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Touch of Evil

Just because he speaks a little guilty, that don’t make him innocent, you know.

Touch of Evil is a fascinating film in many ways. It was the final film that Orson Welles made in Hollywood, it could be considered one of the last of the classic film noir and I even think it seems like a precursor to the French New Wave. I haven’t seen the version that was released at the time, only the restored version based on a long memo that Welles wrote after seeing the rough cut once. He wasn’t allowed back into the editing room and never saw a version that followed his advice.
Constraints are a fascinating thing. I think that they can produce much better work than having unlimited resources. With Touch of Evil Welles was brought onto the film at first to act, but ended up acting, directing and rewriting the script. With shooting completed in just over a month, the film is constructed out of a series of long takes with the camera following the actors.
Shot largely on location and with much of the film happening at night, it’s a convoluted thriller that shows corruption and revenge in a Mexican border town. Shooting at night enabled all sorts of great shots and lighting and the choreography of the actors is a joy to watch. Many scenes are great examples of how to stage and shoot a scene without needing to cut. The camera moves inside and outside and even into an elevator. Some scenes use a fairly static camera, while others throw things off-kilter and have fluid hand-held shooting.
Sound-wise it’s innovative with music coming from the environment and forming sonic bridges between different scenes. The stripped-down sound matches the contrasty lighting and meticulous framing as well as the characters with shifting alliances and motivations. A great film that is worth watching many times.

August 24, 2005 dvd, film, orsonwelles, review, touchofevil

The Five Obstructions

The Five Obstructions In 1967 Danish filmmaker Jørgen Leth made the short film, Det Perfekte Menneske (The Perfect Human), which is a sparse short film that shows people doing things, presented in a slightly abstract sense in black and white. 34 years later Lars von Trier proposes a set of challenges where Leth will remake the film five times and we see it all in The Five Obstructions (De Fem Benspænd.)
While remaking the film with different sets of challenges, it’s really about Leth, von Trier and their filmmaking philosophies. The glue that links the film together are the documentary segments where von Trier lays out the obstructions and Leth listens and writes them down. It’s a great way to see how a filmmaker works and thinks and they respond to the challenges that they face. Von Trier constantly tries to trip up Leth with various challenges and the film surprised me several times. It’s beautifully constructed and moves along quickly as we watch the battle between the two filmmakers, who once were student and teacher. The roles are reversed and there is a degree of perversity that is introduced as we wonder what the point is. They laugh about destroying the original film as they set off on the first obstruction. The various films are different and have varying levels of success, but overall the two oddly distant filmmakers manage to create a film that seems to transcend them both. Filmmaking can be a magical experience and this film is a singular and fascinating look at a game that reveals the players as we examine what a film can mean and how the process can shape the product.
Afterwards I thought about the obstructions and how it was similar to some of the things on “reality” tv. The arbitrary contests and obsessive attention to “the game” and how it is played. But while the obstructions were arbitrary at times, it wasn’t about the obstructions, but about people and the creativity. Both filmmakers are not only trying to battle each other, but to understand their work and themselves. Ironically they seem to understand each other better than they understand themselves. It would be fascinating to see how other filmmakers would battle each other in remaking films, but I suspect that the unique combination and chemistry of von Trier and Leth would be very difficult to achieve.

August 21, 2005 documentary, dvd, film, review

Dear Frankie

Maybe it’s just the films that make it over here, but I’ve loved every film from Scotland that I’ve seen over the last while. The latest one is Dear Frankie, directed by Shona Auerbach, who also was Director of Photography. The film is built around the characters and the wonderful performances that the actors give. The key is in the writing which sets up a dramatic situation that highlights a story about a family dealing with a secret. Emily Mortimer is a mother who hasn’t told her son that she is estranged from his father. She has told him that his father is away at sea and corresponds with her son as his father. But when the ship that she chose is coming in to port and she has to decide what to do.
While the plot moves the characters around, the film lingers on the characters as we watch them struggle with their lives. I loved the look of the film and the pace, which allows us to watch performances and interactions between characters. Mortimer is wonderful and much of her performance is in her face and body language. One of the things that I’ve been enjoying in many recent films is messiness in situations and characters. Things aren’t neat and tidy, but with ambiguity and suggestion. I like it when you get a sense of watching something unfold… it’s a better approximation of reality than so-called “reality” television. Dear Frankie is a great film about unconditional love.
tags: film, review, dearfrankie

August 17, 2005 dvd, film, review

Strike

Strike Filmmaking is a collaborative art that builds upon other media and the work that has come before. There are certain filmmakers who advance the art and have a powerful influence either directly or indirectly on those who follow. Sergei Eisenstein is one of those filmmakers. In Strike he tells the story of a factory strike in Czarist Russia. It’s propaganda, but filled with bold techniques and experimentation. The editing of the film is outstanding with some very obvious symbolism, but also with sequences that are cut with a rapid pace. Many of the techniques that are still used were pioneered by Eisenstein. The easiest (and most effective) way to suggest violence and action is through rapid cuts juxtapositions. While Eisenstein‘s theory of montage and his demonstration of it in his films is well-known, it’s easy to forget that he wasn’t innovative in terms of montage. He also was able to construct memorable sequences that flowed very well and are textbook examples of how to put shots together.
tags: review, drama, strike, eisenstein

August 15, 2005 dvd, eisenstein, film, review, strike

The Agronomist

Whether he’s making a thriller, a comedy, a drama, a music documentary or a documentary, Jonathan Demme is able to bring together the elements to create something interesting that also makes a statement. Demme tells the story of Jean Dominique in The Agronomist. It’s a great documentary that carefully introduces the charismatic radio owner, broadcaster, and journalist as well as establishing the context of the situation in Haiti. In watching the film I found out about a man as well as a country with politics much more complicated than I thought. Jean Dominique is fascinating to watch in the film in archival footage and in several interviews. He had a great sense of how to be a journalist who could take a stand and speak (as well as listen) to people. The film also weaves in the story of Michele Montas, who was Dominique’s partner in life as well as in running and reporting as part of Radio Haiti. It is a moving story about passion and the courage to do what is right in the face of danger.
tags: film, review, documentary, theagronomist

August 12, 2005 documentary, dvd, film, review

Go Further

Go Further In 2001 Woody Harrelson went on a tour to promote environmentally-friendly alternatives to our destructive lifestyle. Travelling in a bio-fueled bus and on bicycles, they went down the Pacific coast of California and Ron Mann made a film about that tour. Go Further skillfully combines a road movie with personal stories about how you can change your lifestyle and change the world. The ideas within the film are more fully explained and explored at Woody Harrelson and Laura Louie’s Voice Yourself site about sustainable living and reducing your environmental footprint. A film about doing the right thing can be didactic or boring, but Mann wisely builds the story of Go Further around people and their relationships. Instead of having the focus on Harrelson, it is on Steve Clark, who joins the tour and tries to give up his fast-food lifestyle. It’s a fun and entertaining documentary that educates along the way. I had a lot of fun and it gave me a few ideas as well.

July 26, 2005 documentary, dvd, film, gofurther, review, ronmann

2 / 8