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I saw all of those except Farewell, My Lovely, and rated them all just about the same. I still am not sure how I feel about the ending to The Gambler. I was thinking over the course of the movie that he lacked desperation for the situation he was in, and the ending validated that feeling. On the other hand, why call it The Gambler if that's not even his real problem. In a way, I felt a little tricked, like there was a sudden turn that was made up just as an excuse for his gambling. I'm just not sure about it.
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Quiz Show (1994)
This is a classy, intelligent and hugely entertaining drama about a seemingly forgotten part of television history. It's one of the smartest and most sophisticated films I've ever seen about the meaning of "truth" in a socially practical sense.
Redford tells the (true) story about a fixed quiz show very thoughtfully. He passionately sympathizes with the side of truth, but he's also smart enough to not get out of his role as an observer either. He trusts the viewers to meditate about the subject themselves and to each individually draw conclusions about how meaningful and valuable "truth" really is in our current system.
I've always been interested and fascinated about the "illusion of truth" and the practical side of lying.
Everyone knows that being truthful and honest is the right thing to do as a human being, but paradoxically it also seems that, in our practical society, "making your own truths" can make you much more succesful. It goes even further. When you're able to keep up a specific strong illusion of truth, you can even fabricate a situation where everyone involved seems to get an advantage out of it! It's only when the bubble actually bursts that most people start to realize that they prefer the truth over fabrications, even though it's sometimes hard to rationally explain why.
I guess people are so angry when they are confronted with other people's lies, because lies can also produce very terrible consequences. It's impossible to truly draw a fine line between when it is acceptable and when it is not. A society would implode if there wasn't any "certainty of truth" anymore, because there would be no trust. A whole society can lose its credibility just as much as one individual can.
You, yourself, can choose what kind of person you want to be.
1) You can be one of the many people who tries to make a profit from that inevitable, immoral loophole in our society. The immorality of lying can be compensated by the generally good (personal) consequences those lies might carry with them.
2) You can be a person who believes in the values of honesty and trust and who believes that those values are an inherent part of the moral foundations of a free society. Bending the truth to gain profits can have horrible, sometimes unforeseeable side effects, even if it's only in the long term.
The most valuable thing this film may actually show, is that it is especially important to be aware of what both sides of the argument imply and ultimately may have in store.
It's a very interesting film overall. It's well acted (the cast is fantastic), it's very solidly directed (I wonder if Redford got any tips from Scorsese, who played a small role in the film) and it has a very strong script about themes that will always be endlessly fascinating to me. Quiz Show managed to keep me entertained both dramatically and intellectually. I'm very much impressed and I strongly recommend seeing this film!
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This is a classy, intelligent and hugely entertaining drama about a seemingly forgotten part of television history. It's one of the smartest and most sophisticated films I've ever seen about the meaning of "truth" in a socially practical sense.
Redford tells the (true) story about a fixed quiz show very thoughtfully. He passionately sympathizes with the side of truth, but he's also smart enough to not get out of his role as an observer either. He trusts the viewers to meditate about the subject themselves and to each individually draw conclusions about how meaningful and valuable "truth" really is in our current system.
I've always been interested and fascinated about the "illusion of truth" and the practical side of lying.
Everyone knows that being truthful and honest is the right thing to do as a human being, but paradoxically it also seems that, in our practical society, "making your own truths" can make you much more succesful. It goes even further. When you're able to keep up a specific strong illusion of truth, you can even fabricate a situation where everyone involved seems to get an advantage out of it! It's only when the bubble actually bursts that most people start to realize that they prefer the truth over fabrications, even though it's sometimes hard to rationally explain why.
I guess people are so angry when they are confronted with other people's lies, because lies can also produce very terrible consequences. It's impossible to truly draw a fine line between when it is acceptable and when it is not. A society would implode if there wasn't any "certainty of truth" anymore, because there would be no trust. A whole society can lose its credibility just as much as one individual can.
You, yourself, can choose what kind of person you want to be.
1) You can be one of the many people who tries to make a profit from that inevitable, immoral loophole in our society. The immorality of lying can be compensated by the generally good (personal) consequences those lies might carry with them.
