Big Ideas Simply Explained - The Movie Book

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THE
WIZARD RINGU
HIDEO
OF OZ
VICTOR FLEMING
NAKATA
BONNIE AND CLYDE

RASHOMON ARTHUR PENN
AKIRA KUROSAWA
BOYHOOD
RICHARD LINKLATER
PULP FICTION
QUENTIN TARANTINO
THE
MOVIE
BOOK
THE SHAWSHANK
REDEMPTION
FRANK DARABONT
VERTIGO
ALFRED HITCHCOCK BIG IDEAS SIMPLY EXPLAINED
SUNSET BOULEVARD DR. STRANGELOVE
BILLY WILDER STANLEY KUBRICK THE SEVENTH SEAL
INGMAR BERGMAN
IT’S A
WONDERFUL
METROPOLIS
FRITZ LANG
LIFE
FRANK CAPRA
SOME LIKE IT HOT
BILLY WILDER
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STUDIO 8
CONTRIBUTORS
DANNY LEIGH, CONSULTANT EDITOR KIERAN GRANT
Danny Leigh is a journalist who regularly writes about Kieran Grant is a writer and editor who lives in London.
movies for the Financial Times and The Guardian. He has written about movies and television for Radio Times,
Since 2010, he has cohosted BBC Television’s long- the FILMCLUB website, and various licensed publications,
running Film program, as well as writing and hosting and once traveled in the footsteps of Peter O’Toole’s
documentaries for BBC TV and radio. He has also worked Lawrence of Arabia for Esquire magazine. He has been
in film education and programming. Danny has written in love with British cinema since he first saw Black
two novels, The Greatest Gift and The Monsters of Narcissus on a big screen at university, and is proud
Gramercy Park. to have made a tiny contribution by writing and
codirecting The Lights (2015), a short film produced
in association with the BFI and Film London.
LOUIS BAXTER
Louis Baxter started watching and writing about movies as DAMON WISE
a boy, making his way through his parents’ VHS collection
and staying up until 3 a.m. to watch horror movies. He started A movie writer since 1987, Damon Wise is a Contributing
his own movie blog and contributed to many others before Editor with Empire magazine and an advisor to the BFI
studying film at Westminster University, London. He has London Film Festival’s Thrill strand. As a journalist, his
since developed screenplays for a movie company and worked features, interviews, and reviews have been published in
as a freelance writer and critic, specializing in horror movies. many notable UK magazines and newspapers. In addition to
covering set visits and junkets, he is a regular attendee at
key international film festivals. In 1998, he published
JOHN FARNDON his first book, Come by Sunday, a biography of British
John Farndon is a Royal Literary Fellow at Anglia Ruskin movie star Diana Dors.
University in Cambridge and an author, playwright,
composer, and poet. He taught the history of drama at the
Actors Studio, studied playwriting at Central School of
Speech and Drama, and is now Assessor for new plays for
London’s OffWestEnd Theatre Awards. He has also written
many international best-sellers such as Do You Think You’re
Clever? and translated into English verse the plays of Lope
de Vega and the poetry of Alexander Pushkin.
CONTENTS
10 INTRODUCTION 35 Has God promised 52 To a new world of
you things? gods and monsters!
The Passion of Joan of Arc The Bride of Frankenstein
VISIONARIES 36 Falling in love again, 53 Magic mirror on the wall,
1902–1931 never wanted to who is the fairest one of all?
The Blue Angel Snow White and the
20 Labor omnia vincit Seven Dwarfs
A Trip to the Moon 37 If I were you, I’d make
a bit of a scene 54 I’ve a feeling we’re not
22 Out of the cradle People on Sunday in Kansas anymore
endlessly rocking The Wizard of Oz
Intolerance 38 Tomorrow the birds
will sing 60 Everybody has
24 I must become Caligari! City Lights their reasons
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari The Rules of the Game
28 What are we waiting for?

Battleship Potemkin A GOLDEN AGE IN 62 Tomorrow is another day
Gone with the Wind
30 This song of the Man

BLACK AND WHITE 64 You’re wonderful, in a
and his Wife is of no 1931–1949 loathsome sort of way
place and every place His Girl Friday
Sunrise
46 Don’t want to, 66 It isn’t enough to tell us
32 Those who toiled knew but must! what a man did. You’ve
nothing of the dreams M got to tell us who he was
of those who planned Citizen Kane
Metropolis 48 Will you marry me? Did
he leave you any money? 72 Of all the gin joints in all
34 If you say what you’re Answer the second the towns in all the world,
thinking, I’ll strangle you question first she walks into mine
Steamboat Bill, Jr. Duck Soup Casablanca
49 Don’t be alarmed, ladies 76 How dare you call me

and gentlemen, those a ham?
chains are made of To Be or Not to Be
chrome steel
King Kong 78 It’s hot in here by the
stove Ossessione
50 War is declared!
Down with monitors 79 How singularly innocent
and punishment! I look this morning
Zero de Conduite Laura
132 When I’m better, we’ll

FEAR AND WONDER go and look at the
trains again
1950–1959 Pather Panchali
108 We all want to forget 134 Get me to that bus stop

something, so we and forget you ever saw
tell stories me Kiss Me Deadly
Rashomon
135 That’ll be the day
114 I am big. It’s the pictures The Searchers
that got small
Sunset Boulevard 136 I have long walked by your
side The Seventh Seal
116 I have always relied on
the kindness of strangers 140 If I do what you tell me,
A Streetcar Named Desire will you love me?
80 A kick in the rear, if well Vertigo
delivered, is a sure laugh 118 It’s a hard world for
Children of Paradise little things 146 What did you do during
The Night of the Hunter the uprising?
84 Children believe what Ashes and Diamonds
we tell them 122 What’s the first thing an
La Belle et la Bête actor learns? “The show 148 Well, nobody’s perfect
must go on!” Some Like It Hot
86 This is the universe. Singin’ in the Rain
Big, isn’t it? 150 Your parents say you’re
A Matter of Life and Death 126 Let’s go home always lying
Tokyo Story The 400 Blows
88 George, remember
no man is a failure 128 When I was a kid, I used
who has friends
It’s a Wonderful Life
to see men go off on these
kind of jobs—and not REBEL REBEL
come back 1960–1974
94 I mind my own business, The Wages of Fear
I bother nobody, and what
do I get? Trouble 129 But if we don’t use your 160 You are the first woman
The Bicycle Thief device against Godzilla, on the first day of creation
what are we going to do? La Dolce Vita
98 It is so difficult to make a Godzilla
neat job of killing people 166 Don’t use the brakes. Cars
with whom one is not on 130 Just wait until you see are made to go, not to stop
friendly terms your mother. She’s never À bout de souffle
Kind Hearts and Coronets looked so radiant
All That Heaven Allows 168 That’s what all these
100 The world doesn’t make loony laws are for, to be
any heroes outside of 131 I don’t think that I want broken by blokes like us
your stories to learn that way Saturday Night and
The Third Man Rebel Without a Cause Sunday Morning
170 I have never stayed so 196 They see a free individual,

long anywhere
Last Year at Marienbad
it’s gonna scare ’em
Easy Rider
ANGELS AND
172 This is the story of a man 198 Are you fond of meat?
MONSTERS
marked by an image Le Boucher
1975–1991
from his childhood
La jetée 200 Some day, and that day 228 You’re gonna need a bigger
may never come, I will boat Jaws
173 Guy, I love you. You smell call upon you to do a
of gasoline service for me 232 There’s some questions
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg The Godfather got answers and
some haven’t
174 There’s gold in the 206 That man is a head taller Picnic at Hanging Rock
sea beyond than me. That may change
Black God, White Devil Aguirre, the Wrath of God 234 Someday a real rain
will come
176 Gentlemen, you can’t 208 The guests are here, sir Taxi Driver
fight in here. This is the The Discreet Charm of
War Room! the Bourgeoisie 240 I lurve you, you know?
Dr. Strangelove I loave you. I luff you.
210 Did you really see her? Two ‘F’s
180 I can’t seem to stop Don’t Look Now Annie Hall
singing wherever I am
The Sound of Music 214 You can talk to him 242 The Force is strong
whenever you want. with this one
182 It’s difficult to start Just close your eyes Star Wars
a revolution and call him
The Battle of Algiers The Spirit of the Beehive 243 You still don’t understand
what you’re dealing with,
188 Who wants to be 216 You know what happens do you?
an angel? Chelsea Girls to nosy fellows? Alien
Chinatown
189 Let’s see the sights! 244 It’s so quiet out here. It
Playtime 222 And we’ll buy ourselves is the quietest place in
a little piece of heaven the world
190 This here’s Miss Bonnie Ali: Fear Eats the Soul Stalker
Parker. I’m Clyde Barrow.
We rob banks 248 You have to have good
Bonnie and Clyde men. Good men, all
of them Das Boot
192 I’m sorry, Dave. I’m
afraid I can’t do that 250 I’ve seen things you
2001: A Space Odyssey people wouldn’t believe
Blade Runner
194 We’re gonna stick
together, just like it 256 I can’t figure out if you’re
used to be a detective or a pervert
The Wild Bunch Blue Velvet
258 Why am I me, and why 282 I’m not sure I agree with
not you? you one hundred percent
Wings of Desire on your police work there,
Lou Fargo
262 I thought this only
happened in the movies 284 We’ve all lost our children
Women on the Verge of a The Sweet Hereafter 312 You don’t know me,
Nervous Breakdown but I know you
285 I miss my father The Lives of Others
263 Being happy isn’t Central Station
all that great 314 You’ll see that life
Sex, Lies, and Videotape 286 Here’s to the man isn’t like fairy tales
who killed my sister Pan’s Labyrinth
264 Today’s temperature’s Festen
gonna rise up over 318 This is our destiny
100 degrees 288 Everyone’s fear takes Slumdog Millionaire
Do the Right Thing on a life of its own Ringu
320 This box is full of stuff
265 She has the face of Buddha 290 A sword by itself rules that almost killed me
and the heart of a scorpion nothing. It only comes The Hurt Locker
Raise the Red Lantern alive in skilled hands
Crouching Tiger, 322 If I die, what a
Hidden Dragon beautiful death!
SMALL WORLD 296 You don’t remember
Man on Wire
1992–PRESENT your name? 323 I’d like to ask you

Spirited Away something, Father
The White Ribbon
270 The truth is you’re the 298 I like to look for things
weak. And I’m the no-one else catches 324 Everyone pays for
tyranny of evil men Amélie the things they do
Pulp Fiction Once Upon a Time
300 What an extraordinary in Anatolia
276 I feel something important stance! Lagaan
is happening around me. 326 So, what do you like
And it scares me 302 It all began with the about being up here?
Three Colors: Red forging of the Great Rings Gravity
The Lord of the Rings: The
278 Get busy living, or get Fellowship of the Ring 327 We’re all just
busy dying winging it
The Shawshank Redemption 304 You need more than Boyhood
guts to be a good
280 To infinity, and beyond! gangster. You need ideas
Toy Story City of God 328 DIRECTORY
281 It’s not how you fall
that matters. It’s how
310 Laugh and the world
laughs with you. Weep
344 INDEX
you land and you weep alone
La Haine Oldboy 352 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODU
CTION
12 INTRODUCTION
T I don’t know yet what I’m going to tell

his book describes,
discusses, and pays tribute
to some of the movies that them. It’ll be pretty close to the truth.
best capture the wonder of cinema.
The movies gathered here are
Philip Marlowe / The Big Sleep
those that the authors feel, in the
imprecise way of these things, to being incessantly pirated by rivals.) platform. The sight sent all
have had the most seismic impact Its popularity did more than any those watching fleeing in panic,
on both cinema and the world. other movie of the time to secure convinced they were about to
The journey starts in 1902, the movie as the premier art form of be mowed down by the speeding
when Parisian showman Georges the age. None before it had been locomotive—or at least that’s the
Méliès unveiled the latest in the as spectacular; none had such an story that circulated after the
series of short silent movies with intricate storyline. event. The exact truth has been
which he had been entertaining his lost to time, but either the Lumières
countrymen. It was a romp through Trains, panic, and hype had quickly mastered the new art
space called A Trip to the Moon By the time Méliès was making form’s ability to make the screen
(Le voyage dans la lune), and it was his lunar adventure, cinema had feel like life, or they had a stunning
a huge and instant success—not already been established as a knack for promotional hype.
just in France but across the world. slightly disreputable pastime, to be Perhaps it doesn’t matter either
(Sadly for Méliès, much of that enjoyed at theaters and fairgrounds. way—both those skills have a
success was due to the movie To find its true beginnings, it is central place in the story of cinema.
necessary to step back further— But it may be necessary to step
to Paris again, but this time with back further still. After all, before
two showmen in the spotlight. The the Lumière brothers sent their
pair, brothers Auguste and Louis audience bolting in terror, plenty
Lumière, had their moment in 1896. of others had pioneered movies.
That was when, after holding large- There should be a tip of the hat to
No matter where the cinema scale screenings of their movies the US inventor Thomas Edison, who
goes, we cannot afford to lose year before, they first showed the had screened movies of boxing cats
sight of its beginnings. French public L’arrivée d’un train and men sneezing to individual
Martin Scorsese en gare de La Ciotat—also known customers a couple of years before
as The Arrival of a Train. It was the Lumières, and to English
a mere 50 seconds of footage photographer Eadweard Muybridge,
in which, as the title suggests, whose 1880s studies of humans
a steam train entered La Ciotat and animals in motion were a vital
station, shot from the adjacent preface to the moving picture.
INTRODUCTION 13
Telling stories of moving pictures. From there, the

In fact, the story of movie arguably story slips into the 1930s and 1940s,
stretches back to prehistoric times, the gilded years when cinemas
to human ancestors hunched stood on every main street and
around a fire as one among them movies were beloved slabs of mass
used the light to cast shadows appeal; the age of movie stars such Each picture has some sort
on the wall and illustrate tales of as Humphrey Bogart, Katharine of rhythm, which only the
fearsome beasts or unlikely heroism. Hepburn, and James Stewart. In director can give it.
When the audience settle into their the 1950s, filmmakers from Europe, Fritz Lang
seats for an insanely expensive, India, and Japan created a string
effects-fueled blockbuster on a of masterpieces that still receive
towering IMAX screen, they’re back acclaim to this day; this was the
around that fire. Movie in the 21st time of Henri-Georges Clouzot,
century is still a telling of stories Akira Kurosawa, Yasujirô Ozu,
with words and images, bringing Nicholas Ray, and Satyajit Ray.
those images to believable life. A new generation took hold in the and movie journalist, this book’s
This book is an attempt to build 1960s and 1970s, and broke the consultant has spent much of his
a narrative of movie history out of established molds. And then adult life in cinemas seeking out
the movies themselves, taking a the story of cinema arrives in the movies that can give him that
tour of a hundred or so movies from present, where movies are made feeling of blissful immersion he was
Méliès on through the next century with technology that would have hooked on as a child: “I sit while the
and beyond. Each entry discusses been the stuff of science fiction even lights dim and I’m the seven-year-
where a movie came from, maps its 10 years ago, whole worlds spun into old who yelped with laughter at
inspiration and how it was made, being at the push of a button. Harpo Marx on a rigged-up screen
documents the men and women at a friend’s birthday party; or who
whose talent shaped it, and details Blissful immersion escaped a family Christmas at 10 to
the ripples of influence it sent out. The beauty of movies is that every switch on the old TV set upstairs,
It is a story that crosses time. individual has a different way of and found that Citizen Kane was
In the silent age, the first men and looking at them, and a different playing; or whose mind was
women explored the possibilities route into loving them. As a writer comprehensively blown at 14
by the dark, unnerving movies of
David Lynch. Those moments live
I live now in a world of ghosts, on every time I see a film.”
a prisoner in my dreams. A couple of decades after A
Trip to the Moon, with a luckless
Antonius Block / The Seventh Seal Méliès soon to find himself selling ❯❯
14 INTRODUCTION
drawing a viewer into the screen the Godzilla but Japan’s nuclear trauma
way a movie does now—but as the made scaly flesh? You don’t need
Lumières’ train movie shows, to be a movie lover to quote a line
movies could make audiences take from Some Like It Hot (“Nobody’s
them as real from the start. perfect!”)—but how different a
We can’t help identifying with Charting how the movies movie would it have been had its
the protagonist. It’s coded in have evolved as an art form is one Austrian-born director, Billy Wilder,
our movie-going DNA. of the great joys of being a movie not been forced, like so many other
Roger Ebert lover. Sometimes the advances European filmmakers, to flee to
may be obvious: the momentous the US as the Nazis took power?
lurches from silence to sound, The Russian Revolution, the Cold
and from black and white to War, the hippie era, feminism,
color. Elsewhere, the revolutions the computer age—every major
were subtler, as the crafts of moment in world history is up
filmmaking—cinematography, there on screen somewhere.
trinkets at Montparnasse train editing—took on lives of their own. All this in a medium that began
station station, the youthful The wider historical context in in the fairground, one step from the
medium was given a nickname which movies were made also circus, and has spent much of its
that still fits today: the “Seventh needs to be considered—when you existence as an excuse for young
Art,” after architecture, painting, talk about movies, you’re never just couples to sit together in the dark.
music, sculpture, dance, and poetry. talking about movies. Once you That what was happening on the
Its author was Ricciotto Canudo, an dive into the history of movies, you screen ascended to such glorious
Italian scholar. To Canudo, the can’t help dealing with history in entertainment was unlikely enough.
power of the movies was that they general. Look at the last century That it became art is perhaps even
brought each of the great art forms of movies and you see real life more extraordinary.
of the past together into one—to running through it like the rings of
watch movies was to experience all a tree. Purely as cinema, it is hard A communal experience
six of the older art forms at once. to overstate the impact of Godzilla, In many ways, it is their
the movie monster who terrorized contradictions that make the
Movies evolve Tokyo Bay in 1954—and what was movies what they are. How else
So many years later, the sheer
sensory rush of the movies is still
enough to overwhelm the audience, If we’re looking for a shark, we’re not
in the very best sense of the word.
It’s hard to imagine the creak and
gonna find him on the land.
crackle of cinema’s early years Hooper / Jaws
INTRODUCTION 15
Art, that’s special. What can you There will, of course, be both
omissions and inclusions that will
bring to it that nobody else can? puzzle each reader. Part of the
beauty of cinema is that no two
Mr. Turlington / Boyhood opinions on movies are ever quite
the same. If this were just a list
to explain the effect they have on thing not unlike a dream or an of the favorites of the consultant
their audiences? When a viewer falls act of hypnosis, until you stumble and authors, it would deviate in
for a movie, it can feel like it has back out into the light, maybe places from the list that follows.
been made for them and them alone, understanding something new You might think the job of selection
like a hand extending from the about yourself, maybe just aching would get easier if the criterion
screen. And yet, if you have ever from laughing so hard. were “greatness,” but really, that’s
watched a really great comedy in just as subjective. Rather, this book
the middle of a packed cinema, or A world of choice chooses its movies as an atlas of
flinched to a horror alongside two Some of the movies in this book influence, a collection of landmarks,
hundred others doing exactly the were adored by critics; others were and the hope is that, if a reader’s
same, you will know that movies pure crowd-pleasers. Quite a few own best-loved movie is missing,
are meant to be watched in a were neither, flops that later there will be others that make up
crowd, that cinema grew up as an generations then realized were for it. And also that there will be
experience to be shared with others. masterpieces. Genre doesn’t come at least one movie that readers will
Over the years, movies have into it. Thrillers rub shoulders with choose to watch for the first time. ■
been viewed in many different Westerns, romance with neorealism,
ways. At first, they were novelties, and they all have to make room for
cheap dollops of sensation. Then the occasional musical.
they were impossibly glamorous Language and nationality are
moments of escapism whose stars no concern either. Hollywood is well
glittered in pristine black and represented—although many see
white. They evolved into profound it as a dirty word, the true movie When you clean them
accounts of the human condition, lover knows how many good things up, when you make movies
made by great auteurs. Today, Tinseltown has produced over the respectable, you kill them.
they are often vastly expensive years. But there has always been a Pauline Kael
spectacles designed to make big world beyond Beverly Hills, and
still more money for studios and no worthwhile book about movies
corporations. They make you feel could ignore that. The White
that you’ve slipped behind the eyes Ribbon (2009) deserves its place
of the people on screen, the whole every bit as much as Jaws (1975).
VISIONA
1902–1931
RIES
18 INTRODUCTION
F. W. Murnau’s
The Cabinet of unauthorized
The French Lumière In Charlie Chaplin’s Dr. Caligari, a disturbing adaptation of Bram
brothers shoot the second movie, Kid Auto German Expressionist Stoker’s Dracula, titled
46-second short Races at Venice, the classic, reflects its Nosferatu, is released.
La Sortie des usines character the Tramp authors’ experiences It is nearly destroyed
Lumière à Lyon. appears for the first time. in World War I. following a lawsuit.
1894 1914 1920 1922
1902 1916 1920 1922
Georges Méliès’s A Trip D. W. Griffith’s 3.5-hour Buster Keaton The Toll of the
to the Moon sets a epic Intolerance is an stars in his first Sea is the first
new benchmark for high early Hollywood full-length comedy, Technicolor movie
production values and blockbuster movie. The Saphead. to be put out in
special effects. general release.
M
ovies are so much a part had begun entertaining the French Movies as art
of today’s culture that it public with movies, he looked for Although the pioneers clustered
is hard to imagine a time ways to make them more splendid in France and America, it was in
when they weren’t there at all. It’s and spectacular. In America, too, Germany that the movies first
hard, too, to appreciate the awe visionaries were at work. There, became art. In the aftermath of
felt by the public of the 1890s at cinema thrived thanks to the World War I, a country mired in
seeing moving pictures for the likes of Edwin S. Porter, a former political and economic chaos gave
first time, as ghostly figures came electrician who ended his 1903 rise to a string of masterpieces
to life before their eyes. From a feature The Great Train Robbery whose influence still echoes today.
21st-century viewpoint, however, with a gunman turning toward the The silent era was filled with some
the real shock is how far those camera and appearing to fire of the most glorious, pristine
“movies” changed in the next three at the audience. filmmaking that cinema would ever
decades—quickly evolving into Other filmmakers had grander know: the works of Robert Wiene,
gorgeously vivid feature movies. plans. A few years later, Porter F. W. Murnau, and Fritz Lang. Yet
was approached by a fledgling even then, it wasn’t just directors
Magic on screen playwright who hoped to sell who deserved the credit—take
For the early filmmakers, there were him a script. Porter turned down the giant Karl Freund, a huge man
no masters to learn from. Some had the script, but hired the young with an equally vast knowledge
a background in theater, others in man as an actor—and that same of cameras, who would become a
photography. Either way, they were young man, the gifted and still master cinematographer, strapping
breaking new ground, and none controversial D. W. Griffith, later the camera to his body and setting
more so than Georges Méliès. As become a director himself, helping it on bicycles to revolutionize how
soon as this sometime magician to father the modern blockbuster. a movie could look.
VISIONARIES 19
Alfred Hitchcock’s Josef von Sternberg’s
The Thief of Bagdad first thriller, The The Jazz Singer is The Blue Angel is
stars Douglas Fairbanks Lodger: A Story of the the first movie with released in German-
and a cast of thousands London Fog, about synchronized sound and English-language
in an early and lavishly the hunt for Jack the dialogue. It mixes versions, and makes
produced swashbuckling Ripper, is a commercial title cards with short Marlene Dietrich a
adventure fantasy. hit in the UK. sound sequences. worldwide star.
1924 1927 1927 1930
1925 1927 1929 1931
Sergei Eisenstein’s Fritz Lang’s Metropolis The first Academy Charlie Chaplin
technical masterpiece is one of the first Awards ceremony is defies the talkie
Battleship Potemkin is full-length science- held at the Hollywood revolution with
released to mark the 20th fiction movies, set in a Roosevelt Hotel in his hit silent classic
anniversary of the 1905 technologically advanced Los Angeles. City Lights.
Russian Revolution. dystopian future.
Painters were also drawn to the their craft in American vaudeville

screen, and in 1929, the famed and British music hall and now
Surrealist Salvador Dalí worked worked their magic on camera.
with a young movie fanatic named Masters of mime, slapstick, and
Luis Buñuel on the eternally pathos, they could make audiences
strange Un Chien Andalou; Dalí laugh just by looking at them. They
Charlie Chaplin and I would
then stepped away from movies, were also meticulous filmmakers
but Buñuel continued making
have a friendly contest: with a taste for innovation.
iconoclastic movies into the 1970s.
Who could do the feature If one person defined the early
There were revolutionaries of the film with the least subtitles? movies, it was the phenomenally
political kind, too. In the Soviet Buster Keaton famous and endlessly ambitious
Union, cinema was embraced as Chaplin. By the end of this era,
the art form of the people. Movies sound arrived—it was 1927 when Al
became key to the global battle for Jolson declared in The Jazz Singer:
hearts and minds. “You ain’t heard nothing yet!” But
Chaplin’s love for silent movies was
Hollywood begins such that he kept making them, and
Back in America, the cinematic The biggest stars were clowns, and in 1931, with City Lights, he made
hustlers became the first studio of all the wonders of the silent age, one of the very greatest. By then,
bosses of Hollywood. They built it is the comedies that most reliably he had already helped the movies
their businesses on stars such delight today. In Buster Keaton and claim their rightful place, where
as Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Charlie Chaplin, Hollywood found they still are today—in the center
Fairbanks, and Greta Garbo. two true geniuses who had honed of people’s lives. ■
20
LABOR OMNIA
VINCIT
A TRIP TO THE MOON / 1902
A
s its title suggests, the They are brought before the King
IN CONTEXT 12-minute-long movie of the Selenites, but manage to
A Trip to the Moon escape. They return to Earth, where
GENRE
(Le Voyage dans la Lune) is a a parade is held in their honor and
Science fiction, fantasy
fantastical account of a lunar an alien is put on display.
DIRECTOR expedition. A group of scientists
Georges Méliès meets, a huge gun is constructed, Magic tricks
and astronauts are blasted to the Some pioneers of the cinema,
WRITERS moon, where they fall into the hands such as the French Lumière
Georges Méliès, from of the moon-dwelling Selenites. Brothers, saw the new medium
novels by Jules Verne and as a scientific breakthrough, a
H. G. Wells (all uncredited) means of documenting reality.
Chorus girls line up to fire the
Monster Gun that will blast a Frenchman Georges Méliès, the
STARS
spaceship to the moon. Méliès’s director of A Trip to the Moon,
Georges Méliès,
overblown theatrical style keeps however, recognized it as a new
Bleuette Bernon, François the action more absurd than heroic. way of performing magic tricks.
Lallement, Henri Delannoy
BEFORE
1896 Méliès’s short movie Le
Manoir du Diable (The Devil’s
Castle) is often credited as the
first horror movie.
1899 Cinderella is the first of
Méliès’s movies to use multiple
scenes to tell a story.
AFTER
1904 Méliès adapts another
Jules Verne story with Whirling
the Worlds, a fantasy about a
group of scientists who fly
a steam train into the sun.
VISIONARIES 21
What else to watch: The Man with the Rubber Head (1901) ■ A Trip to Mars (1910) ■ Metropolis (1927, pp.32–33) ■
The Invisible Man (1933) ■ First Men in the Moon (1964) ■ Hugo (2011)
Méliès’s short movies were simply

entertainments, created for the Georges Méliès Director
sensation seekers who roamed
Méliès’s early innovations. Méliès wrote,
the boulevards of fin-de-siècle
short movies directed, and starred in more
Paris. Filled with chorus girls, experimented than 500 motion pictures,
ghosts, and Mephistophelian with the pioneering the genres of science
devils, the movies started out as theatrical fiction, horror, and suspense.
recordings of simple magic acts techniques and special effects
and evolved into fanciful stories he had mastered as a stage Key movies
realized through innovative and magician. He used the camera
audacious camera trickery— to make people and objects 1896 The Devil’s Castle
cinema’s fledgling special effects. disappear, reappear, or 1902 A Trip to the Moon
By 1902, Méliès was ready to pull transform completely, and 1904 Whirling the Worlds
off his biggest illusion: to take his devised countless technical 1912 The Conquest of the Pole
audiences to the moon and back.
up and down like unruly children, a pompous old man, resembling
Sci-fi and satire and when they land on the lunar one of Méliès’s political cartoons.
A Trip to the Moon was the first surface, their rocket stabs the Its inscription reads “Labor omnia
movie to be inspired by the popular Man in the Moon in his eye. They vincit” (Work conquers all), which,
“scientific romances” of Jules Verne cause chaos in the kingdom of the in light of the chaos that has
and H. G. Wells, and is widely Selenites—whom they treat as preceded it, takes on a decidedly
acknowledged as the world’s first mindless savages—and they only ironic tone. ■
science-fiction movie. But while make it home by accident. A statue
it is true that Méliès conjured up of Barbenfouillis appears in the
the basic iconography of sci-fi final scene—a
cinema—the sleek rocket ship, the caricature of
moon hurtling toward the camera,
and the little green men—the
director did not set out to invent
a genre. His aim was to present a
mischievous satire of Victorian
values, a boisterous comedy
lampooning the reckless
industrial revolutionaries
of Western Europe.
In Méliès’s hands,
men of science are
destructive fools.
Led by Professor
Barbenfouillis (played
by Méliès himself),
they squabble and jump
When they reach the moon, the

scientists discover a strange land.
Their arrogant attitude toward the
moon people has led the movie to
be seen as an anti-imperialist satire.
22
OUT OF THE CRADLE

