Probably one of my new favorite movies, the favorite I've watched so far this semester. As if I didn't want to live in the 1960s badly enough, now I wish I was living in the 60s in London.
(1) Basically this movie is very plotless- a plot starts but then it kinda doesn't go anywhere. There are random gratuitous scenes that just make no sense but capture the essence of the 60s. Thomas is a fashion photographer who gets really sick of it, so he decides to go to the park and take some landscape pictures. Because he's a womanizer he sees this couple in the park and starts taking photos. When the woman discovers him she freaks out and demands the film. He says no. When he develops the pictures he notices something strange and thinks he sees a gun killing the male in the park. When he goes to check it out he sees the body dead. Then he goes back with his friend the body mysteriously disappears. Now this seems like a straightforward plot but add a random threesome, tennis with mimes, thomas buying a propellar from an airplane for no apparent reason otehr than he's got to have it and a musical performance by the Yardbirds and then you have this movie. (I like how I wrote plotless yet this is the longest plot summay I've written)
(2) How does one critique the acting in this film. There's no dialogue in half the film. It's more action filled but this action is standing doing nothing. So I don't know if I can provide a fair assessment of the acting.
(3) The mise-en-scene is just utterly brilliant. To just capture the 60s to such perfection is mind numbing. Though bizarre it's just so beautiful. To the lighthing, costumes, music, editting, it's just so.... 60s.
(4) You will either love this movie because you enjoy the 60s or you will hate it. There's no inbetween. You will it either brilliant or just plain silly. I give it 5 out of 5 stars because I can find no flaws. It's brilliant combination of contemporary life and traditional italian neo-realism is just something that I applaud.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Early Summer (1951) Ozu
This two and a half hour saga was quite and interesting experience. This is basically a movie in which all the things you expect to be in a movie, aren't in the movie. There's so much build up and then he just cuts it all out. Oh yeah and its a Japanese film.
(1)T he plot of the movie is Noroki, is 28 and not yet married, her parents and her brother are very concerned that someone so old is not married (so old?). She is very modernized compared to her traditional parents and brother. She recieves a proposal from a business man but turns him down for her next door neighbor.
(2) The acting was so great especially by the two small children who were so believeable as brothers. And they responded to the other actors so realistically. I really enjoyed watching them. As I said in an earlier post it's very hard to critique acting in a foreign film. But the children were just children and stood out as being natural.
(3) It's very slow movie, but the aesthetics are so beautiful -- you dont mind staring at it for a while. The use of framing is genius in this movie. The architecture of the Japanese house was really dramatized and it was beautiful. The deep depth of focus present a realistic point of view
(4) Although the message of the movie is very bleek. That no matter what you do you will never be happy it was still just a great insight to the world of Japanese traditional culture. Overall I give it a 4 out of 5. It looses points on its slow pacing and the use of ellipses which you miss important story details. I know these are intentional but it's STILL annoying.
Overall despite it being long I really enjoyed myself.
(1)T he plot of the movie is Noroki, is 28 and not yet married, her parents and her brother are very concerned that someone so old is not married (so old?). She is very modernized compared to her traditional parents and brother. She recieves a proposal from a business man but turns him down for her next door neighbor.
(2) The acting was so great especially by the two small children who were so believeable as brothers. And they responded to the other actors so realistically. I really enjoyed watching them. As I said in an earlier post it's very hard to critique acting in a foreign film. But the children were just children and stood out as being natural.
(3) It's very slow movie, but the aesthetics are so beautiful -- you dont mind staring at it for a while. The use of framing is genius in this movie. The architecture of the Japanese house was really dramatized and it was beautiful. The deep depth of focus present a realistic point of view
(4) Although the message of the movie is very bleek. That no matter what you do you will never be happy it was still just a great insight to the world of Japanese traditional culture. Overall I give it a 4 out of 5. It looses points on its slow pacing and the use of ellipses which you miss important story details. I know these are intentional but it's STILL annoying.
Overall despite it being long I really enjoyed myself.
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