Monthly Archives: July 2021

Mogliamante (1977)

Posted on July 17, 2021 | 2 comments

Mogliamante (Wifemistress)
Directed by Marco Vicario
Written by Rudolfo Sonego and Marco Vicario
1977/Italy
IMDb page
First viewing/YouTube

Revenge, the sweetest morsel to the mouth that ever was cooked in hell. — Walter Scott

This is a good movie about a delicious revenge.

Beautiful young Antonia De Angelis (Laura Antonelli) has been married off to the much older wine merchant Luigi (Marcello Mastroianni).  She is miserable and is now confined to bed with “progressive paralysis”.  This seems to have been induced by a combo of pills and persuasion.  It leaves Luigi free to take endless business trips.

Then suddenly Luigi goes missing, and is presumed dead.  Actually, he is hiding out over the shop across the street from his house where he can keep an eye on Antonia.

He watches as she miraculously recovers and takes over his business.  She learns a lot about Luigi because his horse and carriage automatically stops at the places he used to frequent.  Most of these featured far more pleasure than business.  She learns about his wild sex life and also about his plans and dreams.  Slowly, Antonia’s yearning for revenge leads to the sexual awakening of the previously frigid ice princess.  Luigi cannot avoid being a witness to this.

This was a very watchable film (particularly Mastroianni).  Not a must-see but I’m glad I saw it.  Thanks for the tip Mr. Laurie.

Clip – dubbed; I watched subbed

A short tribute to my Marcello

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Posted in 1977

The Chess Players (1977)

Posted on July 15, 2021 | Leave a comment

The Chess Players (Satranj Ke Khilari)
Directed by Satyajit Ray
Written by Satyajit Ray, Shama Zaidi, and Javid Siddiqui from a story by Premchand
1977/India
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel

“Chess is a war over the board. The object is to crush the opponent’s mind.” – Bobby Fischer

Satyajit Ray gives us a comedy for a change of pace.  But not without a heaping helping of social critique.

The film is set in and around Lucknow, India in 1856.  Wajid Ali Shah rules over the kingdom of Awadh.  He is not much of a ruler or leader but he loves all the trappings of his estate – his crown, his palace, his music and dance performances, etc.  He also writes poems and songs and is considered a devout Muslim despite his large harem.

He and his forefathers have kept the kingdom independent by financing many of Britain’s wars and providing troops for these.  This is no longer enough for the British, who deputize General Outram (Richard Attenborough) of the East India Company to demand that Ali Shah sign a treaty that includes terms requiring his abdication.  The British are prepared to fight if necessary.

In the meantime, two nobles, Mirza Sajjad Ali (Sanjeev Kumar) and Mir Roshan Ali (Saeed Jaffrey), who by rights should be advising the king and organizing resistence, play chess day and night.  They have become completely obsessed ignoring the outside world completely, including their wives.  When the wife of one of them steals their chess peaces, they pursue increasingly ludicrous means of carrying on with the game at various locations.  I’ll end here

I enjoyed this one.  It’s absolutely beautiful to look at and, along with the comedy of the chess players, provides a social critique on how India contributed to its own demise.  Recommended, but if you’ve never seen a film by Ray, I’d strongly suggest starting with the Apu Trilogy.

Clip

 

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Posted in 1977

Padre padrone (1977)

Posted on July 14, 2021 | Leave a comment

Padre padrone (“My Father, My Master)
Directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
Written by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani from a book by Gavani Ledda
1977/Italy
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime

[last lines] Father: Don’t laugh at Gavino. Hands on your desks! Today is Gavino’s turn. Tomorrow will be yours.

This is a good movie about the struggle of a boy to come of age despite the bleak circumstances of his life.

The story is based on the autobiography of Gavani Ledda, who narrates the beginning and ending of the film.  Gavani lived in a rural Sardinian village in a large family totally dominated by its brutal, ruthless father.  The father pulls Gavani out of elementary school at age 6.  He goes to work as a shepherd in the mountains.  This means he is alone in the middle of nowhere for long stretches of time.  His most frequent visitor is his father who usually finds some reason to beat him for an infraction of the rules.

At one point, some traveling musicians wander by playing the accordion.  Gavino buys a broken one for the price of two lambs.  His father does not buy the story that the lambs were stolen by bandits.  So he gets another thrashing but he does eventually teach himself to play well.

When Gavani turns 20 he wants to go to Germany in search of work.  Dad has a nasty surprise for him there.  Finally, father has a kind of half-cocked idea of becoming a financier.   He thinks Gavani’s enlistment in the Italian army will bring honor to the family.  Gavani arrives to basic training illiterate and unable to speak standard Italian.  Dialects are forbidden.  He has a hard time but his innate intelligence pulls him through.

I think I was more impressed the first time I saw this but I enjoyed it this time as well.  It’s a peek into a really foreign culture.  In this case, there is beauty in the simplicity of life but also a critique of how tradition stifles people.  The child abuse could possibly trigger some people, but otherwise I recommend it.

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Posted in 1977

The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

Posted on July 12, 2021 | 4 comments

The Hills Have Eyes
Directed by Wes Craven
Written by Wes Craven
1977/US
IMDb page
First viewing/YouTube
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
One of 1000 Greatest Horror Films on They Kill Zombies, Don’t They

Brenda Carter: We’re gonna be french fries! Human french fries!

Wes Craven dials the “sadistic cannibal mutants attack family” genre up to eleven.

Retired detective Bob Carter, his wife, son and daughter and their significant others are traveling in the desert in search of an old silver mine, accompanied by a four month old baby.  They take a short cut that deposits them in the middle of nowhere in a broken R.V. Their dogs “Beauty” and “Beast” run off and the men scatter in many directions to find help and/or the dogs.

Unfortunately for the Carters, they are in a wasteland inhabited by a cannibal clan who could be best described as “the scum of the earth”.  They are hungry for human meat, particularly tender young baby, and relish in making each killing as sadistic and grizzly as possible.

The movie is one scene after another of murders and attempted murders as well as a lot of verbal abuse.  The DVD cover describes the movie as “harrowing and nasty”. I agree. It goes right over the top but not in an amusing way.  Recommended only for those with high tolerance for gore and female screaming.

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Posted in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, 1977

Sleeping Dogs (1977)

Posted on July 11, 2021 | Leave a comment

Sleeping Dogs
Directed by Roger Donaldson
Written by Ian Mune and Arthur Baysting from a novel by Christian K. Stead
1977/New Zealand
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Col. Willoughby: [to Smith] I got my eye on you, boy. I got my eye on you really good.

This is a decent action flick set in a dystopian alternative reality New Zealand.

The setting is a New Zealand that has seen political and labor unrest due to an oil boycott.  A fascist government has taken over and the situation has now descended to a war between the government and the resistance.  Apolitical Smith (Sam Neill) has just split up with his wife and has made arrangements to live on an idyllic Maori island with a dog he has just acquired.  Things go swimmingly for awhile.

Then Smith is falsely accused of a bombing a nearby town.  He is now on the run from government forces.  Soon enough the resistance comes by to enlist him in confronting them.

This is an OK movie.  I don’t know that I needed to see it before I died though.

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Posted in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, 1977

Ceddo (1977)

Posted on July 9, 2021 | Leave a comment

Ceddo
Directed by Ousmane Sembene
Written by Ousmane Sembene
1977/Senegal
IMDb page
First viewing, YouTube
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

All religion seems to need to prove that it’s the only truth. And that’s where it turns demonic. Because that’s when you get religious wars and persecutions and burning heretics at the stake. — John Shelby Spong

Good insight into one African’s take on the slave trade and conversion to Islam.  Unfortunately it moves very slowly and still I could not keep the characters straight.

The setting is in West Africa.  The year is not given.  One might think the story occurred in the 17th or 18th Century.  The score feels very 1977.

“Ceddo” means outsiders.  I don’t know which of the competing groups is referred to.  Anyway, as the story start an imam and a large group of Muslims visit a tribal village.  The people practice their native religion. Lines of heredity run from Uncle to nephew.  The imam has his sites set on usurping the king and forcing the inhabitants to convert.  The imam’s first movie is to have the King’s daughter Princess Dior Yacine kidnapped.  He then slays the King and all of his potential heirs.

The imam basically gives the inhabitants two choices.  They can convert to Islam and accept him as their leader or they will be sold to the slave traders (as represented by a trader and a priest sitting on the sidelines).  The village will put up resistance.

I watched this on YouTube in a version that had English subtitles superimposed on the French subtitles so that neither could be read easily.  I couldn’t catch the plot and the film lost me part way in.  I imagine if I knew more about African history, I would have enjoyed the film more.  It must have been very personal to the director as one of the Muslim converts receives the name “Ousmane” at the naming ceremony.  The film was banned for many years in Senegal for portraying Islam in a negative light.  I wouldn’t call this a must-see.

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Posted in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, 1977

Eraserhead (1977)

Posted on July 8, 2021 | 8 comments

Eraserhead
Directed by David Lynch
Written by David Lynch
1977/US
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
One of 1000 Greatest Horror Movies on They Shoot Zombies, Don’t They

Mary X: You wouldn’t mind marrying me, would you Henry?
Henry Spencer: Well… No.

David Lynch’s feature debut is a dark surrealist nightmare with a very obscure plot and spectacular staging, cinematography, and effects.

When he is not on vacation as he is currently, Henry Spencer (Jack Nance) works in a printing plant.  He is passive and eccentric in the extreme.  He is dating Mary, who is also very strange.  The grime of the urban wasteland in which he lives is echoed in the soundtrack of industrial noise which grows stronger to accompany key moments in the film.

One night Henry comes home to his apartment and is told by his sexy across the hall neighbor that Mary has called and invited him to meet her parents at a dinner they are hosting.  At the extremely awkward dinner, Henry learns that Mary has given birth and the child is his.  He agrees to marry Mary.

The “baby” is a deformed alien looking creature.  While the cries and noises of the baby are not out of the ordinary, they drive Mary crazy and she goes home to mother.  Henry is left to tend to his offspring alone.  Immediately, the baby becomes really ill and starts making wheezing noises etc. It breaks out in spots.

Henry copes as best he can and has numerous adventures in his own mind.

For all its critical acclaim, I was not looking forward to watching this film.  I tend to hate surrealist movies with little plot.  In addition, there are long sections with no dialogue.  But I’m so glad I gave it a chance.  The images are stunning and destined to linger in the memory.  The poster says it is a “horror” movie but it is so much more. The film clearly perfectly achieved the creators’ intent, and that is enough for a recommendation from me.

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Posted in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, 1977

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Posted on July 4, 2021 | 7 comments

The Spy Who Loved Me
Directed by Lewis Gilbert
Written by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum from characters created by Ian Fleming
1977/US
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Stromberg: Well, well… a British agent in love with a Russian agent. Détente, indeed.

Perfect movie for when you need a break from thinking.

James Bond (Roger Moore) is assigned to investigate the highjacking of U.S. and Soviet nuclear submarines.  Relations with the Soviets are good for the moment and Major Anya Amasova from the KGB is assigned as his partner.  They are a match made in heaven except for the fact that James killed Anya’s husband.  It should not be too much of a spoiler to say that SPECTRE is behind the plot, this time under the direction of Stromberg (Curt Jurgens).

Everything plays out just exactly like you would think it would.  The action is fairly stirring and this episode’s enforcer is Jaws (Richard Kiehl).

The Bond franchise lost its luster for me when Roger Moore took over the character.  Barbara Bach made a beautiful Bond girl but her acting leaves something to be desired. I needed some light entertainment yesterday and the movie has my all-time favorite Bond title tune and all worked out well.

