Don Jaime (Fernando Rey), en soledad, contemplando el ajuar de su difunta esposa.

Viridiana traine derrière lui une réputation pour le moins sulfureuse. En effet, alors que Franco avait invité Buñuel à revenir de son exil mexicain, le cinéaste réalisa un film dans lequel, comme pour exorciser ses démons, il mêla sexe et religion avec une iconoclastie qui lui était propre. On imagine aisément les tronches du leader espagnol et du pape. Demeure tout de même un mystère: comment Viridiana a-t-il pu échapper au contrôle franquiste à ce point ? Malgré le scandale, malgré la censure (pas de distribution en Espagne avant le mort de Franco, soit quinze ans après sa présentation à Cannes), ce film,  s’inspirant très librement de la vie d’une sainte, obtint la Palme d’or.

Viridiana (Silvia Pinal – soyons clairs, seule Monica Vitti parvient à me la faire oublier – sublime) est une jeune femme qui s’apprête à rentrer dans les ordres, à vivre recluse dans un couvent pour le reste de ses jours. La mère supérieure lui annonce que son oncle qu’elle n’a vu qu’une ou deux fois souhaiterait la voir une dernière fois avant qu’elle ne prononce ses vœux. Réticente, Viridiana accepte finalement. Don Jaime (interprété par Fernando Rey, l’un des acteurs fétiches de Buñuel), son oncle, possède une vaste propriété laissée quelque peu à l’abandon depuis la mort de sa femme. Il essaie de renouer les liens quelques peu distendus avec sa nièce qu’il connaît très peu. Bien vite, il tombe sous le charme de Viridiana. Il la drogue, abuse d’elle puis lui demande de l’épouser. Horrifiée, celle-ci refuse. Don Jaime honteux et humilié se pend. Cet épisode a profondément marqué Viridiana qui renonce à devenir bonne sœur. Elle rencontre le fils naturel de son oncle, Jorge (Francisco Rabal), qui hérite de la propriété et qui accepte de la partager avec sa cousine afin que celle-ci, dans son infinie bonté et à la recherche d’autres moyens pour servir Dieu, puisse comme elle le souhaite recueillir plusieurs sans-abris pour la plupart malades et/ou handicapés. La cohabitation se fait de plus en plus difficile à mesure que le temps passe et donne lieu à plusieurs incidents dont l’importance va croissante. Un soir, alors que les “proprios” sont de sortie, le groupe de clochards s’adonne à une orgie (en gros vous prenez la quasi-totalité des sept péchés capitaux pour vous faire une idée) sur font de musique sacrée (pauvre Haendel).

Gros scandale donc que ce Viridiana. Quel iconoclaste ce Buñuel ! Jamais il me semble il n’aura été aussi loin dans la provocation envers l’Eglise. Il ne pouvait sans doute pas faire plus fort. Tout ici suggère une haine profonde pour la religion.  Prenez la couronne d’épines du Christ, brûlée par la fille d’une domestique. Prenez la charité chrétienne, balayée d’un revers de main par les clochards eux-mêmes. Prenez l’Angélus récité en cercle dans la propriété, écrasé par les travaux grâce à une science savante du montage. Prenez enfin l’extraordinaire parodie de la Cène dont je parle plus haut, corrompue par le sexe, la bouffe et la sauvagerie humaine. Plus qu’un film, un brûlot, une bombe érotique. Allez jeter un œil chez Cinéphile concernant ce film, bien que je trouve qu’il  en mésestime la portée actuelle, sa chronique est bien foutue. Mon Buñuel préféré.

]]> http://draxreview.wordpress.com/2009/08/29/french-connection-ii-1975/ Sat, 29 Aug 2009 16:38:06 +0000 Dragan Antulov http://draxreview.wordpress.com/2009/08/29/french-connection-ii-1975/

A Film Review

Copyright Dragan Antulov 2009

Sequels in Hollywood are often nothing more than opportunity to exploit familiar plots, situations and themes. Hollywood filmmakers rarely use sequels as opportunity to approach those plots, situations and themes differently. One of such rare examples happened in 1975 when John Frankenheimer with his action thriller FRENCH CONNECTION II tried to make a very different film from Oscar-winning FRENCH CONNECTION.

