#57 Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Directed by Billy Wilder.

How lucky to get to see not one, but two absolutely classic movies in the span of 4 days! I do not have any desire to critique this movie in comparison to 8½ or perform an analysis of the two movies side-by-side or anything of the nature. In fact, these two movies seem to me to be so far apart from each other despite the iconic status that they both have deservedly received.

Sunset Boulevard is a great film for film-lovers. We saw it during the opening weekend of SIFF's "Noir City" mini-festival of restored and recovered Film Noir movies. This was easily the highlight. A digital restoration that was amazingly clear and flawless. It really made me realize that so many of the "classic oldies" seem not nearly as good as they could be because in many cases bad quality reproductions (bad sound is a huge detriment to old films or poor image quality, for example). I feel that many these films would have so much more appreciation if they could always be shown in the quality that they deserve to be shown in. 

This is a classic tale about a queen of the big screen many years past her heyday desperately awaiting her chance to become big and famous again. Norma Desmond was an icon in the silent motion picture era, but the film business has radically changed in the past 20 years. Or as she puts it in response to a comment that she used to be big, "I am big! It's the pictures that got small." 

Everything put all together about this film make it one of the all-time greats. I am happy that I got the opportunity to see it on the big screen. It is definitely one of my top ten of all time!

#52 8½ (1963)

Federico Fellini.

This was the first time I ever saw this movie. And in 35mm in the theater, as well. I am so excited about this post and this movie, that every picture that I find on the internet I want to add to my post. I've restricted myself to only some of the best. Both movie posters I think are super cool. Then I have the two main actresses, Amouk Aimée, Guido's wife Luisa, and Claudia Cardinale, his muse Claudia. I also was extremely excited when I came across the animated gif of the dance scene with Mario and Gloria, which clearly was the inspiration for Tarantino's dance scene in Pulp Fiction with Travolta and Thurman, an obvious tribute to Fellini's 8½ if I ever saw one.

This movie is very difficult to write about, and I don't think I am going to try very much. I feel honestly blessed to have had the opportunity to see it in the theater even though it was a poor print and there was also a somewhat annoying older couple in the audience who laughed excessively during just about every scene. I think they were the kind of Seattlites who want to express to everybody how much they were understanding the movie by laughing at everything. You know, "we're so culturally aware and interesting. Not only do we go to 8½ in the theater, we want to make it clear that we know the film so much more than everybody else." To the point of at times repeating some phrase in italian that the character of the scene had just said with the air of like, "oh, how genius that is!" Regardless, it was impossible for me to come away from this film without thinking that it is truly one of the best films I have ever seen. And, I know that simply by its reputation as a film classic I was very hesitant to give it my approval. I guess I am very quick to think that movies are far too overrated. However, in this case, it was impossible not to adore this movie. I was completely enchanted by the actresses in this movie. Of course, the movie is about a film director struggling with his artistic voice and in particular with all the myriad women who occupy some part of his life. And Fellini does an incredible job of portraying them all. There is no way to watch this and not come away completely in love with women in all their incarnations. I was already so impressed with so many of the female characters already introduced at the point when Luisa, Guido's wife, shows up. Anouk Aimée instantly became one of my favorite actresses. And this was this first time I had ever seen her. The scene in which Guido sees her and follows her is incredible film-making at it's most basic. Her enchanting beauty and female strength was so immediately apparent to me, that I instantly fell in love with her. I was so entranced by Luisa and completely immersed by the movie that I couldn't have been rescued by anything that Fellini would do with it. And then he brought back into the picture Claudia. She had a very small shot early in the film that just gave you the idea she was going to be an insignificant extra in one of the strange dreams of Guido. But, no. He brought her back. And his portrayal of this sirena is too powerful to even try to describe in a silly blog. I only wish I could have seen the movie again immediately after it finished. Anyone who ever gets the opportunity to see this movie in the theater should legitimately feel great shame if they pass it up. I wish my meagre review could only portray a little bit how strongly I felt about this movie. 5 stars.

#25 Amour (2012)

#21 Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown) (1988)

Written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar.

#20 Rashomon (1950)

Akira Kurosawa.

This is truly a classic in the history of film. This was the first time I have seen it, as I hadn't ever really gotten into Kurosawa despite knowing a little about his work (primarily Seven Samurai) and hearing his name mentioned as one of the top directors of all time. 

Rashomon offers a great philosophical dilema. The movie begins with three men seeking shelter from the rain in a dilapidated building. The priest and woodcutter have just been witness to the trial of the notorious bandit Tajomaru and are retelling the tale. The story is quite simple. A samurai and his wife were traveling through the woods when confronted by Tajomaru. The woman is violated and her husband ends up dead. The dilema comes from the retelling of the story, as three different witnesses, the bandit, the wife and the dead husband (through a medium), all relay conflicting accounts of what occurred. Whose story is to be believed? How was the samurai killed? Why are there such drastic differences in the three versions of the same event? The final straw comes when the woodcutter reveals that he actually was present in the woods throughout the entire affair. When his account of the events offers a fourth version, we are struck with the complexity of what should be a simple straight-forward crime story. The earnestness of the woodcutter, along with the fact that the whole story of the trial is coming from him (with the priest as a corroborator), makes it difficult to question the validity of his account. However, when it is revealed that he hasn't been entirely truthful about every detail, a whole array of larger questions arise about perception, subjectivity, partiality, point-of-view and memory. I can clearly understand why this movie is considered a classic. And, I also wonder why today's movie-making industry doesn't generate many films that invoke mental contemplation from its viewers. Is film losing its place as an artform and becoming solely a commodity? 

#14 Django Unchained (2012)

Quentin Tarantino.

Definitely the best Tarantino movie I've seen in just about 18 years. Yes, I rank this one above Inglorious Basterds. Jaime Foxx plays Django Freeman the best bad-ass since Jules Winnfield. The return of Samuel Jackson to a Tarantino movie was another great highlight. DiCaprio is very good. Christoph Waltz is excellent. The story is well-written and the soundtrack is awesome. At numerous points in the movie, Tarantino's control over the tension between slave-owner and former slave, overseer and free man, slave and black slaver highlighted with the right music at just the right time made me feel shivers down my back. A feeling I hadn't had in a movie for a long time. There are too many good things about this movie to write about. 5 stars. 

#5 - Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

By Alfred Hitchcock. Starring the lovely Teresa Wright who is rapidly becoming my favorite actress. I've only also seen her in The Best Years of Our Lives, which I saw sometime last year and was instantly captivated by her. After seeing Shadow of a Doubt, I didn't realize it was the same actress even though the character definitely reminded me of someone I had seen in a similar movie. Once I looked her up and saw her filmography, I was instantly reminded of how I had fallen for her in the Best Years. Quite an interesting Hollywood persona, as well. One of the only actors (if not the only) to be nominated for an academy award for her role in each of her first three films.

"Are they? Are they, Charlie? Are they human or are they fat, wheezing animals, hm? And what happens to animals when they get too fat and too old?"

#2 - The Lady Vanishes (1938)

I was very impressed by the political connotations of this Hitchcock comedy. Made during the era of the British and French policies of "Appeasement" of Hitler and the Nazis, it is made clear the director's opinions on this matter. He shows the outright futility of the silly British "pacificist" in his belief that the Germans won't do anything to harm them as, "We are British citizens!" As in the 39 steps, it entails a playful love story between a couple that initially have a strong dislike for each other. I am quite more drawn to the burgeoning romance between the two main characters than I was with the 39 steps, as Margaret Lockwood is a much more interesting actress and the Michael Redgrave-played Gilbert is a playful musician with a good deal of audacity and spunk, and quite not your typical leading male from 30s/40s era films.

#1 - The 39 Steps (1935)

Naturally getting started off with one by a master, Alfred Hitchcock.

I had wanted to watch this and had it waiting on the computer when I got home from my trip. Then I realized while I was away that it appears in my favorite book Catcher in the Rye (which I try to read every year around Christmas time), as one of the few movies the Holden can tolerate and in particular because Phoebe has the whole movie memorized.

I mean if you tell old Phoebe something she knows exactly what the hell you’re talking about. I mean you can even take her anywhere with you. If you take her to a lousy movie, for instance, she knows it’s a lousy movie. If you take her to a pretty good movie, she knows it’s a pretty good movie. D.B. and I took her to see this French movie, The Baker’s Wife, with Raimu in it. It killed her. Her favourite is The 39 Steps, though, with Robert Donat. She knows the whole goddamn movie by heart, because I’ve taken her to see it about ten times. When old Donat comes up from this Scotch farmhouse, for instance, when he’s running away from the cops and all, Pheobe’ll say right out loud in the movie – right when the Scotch guy in the picture says it – ‘Can you eat the herring?’ She knows all the talk by heart. And when this professor in the picture, that really jolly German spy, sticks up his little finger with part of the middle joint missing, to show Robert Donat, old Pheobe beats him to it – she holds up her little finger at me in the dark, right in front of my face.