Voyage to Cythera - Theo Angelopoulos (1984)

I think being a director is a very difficult thing to try to do. Being a great director is something only a few can achieve. Theo Angelopoulos is one of those few. He makes difficult, intricate films. 

Voyage to Cythera is a film about an old man returning home. It's a film about love. It's a film about encounters. It's a film about politics. It's a film about many things. That's why it's not easily comprehended. 

What makes it a director's film? The use of very long shots, neverending scenes beautifully staged. You wonder how you can think of such a way of presenting a subject and then actually turning it into a film.

When you think of Greece you might expect blue skies and sunny beaches... well there's nothing of that in Angelopoulos cinema. Grey overcast days are Greece too. I like that.

«In VOYAGE TO CYTHERA the voyage is really a reworking of the myth of the Return of Odysseus according to a myth which preceded Homer. Similar to Dante's version, there is a pre-Homeric version that Odysseus set sail again after reaching Ithaca. So the film becomes more a leaving than a homecoming. I have a soft spot for the ancient writings. There really is nothing new. We are all just revising and reconsidering ideas that the ancients first treated.»

Theo Angelopoulos 

Taxidi sta Kythira

A Matter Of Life And Death - M. Powell / E. Pressburger (1946)

First thing I thought was how much of a post-war film it is. You can tell it's from 1946. The first part seems like a choice between the free world full of happiness and Heaven, grandiose but full of burocracy. Then it changes into a completely different film.. that I have to say  thought ended too soon. The first part had nice timing, but when his trial begins it all happens too fast....

I'm not a fan of Technicolor. In this case it's very nicely used, photographed by Jack Cardiff. The black and white used for heaven is very impressive and the sets are amazing. I quite like that. The film is also known as Stairway to Heaven due to an impressive set piece built for a scene.

I wish I had written more about it when I saw it... I have forgotten most of the things I wanted to say no...

A Matter Of Life and Death

The Ladykillers - Alexander Mackendrick (1955)

My first Ealing Comedy ever. I should be embarrased. 

I quite enjoyed it. I like simple small films and this is a simple black comedy. The humour is so... natural, not forced at all. That's when it works best. Sometimes it seems excess of jokes or acting will make it funnier, and no, it won't. This film proves that less is more if over fifty years later it still works. 

The best thing about it is definitely the performances, from the old lady to the whole bunch. 

I can understand why the Coen brothers will want to remake it. I can understand why they would be interested but can't understand why anyone might think it needs to be remade or it might work in any other way than the original. Just by looking at the cast you know it won't work, you know it will be one of those trying-to-be-funny comedies... it just sounds wrong. 

Great films that still work as well as contemporary films do shouldn't be remade.

The Ladykillers (1955)

El mal ajeno - Oskar Santos (2010)

If you take a look at this blog you can possibly guess I like French and Russian films. And British. But if there's one country you could say I have seen a lot from, that is Spain. I have since most of the ones released in the 90s, and many from the 80s and 00s.

Eduardo Noriega isn't just a handsome actor, he can be a very  good actor too. He can play characters that are different from each other. In this film... he's ok. He does the best he can with the script he's got. It bothers me a lot how they tried to aged him more and it just doesn't work. This doctor is about his age, but simply doesn't look as old and worn out as he should.

So what is this film? Is it a thriller? Is it a drama? Is it a tragedy? Is it a fantasy film?! It certainly has elements of everything. It begins as a drama and slowly develops to a thriller with fantasy elements... and you could say the ending is a bit in the Greek tragedy area: will he choose his life and the life of his patients OR the life of all of his loved ones? But it doesn't really choose a genre and develops it efficiently. It's not an author film either! Perhaps it's trying to copy an Amenábar sort of style.

All the technical aspects are very good. The photography is great, stylish, nice to watch. The art is clean and stylish...again (except for how bad it tries to make a young looking actor look old and how healthy most patients look!). The sound is correct, nothing espectacular in terms of design but still well done. The music is meassured, not overused.

Still. How can a film that has everything for one to like it a lot.. still  leaves you feeling so... unimpressed? I think the screenplay might have something to do with it. If only something had engaged us during most of the film we would have been more excited at the end. It's not a bad film, it just lacks a soul.

El mal ajeno

My afternoons with Margueritte - Jean Becker (2010)

What does this still say?

A big overweight Frenchman sits in a park with an adorable old lady, surrounded by pidgeons. We can already sense he's not very bright and she's very distinguished. They read and develop a friendship that would change them both.

That's it. That's the film.If you expect a small feel-good French film, that's what it is. Nicely acted - Depardieu is meassured, unlike the also not very bright Quentin from Tas-toi!, his character is likeable (to me he now seems a little dodgy after his plane incident). Correctly filmed. Nothing more than that.

Also, it isn't excessively sweetened or full of unrealistic hopes. Sometimes we need films like this to pass the time.

La tête en friche

Nochnoy dozor - Timur Bekmambetov (2004)

I can't be objective when it comes to Russian films. This films proves it.

I had seen it before and all I could remember was that I saw it in one go and ended up watching half of the second part the same night. I enjoyed it more.

This time I thought it was... well impressive for a Russian film. It really looks like a Hollywood film. The visual effects are rather impressive and the sound work is quite good too- sounded a lot better than many films I've heard lately. It's a real fantasy film, only spoken in Russian. Is there a better vampire than one that speaks Russian? I don't think so.

Not much to say about it. Good effects. Typical good vs evil story. A Russian LOTR (which makes it a little more interesting) but without the need to read the book, it works as a film on its own.  The trailer says it all, there's no more than that.

Night Watch

The King Speech - Interview with Sound Mixer John Midgley

I already wrote an entry about it, but this is a very interesting video, especially because he talks about the way he worked for the film. It seems to me that sound mixers always have the same role and problems: fighting unwanted noises and the crew that creates it. It's comforting that it happens to big budget important sound mixers too.

(I wish they had use less of that little music for the interview... it really gets on my nerves).

Taken from here 

SoundWorks Collection: The Sound of "The King's Speech" from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.