of a movie like The Thin Man, some lines do stand out, such as "It's [a] delayed reaction, darling. In a few days you're going to have the most wonderful breakdown."

The film includes a quote about bridge: "No, I'm afraid my murders would be something like my bridge: I'd make some stupid mistake and never realize it until I found everybody was looking at me."