Monthly Archives: May 2024

Raiders of the Lost Ark
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan; story by Gary Lucas and Philip Kaufman
1981/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon prime renta

Marion: You’re not the man I knew ten years ago!
Indy: It’s not the years, honey, it’s the mileage.

Still thrilling after all these years.  I had forgotten how sharp the screenplay is.

It is 1936.  Indiana Jones is an archeology professor.  In his off time, he searches for historically significant relics.  This is dangerous work but Indy is proficient with the bullwhip and is incredibly lucky at all times.  We begin the story in an old Amerind temple where Indy snags a cursed solid gold fertility statue, escaping from collapse of the temple and poison arrows by the narrowest of margins.

He is visited by some officials who say that Hitler is obsessed with the original Ark of the Covenant which he believes will endow the owner with incredible powers.  The US Government wants to deny him that prize.  Indy immediately recognizes the significance of this and prepares to leave for the Kathmandu, the last known location of his old professor who possesses a vital clue needed to discover the Ark.

During this visit, Indy must perforce meet again with his professor’s daughter, ex-flame Marion (Karen Allen).  The father is dead and she has the clue.  Despite her cold reception, danger brings them back into each other’s arms.  She will be his partner in his future adventures, in addition to serving as a damsel-in-distress.

The action continues in Egypt where many more incredible adventures await.  The whole thing is capped off by an explosive finale.

This remains a ton of fun.  Movies like this one and Star Wars came as a breath of fresh air to movie lovers who were stuck with a lot serious and depressing material in the seventies.  The screenplay is wonderful in blending fantasy with wit and romance.  The score is classic.  I kind of like that the sets remind me of something out of a theme park.  It emphasizes the escapist tone of the whole thing. Easy to see why this would get the kind of sequels it did.

Raiders of the Lost Ark won Academy Awards in the categories of Best Art Direction-Set Decoration and Best Sound.  It was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Cinematography.  John Williams got gypped, though I suppose he got quite enough awards during his career.

Loulou
Directed by Maurice Pialat
Written by Arlette Langmann and Maurice Pialat
1980/France
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime Rental (Fandor)
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Some people are born losers; others acquire the knack gradually. – W. C. Fields

I could have lived without seeing this stupid movie.

Loulou (Gérard Depardieu) is a complete slacker.  He is the kind of guy who will spend his entire life spongeing off people, mostly women, between jail sentences for petty crimes. The only place he is any good is the bedroom.  This is more than enough for the educated, cultured Nelly (Isabelle Huppert) to leave her husband André (Guy Marchand).  The movie is a series of sex scenes and bad boy action.

Gerard Depardieu plays one of the most unlikeable protagonists in film history.  He’s  a complete zero, up there with Jean-Paul Belmondo in Breathless, only that is a a much better movie.  I spent the whole film hoping the Huppert character would dump him.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen.  The worst part is that I think we are supposed to root for Loulou by the end.  I cannot imagine why.

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This finishes up the List films for 1980.  I regret not having a rewatch of The Gods Must Be Crazy but I need to get my DVD player set up still.  I’m going to move on to 1981.   It looks to be another good year for movies.

Raging Bull
Directed by Martin Scorcese
Written by Paul Schrader, Mardik Martin, Joseph Carter and Peter Savage based on the book by Jake LaMotta
1980/US
IMDb page
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Di

[last lines] Jake La Motta: Go get ’em, champ [he begins shadowboxing] I’m da boss, I’m da boss, I’m da boss, I’m da boss, I’m da boss… I’m da boss, I’m da boss, I’m da boss, I’m da boss, I’m da boss, I’m da boss.

Martin Scorcese’s film about toxic masculinity in and out of the boxing ring is great filmmaking but hard for me to watch.

This is the story of boxer Jake LaMotta’s life starting from the peak of his professional career as a Middleweight and ending when his shortcomings cause him to lose almost everything.  He was called The Raging Bull and this was a very apt moniker.  LaMotta was what we called at the time a male chauvinist pig with an out of control temper. He took out his rage both in the rings and with loved ones.  Basically, he would explode any time he didn’t get his own way or anybody tried to argue with or contradict him.  He was not a nice person.

But that didn’t stop Jake from excelling in the ring, until it eventually did.  He also managed to win the love of the beautiful underage Vicky (Cathy Moriarty), whom he eventually married.  He was blessed with the support of his flawed but loyal brother Joey (Joe Pesci).  He eventually lost both these people and his children due to his jealous outbursts.  Jake ends his life as a mediocre stand-up comedian.

This is an extraordinary film that is brilliant both from an acting standpoint and for its striking staging and production.  The recreation of the fights is a masterpiece of film editing.  Robert DeNiro fought to get this movie made and he certainly gave a career-making performance. Pesci and Moriarty are great as well in the first major film for each.  But this is a movie filled with loud savage arguing and with domestic and boxing violence,  The blows are all accompanied by disturbing sounds of punches landing.  So it’s a film I can appreciate without exactly loving.

Robert DeNiro won a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in Raging Bull.  The film was nominated in the categories of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Pesci) and Best Supporting Actress (Moriarty).  It absolutely should have been nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing.