Josef von Sternberg’s final film, Anatahan (1953), is as artificial as they come but stunningly so. It tells the tale of Japanese soldiers stranded on a tropical island but was filmed on a soundstage in Kyoto with nary a beach or jungle in sight; foliage was constructed from paper and cellophane with the Kabuki-trained actors front-and-center in the clearly unreal settings, dappled with light and shadow. Even weirder, Sternberg does not translate any of the Japanese spoken dialogue but provides a voice-over narrative (in his own voice) that describes the action, often offering asides and commentary, as if from the perspective of one of the characters. When the stranded men discover that they are not alone but share the island with an abandoned plantation owner and his “wife”, Keiko (Akemi Negishi), their military discipline collapses into sexual desire and jealousy. Dazzlingly strange and beautiful. #cinemastadon #film #vonSternberg

https://artstukas.blogspot.com/2023/05/anatahan-1953.html

My son was assigned to read William Golding's 1959 novel (Lord of the Flies) for his Year 7 English class so we decided to check out Peter Brook's 1963 film version. The film starts when a bunch of English kids, having survived a plane crash, find themselves alone on a deserted tropical island. I couldn’t help but think immediately of 7 Up! the documentary series. would those real kids end up reverting to “primitive” tribal instincts as those in the film do, if they were similarly stranded on a deserted island? That is Golding’s (and Brook’s) premise. Brook and his team show us this world through the kids’ eyes but there is a harshness and cruelty here that is not for kids (even if it is characteristic of them, when left to their own devices).

#cinemastadon #film #PeterBrook

https://artstukas.blogspot.com/2023/04/lord-of-flies-1963.html

Checking out one of the films of the Archers (Powell & Pressburger) that I haven't seen. Jennifer Jones plays Hazel Woodus, a naïve young girl, daughter of the local harp player, who is courted by both the mild-mannered local parson (Cyril Cusack) and the randy local squire (David Farrar). Impetuously, she can’t make up her mind (even after being married) and seemingly prefers the world of animals to humans, especially her pet fox, who is under threat from the squire and his fox-hunting mates. It's a small film but it does achieve a certain sense of time and place (with some beautiful Technicolor images) as their best work does. The ending is a doozy!

#cinemastadon #film

https://artstukas2.blogspot.com/2023/04/gone-to-earth-1950.html

Champion (1949) – M. Robson

Less a film-noir than a straightforward morality tale, but with the fight game as its vehicle. Kirk Douglas, as the boxer who rises from poverty to the championship, seems unambiguously selfish and uncaring -- his sad fate feels more like comeuppance. Perhaps we also feel pity since he can’t shake his anger at being abandoned by his father as a child and looked down upon by others because of his poverty. The film clearly identifies this anger as the source of his success as a boxer but it is sad that he can’t reciprocate the support he receives from those around him. The film stands out as a showcase for the talents of up-and-coming Douglas, a brave performance that isn’t afraid to embrace the anti-hero.

#filmnoir #cinemastadon #film #KirkDouglas

https://artstukas2.blogspot.com/2023/04/champion-1949.html

Watching Peter Jackson's presentation of the Beatles' recording sessions for the album that would become Let It Be -- some of which was recorded during the famous rooftop concert at Apple Studio -- is a revelation for someone who loved the band but not necessarily that album. It also serves as a bit of a corrective for those who believed that Yoko broke up the band. Despite Phil Spector's production (which drove Paul out of the group), I've got a new appreciation for the album after seeing its genesis in these funny relaxed (occasionally tense) and totally absorbing fly-on-the-wall moments.

https://artstukas.blogspot.com/2023/03/the-beatles-get-back-2021.html

#TheBeatles #PeterJackson #film #cinemastadon

It was a real head trip to rewatch Back to the Future for the first time since the 1980s, given that we are farther from 1985 (when I graduated from H. S.) than Marty McFly was from 1955. Watching with my son (born in 2012) added to the effect. The film itself seemed briefer than I remembered. The plot sees Marty go back in time, accidentally mess up the future (by preventing his parents from falling in love), and then have to set things straight and get back to the future somehow. The final half-hour of the film is like a master-class in creating tension, as Marty’s ability to return to the present is nearly thwarted at every turn. This was, of course, a huge hit for director Robert Zemeckis. There’s a classical charm to the proceedings that makes the film work for both kids and adults, although the datedness of the ‘80s is something that I still find hard to digest.

https://artstukas.blogspot.com/2023/03/back-to-future-1985.html

#film #cinemastadon #1980s #Zemeckis #MichaelJfox

Political noir based on Faust sees Ray Milland as the Mephistophelean title character easing District Attorney Thomas Mitchell down the slippery slope of moral compromise (if not quite into femme fatale Audrey Totter's arms or the governor's office). Director John Farrow keeps things suitably foggy but the result is not quite dark enough and the ending is pretty weird.

https://artstukas2.blogspot.com/2023/03/alias-nick-beal-1949.html

#film #filmnoir #SatanicScreen #cinemastadon

Night at the Crossroads (1932) – J. Renoir

Long before the mystery movie became standard fare – and predating film noir by a good decade or so -- Jean Renoir directed this Inspector Maigret mystery (from Georges Simenon). It’s an early sound film but it doesn’t feel stagebound – instead, the camera is out and about in the countryside, or more specifically, a muddy suburb of Paris where a few houses cluster around a dodgy petrol station and garage. Renoir has captured a mood, shooting often at night, and although the mystery turns out not to matter as much, the film showcases Renoir’s talent and fits (between La Chienne, 1931, and Boudu Saved from Drowning, 1932) nicely into his amazing streak of masterpieces and near-masterpieces of the 1930s.

https://artstukas2.blogspot.com/2023/03/night-at-crossroads-1932.html

#film #cinemastadon #Renoir #Maigret

School of Rock (2003) – R. Linklater

Jack Black plays Dewey Finn, a perpetual adolescent who has just been kicked out of his classic rock band and just before the city’s battle of the bands is about to begin. He’s also about to be kicked out of his apartment, if he can’t get together his share of the rent. So, when the principal of a prestigious prep school calls looking to offer his roommate a substitute teaching job, Dewey decides to take the gig, masquerading as his friend. Of course, he doesn’t know how to teach, but what he does know is ROCK. Basically, Dewey takes his 5th grade class and teaches them to be a rock band who he imagines will eventually back him in the battle-of-the-bands. You really need to have a high tolerance for Jack Black and his schtick to enjoy this movie – personally, I like him, so it worked for me. It’s your traditional bad-news-bears-styled plot, a feel good affair, occasionally funny, and good for 5th grade kids (and not bad for parents).

https://artstukas2.blogspot.com/2023/03/school-of-rock-2003.html

#film #JackBlack #cinema #cinemastadon #RichardLinklater

You Won’t Be Alone (2022) – G. Stolevski

Folk horror, yes, but not quite what you might expect. Sure, this is a tale of witches who steal babies and drink the blood of slaughtered cottontails – but what makes it different is that, in this film, we take the perspective of the witches and we are encouraged to feel empathy for them. We feel the young witch’s burning curiosity about the life of the humans (female as well as male) and take part in her explorations of their existence – it’s a very sensual film. We also keenly feel her status as an outsider looking in. It seems terrible to be forever on the outside. So, this is not really a genre picture, but something deeper, more original.

https://artstukas.blogspot.com/2023/03/you-wont-be-alone-2022.html

#film #folkhorror #cinema #cinemastadon