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I like him in the movies he made with Garland, but I have never liked him in anything else...he kept Breakfast at Tiffany's from being a near perfect film.
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Vampyr, 1932
It has been many years since I'd last seen Vampyr, and in my memory it was a silent film. Imagine my shock when there was dialogue!
Allan Gray (Julian West) stops for the evening at an inn in a small village. Through a series of bizarre encounters and visions he ends up in the manor home of a man, the man's two daughters, and the manor's servants. It soon becomes clear that one of the sisters, Leone, is under the thrall of a vampire. Allan and the servants must work to free her from the evil creature.
It may be true that this is not a silent film, but nor is it a "full" sound film. I read that this is because Dreyer, the director, had to record any dialogue in three different languages, and thus tried to limit the amount of speaking. But though the film's sparse dialogue may have been a pragmatic, logistical decision, the result is a film that feels like an eerie hybrid between two types of films. For a long stretch it will seem like a silent film, only to have someone suddenly speak. In other moments, a character will say something, only for it to be followed by an unnatural silence. This neither-here-nor-there aspect of the film is a perfect match for the otherworldly, dreamy atmosphere of the story.
The film's main selling point is its visuals, of course. There is a lot of impactful, memorable imagery crammed into the short runtime. A quick google search will reveal that a TON of people really like the fetishistic image of the young woman bound with black cord (I wonder why . . . ?), but I was largely impressed with the effects and the framing of the different sequences.
On the effects front, there are some really great moments. One of the film's visual themes is shadows, and they are used in pretty much every way possible. Often characters are preceded into the frame by their shadows. But in other moments, characters become disconnected from their shadows. In another scene, Allan spots shadow creatures slinking along the grass. The shadows are not only capable of looming ominously, it's never totally clear when they might take on a life of their own.
In terms of the framing, I was very struck on this viewing by the way that the characters, and especially Allan, so often seem to be cowering in the lower half of the frame. This forces their eyeline up (often looking at something that we, the viewer, cannot see), and gives an almost perpetual sense of fearfulness to the different scenes. There is a disorienting sense of unpredictability in terms of where characters are in relation to one another. A hand might suddenly intrude into the frame offering a cup of tea. In one scene, Leone's sister rushes to a window only for Allan to suddenly appear beside and behind her. People, or creatures, might emerge from anywhere, and it creates an effect that is unsettling.
Julian West, who plays Allan, is perfect casting. He hits just the right notes as someone who wants to do the right thing, but is in totally over his head. As he stares at one incomprehensible horror after another you can practically see the wheels turning. Allan is the film's hero, but in many scenes he is more a witness than anything else.
My complaints about this film are relatively minor. There is a lot of exposition delivered by characters reading a book about vampires, which is a bit dry. I also struggled at times to keep track of who certain characters were (various henchmen, I guess?) and the exact nature of the vampire's operation.
Overall, a great film and incredibly engaging visually.
Somebody spoke and I was like, "What the ****?!"
I loved it. Absolutely loved every freaking second of it. Whenever I think about it I get the cinemaphile equivalent of warm fuzzies.
Unlike you, and I think it was because the first time I watched it I had a bad print that was really hard to watch so the whole ******* thing made no sense at all, I didn't mind the confusion about the characters, it just made it seem all the more surreal to me.
****ing love that movie.
Last edited by Wooley; 01-15-21 at 10:57 AM.
I showed Vampyr to a couple of my online friends last October who normally aren't in classic/foreign films and they both loved it. One of my favorite horror films, easily.
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And well I still have some blind spots when it comes to Mann, I might as well take this opportunity to rate/rank all of his films that I've seen to date:
Thief 8.75
Heat 8.5
Collateral 8.5
Last Of The Mohicans 7.5
Thief 8.75
Heat 8.5
Collateral 8.5
Last Of The Mohicans 7.5
I'll also give a shoutout to The Testament of Dr. Mabuse. It's great.
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Vampyr, 1932
There is a disorienting sense of unpredictability in terms of where characters are in relation to one another. A hand might suddenly intrude into the frame offering a cup of tea. In one scene, Leone's sister rushes to a window only for Allan to suddenly appear beside and behind her. People, or creatures, might emerge from anywhere, and it creates an effect that is unsettling.
There is a disorienting sense of unpredictability in terms of where characters are in relation to one another. A hand might suddenly intrude into the frame offering a cup of tea. In one scene, Leone's sister rushes to a window only for Allan to suddenly appear beside and behind her. People, or creatures, might emerge from anywhere, and it creates an effect that is unsettling.