2) You can be a person who believes in the values of honesty and trust and who believes that those values are an inherent part of the moral foundations of a free society. Bending the truth to gain profits can have horrible, sometimes unforeseeable side effects, even if it's only in the long term.
The most valuable thing this film may actually show, is that it is especially important to be aware of what both sides of the argument imply and ultimately may have in store.
It's a very interesting film overall. It's well acted (the cast is fantastic), it's very solidly directed (I wonder if Redford got any tips from Scorsese, who played a small role in the film) and it has a very strong script about themes that will always be endlessly fascinating to me. Quiz Show managed to keep me entertained both dramatically and intellectually. I'm very much impressed and I strongly recommend seeing this film!
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Pleased to see you enjoyed this so much. I remember going to the cinema to see this and I really liked it back then. I think I've seen it once since then, but that was probably only a year or so after it was made.
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Forbidden Planet (1956)
This is a really engaging and brilliantly smart classic sci-fi film that inventively exposes what could possibly be human's greatest ultimate intrinsic tragedy.
The film's Freudian theme is very cleverly metaphorized through thoughtful, seemingly unimportant details (the cook's lust for drinking, the men's lust for the daughter, etc.) and more obvious representations (the tiger jumping at the commander and the daughter, the robot being the most likable and flawless character in the whole movie, the invisible monster, etc.) during the whole film. It's really amazing how well thought out this film is. Every single aspect of it can be given meaning in the context of the film's main theme.
Even though the story very much (almost exclusively) focuses on the specific observation that's being made about human nature, the film still feels very rich, because of the high ambition that was obviously at the basis of the film's sci-fi context.
- First of all, the technical aspect of the film perfectly works, the locations look really good (especially by the standards of that time) and it's just a joy to watch it.
- Secondly, the ideas in this story are BIG and the film cleverly takes its time to explicate the film's story and environment. We really get to know and explore this film's sci-fi universe. I love that!
The film kind of made me think of Stalker in a certain (far-fetched) way. Stylistically, the films couldn't be further apart, but both movies touch on very similar topical issues, in my opinion. So, don't expect this picture to be a high level philosophical film or anything like that. It just tells an exciting sci-fi adventure that happens to have very interesting substantial aspects to it when studied more intensively. It's said to be loosely inspired by Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'.
Back to the small comparison I wanted to make between both films.
In Forbidden Planet, we witness why extremely developed technology in the hands of mankind can be dangerous (it's told in a very symbolic manner, but the argument the film's making is very clear) and in Stalker, we basically get a meditation on why the existence of the "supernatural" (a sort of "wishing room" in this case) could be more dangerous than positive, when it can be manipulated by men.
In other words, two of mankind's biggest wishes are fulfilled, but ultimately seem to have unforeseen negative side effects, because there seems to be something wrong with us!
Both films basically talk about the tragic unreliability of humanity. We can't trust other people and we can't even trust ourselves, because we never fully have control over neither of the two. There's a potential monster in all of us, even if there aren't any bad intentions... The point is not to be scared, but to be aware of the 'Id'-aspect of your nature. Don't deny its existence and don't be blind for its possible consequences.
"It will remind us that we are, after all, not God."
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This is a really engaging and brilliantly smart classic sci-fi film that inventively exposes what could possibly be human's greatest ultimate intrinsic tragedy.
WARNING: "Forbidden Planet" spoilers below
Our animalistic, irrational subconscious side. "Id".
The film's Freudian theme is very cleverly metaphorized through thoughtful, seemingly unimportant details (the cook's lust for drinking, the men's lust for the daughter, etc.) and more obvious representations (the tiger jumping at the commander and the daughter, the robot being the most likable and flawless character in the whole movie, the invisible monster, etc.) during the whole film. It's really amazing how well thought out this film is. Every single aspect of it can be given meaning in the context of the film's main theme.
Even though the story very much (almost exclusively) focuses on the specific observation that's being made about human nature, the film still feels very rich, because of the high ambition that was obviously at the basis of the film's sci-fi context.
- First of all, the technical aspect of the film perfectly works, the locations look really good (especially by the standards of that time) and it's just a joy to watch it.
