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2009 Films CXVII-CXXI
CXVII: Der Scharlachrote Buchstabe ((The Scarlet Letter) Wim Wenders, 1973)
One of about ten film adaptations of the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel about a woman forced to wear a red letter A to mark her adultery after the presumed death of her husband. As she is once more asked to name the father of her child, her husband turns up, more in revenge against the cuckold than his unloved wife, who continues to get a raw deal. Portugal stands in for New England, and he is given a largely silent Native American as confidente. Supposedly not a happy experience for Wenders to make, and a rare venture into historical drama.
CXVIII: The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
I was convinced I'd seen more of this than I have, with a very clear memory of Brando's death scene as Vito Corleone - but that's not the start of the film, so unless Channel 4 showed it in two parts or I saw a restructured version, I'm at a loss to understand why. I can't think I watched two hours and stopped.
Brando cops all the honours, of course, and it was a genius that gave him a kitten to play with in the first scene, but there's much else. James Caan is excellent as is (of course) Robert Duvall, but I confess it is a revelation to remember Pacino before his schtick. The Sicilian wife is given little dialogue, and Diane Keaton is a little ill-served, and I'm not convinced we're shown the Corleone matriarch, but the meat of the film is Michael's (Pacino) entry into the family business. It's a long film, but I don't think it drags at all, although Coppola loves his long family celebrations over his scenes of violence, but equally cuts the two together. One of the Top 100.
CXIX: The Godfather Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
A more complex sequel and prequel - as Michael attempts to keep control of his businesses and avoid federal investigation, we are given Vito's back story from Sicily to America and back, with Brando's shoes being filled by Robert De Niro, which makes sense. Aside from the historical sequences, I wonder how close the two are in structure - there are the hits, the family parties, the weddings, the confirmations and so forth. You never quite get into Michael's head - he is shown, telling someone abut a plot against him, but it's never clear how much this is puppeteering and setting someone up. Definitely worth a look - although why this is split across two dvds I don't know.
CXX: The Godfather Part III (Francis Ford Coppola, 1990)
Conventional wisdom is this is all part of how Coppola disappeared up his own fundament and went all nepotistic and kept giving his daughter work, and was self-indulgent in including an opera as the second half of the movie. It is also a sort of alternate history, in which a version of the death of the pope in 1978 is moved to 1979.
It is very much an afterword - Michael appears to be atoning for past sins, giving heavily to Catholic charities (but perhaps with an eye on the Vatican bank) and is dealing with both untangling himself from the mafia and proposing his own successor as don. This comes in the role of Vincent Mancini (Andy García) - his estranged nephew - and much of the tension in the film comes in the tension of how far Michael can trust him, how far Michael is using him and how far Vincent knows he is being used, as well as his relationship with Michael's daughter.
The opera doesn't drag, and is another of Coppola's set pieces, intercut with violence. I don't think it got tired. Clearly the weakest of the trilogy, and unable to stand on its own, I think it's better than the critics say.
CXXI: The Thirteenth Floor (Josef Rusnak, 1999)
Second adaptation of Simulacron-3, which I recall seeing on a plane and rather liking. It stands up rather well, despite being largely forgotten in the wake of the brasher The Matrix and simpler Dark City, about the same time.
An old man is murdered in 1937 Los Angeles, but the city is a virtual one and the old man, Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl), has been killed in real life as well. The prime suspect is Douglas Hall (Craig Bierko), his colleague. Hall enters the virtual world in search of answers, and is confused by the appearance of Jane Fuller (Gretchen Mol), the daughter he never knew Fuller had. Unable to remember the night of the murder, and being shadowed by the the police, Hall is blackmail by a barman who claims he witnessed a meeting between Fuller and Hall; then the barman is killed. Meanwhile, in virtual reality, a barman realises what is really going on.
This is an odd mismatch - an opulent recreation of 1930s LA for what is then a chamber piece in terms of casting and actors. I guess it failed for reasons of complexity, but it's a narrative from 1950s sf such as half a dozen novels by Dick. A numbers of the actors have to play three or more roles, and I think it paid off with subtlety. Maybe it simply wasn't high octane enough - odd given its Roland Emmerich pedigree. There are plot holes, but no more than The Matrix.