There are two things those two FRENCH CONNECTIONS have in common – the protagonist and the villain. James “Popeye” Doyle (played by Gene Hackman) is a New York City narcotics detective who managed to bring down international drug smugling ring. His triumph was, however, spoiled by accidental shooting of federal agent and successful escape of Alain Charnier (played by Fernando Rey), ring’s suave French leader. Determined to finish the job, Doyle takes the opportunity to travel to Marseilles and challenge his nemesis on native soil. This challenge looks pathetic, because Doyle, otherwise formidable street-smart investigator, can’t speak any French and has to rely on local police, led by Inspector Barthelemy (played by Bernard Fresson), whose members are increasingly frusrated by his antics. Doyle’s presence on the steets of Marseilles, however, upsets Charnier enough to plot terrible vengeance on his American nemesis.

Apart from being sequel of immensely successful and influential film, FRENCH CONNECTION II is additionally burdened with age. Unlike Friedkin’s film, whose nitty-gritty realism gives reliable glimpse of early 1970s urban America, FRENCH CONNECTION II looks lost in space and time. Marseilles locations, costumes and props might be authentic, but the audience is less likely to catch glimpse of mid-1970s France and more likely to experience bad mid-1970s Hollywood filmmaking.

This is most evident in police film cliches that burdened the genre to this day – single dedicated detective against all-powerful criminal mastermind, his reluctant “by-the-book” colleague who gradually approves of his methods and massive shootouts. Those cliches are more likely to be annoying to the viewer because FRENCH CONNECTION II has serious problems with pacing and rather weak plot. Character of Doyle is already established, but the script nevertheless spends too much time solely focused on him and his unsuccessful attempts to do his job deprived of friends, colleagues and familiar context. The results is overlong film with scenes in which Doyle makes incomprehensible baseball references, pathetically hits on local girls and gets drunk. The only thing making those scenes watchable is Hackman’s unquestionable acting talent.

This talent again becomes evident in the film’s best remembered scenes when Doyle gets kidnapped by Charnier’s henchmen and receive heroin shots in order to develop drug habit. Those scenes, and the scenes in which Barthelemy stubbornly (and inexplicably) help him kick the habit are great display of acting talent, but they look like they belong to another film.

This was probably Frankenheimer’s idea – to make FRENCH CONNECTION II as different from FRENCH CONNECTION as possible. Sequel also provided opportunity to deal with two potential flaws of Friedkin’s film. The first was allegedly sensationalist approach to drugs; unlike 1971 film, this one shows through Doyle’s ordeal what the narcotics can do to someone and why fighting drugs makes such sense. The other was lack of proper closure. Frankenheimer in his film provides a closure with extended chase scene that ends abruptly and shockingly. This shock, however, quickly wears off and the viewer is left with an impression of a Hollywood sequel that tried different routes but in the end reached same destination as most Hollywood sequels do.

RATING: 5/10

Diane Lane e Francis Ford Coppola no set de O Selvagem da Motocicleta (Rumble Fish) - Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1983

Dustin Hoffman e Lawrence Olivier no set de Maratona da Morte (Marathon Man) - Central Park, New York, 1976

Tim Burton e Paul Giamatti no set de Planeta dos Macacos (Planet of the Apes, 2001)

Donald Sutherland no set de O Dia do Gafanhoto (The Day of the Locust) - Los Angeles, California, 1974

Fernando Rey e Luis Buñuel no set de Tristana - Toledo, Espanha, 1969

Jack Nicholson, Candice Bergen e Art Garfunkel no set de Ânsia de Amar (Carnal Knowledge) - Vancouver, Canadá, 1971

Federico Fellini no set de Amarcord - Roma, Itália, 1970

Dennis Hopper no set de Apocalypse Now - Pagsanjan, Filipinas, 1976

John Schlesinger e seu elefante de Uma Estrada Muito Doida (Honky Tonk Freeway) - Sarasota, Florida, 1980

Brad Pitt e Cate Blanchett no set de Babel - Ouarazazate, Marrocos, 2005

Nota: Só lembrando que a foto do Sutherland foi alvo de releitura por parte de Annie Leibovitz e Angelina Jolie.

