1001: A FILM ODYSSEY (2018 UPDATE)

It's that time of year for this blog to look at the new edition of the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Book and see what new movies have been added to the old list. And the results are in...and there are eleven new entries this year and they are...

1. The Shape of Water (Best Picture Winner)

The Shape of Water

Offbeat (to say the least) love story set during the cold war is and may have been my favorite among all the Best Picture nominees. We'll see how this one looks in a few years. Maybe we'll decide then that the winner should have been...

2. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (The Best Picture Runner Up)

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

...Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell won Oscars for their performances in this controversial drama that some may find sexist...or racist...at least it will make you feel something, which is more than you can say for a lot of movies out today.

3. Black Panther (The Audience Favorite)

Black Panther

Well done superhero fair that puts a twist on the usual tropes by actually having black actors and actresses in most of the prominent roles. Certain to get a Best Picture nomination next year-a rarity for a Marvel movie.

4. Call Me By Your Name (Bildungsroman: Male)

https://1001afilmodyssey.blogspot.com/2018/11/tongues-untied-1991-call-me-by-your.html

Call Me By Your Name

5. Lady Bird (Bildungsroman: Female)

Nice coming of age film that I've actually seen twice now-and it does gain through a second viewing. Saoirse Ronan got a well deserved Oscar nomination for her role and it might be my favorite performance of all the nominees. However, my controversial choice in the Best Actress category is the unnominated lead actress from the number 9 entry on this list.

Lady Bird

6. Lady Macbeth (The feminist film)

Don't piss off Katherine Lester, that's all I'm saying.

Lady Macbeth

7. Get Out (The horror/comedy/low budget/black film that is hard to label succinctly)

The fact that this film is hard to categorize and has a lot of layers is one of the things I like about it. I'll definitely look out for future Jordan Peele films.

Get Out

8. Blade Runner 2049 (The cerebral science fiction picture)

I didn't know we needed a sequel to Blade Runner! I probably wouldn't have watched this if it hadn't been on the list, but the film does a good job with story as well as the action scenes.

Blade Runner 2049

9. Mother! (The artsy-fartsy choice)

http://1001afilmodyssey.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-exterminating-angel-1962-mexico.html

Mother!

10. The Handmaiden (The offbeat foreign film)

I'll always expect surprises from the director of Oldboy and wasn't disappointed with The Handmaiden.

The Handmaiden

11. Dawson City: Frozen Time (The token documentary)

Dawson City: Frozen Time tells the history of a town put together chiefly through silent films unearthed in 1978. Fascinating and well done.

Dawson City: Frozen Time

For my last post of the year, I'll look at how many movies I have left to watch from the 1001 list. 

I'll break out the abacus if needed.

                

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW (1964, ITALY), PASSION OF THE CHRIST (2004)

 Enrique Irazoqui as Christ in

The Gospel According to St. Matthew

It's interesting that the only film that tells the life of Christ on the 1001 movie list is Pier Paolo Pasolini's The Gospel According to St. Matthew. Pasolini was a controversial figure politically and with his personal life. He was murdered in 1975, ran over by someone driving Pasolini's own Alpha Romeo, a case that was never fully resolved. Pasolini's career film output include the extremely bawdy version of The Canterbury Tales, which I did like and his intentionally repulsive, Salo, which I did not. 

The Gospel According to Matthew depicts the life of Christ from the time that Mary is told by God that she is going to give birth to the Son of God through Christ's life and resurrection. The film is shot in black and white and includes a lot of close-ups. Much of the dialogue (In Italian) is taken directly from the Book of Matthew. Most of Jesus's greatest hits are here: the virgin birth, feeding the multitudes, performing healing miracles, John the Baptist foretelling Jesus's coming, the apostles, Judas's betrayal, the Last Supper, the crucifixion, the resurrection., etc.

The film is told with minimal sets, at least in the fist half and feature almost exclusively outdoor scenes. The music is used sparingly, but effectively when it is. Enrique Irazoqui doesn't have the usual appearance we may associate with Jesus, but he definitely has the right countenance and I found him effective in this role.

Jim Cavizel as Christ in The Passion of the Christ

The section that takes up the last twenty or so minutes of The Gospel According to St. Matthew is where Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ begins. We start with Jesus being betrayed by Judas and being captured. Then we see Jesus being persecuted and condemned by the Jewish High Priests and tortured by the Roman Guard...repeatedly. When we finally reach the crucifixion, it is a relief that the torture has come to an end. 

