Jeff Costello's film diary

So from now on I'll use this thread to document my viewings. Even if it's just a couple of sentences I'll do my best to write down my thoughts and impressions on film I just watched. See ya soon.

Days of Heaven (1978) - Terrence Malick

This romantic drama tells a rather simplistic story. After mill worker Bill (Richard Gere) kills his supervisor in a fight he hops on a train with his girlfriend Abby (Brooke Adams) and sister Linda (Linda Manz) in a pursuit for a new job. Soonly they find one as laborers on a wheat field owned by a shy and reclusive farmer (Sam Shepherd) who immediately notices Abby. Bill afterwards overhears a conversation between farmer and his doctor and learns that farmer has only about a year to live. Tired of living in poverty and constantly chasing for opportunities he suggests Linda to marry him so they could later claim his wealth. After initial hesitating, she gradually starts having feelings for him and that's where all hell breaks loose.



Like in Badlands, Malick uses a teenage female narrator (Linda), which gives a film a certain dose of innocence and purity as the narrator clearly isn't aware of her surroundings. The cinematography in film is gorgeus, from a masterful field shots to an earth elements theme, the visual poetry that Mallick presented is breathtaking and captivating. The acting from main characters is very subtle and almost understated , which gives film a dream-like and surreal atmosphere, but it also made it kind of difficult to connect with the characters on an emotional level. Beautiful shots are accompanied by a gentle and melancholic score by Ennio Morricone, which blends with the film's mood perfectly. Days of Heaven explores themes like loneliness, constant pursuit for greater things, betrayal and loss through a tale of a romantic triangle seen through eyes of an adolescent child. Eventough the ending may seem bland I thought it was very fitting, as it showed that despite all of drama Linda and Abby faced their escapist nature remained untouched.

Either way, Days of Heaven certainly provides a memorable experience and is worth seeing for cinematography alone, which was one of the most beautiful I ever encountered.


Rating:

Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942) - John Cromwell

I've been excited to finally find a good version of this film, mainly because of Gene Tierney's appearance. As many of you not know, she's my favourite actress.

So the film tells a story about a young Benjamin Blake ( Tyrone Power), son of the deceased Baronet of Breetholm,who is taken from his grandfather so he could serve to his ruthless and vengenful uncle Sir Arthur Blake (George Sanders). Arthur, the owner of Breetholm fears that Benjamin will be able to claim his inheratance and objects him through series of humilliation until Benjamin unsuccessfuly tries to kill him. Wanted for an attempt of murder, he ultimately escapes, but his grandfather is imprisoned for helping him. Benjamin is now working as a sailor determined to make his fortune, prove he's the rightful owner of Breetholm estate and free his grandfather out of prison.



The film has some nice performances, especially from the supporting cast, mainly George Sanders and Frances Farmer, whose tragic life is well documented. This was also one of her last performances. Tyrone Power also did well playing a determined and good willed Benjamin.. Altough having a rather short screentime, Gene Tierney was breathtaking and truly hypnotic as a native girl from a Polynesian island, who Power later falls in love with.. I simply couldn't take my eyes of her, whenever she appeared on screen. The scene in which Power learned Tierney to speak english was especially sweet and heart-warming.



Son of Fury is rather enjoyable and charming adventure drama and I'm happy I managed to find this little gem. It was a pleasant way for me to spend my Sunday afternoon.

Rating: 7.5/10

The Haunted Palace (1963) - Roger Corman

Actually my least favourite Corman's EAP adaptation, altough "The Haunted Palace" was really based on H.P. Lovecraft's work. Nonetheless it's still a must watch for fans of Vincent Price who never failes to amaze with his terrific presence. Supporting cast also features legendary character actors Lon Chaney Jr. and Elisha Cook Jr., aswell as Debra Paget. The film includes couple of effective scenes, but in general didn't really captivate me like other Corman's work.



Rating: 6.5/10

Viridiana (1961) - Luis Bunuel

I can't say enough about don Luis. He doesn't back down from anyone. He's a provocateur and reflectionist of a crippled society. In majority of his work he openly mocks Franco's regime and Catholic church, and Viridiana is no exception. In fact this film was initially banned in Spain and completely denounced by Vatican.

This film is divided in 2 parts : first tells a tragic story of an old man played by Feranando Rey (Bunuel's go-to choice for portraying lusty old men) whose obsession towards his niece, young nun Viridiana (Silvia Pinal) ends up in him commiting quite a few immoral deeds.



The second one follows Viridiana, who now has formed a group of beggars in order to help them form a meaningful life. Exactly second act of the film is a fascinating character study and a Bunuel's little satire on socio- economic differences, manifested through beggars, who have completely lost any sense of morality. Violence, murder and rape are all included, to paint an exact picture of how beggars have lost their humanity to the hardship of poverty. Perhaps the most famous scene is the one of beggars recreating the image of "The Last Supper" accompanied by "Hallelujah" refrain from Handel's oratory.



And rightfully so, because it perfectly embodies the genius of Bunuel and his knack for displaying social commentary through grotesque images. There are also a quite a few subtle motives like a burning thorn crown and and cross which shapes into a knife, which I'm sure Catholic church was delighted with.

