cmccann-2 Reviews

A Brighter Summer Day (1991)

Long, but good

[8/10 · 25 June 2017]

In the late 1980's and early 1990's, there was a string of artistic new films that emerged out of Taiwan. Alongside Hou Hsiao-Hsien, one of the best filmmakers to emerge from the "Taiwanese New Wave" was Edward Yang. Yang's 1991 film, A Brighter Summer Day, about a boy's coming of age in Taiwan shortly after the revolutionary uprising in mainland China, endures as one of the movement's greatest works.

A Brighter Summer Day takes place in Taipei during the early 1960's, when the communist uprising that caused many Chinese main-landers to flee to Taiwan was still a recent memory. The film chiefly concerns Xiao S'ir (Chang Chen), a sensitive boy going through a rebellious period amidst the ferment of the time, and his youthful romance with a schoolgirl named Ming (Lisa Yang). As Xiao and Ming's flirtations move forward, the film also gradually moves forward towards its tragic conclusion.

With its epic four hour run-time and Yang's predilection for long shots, the film is a commitment. However, for viewers willing to engage with the film, it is also a masterwork. Yang achieves a subtle grace in the way he frames shots, while the performances by leads Chang Chen and Lisa Yang are delicate and beautiful. Most of all, in recounting Xiao's story, the film promotes a heightened understanding of the historical political conflict in China and Taiwan, while also highlighting the up's and down's of adolescence as a universal experience which transcends culture.

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Classic American cinema

[9/10 · 4 August 2016]

Like the auteurs of the French New Wave, US film director John Frankenheimer also approached filmmaking with a fresh playfulness during the early 1960's. Indeed, his 1962 film, The Manchurian Candidate, endures as one of the more unique and interesting American films of its period.

The film follows a group of soldiers who've recently been released from the Korean War effort. While Major Marco (Frank Sinatra) suffers from strange reoccurring dreams, his friend Robert Shaw (Laurence Harvey) is even more disturbed as he embarks on a sort of unconscious political killing spree. When Marco learns that Shaw is at the center of a right wing-communist brainwashing conspiracy culminating with the assassination of the presidential incumbent, Marco ultimately realizes he must stop his fellow former soldier before it's too late. The film is also complimented by performances by Janet Leigh, James Gregory and Angela Lansbury.

With its use of everything from montage to Cinema Verite-style filming, Candidate was one of the most stylistically bold American films this side of Citizen Kane. Additionally, the film serves as a worthy time capsule of the cold war paranoia that existed during the Kennedy administration (also proving eerily prescient with Kennedy's later assassination in November 1963). With a recent Criterion re-release and the turbulence of today's political situation in the US, now's as apt a time as ever to revisit this seminal classic of American cinema.

Blue Collar (1978)

Overlooked gem of 70's US Indie Cinema

[7/10 · 1 June 2015]

Following his screen writing credits on classics like Obsession and Taxi Driver, Paul Schrader would make his first foray behind the camera with the 1978 film Blue Collar. Spotlighting the exploitation of proletariat workers at the hands of powers at be, the film ranks among Schraeder's best and remains a quintessential piece of 1970's U.S. independent cinema.

Blue Collar revolves around three workers at a Detroit auto plant; Zeke (Richard Pryor), Jerry (Harvey Keitel) and Smokey (Yaphet Kotto). Perpetually mistreated by their higher-ups and barely making enough money to feed their families, the film follows the group as they hatch a desperate plan to rob their union. Carrying through with the plan, the men end up stumbling upon evidence of behind-the- scenes corruption, setting the stage for the film's second half where the big wigs gradually take down each member of the group.

Shot with an air of gritty realism, Blue Collar is a low budget drama with a Marxist message - powerfully channelling themes of race, class conflict and white collar crookedness. Though similar contemporaneous films have endured better in the annals of film history, Schraeder's debut remains an overlooked gem - one worthy of being dusted off and given a second look.