A Film Review

Copyright Dragan Antulov 2009

All cliches, even the most annoying, used to be brilliant artistic innovations. That is the impression some older yet celebrated films might give when watched from today’s perspective. One of such examples is THE FRENCH CONNECTION, 1971 crime thriller directed by William Friedkin. Hailed by critics and awarded by Oscar, this film is often mentioned as one of the great triumphs of 1970s New Hollywood and one of the most influential films ever made. Yet, younger generations of viewers, being previously exposed to multitude of films being influenced by THE FRENCH CONNECTION, won’t be aware of its impact.

The script by Ernest Tidyman was based on the non-fiction book by Robin Moore about 1960s international heroin smuggling operation and efforts of New York Police Department to end it. The protagonist, based on real-life policeman, is NYPD detective James “Popeye” Doyle (played by Gene Hackman) who wages his own war on drugs by harassing and arresting hundreds of small-time heroin dealers. Doyle, together with his partner Buddy “Cloudy” Russo (played by Roy Scheider),  stumbles on information about large heroin shipment arriving in New York. They start following local Mafia-connected dealers and notice presence of Alain Charnier (played by Fernando Rey), businessman from Marseille who came  to personally supervise the deal. Doyle is determined to catch Charnier, while Charnier is determined to finish the deal, even when aware of police investigation. All that leads to increasingly violent confrontation between the two.

Most people tend to associate THE FRENCH CONNECTION with legendary car chase scene.  In that scene Friedkin has set the standards for all future action directors to meet, including himself in his later and under-appreciated action thriller TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. This scene is still impressive after four decades, and not because it is spectacular, but because it is realistic. The audience feels thrilled because what happens during that chase looks and sounds like something that could happen in real life. The man who chases and man being chased are hardly supermen; they make mistakes and the outcome of the race is accidental rather than product of someone’s superior skills.

The realism that made that scene effective is the very same thing that made entire film look revolutionary and fresh to early 1970s audiences. In Friedkin’s case, this was one of more iconoclastic manifestations of New Hollywood. He rejected classic Hollywood escapism and offering alternative in gritty portrayals of contmeporary America. This new realism could be seen in use of depressing New York locations, as well as in casting of Gene Hackman, actor who lacked movie star looks, in lead role. The protagonist he plays is hardly a classic Hollywood hero – he gets drunk, uses racist slurs, shows utter disregard for public safety and makes mistakes, some even with catastrophic consequences.

This impression is underlined by casting Fernando Rey as his opponent. Highly respected Spanish actor plays Charnier as a complete opposite of Doyle. At times he is even more likable than protagonist. French smuggler might sell lethal drugs, but he is portrayed as refined, well-spoken and well-beheaved European gentleman who would feel home even at most prestigious social events. One of the best scene occurs during surveillance of Charnier – while he dines in expensive restaurant, Doyle is freezing and feeling hungry in the street. This scene probably spawned one of the more enduring cliches of 1970s and 1980s police films – street-smart but unsophisticated American blue-collar policemen vs. rich, powerful, elegant, well-educated and sophisticated European crime lords.

This scene also gives plenty of hints about filmmakers’ worldview, which is uncompromisingly pessimistic for Hollywood standard. In the world of THE FRENCH CONNECTION crime pays, and the fight against crime, which is always fought by imperfect characters like Doyle, seems pointless; drug dealers get arrested only to be released or replaced by another, even more vicious drug dealers. This bleak view could be seen in ending which looks surprising and unconventional even after almost four decades.

The age, which is often one of the worst enemy of good films, didn’t harm THE FRENCH CONNECTION, at least not so much. Early 1970s setting, for example, in some ways work for film’s advantage. When policemen, not equipped with cell phones, are forced to use low-tech methods of surveillance, their otherwise mundane job looks more excting. On the other hand, music by Don Ellis often sounds underwhelming and diminishes otherwise good impression of the film. Despite that, THE FRENCH CONNECTION is still well-acted, well-written and brilliantly directed film that could be recommended even to those viewers with little interest in history of cinema.

RATING: 8/10

I have been thinking a great deal about certain films lately – Moon, Solyaris (Solaris 1972), That Obscure Object of Desire, and Anna to the Infinite Power. Each film deals with, “What if there were more than one of a person?” in different ways. Moon and Anna to the Infinite Power take on the philosophical implications of clones. Solyaris, is a space journey to a planet that duplicates again and again the person that you desire. That Obscure Object of Desire is not in the sci-fi genre of the other films, but it coincides with the exploration of reality and human psyche.