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And well I still have some blind spots when it comes to Mann, I might as well take this opportunity to rate/rank all of his films that I've seen to date:
Thief 8.75
Heat 8.5
Collateral 8.5
Last Of The Mohicans 7.5
While Mohicans was a bit of a drop-off for him, since it felt like a somewhat inauthentic attempt at a more mainstream, Hollywidized Historical Epic for him, he's a very, very good filmmaker besides that, IMO.
Thief 8.75
Heat 8.5
Collateral 8.5
Last Of The Mohicans 7.5
While Mohicans was a bit of a drop-off for him, since it felt like a somewhat inauthentic attempt at a more mainstream, Hollywidized Historical Epic for him, he's a very, very good filmmaker besides that, IMO.
Thief is my favorite Mann film, going away.
I saw both Manhunter and The Last of the Mohicans, but it was probably 15+ years ago so rewatches might be due. I do remember liking the former a lot, and the latter not so much.
On a weird note, I also saw Public Enemies, probably several years ago (5 or 6 years?), but that's one I don't remember at all. Take from that what you may.
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The Night of the Hunter - Wow. I'm just going to go ahead and recommend this from the get go before even talking about it. For those who haven't seen or heard of it, watch it. It's a 1955 ... well, I don't quite know how to describe it. Southern Gothic? Religious allegory? Bizarre bedtime story? Fractured fairy tale? (Shout out to The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends). However you choose to describe it, it probably doesn't do it justice. Actor Charles Laughton's sole directorial effort, it's filmed in this ... I don't know, Grand Guignol style? With touches of German Expressionism.
The peerless Robert Mitchum stars as Harry Powell, a bogus fire and brimstone preacher who is in actuality a sexually twisted serial killer who preys on unsuspecting and moneyed widows or any woman he deems a jezebel. He's sent to prison for car theft where he meets Ben Harper (Peter Graves) who's been sentenced to death for robbing a bank and killing two men. Harper made it home before the law caught up to him and left his 10,000 dollars of loot with his two children, John and Pearl. Harper talks in his sleep and his cellmate Powell figures that he might have left the money close to home. When he’s let out he makes a beeline to Harper’s home and to his widow Willa (Shelley Winters) and kids. Powell ingratiates himself and quickly convinces the not-too-worldly Willa to marry him. It then turns into a war of wills between Powell and the young but resolute John who swore to his father to both never tell anyone about the hidden treasure and to watch over his little sister Pearl.
The way the movie was going it looked like it would wrap up at around the 40 minute mark. But the Reverend Powell’s murderous skullduggery aside, there was no underestimating young John’s resourcefulness, not to mention some nail biting chase and escapes. The third (fourth?) act is no letdown either with Lillian Gish as Mrs. Cooper showing up and putting a fine capper on things.
You might be left slightly agog after viewing this and left to wonder what the hell you just watched. I know I was. 95/100
The peerless Robert Mitchum stars as Harry Powell, a bogus fire and brimstone preacher who is in actuality a sexually twisted serial killer who preys on unsuspecting and moneyed widows or any woman he deems a jezebel. He's sent to prison for car theft where he meets Ben Harper (Peter Graves) who's been sentenced to death for robbing a bank and killing two men. Harper made it home before the law caught up to him and left his 10,000 dollars of loot with his two children, John and Pearl. Harper talks in his sleep and his cellmate Powell figures that he might have left the money close to home. When he’s let out he makes a beeline to Harper’s home and to his widow Willa (Shelley Winters) and kids. Powell ingratiates himself and quickly convinces the not-too-worldly Willa to marry him. It then turns into a war of wills between Powell and the young but resolute John who swore to his father to both never tell anyone about the hidden treasure and to watch over his little sister Pearl.
The way the movie was going it looked like it would wrap up at around the 40 minute mark. But the Reverend Powell’s murderous skullduggery aside, there was no underestimating young John’s resourcefulness, not to mention some nail biting chase and escapes. The third (fourth?) act is no letdown either with Lillian Gish as Mrs. Cooper showing up and putting a fine capper on things.
You might be left slightly agog after viewing this and left to wonder what the hell you just watched. I know I was. 95/100
The Night of the Hunter - Wow. I'm just going to go ahead and recommend this from the get go before even talking about it. For those who haven't seen or heard of it, watch it. It's a 1955 ... well, I don't quite know how to describe it. Southern Gothic? Religious allegory? Bizarre bedtime story? Fractured fairy tale? (Shout out to The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends). However you choose to describe it, it probably doesn't do it justice. Actor Charles Laughton's sole directorial effort, it's filmed in this ... I don't know, Grand Guignol style? With touches of German Expressionism.
