2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

(I blogged about this film originally in 2015)

At a glance: Director: Stanley Kubrick Starring: Keir Duella, Gary Lockwood Genre: epic, science fiction Release: 1968, UK Length: 2.5 hours IMDB: 8.3 Review: -

Plot: -

Az emberiség hajnalán egy éjsötét monolit tűnik fel egy emberszabású csoportnak. Nem sokkal később a csapat csontokat talál és ráébred, hogy ezekkel az eszközökkel erősebek lehetnek puszta kézzel harcoló riválisaiknál. Négymillió évvel később az emberiség rábukkan egy hasonló monolitra, ami a Jupiter irányába küld jeleket. Kis csapat indul útnak, hogy felkutassa a célt. Ekkorra az eszközhasználat már annyira fejlett, hogy egy mesterséges inteligenciájú számítógép (H. A. L. 9000), amely képes emberi érzelmeket is imitálni, teljesértékű tagja a legénységnek. HAL szerint azonban az emberek veszélyeztetik a küldetést, ezért gyilkosságokba kezd.

Theme: -

Több témát foglal magába a sok szimbólumot szerepeltető történet, és sok asszociációra ad lehetőséget, de alapvetően az emberiség fejlődése a fő motívum. Hogy egészen konkrétan minek látja a film a fejlődést, nem is fontos annyira; a fő hangsúly egy elképzelt újabb evolúciós szintlépésen van.

Content: -

Gyenge pontjai a filmnek a humánkaraketerek, azaz hogy nem nagyon vannak. Több személyisége van, és jobban vagyunk képesek megérteni HAL-t, aki egy piros pötty, mint a felvonultatott embereket. Mégha ez szándékos, akkor is gyengeséknek érzem. Az előemberek viszont nagyon valóságosnak tűnnek, nagyon jól utánozták a majmok mozgását.

Form: -

Nagyon látványos a film, elsősorban az űr végtelensége miatt, de a díszletek is egészen szemet izgatóak. A film vége azért is olyan erős, mert a képi világ át mert menni absztraktba a történettel párhuzamosan. Ne felejtsük el, hogy mindez 1967-1968-ban készült, még a holdraszállás előtt.

Nagyon fontos elem hang, ami nincs sok. A világűr csendje nyomasztóan ül a fülünkön, és felerősíti a hangeffekteket. Érdekes módon a csenddel egészen jól harmonizál az a pár komolyzenei betét, különösen Ligeti Györgyé, hogy kicsit hazabeszéljek. Beszéd pedig alig van, ezáltal jóval nagyobb a hangsúly a vizualitáson mint a legtöbb film esetében, ami mindenképpen üdvözölendő. Leone filmjeinél szoktam fájlalni, hogy megszólalnak a szereplők, itt szerencsére nem volt zavaró.

Impression:This has been the most perfect classic I've seen so far, it met almost all my expectations, and it was witty and entertaining. The images, the sound, the content are just perfectly satisfying and if the atmosphere they create can suck you in, it'll be an unforgettable experience.

Trivia:

• The little girl was Kubrick's own daughter.
• The Hungarian composer Ligeti liked the film, but felt insulted that his music is next to Strauss :D
  

Mulholland Drive (2001)

(I blogged about this film originally in 2015)

At a glance: Director: David Lynch Starring: Justin Theroux, Naomi Watts, Laura Elena Harring, Ann Miller, Dan Hedaya Genre: mystery, neo-noir, surreal Release: 2001, USA Length: 2.5 hours IMDB: 8.0 Review: -

Plot: The drivers of a limo on Hollywood's Mullholland Drive suddenly point a gun at their female passenger (Laura Elena Harring). Lucky for her, another car accidently runs into them. When she regains consciousness, she hides in a nearby house. On the same day a countryside girl and wannabe actress Betty (Naomi Watts) moves into the same house. Betty tries to help her find out who she really is. In the meantime, a director (Justin Theroux) is struggling with the studio to have his actress play the leading role in his movie rather than theirs...

Theme: I don't want to spoil and I don't even want to solve the mystery, there are many attempts for that here. The point is that timelines, dreams, imagination and consciousnesses mix. We get several clues to understand events and symbols, but none of them are really exclusive; it's like a modern stream of consciousness by Tarkovsky, but they are most obvious, but also have multiple meanings. Another important plot is Hollywood, which according to the director is a nasty place with terrible producers, who are willing to do everything against a poor director.

