Frenzy

Genre: crime drama  

With: Jon Finch (Richard Blaney), Barry Foster (Robert Rusk), Barbara Leigh-Hunt (Brenda Blaney), Anna Massey (Babs Milligan), Alec McCowen (Chief Inspector Oxford), Vivien Merchant (Mrs. Oxford), Billie Whitelaw (Hetty Porter), Clive Swift (Johnny Porter), Bernard Cribbins (Felix Forsythe), Jean Marsh (Monica Barling)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Screenplay: Anthony Shaffer (from a novel by Arthur La Bern)

Release: 1972

Studio: Universal Pictures

Rating: PA

MBiS score: 8.5/10

A Friend in Need Is a Useful Friend Indeed

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Story-line: when London women are stalked by a serial killer who uses neckties to strangle them, an irascible, unemployed bartender emerges as the suspect. 

Pluses: excellent acting all around, a suspenseful and detailed screenplay that pushes all the right buttons and plays with the viewer until the very end, outstanding cinematography, economical direction, complicit editing by John Jympson and music by Ron Goodwin.

Minuses: you may find the film’s humour too morbid at times but trust Mrs. Oxford to serve up priceless reparteees along with her improbable gourmet dishes.

Comments: FRENZY, a serial killer movie with a British feel, makes a valiant effort to develop its characters instead of insisting on mayhem and grisly details. Yes, a couple of scenes are terrifying and even lurid but I’ll never forget one chilling, understated sequence in which the camera goes down a staircase to a busy street rather than show the nefarious deed being committed upstairs. If murder in real life is the most horrendous of crimes, I have to admit that fictional works like this one can turn it into riveting entertainment.  

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Manchurian Candidate (The)

Genre: political suspense (in black and white)

With: Laurence Harvey (Sgt. Raymond Shaw), Angela Lansbury (his mother Eleanor Shaw Iselin), James Gregory (his stepfather, Senator John Iselin), Frank Sinatra (Capt. Bennett Marco), Lloyd Corrigan (Holborn Gaines), James Edwards (Cpl. Allen Melvin), Janet Leigh (Eugenie), Henry Silva (Chunjin), Leslie Parrish (Jocie Jordan), John McGiver (Senator Jordan)

Director: John Frankenheimer

Screenplay: George Axelrod and John Frankenheimer (based on a novel by Richard Condon)

Release: 1962

Studio: M.C. Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Rating: PG-13

MBiS score: 8.5/10

A Queen of Diamonds in Every Deck

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Story-line: in 1952, during the Korean War, Sgt. Shaw, Capt. Marco and other GIs are captured by communist forces but Shaw manages to free himself and most of his comrades. On their return home, Shaw is welcomed as a hero, decorated in Washington and quickly hired by an influential New York journalist. For his part, Marco becomes a Major and is given a job at Army Intelligence… but keeps making this odd nightmare about a horticultural conference in New Jersey.   

Pluses: a crackerjack cast led by Angela Lansbury, Laurence Harvey, Frank Sinatra, James Gregory and Janet Leigh, John Frankenheimer’s daring, smartly paced direction that sustains tension and mystery, a logical, complex and orderly screenplay that features lots of drama and several LOL moments (the catsup scene!), Lionel Lindon’s inspired cinematography, able editing by Ferris Webster, David Amram’s austerely beautiful score and a nail-biting ending.

Minuses: one camera shot at the convention may be considered manipulative. Marco’s apartment is a mess and, apparently, he doesn’t bother to empty his ashtrays.

Comments: this version of THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (not the 2004 remake) is wide-ranging, excellent and thrilling. Spectacle aside, it raises crucial and sensitive issues while its depiction of politics borders on cynicism. With the benefit of hindsight, John Frankenheimer’s film was both provocative and premonitory on its release in 1962. Today, it remains chilling and topical in our world of fake news and international political interference.  

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© 2018 – All rights reserved

Biutiful

Genre: personal drama

With: Javier Bardem (Uxbal), Maricel Alvarez (his ex-wife Marambra), Hanna Bouchaib (his daughter Ana), Guillermo Estrella (his son Mateo), Eduardo Fernández (his brother Tito), Cheikh Ndiaye (Ekweme), Diaryatou Daff (Ige, Ekweme’s wife). Cheng Tai Shen (Hai), Luo Jin (Liwei, Hai’s associate)

Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

Screenplay: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Armando Bo and Nicolas Giacobone

Release: 2010

Studio: Mod Producciones, Ikiru Films et al.

Rating: 14A

MBiS score: 8.5/10

The Mess You Leave Behind

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Story-line: when his life takes an unexpected turn, a Barcelonian wheeler-dealer tries to do things right for the sake of his family and associates.

Pluses: a fine cast led by a driven and brooding Javier Bardem, a complex and original screenplay featuring multi-faceted characters, genuinely touching moments and startling visual transitions, masterly direction, superb photography by Rodrigo Prieto (note the dominant Sagrada Família church), adept editing and appropriate production values.

Minuses: some scenes remain cryptic even after attentive viewing… but they contribute to the film’s unusual, almost mystical charm. 

Comments: BIUTIFUL is a lyrical and hard-edged redemption movie whose European feel reminded me of LES AMANTS DU PONT-NEUF and several works by the great Krzysztof Kieslowski. I was especially impressed by Javier Bardem as a character entirely different from his cold-blooded killer in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. As this film eloquently shows, no life is ever a complete success nor an outright failure. It’s the effort you put into it that really counts.

