Thrilling "Shadows"
Try to imagine what it would have been like if Robert Bresson had directed Munich.
If you can manage that, you'll have a pretty good grasp of what Army of Shadows is like. It's an nail-bitingly intense (I can testify from experience--a couple of ragged nails here) spy thriller about the French resistance to the Nazis in 1942 and 1943. And boy is it bleak. In fact, by the end of the film I was wondering if these freedom fighters had done more damage to each other than they had to the Nazis, and yet you can't help but stand in awe of their dedication, courage, and sacrifice.
And it has the ring of truth. Jean-Pierre Melville, the director, had some experience with the resistance, and there is an exciting realism to the tension, the danger, and the miserable places where the agents in this network must meet and hide. The moral dilemmas they face... the bullets they must fire merely because of a dangerous hunch... the whimpering appeals for mercy from the villains they capture... it forces viewers into life-and-death situations so intense that I was reminded of Miller's Crossing and The Godfather. This film belongs on lists of the best films about World War 2, even though it feels more like a gangster flick than a war movie.
I would be very surprised to learn that Spielberg had not seen this before making Munich. There are scenes, and even characters, that bear strong resemblances to scenes and characters in this film.
I almost wrote that Army of Shadows is filmed in black-and-white, but then I began to remember traces of color. Suffice it to say that, from its opening frames, the use of color and shadow in the film amplifies the bleakness, the sense of doom that engulfs the bold endeavors of these agents. (It didn't help matters that I saw it in a dusty old arthouse theater today that was full of big ugly moths, and the bugs kept flying in front of the projector, giving the impression of a horror movie as the characters were frequently buffeted by massive fluttering phantoms.)
And the lead actor, Lino Ventura, is extraordinary. He looks like Peter Sellers, with a hint of Elvis Costello, and the slow-burn intensity of Robert DeNiro in Ronin. He's not a macho hero... in fact, the Sellers resemblance really became strong whenever he was challenged to do something bold or violent. In spite of the grim circumstances, his first parachute jump--a solo jump from a military plane at night--is quite comical.
Having only read the local film summary, I know next to nothing about Melville, and I'm anxious to learn more and see more. Just as I felt I'd stumbled onto a secret reservoir of ideas and inspiration for Spielberg and Lucas when I started watching early Miyazaki cartoons, I swear that Spielberg's a Melville fan... or at least a fan of this film. But watch out... Munich is postively cheery compared to Army of Shadows.
At this point, I think it's likely this will be in my year-end Top Ten.
Note to self: Look up Jean-Pierre Cassel. Is he Vincent Cassel's father? He sure looks like him...
Walden Media: Turning Great Books into Terrible Movies?
(This post has been REVISED for the sake of clarification.)
When Walden Media came into existence, it promised to focus on bringing high quality, family-friendly entertainment to the screen. And they got off to a great start. Holes was one of the most substantial, intelligent, creative films for young viewers to come along in a while.
But since then, with the somewhat-impressive, somewhat-bloated and misguided adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the lamentable Around the World in 80 Days, the adaptation of Hoot (which had a preview that warned me away from it, and the reviews confirmed my worries), and now How to Eat Fried Worms, it's pretty clear that the studio could use some time off to reassess exactly how to achieve its original objectives. Especially considering how many more favorite childrens' books they are hurrying into produciton.
This progression has been the subject of much discussion between the Christian film critics I regularly talk with. And Steven D. Greydanus (Decent Films) points to this disturbing trend in his review of How to Eat Fried Worms:
"[How to Eat Fried Worms] marks a new low for once-promising Walden Media, which still professes to be education-oriented and once espoused a commitment to faithful adaptations of quality children’s literature. Their last film, Hoot, was a poor adaptation of an admittedly flawed novel by Carl Hiaasen. Fried Worms is a melancholy new landmark, their first bad film from a good book.”
He gives the film a D+.
“Thomas Rockwell’s beloved novella How to Eat Fried Worms is a cheerfully disgusting tale of boyhood bravado and rivalry among friends that winds up going too far. The new film version, by writer-director Bob Dolman (The Banger Sisters), transmogrifies this minor classic into an unpleasant endurance test about coping with bullying by humiliating and degrading yourself before the bullies can do it for you, with a trite, tacked-on message of solidarity that’s about as realistic as a package of Gummi Worms.”
