Ymir4 Reviews

City of Women (1980)

Entertaining, funny, absurd, visually marvelous.

[5 December 2003]

Fellini never made too many films that had absurdly intense sexual themes and dialogue. He made two, and along with `Casanova,' `The City of Women' revolves almost entirely around sex. What `City of Women' has that `Casanova' did not, however, is a beautiful child-like view of things that really makes Fellini's movies fun in the first place. It also has Marcello Mastroianni (one of my favorite actors) and gorgeous surreal cinematography by Giuseppe Rotunno. `City of Women' begins, appropriately enough, with a train going into a tunnel. Marcello Mastroianni is Snaporez, an again man on a train. He begins to flirt with the woman who is sitting across from him and follows her into the bathroom. As he reveals his lustful feelings, the train suddenly stops and she gets out. He runs after her and ends up at a hotel that appears to be hosting a feminist convention, a REALLY exaggerated and completely insane feminist convention. He soon discovers the entire land he is in is populated with women. Snaporaz is both frightened and in awe of the variety of women that surround him, and they represent virtually all viewpoints of feminist issues - from angry man-haters to whores to crazy teenage girls to dancers to roller skaters to older, more motherly women. Throughout the film the women are clearly in total control, and I interpret this film as a womanizer's nightmare, which makes perfect sense.

The film is perfect by no means, but it's still a bit of a treasure if you're a Fellini fan who has explored most of his body of work, and yet are still starved for some Felliniesque fun. This film has that, and a lot of it. The greatest scene in the film is toward the end, where Snaporez crawls under a bed and comes out inside a bright beautiful carnival. He slides down a stylized rollercoaster and mentally goes through some of his life's most memorable sexual situations. This was a marvelous scene, with a beautiful carnival set, and above all, brilliantly scored by Luis Bacalov.

Overall, I have no idea who will like this film. Even Fellini fans seem to dislike it, or even hate it. I found it to be a lot of fun, and visually marvelous.

Confidential Report (1955)

A fun, artistic, insane, and startling film from Orson Welles.

[10/10 · 7 November 2003]

This is a brilliant, beautiful, and almost dangerously unconventional independent production from Orson Welles in 1955. The story follows a small-time blackmailer named Guy Van Stratten (Arden) who meets and falls in love with Raina Arkadin (Paola Mori, who was Welles' third wife), who is resistant of his love for her at first. But he presists and they travel to Spain together, where she soon falls in love with him. In love, they attend a magnificent masquerade ball at a castle, where Stratten meets her father: the mysterious amnesiac billionaire Gregory Arkadin (Welles). Arkadin proposes to Stratten a deal, to research Arkadin's own mysterious past, and in turn, getting a chance to marry Raina. This leads Stratten all over the globe in search of information about Arkadin, including a visit to a flea circus (you read that right). This film is wonderfully confusing, heavily stylized, and also campy. The acting strikes me as very film noir-ish, which makes things all the more fun.

Paul Misraki was a French composer who isn't well-known today (though one of his notable assignments was scoring Godard's Alphaville). I must comment on his score for `Confidential Report,' which is not only serviceable but also a lot of fun, and much of it reminded me of Nino Rota. Misraki's main titles for the film start out with a very bouncy gypsy/carnival-esque theme, then seuging into a slow marching waltz. In the party scenes, he varieties his theme to slow big band cues (Rota did the same thing).

The black and white cinematography is quite a feast.in fact, it is intoxicatingly awesome. More arty camera angles than probably any other film I've ever seen. I can definitely see how the fast-paced editing with the multiple camera angles inspired such directors as Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, and later Martin Scorsese and Peter Bogdanovich. However, what was the most surprising about this film was the masquerade ball, which was carnival-esque and insane, with people in masks mocking the camera, smiling at it, winking at it, running at it, dancing into it, and storms of people walking in front of it. I felt like I was watching a Federico Fellini film, directed by Orson Welles. This scene had all of the madness and carnivalisms of Fellini, with the camera angles and editing of Welles. What a treat!

