All Quiet on the Western Front

Genre: war drama (in black and white)

With: Lew Ayres (Paul Baumer, the young writer), Louis Wolheim (Stanislaus Katczinsky, the veteran), John Wray (Himmelstoss, the postman), Slim Summerville (Tjaden, the beanpole), Russell Gleason (Mueller, the boot-wearing friend), William Bakewell (Albert, Paul’s closest friend), Scott Kolk (Leer), Walter Rogers (Behn, the student who didn’t want to enlist)

Director: Lewis Milestone

Screenplay: George Abbott, Maxwell Anderson, Del Andrews et al. (based on Erich Maria Remarque’s novel)

Release: 1930

Studio: Universal Pictures

Rating: -

MBiS score: 8.7/10 

 

‟When it comes to dying for country, it's better not to die at all.” 

 

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Story-line: in a German town at the outset of World War I, parading soldiers are greeted like heroes by an admiring crowd. Expecting the conflict to be short and sweet, working men quit their jobs to enlist and teachers urge students to do their patriotic duty. Glory, it seems, is within every soldier’s reach.

Pluses: superb acting by Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray and a good cast, masterful and modern direction (especially eloquent during the military parade, the classroom scene and on the battlefield), a striking, realistic and brutal screenplay based on a classic novel (that was later banned by the Nazis), vivid cinematography and great production values true to the mood and essence of the times.

Minuses: none I can think of.

Comments: in 1930, two years after WINGS had garnered the first-ever Oscar for Best Picture, this other war movie – and Lewis Milestone’s first work – was also rewarded by the Academy. And the honour was entirely deserved. In some ways, it was a gutsy picture: an American production showing the war from another point of view and demonstrating that all soldiers, whatever side they fight for, lose a part of themselves in the hellish process of war. Paul Baumer will learn what he wasn’t taught in school: that war is complete pandemonium and that wearing a uniform is an experience in anxiety, fear and remorse that sets you apart and makes you see the civilian world as another kind of hell. As I write this, I am reminded of an Iraqi soldier who had commented, at the end of the Gulf War, that ‟you had no time to rest… it was bomb, bomb, bomb…” ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT is a masterpiece, a film still important and praiseworthy more than 90 years after its release.   

 

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 Max et les ferrailleurs

English title: Max and the Junkmen

Genre: crime drama

With: Michel Piccoli (Max), Romy Schneider (Julia Anna ‟Lili” Ackermann), Georges Wilson (the Commissioner), Bernard Fresson (Abel Maresco), François Périer (Rosinsky), Boby Lapointe (Lui Serafino, ‟P'tit Lu”), Michel Creton (Robert Saïdani),  Henri-Jacques Huet (Cyriaque, ‟Dromadaire”), Jacques Canselier (Jean-Marie Patinet, ‟Jean-Jean”), Maurice Auzel (Antoine ‟Tony” Chantoiseau), Philippe Léotard (Losfeld)

Director: Claude Sautet

Screenplay: Jean-Loup Dabadie, Claude Sautet and Claude Néron (based on Claude Néron's novel)

Release: 1971

Studio: Fida Cinematografica, Lira Films, Sonocam

Rating: -

MBiS score: 8.5/10

  

Entrapment with a Twist 

 

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Story-line: Max, a police detective, has made a major boo-boo. Having heard from an informer that a big heist would be pulled off at a Parisian bank, he laid a careful trap but the robbers attacked the bank’s head office instead, killing one clerk, injuring another and making off with 80 million francs. With his confidence shattered and his career in limbo, Max investigates further and is led to Abel, a former acquaintance who carelessly tells him that he deals in stolen cars and metals. For a hapless cop like Max, so eager to restore his reputation on the force, Abel is a godsend.  

Pluses: formidable acting by Michel Piccoli (a serious, cunning Max), Romy Schneider, Bernard Fresson and an able cast, tight, efficient, informative direction, a complete and complex screenplay notable for its gripping character interplay, colourful dialogues and hints of dark humour, intelligent editing by Jacqueline Thiédot, René Mathelin’s attractive cinematography (even in drab locations), appropriate production values, a strange, effective musical score (Philippe Sarde) and an unexpected ending.

Minuses: the first 20 minutes may seem underwhelming but are useful in setting up this superb cops-and-robbers story. On a personal note, Max is an untidy fellow and rather bad at parking a motor car.

Comments: MAX ET LES FERRAILLEURS is a small-scale, psychology-driven wonder that mesmerized me as I watched our detective play mind games with Abel, Lili and the junkmen. As the old saying goes, crime doesn’t pay… but this movie will reward you with its genuine star power, inexorable buildup of tension and taut, brilliantly executed story. 