- Secondly, the ideas in this story are BIG and the film cleverly takes its time to explicate the film's story and environment. We really get to know and explore this film's sci-fi universe. I love that!
The film kind of made me think of Stalker in a certain (far-fetched) way. Stylistically, the films couldn't be further apart, but both movies touch on very similar topical issues, in my opinion. So, don't expect this picture to be a high level philosophical film or anything like that. It just tells an exciting sci-fi adventure that happens to have very interesting substantial aspects to it when studied more intensively. It's said to be loosely inspired by Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'.
Back to the small comparison I wanted to make between both films.
In Forbidden Planet, we witness why extremely developed technology in the hands of mankind can be dangerous (it's told in a very symbolic manner, but the argument the film's making is very clear) and in Stalker, we basically get a meditation on why the existence of the "supernatural" (a sort of "wishing room" in this case) could be more dangerous than positive, when it can be manipulated by men.
In other words, two of mankind's biggest wishes are fulfilled, but ultimately seem to have unforeseen negative side effects, because there seems to be something wrong with us!
Both films basically talk about the tragic unreliability of humanity. We can't trust other people and we can't even trust ourselves, because we never fully have control over neither of the two. There's a potential monster in all of us, even if there aren't any bad intentions... The point is not to be scared, but to be aware of the 'Id'-aspect of your nature. Don't deny its existence and don't be blind for its possible consequences.
"It will remind us that we are, after all, not God."
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Last edited by Cobpyth; 12-23-14 at 07:56 AM.
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I'm happy to see you watching some classic, older sci-fi. I know you don't think this, but Forbidden Planet is better than Stalker every which way, even for those who may find it childish. In fact, that's one of the reasons. 
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I'm happy to see you watching some classic, older sci-fi. I know you don't think this, but Forbidden Planet is better than Stalker every which way, even for those who may find it childish. In fact, that's one of the reasons.
Stalker is a truly impressive cinematic achievement and I admire it, but Forbidden Planet (besides its intelligent content) also has the quality of making me sit on the edge of my seat during its whole running time. In the end, that's what films are made for.
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Nice review Cobpyth as usual. Realistically, I probably won't get to it until the 50's list, but you've got me looking forward to it.
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Nights of Cabiria (1957)
~~SPOILERS AHEAD!~~
What a wonderful film this is! I could go on and on about Fellini's virtuosic visual storytelling or Giulietta Masina's fantastic acting performance in this heart-whole piece of stunning cinema, but these are not the reasons why I wanted to write this short "free-form" review. I mainly want to talk about the film's content and especially the meaning and implications of the film's brilliant ending. I'm just going to write "from the heart" a little bit. Some sentences and words. No structure. My apologies to everyone who expected something decent!
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A prostitute gets robbed by her boyfriend. It's not the first time she's betrayed by someone who supposedly loves her.
Her angry, cynical and insecure self takes over.
She dances on the street.
A movie star picks her up. This must be a dream. It turns out to be one of the many nightmares of reality... She's not someone's goal. She's an object of pleasure that can be tossed away in an instant. She's merely a distraction. She's not alive.
Can faith save her? Is there someone there to guard and guide her? She cries. Has something changed? She doesn't feel it. Nothing happens.
How dare they sell us false hope! How dare they believe!
A man feeds the homeless. Is there pure goodness in the world? He's the proof.
She's on a vaudeville stage. Hypnotized. She shares her inner feelings. She's like the rest of us. All of us. Longing for someone. Longing for romance. Warmth.
Oscar saw her true self. He saw something special. He gets her. They are the same. They should be together!
Cabiria leaves and sells everything for love. She's going to marry. She finally made it. Oscar doesn't even care about her past. It's almost too good to be true.
It is.
Everything turned out to be deception. One big disillusion. He doesn't love her.
A prostitute gets robbed by her boyfriend. It's not the first time she's betrayed by someone who supposedly loves her.
If there's one thing we've learned from history, it is that we haven't learned anything from it.
"KILL ME!"
Why would someone ever want to live the life she's living? Isn't the one true happiness in life to love and be loved?
Good questions. Painful questions. Bad questions. If there isn't faith and if there isn't love, then what gives us the strength to go on? What's the point? None.