The King of Comedy (1982)

One of Scorsese's more unusual films

[7/10 · 19 July 2014]

In a filmography spanning nearly fifty years which has taken in everything from gangster epics to gritty dramas, The King of Comedy remains one of Martin Scorsese's odder works. The films recounts the story of Rupert Pupkin, an aspiring comic and celebrity wannabe attempting to land a spot on a late-night television show. Creepy and disturbing, the film is a powerful character study and commentary on our culture's obsession with celebrity.

The King of Comedy begins one night when Rupert Pupkin (Robert DeNiro) manages to slip into the limousine of comedian/talk show host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis), pleading Langford to give him a spot on his show. Langford gives him the number of his agent in an attempt to get rid of him, which leads Pupkin to later stalk Langford's reception office. Eventually kidnapping and holding Langford for ransom, the studio executives decide to give Pupkin a spot, where he performs a bizarre set drawing on his dysfunctional childhood.

Throughout history there have been many instances of artists living up to the weight of expectation following a landmark work not by trying to trump it but by doing something completely different. Coming off the massive success of Raging Bull, you sense Scorsese indulging his whims in opting to do something smaller and a lot more art- house, and from the expressionistic shots of Pupkin against a blown-up photograph of a roaring crowd to the general atmosphere of existential isolation, this is one of Scorsese's strangest and most experimental movies by some margin. Special praise must also be given to DeNiro, the film's ability to get under our skin in no small part due to his ability to effectively put across the creepiness and desperation of Pupkin as a character.

Though maybe not a cinematic masterpiece on a par with Scorsese's more well-known films, The King of Comedy is still an interesting work which modern movie-goers should revisit. In its commentary on social degeneration through the spectre of one character it can be seen as a sort of companion piece to Scorsese's earlier Taxi Driver. At the very least, the film is another testament to the DeNiro-Scorsese collaboration as one of the great actor-director collaborations in the history of the movies.

7/10

Contempt (1963)

My favourite Godard movie

[8/10 · 4 May 2014]

One of the central figures of the French new wave movement, Jean-Luc Godard revolutionized cinema in the late 1950's and early 1960's with films which mixed film-historical pastiche, pop art surfaces, and Marxist-existentialist philosophy in a fresh and innovative way. Released in 1963, Contempt arrived after a string of art-house successes and was at the time Godard's most expensive project, a widescreen story of a faltering marriage featuring big-name stars like Brigitte Bardot and Jack Palance. Though some will argue for Breathless and others A Woman is a Woman, to me Contempt represents the apex of Godard's art, an indictment of capitalism dressed up as big budget Hollywood-style entertainment.

Contempt follows Paul Jeval (Michel Piccoli), a struggling playwright who artistically prostitutes himself as the screenwriter for a film adaptation of The Odyssey to support him and his wife Camille (Brigitte Bardot). Paul's decision to write for money makes the couple's marriage an unhappy one, Camille dissatisfied with him for his inability to do something which is both spiritually fulfilling for him and financially lucrative for them. The film ends with Camille leaving Paul to run off with his producer boss Jeremy Prokosch (Jack Palance), the artist ultimately losing out to the larger mechanisms of capital.

The performances are all well-done, from Piccoli as the withdrawn Paul to Bardot as the coquettish Camille to Palance as the square-jawed money man. The cinematography of Raoul Coutard should be noted, having a pictorial beauty in its colour and composition which recalls the work of the artist Edward Hopper. Like Godard's other movies, Contempt has a playful and freewheeling approach in its structure and editing, at times randomly dipping into a montage sequence or tongue-in-cheek film homage. The story being told, as well as the film's more arty and experimental formal elements, make clear Contempt's status as a radically leftist work - a bomb to be tossed at a movie establishment which pumps out films conveyor belt-style for maximal profit.

In conclusion, one would be wrong to make accusations of "sell out" at Godard when looking at Contempt's original poster which exploits the sexuality of star Brigitte Bardot, because the film is just as radical as any of the director's other work. It's necessary viewing for anyone interested in the French new wave, time capsuling the period when the movement - building off the momentum of its critical hits -reached its apex. That Godard used his most commercial moment to craft a statement that was radically anti-commercial serves as a testament to his brilliance.

