Daily Archives: January 7, 2016

Robinson Crusoe
Directed by Luis Buñuel
Written by Hugo Butler and Luis Buñuel from the novel by Daniel Defoe
1954/Mexico
Producciones Tepeyac/Oscar Dancingers Production
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Robinson Crusoe: If anyone in England met such an odd creature as I was in my 18th year of solitude, it must either have frightened them or caused a great deal of laughter.[/box]

This is an entertaining retelling of the classic adventure story.  Director Buñuel keeps his surrealistic tendencies in check for the most part but there are some delicious traces here and there.

Robinson Crusoe (Dan O’Herlihy) has set to sea against the advice of his father.  On a voyage to collect slave from Africa a violent storm drives his ship westward and sinks it. Crusoe manages to swim to shore.  This turns out to be a desert island.  Fortunately, the wreck of the ship has washed up on some rocks and he is able to retrieve a number of supplies.  He discovers a couple of more survivors, a cat and a dog named Rex.

Crusoe’s days are busy with making a home for himself despite the fact that he was born a gentleman that never picked up a tool in his life.  He becomes quite skilled and clever at contriving ways to be comfortable.  The only thing he cannot conquer is his profound loneliness.

The death of Rex makes matters even worse.  Shortly thereafter, Crusoe discovers he has company.  These are cannibals from a nearby island who apparently have transferred a tribal war to Crusoe’s island.  Crusoe saves the life of a man who is being hunted down and names him Friday (Jaime Fernández).  He tells Friday his name is “Master”.  Trust is gradually built between the two until Crusoe finally has a friend (and servant).  Will
Crusoe survive to see England again?

Buñuel reveals himself to be quite capable at directing action.  More interesting is his very ironic treatment of the many religious references in the novel.  There’s also quite a commentary on the class system.  I enjoyed this.  I thought the English version I watched might have been dubbed but discovered that the script was written and spoken by the actors in English.  Fans of the book could do far worse.

Dan O’Hirlihy was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor.

English-language trailer

Late Chrysanthemums (Bangiku)
Directed by Mikio Naruse
Written by Sumie Tanaka and Toshirô Ide from stories by Fumiko Hayashi
1954/Japan
Toho Company
First viewing/Hulu Plus

[box]“You can be young without money, but you can’t be old without it.”
― Tennessee Williams[/box]

This is a sympathetic look at a group of retired geishas and the role money plays in their lives.

The story is very episodic and meandering.  Kin (Haruku Sugimura, the selfish daughter in Tokyo Story) saved her money wisely while she was a geisha.  Now she has become a moneylender and slumlord.  Some of her clients are former geishas themselves.  One is doing some type of menial labor and is gambling and hitting the sake too hard.  She has a sharp, modern daughter who is getting ready to marry an older man and is not a soft touch for money.  She lives with another ex-geisha who is working as a hotel maid and worrying about her unemployed son and the affair he is having with the mistress of another man.  Kin makes regular visits to the two to hound them about their unpaid debts and rent.

The other geisha’s know that as a young woman, Kin was romantic.  She attempted double-suicide with her lover Seki.  When the suicide failed, Seki was convicted of attempted murder.  After leaving prison, he made his way to Manchuria to do hard labor.

Seki is now back in town and Kin refuses to have anything to do with him.  Kin next gets a letter from another former lover who wants to visit her.  The remainder of the story moves from one woman to the next as they deal with their children and lovers and try to make ends meet.

I liked this movie a lot.  I’m still not sure what the message was, if any.  Kin is shown to be grasping and disliked by all, yet she is the only one that seems to have her life in order.  But the poorer women are not necessarily any better.  They are constantly scrounging for money, in one case just to buy sake and gamble.  They have children but these relationships are strained.  So what was a geisha to do?  The acting is excellent and the film is beautifully shot.  I also liked the score a lot.