The body of Jesse James is photographed for the history books in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford".

(Andrew Dominik, 2007)

November 18, 2009

by Joel Crary

At the end of “The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance”, James Stewart has finished relaying his story of gunning down the infamous outlaw for a reporter, finally coming clean that it was John Wayne whose aim was true. It won’t fly in the press, the reporter famously asserts: “This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” In spite of its wonderful cinematography and a great performance by Casey Affleck, I was thoroughly let down by “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”. It makes the mistake of printing the facts, and too many at that.

The film stars Brad Pitt as the outlaw and he’s just fine in the role. Jesse snarls and acts kind of nuts and seems dangerously unpredictable. He’s a hero to the young Ford (Affleck), who desperately wants to join his gang. Indeed, Affleck plays the role with a pitiable brilliance – in one scene, he forks over all of the knowledge he’s gained about Jesse from the pulp paperbacks that he keeps in a shoebox under his bed, drawing comparisons to himself down to the number of letters in their respective older brothers’ names.

Jesse laughs in his face. We kind of want to see him get his due, and this is one of the film’s faults – it can’t commit to supporting either of its protagonists. There is no indication of why Jesse is the way he is. Keeping him a mystery would be fine if Ford were the focus of the narrative, but for the film’s first half, which casts its net too widely in needlessly trying to establish supporting characters, he is not. Finally, Ford jumps into action, dispatching Jesse’s cousin Wood (Jeremy Renner) in a gunfight that he had no part in. The kid might have the guts to fire on Jesse after all.

By the gunfight scene, the film had worn me down with its pacing, which is far too gradual and ultimately causes its structure as a whole to collapse from underneath itself. The last half hour offers a potentially fascinating conclusion, but compared to how the film has told the story to that point, everything ends up feeling rushed and superficial. Andrew Dominik, who based his script on the novel by Ron Hansen, would have been wiser to vary his approach with regard to timelines. All of the moments he chooses to chronicle, such as Wood and Dick Liddil’s (Paul Schneider) romp up to Jesse’s uncle’s house and Jesse’s relation of his execution of Ed Miller (Garret Dillahunt) to Robert’s brother Charley (Sam Rockwell), might have indeed been necessary, but they aren’t placed in a relation to one another that makes them seem particularly relevant to the plot.

Dominik implements a narrator to poetically describe his characters’ lives and internalized feelings to the point of absurdity. In one scene, Ford paces around Jesse’s house from room to room while the narrator details every move he makes, even though they are plainly visible, robbing Affleck of the chance to communicate his mindset physically. This exhibits only a cowardice in technique, not in Robert Ford. The narrator describes Jesse’s home life. A good thing, too, because there would be hardly any indication that he had one otherwise. Poor Mary-Louise Parker is given precious little to do in her role as Mrs. James other than to shriek in horror upon his assassination, the one plot element that holds interest when nothing else of interest really presents itself.

“Assassination” is ultimately a story about how a man like Jesse James, who masterminded nearly 30 holdups, who outsmarted many men to their deaths in the violent environment of the old West, who trusted only two men in 10,000, and then not by much, could be shot by a punk kid with a crush on him. It takes an interesting turn in depicting the aftermath, but the slow buildup to the shooting doesn’t allow the film’s conclusions regarding Ford’s character to carry much dramatic weight. Jesse and Ford’s relationship is key, but the film spends far too much time diverting from it in order to pay attention to every single facet of the historical circumstances. In the telling of a legend, that’s wholly unnecessary. In the relating of fact, it’s tedious.

originally published in the middlebury campus

Spring time brings a mixed bag to movie theaters. There is rarely the over the top bombast that one finds during the summer, the introspective independent films that usual see the light of day toward the end of the fall, or even the laughably terrible films that are released in January or February. The spring usually finds films popping up in cineplexes that are too unimpressive to see release at any other time, which usually means nothing worth spending time on is gracing our local theaters. This is actually a blessing in disguise because it can afford one the opportunity to go back and check out films that might have slipped by during their theatrical run and are now being released on DVD. One of the films that slipped past most people when it had its initial shot in theaters this past September was The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

The plot of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is pretty much given away in the title. The film revolves around the relationship between infamous outlaw (and star of his own series of dime novels) Jesse James and 19-year old member of Jesse James’ gang Robert Ford. The two men meet during James’ last train robbery, and the young Ford quickly becomes attached to the charismatic Jesse James, who takes Ford under his wing during and after that robbery. Ford’s attachment becomes borderline obsessed until there is an imagined slight by James, at which point Ford goes to the U.S. Marshall, where his adolescent recklessness gets the better of him and he agrees to be James’ executioner. The rest of the film plays out about how you’d expect; Jesse James is assassinated by Robert Ford.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was initially completed in September of 2005, but after a first cut that didn’t please Warner Brothers studio heads or test audiences, the film languished in post-production hell as director Andrew Dominik cut and tested several versions of the film, before finally settling on the version that was released in September, 2007, two years after principle photography wrapped. It’s impossible to know the original cut of the film looked like, but the film that Dominik completed is staggering.

Brad Pitt won a Best Actor prize at the Venice Film Festival for his performance as Jesse James, and he deserved it. Pitt’s James transforms over the course of the film from confident outlaw to a paranoid and psychotic insomniac, afraid of being betrayed by everyone, except for Robert Ford. It is a towering performance that could easily stand alongside any of the best performances last year and is Pitt’s finest work to date. As Robert Ford, Casey Affleck proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is one of the best actors working today. Affleck takes what could have been a whiny-19 year old interloper and turns the character into a much more tragic figure, a young man who has the idyllic image of his hero shattered and who is forced to murder the man whom he respects more than any other. The film transcends its traditional western genre and instead becomes not only a meditation on fame and the glorification of celebrity, but also about the tragic loss of youthful innocence.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is beautiful in the same way that Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven is beautiful. The pace of the film is slow and contemplative, as the voice of a narrator provides back story while we watch a lone figure ride out of the mountains and onto the plains (the picture was filmed in Hollywood’s latest stand-in for the old west, the Canadian Rockies). Where most westerns are about getting to the action, Dominik holds back, preferring to make the audience wait for what we all know is inevitable. This could sound pretentious and boring, but Dominik is so assured in his images and characters that each lingering shot is breathtaking. Dominik doesn’t end his film with the assassination of Jesse James; he provides a lengthy epilogue which forces the audience to consider the link between fact and fantasy, and the glorification of outlaws in the American psyche. These themes aren’t new, but here Dominik’s penchant for contemplation makes them a part of the film; they don’t exist separate from the film because they are the film.

In the end, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford isn’t for everyone, and it isn’t for everyone for the reasons I’ve just mentioned. Everything about the film, from running time to title, is long. This isn’t a film concerned with bang-bang action, and one should be aware of this going in. But if you have the time, and right mindset, this is a truly awe-inspiring film that was the unfair target of critical and studio scorn, and audience indifference at the time of its release. It’s really a shame, because The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a masterpiece.

So I’m writing a post from work today because I was going to write it yesterday at home but actually did stuff like clean out my fridge and wash towels instead. I had a really good weekend. Anyway – today I’m going to talk movies that have stuck in my head for the past however long, and I’ll start with the more recent that I’ve watched.

So let it begin.

The Saturday just gone my sister and I watched How To Be because we are total dorks and Robert Pattinson fans (I swear it’s the only thing me and the world agree on). As for the movie, I liked it but found it a little bit painful to watch. Not painful as poor acting, I didn’t mind the acting at all. It hit a little close to home and reminded me of a point of life I feel like I’ve only just come out of and don’t particularly want to run back to. My take on the film was that it was about that point in life where you’re really confused and beginning to finally understand what being an adult is.  I remember talking to my Dad with similar questions to Art with his, and hitting similar realisations. It was a bit Seinfeld and a movie about nothing while also being about everything. I loved the lack of high note it ended on. I loved the character Nikki – that guy made me forget that the movie had Robert Pattinson in it and I couldn’t help but think that guy (that stereotype) is always in Irish Pubs in Brisbane. I thought the friends would have made a really good BBC TV show. I understand why it wasn’t pushed in theatres everywhere and why it was hard to categorise. It’s a strange film that leaves you feeling a little strange. It in part reminded me of I Heart Huckabees with those really strange moments the self help writer would appear under a light that turned on. And when dealing with the mother character in the movie it felt a little bit theatre and less film. I think I liked the pub scene the most, especially when the new boyfriend is nice and starts to list off his awesomeness. I thought the movie really understood the ‘loser’ without really putting judgement on it by making a miraculous recovery into coolness – there was no ‘he got a hair cut and wrote a good song and all was right in the world when you become cool’ ending. And that is all I’m going to say.

Next. Something I watched recently and hadn’t been able to stop thinking about was Happy Go Lucky. I didn’t watch it from the beginning and I missed the end because I had to pick up the husband but what I did see of it I LOVED and can’t stop thinking about it. Again it’s one of those strange movies that are about nothing as far as events go, and I’m not even sure of the message of the movie. All I know is that the driving teacher was spot on – although mine was Scottish so on top of being a little angry about things I couldn’t understand a word he said. I loved the lead character and how she did very odd things, like following that homeless guy (this is the last part I really got to see) to see if she could help because sometimes I find myself following someone to see where things lead too. I like how the lead character giggled all the time and watching her relationships with family and friends – it left me feeling happy. Now when I see Sally Hawkins in other films I always think of her as Poppy in Happy Go Lucky. I really want to see it again, all the way through.

Ok. Next. Away We Go is one of the movies I saw at BIFF this year and again with being stuck in my head, every now and then themes from this movie sneak into my head and I can’t stop thinking about it. I have to say that I really loved this film. If there was a type of film that got made over and over it would be like this. I love real space, real emotion conveyed. I like actors/directors that at least try to be authentic with their stories. I’m not saying being entertained is fun, I love to be entertained too. But I think these films are just as important as books. One thing I found with Away We Go is that it parallels a little bit of how I feel in my life since I’ve have CP with the Husband. We moved here to Brisbane a few years ago but without the intention of settling, so what we have is a life that needs to be settled without the means to do so yet – so I liked that they found theirs. Another thing I loved about Away We Go is that it didn’t feel over styled. You didn’t feel like they were selling a doona cover or wall lamp to you through it, and movies often don’t really offer you that anymore. And like with The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (the train hi-jack scene with the light through the trees – the beauty of the movie haunts), the images from the film flick in my head – like the end scene where they look outside from the house, it was beautiful. I hope we see more films explore lifestyles that are different.

Action. Star Trek was really fun and it got my entertained double thumbs up fonz style. I have trouble with time travel films because it gets you thinking about alternative realities and what’s improbable, and because lately I’m feeling very answerless I find those kind of questions a little too much (not to mention I don’t have any education/understanding of those concepts). But the action was great, the cross cultural representation was quite pleasant and could they have picked a better person to play Scotty? I love Simon Pegg. Friends came back from London with Spaced, which was funny but then when his movies started to flood us I was lost to Mr Pegg forever. Back to Star Trek, it was great, cheesy and fun, my only complaint was that it was such an introduction to do a series of films. And Bana as a bad guy was hard for me to deal with after seeing a lot of his butt in the Time Travellers Wife.

Which reminds me. A movie I rented a little while ago and fell in love with was Charlie Bartlett (the lead actor also in Star Trek). I loved this movie so much. I mean it had so many things to comment on but I can’t really think of much right now. Mr Jr. as a principal, hello – best looking principal of all time. Would have totally fantasised about my principal if he’d be anything on Mr Jr., but we had a guy named Fuller who we couldn’t help but draw parallels with Skinner (Australians are the reason the Simpsons still exists I swear, it’s like a religion to us – House of the Simpsons where we pray in ‘Doh’s). I thought the honestly the Mr Jr. brought to his characters’ alcoholism is in part why the man can have such a huge “comeback” (because he has skills – honest to god compelling to watch him skills) and I look forward to buying my tickets and renting his films. My favourite scene in the film had to be when Charlie Bartlett freaked out on Ritalin and played piano in his undies. I totally googled that actor after falling in complete love with the character. I loved Kat Dennings in the film, but I think she’s quite a loveable actor for me. I quite like the girl who represents a girl a little different and I think she held up as Mr Jr’s daughter, there was some honesty to a relationship there without an incestuous vibe (incest vibe: see Heroes and the chemistry between cousins Claire and Peter). Charlie’s house was amazing (love a good house in a film) and the old car he was driven around in reminded me of Wes Anderson stuff. I did find myself drawing comparison between Rushmore and Charlie Bartlett, although they are different. Man I loved Rushmore. Jason Schwartzman is sort of my ideal guy, apart from the fact that he would be way too cool for me to ever know, even when he’s not cool. I mean his family is reason enough of being too cool. His sense of humour is dreamy. I could go with being with a guy that was like him, but the real him would make me feel like a rock next to a mountain. I think I friended him on myspace which is weird. I don’t know why I do that. I like to use myspace to bookmark bands I like but I also seem to have added people like Ashton Kuchter etc. as myspace friends.