The Passion of the Christ was an unexpected phenomenon the year it came out. An R-rated, torture filled film in mostly Hebrew and Latin does not usually spell blockbuster, but the evangelical crowd took this one to heart. How one sees this film could differ greatly due to your religious bent, though I found it needlessly excessive in the excruciating violence, though maybe that was the point. No matter what one thinks of Gibson personally (lots of baggage here, like Pasolini), there is no doubt he is a good director. The flashback scenes of Jesus's life and the scenes with Pontius Pilate are most effective. I also found the albino Satan creepily effective.

This is the second time I've seen The Passion, and don't plan to watch it again. The Gospel According to Matthew, I think I'd like to give another go at some point.

Now where did I put my VHS copy of The Greatest Story Ever Told?

THE FIREMEN'S BALL (1967,CZECHOSLOVAKIA), ALICE (1988,CZECHOSLOVAKIA )

 

The awkward presentation of the beauty pageant queen

in The Firemen's Ball

The Firemen's Ball is one of the satirical examples of film from the Czech Film Renaissance of the 1960's and also is an early work of Milos Forman from his native country before he became one of the most successful directors in America over the next few decades. The Firemen's Ball is a striking satire of small town life. The old duffers in the town's fire department sets up a raffle and an ill-advised beauty pageant for their annual ball. They are giving away a fire axe at the ball to their old chairman, who is dying. Nothing goes right for the firemen: the thrown together beauty contestants won't go on stage, a young couple is fooling around under the table while the ball (no pun intended) is going on, many of the raffle items come up stolen, the firemen can't seem to agree on any protocols and the axe goes missing! There is also an actual fire that they have to deal with and a house burns to the ground. The film has been read as an allegory against the Communist state, though I'm not sure I get that out of it. It is amusing, if not laugh out loud funny. I think some of the satire is awfully subtle, but I did like it and appreciated those touches that Foreman brought to his film when I thought about it after viewing.

The firemen look for contestants

in The Firemen's Ball

The not very adorable white rabbit

in Alice

Speaking of having a different opinion of a film after it is over....Short film director Jan Švankmajer brought this stop motion and part live action version of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland to the screen and it is a most unusual to say the least. It doesn't give the viewer a straight ahead narrative of the Alice story. It is more a culmination of images of the story brought together in a form that is bit hard to follow. This aggravated me at first, I must admit. At ninety minutes, I thought the proceeding went on too long and thought this might work better as a short film. By the time the film drew to a close, I had changed my mind. Švankmajer was trying to bring the nightmarish state of Alice's journey to life and he really succeeds in that. I will say you really have to be in the right frame of mind to watch this one.

A mad tea party in Alice

LE TROU (1960, FRANCE)

Le Trou (planning)

Le Trou (The Hole) is Jacques Becker's film about a prison break. And it is not your standard prison break movie. There is no dramatic soundtrack played in the background as the men make their tunnels. There isn't an all star-cast on hand (think The Great Escape) to give us easy character types to hang our hat on to root for. There is also the interesting way Becker films the escape. What we see is the minutiae of the enterprise. There is a scene where we see all of the prisoners taking turns digging and moving away rubble. We are used to seeing a scene like this for maybe a quick shot or two and we move on. In Le Trou, this scene goes on...and on... Aren't they going to cut to another scene, soon? I said to myself. We then see the entire path to the prisoner's escape. And if you are looking for a drama with comic relief, I suggest looking elsewhere.  If you are looking for any female characters (there is one for a few minutes), I suggest looking elsewhere.

So what is my verdict of this enterprise?

First, here is an excerpt from Bosley Crowther's 1964 New York Times review of the film: "The task of hacking through the concrete floor is not a passing effort that is told with a quick few shots and a few dissolves. It is made into a tremendous labor of many minutes of hacking and scooping out debris while one of the men watches for the guards and all exhaust themselves completely before the whole is broken through."

Le Trou (timing)

My verdict is that I pretty much agree completely (a rarity) with Crowther's very positive review of the film. I really felt the prisoners exhaustion and was right down there in the hole with them. I was also there on the route they made for escape. (Am I starting to sound like Tom Joad?) The whole thing built slowly in much the same way the inmates in the film slowly give out information and learn to trust their new cellmate. It's a powerful film and would rate very highly on my favorite film list.

Sadly, Becker died shortly before the film was released in 1960.

Le Trou (digging...lots of digging)