THE MIRACLE WORKER (1962)

Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke in

The Miracle Worker

The dramatic story of Helen Keller, featuring Oscar winner Patty Duke as Helen and Oscar winner Anne Bancroft as her teacher Annie Sullivan, really gets to the nuts and bolts of what it is like to try to teach someone with a disability. Many of the scenes with Annie and her deaf, dumb and blind student are hard to watch, which frankly may have been the main reason I never watched it before..

Why have I never seen it? You would think I would have made a priority of seeing such a famous film at least once in my life, but the subject matter doesn't always lend itself to casual viewing.  I guess I never had a compelling enough reason before to watch it. Filling glaring holes like this in my movie viewing resume is one reason I started a movie blog in the first place.

Why Am I seeing it now? I'm glad you asked. Our local theater is putting on a production of The Miracle Worker and I've been fortunate enough to be cast in the role of Captain Arthur Keller, Helen's father. Arthur Keller is a well off former Confederate Army captain who you can probably label a bit of a misogynist by modern standards. The main emotion Arthur has towards Helen is pity. The ex-army officer seems unable to bring out the toughness in his own home that Helen needs. The part of Arthur Keller in the movie is played by Victor Jory (Jonas Wilkerson in Gone With the Wind). I don't really have an objection to how Jory plays the role, though the way he speaks dialogue is at a much faster pace than I plan to. I understand of course that live theater is a different animal than a motion picture. We'll see how it goes.

Victory Jory plays the father of the child a bit too harshly and loudly for the already loud tone of the whole-Bosley Crowther, New York Times May 24, 1962

Victor Jory in The Miracle Worker

VIRIDIANA (1961, SPAIN)

Fernando Rey considers consummating his 

peculiar affection for Silvia Pinal in Virdiana.

"An ugly, depressing view of life." -Bosley Crowther, New York Times, March 20, 1962

Viridiana (Silvia Pinal) is a nun about to take her vows who is summoned to visit with her Uncle (Fernando Rey) and benefactor before she enters the convent. After she arrives at his house, Uncle is struck by her beauty and resemblance to his deceased wife and declares his love for her! He later drugs her before she goes to sleep and plans to take her virginity, though doesn't go through with the taking away her virginity part. He tells her he has anyway in order for her to stay. She rebuffs him and sets off on the bus trip back to the convent. She then receives the news that her despondent Uncle has committed suicide forcing her return to the house.

Her uncle leaves the estate to her and his illegitimate and neglected son, Jorge (Francisco Rabal). Jorge and Viridiana don't see eye to eye about how to run the house. This is complicated greatly by Viridiana taking in some of the town's beggars, who eventually take over the main house and make a shambles of the place. One of the beggars tries to sexually assault Viridiana and is only stopped by Jorge's bribe of one of the other beggars to turn on the assaulter.

The Last Supper recreated 

at the Beggar's Banquet scene in Viridiana

The final scene has Jorge and Ramona (a servant of the house that Jorge is having an affair with) in the house together playing cards. Viridiana comes to their door and joins them. Her hair is pulled down and she is now clearly secularized. She joins them in their game.

Let's play some cards!-The final deal in Viridiana

10 thoughts on Viridiana

1. The Uncle's thought process had to go something like, "You're about to go into a convent, I've drugged you,made you dress up as my ex-wife and plan to sexually assault you and blackmail you into staying with me. I'm sure this relationship is going to go so well!"

2. What is it about Luis Bunuel films and older men taking advantage of much younger women? (See The Young One)

3. What is it about Fernando Rey in Luis Bunuel films and older men taking advantage of much younger women (See Tristiana)

4. The meek shall inherit the earth...but the poor are not always so virtuous. When the beggars wreck the house and try to rape Viridiana it is truly sad from a societal standpoint.

5. The beggars recreation of The Last Supper while playing classical music is my favorite (and also the most disturbing) sequence in the film.

6. Bunuel often exhibits a dim view of organized religion, though the secular alternative isn't always a picnic either.

7. Silva Pinal hits the right angelic tone in the early part of this film which makes her putting her hair down in the final scene almost chilling.

8. The card playing sequence in the final scene struck me as odd at first, but upon further reflection it really was all that was needed here.