In the end Viridiana is Bunuel's pessimistic view of a fallen society , shown through some of the most poweful and masterful shots in cinema's history, interestingly with very few surreal elements ,which are obviously Bunuel's signature trademark, but nonetheless sculptured very delicately.

In my opinion Viridana is nothing short of a mastepiece and a cinema at it's purest form.

Rating: 10/10

I've still not seen any Bunuel films. Will need to get to him soon.

You're in for a treat then. He's one of my favourite directors.

Bunuel is 0 for 3 with me pretty much. The 3 were average for me.

What have you seen from him ?

What would you say is the best starting point? I've heard Belle De Jour before. Not including Un Chien Andalou or any other short films by the way. Also i'm already aware of the eyeslitting from that; saw a gif from it and it turned my stomach

I'd suggest "The Discreet Charme of the Bourgeoisie. It was my first exposure to his work and it remained my personal favourite from him.

Viridiana and The Exterminating Angel would be fine choices aswell.

Bourgeois, Tristana, Exterminating Angel.

Well if you're still open for watching his films, I'd suggest trying Los Olvidados and Viridiana.

Unlike the ones you watched, these are traditional narrative films with very little surreal elements, but easily one of his most powerful works. The former one could even be seen as Bunuel's response to Italian neorealism.

The Search (1948) - Fred Zinnemann

This extremely moving piece on devastating effects of WW2, tells a story of a young Czechoslovakian boy (Ivan Jandl) who had been separated from his mother while in Aushwitz concentration camp. After he escapes a transit camp, he later befriends an American soldier (Montgomery Clift), while his mother (one of the rare survivors) is simultaneously looking for him.



In his film debut, Monty Clift shows why he became a star. His acting is so natural and genuine. But the best aspect of this film is young Ivan Jandl, who pulled of perhaps the best child performance I've ever seen alongside Briggite Fossey in Jeux Interdits. The chemistry between him and Clift's character was natural and heart warming. Shot in a post-war Germany, The Search perfectly reflects misery and hopelessness of all the young children that were affected by the consequences of the war, while at the same time providing glimpse of hope. I'll just say that "The Search" was one of the rare films that managed to bring a real emotional response out of me, with its raw realism and powerful presentation, that I was willing to ignore some of its minor flaws.

Highly recomended to all the folks who are looking for some less known flicks for 40's countdown .. Watch this underseen classic!

Rating: (IE: )

The Tingler (1959) - William Castle

This morbidly fun cult horror features always great Vincent Price, as a pathologist obssessed with effects of fear. Eventough outdated special effects made the film looked rather silly at times than scary, it was nonetheless quite campy and entertaining. However it kinda lacked the involving atmosphere, which was present in Castle's previous work House on Haunted Hill, one of my favourite movies btw. I liked the ending though, and Castle's gimmick was interesting. Lovers of camp classics should like it.



Rating:

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - Steven Spielberg

After seeing it on Raul's top 119 list, I was inspired to revisit this childhood memory after a long time. And my goodness what a good decision this was... I loved everything about it and I oftenly found myself uncontrolably smiling throughout the entire film. Eventough I usually don't enjoy the genre, E.T. blew me away with its magical "friendship larger than life" story and a sense of innocence and nostalgia it radiated. The scenes with children and E.T were especially sweet and heart-warming and I was suprised in general how touching the film actually was. The final scene with E.T. and Elliot really got to me. Alongside beautiful cinematography and nice special effects, one of the main assets of the film was a score of a five time Oscar winner John Williams. Performances by children were adorable and at certain times emotional aswell. In all seriousness E.T. worked so well with me, that I won't even bother mentioning some of its flaws. I'll just say I can't wait to revisit this timeless adventure again.



Rating: +

I love the final scene with E.T. and Elliott, It's wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time. I can't watch that scene without crying.

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Indeed! Such a beautifully orchestrated and touching scene. Might aswell be one of my favourite film endings.

Jeff, nice review thread you have here I just found your thread the other day and I have to say I'm impressed by your diversity of film watching! You really have a wide range of films reviewed here so far...Including classic era Hollywood 30s-50s which is my favorite.

Days of Heaven
I like what you wrote there. I hadn't thought of it that way, but you're right...the young girl narrator isn't omnipotent, which leaves a sense of wonderment at the world Malick shows us.

So true, it really is beautifully filmed.
That's very astute. I was impressed with the cinematography, but felt underwhelmed by the story. But now that you mentioned it, I bet that's because the acting is subtle and mostly we movie watchers have been programmed to be told what to feel by heavy handed fast edits and over glorious music scores. But Days of Heaven doesn't spoon feed us emotions, it lets us discover them for ourselves.

I don't say this often, but your review has changed my mind on Days of Heaven and I really feel I need to rewatch it again. Enjoyed your review!

Hi Citizen! I'm glad you've enjoyed the reviews. So far I find this place as the perfect platform to express my thoughts on film, while also getting to interact with other posters and hear their impessions, so I hope to see you frequent this thread in the future aswell ! Also I have quite a few 40's classics ready to watch in order to prepare for the 40's countdown, and one of them is Citizen Kane