 

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 Utvandrarna – and – Nybyggarna

 

English titles: The Emigrants – and – The New Land

Genre: pioneer drama

With: Max von Sydow (Karl Oskar Nilsson), Liv Ullmann (Kristina), Eddie Axberg (Robert Nilsson), Allan Edwall (Danjel Andreasson, Kristina’s uncle), Monica Zetterlund (Ulrika), Pierre Lindstedt (Arvid), Hans Alfredson (Jonas Petter), Ulla Smidje (Inga-Lena, Danjel's wife), Eva-Lena Zetterlund (Elin, Ulrika's daughter), Gustaf Färingborg (Provost Brusander), Åke Fridell (Aron), Halvar Björk (Anders Månsson), Tom C. Fouts (Pastor Jackson)

Director: Jan Troell

Screenplay: Bengt Forslund and Jan Troell (based on Vilhelm Moberg’s novel)

Release: 1971 and 1972 respectively

Studio: Svensk Filmindustri, Warner Bros. Pictures

Rating: PG

MBiS score: 8.7/10 (for both movies) 

 

‟It will be better once we get to America.” 

 

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Story-line: Småland, Sweden, circa 1844. When his father becomes an invalid, Karl Oskar gets married and takes over the farm but eventually realizes that it will never produce enough for a growing family. Robert, his younger brother, leaves home searching for another way of life, is forced to work as a farmhand and is badly mistreated by his employer Aron. Uncle Danjel and his small congregation – who have chosen to worship God outside the established Church – are subjected to religious persecution. All of them will come to one conclusion: that Sweden has turned its back on them and that a better life awaits in North America.

Pluses: powerhouse acting by Max von Sydow (a tireless, impetuous Karl Oskar) and Liv Ullmann (the resilient, often worried Katrina) but also by Eddie Axberg (the intellectual, likeable Robert) and all cast members, adept, no-frills direction, a logical, fair-minded and gripping screenplay, superb cinematography, authentic-looking production values and a spare, varied and functional musical score.

Minuses: each film clocks in at more than 3 hours so it would be wise to watch them in several segments. Be warned that THE NEW LAND contains one very gruesome scene toward the end and that its conclusion is not easy to watch.

Comments: in these evocative, epic but also bleak movies, Jan Troell has given us a rare and valuable glimpse into the immigrant experience and frontier life from the 1840s to the 1890s. You will see how huge a gamble it was for Europeans to cross the Atlantic on hopes and hearsay and, from the very moment they set foot in America, how they struggled through tragedies and disappointments, adapted to a new culture and tried to reach some kind of understanding with First Nations at a particularly turbulent time in history. These films also immortalize another great collaboration between Liv Ullmann and Max von Sydow, two of the brightest stars ever to grace the silver screen anywhere. THE EMIGRANTS and THE NEW LAND – a huge, ‟Bergmanesque” accomplishment for Jan Troell as director, writer, cinematographer and editor – garnered six Oscar nominations and were rewarded with three Golden Globes. 

 

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Dheepan

Genre: social drama

With: Jesuthasan Antonythasan (‟Dheepan”), Kalieaswari Srinivasan (‟Yalini”), Claudine Vinasithamby (‟Illayaal”), Vincent Rottiers (Brahim), Faouzi Bensaïdi (Mister Habib), Marc Zinga (Youssouf), Bass Dhem (Azziz), Nathan Anthonypillai (the Interpreter), Vasanth Selvam (Cheran), Kartik Krishnan (the complicit civil servant in  Sri Lanka)

Director: Jacques Audiard

Screenplay: Thomas Bidegain, Noé Debré and Jacques Audiard

Release: 2015

Studio: Why Not Productions, Page 114, France 2 Cinéma

Rating: R

MBiS score: 8.4/10 

 

‟Lord Gamesh, spare us misfortune and make us live a good life here.” 

 

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Story-line: in war-torn Sri Lanka, three complete strangers – a soldier fed up with combat, a woman from a refugee camp and a young orphan – are given new identities as a family – Dheepan, Yalini and Illayaal Natarajan – and allowed to flee their homeland. Although Yalini hoped to join her cousin in England, the trio ends up in France, a country outwardly bursting with promise… but where immigration rules, social issues and the necessities of life are as challenging as they were back home.

Pluses: brave performances by Jesuthasan Antonythasan, Kalieaswari Srinivasan and Claudine Vinasithamby, good support from a competent cast (Vincent Rottiers especially), masterful, economical direction, a hard-hitting and observant screenplay, superb cinematography in all kinds of settings – some of them very unusual –, authentic-looking production values, a varied musical score and a potent ending.

Minuses: some reviewers have considered the third act a bit extreme and I partially agree.