Unfortunately, this film surfaces in many different versions. If you are compelled to see it, absolutely don't, under any circumstance, get the DVD from laserlight. It is a cropped (yes, cropped from 1.37.you don't even get all of the square frame!), unrestored, public domain print that looks like it was buried for 30 years. Worst of all, the DVD is cut by ten minutes, apparently deleting the film's important dream-like structure! The version I have, which is of terrific quality, is from Home Vision Entertainment, and is on VHS. The DVD company Criterion owns the rights to this, and sometime in the next few years they will release this on DVD, that is years though.until then, this nice VHS copy will do. This is a film I could probably watch 100 times and never tire of it. It's a feast of artistic camera angles. If you love this kind of stuff, check it out.but only the Home Vision version!

The Swindle (1955)

Brilliant and poignant. A must for all Fellini fans!

[10/10 · 18 October 2003]

This is a richly poetic film, a stark portrait of three con-men who make their living by swindling the poor out of what little money they have. The film moves back and forth between the scams they pull in the countryside and their lives in the city between jobs. The group's leader is Augusto, played expressively by the great Broderick Crawford. The other two con men are Roberto (Fabrizi), a lady chaser and risk-taker, and Picasso (Basehart), a family man and painter. Picasso's wife Iris is played by the great Giulietta Masina. Crawford (who won an Oscar for "All the King's Men," a film I need to see) is really excellent as Augusto, who begins addressing the matter of his conscience when by chance he runs into the daughter he has abandoned.

The party and dance scenes in the film's first half are really fantastic and crazy, full of men and women dancing to Nino Rota's music, crazy situations and fights arising, lots of drinking, lots of people looking at the camera (including a photographer who bounces up from the bottom of the frame, takes a picture, and kneels back down out of sight…that's typical Fellini there). For all of the fun that's present in this film, it takes some very moving and sad turns...and the amazing thing is how Fellini balances something funny and surreal to something truly heartbreaking (the film's final 15 minutes are stunningly touching).

Nino Rota's score is, as always, marvelous and really nails the feel and tone of the film. There are many themes, including a somber theme for Augusto's daughter, a really eccentric circus march theme, and lastly a terrific emotional theme that especially pulls into sharp effect in the film's closing moment. All of his themes are cleverly adapted in many variations bouncing between different styles of music- from mambo to wildly eccentric dance to rather Arabian to his typical circus-like music to just as often something very dramatic and emotional. This great score was released by CAM records just a couple years ago, it includes most of the music that's in the film, and is a great listen for Rota fans.

`Il Bidone' is the most ignored and overlooked film in Fellini's body of work, which is unfortunate. It's truly unforgettable how it depicts struggle, loneliness, and utmost guilt in the loveliest and most poignant ways imaginable.

Willard (2003)

Excellent film! An obscure curiousity, perfectly acted, shot, and scored.

[4/10 · 12 October 2003]

The main title sequence that opens `Willard' is one of the most visually striking open title sequences in recent memory. The camera is panning across small tables, and picture frames with 2D or object animation playing within them. The only way I can accurately describe it would be that it seems like a stylization of a camera looking around the nooks and crannies of an old wooden cellar or basement. It was created with good old fashioned stop-motion animation model work. Shirley Walker's opening title music is nothing short of magnificent, and the accordion-laden composition perfectly anticipates the character we are about to meet.

`Willard' is a very well observed story that intimately knows it's lead character. It's a film that's quirkily disturbing, and funny too. Crispin Glover's Willard character has very dark eyes, is very pale, and has a slick, short, combed-back haircut. He almost looks like he stepped out of a silent film. His performance brings pain and longing right in your face with his twitches, the way he responds to anger, how he wants to say something but doesn't, and especially by the way he walks. There is also real wit in the performance, and Glover is overall a delight to watch.

Willard is a sensitive, deeply disturbed grown man who is constantly being mentally tormented by the people around him. His mother talks down on how much of a waste he is, his boss is arrogant and enjoys threatening him at work, and nobody else seems to pay attention to him. Nobody, except for Catherine (played by Laura Elena Harring of `Mulholland Drive'), a fellow emplyee who seems to be a potential social isle for Willard, as she shows sympathy for him and actually talks to him at work, but he never pursues a friendship. While in the cellar setting rat traps, Willard beings to sympathize with the rats he's laying traps for, and befriends them, particularly one white rat, who he has named Socrates.