The peerless Robert Mitchum stars as Harry Powell, a bogus fire and brimstone preacher who is in actuality a sexually twisted serial killer who preys on unsuspecting and moneyed widows or any woman he deems a jezebel. He's sent to prison for car theft where he meets Ben Harper (Peter Graves) who's been sentenced to death for robbing a bank and killing two men. Harper made it home before the law caught up to him and left his 10,000 dollars of loot with his two children, John and Pearl. Harper talks in his sleep and his cellmate Powell figures that he might have left the money close to home. When he’s let out he makes a beeline to Harper’s home and to his widow Willa (Shelley Winters) and kids. Powell ingratiates himself and quickly convinces the not-too-worldly Willa to marry him. It then turns into a war of wills between Powell and the young but resolute John who swore to his father to both never tell anyone about the hidden treasure and to watch over his little sister Pearl.
The way the movie was going it looked like it would wrap up at around the 40 minute mark. But the Reverend Powell’s murderous skullduggery aside, there was no underestimating young John’s resourcefulness, not to mention some nail biting chase and escapes. The third (fourth?) act is no letdown either with Lillian Gish as Mrs. Cooper showing up and putting a fine capper on things.
You might be left slightly agog after viewing this and left to wonder what the hell you just watched. I know I was. 95/100
The peerless Robert Mitchum stars as Harry Powell, a bogus fire and brimstone preacher who is in actuality a sexually twisted serial killer who preys on unsuspecting and moneyed widows or any woman he deems a jezebel. He's sent to prison for car theft where he meets Ben Harper (Peter Graves) who's been sentenced to death for robbing a bank and killing two men. Harper made it home before the law caught up to him and left his 10,000 dollars of loot with his two children, John and Pearl. Harper talks in his sleep and his cellmate Powell figures that he might have left the money close to home. When he’s let out he makes a beeline to Harper’s home and to his widow Willa (Shelley Winters) and kids. Powell ingratiates himself and quickly convinces the not-too-worldly Willa to marry him. It then turns into a war of wills between Powell and the young but resolute John who swore to his father to both never tell anyone about the hidden treasure and to watch over his little sister Pearl.
The way the movie was going it looked like it would wrap up at around the 40 minute mark. But the Reverend Powell’s murderous skullduggery aside, there was no underestimating young John’s resourcefulness, not to mention some nail biting chase and escapes. The third (fourth?) act is no letdown either with Lillian Gish as Mrs. Cooper showing up and putting a fine capper on things.
You might be left slightly agog after viewing this and left to wonder what the hell you just watched. I know I was. 95/100
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Gods Of Egypt, 2016 (C)
Positively cheesy. Entirely made of cheese, both good and bad.
A lot has been said about how subpar the CGI is for this absolute video game of a movie, but everything else deserves a mention too. Every line of dialogue would make you wince in the 80s, and every actor underperforms. There's fewer than 10 lines of dialogue delivered convincingly. The editing is terrible and takes all the energy out of every action scene. There's a particular action scene where there's something like 5 consecutive cuts to shots where the camera is just circling the action, like the famous Michael Bay shot, but bad and badly edited.
The movie is largely predictable and has no suspense at all. It's so obvious that none of the main cast is ever in danger, because it's very clearly one of those movies. Not the most unbearable thing to watch ever, but absolutely not worth seeing.
Positively cheesy. Entirely made of cheese, both good and bad.
A lot has been said about how subpar the CGI is for this absolute video game of a movie, but everything else deserves a mention too. Every line of dialogue would make you wince in the 80s, and every actor underperforms. There's fewer than 10 lines of dialogue delivered convincingly. The editing is terrible and takes all the energy out of every action scene. There's a particular action scene where there's something like 5 consecutive cuts to shots where the camera is just circling the action, like the famous Michael Bay shot, but bad and badly edited.
The movie is largely predictable and has no suspense at all. It's so obvious that none of the main cast is ever in danger, because it's very clearly one of those movies. Not the most unbearable thing to watch ever, but absolutely not worth seeing.
