Wrapping It Up: March

March Turned out to be another good month for movie watching. All I was aiming for was to keep pace of 1 movie/day. I just missed that mark because of couple of Interviews in last week but I am still satisfied with the count. I am making the most of my relatively free time right now, who knows I may not get this much free time again for a long time. In few days, I will have some idea of how April will shape up but I have a hunch that my vacation time is about to be over. It makes me happy since it will mean I will be moving forward in my career but a little sad as well, because it means less time for movies and such. But more on that later, once I know something for certain. So, this is what I saw in the Month of March.

MARCH

My Week with Marilyn(2011): That was a good start to the month - Marilyn Monroe. Watch it for Fantastic performance by Michelle Williams. You can see my detail review here. 

Dazed and Confused(1993): Most of the Linklater movies or at least the ones I have seen work because of the flow of it and not because they have definite structure to it. Before Sunrise(1995) and Before Sunset(2004) worked wonderfully within their limits but still don't get the point of this movie. 

Young Adult(2011): Charlize Theron was great, Patton Oswald was awesome and everything else was cold. I will even say I liked Diablo Cody's script except for the fact that I did not believe the character of Mavis Gray. 

Audition(1999): Probably my first Japanese movie besides Kurosawa and Ghibli and what a terrifying movie it was - especially the last 45 minutes sent the chills down my spline. Words "Kiri Kiri Kiri" will have a very different meaning now.   

Serenity(2005): I recently saw the sole season of Firefly on Netflix and even though I had my problems with the show, I did not think that any of them warranted such an untimely demise of a good show. Even this movie was very true to the spirit of the show, ending was a little over the top but it led us towards it from the start. Overall, I am happy that they at least got a chance to wrap it up tidily.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes(1953):I really don't know what to say about this movie. I saw it for Marilyn Monroe and for Diamonds are a girl's best friend and I got them both. Apart from that, even though there is nothing terribly wrong with it, I thought it to be perfectly forgettable movie.

Brick(2005): A strange, little movie which I am sure will find a lot more intriguing on the second watch because I am almost sure I must have missed few nuances on first. For first hour or so, I wasn't even sure if they are talking English or some strange language very much like it. But it turned out much more interesting by the end.

Deool(The Temple)(2011)(Marathi): Regional Indian movie in my mother tongue which recently won National Prize for Best Film, Best Dialogues and Best Actor. It is a very nice, little movie which shows strong attachments to values of rural India and how politics makes everything worse. With this national prize, I can only hope that it will get a little wider audience.

Le Cercle Rogue(1970): French New Wave and starting point of my Melville mini marathon. You can read about it here.

High and Low(1963): I am trying to think of a Kurosawa movie not set in the samurai background and I can only think of Rhapsody in August(1991). However, this movie about kidnapping set in modern Japan this is as good as any other Kurosawa movie. Just goes to suggest the versatility of this brilliant director.

Le Doulos(1962): Melville mini marathon continues. I thought this to be the weakest of all Melville's I saw during this time though.

Bob Le Flambeur(1956): Many think of this as a starting point of French New Wave, a movie that Inspired many recognizable forces such as Godard and Traffaut.

Army of Shadows(1969): Last of the four I saw for my Mini Melville Marathon and by far the best of the lot. You can read about it on a little more detail here. 

A Separation(2011): There are very few movies which have made such a profound effect on me like this one. Fortunately, I saw it late in the evening otherwise I would have wasted the whole day doing nothing but thinking about it. My review here.

The 400 Blows(1959): Even though I did not get any of supposed references to Truffaut's favorite directors, It is still a very honest, heartbreaking story of boy, misunderstood by his parents, tormented by his teachers and with only a Friend to rely on.

Castle in the Sky(1986): This is how it all started people. First movie by Hayao Miyazaki under the Ghibli banner and it just as Ghibli as it gets, if that makes any sense to you.

The Man who Knew Too Much(1934): It interests me a great deal that Hitchcock remade his own movie. Mind you, this is the older version of the two; newer version made in 1956 starred James Stewart and Doris Day(Remember 'Que Sara Sara'?). Hitchcock is believed to have said that he preferred older over new because it was so untidy. Untidy !! That's the word.

Rope(1948): You know, the main advantage of shorter films is you can watch a couple of movies and still have time to do lot of other stuff. The Man who Knew Too Much at 80 minutes and Rope at 74 minutes together took time equivalent to one Indian movie and when it is something as brilliant as this, you are in for something special.

