OORLOGSWINTER / WINTER IN WARTIME (2008)

Coming-of-age WWII story set in Nazi-occupied Holland ought to be a slam dunk for co-writer/director Martin Koolhoven, but unexpectedly hits the rim.  Hard to put a finger on just what goes wrong, but it plays like a melodrama with convenient story beats substituting for plot, trying for realism with a series of predetermined twists going wrong instead of right.  Debuting Martijn Lakemeier, is touchingly rebellious as the 15-yr-old son of a small town mayor, looking up to his resistance hero Dutch Uncle and down on a father he views as little better than a collaborator.  Assumptions that prove tragically misguided when they come directly into play after an RAF pilot bails and needs medical & reconnaissance help.  There’s a romantic complication between his nurse sister & the wounded flier, but that’s less of a problem than the boy’s lack of attention span.  Every time he takes his eye off the ball, some mini-disaster happens, usually to his bike.  (BTW, how many bikes does this boy have?  With wartime restrictions he seems to go thru about five.)  Much of the snowy atmosphere is nicely accomplished (pity about the occasional use of fake ‘foam’ snow), but then Koolhoven will build up a race to an execution that D.W. Griffith might find too much.  And why so much political naivety by the kid (and seemingly much of the town) about the deadly consequences of Nazi retribution when the film begins in January 1945, long after they must have figured things out and were waiting for the Allies certain advance.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  Jamie Campbell Bower, quite good as a remarkably fast healing RAF pilot, looks like the missing link between Malcolm McDowell and  Jonathan Rhys Meyers in their salad days.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: Andrei Tarkovsky started his career with one of the great WWII coming-of-age films, IVAN’S CHILDHOOD/’62.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2016/09/ivanovo-detstvo-ivans-childhood-1962.html

SUMMER GHOST (2021)

There’s the Christian Trinity: Father, Son, Holy Spirit.  There’s the Louisiana Trinity: Onions, Celery, Green Pepper.  And there’s the Japanese anime Trinity: Suicidal Thoughts, Mortal Illness, Social Alienation.  All covered in this visually impressive anime, a debut short from the self-named Loundraw, made under his own independent shingle.  More a statement of intent than a full-fledged project, it makes a bewitching first course that could lead to . . . ?  Ah, there’s the rub, as a well known Danish Prince once put it.  Lead to what?  As it stands, three 20-somethings link up thru the internet, meet at a diner, then head out to find their mutual interest: rumored sightings of a teen ghost said to appear at an abandoned airstrip, drawn like moths to a flame by firework sparklers.  (Once ubiquitous, now largely banned Stateside, sparklers were nearly as good as those puck-like glowing black snakes that left a semi-permanent mark on the sidewalk for the entire summer.  A real summer ghost.)  Coming in at a tidy 40 minutes, the storyline never quite synchs into place, which of the boys is dying?  Why did the ghost girl suicide?  But Loundraw’s striking technical finish is enough to fill the short running time.  Perhaps Loundraw (he explains the odd name in an interview on the disc) really needs the narrative constraints a commercial studio would force on him.  But this is certainly worth the modest time commitment.  (NOTE:  We've put a Family Friendly label on this, but keep the anime Trinity in mind.) 

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY:  Like characters in so much anime, the girl’s features ‘read’ as faintly Asian, while the boys not at all.  All alarmingly cute, of course, all with less nose than Harry Potter’s Lord Voldemort.

HIGH TREASON (1929)

Foolish but fascinating, this cautionary tale warns of the next World War only a decade after the last.  Technically, it looks back at Fritz Lang’s METROPOLIS/’27 for physical inspiration; morally it looks ahead toward H.G. Wells THINGS TO COME/’36 in ideas.*  If only it lived up to them.  Made for simultaneous release in silent & Talkie format*, there’s less difference than you’d expect between the two, largely because journeyman director Maurice Elvey has little aptitude for epic scale in presentation or politics.  Neat opening though, as a border incident between WEST & EAST alliances escalates to war mongering from Fifth Columnist agitators & munitions profiteers.  Only a World Peace Organization holds out against the rush to war, their messianic leader a prophet who can shoot to kill if necessary.  Normally seconded by fervid daughter Benita Hume, currently in thrall to military man Jameson Thomas (hopelessly miscast), who opposes everything she believes in .  Less stately than you fear, but weightless, missing the scale and dramatic use of mass movement Lang brings to his wildly influential film.  Elvey’s spectacular city of the future and airborne ships of war still a fun watch in spite of looking like Tinker Toys, prophesizing WWII’s Blitz attacks as well as TV news.  Best effect here is no effect at all, but a set, a long futuristic office space with serried rows of young female secretaries at their desks all with freshly ‘bobbed’ hair-dos.  There are also a few unintentionally funny title cards like: We’re prepared to fight to the Death for Universal Peace!  Of the miniatures, best is a neat cutaway of a high-speed ‘Chunnel’ train that’s been targeted for bombing.  But alas, none of the splendor & threat Lang got out of these future indicative things.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  *Also in casting; look fast to spot that film’s lead, Raymond Massey, here making a brief film debut.  And note that for some reason the Silent film’s future is set to 1950 whereas the Talkie takes place in 1940 . . . not that you’d notice.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK:  Of his nearly 200 directing credits, Maurice Elvey’s HINDLE WAKES/’27 is the best seen here.  (Only 197 left to see.)  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/05/hindle-wakes-1927.html

