The Resident Bitch's Movie Log

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Awesome MV . While only my fourth Bergman it is the only one i've really loved to far, not that any of others were bad but i just didn't connect to them as much as this. Glad you agree on Victor Sjöström, one of my favourite ever performances and probably my favourite i've seen for the first time this year.



My favorite 50's Bergman is Smiles of a Summer Night. I wouldn't recommend it to you though, since it's a rom-com.
I do still enjoy some rom-coms. Perhaps his take on the genre will appeal to me.

So far the only Bergman that really didn't work for me was The Passion of Anna, which I never finished and don't count among the eight I've seen.





Written On the Wind (Douglas Sirk, 1956)
Imdb

Date Watched: 07/26/16
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: Cricket asked me to watch it for the 50s List
Rewatch: No


I went into this movie knowing next to nothing about it. I don't think I'd even heard the name until I got a PM from Cricket about it so I had no idea what to expect. It took me a little while to settle in (and to stop expecting Robert Stack to stare into the camera and tell me about a creepy unsolved mystery ) but once I did, I enjoyed it - for the most part.

Rock Hudson's Mitch was an intriguing and likable character and Stack's Kyle might've been a fairly sympathetic one had he not been so much of a douche. But I really couldn't bring myself to care at all about Lauren Bacall's Lucy. I suppose she was meant to seem sophisticated but she just struck me as bland. Aside from her physical beauty, I struggled to understand Mitch and Kyle's instant infatuation with her and didn't buy their claims of love at first sight, which somewhat lessened my enjoyment of the film.

Another thing that bugged - though is probably less a complaint about the film and more one about the era - was the way in which Kyle's sister Marylee was treated by the men in her life. On the one hand, I don't deny that she was something of a spoiled bitch, but I felt quite a bit of sympathy for her nevertheless. I've never considered myself a feminist, but it bothered me how the men sought to infantilize and control her, only to look at her with disgust when she behaved in childish ways.

But as I said, these things were mostly minor irritations and as long as I focused my attention on the interactions between Mitch and Kyle I could overcome them.




Glad to see some interest in Douglas Sirk's Written on the Wind. I reviewed it a couple of months ago and gave it the exact same rating. I told Gideon about it and he watched it a couple days latter...and same rating again.......You know what they say...great minds think alike

I thought that little red sports car she drives was pretty darn cool. And I dug the leaves blowing into the house. Sirk did that leave trick in other of his movies. Have you seen any other of his films?



I wish you had some time for a recommendation of mine. I think u would actually like it.
Well you're welcome to tell me what it is, but I can't promise to get to it.

Have you seen any other of his films?
No.



I quite liked Written on the Wind, but nowhere near as much as All That Heaven Allows.
Written on the Wind is a masterpiece, will be right near the top of my Fifties list, I'm glad you enjoyed it so some extent.
As much as I like Douglas Sirk's work, I didn't find Written on the Wind to be much different than other mid to late 50s melodramas done in the soap opera style. And that style was very popular at the time. I'd say All That Heaven Allows, is my favorite of Sirk's films.



I haven't seen Written on the Wind.

Which 50's movies are you planning on getting to MV?
The Seventh Seal, Smiles of a Summer Night, Seven Samurai. Not sure after that.



I'm sure there's a good chance you'll at least like the first two enough to put on your list since you seem to have liked most of what you've seen from Bergman so far. Interested in what you'll think of Seven Samurai, have you seen any Kurosawa?



Interested in what you'll think of Seven Samurai, have you seen any Kurosawa?
Only Rashomon, which I liked. I'll probably watch Seven Samurai this Sunday when I've got a lot of time available.



Actually I forgot a movie that I plan to watch: Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Not normally my kind of movie, but I liked the remake quite a bit so hopefully I'll like this one too.