The Decline of the American Empire (1986)

A classic of Canadian cinema

[8/10 · 24 April 2014]

From The Lady Eve to Groundhog Day, the battle of the sexes is a recurrent theme in much cinema. In Denys Arcand's 1986 film The Decline of the American Empire, the showdown takes place over a fall weekend in Quebec cottage country among a group of academics. The film is a witty and sardonic look at sex and relationships in the modern age, and along with a handful of other French-Canadian films makes a solid argument for Quebec as the leading exponent of quality cinema in Canada.

Decline... commences with parallel groups of four men and four women as they prepare dinner at the cottage and work out at the gymnasium, respectively. The characters are either professors in the history at the Universite De Montreal or their lovers, and their conversations are dominated by discussions of sexuality. Though initially the segregated groups of men and women have quite gendered conversations on the subject, their eventual coming together over dinner causes things to heat up and tensions to rise.

A troupe of veteran Quebecois actors give indelible performances as the eight lead characters, special praise going to actor Remy Girard as the lovable scoundrel of the same first name. The cinematography of Arcand and DOP Guy Du Faux is also quite good, functional yet also achieving a subtle lyricism in parts. More than anything, however, the film should be noted for its script, Arcand possessing a preternatural skill for witty dialogue which makes the film enjoyable and engrossing throughout.

In conclusion, The Decline of the American Empire is a smart comedy/drama which offers a funny glimpse into the lives of intellectuals and their bedroom matters. The film is a must-see for fans of Woody Allen and Whit Stillman, covering similar territory to these filmmakers while also offering a flavour that is uniquely French-Canadian. The Empire may be in decline, but so as films like Arcand's are being made we can at least enjoy good cinema in the meantime.

8/10

La Notte (1961)

Antonioni's best movie

[9/10 · 28 August 2013]

After the success of L'avventurra (1960), Michelangelo Antonioni made the second entry in his trilogy on "modernity and its discontents" - La notte (1961). The film concerns Giovanni and Lidia Pontano, a bourgeois couple who realize their marriage has lost its spark over the span of a night. Improving on l'avventurra, La Notte is an affecting cinematic poem about alienation in modern times.

The film concerns Giovanni Pontano (Marcello Mastroianni), a writer who's recently penned a best-selling novel, and his wife Lidia (Jeanne Moreau). Amidst a background of technology, futuristic skyscrapers, and industry, they go through the motions of their marriage - the romantic fervor which once defined it now a distant memory. The Pontano's are eventually invited to an upper class party, where Giovanni runs off with the host's daughter Valentina (Monica Vitti). When Lidia learns of Giovanni's infidelity, the two must ultimately confront the truth of what their marriage has become in the picture's poetic climax.

Mastroianni, Moreau, and Vitti all give fine performances. The cinematography of Antonioni and DOP Gianni Di Venozo perfectly illustrates the film's themes, placing characters against their highly modern milieus and articulating what Adorno described as the alienating effect of technology on the modern consciousness. Meanwhile, the screenplay by Antonioni and Tonino Guerra is La notte's driving force, it has the power of a highly affecting novel, every minute hurtling towards the film's inevitable conclusion.

In summary, La Notte elaborates on themes present in L'avventurra, in my humble opinion improving on its predecessor film. An all-time favorite of both Stanley Kubrick and Ingmar Bergman, those looking for a film experience that is thought-provoking, emotional, and artful would do well to seek it out.

Metropolitan (1989)

Great picture of the early 90s U.S. indie film boom

[8/10 · 27 August 2013]

Made on a low budget of $210, 000, Whit Stillman's debut Metropolitan was one of the surprise independent hits of the early 1990s - wracking in an Oscar nomination for screen writing and four million dollars at the box office. The film concerns Tom Townsend, a smart, upwardly mobile young man, as he falls in with a group of preppy Manhattanites and experiences difficulty navigating his romantic life. Metropolitan is a funny and poignant comedy of manners, skewering themes of youth, class, and the battle of the sexes while providing ample laughs.