Aniara, 2018
An Earth devastated by climate change or perhaps some other crisis (or combination of crises) has led various people to flee the planet. The plan is to travel to Mars on a large ship called Aniara. But when an unforeseen incident knocks the ship off course, the passengers and crew must cope as a three week trip stretches into months and then years. The narrative is mainly centered on a woman known as Mimaroben (Emelie Garbers), whose job is to facilitate passenger use of an artificial intelligence suite, Mima, that helps passengers to see immersive visions of their past lives on Earth.
Ultimately, this is a film about what happens when a group of people are faced with a sort of perpetual uncertainty. Is it worth staying alive? Is there really any chance that tomorrow will be better than today? Is hope something you want in this situation, or is it just a kind of denial?
My favorite thing about this one was the use of water and how it connected with the idea of being grounded and in the moment. The sequences in the Mima often feature characters in water, or with rain falling, or the sound of a rushing river nearby. When Momaroben first really begins to connect with an officer who will later become her love interest, we see the two of them swimming in the ship's pool. What keeps the people onboard alive is an algae set up in tanks of water. Through the film, the lack of nature (sunshine, plants, animals) is deeply felt, and water is the one thing that seems at once to be present and missing.
Overall I found the narrative to be pretty well balanced between following Mimaroben's personal life (her relationship with the officer, Isagel (Bianca Cruzeira), and her work maintaining Mima) with the bigger story of the ship with the crew and the other passengers. They are intertwined, of course, and it is interesting to see how different characters respond to the bleakness and increasing length of the voyage. The ship's captain (Arvin Kananian) chooses to spin doctor everything; Mimaroben's roommate, an astronomer (Anneli Martini) is smart enough to realize that there will be no rescue and turns to drink; many other passengers turn to all-day partying; some others turn to suicide.
The film moves in "chapters" often jumping forward large chunks of time. This had a mixed effect for me. On one hand, the stark jump to a year later really hammers home how long the people on the ship have to sustain their optimism about any development (because even the "good news" is always a year or two away). But on the downside, there are a lot of important character developments that get short shrift or passed over altogether.
While Mimaroben is a compelling central character, I was very taken with the character of Isagel. Something that the film does a really good job of portraying is her depression and the way that it eats away at her, even during happy times with Mimaroben. One of the saddest scenes to me was actually in the film's infamous orgy sequence (which, by the by, meh), in which Isagel watches as Mimaroben happily pairs off with others and she ends up (in a way that is so hesitating that it feels borderline non-consensual) being paired off with one of the men. (It is implied that Mimaroben is bisexual, but nothing in that regard with Isagel). Isagel becomes a woman without power and without purpose, and this meaningless corrodes her spirit. Mimaroben, for all that she goes through, always seems to have purpose and something she looks forward to. Their relationship, both functional and dysfunctional, is well-realized.
I know that this film tends to be a bit divisive. And I can see how some might take it as empty and more style than substance. But I liked it. I really enjoyed the character of the astronomer and her semi-frequent discussions with Mimaroben.
Probably not for everyone, but certainly worth watching.
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Badlands (1973) **8.2**
Unique in its subtleness and relative ambiguity, beautifully shot and Sheen is the absolute perfect casting choice for this role. I understand that this was his big break but he originally refused the role as he felt he was to old, I’m so glad he stayed on. I say subtle because how the movie ended, everything was kinda forgiven and I sort of forgave him too which is sacrilege considering what he done. The final act was a little disappointing for me to be honest but this was always going to be a tricky piece to conclude.
This movie intrigued me about Malick I didn’t realise he had a 20 year hiatus, rewatches of ‘The Thin red line’ and ‘Tree of life’ are a must as is a first time viewing of ‘Days of heaven’.
Resident evil (2002) **7.8** Rewatch
Very much a nostalgia heavy movie for me, I hated it and didn’t get it at all when it first came out although I was only 11, where are the Stars team? Who is Alice? Her role makes sense to me now, real brave plot line to go down as it resembled very little of the original video game. I understand now why there has to be an individual protagonist and Jovovich has the beauty and athleticism to pull it off. The supporting cast were bad but when exploring the hive I didn’t care I was so intrigued into what was coming around every corner. There was real suspense, the final scene with Alice ripping needles off her temple then looking out onto a ravaged Raccoon City was class. Still I would have liked a few more things added from the video game.
I want to add that I absolutely hated the sequels and don’t really remember much about any of them, other than Mike Epps and his gold pistols.