And now I’m trying to match myself to famous people I’ll never meet but add (on a strange impulse I can’t explain) to my myspace friends although I’m happily married with a young child and if said actors were standing in a line up with my husband I would always pick the husband because even though sometimes he makes me want to smash him in the head, I passionately love the guy.  So because of the change from poor movie review to devotion of love – I’m going to end my blog before it becomes a fan letter to Jason Schwartzman begging him to never change and lobby for Wes Anderson to make Rushmore 2.

I think that I’m going to expand this list from 25 to however many performances there are that I feel are noteworthy. Here are five more performances from this decade that I’ve loved. Be sure to check out parts one and two of this feature, and feel free leave me some comments on what you think!

Casey Affleck – The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

Not since Jon Favreau called the same girl’s answering machine six consecutive times in Swingers have we witnessed such an epic display of loserdom on screen. But while Favreau’s performance was played for laughs, the 2 hours and 40 minutes we spend with Casey Affleck’s bumbling Bob Ford is far from comedic. The movie itself is a complex character study of the two men in a battle of wits (Robert Ford and Jesse James, who is played by Brad Pitt), and their never-ending quest to be one step ahead of the other. At one point, James muses to Ford, “I’m not sure if you want to be like me, or to be me.” That sentiment kind of sets the tone for Affleck’s entire performance, which twists and evolves beautifully throughout the film. I found Affleck’s performance unexpectedly moving, in a way. This is best shown in the last half hour or so of the film, after Bob has killed Jesse and has to return to the real world – only to find that they don’t want him, either. It seems odd to say, but Ford is really the heart of this film. He’s annoying and egotistical, yet Affleck’s amazing performance made me pity and even sympathize with this bizarre character.

Leonardo DiCapprio – The Departed (2006)

2006 was a great year for Leonardo DiCapprio. Even though Blood Diamond was a very powerful movie, I found myself thinking more about Dicapprio’s performance in The Departed after the fact. In Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-winning film, DiCapprio plays Billy Costigan, a conflicted young man working as an undercover investigator for the Boston police. When he’s assigned to get in with gangster Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson, who, of course, is great here) he soon finds himself in over his head. One of the things that I liked most about The Departed is that they had two characters on either side of the law, who are crossing into each other’s turf for their work (a very clean-cut Matt Damon plays Colin Sullivan, who is a Costello’s rat in the SIU), and they flip our expectations early on in the film, when we find out who is working for who. DiCapprio is so convincing as a man with a questionable family history (which is the entire reason that he was chosen to be the mole), but who is essentially good, and strives to do the right thing. The conflict that Costigan feels is played so well, and the entire process that he goes through is really amplified by DiCapprio’s great work.

Joaquin Phoenix – Signs (2002)

I think this might be the toughest choice to justify, especially since it’s from a mainstream horror movie that got mixed reviews. Horror movies are generally not known for their great acting, but Signs was really more of a character-driven thriller, despite the fact that it’s about an alien attack. Phoenix plays Merrill Hess, a former baseball prodigy living with his brother, Graham (Mel Gibson), a former priest who’s struggling to come to terms with the death of his wife. It is a supporting role for Phoenix, but he’s in most of the scenes, and I found his work very compelling. Merrill reacts so naturally to all of the bizarre things that are happening, and every facial expression and stutter subtly gives away the brave act that he’s attempting. The climax of the film is Phoenix’s time to shine (story-wise), but his best acting comes in the quieter scenes with Gibson. That being said, he’s totally convincing in the “action” parts of the movie, and also has a few really funny moments. There’s more to this film than just a few cheap scares, and I think Phoenix is one of the few actors out there who could strike that balance between fun horror acting and drama.

Kate Winslet – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Everything about Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was quirky (well, it was penned by Charlie Kaufman. What did you expect?). And Kate Winslet’s role as rainbow-haired Clementine was absolutely no exception. She plays a unique, sometimes frustrating love interest for Jim Carrey’s Joel. The film starts off as an unconventional love story, and then becomes even more conventional when love goes sour, and Clementine and Joel decide that they want to erase each other from their memory entirely. The most memorable moments of Winslet’s performance come when Clementine gives glimpses of her emotional, raw inner self. This often comes during spats with Joel. While I loved Carrey’s moody, restrained performance, Winslet is the opposite. She’s fiery and passionate, and Carrey almost feels like the “straight-man” to her ultra-vibrant character. Yet the vulnerable moments are great too. And even the moments where everything is actually going right in Clementine and Joel’s relationship seem elevated from the usual romantic comedy fare. Without Winslet, much of the quirkiness, heart, and charm of this movie would be gone.

Sam Riley – Control (2007)

There were a lot of musical biopics released in the later part of this decade. My favourite of these biopics was Anton Corbijn’s Control, which chronicles the short adult life of Ian Curtis, and the rise of his band, Joy Division. It’s a pretty grim movie. Curtis cheats on his wife, has horrific seizures, struggles to find success with his band, and ultimately takes his own life. But Riley’s up to the role, clearly. In other high-profile biopics, I often feel very aware that an actor is trying very, very hard to portray every aspect of a famous figure’s persona correctly. Here, it felt like an incredibly natural performance. Riley’s Curtis is soft-spoken, withdrawn, and petulant. Yet when he steps on stage, everything comes alive in a bizarre, desperate kind of way. Riley switches between Curtis’ electric stage persona and troubled personal life with startling ease, and you can feel Curtis’ pain. At times, it feels much more like a documentary than the usual glossy biopic, and this is largely because of Riley unaffected performance. Curtis is a figure who is often romanticized in hindsight. But Joy Division was only on the cusp of success when Curtis killed himself. Riley portrays him as the real, troubled human being that he was.

This is a list I’ve truly been prepping for, for about a year now. About a year ago I had only seen a couple westerns that I had actually enjoyed (a few of those made this list), and I realized as a lover of movies I have not seen nearly enough westerns. So, I filled my netflix queue and got to watching and enjoying. I realized two things while watching the many westerns I did.

First of all, I’m quite sorry to say and I know many won’t agree with this statement and might even just X out of this page as soon as they read it, but an opinion’s an opinion and I’m not gonna lie to agree with society. I found John Wayne to be overrated. I’m just not a fan. I liked a few of his movies, such as The Searchers and True Grit, and my favorite would probably have to be The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, but that didn’t even make the list. It probably would be 11 or 12 though if I were to add on to this list.

Secondly, and much more importantly, I realized that Western genre is one of my favorites and this list list would be harder to make than I thought. I was very right. Through watching this dying genre I found not only fantastic westerns, but also some of the greatest movies I’ve seen of all time. Well, I’ve been waiting to do this for a very long time now. Here are my top ten favorite westerns of all time.

10. The Outlaw Josey Wales

Some of Eastwood’s best all around work in both acting and directing really shine in this film. There was only one other Clint Eastwood directed movie that was able to surpass this one and its listed later on this list. The story is a surprisingly  heart felt one and its told to near perfection.

9. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

This is the newest western to be placed on this list and in my eyes this movie is a breath of fresh air because it showed that great westerns can still be made today. Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck are phenomenal. A brilliant cast and script was combined to tell the very true and quite epic tale of the assassination of one of the most famous western outlaws there ever was.

8. The Magnificent Seven

There’s not much you can really say about The Magnificent Seven except that you have to let the movie speak for itself. Needless to say, the cast is stupendous and there are many great scenes. Most importantly though, There’s not much that compares with the camaraderie you feel with each character when that theme music comes on.

7. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

At the heart of this classic lies what may be the most iconic duo of all time. Paul Newman and Robert Redford play so impeccably well off each other that every scene is made real and memorable. The timing of every witty crack is absolutely perfect, the action sequences are highly entertaining, while sticking to realism and the finale is breathtaking.

6. Tombstone

Tombstone is a fantastic film that just barely misses my top five. Tombstone is the greatest telling of the now classic tale of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday. There are many memorable parts, from the classic OK coral shoot-out, to Holiday’s tricks with a tea cup in a bar. There’s something for everyone in this flick because even if you don’t find solace in the fantastic scenes, you will certainly find enjoyment out of Val Kilmer’s masterful performance as Doc Holiday.

5. For A Few More Dollars

For A Few Dollars More is a fascinating character study of bounty hunters in the old west. It’s the second film in Sergio Leone’s Man With No Name Trilogy, but as with every movie in the Dollars trilogy, it stands alone as its own fantastic story. Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef make for a very interesting and entertaining pair in the old west. Leone builds tension, keeps you guessing, and in the end he most certainly does not disappoint.

4. The Proposition

The Proposition is another western that is relatively new. It was made only four years ago and I believe it is one of the greatest westerns of all time, only surpassed by some of the greatest movies I’ve ever seen. The plot of The Proposition is genuinely simple, yet superbly poetic. In the Australian Outback, a man is hired to kill his older brother in order to save his younger one from the noose. It’s the most brutal western I’ve seen and it never lets up till its pitch-perfect ending.

3. Once Upon a Time in the West

By far the greatest title for a western I’ve ever seen, if not just the greatest title for a movie. I mean, what can possibly indicate better that you’re about to watch an epic masterpiece than a title like that. Anyways, besides a great title Sergio Leone’s complex, gritty, western tale of revenge and mayhem is so amazing that it was hard to even put it at three. I’m going to say this right now, Sergio Leone builds tension better than Hitchcock does. Every single scene from the (waiting for the train) opening to the final showdown, your always on edge. I’d also like to say that Ennio Morricone is probably the greatest film composer in history. Westerns almost always have fantastic scores, but this is my favorite of any western score. Last, but certainly not least I have to mention Henry Fonda’s flawless performance as the ruthless western gunslinger Frank, certainly out of character for him and in my opinion; his best work.

2. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Most commonly called the classic western and for good reason. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is nothing and I repeat nothing short of a masterpiece. If I’m not mistaken I think the Man With No Name trilogy is the only trilogy that truly gets greater with each film. Leone’s skill for building tension, which has attempted, but never matched, was never greater than in every single, intricately plotted, scene of this movie.

What Sergio Leone, Clint Eastwood (Blondie-The Good) , Lee Van Cleef (Angel Eyes-The Bad) and Eli Wallach (Tuco- The Ugly) have given us is masterful look at the west and adventures, and subsequent stories it inspired. A story full of depth and characters, whether that be the good guys, the bad guys, and the ones in between. A timeless epic that savors my hunger for excellence with each passing scene eventually leading to what is probably the most iconic and greatest western showdown/ending ever put on screen. And for this, from the bottom of my heart, I thank them.

1. Unforgiven

As I said in the past, this was a difficult list to make, but there is not a doubt in my mind when it comes to number one. Clint Eastwood starred in many classic westerns including Sergio Leone’s classic Man With No Name Trilogy. Than he directed some of his own great westerns. His knowledge on the genre grew over years of experience and he than gave us the greatest western of all time. Unforgiven is western that was able to do what no other western was able to do. It showed us what the west really. Unforgiven showed us that a ruthless killer could fall off his horse or miss a shot.

Unforgiven shows the realistic West where no one could really be considered the good guy, not even the guy your rooting for (William Munny- Clint Eastood in an Oscar nominated performance) ,  and especially not the sheriff (Little Bill Dagget- Gene Hackman in an Oscar winning performance). Unforgiven was a masterful look into a world we’ve never seen. We thought we had, but we realize that was all just fantasy. Unforgiven mixes dark realism with the  fantasy Western genre. Add brilliant acting and characters, fantastic writing and direction and the result is not only the greatest western of all time, but one of the greatest movies ever made. A true masterpiece of our time worthy of recognition and praise.