The film follows Tom Townsend (Edward Clements), a first year college student home for Christmas who finds himself falling in with a crowd of wealthy and educated young "haute bourgeoisie". As he becomes more involved with the group, Tom becomes the love interest of débutante Audrey Rouget (Carolyn Faina), but remains oblivious to her feelings because of a hang-up on ex-girlfriend Serena Slocumb. As this plot line provides a source of ongoing tension throughout the film, Stillman brings us into a world of upper class balls, where well-dressed young people drink fine wine and talk about everything from the differences between men and women to the ideas of French philosopher Charles Fourier.

The one criticism I can think to level at Metropolitan is the lack of ambitious cinematography from Stillman and DOP John Thomas. However, the film makes up for what it lacks in cinematography with the strength of its script. Metropolitan succeeds primarily because Stillman is a great writer, a man with a preternatural skill for dialogue who is able to shed insight into his themes of youth, sex, and class while making us laugh. Praise should also be heaped on Metropolitan's cast of fine young actors, particularly Chris Eigeman - who charms as Tom's cynically funny friend, Nick.

In conclusion, Metropolitan is one of the great American independent movies of the 1990's. For fans of Woody Allen and Denys Arcard, it is sure to delight. Metropolitan continues in the tradition of the comedy of manners, while offering something fresh and idiosyncratic to the mix - announcing Stillman as a singular film talent and laying the groundwork for later (and equally interesting) films like Barcelona (1994), The Last Days of Disco (1998), and Damsels in Distress (2011).

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

One longs for what Welles cut would've looked like, but still a great film

[8/10 · 10 August 2013]

The Magnificent Ambersons was Orson Welles' second feature after Citizen Kane. An adaptation of the Booth Tarkington novel of the same name, the picture concerns George Minafer, the spoiled heir of the aristocratic Amberson family, and the loss of his fortune which coincides with the rise of the automobile age. Though the RKO cut which survives leaves much to be desired (the studio excised and re-shot a significant portion of the film), Ambersons remains a very good picture and a glimpse into the cinematic genius of Orson Welles.

The film centres around George Amberson Minafer (Tim Holt), the spoiled heir to the Amberson legacy. When the wealthy auto-industrialist Eugene Morgan (Joseph Cotten) attempts to rekindle an affair with George's widowed mother Isabel (Dolores Costello), George does everything in his power to thwart it. He ends up being successful, preventing Eugene from seeing Isabel on her death bed, but also inherits next to nothing. Finally forced to kick reality, George gets a factory job and injures himself - his story parallelling the fall of old money and rise of industry at the turn of the century.

The only criticism to be levelled at The Magnificent Ambersons is the editing job done by RKO, you sense that the original cut was an uncompromising work of art and that the surviving version, while still quite good, is by comparison inferior. That being said, the picture is exquisite in all other departments - Bernard Hermann's score, the sublime dolly movements during the ballroom scene, Agnes Moorehead's electrifying performance as Aunt Fanny, there's a lot to like about the movie. All these formal elements are in the service of a poignant story too, one about the larger social changes of an era and about a man who clings to his childish behaviour and gets hit hard by life as a result.

In summary, watching Ambersons is like looking at a damaged great painting, you're simultaneously in awe of its brilliance and frustrated by the prospect of what was or could've been. Still, for film buffs and fans of Welles, it is a must-see. Even in its tampered state, it manages to be at the highest tier of quality in all areas and say something that moves us, which is the mark of any great movie.

8/10

The Grand Illusion (1937)

Worthy of its stature as one of the all-time masterpieces of cinema

[10/10 · 15 July 2013]

Released in 1937, Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion remains one of the most revered films of all time seventy five years onward. The story of a group of working class Francophones trying to escape imprisonment during the First World War, the picture has been praised both for its exceptional acting and craft and its driving humanist, anti-war themes. As someone taking in this Renoir classic for the first time, I can attest that the film holds up very well.