CRIMSON PEAK (2015)

Who but Guillermo del Toro could look at Alfred Hitchcock’s NOTORIOUS/’45 and think, ‘If only this film had a scary ghost and a couple of undead souls.’  And he ain’t shy announcing his intentions!  ‘Borrowing’ key elements (in close-up, yet) so you can’t miss references: a secret key (engraved ENOLA instead of UNICA); slow poisoning at afternoon tea, heroine transported to a strange mansion in a strange country; adversary in-law; losing touch with the man who ought to be her savior (he returns just in time to carry her prone body to bed) . . . and so on.  This all comes after a long first act in the States (not Florida, New England) with ideas largely grabbed out of Henry James (think WASHINGTON SQUARE/THE HEIRESS meets THE TURN OF THE SCREW) as rich, naive American Mia Wasikowska (soon to be orphaned) is pursued by brash, sophisticated British con man Tom Hiddleston, accompanied by creepy ‘sister’ Jessica Chastain.  Once moved into the roofless family manse in the U.K., Hiddleston pursues his odd mining project using up his wife’s inheritance*; ‘sis’ plays a grand piano impervious to tuning problems in spite of open roof & snowy conditions; and del Toro plays mix-master with various Gothic literary tropes while allowing (encouraging?) his cast to overact while underacting!  (All but wonderful Burn Gorman, the immortal Guppy from BLEAK HOUSE/’05, alas in a bit part.)

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT/LINK:  Why not ‘ghostless’ NOTORIOUS?  OR: Two superb Henry James adaptations. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2019/07/notorious-1946.html  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-heiress-1949.html  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-innocents-1961.html   

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Perhaps if del Toro weren’t such a good interview: smart, funny, film savvy, always ready to grab a bite; he’d get pressed a bit over his flops and would think twice about some of his more dubious projects.  Or maybe, like Tim Burton, success and ever larger budgets stifled rather than expanded artistic imagination.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  *BTW, the mining project finally coming in no doubt suggesting the grand gated entry to the property which is straight out of GIANT/’56.

POT-BOUILLE / LOVERS OF PARIS (1957)

In the interconnected world of Émile Zola’s ‘Les Rougon-Macquart’ novels, the exceptionally popular light social comedy of POT-BOUILLE (handsome, available young man moves to Paris, leaves an immediate mark on the ‘rag trade,’ and sets alight the heart of every woman he comes in contact with) leads directly into the full-blooded magnificence of AU BONHEUR DES DAMES/LADIES' PARADISE (super-charged retail emporium rapidly snuffs out an entire neighborhood of small family-owned shops while a Cinderella romance plays out inside the newfangled department store).  Both books wonderfully adapted by Julien Duvivier, but in reverse order.  DAMES a technically dazzling late silent from 1930 (updated to modern times*) whereas BOUILLE retains the 1880s setting and skips dazzle for the solid craftsmanship befitting a mature master.  It takes a reel or two to get up to speed (there are twenty characters to get in place), but the introductions are witty, fun and cleverly overlapped.  Gérard Philipe’s a natural as the best-behaved cad in Paris, ambitious in love & career without being pushy.  But as infidelity at work & play is the norm across social lines & gender not an eyebrow is raised.  Or isn’t till the dull dog who married Philipe’s castoff lover takes umbrage and tries to raise ’seconds’ when the affair reignites.  The women all shockingly beautiful (see photo; Anouk Aimée at 25, 2nd from the right),

none more so than worldly-wise shop owner Danielle Darrieux, Philipe’s sometime employer.  And by the second half, almost every act & line of dialogue is getting big laughs as an entire society of ‘honest’ deception is laid out before us.  Never more so than during a perfectly choreographed bit of boulevard farce as couples play a game of hit & miss infidelity on a grand staircase while an unfaithful father dies of a heart attack after too much ‘exertion.’  Shot & designed by legendary talent (Michel Kelber; Léon Barsacq), the only thing you might want to change is that anodyne English-language title.   (NOTE: Look for the Gaumont 2018 restoration.)