…right here:

MOVIES

“The New York Ripper” (Blue Underground)
New York City’s finest follow a trail of brutal murders to track down a killer who’s going after–GASP!–young and beautiful women from the Big Apple! (Note to those considering a profession in murder: Go after the old and ugly, because apparently nobody cares about them.) Shot on location in New York in the early eighties, this film from Lucio Fulci is, in parts, exceptionally vicious. Unfortunately, in other parts, it’s also exceptionally slow. It’s a fine slasher film, but I found myself getting distracted in between the murders. But, hey, isn’t that always the case! An interesting DVD extra shows the film’s shooting locations as they appeared back then, and how they appear now. Gentrification, anyone?

“The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue” (Blue Underground)
Also known as “Don’t Open The Window” (an inferior title) and “Let Sleeping Corpses Lie” (a superior title), this mid-seventies zombie flick follows a duo of travelers who just happen upon a small town of cannibalistic zombies! Fun for the whole family! Unlike most zombie films that feature some ridiculous excuse for the invasion, “Manchester Morgue” offers up a completely believable reason: radioactive farm equipment! But that’s a perfect example of what makes this movie great. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and offers up all of the required gore and violence that one expects from a quality piece of seventies horror schlock.

“Rage” (Liberation Entertainment)
More than a dozen actors make up this film’s stellar cast (including Steve Buscemi, Eddie Izzard, Judi Dench and Bob Balaban, to name a few), each performance serving as both a compelling character study and a pivotal role in a clever storyline. When an accident on the catwalk during New York’s fashion week leads to a murder investigation, suspicious eyes fall on the show’s participants. Directed by Sally Potter (who was nominated for “Orlando”), “Rage” is a successful example of what potential exists when a director breaks out of the normal restraints of film and has the freedom to experiment. To be honest, I couldn’t see a major distributor picking “Rage” up… and that’s exactly why you should see it. Oh, and to see Jude Law rocking some flamboyant drag. Awesome.

“Secrecy” (Docurama)
Scarier than any horror movie I’ve ever reviewed, “Secrecy” looks into the terrifying world of government… well, secrecy. What’s best for American citizens and what our government thinks is best for us is often two different things, especially when it comes to the facade that is the war on terror. “Secrecy” could have taken the easy road out and concentrated only on Bush-era atrocities (because, Christ knows, there’s enough material there to fill a 148-part PBS documentary series), but instead chose to look back deep into America’s sordid history of keeping information from its citizens… for our own good, of course. A must-have for anyone who doesn’t believe the crap being force-fed to them on a daily basis, “Secrecy”… what was that noise? Did you guys hear that? Hello? Is someone there? AH! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! HELP! SPREAD THE WORD, PEOPLE! DON’T LET THEM FOOL–

ALBUMS

Brazos “Phosphorescent Blues” – The brainchild of a solo artist (Martin Crane) that eventually became a four-piece ensemble, the Austin-based Brazos brings jazz and folk together in a way that’s reminiscent of some of the more melodic work from Andrew Bird’s Bowl of Fire days. Brazos is less polished than Bird, more chaotic and raw in their sound, but it works to their advantage in every way. If you can, hunt down the track “We Understand Each Other.” If that doesn’t make you pick up the album, nothing will.

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis “White Lunar” – A two-disc set that features the collaborative soundtrack work of Nick Cave and composer (and fellow Bad Seed) Warren Ellis (no relation to the author). Deeply dark and richly layered, collected here are tracks from “The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford,” “The Girls of Phnom Penh,” “The Proposition” and many more. How good is it? Next year you’ll be able to find it on this list. Yep, it’s that good.

The Blind Boys of Alabama “Duets” – I’ve often said that only two good things ever came out of religion: art and music. The Blind Boys of Alabama have proven the former to be true with their Grammy-winning gospel. Collected on this anthology are fourteen tracks of the group’s collaborative work. Most of the tracks have already been released on the albums of other artists; however, there are three previously unreleased tracks, including a great song titled “Jesus” which finds the fellas teaming up with Lou Reed. Most of the tracks hit (“None Of Us Are Free” with Solomon Burke; “Take My Hand” with Ben Harper; etc.), but there is a miss or two (“Nothing But The Blood” with Jars of Clay). Still, those couple of misses are because of the collaborator the Blind Boys are working with, not because of the work the guys themselves are contributing to the track. The rest of the album is such a solid collection that it almost makes me want to believe.

BOOKS

The Good Neighbors – Book Two: Kith by Holly Black & Ted Naifeh – I admit, this hardcover graphic novel isn’t my cup of tea, but I don’t think I’m exactly the book’s target audience (ages 12 and up). Written by Holly Black (“The Spiderwick Chronicles”), the book’s story about a girl heading out into an unknown realm to save her faerie mother is a solid read, and artist Ted Naifeh’s black-and-white illustrations add an appropriately dark element to the story. If you’re into fantasy, faeries and all things fantastical, pick it up. If you’re a balding Hungarian in his mid-thirties, maybe not so much; but least you can take comfort in knowing that you’re not alone.

Critically yours,

-Shady

Bon, je vous le dis, mais ça reste entre nous. Promis?

Je suis allée hier soir, sous la menace contrainte et forcée, voir Lucky Luke. Entendons nous bien: je savais, en y allant qu’il serait mauvais. Nous le savions tous, d’ailleurs (le forfait fut collectif). Mais l’être humain, aussi intelligent soit-il, obtempérant parfois à des idées saugrenues, nous nous sommes rendus à reculons au Gaumont Multiplexe. Cinéma, soit dit en passant, que je déteste, situé dans un quartier qui tient à la fois de Disneyland et du carton-pâte (si tant est que les deux ne soient pas la même chose).

Eh bien mes amis, ce film n’est pas mauvais du tout.

Il est PIRE.

C’est la plus grosse daube qu’il m’ait été donné de voir sur grand écran depuis des années (il faut dire que de moi-même, je vais toujours voir des bons films). Les acteurs jouent mal, SURTOUT Jean Dujardin. Michaël Youn en Billy The Kid est effrayant de nullité (j’ai d’ailleurs failli pleurer quand j’ai vu son nom au générique) (si ma place n’avait pas coûté la sommé indécente de 10€, je serais partie à ce moment là) et les blagues sont éculées (ou, pour certaines, juste nulles). Mention spéciale à:

“T’es devenu unlucky, Luke!” (wouhou!)

Et puis avoir pris Alexandra Lamy pour interpréter la chérie de Lucky Luke, merci bien, moi le couple Dujardin-Lamy j’en ai soupé, qu’est-ce qu’on a besoin de les voir toujours ensemble? Sylvie Testud, qui joue Calamity Jane, est la seule qui s’en sort à peu près, mais dans un film aussi mauvais, ça ne sert à rien.

Heureusement que mon paquet de pop corns m’a occupée le premier quart d’heure. A part ça, je me suis ennuyée ferme. Seules deux choses ont retenu positivement mon attention, dont une vraie pépite: le très théâtral et très long manteau de Jesse James trainant dans la poussière jaune du désert de l’Utah (mon deuxième crush étant la jupe que porte Calamity Jane à la fin du film).

Il est BEAU, non?

Maintenant que vous avez vu la seule chose digne d’intérêt de cette bouse cinématographique, dispensez-vous d’aller acheter un ticket, vos neurones vous diront merci. Ce qui est dommage, c’est qu’au delà de certains costumes très chouettes, j’ai trouvé les décors vraiment pas mal: très “décors” justement, très colorés, version western spaghetti romantique, entre ombre et lumière, une bonne idée pour retranscrire un esprit BD au cinéma (ce qui n’est pas chose aisée, avouons-le). Mais les acteurs, Seigneur Dieu… J’aurais pu accrocher, dans l’idée, au personnage de Jesse James, le bandit dandy qui déclame du Shakespeare à tout va, mais c’était tellement mal joué, tellement exagéré, tellement faux que je me suis contentée d’apprécier son manteau et son costume trois-pièces.

Vous l’aurez compris, je n’ai pas aimé, mais une chose en amenant une autre, tout ça m’a fait me remémorer The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, avec Brad Pitt et Casey Aflleck dans les rôles titres, que j’avais beaucoup apprécié. J’ai bien envie, un de ces jours, de le revoir, histoire de me plonger dans un vrai bon film.

]]> http://educatedpony.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/quiet-part-1/ Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:47:37 +0000 elinorrabbit http://educatedpony.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/quiet-part-1/

perhaps because i spend so very much of my time talking and espousing and ranting, i really, really love quiet things: films, books, places. so much so that my love for quiet things will need to be broken into pieces so as not to create one massive blog entry.

i find that i especially love it in film. sophia coppola and wong kar wai are two masters of it and i have so much to say about both of them, that i’m going to leave them out for now and focus on the one genre that i really feel is served by silence almost more then any other: the western.

maybe because i have spent my whole life (pretty much) in the american west, slow pacing and soft spokenness (oo, that’s not even a word, is it?) kind of put me at ease. to be honest, the wild west is pretty boring so you have to learn how to appreciate big sky, be entertained by vistas and never under estimate the value of a well rolled tumbleweed. this is perhaps the reason why i was the only person in the theater who remained awake for the entirety of the assassination of jesse james by the coward robert ford–which i thought was a pretty cool movie.

but by talking about what IMHO (i had to ask my sister what that meant the other day because she’s younger then me and more up with text-speak and she told me it stood for “in my humble opinion” which i don’t think i would have ever figured out on my own) are the three best modern westerns out there. i hope i will get you to sit down and just enjoy how great cinematography can serve a story even better then a bunch of snappy dialogue.

numero ono: the proposition

you may not have heard of this one. it came out in, i don’t know, i think 2005. it’s set in the 1800’s in the australian outback, so instead of cowboys and indians you have aboriginals and outlaws.

nick cave (as in nick cave and the bad seeds, as in nick cave author of and the ass saw the angel) wrote the screenplay and did the soundtrack. that was my big draw to see it because i am bananas about nick cave and had this feeling, like you do when you are someone’s very loyal fan, that even if the movie was total crap, i was going to love and appreciate it out of an obligation to mr.cave’s overall bad assness (again, not a word. sorry folks. i have a head cold).

but the movie was far from crap. it was totally amazing. i got so wrapped up in what was going on that i forgot until the credits rolled that nick cave had anything to do with it. it’s the story of some irish outlaws in australia, a gang of three brothers. the middle brother is asked by the law to kill his older brother in order to save the younger brother from the noose. and you’re off!

i could have written all the dialogue for this movie on a handkerchief it was so minimal but the beauty and desolation of the australian outback, the fantastic actors who handled the sparse dialogue as preciously and perfectly as it deserved, made it totally riveting. one of my favorite last lines of any movie. ever.

those great actors by the way are: emily watson, john hurt, guy pierece, danny huston (who was in another great very quiet film no one ever talks about called birth) and ray winstone, you will remember him as the genius from sexy beast (i will have to do another post on world’s greatest british gangster movies–i’m looking at you, i’ll sleep when i’m dead). the supporting cast was also phenomenal.

dos: the assassination of jesse james by the coward robert ford

i get really defensive about this movie. like i love it too hard, y’know? i know seriously, almost nobody who likes this movie and i feel like i have to stick up for it. but i think it’s one of the best movies i have ever seen, with totally insane amazing acting and just this great quiet cinematography that i felt like really captured the american west more beautifully then any other movie i have seen.

casey affleck was gipped, GIPPED I SAY, out of an oscar. who even won that year? i would remember if i thought they did 1% of the job casey affleck did. oh, and i need to try to remember not to say “gipped”, did you guys know that’s racial slang against gypsies? isn’t that horrible? i just found that out. i mean, is should probably erase it but i am leaving it to help us all remember.

anyway, i know this movie is three hours long. but they are three beautiful hours where every scene is treated with equal weight to the others. fields of wheat are given their due and i just love that. paul schneider and sam rockwell are totally fabulous in it and though they have small parts, zooey dashchel and mary-louise parker do a georgous job.

the main argument i get with this film is that none of the characters are likeable, there is no one to root for. and i understand that argument because that’s how i feel about mad men. but at any rate, i think that even if you feel like there is no real “hero” to this story (which is actually what i like about it) i think that it can be appreciated on a pure level of haunting minimalist eye-candy…which doesn’t sound like it makes any sense but watch it and see.

