One of my passions regarding film is documentaries. I love that documentaries focus on real people and the trials and tribulations that they have been through. Wordplay is a documentary about people who competitively compete in crossword puzzles. Much of the documentary is devoted to interviewing Will Shortz who edits the crossword puzzles for the New York Times. One of the most interesting things about him is that he graduated with a degree in puzzle making (enigmatology) from Indiana University, he is the only person from there to hold this degree.
Much of the film is focused on the players and how their crossword fascination began. President Bill Clinton and Jon Stewart were both interviewed and they discussed their feelings regarding crossword puzzles. A topic so simple was so interesting to me people of the way the film was created. It focused on the people competing, how they got there, are if they won what they would hope to do with the fame among other crossword puzzle fans.
Wordplay focuses on a select group of people with an extraordinary talent who, among their peers, are famous in their own right. And yes, the movie has inspired me to start doing crossword puzzles, and yes, they are hard at first and very frustrating, just like the movie says.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
The Bicycle Thief
Having little to no knowledge of foreign films and cinema, The Bicycle Thief was truly one of the first films that I had looked at from a novice film student's points of view. The Bicycle Thief, directed by Vittorio De Sica (1948), is a story of a man (Antonio) looking for work, he finally finds a job but it is required of him that he has a bicycle for the work. His wife and him decide to sell linens to get money in order to get his bicycle out of confinement. On one of his first days of work his bicycle and several of him supplies needed to hang up posters are stolen from right under him. He desperately looks for the bicycle and sees the thief in the distance a few times throughout the film. His son (Bruno), played by Enzo Staiola, is by his side for the majority of the second half of the film. Father and son venture all over France to try and find the bicycle. By the end of the day the father tells his son to get on the trolley and head home, he says that he will be right behind him. Antonio sees a bicycle outside of someones house and grabs the bike, he is soon caught and Bruno jumps off at the trolley to be by his side while the people who caught him question his morals. They eventually let him go because of his son.
The relationship between father and son is very strong throughout the movie. I was watching the Academy Awards the other day and they showed a clip of The Bicycle Thief when introducing the foreign film criteria. I knew at that point that this film was truly remarkable and one that was historical in many ways. The film makes you feel like you are traveling with Antonio and Bruno looking for the stolen bicycle, it is as if the film is in real time and the settings that are used are real places in Rome. This is one of my favorite films so far, the rawness that is portrayed as well as the somewhat amateur acting that is so captivating makes for a truly wonderful experience.
The relationship between father and son is very strong throughout the movie. I was watching the Academy Awards the other day and they showed a clip of The Bicycle Thief when introducing the foreign film criteria. I knew at that point that this film was truly remarkable and one that was historical in many ways. The film makes you feel like you are traveling with Antonio and Bruno looking for the stolen bicycle, it is as if the film is in real time and the settings that are used are real places in Rome. This is one of my favorite films so far, the rawness that is portrayed as well as the somewhat amateur acting that is so captivating makes for a truly wonderful experience.
Singin' in the Rain
One of my favorite movie genres are musicals. I feel like a musical can do so much for people because of the elements that it relies on. Music touches people in so many ways are can immediately provoke emotions, be in happy, sad, uplifting, or depressing. The spectrum of what music can do is truly wonderful.
In Singin' in the Rain, Don Lockwood, played by Gene Kelly, and Cosmo Brown, played by Donald O'Conner, are best friends who decide that they want to try to make it in the movie business. Don is a stuntman and Cosmo is a musician; Don gets his big chance when he is paired with Lina Lamont, played by Jean Hagen, to do a picture. Their acting together soon becomes one of the hottest couples in Hollywood. Yet, as Hollywood transitions to pictures with sound it soon becomes evident that Lena's voice does not match her exterior beauty. Lena decides that she wants to sing a piece from their new hit, the trick is that Kathy Seldon, played by Debbie Reynolds, is an inspiring actress that sings for Lena and she is asked to sing while Lena lip sings her piece from the movie. Don and Cosmo decide to show everyone who is there that Lena is a fraud and they pull back the curtain behind her to reveal Kathy singing behind it. The crowd is in shock and Lena's name is tarnished.
Singin' in the Rain, directed by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, is somewhat satiric in nature and makes fun of classical Hollywood cinema. There is a lot of intense dancing that takes place and Gene Kelly is careful in choosing actors that compliment each other well in that sense. The goal of the film is to let all things be resolved and that does in fact happen. Overall I really enjoyed this film. Many of the styles that the film uses are evident in modern day musicals turned motion pictures.
In Singin' in the Rain, Don Lockwood, played by Gene Kelly, and Cosmo Brown, played by Donald O'Conner, are best friends who decide that they want to try to make it in the movie business. Don is a stuntman and Cosmo is a musician; Don gets his big chance when he is paired with Lina Lamont, played by Jean Hagen, to do a picture. Their acting together soon becomes one of the hottest couples in Hollywood. Yet, as Hollywood transitions to pictures with sound it soon becomes evident that Lena's voice does not match her exterior beauty. Lena decides that she wants to sing a piece from their new hit, the trick is that Kathy Seldon, played by Debbie Reynolds, is an inspiring actress that sings for Lena and she is asked to sing while Lena lip sings her piece from the movie. Don and Cosmo decide to show everyone who is there that Lena is a fraud and they pull back the curtain behind her to reveal Kathy singing behind it. The crowd is in shock and Lena's name is tarnished.
Singin' in the Rain, directed by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly, is somewhat satiric in nature and makes fun of classical Hollywood cinema. There is a lot of intense dancing that takes place and Gene Kelly is careful in choosing actors that compliment each other well in that sense. The goal of the film is to let all things be resolved and that does in fact happen. Overall I really enjoyed this film. Many of the styles that the film uses are evident in modern day musicals turned motion pictures.
