In Citizen Kane an elusive word, "rosebud" is uttered as the protagonist takes his last breath. This sets the wheels in motion for a reporter to uncover its meaning for the multi-millionaire publishing tycoon. The identity of this cryptic word would be revealed at film’s end…though I won’t tattle it here! Produced, directed and played by Orson Welles, this drama—based loosely on the life of William Randolph Hearst—portrays a man who helped change the world in his time using awesome political power. Conversely, it turned out that he lived his life to be history.
This film exhibits the wonders of the art of film-making, including the use of sound as a scene transition device alongside numerous quality performances. The story of Charles Foster Kane is that of an eventful and ultimately tragic life. His life begins with a silver spoon in his mouth as heir to a silver mining fortune. From his not-so-humble beginnings he ends up running a major newspaper--due to an impulsive decision--and marries socially prominent Emily Norton. His bid for public office is dashed when his opponent makes public the affair Kane is having with an aspiring vocalist.
2001: A Space Odyssey is an example of one of those movies you can view several times and get something different each time. It packs a lot into 139 glorious minutes. It highlights the milestones of human development—pre-history to the discovery of greater meaning--while floating in space. Some viewers are turned off by the apparent coldness and listlessness of the cast. It's a real reversal from the oversexed stars onscreen today that we've gotten accustomed to having the warm fuzzies for. The director, Stanley Kubrick, is suggesting that fleeting emotions are unimportant in the overall scheme of life’s BIG questions. Told as a narrative; it’s a mystery about a monolith that is first on earth in pre-history. Then it appears in the year 2001, which was a future time when the film was made, buried in the moon. Our space ship is sent to investigate. A ship traveling under the watchful eye of HAL--he's a computer--or as I like to call 'em circuitheads. Hey. Now this is starting to sound like our own technology rather than some futuristic, fantasy scene huh? Have an open mind for this one and experience incredible discoveries along with the one surviving human on the journey. It's quite a ride!
Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece called Vertigo is a spellbinding classic of deception and betrayal. This tale is spun with 2 main characters: a suicidal wife and a Private Dick. This hired detective is shadowing her for her own good. It then takes a turn for the bizarre when the detective’s obsession (for her) sets in. He is further troubled by vertigo that haunts him in his dreams followed by a healthy dose of a ghost story. The imagery in the film is like a moving painting, which ups the plotline into something more than just a fling between two (slightly off-kilter) people. It may not be Hitch’s most entertaining work, but instead contains more depth and complexity than some of his other famous films. So I recommend repeated viewings for the curious…or the darkly curious…or the obsessed…okay, now STOP!! You can rent this from Blockbuster and watch it repeatedly,repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly (if you get my drift!).
The Rules of the Game is a French satire made nearly 70 years ago—yes, they made movies 7 decades ago! But time hasn’t dampened its ability to shock and enlighten. A country estate is inhabited by a group of wealthy Parisians to enjoy some hunting as well as to celebrate the transatlantic flight of one of their own. The servants provide the contrast for the bourgeois, who clearly live by a different set of rules when it comes to matters of the heart. This film is pointing to class differences firmly entrenched in French society. A hero in all this attempts to live by his true emotions without lying, and as a sad result pays the price for it.
The Godfather is another film set in a culture foreign to our own American culture. Only since it has become popular have the traditions of Italian family life come to the fore. Here, the old world traditions from the motherland are clashing with a new generation raised in America. It extracts a terrible price in terms of conflict and deadly violence all for the sake of family. The family in this story is the Corleone family headed by the "Don" Vito Corleone of a New York mafia family…I can hear the gunfire already! It’s garnered a number of accolades based on its ability to weave disparate mini-plots into a cohesive whole. The whole is comprised of a family wedding where Vito’s power is beginning to erode as his heir-apparent, Sonny, disagrees with his refusal to get into the drug business. This sets the stage to explore the values of earning respect, a father’s legacy, and the corrupting influence of power. Acquire this film at A&E Shop.
Seven Samurai is anchored in ancient Japanese culture. It’s issue that the village must deal with is how to honor flexible humanism in the face of rigid traditions. The samurai are hired by the villagers for protection from bandits. However, the samurai are of a different caste and must never mix. Both sides are bound by belief and tradition. Then a romance ignites to bring into question this belief. The director is Akira Kurosawa who until this film created works that upheld the Japanese virtues of teamwork and conforming. This work was a turning point for him where the direction of his subsequent films shifted to misfits and nonconformists.
Singin’ in the Rain is a much loved musical in which the story’s characters express their emotions naturally in song and dance, replacing dialogue. Over half the film is composed of musical numbers. It’s colorful and witty. It satirizes the Hollywood dream factory itself. Taking place during the transitional time in moviemaking from silents to talkies in the late 1920’s. The stars are a famous on-screen romantic pair that is flawed off-screen when the lady, Lina, mistakes the acting for real love. To deepen the plot a talented, aspiring actress is brought in to dub Lina who has voice trouble—a sharp tune when she sings. Rent this classic at Netflix.
Psycho is a complex psychological thriller. Alfred Hitchcock’s first real horror film is full of nightmarish themes of confused identities, corruptibility, victimization and dark past histories revealed through repeated use of birds, eyes, hands and mirrors. It’s brilliantly edited in stark black and white. The main characters are a luckless Phoenix secretary and a crazy, timid taxidermist. The entire story ends up being very layered and complex and multiple viewing will help you capture all the subtlety. Apparently critics didn’t understand it very well, because when first released it wasn’t even received very well. But it is clearly one of the most frightening films ever made. I can almost hear loud, intensifying, screeching violins now!
Casablanca was considered to be a very good movie right from its time of release in 1942. Humphrey Bogart stars in this story of a tough guy who has hidden compassion that he does his best to cover up. It takes place during World War II when refugees are flooding Casablance to escape the threat of Nazism. Rick Blaine is an exiled American who owns a popular bar know as Rick’s Café American where many shady characters lounge. His old lover appears and needs an exit Visa to escape to America. This film is credited with strong characters and enriched with marvelous banter and humor.
The 400 Blows is a loving depiction of childhood in cinema. Antoine is a youngster who is misunderstood at home and at school. He is locked up in reform school and eventually escapes running to the sea. It’s rarity is evident in representation of childhood as an experience of knife-edge ambiguous emotions amid situations in which children are born into. The boy is the character that the audience, as well as the director can relate to from personal experience. Creativity abounds in this film where the poetic use of reality is the main ingredient. The story is told without undue sentimentality and the strength of the characters make the film. The audience sympathizes with not only Antoine, but with his father and mother as well. I found this for rent at LoveFilm UK.
Bonnie & Clyde ends in a hail of bullets but begins with two people living during the desperate days of the Great Depression. The story begins lighthearted when Bonnie and Clyde meet and pair up as both want to live glamorously in spite of drab poverty all around. It’s a tightly woven story of a pair of lovers who are fascinated with their own fame as bank robber and cop killers. Another theme throughout is their sense that they are getting back at the banks for foreclosing on poor farmers. The beauty of the screen images against the ugly events of the times in Texas provide a poignant sense of irony.
A dissolve fades to darkness….