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© 2018 – All rights reserved

Faces

Genre: relationship drama (in black and white) 

With: John Marley (Richard Forst), Gena Rowlands (Jeannie Rapp), Lynn Carlin (Maria, Richard’s wife), Fred Draper (Freddie Draper), Seymour Cassel (Chet), Val Avery (Jim McCarthy), Dorothy Gulliver (Florence), Joanne Moore Jordan (Louise Draper, Freddie’s wife), Darlene Conley (Billy Mae), Gene Darfler (Joe Jackson)

Direction and screenplay: John Cassavetes

Release: 1968

Studio: Walter Reade Organization, CONTINENTAL

Rating: R

MBiS score: 8.7/10

Pathetic Men and Women Groping Frantically for Love        

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Story-line: one fateful evening, Richard Forst, a Los Angeles producer, and his pal Freddie go to a nightclub where they meet a very attractive lady named Jeannie Rapp. While they chit-chat and fool around, Jeannie and Richard establish a rapport that will soon threaten his seemingly happy marriage.

Pluses: exceedingly natural acting by Gena Rowlands, John Marley and cast, remarkable dialogues and telling hesitations, an offbeat and unpredictable screenplay that features engaging characters and robust drama, impeccable helming, fine cinematography by Al Ruban (with Maurice McEndree and Haskell Wexler).

Minuses: the movie is very talky but never dull.  

Comments: what struck me most about FACES is the emotional range of its characters (at times tender, serious, irrational, humorous or brutal) and how they change moods in a fraction of a second. These frustrated people are ready, on the spur of the moment, to risk what they have built up over the years for something that may or may not be love. Will they succeed in their quest or will it all end in silence? Cue final credits…

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Onna ga kaidan wo agaru toki

English title: When a Woman Ascends the Stairs

Also known as: Quand une femme monte l'escalier

Genre: psychological drama (in black and white)

With: Hideko Takamine (Keiko Yashiro, aka ‟Mama”), Masayuki Mori (Nobuhiko Fujisaki), Reiko Dan (Junko Inchihashi), Tatsuya Nakadai (Kenichi Komatsu, the manager), Daisuke Katô (Matsukichi Sekine), Ganjirô Nakamura (Goda, a customer), Eitarô Ozawa (Minobe, another customer), Keiko Awaji (Yuri)

Director: Mikio Naruse

Screenplay: Ryûzô Kikushima

Release: 1960

Studio: Toho Company

Rating: -

MBiS score: 8.4/10

Part Friend, Part Wife, Part Lover… and Some Kind of Slave

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Story-line: like 16,000 other women in the Ginza district of Tokyo, Keiko works as a hostess in a bar. Although she’s been doing it for years, there’s nothing she hates more than climbing those stairs to the Lilac where she entertains businessmen at great personal risk.

Pluses: strong acting by the radiant Hideko Takamine and a credible cast, a subtle and well-developed screenplay in which even minor characters are essential, splendid cinematography, seamless direction and a jazzy musical theme suited to the subject matter. 

Minuses: some of the dialogues may seem ineffectual but they do serve a purpose. The story loses some momentum early in the third act (when dealing with Keiko’s family problems) but picks up nicely afterwards and ends on a surprising note.

Comments: WHEN A WOMAN ASCENDS THE STAIRS is a mature and uncompromising portrait of ladies leading a precarious life. Although not exposed to violence like sex workers often are, these hostesses face moral ambiguity, financial pressures, sexual dilemmas and emotional tailspins. As Keiko knows only too well, ‟Aging is hard on a woman.” How true, how very true…  

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Pianist (The) 

Genre: war drama  

With: Adrien Brody (Wladyslaw Szpilman), Frank Finlay (his father), Maureen Lipman (his mother), Ed Stoppard (his brother Henryk), Emilia Fox (Dorota), Michal Zebrowski (Jurek), Thomas Kretschmann (Hosenfeld)

Director: Roman Polanski

Screenplay: Ronald Harwood (based on Wladyslaw Szpilman’s book)

Release: 2002

Studio: R.P. Productions, Heritage Films, Studio Babelsberg, Runteam Ltd. et al.  

Rating: R

MBiS score: 8.3/10

‟[God] wants us to survive. Well, that's what we have to believe.”

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Story-line: in September 1939, Polish pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman and his family look on in despair as German forces invade their country. Their hope is rekindled when England declares war on Hitler’s Third Reich… but hope alone won’t alleviate the horrors they face daily.   

Pluses: an evenly professional cast led by Adrien Brody (an Oscar and César winner as Wladyslaw), strong direction and production values, a realistic screenplay capped by a memorable ending. 

Minuses: none I can think of.

Comments: although THE PIANIST does encroach upon SCHINDLER’S LIST early on as it describes the plight of the Jewish population of Poland, it diverges at some point to focus on one family and one atypical hero. As proof of its quality and universal value, this drama has drawn accolades in North America (other Oscars for direction and for adapted screenplay and also nominations for best picture, cinematography, costume design and film editing), in Great Britain (two BAFTAs), in Cannes (the Palme d’or) and in France (seven Césars overall).  

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