Darkness. Sadness. Torn.
Cabiria gets up. Laughing humans suddenly enter the frame. Dancing teenagers. Happiness around her.
Her face. One beautiful tear and ... a smile.
What makes her smile? Hasn't she lost everything? Isn't it over?
Tragedy. Merciless tragedy.
But also a desperate and hopeful smile.
The lack of answers is frustrating and satisfying.
Life above death? Pain above death?
Why? Why not?
-------------------
Share your thoughts on this magnificent film!
~~SPOILERS AHEAD!~~
What a wonderful film this is! I could go on and on about Fellini's virtuosic visual storytelling or Giulietta Masina's fantastic acting performance in this heart-whole piece of stunning cinema, but these are not the reasons why I wanted to write this short "free-form" review. I mainly want to talk about the film's content and especially the meaning and implications of the film's brilliant ending. I'm just going to write "from the heart" a little bit. Some sentences and words. No structure. My apologies to everyone who expected something decent!
-------------------
A prostitute gets robbed by her boyfriend. It's not the first time she's betrayed by someone who supposedly loves her.
Her angry, cynical and insecure self takes over.
She dances on the street.
A movie star picks her up. This must be a dream. It turns out to be one of the many nightmares of reality... She's not someone's goal. She's an object of pleasure that can be tossed away in an instant. She's merely a distraction. She's not alive.
Can faith save her? Is there someone there to guard and guide her? She cries. Has something changed? She doesn't feel it. Nothing happens.
How dare they sell us false hope! How dare they believe!
A man feeds the homeless. Is there pure goodness in the world? He's the proof.
She's on a vaudeville stage. Hypnotized. She shares her inner feelings. She's like the rest of us. All of us. Longing for someone. Longing for romance. Warmth.
Oscar saw her true self. He saw something special. He gets her. They are the same. They should be together!
Cabiria leaves and sells everything for love. She's going to marry. She finally made it. Oscar doesn't even care about her past. It's almost too good to be true.
It is.
Everything turned out to be deception. One big disillusion. He doesn't love her.
A prostitute gets robbed by her boyfriend. It's not the first time she's betrayed by someone who supposedly loves her.
If there's one thing we've learned from history, it is that we haven't learned anything from it.
"KILL ME!"
Why would someone ever want to live the life she's living? Isn't the one true happiness in life to love and be loved?
Good questions. Painful questions. Bad questions. If there isn't faith and if there isn't love, then what gives us the strength to go on? What's the point? None.
Darkness. Sadness. Torn.
Cabiria gets up. Laughing humans suddenly enter the frame. Dancing teenagers. Happiness around her.
Her face. One beautiful tear and ... a smile.
What makes her smile? Hasn't she lost everything? Isn't it over?
Tragedy. Merciless tragedy.
But also a desperate and hopeful smile.
The lack of answers is frustrating and satisfying.
Life above death? Pain above death?
Why? Why not?
-------------------
Share your thoughts on this magnificent film!
Last edited by Cobpyth; 04-12-15 at 12:03 AM.
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That's a movie I really want to check out after having seen La Strada, if only because of Giulietta Masina.
That's a movie I really want to check out after having seen La Strada, if only because of Giulietta Masina.
I cried.
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Great review Cobpyth, love Nights of Cabiria although personally it's only my 8th or so favorite Fellini. Check out Juliet of the Spirits if you haven't already. It's 8 1/2 mixed with some of the most mindbending, trippy visuals I've ever seen, and it also happens to star Masina as the main character.
I watched Quiz Show recently and thought it was really good, although the longer it's been since I've seen it, the less 'spectacular' I think it is. Although you're definitely right in how it's thought provoking thinking about the modern world, especially with so many consumer based 'reality' shows around today, I really enjoyed Ralph Fiennes in the film, I think he's a really good actor. Even though I consider a couple of Fellini's films to be my very favourites, there is still a lot of his filmography for me to explore, with Nights of Cabiria being one of them. I'm definitely looking forward to it now.
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Tokyo Story (1953)
Besides his undeniable greatness as a visual director, there are plenty of other reasons why I love Ozu so much. One of the most important ones is that his films have a kind of fluent, natural, subtle and unforced way of conveying messages and wisdoms.
