Little Caesar (1931 Mervyn LeRoy)

Edward G's self-confident villain fathers Warners' gangster cycle. Moves along pretty briskly for its age.

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.

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.

Theresa Russell shot by Anthony Richmond.

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.

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.

Baisers Volés (1968 Truffaut)

scr. Truffaut & Claude de Givray & Bernard Revon

Jean-Pierre Léaud, Claude Jade (romantically involved with Truffaut, was in the other Antoine Donel films, Hitchcock's Topaz), Delphine Seyrig, Michel Lonsdale (Phantom of Liberty, Moonraker)

Mus. Antoine Duhamel (Weekend)
ph. Denys Clerval

Actually more enjoyable than the first one.

Catches the casual cruelty of young men, though it's no wonder AD has a tricky relationship with women. Some of that great rapid editing.

That travel poster from L'Argent de Poche can briefly be glimpsed!

Fitzcarraldo (1982 Werner Herzog & scr)

Opera and Amazon?? In common with other H films throws out intriging ideas and bewitching imagery such as 'the bit of creation God left unfinished' and the elder Indians for whom the everyday is an illusion and reality lies in dreams.

The steamer, halfway up the hill, and knowing we're really watching Indians do this.

Always the humour (the whole task seems pointless, as he sells her boat and invests in an opera; after the successful traverse, the Indians let the steamer go into the rapids; the pig.)

Great to see Claudia Cardinale. Miguel Angel Fuentes (as the engineer Cholo) and Huerequeque Enrique Bohorquez ('you are the cleverest drunkard who ever staggered across this earth') also memorable, as is Popol Vuh's music and Thomas Mauch's photography (also Aguirre, Stroszek and - oddly enough - ID).

Kinski kept making me think of Alistair Sim and Tom Barley.

Fitzcarraldo (1982 Werner Herzog)

Opera and Amazon?? In common with other H. films throws intriguing ideas and bewitching imagery, such as 'the bit of creation God left unfinished'. The elder Indians for whom the evryday is an illusion and reality lies in dreams. The steamer, halfway up the hill, and knowing we're really watching Indians do this. Always the humour (the whole task seems pointless, as he sells his boat and invests in a mobile opera; after the successful traverse, the Indians let the steamer go, into the rapids; the pig.)

Great to see Claudia Cardinale. Miguel Enrique Bohorquez ('you are the cleverest drunk who ever staggered across this earth') also memorable, as is Popul Vuh's music and Thomas Mauch's photography. Kinski kept making me think of Aistair Sim and Tom Barley! 

If ... (1969 Lindsay Anderson)

"Run in the corridors!"

A real pleasure to see this again. It made me probably as angry as I was on 8th April 1979 to see the behaviour of the prefects, who are to all intents running the school. (In the final massacre, the Establishment fights back.)

Despite watching a 4x3 TV print (the aspect ratio is supposed to be 1.66:1) it shows Miroslav Ondricek's brick-coloured hue; he's assisted by an 'A' team of Chris Menges and Michael Seresin!

Brideshead director Charles Sturridge is one of the odious oiks.

Malcolm McDowell, Arthur Lowe.

Written by David Sherwin.

Le Samourai (1967 Jean-Pierre Melville)

"Whereas the colours in L'aine des Ferchaux are very warm, I wanted very cold colours for le Samourai. With this in mind I carried out a series of conclusive experiments, which I carried even further in Army of Shadows, and further still in Le Cercle Rouge (1970). My dream is to make a colour film in black and white, in which there is only one tiny detail to remind us that we really are watching a film in colour [did Spielburg ever read this??]. I think we took a small step forward in a form of expression - cinema in colour - that has become dangerous." ["Melville on Melville", Rui Nogueira 1971.]

Not the monster that is L'Armée des Ombres, but satisfyingly Bressonian and beautifully lit on Melville's own sets that burned down during filming. Thematically closer to Bob le Flambeur (loyalty, police adversary, fatalism).

