25th Hall of Fame

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Watched three this past week

Blackklansmen: My third favorite Lee. I love him when he simultaneously entertains me and reminds me that ***** is real. This does both in spades.

About Elly: Great dialogue. I love how Farhadi plays with truth and perception. Has a show stopping scene that is one won’t soon forget.

The Truth: Reminded me of Anatomy Of A Murder a bit, and that’s one of my faves. I love the courtroom drama and the way it shines a light on our prejudices.

Lots of good movies in this hall. My rankings are going to be tough.



I don't normally read other reviews for a film before I've written my own piece about it, but I wanted to skim through the other posts about The Green Years to see if anyone else felt like there were missing scenes, and that was indeed the case.

By the way, I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the cut of the movie on the website where I watched it or if I simply have bad viewing comprehension, but I can’t help but feel like some footage is missing.
I really don't know if I even watched the complete film it felt like it was edited fairly harshly.
The version I saw was about 85 minutes long. Does that align with your experiences? Google states that the runtime should be 91 minutes, but given how slow most scenes are, it feels like more than 6 minutes of footage is missing. Either the film is intentionally abrupt, or there are a number of transitional scenes cut from the version I watched.

I'm hoping @neiba or someone else familiar with the film can clarify this inconsistency, since perhaps the runtime online is wrong, or it's just longer credits that were cut. I don't want to write my review until I know for sure what the deal is.



I don't normally read other reviews for a film before I've written my own piece about it, but I wanted to skim through the other posts about The Green Years to see if anyone else felt like there were missing scenes, and that was indeed the case.



The version I saw was about 85 minutes long. Does that align with your experiences? Google states that the runtime should be 91 minutes, but given how slow most scenes are, it feels like more than 6 minutes of footage is missing. Either the film is intentionally abrupt, or there are a number of transitional scenes cut from the version I watched.

I'm hoping @neiba or someone else familiar with the film can clarify this inconsistency, since perhaps the runtime online is wrong, or it's just longer credits that were cut. I don't want to write my review until I know for sure what the deal is.
The website where I watched it also has an 85 minute long version. Like I mentioned at the end of my post, the only scene where it seems like footage is missing - at least to cause confusion - is the dancehall scene.

Maybe the Portuguese government censored those 6 minutes?



Warning: Potential Spoilers for The Green Years below.

Like I mentioned at the end of my post, the only scene where it seems like footage is missing - at least to cause confusion - is the dancehall scene.
While that one was pretty jarring, there seems to be more missing than that, particularly with how Júlio's attitude completely changed pretty much out of nowhere. He was suddenly acting like a brat to his uncle, then after the scene with the Englishman, he was rude and dismissive to Ilda as well. I had no idea why there was tension between them that lead to that weird sweater fight.



I just checked, the version of The Green Years I have and it is 87 minutes long...BUT the video file seems to start after some of the credits, like part of the credits are missing.

Is this where your guys' copy of The Green Years starts?



I just checked, the version of The Green Years I have and it is 87 minutes long...BUT the video file seems to start after some of the credits, like part of the credits are missing.

Is this where your guys' copy of The Green Years starts?
That is where the one I watched starts as well.



Warning: Potential Spoilers for The Green Years below.


While that one was pretty jarring, there seems to be more missing than that, particularly with how Júlio's attitude completely changed pretty much out of nowhere. He was suddenly acting like a brat to his uncle, then after the scene with the Englishman, he was rude and dismissive to Ilda as well. I had no idea why there was tension between them that lead to that weird sweater fight.
I figured that
WARNING: spoilers below
the combination of drinking too much, the disillusionment from discovering that his uncle spends a lot of time at the bar, the company of the Englishman and prostitutes and whatever happened during that missing dancehall footage made him that way, but I'm making some big assumptions. If there's more to it than that, I'd also like to know.



