Monthly Archives: November 2020

Super Fly
Directed by Gordon Parks, Jr.
Written by Phillip Fenty
1972/US
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Curtis Mayfield: [singing] Ain’t I clean, bad machine; Super cool, super mean; Feelin’ good, for the man; Super fly, here I stand; Secret stash, heavy bread; Baddest bitches, in the bed; I’m your pusherman, I’m your pusherman; I’m your pusherman…

The soundtrack alone makes this worth seeing.

Youngblood Priest (Ron O’Neal) looks to have it made.  He has the best of everything, a brand-new Cadillac with a Rolls-Royce grille, and rotating black and white girlfriends.  He is a cocaine dealer on the streets of Harlem.

In a story as old as the movies, Priest figures he can get out of the game with a big final score.  The plan is to buy 30 kilos of cocaine for $300,000 and sell it on for a cool million.

Priest contacts his old friend who got him into the business.  The friend is no longer dealing.  He is able to sell Priest a kilo and finally agrees to try to secure 15 kilos for him through his contacts.  Those contacts are quite willing to have Priest as a pusher.  They are less willing to see him leave the game.

This movie was the first to be made and financed entirely by African-Americans.  It’s odd that this is how they chose to portray themselves.  Anyway, the story is fairly predictable and some of the acting is amateur-level.  However, the whole movie is accompanied by an amazing funky soundtrack penned and performed by Curtis Mayfield. This makes the movie go down pretty easily.  Of course you could just listen to the album.

The NAACP condemned the film for glorifying drug use and stereotyping African-Americans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAh_4s_-tas

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant)
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Written by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
1972/West Germany
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Petra von Kant: I think people need each other, they’re made that way. But they haven’t learnt how to live together.

High style, deep emotion, and visual art make up this beautiful, sometimes brutal, film about unrequited love.

Petra von Kant (Margrita Carstensen) is a 35-year-old fashion designer.  She lives with Marlene (Irm Hermann), who does literally everything for her.  This includes catering to her every whim from bringing drinks to dancing.  She also apparently designs all Petra’s clothes and does her writing for her.  It is implied but not explicitly indicated that the two are in a sado-masochistic relationship.  Marlene is a very important character though she does not have a single line of dialogue.

Petra’s friend introduces her to Karin Timm (Hanna Schygulla), who has returned to Germany after the failure of her marriage.  For Petra it is love at first sight.  She invites Karin to move in with her.  They become lovers of sorts though Karin is not about to give up men.  All this is carried out in front of Marlene.  It is not going to end well for anyone concerned.

For a movie that was reportedly written in twelve hours and filmed in 10 days, this looks like several million bucks.  It is one beautiful image after another.  The story is depressing and highly stylized yet I loved this film.  Unlike Godard, Fassbinder uses style to convey meaning and emotion rather than for its own sake.  It’s a story filled with unpleasant people.  I cannot help but recommend it highly.

Criterion Collection: Three Reasons

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Le charm discret de la bourgeoisie)
Directed by Luis Buñuel
Written by Luis Buñuel and Jean-Claude Carriere
1972/France/Italy/Spain
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime free to members
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Rafael Acosta: We are not against the students, but what can you do with a room full of flies? You take a fly-swatter and Bang! Bang!

This farce is certainly Buñuel’s funniest film and possibly his best.

The story is told as vignettes, including several  interlocking dreams so it’s hard to say where “fact” ends and fiction begins.  Ambassador Rafael Acosta (Fernando Rey) of the Republic of Miranda, a fictitious dictatorship in Latin America, smuggles cocaine using the diplomatic pouch in a scheme with his associates Francois Thevenot and Henri Senechal.  He is playing a cat and mouse game with a pretty young terrorist who is trying to kill him.  He is also having an affair with Thevenot’s wife Simone (Delphine Seyrig).  The Thevenot’s always have Mr. Thevenot’s tipsy sister Florence in tow.  Mr. Senechal is hot and heavy with his wife Alice (Stephane Audran).  The group is eventually completed with the addition of a bishop who becomes the Senechal’s gardener.

These people. who are victim of various degrees of food snobbery and entitlement, are constantly hosting dinners for each other.

Their meals are always disrupted by something absurd.  We get soldiers on army maneuvers, a hit squad, the diners discovering the food is fake and they are actually in a play they don’t know the lines for, etc.  There are also several sequences where random strangers suddenly ask to tell their own dreams.

Biuñuel had a real twinkle in his eye and director and company look to have had a good time making this.  He uses his anti-plot to skewer the Church, middle-class morality, international diplomacy, banana republics, politics, the military and on and on.  The film really is great fun and is highly recommended.

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie won the Oscar for Best Foreign-Language film. Buñuel and Carriere were nominated for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced.

40th Anniversary Re-issue Trailer

The Harder They Come
Directed by Perry Henzell
Written by Perry Henzell and Trevor D. Rhone
1972/Jamaica
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Fandor Channel on Amazon Prime
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

So as sure as the sun will shine
I’m gonna get my share now, what’s mine
And then the harder they come
The harder they fall, one and all – “The Harder They Come” – lyrics by Jimmy Cliff

I love Jimmy Cliff, reggae music and this movie.

Ivan(hoe) Martin (Cliff) is a poor country boy.  His granny dies and he goes to the big city of Kingston, Jamaica to make his fortune.  Unfortunately, Kingston is full of poor young men who can’t catch a break.  Ivan has the same fate as he struggles to get work and keep it. He falls for a preacher’s ward and they begin to live together.  Ivan knows one thing.  He can sure sing.