Each of these films has characters who are duplicates of someone else questioning existence. “Am I worthless, because I am not the original?” “How did I get here?” “What am I doing?” Again, That Obscure Object of Desire is a bit different in that Conchita (the duplicate character) does not reflect on herself, but she does cause the main character Mathieu to reflect. It uses two different actresses (Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina) to portray Conchita. Conchita is not a clone or a duplicate in the film, but her character is that of someone who is duplicitous. Luis Bunuel, the film’s auteur, chose two different looking actresses to help express this. Anna to the Infinite Power also has two actresses portraying the main character Anna, but one is an adult clone (Donna Mitchell) and the other a child (Martha Byrne). Duncan Jones’s Moon and Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solyaris use one actor to portray the duplicate characters. The main character Sam in Moon discovers he is a clone. It and Anna to the Infinite Power (though not a strong film like the others mentioned) explore the implications of cloning someone who has a certain intelligence or skill set. Solyaris goes in a different direction in that we are lead to believe that the doppelgängers are created out of the subconscious desires of the people who encounter the planet Solyaris. In the end, each of these films successfully portrays questions about our humanity, and I would recommend seeing them.

Martha Byrne as “Anna” in Anna to the Infinite Power.

(This may be all you ever see of this movie.)

Sam Rockwell and Sam Rockwell as “Sam Bell” and “Sam Bell” in Moon.

Carole Bouquet as “Conchita” and Fernando Rey as “Mathieu” in That Obscure Object of Desire.

Angela Molina as “Conchita” and Fernando Rey.

Natalya Bondarchuk and Donatas Banionis in Solyaris.

As one can observe, many of these films also involve some profound moments in front of a mirror “reflecting.” This is something that has inspired photo art for me as well.

MARIANA (disfrazada de cura): ¿De qué te acusas?

MIGUEL: Puede decirse que soy un blasfemo, que la lujuria me posee y que la envidia no me deja dormir.

MARIANA: Vamos al tema de la lujuria. ¿Ocurrió algo anoche en esta casa relacionado con el sexto mandamiento?

MIGUEL: Tengo mala memoria, padre.

MARIANA: Procura recordar.

MIGUEL: Tal vez, llevado por mi curiosidad o por puro placer estético, asomé el ojo por el de la cerradura.

MARIANA: ¿Y qué viste?

MIGUEL: Vi una hermosa mujer que se estaba desnudando y que realizó para mí un espectáculo de eso que llaman strip-tease.

MARIANA: ¿Estás seguro de que era para ti?

MIGUEL: Ahora que me lo dice me hace pensar. Tal vez me apropiara de una pieza que alguien levantó.

MARIANA: ¿Y qué ocurrió después?

MIGUEL: Cuando me quedé solo, padre, con todos los respetos…

MARIANA: Ya… ¿De pensamiento o de obra?

MIGUEL: De obra.

MARIANA: ¿Sólo o acompañado?

MIGUEL: Yo siempre huyo de las malas compañías.

MARIANA: ¿Cuántas veces?

MIGUEL: A mi edad, padre, una es un lujo, dos un banquete, y tres propaganda.

MARIANA: Antes pierde el viejo el diente que la simiente.

MIGUEL: Cuentos de Calleja.

MARIANA: ¿Tuviste malos deseos, hijo?

MIGUEL: Malos no, que bien buenos fueron. El espectáculo no era nada del otro mundo, sobre todo para un hombre que vive del espectáculo. Pero aquella señorita tenía unas tetas, unos muslos, un culo, que elevaron a este pobre anciano hasta las alturas de San Juan de la Cruz tocando la guitarra en presencia de la Virgen Santísima… Y si es una blasfemia, que Dios me perdona.

MARIANA: Ni yo ni Dios te podemos perdonar.

Al otro lado del túnel. Jaime de Armiñán (1994).