Shirley Walker's score is undeniably the heart and soul of the film. It's a powerful, thematic work that's one of the finest film scores of recent years, and the finest horror score in ages. As some modern-day viewers are aware of when watching newer films, an orchestral score for a cultish horror piece is a rare and sublime gift. The approach and feel of this score is a brilliant homage to Bernard Herrmann. The music knows exactly what emotions it's attempting to bring out in the viewer as it digs deep inside the story and the inner feelings of our lead character. It's a terrific segueing of music and image, and it's Shirley Walker's greatest achievement.

I can see people having problems with the ending. I personally thought the ending was campy and creepy, with Glover at his most insane, though some may complain that it runs a few minutes longer than it's natural climax. On a narrative level, I was satisfied with this ending, I got the same vibe that I felt during the ending of the silent film `The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' (both films end in similar settings).

`Willard' was a $22 million dollar film, but it made barely $7 million back. The film didn't find it's audience, which is a shame. Part of the problem was that it opened in March, which isn't the time of year to release a film like `Willard' (October is the ideal time). Thankfully, New Line Cinema seems to feel that the film deserves a second life on DVD, because the `Willard' DVD is jammed-pack with goodies. A highlight is a music video of the song `Ben,' sung by Crispin Glover. The music video is striking and marvelous, and surprisingly visually owes just about everything to Federico Fellini (which was indeed surprising, since the film itself has no Felliniesque quality). Crispin is seen flying down on a stage, the audience composed of strange-looking people looking at the camera with mocking or deadly serious expressions. Fellini is alive in this, right down to the very sexually suggestive nature of the music video. IT'S REALLY GOOD STUFF!!!!

`Willard' is a rare kind of film in these days. It's an obscure curiosity, a film most studios wouldn't gamble with, and it's wildly vast difference from everything else we see these days is one of the reasons why I love it.

Everybody's Fine (1990)

A wonderful tale of awakening. Mastroianni is excellent.

[9 October 2003]

Giuseppe Tornatore is best known for the excellent, Oscar-winning "Cinema Paradiso," but unlike that film, "Everybody's Fine" is rarely talked about. One of my all-time favorite actors, Marcello Mastroianni (8 1/2, La Dolce Vita, Big Deal on Madonna Street), plays Don Matteo, an aging Sicilian father of five who goes on a trip throughout Italy to try and visit all of his children. This is a trip of revelation for Matteo, who believes his children to be happy and wealthy. Gradually, the truth comes down.

Throughout the movie, Matteo is haunted by dreams of a beautiful Felliniesque day at a beach in which a caravan of horses are destroyed by an ominous descending black balloon that also steals his children. This isn't the only thing in the film that is inspired by Fellini, there are a LOT of things in here that echo the great Fellini's work (including a shot of a bus driving by our main character, it's passangers with their hands on the windows glaringly staring at him...GOOD STUFF).

It's a very warm, sentimental film, and I thought it was quite wonderful. Legendary composer Ennio Morricone's extraordinary score fits the film like a glove.

Freaks (1932)

A disturbing, interesting, and oddly charming film from director Tod Browning

[6 October 2003]

There is a profound moment in Tod Browning's "Freaks" which occurs when two female Siamese twins are sitting in their trailer side-by-side, one is reading a book, the other is conversing with her lover. It is revealed earlier in the film that both of them can feel each and every emotion and sense that the other is experiancing. When the lover and his twin kiss, the other twin puts her book down and we see the unusual, blissful pleasure in her face as she is experiancing the sensation of the kiss her sister is receiving. It's such an oddly charming moment.

The film is set entirely in a traveling European circus. Cleopatra is a beautiful trapezist, Hercules her strongman lover. Amidst talented and attractive performers are the members of the circus sideshow, the freaks. There is Hans and Frieda, two midgets married to one another, but Hans has a crush on Cleopatra; there is the half-boy, with no lower half who moves with frightening ease on his hands, and a group of pinhead people, with acutely pointed heads. While the film may come off as disturbing (and some of it is very odd to watch), Tod Browning is ultimately showing the audience that the human characters are the true freaks, and the freaks are the compassionate and understanding characters in the story (though there are two compassionate human characters, a clown and his girlfriend, who are friends with the freaks).