ENDLESSLY
INTOLERANCE / 1916
ROCKING
O
ne of the most influential those used in Intolerance. It was
IN CONTEXT movies ever made, a hit, but was condemned by many
Intolerance is truly epic for its overt racism, glorifying slavery
GENRE
in its scope, with elaborate sets and the Ku Klux Klan.
Historical epic
and countless extras. It was not Its commercial success,
DIRECTOR the first movie to use techniques however, bankrolled the cast
D. W. Griffith such as camera tracking and close- of thousands required to make
ups, but director D. W. Griffith Intolerance, which lost as much
WRITERS used them with such mastery at the box office as The Clansman
D. W. Griffith, Anita Loos that many regard him as the had made. Some critics describe
STARS father of modern moviemaking. Intolerance as an apology for the
The movie was born in earlier movie, but there is nothing
Vera Lewis, Ralph Lewis,
controversy. Griffith’s previous apologetic in its ambition and scale.
Constance Talmadge,
movie in 1915, The Clansman,
Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh,
came to be called The Birth of a Four-part drama
Robert Harron Nation and was the first full-length Four stories of intolerance, spanning
BEFORE feature movie made in the US. Its three millennia, interweave through
1914 Italian director Giovanni innovative techniques foreshadowed the movie, each with a different
Pastrone makes Cabiria, an
early feature-length epic. D. W. Griffith Director
1915 Griffith’s The Birth of a Born on a farm The Birth of a Nation, whose
Nation is the first US feature in Kentucky in racism caused protests and riots.
movie, but sparks controversy 1875, David Griffith made about 500 movies
with its racist content. Llewelyn Wark in total, but his career entered
Griffith was 10 into a downward spiral after
AFTER when his father died, leaving the Intolerance. He died in 1948.
1931 Griffith’s final movie, The family in poverty. After several
Struggle (his second sound years of stage work, he got an Key movies
feature), is a box-office failure. acting job for a movie company
It is a semiautobiographical in 1908, and was soon making 1909 A Corner of Wheat
tale of a battle with alcoholism. his own movies, some of the first 1915 The Birth of a Nation
ever made in Hollywood. He set 1916 Intolerance
up his own company to make 1919 Broken Blossoms
VISIONARIES 23
What else to watch: Cleopatra (1917) ■ Broken Blossoms (1919) ■ Sunrise (1927, pp.30–31) ■ Metropolis (1927, pp.32–33) ■
Modern Times (1936) ■ Gone with the Wind (1939, pp.62–63) ■ Ben-Hur (1959)
The central courtyard in Babylon

was recreated with a life-size set.
More than 3,000 extras were employed
for Belshazzar’s lavish feast.
To some critics, the effect is almost

symphonic, while others find it
tiresome. But there is no doubt that
this crosscutting and use of the edit
was to prove hugely influential.
Other technical innovations
we now take for granted include
dissolves between scenes and
the fade-out. Most significant
of all, perhaps, was the close-up.
The full-length shots of earlier
movies called for an exaggerated,
pantomime style of acting to
convey the story. But as Griffith
film tint. They are linked by the The four stories are intercut with said, “The close-up enabled us to
ever-present image of a mother, increasing rapidity as the movie reach real acting, restraint, acting
played by Lillian Gish, rocking a approaches its climax. Racing that is a duplicate of real life.” ■
cradle to symbolize the passing chariots in one story cut into
generations. Captioned “Out of speeding trains and cars in another; Jesus drags
the cradle endlessly rocking,” it this effect was achieved almost his cross through
suggests that nothing changes. entirely in the edit, since Griffith jeering crowds
in the movie’s
The first of the four stories shot the sections chronologically. biblical story.
focuses on the conflict at the fall
of ancient Babylon, fueled by the
intolerant devotees of two warring
religions. The second tells how, after
the wedding at Cana, Christ is driven
to his death by intolerance. The third
tale depicts the St. Bartholomew’s
Day massacres in France in 1572,
when Catholics massacred the
Protestant Huguenots. The final
story is of two young lovers who
are caught up in a conflict
between ruthless capitalists
and moralistic striking
workers. Griffith is clearly
on the side of the lovers,
who are hounded by the
type of social reformers he
clearly equates with those
who protested against
The Clansman.
I MUST
BECOME
CALIGARI!
THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI / 1920
26 THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI
IN CONTEXT
GENRE
Horror
DIRECTOR
Robert Wiene
WRITERS
Hans Janowitz, Carl Mayer
STARS
Werner Krauss, Conrad
Veidt, Friedrich Fehér,
Hans Heinrich von
Twardowski, Lil Dagover
BEFORE
1913 The Weapons of Youth is
Wiene’s first movie, now lost.
AFTER
T
he Cabinet of Dr. Caligari The somnambulist Cesare, who,
1924 The Hands of Orlac, an has been described as the the viewer is told, has been in a
Expressionist movie by Wiene, first feature-length horror sleeping trance for 23 years, is roused
by Caligari and fed sitting in his coffin.
is later remade twice and movie, and it is easy to see its legacy
inspires many horror movies. in modern cinema, but not for the
obvious reasons. Its ingenious set with Caligari as a straightforward
1925 Wiene directs a silent design—still avant-garde in its villain causing an innocent to
movie of Richard Strauss’s use of palpably unreal, theatrical sleepwalk into committing murder.
opera Der Rosenkavalier. environments—is the most striking As the movie neared production,
Strauss conducts a live of its features. Yet it is other, more however, the story morphed into
orchestra for the premiere, but subtle elements of Robert Wiene’s something more complex, leading
a tour of the US is canceled groundbreaking psychological to possibly another first for cinema:
with the arrival of sound movie. thriller that have become fixtures the twist ending.
of movie storytelling.
The “unreliable narrator” had Opening the cabinet
long been a staple of literature, Janowitz and Mayer were inspired
since the time of the ancient Greek by an 11th-century story about a
dramatist Aristophanes, but it had confidence-trickster monk who
yet to be used in cinema. Caligari exerted a strange influence over
pioneers the use of this device in a man in his keep. In their
I have never been the character of Francis (Friedrich screenplay, the monk became
able since to trust Fehér). The story Francis tells starts, a doctor, whom Francis and his
the authoritative power innocently enough, with a love love rival Alan (Hans Heinrich
of an inhuman triangle, as two friends compete for von Twardowski) encounter at
state gone mad. the affections of the same woman— a village fairground.
Hans Janowitz but of course, all is not as it seems. Dr. Caligari (Werner Krauss) first
The movie’s screenwriters, appears as a fairground showman
Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer, who opens his so-called cabinet—
originally wrote the story as a coffin by any other name—to
an indictment of Germany’s reveal the ghostly, heavy-lidded
government during World War I, Cesare (Conrad Veidt) lying within.
VISIONARIES 27
What else to watch: Nosferatu (1922, p.330) ■ The Last Laugh (1924) ■ Secrets of a Soul (1926) ■ Metropolis (1927,
pp.32–33) ■ Dracula (1931) ■ Spellbound (1945) ■ The Third Man (1949, pp.100–03) ■ The White Ribbon (2009, p.323)
Caligari, Cesare’s “master,” claims sinister close-ups, mostly of the

that his charge “knows all secrets” seemingly insane Caligari, to Robert Wiene Director
and invites the audience to ask a persuade his audience that they
question. A visibly shaken Alan are watching a straightforward Robert Wiene was born in 1873
asks, “How long shall I live?”—to hero-and-villain story. Yet when in Breslau. In 1913, he wrote
and directed a short movie,
which Cesare replies, “Until dawn.” it is revealed that no character’s
The Weapons of Youth, which
And here we see another example perspective may be taken at face was the first of 20 features and
of a horror-movie device lifted from value, suddenly the strange, shorts he would make in the
countless tales: the fool who tempts distorted angles and backdrops silent era. After a prolific movie
fate. The unfortunate Alan is found of the production design begin to career in Germany, Wiene fled
dead the following morning. make sense. They are an integral the Nazi regime in the early
part of the story and not simply an 1930s and moved to France.
Expressionist style unsettling style; the sets by Walter He died of cancer during the
The look and style of the movie Reimann, Walter Röhrig, and shooting of his last movie,
were heavily influenced by the Hermann Warm seem to portray Ultimatum (1938), which was
legendary Max Reinhardt, director a whole world gone mad. completed, uncredited, by
of the Deutsches Theatre in Berlin. One reason that The Cabinet fellow émigré Robert Siodmak.
His antirealist style, itself inspired of Dr. Caligari has endured is that,
by the Expressionist art movement anticipating Hitchcock’s Psycho, it Key movies
of the early 20th century, embraced is the first movie to take audiences
1913 The Weapons of Youth
the artificiality of the theater set inside the mind of a madman. Its
1920 The Cabinet of
and manipulated darkness rather resonant horror stems from our Dr. Caligari
than light to create swathes of fear of the mask of 1923 Raskolnikow
chiaroscuro, establishing an sanity that even 1924 The Hands of Orlac
atmosphere of mystery the most disturbed
and unease. individuals can
Wiene carefully wear in order to Cesare carries away
employs lighting to deceive those Francis’s sweetheart,
suggest that this is around them. ■ Jane, through
a landscape
simply an outlandish resembling the
melodrama—a notion aftermath of
reinforced by the World War I,
frequent use of which had
ended just two
years earlier.
28
WHAT ARE WE
WAITING FOR?
BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN / 1925
S
ergei Eisenstein’s This was one
IN CONTEXT Battleship Potemkin of the first movie
was commissioned posters by Dutch
GENRE designer Dolly
by the Soviet authorities
Historical drama Rudeman.
to commemorate the 20th It depicts a
DIRECTOR anniversary of the 1905 Cossack soldier
Sergei Eisenstein Revolution, when Russian with one of his
sailors mutinied against victims at his
WRITER their naval commanders and feet. Its bold
Nina Agadzhanova protested in the port of Odessa futurist style
is typical of
STARS (now in Ukraine). The result 1920s posters
was a movie that revolutionized in Europe.
Aleksandr Antonov,
cinema. Ninety years later, it
Vladimir Barsky,
is rare that an action movie
Grigori Aleksandrov
does not owe it something.
BEFORE The opening scenes are meat, only to be told that it was
1925 Eisenstein’s first full- historically accurate. The cooks did fit for consumption. The crew’s
length feature, Strike, tells take issue with the maggot-ridden spokesman, Quartermaster Grigory
the story of a 1903 walkout Vakulinchuk (Aleksandr Antonov),
in a Russian factory and the did call for a boycott and was shot.
repression of the workers. The crew did turn on their superior
officers before hoisting a red flag
AFTER and sailing to Odessa, where there
1928 Eisenstein’s October had been ongoing civilian unrest.
(Ten Days That Shook the View it in the same way And Vakulinchuk’s body was put
World) uses a documentary that a group of artists on display, with a note: “This is the
style to tell the story of the might view and study a body of Vakulinchuk, killed by the
1917 October Revolution. Rubens or a Raphael. commander for telling the truth.”
David O. Selznik When the sailors reach Odessa,
1938 In a more restrictive however, Eisenstein’s movie veers
political climate, Eisenstein into propaganda. While it is true
retreats to distant history that Tsar Nicholas II took action
with Alexander Nevsky. against the striking citizens of
Odessa, this did not happen at the
VISIONARIES 29
What else to watch: Strike (1925) ■ October (1928) ■ Man With a Movie Camera (1929) ■
The Untouchables (1987) ■ JFK (1991)
A carriage careers down the steps

past and over the bodies of the dead
and dying. The baby’s mother has been
shot: as she fell, she nudged it forward,
starting its headlong descent.
Odessa Steps. Now known as the

Potemkin Stairs, they were then
just the Boulevard Steps, or Giant
Staircase. The director made full
use of the 200 steps to show the
tsarist troops advancing. The
crowds’ celebration with the sailors
is cut short by a title card that
says simply, “And suddenly.” The
scenes of carnage that follow have
lost none of their power. Nobody
is safe from the advancing troops,
filmed from a low angle and often
tightly cropped: for the director,
only their rifles needed to be
visible. The outraged sailors fire
back with shells, before heading on the experiments in montage grief, and desire. Eisenstein’s belief
off to sea where they are joined pioneered by Soviet movie theorist in montage—although he preferred
in revolt by other sailors. Lev Kuleshov between 1910 and to use images in “collision” with
1920. For Kuleshov, meaning lay not each other—can be shown by
Montage and collision in individual shots but in the way statistics alone: at under 80 minutes,
As a history lesson, Battleship that the human mind contextualizes Battleship Potemkin consists of 1,346
Potemkin took liberties, but factual them: for example, by using the shots, when the average movie of the
accuracy was never Eisenstein’s same image of a man’s face and period usually contained around 600.
concern. It was more important intercutting it with a bowl of soup,
for him to pursue a new cinematic a coffin, and a woman, Kuleshov Manipulating emotions
language, which he did by drawing could conjure up images of hunger, Eisenstein’s approach to
storytelling still seems radical
Sergei Eisenstein Director today. Its juxtaposition of the epic
and the intimate virtually rules out
Born in 1898 in the Soviet Union, he found that the possibility of engaging with the
Latvia, Sergei the political tide had turned characters on a personal level, and
Eisenstein against his “formalist” ideas, to in that way it is indeed perfectly
started work as more traditional storytelling. He communist. Even Vakulinchuk, the
a director for theater company died in 1948, leaving behind just hero and martyr of the piece, is seen
Proletkult in Moscow in 1920. eight finished movies. only as a symbol of humanity to be
His interest in visual theory contrasted with the faceless tsarist
led to the “Revolution Trilogy” Key movies troops. The most famous scene—a
of Strike, Battleship Potemkin,
baby in a carriage tumbling down
and October. He was invited 1925 Battleship Potemkin
to Hollywood in 1930, but his 1928 October the steps—is the ideal symbol of
projects there stalled. Back in 1938 Alexander Nevsky the movie’s manipulative grip on
our helpless emotions. ■
30
THIS SONG OF THE

MAN AND HIS WIFE
IS OF NO PLACE
AND EVERY
SUNRISE / 1927
PLACE
I
n 1927, one movie changed the fellow who has been seduced
IN CONTEXT course of cinema history: The by the vampish woman from
Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson, the city (Margaret Livingston).
GENRE
was the first ever feature-length She urges him to sell his farm
Silent drama
“talkie.” But another song was and come with her to pursue a
DIRECTOR playing in picture palaces that life of excitement in the city. The
F. W. Murnau year, and it was a silent movie. In man is married, however, to his
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, sweet young wife (Janet Gaynor).
WRITERS German director F. W. Murnau When he asks the woman: “And
Carl Mayer (screenplay); attempted to distill a universal my wife?” a sly look comes into
Hermann Sudermann human experience into 90 wordless his lover’s eyes. “Couldn’t she get
(short story) minutes of beautiful monochrome drowned?” is the chilling title card.
imagery, accompanied only by The rural setting, creeping fog,
STARS
music and sound effects. and shifting, spidery shadows of
George O’Brien, Janet At a lakeside village, two this scene recall Murnau’s other
Gaynor, Margaret clandestine lovers meet under great masterpiece, the archetypal
Livingston, Bodil Rosing the moonlight. The man (George vampire movie Nosferatu. Sunrise
BEFORE O’Brien) is an honest country looks set to deliver an equally
1922 Murnau’s Nosferatu helps
to define the horror genre in a F. W. Murnau Director
nightmarish version of Dracula.
Born in Germany literate man, Murnau brought
AFTER in 1888, Friedrich Goethe’s Faust to the big screen
1927 Metropolis, Fritz Lang’s Wilhelm Murnau before moving to Hollywood in
science-fiction classic, also fought for his 1926. His first US movie was
features the spectacle of the country in the horror of World Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans.
War I before making a horror He died in a car crash in 1931.
modern city.
of his own: Nosferatu, the first
1930 Murnau’s City Girl tells movie to be based on Dracula. Key movies
the story of a flapper falling in The Last Laugh proved that
love with a farm boy and being Murnau could move his 1922 Nosferatu
rejected by his family. audiences as skillfully as he 1924 The Last Laugh
could terrify them. A highly 1927 Sunrise
VISIONARIES 31
What else to watch: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920, pp.24–27) ■ Faust (1926) ■ The Lodger (1927) ■ Wings (1927) ■
Street Angel (1928) ■ Man with a Movie Camera (1929) ■ City Lights (1931, pp.38–41) ■ A Star Is Born (1937)
sensationalist story of Sunrise was one of

sex, death, violence, and the first movies with
betrayal. But will the sound effects, but
its innovations were
man commit murder?
largely overlooked.
With her black bob,
sleek satin dress, and Murnau’s films are gorgeous,
smoldering cigarette, and strange and Sunrise is no exception.
the woman from the hallucinogenic Its luscious black-and-white
city embodies the patterns in the photography and sweeping
amorality of the bright lights. camera moves haven’t aged.
metropolis, while Danger, too, will Pamela Hutchinson
the man is a symbol reappear, the The Guardian
of rustic innocence. past not so easily
The viewer assumes escaped. And all of
that Sunrise will it is made with the
be a chronicle of kind of ambition—
corruption; at one point the Murnau’s “city” was made up of
woman appears devil-like on the vast, complex, hugely expensive
man’s shoulder, urging him to sin. sets—that has led many to see a Movietone soundtrack, which
The man invites his wife to take Sunrise as a pinnacle of the silent added piglet squeals, traffic horns,
a boat ride, but when the moment movies, a beautiful last waltz. and other clunky effects, but the
comes to drown her, he can’t go movie doesn’t need these to bring
through with it. Last sunrise its world to life. “Wherever the sun
The man hesitates, the wife Sunrise plays like a montage of the rises and sets,” says the closing
escapes, and when he catches up silent era’s greatest hits, a flickering title card, “in the city’s turmoil or
with her, the pair find themselves carousel of melodrama, suspense, under the open sky on the farm,
on a tram bound for the city. Unable horror, spectacle, slapstick, and life is much the same; sometimes
to discuss what has happened at tragedy. The US release was given bitter, sometimes sweet.” ■
the lake for fear of being overheard,
they stay on the tram.
City awakening
This is where Sunrise surprises us.
The metropolis has a magical effect
on the man and his wife as they
spend the day wandering through
its vertiginous throng, thrown
together in a touching, accidental
second courtship.
Yet there is still much drama
ahead, and more unforgettable
sights: crowds through which the
camera swoops, street carnivals,
Unable to go through with the

murder, the man follows his wife
to a tram, and they both end up
heading for the city.
32
THOSE WHO TOILED KNEW

NOTHING OF THE DREAMS
OF THOSE WHO PLANNED
METROPOLIS / 1927
IN CONTEXT
GENRE
Science fiction
DIRECTOR
Fritz Lang
WRITERS
Fritz Lang,
Thea von Harbou
STARS
Alfred Abel, Gustav
Fröhlich, Rudolf Klein-
M
any movies have Lang’s vision of the cityscape of
Rogge, Brigitte Helm journeyed into the future, the future was heavily influenced
and most of them owe a by the skyscrapers that were being
BEFORE built at the time in New York.
1922 With Dr. Mabuse the debt to Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.
Gambler, Lang and von Harbou Made in Germany in 1927, this tale
introduce the arch-criminal to of city life projects itself a hundred Lang often said that the idea for
the big screen for first time. years ahead of its time. Metropolis came to him on a visit
to New York in 1924, and it shows.
1924 The Nibelungs is Mirror image The American city, with its soaring
Lang and von Harbou’s epic Metropolis is set in 2026, but it is skyscrapers and views of ant-sized
two-part silent fantasy. really a warped reflection of the era citizens, clearly inspired the first
in which it was made. In its striking science-fiction cityscape ever
AFTER
black-and-white imagery, influenced shown on screen. Lang worked
1929 Woman in the Moon is by German Expressionism, lie the with visual-effects pioneer Eugen
Lang’s next science-fiction nightmares of a world in flux. The Schüfftan to create an exaggerated
masterpiece after Metropolis. mechanized horrors of World War I version of Manhattan, combining
1931 M stands for “Murderer” were fresh in the memory, and the models of monorails and shining
in Lang and von Harbou’s Nazis would soon begin their rise pinnacles with vast clockwork sets,
desolate thriller. to power, proposing totalitarian in which the humans operating the
solutions to Germany’s problems. machines are little more than cogs.
VISIONARIES 33
What else to watch: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920, pp.24–27) ■ The Bride of Frankenstein (1935, p.52) ■
Modern Times (1936) ■ Blade Runner (1982, pp.250–55) ■ Brazil (1985, p.340) ■ The Matrix (1999) ■ Minority Report (2002)
depicted as a malevolent monster, a

Alfred Abel Actor living, breathing machine incapable
of compassion. Maria is duplicated
Born in Leipzig elegant, and eschewing florid as a Maschinenmensch (“machine-
in 1879, Alfred gestures, Abel remained in
human”), whose unholy birth would
Abel tried his demand in the age of sound, but
hand at forestry, a brief foray into directing was later be imitated by Hollywood in
gardening, art, and business not a success. He died in 1937, Frankenstein (1931). Mechanization
before taking up acting. Moving two years after the Nazi regime is ultimately a means to deceive,
to Berlin, he worked with stage barred his daughter from acting. dehumanize, and enslave.
director Max Reinhardt, who Metropolis is often described as
gave him his first movie role in Key movies the first screen dystopia, and in its
1913. He went on to star in more prediction of a segregated German
than 100 silent movies, most 1922 Dr. Mabuse the Gambler society, it is bleakly prescient. But
famously Metropolis. Always 1927 Metropolis Lang’s movie remains optimistic
at its core—it believes the human
In Metropolis, the architecture of with her does the machine begin heart can triumph even when
the city reflects the rigid structure to break down, as the two groups— our dreams turn into oppressive
of its society, whose ruling class, led the “mind” and the “hands”—are nightmares, and for all its concerns,
by Fredersen (Alfred Abel), lives in brought together by the heart. it sees a frightening beauty in the
luxurious towers, while the workers, world of tomorrow. ■
represented by Maria (Brigitte Helm), Technology and terror
are consigned to the sunless slums Lang’s movie revels in cutting-edge In an Art Deco vision of hell, the
at ground level and below. The special effects, but it doesn’t trust Industrial Machine powering the city
two groups—literally the high-ups technology with the future of is seen as a sacrificial temple of Moloch
and the low-downs—know little humanity. The 21st-century city is that consumes its workers.
of each other, and in the smooth
running of the machine city their
paths never cross. Only when
Fredersen’s privileged son glimpses
the worker Maria and falls in love
Should I say now that I like

Metropolis because something
I have seen in my imagination
comes true, when I detested
it after it was finished?
Fritz Lang
34
IF YOU SAY WHAT

YOU’RE THINKING
I’LL STRANGLE
STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. / 1928
YOU
B
uster Keaton was a master
IN CONTEXT of deadpan slapstick. He
was born into a vaudeville
GENRE
family and grew up familiar with
Comedy
the demands of physical comedy,
DIRECTOR which he transferred from stage
Charles Reisner to screen. Although he didn’t
always take a credit as director,
WRITER he was invariably the mastermind
Carl Harbaugh behind the laughs. Today, what
STARS impresses most about his movies
is their comic precision, and the Keaton performed his own stunts,
Buster Keaton, Tom many of which, like this building
sophisticated way in which he
McGuire, Ernest Torrence, falling on him in Steamboat Bill,
misleads his audiences. Steamboat
Marion Byron Bill, Jr. is typical of the way in which Jr., relied on precise timing and
positioning to avoid serious injury.
BEFORE Keaton plays with expectations.
1924 Keaton fractures his
neck while shooting the Straight to the jokes type as a fey bohemian, complete
pratfalls for Sherlock, Jr. The movie sets course in almost with Oxford bags, a tiny ukulele,
record time—the grizzled captain and a beret, before the movie
1926 Keaton’s The General, of a dilapidated paddle steamer moves up a notch with a storm.
now considered a classic, faces competition from a stylish After he has been swept by high
flops at the box office. new riverboat on the same day winds through a town on a hospital
that his long-lost son (Keaton) bed, Keaton stands immobile as an
AFTER
reappears—and goes straight to the entire storefront crashes over his
1928 Steamboat Bill, Jr. is the
jokes. Keaton uses a slew of visual head, perfectly framing him in its
inspiration for Walt Disney’s puns and sight gags even before his top window. The scene—highly
Steamboat Willie, the first character has arrived. When he dangerous to perform—captures
Mickey Mouse animation. finally does appear, Keaton starts a Keaton’s philosophy in a nutshell:
1929 Keaton makes his final symphony of silliness, playing against “Stuntmen don’t get laughs.” ■
silent movie, Spite Marriage,
about a celebrity wife who What else to watch: Our Hospitality (1923) ■ Sherlock, Jr. (1924) ■
divorces her humble husband. The Navigator (1924) ■ The General (1926) ■ The Cameraman (1928)
VISIONARIES 35
HAS GOD PROMISED

YOU THINGS?
THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC / 1928
T
he story of Jeanne d’Arc put through an exhausting ordeal.
IN CONTEXT (Joan of Arc), or the Maid The director keeps his camera
of Orleans, has been filmed tight on her face, contrasting her
GENRE
several times, mostly as an action- tortured expressions with the
Historical drama
adventure in which she leads an pinched features of the clerics—
DIRECTOR army against English invaders in all shot in extreme close-up, with
Carl Theodor Dreyer 15th-century France. But Danish no makeup, and harsh lighting.
director Carl Theodor Dreyer went As matters get progressively
WRITERS back to the transcripts of Joan’s worse for Joan, the movie keeps the
Joseph Delteil, Carl trial to create an intimate and audience inside her tormented
Theodor Dreyer emotionally grueling account of world for as long as it can. Even as
her persecution and execution at she is burned at the stake, Dreyer
STAR
the hands of the church. focuses relentlessly on Joan rather
Maria Falconetti
By all accounts, the shoot was than on the attempt to save her.
BEFORE as grim and punishing as anything As the director himself once put
1917 Falconetti stars in La depicted on screen, particularly for it, “Nothing in the world can be
Comtesse de Somerive, the Maria Falconetti as Joan, who was compared to the human face.” ■
first of her two feature movies. The trial scene
was shot in a
AFTER hugely expensive
1932 Dreyer makes his first replica of the
sound movie with the horror ecclesiastical
movie Vampyr. court at Rouen
Castle, where the
1943 Dreyer’s movie Day of historical Joan
Wrath returns to the theme was tried.
of witchcraft with a tale of
17th-century persecution.
1957 Otto Preminger adapts
George Bernard Shaw’s play
Saint Joan for cinema, starring
Jean Seberg in her debut role. What else to watch: Sunrise (1927, pp.30–31) ■ Vampyr (1932) ■
Day of Wrath (1943) ■ Ordet (1955) ■ Gertrud (1964)

36
FALLING IN LOVE
AGAIN NEVER
WANTED TO
THE BLUE ANGEL / 1930
M
arlene Dietrich’s Lola-Lola,
sermon, warning of the dangers of
IN CONTEXT the showgirl of The Blue chasing the pleasures of the flesh.
Angel (Der Blaue Engel), is
Set in Weimar Germany, it tells the
GENRE
one of cinema’s most indelible sirens.
tale of Professor Immanuel Rath
Comedy drama
The movie was banned by the Nazis (Emil Jannings), who gives up his
DIRECTOR in 1933, but Hitler, a fan of Dietrich,
respectable job as a schoolteacher
Josef von Sternberg reputedly kept a private copy. to pursue Lola-Lola, a performer at
cabaret club The Blue Angel.
WRITERS Moral message Professor Rath journeys through
Carl Zuckmayer, Karl Lola-Lola’s decadence and sexually the seamy demimonde of show
Vollmöller, Robert charged ennui are captured in songs business, and when Lola-Lola
Liebmann (screenplay); that made Dietrich famous: Falling rejects him, he ends up a laughing
Heinrich Mann (novel) in Love Again became her personal stock: spineless, emasculated, and
anthem. Ironically, Josef von powerless, a grotesque shadow of
STARS Sternberg’s movie is also a moral his censorious former self. ■
Marlene Dietrich,
Emil Jannings Professor Rath
(Emil Jannings,
BEFORE right) becomes
1929 Von Sternberg’s a humiliated
first talkie is the US crime clown in
Lola-Lola’s
drama Thunderbolt. troupe. He is
AFTER ridiculed by the
audience when
1930 Von Sternberg and the troupe visits
Dietrich team up for a second his home town.
time with the Hollywood
romance Morocco.
1932 Dietrich and von
Sternberg reunite for Shanghai
Express, a huge box-office hit,
and the fourth movie of seven What else to watch: Shanghai Express (1932) ■ Blonde Venus (1932) ■
the two would make together. Desire (1936) ■ Destry Rides Again (1939) ■ Cabaret (1972)
VISIONARIES 37
IF I WERE YOU
I’D MAKE A BIT
OF A SCENE
PEOPLE ON SUNDAY / 1930
G
erman cinema in the visits Erwin, a cabdriver, and his
IN CONTEXT 1920s and 30s was wife Annie, a model. He invites
noted for its style and them to the lake, but, after an
GENRE
technical expertise. But People on argument, Erwin leaves Annie
Silent drama
Sunday (Menschen am Sonntag) is behind to join Wolfgang, Christl,
DIRECTORS pioneering in a very different way, and Brigitte, a salesclerk.
Robert Siodmark, creating a fluid, freewheeling movie In retrospect, the artlessness
Curt Siodmark aimed at realism. of what happens next in the film is
Filmmakers Robert Siodmak truly affecting, given that the movie’s
WRITERS and Edgar G. Ulmer, then both makers would all be forced into exile
Curt Siodmark, Robert novices, would later carve out a before the decade was out. There is
Siodmark, Edgar G. Ulmer, career in Hollywood making tense no cynicism, only the pathos of its
Billy Wilder thrillers, but People on Sunday is characters’ optimistic faith in the
the polar opposite. It is also very often-repeated word “tomorrow.” ■
STARS different from the later works of
Erwin Splettstößer, Annie its screenwriter Billy Wilder, who
Schreyer, Wolfgang von developed its documentary style
Waltershausen, Christl from reportage by Siodmak’s
Ehlers, Brigitte Borchert brother Curt, soon to write many of
BEFORE Universal Studios’ horror pictures.
1927 Walther Ruttmann’s
We’d sit at a nearby table
silent documentary Berlin: A movie experiment while they’d decide what
Symphony of a Great City
The movie’s subtitle was “a film to do that day. It was
chronicles one day in Berlin
without actors.” It follows 24 hours completely improvised.
to an orchestral score.
in the lives of five Berliners, played Brigitte Borchert
by nonactors in roles based on their
AFTER real lives. Wine merchant Wolfgang
1948 Vittorio De Sica’s flirts with movie extra Christl. They
The Bicycle Thief, a key arrange to meet in the lake resort of
Italian neorealist movie, Nikolassee. Later that day Wolfgang
tells an everyday story
What else to watch: The Bicycle Thief (1948, pp.94–97) ■ À bout de souffle
shot entirely on location.
(1960, pp.166–67) ■ Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960, pp.168–69)
TOMORROW
THE BIRDS WILL
SING
CITY LIGHTS / 1931
40 CITY LIGHTS
C
harlie Chaplin’s movie City
IN CONTEXT Lights—which he wrote,
directed, and starred in—
GENRE
was one of the last great movies
Silent comedy
of the silent era, acknowledged by
DIRECTOR many as one of the best comedies
Charlie Chaplin of all time. Although it was released
in 1931, four years after the first real
WRITER talkie, The Jazz Singer, Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin defiantly made City Lights a silent
STARS movie with only a few distorted
sound effects and a sound track
Charlie Chaplin, Virginia
of his own music.
Merrill, Harry Myers
BEFORE Tramp and the Flower Girl
1921 Chaplin makes his first The story begins in a large city,
feature movie, The Kid, with where Chaplin’s Tramp is fleeing
13-year-old Lita Grey, whom from a policeman who threatens to
he marries three years later. arrest him for vagrancy. Escaping
by climbing through a car, he The poster for the movie’s original
1925 Chaplin’s The Gold Rush, meets a poor blind flower girl release in 1931 makes full use of the
his first blockbuster featuring (played by Virginia Merrill). He audience’s recognition of Chaplin’s
the Tramp, is a huge success. buys a flower from her with his Tramp persona.
1927 The silent era comes to last coin, and the girl, hearing
an end with The Jazz Singer, the sound of a luxury car door, searches desperately for ways to
the first feature-length movie believes he is a wealthy man. raise the money to fund it, from
Not judged as a vagrant by this sweeping the streets to getting
with full sound dialogue.
blind girl, the Tramp falls in love beaten in a prizefight—vehicles for
AFTER with her and wants to be the rich Chaplin’s trademark slapstick,
1936 Chaplin makes Modern and handsome benefactor she bawdiness, and melodrama.
Times, his last silent feature, imagines him to be. He determines The Tramp also saves a
a protest against the Great to rescue her from her life of poverty millionaire who is threatening to
Depression workers’ conditions. and when he hears of an operation commit suicide after his wife has
that will restore her sight, he left him. In return, the millionaire
offers the Tramp $1,000 to help the
Charlie Chaplin Director girl. Unfortunately, the millionaire
only sees the Tramp as a friend
Actor-director took him to the US. By age 26, he when he is blind drunk. When the
Charlie Chaplin was a star with his own movie millionaire sobers up, he accuses
was the biggest company. He made a string of the Tramp of stealing the money.
star of silent hit silent movies before his first Going on the run, the Tramp gives
movies. Born talkie, the anti-Hitler satire The the girl the money to pay for the
in London in 1889, he survived Great Dictator. He died in 1977. sight operation, but is captured
a childhood beset by poverty. and thrown in jail.
His alcoholic father abandoned Key movies
his singer mother, who was later A touching encounter
committed to an asylum. These 1921 The Kid
Finally, he is released from jail and
early experiences inspired the 1925 The Gold Rush
1931 City Lights finds himself outside the flower
character of the outcast Tramp.
As a teenager, Chaplin joined a 1936 Modern Times shop. In the window, the girl is
circus troupe and an impresario 1940 The Great Dictator arranging flowers. She has had
the operation and can see. Full of
VISIONARIES 41
What else to watch: The Gold Rush (1925) ■ The General (1926) ■ Metropolis (1927, pp.32–33) ■ Modern Times (1936) ■
A Patch of Blue (1965) ■ Chaplin (1992) ■ The Artist (2011)
kindness for the Tramp, who is now struck both the rich and the poor fluttering flares of hope, that’s
dressed in shabby clothes, the girl as the crisis deepened. While enough. It’s not clear what that
picks up the flower that has been the movie offered no recipes for hope is—that she will find her true
knocked from his grasp by street recovery, what it did, cleverly, was happiness with such a bedraggled
kids, and as their hands touch, she to provide a glimmer of hope. After man, or that they will both walk
suddenly recognizes him—so very rescuing the millionaire from suicide away, wiser but content. All that
different from the debonair prince in the river, the Tramp urges him to matters is that there is hope, the
she may have imagined. The Tramp be hopeful. “Tomorrow the birds hope inspired by the thought that
looks anxiously into the eyes of the will sing,” he says. No matter how the birds will sing tomorrow,
once-blind flower girl and asks, bleak things look today, people must come what may. ■
“You can see now?” “Yes,” she cling to the idea that there may be
replies, “I can see now.” joy tomorrow—that seems to be
The boxing scene, in which the
This poignant exchange is one the core of the movie’s message. Tramp spends most of his time hiding
of the most famous dialogues in behind the referee or running from his
movie history—all the more telling Happy ending? opponent to avoid combat, shows off
because it comes from the silent When the flower girl finally sees the Chaplin’s clowning skills.
era—and in many ways it is Tramp for who he really is, Chaplin
emblematic of the entire movie. the director does not immediately
It is not just the Tramp that the have them fall into each
girl is seeing for the first time, other’s arms in
but the truth, and the audience recognition. We
must see it too. In the noisy, do not know if
brightly flashing world of the the flower girl
modern city, the little people, will embrace
the downtrodden, and the lonely or reject him
are forgotten and brushed aside. because he is
It is only through the purity of so different from
silence, simplicity, and blindness the man of her
that people can regain their senses imagination. There is
and learn to see clearly again. no neat happy ending.
While the Tramp’s
Hope of tomorrow winsome look elicits
The movie has a conservative pathos, it also restores
and sentimental—some might the movie to a comic
even say mawkish—message, level, distancing the
but there’s no doubt that it touched audience from the pain
a chord on its release, just two of his possible rejection.
years after the Wall Street Crash. But as the flower girl
Times were troubled for countless looks back at him and
millions, the poor in the US were viewers see the thoughts
beginning to feel the pinch of the turning over behind her
Great Depression, and suicides eyes and the faintly
I’m cured. You’re my friend