Arlington Road (1999) **7.2** Rewatch
I watched this a while back when I was in my movie infancy, embarrassed to admit that this was in the ‘best twists ever’ list. I was expecting a ‘Sixth sense’ ‘Fight Club’ type head jerker, it wasn’t that but I respected the ending back then and I enjoyed it more this time. Bridges and Robins had the swagger of the middle class, love themselves type arrogance which intrigued me early on. I actually had more love for Robins then I did Bridges by the end. The setup was good, ending was great but bloated in the middle where we see far too many coincidences. The suitcase hand over was particularly bad.
Interview with the vampire (1994) **7.9**
Why haven’t I watched this earlier? The balance of seeing these blood suckers, and the completely real way in which they are portrayed and come across, mixed with a few of touches of comedy, chiefly from Cruise as Lenat was masterful. His dance with a dead body after finally seeing Louis lose his sucking blood virginity was hilarious. Dunst who I worked out was just 12 here which simply blows my mind in itself gave every pour of herself to this role, terrifying and authentic all the same.
The settings this movie took place in were stunning, the visuals were terrific all round, very few amounts of CGI used and brilliant hair and make-up. Everything seemed genuine in the writing other than the gimmicky interview parts, looks good on paper but this part of the movie was written poorly as was the main character Louis played by Brad Pitt, he was just kind of a pussy through too much of the plot. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this and the kind of movie I’ll re-watch a lot from here on in and likely score better each time.
Unique in its subtleness and relative ambiguity, beautifully shot and Sheen is the absolute perfect casting choice for this role. I understand that this was his big break but he originally refused the role as he felt he was to old, I’m so glad he stayed on. I say subtle because how the movie ended, everything was kinda forgiven and I sort of forgave him too which is sacrilege considering what he done. The final act was a little disappointing for me to be honest but this was always going to be a tricky piece to conclude.
This movie intrigued me about Malick I didn’t realise he had a 20 year hiatus, rewatches of ‘The Thin red line’ and ‘Tree of life’ are a must as is a first time viewing of ‘Days of heaven’.
Resident evil (2002) **7.8** Rewatch
Very much a nostalgia heavy movie for me, I hated it and didn’t get it at all when it first came out although I was only 11, where are the Stars team? Who is Alice? Her role makes sense to me now, real brave plot line to go down as it resembled very little of the original video game. I understand now why there has to be an individual protagonist and Jovovich has the beauty and athleticism to pull it off. The supporting cast were bad but when exploring the hive I didn’t care I was so intrigued into what was coming around every corner. There was real suspense, the final scene with Alice ripping needles off her temple then looking out onto a ravaged Raccoon City was class. Still I would have liked a few more things added from the video game.
I want to add that I absolutely hated the sequels and don’t really remember much about any of them, other than Mike Epps and his gold pistols.
Arlington Road (1999) **7.2** Rewatch
I watched this a while back when I was in my movie infancy, embarrassed to admit that this was in the ‘best twists ever’ list. I was expecting a ‘Sixth sense’ ‘Fight Club’ type head jerker, it wasn’t that but I respected the ending back then and I enjoyed it more this time. Bridges and Robins had the swagger of the middle class, love themselves type arrogance which intrigued me early on. I actually had more love for Robins then I did Bridges by the end. The setup was good, ending was great but bloated in the middle where we see far too many coincidences. The suitcase hand over was particularly bad.
Interview with the vampire (1994) **7.9**
Why haven’t I watched this earlier? The balance of seeing these blood suckers, and the completely real way in which they are portrayed and come across, mixed with a few of touches of comedy, chiefly from Cruise as Lenat was masterful. His dance with a dead body after finally seeing Louis lose his sucking blood virginity was hilarious. Dunst who I worked out was just 12 here which simply blows my mind in itself gave every pour of herself to this role, terrifying and authentic all the same.
The settings this movie took place in were stunning, the visuals were terrific all round, very few amounts of CGI used and brilliant hair and make-up. Everything seemed genuine in the writing other than the gimmicky interview parts, looks good on paper but this part of the movie was written poorly as was the main character Louis played by Brad Pitt, he was just kind of a pussy through too much of the plot. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this and the kind of movie I’ll re-watch a lot from here on in and likely score better each time.
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Last edited by Vanillapie; 01-14-21 at 08:29 PM.
Heat (Mann, '95)
...
Final Score: 8.5
...
Final Score: 8.5
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Aniara, 2018
An Earth devastated by climate change or perhaps some other crisis (or combination of crises) has led various people to flee the planet. The plan is to travel to Mars on a large ship called Aniara. But when an unforeseen incident knocks the ship off course, the passengers and crew must cope as a three week trip stretches into months and then years. The narrative is mainly centered on a woman known as Mimaroben (Emelie Garbers), whose job is to facilitate passenger use of an artificial intelligence suite, Mima, that helps passengers to see immersive visions of their past lives on Earth.