Grand Illusion follows a company of working class French men imprisoned in a German POW camp during World War I. Amongst them the proletariat Parisian Marechal (Jean Gabin), the French Jew Rosenthal (Marcel Dalio), and a nameless engineer (Gaston Modot) - they are distinct from one another but share an understanding of the futility of the war they're fighting and a desire to escape. This futility is exemplified through the interactions between the Captain of the men, De Boeldieu (Pierre Fresnay), and the head of the German POW camp, Von Rauffenstein (Eric Von Stroheim), who are both aristocrats and share more common ground than the respective lower class men they represent.

All of the elements of the film are at a higher tier of quality: the dialogue eloquently written, the performances subtle, the camera movements elegant (Renoir's camera has a way of artfully manoeuvring around rooms and dinner tables, following important characters as they talk and keep the plot moving forward). What truly makes Grand Illusion great though is not these formal elements but the larger statement they are in service of. Renoir was a writer with something to say, and from the scene where the French soldiers band together to put on a talent show to the final sequence where Marechal and Rosenthal are kindly taken in by a young German widow, he drives home his theme of the futility of war by highlighting the common humanity of people.

In conclusion, Grand Illusion has aged remarkably well and remains one of the cinema's great masterpieces. Tied with Rules of the Game, it is Renoir's greatest work, and a must-see for anyone with a passing interest in cinema. It's a perfect example of what quality filmmaking is: high artistry in all compartments at the service of a simple but driving truth, in this case the "grand illusion" that war is something worth pursuing.

L'Avventura (1960)

Important film which is still worth viewing

[9/10 · 28 May 2013]

When L'avventura premiered at Cannes in 1960, it polarized audiences and immediately established director Michelangelo Antonioni as an exciting new force on the art-house circuit. The film concerns the disappearance of the character Anna during a Mediterranean boating trip, and the subsequent romance of her fiancée Sandro and best friend Claudia. Though initially L'avventura appears to be a mystery, the lack of resolve regarding Anna's disappearance makes the film function more as an art- house drama about the existential ennui of the leisure class. Though certain scenes drag on, the film as a whole holds up well and lives up to its stature as one of the key texts of 1950s/60s European art-house cinema.

When a group of upper-class friends go on vacation in the Mediterranean, a young woman named Anna (Lea Masari) disappears during a stop at an island. Anna's husband-to-be Sandro (Gabriel Ferzetti) and close friend Claudia (Monica Vitti) subsequently lead a search initiative and become lovers. Like a shark attack Anna fakes before her disappearance, Sandro and Claudia's affair is merely performed as a means to escape the ennui of their luxurious lives, to rekindle a lost feeling of excitement. The film ends with Claudia catching Sandro with another woman; their "adventure" over, the characters are left to continue their monotonous existence.

The pacing can be slow, and many scenes linger on for extended periods of time, becoming longueurs which test the viewer's patience. However, both the acting and script-writing are well-executed in that they come across seamless and never pop out at you in a cringe-worthy way. The film's greatest strength lies in the camera-work of Antonioni and cinematographer Aldo Scavanda. There's a painterly level of composition to many of the shots, for example the way Antonioni's camera pans right to a rule of thirds shot of the search party cross-armed against the island backdrop, upset at not having found Anna - Antonioni is very good at conveying narrative on a purely visual level.

In summary, L'avventura is an important text in 60's art-house cinema and still worth revisiting for modern movie goers. From the 70's movie brats to Sofia Coppola, directors attempting to tell stories of wide-screen alienation have drawn heavily from Antonioni, and this is probably one of the director's most famous films. It may at times be tedious, but one can't deny its artistry and the driving truth of its themes, nor its role in influencing a generation of filmmakers.

8/10

Silent Light (2007)

Amongst the best of the naughties

[8/10 · 21 May 2013]

Silent Light is the third picture from director Carlos Reygadas, author of such films as Japon and Battle in Heaven. Set in a Mennonite community in Mexico, the film follows a farmer named Johan as he struggles to choose between Esther, the wife with whom he has a family, and Marianne, the woman he feels is the love of his life. Like Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven, the film turns the relatively straight- forward story of a love triangle into something approaching spiritual through its meditative rhythm and painterly visuals. Though less risqué than Reygadas' other work, I would venture to say the film is superior and ranks amongst the best pictures of the past decade.