Carly Simon sings “Nobody Does It Better” (The Spy Who Loved Me)

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Posted in 1977

The Ascent (1977)

Posted on July 3, 2021 | 9 comments

The Ascent (Voskozhdenie)
Directed by Larisa Shepitko
Written by Yuri Klepikov and Larisa Shepitko from a novel by Vasily Bykov
1977/USSR
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Rybak: Fool! You’re a fool, Sotnikov. You graduated from the institute for nothing. I want to live! To live! To kill those bastards! Understand? I’m the soldier. And you’re a corpse. All you’ve got left is your stubbornness – your principles!

I may be maxing out on”horrors of war” movies, even movies as exquisitely shot and thoughtful as this one.

During The Great Patriotic War two partisans, Sotnikov and Rybak are escorting a group of displaced people.  The group has little food so Sotnikov and Rybak go on a mission to see if they can find some.  Before they can return to their comrades they are intercepted by Germans who shoot Sotnikov in the leg.  He bears a hundred yard stare reminiscent of Maria Falconetti’s in The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928). Clearly his days are numbered. The two men make an arduous journey through deep snow and hide in the humble house of a woman and her three children.  The  woman isn’t exactly thrilled to be hiding soldiers on the run but she does not turn them away.

The Germans arrive not long after and everyone in the village is taken in for questioning, minus the children who are simply left behind.  Sotnikov refuses to tell them anything despite terrible torture.  Rybak maintains that they don’t know anything anyway and their first duty is to remain alive so they can kill more Germans.  Rybak is offered a job in the local collaborationist police force.  Others of the prisoners are eager to spill what little they know,  In fact, the exercise is rmerely a disproportional reprisal for the death of a German (killed by Sotnikov).

This movie really is exquisitely shot.  The Russian winter vistas look splendid.  It asks some important questions about duty to country/community vs. duty to self.  Clearly the USSR soldiers are second to none. The pacing is very measured, making the movie feel longer than its 111 minutes. The score is lovely.  But I’m hitting my limit of times I can watch films that are just one cruel break after another.


Clip

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Posted in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, 1977

3 Women (1977)

Posted on July 1, 2021 | 2 comments

3 Women
Directed by Robert Altman
Written by Robert Altman
1977/US
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075612/reference
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Pinky Rose: I wonder what it’s like to be twins.
Millie Lammoreaux: Huh?
Pinky Rose: Twins. Bet it’d be weird. Do you think they know which ones they are?

This is one of the most bizarre movies I have ever seen.  Is is a mystery, psychological horror, science fiction, or is Altman just pulling our legs?

As the story begins, it is Pinky Rose’s (Sissy Spacek) first day at work as a therapist at a health spa for the infirm.  She is childlike and odd.  Millie Lammereaux (Shelley Duvall) shows her the ropes.  Pinky thinks she is the most perfect person she has ever seen.  She gets installed as Millie’s roommate where she gets to witness her ideas of decorating, meal preparation (always something disgusting involving packaged ingredients, with plenty of cheese whiz), and her seduction techniques.  Millie is definitely not as popular as she thinks she is, especially with the men.

The third woman is Willie Hart (Janice Rule).  She is the co-owner, with her philandering ex-stunt double husband, of a wild west saloon and attractions and the apartments where the girls live.  She is heavily pregnant, practically mute, and spends all her time painting huge scenes of angry aliens,

A tragedy occurs about halfway through the movie and the tables turn.  Toward the end another tragedy unfolds and they turn again.

Here, Altman gets to take a poke at the usual targets of his misanthropy but in a format that resembles Mulholland Dr. much more than any of his earlier films.  It is essentially a tale of identity swapping with no explanations given.  The acting is really good.  I always love Sissy Spacek.  Perhaps if I saw the film a couple more times I could figure out what Altman was getting at, but I’m not going to do that.

 

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Posted in 1977