From last night. Beautiful Days Directed by Masaki Kobayashi • 1955 • Japan BEAUTIFUL DAYS (1955, aka Uruwashiki Saigetsu) was one of a series of mainstream dramas and romances made by Kobayashi after his flirtation with independent film making on ROOM WITH THICK WALLS. A romantic drama, it put him back in the success column as a filmmaker, working in the popular realm of his mentor Keisuke Kinoshita, but now without the input of the latter or his relatives; and it also brought Kobayashi together with screenwriter Zenzo Matsuyama, with whom he would enjoy a rich creative partnership (culminating with THE HUMAN CONDITION I, II, and III) over the next few years, as he developed his own style and reputation within the studio system.
Loved this movie! Judex Directed by Georges Franju • 1963 • France Starring Channing Pollock, Francine Bergé, Edith Scob This effortlessly cool crime caper, directed by Georges Franju, is a marvel of dexterous plotting and visual invention. Conceived as an homage to Louis Feuillade’s 1916 cult silent serial of the same name, JUDEX kicks off with the mysterious kidnapping of a corrupt banker by a shadowy crime fighter (American magician Channing Pollock) and spins out into a thrillingly complex web of deceptions. Combining stylish sixties modernism with silent-cinema touches and even a few unexpected sci-fi accents, JUDEX is a delightful bit of pulp fiction and a testament to the art of illusion.
Eyes Without a Face Directed by Georges Franju • 1960 • France Starring Pierre Brasseur, Alida Valli, François Guérin At his secluded chateau in the French countryside, a brilliant, obsessive doctor (Pierre Brasseur) attempts a radical plastic surgery to restore the beauty of his daughter’s disfigured countenance—at a horrifying price. EYES WITHOUT A FACE, directed by the supremely talented Georges Franju, is rare in horror cinema for its odd mixture of the ghastly and the lyrical, and it has been a major influence on the genre in the decades since its release. There are images here—of terror, of gore, of inexplicable beauty—that once seen are never forgotten.
Judex is ace. Do make a point of seeing Franju’s version when you are able to. Whilst we are on the subject, I’d like to give a shoutout to Franju’s final feature, Nuit Rouges, which has been unfairly maligned, IMO, over the years. Certainly no masterpiece, it is nevertheless hugely entertaining. I am surprised it hasn’t been remade by Hollywood, in the wake of the Dan Brown phenomenon.
Now there is a bold opinion. Not one I would agree with — I don’t think there are enough bona fide classics in Kobayashi’s oeuvre to sustain it, especially given the competition — but at his best he was a marvellous filmmaker. The Human Condition is up there amongst the very best (anti-) war films ever made. @Claus LH: As well as Harakiri, I would recommend you see Kwaidan and Samurai Rebellion as a bare minimum.
I'm in the middle of this one, never seen it before, an interesting slice of time... See all images Shampoo R · 1975 · 1hr 50min · Comedy Drama 6.3/10 IMDb 60% Rotten Tomatoes 65 Metacritic
I like this thread. I wish there was more involvement. I love getting Criterion recommendations. I have watched quite a few lately. The first is The Haunting. I don't believe I had ever seen it before. This one is very hyped, so I was expecting it to be better. Some beautiful cinematography, but otherwise a pretty average and not very frightening haunted house film. What does everyone think of this one? The Haunting Directed by Robert Wise • 1963 • United Kingdom Starring Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson Using shadow, suggestion, and atmospheric camera work, director Robert Wise turned Shirley Jackson’s novel “The Haunting of Hill House” into one of the screen’s all-time creepiest supernatural chillers. Hill House has a reputation for evil. The mysterious New England mansion has been the scene of multiple grisly deaths. Seeking to disprove the legends, anthropologist Dr. John Markway (Richard Johnson) and Hill House heir Luke Sanderson (Russ Tamblyn) invite two women—psychic Theodora (Claire Bloom) and the psychologically fragile Eleanor Vance (Julie Harris)—to stay with them at the mansion. Slowly, they come to realize that the terrifying stories surrounding Hill House are all true.
Very bizarre film I enjoyed with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. For an even better film, watch The Body Snatcher with both Boris and Bela and directed by Robert Wise, who also directed The Haunting. The Black Cat Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer • 1934 • United States Starring Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, David Manners Horror legends Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi were paired together for the first in this astonishingly perverse sadomasochistic shocker from cult director Edgar G. Ulmer. While on their honeymoon in Hungary, newlyweds Peter (David Manners) and Joan Alison (Julie Bishop) find themselves drawn into a deadly game of life and death being played out between a mysterious doctor (Lugosi) and a Satan-worshipping architect (Karloff). The deliriously stylized sets, shadowy expressionist atmosphere, and air of occult dread come together in one of the most frighteningly demented entries in Universal’s celebrated horror cycle.
One more for now. I just finished this one. An entertaining film by Tod Browning in one of his last films. Excellent performance by Lionel Barrymore in this freaky little film. The Devil-Doll Directed by Tod Browning • 1936 • United States Starring Lionel Barrymore, Maureen O’Sullivan, Frank Lawton Master of the macabre Tod Browning directs this weird-science cult classic based on the novel “Burn, Witch, Burn!” by popular fantasy writer A. Merritt. Banker Paul Lavond (Lionel Barrymore) escapes from Devil’s Island seventeen years after being framed by his three business partners. Having learned from a fellow escapee the secret of how to shrink animals—and people—to the size of dolls and control them via telepathy, Lavond sets out to use this diabolical knowledge to get even with those who wronged him. Disguising himself as an old woman, Lavond opens a shop in Paris selling his remarkably lifelike dolls—the first step in a twisted quest for revenge.
Watched this the other day. Fantastic movie! Very Kieslowski-esque. Never saw anything by Haneke but I will be searching out his other films. Caché Directed by Michael Haneke • 2005 • France, Austria Starring Juliette Binoche, Daniel Auteuil Winner of a spate of awards, including best director for Michael Haneke at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, CACHÉ stars Daniel Auteuil as Georges, a television talk-show host who lives a life of modern comfort and security with his wife, Anne (Juliette Binoche). One day, their idyll is disrupted by a mysterious videotape that appears on their doorstep. It shows them being filmed by a hidden camera from across the street, offering no clues as to who shot it, or why. As more tapes arrive containing images that are disturbingly intimate and increasingly personal, Georges launches into an investigation of his own. As he does so, secrets from his past are revealed, and the walls of security that he and Anne have built around themselves begin to crumble.
I literally just discovered the difference between the Criterion Collection and those films available on the channel. I recently saw Which translates into English as The Lady Without Camelias. I am a huge Antonioni fan, and had never seen this, his second feature film, from 1953. Excellent! Amazingly knowing and maybe a bit too cynical take on the movie business, all portrayed with high style, excellent direction and a great cast. It was actually on Netflix of all places. Highly recommend it, and apologize this is not something on The Criterion Channel - just from the Criterion Collection.
One of my favourite Antonioni films. It often gets overlooked in favour of later works, but I love this film.
While the approach of being a completist is one I view as capable of being, at least potentially, obsessive, a film such as The Lady Without Camelias shows the benefit of not merely relying on a director's better known works to count one's self as a "big fan". Of course in Antonioni's case I DO love the biggies. I also greatly value El Grido. But I've not seen most of his other pre-L'Avventura films. When it comes to looking back at the great directors, I can understand how say the Existentialist approach of Bergman (my favorite director) doesn't resonate with everyone making up today's film fans. I get why Kubrick is more beloved by many today, or Hitch or even Ford. But Antonioni I would think should better fit with more current views of past directors than he apparently does have.
It all goes to show the power of following one’s own nose, rather than relying on established criticism or received wisdom. Antonioni’s open-ended narratives practically demand you do your own thinking, rather than have simple-minded morality handed to you on a plate. In many ways, he was the ultimate mid-century modernist filmmaker, and an existentialist at heart, but he seems to have fallen out of fashion with many cinephiles since his death. The lack of conventional action and plotting in his films, together with the long takes and slow cutting, don’t fit with modern sensibilities. People aren’t prepared to put the effort in, frankly, which is a shame. But I believe these things come in cycles, and Antonioni will be appreciated again, at some point, for the great master he was. Funny you should mention Bergman. He wasn’t a fan of Antonioni. Nor was Orson Welles. Personally speaking, there’s room for all three directors in my life. I refuse to take sides, like a child in some playground fight. The world of cinema is a wide one. Vive la différence. If you haven’t seen it already, make Le Amiche your next Antonioni viewing experience. Another underrated early work.
Haven't seen this since the 70's. Just brilliant! I'm a big fan of Harold Pinter. The Servant Directed by Joseph Losey • 1963 • United Kingdom Starring Dirk Bogarde, Sarah Miles, Wendy Craig Director Joseph Losey and playwright Harold Pinter kicked off their celebrated trio of collaborations with this provocative deconstruction of class, power, and identity adapted from the novella by Robin Maugham. In one of his greatest roles, Dirk Bogarde stars as Hugo Barrett, a seemingly compliant manservant who takes a new job working for wealthy Londoner Tony (James Fox). As Hugo’s true motivations come to the fore, what begins as a traditional master-servant relationship gradually evolves into something far more complex and unsettling.
Great comments on lack of current appreciation for Antonioni. Yes, he leaves much to the viewer to understand about his films, particularly concerning the narrative. Think of the obvious example of the meaning of the ending of L'Eclisse. But that's a large part of the respect I have for him. He assumes his audience will appreciate the challenge. Still I do find it kind of odd that the great look of so much of his work, including the early example of Camelias (which btw I just noticed is also on Amazon Prime), is one I would think would help find a greater audience today. Examples like this from L'Eclisse: The architecture of it, showing the main characters in an indifferent environment and that sort of thing. Too Existentialist, perhaps. I will try to find Le Amiche. brief note about Bergman and Antonioni. I would not say Bergman was dismissive of Antonioni. I think he once mentioned La Notte as a great film in his view. I would agree he did not seem to be a huge fan, as I am, of Monica Vitti, which is unfortunate. I think Bergman also was impressed by Blow-up. I think for him it was more a matter given their different approaches that he did not find much in Antonioni that was useful in finding possible ideas. Bergman seemed to find more in films like Five Easy Pieces, which I found it somewhat amusing he told Dick Cavett he really liked -so do I, to be clear. It's merely easy to see how that film is closer to what Bergman was interested in than what Antonioni was doing. Bergman was after all also a playwright, and was more focused on dialogue and narrative.
I don’t really do streaming, preferring physical media. I own both La Signora Senza Camelie and Le Amiche on Region B BD from Masters of Cinema; both are now OOP. Criterion has released Le Amiche in the United States, so that one should be easy enough for you to find at least. Appreciate your thoughts on Bergman and Antonioni. Like you say, two very different types of filmmaker, with different strengths and focuses. There are moments in Bergman’s career when he, perhaps subconsciously, attempts to move into Antonioni territory. I’m thinking of things like Hour of the Wolf. It isn’t a direct homage by any means, but seems to be informed by a similar sensibility and element of mystery. If Antonioni ever made a horror film, it would feel like Hour of the Wolf, I think.
First time seeing this. Loved it! Village of the Damned Directed by Wolf Rilla • 1960 • United Kingdom Starring George Sanders, Barbara Shelley, Michael Gwynn On a single day, in the tiny English village of Midwich, every adult woman gives birth—to evil. As the glowing-eyed, platinum-blonde offspring develop at a remarkable rate, they soon reveal a terrifying power—the ability to read and control minds—that they do not intend to use for good. A still-chilling vision of Cold War–era paranoia, VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED remains one of the eeriest and most enduring entries in the “creepy kids” horror canon.
Thanks for the tip on Le Amiche. As for Hour of the Wolf, I have thought there is much in it that is similar to Fellini as well.. Particularly the sequences in the castle, for dinner, when the characters begin looking weird. It is, I would agree, one where the environment is presented more than others perhaps as indifferent, which is very Antonioni.
I actually forgot the title but it was about a family and a pet rooster in their apartment. I think they ate it at the end.
For me the main thing to recommend this screwball comedy is during the hippie scenes where Barry McGuire and Gene Clark (uncredited) perform: The President’s Analyst Directed by Theodore J. Flicker • 1967 • United States Starring James Coburn, Godfrey Cambridge, Severn Darden This wild, psychedelic satire stars James Coburn as Dr. Sidney Schaefer, psychiatrist to none other than the president of the United States. When the pressures of his job push Schaefer over the edge, he goes on the run through a funhouse-mirror version of swinging-sixties America, with a bevy of international spies hot on his trail in hopes of obtaining the classified federal secrets only he knows. Taking bitingly hilarious aim at everything from hippies and happenings to the rise of government surveillance, THE PRESIDENT’S ANALYST is both very much of its time and remarkably prescient.
A couple nights ago I watched Pinter’s “ Butley” starring Alan Bates. ( was delighted to see it in new monthly adds) Hadn’t seen it for ages. Fantastic acrid dialogue and Bates is superb. First time I saw it was the late 70s and it made a big impression on me then. They don’t make em like that anymore certainly applies to this film.
I saw it a few nights ago and WOW! I forgot to post the synopsis. Here it is: Butley Directed by Harold Pinter • 1974 • United Kingdom Starring Alan Bates, Jessica Tandy, Richard O'Callaghan On any given day, Ben Butley, a self-made train wreck of an English Literature professor, can shrug off everyone and everything with ease. But today, the disaster of Butley’s misspent life threatens to dwarf even his cynical non-expectations. Arriving at his cramped office, Butley is informed that his adored Joey is moving in with another man, his estranged wife is remarrying, and his seemingly untalented colleague has been published ahead of him. As embodied by Alan Bates, Butley falls back on the surgically precise wit and savage eloquence that helped put him in his current circumstances. The blitzkrieg of vitriolic commentary with which Butley engages lovers, students, rivals, and allies becomes a glass-bottom boat illuminating the churning depths of his bankrupted soul. Harold Pinter, in his directorial debut, turns author Simon Gray’s single-set, dialogue-driven play into a dynamic visual experience that tracks Bates’s hilarious and fearless performance with cunning precision.
Cache' is great. I do not have Criterion channel but searched out a blu-ray release recently. I have seen it twice many years ago and look forward to revisiting.
