A QUESTION OF SILENCE (1982), CAROL (2015)

Three women converge of the shop owner
in A Question of Silence

A Question of Silence is a story of three women. One is a seemingly happy, plump middle aged waitress. But is she really happy? She's alone and perhaps she isn't really as contented as she seems. Another is an attractive office assistant. Her boss relies on her to run the office, but seems to have little respect for her ideas. The third is a housewife with a family. The three women don't know each other but find themselves at a dress shop one day. The housewife attempts to steal a garment and is approached by the owner. The three women converge of him and...well, they beat him to death.

The women are in custody and are interviewed by a female criminal psychiatrist named Janine. Janine tries to understand them at first and actually comes to sympathize with them as time goes on.

A feminist parable to be sure. What is the director/writer Gorris trying to say? And should a man watch this with a different eye than a woman? I'm not sure, but I don't think anyone watches A Question of Silence and says, "Wow, that was entertaining!" Of course, it wasn't meant to be.

Carol (Cate Blanchette) meets Therese (Rooney Mara)
in Carol

We recently read the 1952 novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith for my book club. It is the story of a young lady named Therese who slowly becomes enamored by an older married woman named Carol. It is a book that really delves into Therese's thoughts and somehow makes intricate details and mundane thoughts interesting. I actually liked this book more than some of the women in my book group who thought she relied on this detail too much and neglected getting on with the story.

Having read the book makes the praised film adaptation Carol interesting. I've seen it before, but looking at it right after reading the book makes it seem somehow less than when I first saw it. Granted, film is a different medium and taken as a stand alone without knowing about the book, it is a pretty good study of these two women. It also recreates the time well and Cate Blanchette and Rooney Mara are good in the lead roles.

Overall, the story is about a clear love between two women that can not be expressed because of the time and the situation they are in. But the end surprisingly does give them and the reader (or viewer) hope that they can both ultimately be happy.

The Price of Salt
(listed under Highsmith's alias
Claire Morgan)

MOVIES FROM THE 1990'S (MONTH 3)

I  had quite a few movies from the 90's left on my 1001 list that I had NEVER seen before that I decided to watch the this month.

Reversal of Fortune

Reversal of Fortune is the story of Klaus and Sony Von Bulow, the rich couple of whom there was much speculation at the time that Klaus knocked off Sonny for her inheritance. This was a huge story back in the day, but I never got around to seeing this movie based on lawyer Ron Dershowtiz’s book about the case until now. It is interesting in that it does present different scenarios to what may have happened and is punctuated by the lead performances by Glenn Close as Sonny,  Ron Silver as Dershowitz and best of all, Jeremy Irons (you’ve no idea…) as Klaus.

Strange Days

The James Cameron/Kathryn Bigelow Sci-Fi  film Strange Days was a bit of a bomb when it was first released at the box office. It’s hard to see why…the film certainly has the pedigree of a hit, with a good cast led by Ralph Fiennes and Angela Basset, a gritty story that keeps you guessing, loads of action, but not too over the top….So why wasn’t this a bigger hit again? I guess William Goldman was right-nobody knows anything when it comes to what movie is going to be a hit. The movie did get mixed reviews (63% on Rotten Tomatoes). The movie gets the consolation prize of making one of the editions of the 1001 movies book.

Boyz in the Hood

John Singleton’s Boyz in the Hood is the rough story of three kids and their family, friends and enemies over time living in the mean streets of Los Angeles. A penetrating, sobering  and tragic look at life in the hood. Often compared to Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, though my preference is for Boyz between the two films. Fine performances, especially Laurence Fishburne as the political philosopher father.

Three Kings

Three Kings is the story of Gulf War soldiers on a hunt for treasure in Iraq, who through a series of chaotic events eventually find their humanity and change the course of their actions and try to do the right thing. Three Kings works as a war film, an action film and as a human drama.

Trainspotting

Trainspotting is one of those films that gets away with more with me because of its Scottish pedigree. What I mean is that the story of malcontent heroin addicts has the potential to be a real downer (which Trainspotting is much of the time anyway), but does have a quirky sense of Scottish humor, as well as occasional glimpses of hope in the mire of sadness and lives wasted.

Lone Star

I really liked John Sayles' Lone Star, a Texas story of a current discovery that dredges up the skeletons of the past in a small Texas border town in more ways than one.  Well presented  blends of interracial conflicts along the Texas border, and the flashback scenes feature an uncharacteristically evil turn from Kris Kristofferson. Chris Cooper and Elizabeth Pena make a memorable couple in the modern story.  Forget the Alamo, indeed.

Slacker

Richard Linklater’s low-budget early film Slacker is an interesting experiment. Our minds are used to following a central character around, but in this film the central character interacts with another character and the next character leaves the central character and they become the main character! It took me a little while to get my mind around these multiple artsy Austin, Texas people at first, but had to admit I really began to like this film more and more as it progressed. Could be dismissed as gimmicky, but it works for me.

The Last Seduction

The Last Seduction… What movie does this film-noirish story of a sexually dominating and manipulative woman with more than a few sociopathic tendencies remind me of? Basic Instinct?…A little…Fatal Attraction?…Yes, a bit….Body Heat? Yes, that’s the one. It held my interest, but wouldn't quite make my book.

The King of New York

Since Christopher Walken has become associated with a lot of silly (but mostly funny) things in recent years, it's interesting to see him in a straight crime boss role that makes you forget about cowbell skits and Country Bears movies at least for the time being. He is the best reason to watch The King of New York, a gangster movie that may not be at the top of the crime movie classic list, but is still a good watch for fans of the genre. And it did make the 1001 list, so there you have it.

Safe

After watching the early Todd Haynes indie movie Safe, about a woman played by Julianne Moore who seems to be allergic to just about everything modern, I had the following conversation about it with my wife.

Wife: So what was the point of that?

Me: What do you mean?

Wife: I mean were her phobias mental or physical?

Me: I think it's supposed to be both, but it is intentionally unclear.

Wife: What about that community she goes to? Is the guy running it a sincere guru or a charlatan?

Me: You could interpret it either way, but I think it's intentionally unclear.

Wife: Okay. What about her family? Are we supposed to sympathize with her husband or is he part of her problem?

Me: Good question. I think it's supposed to be...

Wife: Intentionally unclear, I know!  I'll just look at the extras.

(After watching the extras)

Wife: Looks like a lot of what was going on was supposed to be intentionally unclear.

Me: I think you're right.

THE END

I still have a lot of NON-English language films left to see from the 90's. I will take a look at some of those next month.