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Dusty-28
Reviews
American History X (1998)
Impressive
American History X slaps you in the face, as you see that Derek Vinyard, the guy that you saw horribly killing a black man, makes a pretty good point at the dining table, discussing immigration politics with his mum's Jewish friend. Unlike the characters, things aren't black or white in this movie. Which is good. It made an enormous impression on me, and Edward Norton is really unbelievable (especially when you remember him playing Aaron Stampler in Primal Fear!).
Léon (1994)
One of the few movies that successfully combine all the tools available
Leon is one of the few movies that combine practically every basic cinematic tool, creating not only suspense and action but also atmosphere, sympathy, hate, different perspectives and a glimpse at perversity. Of course the subject 'hitman' could be used in every other 'action' movie, but Leon is more. Leon looks a bit lost, innocent almost, unable in some way to live a normal life, and not trying to because it would only interfere with his work. Matilda practically forces him to feel love and responsibility, which makes him sacrifice himself. The styling is magnificent: the movie combines baroque (Oldman) with touching minimalism (Reno). Serra's music is also remarkable, one of the first times that this aspect came to my notice as such (except of course sometimes when certain songs appeared). All this makes Leon one of my all time favorites.
Frances (1982)
Madness as a result of being haunted by the media because you are honest.
'Frances' is a highly touching reconstruction of the life of fifties actress Frances Farmer, from Seattle. Jessica Lange did a miraculous job in playing Frances, with paranoia in her rolling eyes, which -I must admit- makes her look like a madwoman indeed. The movie shows how someone can be completely destroyed by misunderstandings, enlarged by a ridiculous amount of media attention. The most beautiful part is that, where Frances returns to Seattle, now a star. The people who used to scorn her, are now kissing her butt to gain her sympathy. She stands still in the middle of the hallway, and with all eyes on her she starts to scream they are hypocrites. After that, she is of course again considered crazy, like before. Even when she only wants to be left alone, she is haunted and harassed by those who feel called upon 'helping her'. This, combined with a rather sensitive and unstable character, makes her paranoid and finally leads to her destruction.
I first heard about Frances Farmer through an interview with Kurt Cobain, who admired her courage and was experiencing the same as she had. Courtney got married in one of her dresses and even though their baby wasn't named after her but after a male Frances, they both thought of her later. Cobain also wrote a song about her, 'Frances Farmer will have her revenge on Seattle', which appeared on the second Nirvana studio album 'In Utero'.
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
Performed at a pop festival
I saw Sunrise at a pop festival in 1997, where it was accompanied live by the Belgian band Zita Swoon. It was the last time they would perform it (even though they're considering to do some more shows in the future), after a long tour through Belgian theatres. I was amazed, both by the music and the movie. I think it quite a ... to keep a sixteen year old occupied for over two hours with watching a silent movie. After the festival I bought the album (too bad there isn't a movie and music video available)and even though I had only been focusing on the movie, and not on the band, I could exactly recall which episode belonged with which part of the album. The story is romantic,tragic and still topical, the music is romantic and tragic as well, with the singer switching from a crackled Tom Waits voice, to opera, to an almost silent whisper (Where's my love). That Murnau was a German impressionist, and what a document Sunrise was, I learned only later but I will never forget that show.
Dead Man Walking (1995)
Confronting, confusing and up close...shocking.
Wonderful to see how naive Helen gets into this situation and gets out of it broken, but richer. Sean Penn is great. Beautifully filmed: at first we see Matthew through bars, as a prisoner, not more. We're on Helen's side, literally and metaphorically spoken. Then later on you see them both from the side, with the bars in between them: two, (equal?), different worlds. Then even later you see Helen filmed through the glass wall as he must see her: He can't reach her.