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK:  *Duvivier didn’t write the script for DAMES which may explain why it was updated.  An error, but not a mortal one.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2009/08/au-bonheur-des-dames-1930.html

THE PALE BLUE EYE (2022)

1830s West Point murder mystery (soon looking like a series of Satanic Ritual sacrifices), sees Cadet Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling), peculiar enough to be a natural suspect, drafted as sideman to visiting ‘problem solver’ Augustus Landor (Christian Bale).  Set in the dark of winter, this plush entertainment is somber, serious and painfully stupid.  In tone & story development, it’s something between literary thrillers like THE ALIENIST/’18 or THE NAME OF THE ROSE/’86*, but shows little of their cleverness, sense or sensibility in the main crime before tossing in a ‘Got’cha’ twist epilogue that makes mincemeat of the story.  Turns out our ultimate villain just happened to stumble onto the perfect conspiracy to cover his tracks.  (An alibi of opportunity?)  The whole thing not only ludicrous, but positively distasteful; which is saying something these days!  With whispered vocals so you can’t HEAR clues; candlelit interiors so you can’t SEE them*; and Method Acting to show everyone was neurasthenic with iron poor blood in those days.  And to think, Poe's Tales of Ratiocination pretty much started the detective genre.  Writer/director Scott Cooper could have used that guy.

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT/LINK:  *While THE NAME OF THE ROSE received nothing like the staggering international reception of Umberto Eco’s novel, it looks considerably better now then it did in 1986.    https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-name-of-rose-1986.html

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  Amusingly (and it's the only amusing thing in here), the cast is so ultra-U.K., you’ll wonder which side of the Revolution they’d have fought for.  (Also amusing to imagine how much this 70+ million dollar film would have lost if released theatrically.  Ah, there’s the real mystery, how NetFlix balances the books on all these DOA streamers.)

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY:  *Sans ‘fill light,’ which the human eye naturally adjusts for but camera lenses don’t, we’re literally left in the dark.  Stanley Kubrick’s BARRY LYNDON/’75 has a lot to answer for on this misguided technique.  Try it out yourself.  Turn off the lights, light a candle or two in a room, then note just how much is visible.  Surprising, no?

ONCE YOU KISS A STRANGER (1969)

There’s bad, there’s inept, and there’s inexplicable.  All present and accounted for in this dunderheaded refashioning of Patricia Highsmith’s STRANGERS ON A TRAIN/’51.  Not that Highsmith’s debut novel, famously filmed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951 is necessarily untouchable.  She wasn’t much sold on it.  (Though it certainly ‘sold’ her!)  But someone @ Warner Bros. in the dark days of Major Hollywood Studio free-fall must have figured that since they owned the rights, why not a remake?  Okay, but why bother if your theatrical release is barely above a TV Movie-of-the-Week?  Or was this prepped as a MotW, then bumped up to theatrical for having too much sex & violence?*  The story is largely intact: Two strangers playfully plan to swap apparently motiveless murders, but only the crazy one is serious enough to go thru with it.  Plus two big swaps to the storyline: Pro Golf standing in for Pro Tennis; and a gender swap that has lithe Carol Lynley in for fey Robert Walker, deleting any sub-textual gay angle from Paul Burke who has the Farley Granger role.  TV series director Robert Sparr shows little aptitude for how these things work.  How many POV shots can one man screw up?  And a low wattage cast culled from the guest star wish list of NBC’s FAME IS THE NAME OF THE GAME takes care of the rest.  Two modest successes: a famous moment from STRANGERS with Robert Walker’s ‘Bruno’ popping a little boy’s balloon with his lit cigarette (a huge surprise laugh) opens this film when Lynley walks out of the ocean and shoots a little girl’s beach ball with a spear-gun.  Plus a decent turn from murder victim Philip Carey who coasts on his resemblance to Charlton Heston to good effect.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  *When a scene meant to play between 11 p.m. and midnight is bright as the noonday sun, chances are good it was designed to be visible on the crap resolution of tv monitors at the time rather than in theatrical showings.