Ivan goes to a recording studio and cuts the title tune.  He is offered $20 for this amazing song.  He refuses but finds the studio exec has a lock on the local media.  He finally accepts the 20 bucks but the studio exec does not want the record to get wide airplay because he wants to keep Ivan humble and in his pocket.

This does not sit well with Ivan.  He is lured into the ganja trade.  When he kills some cops, his record becomes a big hit and he becomes a fugitive from justice and folk hero.  The movie features several songs by Cliff as well as music from Toots and the Maytalls, David Scott, The Slickers, Desmond Dekker, and the Melodians.

Well, the soundtrack alone is reason enough to see this movie.  The acting is strictly amateur but Henzell really captures the third-world vibe, the grime and poverty, as well as the beauty of the Jamaican countryside.  If you dig the music, you must see the film.

Retrospective trailer

Cliff sings “Many Rivers to Cross” on Saturday Night Live – gives me the chills

Cries and Whispers (Viskningar och rop)
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Written by Ingmar Bergman
1972/Sweden
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[first lines – written] Agnes: It is early Monday morning and I am in pain.

Some must-see movies are also very hard to take.

The setting is early 20th century Sweden.  Two sisters, Maria (Liv Ullmann) and Karin (Ingrid Thulin), return to their family’s country manor to visit their sister Agnes (Harriet Anderrson), who is on her death bed.  Agnes has apparently been ill for years and remained in the family home under the care of housemaid Anna (Kari Sylwan).  The other sisters are married – unhappily as we are about to learn. Agnes is now in agonizing pain and near death.

Agnes’s pain has become unmanageable.  She is desperate for comfort.  Her sisters come to her side but are little use.  Only in the arms and next to the skin of Anna does she find the human connection she craves and relax.

Agnes gets sicker and sicker.  We learn about the sisters.  Both have grown cold and hard.  Maria has been unfaithful to her husband, a weak man who attempted suicide, and her former lover (Erland Josephson) tries to show the selfishness, coldness and indifference now lining her beautiful face.  Karin is married to a horrible old diplomat and is full of hate and resentment, including the self-directed kind.  Maria approaches Karin to try to form some sort of sisterly bond.  Eventually, Agnes dies and the sisters coolly settle up affairs.

I have not gone into detail about some of the very distressing stuff that happens in this movie.  The basic plot is sad.  The main message I got out of it is that we all die alone and disappointed.  I had not remembered what terrible human beings the Ullmann and Thulin characters really were.  Bergman tries to pull some hope out of the ending but the viewer leaves depressed and exhausted.

However, and this is a huge however, you will never see more splendid individual and ensemble female performances anywhere. Bergman and cinematographer Sven Nykvist create an amazing atmosphere with a spectacular use of the colors red and white. Highly recommended.

One of my favorite facts about this movie is that it was the first distributed by Roger Corman’s New World Films.

Sven Nykvist won the Oscar for Best Cinematography.  Cries and Whispers was nominated in the categories of Best Picture; Best Director; Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced; and Best Costume Design.

Trailer narrated by Ingmar Bergman

Criterion Collection: Three Reasons to Watch

Solaris (Solyaris)
Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
Written by F. Gorenshteyn and Andrei Tarkovsky from a novel by Stanislaw Lem
1972/USSR
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Dr. Snaut: We don’t want to conquer space at all. We want to expand Earth endlessly. We don’t want other worlds; we want a mirror. We seek contact and will never achieve it. We are in the foolish position of a man striving for a goal he fears and doesn’t want. Man needs man!

Tarkovsky creates a universe in which Earth may be the most precious and beautiful place of all, while making outer space mystical, terrifying, and eerily beautiful.

This is a long movie with a complicated plot and an obscure message.  Probably impossible to sum up on a first viewing, at least by me.

The story begins with our protagonist psychologist Kris Kelvin exploring the wonders of the Russian countryside.  He has been assigned to travel to a space station docked above an ocean on the planet of Solaris.  The original crew numbered 80, now there are only three remaining.  Some of the crew apparently went insane before they died.  It is speculated that the ocean on the planet is some sort of intelligent life form. The authorities have decided to halt all research work on the station.

Kelvin meets with Anri Burton, a pilot and one of the few to return from Solaris many years ago.  He shows a Burton a video made at the time showing him telling a roomful of authorities about his experience over Solaris.  A fog came up and became solid turning itself into many things including a 12-foot tall human baby.

Kelvin arrives at the station.  Only two of the scientists are still alive and they are hidden away in their separate labs.  Kelvin locates the third man only to find he has committed suicide and left him a video.  The man says he fears for the well-being of the others, who have already been affected, and particularly for Kelvin. He eventually locates the others and they seem to be hiding something.  Eventually it comes out that they have “guests”.

After a while, Chris is visited by his estranged wife, who has been dead for ten years. They fall in love.  The wife resurrects from the dead again at least a couple of times.  A bunch more stuff happens but I think I’ll stop here.  What does it mean to be human?

The first thing that hits the viewer when watching this movie is the amazing camera work and beautiful strains of Bach.  Beauty characterizes every frame from there on.  The movie was made as a response to Kubrick’s 2001 (1968) and I must say I prefer it to that film. This is warm and humane where Kubrick is cold and cynical.  It also has a relatable story line.  Admittedly, I can’t say what either film is trying to get across.  Also, I thought this dragged at times.  At any rate, see this before you die if you haven’t yet and bask in the images and sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR0buWkOuO8

Excellent fan trailer (dubbed).