for life.
The millionaire / City Lights
A GOLDEN
BLACK AN
1931–1949
AGE IN
D WHITE
44 INTRODUCTION
In contrast to the more In Germany, studios fall Starting with The 39 MGM’s Technicolor epic
theatrical “talkies,” under the control of Nazi Steps, Alfred Hitchcock Gone with the Wind
Fritz Lang’s first sound propaganda chief makes a series of British is an international hit
movie, M, uses a Joseph Goebbels. Major thrillers that reflect an and one of the most
complex sound track German directors and anxiety about the rise of profitable movies
to build suspense. stars flee to Hollywood. hostile powers in Europe. ever made.
1931 1933 1935 1939
1931 1934 1937 1939
Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Introduced in 1930 by the Snow White and In France, Jean
Boris Karloff as Frankenstein Motion Picture Producers and the Seven Dwarfs, Renoir’s The Rules of
become horror-movie legends. Distributors of America as a Walt Disney’s first the Game is a critical
Depression-era theaters introduce guideline for moral decency full-length animated disaster, but will later
“double features”—two full- in movies, the Hays Code is movie, becomes an be recognized as a
length movies for the price of one. now strictly enforced. instant classic. brilliant class satire.
I
n an ordinary Berlin street movies will never again equal
in 1931, a child is playing. those made in the 1930s and
From the shadows nearby, 1940s, the height of the classical
a haunting melody is whistled Hollywood period. It was an era
by a murderer. when, for all the trauma of world
The talkies had already made events—not least the Great
their entrance four years earlier,
We are not trying to entertain Depression and World War II—
but this, perhaps, is the moment in
the critics. I’ll take my chances movies had swagger, confidence,
cinema when the sound era truly with the public. and mass appeal. They were
begins. The movie was M, a dark Walt Disney glamorous and escapist. And they
thriller by German director Fritz made their audiences laugh. While
Lang. In that single scene, Lang Charlie Chaplin never fully took to
went far beyond simply adding sound (Buster Keaton even less so),
sound to movies. He was playing others were perfect for it. The Marx
with sound, using it. He was Brothers’ verbal virtuosity had their
making it a character’s signature. audiences in stitches, while the
new technology made the movies very essence of screwball comedy
Early sound so cumbersome to produce that was the wisecracking one-liner.
The first years of sound were a some might have been better left
disruptive time for the industry. silent. Yet the technical troubles Monster spectacles
Many stars lost their careers were overcome, new stars emerged, While M is a good place to open
when they failed the voice test, and the magic returned. Even this new era, classical Hollywood’s
and there were times when the today, there are many for whom symbol could be King Kong (1933).
A GOLDEN AGE IN BLACK AND WHITE 45

Citizen Kane, Orson Ernst Lubitsch, a Suspected communists,
Welles’s first movie, is refugee from Germany, Children of Paradise, 10 Hollywood filmmakers
based on the press tycoon directs To Be or Not a lavish historical are called before the
William Randolph to Be, a movie that drama directed by Committee Investigating
Hearst, who bans all lampoons the Nazis, Marcel Carné, is Un-American Activities,
mention of the movie in and is said by critics filmed in German- blacklisted by the studios,
his newspapers. to be in poor taste. occupied France. and later jailed.
1941 1942 1944 1947
1941 1943 1946 1948
Humphrey Bogart stars In Italy, Ossessione, an The Best Years of Our The Bicycle Thief by
in The Maltese Falcon, early neorealist movie Lives, by William Wyler, Vittorio De Sica is a
the archetypal film by Luchino Visconti, reflects the difficulties neorealist alternative
noir, and (the following runs afoul of Fascist of US servicemen to Hollywood, with a
year) in Casablanca. government censors. readjusting to civilian powerful, simple story
life after World War II. acted by ordinary people.
This monumental movie spectacular had had a major impact on the femmes fatales and world-weary
was proof of the studios’ willingness industry. Scores of directors gumshoes becoming some of
to make movies ever larger in their and actors, among them some cinema’s defining figures.
quest for excitement. Kong joined of Europe’s most talented, had From Italy came a different kind
a monster hall of fame. Universal defected to Hollywood. of downbeat. In the Rome of 1948,
Studios had already made the iconic director Vittorio De Sica used a
horror movies Frankenstein and A postwar edge cast of real people to tell a tale
Dracula (both 1931), The Mummy World War II gave the movies that of everyday struggle called The
(1932), and The Invisible Man (1933), came after it a new, abrasive edge. Bicycle Thief. It was the type of
all popular entertainments that also Even Britain’s typically sweet- movie that lit a fuse in all who saw
exhibited some brilliant filmmaking. centered Ealing comedies acquired it. But perhaps the most influential
King Kong was big, but it didn’t a darker tone when Alec Guinness movie of the era had already been
have a monopoly on scale. By 1939, played multiple roles in the murder made. An ambitious portrait of a
audiences were being wowed by story Kind Hearts and Coronets press baron, 1941’s Citizen Kane
The Wizard of Oz (its yellow-brick (1949). Darker still was writer goes in and out of favor with critics,
road seen in saturated Technicolor) Graham Greene’s peerless web of but its impact was immense. Its
and roused by Gone With the Wind, intrigue and betrayal in postwar cowriter, producer, director, and
an epic romance set against the Vienna, The Third Man (1949). star, Orson Welles, was 25 when
historical backdrop of the American In the US, crime drama evolved he made it. As it would be again
Civil War. into a new genre—film noir. Its in the next decade, movies had
In Europe, however, another swirl of stylized shadow play been reshaped by young people too
war was about to start. By the end borrowed heavily from the German much in love with its possibilities
of the 1930s the Nazis’ brutal rule Expressionists of the 1920s, its to be hampered by the past. ■
46
DON’T WANT TO,

BUT MUST!
M / 1931
C
lassic old movies as The real-life crimes of Peter Kürten,
IN CONTEXT influential as Fritz Lang’s known in the press as the Vampire
M—without which there of Düsseldorf, were fresh in the
GENRE
would have been no Psycho, Silence minds of German audiences when
Crime drama
of the Lambs, or Se7en—can be M was released in May 1931. Lang
DIRECTOR slightly disappointing when later denied that Kürten was the
Fritz Lang viewers finally come to see them. inspiration for his script. Although
By then the movies will have been so he was clearly tapping into a theme
WRITERS emulated and borrowed from that that was sitting high in the public
Fritz Lang, they can end up looking somewhat consciousness, his portrayal of a
Thea von Harbou hackneyed. Not so with M—Lang’s murderer was far from predictable.
crime masterpiece still bristles The first surprise was in the
STARS
with chilling invention. casting. Little-known Hungarian
Peter Lorre, Otto Wernicke,
actor Peter Lorre, a small man
Gustaf Gründgens
with bulging, oddly innocent eyes,
BEFORE seemed an unlikely choice to play
1927 Metropolis, Lang’s a child killer. The next surprise
seminal science-fiction epic, was in the movie’s oblique
is groundbreaking for the narrative. While concerned with
scale of its futuristic vision. justice, M is not a simple tale of
crime and punishment, and defies
AFTER expectations from the outset.
1935 Karl Freund, who was
the cinematographer on Shots of absence
Metropolis, directs Mad Love, The movie’s opening murder is
a Hollywood horror starring the set up with a heartbreaking
by now famous Peter Lorre. poignancy: as Beckert, who
is seen only in silhouette,
1963 In the last movie he approaches a young girl at a
makes, Lang appears in front
of the camera, playing himself
in Jean-Luc Godard’s Le The movie’s iconic poster
displays the “M” (for murderer) that
mépris (Contempt). will be imprinted on the killer’s
back so that he can be trailed.

What else to watch: Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922, p.330) ■ Metropolis (1927, pp.32–33) ■ Fury (1936) ■ Ministry of Fear
(1944) ■ The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) ■ The Big Heat (1953, pp.332–33) ■ While the City Sleeps (1956)
The killer Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre)

stares wide-eyed at his back, as he
sees in the mirror that he has been
marked with the letter “M.”
The tangled mind is exposed… their investigations, the citizens

hatred of itself and despair plan their own justice. Vigilantism,
jumping at you from the jelly. a common theme in Lang’s later
Graham Greene career, becomes a major element
of the story.
A human monster
Part of the power of M is the way in
which Lang effortlessly wrong-foots
the viewer. So meek is the monster
fairground, the scene cuts to her at the heart of the story, when his
anxious mother at home, then out face is finally revealed, that the
of the window, then into the yard. audience is thrown off guard, put
Her calls become desperate over into his shoes and made to feel his
shots of absence: vacant rooms, an fear. Lang then expertly cranks
empty dinner plate. When the actual up the tension, with the killer
murder is committed, Lang shows unwittingly marked with a chalk
nothing but the girl’s ball rolling letter “M,” for Mörder (murderer),
into the grass and a stray balloon and Beckert’s distress increasing
floating away. as the chase gathers momentum.
Beckert, the killer, seen only M was Lang’s first “talkie,” and
from behind, writes to the papers, he makes incredible use of sound, disturbing ends when Beckert is
protesting that the police are not and silence. The director subtly on the run, when the noise of fire-
publicizing his crimes. Instead creates tension in the killer’s very engine sirens and traffic create a
of trailing Beckert, however, Lang first entrance: as he is about to disorienting cacophony.
cuts to the wider repercussions strike, Beckert whistles a familiar
of the girl’s murder. A reward is tune—to unsettling effect. Lang Final judgment
posted, and as the police pursue uses sound to different but equally M keeps nudging the audience
off balance to the end. The movie’s
Fritz Lang Director tension comes not only from the
relentless ticktock of the narrative,
Born in Vienna Impressed by his talent, the Nazis but also from the question that
in 1890, Fritz asked Lang to head the UFA Lang asks the audience: what
Lang made his studio in 1933. Instead, he fled to kind of justice it wants to see
directorial debut the US, where he forged a highly for the killer. It’s a sophisticated
at the German UFA studios with successful career. He died in 1976. approach even now, let alone for an
Halbblut (The Weakling) in 1919, audience that would still have been
about a man ruined by his love Key movies acclimatizing to Lang’s innovations
for a woman—a recurrent theme with sound and subject matter.
in his movies. After a series of 1922 Dr. Mabuse the Gambler Lang himself—in a long career
hits, including science-fiction 1927 Metropolis
classic Metropolis, Lang made filled with truly great movies—
1931 M
his masterpiece with M. 1953 The Big Heat
always insisted that M was the
finest of them all. ■
48
WILL YOU MARRY ME?

DID HE LEAVE YOU ANY
MONEY? ANSWER THE
SECOND QUESTION FIRST
DUCK SOUP / 1933
L
ike so many
IN CONTEXT movies now
regarded as
GENRE
classics, the Marx
Musical comedy
Brothers’ Duck Soup
DIRECTOR received a mixed reception
Leo McCarey from critics when it opened
in 1933. Now it’s seen for
WRITERS what it is: a sharp, anarchic,
Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, and above all hilarious
Arthur Sheekman, political satire (even if the
Nat Perrin brothers themselves denied
doing anything but trying to
STARS
be funny). The movie is a From the left, Groucho, Chico,
Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, riot of the brothers’ trademark Harpo, and Zeppo Marx were real-life
Harpo Marx, Zeppo Marx, puns and visual gags, including brothers, who honed their comic
Margaret Dumont the famous mirror scene, in which, personas in vaudeville theater.
BEFORE after breaking a mirror, Harpo

1921 The Marx Brothers’ first mimics Groucho’s every move neighboring Sylvania. With Chico
movie, a short, Humor Risk, is to avoid detection. and Harpo working as Trentino’s
made. It is now believed lost. spies, war breaks out between the
Absurd plot two countries, leading to some of
1929 The first full-length movie Groucho plays Rufus T. Firefly, invited the most bizarre battle scenes in
to star them, The Cocoanuts, is for reasons that never become clear cinema history. Amid the madcap
a musical comedy. to become dictator of Fredonia by the encounters, Groucho veers between
wealthy Mrs. Teasdale, played by the flirts, insults, and some of his finest
AFTER brothers’ regular straight woman, ever quips: “If you can’t get a taxi,
1935 A Night at the Opera, the Margaret Dumont. Firefly only wants you can leave in a huff.” If that’s
first Marx Brothers’ movie not Mrs. Teasdale for her money. But he too soon you can leave in a minute
to feature Zeppo, is a hit. has a rival, Trentino, ambassador to and a huff.” ■
1937 The Marx Brothers’
seventh movie, A Day at the What else to watch: Animal Crackers (1930) ■ Monkey Business (1931) ■
Races, is their biggest hit. A Night at the Opera (1935) ■ A Day at the Races (1937)
DON’T BE ALARMED
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
THOSE CHAINS ARE MADE
OF CHROME STEEL
KING KONG / 1933
K
ing Kong was probably the movie is full of iconic scenes,
IN CONTEXT first true special-effects including a memorable climax in
blockbuster. It is the simple which Kong bats away a biplane as
GENRE
story of a huge ape discovered on he clings to the top of the Empire
Monster movie
an uncharted island, which he State Building.
DIRECTORS shares with other giant creatures, The movie’s secret was to portray
Merian C. Cooper, including dinosaurs. The ape Kong the ape sympathetically. Kong is
Ernest B. Schoedsack is captured and brought to New protective of his female captive, and
York for people to stare at, only for only attacks when provoked. Kong’s
WRITERS him to break free from his chains tormentor, Carl Denham (Robert
James Ashmore Creelman, and go on a rampage. Armstrong), who exhibits Kong as
Ruth Rose, Edgar Wallace The stop-motion effects look the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” is
creaky today. Yet such is the power the movie’s villain. And when Kong
STARS
of the storytelling that it can move finally tumbles from the skyscraper,
Fay Wray, Robert the viewer in a way that is beyond it is a moment of tragedy—the
Armstrong, Bruce Cabot many slicker modern movies. The audience is on his side. ■
BEFORE Ann (Fay Wray)
1925 An adaptation of Arthur is terrified of Kong
Conan Doyle’s novel, The Lost at first, but later
World features humans tries to save him.
battling with dinosaurs. In New York, he
escapes to look
AFTER for her, leading his
captor Denham to
1949 Cooper and Schoedsack say, “It was beauty
team up for another adventure killed the beast.”
featuring a giant ape with
Mighty Joe Young.
1963 Inspired by King Kong,
animator Ray Harryhausen
works on stop-motion classic
Jason and the Argonauts. What else to watch: The Lost World (1925) ■ Mighty Joe Young (1949) ■
Clash of the Titans (1981) ■ Jurassic Park (1993) ■ King Kong (2005)
50
WAR IS DECLARED!
DOWN WITH MONITORS
AND PUNISHMENT!
ZERO DE CONDUITE / 1933
J
ean Vigo’s On its release,
IN CONTEXT 41-minute Zero de Conduite
Zero de provoked strong
GENRE reactions against
Conduite (Zero for
Surrealist comedy its irreverence
Conduct) caused for conventional
DIRECTOR both outrage and sensibilities. It
Jean Vigo delight when it was banned in
premiered in Paris France until 1946.
WRITER in April 1933. But
Jean Vigo although its anarchic
STARS spirit was deplored Zero de Conduite
Jean Dasté, Louis Lefebvre, by the Establishment is perhaps best
Coco Golstein (it was banned by seen in the context
the French Ministry of French Surrealist
BEFORE of the Interior until cinema, following
1924 René Clair’s Surrealist 1946), with hindsight in the tradition of
short, Entr’acte, plays with the movie isn’t really all that René Clair and Luis Buñuel, who
the frame rate to produce a political, at least not in the way that threw narrative sense out the
spooky slow-motion effect. the authorities first perceived it. window, juxtaposed random images,
and often morphed into strange
1929 Director Luis Buñuel scenarios with bizarre dialogue.
teams up with artist Salvador These were serious works of art,
Dalí to make the Surrealist aiming to explore the subconscious,
movie Un Chien Andalou. yet also simply irreverent.
AFTER
1934 Vigo’s only full-length One of the most poetic A child’s-eye view
movie, L’Atalante, tells the films ever made, and one The movie was funded by a private
poetic story of a newly married of the most influential. patron, who paid Vigo to create
couple living on a barge. Pauline Kael a story based on his childhood
experiences of boarding school. This
1968 Lindsay Anderson’s If… was not to be a nostalgic trip down
depicts a rebellion in a British memory lane for the director, but an
public school. attempt to recreate the state of being
a child. Some of the movie’s rough

See also: Entr’acte (1924) ■ Un Chien Andalou (1929, pp.330–31) ■ À propos de Nice (1930) ■ L’Age d’Or (1930) ■
Jean Taris, Swimming Champion (1931) ■ L’Atalante (1934) ■ The 400 Blows (1959, pp.150–55) ■ If… (1968)
The boys’ revolution against the

school’s stuffed-shirt authorities
takes the form of an anarchic pillow
fight—for Vigo, the essence of the
spirit of childhood.
sequence, he takes them all with

him as he follows a young woman
who has caught his eye.
The boys themselves are all
serial offenders who seem to spend
every Sunday in detention (hence
the “zero marks for conduct” implied
by the movie’s title). Throughout the
movie, they plot their revenge, but
when it comes, the revolution starts
not with a grand dramatic gesture
but with a long pillow fight. Taking
to the school’s rooftop, they hurl
objects down at the school board,
a row of mannequins lined up for
the annual “commemoration day”
celebration. The joy of Vigo’s movie
is that the boys don’t really try to
edges can be attributed to Vigo’s (Delphin), a tiny, ridiculous-looking beat the system—they want to rise
inexperience as a director, but there man with a bushy beard, is also above it, as gallant rebels driven by
are many deliberately eccentric pitted against them. On the boys’ the irrepressible spirit of childhood.
flourishes—such as a cartoon side is the young teacher Huguet Vigo did not live to see his
sketch that suddenly comes to life. (Jean Dasté), who indulges his movie achieve recognition, but his
charges with impersonations of legacy went on to inform the works
Diving straight in Charlie Chaplin and plays soccer of directors including François
The beginning of the movie with them. In one especially odd Truffaut and Lindsay Anderson. ■
dispenses with any sense of
buildup—a simple title card reads, Jean Vigo Director
“After the holidays, back to school.”
A boy, Causset (Louis Lefebvre), on Jean Vigo was born in 1905, on to inspire the founders of the
a train with only a sleeping adult for the son of an anarchist. His French New Wave. An ill man
company, welcomes his old friend father spent most of his life on throughout his life, Vigo died of
Bruel (Coco Golstein) as they the run and was murdered in tuberculosis at just 29. As his
prepare to return to the boredom prison when Jean was 12, but work gained fame in France, the
of boarding school. The journey he cast a long shadow over the Prix Jean Vigo was set up in
is filled with a sense of freedom, director’s short but influential 1951 for first-time directors.
curtailed when they arrive at the career. After a series of shorts,
Vigo made his lone feature, Key movies
station, to be confronted by an
L’Atalante, in 1934. Although
aloof prefect, played by an adult. 1930 À propos de Nice
initially cut to ribbons by
In the battle to control the boys, distributors, the movie’s poetry 1933 Zero de Conduite
the prefect is revealed as a spy who found favor in the 1940s, going 1934 L’Atalante
steals their things. The housemaster
52
TO A NEW WORLD OF GODS

AND MONSTERS!
THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN / 1935
T
hrough the 1930s, Universal life, only for armed villagers to
IN CONTEXT Studios made a string of drag him away. He learns to speak,
hits adapting classic horror saying, “I want friend like me,” but
GENRE
literature into mainstream movies. even Dr. Frankenstein’s efforts to
Horror
What separates James Whale’s provide him with a bride backfire,
DIRECTOR Frankenstein movies from the other when the bride also rejects him. In
James Whale horror movies in the universal the end, The Bride of Frankenstein
canon is its empathy for its monster. feels as much a morality tale as
WRITERS This is never more apparent than a horror movie, suggesting that
William Hurlbut, John L. in The Bride of Frankenstein, in monstrousness might be no more
Balderston (screenplay); which the monster implores Dr. than skin deep. ■
Mary Wollstonecraft Frankenstein to build him a mate.
Shelley (novel)
Morality tale
STARS Much of the movie’s narrative
Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, presents Frankenstein’s monster
Valerie Hobson, Elsa as lost in a world to which he
Lanchester does not belong. He longs for
BEFORE friendship, but is rejected at
1931 James Whale adapts every turn. At one point, a
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. blind man introduces him to
Karloff stars as the monster. the pleasures of domestic
1933 Whale films H. G. Wells’s

story The Invisible Man, about An excited monster
a scientist who finds a way to (Boris Karloff)
steadies his bride
become invisible. (Elsa Lanchester) as
AFTER she comes to life in
Dr Frankenstein’s
1936 Whale moves away from laboratory.
the horror genre, directing a
musical adaptation of the play What else to watch: Metropolis (1927, pp.32–33) ■ Frankenstein (1931) ■
Show Boat. Dracula (1931) ■ The Mummy (1932) ■ Gods and Monsters (1998)
MAGIC MIRROR ON THE

WALL WHO IS THE FAIREST
ONE OF ALL?
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS / 1937
© 1937 Disney
R
eleased in 1937, Snow audience, while at the same time
IN CONTEXT White and the Seven investing it with enough jeopardy
Dwarfs was the first full- to create tension. Snow White
GENRE
length movie made by the Walt deliberately terrifies its young
Animation, musical
Disney Company. Disney sought to viewers, from the sequence where
DIRECTOR combine the slapstick tone of its Snow White panics in the woods as
David Hand successful short movies with an the trees come alive, to the scenes
injection of the macabre by turning in which the malevolent Queen
WRITERS to one of the Grimm Brothers’ most gleefully plots the girl’s death. By
Ted Sears, Richard famous fairy tales, the story of an the time the prince awakens the
Creedon, Otto Englander, evil queen hunting an innocent girl heroine with a kiss, evil has been
Dick Rickard, Earl Hurd, who is declared “the fairest of all” by vanquished, and fear conquered.
Merrill De Maris, Dorothy a magic mirror. This set the template Disney realized that, without the
Ann Blank, Webb Smith for Disney movies for the next 80 authenticity of conflict, the happy
(screenplay); Jacob Grimm, years, from Cinderella to Frozen. resolution at the end would never
Wilhelm Grimm (fairy tale) be heartfelt. ■
Adding jeopardy
STARS Snow White
One of the challenges for filmmakers hides from the
Adriana Caselotti, Lucille making children’s movies is to keep wicked Queen
La Verne, Moroni Olsen the material appropriate for the in the dwarfs’
home. She
BEFORE
cooks and
1928 Disney releases the cleans for
Mickey Mouse short Steamboat them, and
Willie, its first sound cartoon. also makes
them wash
AFTER their hands.
1950 Disney revisits Grimms’
© 1937 Disney
fairy tales with Cinderella.
2013 Disney’s Frozen, loosely
inspired by Hans Christian
Andersen’s The Snow Queen, What else to watch: Fantasia (1940) ■ Pinocchio (1940) ■ Dumbo (1941) ■
is an enormous hit. Cinderella (1950) ■ Beauty and the Beast (1991) ■ Frozen (2013)
I’VE A FEELING
WE’RE NOT IN
KANSAS
ANYMORE
THE WIZARD OF OZ / 1939
56 THE WIZARD OF OZ
P
lenty of big movies from the
IN CONTEXT classical Hollywood period
have faded into obscurity.
GENRE
Other movies remain respected by
Musical, adventure
the critics, but modern audiences
DIRECTOR struggle to connect with them. I would watch the movie every
Victor Fleming Then there are movies like Victor day when I was two. I had a
Fleming’s The Wizard of Oz, which hard time understanding that
WRITERS not only stands the test of time, but I couldn’t go into the film,
Noel Langley, Florence continues to entertain. The movie because it felt so real to me.
Ryerson, Edgar Allan is discovered and embraced by Zooey Deschanel
Woolf (screenplay); each new generation as passionately in the documentary film
L. Frank Baum (novel) as the previous one, and the story These Amazing Shadows, 2011
has crossed over into a global
STARS cultural consciousness. Even if they
Judy Garland, Frank have never seen the movie, people
Morgan, Ray Bolger, can sing along to “Somewhere over
Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, the Rainbow,” and will understand
Margaret Hamilton the reference when someone taps
BEFORE their shoes and says “There’s no a Scarecrow, a Tin Man, and a
1938 Judy Garland stars place like home.” The Wizard of Oz Cowardly Lion—she must travel
alongside Mickey Rooney is now more than 70 years old, but it along the Yellow Brick Road, while
remains a key picture in the making avoiding the attentions of the
in Love Finds Andy Hardy.
of modern cinema. Wicked Witch of the West. Her
AFTER destination is the Emerald City,
1939 A few months after The A magnificent spectacle where the mysterious Wizard of
Wizard of Oz, Fleming’s Gone The movie’s story sees Dorothy Oz himself resides. The story is
with the Wind is released. (played by the 17-year-old Judy probably familiar, but what really
Garland), a young girl growing up sets apart The Wizard of Oz is not
1954 Garland stars opposite on a Kansas farm, caught in the so much the “what” as the “how”. It
James Mason in hit musical eye of an impressively rendered is a movie in service of spectacle,
A Star Is Born, her first movie twister and magically transported a movie that sets out to test the
in four troubled years. to the Land of Oz. Here, along limits of the newly born medium
with a ragtag trio of misfits— of cinema in every frame.
Minute by minute
00:11 00:19 00:58 01:21
Dorothy runs away from home The house crashes in Oz, The friends arrive at Toto leads the friends to the
in Kansas to save her dog Toto killing the Wicked Witch the Emerald City, where the Castle where they are trapped
from an officious neighbor, Miss of the East. The Munchkins Wizard agrees to grant their by the Witch. She sets fire to the
Gulch. Professor Marvel, a fortune- celebrate. The Wicked Witch wishes if they bring him Scarecrow. Dorothy throws water,
teller, persuades her to return. of the West swears revenge. the Wicked Witch’s broom. and in doing so melts the Witch.
00:00 00:15 00:30 00:45 01:00 01:15 01:42
00:34 01:28
00:17 Dorothy befriends 01:14 Toto exposes the
A mighty twister develops, the Scarecrow on the In her crystal ball, the Wizard as a sham.
lifting Dorothy’s farmhouse Yellow Brick Road, Witch watches the friends The Good Witch tells
into a spin. Miss Gulch on her followed soon after by enter the Haunted Forest. Dorothy she can return
bicycle is transformed into the Tin Man and the She sends flying monkeys home by tapping her
a witch on a broomstick. Cowardly Lion. to capture Dorothy. ruby slippers together.