French Connection, The
★★★ / ★★★★

Inspired by a true story, “The French Connection” stars Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider, Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle and Buddy Russo, a bad cop and a good cop, respectively. The two try to capture a French drug lord named Alain Charnier played by Fernando Rey. Hackman and Scheider consistently collide against each other because they have different ways of dealing with situations. I found this film to be really focused because right off the bat the audiences get to see how Hackman’s character is like: racist, having violent tendencies and not caring about anything else as long as a result is produced at the end of the day. Scheider is pretty much the complete opposite so it was interesting to see the partners’ dynamics in disparate situations of varying level of danger. This film won several Oscars including one for Best Picture so my expectations were really high prior to watching it. Although most people’s arguments when asked to explain why they didn’t enjoy the film was that the plot and the look of the film was dated, my problem with it was its abrupt ending. Just when things were getting really good, the credits started rolling and I was left in the dust. I was simply hungry for more. I had no problem that the movie looked dated because I’m used to seeing older films so that line of argument is a matter of acquired taste. I believe this film must be appreciated because a lot of movies that came after it used “The French Connection” as their template. The most infamous scene in this picture was when Hackman’s character tried to chase after a train. It was really exciting even though it didn’t use a lot of visual and special effects because the concept was rooted in the whole good-guy-must-capture-bad-guy schema. I also enjoyed the fact that there were many silent moments in the film where the images did most of the talking. William Friedkin, the director, was always aware that he was making an astute film for intelligent people so he didn’t result to spelling everything out in order to get a point across. Perhaps with repeated viewings I’ll love this film more and more but I don’t consider it as a great film after watching it for the first time (although it came close).

Esse obscuro objeto do desejo

Na segunda metade dos anos 80, heu frequentei o Cineclube Estação Botafogo direto. Sim, o nome na época era “cineclube”, não era um circuito de salas como é hoje. A programação era bem parecida com a de um cineclube – vi na tela grande reprises de muitos filmes que já tinham passado em outras épocas.

“Esse Obscuro Objeto do Desejo”, último filme do surrealista Luis Buñuel, era o meu “filme cabeça” favorito na época. Vi umas quatro ou cinco vezes, tudo no escurinho do cinema!

Fernando Rey interpreta Mathieu, um senhor, rico, já com uma certa idade, e completamente obcecado por uma jovem de 18 anos, Conchita. Interpretada por Carole Bouquet. E tambem por Angela Molina.

Como assim? São duas atrizes diferentes? Ah, devem então interpretar diferentes fases da vida de Conchita, certo? Nada! As duas se alternam nas cenas. Uma cena é a Carole Bouquet, a cena seguinte ja mudou pra Angela Molina, depois volta pra Carole, pra depois Angela de novo…

Inicialmente pensei que cada atriz interpretaria uma diferente faceta da mesma personagem – característica essencial para o jogo de gato e rato que acontece entre os dois protagonistas. Mas aí percebi que lá pro meio do filme isso não tem mais nenhuma lógica…

Sim, amigos, este é Luis Buñuel. Ele mesmo, que em 1929 dirigiu o revolucionário curta “Um Cão Andaluz”, junto de um tal de Salvador Dali…

Tive a sorte de conseguir ver no cinema alguns filmes do Buñuel. Inclusive o próprio “Um Cão Andaluz” – existe uma cena famosa de um olho sendo cortado que é impressionante até hoje! E pelo pouco que conheço de Buñuel, este filme é fiel ao seu estilo narrativo.

O filme começa com Mathieu entrando num trem e jogando um balde d’água na cabeça de Conchita quando esta tenta entrar no mesmo trem. Mathieu então começa a contar sua história para os colegas de cabine. Através de flashbacks, conhecemos toda a história da manipuladora Conchita enlouquecendo Mathieu.

Uma coisa curiosa quando se vê o filme hoje, 30 anos depois (o filme é de 77), é notar como a sociedade era machista. A mãe de Conchita, viúva, passa o dia inteiro na igreja, e não quer voltar a trabalhar. E, pior, não quer que sua filha trabalhe! Sociedade esquisita, né? Aí vem o Mathieu, rico, dá dinheiro pra sustentar mãe e filha… Olha, hoje em dia isso ia soar esquisito…

Outra coisa digna de nota é Carole Bouquet, em sua estréia no cinema (ela já tinha trabalhado pra tv). Alguns anos depois ficou mais conhecida pelo grande público ao fazer uma bond girl, em “007 Somente para os seus Olhos”. Mas aqui, lindíssima, com apenas 20 anos, é um dos pontos altos do filme.

