Review section to follow
Thursday 8 March 2012
Sunday 9 October 2011
Dr Jeckyll And His Women - director Walerian Borowczyk France 1981
Dr Jeckyll And His Women for your review.
Review section to follow soon!
Review section to follow soon!
Saturday 26 February 2011
La Marge - director Walerian Borowczyk France 1976
La Marge for your review.
LA MARGE, in a way, can be viewed as Borowczyk's last effort to really score a hit with an almost mainstream film. Having seen this film on the big screen upon release (uncut at the Screen On The Green), it was my introduction to Borowczyk. It was based on a well known novel by Andre Pieyre de Mandiargues (whose work Borowczyk would film five times), it would be scored with some of the seventies biggest musical acts (including 10CC, Elton John and Pink Floyd) and it would star an actress who two years before had become the biggest box office draw in French cinema, Sylvia Kristel who called LA MARGE her favorite role she ever did in her autobiography. It is a seminal role in it and she is breathtakingly good in the film. Also starring Joe Dallesandro who had stayed on in Europe after travelling over with Paul Morrissey and crew a few years earlier for FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN and BLOOD FOR DRACULA and he, like Kristel, was becoming more and more in demand for some of Europe's top directors. He had just come off films with Louis Malle and Serge Gainsbourg when he stepped in front of Borowczyk's camera to deliver, what I consider, his greatest performance. Also joining Borowczyk was cinematographer Bernard Daillencourt who had previously collaborated on both IMMORAL TALES and THE BEAST, so he was no stranger to Borowczyk's striking painterly like compositional style. (1)
If La Bête demonised Borowczyk with most critics, the 1970s films which followed ensured that they would never forgive him. The critical savaging Borowczyk endured had to do with one thing: Borowczyk had exercised his right as an artist to discuss what interested him, in this case sex, and to show its many representations. The critics saw it another way, accusing Borowczyk of sexploitation and “art-porn”. Some even attacked him for making erotic films that weren’t erotic! (2)
spoilers ahead
The plot of LA MARGE is simple. A businessman leaves his country home, and wife and young son for a business trip to Paris. While there he develops a sexual and spiritual bond with a call girl. When he gets word from home that his son has accidentally downed and his wife has killed herself, his world begins to completely crumble around him. The plot is the least of LA MARGE'S many virtues. Like all of Borowczyk's works, LA MARGE reminds an audience of film's capability to give the moving image an undeniable soul. Everything from his angles, to the way he shoots Kristel and Dallesandro during their love scenes show Borowczyk as being among the great cinema stylists in history. From the filming of Dallesandro's and Kristel's feet during one of their lovemaking session, to the sad elderly maid who spends her evenings staring through couple's keyholes, to the unsettling confrontations between Kristel and her abusive John, an audience rushing the stage to roll a boiled egg and cigarettes over the semi-naked body of a female cabaret performer at the climax of her act - the film is filled with moments that continue to haunt.
Two major musical moments of the film are Charles Dumont's lovely UNE FEMME, which plays in its entirety through the film's key love scene, and the daring use of Pink Floyd's majestic Syd Barrett tribute SHINE ON YOU CRAZY DIAMOND during the film's heartbreaking climax. Borowczyk brings both of these songs to the forefront during their scenes, but other songs like 10CC's LAZY WAYS and Elton John's SATURDAY NIGHT'S ALL RIGHT play slightly underneath as if they are being heard from another room (or perhaps more precisely in only one of the characters heads). Another key song is I'M NOT IN LOVE, also by 10CC. This gorgeous and innovative track has been damaged over the years by being overplayed so much, but join me if you will in revisiting this lovely piece of British pop as Walerian Borowczyk would have heard it back in 1975 when he was filming LA MARGE. Even Sailor's A GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE puts an upbeat spin on 'the life goes on ending'. (1)
The ending of this movie is in the process not the outcome - there is no happy ending. Diana flees from her last session with Sigimond in post-fellatio because she's realized that she's fallen in love with him and is frightened he'll notice by the change in her sex-making. Later Sigimond shoots himself because the feelings he's developed for Diana made him feel unfaithful to Sergine's memory. The key thing to remember is that LA MARGE is a love story. However, it is very abstract in how it seeks to unravel their courtship ritual. There is a misconception that Sigimond is cheating on his wife or had been cheating on his wife. That view is entirely the opposite of the filmmaker's intention as Sigimond is still entirely devoted to his wife. Note that the super-hot hotel maid tries to tempt him into putting a move on her without success at least three times. Diana, on the other hand, won't fall in love either for the usual professional reasons, her jaded mercenary demeanor is what convinces Sigimond to keep going back to her as she seems to be the character opposite of his late wife, Sergine.
The look of the production is rich, filmed in primarily garish colours. The costumes, especially Kristel's wardrobe, which is entirely black, are elegant. The nudity is often blunt, with many shots of naked bodies filmed from the neck down, lending a voyeuristic feel to some scenes. Director Borowczyk lets the camera pan slowly down the bodies of his actors, leering at their nudity. This style occasionally lends the film a slightly pornographic feel. But this is in no way pornographic, as from start to finish, every scene is artfully filmed, paying great attention to little details. (3)
LA MARGE, in a way, can be viewed as Borowczyk's last effort to really score a hit with an almost mainstream film. Having seen this film on the big screen upon release (uncut at the Screen On The Green), it was my introduction to Borowczyk. It was based on a well known novel by Andre Pieyre de Mandiargues (whose work Borowczyk would film five times), it would be scored with some of the seventies biggest musical acts (including 10CC, Elton John and Pink Floyd) and it would star an actress who two years before had become the biggest box office draw in French cinema, Sylvia Kristel who called LA MARGE her favorite role she ever did in her autobiography. It is a seminal role in it and she is breathtakingly good in the film. Also starring Joe Dallesandro who had stayed on in Europe after travelling over with Paul Morrissey and crew a few years earlier for FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN and BLOOD FOR DRACULA and he, like Kristel, was becoming more and more in demand for some of Europe's top directors. He had just come off films with Louis Malle and Serge Gainsbourg when he stepped in front of Borowczyk's camera to deliver, what I consider, his greatest performance. Also joining Borowczyk was cinematographer Bernard Daillencourt who had previously collaborated on both IMMORAL TALES and THE BEAST, so he was no stranger to Borowczyk's striking painterly like compositional style. (1)
If La Bête demonised Borowczyk with most critics, the 1970s films which followed ensured that they would never forgive him. The critical savaging Borowczyk endured had to do with one thing: Borowczyk had exercised his right as an artist to discuss what interested him, in this case sex, and to show its many representations. The critics saw it another way, accusing Borowczyk of sexploitation and “art-porn”. Some even attacked him for making erotic films that weren’t erotic! (2)
spoilers ahead
The plot of LA MARGE is simple. A businessman leaves his country home, and wife and young son for a business trip to Paris. While there he develops a sexual and spiritual bond with a call girl. When he gets word from home that his son has accidentally downed and his wife has killed herself, his world begins to completely crumble around him. The plot is the least of LA MARGE'S many virtues. Like all of Borowczyk's works, LA MARGE reminds an audience of film's capability to give the moving image an undeniable soul. Everything from his angles, to the way he shoots Kristel and Dallesandro during their love scenes show Borowczyk as being among the great cinema stylists in history. From the filming of Dallesandro's and Kristel's feet during one of their lovemaking session, to the sad elderly maid who spends her evenings staring through couple's keyholes, to the unsettling confrontations between Kristel and her abusive John, an audience rushing the stage to roll a boiled egg and cigarettes over the semi-naked body of a female cabaret performer at the climax of her act - the film is filled with moments that continue to haunt.
