Edward G's self-confident villain fathers Warners' gangster cycle. Moves along pretty briskly for its age.
Sunday, 17 May 2009
Sunday, 10 May 2009
Bad Timing (1980 Nic Roeg)
I am now so used to Bad Timing's dazzling structure and jumpy cross-cutting (fantastic editing by Tony Lawson) that the sad truths about this couple's destructive relationship seemed clearer: she is trying to conform to win his acceptance, but is free-spirited; he wants to possess her totally, and is jealous (the final act of ravishment embodies this full possession). More generally it shows us fundamental male and female desires and natures through a kaleidoscope and is perhaps Roeg's most personal film.
In a curiously unenlightening interview with him and producer Jeremy Thomas, Roeg doesn't even allude to the beginning of his long relationship with wife Theresa Russell in this film. She is absolutely sensational in this performance of a lifetime, for which she was honoured with a total of zero awards.
Adding to the mosaic / kaleidoscope / puzzle are the numerous references to art and objets d'art, literature and a poignant assembly of diverse musical influences. Shot by Anthony Richmond in Panavision.
In a curiously unenlightening interview with him and producer Jeremy Thomas, Roeg doesn't even allude to the beginning of his long relationship with wife Theresa Russell in this film. She is absolutely sensational in this performance of a lifetime, for which she was honoured with a total of zero awards.
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| Screen shot courtesy http://www.dvdbeaver.com/ |
Afterword 16/7/15. Just saw that amazing University scene again in NR documentary. Tony Lawson (quoted in 'The Independent' 14 July 1988):
Nic was very worried about me cutting that, because of what it meant to him...'Cut it several ways'.. I arranged it arbitrarily into angles and sections. Vocals became thoughts and some very strange cuts appeared. We worked on retaining the haphazardness and atmospherics they inspired and, I think, made it into a pivotal scene.After much research I tracked down the piano that backs it is Keith Jarrett's Köln Concert.
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| Theresa Russell shot by Anthony Richmond. |
Sunday, 3 May 2009
The Wild Bunch (1969 Sam Peckinpah): Kino für Kinder nicht - The Sunday Cinema
Having recently been reintroduced to Truffaut's children (see Les Quatres Cents Coups) we now meet Peckinpah's. From the beginning of THE WILD BUNCH (1969) they witness, then burn, ants killing a scorpion. They are caught in the crossfire, then play shooting games over the massacred bodies. One is a soldier in the Mexican army. Another jumps on the body of Angel, being dragged by the General's car, and rides him. And finally, one of the little bastards shoots Ernest Borgnine in the back. (Holden is also shot in the back, by a woman.) If this film is (evidently) about male camaraderie, loyalty, and the passing of the old West, it seems also to reflect on the lost innocence of the children.
William Holden has never been so tough and I'm reminded how much I like Ernest Borgnine, though Warren Oates' final pre-death cry leaps out at you (Peckinpah soon promoted him to lead). Emilio Fernandez (who's just taken me on a major tangent in search of his Cannes-winning Maria Candelaria), a powerful revolutionary Mexican filmmaker and actor, must also have got on with Peck, as he appears in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid and Bring Me the Head (as I watch this every 14 years I'm due a rewatch; in fact I'm a year late).
Written by Sam and Waldo Green. The old-timer Edmond O'Brien was in Liberty Vallance, coincidentally watched the same day. Lucien Ballard shot in Panavision and Jerry Fielding wrote the (Oscar-nominated) music. Editing of bloody action (by Lou Lombardo) still distinctive.
Like Guns in the Afternoon it's also about growing old in the Wild West. The old-timers are talking about retiring, but you get the feeling they'd rather go down in a hail of bullets, particularly when it comes from holding on to their old values like loyalty, that seem to be becoming lost.
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| Stills courtesey http://www.dvdbeaver.com/ |
William Holden has never been so tough and I'm reminded how much I like Ernest Borgnine, though Warren Oates' final pre-death cry leaps out at you (Peckinpah soon promoted him to lead). Emilio Fernandez (who's just taken me on a major tangent in search of his Cannes-winning Maria Candelaria), a powerful revolutionary Mexican filmmaker and actor, must also have got on with Peck, as he appears in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid and Bring Me the Head (as I watch this every 14 years I'm due a rewatch; in fact I'm a year late).
Written by Sam and Waldo Green. The old-timer Edmond O'Brien was in Liberty Vallance, coincidentally watched the same day. Lucien Ballard shot in Panavision and Jerry Fielding wrote the (Oscar-nominated) music. Editing of bloody action (by Lou Lombardo) still distinctive.
Like Guns in the Afternoon it's also about growing old in the Wild West. The old-timers are talking about retiring, but you get the feeling they'd rather go down in a hail of bullets, particularly when it comes from holding on to their old values like loyalty, that seem to be becoming lost.