I just checked, the version of The Green Years I have and it is 87 minutes long...BUT the video file seems to start after some of the credits, like part of the credits are missing.
That is where my copy starts, after a screen that has a lot of Portuguese text that there were no subtitles for. It seemed to be about the quality of the print (since I saw "2K" and "35mm"). I didn't think much of it, but I very quickly typed it into google translate and the second paragraph is interesting:

Originally Posted by Original in case anyone here can provide a better translation
O material de imagem transcrito foi o negativo de imagem de 35mm, no qual foram enxertados alguns planos que tinham sido cortados por motivo de censura, neste caso obtidos numa cópia de 16mm tirada originalmente por iniciativa do Realizador para divulgação no Japão.
Originally Posted by Google's Translation
The transcribed image material was the 35mm image negative, in which some plans that had been cut for censorship were grafted, in this case obtained in a 16mm copy originally taken at the Director's initiative for dissemination in Japan.
So it seems like some content was cut, but the translation (if correct) implies that it was added back in, just from a lower quality print. The runtime still doesn't add up, unless it is some credits (either from the beginning or the ending) that have been removed.



The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
I just checked, the version of The Green Years I have and it is 87 minutes long...BUT the video file seems to start after some of the credits, like part of the credits are missing.

Is this where your guys' copy of The Green Years starts?
The copy I own (which is in portuguese with no subtitles, starts 1:06 before that, but it's basically warnings against pirating. The first scene of the film is that one.

That I know of, there was some censorship in the film: 3 lines were cut plus an entire scene because it involved a conversation with two prostitutes.



I figured that
WARNING: spoilers below
the combination of drinking too much, the disillusionment from discovering that his uncle spends a lot of time at the bar, the company of the Englishman and prostitutes and whatever happened during that missing dancehall footage made him that way, but I'm making some big assumptions. If there's more to it than that, I'd also like to know.
WARNING: "The Green Years" spoilers below
Agreed. I just find it weird that he was mad at his uncle for wanting to keep him and Ilda apart, then he's distant from her, but then wants to marry her soon after. Though given the ending, he clearly has mixed feelings haha.



Potential Spoilers for The Green Years below.

That I know of, there was some censorship in the film: 3 lines were cut plus an entire scene because it involved a conversation with two prostitutes.
I assume this is the scene that involves Júlio and the Englishman meeting two women on the street? In the version I saw, the two men follow them into a building, then the scene ends and shifts to the next day.





The Green Years / Os Verdes Anos (1963)
Directed By: Paulo Rocha
Starring: Rui Gomes, Isabel Ruth, Paulo Renato


While I admittedly don't know much about Portugal, and cannot speak to what the social situation was like there during the 1960s, I do have some experience with moving from a small community that has zero opportunities, to a more impersonal city where I could pass by more people on a daily basis than the entire population of my home town. I even lived for a time in another country, so I'm at least somewhat familiar with some of the reality Os Verdes Anos attempts to portray.

As I've already brought up in the thread, my biggest issue with the film is that it feels like there are a lot of scenes missing, though apparently only minor content was actually cut. While I understand Júlio's shifting attitude and increasing disillusionment with his life in Lisbon, the change in his behaviour happens too spontaneously. The first half of the film flowed well, but later scenes frequently left me confused and trying to figure out if I missed something important.

It's almost as though the pacing is deliberately slow at the start, with Os Verdes Anos spending excessive time on menial scenes, only to rush through major developments later on. I don't know whether or not that's meant to be some kind of commentary, but it does make the film feel uneven. It does however take a rather interesting turn right at the end, which I particularly enjoyed. I don't think I've ever seen a Portuguese film before, so do I appreciate being introduced to something I likely never would have experienced otherwise.


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The thing isolated becomes incomprehensible
Potential Spoilers for The Green Years below.


I assume this is the scene that involves Júlio and the Englishman meeting two women on the street? In the version I saw, the two men follow them into a building, then the scene ends and shifts to the next day.
Yup, that's it!



Chimes at Midnight (1965) -


This is both my favorite and the most unapproachable Shakespeare adaptation I've seen. I've noticed some people express difficulties with understanding and following along with the dialogue and that applied to me as well when I first watched this film. Unlike some adaptations of Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth I've seen, I hadn't read the plays this film was based on at the time I first watched it and had a reasonable amount of difficulty with following along, occasionally rewinding the film by a minute or so every now and then to catch myself up. Though I wasn't quite sure how I arrived to the ending, I found both the journey getting there and the destination quite emotionally powerful and I knew I would revisit this film at some point. Going into this film again for this Hall of Fame, I still hadn't read the source material, but I had already familiarized myself with the story of the film. Due to that, I was able to fully enjoy this film and recognize it as the masterpiece it indeed is.