Two major musical moments of the film are Charles Dumont's lovely UNE FEMME, which plays in its entirety through the film's key love scene, and the daring use of Pink Floyd's majestic Syd Barrett tribute SHINE ON YOU CRAZY DIAMOND during the film's heartbreaking climax. Borowczyk brings both of these songs to the forefront during their scenes, but other songs like 10CC's LAZY WAYS and Elton John's SATURDAY NIGHT'S ALL RIGHT play slightly underneath as if they are being heard from another room (or perhaps more precisely in only one of the characters heads). Another key song is I'M NOT IN LOVE, also by 10CC. This gorgeous and innovative track has been damaged over the years by being overplayed so much, but join me if you will in revisiting this lovely piece of British pop as Walerian Borowczyk would have heard it back in 1975 when he was filming LA MARGE. Even Sailor's A GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE puts an upbeat spin on 'the life goes on ending'. (1)
The ending of this movie is in the process not the outcome - there is no happy ending. Diana flees from her last session with Sigimond in post-fellatio because she's realized that she's fallen in love with him and is frightened he'll notice by the change in her sex-making. Later Sigimond shoots himself because the feelings he's developed for Diana made him feel unfaithful to Sergine's memory. The key thing to remember is that LA MARGE is a love story. However, it is very abstract in how it seeks to unravel their courtship ritual. There is a misconception that Sigimond is cheating on his wife or had been cheating on his wife. That view is entirely the opposite of the filmmaker's intention as Sigimond is still entirely devoted to his wife. Note that the super-hot hotel maid tries to tempt him into putting a move on her without success at least three times. Diana, on the other hand, won't fall in love either for the usual professional reasons, her jaded mercenary demeanor is what convinces Sigimond to keep going back to her as she seems to be the character opposite of his late wife, Sergine.
The look of the production is rich, filmed in primarily garish colours. The costumes, especially Kristel's wardrobe, which is entirely black, are elegant. The nudity is often blunt, with many shots of naked bodies filmed from the neck down, lending a voyeuristic feel to some scenes. Director Borowczyk lets the camera pan slowly down the bodies of his actors, leering at their nudity. This style occasionally lends the film a slightly pornographic feel. But this is in no way pornographic, as from start to finish, every scene is artfully filmed, paying great attention to little details. (3)
Sunday 13 February 2011
Shanghai Blues - director Tsui Hark Hong Kong 1984
Shanghai Blues for your review.
Director Tsui Hark, features his comedic style - silly and wacky, but also highly entertaining and eminently enjoyable. This fast-paced gag-filled screwball comedy set in the Shanghai of 1937 and 1947 only seems to get better with age (1). This is a tribute to old Chinese and Hollywood comedies from the 30's and the 40's. Tsui Hark mastered the abrupt changes in tones from fast paced and burlesque comedy to touching emotions. He displayed as well a mix of love stories, parodies and misunderstandings. Tsui Hark considers this movie as his favourite one and we consider it as the best example of what the Tsui Hark cinema can offer (2). 1984 Nominated -Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director & Nominated-Hong Kong Film Award for Best Film.
Have you ever watched a film that felt so good that you didn’t want it to end? That’s how I reacted to this film. Shanghai Blues is one of those mysterious HK films that you hear rumors about how good it is – but few people seem to have actually seen it. For some odd reason it is very difficult to get your hands on a quality transfer with sub-titles. This 1984 Tsui Hark film is just one of the most joyful, spirited and touching films I have seen in a very long time. It felt like I had injected myself with some long lasting mood enhancing drug. It has the atmosphere and cinematic style of a jaunty old-fashioned Technicolor MGM musical. There is no dancing nor do people break into song at the drop of a musical cue, but music saturates this film giving it warmth, texture, humor and a lot of soul. The colors of the film are vibrant and sumptuous, the set designs are cotton candy unreal – such as a large yellow moon hanging in the night sky - and the people all have that shiny classic 1940’s Hollywood glow to them. The three main actors all do a terrific job and the characters they create are memorable and enchanting. Sally Yeh gives one of the funniest, quirkiest performances that one could imagine and is so lovable that you want to reach through the TV screen and give her a hug. Sylvia Chang is wistful, winsome and bewitching and has a few perfect scenes and some stunning close-ups. Kenny Bee is quite handsome, droll and the perfect straight man for these two women to play off of. This film was not at all what I was expecting - I thought it was going to be this searing dramatic love story – but instead it is a celebration of film and of the human spirit. Most of all though it is simply hilarious much of the time. Tsui throws numerous old comedic devices into the pot but somehow makes them feel fresh. From the room full of hiding people scenario, to mice going down dresses, to pratfalls, to silly faces, to people bedding the wrong person in the dark and many more (look for Tsui’s cameo as a passerby who Sally dumps a bucket of water on) are included. Besides the frantic humor, there are other scenes that are poignant and sentimental – Sylvia looking at a violin and being reminded of the man she loves or a mad chase for a departing train – while there are other scenes that will simply make you sit back and sigh at the wonder of film.