Ultimately, this is a film about what happens when a group of people are faced with a sort of perpetual uncertainty. Is it worth staying alive? Is there really any chance that tomorrow will be better than today? Is hope something you want in this situation, or is it just a kind of denial?
My favorite thing about this one was the use of water and how it connected with the idea of being grounded and in the moment. The sequences in the Mima often feature characters in water, or with rain falling, or the sound of a rushing river nearby. When Momaroben first really begins to connect with an officer who will later become her love interest, we see the two of them swimming in the ship's pool. What keeps the people onboard alive is an algae set up in tanks of water. Through the film, the lack of nature (sunshine, plants, animals) is deeply felt, and water is the one thing that seems at once to be present and missing.
Overall I found the narrative to be pretty well balanced between following Mimaroben's personal life (her relationship with the officer, Isagel (Bianca Cruzeira), and her work maintaining Mima) with the bigger story of the ship with the crew and the other passengers. They are intertwined, of course, and it is interesting to see how different characters respond to the bleakness and increasing length of the voyage. The ship's captain (Arvin Kananian) chooses to spin doctor everything; Mimaroben's roommate, an astronomer (Anneli Martini) is smart enough to realize that there will be no rescue and turns to drink; many other passengers turn to all-day partying; some others turn to suicide.
The film moves in "chapters" often jumping forward large chunks of time. This had a mixed effect for me. On one hand, the stark jump to a year later really hammers home how long the people on the ship have to sustain their optimism about any development (because even the "good news" is always a year or two away). But on the downside, there are a lot of important character developments that get short shrift or passed over altogether.
While Mimaroben is a compelling central character, I was very taken with the character of Isagel. Something that the film does a really good job of portraying is her depression and the way that it eats away at her, even during happy times with Mimaroben. One of the saddest scenes to me was actually in the film's infamous orgy sequence (which, by the by, meh), in which Isagel watches as Mimaroben happily pairs off with others and she ends up (in a way that is so hesitating that it feels borderline non-consensual) being paired off with one of the men. (It is implied that Mimaroben is bisexual, but nothing in that regard with Isagel). Isagel becomes a woman without power and without purpose, and this meaningless corrodes her spirit. Mimaroben, for all that she goes through, always seems to have purpose and something she looks forward to. Their relationship, both functional and dysfunctional, is well-realized.
I know that this film tends to be a bit divisive. And I can see how some might take it as empty and more style than substance. But I liked it. I really enjoyed the character of the astronomer and her semi-frequent discussions with Mimaroben.
Probably not for everyone, but certainly worth watching.
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THE LAST LAUGH
It's interesting watching this after Dr. Mabuse as, aside from the title and a 4th wall breaking title card for the epilogue, Murnau didn't use any title cards or text throughout the film. Instead, he told the story purely through visuals and his aesthetic evolution represented a massive jump in sophistication from Nosferatu, which was no slouch. That trend would continue with Faust and Sunrise so I'm interested to see what he was able to accomplish in his later career.
That said, I preferred the simple poignance of this film and it's hauntingly "happy" epilogue to Faust. That said, of these few Murnau I've seen, every single one has been excellent.
It's interesting watching this after Dr. Mabuse as, aside from the title and a 4th wall breaking title card for the epilogue, Murnau didn't use any title cards or text throughout the film. Instead, he told the story purely through visuals and his aesthetic evolution represented a massive jump in sophistication from Nosferatu, which was no slouch. That trend would continue with Faust and Sunrise so I'm interested to see what he was able to accomplish in his later career.
That said, I preferred the simple poignance of this film and it's hauntingly "happy" epilogue to Faust. That said, of these few Murnau I've seen, every single one has been excellent.
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and it's hauntingly "happy" epilogue
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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.
Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.
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Studio forced him to make a happy ending. The happy epilogue feels like a rather overly happy dream of the hanged.
WARNING: spoilers below
By outright saying that this is where the story should end tragically and that this is a contrivance of the author pitying the protagonist, it highlights the artiface of the happiness and renders it intensely melancholic. It's like a death fantasy sequence that never has the reveal but we know the "truth" all the same. I've never seen anything quite like that after seeing dozens of Incident at Owl Creek Bridge imitators
Last edited by ThatDarnMKS; 01-14-21 at 10:26 PM.
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