Filmaço. Não é pra qualquer um, não é pra qualquer hora. Mesmo assim, repito: filmaço!

Liceo Artistico ex Collegio degli Scolopi, Piazza Dettori, Cagliari

Sabato 7 febbraio 2009

Il film è tratto dal romanzo La donna e il burattino di Pierre Louÿs, sceneggiato da Luis Bunuel e Jean-Paul Carrière; i due autori hanno saputo fare una  lettura ironicamente critica ribaltando i ruoli dei protagonisti e rendendola un’opera divertente, libera e felice.

Introduzione : Gianni Olla

Interpreti: Fernando Rey, Carol Bouquet, Angela Molina, Milena Vukotic

Orario: 18.00

Biglietti: Ingresso riservato ai soci – tessera annuale 2008/2009  1 euro, ingresso 1 euro -

Informazioni: Schermi rubati al Vicoletto

Via S. Giacomo, 80 Cagliari

Tel. 346.3987196

schermirubati@gmail.com

It could be argued that The French Connection is the purest genre film to ever win Best Picture. From the first frame to the last, this is a film that never pretends to be anything but a smart, propulsive thriller about the dark alleys and gangland hideouts of New York City. Its characters barely have time to speak; they’re mostly running, shooting, plotting, catching glances, leaning around corners. You get the drift. The film’s major flaw is perhaps its biggest asset as a straightforward thriller: we never really get to know anyone in the film. The film’s protagonist, Popeye Doyle, and its villain, Alain Chenier, are just tokens — two unstoppable forces set into motion. Chenier’s primary goal is to be swarthy and evil and to groom his lush salt and pepper beard while cackling over heroin deals. Doyle’s primary goal is to run, yell, and shoot until he has his man. We never learn what motivates these men (and the various cops-and-robbers archetypes that surround them). We only see what they DO. Arguably, this is enough.

After Patton, which is a largely cerebral exercise, The French Connection is a huge relief. It’s a big, loud, kinetic, bloody pulp film with porkpie hats, big guns, the best (and best-edited) car chase in the history of cinema, and a host of absolutely iconic shots featuring various police officers snooping through the gritty streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn, hot in pursuit of deliciously evil French goons who somehow discover a way out every time. That was a run-on sentence, but this is really a run-on movie; it’s constantly in a state of dizzy climax, moving from setpiece to setpiece with that zippy, intoxicating “New Hollywood” feel. Hackman and Scheider deliver pitch-perfect performances; even though I don’t think their characters are that deep per se, there’s a lot in Cloudy and Popeye that you can sink your teeth into. There’s no showy compassion, there’s no silly moments of introspection, there’s no feigned complexity. These are guys who do their job well and live by the skin of their teeth, and Hackman and Scheider capture the grit and professionalism of these two characters perfectly. The only misstep, perhaps, is the gratuitous post-coital scene in Popeye’s apartment. Sure, it’s funny that he picked up the biker girl, and it’s even funnier that she cuffed him to the bed with his own cuffs, but a scene so removed from the plot should tell us something about who these guys are. Instead, it’s a five minute piffle in the middle of a taut, suspenseful police procedural. 

And about that car chase, because no discussion of The French Connection is complete without a discussion of those fifteen glorious minutes. A lot of films since 1971 have attempted to recapture the magic of Friedkin’s most audacious setpiece. Speed, The Matrix Reloaded, The Italian Job, Ronin, Terminator 3, Crank, every post-Moore Bond film, you name it. This particular car chase is incredible because it feels real and terrifying, and it’s absolutely integral to the plot. There’s no goofy-ass fruit carts or plate glass windows here; it’s basically hand-to-hand combat, but the fighters are a busted coupe and a speeding subway. The tension and excitement of the scene doesn’t come from shit blowing up — it comes from Doyle’s raw desperation and heroism. 

This is far from a perfect film, and it feels quite dated. But it’s hard to deny that the Academy made a VERY non-traditional pick here — even moreso than with Midnight Cowboy, which was basically a romance film — and they picked a truly exciting genre film at that. A solid 8/10.