spoilers ahead
One scene has Kenny Bee coming out on his balcony to play a song (Shanghai Blues) on his violin. It begins as a lone instrument - but then a phantom orchestra joins in – and a beautiful melody floats out into the night air. In the apartment below Sally wakes up and goes out on her balcony to listen and a yellow crescent moon lies out in the distance waiting to be lassoed. The night breeze blows gently through her hair and she takes on a look of such pure contentment that it will make your heart ache. The camera then wanders out into the night and pans over some of the denizens of the evening – homeless ex-soldiers living beneath the bridge, a drunken sailor stumbling to the ground, a lady of the night glancing his way. Finally Tsui ends it with a comedic punctuation mark as Sally suddenly sees a mouse (who had a prominent part in an earlier funny scene) – and shrieks bringing the reverie to an abrupt end. It is so simple, so sentimental and yet so evocative. It is two minutes of pure cinematic magic – and I must have re-watched this scene half a dozen times before I could go on.
Its 1937 in Shanghai and the Japanese have invaded China. One night during an air raid two strangers, Kenny and Sylvia, find refuge beneath a bridge – and with the bombs bursting overhead they fall in love in that moment in time. They promise to meet again when the war is over, but it is so dark that they can't see one another and before they can exchange names Sylvia is swept away in a panicked mass of humanity. Kenny goes off to fight and ten years pass but he finally comes back looking for Sylvia underneath the bridge. She is now a torch singer in a nightclub, but she has never forgotten that man and that moment and dreams of him returning for her. Kenny moves upstairs (this type of film thrives on coincidences!), but they don't realize that the person they both dream of is only a floor away. Sally is a penniless refugee in Shanghai who lands up in Sylvia’s apartment and begins to fall in love with the man upstairs. From this description, this film may sound like a romantic tearjerker – but instead Tsui takes us on a wild, crazy and scatterbrained comedic ride. Tsui’s main comedic instrument is Sally Yeh. She nearly steals the film with her wide-eyed out of control, bouncing ball character that simply is a joy to watch in action. Her performance is sublime screwball nuttiness. On top of this, the film offers a few charming musical performances in a nightclub. One has Sylvia accidentally knocked into a bath tub full of sudsy water which then ends up on stage where she adroitly breaks into song with her assistant, a very young and adorable Loletta Lee, rushing around her in panic. It is absolutely classic (3).
Director Tsui Hark, features his comedic style - silly and wacky, but also highly entertaining and eminently enjoyable. This fast-paced gag-filled screwball comedy set in the Shanghai of 1937 and 1947 only seems to get better with age (1). This is a tribute to old Chinese and Hollywood comedies from the 30's and the 40's. Tsui Hark mastered the abrupt changes in tones from fast paced and burlesque comedy to touching emotions. He displayed as well a mix of love stories, parodies and misunderstandings. Tsui Hark considers this movie as his favourite one and we consider it as the best example of what the Tsui Hark cinema can offer (2). 1984 Nominated -Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director & Nominated-Hong Kong Film Award for Best Film.