tres: the new world

“what?” you are thinking, “this isn’t a WESTERN! i know westerns and there are no cowboy boots or pistol draws in this film. it’s about the colonial times, it’s about friggin’ pocahontas.” and to you i say…

yeah, you’re right. it’s not really a western. but my weak argument for including it is that during those days all of america was “the west”. there was a scary vast, emptiness to what was to become america, which i think is an important element in all good westerns. besides, is “colonial” even a genre? i don’t think so.

this movie is like eating a 5 star meal with your eyes. it’s like eating an 10 star meal (does it go that high?). and no, it’s not because of colin farrell or christian bale (for the best christian bale crush-a-thon watch little women and turn off right before jo says ‘no’. or just use this as an excuse to re-watch reign of fire). it’s like, have you ever gone to a big, giant garden in full bloom? or alternately in the middle of winter and everything is covered in icicles? and it’s quiet and you got the chance to just really take everything in? that is what the new world is like.

while watching this movie i felt like everything was sad and everything was radiant, which i think is what great movies make you feel. the eye of the director never falters, and i am not normally a colin farrell fan but in this movie he absolutely broke my heart. it made me think that inside all the hunky irishness  there is a real actor but sadly, i don’t think anyone but terrance malick has been able to capture it or bring it out of him or whatever.

i have no clue what happened to the beautiful and talented girl who played pocahontas, q’orianka kilcher, she was also just crushing in this film. weird fact: she is jewel’s cousin, like the singer jewel from the 90’s.

i heard virtually nothing about this film and i try to bring it up all the time and no one has seen it. on the rare occasion someone has they’re always like “it was too long!” or even sometimes “it was too quiet!”. and then i throw a cup of coffee in their face and storm out. just kidding.

and yeah, i love tarantino, i love wes anderson (i LOVE wes anderson, let me amend that). but sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses, be quiet, let the beauty sink in. these three films are roses. western roses? dusty roses? i am trying to see how cheesy i can make my lame metaphor. they are like quaking aspens in the fall?

anyway, hop on your netflix, check them out.

p.s- if you are looking for a good mid-western quiet film (i’m really pushing it, huh?) check out all the real girls. and although so much as been said about it, i will just say it again, there will be blood. maybe best movie ever? sort of a western. very quiet and very amazing. totally…screwed (see, i didn’t do it again) out of best picture (note that i did not include no country for old men on here, a quiet film, but in my opinion a so-so one). plus, every halloween i really think about being daniel “bastard in a basket” plainview, he is just so out there, i love him in this funny way. it’s fun to get a few drinks in your friends and then ask everyone to do their best danny p. really done now.

Short blog post I authored for the Indy’s Arts Blog on Sep. 30.

COLONY THEATER/ RALEIGH—Paul Schneider makes this stuff up as he goes along. That is, his life, of course. Never, for example, would he have thought he would be in his home state watching himself on screen, an experience he describes as “surreal.”

I’d seen Bright Star, Schneider’s latest film, at a press screening earlier in the week to prepare for a possible interview with him that didn’t materialize. My editor suggested that I attend Schneider’s appearance at the Colony last Friday night, Sept. 25.

I arrived around 8:30 p.m. and waited in the lobby for the film to finish. Denver Hill, the Colony’s manager, told me that Schneider had arrived early in order to catch part of the film, but had agreed to grant me an interview after the Q&A. I never got that interview; as it turned out, Schneider didn’t feel like “doing press” that night. (OK then, don’t “do” us!)

Anyway, I took my seat inside the larger of the Colony’s screening rooms as the end credits to Bright Star rolled. The room was anxious for Schneider’s arrival as audience members mentally prepared their questions. Following a brief introduction by Indy contributor and movie diva Laura Boyes, Schneider took the microphone to answer questions about the film. He was brimming with energy and dressed in all-black with a T-shirt and jeans,

“You can’t trust IMDb,” he said as soon as he took the microphone, referring to Boyes’ introduction. Apparently, Schneider was not born in Asheville, NC, as IMDb.com claims, but rather Northern California and only later moved to North Carolina as a child. He didn’t know then, he told us, that he wanted to be an actor because none of his family members did anything artistic.

However, it was Bright Star director Jane Campion that inspired him to go into filmmaking. After seeing The Piano, her celebrated 1993 film, Schneider knew he “wanted to be around movies” and kept the ticket stub for the film as a reminder. He loved it so much because it was the first film he’d seen that was the result of “commerce and art married.”

Sixteen years later, Schneider finally received the opportunity to work with Campion after the Kiwi director saw him in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and asked him to audition for the role of Charles Brown, John Keats’ best friend in Bright Star.

For the role he packed on 25 pounds and mastered a Scottish accent, which was his biggest worry. “You don’t want to be the American clunker,” he said, in a cast that features the Australian Abbie Cornish and the English Ben Whishaw.

To that end, he rented and studied Trainspotting and knew he’d succeeded when the Scottish crew members gave him the thumbs-up.

When asked how he prepares for his roles, Paul replied, “I kind of wish I had gone to acting school because I don’t know.”

It’s a little surprising to learn that such a gifted actor has so little formal training, but Schneider credits his colleagues. “I get to watch these really great actors do all the stuff that they do,” he says.

“I’ve just been so lucky to learn what I’m doing from these people.”

Schneider reported that he has no upcoming projects. When asked, inevitably, which famous director he wishes would call him, he replied that he wished for no such thing.

“I’ll tell you the truth. I don’t wish for famous directors. I wish for evocative scripts.”

Catch the evocative Bright Star at the Colony and the Raleigh Grand in Raleigh, the Galaxy in Cary, the Carolina Theatre and Southpoint in Durham and the Chelsea in Chapel Hill. Check Indy listings. Read Nathan Gelgud’s rave review here.

This Summer was a very relaxed one. I spent a lot of time inside, with myself, thinking things through and doing nothing. I also read a lot. University is starting soon, so I figured now would be a good time to go through this.

A Mad Desire to Dance, by Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel’s latest novel. Not a light read, as is usual for the author, but definitely worth the effort. This novel is centered on Doriel, a Polish Jew who survived the Nazi occupation, and who lives tormented by his past, so much that he believes he is going mad. In his despair, Doriel turns to Dr. Thérèse Goldschmidt for help, and although reluctant at first, unravels with her help. We learn his story, and what made him reach the madness he speaks of.

Madness is what I’ll talk to you about – madness burdened with memories and with eyes like everyone else’s, though in my story the eyes are like those of a smiling child trembling with fear.

Considering who the author is, you kind of go in expecting heavy subjects and thought-provoking comments. Regardless of being fiction, A Mad Desire to Dance does not fail to deliver.

[A Mad Desire to Dance on Amazon.com]

A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini
I love Hosseini’s writing and story-telling style. I didn’t think I would at first, with him being on all the bestseller lists I frequently feel skeptical about, and with his novels based on a culture that’s so distant from my own. But I had to read The Kite Runner for English C1.1.2 last semester, and ended up really enjoying it. A Thousand Splendid Suns is Khaled Hosseini second and latest novel, and as in his first one, the reviews were very generous. Our English teacher said she preferred it to The Kite Runner herself, so it really seemed obvious it should be my next choice.

To be honest, I can’t really decide which one I liked best… The Kite Runner has a very intense confessional tone to it. Being a first person narrative, you get a very intimate and painfully honest view of the protagonist’s feelings on all the pain he caused. And despite his cowardice, because of his honesty and understanding, I couldn’t help but feel for Amir. But when it comes to story and plot, A Thousand Splendid Suns definitely scores higher on my list.

This novel has two very different Afghani women as its main characters. We’re given a very detailed background on both of their lives – as well as the lives of women in general in that culture and time – and slowly learn of the circumstances that make them come together. Despite their differences, Mariam and Laila become close and help each other when life seems an unbearable constant struggle. No spoilers or anything here, no worries, but it’s a very powerful story, impossible not to get completely drawn to.

[A Thousand Splendid Suns on Amazon.co.uk]

Animal Farm, by George Orwell
I’d already read this a few years back, a free .pdf version online. I figured it was time to actually purchase it, and I’m really glad I did, because reading it again, I realized I definitely hadn’t understood it completely the first time around. Definitely a classic worth reading.

[Animal Farm on Amazon.co.uk]

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
This was a complete leap of faith. I never buy books without making sure I’m going to enjoy them, which I do by usually reading a chapter or two online, together with several reviews from different sources, etc. This time I read the little introduction available on Amazon and went for it. So glad I did! Definitely one of the best page turners I’ve read in a while.

So, narrated by Death, this novel takes place in Nazi Germany and follows the life of Liesel, a girl whose parents send to live with a foster family, together with her brother. On the train ride, the boy dies, and during the short improvised funeral, Liesel steals a book from one of the gravediggers. Death, being there to carry the boy’s soul away, notices the girl and her thieving and takes interest in her. And so begins telling us her story. Liesel continues her life with her new family and, as she grows and the opportunities arise, carries on stealing books and taking comfort in them during the complicated time she’s living in.

The writing, Death’s narrative, is very characteristic, and it takes a bit getting used to. Once you do get used to it though, it’s truly a difficult book to put down. Again, no spoilers. But if I had to recommend one book from the ones I’ve mentioned here, this would be it.

[The Book Thief on Amazon.co.uk]

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, by Ron Hansen
Never read a western before this one, and to be honest, the only reason I got it was because I loved the movie. It’s a pretty interesting story, a mix between fiction and history, about the outlaw Jesse James and his murder by Robert Ford. And, Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck and, yeah, you know.

I’m sorry to say the book was a bit of a letdown for me. The writing was quite elaborate and rich, but the narrative itself seemed too slow at times. Still a good read, but I found it took a certain mood to be able to get through.

[The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford on Amazon.co.uk]

Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer
Yes, all of them, in a row. Don’t judge me. It’s a cute, very easy to read, love story. I need a cute very easy to read love story every now and then. Leave me alone.

[The Twilight Series on Amazon.com]

(just in case you’re wondering, between square brackets are the links to the editions I bought, either from the American or British Amazon)

Now. What am I going to read next? Whatever my teachers this semester tell me to. Classes start next week, and I have at least two subjects based purely on literature – North American Literature and English Literature of the Renaissance – although all subjects have material you are required to read, of course. I’m done then, one last week to rest.

The Assassination of Jesse James… | Andrew Domninik, 2007

Set in the times when cowboys were all but legend, the The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (to use its full title) spins a well-practiced tale on its head by selecting paranoia and obsession as its two main themes: an outlaw’s paranoia concerning those he surrounds himself with and a young man’s obession with the tale of his idol. Casey Affleck plays Robert (Bob) Ford, a wannabe gunslinger whose impressionable attitude only unnerves his would-be employers, the legendary James brothers, who are looking for one last successful robbery before hanging up their wanted pistols for good. As the tale flares into life from this angle, one can be forgiven for thinking that Jesse James is much like many other such films that came before it – the story of a gang and their endeavours, as a certain skilled underdog works his way through the ranks. This common idea can be seen very often in cinema, though it will not be found here, for Dominik and co. are more concerned with the force that drives their underdog rather than the underdog himself. It is a driving force rooted in childhood fantasy: an ever-lingering lust that compels Bob not only to be near his idol but also to make a name for himself in the same way. The film also follows the plight of Mr. James himself, deep in life as an outlaw that is now slowly and fatally stealing away the air from his very lungs. He cannot look a man in the eye without becoming suspicious, and this paranoia makes Jesse James a volatile character: one that longs for a lost comradery yet will never allow anyone out of his sight. Both these characters are wonderfully portrayed by Affleck and Pitt respectively, though perhaps the real strength of Jesse James is in its supporting ensemble – the chameleon form of Sam Rockwell (as Ford’s older brother) impressing in particular.

