#224 From Here to Eternity (1953)

**

Director: Fred Zinnemann

Cast: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra, Philip Ober, Mickey Shaughnessy, Harry Bellaver, Enerst Borgnine, Jack Warden

This is a film that boasts being credited with one of the steamiest on-screen love scenes ever put on film. And while I must say, the sandy, salty romp in the surf between Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster is nothing to be ignored, it was not sumptuous enough to sustain the entire film from becoming a rather large bore.

In 1954, the film won an endless number of awards, particularly from The Academy, taking big-time Oscars like Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Reed), Best Sound, and Best Writing. And while I see the film's value to an America that loves the military and its 'boys,' I had a hard time understanding how this film had managed to be such a blockbuster.

Well anyway, it follows the story of three army men: Pvt. Robert E. Lee Prewitt, a transfer top bugler who is hard-headed after a tragic history with boxing; Sgt. Milton Warden, a noble, loyal man who is lovesick for his Captain's wife; and Pvt. Angelo Maggio, a scrawny, loud-mouthed, and good-natured smart alec who gets himself into trouble on a regular basis. All stationed in Hawaii in the peacetime days leading up to the December 7th attack on Pearl Harbor, we witness their struggles with their superiors, one another, and even love/loneliness.

I have nothing against the acting, score, mis en scene, or any of the goodies that make up great films. I guess my gripe comes from my personal opinion of this straight-on pro-military film. While it does make points on the limits and sometimes absurdities of the US Army, it does in many ways still celebrate the men and the structure that perpetuate the machine of war. For me, someone who finds the entire institution of military to be nonsensical, I have a hard time enjoying a film about the innermost workings of that very institution. While there have been other military films that I have not only tolerated better but actually greatly appreciated, this one fell flat for me almost immediately on all fronts.

What makes this one of the best films of all time? Someone explain this to me-- I really am curious! Did it just come at the right time?

I think that I get it. The ultimate macho man movie with heart... but I can still only honestly give it 2 stars on my scale of personal enjoyment. Lo siento, FHTE enthusiasts...

#222 A Passage to India (1984)

***

Director: David Lean

Cast: Judy Davis, Victor Banerjee, Peggy Ashcroft, James Fox, Alec Guinness, Nigel Havers, Richard Wilson, Antonia Pemberton, Michael Culver, Art Malik, Saeed Jaffrey

The doomed friendship between a young Englishwoman and Indian doctor erupts when she accuses him of rape after a mysterious, frightening incident during a tour of Indian caverns. The same director that brings you Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia (haven't viewed the latter yet), brings you this period-destination film based on the novel by E.M. Forster (1942).

Adela (Davis) and Mrs. Moore (Ashcroft) are Brits who have just arrived in India (currently colonized by the British) to visit and prepare for Adela's engagement to the city magistrate. Upon arrival, they find they are paraded from British camp and club to British houses to British teas, never experiencing the real India. At one particular event meant to bring Indians and British together, they are appalled at the deplorable treatment that the British give the Indian members of the party. They are awakened to the debilitating prejudices that cripple the relationship of the two nations.

On a moonlight night, Mrs. Moore creeps out of her room into a Hindu mosque. She finds there a young Indian doctor named Dr. Aziz (Banerjee), and in this holy dwelling, they discover kindness in one another. The Indian doctor is beyond thrilled to find that a kind-hearted Brit does exist, and he promises to show her the real India. He offers to take her and Adela to visit some landmark caves.

Dr. Aziz spends loads of money preparing a "proper English" experience, purchasing loads of servants to even carry a table and chairs to the top of the peaks for their afternoon cup of port. After exploring the first cave, Mrs. Moore feels ill and disturbed by its alarming echoes, and she sends Adela on with Dr. Aziz alone. As the two journey together, they become closer, even comfortable enough to discuss the intimate details of their private lives. When Adela ventures into a cave on her own, a mysterious, spiritual hallucination takes place, and later in court, she accuses Dr. Aziz of raping her.

Of course, this film is an adaptation, so it relies on a screenplay to explain the complex emotions of characters which a book can so easily tell us. The out-of-place experiences had by Adela are highlighted in a pointed scene where she travels by bike to a ruined temple, finding herself shocked by her attraction to erotic coupling statues. Dr. Aziz realizes the complicated nature of his friendship with Mrs. Moore when his fellow people chant her name like a spirited-saviour, when really it is she who fled the court proceedings of Dr. Aziz, unwilling to testify in his honor.

The film is paced almost identically to Bridge on the River Kwai, and I noted that fact even before I realized it shared a director and lead actor with the film. Although the story is full and is built for tons of emotion, I found it somewhat stripped of those elements in the attempt at condensing a large novel into a short, cohesive film. I support its inclusion on the 1001 list nevertheless. A positive viewing experience.

#208 Frankenstein (1931)

****

Director: James Whale

Cast: Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, John Boles, Edward Van Sloan, Mae Clarke, Dwight Frye

Sometimes regarded as one of the greatest horror thrillers ever made, James Whale's 1931 Frankenstein is indeed a masterpiece. I figured I would take a gander at this film since it is such a prominent part of another film I just watched from the 1001, The Spirit of the Beehive.