Presumably the influence on Ghost Dog, the Way of the Samurai; John Woo is a big fan also. Compares interestingly to This Gun for Hire (Alan Ladd 1942).

"I sometimes read (I am thinking of the reviews after le Samourai and L'Armée des Ombres came out) 'Melville is being Bressonian'. I'm sorry, but it is Bresson who has always been Melvillian." (Nogueira.)

So I stand corrected!

Beautifully photographed by Henri Decae: his first films were for Melville and he shot early Chabrol, Truffaut and Malle, and so is a hugely important figure in French cinema.

Alain Delon, François Perier, Nathalie Delon, Cathy Rosier (pianist)

Hanging Up (2000 Diane Keaton)

Meg Ryan, Walter Matthau, Diane Keaton, Lisa Kudrow, Adam Artkin (son of Alan)

scr Delia and Nora Ephron.
Ph. Howard Atherton

Walter great in last film, but Ryan stand-out as nervy, highly strung daughter / carer.

I'm not convinced that Diane's a good director

Dark Passage (1947 Delmer Daves)

Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Bruce Bennett, Agnes Moorehead

Ph. Sid Hickox
Music Franz Waxman

Intriguing opening POV and camera in barrel. Might have been interesting to show different actor with Bogart's voice? (Would need excellent lip syncing.)

The Duchess (2008 Saul Dibb)

Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Charlotte Rampling, Dominic Cooper, Hayley Atwell (Fear of Fanny, Mansfield Park, Ruby in the Smoke), Simon McBurney (Prime Minister Fox), Aidan Mcardle (Sheridan) - the latter two parts are underwritten - they are her friends.

Ph Gyula Pados

Fiennes kept slightly reminding me of Leonard Rossiter and I wished it was him.
Film is OK but a bit 'so what?'
Photography is modern and flat.

Domestic Disturbance (2001 Harold Becker)

John Travlota, Vince Vaughan, Steve Buscemi
ph Michael Seresin

Unremarkable thriller in which T's son has witnessed V murdering B, but no one believes him.

L'Armée des Ombres (1969 Jean-Pierre Melville & scr)

I was completely blown away. How do the French manage to make these precise, economical films that without any sentimentality manage to be so moving? There's a highly cinematic use of dramatic irony and mournful Eastmancolor cinematography (Pierre Lhomme) that delivers the tough, brave exploits of Lino Ventura, Jean Pierre Cassel, Simone Signoret and the other Resistance members - the early execution scene is worthy of Hitchcock.

Amidst the cool development and performances it manages to be totally involving, exciting and heart-rending, marking Melville as a top-class and brutally honest auteur. It went straight into my Top 100 from this single viewing.

Afterthought: And what WW2 movie did Britain produce in this year? The Battle of Britain!

Also in cast: Paul Menrisse, Christian Barbier

Addtl. ph. Walter Wottitz
Music Eric Demarsan (wrote Belle and Sebastian in 1965!)

V For Vendetta (2005 James McTeigue)

Well. The problem here is you have a guy in a mask who can't emote (Hugo Weaving) and a girl who doesn't do much (Natalie Portman). Whose idea was it to muffle his voice realistically? Stupid. Very faithful to the graphic novel, lacks humour. Good supporting cast (John Hurt, Stephen Rea, Stephen Fry, Rupert Graves, Roger Allam, Eddie Marsan). Alan Moore's name completely absent, even as original author.

The Way to the Stars (1945 Anthony Asquith)

One of a number of terrific WW2 films we've steered through, and deserves immense praise for its proud, hard script (Rattigan; poems by John Pudney) and direction (Asquith), such as a camera finding a lighter that should have gone airborne with its owner, a pan up revealing that it isn't he. Trevor Howard in his 'debut' (actually the Way Ahead) and Michael Redgrave are so frightfully good that we rather miss them, though there's a bounteous supporting cast including Bonar Colleano (doing a Tarantino), Basil Radford (that handsome scar a WW1 trophy) and "I'll thank you" Joyce Carey as the wicked aunt. The scene where Johnny Mills kisses Renee Asherson goodbye through Rosamund John is delightful, particularly the look on the latter's face.