The much-discussed and rather lengthy full title for Jesse James is not only a sly nod towards certain traditions in the Western genre but also, perhaps more importantly, a hint at the biased stance of the film itself. Of course, much credit should be given to the novel upon which this screenplay is based, though for a writer/director such as Dominik with one film under his belt to take on such an ambitious project and turn it into something so profound is a feat in itself. I’ve specifically left what’s harder to put into words for later in the review, simply because I find it difficult to do justice to something that is so visually compelling. Jesse James is quite beautifully shot, with master cinematographer Roger Deakins (Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Shawshank Redemption, Fargo, The Man Who Wasn’t There, No Country for Old Men etc.) outdoing even his own high standards here. He brings so much life and beauty to such harsh and unforgiving backdrops that they frequently distract from the action itself. Then there is Nick Cave’s score: a haunting and unconventional music that complements Deakins’ sheer and jaw-dropping shots quite majestically. At 160 minutes long the film is still quite bloated, despite the rigorous editing that caused so many problems during post-production, and much of this is down to the film’s crucial, epilogue-like closing act – a wonderful sequence that is so important to the general feeling we are left with, and one that I’m glad wasn’t left behind on the cutting room floor. The Assassination of Jesse James… is exactly the type of film Hollywood should be financing. A film that upholds the cinematic tradition of a moralistic struggle yet does so with a certain uniqueness to ensure that while the themes may be similar, the end product is like nothing you will have seen before.

Our Rating:

Novel Work
Put down some pretty good work this week, if I do say so, writing on pre-Prohibition German beer halls and the free-lunch counters that were standard in most American bars and taverns in the early 1900s. For this I’ve mostly been writing from old photos I’ve found from the era (thanks Omaha Public Library) and a few descriptions taken from immigrants corresponding back to Germany about their experiences in America. I’m not really sure how historically accurate everything is at the moment, but I’m not too worried about it. The strategy has been to first write the story as well as possible, getting the characters and plot established, before getting into the minutiae of history. I’m sure a few things will need to be changed when I get to that point, but I’d much rather be inaccurate historically than boring literarily. I’ve done quite a bit of research in advance of starting—things that have given me a decent idea of the spirit of the age, the demographics of the city at this time, what the political landscape was, the kinds of jobs my characters might have—so it isn’t like I’m going into this blind. It’s just that I’m not constantly cross-checking the work as it’s put down. At the Key West Literary Seminar this January, which I was grateful to attend due to the generosity of their donors, Russell Banks spoke about how people often find fault with his historical work because it isn’t a precise representation of how things most likely happened at the moment he’s written about. Banks kind of laughed off such criticisms, saying that he isn’t really all that concerned with history because his focus is on the fiction. If something needs to be stretched, a river moved or a step-son created, to make the story he’s trying to tell work, he feels free to do that. (Although Andrea Barrett took the exact opposite stance.) That’s kind of what I’ve been thinking here with Part II of The Open City. The novel will live or die based upon the verve of the narration, not the veracity of the history it invokes.

That being said, one thing I would like to do soon is visit the microfilm at CU library to read through a few months worth of newspapers from the time—the long-defunct Omaha Bee in particular, Omaha’s tabloid rag from the early Twentieth Century. When Ron Hansen came to Creighton in the spring he spoke of how he did this when writing The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. In fact, Hansen was able to consult the local Missouri papers nearly every morning in order to immerse himself in the same era his characters had lived in. He was teaching at the University of Michigan at the time, where the library contains an impressive archive of old newspapers. Pretty cool stuff. My narrator is looking from a contemporary viewpoint back to 1919, so it isn’t necessarily imperative that I get the lingo of the era just right, but I’d like my characters to have a sense of it. That is, while the dialogue should ring true, the narration isn’t trying to approximate the voice or style of that era. Still, it should be helpful in regards to what kinds of clothes people were wearing and by what names they referred to certain objects.

Dispatch from The Open City
“Jacob followed Strauss and his friends into the Potsdamer, to an iced oak keg of beer and then up to a narrow balcony on stilts that was bolted to the walls. The dance hall was an immense room on the second floor of a corner brick building. Its plaster walls depicted gaudy murals of naked goddesses and grim knights at arms against the Hydra. The floor was occupied by families and groups of friends resting amid tables and benches in a crescent surrounding the band, beyond that a stage partly obscured by monstrous glass chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. There was a colossal serephina organ, two violists, and a fagotto bassoon that were accompanied by a trio of women vocalists who seemed to encircle the song’s melody with their rolling harmonies. There were leggy dancers on stage, heads adorned with peacock feathers, a plaster statue of the patron goddess Germania looming high above the stage. Performers from a gymnastics club would come on later to exhibit their strength and flexibility. Everyone in the crowd was drinking, both men and women, some of the older children, but Strauss assured Jacob that there were never fights. Everything was carried off with precise order, as if each of them had been assigned a role they would gladly perform.”

Kind Rejection Notes and Near Misses
BOMB for “The Current State of the Universe.” And, I’m not sure if this exactly fits this category but, my story “The Approximate End of the World” was accepted for publication by Boulevard and will appear in the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary issue in March of 2010. Very excited about this.

Just Finished
The Twenty-Seventh City by Jonathan Franzen. I really fell under the spell of this book for a while, but was disappointed by its ending. It kind of seemed like a copout. The big referendum fails because of voter apathy, which was kind of nice. But then, all of the relationships that have been on collision course throughout the novel just sort of fizzle—as if the novel itself had become apathetic. Chief Jammu and Barbara are killed by a bizarre mirroring of bullets to the head. Probst drives around on county roads to avoid what has happened until he’s shown meeting with his daughter to grieve for slain Barbara, but nothing further. I would have liked to see what happens when the characters actually have to deal with the consequences of their actions, but everything wrapped itself up before that could happen. Still a very good book—and probably not the kind of narrative that really deals with consequences. It’s a book that exalts big ideas, rather than one that spends time lamenting the fallout of big ideas.

Now Reading
White Noise by Don DeLillo. This has been my “favorite book” for a long time, but I haven’t read it in a long time either. We’ll see if it can withstand the test of a reread. So far I’m enjoying it, but it’s a little tedious getting through all of the theoretical grounding DeLillo is doing before really putting the screws to his characters. If I remember correctly, the narrative didn’t really start humming until the Airborne Toxic Event.

Up Next
Exiles by Ron Hansen. We’re reading this for the online class on novel writing I’m taking as a non-degree seeking student through the graduate program of the English Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Link of the Week
Littoral. The blog of the Key West Literary Seminar. Check out the audio archive of past seminar readings and lectures. Very cool stuff.

Also, I’ve neglected for too long to thank my lovely wife Nicole for setting up this blog for me. Thanks!

Gladiator, de Lord of the Rings trilogie, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Dark Knight en Slumdog Millionaire. Iedereen kent ze wel, deze blockbusters uit de 21e eeuw die de verwachtingen meer dan waarmaakte.

Er is echter veel meer. Sinds de eeuwwisseling zijn er namelijk ook heel wat prachtige films gemaakt die niet massaal in de bioscoop zijn verschenen en die nog steeds consequent over het hoofd worden gezien. De komende elf weken zal ik aftellen van 16 naar 1 voor de beste onbekende pareltjes van de 21e eeuw. Deze week de nummer 9: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Hij die stal van de rijken en gaf aan de armen. Nee, we hebben het niet over Robin Hood maar over een modernere held. Jesse James is zijn naam en The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is niet de eerste film die over deze westernheld is gemaakt. Wel is het met afstand de beste.

Jesse James, de mythevorming rond deze revolverheld uit het wilde westen is in de loop der jaren alleen maar groter geworden. De man, die het met zijn bende opnam tegen de grootgrondbezitters die het land van de armen afnamen, heeft in Amerika een absolute heldenstatus. En toch is het niet dit moderne sprookjesverhaal waar The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford zich op richt. Veel meer gaat de film over de laatste maanden van Jesse James en zijn bende. De maanden waarin de negatieve karaktertrekken van James de hoofdrol spelen. Zijn opvliegende, onvoorspelbare en wantrouwende karakter dat ervoor zorgt dat het allesbehalve makkelijk is om sympathie voor deze legende te krijgen. Deze zoektocht naar de man achter al die spectaculaire jongensboekverhalen zorgt voor een bijzondere film waar echter de liefhebbers van de klassieke westerns waarschijnlijk minder plezier aan zullen beleven.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is namelijk geen film waarin de spectaculaire overvallen of de klassieke shoot-outs je om de oren zullen vliegen. Veel meer is het een boeiende strijd, zonder wapens, tussen Jesse James en Robert Ford. De verhouding tussen James en Ford wordt op een briljante manier neergezet. De hele film voel je de spanning die tussen de twee in staat. Dat dit uiteindelijk fout af loopt spreekt voor zich voor wie de titel vertaalt.

Brad Pitt is de man die de rol van Jesse James speelt en hij doet dat met verve. Grootste compliment moet echter niet gemaakt worden aan Brad Pitt, maar aan zijn tegenspeler, de lafaard uit de titel, Casey Affleck. Affleck speelt in de vorm van Ford een man die idolaat is van Jesse James. Hij wil niets liever dan in het gevlei komen van en een leven leiden zoals zijn grote held Jesse James. Affleck weet dit met zoveel overtuiging en geloofwaardigheid neer te zetten dat het bijna eng is. Als Jesse James in de film op een gegeven moment dan ook aan Ford vraagt of hij ‘net zoals hem wil worden of dat hij Jesse James zelf wil zijn?’ blijft het dan ook niet alleen stil bij Ford maar moet je als kijker het antwoord ook schuldig blijven. De rol van Robert Ford is dan ook meer nog dan Jesse James de absolute sleutelrol in de film. Ook de metamorfose die Affleck doormaakt gedurende de film is een indrukwekkende. Langzamerhand zie je de tiener die niets liever wil dan een vriend van zijn held zijn, veranderen in een gefrustreerde man die er niet mee kan omgaan dat niemand ziet wat hij in zijn mars heeft.

De film is in de eerste plaats dan ook een fantastische karakterschets van deze twee tegenpolen die echter meer gemeen hebben dan op het eerste oog lijkt. Toch heeft de film wel één klein minpunt. Dat zit hem in de voorspelbaarheid. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford werkt namelijk op een geweldige wijze toe naar een climax waar de verrassing echter al volkomen af is door de titel van de film. Toch weet de film zelfs met deze titel de weg naar het zinderende einde toe bijzonder interessant te houden en dat is al een prestatie op zich.

Tot slot nog wat extra lof voor de werkelijk adembenemende mooie beelden in de film. De film ziet er uit om door een ringetje te halen en zeker de flashbacks zijn werkelijk betoverend. Deze moderne western heeft kortom alles wat een goede film behoort te hebben en hoort daarom eigenlijk veel hoger in deze lijst. Omdat de film echter minder onbekend en meer gezien is dan de meeste andere films in deze lijst blijft The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford steken op plek 9.

Eis om in deze lijst te komen was dat een film minder dat 50.000 stemmen op IMDB had. Vanwege deze regel heb ik helaas Mulholland Drive, Magnolia, Garden State, The Wrestler en The Fountain nipt buiten de lijst moeten houden. Deze pareltjes hier nog even noemen kan echter nooit kwaad. Ook staan er geen documentaires in de lijst waardoor Young @ Heart ontbreekt.

 With its overly thorough title, runtime of 160 minutes, and slow pace, it’s not surprising (though it is definitely infuriating) that 2007’s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford did not receive the studio backing or box office success that it deserved. Luckily, the film has gained a strong legion of fans, and many people have found the film through good old-fashioned word of mouth. Casey Affleck’s Oscar nomination for the film has probably also helped the film gain the notoriety that it deserves.

 In The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Brad Pitt stars as Jesse James, the charismatic bandit who robs trains while also raising a family. Casey Affleck is Robert “Bob” Ford, a young man who idolized Jesse as a child, and forces his way into Jesse’s ragtag group of outlaws. Jesse is fascinated by Bob, but never seems to truly trust or accept him. Jesse’s group slowly begins to turn on each other, and as the paranoia sets in, Bob and his brother make a plot to bring Jesse down. (Spoiler: they succeed.) It’s a seemingly simple story drawn out, but without the long set up to the inevitable assassination, there would not be the same kind of tension, and the audience would not have as clear of an idea about why things played out like they did. I found that the film rarely dragged, and every scene in the movie worked to add layers to this slowly twisting story.

 One might expect a film about Jesse James to be action-packed and exciting, but this truly is a character study of two troubled, fascinating men squaring off in a mental battle. Both Bob and Jesse are always trying to think two steps ahead of the other at all times. That being said, the film is punctuated with a few violent outbursts, and they really work to underscore the desperation and volatility of James and Ford’s lives, rather that desensitize the audience with endless killings.

