Monthly Archives: September 2019

A Time for Burning
Directed by Barbara Connell and Bill Jersey
1967/USA
Quest Productions
First viewing/Netflix rental

Tagline: A Dramatic Portrait of American Conscience

An intimate look at a time that could be both then and now.

Lutheran minister Bill Youngdahl believes passionately in Civil Rights and in promoting understanding between races.  He comes up with the idea of having 10 couples from his church meet with their counterparts in an African-American Lutheran Church.  Innocuous, no?  But Bill’s congregation is fearful and the African-Americans aren’t sold on the idea either.  Contains many enlightening conversations both between and among the various “sides”.  One of the most outspoken of the African-Americans is barber Ernie Chambers, who went on to become the longest serving U.S. Congressmen in Nebraska history.

This seems both extremely dated and extremely relevant at the same time.  Talking heads include black activists and young people and some very square white people, well-meaning or not so much.  DVD includes a good commentary by those involved in the making of.

Portrait of Jason
Directed by Shirley Clarke
1967/USA
Shirley Clarke Productions/Graeme Ferguson Productions
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box]Jason Holliday: They (psychiatrists) ask, “Do you please them?” I say, “If I don’t please them, it’s because I’m not trying.”[/box]

Documentarians ask a black gay prostitute/houseboy/aspiring nightclub performer the big questions.  The answers come back raw and unfiltered and are alternately hilarious and pretty sad.

The flamoyant Jason Holliday took on a new name and life when he moved to San Francisco.  Later he moved back to New York where documentarian Shirley Clarke was granted a 12-hour interview.  Jason gets progressively more drunk and stoned as the day wears on.  He maintains his razor-sharp wit and viciously insightful observations until almost the end when he turns maudlin.

I had heard of this before but did not expect to laugh so much.  Between the lines, Jason has some pretty dark stuff to stay about being gay and black in the 60s.  I liked this but come prepared for some pretty explicit talk about the lifestyle and loads of expletives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj8eLXfjoJE

Restoration Trailer

The Two of Us (Le vieil homme et l’enfant)
Directed by Claude Berri
Written by Gerard Brach, Claude Berri, and Michel Rivelin
1967/France
PAC/Renn Productions/Valoria Films
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] More and more, when I single out the person out who inspired me most, I go back to my grandfather. James Earl Jones[/box]

Claude Berri’s autobiographical tale of a childhood spent in hiding is a beautifully heartfelt film with a stunning performance by the great Michel Simon.

Jewish parents try to keep their irrepressible 8-year-old Claude from drawing too much attention to himself in Occupied Paris. Eventually the situation deteriorates further and they send him off to live with a friend’s elderly parents in the countryside.  There old man Pepe (Simon) immediately tells the boy to call him grandpa.  The couple take tender care of Claude, not suspecting he is Jewish.  Grandpa continually harps on the world problems caused by the Jews and Bolsheviks and is full of praise for the Vichy Government.

But despite any hate in his ideology, Pepe has only love in his heart.  He adopts Claude as a kind of playmate and confidant.  The boy reciprocates completely.

Claude Berri, director Jean de Florette and Manon des sources (1986), both tragically missing from The List, shows he was as capable of evoking the beauty and warmth of the French countryside in black-and-white as he was in color.  Simon is a totally lovable force of nature as the old man.  The images and mood are complemented masterfully by the Georges Delarue score. The movie engaged me throughout and is a sure thing for my Favorite New-to-Me Films of 2019.  Very warmly recommended.

Yongary, Monster from the Deep (Taekoesu Yonggary)
Directed by Ki-duk Kim
Written by Ki-duk Kim and Yun-sung Seo
1967/Korea
Keukdong Entertainment/Toei Company
First viewing/Amazon Instant

[box] Tagline: A Monster from another age … with terrifying destructive powers …[/box]

Take the cheesiest Godzilla movie you can imagine, ramp the cheese factor to 11, and you get this awesomely bad Korean giant monster flick.  Goes into my pantheon of best bad movies ever.

A new Korean groom is called away from his wedding night to investigate mysterious earthquakes that are rocking Korea.  His bride’s annoying little brother accompanies him every step of the way.  Soon enough, we are introduced to Yongary, a Godzilla look-alike with a giant rhinoceros horn that changes color with the monster’s emotions.  Yongary apparently has come to the surface to gorge on gasoline, its favorite food.  Little Brother forms a special bond with the monster that allows him to save the day by figuring out how to kill his friend.  Plenty of sit-com situations to go with the giant monster action.

