#63 - Throne of Blood (1957, Akira Kurosawa)


I saw this at the AFI the same night as Sansho the Bailiff, this one being part of the "Shakespeare in Washington" festival. This is of course, Kurosawa's adaptation of Macbeth, set in feudal Japan. While mostly faithful to Shakespeare's original, Throne of Blood goes Macduff-less and features a ghost of an old man rather than the witches.

Kurosawa's foggy forest settings complement the ghost story, which evidently is inspired by Noh theater. Stephen Prince argues that the film is Kurosawa's attempt to portray Shakespeare in the kind of Japanese theater popular in Shakespeare's day. I dug it, but there's Kurosawas I like more.

new #100: Black God, White Devil

#13 - Sansho the Bailiff (1954, Kenji Mizoguchi)

More goodies from the Mizo retro at the AFI. Although a DVD is (finally!) arriving next month, I absolutely had to see this on the big screen. Unfortunately, this meant seeing in on 4 hours of sleep with no time to make a run to the concession stand beforehand to load up on caffeine. Just barely getting in on time (the "Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi" credit was onscreen when I took my seat) meant I had to sit in the very front of the theater (good showing by the way, kudos DC-area cinema patrons) with my head tilted all the way up, in the position one assumes when trying to sleep in a car, or a cinema.

Yup, I missed a great deal of the final act. I saw the final reunion with Zushio and his mother but I did not see him discover the fates of his father and sister. Fuck spoiler tags, yo. Thank God I'll be able to watch this again on DVD in a month to tie up loose ends.

Of course, what I saw (and what I saw was at least 3/4 of the two-hour movie) was phenomenal. Mizoguchi is definitely one of my favorite filmmakers of all time. I love how his postwar films deftly address contemporary social issues in a jidai-geki setting. Both Sansho and Ugetsu deal with the horrors of war and fascism and Oharu showed how women are still degraded and mistreated. It'll be interesting to see Street of Shame later this week (oh, I hope I don't have to work) to see how Mizo crafts a contemporary film. Too bad A Geisha isn't being shown, that's one I want to see soon too. Ah well, we have the Masters of Cinema Mizoguchi box and a Criterion Eclipse box coming soon so 2007 looks to finally be the year Kenji Mizoguchi gets his due on DVD.

new #100: The Terminator (honest, I've only seen T2!)

#41 - Paths of Glory (1957. Stanley Kubrick)

If not the greatest anti-war film ever, could this be at least the most cynical and at the same time heartbreaking indictment of the war politic? Of course, talking about the scenes that affected be would be spoiler city, so I guess no mention of that. Though I've always liked Kubrick, I never disagreed with complaints that his films are mechanical or lacking emotion until I saw Paths of Glory. It's so awful and so timely too.

new #100: All Quiet on the Western Front (what a coincidence!)

#69 - The Life of Oharu (1952, Kenji Mizoguchi)

The AFI Silver is doing a Mizoguchi session at the moment so I was thankful I got the chance to see this movie, frustratingly not available on R1 DVD. This movie, wow. Set in 17th century Japan but completely timeless, Oharu chronicles the decline and degradation of a young woman, once a courtesan to a mighty lord, now a 50 year old street whore.

Kinuyo Tanaka gives a knockout performance as the title character, saying little but saying so much. I always find it hardest to write about the films on this list that hit me hardest.

new #100: Senso

#41 - The World of Apu (1959, Satyajit Ray)

After the domestic box-office failure of 1957's Parash Pather and 1958's Jalsaghar, Satyajit Ray found himself returning to the hero of his first two films to make good on a promise to deliver a trilogy of films based on Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay's Apu character.

The World of Apu picks up where Aparajito left off (the novel Aparajito was split into the two films). Apu, now a young man in Calcutta, has *most* of a college degree and is *kind of* looking for work. Basically, he has become his father, but in a modern, urban environment.

A friend invites him to his cousin's wedding and in a wacky turn of events, Apu finds himself the groom! He now must take responsibility for not only his life, but his young bride's as well. And then, tragedy strikes. Again.

This could very well be my favorite Ray even if the scenario is a bit sitcom-y and later, soap operatic. Subrata Mitra's cinematography continues to evolve and I must confess to relating pretty strongly to Apu in this film. And you've gotta love that ending.

new #100: High and Low

#10 - On the Waterfront (1954, Elia Kazan)

I can't believe I'd put this one off until now. I guess it's rare when the Academy and the AFI get it right, but this is truly a landmark American picture. Brando is as fantastic as ever, as is the rest of the cast. The realism is of a level rarely seen in studio-era Hollywood. I'm consistently reminded of the second season of The Wire, which shares the same characters and location as well as journalistic research into the subject. Truly moving and accomplished picture.

new #100: Sans Soleil

#40 - Close-Up (1990, Abbas Kiarostami)

One of the benchmarks of the Iranian New Wave, Kiarostami's most acclaimed feature is an unusual mix of documentary and fiction that seems to exist in no other national cinema. In this film, we are shown the true story of a man who convinced a family he was director Mohsen Makhmalbaf and his subsequent trial. From what I understand, all the actors in the film were the actual people in the case. I haven't seen a lot of Iranian films, just a few others of Kiarostami's, but many use this technique.