 The ensemble cast is great, and even the small roles are played by reliable actors, such as Sam Rockwell and Paul Schneider. As for the stars, Brad Pitt is also quite good as the infamous Jesse James. James’ natural charisma and proto-celebrity status doesn’t seem like too much of a stretch for Pitt, but it’s the other side of Jesse that Pitt is unexpectedly good at. More than once, Jesse lets out a twisted, malicious laugh at someone else’s expense (usually Bob’s). Pitt’s Jesse cackles so desperately that every other character on screen joins in out of sheer fear.

 But the real revelation here is Casey Affleck. Robert Ford is a sulky dweeb, yet thanks largely to Affleck’s performance, we sympathize with him throughout the entire movie. Affleck seems to embody the conflict that Robert Ford felt perfectly. Affleck is especially good in the last half hour of the film, where Ford has to come to terms with what he’s done. Even after killing a murderer, Ford is still shunned by the public. The act that he thought would bring him glory, and make him part of the Jesse James legacy, has only caused more trouble for him. Affleck’s biting performance exudes the dejection and weariness that Bob feels, unable to ever truly triumph.

 The Assassination of Jesse James has a strong, quiet sense of both artistry and entertainment. There are many breathtaking shots, and it’s clear that a lot of care and time went into making this film. I was especially impressed by the director Andrew Dominik’s ability to take a simple, static shot, like Bob and his brother sitting in a wheat field, and turn it into a dynamic scene. The cinematography here is top-notch, and that too is used effectively to move the film along. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford would be worth watching for Casey Affleck’s stirring performance alone, but the languid, stark beauty of the film elevates it beyond being merely “good”.

 9/10

De voorbije twee maanden of zo:

• Noise (Henry Bean, 2007). Kwieke grootstadssatire over een op hol geslagen burgermannetje (Tim Robbins) dat besluit om in ware guerillastijl iets te doen aan de geluidsoverlast in de stad. Fijn basisidee, maar nodeloos lang gerekt. (**1/2)
• Charlie Wilson’s War (Mike Nichols, 2007). Nichols is de man die ooit debuteerde met Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? en meteen erna The Graduate maakte, dus hij weet waar hij mee bezig is. Charlie Wilson’s War is toch ook een verrassing, en totaal anders dan wat ik verwachtte; een lepe combinatie van intelligentie en boertigheid, en de zoveelste keer dat Philip Seymour Hoffman de show kan stelen. Nochtans is Tom Hanks ook best straf als wijvenzot Wilson en mag hij enkele van de grappigste dialogen uit zijn carrière debiteren. De hand van Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) is duidelijk voelbaar. (***1/2)
• Tyson (James Toback, 2008). Vrij goede documentaire over de gevaarlijkste man ter wereld (na Freddy De Kerpel en mezelf). Combinatie van archiefmateriaal en een diepgaand interview met de man zelf. Stilistisch bevat het geen verrassingen, maar de figuur van Tyson zelf blijft een eindeloos intrigerende figuur, die moeiteloos erin slaagt om haast infantiele commentaren af te wisselen met scherpe inzichten. En uiteindelijk blijf je achter met een getroebleerd lager-than-life-figuur. (***1/2)
• THX 1138 (George Lucas, 1971). Een mini-klassieker, deze cerebrale en arty sci-fi van George Lucas. Mijlenver verwijderd van de speeltuin van Star Wars en van invloed op films als Blade Runner, Gattaca, The Matrix en misschien zelfs Solaris. Een film over dictatuur en vrije wil, mens vs. systeem, strak en kunstig vormgegeven, met een opvallend hedendaagse look. De director’s cut oogt ronduit prachtig, al zijn de digitale toevoegingen hier en daar overbodig. Die DVD-editie bevat ook een bonus-DVD met extra’s die de moeite zijn, waaronder een documentaire over American Zoetrope (Coppola’s productiefirma die de film uitbracht) van een uur, een making of van een half uurtje en tenslotte ook de korte versie van THX 1138, nl. de studentenfilm die Lucas een paar jaar eerder maakte. (****)
• Who’s Afraid Of Kathy Acker? (Barbara Caspar, 2007). Kleurrijke documentaire over schrijfster, feministe, exhibitioniste en mediafiguur Kathy Acker, een van de meest opvallende figuren uit de recente(re) Amerikaanse literatuur geschiedenis en een agressief wijf waar de gemiddelde biker met bierpens schrik van krijgt. Poëzie, proza, theater, performance art, ze wilde het allemaal gedaan hebben en deed het ook, zij het dan met wisselend succes. Van pornografische arthouse-films tot literaire eerbetonen, het passeerde allemaal in die onnavolgbare, provocerende stijl, een postmodern alles kan, gestuurd via sex-positive feminism, Burroughs en continentale filosofie. De interviews met Acker zijn stuk voor stuk de moeite, de interviews met volk uit haar kennissen- en vriendenkring balanceren soms op het genante, maar de kleine filmstukjes, waarin fragmenten uit haar boeken uitgebeeld worden, zijn eerder storend. Een toepasselijk onevenwichtig portret van een al even ontastbaar figuur. (***1/2)
• Untraceable (Gregory Hoblit, 2008). Het enige dat ik onthouden heb is dat Diane Lane er nog altijd goed uit ziet, ondanks die bezorgde frons van 90 minuten. Voor de rest: dertien in een dozijn. (*1/2)
• I’m Not There (Todd Haynes, 2007). Een zootje, maar dat was dan ook de bedoeling, vermoed ik. Kaleidoscopische, bombastische, soms wat eigengereide prent. Fijne vertolkingen (Christian Bale en Cate Blanchett stelen de show wat mij betreft), en talloze knipogen en referenties naar het leven en werk van de grote troubadour. (***1/2)
• Leonard Cohen – I’m Your Man (Liam Lunson, 2005). Documentaire-annex-concertfilm die een eerbetoon is aan de man. De interviews met Cohen zijn de moeite; de man heeft het zo erg onder controle dat je automatisch in een zen-staat terechtkomt door naar hem te luisteren. De interviews met zijn artistieke bewonderaars variëren tussen aandoenlijk en irritant, net als de performances. Nick Cave, Kate & Anna McGarrigle en Antony hebben het begrepen, Jarvis Cocker zit wat arrogant te neuzelen, Rufus Wainwright hangt wat aanstellerig te janken met z’n ballen in de knoop, terwijl z’n zus nog maar eens het aandachtshoertje van dienst is met een aanstellerige performance. (***)
• Doomsday (Neil Marshall, 2008). Vijftien jaar geleden kwam ik na een concert van monsterlong Peter Brötzmann en medetoeschouwer tegen die zich afvroeg of hij dat concert wel goed mocht vinden. Bij Doomsday doet zich hetzelfde voor: je kan redenen genoeg bedenken waarom je het rommel zou kunnen vinden, waarom mens en uit je omgeving het zouden afdoen als a load of crap, en toch, toch werkt het, net zoals Knight Rider vijfentwintig jaar geleden ook de moeite was (nu helaas niet meer, heb ik mogen ondervinden). Lawaaierige, nonsensikale, gewelddadige actie/SF, maar van de goede soort (***1/2).
• Raising Arizona (Joel & Ethan Coen, 1987). Intussen al meer dan twintig jaar oud. Stond in m’n geheugen gegrift als een klassieker van de cinema. Viel daarom wat tegen, maar nog steeds een van de meest originele komedies van de laatste decennia. (****)
• Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead (Sidney Lumet, 2008). Niet meer de oplawaai van toen ik ‘m voor het eerst zag, maar toch: Lumet haalt wel heel erg zwaar uit in z’n oude dagen. (****1/2)
• Funny Games U.S. (Michael Haneke, 2007). Remake van het Duitstalige orgineel. Typisch Haneke is dat hij naar het schijnt alles intact heeft gehouden: verhaal, dialogen, visuele stijl. Enkel de taal en de acteurs zijn anders. Ook daarnaast typisch Haneke: een thriller die (net als Caché) ideeën aanbiedt over de rol en de participatie van regisseur en kijker en die een contemplatie is over geweld en hoe ermee om te gaan. En Naked City in de begingeneriek, da’s ook leuk. (****)
• Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog, 2005). Onvergetelijk portret van Timothy Treadwell, de naieve activist die jaren na elkaar een seizoen doorbracht bij de beren en het uiteindelijk mocht bekopen met zijn leven. Herzog maakte een film van het beeldmateriaal van Treadwell, maar interviewde ook een aantal mensen uit diens omgeving. Het resultaat is een boeiend beeld van een complex figuur, een intelligente, maar kinderachtige kerel die er, zoals Herzog meegeeft, een wel erg vreemd beeld van de verhoudingen in de natuur op nahield en uiteindelijk kreeg waar hij om leek te vragen. Het bevat fantastisch mooie natuurbeelden en gepast weidse, expansieve muziek, maar daarnaast ook enkele memorabel scènes, o.m. van de lijkschouwer die op theatrale wijze zijn versie van de feiten meegeeft. Ook memorabel: Herzog die luistert hoe Treadwell en zijn vriendin worden verscheurd door een beer (zelfs dat wist hij op te nemen). Je krijgt de opname als kijker niet te horen en ziet enkel Herzogs rug, maar toch is de gruwel bijna tastbaar. De DVD bevat ook een bonus met een special over het maken van de soundtrack. Alles draait rond de gitaar van Richard Thompson, die wordt bij gestaan door o.m. Henry Kaiser en Damon Smith. Dat maakt het een klassiek pakket. (*****)
• Heavy Metal In Baghdad (Eddy Moretti & Suroosh Alvi, 2007). Documentaire over Acrassicauda, zowat de enige heavy metalband van Irak. Nu ja, veel metal komt er eigenlijk niet bij kijken: de band speelde maar een handvol concerten in zijn carrière en die werden dan nog eens bijgewoond door slechts een handvol metalheads, die doorgaans met hun eigen leven dienden te spelen om het gebeuren bij te wonen. Meer dan over muziek gaat het natuurlijk over een passie en hoe ermee om te gaan in een maatschappij die op hol geslagen is, waar gevaar om elke hoek loert, waar je huis verpletterd kan worden door een bom en waar je zelf haast gestenigd kan worden als je er iets té Westers uit ziet. De film volgt de leden over een paar jaar, in hun thuisland en later ook in Syrië, waar ze naartoe vluchten in de hoop een nieuw leven te kunnen beginnen. De bandleden konden vrij recent naar de Verenigde Staten en hebben ook een MySpace-pagina. Wat de film betreft: een deprimerend gedoe. (****)
• The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007). Lange, trage, ingetogen, repetitieve western, die zijn charme vooral haalt uit sfeerschepping en schilderachtig kleurgebruik. Dreigt hier en daar wat in slaap te sukkelen, al is het ook mooi om te zien hoe het genre voor een keer een andere benadering krijgt. (****)
  
• Get Carter (Mike Hodges, 1971). Een beetje de Britse Dirty Harry en alom beschouwd als een klassieker uit de Engelse cinema. Ziet er wat verouderd uit (vooral de geweldscènes zijn vrij klungelig), maar hey, ”t heeft een fijne, sleazy soundtrack en ‘t is Michael Caine als wraakengel. Geen mens die daarover moet klagen. (****)
  
• London To Brighton (Paul Andrew Williams, 2006). Mottig evenwicht tussen grauwe misdaadfilm en schrijnend realisme. Donker, meedogenloos en gewelddadig, met 0% goedkoop effectbejag , 100% impact en memorabel acteerwerk. Onderbuik-KO. (****)
  
• American Movie (Chris Smith, 1999). Sinds vorig jaar een levenslange favoriet Ten Huize Boleuzia. Goed voor tientallen oneliners en talloze momenten van plaatsvervangende schaamte. Een onweerstaanbare, ontroerende, hilarische klassieker. (*****)
  
• Jumper (Doug Liman, 2008). Pfff. Heroes, maar nog onnozeler.(*)
  
• Redacted (Brian DePalma, 2007). Controversiële Irakfilm van een regisseur die in geen tijden nog een klassieker maakte. Ook dit is er geen, al biedt het wel stof tot nadenken, een vernuftige mix van verschillende media en toch een paar geweldige scènes (zoals die dialoogvrije stukken aan het begin van de film waar de geluiden van knarsende legerboots en plastieken flesjes even domineren). Nada subtiliteit, zoals gewoonlijk, maar evenwichtiger dan The Black Dahlia. (***1/2)
  