This movie has, by far, the worst miniature effects I have ever seen.  The various badnesses of the enterprise had me howling with laughter about once a minute.  Not to be missed is the bit where Little Brother and Yongary dance together to rock and roll music. Connoisseurs of this stuff should be thoroughly entertained, as I was.  Full feature currently available on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqvIGn11ttk

Clip – When will they ever learn?

Zatoichi’s Cane Sword (Zatoichi tekka tabi)
Directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda
Written by Ryozo Kashahara/story by Kan Shimozawa
1967/Japan
Daiei Studios
First viewing/Criterion Channel

[box] “Living is easy with eyes closed.” ― “Strawberry Fields”, John Lennon[/box]

Like a fine bag of Lay’s potato chips, a Zatoichi movie never disappoints.

As usual, Zatoichi is forced to fight off scores of gangsters, expose a gambling scam, rescue a damsel in distress, etc.  The apprentice of the master who made our hero’s cane sword informs him that it will likely break the next time he uses it for a kill.  Thus the sword is out of commission for about half the movie resulting in a relatively low body count.

I don’t know what more I can say after my previous reviews of this series.  Shintaro Katsu has less bad-assery in this one but more chance to demonstrate his talent at wry comedy. The cinematography is excellent.

While doing research on this review I learned there are movies called “Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo” and “Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman” coming up.  Can’t wait!

Clip

La Collectionneuse
Directed by Eric Rohmer
Written by Eric Rohmer with dialogue by some of the actors
1967/France
Les Films de Losange/Rome Paris Films
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Adrien: I found a definition for Haydée. She’s a collector! Haydée, if you sleep around without premeditation you are the lowest of the low. The atrocious ingenue. But, if you collect in a consistent way, with obstinacy, it’s a plot, things are entirely different.[/box]

Eric Rohmer, the anti-Jean-Luc Godard.  I love him so.

Adrien, a pretentious self-absorbed art dealer, declines an invitation by his girlfriend to vacation in London.  Instead, he heads for the Riviera where he plans to think great thoughts in the company of Daniel, a painter, in a villa loaned them by a friend.  To their surprise, they find it occupied by Haydee, a friend of their friend.  They expect her to be frightful.  Instead, she is a sexy teenager and free-spirit who spends her evenings with various assorted men.  She is also straight-forward and  authentic.

Although Adrien disapproves of Haydee, he finds himself increasingly obsessed by her.  Instead of indulging his lust, he resorts to trying to get Daniel and a fellow art dealer to sleep with her.  Much game playing precedes the thoroughly satisfying ending.

Rohmer has a special understanding of women that speaks to me in all his films.  I also love the way he skewers pretension wherever it appears.  At the same time, his filmmaking is as sunny and happy as Agnes Varda’s.  I haven’t seen all his films yet but this journey should take me there.  This movie is early in Rohmer’s career and already so, so good. Highly recommended.

Unfortunately no sub-titles

Dragon Inn (Long men kezhan)
Directed by King Hu
Written by King Hu
1967/Taiwan
Union Film Company
First viewing/Criterion Channel

[box] Wuxia (武俠 [ù.ɕjǎ]), which literally means “martial heroes”, is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although wuxia is traditionally a form of fantasy literature, its popularity has caused it to spread to diverse art forms such as Chinese opera, mànhuà, films, television series and video games. – Wikipedia[/box]

This seminal entry in the wuxia genre of cinema delights with non-stop action and extravagant use of color, design, and score.

The plot is intricate but following it is definitely not essential.  Basically, an evil cabal headed by an Imperial Eunuch succeeds in assassinating a government minister.  Now they are after the minister’s children.  The children attract their own set of loyalists. Although the good guys are far outnumbered, they do boast incredible swordsmen and a fierce female warrior who needs no help, thank you very much.

The lack of plot exposition or character development just leaves more time for the brilliantly choreographed fights.  These have a fairy tale quality due to the copious use of wire work and some editorial trickery.

I really enjoyed this.  If anything about it appeals, I would say go for it.