Have you ever watched a film that felt so good that you didn’t want it to end? That’s how I reacted to this film. Shanghai Blues is one of those mysterious HK films that you hear rumors about how good it is – but few people seem to have actually seen it. For some odd reason it is very difficult to get your hands on a quality transfer with sub-titles. This 1984 Tsui Hark film is just one of the most joyful, spirited and touching films I have seen in a very long time. It felt like I had injected myself with some long lasting mood enhancing drug. It has the atmosphere and cinematic style of a jaunty old-fashioned Technicolor MGM musical. There is no dancing nor do people break into song at the drop of a musical cue, but music saturates this film giving it warmth, texture, humor and a lot of soul. The colors of the film are vibrant and sumptuous, the set designs are cotton candy unreal – such as a large yellow moon hanging in the night sky - and the people all have that shiny classic 1940’s Hollywood glow to them. The three main actors all do a terrific job and the characters they create are memorable and enchanting. Sally Yeh gives one of the funniest, quirkiest performances that one could imagine and is so lovable that you want to reach through the TV screen and give her a hug. Sylvia Chang is wistful, winsome and bewitching and has a few perfect scenes and some stunning close-ups. Kenny Bee is quite handsome, droll and the perfect straight man for these two women to play off of. This film was not at all what I was expecting - I thought it was going to be this searing dramatic love story – but instead it is a celebration of film and of the human spirit. Most of all though it is simply hilarious much of the time. Tsui throws numerous old comedic devices into the pot but somehow makes them feel fresh. From the room full of hiding people scenario, to mice going down dresses, to pratfalls, to silly faces, to people bedding the wrong person in the dark and many more (look for Tsui’s cameo as a passerby who Sally dumps a bucket of water on) are included. Besides the frantic humor, there are other scenes that are poignant and sentimental – Sylvia looking at a violin and being reminded of the man she loves or a mad chase for a departing train – while there are other scenes that will simply make you sit back and sigh at the wonder of film.
spoilers ahead
One scene has Kenny Bee coming out on his balcony to play a song (Shanghai Blues) on his violin. It begins as a lone instrument - but then a phantom orchestra joins in – and a beautiful melody floats out into the night air. In the apartment below Sally wakes up and goes out on her balcony to listen and a yellow crescent moon lies out in the distance waiting to be lassoed. The night breeze blows gently through her hair and she takes on a look of such pure contentment that it will make your heart ache. The camera then wanders out into the night and pans over some of the denizens of the evening – homeless ex-soldiers living beneath the bridge, a drunken sailor stumbling to the ground, a lady of the night glancing his way. Finally Tsui ends it with a comedic punctuation mark as Sally suddenly sees a mouse (who had a prominent part in an earlier funny scene) – and shrieks bringing the reverie to an abrupt end. It is so simple, so sentimental and yet so evocative. It is two minutes of pure cinematic magic – and I must have re-watched this scene half a dozen times before I could go on.
Its 1937 in Shanghai and the Japanese have invaded China. One night during an air raid two strangers, Kenny and Sylvia, find refuge beneath a bridge – and with the bombs bursting overhead they fall in love in that moment in time. They promise to meet again when the war is over, but it is so dark that they can't see one another and before they can exchange names Sylvia is swept away in a panicked mass of humanity. Kenny goes off to fight and ten years pass but he finally comes back looking for Sylvia underneath the bridge. She is now a torch singer in a nightclub, but she has never forgotten that man and that moment and dreams of him returning for her. Kenny moves upstairs (this type of film thrives on coincidences!), but they don't realize that the person they both dream of is only a floor away. Sally is a penniless refugee in Shanghai who lands up in Sylvia’s apartment and begins to fall in love with the man upstairs. From this description, this film may sound like a romantic tearjerker – but instead Tsui takes us on a wild, crazy and scatterbrained comedic ride. Tsui’s main comedic instrument is Sally Yeh. She nearly steals the film with her wide-eyed out of control, bouncing ball character that simply is a joy to watch in action. Her performance is sublime screwball nuttiness. On top of this, the film offers a few charming musical performances in a nightclub. One has Sylvia accidentally knocked into a bath tub full of sudsy water which then ends up on stage where she adroitly breaks into song with her assistant, a very young and adorable Loletta Lee, rushing around her in panic. It is absolutely classic (3).
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