I kind of thought the court scenes dragged a bit, also I would have preferred more stylization in the visual images. But the final scenes in which Mr. Sabzian, the imposter, meets the real Mohsen Makhmalbaf was very impressive. Seeing real events happen before our eyes- not documentary really, but completely unscripted. Kiarostami even breaks the fourth wall setting up the scene.

I can't recommend the Facets DVD at all however. They have a much-deserved reputation as the absolute worst DVD company specializing in foreign arthouse cinema and this was one of their worse efforts. The sound is atrocious, in bad need of de-essing (sp?), the colors ugly and the forced subtitles in blocks. It looked like what Borat was parodying. But good film either way. Hope Criterion or someone can get the rights to this.

new #100: To Have and Have Not

LIST UPDATE


Here's how this project looks as of April 1, 2007. Numbers in parentheses represent the overall ranking on TSPDT's top 1000 master list.

1. Children of Paradise (24)
2. The Gold Rush (37)
3. Intolerance (44)
4. The Wild Bunch (55)
5. La Strada (59)
6. Fanny and Alexander (62)
7. Greed (64)
8. The Earrings of Madame de... (68)
9. Voyage in Italy (75)
10. On the Waterfront (80)
11. Pierrot Le Fou (81)
12. The Leopard (85)
13. Gone with the Wind (88)
14. Sansho the Bailiff (89)
15. Last Year at Marienbad (91)
16. The Decalogue (94)
17. Letter from an Unknown Woman (95)
18. Gertrud (101)
19. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (102)
20. Earth (110)
21. Napoleon (116)
22. Shoah (117)
23. Ashes and Diamonds (121)
24. Black Narcissus (123)
25. Broken Blossoms (126)
26. Red River (127)
27. Ivan the Terrible (128)
28. The Grapes of Wrath (134)
29. Brief Encounter (137)
30. The Gospel According to St. Matthew (138)
31. The Exterminating Angel (139)
32. The Red Shoes (140)
33. Paisan (141)
34. The Sweet Smell of Success (142)
35. Rome, Open City (143)
36. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai de Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (145)
37. Kind Hearts and Coronets (146)
38. La Notte (153)
39. Two or Three Things I Know About Her (154)
40. Close-Up (157)
41. The Maltese Falcon (158)
42. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (160)
43. The World of Apu (164)
44. Paths of Glory (166)
45. Once Upon a Time in America (167)
46. The Philadelphia Story (168)
47. Meet Me in St. Louis (170)
48. Monsieur Verdoux (172)
49. The Good, the Bad & the Ugly (173)
50. The Traveling Players (179)
51. The Conversation (180)
52. A Matter of Life and Death (181)
53. The Crowd (185)
54. Vampyr (186)
55. Alexander Nevsky (190)
56. The Wages of Fear (191)
57. The Life & Death of Colonel Blimp (192)
58. The Exorcist (194)
59. A Star is Born (195)
60. Schindler's List (202)
61. Crimes and Misdemeanors (203)
62. Rocco and His Brothers (204)
63. The Crime of Monsieur Lange (205)
64. The Shop Around the Corner (208)
65. The Band Wagon (210)
66. A Day in the Country (216)
67. Written on the Wind (217)
68. Throne of Blood (219)
69. Berlin Alexanderplatz (220)
70. Germany, Year Zero (224)
71. Death in Venice (226)
72. The Life of Oharu (228)
73. Unforgiven (230)
74. The Tree of Wooden Clogs (232)
75. Les Vampires (233)
76. The Navigator (234)
77. The Awful Truth (236)
78. Strike (240)
79. Ninotchka (243)
80. Salo (248)
81. The Passenger (250)
82. Kings of the Road (251)
83. The Time to Live and the Time to Die (254)
84. Floating Clouds (256)
85. The Deer Hunter (257)
86. 1900 (258)
87. Marnie (260)
88. Only Angels Have Wings (262)
89. The Quiet Man (263)
90. Lola Montes (265)
91. The Young Girls of Rochefort (266)
92. Salvatore Giuliano (267)
93. Limelight (269)
94. Great Expectations (274)
95. October (278)
96. A City of Sadness (279)
97. The Great Dictator (280)
98. Tristana (288)
99. The Kid (291)
100. Deliverance (293)

#66 - Wings of Desire (1987, Wim Wenders)

Some of the most amazing camerawork I've ever seen on this film. Somebody put in overtime on the helicopter cam on this one. Sweeping through Berlin in glorious sepia-tone, Wings of Desire is a glorious visual feast.

But oh man, this movie is corny! Now I'm not the type to disparage a film over Christian/spiritual themes - I LOVE all those boring, spiritual crisis films by Bresson, Dreyer, Tarkovsky, Bergman. I think I just kind of draw the line at angels. Sorry, just can't take them seriously. We're moving into QVC collectible-plate territory here. I dunno, I could very easily see myself grow to love this film but for now, nah.

new #100: Deliverance