Does it worry anybodoy else that this is the studio committed to bringing the rest of The Chronicles of Narnia to the screen?
Personally, I'm concerned about another childhood favorite... Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising... which is coming soon from Walden. Walden can probably attract big acting talent... but do they have a knockout script that captures that grand mythic quality of Cooper's books? (There are sequels, so if this is done right, it could be quite a series. It's interesting, though, that they're starting with the second book in the series, and not the first.)
And then there's Charlotte's Web, one of my all-time favorite stories, which has been turned into a movie that stoops low enough to feature "farting cow" jokes. I distinctly remember speculating about the sorry state of family films a few years back, and joking with some friends about how glad we were that nobody had re-made Charlotte's Web into a farting animal movie... and when this trailer arrived it was like somebody'd kicked me in the gut. Don't call me cynical, please... my most pessimistic jokes are coming true with some regularity these days.
Does Walden Media want its reputation to become: "Dedicated to the dumbing-down of great literature, and the cultural bankruptcy of your children"? I don't think so. But on the map of family films, they've changed course, surrendering to the current that flows toward cheap crowdpleasers. I hope they can turn this ship around.
I respect the intentions of the studio, but you know what they say about the road to hell. And they clearly have a lot of money... which will buy you great publicity, big stars, and special effects, but all of that amounts to zzzzzzip if there's nobody around to write a great adaptation and bring some art to the direction. Somebody needs to bring some guidance, class, and know-how to this studio... and fast.
If you want to see a solid family movie made with class, style, and substance... and I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's true... see the new adaptation of Lassie. I can't review it yet... release day isn't upon us. But I will say that in ten minutes of that film, I was more impressed with Lassie than I was with Aslan in the entirety of Walden's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I came to trust the folks behind this movie very, very quickly because of their willingness to treat children like intelligent creatures instead of playing to the dumbest, crassest dunce in the corner.
Watch "Promises"
I've just seen the 2002 documentary Promises, and I can't recommend it highly enough.
Promises is a documentary made by B.Z. Goldberg, an American who grew up in Jerusalem. He returns to interview children on both sides of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, to show us the world through their eyes. We glimpse the early stages of hate taking root in their minds and hearts, but there are moments... moments... when you can see a flicker of understanding, of hesitation, of conscience.Read more
Sara Zarr: Your Spotlight is Ready
Sometimes, you buy an album because you liked the catchy song on the radio.
Sometimes, though, you pick it up because you saw the band playing at a local club and you had that sudden adrenalin rush of amazement, and you said to yourself, "I am onto something great here... something no one else has yet discovered."
This may surprise you, but I don't often buy fiction marketed to teenage girls. Nevertheless, I will be buying Story of a Girl, because I have had the good fortune to meet Sara Zarr.Read more
Worship is Better With Barbecue!
Mark Shea shares a video that's almost too convincing to be funny.Read more
A Wartime Film Festival
Wouldn't it be timely and rewarding if someone hosted a film festival to provoke discussion on the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians?Read more
"Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" rocks.
Last night, thanks to a special deal through Netflix, I watched the pilot episode of the upcoming NBC series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
It's another strong, foundation-laying Sorkin prologue. It's not as suspenseful as The West Wing, but then again, this is a show about a sketch-comedy program, not about national security.
It's a bit bumpy, partly because there's so much going on. Sorkin is clearly scrambling to set up an elaborate network (no pun intended) of relationships and conflicts that I'm sure we'll explore in detail later.Read more
Regarding that "Facing the Giants" post...
My comments on the tempest over at Dick Staub's CultureWatch set off a bit of a tempest here.
But since I haven't seen the film (I only meant to comment on the way other people are upset about criticism of the film), I was happy to receive a response to the film from a film writer whose assessments of films I greatly respect.
He said I could post his note on a condition of anonymity. In the spirit of Transformers, I'll call him Christianous Prime.
Hopefully his comments will restore balance to the Force and bring peace to the galaxy.Read more
Pre-order "Through a Screen Darkly"!
Is it okay to admit I'm a little excited to see THIS today?Read more
Farewell to Bruno Kirby
"In my heart I know I'm funny."
That's the line that will always come to mind when I hear the name Bruno Kirby.
I loved him in Good Morning Vietnam, although I'm sure others will think of him in connection with This is Spinal Tap, City Slickers, When Harry Met Sally, or The Godfather, Part 2.Read more