Who Can Kill A Child?
, 1976 (*****)brilliant highly atmospheric 70s low budget film from Spain about a couple who find themselves on a beautiful Mediterranean island taken over by violent feral children - others have since tried similar plot devices but never with as much unsettling menace and ambiguity of conventional morality
Foxes
, 1980 (****)Adrian Lyne's first feature film is a remarkably honest study of a group of young fairly average teenage girls growing up - and it's thanks to accurate observation and, dare I say it, a brilliant performance by Jodie Foster, that its poignant final act can easily catch you off guard; plus you get the treat of seeing glam rockers Angel doing live their disco hit Twentieth Century Foxes
Une Femme Infidèle, 1969 (**)
Chabrol's story of the tragic outcome of a married woman having an affair has nowhere near the class nor sophistication of Adrian Lyne's wonderfully nuanced 2002 remake Unfaithful
36 Fillette
, 1988 (**) / À Ma Soeur! (****)although she likely considers herself, and is considered by many, as having radical cutting-edge feminist credentials, instead I see Catherine Breillat's attitudes and obsessions with teenage sexual development as rather old-fashioned, betraying a quaint naïvete and lack of real world experience; what you end up with therefore are several of these undoubtedly brave studies of young girls coming of age, whilst employing tediously extended dialogues that are clearly just Breillat's written ponderings - 36 Fillette particularly suffers from this, neither its flimsy virginity plot nor its male or female characters' actions or dialogues are ever for one moment believable; À Ma Soeur!
, on the other hand, whilst seeming to go down the same disingenuous path, boasts an extraordinary final half an hour which culminates in the most incredibly perverted happy ending, a true revelation of a uniquely female dimensionStreet Trash
, 1987 (****)riotously funny unlegit horror as the local bums and winos end up melting after resorting to the neighbourhood liquor store's dollar-a-pop Viper drink - for such a low budget movie it's amazing how much energy and devotion have clearly been invested in the special effects, the sound, the script, and the acting
Entrails Of A Virgin
, 1986 (**)totally incompetent, yet at times pleasingly bonkers, sleaze-horror-comedy-porno-fest something-or-other from Japan
Capitalism: A Love Story
(**) / Let's Make Money (****)the former is yet another flat propaganda exercise by smug egomaniac Michael Moore, a man who's as much part of the problem as capitalism or any of the other soft targets he leeches from; there are far better documentaries on global finance (assuming one has any interest whatsoever) and the Austrian ueber-serious Let's Make Money is one such - a vastly more considered, wide-ranging film that goes much further than scoring cheap points; much of its content and understandings were new to me, and you never feel a party political subtext being rammed into you
FILLMORE DISCOS 45 - '70s RARITIES 3
FILLMORE DISCOS 44
FILLMORE DISCOS 43 - '70s RARITIES 2
FILLMORE DISCOS 42 - '70s RARITIES 1
Posts
12 comments:
thanks for the great recommendations.
I am a very indulgent lover of French cinema but somehow I find most of Chabrol unsatisfying or even annoying, compared to an apparently less 'challenging' auteur such as Eric Rohmer.
Sober Austrian alternative to Michael Moore (enough to make you want to join Goldman Sachs) sounds great too.
couldn't agree more, RM; Eric Rohmer is a quiet genius
I am no great fan of Jodie Foster but one of my favourite films is a film called The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane made in 1976, if you haven't seen that one yet I highly recommend it.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074806/
"Entrails of a Virgin"... one of those films where the title is better than the actual content.
will definitely check that one out, Tony, thanks - it's clear from imdb how prolific a child actor JF was
I tried. I really tried. but the appalling mis-translations from "austrian" to "english" destroyed the possibilities for me. it's wrong. and of course: would an English person trust a London taxi driver about such issues? probably not. hopefully not.
Michael Moores' effort is IMNSHO appalling, but at least it stirred me. and that's enough for me. it doesn't matter, in the end, if it's "true" or not.
Tony, thanks so much for that fantastic Jodie Foster recommendation, what an awesome film; review to follow
Is there anything more atrocious than seeing Michael Moore's fat, smug face mugging for the camera in that oh so befuddled way of his? All it took was a few minutes of Roger and Me to swear off his "documentaries" forever.
I enjoyed the Austrian documentary as well, mostly for the footage of the Spanish ghost villages that left me feeling both fascinated and uneasy. I agree about Michael Moore, though the tiny bit where Arnold Schwarzenegger "explained" to an audience why he had left Europe was beyond hilarious and worth the price of admission alone.
as per À Ma Soeur! ' " a uniquely female comment " ( or something to that matter 0.
What do you mean? That it is unique to this female director, or a male could never have come up with the idea that this particular situation ( ie; the rape is her getting over her virginity, so in that way she's got what she wanted plus a sort of triumph over her dead sister's appeal which she does not possess?
Either I'm confused by the idea or clearly, I'm lacking in some of the more female ideas. ( Which is more likely, being that I clearly, to myself do not understand much if what's termed "common female behavior."
what do you mean, "uniquely female?"
Seeing as I lack comprehension in much of what is normal female ideal, this is intriguing.
A male would never experience forgiving a rape - either because for one, its a entirely different kettle of fish or the loss of her virginity is satisfying even in such painful circumstances? One wonders also that it is her sort of revenge on her dead sisters attractiveness.
as per À Ma Soeur! ' " a uniquely female comment " ( or something to that matter 0.
What do you mean? That it is unique to this female director, or a male could never have come up with the idea that this particular situation ( ie; the rape is her getting over her virginity, so in that way she's got what she wanted plus a sort of triumph over her dead sister's appeal which she does not possess?
Either I'm confused by the idea or clearly, I'm lacking in some of the more female ideas. ( Which is more likely, being that I clearly, to myself do not understand much if what's termed "common female behavior."
Post a Comment