• Vera Drake (Mike Leigh, 2004). Van de koning van de miseriecinema (zie Naked en Secrets & Lies). Deze keer staat de abortusproblematiek in het naoorlogse Engeland centraal. Ronduit fenomenaal acteerwerk van Imelda Staunton, al moet ze in het laatste deel van de film niet meer doen dan huilen (wat ze erg goed kan) en in de eerste verzuchten dat een mens wel een kop thee zou kunnen gebruiken (en er wordt wat thee afgezopen). Dat geflirt met het karikaturale berooft de film wat van zijn potentiële impact, maar het blijft de moeite. (***1/2)
  
• Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud, 2007). Gebaseerd op Satrapi’s bejubelde graphic novel. Ik las het boek niet, maar de film is alleszins de moeite: een biografie van een vrouw die opgroeit in een progressief gezin in Irak en worstelt met seksualiteit, venten, familie, roots, nationaliteit en culturele verschillen. Boeiend verhaal, maar vooral stilistisch blijft de film bij, met een vrij eenvoudige zwart/wit-aanpak, schaduweffecten en goed gevonden visuele prachtstukjes. (****)
  
• Gran Torino (Clint Eastwood, 2008). Het zou vrij eenvoudig zijn om deze film met de grond gelijk te maken. Het vehikel weet immers niet of het de richting van de zelfparodie moet kiezen (eerste helft) of die van de prekerige, moralistische koers (tweede), maar hey, het is Clint Eastwood, die duidelijk een loopje neemt met zijn imago, zich amuseert als ouwe brompot en toch wel zorgt voor enkele hilarische dialogen en gemompelde beledigingen aan het adres van Aziaten, latino’s en allerhande negroïde manspersonen. (***)
  
• Pride And Glory (Gavin O’Connor, 2007). Met Edward Norton, Jon Voigt en Colin Farrell. Veel potentieel, maar het komt er niet uit. Good cop/bad cop-verhaal dat de mosterd haalt bij Copland en We Own The Night, die beide beter zijn. (**1/2)
  
• Pollock (Ed Harris, 2000). Vreemde film: Ed ‘50% voorhoofd’ Harris doet er echt alles aan om zijn intensiteit in zijn vertolking te steken, de film is nergens aanstellerig of goedkoop en toch heb je na een tijd het gevoel dat het geen meter vooruit gaat, dat je naar een weekendfilm zit te kijken. Pollock was alleszins een onuitstaanbare zeiker (kunstenaars kunnen zich steeds net iets meer permitteren dan andere stervelingen), en de scènes waarin hij aan het werk is in zijn studio, kledderend en spetterend, maken veel goed. (***)
  
• The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974). Zie eerder ergens. Een filmbijbel. (*****)
  
• The Collector (William Wyler, 1965). Een van de laatste van Wyler, met een jonge Terence Stamp in een van zijn eerste rollen. Gebaseerd op de debuutroman van John Fowles en z’n tijd vooruit, maar het voelt de hele tijd wat stram en theatraal aan, waardoor het een ongewild komische ondertoon krijgt. Leuk einde wel. (***1/2)
  
• The Panic In Needle Park (Jerry Schatzberg, 1971). Grootstadsellende met Pacino in zijn doorbraakrol. Rauwe, realistische prent die aanvoelt als een documentaire. Naturalistisch en deprimerend. Pacino, kauwend, ratelend, intens als altijd, krijgt verrassend weerwerk van de intussen vergeten Kitty Winn, die sterk gestalte geeft aan het door schaamte en schuldgevoelens verteerde hoertje Helen. (****)
  
• Wallace and Gromit: A Grand Day Out (Ncik Park, 1994). Minst indrukwekkende van de reeks (de favoriet is hier vermoedelijk The Wrong Trousers), maar desalniettemin goed voor een half uurtje ongein. (***1/2)
• Series: het zevende seizoen van The Shield laat de reeks eindigen in schoonheid, i.e. met een laatste adrenalineshot (****1/2). Generation Kill beantwoordt nergens aan wat je van een oorlogsserie verwacht en blijft net daarom bij. Afstandelijk, chaotisch en met een geweldig einde (****1/2). CSI Season 7 kent, net als andere seizoenen van de serie, z’n ups and downs, maar het is het meest consistente seizoen tot nog toe en de miniature killer case is uitermate spannend (***1/2). Ook nog eens gekeken naar het leuke Stephen Fry in America een prima alternatief voor The Rough Guides en Lonely Planets. (****). Intussen begonnen aan het tweede seizoen van Mad Men. Het zet de stijl en kwaliteit van het eerste seizoen meteen verder.

NP: Richard & Linda Thompson – Pour Down Like Silver

Tyler Labine

Tim Gomez – CinemaBlend.com

Horror comedies have to be hard to make. Scaring people and making people laugh are two completely separate talents, and to expect one filmmaker to do both is almost unreasonable. Now it may be easier to go so over the top with your horror until it’s funny or to so terribly unfunny that it’s scary, but making a movie that is legitimately funny and scary is tough.
   Eli Craig hopes to do so with Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, which has just picked up two stars. THR states that Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk have signed on for the indie horror comedy as the title characters. The movie follows two hillbillies who are mistaken for the token murderous maniacs that usually come along with a horror flick. So in essence, we’ll be seeing a bunch of scared college kids running from two dudes who have no idea what’s going on. Sounds hilarious.
   Tyler Labine is great on TV’s Reaper and in his 30 second cameo in Zack and Miri Make A Porno. The same goes for Alan Tudyk and his cameo in Knocked Up. It seems like Craig may have a good eye and ear for comedy

Sharon Toohey (Brokeback Mountain, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Resurrecting the Champ) is the key makeup artist

Jason Paradis (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Dolan’s Cadillac) is the special effects coordinator

Ok, I’ll have to go and see it again. Surely Public Enemies cannot have been as bad as it seemed to be. Did I miss something? What happened? Why was my mind wandering all the time? Why was I thinking of The Untouchables, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford… even Heat?

Where was its story? What happened? Documentaries may well throw us into the action, but they place us, they make us care. I came out of this film knowing nothing and caring for nothing. A few thoughts had crossed my mind. Such as, was this the most boring film I had seen since Master and Commander? Wouldn’t a young Clint Eastwood have been great in the Christian Bale role. Wouldn’t Clint Eastwood make a great pensioner Batman.

Towards the end, the cop who hovers over a (plot spoiler) dying Dillinger gets his moment, and it seemed to be the only point in the film where we got some sense of the inner lives of these people. I liked those few moments.

But so much shooting and running and driving and hiding and waiting and chasing and walking and shooting and robbing and shooting… I needed to care more.

I’ll go and see it again. Maybe something’s hidden in there. Maybe I missed some of the dialogue. maybe I slept. Maybe next time round I’ll love it.

Leave comments. Tell me I’m right, I’m an idiot. Tell me these things even if you haven’t seen it.

Ok, I’ll have to go and see it again. Surely Public Enemies cannot have been as bad as it seemed to be. Did I miss something? What happened? Why was my mind wandering all the time? Why was I thinking of The Untouchables, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford… even Heat?

Where was its story? What happened? Documentaries may well throw us into the action, but they place us, they make us care. I came out of this film knowing nothing and caring for nothing. A few thoughts had crossed my mind. Such as, was this the most boring film I had seen since Master and Commander? Wouldn’t a young Clint Eastwood have been great in the Christian Bale role. Wouldn’t Clint Eastwood make a great pensioner Batman.

Towards the end, the cop who hovers over a (plot spoiler) dying Dillinger gets his moment, and it seemed to be the only point in the film where we got some sense of the inner lives of these people. I liked those few moments.

But so much shooting and running and driving and hiding and waiting and chasing and walking and shooting and robbing and shooting… I needed to care more.

I’ll go and see it again. Maybe something’s hidden in there. Maybe I missed some of the dialogue. maybe I slept. Maybe next time round I’ll love it.

Leave comments. Tell me I’m right, I’m an idiot. Tell me these things even if you haven’t seen it.

As a regular feature here at To Bathe in Filmic Waters we like to offer our readers a weekly serving of beautiful movie-oriented wallpapers. This week it is another 2007 film in Andrew Dominik’s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford that gets the Wallpaper Wednesday treatment, a review of which can be expected in the near future. Enjoy, and simply Right click>Save as to download each wallpaper. Earlier Wallpaper Wednesdays can be found here.

1680×1050 | 1440×900 | 1280×1024 | 1280×800 | 1024×768

1680×1050 | 1440×900 | 1280×1024 | 1280×800 | 1024×768

1680×1050 | 1440×900 | 1280×1024 | 1280×800 | 1024×768

1680×1050 | 1440×900 | 1280×1024 | 1280×800 | 1024×768

1680×1050 | 1440×900 | 1280×1024 | 1280×800 | 1024×768

Please feel free to request a particular size or image from the film by commenting below, or alternatively suggest a film to be featured on next week’s Wallpaper Wednesday! Thank you.

Brad Pitt

Dünyaca ünlü aktör Brad Pitt’in geçmişten günümüze uzanan parlak kariyerindeki rol aldığı filmleri resimleriyle hatırlamak istermisiniz? 45 yaşında olan aktörün kısaca özgeçmişini de vererek filmlerine geçmek istiyorum. 1963′te Amerika, Missouri’de doğan William Bradley Pitt ailenin en büyük çocuğu olarak dünyaya geldi. Üniversite öncesi okullarda son derece sosyal bir öğrencilik geçirerek golf, yüzme, tenis gibi spor ve müzik etkinliklerine katılmıştır. Missouri Üniversite’sinde gazetecilik bölümünü seçip okumuştur. Okulun bitmesine kısa bir zaman kala okulu bırakmıştır. Neden mezun olmasına çok az kala üniversiteden ayrıldığı sorulduğunda Pitt durumu ”Mezuniyet yaklaştıkça bu korkutucu düşünceyle daha çok yüzleştim. Arkadaşlarım iş bulup meslek sahibi oluyorlardı. Kendimi hazır hissetmiyordum. Ben filmleri seviyordum. Filmler benim için değişik dünyalara açılan kapılardı ve Missouri filmlerin yapıldığı yer değildi. Sonra kafama dank etti ve kendi kendime dedim; Eğer filmler bana gelmiyosa ben onlara giderim!” diye açıklamıştır. Bundan sonra Pitt hayalindeki oyunculuk işini yapabilmek için Los Angeles Kaliforniya’ya yerleşmiş ve orada oyunculuk dersleri almaya başlamıştır. Bir süre sonra filmlerde ve dizilerde küçük roller kapmaya başlayan Pitt, sinema sektörüne ilk adımını atmayı başarmıştır. Kariyerine 21 Jump Street adlı dizide aldığı küçük bir rolle bakmaya başlayalım.

21 Jump Street (1988)

21 Jump Street

Daha önce duymadıysanız şaşırabilirsiniz ama Brad Pitt’in bir bölümünde rol aldığı bu dizide rol arkadaşlarından biri Johnny Depp’ti. Ve bu iki genç oyuncunun birlikte göründükleri ilk ve son yapımdı.

Cutting Class (1989)

Cutting Class

Pitt bu filmde sorunlu bir genci oynuyordu. Filmin öne çıkan oyuncularından biri olduğu ilk yapım denilebilir.

Thelma & Louise (1991)

Thelma & Louise

Brad Pitt’in ilk farkedildiği film olan Thelma ve Louise’de iki özgür kadının yoluna çıkan çekici soyguncu J.D. rolünde oynar. Bu filmdeki kısa ama etkili rolü sayesinde Pitt’e Hollywood’un kapıları açılmıştır.

A River Runs Through It – Bizi Ayıran Nehir (1992)

A River Runs Through It

1920′lerde geçen bu filmde Pitt yine kendi karakterine uygun olan asi genç rolünde oynamıştır.

Kalifornia (1993)

Kalifornia

Bu çok bilinmeyen filmde Pitt, Earl Grayce adında psikopat bir katili başarıyla canlandırıyordu. Pitt’in saçı sakalı karışmış şekilde psikopat bakışlar attığı bu filmdeki performansı görülmeye değer.

True Romance – Çılgın Romantik (1993)

True Romance

Aynı sene oynadığı bir başka filmde bütün gün ot içip, televizyon seyreden bir karakteri kısa ama akılda kalıcı bir performansla canlandırıyordu.