What else to watch: Pinocchio (1940) ■ A Star Is Born (1954) ■ Return to Oz (1985) ■ Wild at Heart (1990) ■
Spirited Away (2001, pp.296–97)
When Dorothy arrives in Oz, viewers time to pan around Munchkinland, be,” dazzling with its no-expenses-
see her open her eyes in faded, lingering on the extravagantly spared production. In that sense,
sepia-toned black and white, the constructed set as its wave of it is very much a forerunner of the
frame crackling with the technical hallucinatory colors hits the viewer modern blockbuster, with musical
imperfections of the time. But from all angles. Then come the numbers in place of action set pieces.
as she opens the door and steps special effects, a musical number
outside, they glimpse Oz and are featuring hundreds of actors, and Character-led story
overwhelmed with Technicolor. In a showdown with the antagonist, Although the story is crafted to be
1939, when it was released, this the Wicked Witch of the West (the the perfect vehicle to show off the
would have been the very first time scenery and costume designers wonderful new toys Hollywood had
many audience members had seen were encouraged to use as much at its disposal, it is nonetheless
a color movie. As the color as possible to take full deeply rooted in character and
scene plays out, the advantage of the Technicolor emotion. While we discover a new
director Victor format). The whole time, viewers are world, we do so through
Fleming is fully adjusting to seeing color for the first the prism of a distinct
aware of this time. This is a movie with the framing device. Whereas
fact and he approach that “if less is more, most adventure movies
takes his then how much more must more feature a group of ❯❯
When Dorothy first

meets the Tin Man (Jack
Haley), he is in desperate
need of an oiling.
58 THE WIZARD OF OZ
Critics have interpreted motifs sees the orphan Dorothy undergo
and characters from the Wizard of Oz The rusted Tin a formative transition from a child
as symbolic of US political and Man may be a protected in her home to navigating
economic issues. metaphor for the state a new and dangerous world, relying
of workers in the stalled
steel industry.
on her trio of friends—symbolically,
Dorothy’s the emotions, intellect, and courage.
slippers (silver in
the book) may symbolize The Cowardly Lion Dream world
a silver standard, while the was a popular
Yellow Brick Road is the
Throughout the movie, the action
caricature of pacifist
gold standard. politician William stays intimate even as it becomes
Jennings Bryan. epic, and each character is already
strangely familiar. The Wicked
The Emerald Witch of the West is a dead ringer
The Scarecrow for Dorothy’s evil neighbor, Miss
may be a metaphor for City, an illusion of
the dire condition of its citizens, may be Gulch, who wants to have Dorothy’s
Midwest farmers in the allegorical of the dog Toto put down. The Scarecrow,
Depression era. greenback, the first US Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion all
paper money. strongly resemble the farmhands
from back home, while the Wizard
of Oz appears to be Professor
characters united by a common that can save them. All four of the Marvel, a phoney fortune-teller. The
goal, here each of our heroes is travelers are on their own “hero’s most prominent characters in Oz
searching for something they lack. journey,” and it is just as important mirror characters back home in
Not fame or fortune, but a personal to the viewer that the Tin Man Kansas, making it clear that this is
quality, something they believe should get a heart as it is to see Dorothy’s dream world.
will make them whole. Dorothy the Wicked Witch defeated. The movie revels in spectacle, in
lacks a home, the Tin Man a heart, Although the movie marked a witches and woods, in lions, tigers,
the Scarecrow a brain, and the groundbreaking step in terms of and bears. Yet at its core, it is a tale
Cowardly Lion his courage. technical achievement, its success of friendship and personal growth,
Each character in the magical also lies in keeping close to the and balancing the two may be the
world of Oz is introduced to the principles of simple storytelling and secret to its longevity. A memorable
audience in a location where they in its universal appeal as a “quest” story, told with imagination and in
are vulnerable, where they think movie that follows the rite-of- vivid splendor, it is a movie that
the Wizard’s help is the only thing passage trajectory. The audience transcends its time. ■
Victor Fleming Director

Born in California in 1889, Victor Fleming never again reached
Fleming was a stuntman before those heights, but he went on to
rising through the ranks of the make the critically acclaimed Dr.
camera department to become a Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and A Guy
director. His first movie, When the Named Joe (1943). He died in
Clouds Roll By, was released in 1949, a year after the release
1919. His greatest year was 1939, of his last movie, Joan of Arc.
when he directed The Wizard
of Oz and Gone with the Wind. Key movies
He was hired as a last-minute
substitute on both, replacing 1925 Lord Jim
Richard Thorpe on the former and 1939 Gone with the Wind
George Cukor on the latter. The 1939 The Wizard of Oz
two movies won several Oscars. 1941 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
The movie was a

success on its initial
release, but the cost
of the production
meant that it did not
register a profit for
its producers MGM
until 1949.
60
EVERYBODY HAS
THEIR REASONS
THE RULES OF THE GAME / 1939
T
he Rules of the Game (La on humanity’s triumph over class.
IN CONTEXT Règle du jeu) is a biting At its premiere on July 7, 1939, the
satire about the French audience booed. In October that
GENRE
upper classes on the brink of World year, the authorities banned the
Comedy of manners
War II, who are endlessly frivolous movie, as “depressing, morbid,
DIRECTOR despite, or perhaps because of, the immoral... an undesirable influence
Jean Renoir impending conflict. over the young.”
At the time of its release in
WRITERS 1939, The Rules of the Game was Rediscovering the movie
Jean Renoir, Carl Koch an expensive flop, shunned by the During the war, the original
STARS public and critics alike—in part negatives of the movie
because of its contrast to director were thought to have
Nora Gregor, Marcel Dalio,
Jean Renoir’s previous movie, been destroyed in a
Paulette Dubost, Roland
Grand Illusion (1937), a reflection bombing raid. In the
Toutain, Jean Renoir
BEFORE The poacher
1937 Renoir’s movie about Marceau (Julien
prisoners of war in World Carette, left) is
War I, Grand Illusion is the offered a job by
first foreign-language movie Robert (Marcel
Dalio) to help
to receive a Best Picture him catch
nomination at the Oscars. rabbits.
1938 Renoir’s adaptation of
Émile Zola’s novel The Human
Beast is a huge success.
AFTER
1941 After the critical and
box-office failure of The Rules
of the Game, Renoir makes his
way to Hollywood. His first US
movie is Swamp Water.

What else to watch: Boudu Saved from Drowning (1932) ■ Grand Illusion (1937) ■ Citizen Kane (1941, pp.66–71) ■
French Cancan (1954) ■ Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) ■ Gosford Park (2001)
late 1950s, two movie enthusiasts passes in front of their guns.

found them in boxes at the However, it was not Renoir’s
bombed-out film lab. With Renoir’s purpose in this movie to
help, they painstakingly pieced the demonize the upper classes.
negatives together. The restored He presents them as children,
version was premiered at the 1959 trapped in a game they feel
Venice Film Festival to acclaim. compelled to play. “The
awful thing about life is this:”
Country retreat says Octave, “Everybody
Renoir’s movie focuses on a has their reasons.”
weekend at the country estate of In order to heighten the
society lady Christine (Nora Gregor) sense of being trapped—
and her husband Robert (Marcel within the country house
Dalio). Relationships gradually and in the claustrophobic
unravel, and the weekend will social games of the upper
end in a tragedy. André (Roland class—Renoir developed
Toutain), a last-minute invitee, has a new way of filming with
just flown solo across the Atlantic superfast lenses to allow
to impress Christine. When she extreme depth of field.
fails to turn up to greet him, André This novel “deep-field”
refuses to play by the rules and act technique meant that he
the hero in interviews, something could keep the foreground
for which he will be made to pay. action in focus while people Love is a
His friend Octave (played by were seen flitting to and fro in the game that is played according to
Renoir) obtained the invitation for background, carrying on with their complex, dangerous rules in the
André, but he too has ulterior own personal stories. ■ enclosed, upper-class world of the movie.
motives. Octave hopes to set
André up with Robert’s erstwhile
mistress Geneviève, distracting That’s also part of the times—
André from Christine and
Geneviève from Robert.
today everyone lies.
There is intrigue both upstairs André / The Rules of the Game
and down. Later, a gun will be
fired and tragedy will strike after Jean Renoir Director
a bloody case of mistaken identity.
But Renoir makes sure to let viewers The son of the reception of The Rules of the
know that even this changes impressionist Game, Renoir moved to the US,
nothing in the cloistered lives painter Pierre- where he enjoyed only limited
of his characters. They just Auguste success for movies such as
keep playing on as before. Renoir, Jean Swamp Water (1941). He died in
The movie depicts Renoir was born in 1894 in Beverly Hills, California, in 1979.
the callousness of the Montmartre, Paris, and grew up
ruling class—no among artists. He started out as Key movies
a ceramicist, then tried his hand
more tellingly than
at screenwriting in the 1920s. 1931 La Chienne
during a rabbit His early movies were flops, but 1937 Grand Illusion
hunt, in which the he scored major successes in the 1938 The Human Beast
men blast away at late 1930s. After the poor 1939 The Rules of the Game
any animal that
62
TOMORROW IS
ANOTHER DAY
GONE WITH THE WIND / 1939
IN CONTEXT
GENRE
Historical romance
DIRECTOR
Victor Fleming
WRITERS
Sidney Howard
(screenplay); Margaret
Mitchell (novel)
STARS
Vivien Leigh, Clark
Gable, Leslie Howard,
Olivia de Havilland
BEFORE
N
1915 D. W. Griffith’s The Birth ow viewed nostalgically Dressing Scarlett (Vivien Leigh) for
as a relic of a long-gone the ball, Mammy (Hattie McDaniel)
of a Nation (or The Clansman), upbraids her newly widowed mistress
an epic chronicle of the Civil Hollywood, Gone with the
for trying to ensnare a married man.
War, is condemned as racist. Wind was itself a rose-tinted portrait
of a bygone age. Its preamble pays
1933 George Cukor directs tribute to a lost America, in a paean Depression, and audiences were
Little Women, a Civil War era to the Old South: “Here in this pretty swept off their feet by the movie’s
family drama adapted from the world, Gallantry took its last bow. sheer scale, romance, and blazing
novels by Louisa May Alcott. Here was the last ever to be seen color palette.
of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of
AFTER Master and of Slave. Look for it only Epic adaptation
1948 Vivien Leigh takes the in books, for it is no more than a What is now regarded as a great
title role in Alexander Korda’s dream remembered, a Civilization historical epic was a work of fiction
adaptation of Anna Karenina gone with the wind...” In 1939, by Margaret Mitchell, whose best-
by Leo Tolstoy. America was still smarting from selling Civil War love story was first
the grinding poverty of the Great published in 1936. Before the year

What else to watch: The General (1926) ■ Little Women (1933) ■ A Streetcar
Named Desire (1951, pp.116–17) ■ Cold Mountain (2003) ■ 12 Years a Slave (2013)
novel’s more openly racist passages

are simply sidestepped. Hattie
McDaniel, who played Scarlett’s
house slave Mammy, won one of the
movie’s 10 Oscars—the first African-
A landmark in movie American to be so honored.
history, and only the very Ultimately this is Scarlett’s story.
blasé can say of it that frankly While the movie ends with her alone,
they don’t give a damn. undone by her own selfishness, it is
Philip French also a metaphor for America as a
The Observer, 2010 land of hope and regeneration. Vivien Leigh Actress
Although she is rebuffed by Rhett,
who shuns her desperate pleas for Born in Darjeeling, India, in
reconciliation with a curt, “Frankly, 1913, Vivien Leigh shot to
international fame with Gone
my dear, I don’t give a damn,” the
with the Wind, becoming the
last line of the movie belongs to first British actress to win a
Scarlett. “I’ll go home,” she says, Best Actress Oscar. She was
was out, producer David O. Selznick thinking of her home at Tara, her equally accomplished on stage
had committed to making the family, and her roots, “and I’ll think and on screen, and won her
movie version. It was a gargantuan of some way to get him back. After second Oscar for playing
task. The draft screenplay ran to six all... tomorrow is another day.” ■ Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar
hours and took four writers to edit. Named Desire, a role she had
It is said that 1,400 unknowns and first played in the
dozens of stars were seen for the theater. Described by
role of its heroine, Scarlett O’Hara. director George Cukor
Having waited a year for actor as “a consummate
Clark Gable to be free, Selznick actress, hampered by
then fired director George Cukor beauty,” Leigh had a
troubled private life;
just three weeks into filming and
her fragile mental
replaced him with Victor Fleming.
and physical health
resulted in a limited
Love, loss, and longing output. She succumbed
The movie is, at heart, a love to tuberculosis in 1967,
triangle writ large: Scarlett (Vivien and died at 53.
Leigh) is in love with Ashley Wilkes
(Leslie Howard), who is engaged to
marry his cousin. On the rebound Key movies
she catches the eye of Rhett Butler
1939 Gone with
(Clark Gable). The violence of war the Wind
aptly reflects the tortured love 1951 A Streetcar
affair between Rhett and Scarlett, Named Desire
captured in stunning Technicolor
by cinematographer Ernest Haller.
The movie’s depiction of, and The movie’s premiere in
1939 in Atlanta, Georgia, drew
open nostalgia for, the slave- one million people to the city.
based society of the Old South This poster dates to 1967, when
betrays many questionable the movie was rereleased in a
assumptions, but some of the wide-screen print.
64
YOU’RE WONDERFUL,
IN A LOATHSOME
SORT OF WAY
HIS GIRL FRIDAY / 1940
H
oward Hawks’s sharply have exclaimed, “Hey, it’s even
IN CONTEXT scripted screwball comedy better with a woman and a man
about the daily newspaper than with two men.” And so, in
GENRE
world is one of the smartest movies Charles Lederer’s screenplay, the
Screwball comedy
of the black-and-white era. Famous two newspapermen
DIRECTOR for its overlapping, machine-gun- become a
Howard Hawks fast dialogue, it portrays journalists recently
who will stoop to anything in their divorced
WRITERS hunt for a good story. The movie’s couple: hard-
Charles Lederer press hotshot leads lie, cheat, and boiled editor
(screenplay); Ben Hecht, connive, yet they win the viewer Walter Burns
Charles MacArthur (play) over with their charm, energy, and
brilliant comic timing.
STARS
Cary Grant,
Play adaptation
Rosalind Russell His Girl Friday was based
BEFORE on a 1928 play about the
1931 The first movie version corrupt world of the press,
of the stage play The Front The Front Page, of
Page is directed by Lewis which a movie version
Milestone, and stars Adolphe had already been
Menjou and Pat O’Brien. made. In The Front
Page, the battle of
AFTER wits is between two
1941 Grant and Russell newspapermen, but Hawks made
reprise their roles for a radio a key change. After reading
version of the movie, broadcast scenes from the play with his
by The Screen Guild Theater. girlfriend, Hawks is said to
1974 Billy Wilder directs a
remake of The Front Page, Walter (Cary Grant) schemes
starring Jack Lemmon and to prevent his ex-wife Hildy
(Rosalind Russell) from marrying
Walter Matthau. another by reminding her how
much she loves her job.

What else to watch: Bringing Up Baby (1938) ■ The Philadelphia Story (1940) ■ Roman Holiday (1953) ■
The Seven-Year Itch (1955) ■ The Apartment (1960)
and Hildy Johnson, his ex-wife,

who is an ace journalist. This Howard Hawks Director
switch added a romance angle to
the satire, playing with ideas of Howard Hawks the silent Road to Glory. When
directed more he moved into talkies, his 1932
what men and women want in life.
than 40 classic gangster thriller Scarface was a
Hollywood huge success, and there followed
A woman’s dilemma movies, but it a string of movies, among them
In the opening scene, Rosalind was only late in his life that he “screwball” comedies with Cary
Russell’s Hildy, struggling to get came to be recognized as one Grant such as Bringing Up Baby
a word in edgewise in a quick-fire of the directing greats. Born and His Girl Friday. Later movies
verbal sparring match with her in Goshen, Indiana, in 1896, included movie noir classics
ex-husband and ex-boss Walter Hawks moved with his family such as The Big Sleep, and the
(Cary Grant), announces that she to California in 1910 and was Western Rio Bravo (1959).
is about to marry insurance man drawn into the movie business,
Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy). working briefly as a prop man Key movies
Bruce is dull, but Hildy says on a handful of movies such as
that she wants to escape from the The Little American (1917). 1932 Scarface
beastly, corrupt world of journalism After serving in World War I 1938 Bringing up Baby
as an airman, he returned to 1940 His Girl Friday
to become “a human being” who
Hollywood, where he wrote and 1944 To Have and Have Not
lives a “normal” life as a wife and
directed his first movie in 1926, 1946 The Big Sleep
mother. It’s a choice between home
and career, but Walter is sure that
the thrill of the press world is Hildy matches him every step of
too alluring for her to quit as star the way, which is why, of course,
reporter. The movie revolves around they are made for each other. ■
his efforts to remind her of this,
as he involves her in an unfolding
news story about the upcoming
execution of convicted murderer
Earl Williams (John Qualen).
Walter behaves outrageously
in his efforts to win Hildy back.
He barely misses a beat when
Molly, the girl who has befriended
Williams, leaps to her death from
a window. Yet Grant endows
Walter with such panache and
sheer cleverness that the viewer
roots for him as he reels Hildy
in. No wonder Hildy says to him,
“Walter, you’re wonderful, in a
loathsome sort of way.” And yet
Who do you think

I am, a crook? The movie uses much of the script
from the original play, but Hawks also
Walter / His Girl Friday encouraged the actors to ad-lib.
IT ISN’T ENOUGH TO
TELL US
WHAT A MAN DID.
YOU’VE GOT TO TELL US
WHO HE WAS
CITIZEN KANE / 1941
68 CITIZEN KANE
I
don’t think any word can
IN CONTEXT explain a man’s life,” says
Charles Foster Kane, the
GENRE
towering press-baron protagonist of
Mystery drama
Citizen Kane. And yet the genius
DIRECTOR of this movie—cowritten, starring, Your faithful bystander reports
Orson Welles and directed by Orson Welles at the that he has just seen a picture
age of just 25—is that it does just which he thinks must be the
WRITERS that: takes a single word that best picture he ever saw.
Orson Welles, captures the origin and essence of John O’Hara
Herman J. Mankiewicz the mercurial Kane, and teases the Newsweek, 1941
audience with it for nearly two
STARS
hours, before offering an enigmatic
Orson Welles, Joseph
clue to its meaning.
Cotten, Dorothy Shot in secrecy to preempt
Comingore legal attempts to block production,
BEFORE and ambiguously billed as a love
1938 Welles directs a radio story, Welles braced himself for temporal devices. The narrative
adaptation of H. G. Wells’s trouble upon its release. Kane’s then switches to a newsreel clip
War of the Worlds, about an character was not only based on a that recalls the life and deeds of the
invasion from Mars. Its news- living person, but one who was great Kane. It shows the building
bulletin style is said to have extremely powerful. of his stately home, Xanadu, a
Citizen Kane is a murder sprawling mansion that he fills with
caused some listeners to
mystery without a murder, even art (“Enough for ten museums—the
believe that it was real.
though it famously opens with loot of the world”). It shows Kane’s
AFTER Kane, in old age, as a dying man. influence spreading across the US
1958 Welles’s noir thriller Touch Starting his movie at the end is just and then across the world, as he
of Evil tells a story of corruption the first of Welles’s many innovative stands on a balcony next to Adolf
in a Mexican border town.
1962 Welles makes a visually Old age. It’s the only disease…that you
stunning adaptation of Franz
Kafka’s novel The Trial. don’t look forward to being cured of.
Bernstein / Citizen Kane
Orson Welles Director

Welles’s life mirrors that of including the final cut for Citizen
Charles Foster Kane, in that he Kane. His next movie The
was taken in by a family friend, Magnificent Ambersons, was
having lost both parents at 15. In butchered by RKO, the first of
1934, he began working on radio many creative quarrels that
plays and in 1937 founded the would plague his career. He died
Mercury Theater—two things that at 70 in 1985.
would bring him great notoriety in
1938 when the company performed Key movies
War of the Worlds as a live news
broadcast. Welles was approached 1941 Citizen Kane
by RKO Studios in Hollywood, 1942 The Magnificent Ambersons
where he was given unheard of 1958 Touch of Evil
privileges for a new director, 1962 The Trial

What else to watch: The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) ■ The Lady from Shanghai (1947) ■
The Third Man (1949, pp.100–03) ■ Touch of Evil (1958, p.333) ■ The Trial (1962) ■ Me and Orson Welles (2008)
Minute by minute
00:12 00:33 01:26 01:36
Following a newsreel of Bernstein tells Thompson of Thompson speaks to Susan. Susan takes an overdose,
Kane’s life, reporter Jerry the early days at the Inquirer, She describes her marriage to saying that she does not
Thompson is charged with in which Kane wrote his Kane, and how he forced her want to sing any more.
discovering the meaning of “Declaration of Principles.” to continue singing. Kane slaps her, and she
Kane’s final word, “Rosebud.” walks out on him.
00:00 00:15 00:30 00:45 01:00 01:15 01:30 01:59
00:18 00:49 01:32 01:49

Thompson reads Thatcher’s Leland recounts After Susan’s first night, The butler tells
memoirs, which tell the story of Kane’s unhappy first Kane writes Leland’s review Thompson that Kane
the young Charles Kane, whom marriage, and how he for him, truthfully describing trashed the room after
Thatcher had adopted, and began the affair with her performance as terrible. Susan left, and said
how Kane first took over the Susan that would end He then fires Leland and they “Rosebud” on seeing
Inquirer newspaper. his political career. never speak again. a snow globe.
Hitler (cutting to a shot of Kane

declaring, pompously, “You can
take my word for it, there will be
no war”). Next come the women
in his life, and how an illicit affair
cut short his political career. The
audience is shown his rise, fall,
and withdrawal from public life.
The riddle of Rosebud

When the newsreel ends, its
producer isn’t satisfied: he wants
to know who Charles Foster Kane
was, not what he did, and sends
reporter Jerry Thompson (William
Alland) to discover the meaning of
the word Kane uttered with his last
breath: “Rosebud.” At this point,
Citizen Kane essentially becomes
two movies. The framework is
Kane’s life as recounted by his
friends and enemies, as Thompson
squares up to this extraordinary
riddle wrapped in a larger-than-life
enigma. But Welles also slyly
offers the audience other scenes
from Kane’s life in flashback, a ❯❯
In happier days, Kane and Leland

stand surrounded by copies of the
Inquirer. Kane intends to use the paper
to campaign for ordinary folk, a pledge
that Leland will later throw back at him.
70 CITIZEN KANE
technique that will finally allow Kane through the window, playing Welles.) Yet Welles took his camera
him to reveal the truth that will in the snow, oblivious. It is a simple so far down that, for a scene in
elude Thompson and all the others. perspective trick imported from which Kane talks with his friend
A good deal of the movie’s theater, and it is used to capture Leland after losing his first election,
artistic success can be attributed to the tragedy that befalls Kane. It a hole had to be dug in the concrete
Welles’s experience of working in is the moment in which the life studio floor.
theater. Citizen Kane is a movie that he should have led ends. Toland’s input is a vital part of
not only uses temporal devices in Citizen Kane’s legacy, since,
the narrative, but spatial ones, too, Innovative shots although it would seal Welles’s
so that it can sometimes almost Welles and cameraman Gregg status as one of America’s first
seem like a 3D movie. In a crucial Toland employed such spatial auteur directors, this was very
early scene, Thompson discovers devices throughout the movie, a feat much a collaborative effort. Also
how Kane was born to a poor family achieved with deep-focus lenses vital was the risk Welles took with
who discovered gold on their land and camera angles so low that Kane his cast and production team—for
and, as part of a business deal, may appear, variously, as a titan whom Citizen Kane launched their
handed the boy over to a wealthy and as a gangster. This in itself careers in movies. Many of the actors
guardian. As the bargain is made in was a novelty, since prior to Citizen were unknown to audiences—they
the foreground, we see the young Kane filmmakers rarely used such came from Welles’s Mercury Theatre
upward shots, for the simple reason group. His editor, Robert Wise,
Leland (Joseph Cotten) speaks at that few studios had ceilings due to would soon begin a successful
Kane’s political rally. Ultimately the the lighting and sound equipment. directing career of his own; and the
campaign, and their friendship, will (“A big lie in order to get all those score marked a debut for Bernard
be derailed by Kane’s obsessive affair. terrible lights up there,” said Herrmann, later to form an

all too clear. It is a common fallacy
Parallel lives that the movie flopped on release
(it was the sixth-highest grossing
The character of Charles Foster Kane was a brutal portrait of newspaper
magnate William Randolph Hearst. Determined to shut the movie down, movie of the year and nominated
Hearst had negatives burned and waged a campaign to discredit Welles. for nine Oscars), but a blanket ban
by Hearst’s vast media empire
ensured that its success was short-
lived. Although it satirizes several
Kane vs Hearst cherished ideals, including the
American dream (Kane sees no irony
Kane owns the New York Kane collects “enough for ten in being an autocratic capitalist who
Inquirer; the New York Journal museums”; Hearst amassed claims to fight for the common man),
is in Hearst’s media empire thousands of art objects
Citizen Kane does have sympathy
The fictional Kane aspires Kane has a mistress, singer for its subject. With Kane dead and
to be US president, as did Susan Alexander; Hearst’s Thompson unable to finish his
the real-life Hearst was actress Marion Davies quest, Welles’s camera takes viewers
Kane lives on the vast Xanadu Kane’s mother finds a gold through the clutter of Xanadu, where
estate in Florida; Hearst lived mine; Hearst was the son of Kane’s vast and gaudy art collection
at Hearst Castle, California a gold-mining millionaire is being packed away.
Finally, the shot settles on the
sled, named Rosebud, that Kane
was playing with in the snow
extensive creative partnership moment, having his affair outside his parents’ shack. No one
with Alfred Hitchcock. But more discovered by his wife, Kane simply knows but us, and Kane, that this
than anything, the movie’s says, dryly, “I had no idea you had sled represents the key moment of
brilliance is due to its script, which this flair for melodrama, Emily.” his life: the moment he lost his
Welles cowrote with screenwriter innocence and happiness. ■
Herman J. Mankiewicz. Although Parallels with Hearst
Mankiewicz’s exact contribution Despite the arguments over who
has been disputed, often by Welles, wrote what, it is agreed that it
the movie does bear extensive was Mankiewicz who first came up
traces of Mankiewicz’s satirical with the idea for the movie. Having
style: at one particularly loaded attained some success as a writer
in the silent era, Mankiewicz
became a sought-after script
doctor, and it was in this capacity
that he came to know the press
tycoon William Randolph Hearst
and his mistress, the movie actress
The film’s style was Marion Davies. Although everyone
made with the ease and denied it—including Hearst, who
boldness and resource of behaved with a very Kane-like
one who controls and is not determination to destroy the
controlled by his medium. movie and its makers’
Dilys Powell reputations—the parallels
The Sunday Times, 1941 between Hearst and Kane were
Welles’s eye for publicity was

evident in the posters for the original
release, which talked up the movie
without giving anything away.
72
OF ALL THE GIN JOINTS IN ALL

THE TOWNS IN ALL THE WORLD,
SHE WALKS INTO MINE
CASABLANCA / 1942
M
ade at the height of World choice, was anxious to move on
IN CONTEXT War II, Casablanca is a to For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943);
romance set in neutral and by all accounts, there was no
GENRE
Morocco, just as the fighting is love lost between Humphrey Bogart
Romantic drama
getting uncomfortably close.
DIRECTOR Few of those working on the Warner Bros. promoted the movie
Michael Curtiz production thought they were making as a typical romance of its time, little
a great movie. Ingrid Bergman, who thinking that it would become one of
WRITERS had not been the producers’ first the most popular movies ever made.
J. J. and P. G. Epstein,
Howard E. Koch,
Casey Robinson
STARS
Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid
Bergman, Paul Henreid
BEFORE
1938 Algiers, a romantic
thriller starring Hedy Lamarr,
is set in North Africa.
1941 The Maltese Falcon
makes Humphrey Bogart a star.
AFTER
1944 In To Have and Have
Not, Bogart and Lauren Bacall
star in another Resistance story.