Content: -

Form: The style of Lynch is described as dreamlike, and the film in its atmosphere, characters, grotesqueness seems nightmarish indeed. This nightmare has fitting expressive camera settings and lightnings, but not as many as I'd like. My impression is that Lynch wanted to create rather an atmosphere than employing a visual motif running through the whole film. The music is also fitting, even if it's just a slowly appearing bass, which gives a disharmonious feeling such as in case the theater scene. In spite of the nightmare, there are also some dark jokes, but this doesn't ruin the atmosphere. Finally, acting. Both main characters need to act out several personalities, which was spectacular especially in the case of Betty.

Impression: I think the story doesn't really go anywhere, its "only" about some people's fate. Not like that's necessary, the atmosphere and the emotions can by themselves awake ideas in us. In my case, this happened during the theater performance, in which the world Lynch built up up to that point turned suddenly upside down. The performed love song is distorted by the before mentioned dark ambient background music; the girls cry - all this felt like the display of a cruel, cold world in which the only warmth is a single positive emotion, a song. And then silencio. All in all, I didn't feel the film to be perfect, but it's definitely memorable and unsettling.

Trivia:

• Laura Harring was the first latina to win the Miss USA title in 1985.

Vertigo (1958)

(I blogged about this film originally in 2015)

At a glance: Director: Alfred Hitchcock Starring: James Stewart, Kim Novak Genre: film noir, psychological, thriller Release: 1958, USA Length: 2 hours IMDB: 8.3 Review: -

Plot: Our protagonist, Scottie (James Stewart) is is a detective with a career ahead (played by a man in his 50s for some reason) who has a traumatic experience when his colleague dies of falling off a rooftop during a chase. Scottie develops a fear of heights and retires until an acquaintance asks him to follow and take care of his wife Madeleine (Kim Novak), who recently has started to act mentally unstable. She believes she has been possessed by her dead great-grandmother's ghost, who committed suicide. While looking after her, Scottie falls for Madeleine...

Theme: In spite of being a thriller, the story is about a tragic love or rather the tragic love of two broken people.

Content: Unlike today, the big twist of the story takes place in the middle of the story instead of waiting till the end. Hitchcock did this to help us understand Madeleine's perspective. The studio first removed this twist but then edited it back.

Form: To achieve the visual expression of the fear of height, the most noticeable is the so-called dolly zoom technique, where the camera is moved backwards while they are also zooming in. They say the film is also innovative in several editing methods. The nightmare-sequence mixed with animation is quite eye-catching even with today's standards. Music is much more than just background music, it is part of the images.

Impression: If the twist had not taken place in the middle of the story, my surprise would have definitely been bigger, but then I might have missed Madeleine's perspective.  Well, not as if I did get it now... Maybe it would have been more effective if it had been shot from Madeleine's perspective.

Trivia:

• James Stewart had a traditional military family heritage, so he was one of the first stars to enlist when the USA entered World War II. He did actually take part in real missions as a pilot and was quite successful in his military career as well.
  

Citizen Kane (1941)

(I blogged about this film originally in 2015)

At a glance: Director: Orson Welles Starring: - Genre: drama Release: 1941, USA Length: 2 hours IMDB: 8.3 Review: -

Plot: Rosebud - whispers Kane (Orson Welles), the media tycoon with his last breath. A short piece of news is made about his life but it's way too boring, so a journalist is told to investigate his life, including the meaning of "rosebud". So he visits all the important people in Kane's life...

Theme: The film presents the fictive life of the media tycoon (strongly resembling William Randolph Hearst), and we can see into his personality and motives. In the meantime we also learn about how mean the media and politics work.

Content: They say the narrative was innovative in its time, because it showed us different perspectives of the same thing. In this plot it served the function of getting Kane know. It was also unusual to have flashbacks and non-linear narrative: we did not see Kane's life in chronological order but in a way to deepen our knowledge of him. For this reason the film is compared to the style of Marcel Proust.

Form: The film is famous for its innovative visual elements, particularly the deep focus. For, me, however, is most apparent the composition of the scenes, the way characters are emphasized with lightning or positioning. For my delight, it did not lack expressionist elements as well.

Impression: Its hard to criticize the film, both the content and the visuals are cleverly made, but for me it lacked the catharsis. It had many great scenes, but none of them could really reach me.

Trivia:

• Welles was considered a young genius, that's the reason why he could make a film without any restrictions. He had his own theater company by the age of 22; he was 23 when he directed his famous radio play - thanks to this latter success did he get the opportunity to direct his first film at 26.
• Hearst, however, was not happy about the film and did everything to stop its release - this caused initial failures, but eventually the film was a success.