Based only loosely on the novel of the same title by Mary Shelley, it is the story we know all too well: a man who's drive for science takes him into a realm that has not and should not be explored–the creation of life. Aided by his hunchback assistant named Fritz, Dr. Frankenstein (Clive) steals from graves and science labs to build a monster to bring to life, much to the horror of his fiancé and professor. When the monster gets loose on the town, it begins a path of death and destruction, out of anger, fright, but most often confusion. We both pity and fear the monster that doesn't know any other way other than to kill.

When Frankenstein decides he must destroy his creation, the entire town rises up to help, and a fatal and tragic ending follows.

While I was expecting a somewhat unapproachable, choppy, and cheesy horror film, instead I was delighted to find a very comprehensible film. Where so many older films lose their punch (old comedies lose their humor, old romances lose their relatability), Frankenstein manages to still shock and scare. Countless moments had me squirming in my seat with suspense, feeling repulsed, or jumping back in surprise. Only a true masterpiece can maintain such an impact with an audience nearly 80 years after its creation. A must see for any film appreciator, especially those of the horror genre.

#205 Stand By Me (1986)

****

Director: Robert Reiner

Cast: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell, Kiefer Sutherland, John Cusack, Gary Riley, Casey Siemaszko

An adaptation of Stephen King's novella "The Body," Stand By Me is the story about the coming-of-age revelations and the bonds of boyhood. Four friends in the year 1959 are one weekend away from beginning junior high and embark on a journey to recover the body of a boy their age who has gone missing. On the journey, we get to know the boys– Gordie, a smart, small boy living in the shadow of his dead brother; Chris, the group's leader who has a bad reputation despite his good nature; Vern, the chubby, somewhat pathetic goof, and Teddy, the crazy, smart-alec who has a reputation based on his father who lost his mind on the beach of Normandy and abuses poor Teddy.

What the boys experience on the journey changes them, and the bonds they create resonate for them all through their lives. The film, in fact, is a memory of Gordie's-- and his voice-over narration leads through the harrowing adventure with an equal mix of adult nostalgia and boyish innocence.

Unlike some other boyhood-bond movies I've seen, this one doesn't wreak too much of sentimentality, except when it really counts. I've always found myself enjoying Stephen Kind adaptations: Shawshank, Carrie, Green Mile, The Shining. Looking forward to seeing the others, if any, on the list.

#161 Neco Z Alenky [Alice] (1988)

****

Director: Jan Svankmajer

Cast: Kristyna Kohoutova

Czech-filmmaker, animator, and puppeteer, Jan Svankmajer, creates one of the most bizarre and hyper-imaginative adaptations of Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland perhaps ever made. The film is a gothic and dark examination of the story, and through the use of only one actress (Kohoutova) and loads of handmade puppets, he examines dark themes such as the danger of routine, overeating, and materialism.

The imagery and characters are more creepy than charming, constructed from household objects that seem to be glazed in rot and formaldehyde, it is definitely not a children's movie. The animation and editing are in themselves a disturbing and choppy production--their movements in addition to the jarring, sharp sound effects make this film seem absolutely twisted.

For anyone who is interested in stop motion, animation, puppets, gothic stories, fairy tales, and/or experimental film-making... this is a must-see. There were too many strange and jolting things about this film to be anything but spectacular. Definitely disturbing though. I was impressed.

#139 The Color Purple (1985)

*****

Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Margaret Avery, Oprah Winfrey, Willard Pugh, Akosua Busia

In part, I can't believe I am saying this, but this film made me cry. I haven't been moved to tears by a film in a long time.

I find myself torn between wanting to fully let myself be submerged in the moving, dramatic aspects of the story vs. stepping back and just appreciating it. When watching a female character in plight, I can't help but want to appropriate the story in step with my own struggles and cheer for their revolution. But really, how can I relate to a woman with an abusive spouse? Even simpler, how I can relate to the plight of the black poor in the early 1900s? It's somewhat silly to make such comparisons, and I am left slightly isolated from the story as a result. With all epic tales of survival (based on truth or purely fiction), I can't help but wonder what my great victory will be.

For those that aren't familiar with the story, this movie is an adaptation of Alice Walker's novel about an impoverished rural black community in the early 1900s. One of Goldberg's first major performances, she plays Celie, a young girl who is married off by her sexually abusive father to man of the local church. In doing so, he separates her from her beloved sister, and also sells off her two illegitimate children that she conceived through his abuse.

She is destined to a life of beating and servitude to her abusive new husband, and it is only the arrival of her husband's infatuation, singer Shug Avery, that Celie is able to find hope. Watching this character open up is a very long, slow process, but a rewarding one. An exciting moment is when she finds her voice after the discovery of hundreds of letters that her sister had sent her over the years from Africa--letters that her husband had been hiding from her.

Other characters that are connected to Celie--their stories are also told. Oprah Winfrey plays the wife of Celie's step-son, whose fiery disposition gets her into trouble with the white community. Surprisingly, (I truly can't believe I'm saying this), Oprah Winfrey's acting was beyond impressive. It was downright spectacular.

This film is often criticized for being one of Spielberg's weakest films. Granted, this is one of the first adaptations of a novel where I watched the film without reading the book first (SACRILEGE!), but I found the film to be moving, beautiful, and not too entirely predictable either.



Certainly made this sleepless night go by much more peacefully than if I had laid tossing and turning.

Power de la femme.