What else to watch: Only Angels Have Wings (1938) ■ The Maltese Falcon (1941, p.331) ■ To Have and Have Not (1944) ■
Brief Encounter (1945, p.332) ■ Notorious (1946) ■ Key Largo (1948) ■ Charade (1963) ■ Play It Again, Sam (1972)
Sam, the pianist at Rick’s Café imagine. As we discover part way

(center), was played by Dooley Wilson. through the movie, Rick, the cynical,
He was a band leader and a drummer, hard-drinking owner of Rick’s Café
but not a piano player, and had to mime.
Américain, an upmarket nightclub,
has been stung in Paris by the
and Paul Henreid, who played his sudden desertion of his lover, Ilsa It is a movie
rival for Bergman’s heart. And yet (Bergman), as the Germans were to play again,
the movie was an instant success. invading. Hurt, he has retreated to and again.
At the end of the movie, Casablanca, a town full of spies, Sheila Johnston
Bogart’s character Rick says, “It Nazi collaborators, Resistance The Daily Telegraph, 2014
doesn’t take much to see that the fighters, and desperate refugees.
problems of three little people don’t
amount to a hill of beans in this The shadow of war
crazy world.” Casablanca manages “I stick my neck out for nobody,”
to make its audience feel that the says Rick. In reply to Major Strasser’s
problems of these people are the question, “What is your nationality?”
most important thing they can Rick’s reply is, “I’m a drunkard.” But in a telling parallel with the
real war, such a neutral stance
Play it, Sam. Play As Time Goes By. proves impossible. In his bar,
different factions end an evening
Ilsa Lund / Casablanca competing with their national ❯❯
74 CASABLANCA
anthems, and Rick must choose
sides. He allows the band to
You’re getting on that plane with
play the Marseillaise to drown Victor where you belong.
out the Germans. At the very time
Casablanca was being filmed, a Rick / Casablanca
previously neutral US joined the
fight against Germany and Japan, November 1942, the Allies were abandoned Rick. When Rick
and, as it premiered in New York in advancing on the Axis powers to discovers that Ilsa and Laszlo need
capture Casablanca for real. his help, he is forced to make a
When Ilsa arrives at his club, choice. Does he keep the papers
Rick tells Ilsa at the airport that
she must get on the plane with her Rick is decidedly cool toward her, they need, and so keep Ilsa, or does
Resistance-fighter husband, commenting wryly: “Of all the gin he let her go? In the end, Rick does
Victor Laszlo. joints in all the towns in all the the noble thing, and puts Ilsa on a
world, she walks into mine.” plane to freedom with Laszlo. In
But Ilsa still loves Rick. Her a heartrending parting, as they
Resistance-fighter husband, stand by the plane, he explains
Victor Laszlo (Henreid), turned why she would regret it if she
up alive when she believed stayed with him: “Maybe not today,
him to be dead, and maybe not tomorrow,
that is why she but soon and for
the rest of
your life.”
It’s a
Humphrey Bogart
Actor
Humphrey Bogart was
renowned for playing world-
weary outsiders with a noble
streak. Born on Christmas Day
1899 to a wealthy New York
family, he had a privileged, if
Actors Henreid, Bogart, and lonely, childhood. He served
Bergman did not know, until the final in the US Navy during World
day of shooting, who would get on the War I, after which he struggled
plane. This uncertainty contributed for a decade to establish his
to the emotional ambivalence of acting career before finally
Bergman’s performance. making a name for himself
It is about a man and playing gangsters and villains
a woman who are in love, in Hollywood B-movies. His big
and who sacrifice love for the greater good. Clearly a breakthrough came when he
for a higher purpose. powerful message at the time of the played the damaged hero in
Roger Ebert movie’s release, it has not lost any The Maltese Falcon. A string
Chicago Sun-Times, 1996 of its power over the years. Indeed, of great movie roles followed,
audiences today may be tempted to including To Have and Have
look back on a better, albeit fictional, Not, The Big Sleep, and Key
world, in which personal gratification Largo (1944), with his wife
appeared less likely to prevail over Lauren Bacall. The African
the common cause, while the on- Queen won Bogart his only
screen chemistry of the movie’s Academy Award, for Best
deeply poignant moment. While the stars enhances the viewer’s Actor, in 1951. He appeared
audience longs for the romance to pleasure at identifying with them. in more than 75 movies over
endure, it recognizes that nobility However, the movie’s appeal a 30-year career and died,
at 57, in 1957.
must win the day. does not lie in the passion and
selflessness of its leads alone. It has
Enduring appeal a strong cast of minor characters,
When Rick tells Ilsa, “You’re getting including a black-marketeer played Key movies
on that plane with Victor where you by Peter Lorre and a police chief by
1941 The Maltese Falcon
belong,” the audience vicariously Claude Rains. Both play morally 1944 To Have and Have Not
shares his heroism and her self- ambiguous roles in a corrupt world, 1946 The Big Sleep
denial—basking in the reflected yet are ultimately redeemed along 1951 The African Queen
glory of renouncing romantic love with cynical, hard-drinking Rick. ■
76
HOW DARE YOU

CALL ME A HAM?
TO BE OR NOT TO BE / 1942
I
t’s astonishing The movie’s release in
IN CONTEXT now to realize March 1942 was marred by
that Ernst tragedy. Carole Lombard
GENRE had died in a plane crash
Lubitsch’s hilarious
War comedy weeks earlier, while work
satire of the Nazis was in postproduction.
DIRECTOR began production
Ernst Lubitsch in 1941, when the
US had not yet actors remain actors, no
WRITERS entered World matter what situation
Melchior Lengyel, War II and was they’re in. But the story
Edwin Justus Mayer still maintaining quickly became much
neutrality. German- darker than that.
STARS
born Lubitsch set out Although it was
Jack Benny, Carole
to challenge that neutrality. made in Hollywood, the movie
Lombard, Robert Stack
Knowing the political risk he was is set in Warsaw, Poland,
BEFORE taking, he took himself out of the in 1939, just as Germany
1940 The Shop Around the studio system for the first time in is about to invade. The
Corner, Lubitsch’s hit romantic his career and signed a deal with highly strung members
comedy, is also set in Europe United Artists. This paid him less of a theater company—
on the eve of World War II. than his usual fee but gave him led by Joseph Tura
artistic control. (Jack Benny) and the
AFTER The story was unusual for leading lady who is
1943 After the disappointing Lubitsch in that it was not taken also his wife, Maria
initial reception of To Be or from an existing source, but was (Carole Lombard)—
Not to Be, Lubitsch returns to developed by him with two are rehearsing an
more conventional comedies trusted collaborators, Hungarian anti-Nazi spoof by
with Heaven Can Wait. screenwriter Melchior Lengyel, and day and performing
US playwright Edwin Justus Mayer. Shakespeare’s Hamlet
1983 To Be or Not to Be is by night. When Maria
remade, with husband-and- Actors’ vanity becomes romantically
wife comedy actors Mel The starting point was Lubitsch’s involved with a dashing
Brooks and Anne Bancroft memories of the vanity of actors young admirer, pilot
in the lead roles. during his years on the Berlin Lieutenant Stanislav
stage, and his observation that Sobinski (Robert

What else to watch: Trouble in Paradise (1932) ■ Ninotchka (1939) ■ The Shop Around the Corner (1940) ■
Heaven Can Wait (1943) ■ That Lady in Ermine (1948)
Stack), she is drawn into a plan

to track down a German spy who Ernst Lubitsch Director
is about to endanger the Polish
Born in Berlin Paradise (1935) he found ways to
Resistance network. In a rapidly
in 1892, Ernst smuggle risqué ideas past the
escalating farce, the actors (many Lubitsch joined censor: a trick known as “the
of them Jewish) use their skills at the Deutsches Lubitsch touch.” This paid off
disguise to fool the invading Nazis. Theater in 1911. Two years later in comedies such as Ninotchka
he made his screen debut in The (1939). He died in 1947 at 55.
Dark comedy Ideal Wife, but by 1920 his focus
This sounds as much like the shifted to directing. He left for Key movies
premise of a dark, intricate spy the US in 1922 to direct Mary
thriller as the light, romantic Pickford in the hit movie Rosita, 1940 The Shop Around
comedies for which Lubitsch was and made a smooth transition the Corner
known, which is exactly what the into sound. With Trouble in 1942 To Be or Not to Be
director intended: a satire/comedy
with dark intent. Lubitsch claimed made up my mind to make a bizarrely, a showbiz satire (the self-
that he wanted to steer clear of picture with no attempt to relieve obsessed Tura consoles himself
two traditional comedic formulas: anybody from anything at any with the thought that an audience
“Drama with comedy relief and time.” The movie succeeds in being member who walks out during his
comedy with dramatic relief. I had both an anti-Fascist tract and, Hamlet soliloquy may have been
suffering from a heart attack).
I don’t know, it’s not convincing. The war provides the sobering
counterpoint to the comedy:
To me, he’s just a man with a people die. There is a double edge
little moustache. to the code message that Sobinski
passes to Maria, unwittingly via a
Stage manager / To Be or Not to Be double agent. “To be, or not to be,”
it says, and as the Turas bravely
lead their theater troupe in
a deadly game of double
bluff, it is clear that Lubitsch
is using Hamlet’s famous
line to question a
complacent United
States. To fight or
not to fight, and let
the Nazis get away
with it? For Lubitsch,
this was no question
at all. ■
Jewish actor Bronski

(Tom Dugan) and the
other members of Tura’s
cast fool the Germans by
disguising themselves as
Hitler and his entourage.
78
IT’S HOT IN HERE

BY THE STOVE
OSSESSIONE / 1943
O
n its release in Italy,
IN CONTEXT Luchino Visconti’s debut
as director had to contend
GENRE
with the disapproval of the Fascist
Film noir, romance
regime. It was beset by copyright
DIRECTOR problems, too, yet his unauthorized A movie that stinks of latrines.
Luchino Visconti adaptation of James M. Cain’s 1934 Gaetano Polverelli
crime novel The Postman Always Mussolini’s Culture Minister
WRITERS Rings Twice has endured as well
Luchino Visconti, Mario as the later Hollywood versions.
Alicata, Guiseppe De
Santis, Gianni Puccini A study of jealousy
(screenplay); James M. Although Visconti would become
Cain (novel) known for the lush, baroque, and
melodramatic style of later movies Neither of the protagonists is a
STARS such as Senso (1954), Ossessione straightforward hero or heroine. The
Clara Calamai, Massimo reflects his training as an assistant drifter Gino (Massimo Girotti) is
Girotti, Juan de Landa to French director Jean Renoir, who filthy and broke, and the beautiful,
BEFORE first gave him Cain’s book. It has put-upon Giovanna (Clara Calamai),
1935 Visconti’s movie career been heralded as the first of the married to slovenly restaurant owner
begins as an assistant director Italian neorealist movies, shot in Giuseppe (Juan de Landa), is never
on Jean Renoir’s drama Toni. the torrid flatlands of the Po delta allowed the trappings of the femme
in order to capture the texture of fatale. In Visconti’s eyes, Giovanna
AFTER everyday life. is no temptress, and Gino no villain;
1946 Tay Garnett’s The While Ossessione is nominally it is the oppression of capitalism
Postman Always Rings Twice a crime yarn, Visconti plays those that leads the working class astray.
is the first US adaptation of the elements down, creating a story It was this view that offended the
novel. It stars Lana Turner and about desperation and jealousy. Fascists, leading the censor to
John Garfield. Both main characters are stuck: one butcher the master copy. Happily,
in a marriage, another on the road. Visconti kept a secret print. ■
1981 The second US version
stars Jack Nicholson and What else to watch: The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) ■ The Bicycle
Jessica Lange. Thief (1948, pp.94–97) ■ The Leopard (1963) ■ Death in Venice (1971)
HOW SINGULARLY
INNOCENT I LOOK
THIS MORNING
LAURA / 1944
A
lthough it is synonymous McPherson’s investigation checks
IN CONTEXT with film noir, Laura works all the requisite boxes for a
best when viewed as a gumshoe movie—Laura’s wayward
GENRE
twisted romance. Otto Preminger’s playboy beau, her two-faced aunt,
Film noir, romance
movie plays out as a love triangle and her overprotective best friend—
DIRECTOR within a murder mystery, as New but Preminger adds a strange,
Otto Preminger York detective Mark McPherson dreamlike quality to the movie.
(Dana Andrews) falls for the The femme-fatale formula is
WRITERS title character (Gene Tierney), a slightly subverted: Tierney plays
Jay Dratler, Samuel beautiful advertising executive Laura as an unwitting siren,
Hoffenstein, Elizabeth apparently gunned down on her unaware of the spell she is casting.
Reinhardt (screenplay); doorstep at the start. The movie’s witty script
Vera Caspary (novel) still sparkles today, and it
features a sumptuous
STARS original score by David
Gene Tierney, Dana Raksin, whose main
Andrews, Clifton Webb theme became a
BEFORE jazz standard. ■
1940 Tierney makes her
screen debut in Fritz Lang’s
The Return of Frank James. Writer Waldo
Lydecker (Clifton
AFTER Webb, center)
1955 Preminger’s The Man and playboy
With the Golden Arm deals Shelby
Carpenter
with drug addiction, one of (Vincent Price)
several controversial topics are two of the
that he will tackle. suspicious
men in
1959 In Anatomy of a Murder, Laura’s life.
Preminger depicts rape more
frankly than it had ever been What else to watch: Leave Her To Heaven (1945) ■ The Killers (1946) ■
shown in Hollywood movies. Build My Gallows High (1947, p.332) ■ Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
80
A KICK IN THE REAR,

IF WELL DELIVERED,
IS A SURE LAUGH
CHILDREN OF PARADISE / 1945
A
mong the many great Shooting in Vichy France
IN CONTEXT landmarks of French The ambition and scale of the
cinema, Children of movie required a large cast
GENRE
Paradise (Les enfants du paradis), and production team. The cast
Romantic drama
made at the height of the German included Nazi collaborators, whom
DIRECTOR occupation in 1943 and 1944, is the producers had been coerced
Marcel Carné now seen as among the very into hiring. But what the Vichy
greatest. With a compelling overseers didn’t know was that
WRITER script by the poet Jacques Prévert, Carné had found a place for
Jacques Prévert director Marcel Carné turned Resistance fighters among the
a story set in 1830s Paris about 1,800 extras, using the movie as
STARS
four different men’s love for the daytime cover for their clandestine
Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault,
enigmatic courtesan Garance into
Pierre Brasseur, Marcel
a profound and romantic drama.
Herrand, Louis Salou The movie itself is glorious.
BEFORE But what makes the achievement
1939 US historical romance of Carné and Prévert all the more
Gone with the Wind is released. extraordinary is the degree of
difficulty they overcame even
1942 Set in 1485, The Night making it in occupied France.
A film poem on the
Visitors is the first movie made Practically, materials for sets nature and varieties of
during World War II by Carné and costumes were almost love—sacred and profane,
and Prévert with Arletty. nonexistent: fruit and loaves of selfless and possessive.
bread intended to be used on Pauline Kael
AFTER 5001 Nights at the Movies, 1982
camera were eaten by half-starved
1946 Carné and Prévert
crew members. Under the eye of
reunite to make Gates of the the Nazis and the Vichy French
Night, but it is a flop and they regime, every move was monitored.
never work together again. And yet Carné’s invention—and
independence—triumphed.

What else to watch: Le jour se lève (1939) ■ Gone with the Wind (1939, p.62–63) ■ Le Colonel Chabert (1943) ■
Phantom of the Opera (1943) ■ An American in Paris (1951) ■ The Last Metro (1980)
I’d spill torrents of blood to give

you a river of diamonds.
Pierre François Lacenaire / Children of Paradise
in its lowbrow theaters. At one sexual allure in her portrayal of

point during the shoot, when Garance, entrancing the four men
an Allied invasion of southern who are competing for her love.
France was expected, the
production was forced to abandon Historical suitors
Nice and move to Paris, only to Three of these suitors are based on
find on their return that the real historical figures: Jean-Louis
set had been ruined by storms. Barrault plays the mime artist
It had to be completely rebuilt. Baptiste Deburau, who transformed
Despite these problems, the role of Pierrot into a poignant,
Carné and his team succeeded in childlike character; Pierre Brasseur
creating a lavish and technically plays the actor Frédérick Lemaître;
The mime sequences were developed
brilliant movie, and in coaxing and Marcel Herrand the suave
by Jean-Louis Barrault (who plays unforgettable performances from criminal Pierre François Lacenaire.
Baptiste, left), and his teacher, Étienne the cast. The star, Arletty, oozes The fourth character, the cynical
Decroux (who plays Baptiste’s father). aristocrat Édouard de Montray, ❯❯
heroism. The production team also

included Jews in hiding, whose
identities were kept secret—in
particular designer Alexandre
Trauner and composer Joseph
Kosma. Trauner lived with Carné
during filming under an assumed
name, while Kosma’s work was
credited to Maurice Thiriet, who
arranged the music for orchestra.
Boulevard du Crime
There were endless logistical
headaches assembling the
movie’s gigantic set, which
Carné built in Nice, in southern
France. It was 1,300 ft (400 m)
long, and while building
materials were scarce, he
somehow recreated a street that
resembled the famous Boulevard du
The movie opened in liberated
Temple in Paris during the early Paris in 1945, and proved such a
19th century. The street was success that it played for more than
nicknamed the Boulevard du Crime a year. It was credited with helping
for the crime melodramas popular to restore French national pride.
82 CHILDREN OF PARADISE
To be a producer, one
must be a gambler,
and the greatest French
producers were gamblers.
Marcel Carné
like a stage, jostled through and

caroused on by a vast and rowdy
army of colorful figures, courtiers,
and lowlifes alike. The movie opens
with a theater curtain that parts as
the camera glides down a Boulevard
du Crime crowded with extras, and
enters a carnival display where
another curtain labeled “The Naked
Truth” opens to reveal Garance
bathing in a barrel of water, visible
only from the shoulders up, and
staring at her reflection in a mirror.
Elusive love
Garance becomes involved with
each of her suitors in turn: first
with Baptiste, the mime, who
saves her from a false charge of
played by Louis Salou, was inspired Rejected by Garance, Baptiste theft; then with Frédérick, who
by Charles Auguste, Duc de Morny, marries Nathalie, played by Maria steps in confidently after Baptiste
half brother of Napoleon III. Casares, an exiled Spanish Republican realizes that Garance can’t return
associated with the Resistance.
his love; thirdly, with the criminal
The world’s a stage Lacenaire; and finally, de Montray,
From the outset, the movie blurs balcony in the theater, known as who offers Garance protection
the line between the stage and “paradise” (in Britain they call it when she is drawn unwittingly
real life. Everything is about the “the gods”), where the cheapest into Lacenaire’s crimes.
theatrical show of life. Even the title seats in the house are situated. The Garance is briefly intrigued by
of the movie refers to the highest Boulevard du Crime itself seems all four men, bestowing her affection
on each of them in her own way,
yet she remains utterly elusive, and
Jealousy belongs to all if a woman cannot love them in the way that
belongs to no one. they dote upon her. In the first half
of the story, as each receives some
Frédérick Lamaître / Children of Paradise measure of attention from her, the

ends in tragedy as he dies on the
scaffold for killing de Montray. For
Garance, too, there is no happy
resolution: the man she finally sets
her heart upon – Baptiste – is
Cinema and poetry are the
ultimately out of her reach.
same thing, Prévert said. Much of this drama unfolds
Not always, alas. But it’s before the eyes of the “children
surely true here. of paradise,” the working-class
Derek Malcolm audience in the cheap seats. They
The Guardian, 1999
are the most boisterous characters
in the story—like the cinema
audience, furthest from the stage
yet also the most demanding. Marcel Carné Director
The paradise crowd cries out for
entertainment. They are eager to Born in Paris in 1906, Marcel
men are content, but, as the movie see suffering and pain. As Baptiste’s Carné began his movie career
as a critic, while working in
progresses, her hold over each of father says, “A kick in the rear, if
his spare time as a cameraman
them changes their lives. well delivered, is a sure laugh.” They on silent movies. By 1931, he
want novelty, too. But “novelty,” he was directing his own short
Ultimate disappointment says, “is as old as the hills.” ■ movies. In 1936, Carné teamed
In the movie’s second half, the up with surrealist poet
suitors’ dissatisfaction breeds Jacques Prévert for the first
Baptiste’s father plays for laughs
resentment. Frédérick achieves his from the “children of paradise,” even as time on the movie Jenny. Over
dream of playing Othello since at Baptiste reinvents the role of Pierrot the next decade, the pair made
last he understands the pain of as a childlike, disappointed lover, whose a series of “poetic realist”
jealousy. For Lacenaire, the story pain tugs at the audience’s heartstrings. movies, casting a fatalistic eye
over the lives of characters on
the margins of society, which
established Carné as a star in
French cinema.
In the 1950s, Carné’s
reputation was eclipsed as
the younger generation of the
French New Wave demanded
a less artificial style. However,
he remained in high regard
among his fellow directors,
and François Truffaut once
said that he “would give up
all my movies to have directed
Children of Paradise.” Carné
continued to make movies into
the 1970s. He died in 1996.
Key movies
1938 Hôtel du Nord

1942 Night Visitors
1945 Children of Paradise
1946 Gates of the Night
84
CHILDREN BELIEVE
WHAT WE TELL
LA BELLE ET LA BÊTE / 1946
THEM
F
or some critics, Jean For almost 40 years before
IN CONTEXT Cocteau’s La Belle et la Bête he made La Belle et la Bête,
(Beauty and the Beast) is Cocteau was a poet, and poetry
GENRE
one of the most poetic movies ever had been the theme of his first,
French fantasy
made. It is the story of a young girl 55-minute experimental movie in
DIRECTOR (Josette Day) trapped in the palace 1930, The Blood of a Poet, about
Jean Cocteau of a beastly creature (Jean Marais). the mythical poet Orpheus.
Though repelled by the beast at Cocteau was eager to deny that
WRITER first, the girl can see the goodness there was any symbolism in
Jean Cocteau within him and falls in love with La Belle et la Bête, which was
STARS him. Cocteau tells the tale with his first full-length feature movie,
such serious honesty that it is although he also believed that
Jean Marais, Josette Day
elevated from bedtime story into poetry was an unconscious
BEFORE something morally profound. process. Contemporary US critic
1902 Georges Méliès’s A Trip Bosley Crowther was struck by the
to the Moon is an early special- movie’s “gorgeous visual
effects fantasy movie. metaphors.” At the same time,
it is striking how plainly the
1930 The Blood of a Poet, story is told.
Cocteau’s first movie, explores
the power of visual metaphors. Supernatural simplicity
1933 King Kong portrays Tellingly, the movie opens not
a sympathetic relationship with the story, but with Cocteau
between a beast and a girl. writing on a school blackboard.
He is making it clear that this
AFTER is a story with a moral lesson,
1950 Orphée is the second of not a fantasy to be indulged
Cocteau’s movies about the in. “Children believe what
Greek legend of Orpheus. we tell them,” he writes.
1991 Disney’s Beauty and the
Beast is one of the company’s On the movie’s release,
most successful movies. critics praised its exquisite
and imaginative costumes,
designed by Christian Bérard.

What else to watch: A Trip to the Moon (1902, pp.20–21) ■ King Kong (1933, p.49) ■ Vasilissa the Beautiful (1939) ■
The Red Shoes (1948, p.332) ■ The Night of the Hunter (1955, pp.118–21)
The secret to it all is that

Cocteau set out to make a
movie that would stir adults;
along the way he discovered
the child’s imagination, too.
David Thomson
Have You Seen...?, 2008
The Beast’s palace is more like

a stage set than a fantasy world.
The magic in the palace is surreal,
rather than fantastic. Real hands
and arms emerge from walls and adult and more moving. With Fainting at the sight of the Beast,
tables to hold candles and pour settings inspired by the engravings Beauty is carried to her bed chamber.
drinks, and caryatids have real of Gustave Doré and paintings of He tells her that he will ask her to marry
him every day that they are together.
human faces that roll their eyes Jan Vermeer, and exteriors shot at
and blow smoke. It is reminiscent Château de la Roche Courbon and
of the art of Salvador Dalí, rather Raray in France, cinematographer himself credited Alekan for
than the fairy tales of the Brothers Henri Alekan created a world achieving “a supernatural quality
Grimm—unsettling, but also more of Gothic enchantment. Cocteau within the limits of realism.” ■
Jean Cocteau Director

Writer, artist, and director Jean not until 1946, at the age of 57,
Cocteau was born in 1889, near that he made his first full-length
Paris. He published his first book movie, La Belle et la Bête. Four
of poetry when he was 19, which years later, he made a second
gave him an entrée to the literary movie about Orpheus, Orphée.
and artistic avant-garde in Paris. He combined movies, poetry, and
In 1917, Cocteau wrote Parade, theater until his death, in 1963.
the story for a ballet composed by
Erik Satie for the Ballets Russes. Key movies
His most famous novel was Les
Enfants Terribles (1929). Cocteau 1930 The Blood of a Poet
directed his first short movie in 1946 La Belle et la Bête
1930, about the mythical ancient 1950 Orphée
Greek poet Orpheus, but it was 1962 The Testament of Orpheus
86
THIS IS THE UNIVERSE.

BIG ISN’T IT?
A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH / 1946
A
Matter of Life and Death is amid the twinkling. “Big, isn’t it?”
IN CONTEXT the story of a young British Eventually, we home in on a view
bomber pilot, Peter Carter of Europe from space, then zoom
GENRE
(David Niven), whose aircraft is into the interior of the bomber.
Wartime fantasy
damaged over the English Channel, The camera pans to reveal Peter
DIRECTORS leading him into an epic fight to live. sending a final radio message
Michel Powell, In the memorable opening before he must jump without a
Emeric Pressburger sequence, the camera tracks across parachute. He jumps… and to
stars and distant galaxies. “This is his and our surprise, wakes on
WRITERS the universe,” a narrator informs us a deserted beach.
Michel Powell,
Emeric Pressburger
Peter fights for his life
STARS after surviving the crash. The
David Niven, Kim Hunter, movie plays with the possibility
Roger Livesey, Raymond that heaven is a product of
Massey, Marius Goring, Peter’s delirious mind.
Katherine Byron
BEFORE
1943 Powell and Pressburger’s
The Life and Death of Colonel
Blimp is based on a British
comic-strip character.
AFTER
1947 Black Narcissus is a
psychological drama set in
a convent in the Himalayas.
1960 Powell’s dark thriller
Peeping Tom is savaged
by the critics. His career
never recovers.

What else to watch: Between Two Worlds (1944) ■ It’s a Wonderful Life
(1946, pp.88–93) ■ Black Narcissus (1947) ■ Heaven Can Wait (1978)
It was released in
the US as Stairway to
Heaven, a reference to
the escalator linking
Earth to the afterlife.
amphitheaters and
shiny spaces. It is, in
fact, all quite soulless.
But on Earth, life goes
on in Technicolor. Michael Powell and
Wartime message Emeric Pressburger
Originally developed Directors
during World War II,
the British Ministry of Michael Powell (above, right)
was born in Kent, UK, in 1905.
Information encouraged
Emeric Pressburger (left)
The angelic guide Conductor 71 Powell and Pressburger to use the was born in Hungary in 1902.
(Marius Goring), sent to bring him movie to promote Anglo-American Pressburger worked in
to Heaven, has missed him, and relations, frayed by the presence of Germany as a screenwriter
he has survived by mistake. After US servicemen in the UK. As such, before fleeing the Nazis in
meeting and falling in love with the the heavenly legal battle is less 1935 and moving to Britain,
American radio operator June (Kim about the merits of Peter’s case where he began a productive
Hunter) he was speaking to just than easing transatlantic tensions. collaboration with Powell.
before jumping, Peter appeals When the American prosecutor Their production company,
to the celestial authorities against questions whether an Englishman The Archers, made 24 movies,
the attempt to elevate him to “the and a Boston girl could really ever sealing their reputations with
Other World.” The rest of the movie be happy together, the answer classics such as The Life and
shows Peter negotiating his appeal may not surprise you—but it’s Death of Colonel Blimp, Black
before a heavenly court. still a wonderfully human note Narcissus, and The Red Shoes.
Their last movie was the
in a deceptively strange movie,
wartime story Ill Met by
Special effects brimming with imagination. ■
Moonlight (1957). In 1960,
The transitions between Heaven Powell made the psychological
and Earth inspire a host of thriller Peeping Tom. Now
dizzyingly inventive special considered a masterpiece, it
effects. A ping-pong match was vilified on its release and
is frozen mid-action. A all but ended Powell’s career.
spilled table of books He made one more movie, Age
rights itself. Can any of Life, empowered by love, of Consent (1969), and died in
this be real, or is Peter triumphs over everything, 1990. Pressburger had died
imagining it all? In a Powell seems to conclude. two years earlier.
reversal of expectations, J. G. Ballard
heaven is portrayed not Key movies
The Guardian, 2005
as a colorful paradise,
1943 The Life and Death
but in subtle silvery of Colonel Blimp
monochrome— 1947 Black Narcissus
streamlined and 1948 The Red Shoes
modernist, with bright
GEORGE REMEMBER
NO MAN IS A
FAILURE
WHO HAS FRIENDS
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE / 1946
90 IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE
IN CONTEXT
GENRE
Fantasy drama
DIRECTOR
Frank Capra
WRITERS
Frances Goodrich, Albert
Hackett, Frank Capra
STARS
James Stewart, Donna
Reed, Lionel Barrymore
BEFORE
1934 Frank Capra has
his first major hit with
the screwball comedy
It Happened One Night.
1939 In Capra’s Mr. Smith
I
ronically, the release of Frank George Bailey (James Stewart) woos
Goes to Washington, James Capra’s most enduring motion Mary (Donna Reed), just before tragedy
Stewart plays a naive but picture was one of his greatest strikes: George’s father dies. He has to
disappointments. Despite being take over the family business, and
honest man who takes a place never leaves Bedford Falls.
in the US Senate. amply praised by his peers, who
appreciated the movie’s craft, and
AFTER winning five Oscar nominations best-loved movies of all time.
1950 In Henry Koster’s Harvey, plus a Golden Globe for its director, Today, It’s a Wonderful Life has
Stewart has a big hit playing a the movie flopped at the box become a festive favorite that seems
likeable man who speaks to an office. Through the years, however, to embody the Christmas spirit.
invisible human-sized rabbit. popular perceptions of the movie In the 1930s, Capra had been the
changed, and over the course of his voice of Hollywood. He refined the
life Capra saw it become one of the screwball comedy genre with
Minute by minute
00:04 00:51 01:20 01:44
George saves his brother George marries his At the end of the war, Clarence shows
Harry from drowning in an sweetheart, Mary. They are with Harry due to return George what the world
icy lake. In the process, about to go on honeymoon, home, Uncle Billy accidentally would have been like
George suffers an ear when there is a run on the gives Potter $8,000 on the if George had never
infection that leaves him bank. George stays, and day the bank examiner is existed. This leads
partially deaf, and will later saves the bank with his visiting. Potter keeps the George to beg to be
keep him out of the war. own money. money to ruin George. allowed to live again.
00:00 00:20 00:40 01:00 01:20 01:40 02:00 02:10
00:25 01:36 02:02

After his father dies, In a bar, George implores George runs home,
George gives up his travel 01:10 God to help; then he drives to where he discovers
plans to manage the family’s Potter offers George a the bridge, where he intends that the townspeople
Bailey Building and Loan, $20,000-a-year job. George to end his life. Clarence, his have made a collection
the only way he can stop turns it down and returns angel, saves him by jumping to save him. Harry
Mr. Potter, a slum landlord, home to hear from Mary into the water first so that returns as they all
taking over the business. that she is pregnant. George can rescue him. sing Auld Lang Syne.