Derick Williams rather overlights the actors, but the second unit comprises not just Jack Hildyard but Guy Green as well.

A certain kind of quintessential British film: stiff upper-lipped, patriotic, unsentimental, cynical, witty and  off-handedly literate. Do we need the war to make films this good?

If.... (1969 Lindsay Anderson)

 A real pleasure to see this again. It made me probably just as angry as I was on the 8th April 1979 to see the behaviour of the prefects, who are to all intents running the school. (In the final massacre, the Establishment fights back.)

Despite watching a 4x3 print which doesn't seem cropped (the format is 1.66:1) Miroslav Ondricek gives things a brick-coloured hue, and he's assisted by Chris Menges and Michael Seresin! Brideshead director Charles Sturridge is one of the odious oiks.

Jeder Für Sich und Gott Gegen Alle / The Enigma of Kasper Hauser (1974 Werner Herzog)

Sweet, elemental, intelligent, mysterious, funny. Bruno S is unforgettable. You start wondering if everyone else is stupid. Both the scribe ('an excellent report!') and the foppish host look familiar.

After all, his answer to the logical problem is perfect.

There's a slight look of simple, scruffy cunning that Jack Nicholson might have borrowed.

The original title is better - "Every Man for Himself, and God Against them All" - having a cheerful ironic fatalism that's far more suitable.

Hopefully all you'd have to say to a fellow fan of the film would be 'escaping apples' for them to smile. Who says the Germans have no sense of humour?

It's now almost a week since I watched it, and it keeps on coming.

Cries and Whispers / Viskningar Och Rop (1972 Ingmar Bergman)

Hurry up and die, already! Fade to red. The images are a joy to behold.

Emotionally bleak, simple yet concentrated study of a family group of unsympathetic characters that seem specific to Bergman (or, perhaps, to Sweden?) Doesn't reverberate much beyond the viewing.

Apocalypse Now - Redux (2001 Francis Ford Coppola)

At three and a quarter hours, I'd glad we'd started it the night before (with a 1964 Armagnac). I'm not convinced the political discussion in the plantation scene adds anything, though the lighting here is astonishing, as is most of Storaro's incredible smoky colourings. As usual, the film goes a bit flat at the end of the journey but at least Sam Bottoms' tripped out surfer Lance survives (ironically, he died four days later of a brain tumour, at 53). It's still an astonishing experience.

Where though is the original ending that I saw at the cinema on January 27th (and February 9th) 1980 (the 153 minute version)? Apparently Coppola had to destroy the Kurtz camp set and filmed its demolition, but it logically fits into the story as an air strike has been ordered. The sight of those big stone faces in the flames is mesmerizing. It's here, and it's amazing.

Underground / Podzemelje: Bila Jednum Jedna Zmelja / Once Upon a Time There was a Country (1995 Emir Kusturica)

I was glad I'd started the first hour of this long but remarkable film, in which the shocking image of a goose pecking an injured tiger (perhaps metaphorical?) burns into the mind. (Shortly after, an elephant steals Blacky's shoes, and he calls it a 'fat horse'.) I started to get a bit bored in the long wedding scene, and was resisting the Delicatessen / Gilliam underground plot thing, though it's clearly allegorical, and the tunnels to other cities was very Catch-22, but you cannot help but be caught up in the epic tale, whether the shifting relationships between Lazar Ristovski, Miki Manojlovic and Mirjana Jokovic, or the disastrous political turmoil of the Balkans that I then had to research (an extremely complicated and bloody story). 

It's mad, funny, sprawling, surreal, intelligent and has a monumental ending. The slightly insane-making gypsy music is absolutely infectious.

I was not too surprised to read that Kusturica challenged an ultra-nationalist leader to a duel in Belgrade in 1993 (he declined). Vilko Filac also shot Time of the Gypsies. Difficult to think of another film that so vibrates with life.