Johan (Cornelio Wall) is a good man, dividing his time between farm work (tending to the cows, harvesting the crop) and family. However, his simple life is put in danger when a powerful love emerges between him and family friend Marianne (Maria Pankratz). His wife Esther (Miriam Toews) is aware of what's going on but helpless to it, her husband's new love slowly but surely tearing them apart until the film reaches its unexpected finale.

The cast comprises mostly of non-actors, so there are no stellar performances - only ones which service the needs of the script. The film's greatest strength is perhaps in the photography of Reygadas and cinematographer Alexis Zabe. Like well-written prose, the film shows and doesn't tell, favouring evocative images over lots of dialogue. For instance, Johan and Marianne locking gazes in the light of a sunset, or Johan and Esther's gleeful children playing and swimming in a river - the story is told through impressions, giving it an almost spiritual quality. The pacing is slow, which may turn off some, but it's a pace which also enables your thoughts and feelings to unfurl - a welcome change from the usual American 'barrel-down' cinema, where the viewer's intelligence is undermined in a barrage of easy answers and showy spectacles.

In summary, Silent Light is a spiritually luminous film which achieves a poetry through its deeply felt and stunningly beautiful images. For fans of directors like Terrence Malick, Andrei Tarkovsky, or even Ingmar Bergman, Reygadas' movie will be a treat as it follows in the same vein as these past luminaries. That Reygadas is taking cues from these greats yet still arriving at something bracing and new establishes him as one of the most promising new directors to emerge recently.

Faces (I) (1968)

Key text in American independent cinema

[8/10 · 2 September 2012]

John Cassavetes' second feature of any note after 1959's Shadows, Faces is one of the late director's most daring and experimental films. Telling the story of a disintegrating relationship and the love its members seek in the arms of strangers, the film stars, amongst others, Lynn Carlin, John Marley, Gena Rowlands, and Seymour Cassel. It is shot in black and white and has a freewheeling home video quality - Cassavetes' camera scanning across various "faces", faces blurred, in focus, laughing, and crying.

The director's greatest success with the picture rests in his ability to dismantle traditional Hollywood ideas about plot and pacing and still stir up emotion and feeling in the viewer. Cassavetes manages to capture remarkably human and naturalistic performances from his cast (for instance, the way his roving camera captures a shirtless Seymour Cassel chasing flirtatiously after Lynn Carlin through their hotel room, or Lynn Carlin and John Marley rubbing noses together and laughing in a moment of ecstasy), helping the film become more than just a collection of meandering long takes.

Essential viewing for anyone looking to explore Cassavetes' work or trace the roots of the current independent film movement. 8/10.

Opening Night (1977)

Essential Cassavetes

[8/10 · 2 August 2012]

When speaking of John Cassavetes' contribution to the cinema, 'Opening Night' often goes overlooked. A shame, because it's a great film in its own right.

A character-driven drama about a stage actress's fall from grace, it follows Myrtle Gordon (Gena Rowlands) as she struggles with various personal problems (the death of a young fan, aging, alcoholism) in the time leading up to the premiere of a new play. 'Opening Night' also features Ben Gazzara as the theatre director and Cassavetes himself as one of the play's co-stars, with Cassavetes regulars like Peter Falk and Seymour Cassel providing bit-part roles.

This is one of the director's most personal films, and one he spoke about with much pride in interviews. The stamp of his distinctive style is there (roving documentary-style camera-work, emphasis on acting) and the major themes in his own life at the time are reflected in the picture (theater, drinking problems, aging). Gena Rowlands gives a stellar performance, making Myrtle into a sort of tragic heroine, and the rest of the cast does well supporting her.

Worth checking out for anyone interested in the art of acting or the work of John Cassavetes. 8/10.