Interview with the Vampire – Vampirle Görüşme (1994)

Interview with the Vampire

Geldik oyuncunun ciddi anlamda kendini gösterdiği Vampirle Görüşme filmine. Yıldızlarla dolu bu filmde Pitt, Tom Cruise , Christian Slater , Antonio Banderas gibi oyuncularla birlikte insancıl vampir Louis rolünde boy gösteriyordu. Vampir kavramına farklı bir bakışla yaklaşan filmde Kirsten Dunst 12 yaşındaki haliyle çocuk oyuncu olarak yer alıyordu.

Legends of the Fall – İhtiras Rüzgarları (1994)

Legends of the Fall

Aynı sene uzun saçlarını kestirmeden rol alan Pitt, masalsı görüntüleri, güzel müzikleri, uzun ve romantik hikayesiyle İhtiras Rüzgarlarında, Tristam adlı karakteri canlandıyordu.

Se7en – Yedi (1995)

Se7en

David Fincher şaheseri bu filmde Pitt, 7 ölümcül günahtan ilham alarak cinayet işleyen katilin peşindeki David Mills adındaki genç ve idealist dedektifi canlandırmıştır. Pitt’in rol arkadaşı da usta aktör Morgan Freeman olmuştur. İzlenmesi gereken filmlerden biri olduğunu söylemeden geçmek istemiyorum.

Twelve Monkeys – 12 Maymun (1995)

Twelve Monkeys

Aynı sene çekilen kült bilimkurgu filmi 12 Maymun’da, Pitt oyunculukta ne kadar başarılı olduğunu kanıtlarcasına akıl hastası Jeffrey Goines rolünde yer almıştır. Ve bu rolüyle Altın Küre En İyi Erkek Oyuncu ödülünü almıştır.

Seven Year in Tibet – Tibet’te Yedi Yıl (1997)

Seven Years in Tibet

Heinrich Harrer adında Avustralyalı dağcının Tibet’te yaşadıklarından sonra geçirdiği ruhsal değişimi anlatan bu film Pitt’in, Çin’e girişinin yasaklanmasına neden olmuştur.

Meet Joe Black (1998)

Meet Joe Black

Uzun ve son derece ağır giden bu filmde Pitt, devamlı takım elbiseyle dolaşan yakışıklı ölüm meleği rolündedir. Romantik – dram türünde olan yapımda oyuncuya usta oyuncu Anthony Hopkins , Claire Forlani gibi isimler eşlik etmiştir.

Fight Club – Dövüş Kulübü (1999)

Fight Club

Yine bir David Fincher şaheseri olan Dövüş Kulübü’nde, kült karakter Tyler Durden’ı canlandırarak yeni bir akımın doğmasında etkili olmuştur. Dövüş Kulübü, oyuncunun başarısını tüm dünyaya kabul ettirdiği film sayılabilir.

Snatch – Kapışma (2000)

Snatch

Bu filmde bozuk aksanı, kaslı vücuduyla arzı endam eden Pitt, çingene boksör Mickey rolünü canlandırır.

Spy Game – Casus Oyunu (2001)

Spy Game

Genç ve yetenekli ajan Tom Bishop rolünde Robert Redford’la birlikte oynamıştır.

Ocean’s Eleven (2001)

Ocean’s Eleven

Geniş ve yıldız dolu kadrosuyla bu eğlenceli soygun filminde Pitt, devamlı yemek yiyen Rusty karakteriyle boy göstermiştir.

Troy (2004)

Troy

Efsanevi Aşil karakterini canlandıran oyuncu 6 ay spor yaparak oluşturduğu Antik Yunan Heykellerini andıran vücuduyla boy göstermiştir.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005)

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Evli ve aynı zamanda birbirlerini öldürmeye çalışan iki ajanı oynayan Brad Pitt ve Angelina Jolie bu film sayesinde ilişkilerine başlamışlardır.

Babel – Babil (2006)

Babel

Pitt’in artık orta yaşlı olduğunu gösteren filmde oyuncu aile babası Richard Jones rolündeydi.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford – Korkak Robert Ford’un Jesse James Suikastı (2007)

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Pitt bu rolle yeniden karizmatik bir dönüş yaptı.

Burn After Reading – Aramızda Casus Var (2008)

burn after reading

Coenler’in filminde Pitt, alıştığımız karizmatik rollerinin aksine sakar ve aptal Chad karakterini başarıyla canlandırıyordu.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Benjamin Button’un Tuhaf Hikayesi (2008)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Yaşlı olarak doğup bebek olarak ölen Benjamin Button’un hikayesini anlatan bu ilginç filmde Pitt, Oscar adaylığı kazandığı oyunculuğuyla harikalar yaratıyordu.

Inglorious Basterds – İsimsiz Kahramanlar (2009)

Inglorious Basterds

Quentin Tarantino’nun çektiği daha vizyona girmeyen bu son filmiyle Pitt, yine olay yaratacak bir yapımda yer alıyor. Bu son filmi şahsen merakla beklediğimi söyleyerek yazıya son veriyorum.

Umarım bu uzun bildirim fazla can sıkıcı olmamıştır. Yazılar dışında fikri ve konsepti aldığım kaynak.

JB’s Weekend Movie- The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (2007)

 Directed by Andrew Dominik

Screenplay by Andrew Dominik (from the Novel by Ron Hansen)

Starring Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Rockwell, Mary-Louise Parker

Awards:

Chicago Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography- Roger Deakins

Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography- Roger Deakins

Florida Film Critics Award for Best Cinematography- Roger Deakins

National Board Of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor- Casey Affleck

National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor- Casey Affleck

San Francisco Film Critic Award for Best Picture- Andrew Dominik

San Francisco Film Critic Award for Best Supporting Actor- Casey Affleck

Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor- Casey Affleck

Venice Film Festival Volpi Cup for Best Actor- Brad Pitt

Western Writers Of America Spur Award for Best Western Drama- Andrew Dominik

It may be another ‘Weekend Movie’ shot by Roger Deakins but rest assured, it will not be the last. And maybe the only reason he wasn’t nominated for an Oscar for this absolutely stunningly shot film is cause he was already nominated for another movie, you know, ‘No Country For Old Men’. Yes, he shot both of those films at about the same time. He’s basically amazing. Speaking of amazing though, all I have to say is Casey Affleck. The first time I saw this movie on the big screen I was glued to him the whole time. He just commands your attention through out the movie. You seem to spend the entire time trying to figure him out. But not to be completely overshadowed, Brad Pitt turns in an equally mesmerizing performance. Just make sure you watch it a couple times so that you can give him some attention too.

JB

Last night, I went to see Tower Theatre Company’s production of Hamlet and, having never seen Hamlet performed live before, I was appropriately blown away by the sheer complexity of the text; the complex but detailed and intense emotions, the philosophical insights contained within the body of the text and the sheer ontological complexity of plays within plays and madness within madness and how everything mirrors and echoes everything else.  However, what really struck me was the fact that you do not get many tragedies these days.

In The Birth of Tragedy (1872), Friedrich Nietzsche wrote about tragedy as an expression of what he saw as the two-fold mood of ancient Greece :

“The strange mixture and duality in the affects of the Dionysiac enthusiasts, that phenomenon whereby pain awakens pleasure while rejoicing wrings cries of agony from the breast. From highest joy there comes a cry of horror or a yearning lament at some irredeemable loss. In those Greek festivals there erupts what one might call a sentimental tendency in nature, as if it had cause to sigh over its dismemberment into individuals”

I expect that this quotation will resonate with anyone who considers themselves a fan of Horror.  While some  forms of entertainment are up-lifting and inspiring, others (such as Horror) provide profoundly masochistic experiences.  For example, when you decide to go and see a film such as Pascal Laugier’s Martyrs (2008) you are spending money in order to manipulate your brain into behaving as though you are in danger; your heart beats furiously, your respiration increases, your muscles twitch with adrenaline and your stomach churns at the visuals on the screen.  Not only are you paying for the privilege of this kind of experience, you are also doing it for fun.

Reubens' The Death of Seneca (1615)

The tragedy is a very similar form of entertainment, even if it has fallen out of fashion.  Indeed, Hamlet is an example of a genre that is practically extinct : The Revenge (or Blood) Tragedy.  This genre has its roots in antiquity and in particular works of Seneca such as Thyestes, Medea and, most famously, Oedipus.  Consider, for a moment, the synopsis of the final act of Oedipus provided by Wikipedia :

“A messenger gives the news that Oedipus considered killing himself and having his body thrown to wild beasts, but then he felt that his crime deserved something worse due to the suffering Thebes has being going through. He decided to find a slow death for himself. He wanted a punishment where he would neither “join the number of the dead nor dwell among the living”. The messenger goes on to explain how Oedipus tore out his eyes with his hands. The chorus question fate, each persons “commanding thread of life” and then hear Oedipus entering. He enters with both eyes removed and is confronted by Jocasta. She realises from his action that she must punish herself for her crimes as he has. She takes his sword and kills herself with it while on stage…”

The Renaissance drew heavily upon classical learning and so Elizabethan theatres happily staged Seneca’s works before eventually putting on home-grown tragedies such as Norton and Sackville’s Gorboduc, Thomas Kyd’s Ur-Hamlet, Webster’s The White Devil and, of course, Hamlet itself.  While these plays ornamented the genre conventions laid down by Seneca, they stuck quite closely to them and produced some of the greatest theatrical works known to humanity.

But where are the modern tragedies?

The best modern example of this sadly overlooked genre is Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972).  A collection of great men head a great criminal empire but, after a lapse in judgement by the Don, they find themselves being murdered, their empire and family shattered.  As the dust settles, the one man who did not want to be a part of that criminal empire returns home and exacts a terrible vengeance upon the people who attacked his family.  But vengeance comes at a price.  The loss not only of the non-criminal life he might have lived but also the love of his devoted wife.

Another great modern cinematic tragedy is Andrew Dominik’s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007).  This film presents us with a successful criminal gang lead by an outlaw whose charisma has effectively made him into a kind of folk hero.  A young man then enters the gang and witnesses the gang’s demise and sticks closely to the outlaw as he sets about, in a fit of paranoia, murdering all of the people that he once called ‘friend’.  Having survived the killing, the young man then sees the outlaw’s paranoia turn upon him, forcing him to defend himself.  An act of murder which, for a while will grant the young man what he wanted since the beginning but eventually it costs him his happiness, his self-respect and, eventually his life.

Another personal favourite is Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible (2002).  Irreversible radically restructures the traditional tragedy by beginning the film with the act of loss; two men being carted off in chains as a mob pours homophobic abuse on them.  We then see that this fall is provokedby the brutal raping and beating of a woman both men are in love with.  The film then shows us the silly mistakes that lead to the woman deciding to walk home alone, the competitive relationship between the two men which lead to the problem escalating and, most movingly, the great beauty and love that were destroyed by human error.

nabbed from dvdbeaver.com

Modern audiences and film-makers seem to struggle to differentiate between a ‘down ending’ and a genuine tragedy.  There are many depressing (Requiem for a Dream) or bleak (Bergman’s Prison) films but hardly any of them possess truly tragic characteristics given that, all too often, the characters were hardly great to start off with or their downfall is due to external pressures rather than their own errors.  Indeed, one of the most famous of ‘down ending’ films, The Empire Strikes Back (1980) has all of the major characters plunged into doom and destruction but none of these dooms were of their own creation and, of course, the dooms were all too fleeting as the sequel enforced a saccharine ending with all of the eerie menace that can be wrung from an army of fluffy teddy bears.

So what is the attraction of these kinds of works?

Again, Nietzsche gets my vote.  Nietzsche was a proto-existentialist who saw tragedy as a means of transcending the nihilism and meaningless of the universe.  As creatures trapped between the anguish of being and the horror of non-being, humans are forced to find meaning where they can and by vicariously experiencing both the heights and the depths of human emotion provided by Tragedies, they can find something to fill the now and keep the void at arms’ length for at least a little while.  In other, less pretentious, words, experience has value and tragedies allow you to experience a breadth of emotion in a safe environment.

Unfortunately, for many audiences, art is nothing but medication for their wider problems.  They watch aspirational TV and films in order to picture themselves living better lives, they go to see idiotic comedies in order to forget their troubles and have a few laughs.  As Kurt Cobain so pointedly sang “ here we are now, entertain us”.

I find nothing entertaining in media that seeks to medicate and sedate the human experience.  Give me works that are the emotional equivalent of inhaling a jar of mustard any day.