As with my first viewing, I found the story and the character arcs emotionally powerful. What starts out as a disagreement between Hal and King Henry IV over the former's friendship with Sir John Falstaff in the first half slowly develops into a much greater conflict where the only way out of it will involve Hal betraying one of the men. This all culminates in a devastating final act which has an oblique emotional register, heightened by how Falstaff and (for the most part) King Henry IV weren't bad men. Beyond this, I think a lot of thought was put into the various steps of Hal's character arc along the way. Perhaps the most effective sequence in the first half of the film occurs in the tavern after the "failed" heist on a group of pilgrims. While talking to Hal, Falstaff tells him an increasingly elaborate lie on why his group lost all their treasures, boasting that he fought off 100 men while escaping in the process. Of course, Falstaff lies in a similar fashion during the Battle of Shrewsbury, but since the stakes weren't as high during the former incident, Hal reacted to his lie by playfully laughing and mocking his father, someone who greatly disapproved of Falstaff. I also liked the various scenes in the comparably slower second half where Hal's existential conflict was more at the forefront of the film. Overall, I think the strengths of Shakespeare's plays were realized to their full potential for this film.

The technical merits of this film are also great. As others have mentioned, the Battle of Shrewsbury is the main highlight. Not only is it technically impressive, but it's also edited quite frenetically and lovely to look at with the gusts of steam rising from the ground as it goes on. I also love how, in spite of all the brutality in that sequence, Welles still injects some humor into it with the occasional shots of Falstaff cowardly hiding throughout the battle. For 1965, it's a pretty breathtaking sequence. I also liked the various camera angles in the film, specifically with how the camera would look up at some characters to make them appear powerful and domineering, while looking down at other characters to highlight their inferiority. Finally, the various beams of sunlight which shined through some openings in Henry IV's castle into some darkened areas of it made for a pretty effect.

Overall, I'm glad I got to rewatch this film for this thread. Though it took me a few viewings to fully warm up to it, it was definitely worth it. My advice to anyone who couldn't keep up with the dialogue is to look up the plot to familiarize yourself with any details you were fuzzy on and rewatch the film with subtitles.

Next up: The Green Years
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Chimes at Midnight (1965)

Falstaff: Now I'm, a man should speak truly, a little better than one of the wicked. I was as virtuously given as a gentleman need to be; virtuous enough; swore little; diced not above seven times a week; went to a bawdy-house not above once in a quarter - of an hour. Villanous company hath been the spoil of me. If I have not forgotten what the inside of a church is made of, call me a peppercorn, a brewer's horse. Well, I'll repent.

For the entirety of my life, exceedingly so in my youth (or perhaps it simply feels that way), it can be quite the rarity to have my full and complete attention. Being of a meandering mind, it was wondered by a few teachers within my first years of school if I may be of a slower intellect since I would forever be "elsewhere" dreaming instead of involved in the lessons set before me.
Until those lessons would, in the following grades, include a class reading of a variety of Shakespearean plays, even without any real comprehension of the poetic Old English of so many soliloquies, Old Bill's words and stories would continue to hold my attention far more than most. Though, like most, I still am lacking in quite a number of his lesser plays. As well as many staged versions where the words are rambled as quickly as a Forties Noir film. Enjoying the more emotionally vocal versions of films. Even so far as enjoying the changing of historical periods of more recent films.
And here, Orson Welles, in all his beguiling technical trickery, creates a visual spectacle of dramatic composition that brings those theatrical posings their grandiose equal. And thereby, one helluva a f@ckin cinematic endeavor. Whether or not we, the audience, have the slightest clue of what, exactly, is being said by anyone.

I was unable to find a version with subtitles but happily found one with a strong clarity of soundtrack and, for the most part, understood and appreciated much of the dialogue of this mixture of both Henry IV (which I have yet to read or see) and of Henry V (which I have, my favorite rewatch being Branagh's version), recognizing several lines from the latter within Welles' theatrical rendition of them. Giving a secondary and much-beloved character, Falstaff, center stage.
With him are many excellent actors, including John Guilguild as Hal's father, King Henry IV, and an always important role of any Shakespeare play, Ralph Richardson is exceedingly apt as The Narrator.
I could and would go down the line of actors and their skill of portrayal throughout. Each of which merits it. But, like many such plays -- I seem to blather on and on. On and on, still.

Suffice to say; this is an instant favorite in the long line of adaptions and the shorter list of those I would watch multiple times.
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