Restrepo(2010):Filmmakers Sebastian Jungen and Tim Hetherington's document of their visit to the Korengal Valley when it was one of the strongest footholds of Al-queda during Afghanistan war. It was one of the areas which saw the fiercest fighting.

My Neighbor Totoro(1988): I am slowly but surely making my way through all the movies Miyazaki made himself for Ghibli. Next in line are Kiki's Delivery Service(1989), Pom Poko(1994) and Porco Rosso(1992). Even though I thought this was a little childish, Ghibli charm carries this one through Safely.

Repulsion(1965): I haven't seen whole lot of movies Polanski did but even then I never imagined him doing something like this. To tell you the truth, it is not really scary to watch but a prospect of a perfectly sane person leaving amongst normal people disintegrating into utter madness is far more haunting and Repulsion portrays it very effectively.

Grizzly Man(2005): My first encounter with Herzog in any format. I usually have a problem of not being able to appreciate something where I can not connect with a central character. However, I must appreciate Herzog's objectivity here in keeping matters straight.

The Chaser(2008): Another slasher Korean movie with a psychotic killer, lot of violence, blood and gore but like those other Korean movies, it does not feel like JUST that. It does have a story and enough twists and turns to keep your attention. However, better stay away if you are queasy.

The Great Escape(1963): I know that it is a true story and they show all the details of escape exactly as they were but I would have loved to see a little different ending, a little happier perhaps. Alas! It wasn't to be.

The Trip(2010): It probably needed a little more conviction in whatever it was trying to say, if at all it was trying to say something. But even then, it was a perfectly enjoyable movie with all their imitations and impressions.

The Towering Inferno(1974): Supposed mother of all disaster movies wasn't bad at all actually. Star studded cast of Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, William Holden and Fred Astaire definitely helped it a lot. One more movie down from Faye Dunaway's awesome decade of 1967-1976.

That Obscure Object of Desire(1977): My First venture into Bunuelian world. I loved it more as a character graph especially the idea of using two actresses to play the same part. I was confused a little at start with two actresses but it worked really well when I understood that he is doing is purposely. 

All About Eve(1950): I love it when movies take me by surprise. I had heard a lot about Eve and I found almost all to be worthy of all the praises, especially the female performances. I find it rather peculiar, that for a movie with such a strong female cast, only acting Oscar came through a male role.

Discreet Charm of Bourgeoisie(1972): This was a frustratingly confusing film to watch. For quite some time, I really did not have any idea what was going on. After a few attempts, I even gave up on wondering if it was reality or just another dream they were in. I am definitely going to watch it again soon and try to make some sense out of all that mess Bunuel created in my mind.

Total Count:29. 29 First Time Watches and 0 Re-watches.

2012 YTD Count

Total Count:85. 83 First Time Watches and 2 Re-watches.

And I have done it again. Look at my Re-watch count - 0. There is soo much I haven't seen yet that every time I sit down and decide to watch something, I always feel my time is better invested in watching something new. I haven't even done my usual Lord of the Rings Marathon in almost 6 months, that has to be a record for me. But besides that I am again happy with the mix of the movies I have seen here - 15 Classics, 14 Contemporary and 13 Foreign, 15 English and 1 Indian. Pretty Good !! So, what did you see this March ?

Getting Acquainted with Melville

In my opinion, French New Wave movies and the directors have a certain aura around them. It is perfectly possible that this comes from the fact that movies made during this period and these directors are my blind spots - I almost know next to nothing about them. Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville(1965), which I saw last month might have been my first foray in this area. Even though lot of times I question if I have the ability to understand and even further comment on something done at that artistic level, there is no denying that Alphaville(1965) had me intrigued to explore more of New Wave cinema. Jean-Pierre Melville is one of the influential names in that period. Last week I did a mini marathon of his movies watching 4 of them over the weekend - Le Cercle Rouge(1970), Bob Le Flambeur(1956), Army of Shadows(1969) and Le Doulos(1962). I only wish if I could have seen Le Samourai(1967) as well as that remains to be one Melville I want to see but still haven't seen.