Out of the Past
Out of the Past, directed by Jacques Tourneur 1947, is a very interesting American film noir. The film is in black and white and focuses on lots of shadows and the pure expression of the characters. Jeff Bailey/Jeff Markham, played by Robert Mitchum, owns a gas station in a small town and is shown as someone who keeps to himself and is somewhat mysterious. A past business partner arrives at the gas station where he works and tells him that his old boss, Whit Sterling (played by Kurt Douglas), wants to talk to him about an opportunity that has come up. Jeff immediately begins to question what is going on and begins to tell his girlfriend, Ann Miller (played by Virginia Huston) about his past business endeavours, the film begins to do flashbacks narrated by Jeff as he describes the events that have led up to him owning the gas station in the small town.
As the film progresses Jeff soon discovers that Whit is setting up a trap for him, but he soon outsmarts him and ends up returning home to Ann and the rest of his friends in the small town. In the end of the film Kathie (the woman Whit asks him to find because she stole $40,000 from him) ends up dying. This last scene exemplifies what the idea of film noir tries to embody; many times there is a "femme fatale" type of character who ends up dying at the end and in many cases plays a type of villianess. Film noir helped to expand the types of roles women played, they shifted from wholesome supporting roles behind men to dark roles that many times defined the movie.
Overall Out of the Past was a very interesting film and washed away many stereotypes of the time. Overall my favorite character was "The Kid", played by Dickie Moore. "The Kid" was deaf and not many people gave him any respect except for Jeff. They undermined his abilities and assumed that since he could not hear that he did not know what was going on. Quite the opposite was in fact true. "The Kid" played a vital role in protecting Jeff against Whit and his men and also was a very interesting character to have in a film from the late 40's.
As the film progresses Jeff soon discovers that Whit is setting up a trap for him, but he soon outsmarts him and ends up returning home to Ann and the rest of his friends in the small town. In the end of the film Kathie (the woman Whit asks him to find because she stole $40,000 from him) ends up dying. This last scene exemplifies what the idea of film noir tries to embody; many times there is a "femme fatale" type of character who ends up dying at the end and in many cases plays a type of villianess. Film noir helped to expand the types of roles women played, they shifted from wholesome supporting roles behind men to dark roles that many times defined the movie.
Overall Out of the Past was a very interesting film and washed away many stereotypes of the time. Overall my favorite character was "The Kid", played by Dickie Moore. "The Kid" was deaf and not many people gave him any respect except for Jeff. They undermined his abilities and assumed that since he could not hear that he did not know what was going on. Quite the opposite was in fact true. "The Kid" played a vital role in protecting Jeff against Whit and his men and also was a very interesting character to have in a film from the late 40's.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Casa Blanca
Casa Blanca, directed by Michael Kurtiz, caught me by surprise in many ways. I had heard about the film and could easily quote several lines from it, but in all actuality had no idea what it was about. The most I had know about it was from playing "Scene It", a popular DVD game that shows clips from famous movies. When watching Casa Blanca there were several things that I noticed right away, obviously it was in black and white and the set that was used seemed very staged. The lighting that was used was very natural looking, and many times the light on the actors faces seemed very low key and controlled.
The acting styles differed greatly among the actors and actresses and each actor had a very specific style of performing that was captured beautifully on the film. Humphrey Bogart (Rick, owned a popular club) was very mysterious and was constantly trying to catch up with his love interest, Ilsa. Ingrid Bergman (Ilsa Lund, love interest) played a beautiful lady trying to get get out of Casa Blanca, she was somewhat of a damsel in distress and Rick was there to save her. Claude Rains (police chief) played a sneaky police chief that was willing to make a deal with Rick in exchange for something in return. Peter Lorre (Ugarte, Rick received the papers from him) was a black market merchant who found the papers needed for Rick and Ilsa's exit from Casa Blanca. Paul Henried (Victor Laszlo) played Ilsa's boyfriend/fiance and was in the middle of Rick's plan to run away with Ilsa, his long lost love.
Overall Casa Blanca surprised me in many ways. The film seemed to be gritty and immediately I was drawn to Rick and his tough-guy attitude that shone so brightly on film. The film could easily be updated for today's time and I think it would be incredibly popular and interesting to see such a project like that. My first real experience with historic Hollywood cinema was remarkably painless and positive. I am interested in seeing how other films from the 1940's relate to this one.
The acting styles differed greatly among the actors and actresses and each actor had a very specific style of performing that was captured beautifully on the film. Humphrey Bogart (Rick, owned a popular club) was very mysterious and was constantly trying to catch up with his love interest, Ilsa. Ingrid Bergman (Ilsa Lund, love interest) played a beautiful lady trying to get get out of Casa Blanca, she was somewhat of a damsel in distress and Rick was there to save her. Claude Rains (police chief) played a sneaky police chief that was willing to make a deal with Rick in exchange for something in return. Peter Lorre (Ugarte, Rick received the papers from him) was a black market merchant who found the papers needed for Rick and Ilsa's exit from Casa Blanca. Paul Henried (Victor Laszlo) played Ilsa's boyfriend/fiance and was in the middle of Rick's plan to run away with Ilsa, his long lost love.
Overall Casa Blanca surprised me in many ways. The film seemed to be gritty and immediately I was drawn to Rick and his tough-guy attitude that shone so brightly on film. The film could easily be updated for today's time and I think it would be incredibly popular and interesting to see such a project like that. My first real experience with historic Hollywood cinema was remarkably painless and positive. I am interested in seeing how other films from the 1940's relate to this one.
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