His most famous film, Tokyo Story, is a great example of this. Like Leo McCarey's wonderful Make Way for Tomorrow, the main thing the viewer is clearly meant to take away from this film is to respect and love the elderly (especially if they are your parents). This in itself is already one of the great strenghts of both of these movies of course. They both make the viewer think about a universal and important moral to uphold that easily gets forgotten if we wouldn't dwell on it from time to time.
The reason why both of these films are so effective, though, is that they are told in a very balanced way. The children aren't evil and the elderly aren't holy. They're all simply humans who have their own logical desires, irritations and values. We understand the children and we understand their elderly parents and yet, we can't shake off the feeling that the parents are the true victims.
The films even go out of their way at times to portray the children as the victims, but it simply strengthens their message. For instance, in Make Way for Tomorrow, the elderly mother is constantly annoying the guests of her daughter-in-law during an evening of playing cards and in Tokyo Story the elderly father and an old friend of his arrive at the home of his daughter blind drunk in the middle of the night and without even a warning. The films show us the emotions and the reasoning of both the children and the parents in these situations and against all logic, we still feel more empathized with the elderly. It's a testament to the greatness of these films. They feel so good about what they're trying to say, that they are not afraid to challenge themselves.
In all its wisdom, Tokyo Story is able to make the viewers observe and understand for themselves what's truly going on and the alcoholic escapade of the elderly father proves that. We come to understand that the struggles of the children are nothing compared to the struggles of the parents, even when those struggles are never literally spelled out or pointed at. We observe both sides and as witnesses, we simply come to feel that one side is in so much more actual pain than the other.
Instead of being told the message, Tokyo Story makes us feel the message, but that's only half of why the film is so great. What truly makes it a masterpiece, is that its way of manipulating our feelings can't truly be argued against in any way. It gives the viewer the impression, or perhaps even makes them realize, that what they've felt, is also the unadulterated truth. A rarity in art.
Besides his undeniable greatness as a visual director, there are plenty of other reasons why I love Ozu so much. One of the most important ones is that his films have a kind of fluent, natural, subtle and unforced way of conveying messages and wisdoms.
His most famous film, Tokyo Story, is a great example of this. Like Leo McCarey's wonderful Make Way for Tomorrow, the main thing the viewer is clearly meant to take away from this film is to respect and love the elderly (especially if they are your parents). This in itself is already one of the great strenghts of both of these movies of course. They both make the viewer think about a universal and important moral to uphold that easily gets forgotten if we wouldn't dwell on it from time to time.
The reason why both of these films are so effective, though, is that they are told in a very balanced way. The children aren't evil and the elderly aren't holy. They're all simply humans who have their own logical desires, irritations and values. We understand the children and we understand their elderly parents and yet, we can't shake off the feeling that the parents are the true victims.
The films even go out of their way at times to portray the children as the victims, but it simply strengthens their message. For instance, in Make Way for Tomorrow, the elderly mother is constantly annoying the guests of her daughter-in-law during an evening of playing cards and in Tokyo Story the elderly father and an old friend of his arrive at the home of his daughter blind drunk in the middle of the night and without even a warning. The films show us the emotions and the reasoning of both the children and the parents in these situations and against all logic, we still feel more empathized with the elderly. It's a testament to the greatness of these films. They feel so good about what they're trying to say, that they are not afraid to challenge themselves.
In all its wisdom, Tokyo Story is able to make the viewers observe and understand for themselves what's truly going on and the alcoholic escapade of the elderly father proves that. We come to understand that the struggles of the children are nothing compared to the struggles of the parents, even when those struggles are never literally spelled out or pointed at. We observe both sides and as witnesses, we simply come to feel that one side is in so much more actual pain than the other.
Instead of being told the message, Tokyo Story makes us feel the message, but that's only half of why the film is so great. What truly makes it a masterpiece, is that its way of manipulating our feelings can't truly be argued against in any way. It gives the viewer the impression, or perhaps even makes them realize, that what they've felt, is also the unadulterated truth. A rarity in art.
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Quiz Show (1994)
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