Director Tod Browning is best known for directing the 1931 "Dracula," with Bela Lugosi. When he completed "Freaks," it was 90 minutes long, but the censors cut it down to 64 minutes, and eliminated most of the ending. Because of the editing, there are many fade-ins and fade-outs, and seemingly many jump-cuts. Even at 64 minutes, the film was banned shortly after it's release in 1932 and by the late 30's it was out of circulation. It unfortunately ruined Browning's career, who retired soon after "Freaks." In the late 1950's, it was re-released, and many people discovered it. "Freaks" then grew into the cult classic that it is today.

There is obviously a healthy amount that is missing, but what is there is left is rather disturbing, very interesting, and often oddly charming.

There is no score, but the film relies heavily on carnival-source music, which is great music for a film like this. All in all, a great and interesting curiousity...but it's not for everybody!

The White Sheik (1952)

A delightful and enchanting comedy from Fellini

[10/10 · 28 September 2003]

"Our real lives are in our dreams, but sometimes dreams are a fatal abyss."

That line above is one of the most beautiful lines I've ever heard in any film. This 1951 comedy feature is free of Fellini's quintessential surrealist vision but filled with the delights of idiosyncratic imagery, genius comical precision, and indisputable humanity.

The film opens in Rome, where a newlywed small-town couple is vacationing on their honeymoon. While in Rome, the (very) young bride takes advantage of being near the location where a new film is being shot that stars The White Sheik, a popular film/serial/newspaper icon whom she is secretly infatuated with. While her husband is sleeping, she sneaks off to find the Sheik and give him a drawing she has made of him. Brunella Bovo, who plays the bride, is new to me, but she was absolutely entrancing in her innocence. Trieste's comic expressions are absolutely arresting. Sordi is hilarious as the Sheik, who is about as unromantic a romantic figure as you can imagine.

Nino Rota's first score for Fellini is a lot of fun and exceptionally carnivalesque. You can tell by the marriage of music and image that Fellini and Rota had a real treasured creative hit-off with this film, and as most know, Rota scored every Fellini film after "White Sheik" until his death in 1979. This great score has never been released in it's entirety, but the main title theme has appeared on many Rota compilations.

An absolutely adorable little film, which seems to have been regrettably ignored by the majority. It's one I will watch many times.

Orchestra Rehearsal (1978)

A grand effort from Federico Fellini. Wonderful in every way.

[10/10 · 25 September 2003]

This is likely the finest make-believe documentary that I have ever seen. The setting is a rundown Medieval Roman chapel, now an oratorio where an orchestra gathers. A television crew is making a documentary about this orchestra (while the orchestra is dealing with a union dispute). The bulk of the film's first half focuses on individual musicians, many of whom reminisce about their first encounter with the instrument they play. When the musicians talk about their instrument, they often share thoughtful and stimulating metaphors about the meaning and the function of their instrument. There are a few times during the film where the action is interrupted by a large rumble in the building. We don't know what this is exactly until the end of the film. The film transforms from poetic, to pure comical delight, to complete chaos, to lyrical beauty when the musicians play the music.

Composer Nino Rota's contribution was an immense one. He composed all of the pieces the musicians play in the film, and I believe they the music is absolutely wonderful (my personal favorite of Rota's compositions for "Orchestra Rehearsal" being the final piece the orchestra performs). This was the last time Rota scored a Fellini film, he died the next year.

I also must comment on the top-notch cinematography, which is quintessentially Felliniesque (ex. incredible long shots of the orchestra playing, shots of musicians lined up in very particular angles, and a couple of sweeping pans).

Anybody who loves orchestral music will like this film to some degree. I happen to immensely love Fellini, Rota, AND orchestral music, so for me, this film is nothing short of absolutely marvelous entertainment!

The Tin Drum (1979)

Strangely Beautiful

[10/10 · 23 September 2003]

"That day, thinking about the grown-up world and my own future, I decided to call a halt. To stop growing then and there and remain a three-year-old, a gnome, once and for all"

Goodness, what a marvel this film is! It is certainly the greatest film from Germany that I have seen yet. Winner of the 1979 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, "The Tin Drum" follows the life of a boy named Oskar. After seeing how ludicrous adults act, Oskar decides to stop his growth, and stay three years old forever by falling down the stairs. He succeeds, and the fall has stopped his growth. Aside from the hault of growth, the fall eqips him with two special powers that he regularly manifests. The lesser of these two powers, is repeatedly pounding his tin drum, which he absolutely refuses to let go of. Oskar's undeniable power is to let out a high pitched shriek that will shatter any glass he directs it at. Does it sound strange? Well, the film is much stranger, but also much more beautiful than my description.