What else to watch: It Happened One Night (1934) ■ You Can’t Take It With You (1938) ■ Mr. Smith Goes to
Washington (1939) ■ The Philadelphia Story (1940) ■ Harvey (1950) ■ Vertigo (1958, pp.140–45)
the peerless It Happened One Night

(1934), starring Clark Gable and
Claudette Colbert, but he became He stops
He creates
George saves Mr. Gower, He has a
Born
best known for feel-good movies in Bailey Park,
his brother the pharmacist, happy wife
which the common man triumphs an affordable
from drowning from poisoning and children
over cynical corporations or corrupt housing project
a boy
politicians—themes that resonated
strongly with audiences during
the Great Depression.
A new mood Uncle Billy

Not born Bailey Park is
Had it been made 10 years earlier, George’s never built and
Mr. Gower kills is committed
It’s a Wonderful Life might have been the boy and to an insane
brother drowns remains an old
another hit for Capra, but in 1946 he goes to jail asylum and
cemetery
Mary is alone
was out of step with the prevailing
mood in the US. World War II had
robbed the nation’s young of any
sense of innocence, and audiences After George makes the wish that he had
never been born, an angel, Clarence, shows him
no longer had an appetite for pure what would happen if he had never existed
escapism. Film noir was on the
rise, in which morally ambiguous
detectives were little better than Capra’s masterstroke is to begin tender age of 200, has yet to earn
the criminals they chased. with a series of whispered prayers his wings. As Clarence studies
Yet to the modern eye, It’s a for help, heard by heavenly beings George’s life in flashback, from
Wonderful Life seems surprisingly who decide to intervene in the boyhood to adulthood, Capra paints
dark, an attempted suicide being life of one George Bailey (James a portrait of a loyal townsman who
the central premise for a story in Stewart). They send an angel, but has sacrificed his dreams of travel
which a man discovers the true the only one available is Clarence and career in order to follow in his
worth of his own life. Odbody (Henry Travers) who, at the father’s footsteps, helping the local
community and working at a small
bank in Bedford Falls, New York. ❯❯
James Stewart Actor
James Stewart was born in 1908 third Oscar nomination. The
in Indiana, PA. After a brief movie epitomized Stewart’s
stint on Broadway, he followed quiet, folksy charm, which was
his old roommate Henry Fonda again brought to the fore in
to Hollywood. His movie career the 1950 hit Harvey. He also
took off in 1938 when Frank made a number of Westerns, I made mistakes
Capra cast him in the comedy and collaborated with Alfred in drama. I thought drama
You Can’t Take It With You. The Hitchcock. He died in 1997. was when actors cried.
following year, the pair made But drama is when the
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Key movies audience cries.
which earned Stewart an Oscar
nomination. He took time off 1938 You Can’t Take It With You
Frank Capra
to join the war effort, but his 1939 Mr. Smith Goes to
popularity did not fade, and Washington
his first postwar movie, It’s 1946 It’s a Wonderful Life
A Wonderful Life, brought a 1958 Vertigo
92 IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE

In the process, George protects the While contemporary audiences may the townspeople’s money, he goes
community from the greedy bank have been put off by the story’s to Potter—his lifelong enemy—to
director and slum landlord, Henry divine intervention, Capra’s movie negotiate a loan. George has
F. Potter (Lionel Barrymore). wasn’t so much about magic nothing but a life insurance policy
realism as tragic realism: the angel to offer as collateral, and Potter
Shocking decline doesn’t appear at the bridge until sneers at him: “You’re worth more
George’s rapid transition from saint the movie’s final quarter. Another dead than alive.” Within this loaded
to suicidal drunk is shocking and director might have focused more insult lies one of the movie’s main
credible, perhaps rooted in Capra’s on the drama that makes George tenets: just as one life can make all
own struggle with depression in his want to end his life, but Capra the difference, so can its absence.
early twenties, when, as an Italian keeps it from us, not so that it In despair, George drives to the
immigrant, he found work difficult becomes a mystery but because, toll bridge to jump to his death. The
to come by. Years of self-sacrifice when we do find out, it adds to the movie’s most famous moment
and disappointment lie behind pathos of a man trying to do right. doesn’t occupy much of its running
George’s breakdown, and as a time but it sticks in the memory for
portrait of despair his downward On the brink its darkness. Wishing aloud that
spiral is utterly compelling. Potter is the villain of the piece. he’d “never been born,” George is
When George realizes that his taken by Clarence to a parallel
uncle Billy has mislaid $8,000 of reality, one in which George
George and Uncle Billy (Thomas
Mitchell, second from right) celebrate never existed, and where
at the close of business on the day of
the bank run. With $2 left, they are still
in business.

The movie opened in
1946 and was a box-office
flop. Postwar America
was in the mood for
morally ambiguous noir,
not feel-good small-town
sentimentality.
Bedford Falls (now

Pottersville) looks
very different. “Each
man’s life touches so
many other lives,”
says Clarence, and Frank Capra Director
this ultimately is the
movie’s message. At the height of his career,
Perceived as an optimistic movie, the movie may be a warning that we Frank Capra was the biggest
director in Hollywood, leading
perhaps it can also be seen as one are not all in it together: some people,
the escapist assault on the
that shows the world as a glass happily for those around them, are Depression years with a slew
half empty rather than half full. simply less selfish than others. of Oscar-winning comedies.
For Capra, George is one man Having moved to Los Angeles
who makes all the difference Accidental classic from Sicily at the age of five
in people’s lives; he is not the The movie’s later popularity involves in 1903, he studied chemical
Everyman that we all are or another twist. Due to a legal error, engineering but struggled to
could be. In that sense, it fell out of copyright in 1974, find work. After bluffing his
enabling it to be shown on TV with way into a movie studio in San
no repeat fees. The oversight has Francisco, he landed work in
since been corrected by the studio, Hollywood, directing silent
something George might have had one-reelers with comedy
a few things to say about. ■ mogul Hal Roach. Effortlessly
moving into the sound age
thanks to his engineering
skills, Capra came into his
own in the 1930s. After
making propaganda movies in
World War II, he saw his star
begin to wane; his best-
It is a story of being trapped, known movie, It’s A Wonderful
of compromising, of watching Life, was not a commercial hit.
others move ahead and away, Increasingly disillusioned with
Hollywood, he started making
of becoming so filled with rage educational movies on science
that you verbally abuse your in the 1950s. He died in 1991.
children, their teacher and
your oppressively perfect wife. Key movies
Wendell Jamieson
The New York Times, 2008 1934 It Happened One Night
1938 You Can’t Take It
With You
1939 Mr. Smith Goes to
Washington
1946 It’s a Wonderful Life
94
I MIND MY OWN BUSINESS

I BOTHER NOBODY AND
WHAT DO I GET? TROUBLE
THE BICYCLE THIEF / 1948
V
ittorio De Sica’s The Bicycle punch and grips so powerfully from
IN CONTEXT Thief (Ladri di biciclette) first to last that it is regarded as one
was made using untrained of the most important movies of the
GENRE
actors and shot on location on the post-World War II era. It influenced
Italian neorealism
dusty streets of Rome. It has almost generations of young filmmakers,
DIRECTOR no plot, beyond that of the fruitless who see capturing real life, rather
Vittorio De Sica search by an ordinary man and his than producing a neatly turned plot,
son for a stolen bicycle. The movie’s as the object of their work.
WRITER style contrasts sharply with the
Cesare Zavattini; Luigi glossy Hollywood movies of the day, Cycle of hope
Bartolini (novel) with their sophisticated scripts, Adapted for the screen by Cesare
lavish sets, and slick acting. Yet the Zavattini from a novel by Luigi
STARS
movie packs such an emotional Bartolini, the movie focuses on
Lamberto Maggiorani,
hard-up father Antonio (Lamberto
Enzo Staiola, Lianella Maggiorani), who finds a job after a
Carell, Vittorio Antonucci long period without work. To do the
BEFORE job, he needs a bicycle, and must
1935 French filmmaker Jean redeem his old bicycle from the pawn
Renoir pioneers a realist style shop, Antonio’s wife (Lianella Carell)
using untrained actors in Toni. While Hollywood may must pawn the family’s only sheets.
sometimes deal with these Despite this, husband and wife are
1943 Italian filmmaker Luchino facts by analogy, the Italians overjoyed at the prospect of him
Visconti directs Ossessione, an deal with the facts, period. earning at last. But while Antonio is
early Italian neorealist movie. Arthur Miller up a ladder on his first day at work,
The New York Times, 1950 sticking posters up around Rome,
AFTER
the bicycle is stolen by a young thief.
1959 François Truffaut’s Taking his young son Bruno
gritty drama The 400 Blows (Enzo Staiola) with him, Antonio
is shot on location in Paris. embarks on a desperate hunt to
recover his bicycle. With the aid

What else to watch: The Kid (1921) ■ Rome, Open City (1945) ■ Shoeshine (1946) ■ Force of Evil (1948) ■ Pather Panchali
(1955, pp.132–33) ■ Kes (1969, p.336) ■ Slumdog Millionaire (2008, pp.318–19) ■ The Kid with a Bike (2011, p.343)
of friends, they scour the local Porta The thief’s family and friends sequences in cinema, as the
Portese market, which is infamous furiously protest the culprit’s little boy holds hands with his
for selling parts of broken bicycles, innocence, and a policeman admits humiliated father.
until finally, through a mix of there is nothing that can be done
determination and luck, Antonio without proof. A universal story
spots the thief and pursues In desperation, The brutally simple story of The
him into a brothel. Antonio himself Bicycle Thief recounts one man’s
steals a bike, but day of misfortune—one of countless
is quickly caught. similar days occurring around the
Only the kindness world. Yet the realism of its narrow
of its owner, after focus has a message that is
catching sight of universal—for those struggling to
the distressed Bruno, make a livelihood in an unfair
saves Antonio from world, a minor crime, such as the
prison. The movie theft of a bicycle, assumes the scale
closes with one of the of a great tragedy. For some critics,
most heart-rending it is not a political movie, because,
like Chaplin’s City Lights (pp.38–
41), it offers no solutions—just the
transformation of a victim into a
For Antonio, tragic hero. For others, this is what
his bicycle makes it a true socialist movie,
means he is because it depicts the devastating
a part of the
world of work, consequences of leaving people to
and a source sink or swim alone. Even before
of pride for Antonio’s bicycle has been stolen,
his son. a beggar foreshadows his later, ❯❯
96 THE BICYCLE THIEF

troubled, situation: “I mind my own
business, I bother nobody,” he says,
You live and you suffer.
“and what do I get? Trouble.” To hell with it. You want a pizza?
Toward realism Antonio Ricci / The Bicycle Thief
The Bicycle Thief is often considered
the high point of Italian neorealism. the white telephones seen in their attempted it in Modern Times
In cinema, the neorealist movement gilded homes—movies such as I (1936) in Hollywood. But Italian
was a reaction against the so-called Will Love You Always (T’amerò neorealists went further. They did
white telephone Italian movies of the sempre, 1933), that, while not overt not simply focus on the poor; they
1930s, which depicted the frivolous tools of propaganda, portrayed an also wanted to make movies in a
lives of the rich, characterized by image of prosperity that implicitly new way that would show the reality
endorsed Italy’s Fascist regime. of people’s lives as they were lived.
Bruno watches his father anxiously It was not only in Italy that Neorealism took the director’s
as he sits, despondent, on the roadside, filmmakers tried to break from the camera away from the set and out
all hopes of a new life shattered. milieu of high society. Chaplin onto location. The goal was to

capture real life, and part of
the brilliance of The Bicycle
Thief’ cinematography in
particular is the sense it
gives of a world that is
continuing beyond the
frame—by briefly
following incidents away
from the main characters,
or including real life going
on in the background of a
frame. To strip away the
artificiality of studio
movies, neorealist
directors often cast
untrained actors, as
Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio De Sica did in
The Bicycle Thief. Enzo Director
Staiola, the boy who Born in 1901 to a poor family,
plays Bruno with such Vittorio De Sica grew up in
tough and emotional Naples, Italy, working as an
directness, was spotted office boy to support his family.
by the director in the He got his first movie part at
crowd watching him just 17. His good looks and
film while on location. natural screen presence soon
On its release in Italy, the movie turned him into a matinee idol.
Lasting influence met with some hostility for its negative When he met writer Cesare
Italian neorealism had already been portrayal of the country. However, it Zavattini, De Sica became a
received great reviews around the rest serious director and a leading
championed by directors such as
of the world. exponent of Italian neorealist
Luchino Visconti, with his 1943
masterpiece Ossessione (p.78). movie. With Zavattini, he made
Yet what gives De Sica’s movie in of its black-and-white photography Shoeshine (1946) and The
Bicycle Thief, both heart-
particular its lasting power is the as it follows Antonio and Bruno
breaking studies of postwar
magnificence of its filmmaking. on their quest give an epic quality poverty in Italy that won
The sweep, design, and movement that engrosses the viewer in special Oscars in years before
their lives. Directors such as the foreign movie category was
Ken Loach and Satyajit Ray have established. After the box-
cited De Sica’s movie as the most office disaster of relentlessly
important influence on their bleak Umberto D. (1952), De
careers. Such was its impact on Sica returned to lighter
its release that it was hard for movies, such as a trilogy of
This is poverty’s authentic innovative filmmakers not to think romantic comedies Yesterday,
sting: banal and horrible in terms of real streets, snatches Today, and Tomorrow (1963),
loss of dignity. of life, and ordinary people as the and to acting. He died in 1974.
Peter Bradshaw stuff of cinema. In the years that
followed, movements such as the Key movies
The Guardian, 2008
Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) in
1948 The Bicycle Thief
France and the “kitchen sink” 1952 Umberto D.
dramas of the UK marked a shift 1963 Yesterday, Today,
in filmmaking toward this more and Tomorrow
naturalistic and candid approach. ■
98
IT IS SO DIFFICULT TO MAKE
A NEAT JOB OF KILLING
PEOPLE WITH WHOM ONE IS
NOT ON FRIENDLY TERMS
KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS / 1949
K
ind Hearts and Coronets that stand between him and the
IN CONTEXT is one of a series of British D’Ascoyne fortune and dukedom.
comedies that came out His murder spree begins with the
GENRE
of the Ealing Studios in London arrogant young Ascoyne D’Ascoyne,
Ealing comedy
between 1947 and 1957. Starring and ends with Lord Ascoyne.
DIRECTOR Alec Guinness as all eight members
Robert Hamer of the D’Ascoyne family, each of Comic killings
whom falls victim to a gentleman Guinness is the star of the movie, and
WRITERS murderer, the movie has the urbane each of his absurd characters is so
Robert Hamer harm and light with characteristic sharply drawn that they are instantly
with John Dighton of the Ealing style. The plot centers delineated, to great comic effect. But
on the rise of Louis Mazzini (Dennis Guinness is matched by the movie’s
STARS
Price), who is determined to avenge “straight man,” Price. As Mazzini, he
Alec Guinness, Dennis
his mother for the shabby treatment is the epitome of manners, exhibiting
Price, Joan Greenwood,
she received at the hands of the such courtesy and aplomb that the
Valerie Hobson D’Ascoyne family. One by one, he audience feels a sense of glee as he
BEFORE plots to remove all family members dispatches each D’Ascoyne in turn.
1942 Went the Day Well? is
one of the first successful Alec Guinness Actor
movies made at Ealing Studios.
Sir Alec Guinness was one of more serious movies, winning
1947 It Always Rains on a the great British actors of the an Oscar for his performance in
Sunday is the first of Robert last century, noted for his subtle The Bridge on the River Kwai.
Hamer’s three Ealing movies. gentlemanly manner. Born in Playing Obi-Wan Kenobi in
1914 in London, he started life the Star Wars movies made
AFTER as an advertising copywriter, him hugely famous in the
1951 The Lavender Hill Mob before taking up stage acting. 1980s. He died in 2000 at 86.
features Alec Guinness as a He became acclaimed for his
mousy clerk who becomes Shakespearean roles, and by Key movies
a criminal mastermind. 1950 was a celebrated actor of
the London stage. He began his 1949 Kind Hearts and Coronets
1957 Barnacle Bill is the last screen career with a series of 1955 The Ladykillers
of the Ealing comedies. Alec Ealing comedies before working 1957 Bridge on the River Kwai
Guinness plays multiple roles. with director David Lean on 1965 Doctor Zhivago

What else to watch: It Always Rains on a Sunday (1947) ■ Passport to Pimlico (1949) ■ Whisky Galore! (1949) ■
The Man in a White Suit (1951) ■ The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953) ■ The Ladykillers (1955)
The charmingly selfish Sibella his materialistic The movie’s title is

presents her marriage deal to Mazzini childhood sweetheart taken from a poem by
in his cell. Sibella is competing with Sibella (Joan Alfred, Lord Tennyson:
Edith, the widow of one of Mazzini’s “Kind hearts are more
victims, to marry him. Greenwood), who than coronets, and
made the mistake simple faith than
of turning down Norman blood.”
Here is director Robert Hamer’s the lowly Mazzini
genius in having Guinness play all to marry the rich but
eight victims. Because the audience very dull Lionel, only the one death of
knows that when one Guinness to see Mazzini rise which he’s innocent.
character is bumped off, another to become a duke His only hope of
will take his place, it never feels and fabulously escaping the hangman
repelled by the murders, but rather rich, while Lionel comes when Sibella
remains in thrall to Price’s charm descends into hints that she might
and wills him on as he eliminates bankruptcy and “find” Lionel’s suicide
the obstacles to inheriting the suicide. Mazzini, having got away note if Mazzini promises
title. A subplot shows Mazzini in a with the D’Ascoyne murders, is to marry her. But even then, the
complex romantic relationship with convicted of murdering Lionel, movie has one more twist up its
sleeve—a typically sardonic finale.
Ealing movies were not always
I shot an arrow in the air; she fell as sweetly innocent as their
to earth in Berkeley Square. reputation suggests, and Hamer’s
movie was the perfect mix of the
Louis Mazzini / Kind Hearts and Coronets comic and the caustic. ■
100
THE WORLD DOESN’T MAKE

ANY HEROES OUTSIDE
OF YOUR STORIES
THE THIRD MAN / 1949
C
arol Reed’s 1949 film noir played by Orson Welles. Echoing
IN CONTEXT The Third Man captured through it all is the haunting zither
Europe’s fractured spirit music of Anton Karas, whom Reed
GENRE
after World War II. Unusually for the found while shooting in Vienna.
Film noir
time, Reed shot it in partly on
DIRECTOR location, in bomb-damaged Vienna.
The movie was hugely popular
Carol Reed Dramatic pools of light and shade, in Britain, but fared poorly in
and tilted camera angles, turn the Austria. To Austrian audiences,
WRITER city into a nightmarish setting for it was a painful reminder of a
Graham Greene the tale of racketeer Harry Lime, troubled past.
STARS
Joseph Cotten, Alida
Valli, Orson Welles,
Trevor Howard
BEFORE
1941 The film noir genre is
established by US movies such
as The Maltese Falcon.
1941 With Citizen Kane,
Orson Welles establishes a
film-noir staple—the narrative
voice-over.
AFTER
1951 Welles revives his Third
Man character on radio in The
Adventures of Harry Lime.

What else to watch: The 39 Steps (1935) ■ Brighton Rock (1947) ■ The Fallen Idol (1948) ■ Our Man in Havana (1959) ■
The Manchurian Candidate (1962, p.334) ■ The Ipcress File (1965) ■ The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965)
The screenplay was developed by revealing that Lime was a black

novelist Graham Greene from his marketeer who sold adulterated
own novella. It came from a simple penicillin. Martins visits Anna,
thought that occurred to Greene: who tells him that she might be
“I saw a man walking down the deported to the Soviet sector
street whose funeral I had only of the city. As he leaves,
recently attended.” This idea he spots a figure in the
inspired the story of a man who shadows. It’s Lime.
fakes his own death. Martins meets
Lime the next day
The third man at the Riesenrad,
American pulp-fiction author Holly where Lime has
Martins (Joseph Cotten) arrives invited Martins to join
in a Vienna wrecked and divided him. Martins, realizing how
by war at the invitation of his old much his old friend has changed,
friend Harry Lime, only to find agrees to help Calloway trap
that Lime has been killed by a Lime, on the condition that Anna
speeding car just days earlier. At receive safe passage out of
the funeral, Martins meets the two Vienna. When Anna refuses to
men who were with Lime when he accept the police chief’s deal,
died. He also meets Lime’s girlfriend Calloway takes Martins to
Anna (Alida Valli), with whom he a children’s hospital
becomes smitten. Together they to show him the
question the porter at Lime’s devastation caused
apartment building, who tells them by Lime’s adulterated
there was an unknown third man penicillin—and ❯❯
present at the fatal moment.
On Vienna’s giant Ferris wheel,
known as the Riesenrad, police Lime is cool and
chief Calloway (Trevor Howard) calculating, and has
advises Martins to leave Vienna, disdain for Martins’
moralistic view of
the world. In Lime’s
cynical opinion,
there are no heroes
in the real world.
Has there ever been a film

where the music more perfectly
suited the action than in
Carol Reed’s The Third Man?
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times, 1996
102 THE THIRD MAN

persuades Martins on moral Welles can be seen not just in his As ever-growing teams of police
grounds to help him trap Lime acting but in the dramatic film noir chase Lime through the sewers,
even if Anna is not saved. shooting style, which clearly owes a only the running water and the
Anna warns Lime of the trap, lot to Welles’s own movies Citizen cops’ echoing calls in German can
and he tries to escape through the Kane (1941) and The Lady from be heard. The sense of panic rises
sewers. The climax, a masterful Shanghai (1947). as Lime flees like a rat.
symphony of action beneath the For the final chase through the Both Selznick and Greene had
Viennese streets, is one of the most sewers of Vienna, scenes were wanted an upbeat ending, but Reed
thrilling moments in cinema. shot partly on location and partly insisted on keeping it bleak. Greene
on studio sets. Reed brilliantly later admitted Reed had been right.
Casting Welles edited together the long, empty
That the movie turned out as it did caverns of the sewers, with their
is due largely to the determination glistening bricks and sudden Clever use of shadows heightens
of the director Carol Reed. Producer shafts of light, and the echoing the sense of menace in the dark streets
of war-ravaged Vienna. The noir style
David O. Selznick had wanted footsteps and close-ups of Lime’s
is strongly reminiscent of Orson Welles’s
suave British actor Noel Coward to sweaty face glistening like the own movies, but Welles later insisted
play Harry Lime, but Reed insisted bricks, eyes darting this way and that he had taken no direct role in the
on Orson Welles. The influence of that as he searches for a way out. movie’s direction or editing.

Moral vacuum
As part of the postwar Allied
occupation of Austria, Vienna had
been divided into four zones—US,
British, French, and Soviet—with a
jointly controlled central district. Over it all spreads the
The Third Man exploits the political melancholy, inert beauty of a
tensions that existed between the ruined city, passive on the
occupying forces, and the dramatic surface, twitching with
potential of characters’ movements uneasy life underneath.
between the sectors. Those without Vogue, 1949
papers, such as Anna, are desperate
to avoid the Soviet sector, where
their fate is uncertain. Carol Reed Director
As far as Lime is concerned,
this situation has created the Born in London in 1906,
perfect moral vacuum, in which Carol Reed was the son
of the famous Shakespearean
inventive, dynamic, ruthless would you really, tell me to keep
actor-producer Herbert
men such as him can, and should, my money, or would you calculate Beerbohm Tree and his
thrive. Europe is world-weary how many dots you could afford mistress May Reed, whose
and cynical in the aftermath of to spare?” name he took. He started
the war, and for Lime, his fellow Back on the ground, Lime says, acting at an early age, and
American, Martins, is a naive in lines added in by Welles for joined the theater company
child stepping into it. timing: “You know what the fellow of the thriller writer Edgar
said—in Italy, for 30 years under Wallace, becoming his
Improvised lines the Borgias, they had warfare, personal assistant. This
Greene’s script for The Third Man terror, murder and bloodshed, led to his first work as
is as taut as you would expect from but they produced Michelangelo, an assistant director.
such a peerless writer, but some of Leonardo da Vinci, and the Reed’s early movies as a
the movie’s most memorable lines Renaissance. In Switzerland, they director, such as Midshipman
were improvised by Welles. One had brotherly love, they had 500 Easy (1935), met with only
moderate success, but the
reason for the movie’s durability is years of democracy and peace, and
novelist Graham Greene saw
that it successfully connects the what did that produce? The cuckoo
great potential in them. Reed
talents of three hugely gifted men: clock.” According to Welles, the made his first significant
Reed, Greene, and Welles. words came from an old Hungarian movie, Odd Man Out, about
Lime looks down from the wheel play. Ironically, the Swiss did not an Irish terrorist on the run, in
on the people like dots below, and invent the cuckoo clock at all, 1947. The producer, Alexander
asks Martins if he would feel pity and they had been decidedly Korda, introduced Reed to
if one of them “stopped moving warlike at the time of the Borgias. Greene and they made two
forever”. He challenges Martins: Nonetheless, the words seem to great movies together, The
“If I offered you twenty thousand sum up perfectly Lime’s amoral Fallen Idol and The Third Man,
pounds for every dot that stopped, outlook on the world. ■ which was critically acclaimed
and a huge box-office success.
Reed died in London in 1976.
In Switzerland, they had brotherly
Key movies
love, they had 500 years of democracy
and peace, and what did that produce? 1947 Odd Man Out
1948 The Fallen Idol
The cuckoo clock. 1949 The Third Man
1968 Oliver!
Harry Lime / The Third Man
FEAR AN
WONDER
1950 –1959
D
106 INTRODUCTION
Hollywood introduces Billy Wilder directs Fred Zinnemann’s

widescreen cinema Sunset Boulevard, a A Streetcar Named From Here to Eternity,
and gimmicks such controversial satire on the Desire, directed by Elia based on James Jones’s
as 3D to counter the Hollywood system; Bette Kazan, catapults a young epic novel of military
growing medium Davis lands her sharpest Marlon Brando to life, sweeps eight
of television. role in All About Eve. movie superstardom. Academy Awards.
1950 1950 1951 1953
1950 1951 1952 1953
Akira Kurosawa’s The Day the Earth US judges rule that With the success of
Rashomon tells a crime Stood Still is the first of movies are a form of free the thriller The Wages
story from four different many science-fiction speech: Roberto of Fear, director
viewpoints, a template movies that reflect Rossellini’s L’Amore Henri-Georges
that would be imitated widespread fears about cannot be banned Clouzot is dubbed the
in many movies. the Cold War. for “sacrilege.” “French Hitchcock.”
T
his chapter covers the The movie’s impact was sudden imbued with an existential dread.
shortest time period of any and immense: not only did it make In The Wages of Fear (1953), a movie
in the book—the 10 years Kurosawa’s name as a director, about a group of desperate men
between 1950 and 1959. Yet in that but it sparked a growing curiosity driving truckloads of nitroglycerine
one decade we find a swathe of in the West toward international through rough country, French
extraordinary movies. Many, as cinema. Also from Japan came director Henri-Georges Clouzot
before, are American movies the finely drawn, deceptively simple made what was probably the most
produced in Hollywood (which, by dramas of Yasujirô Ozu. And of tense movie since Battleship
this period, had enough of a history course, there was Godzilla, whose Potemkin (1925). It was also a
to inspire the Tinseltown satire towering monstrousness was bitingly satirical story of imperialism,
Sunset Boulevard), but great cinema inspired by Japan’s direct capitalism, and human greed.
was also rising to prominence in experience of nuclear war, still In several countries, directors
other parts of the world. raw in the national memory. were creating movies that offered
In the years that followed at once entertainment, intellectual
World War I, it had been Germany Cold War dread stimulation, and stunning displays
that blazed the trail of cinematic Many movies of the 1950s provided of technique. Douglas Sirk, for
innovation. Now, after World War II, the most delirious form of popular example, made lush melodramas
it was the turn of Japan. entertainment (even today, it’s about suburban American life, such
impossible for anyone to watch as All That Heaven Allows (1955).
Rise of Japan Singin’ in the Rain without a grin on Long dismissed as kitsch, they are
In 1950, Akira Kurosawa released their face), and yet some of the key now recognized as sensitive,
Rashomon, a fractured, brilliant movies of this period also reflected multilayered masterpieces. In
story of a murder in ancient Japan. anxieties over the Cold War and are France, meanwhile, a group of
FEAR AND WONDER 107

Federico Fellini’s
La Strada is released Satyajit Ray’s Hollywood drops Alfred Hitchcock’s
(and later wins the first low-budget Pather racial epithets from psychological thriller
Oscar for best foreign Panchali, a coming- movies, and allows Vertigo is released.
film); François of-age story, is the first some references to Hitchcock is hailed
Truffaut describes Indian movie to win drugs, abortion, and by French critics as
his auteur theory. international acclaim. prostitution. a true auteur.
1954 1955 1956 1958
1954 1956 1957 1959
Toho studios in The science-fiction Ingmar Bergman Truffaut’s debut movie,

Japan releases the first classics Forbidden releases The Seventh Seal The 400 Blows, marks
of the Godzilla monster Planet and Invasion and Wild Strawberries, a high point in the
movies. Kurosawa of the Body Snatchers dealing with his French New Wave,
redefines the Western are released. trademark themes dealing realistically
with Seven Samurai. of life and death. with modern society.
young film critics from the Henri-Georges Clouzot, with

magazine Cahiers du Cinéma whom he enjoyed a friendly rivalry,
expounded a whole new way and who turned the book into the
of looking at movies. To them, supremely creepy Les Diaboliques
movies deserved respect and (1955). Hitchcock made sure he
intellectual scrutiny. Their studious secured the movie rights to what
If it’s a good movie, the
gaze examined not only “serious” Boileau and Narcejac wrote next—
directors such as Ingmar Bergman,
sound could go off and and the result was the intense
but also the populist brilliance
the audience would still psychological thriller Vertigo (1958),
of Alfred Hitchcock. The best have a perfectly clear idea a tale of memory, lust, and loss that
directors, they argued, filled their of what was going on. now frequently tops the lists of the
work with personal obsessions and Alfred Hitchcock greatest movies ever made.
visual signatures—what we saw on In 1959, a movie was made by
screen was “authored” by a director one of those young French critics
just as a novel is by its writer. This responsible for the auteur theory.
was the auteur theory, and for His name was François Truffaut,
decades it would shape perceptions and the movie, a portrait of a rough
of movies and their makers. Parisian kid, was The 400 Blows.
movies. Some years before, he had Influenced by Orson Welles but
High ambition been eager to adapt a novel by possessed of an energy all of its
Fittingly, this was the decade in French crime writers Pierre Boileau own, it marked the end of an
which Hitchcock made what is now and Thomas Narcejac. On that extraordinary cinematic decade,
the most highly regarded of all his occasion he was beaten to it by and the start of a new era. ■
WE ALL WANT TO
FORGET
SOMETHING SO WE
TELL STORIES
RASHOMON / 1950
110 RASHOMON
A
kira Kurosawa’s Rashomon
IN CONTEXT is a thriller that revolves
around two possible crimes
GENRE
that take place in a secluded
Mystery drama
glade: the rape of a woman (Machiko
DIRECTOR Kyô) and the violent death of the Human beings are unable to
Akira Kurosawa woman’s samurai husband
be honest with themselves
(Masayuki Mori). The truth,
WRITERS however, is hard to get at; it is
about themselves. They
Akira Kurosawa tangled up in a knot of yarns spun
cannot talk about themselves
(screenplay); Ryunosuke by four eyewitnesses. Whom does without embellishing.
Akutagawa (short stories) the audience trust to tell them the This script portrays such
truth? The alleged rape victim? The human beings.
STARS Akira Kurosawa
bandit accused of committing the
Toshirô Mifune, Machiko offense? The ghost of the dead
Kyô, Masayuki Mori, man? The woodcutter who found
Takashi Shimura the body? Whose story is the story?
BEFORE
1943 Akira Kurosawa makes Beneath the gate
his directorial debut with The opening shot of the movie is
Sanshiro Sugata, a historical of the Rashomon city gate, a huge is told about the crime and the
drama about the struggle ruin in medieval Kyoto, seen from subsequent arrest of the bandit
afar through a curtain of rain. Tajômaru (Toshirô Mifune).
for supremacy between the
Sheltering beneath the gate are a As the woodcutter and the
adherents of judo and jujitsu.
woodcutter (Takashi Shimura) and priest relate the tale, flashbacks
AFTER a priest (Minoru Chiaki), and they show the bandit and the woman
1954 Kurosawa’s Seven are soon joined by a commoner explaining what they saw at an
Samurai, a 16th-century epic (Kichijirô Ueda). The newcomer inquest—or what they think they
in which a village enlists strikes up a conversation, and saw. Then a medium (Noriko
seven warriors to protect
it from bandits, is widely
regarded as his masterpiece. Dead men tell no lies.
The priest / Rashomon
Akira Kurosawa Director

