ABCs at the Movies: The Doubles Round!

[Meryl]

[oilgun]

Excerpt from http://filmsdefrance.com/FDF_Ossessione_rev.html :
What is most striking about Ossessione is its earthiness.  The characters are so real, so anchored to their location, that you can feel their lust, smell their sweat, become intoxicated by the cloud of petrol fumes and the dust that surrounds them.  The extraordinary on-screen rapport between the two principal actors Clara Calamai and Massimo Girotti is so tangible, so explicit, so torrid, that you feel almost guilty about intruding on their frenzied amorous couplings.  This is perhaps the essence of neo-realism.  It is impossible to separate the characters from their setting; if the setting appears real, so do they.  This is what makes neo-realist films – particularly those made by the Italians in the 1940s and 1950s – so powerful.  We believe what we see, down to the smallest detail, and if what we see hurts, then we are hurt, and very much so.

==COMMENT==
God, it's crazy how much I love this movie!

[Fran]

   

From IMDb:

The film is a real throwback to the 1970's. It captures the pervasive feeling of nihilism perfectly well, particularly on the subject of drugs.

The not-so-great colour and sound strangely add to the experience in making the film seem more documentary than a tale of two young people caught in the vortex of addiction.

Pacino and Winn both play remarkably believable leads.

It may not be an uplifting experience to watch the film, but in watching it, you cannot help feeling that it's a privilage to watch such mastery of directing and acting.

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VMjZyfyODM[/youtube]
Trailer:  2:51

[Meryl]

Starring Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson and Valerie Hobson.

[oilgun]

"The revolution is my boyfriend"


From http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=8559 : Hey, kids. Do you like gay porn? How about terrorism? Imagine this: your watching "Die Hard" and in a quiet moment Hans Gruber approaches Karl, rips off his clothes, and precedes to sexually ravage his terrorist companion in the most graphic way imaginable. [...] If this terrorist homosexual hanky-panky is something that appeals to you, or if you’re simply intrigued by the complex notion of politics mitigated by sexuality then you should definitely still not see this movie. "Raspberry Reich" is an awful, awful film. It’s trite, pretentious, and condescending. For those desiring an interesting political message, you will be bored. For those desiring erotic homosexuality, you will be bored stiff.

[Fran]

From IMDb:

I'm not Catholic, but this film makes you want to believe the whole thing. I've never been so moved by a story demonstrating the incredible power of innocence and simplicity as performed by Jennifer Jones in this faithful adaptation of the true story of the now-canonized Bernadette Soubirous. Beyond this story, the sets, performances, narrative flow, and in particular, the heavenly-inspired music of Alfred Newman is nothing short of transporting. Some may find the movie overlong, but I cherished every character and angle to the story -- much like enjoying the book with all of its detail. This effort demonstrates more than just the quality of the golden age of cinema and 20th Century Fox, but it adds a cast and crew clearly inspired to tell this true story like no other has been told before or since.

[memento]

[oilgun]

[Fran]

aka Valerie a týden divu



From IMDb:

Another great Czech new wave film that is both haunting and beautiful is "Valerie and Her Week of Wonders." (What a week... drip drip drip!) The story concerns a girl's surreal journey into womanhood. Things aren't what they appear to be for Valerie. When she gets a magical pair of earrings, she discovers strange secrets. Her peaceful village is really a town of sex-crazed vampires. Poor Valerie, of all of the times to get your period. To top it off, her grandmother is evil too. She's not even safe from the town priest. (Surprise surprise.) The film contains beautiful religious images, strange sexuality, incest, nudity and other crazy assorted weirdness. Sometimes it's hard to tell if the events are happening or if Valerie is dreaming. Director Jaromi Jires also used the story as symbolism for that political era in Czechoslovakia. One thing's for certain, they don't make fairy tales like this in the US. So if you enjoy films by Bergman, Fellini, Bunuel and Jodorowsky you'll enjoy "Valerie and Her Week of Wonders". Except for Cissy Spacek, I don't think I've seen anyone suffer with a more horrifying time of the month in cinema!

[Meryl]

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, the film was also called Strauss' Great Waltz. The film tells the story of the writing and performance of The Blue Danube. According to Hitchcock: “Waltzes from Vienna gave me many opportunities for working out ideas in the relation of film and music. Naturally every cut in the film was worked out on the script before shooting began. But more than that, the musical cuts were worked out too.”

Hitchcock told François Truffaut that this film was the lowest ebb of his career. He only agreed to make it because he had no other film projects that year, and wanted to stay working. He never again made a musical film.