Totals: 121 - [Cinema: 36; DVD: 75; Television: 10]
One of about ten film adaptations of the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel about a woman forced to wear a red letter A to mark her adultery after the presumed death of her husband. As she is once more asked to name the father of her child, her husband turns up, more in revenge against the cuckold than his unloved wife, who continues to get a raw deal. Portugal stands in for New England, and he is given a largely silent Native American as confidente. Supposedly not a happy experience for Wenders to make, and a rare venture into historical drama.
CXVIII: The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
I was convinced I'd seen more of this than I have, with a very clear memory of Brando's death scene as Vito Corleone - but that's not the start of the film, so unless Channel 4 showed it in two parts or I saw a restructured version, I'm at a loss to understand why. I can't think I watched two hours and stopped.
Brando cops all the honours, of course, and it was a genius that gave him a kitten to play with in the first scene, but there's much else. James Caan is excellent as is (of course) Robert Duvall, but I confess it is a revelation to remember Pacino before his schtick. The Sicilian wife is given little dialogue, and Diane Keaton is a little ill-served, and I'm not convinced we're shown the Corleone matriarch, but the meat of the film is Michael's (Pacino) entry into the family business. It's a long film, but I don't think it drags at all, although Coppola loves his long family celebrations over his scenes of violence, but equally cuts the two together. One of the Top 100.
CXIX: The Godfather Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
A more complex sequel and prequel - as Michael attempts to keep control of his businesses and avoid federal investigation, we are given Vito's back story from Sicily to America and back, with Brando's shoes being filled by Robert De Niro, which makes sense. Aside from the historical sequences, I wonder how close the two are in structure - there are the hits, the family parties, the weddings, the confirmations and so forth. You never quite get into Michael's head - he is shown, telling someone abut a plot against him, but it's never clear how much this is puppeteering and setting someone up. Definitely worth a look - although why this is split across two dvds I don't know.
CXX: The Godfather Part III (Francis Ford Coppola, 1990)
Conventional wisdom is this is all part of how Coppola disappeared up his own fundament and went all nepotistic and kept giving his daughter work, and was self-indulgent in including an opera as the second half of the movie. It is also a sort of alternate history, in which a version of the death of the pope in 1978 is moved to 1979.
It is very much an afterword - Michael appears to be atoning for past sins, giving heavily to Catholic charities (but perhaps with an eye on the Vatican bank) and is dealing with both untangling himself from the mafia and proposing his own successor as don. This comes in the role of Vincent Mancini (Andy García) - his estranged nephew - and much of the tension in the film comes in the tension of how far Michael can trust him, how far Michael is using him and how far Vincent knows he is being used, as well as his relationship with Michael's daughter.
The opera doesn't drag, and is another of Coppola's set pieces, intercut with violence. I don't think it got tired. Clearly the weakest of the trilogy, and unable to stand on its own, I think it's better than the critics say.
CXXI: The Thirteenth Floor (Josef Rusnak, 1999)
Second adaptation of Simulacron-3, which I recall seeing on a plane and rather liking. It stands up rather well, despite being largely forgotten in the wake of the brasher The Matrix and simpler Dark City, about the same time.
An old man is murdered in 1937 Los Angeles, but the city is a virtual one and the old man, Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl), has been killed in real life as well. The prime suspect is Douglas Hall (Craig Bierko), his colleague. Hall enters the virtual world in search of answers, and is confused by the appearance of Jane Fuller (Gretchen Mol), the daughter he never knew Fuller had. Unable to remember the night of the murder, and being shadowed by the the police, Hall is blackmail by a barman who claims he witnessed a meeting between Fuller and Hall; then the barman is killed. Meanwhile, in virtual reality, a barman realises what is really going on.
This is an odd mismatch - an opulent recreation of 1930s LA for what is then a chamber piece in terms of casting and actors. I guess it failed for reasons of complexity, but it's a narrative from 1950s sf such as half a dozen novels by Dick. A numbers of the actors have to play three or more roles, and I think it paid off with subtlety. Maybe it simply wasn't high octane enough - odd given its Roland Emmerich pedigree. There are plot holes, but no more than The Matrix.
Totals: 121 - [Cinema: 36; DVD: 75; Television: 10]