The film follows our little Oscar over a period of around two decades, through World War II in Germany. We follow Oskar through his many sexual, emotional, tragic, funny, and beautiful exploits. An absolutely important credit must be given to actor David Bennett, who plays young Oskar. He portrays Oskar as an infant, as a three year-old, as a six year-old, as a twelve year-old, as a 16 year-old, as a 21 year-old...well, you get the picture. Bennett was only 11 at the time, and his performance is very impressive.

I haven't seen very many German films from the last thirty years, but most of the ones I have seen (the excellent "Vanishing," and the immensely mediocre "White Rose") haven't had very good scores. "The Tin Drum" has a very slight, but very servicable, score by the famous Maurice Jarre. The score has an emotional theme played in only a few scenes (notably, the ending), it also has an innocent little music box theme, and surprisingly a cool waltz for scenes involving members of the circus (a big part of the second-half of the film). A very good score. To my knowledge, it was released on LP when the film was released, and on a CD pressed in Japan sometime in the 90's. I read that the (sadly out of print) Kino DVD includes the isolated score as an extra.

It's an excellent film that I strongly connected with, but I can see many people not liking it, it is VERY strange, but I am somebody who has always found VERY strange things extremely beautiful, and "The Tin Drum" is no exception. Over-all, I consider this film a classic, and I'll once again state that it is certainly the greatest film from Germany that I have seen yet.

Anything Else (2003)

A truly womderful film. Woody Allen's best since "Husbands and Wives."

[10/10 · 19 September 2003]

I saw an advance screening of Woody Allen's new film "Anything Else" last Tuesday. I have to admit that I am a huge Woody Allen fan...a very devoted fan. "Manhattan" was my introduction to Woody's work, and although I knew who Woody Allen was, it wasn't until my exposure to "Manhattan" that I realized he was certainly "my kind of guy." I've seen most of his films now, and prior to tonight I thought that his last truly 'great film' was 1992's "Husbands and Wives" (Allen's films since then haven't been great, even though I certainly think they've been very good). When I heard a few months ago that a new Woody Allen movie was coming out, I got excited. I was anticipating it's release because I've never seen a Woody Allen film on the big screen.

When I saw the trailer for "Anything Else," which is being marketing as an upbeat hip teenage film, I knew that the film's publicity was marketing it that way with the soul purpose to draw a broad audience (the character Woody is playing is very important in the story, and Woody's face isn't anywhere to be found in the trailer). This has happened to a movie before ("Monkeybone" being a prime example), so of course it didn't stop me.

As for my feelings on "Anything Else," I'm immensely delighted that Woody Allen has delivered a terrific romantic and witty film about relationships (a genre he hasn't taped into in a long time, and also the genre he is absolutely best at). Jason Biggs, whom I've always had a certain fondness for but who has never been in anything I've had a desire to watch, is teriffic as Jerry, a comedic writer who is struggling with his relationship with Amanda (Christina Ricci). So much of this movie echos real life, and I feel Woody had something to say here and does it. And this is Woody Allen's best performance as an actor in years. He is eerily insecure, absolutely hilarious, and downright perfect as the character Dobel, Jerry's friend and fellow comedy writer.

I like the way the characters are dressed, and the cinematography is great ("quintessential Woody"). Also, I felt the ending and what happens to the characters was a graceful way to wrap up the story (I was a satisfied as I was with graceful wrap-up of "Crimes and Misdemeanors").

It is important to note that I was sitting with a very diverse audience (it was great, so many different kinds of people I felt like I was in a Fellini movie), including many teenagers, and I would think many teenagers would consider "Anything Else" dull and sparse compared to the mainstream, I was delighted that most of them appeared to be absorbed in the film. It was great to hear teenage girls laughing at the many little quirks of Woody's character Dobel. Maybe as the result of Dreamworks' marketing, a whole new generation of Woody Allen fans will be born?

All in all, an impressive new film from Woody Allen. I had a lot of fun. I will certainly buy a copy when it is released on DVD.