To start with, Le Cercle Rouge(1970) is about the 3 people or 3 criminals who come together to pull out a daring robbery. One of them, Corey played by one of Melville regulars Alain Delon, is freshly out of jail. Second one, Vogel is a fugitive escaped from the custody of police superintendent Mattei. And third, Jansen is a former cop who is been discharged because of his crooked ways. Few days before Corey is to be discharged from the prison, he gets an offer from one of the prison guards to pull a heist job for him. Strangely, we never know what the job is until he actually starts planning for it. Even further, we are not even told if he is going to do it or not because he outright rejects the idea initially. However, after being released, he starts driving towards Paris and picks up Vogel on the way. Vogel successfully escapes by breaking the train window and hides in the trunk of Corey's car. Jansen is former associate of Vogel, who joins hands with them for his sharpshooting abilities. While these men are planning their heist, on the other hand Mattei is being held responsible for Vogel's escape and is on his tail by blackmailing a nightclub owner Santi to capture him. For a heist movie, what is astonishing about it is there is not even a single raised voice throughout the movie and it still captures the thrill of the situation brilliantly. Corey never shows a single strand of emotion on his face throughout, under any condition. For first hour or so, Corey and Vogel's storylines run parallel with no apparent connection and do not hear a word about robbery they are about to pull off. However, second hour is completely dedicated to it and I can say that it is one of the most elaborate and prudent robberies I have seen. 

Next one was, Le Doulos(1962) which I felt was the weakest of all four I saw. Explaining the title with some kind of quote seems to be Melville's trademark. He does it at the start of this movie and He did the same in Le Circle Rogue with one of the quotes by Gautam Buddha. However, In this case I thought to be utterly necessary since it is not what it means directly. As explained at the start, Le Doulos means the Hat but it is also a slang for police informer among mob and that is the meaning intended here. One thing I can say after this is Melville sure knew how to portray the underworld of France really well. This time, we see it from both the sides, criminal side as well as judicial side. There is no easy way to explain the story really, It is about two criminal friends, one of whom is assumed to be Police Informer but the fact that I don't have anything more to say about it should also explain the reason why I think it to be the weakest of 4 films I saw. Basically, my only problem was that it has a lot of focus on violence and it looks like it has put on some serious years on it in the action scenes. It still works fine when it is dialogue oriented and relies on them to build up a tension in the room like it is playing on the home pitch.

Whole French New Wave and particularly Melville took a lot of inspiration from classical Hollywood Cinema. Melville in particular adored everything American - American Culture, Cinema; even his name which he changed from Grumbach to Melville for his favorite author Herman Melville of Moby Dick. Considered as the starting point of French New Wave, Bob le Flambeur(1956) is probably the best example of his love for all American things with a lot of parallels that can be drawn to the film-noir. If it wasn't the first film in French New Wave, it definitely was an inspiration for it. Bob is compulsive gambler who has done time in the past but has turned his life around since then. However, with his losses in the gambling he is pushing his boundaries and at just one of those corners lure of 800 million francs seems like too much to pass on but what he does not realize is this might be his fallout. It comes with its own flaws. Just like Le Doulos, it feels like it has put some serious years on it especially when it comes to action scenes. But, it looks much more comfortable in his own skin with a lot more focus on characters and making a viewer familiar to them rather than focusing on action. In the process, it also works more on planning the heist and putting all the right pieces together than actual heist at the end and this is where it does better than Le Doulos.

The last one to go, Army of Shadows(1969) probably was the best of the lot. It follows the group of resistance fighters as they carry out their resistance hiding from German authorities in occupied France. Adapted from the novel of Joseph Kessel which he based on his own experiences during the resistance, it works mostly because of its minimalist nature to concentrate on their emotions, their actions than honey coating it to make them presentable. Melville himself was a part of this resistance and their experiences give this movie a depth which is evident from incidences in the film such as one scene in London where we see Lino Ventura standing at the door on bar looking at the English soldiers dancing while German plans are bombing the city outside. I am not sure if it says something about Melville but it is only movie out of the four which has a respectable female character, Mathilde. Everywhere else, they either have a very negligible part or mostly they are either used as an object of desire or as femme fatale without any real depth. His immaculate sense of time and space, his attention to the detail was evident in all the movies especially in planning stages of heists, even more so in this one where we can see one of the central characters has his specs secured with a sticky tape to his face before he jumps from off the plane. With it's strong adherence to the genuine emotions from the very first scene, at 144 minutes, it never gets boring even though it portrays the resistance in grim, pragmatic fashion.

So, How many of Melville's work have you seen? Which one's are your favorite? What do you think of those mentioned here?