Comments: when the hellish but formidable DHEEPAN was picked as the Palme d’Or winner at Cannes in 2015, director Jacques Audiard couldn’t be more pleased : ‟To receive a prize from the Coen brothers is exceptional… There's only the Dardenne brothers [that could match it].” What more can I say about this beautifully-rendered drama about immigrants trying to find their place in our ruthless Western world? 

 

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 Armée des ombres (l’)

English title: Army of Shadows

Genre: war drama

With: Lino Ventura (Philippe Gerbier), Paul Meurisse (Luc Jardie), Jean-Pierre Cassel (Jean-François Jardie), Simone Signoret (Mathilde), Claude Mann (Claude Ullmann a.k.a. ‟le Masque”), Paul Crauchet (Félix Lepercq), Christian Barbier (Guillaume Vermersch,  a.k.a. ‟le Bison”), Serge Reggiani (the Hairdresser), André Dewavrin (Colonel Passy), Alain Dekok (Legrain), Alain Mottet (the camp commander), Alain Libolt (Paul Dounat)

Director: Jean-Pierre Melville

Screenplay: Jean-Pierre Melville (adapting Joseph Kessel’s novel)

Release: 1969

Studio: Les Films Corona, Fono Roma

Rating: -

MBiS score: 8.8/10 

 

‟They need you on the outside.” 

 

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Story-line: October 1942. Philippe Gerbier, a civil engineer turned cell leader in the French Resistance, is taken to a detainment camp after his arrest by French police. Meeting Gerbier for the first time and going over his record, the camp commander is truly baffled: how should he treat this secretive prisoner… with a carrot, a stick or both? What follows is anyone’s guess but one thing’s for sure: Gerbier doesn’t plan on being a submissive detainee…

Pluses: superlative acting by Lino Ventura, Simone Signoret, Paul Meurisse and a great cast, perfect direction by a helmer who was himself a soldier and a resistant during the war, a tension-filled, one-of-a-kind screenplay full of weighty dialogues and grave events, superb cinematography, outstanding production values, a sparse, mesmerizing and breathtakingly beautiful musical score and a jolt of an ending.

Minuses: some silent scenes are noticeably long but, far from distracting viewers, they push the drama to an almost unbearable level.

Comments: I had preconceived notions about French resistants during the Occupation –  that they were mainly fighters and saboteurs – but the flawless ARMY OF SHADOWS reveals much, much more… a covert world of planning, spying, quick decisions and incredible danger that required total commitment from its agents and a bit of luck now and then. As a leader, Gerbier has learned to do things he had never imagined possible and has made huge sacrifices while realizing that he is missing out on the basic rewards of life. According to the IMDB website, when this masterwork was released for the first time in the United States – circa 2006 –, it was honoured by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the National Society of Film Critics and the New York Film Critics Circle. This, movie buffs, is a genuine seal of approval… and one more reason to catch this stupendous movie.   

 

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Lady from Shanghai (The)

Genre: film noir (fittingly in black and white)

With: Rita Hayworth (Elsa Bannister), Orson Welles (Michael O'Hara), Everett Sloane (Arthur Bannister), Glenn Anders (George Grisby), Ted de Corsia (Sidney Broome), Erskine Sanford (Judge), Gus Schilling (Goldie)

Director: Orson Welles

Screenplay: Orson Welles (based on a story and novel by Sherwood King), with help from William Castle, Charles Lederer and Fletcher Markle

Release: 1947

Studio: Mercury Productions, Columbia Pictures Corporation

Rating: -

MBiS score: 8.5/10 

 

Cruisin’ for a bruisin’ 

 

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Story-line: one night in New York City, Michael O’Hara, an Irish sailor, sees a very attractive woman enjoying the sights and chats with her for a moment or two. Later, he finds her being attacked by ruffians in Central Park and manages to rescue her. They chat some more and discover that they share an adventurous spirit. As you can guess, they will meet again in a more romantic setting – a yacht circling North America – but in the presence of her husband and a couple of annoying fellas.

Pluses: stellar acting by Rita Hayworth (a voluptuous, intelligent Elsa), Orson Welles (a daring Michael), Everett Sloane and Glenn Anders, efficient direction, a complex and perverse screenplay full of twists, turns, cynicism and snappy dialogues, appropriate production values, excellent cinematography, a helpful musical score that heightens the drama and a riveting 18-minute denouement.

Minuses: the screenplay confused me somewhat but it made sense once I took the time to figure it out. On screen, Rita and Orson make a dynamite couple but it is worth noting that they were facing each other in divorce proceedings when this movie was shot. 

Comments: LADY FROM SHANGHAI isn’t called a film noir for nothing. It offers everything you could wish for in a crime thriller: burning passion, mysterious characters, a tricky story that keeps you guessing and a memorable ending to boot. As Michael would say when asked about his tastes in liquor, ‟Doesn't have to be wholesome... just as long as it's strong.”

 

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