Kurosawa was the first Japanese cinema, which saw him develop
director to find popularity in a sensibility that was partially
the West. His movies Rashomon, Westernized. He experimented
Seven Samurai, and Yojimbo were with courtroom drama, crime
remade as Westerns (The Outrage thriller, film noir, and medical
in 1964, The Magnificent Seven in melodrama. He continued making
1960, and A Fistful of Dollars in movies until his death in 1998.
1964, respectively). Kurosawa
ultimately found greater critical Key movies
appreciation in Europe and the US
than he did in his native country. 1950 Rashomon
The son of an army officer, 1954 Seven Samurai
Kurosawa studied art before 1961 Yojimbo
embarking on his career in 1985 Ran
FEAR AND WONDER 111

What else to watch: Possessed (1947) ■ Stage Fright (1950) ■ To Live (1952) ■ The Hidden Fortress (1958) ■ The
Outrage (1964) ■ Red Beard (1965) ■ Samurai Rebellion (1967) ■ Ran (1985) ■ The Usual Suspects (1995) ■ Fight Club (1999)
Honma) shows up and channels he observed a fight between the Tajomaru describes the fight
the spirit of the dead samurai, who bandit and the samurai, but that between himself and the samurai as
gives his version of events. Finally, it was a messy scrap between a heroic struggle between two master
the woodcutter relates what he two physical cowards. swordsmen. The woodcutter saw it as
a brawl between two terrified men.
saw. Each of the stories is radically On the surface, Rashomon is
different, and in its own way a whodunit: it sets up a mystery,
entirely self-serving. introduces the the evidence, and asks the audience
The bandit asserts suspects, presents to draw its own conclusions. But
that he killed the there’s a problem. Kurosawa is more
samurai in a heroic interested in the elusive nature of
battle; the woman The movie truth than he is in capturing it—
claims not to recall the established he refuses to provide the audience
moment, but suggests Kurosawa as an with a definitive account of what
that she stabbed her internationally happened in the glade.
husband on seeing his renowned filmmaker. Shot in an unfussy, austere
expression after the It also made a star of style, Rashomon relies on subtle
Toshirô Mifune (the
rape; the samurai bandit), with whom symbolic imagery to communicate
claims to have killed Kurosawa would make its ideas about memory and truth.
himself; and the 16 movies between The curtain of rain, tinted black by
woodcutter says that 1948 and 1964. Kurosawa so that it would show up ❯❯
112 RASHOMON
Forests have always had a primal
Four conflicting versions of events association with the human
imagination—as dark places
The bandit’s version The samurai’s version located far from civilization. In
• He tricked the samurai • The bandit raped his wife; the traditional folklores of many
and tied him to a tree she chose to go with the bandit cultures, forests are the sites of
• He seduced the samurai’s • The bandit gave him a choice: magical, inexplicable encounters.
wife, after initial resistance let his wife go, or kill her as The earliest known Japanese prose
• The wife convinced him to punishment for her infidelity narrative, The Tale of the Bamboo
fight a duel with the samurai; • His wife fled, followed by Cutter, also known as Princess
he defeated him honorably the bandit; he killed himself Kaguya, is a 10th-century fable
in which a lonely and childless
woodsman stumbles across a
The wife’s version The woodcutter’s version phantasmal infant in the depths
• The bandit raped her • The bandit begged the of a forest.
• She begged her husband to samurai’s wife to marry him;
instead she freed the samurai Kurosawa’s movie reaches
kill her to save her honor
back to such folklore with its rural
• She fainted, holding • The wife encouraged the
bandit and the samurai to duel setting, its archetypal characters,
the dagger, and awoke
and its notion that what we see
to find her husband dead • They dueled pathetically,
and the bandit won by luck is shaped unconsciously by our
deepest fears and desires. The
movie even features an abandoned
child at the end, whom the
on camera, divides the present from leads the viewer away from reality woodsman takes home with him
the past, which is sun-dappled in and into the febrile undergrowth as the rain stops.
flashbacks. The forbidding gate of the subconscious; the forest
symbolizes the viewer’s gateway clearing is an enchanted space in Embellishing stories
to the world of the movie, a realm in which the drama of the samurai’s Kurosawa has said that humans
which nothing is what it seems and death will unfold again and again, cannot help embellishing stories
no one can be trusted. each time in a different way. about themselves, and this is what
The glade is also symbolic. We
first see it through the woodcutter’s
eyes as he traipses deep into the Just think. Which one of these
forest at the beginning of the
first flashback. In this beautiful,
stories do you believe?
wordless sequence, Kurosawa The commoner / Rashomon
Minute by minute
00:07 00:17 00:51 01:11
The woodcutter says At the inquest, Tajomaru tells The dead samurai tells The woodcutter
that he was the first his version of events, in which the his version through a medium. describes a desperate
person to find the body of wife begs him not to leave, and he He says that his wife and fight between the
the samurai, and also the cuts her husband loose so that Tajomaru ran off, and that samurai and the
person who found Tajomaru. they may fight for her honor. he stabbed himself. bandit, in which
both shake with fear.
00:00 00:15 00:30 00:45 01:00 01:15 01:28
00:12 00:39 01:20

The priest recounts The wife tells her story. 01:03 A baby is found
how he saw the She says that she fainted, At the gate, the woodcutter crying at the gate.
samurai before he only to come round to find says that he saw everything. The woodcutter
died, leading a the dagger in her husband’s He says the husband did not offers to take the
woman on a horse chest. She then tried to want to fight, and wanted his baby home with him
through the woods. drown herself. wife to kill herself. as the rain abates.
FEAR AND WONDER 113

happens in Rashomon’s glade: four sleight-of-hand potboiler plots of truth remains elusive because no one
people witness a simple chain of The Usual Suspects (1995) and can agree on what happened. What
events, but they interpret it through Gone Girl (2014). However, rarely is certain is that Rashomon was one
the filter of their own imaginations. do the imitators dare to withhold of the most influential movies of the
Each of them transforms what they a satisfying solution, as Kurosawa 20th century. It set box-office records
have seen into a story. These stories does at the end of his masterpiece. for a subtitled movie and acted as
are not lies, however, but tricks of We never find out who killed the a gateway through which Western
the mind—indeed, with Rashomon, samurai, nor what really happened moviegoers could look for the first
Kurosawa suggests that there is no between the woman and the time at the beguiling, unfamiliar
such thing as objective truth. bandit, but we do see the world of Japanese cinema. And
Since the movie’s release in characters change as they sift each of those moviegoers would
1950, the primary storytelling through their own recollections. have seen something different. ■
device of Rashomon has been
borrowed and imitated countless The Rashomon effect In the wife’s story, she offers her
times, from the American remake The “Rashomon effect” has entered husband a knife to kill her after she
in 1964, The Outrage, a Western language as shorthand for any sees a look of disgust on his face
starring Paul Newman, to the situation, in art or life, in which the following the rape.
114
I AM BIG. IT’S THE

PICTURES THAT
GOT SMALL
SUNSET BOULEVARD / 1950
A
t one point in Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard is a blackly comic
IN CONTEXT Sunset Boulevard, faded elegy to Hollywood’s silent age, and
silent-movie star Norma the movie is filled with faces from
GENRE
Desmond (Gloria Swanson) flashes those glory days, including Buster
Drama
a look at the audience. “We didn’t Keaton, looking time ravaged at a
DIRECTOR need dialogue. We had faces!” card table, and legendary director
Billy Wilder she says, as her eyes shine with Cecil B. DeMille, both playing
madness, sorrow, and fear. Norma’s themselves in wry, self-deprecating
WRITERS cracked state of mind, and her fall cameos. Norma’s servant Max is
Charles Brackett, from sanity and fame, can all be played by Erich von Stroheim,
Billy Wilder seen in that single close-up. another famous director of the
STARS
Joe dresses in white tie and
Gloria Swanson, William tails for Norma’s New Year’s
Holden, Erich von Eve party, only to find that she
Stroheim, Nancy Olson has invited no other guests
and is trying to woo him.
BEFORE
1928 Gloria Swanson’s silent
movie career peaks with
Sadie Thompson, a drama
set in the South Pacific.
1944 Double Indemnity is Billy
Wilder’s classic film noir about
the double dealings at an LA
insurance company.
AFTER
1959 Wilder shows his
versatility with Some Like It
Hot, a comedy in which Tony
Curtis and Jack Lemmon dress
in drag to escape the mob.
FEAR AND WONDER 115

What else to watch: A Star is Born (1937) ■ All About Eve (1950, p.332) ■
Some Like It Hot (1959, pp.148–49) ■ Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
Wilder’s movie marked

an extraordinary screen
comeback for Gloria Swanson.
She effectively retired from
movies afterward.
with the reclusive

Norma when she asks
him to write her comeback
movie. The aging diva is
convinced that her millions Billy Wilder
of fans are waiting, “out Director
there in the dark,” for her
return to the silver screen. “Nobody’s perfect” is the final
silent era. Swanson herself had Joe reluctantly moves into the line of Billy Wilder’s Some Like
been a huge star of the silent star’s creepy mansion on Sunset It Hot. All Wilder’s movies are
screen, so in taking on the role of Boulevard, and Norma falls in based on this simple truth—
the deranged Miss Desmond, she love with the young writer, who with characters whose flaws
are fascinating, from Fred
creates a grotesque parody of her is drawn into her delusions. Joe
MacMurray’s Walter Neff in
celebrity self. eventually tries to escape Norma Double Indemnity to Robert
The movie tells the story of Joe and salvage what little dignity he Stephens’s detective in The
Gillis (William Holden), a down-on- has left, but we know things end Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
his-luck screenwriter who falls in badly for him because his story is (1970). As a filmmaker, Wilder
told in flashback; at the start of the himself was as close to perfect
movie he is a corpse floating in a as it’s possible to get.
swimming pool. “The poor dope. Born in Austria in 1909,
He always wanted a pool,” is Joe’s Samuel “Billy” Wilder fled the
narration—a gallows-humor gag Nazis to make his directorial
told from beyond the grave. debut in Paris. In the 1930s
he came to Hollywood, where
Silent tribute he wrote movies with Charles
Wilder’s movies are celebrated for Brackett. Double Indemnity,
his collaboration with novelist
their cynical dialogue and one-
Raymond Chandler, is often
liners—“You’ll make a rope of words
credited as the first film
and strangle this business!” is one noir. His later movies were
of Norma’s most memorable lines— mostly comic, but retained
but there is also a suggestion of the cynical bite—and eye
melancholia in Sunset Boulevard. for human weakness—of
Beneath his cynicism, Wilder’s his earlier tragedies. He
reverence for a vanished era is died in 2002.
obvious. Ultimately, while there
is a glittering monstrousness to Key movies
the deluded Norma, she is also
1944 Double Indemnity
a tragic figure. Wilder suggests
1945 The Lost Weekend
that she may have a point about 1950 Sunset Boulevard
the movies: that they lost some 1955 The Seven Year Itch
of their magic when their stars 1959 Some Like It Hot
began to talk. ■
116
I HAVE ALWAYS RELIED

ON THE KINDNESS
OF STRANGERS
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE / 1951
T
here isn’t much
IN CONTEXT kindness on
display in
GENRE
A Streetcar Named
Drama
Desire, which tells the
DIRECTOR story of Blanche Dubois
Elia Kazan (Vivien Leigh), a woman
whose past catches up
WRITERS with her one stifling
Tennessee Williams, summer’s evening in
Oscar Saul (screenplay); New Orleans. “Deliberate
Tennessee Williams (play) cruelty,” she says, “is the
one unforgivable thing.” One of only two movies in history to
STARS win three Academy Awards for acting,
When she comes to stay with
Marlon Brando, Vivien A Streetcar Named Desire made a
her younger sister Stella (Kim
Leigh, Kim Hunter, Hunter), Blanche thinks she is household name out of its star, the
Karl Malden now legendary Marlon Brando.
running away from her former life
BEFORE as a scandal-hounded teacher.
1950 Tennessee Williams In reality, she is running toward attack. This taut adaptation of
adapts his own play, The Glass a cataclysm of destruction and Tennessee Williams’s play sparked
Menagerie, for the screen. It is cruelty in the hulking shape of outrage when its director, Elia
a thematic companion piece to Stella’s husband, Stanley Kowalski Kazan, first screened it for Warner
(Marlon Brando). Blanche has a Bros., and he was forced to cut five
A Streetcar Named Desire.
horror of the naked truth, which minutes from his movie before the
AFTER she has a habit of disguising with studio’s executives would release it.
1954 Elia Kazan is reunited illusions and wily fantasies: “I don’t
with Marlon Brando to make tell the truth. I tell what ought to be Controversial themes
On the Waterfront. the truth!” The moment Blanche These small but crucial edits
arrives at Stella’s apartment, papered over the more sordid
1958 Elizabeth Taylor and Stanley scents her fear, and a game aspects of the story—Blanche’s
Paul Newman star in Cat on a of cat and mouse ensues. He is a “nymphomania,” her late husband’s
Hot Tin Roof, another blistering predator who resents his sister-in- secret homosexuality, Stella’s lust
adaptation of a Williams play. law’s snooty put-downs, and the for Stanley, and the climactic rape—
game ends with a violent sexual inadvertently mirroring the self-
FEAR AND WONDER 117

What else to watch: A Place in the Sun (1951) ■ The Wild One (1953) ■
Rebel Without a Cause (1955, p.131) ■ The Rose Tattoo (1955) ■ Baby Doll (1956)
delusional madness of its central the inner life of the brutish Stanley,
character. However, the movie was and the results are truly volcanic.
also criticized for its staginess, and it The performance made Brando
is true that Kazan refuses to open up into a star, but even he could not
the drama beyond the four peeling outshine Vivien Leigh’s flickering,
walls of Stella and Stanley’s poky, iridescent portrait of a woman
run-down love nest. But it is the haunted by her own desires.
movie’s claustrophobic atmosphere “Whoever you are,” she says at the
that becomes the source of its end of the movie, her Southern-belle
electricity—the actors prowl and accent fluttering delicately around
pace the set like caged animals, the sad truth at the heart of her Elia Kazan
straying into each other’s territories self, “I have always relied on the Director
and overstepping their marks. kindness of strangers.” ■
This is especially true of Turkish-born US director Elia
Brando. A student of the “Method” Kazan was one of the most
approach to creating a character, he famous practitioners of the
dedicated himself to unearthing “Method” technique
developed by Lee Strasberg,
which encouraged actors to
Stella’s
husband
draw on their personal
Stanley experiences and to “become”
has a brutish the characters they played.
attraction for In the 1930s, he joined New
Blanche, but York’s experimental Group
his attentions Theatre and triumphed on
quickly turn Broadway, cofounding the
to abuse. Actors Studio in 1947. By
the mid-1950s he was a
major player in Hollywood.
In 1952, Kazan testified
before the House Un-
American Activities
Committee. Having been
a member of the American
Communist Party, he
informed on eight former
colleagues who had been
communists. He resumed
his career but his focus
changed from controversial
movies to historical allegories,
such as an adaptation of John
Steinbeck’s East of Eden.
Key movies
1951 A Streetcar Named Desire

1954 On the Waterfront
1955 East of Eden
1961 Splendor in the Grass
118
IT’S A HARD WORLD

FOR LITTLE THINGS
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER / 1955
U
pon its release, The Night with its use of exaggerated framing
IN CONTEXT of the Hunter was such a shots and shadow to create
critical and commercial an escalating mood of dread.
GENRE
failure that actor-turned-director Contemporary audiences were,
Thriller, horror
Charles Laughton never directed perhaps, confused when their
DIRECTOR another movie. The movie was expectations were confounded, but
Charles Laughton marketed as, and appeared to be, over time the movie has established
a film noir, an idea reinforced by itself as a key work of American
WRITERS the casting of genre mainstay cinema, a modern-day fairy tale
James Agee (screenplay); Robert Mitchum in the lead role. Yet unafraid of reveling in its darkness,
Davis Grubb (novel) it has more in common with 1920s both literally and figuratively.
German Expressionist horror movies
STARS
than it does with hard-boiled noir, Wolf in sheep’s clothing
Robert Mitchum, Shelley
This is the story of a psychopath
Winters, Lillian Gish in preacher’s clothing, Harry Powell
BEFORE (Mitchum), a con man who seduces
1933 Charles Laughton wins and murders women. The action is
an Oscar for the lead role in set in the Great Depression, which
The Private Life of Henry VIII. has driven desperate family man
Charles finally had very little Ben Harper to attempt a bank
1947 Robert Mitchum makes respect for [screenwriter] Agee. robbery. Harper is caught and
his name in film noir with And he hated the script, but sentenced to death for murdering
Build My Gallows High. he was inspired by his hatred. two people during the robbery.
Elsa Lanchester Powell shares a cell with Harper
AFTER
Charles Laughton’s wife while Harper awaits execution. He
1962 In Cape Fear, Mitchum
learns that the condemned man
again plays an ex-con who has hidden $10,000 with his family.
terrorizes a family, pitted On his release, Powell sets out to
against lawyer Gregory Peck. ingratiate himself with Harper’s
widow, Willa (Shelley Winters), and
FEAR AND WONDER 119

What else to watch: M (1931, pp.46–47) ■ Build My Gallows High (1947, p.332) ■ Angel Face (1952) ■
Les Diaboliques (1955) ■ Touch of Evil (1958, p.333) ■ Cape Fear (1962)
her two children. Willa is to be the dialogue. For instance, encroaching Light and shade are used to frame
next hapless victim of his creepy threat is conveyed by the overtly key images. As Powell stands over
yet all too smooth preacher act. styled framing of the children’s Willa, knife in hand, her bedroom
is converted by the shadows into
hiding place in a barn, juxtaposed a perverted church.
Light and shadow with Powell on the distant horizon,
One of the most notable aspects or by the way shadows overwhelm
of The Night of the Hunter is a bedroom, leaving what little light image of a corrupted altar in a
how powerfully it communicates remains to create the effect of an church mirrors Powell’s own status
significance in ways other than altar as Powell murders Willa. The as a false prophet, an amoral man
who uses the word of God to serve
his own nefarious purposes.
She’ll not be back. I reckon I’m safe The use of high-contrast black-
and-white photography also helps
in promising you that. to highlight the contrast between
Harry Powell / The Night of the Hunter good and evil in the movie. ❯❯
120 THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER

Menace and meaning are further Its lyrics are about the peace and subsequently disappears. He
conveyed through the use of song. joy believers find in the arms of appears to be the picture of
Harry Powell appropriates a hymn the Lord. In the small town that charity, and a trusted authority
“Leaning on the everlasting arms,” he infiltrates, Powell poses as a figure—but his true intentions
which he sings to himself as he man of God whom the bereaved are to abuse, exploit, and steal.
hunts the children, Pearl and John. Willa can lean on as she copes
with the loss of her husband, and Magical realism
Powell uses his tattoos to tell whom the local community trusts As John and Pearl escape Powell’s
a moralizing tale of love and hate, with the care of clutches in a rowboat that carries
but Rachel Cooper can see right the children them away by river, their journey
through him. after she into a dangerous unknown is
conveyed by song, rather than
dialogue. Pearl sings of a fly
soaring up to the
moon. A tiny thing
in a vast world,
the fly does not
know what perils
lie before it, yet it
goes anyway, for
there is no other
course. The song adds to
the expressionistic feel of the
movie, creating a sense of
magical realism.
FEAR AND WONDER 121

The widow Willa is
won over by the phoney
charm of the false
preacher, who brings
horror into her home.
down to the cellar by

candlelight. These scenes
terrify audiences because
they tap into an innate
fear: the violation of the
home, the place where
people should feel safe.
Fairy-tale ending Charles Laughton

Eventually, the children are
taken in by the kindly and
Director
wise Rachel Cooper (played
Charles Laughton was born
by Hollywood veteran of the in 1899 in Scarborough, in the
silent era Lillian Gish), an old north of England. He trained
woman who has adopted a at RADA, the London dramatic
number of children that have arts academy, which enabled
Horror in the home fallen victim to the Depression. him to get his first acting work
In the 1970s, movies such as Like a fairy godmother, Rachel on the London stage.
Halloween and The Exorcist were protects Pearl and John—but He made his Hollywood
praised for domesticating horror, Powell is not yet finished, and movie debut with the 1932
bringing it out of the abandoned the children are not yet safe. movie The Old Dark House,
asylums and castles and into the The Night of the Hunter is hard starring opposite Boris Karloff.
home. Yet, 20 years earlier, The to categorize, which may explain His most iconic role came a
Night of the Hunter had already why, on its release, it was met with year later, starring as the title
done this. Terror is built up during incomprehension. It is experimental, character in The Private Life
of Henry VIII, a performance
the movie as Powell ingratiates his with close stylistic ties to German
that won him the Academy
way into John and Pearl’s family, Expressionism. Scene after scene Award for best actor in 1933.
seducing their mother with his hovers on the cusp between dream Laughton went on to star in
religious fervor. One by one, he and nightmare, real and surreal. such movies as Mutiny on the
violates the domestic norms that Above all, it is a terrifying but Bounty (1935), Jamaica Inn
are supposed to make the children hopeful fairy tale—candid in its (1939), and Spartacus (1960).
feel safe in his care. Rather than depiction of the evil Powell, but also Laughton’s only foray
nurturing and feeding them as insistent on the possibility that evil into directing was with The
expected, he starves them in his can be fought. It is a story of love Night of the Hunter. Although
attempt to make them confess and hate, the words tattooed on it has gained critical mass
where the money is hidden. The Powell’s knuckles. These two over the years, the movie’s
sense of menace becomes almost elemental forces collide in one of the initial box-office failure
unbearable as he leads them most magical movies ever made. ■ discouraged him, and he did
not direct again. He died in
California in 1962.
Salvation is a last-minute Key movie
business, boy.
1955 The Night of the Hunter
Harry Powell / The Night of the Hunter
122
WHAT’S THE FIRST THING

AN ACTOR LEARNS? “THE
SHOW MUST GO ON!”
SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN / 1952
F
rom A Star Is Born in 1937 corrupting influence of fame and
IN CONTEXT to The Artist in 2011, the money, and the compromises they
movie industry has exhibited make for the sake of their careers,
GENRE
a narcissistic obsession with itself. many filmmakers have made satires
Musical, satire
Drawing on its own experiences of about the movies. Singin’ in the Rain
DIRECTORS studios stifling creativity, the approaches the movie industry
Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen with more affection than others.
It sees Hollywood, despite its
WRITERS decadence and eccentricities, as
Betty Comden, a place where talent can thrive,
Adolph Green and it remains one of the finest
examples of why that optimism
STARS
is justified: a movie so brimming
Gene Kelly, Donald
with creativity and invention
O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds that more than 60 years later, it
BEFORE retains the capacity to inspire
1927 The Jazz Singer is the and entertain.
world’s first feature-length
“talkie.” It is mentioned in the End of an era
plot of Singin’ in the Rain. Singin’ in the Rain is set in the
late 1920s, toward the end of
1945 For Anchors Aweigh, the silent-movie era, and it
Kelly was given free rein to deals with the need for a
create his own dance routines. studio and its silent star, Don
Lockwood (Gene Kelly), to
AFTER
2011 The Artist revisits the
end of silent movies and the Singin’ in the Rain is
considered one of the all-time
birth of cinematic sound.
great musicals for its gentle
satirizing of Hollywood mores.
FEAR AND WONDER 123

What else to watch: The Jazz Singer (1927, p.330) ■ Top Hat (1935) ■ A Star Is Born (1937) ■ Anchors Aweigh (1945) ■
Ziegfeld Follies (1945) ■ On the Town (1949) ■ Sunset Boulevard (1950, pp.114-15) ■ An American in Paris (1951)
change with the times. Unless he making with his shallow co-star, In one of Don’s (Gene Kelly’s)
can learn to work with synchronized Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), is being flashback career moments, we see
sound, Don is destined, in his words, reshot for sound. The cast and crew him becoming a big Broadway star
to become “a museum piece.” are out of their depth with the new and performing Gotta Dance.
His position very much mirrors technology; for example, even the
the status of the musical as a genre talented Don asks for dialogue to be mistakes he makes on account of
at the time that Singin’ in the Rain replaced with him repeating “I love that anxiety, but it is also about the
was released: in 1952, it was a you,” unaware of how wooden that eclipsing of the musical by other
format whose heyday seemed to be will sound in a “talkie.” The scene genres of movie.
passing. There is one memorable addresses his fears of replacement,
sequence when The Dueling as his skills and methodology The arc of creativity
Cavalier, a silent movie Don is become redundant, and the One of the key themes of Singin’
in the Rain is the undignified and
humiliating work that creative people
If we bring a little joy into your are willing to do in order to get ahead
humdrum lives, it makes us feel as in the industry. This is highlighted
in three stories within the movie.
though our hard work ain’t been in In the first, Don reminisces to a
vain for nothin’. journalist on the red carpet at a
premiere. As he waxes lyrical about
Lina Lamont / Singin’ in the Rain his dignified rise to stardom, the ❯❯
124 SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN

Actress Cyd Charisse as herself is
Kelly’s sensational dance partner in the
“Broadway Melody” musical sequence.
movie star from the moment we

meet him, yet he is not truly
successful until the last scene, when
he is in his element, having become
a musical star instead of a silent
actor, and is with the girl he loves,
Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds),
instead of the self-serving Lina. The
movie takes an optimistic view,
suggesting that the path to finding
your creative self is long and
difficult, but if you have the talent
and conviction, as Don does, you’ll
eventually get to where you belong.
Singin’ in the Rain stands out
in the pantheon of musicals for
viewer is shown a montage that performer and is then corrupted a number of reasons. It takes a
contradicts his words. He is seen by fame and adulation, before self-deprecating look at its own
working his way up from rock eventually rediscovering why he craft, and it features several iconic
bottom as a musical performer, as wanted to sing and dance in the musical numbers (from the titular
he and his partner Cosmo Brown first place. The final story is that of Singin’ in the Rain to the comedic
(Donald O’Connor) perform in dive the movie itself, in which Don Make ’em Laugh), but above all
bars, get booed off the stage, and evolves from a silent star to his true it has endured because it speaks
stand in the unemployment line. vocation as a musical performer. to a timeless fascination: the
The second story takes place within The movie uses these stories celebration and power of talent.
the extended fantasy sequence to examine just what it is that While many movies portray the
“Broadway Melody,” in which Don constitutes artistic success. It is eventual corruption of talent and
arrives on Broadway as an eager not the same as simply making it, creative ambition, Singin’ in the
and getting rich—it is about the Rain salutes genuine talent as
artist doing what he or she loves an irrepressible force that will
without compromise. Don is a always prevail. ■
Gene Kelly Actor

One of this movie’s pleasures Gene Kelly was starred in, won several Oscars,
is that it’s really about born in 1912 in including Best Picture. Singin’ in
something. Of course it’s Pittsburgh, PA, the Rain was a modest success
about romance, as most and became a upon release, but its popularity
musicals are, but it’s also dance teacher soon grew. Kelly died in 1996.
about the film industry in a before making it to Broadway.
period of dangerous transition. His big break came in 1940 when Key movies
Roger Ebert he got the lead role in Rodgers
and Hart’s show, Pal Joey. 1945 Anchors Aweigh
Anchors Aweigh gave Kelly his 1946 Ziegfeld Follies
first and last Oscar nomination 1951 An American in Paris
for best actor, although An 1952 Singin’ in the Rain
American in Paris, which Kelly 1960 Inherit the Wind
FEAR AND WONDER 125

Don is finally in
his element as a
song-and-dance
man, not a silent
movie star, as
he performs the
movie’s titular
musical number.
126
LET’S GO
HOME
TOKYO STORY / 1953
T
okyo Story The movie depicts
IN CONTEXT was made Japan at a moment of
in the wake profound change, but
GENRE its story of familial
of the decades of
Drama disintegration
militarism in Japan resonated with
DIRECTOR that culminated in audiences
Yasujirô Ozu catastrophic defeat in worldwide.
World War II. Ripples
WRITERS from the war can be
Kôgo Noda, Yasujirô Ozu detected in it, but unlike As the title
STARS many Japanese movies suggests, Tokyo
of the postwar period, Story is a simple
Chishû Ryû, Chieko
Yasujirô Ozu’s movie tale. The movie is
Higashiyama, Sô
remains even-keeled more a carefully
Yamamura, Kuniko Miyaki
throughout. Its characters curated collection
BEFORE go about their lives of moments than a drama, and
1949 The first great movie in without fuss, and it ends with a concerns relations within a family.
Ozu’s final period, Late Spring, quiet tragedy that mirrors Japan’s Shukichi (Chishû Ryû) and Tomi
is an example of shomin-geki, somber introspection at the time. (Chieko Higashiyama) have four
a story of ordinary people’s lives
in post-war Japan. Yasujirô Ozu Director
1951 Ozu continues his Often described as the most them focused in some way on
preoccupation with the state Japanese of filmmakers, Yasujirô the changing rhythms of family
of the Japanese family with Ozu is also the most accessible life in the modern age. His
Early Summer. of the great directors to emerge “Noriko Trilogy,” of which Tokyo
from that country in the postwar Story was the last, all starred
AFTER period. His unfussy style Setsuko Hara as Noriko.
1959 In Ozu’s Floating Weeds, won him the reputation of a
a group of kabuki theater minimalist—but his movies Key movies
actors arrive in a seaside town, are busy with the rich detail of
where the lead actor meets his human life and drama. Between 1949 Late Spring
son for the first time. 1927 and 1962, Ozu directed 1951 Early Summer
more than 50 features. All of 1953 Tokyo Story
FEAR AND WONDER 127