9. Reviewer Crother also stated he saw the film as being "obvious." I didn't find it that at all.

10. Bunuel is always interesting to me in that I didn't know a lot about his films and they tend to hit me pretty hard.

THE YOUNG ONE (1960)

Miller (Zachary Scott) begins to have inappropriate thoughts

about Kay Meersman in The Young One

"Goodness knows why this middling picture received a special mention at the Cannes film festival."
-Bosley Crowther, New York Times January 19, 1961

Crowther further asserts that the film appears hard to not be making any point at all. I don't agree with that. I just think Luis Bunuel is making the points he is trying to make in ways that are subtle and very open to interpretation...Oh, Bosely.

The Young One  is basically a five character film:

Miller (Zachary Scott) runs a bee farm on a remote island with his partner (who dies at the opening of the film) leaving behind a teenage grandchild.

Evvie (Kay Meersman) is in her early teens whose life on the island with Miller and her grandfather has pretty much left her an innocent.

Traver (Bernie Hamilton) is a falsely accused black clarinet player who has escaped to the island for refuge.

Rev. Fleetwood (Claudio Brook) is a preacher that comes to the island to baptize Evvie and say a few words over her grandfather's burial place.

Jackson (Crahan Denton) brings the preacher to the island and takes glee in the thought of stringing up Traver after he finds out the fugitive is there.

The characters intertwine in an interesting way. Traver is a hep cat, whose jazzy lingo and clarinet playing are a revelation to the innocent Evvie. Rev. Fleetwood is a very adminrable character, unusual for a representative of organized religion in a Bunuel film. Miller might be the most interesting character of all. It's interesting that we feel any sympathy for him at all considering he takes advantage of a young girl and is clearly racist in his attitude toward Travver. Maybe because he does really care for the girl and doesn't lie about it to the Reverend. Miller is also less racist than Jackson and does stop the other man from killing Traver. Baby steps, I guess.

One scene that stands out in the film for me is when Traver and Miller discuss their similar experiences in serving in Italy in World War II. It seems they do bond a little...if just a little. More baby steps.

I'm looking forward the remaining Bunuel films on this list...they always seem to wind up being something I wasn't expecting.

Sometimes a clarinet is just a clarinet

Bernie Hamilton and Kay Meersman

in The Young One

ANDREI RUBLEV (1969, SOVIET UNION) STALKER (1979, SOVIET UNION)

This is your brain...

This is your brain while

watching Tarkovsky

You see! It's the same damn brain!

That being said, you are really going to have to use different parts of your brain than you may be use to to appreciate Tarkovsky.

Tarkovsky's Stalker was based on the novel Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky and was released in 1979.

The plot summary involves life in a futuristic society with a mysterious forbidden zone (left by now departed aliens) where wishes come true at an end place in the zone just called "The Room." The zone can only be accessed through a guide called a stalker who leads clients through the hazards of the zone to reach their destination. The bulk of this two and a half hour film has a stalker leading a teacher and a writer in the hopes of eventually reaching the room.

Of course, since this is Tarkovsky, you aren't going to see the usual tropes such as a giant three-headed dog hindering our team from reaching the room. The blockades to their destination are all in their mind and in their dreams and in cryptic puzzles presumably set up by aliens to confuse our travelers on their trek.

Some may find this arduous endeavor confusing and aggravating in its lack of resolution. I didn't find it that way at all. I got caught up in this journey of the mind enough to watch it twice in a row. It definitely is one that will gain through repeated viewings...at least it did for me. I still have to ponder a bit on the character of Monkey...

Most well known image from Tarkovsky's Stalker

I'm ordering a t-shirt with this image on it

(I'm not kidding!)

Of course, I had to follow up Stalker with another Tarkovsky movie I hadn't seen. I actually started watching Andrei Rublev (filmed in 1966, released more widely in 1969) about a year ago, but simply wasn't in the mood and decided to wait for another time. It is hard to get into at first. The story is a series of seven vignettes set in 15th century Russia whose common thread is the Russian monk and painter Andrei Rublev, who is sometimes the featured character in the stories and sometimes only serves a background player. Once I got use to this style and the way the stories were presented, I really began to appreciate it this time out. I think acclimating myself to this approach may have been the problem I had in my first abortive attempt to watch the film.

Rublev views the carnage after the brutal raid sequence

in Andrei Rublev

Andrei Rublev gives us images of war and truly gut wrenching horror (especially in sequence V. The Raid), but we also see redemption and hope, especially in the final sequence (The Bell). It's a difficult watch in more ways than one and plot points may get scrambled in your head, but I believe it's a difficult journey worth pursuing and one I plan to go on again.

Rublev comforts the young bellmaker

in Andrei Rublev

Overall, Tarvoksy doesn't go over easy no matter how many eggs you may already have in your basket.