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L'année dernière à Marienbad (1961)
See it with someone you want to put to sleep.
I was still in college in 1961 when "Last Year at Marienbad" won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival.
After its release at art film theatres in the USA, many newspaper critics were infuriated. This ensured large audiences. Film buffs came to see what the fuss was all about and then enjoyed arguing afterwards about what it all meant. So it was what the French call "Une Success du Scandal". Yet, I took a pass.
With a lot of time on my hands now (February, 2007) in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I was glad to find a fine DVD by Fox/Lorber of it for rent.
Having finally seen "Last Year at Marienbad", I've decided that all the uproar years ago was much ado about nothing. I thought it might be romantic and thoughtful, perhaps like Renais' "Hiroshima, Mon Amour".
Yet, it unfortunately reminded me more of "Night of the Living Dead", the 1950's camp classic. Many overdressed guests stand around at a palatial resort, looking as if they are about to die of boredom. They rarely move or even talk. Hmmm. Are they ghosts or zombies?
One couple have enough energy to start (or renew?) an affair, while her husband is usually off somewhere playing cards. They disagree whether they had met a year ago and, if so, where. Yet, as he points out, that doesn't matter. Indeed, nothing much seems to matter for the inmates in this mausoleum.
Will they run away and come back to life? Should we care? Why?
I'll give "Last Year at Marienbad" style points for some unique cinematography. I read somewhere that it had inspired a new visual style for advertisements of over-priced perfume and other luxuries. So if you enjoy reading Vogue, this film might be quite enjoyable.
Even so, this has to be the most listless film I've seen anytime, anywhere. See it with someone you want to put to sleep.
Piao liang ma ma (2000)
An inspiring tale of coping in China....
I read a lot these days about how many economists predict that China sooner or later will be the world's largest economy. Many, especially USA "neo-cons", like to praise China for having made this possible after "breaking the iron rice" in the 1990's. Hundreds of millions of peasants and urban poor were deprived of support for their daily needs, and somehow we are supposed to believe that this was necessary.
This film, however, shows the human cost for this. Gong Li, the gorgeous superstar in so many other films, is especially convincing here in her portrait of a single woman trying to take care of her deaf little boy and otherwise to cope in the harsh new China. Her husband had run off leaving her without any financial support, and she could not take legal action against him. Without any of the rights or support that are taken for granted in Western Europe, she has to fend for herself.
This film may sound too painful to watch. Yet, I promise you that at the end you will not feel depressed. The heroine is inspiring...not at all tragic...as she finds her way. She sets a good example to all of us, showing how to endure during hard times.
Another heartwarming film with a similar message is "Not One Less", also set in modern China. Be sure to see both!!
Rampo (1994)
Artistic, mysterious, erotic, deeply romantic, exciting...this one has it all.
Artistic, mysterious, erotic, deeply romantic, exciting....I've run out of adjectives for this compelling portrait of modern love.
"Tale of Rampo" was based in Japan shortly before World War Two and enjoyed huge audiences in Asian and European film theaters. Yet, its first run in the USA disappointed critics and audiences, who became puzzled and even annoyed by so many twists and turns in the plot.
Since then, "Tale of Rampo" has enjoyed more and more favorable word of mouth from a growing number of those who love avant-garde films. Many, like me, may have had to watch it more than once on DVD's or at art theaters before they could completely figure out what was happening. Yet, they mostly agree that the reward was worth the effort.
Like many first-time viewers, Rampo (Naoto Takenaka, actor), the intelligent but indecisive narrator, seemed surprised and even shocked by the tale as he wrote it down, and with good reason. For example, Rampo's deranged antagonist, as portrayed so boldly and brilliantly by Mikijiro Hira, went completely into orbit.
Most viewers, however, must have immediately appreciated the inspired graphics, brilliant cinematography, and lush musical score.
Above all, nearly every scene is dominated by the glowing and compelling spirit of the romantic lead, shown so convincingly by the lovely Michiko Hada. She floats along elegantly but mysteriously until the end, when she finally explains that she was "simply hoping to be in the dream of someone she loves."
That clinched it for me. I likewise hope to see her in one of my dreams...soon.