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)

Essential viewing for any Cassavetes fan

[7/10 · 19 July 2012]

This 1976 John Cassavetes feature is one of his most blatantly autobiographical. Starring Ben Gazzara as sleazy strip club owner and tragic loser Cosmo Vitelli, the film is shot in a distant and poetic documentary style reminiscent of Cassavetes' earlier film 'A Woman Under the Influence' (1974), and can be thought of as a sort of companion piece.

The film follows Vitelli as he fails to pay Gambling debt, is given the task of pegging off a Chinese book-keeper, and ends up killing several Chinese men by accident - causing him to plunge into even deeper trouble with criminals. It's a moving character study of a man in the claws of a desperate situation, and like most of Cassavetes' films is a forerunner to a lot of the indie filmmaking that came after it.

An essential work by a director whose approach to capturing actors on camera inspired a generation of filmmakers, it is dark and foreboding in tone but also sublime and poetic in its use of meandering camera-work and close-ups. Ben Gazarra gives a fine performance as Cosmo, who is equal parts hero and sad moron, and the supporting cast does well embodying the gangsters, strippers, and Carnivalesque performers who move through his world.

An interesting piece of American cinema and essential Cassavetes. 7/10.

A Woman Under the Influence (1974)

Great movie

[9/10 · 17 July 2012]

With starring roles in "The Dirty Dozen" and "Rosemary's Baby", John Cassavetes was one of Hollywood's strongest actors during the late 1960s. Today, however, he is perhaps better remembered for his innovations behind the camera - the author of 'Shadows', 'Faces', 'A Woman Under the Influence', and 'The Killing of a Chinese Bookie', films shot in a gritty, Cinema Verite-style that featured strong performances from a repertoire of actors including Seymour Cassel, Ben Gazzara, Peter Falk, and Gena Rowlands.

"A Woman Under the Influence" is the apex of Cassavetes' artistry and perhaps his greatest film. It recounts the story of Mabel Longhetti (Gena Rowlands), a housewife/mother with failing mental health. The film tells of the incidences that lead her to suffer a nervous breakdown, the toll Mabel's struggles have on her husband Nick (Peter Falk) and three children, and her shaky readjustment to normal life after a 6-month stay in a mental hospital.

Gena Rowlands' performance as a troubled house-wife is powerful and electrifying. Cassavetes' style is frequently imitated but rarely bettered, and the extent of his talent is on full display here. The documentary filming helps draw us into the inner world of the family, and we as an audience are subject to the Longhetti's eccentricity and dysfunction but also the love and togetherness that offers a sort of transcendence. There have been many indie movies and docudramas centered on familial dysfunction since, but in terms of poetry and emotional resonance, "A Woman Under the Influence" is peerless.

9/10

Greenberg (2010)

'Greenberg' fails...

[4/10 · 31 July 2010]

This movie reminds me of another recently released movie, "Funny People". Both films are centred around middle aged losers who, in pursuit of an old flame, screw up the lives of everyone around them.

In the span of two hours, Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller) - our hopeless and unlikeable titular character - spoils a chance at romance with a nice young woman who's interested in him (Greta Gerwig), chirps out and loses his only friend (Rhys Ifans), and further isolates himself from his ex-girlfriend (Jennifer Jason Leigh). The film concludes with Greenberg making his already bad situation worse by snorting a line of coke and leaving a strange message on Gerwig's answering machine.

The main character is a prick and the movie as a whole doesn't really go anywhere, the only thing that really makes up for the dull plot and characters being semi-interesting cinematography from Baumbach & co. (the party scene is reminiscent of Antonioni's Blowup) and a decent soundtrack from the likes of LCD Soundsystem, Galaxie 500, and Serge Gainsbourg.

In conclusion, I'd give the movie 4 out of 10 stars - if you're looking for a quirky, comedy-drama on par with Wes Anderson or even Baumbach's earlier movies, save yourself the trouble of wasting two hours on this self-indulgent, boring movie and go rent something from either of those directors' back catalogue.