The Personal Recommendation Hall of Fame III: Foreign Language Edition

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Will dig into Persona in the next night or so
That's a great one. For what it's worth, it took me a second viewing to fully appreciate it. It's the kind of film I couldn't shake off, so I had to rewatch it about a week after, and that's when it hit.
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The trick is not minding
That's a great one. For what it's worth, it took me a second viewing to fully appreciate it. It's the kind of film I couldn't shake off, so I had to rewatch it about a week after, and that's when it hit.
I’m really behind on Bergman. I’ve seen more Fellini and Kurosawa films then his. But the few I have, I’ve enjoyed them.



I’m really behind on Bergman. I’ve seen more Fellini and Kurosawa films then his. But the few I have, I’ve enjoyed them.
I've really been hitting Bergman and Kurosawa hard during the last 2-3 years, but I still have a lot of ground to cover. I've seen 5 from each, and most of those watches have been within the last three years. Fellini, I've only seen 2.



I'm always keen to see more Bergman, Kurosawa and Fellini. Though I haven't loved any of Berman's films I'll keep watching them. Especially as I have The Seventh Seal to watch soon.



The Seventh Seal was my first film of his. Saw it about 6 or 7 years ago and I was a bit disappointed by it. However, I know I'm in the minority, so maybe you'll get more from it than I did. It's one of his best regarded films. I've also read that Wild Strawberries and Fanny and Alexander are his best.



The Seventh Seal was my first film of his. Saw it about 6 or 7 years ago and I was a bit disappointed by it. However, I know I'm in the minority, so maybe you'll get more from it than I did. It's one of his best regarded films. I've also read that Wild Strawberries and Fanny and Alexander are his best.
I've seen Wild Strawberries, good film, but it didn't do much for me.



Will today be the day that I finally catch up with all my pending reviews? Stay tuned.



The trick is not minding
Persona

Bergman’s Persona plunged into the darkest depths of the human psyche and lays them bare. Feelings of jealousy, desire, anger, insecurity. It is filled with bizarre images and features a bizarre relationship between a nurse and her charge.

An actress (played with such restraint by Liv Ullmann) has suddenly stopped speaking, and she is given to a young nurse (played with such desperation by BiBi Anderson). After some time, they are sent to a private cottage on the sea to better help the actress.

The nurse soon finds herself opening up to her in ways even she doesn’t understand, fully. And it share where things take a turn for the worse.
The sudden shift in tone, sparked by a betrayal, is marked by the change of the women’s attire. From wearing white dresses, it changes them into black clothes to represent it.

The highly experimental film is held together by its frayed edges by its two amazing actresses. Anderson would go in to win the equivalent of her countries oscar award, the Guldbagge.
(The film would also win the award for Best Picture)

This is a film that few directors can pull off. Bergman was amongst the best. It isn’t surreal, like Bunuel, or Jodorowsky, but it features enough bizarre moments that you marvel at how well he kept it together.

Probably not for everyone, admittedly, but man I was hooked to the very end, trying to figure out what was going on.



Will today be the day that I finally catch up with all my pending reviews? Stay tuned.
Evidently not



TOKYO STORY
(1953, Ozu)
A film from the 1950s • A film about mothers



"To lose your children is hard, but living with them isn't always easy either. A real dilemma."

That's part of the conversation that retired father Shūkichi has with some friends as they both trade stories about their children. The bottom line is that regardless of age and circumstances, being a parent is hard. We raise them, spend years, decades with them only to see them leave, one way or the other, while we're left to deal with the separation: be it the physical one which comes from life/death, or the emotional one which comes from distance, distractions, lack of time or connection. A real dilemma.

Tokyo Story follows Shūkichi and Tomi (Chishū Ryū and Chieko Higashiyama), a retired couple that have to live with a bit of both. They lost one of their sons, Shōji, in the war and live far from three of their other children, and when they finally decide to take the long trip from Onomichi to Tokyo to visit them, they find themselves feeling like a nuisance, with no real connection to any of them. Ironically, only Noriko (Setsuko Hara), Shōji's widow, seems to be the only one to make an effort to spend time with them.

This is only my second Ozu film, after the excellent Late Spring, but this is such a perfect companion. The way that he weaves a compelling, engaging, and beautiful story out of something as seemingly "banal" as a visit from your parents/in-laws is just magical. There are no gimmicks, just a simple story, great dialogue, and excellent performances.

Most of the performances are great, but special mention goes to the trio of actors from Late Spring that Ozu brings back for this: Ryū, Hara, and Haruko Sugimura. The latter plays Shige, the eldest daughter, and much like her character in Late Spring, she feels real and yet you can't help but dislike her. On the other hand, Ryū and Hara continue their excellent chemistry, particularly during a climatic poignant and emotionally powerful conversation near the end.

Just like Late Spring succeeded in presenting the reality of marriage in post-war Japan (or maybe anywhere else), Tokyo Story succeeds in presenting the reality of father/children relationships; one of endless and unconditional love, but also one that requires letting go, and dealing with loss and loneliness. A real dilemma.

Grade:



I only have three left. I saw Playtime a couple of weeks ago. I'm just behind on my reviews.

I CAN DO IIIIITTT!!!



Women will be your undoing, Pépé


Wild Strawberries (1957)

Professor Isak Borg: [Inner voice] The place where wild strawberries grow!


Viktor: [to his friend who wants to become a priest] When you were little you believed in Santa Claus, now you believe in God.

I very much loved this.
This will most likely rank the highest Ingmar Bergman for -- a definite f@ckin while, I'm figgerin.
Like each and every film so far and those, most likely joining from those to be seen here, would be the easy first place in a General HoF.
The introspective car drive to an Award Ceremony of Dr. Eberhard Isak Borg, whom Victor Sjöström was quite exceptional in the role. I was, utterly with him from the get-go. This can be said of every single individual from the bickering attempts at trying to be civil with his House Maid Agda, (Jullan Kindahl); to his fellow traveler, Marianne Borg (Ingrid Thulin], Isak's daughter-in-law and the long-held emotional toxins are given air via calm, social, courteous conversations in mixtures of pity and affection. Peppered with ride alongs.
Additionally, a very cool Max von Sydow fix via cameo as a married gas station owner proudly giving Full Service for the good Doctor who is discovering that him, his mother, his son: cold mackerels who would be happy to be dead and the price of loneliness one is sentenced to by one's dreams.

I chuckled at times, I thoroughly enjoyed/appreciated the dream sequences. The opening one setting a beautiful high bar that Bergman glides over.
Another aspect that nimble Berman sashayed over is the cinematography/composition.



In my growth of Bergman movies via HoFs viewings I have come from respect to appreciation and with this, THIS will be one I'll happily revisit on my own accord.

:: the usual gratuitous thank you of theatrical proportions::

Very, very cool. VERY much liked that.
Thank you.
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