First and foremost it must be said that the first half of this movie is not good. It is totally uninteresting, and the details of the smuggling plot are hard to follow. Second, there is not much character development, which is typically the most important thing to me in any narrative-based art-form. Disclaimers aside…The French Connection is great. I don’t miss the character development when Gene Hackman is just so totally awesome. And the second half really makes up for the first. The moment the movie gets interesting is when Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle (Gene Hackman) desperately tries repeatedly to get on the same subway train as Frog #1, Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey). That scene is followed soon after by the classic car/subway chase scene, which is just so incredible in every way. That fifteen minutes (or so) of no dialogue develops Popeye’s lust for the job more than hours of dialogue in any modern cop movie (Michael Mann’s Heat for example). Add to that, of course, the fact that he absolutely does not care a bit when he kills Mulderig at the end. Priceless.

Really, the car chase scene on its own is the perfect movie, edited flawlessly. Nearing forty years later, and they’re still making video games that attempt to be as cool. This endless determination, never looking back (except for when you almost run over a baby carriage), running into everything in your way, smashing up the car like crazy — it is the ultimate cop movie scene. So yes, I will be giving this movie a 9/10, in spite of its awful first 45 minutes.

Ou: A verdade nem sempre é revolucionária e é tudo culpa do Voltaire. Ainda bem.

Quase nos mesmos moldes de A Conversação datado de dois anos antes e como não poderia deixar de ser vindo do duo Francesco Rosi/Tonino Guerra, Cadaveri Eccellenti é um poliziesco político que atira para todos os lados e que toma assento durante o caos aflorado na Itália em meados dos anos 70 e que viria mais tarde culminar no caso Aldo Moro.
O filme mostra bem o clima de insanidade sócio-política que o país vivia naqueles idos, a partir de um suposto caso de vingança pessoal, somos levados a entrar numa narrativa que privilegia as amostras do caos estudantil, mafioso, policial, político e jornalístico, onde a única personagem a aparentemente enxergar as coisas claras e como verdadeiramente são é a vivida por Lino Ventura, um oásis de sensatez no meio daquela paranóia, manipulação e conflito a explodir por todo lado, ao evoluir de uma investigação corriqueira onde o investigador se mostra a peça central de sua própria investigação desenbocada em intrigas.
Menções especiais às participações de Tina Aumont mais linda do que nunca interpretando uma prostituta e ao discurso nem tão indelével de Max Von Sydow sobre como Voltaire começou toda aquela balbúrdia.
Esse filmaço me fez lembrar de pequenas verdades entranhadas em meu ser: não há nada como o cinema italiano e tal nacionalidade se converteu no tipo de cinema que mais me apetece, suas comédias são as melhores, seu cinema de horror, seus westerns e seu cinema político também, voltar ao cinema italiano, em especial o dos anos 60 e 70, é uma volta ao prazer da arte que há muito me escapava.Nota: Tenho a ligeira impressão que envenenaram aquele gato de verdade. Ninguém é tão bom ator.

New York City cops
try to intercept a large
heroin shipment.

El protagonista de Ben-Hur, Los 10 Mandamientos, El planeta de los Simios o El Cid, entre otras brillantes películas, ha muerto hoy a los 84 años víctima de una enfermedad degenerativa. Heston, que comenzó su carrera en los años 50,  se especializó en películas de gran calado épico, ya sea en el género western, histórico, ciencia ficción, o el cone de catástrofes, aunque también se atrevió con películas de componente más oscuro como el clásico de Sed de mal (Touch of Evil, 1958), de Orson Welles. En su biografía España tiene un lugar destacado, ya que en nuestro país rodó las superproducciones de Samuel Bronston El Cid (1961) y 55 días en Pekín (55 days at Peking, 1963), así como la primera película que dirigió, Antonio y Cleopatra (Antony and Cleopatra, 1972), una película hispanoamericana rodada en gran parte en Aranjuez y Almería, y que contó con la participación de los más granado del cine patrio de entonces como Carmen Sevilla, Fernando Rey, Juan Luis Galiardo, Luis Barboo o Sancho Gracia. Ganador de un Oscar por Ben-Hur, con él desaparece un mito del Hollywood dorado. Descanse en paz.