Aside from the usual junk I've reviewed at Slant, there's a four star write-up for a 50-year-old film finally receiving a theatrical release here in the US. Call it the Army of Shadows syndrome.
Araya ****
"From the get-go, Benacerraf depicts the salt trade practitioners as nearly phantasmagoric; isolated from the remainder of South America, the arid landscape of the Arayan peninsula is fit for only the most resilient and opportunistic of life forms, and as the narration repeats endlessly in an effort to carve a direct path from Darwin to the salt pyramids we see chiseled, sunburned bodies forming grain by grain, 'All life comes from the sea.' In the positively trippy opening we hear a brief history of the universe against footage of primordial tide pools while primitive, Joe Meek-like synthesizers modulate on the soundtrack to accent inappropriately sharp pans and tilts: It's like an unkempt hybrid of the hypnotic, lava-lampish images of Claude Nuridsany and Marie Perennou's Genesis and the trashy sci-fi zeal of Jack Arnold's Tarantula."
St. Trinian's **
"Directors Oliver Parker and Barnaby Thompson could have successfully adapted some of the dark humor of Ronald Searle's original comics without risking too much griping from censors, but the source material—which featured uniformed girls who had a habit of drinking, smoking, thieving, and occasionally murdering their classmates—was meant as surreal socio-pedagogical satire for adults and not tweens (in other words, a marketing nightmare). The modicum of morbidity included herein reeks of PG-13 concession: The girls engage in target practice with masculine handguns, distill and bottle low-grade vodka for the libertine Flash Harry (Russell Brand, in a performance so awkward it excites one's pulse from embarrassment) and, at the climax, attempt to heist a Vermeer in order to settle their school's debts. And strangely, most of these plot turns are played semi-realistically, as though the notion of children manufacturing liqueur slave labor-style were inherently hilarious."
Peter and Vandy ** 1/2
"Peter and Vandy implements the time-shuffling love story with more poetic technical aplomb than any other film this year, but its flaws inadvertently fashion a cogent argument against the formula as well. If this is the best that out-of-order indie romances can get, why bother with them?"
6 comments:
In the positively trippy opening we hear a brief history of the universe against footage of primordial tide pools while primitive, Joe Meek-like synthesizers modulate on the soundtrack to accent inappropriately sharp pans and tilts ...
Now you know I'd like this one! Thanks Jon!
And speaking of Army of Shadows, which in truth I had to google to maintain my cover so that it would appear that i knew... oops. Well anyway, speaking of Army of Shadow, do you recommend?
Thanks for the comments, Who Am Us!
speaking of Army of Shadow, do you recommend?
Hmm...I would say yes, but, it's not an instantly accessible masterwork, which is another way of saying that I appreciate and admire the film more than I "like" it, per se. It has some stunning b/w cinematography, and Melville is at the tip-top of his game (though not quite as entertainingly so as in "Bob the Gambler" or "The Red Circle"), but it's simply not that strong as a narrative (maybe due to the elusive nature of the characters, or the way the plot keeps a distance from its protagonist), despite some truly unforgettable moments. As for fictional films about the Nazi occupation of France, I'm a bigger fan of "Lacombe, Lucien," although "Army of Shadows" is a far more probing examination of the need for implementing fascist tactics when resisting fascists.
Hope that...kind of...answers the question. See, this is why I could never do Leonard Maltin's job: People ask me all the time if films are "worth seeing" and I usually manage to confuse them to the point of indifference...
One of the several things i freaking love about you, Jon -- in a totally heterosexual way, mind you -- is the way you always, always, answer serious questions with a serious answer. You always give your anonymous inquistors the time of day. In other words, yeah, you answered my question. Thanks, and thanks again.
Thanks, Who Am Us! Had a bit of a rough week, and your comment really -- REALLY -- improved my evening. Much appreciated. And, naturally, glad to hear that my answer was satisfactory. :)
Aye, Jon, I prefer LE CIRCLE ROUGE myself, but ARMY OF SHADOWS would certainly be up among his best. The one you mention BOB LE FLAMBEUR and LE SAMAURAI, as well as his first LA SILENCE DE LA MER and LE DOULOS are other excellent films. I actually find LE SILENCE, set during the same period as ARMY easier to watch.
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