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT:  Obviously, STRANGERS ON A TRAIN.

THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN (2018)

Pity the poor SUPERMAN adaptor!  Like Mickey Mouse, Peter Pan or King Arthur (among many such ubiquitous characters) name recognition is too high, it creates an unsolvable problem since everyone thinks they know just how the characters ought to behave and what adventures they ought to have.  Beloved and untouchable.  Projects may be easy to set up & fund, but destined to disappoint.  Even the ones that pay off.  So, no surprise this rather flat animated film of a Special Edition DC Comic (first made as SUPERMAN: DOOMSDAY/’07, not seen here) gets a mid-tier vocal cast for what’s largely a prologue to REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN/’19 (also not seen here).  The action follows a lot of mayhem in the streets after some dangerous space aliens land on Earth, which neither Superman nor an ethnically diverse Justice League, cross-plugging the DC franchise, are able to beat back without casualties; even with Lex Luthor helping out.  Why similarly conceived BATMAN animation projects come off so well (cool stylistics, starry vocal casting, visual coups & re-imaginations) while SUPERMAN makes do with the B-Team is a mystery.  (Here, the general look tries to merge 1960s comic book to 1980s anime.)  And do we really need to push on the Superman Christ allegory embedded in the Man of Steel origin story?  That casket with the lid knocked off a bit on the nose.  Apparently, the sequel goes all Supermen Multi-verse.  Think of the possibilities: SPARTACUS Superman: I am Superman! No, I am Superman!  OR: TO TELL THE TRUTH Superman: Will the real Superman please stand up!  Here’s an idea: Give It A Rest SUPERMAN.

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT/LINK:  As usual, we point our readers toward that lodestar of Supermania, the 1940s Fleischer Bros. shorts.  A dozen or so little visual gems that perfectly capture the look, design and kinetic feel of the early classic comic books, with simplified narrative elements perfectly balanced to their purpose.    https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/07/superman-1941-43.html  

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  When this one opens, reporter girlfriend Lois Lane once again has yet to realize Clark Kent is Superman.  Hasn’t this ‘reveal’ run its course?

CRIMSON TIDE (1995)

Scroll down a few posts for William Friedkin’s updated CAINE MUTINY, specifically the tricky last scene where Jason Clarke’s conflicted defense attorney gets away with a duplicitous speech on his win over the inept Captain Queeg by channeling the recognizable vocal cadence & scratchy high baritone of Gene Hackman.  Works like a charm.  So, what a surprise to find the real Gene Hackman in this Nuked-up CAINE MUTINY ripoff, not playing defense (the trial is largely excised), but as Captain Queeg!  And worse, giving a painfully obvious, bulldozer perf.  But it’s hard to blame Hackman, the greatest utility player of his era, for overreaching when everyone’s at their worst in this hyped-up would-be thriller that sees Denzel Washington (in the spot Van Johnson had in the 1955 CAINE MUTINY film!!!) tasked with overseeing a nuclear sub, overloaded with testosterone & fat sailors, in Tony Scott’s typically overworked countdown suspenser.  Hooey about a power struggle in Russia that may put atomic codes into the hands of an ultra-Nationalist.  Our Mission: take out the weapons first (and probably start a Nuclear Holocaust) or lose the war before it starts.  Our Problem: orders from command central have been interrupted!  Is it an order to Proceed or Stand Down?  Yikes!  Scott, as usual, over-masticates every shot, special-effect, camera move & sound edit, running out of thrills or suspense while giving away all his characters’ traits & surprises by the third reel.  With forced laughs leading to a power struggle showdown between Gene & Denzel, the inevitable mutiny is doubled in this version with a counter-mutiny.  Then a copout ending, courtesy of Guest Star Jason Robards Jr.  The film a new low for all, but no doubt a particular embarrassment for its two stars.

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT/LINK:  Early in the film, James Gandolfini, one of the uncomfortably fat crew members, quizzes newbies on classic sub movies: THE ENEMY BELOW/’57; RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP/’58.  Both would substitute nicely here.  OR:  For a more contemporary comparison, try THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER/’90.  Its success likely got this the Green Light.  (Note copycat Black & Red posters.)  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-enemy-below-1957.html  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2015/03/run-silent-run-deep-1958.html  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-hunt-for-red-october-1990.html