Daily Archives: March 6, 2016

The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (Ensayo de un crimen)
Directed by Luis Buñuel
Written by Luis Buñuel and Eduardo Ugarte from a novel by Rudolfo Usigli
1955/Mexico
Alianza Cinematográfia Española
First viewing/YouTube

[box] Give me two hours a day of activity, and I’ll take the other twenty-two in dreams. — Luis Buñuel[/box]

Here is another great satiric take on the theme of frustrated desire by Buñuel.  It appealed immediately to my perverse sense of humor.

As the film begins, Archibaldo de la Cruz is in a police station confessing to the murder of a nun.  The sister had been running in a panic and ended up at the bottom of an empty elevator shaft.  We segue into flashback and to the root of Archibaldo’s problem.

Archie is a bad, bad boy who was pampered by his mother and terrorized his governess. He is given a music box when he objects to his mother leaving for the theater.  His governess tells him the story of how a king used the magic box to slay his enemies.  This appeals to Archie’s criminal mind and he starts daydreaming.  That is when his governess takes a stray bullet from rebels in the streets.

The music box goes missing for a number of years after the home is sacked by the rebel forces.  In adulthood, Archie reunites with it.  Thus begins Archie’s life of crime, wherein he can see his victims die but not take pleasure in the kill.

I just loved this.  There are some great surrealist touches and some delicious pitch black comedy.  Part of the point seems to come from the Catholic teaching that being tempted is tantamount to committing the sinful act.  It sure has messed with a lot of people’s minds over the years.  Recommended to Buñuel fans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUS-kanRkqE

Clip

Picnic
Directed by Joshua Logan
Written by Daniel Taradash from the play by William Inge
1955/USA
Columbia Pictures Corporation
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Helen Potts: At a picnic everybody disappears. Don’t you remember, Flo?[/box]

This movie just screams 50’s steaming repressed sexuality.  And I mean that in the best possible way.

Drifter Hal Carter (William Holden) hits a small town on the morning of it’s Labor Day picnic and gets every woman he meets into an uproar.  There is Milly Owens (Susan Strasberg), a bookworm and tomboy, seething with resentment at her older sister Madge (Kim Novak) “the pretty one”.  And Madge herself, praised only for her looks, and being thrown at the richest guy in town (Cliff Roberts).  The Owen’s roomer Rosemary Sidney (Rosalind Russell), a spinster school teacher whose bravado conceals a host of insecurities, can’t take her eyes off him either.  He makes the girls’ mother (Betty Fields) very, very nervous and even old Mrs. Potts next door does not hide her soft spot for the man.

Truth to tell, Hal has plenty of problems of his own.  He grew up in squalor and got to college on a football scholarship then flunked out and has struggled ever since.  He can’t seem to keep out of trouble.  He has come to town to see if his former college roommate, Madge’s boyfriend, will give him a job.

Hal’s sexual magnetism interferes with everybody’s plans at the picnic.  While Madge and Hal are drawn ever closer, Rosemary’s frustration reaches the breaking point.  With Arthur O’Connell as Rosemary’s boyfriend.

The scent of Freudian psychology wafts strongly over the entire plot and dates the picture. However, the performances are so strong that I didn’t mind.  Holden seems about ten years too old for his part but, when he takes his shirt off so many times, I really can’t complain.  For me, the most memorable player is Rosalind Russell.  Her desperation is almost painful.  I read that she asked not to be pushed for a Best Supporting Actress nomination, because she had always been a star.  I love the score.  Recommended.

Picnic won Academy Awards in the categories of Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color and Best Film Editing.  It was nominated in the categories of Best Picture; Best Director; Best Actor in a Supporting Role (O’Connell); and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.

Trailer

The dance – sexier than 99% of the post-Code sex scenes IMHO