What else to watch: Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family (1941) ■ There Was a Father (1942) ■ The Flavor of Green Tea
Over Rice (1952) ■ Tokyo Twilight (1957) ■ Equinox Flower (1958) ■ Good Morning (1959) ■ The End of Summer (1961)
The children return home for

Tomi’s funeral. Over the funeral
dinner, the conversation turns into
a discussion of the inheritance
with almost indecent speed.
children: Kyoko (Kyoko Kagawa), an

unmarried daughter who lives with
them at home; Keizo (Shiro Osaka),
their youngest son, who works in
Osaka; Koichi (Sô Yamamura), a
doctor living in Tokyo with a wife
and two sons of his own; and Shige
(Haruko Sugimura), also a Tokyoite,
who runs a beauty salon. A fifth
child, a son, died in World War II.
A journey
Shukichi and Tomi decide to pay a
visit to their children in Tokyo and
meet their grandchildren for the
first time, and embark on a train
trip to the hurly-burly of the city.
They are unfailingly positive and
polite, but viewers sense the pair’s
disappointment in the way their
offspring have turned out. None
of the children make time for their
parents in their busy schedules. down, at the eye level of a person acceptance between them,
Indeed, it seems that Noriko seated on a tatami mat. Characters an acknowledgment that their
(Setsuko Hara), the widow of their come and go, moving in and out of shared role as parents has become
dead son, is the only person who the frame, but Ozu sees everything, redundant. This sparse exchange
cares about them. At one point, as though a silent and invisible is typical of the couple’s interaction
the parents are packed off by observer planted in every scene. in that few words are spoken but
Koichi to a coastal spa, so that the The camera’s positioning is all much is said. It is also Ozu’s way
room in which they are staying can about tradition, just as the story it of telling stories on film: a small
be used for a business meeting. records is about the mutation of and fleeting moment that contains
family life and an ancient culture huge significance.
Static observer in the age of modernity. The couple is sitting on a sea
This funny-sad odyssey is observed “Let’s go home,” says Shukichi wall in their spa gowns. As Tomi
in Ozu’s trademark style: through to his wife after a few days. “Yes,” gets up, she has a dizzy spell. “It’s
a static camera positioned low replies Tomi. In their words is an because I didn’t sleep well,” she
explains to her concerned husband.
Shukichi’s face tells us what he is
This place is meant for the thinking: she is going home to die,
younger generation. which she does a few days later.
Now it is the turn of their children
Shukichi / Tokyo Story to make a journey for the family. ■
128
WHEN I WAS A KID I USED

TO SEE MEN GO OFF ON
THESE KIND OF JOBS—
AND NOT COME BACK
THE WAGES OF FEAR / 1953
H
enri-Georges Clouzot’s village. When they are hired by a
IN CONTEXT The Wages of Fear is a ruthless US oil company, they think
juggernaut of suspense it’s their ticket out. But they are told
GENRE
driven by greed and desperation. to drive trucks of nitroglycerine
Drama
A contemporary and friendly rival across a wilderness of potholes,
DIRECTOR of Alfred Hitchcock, Clouzot crumbling ledges, and rickety
Henri-Georges Clouzot succeeds in gripping the viewer bridges to put out an oil fire hundreds
with a nerve-wracking story. Four of miles away. Not everyone is
WRITERS men, Mario (Yves Montand), Jo expected to make it back alive.
Henri-Georges Clouzot, (Charles Vanel), Luigi (Folco Lulli), The movie exhibits a low opinion
Jérôme Géronimi and Bimba (Peter van of men’s motives, and an even lower
(screenplay); Georges Eyck), are desperate to one of the aggressive capitalism that
Arnaud (novel) escape life in a grim exploits them, but first and foremost
South American it’s a movie about terror: a white-
STARS
knuckle adrenaline ride. From the
Yves Montand, Charles treacherous road that threatens
Vanel, Peter van Eyck, Mario (Yves the trucks, to the fire-and-
Folco Lulli Montand)
accidentally brimstone finale, each set piece
BEFORE runs over Jo is more gut-wrenchingly tense
1943 Clouzot’s caustic drama (Charles than the one before. ■
Le Corbeau tells the story Vanel) in
a pool
of a poison-pen writer who of oil.
signs his missives “The Raven.”
1947 Clouzot’s third movie,
Quai des Orfèvres, is a crime
drama set in postwar Paris.
AFTER
1955 In Clouzot’s taut and
twist-filled Les Diaboliques,
two women take revenge on What else to watch: Le Corbeau (1943) ■ Eyes Without a Face (1960) ■
a sadistic headmaster. Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno (1964) ■ Duel (1971)

FEAR AND WONDER 129
BUT IF WE DON’T USE YOUR

DEVICE AGAINST GODZILLA
WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?
GODZILLA / 1954
G
odzilla (Gojira in Japanese) new threats and mass devastation.
IN CONTEXT is a low-budget monster Honda is bold in his use of images
movie in which a giant ripped straight from his country’s
GENRE
lizard rises from the Pacific Ocean recent memory: huge, white-hot
Science fiction
and attacks Tokyo. For all the explosions that turn night into day;
DIRECTOR clumsiness of its special effects, Tokyoites cowering in concrete
Ishirô Honda the monster of Ishiro Honda’s movie bunkers as cityscapes crumble to
resonated powerfully with its rubble. The only hope of defeating
WRITERS audiences in 1954. Godzilla is a device called the
Takeo Murata, Ishirô The creature remains “oxygen destroyer,”
Honda (screenplay); mostly in shadow as an another grim
Shigeru Kayama (story) indistinct threat, while invention of human
the grainy, black-and- progress. Honda, a
STARS
white imagery is nature lover, saw his
Akira Takarada, Momoko
chillingly reminiscent lizard-king as Earth’s
Kôchi, Akihiko Hirata, of newsreel footage revenge for science’s
Takashi Shimura from August 1945, environmental
BEFORE when atom bombs recklessness.
1949 Ishirô Honda works as were dropped on Japan
assistant director on Stray in the final days of Mega franchise
Dog, a film noir directed by World War II. Japanese Godzilla spawned a
his friend Akira Kurosawa. viewers were therefore franchise of monster
no strangers to the proportions, with
1953 In Honda’s Eagle of the concept of horrific sequels stretching from
Pacific, special effects are 1955’s Godzilla Raids
created by Eiji Tsuburaya, who Again to the US
Honda saw Godzilla
would go on to create Godzilla. as means of absorbing blockbuster of 2014,
the trauma of the atom although the creature
AFTER itself has become an
bomb attacks into
1961 Atomic tests summon Japanese culture. icon of kitsch. ■
another monster in Honda’s
movie Mothra, about a giant What else to watch: King Kong (1933, p.49) ■ The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
moth terrorizing Tokyo. (1953) ■ Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971) ■ Monsters (2010) ■ Pacific Rim (2013)
130
JUST WAIT UNTIL YOU

SEE YOUR MOTHER.
SHE’S NEVER LOOKED
SO RADIANT
ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS / 1955
D
ouglas Sirk was a director kids object, Cary breaks off the
IN CONTEXT skilled at balancing the affair. Beneath this tragedy is an
conventional with the indictment of small-town America’s
GENRE
subversive. His lush Hollywood moral codes, which contrived to
Romantic drama
melodramas were the chick flicks keep women in their place.
DIRECTOR of the 1950s: a parade of magazine- “The community saw to it,”
Douglas Sirk cover movie stars dressed and lit says Cary’s daughter early in the
to perfection, falling in and out of movie, as she explains an ancient
WRITERS love against a backdrop of cherry- Egyptian custom in which widows
Peg Fenwick (screenplay); blossom suburbia. But these big- were buried alive in the tombs
Edna L. Lee, Harry Lee screen soaps contained dark depths of their husbands. “Of course, it
(story) that were disguised by Sirk’s craft, doesn’t happen anymore.” But Sirk
and none more so than All That shows his audience that it does.
STARS
Heaven Allows. The glossy colors he uses to portray
Jane Wyman, Rock Cary’s suburban cage mock its
Hudson, Agnes Moorehead, Suburban prison ideal image. Every frame
Conrad Nagel On the surface, the movie is a communicates her unhappiness, to
BEFORE love story, in which a widowed the point where even her daughter
1954 Sirk pairs Hudson housewife, Cary (Jane Wyman), admits that it may have been
with Wyman in Magnificent falls for her handsome gardener, wrong to force the breakup with
Obsession, a melodrama Ron (Rock Hudson). Ron doesn’t Ron. Will Cary find the courage to
about a reckless playboy. care about the difference in age or defy the conventions that dictate
social class. Unfortunately others her life? Sirk knew he’d get his
AFTER do, and when Cary’s college-age audience firmly on Cary’s side. ■
1956 In Written on the Wind,
Sirk directs another romance
with Hudson as a working- You were ready for a love affair,
class underdog. but not for love.
1959 Sirk’s Imitation of Life Cary / All That Heaven Allows
tackles gender and race with
the tale of an actress hiring a What else to watch: Written on the Wind (1956) ■ Imitation of Life (1959) ■
widow to care for her daughter. Seconds (1966) ■ Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974, pp.222–23)
FEAR AND WONDER 131
I DON’T THINK THAT

I WANT TO LEARN
THAT WAY
REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE / 1955
T
he title of Nicholas Ray’s father tells him. But Jim rejects his
IN CONTEXT iconic teen movie is parents’ life lessons; he gets into
misleading, because the knife fights at school and races cars
GENRE
movie’s central character is a rebel in a game of “chicken” to prove he
Drama
whose cause could not be more clear: hasn’t inherited their cowardice.
DIRECTOR 17-year-old Jim Stark (James Dean) Rebel Without a Cause spawned
Nicholas Ray wants his parents to stop lying. numerous imitations—teen movies
When Jim starts a new school noisy with sex, drugs, and rock
WRITERS in a new town, his troubled past and roll. But the loudest noise in
Stewart Stern, Irving catches up with him and his home Ray’s movie is the howl of anguish.
Shulman (screenplay); life deteriorates. Jim looks at the He does not exploit his young
Nicholas Ray (story) respectability of his mother and his characters, he sympathizes,
weak, ineffectual father and sees coaxing a powerful performance
STARS
nothing but hypocrisy and failure. from Dean, who came to symbolize
James Dean, Natalie Wood, “You’ll learn when you’re older,” his teen angst for a whole generation. ■
Sal Mineo, Jim Backus
Jim (James
BEFORE Dean) attacks
1948 Ray’s They Live by his father, Frank
Night, about three outlaws (Jim Backus), for
on the run, explores his his cowardice. Jim
is unhinged and
fascination with the outsider. violent, but he’s not
1955 Elia Kazan’s East of a sociopath—he’s a
victim, and his
Eden, the first of James Dean’s cause is the truth.
three movies, is an adaptation
of John Steinbeck’s epic novel.
AFTER
1956 Dean is killed in a car
crash before the family saga
Giant is released, lending
George Stevens’s movie added What else to watch: The Wild One (1953) ■ Bigger than Life (1956) ■
tragic resonance. Easy Rider (1969, pp.196–97) ■ American Graffiti (1973) ■ The Warriors (1979)
132
WHEN I’M BETTER

WE’LL GO AND LOOK
AT THE TRAINS
PATHER PANCHALI / 1955
AGAIN
P
ather Panchali tells the story Apu isn’t the only one who is
IN CONTEXT of Apu (Subir Banerjee), a learning. Ray himself had never
young boy learning about written or directed a movie before;
GENRE
the world around him. He lives with his cast had never acted before, with
Drama
his mother, father, sister, and aunt the exception of Chunibala Devi; the
DIRECTOR in an impoverished Bengali village photographer Subrata Mitra, whose
Satyajit Ray in India. The family edges ever cinematography captures the
closer to financial ruin, but Apu’s languid beauty of an Indian
WRITERS eyes are full of wonder. Although his summer, had never worked
Satyajit Ray (screenplay); life is blighted by despair, he doesn’t with moving images; even
Bibhutibhushan yet know it, and director Satyajit Ravi Shankar, who
Bandyopadhyay (novel) Ray allows the audience to share provides the movie’s
in his protagonist’s innocence. shimmering sitar
STARS
score, and who
Kanu Banerjee, Karuna
would later
Banerjee, Subir Banerjee, be world famous,
Chunibala Devi was a novice.
BEFORE
1948 Vittorio De Sica’s The The family cares
for the elderly Indir
Bicycle Thief inspires Ray Thakrun, played by
to make the story of Apu. Chunibala Devi, who
died before the movie
AFTER was released.
1956 Ray’s follow-up to Pather
Panchali, Aparajito, continues
the story of Apu, who journeys
to a new life in Calcutta.
1959 The final movie in the
“Apu Trilogy,” Apur Sansar
follows the adult Apu on a trip
to a provincial town that will
change his life forever.
FEAR AND WONDER 133

What else to watch: The Bicycle Thief (1948, pp.94–95) ■ Jalsaghar (1958) ■
The Cloud-Capped Star (1960) ■ Charulata (1964) ■ Ashani Sanket (1973)
Satyajit Ray Director

“Never before had one man
had such a decisive impact on
the films of his culture,” wrote
American film critic Roger
Ebert, summing up Satyajit
On the first day of shooting, Ray Sarbojaya Ray (Karuna Banerjee) Ray’s contribution to cinema
had no script, but Apu’s story— tends to her sick daughter Durga
in his review of the
based loosely on the novel by (Uma Das Gupta). She is helpless
to stop a deadly fever. filmmaker’s “Apu Trilogy.”
Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay— Before Ray, Indian movies
was all in the director’s head. He were generally musicals,
had already visualized it in a series “we’ll go and look at the trains again.” romances, and swashbucklers;
of illustrations for the novel, which It’s possible that Durga believes she after Apu, something of what
perhaps explains why so much of will recover, and that Apu believes it meant to be alive in India
Pather Panchali’s beguiling power it too, but the audience knows there had been captured on film,
can be found in its imagery: white- is really no hope. The camera paces and a new cultural tradition
hot light cutting swathes through queasily to and fro in the storm- was born.
the forest; the gathering clouds wracked sickroom, following Apu’s Ray founded Calcutta’s
first film society in 1947. He
of the monsoon; water bugs mother, Sarbojaya, as she watches
was working at an advertising
twitching on a pond; a steam her daughter slip away. It’s a long,
agency when he directed his
train glimpsed on the horizon. heartbreaking moment, and one first feature, Pather Panchali,
that Apu will carry with him to the which won awards in France,
Slow speed end of the movie and beyond, into London, and Venice. This and
Apu and his sister Durga (Uma two more movies about his life. ■ the two other Apu movies all
Das Gupta) delight in running strove for realism, but Ray
alongside the train, whose later experimented with genre
whistle vibrates along the cinema, including fantasy and
wires of vast electricity science fiction. His instinct for
pylons and can be heard character, however, remained
long before the train strong. He died at 70 in 1992.
itself appears. This is Beautiful, sometimes
the fastest moving funny, and full of love. Key movies
thing in Ray’s Pauline Kael 1955 Pather Panchali
tranquil movie.
1956 Aparajito
“When I’m 1959 Apur Sansar
better,” says Durga 1964 Charulata
later on, as she lies 1970 Aranyer Din Ratri
dying of a fever,
134
GET ME TO THAT BUS

STOP AND FORGET YOU
EVER SAW
KISS ME DEADLY / 1955
ME
C
hristina Bailey The movie
IN CONTEXT (Cloris Leachman) used the form
is a mysterious of a pulp-
GENRE fiction crime
blonde with a terrible
Science fiction, crime drama to
secret. She begs private explore the
DIRECTOR eye Mike Hammer (Ralph atmosphere
Robert Aldrich Meeker) to forget he ever of fear and
saw her. For the viewer, paranoia
WRITERS however, nothing about Kiss that had
A. I. Bezzerides Me Deadly is easy developed
(screenplay); Mickey in the US by
to forget, from Christina the 1950s.
Spillane (novel) running barefoot down a
highway at night, her eyes
STARS
wide with fear, to the movie’s
Ralph Meeker, Albert shocking climax.
Dekker, Cloris Leachman, must never, ever
Gaby Rodgers Science fiction meets noir be opened. The paranoid nihilism
BEFORE Robert Aldrich’s crime thriller of 1950s science fiction overlaps
1955 Aldrich adapts Clifford is based on one of a series of with film noir: instead of a priceless
Odets’s play The Big Knife, popular novels about the exploits jewel or a lost statuette, these pulp-
about Hollywood corruption. of thuggish Los Angeles private fiction crooks are fighting over a
eye Mike Hammer. Aldrich uses doomsday weapon. Yet despite its
AFTER the story to explore the weirder bleakness of spirit, Kiss Me Deadly
1962 What Ever Happened pathways of the film-noir detective is highly entertaining. The dialogue
to Baby Jane? is Aldrich’s genre, adding a sinister science- is diamond sharp in every scene.
twisted drama with Bette fiction edge. The movie opens with “The little thread leads you to a
Davis and Joan Crawford. Christina’s escape from a mental string, and the string leads you
institution and veers into a quest to a rope,” wisecracks Velda
1967 In Aldrich’s wartime for “the great whatsit,” a strange (Maxine Cooper), “and from the
thriller The Dirty Dozen, Lee box that is hot to the touch and rope you hang by the neck.” ■
Marvin, John Cassavetes,
Ernest Borgnine, and Charles What else to watch: The Maltese Falcon (1941, p.331) ■ Murder, My Sweet
Bronson form a suicide squad. (1944) ■ The Big Sleep (1946) ■ Touch of Evil (1958, p.333) ■ Repo Man (1984)
FEAR AND WONDER 135
THAT’LL BE
THE DAY
THE SEARCHERS / 1956
F
rom the moment John Westerns of the 1960s. Ford takes
IN CONTEXT Ford gave John Wayne pains to portray the difficulty of
his big break in the 1939 surviving in the West, with its
GENRE
movie Stagecoach, one of the most icy winters and scarcity of food.
Western
iconic partnerships in cinema was Meanwhile, Ethan Edwards is
DIRECTOR born. Wayne’s rugged masculinity portrayed as ruthless, bigoted, and
John Ford combined with Ford’s riveting crazy, a man who would rather kill
action sequences to create movies his niece (who is not happy to be
WRITERS that elevated the Western from rescued) than see her grow up as
Frank S. Nugent B-movie status to a classic popular an Indian. At one point, he shoots
(screenplay); Alan Hollywood genre in its own right. at the eyes of an Indian corpse so
Le May (novel) The Searchers is regarded by that its spirit cannot see in the
critics as the best movie of the Ford– afterlife. This is not a simplistic
STARS
Wayne partnership. Its story follows tale of cowboys and Indians. ■
John Wayne, Jeffrey Ethan Edwards (Wayne) as he
Hunter, Vera Miles tracks down his niece (Vera Miles),
BEFORE who was kidnapped by Indians in
1940 The Grapes of Wrath is an attack that killed her family.
Ford’s screen version of the
famous Depression-era story. New vision of the Old West
Many Westerns benefited from In The Searchers I think Ford
1952 Ford directs John Wayne (and contributed to) the romantic was trying, imperfectly, even
in The Quiet Man, a lavish revisionism of the time, which nervously, to depict racism
comic drama shot in Ireland. presented the Old West as a that justified genocide.
AFTER
dangerous place, but also one Roger Ebert
of noble heroes with clear-cut
1959 In Rio Bravo, Wayne American values. In The Searchers,
stars as a sheriff standing any heroism is tempered by the
up to a powerful rancher. harsh realities of place and time.
1969 True Grit is the story The movie foreshadows the darker
of a young girl who hires an
aging US marshal (Wayne) to What else to watch: Stagecoach (1939) ■ Rio Bravo (1959) ■ The Good, The
track down her father’s killer. Bad and The Ugly (1966) ■ Unforgiven (1992)
136
I HAVE LONG WALKED

BY YOUR SIDE
THE SEVENTH SEAL / 1957
IN CONTEXT
GENRE
Drama
DIRECTOR
Ingmar Bergman
WRITER
Ingmar Bergman (from his
play Wood Painting)
STARS
Max von Sydow, Gunnar
Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot,
Nils Poppe, Bibi Andersson
BEFORE
1955 Bergman’s first hit,
T
Smiles of a Summer Night, is a he Seventh Seal (Det sjunde The knight Antonius Block offers
inseglet) takes the form of Death a game of chess for his life. Death
partner-swapping comedy. agrees to the game, to which they will
a medieval morality play.
AFTER return several times during the movie,
A knight returns from the Crusades
but which Block cannot win.
1957 Bergman’s next movie, to find his native land devastated
Wild Strawberries, is a tale of by plague. He goes to confession in
an old man preparing for death. a church surrounded by corpses. “I The figure reveals itself as Death,
want God to put out his hand, show who has been following the knight
1966 In Persona, Bergman his face, speak to me,” he says to on his journey from the Holy Land.
directs a bleak fable about the hooded figure on the other side Having fought for God in the
death, illness, and insanity. of the grille. “I cry out to him in desert, the knight, Antonius Block
the dark but there is no one there.” (Max von Sydow), is experiencing
FEAR AND WONDER 137

What else to watch: Death Takes a Holiday (1934) ■ The Virgin Spring (1960) ■ Through a Glass Darkly (1961) ■
The Silence (1963) ■ Winter Light (1963) ■ Hour of the Wolf (1968) ■ Cries and Whispers (1972) ■ Love and Death (1975)
What will happen to us who want was taken from the apocalyptic
Book of Revelation) has its roots
to believe, and cannot? in Bergman’s childhood: as the
son of a Lutheran pastor, he was
Antonius Block / The Seventh Seal surrounded by religious art from
a young age. The director was
a crisis of faith. Whereas the his wife Mia (Bibi Andersson). haunted by memories of the crude
Almighty refuses to show Himself, They are traveling players, and they yet graphic representations of Bible
Death (Bengt Ekerot) turns out have a baby son, Mikael, who is stories that could be found in the
to be a certainty with a fondness their hope for the future. Jof and woodcuttings of rural churches and
for morbidly funny one-liners. Mia are creators—of both art and households. As a filmmaker, he
“Appropriate, don’t you think?” says life—and as such they are the dedicated his career to asking the
the Grim Reaper when he chooses enemies of Death, who only knows same, unanswerable question over
black in a game of chess—a game how to destroy. When the knight and over again: where is God? ❯❯
that the knight must win if he encounters them on the road to
wants to live. It is Antonius who his castle, Death not far behind,
suggests the contest, a battle he finds comfort in the couple’s
between black and white, darkness laughter and lust for life. In fact,
and light, death and life. he is reminded of Joseph and
Mary from the Bible—could these
Playing for his life performers be emissaries of God?
The image of the knight and Death
playing chess on the beach has Where is God?
become one of the most iconic— The grim, austere imagery and
and imitated—in the history of obsession with biblical allegory
cinema. It is a starkly monochrome in The Seventh Seal (the title
vignette, the absence of color
symbolic of the absence of God. Squire Jöns (Gunnar
The world of Ingmar Bergman’s Björnstrand) saves
movie is drained of life and a girl (Gunnel
vitality: the water that laps the Lindblom) from a
rapist. He is a just
shore is slate gray, the sky
man, but tires of
above it smudged with dark the venality
clouds; the faces of God’s of human
abandoned subjects are flinty, beings.
bloodless, and unsmiling,
while Death’s is chalk white.
Antonius already
resembles the carved
stone effigy on a
Crusader’s tomb.
There are
two flickers of
hope in this
miserable
landscape:
Jof (Nils
Poppe) and
138 THE SEVENTH SEAL

Feel, to the very end, the
triumph of being alive!
Squire Jöns / The Seventh Seal
The knight searches, but emptiness.” The squire is scornful

he finds nothing. At one of people’s fears and the ignorance
point he happens upon that leads them to burn the witch.
a girl (Maud Hansson)
imprisoned in a cage, Self-flagellation
who is about to be If all of this sounds somewhat
burned at the stake. earnest, that’s because it is.
She is accused of The Seventh Seal is concerned
sleeping with the with the soul and damnation; with
Devil and bringing the man’s masochistic relationship
plague upon the people. with his Creator; and with the
Antonius is hopeful: if howling wilderness that awaits
the Devil exists, then so each of us at the end of the road.
must God. “Look in my Bergman communicates his vast
eyes,” the girl says, as ideas in the simplest and most
she tells him that the striking of images. In one
priest would not come extraordinary sequence, a group
near her. “I see nothing of self-flagellating monks lurches
but terror,” the knight past the camera, some staggering
replies, sadly. The under the heavy weight of crosses,
girl is burned, and others whipping themselves. The
The movie’s original Swedish poster
the knight’s squire, Jöns (Gunnar plague, which they believe to be a
shows death waiting impassively at Björnstrand), can see no meaning punishment from God, has driven
the bottom, with the human characters in her murder. “Look into her eyes,” them insane. Bergman cuts to the
on the black squares of a chessboard. he echoes. “She sees nothing but faces of Jof and Mia as they watch
FEAR AND WONDER 139

this spectacle from their wooden There are light touches of dark
stage, which suddenly resembles humor all over The Seventh Seal,
the platform of a gallows. They and its final image is a cruel joke.
have been singing a comical song “The master leads with scythe and
about death, which they stop as the hourglass,” says Jof, pointing to the
penitents appear. Death spreads all horizon, where the Grim Reaper
around them, like the fog of incense leads his latest victims—including
spread by the monks, infecting and the knight—in a danse macabre
transforming everything in the against the gray sky. “They move
frame. Many onlookers fall to their away from the dawn in a solemn
knees in prayer. It is a powerful, dance, toward the dark country,
wordless metaphor for the human while the rain washes over
condition, blackly comic in its their faces and cleanses their
surreal grotesquery. cheeks of salt.” Ingmar Bergman
Jof is mesmerized by the parade Director
of the dead dancing beneath the
darkening skies, but for some reason Born in Uppsala, Sweden, in
Mia cannot see the phantoms. She 1918, Ingmar Bergman was
tuts affectionately at her husband. the son of a Lutheran chaplain
“You and your dreams and visions,” and was raised in a strict
Regardless of whether I she smiles, and the two of them household. Invariably bleak,
believe or not, whether I am a his movies deal with the major
shake their heads, turn their backs
conflicts at the heart of human
Christian or not, I would play on Death, and return to the business existence: madness versus
my part in the collective of living. ■ sanity, death versus life,
building of the cathedral. nothingness versus God. The
Ingmar Bergman human spirit rarely triumphs
Death leads the dead in a dance
that only Jof can see. The scene was in these battles. The Seventh
improvised at the end of a day’s filming Seal was followed by Wild
on the coast at Hovs Hallar, using Strawberries and, later, a
crew members and a couple of trilogy that explored the
passing tourists. effects of human isolation:
Through a Glass Darkly,
Winter Light, and The
Silence. His celebrated
Persona was the first in
a series inspired by Farö, a
remote island in the Baltic Sea.
Bergman died in 2007.
Key movies
1957 The Seventh Seal

1957 Wild Strawberries
1961 Through a Glass Darkly
1966 Persona
IF I DO WHAT
YOU TELL ME
WILL YOU
LOVE ME?
VERTIGO / 1958
142 VERTIGO
D
irector Alfred Hitchcock’s
IN CONTEXT career was a 50-year-long
duel with the audience.
GENRE
The more they thought they knew
Thriller
about his work, the more he would
DIRECTOR use that knowledge against them. My good luck in life was to be
Alfred Hitchcock He would employ structural devices, a really frightened person. I’m
narrative twists, and other tricks to fortunate to be a coward, to
WRITERS give the audience something they have a low threshold of fear,
Alec Coppel, Samuel Taylor had never seen before. While some because a hero couldn’t make
(screenplay); Pierre Boileau, directors sought to understand the a good suspense film.
Thomas Narcejac (novel) meaning of art or the essence of Alfred Hitchcock
human relationships, Hitchcock
STARS
was the great trickster. Audiences
James Stewart, Kim could never be sure what was
Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes coming next.
BEFORE Vertigo plays the same games
1946 In It’s a Wonderful Life, as the rest of Hitchcock’s catalogue,
James Stewart plays to type but it has come to stand out as eventually earned her own moniker:
as a sympathetic everyman. something more complex. It is the “The Hitchcock Blonde.” Although
story of a retired cop, John “Scottie” this left him open to accusations
1948 In Rope, Stewart teams Ferguson (James Stewart), who is of misogyny, it is also true that his
up with Hitchcock for the first roped in to an investigation into the movies had more leading roles for
of his Technicolor movies. mysterious behavior of Madeleine women than many in Hollywood.
(Kim Novak), the wife of old college Hitchcock’s blonde was cultured,
AFTER
friend Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore). fashionable, and intelligent, but
1959 Eva Marie Saint is He becomes obsessed with her, also icy and initially resistant to
the next “Hitchcock Blonde,” adding an emotional intensity the male hero’s charms. Over the
playing opposite Cary Grant to the movie’s usual magic show. course of the movie, the character’s
in North by Northwest. barriers would be broken down
1960 Hitchcock shocks The Hitchcock Blonde and she would end up in awe of the
audiences with Psycho. As a director, Hitchcock used a hero, her individualism slightly lost
certain type of female character in the process. Hitchock himself
in his movies so frequently that she indicated that blondes were ideal
Alfred Hitchcock Director

Hitchcock was born in London on to have a 30-year career in
in 1899. He started in the movie Hollywood, directing classics
industry as a set designer. His such as Rear Window (1954),
first chance to direct came with North by Northwest (1959),
the incomplete movie Number 13, Psycho, and The Birds. He
and then in 1925 The Pleasure died in 1980, at the age of 81.
Garden. After gaining fame as
a director in Britain with such Key movies
movies as The Lady Vanishes
(1938), Hitchcock moved to 1929 Blackmail
Hollywood in 1940, when he 1951 Strangers on a Train
was hired by David O. Selznick 1958 Vertigo
to direct an adaptation of Daphne 1960 Psycho
Du Maurier’s Rebecca. He went 1963 The Birds
FEAR AND WONDER 143

What else to watch: Laura (1944, p.79) ■ Spellbound (1945) ■ Rear Window (1954) ■ North by Northwest (1959) ■
La jetée (1962, p.172) ■ Marnie (1964) ■ Bad Education (2004)
self-examination by Hitchcock
Hitchcock’s blondes regarding the way he treats women
Hitchcock favored on film, makes it as unsettling as
icy, “sophisticated anything he ever filmed.
blondes” in his
movies. “We’re after The fallen star
the drawing-room Another common theme in
type, the real ladies, Hitchcock’s movies is the
who become whores
exploration of the concept of the
once they’re in the
Tippi Hedren Grace Kelly Ingrid Bergman movie star and how it affects the
bedroom,” he said. The Birds Rear Window Spellbound
telling of a story, more specifically
how stardom could be manipulated
to surprise the audience. The most
famous example of this is Psycho, in
which star Janet Leigh is murdered
after just 30 minutes, manipulating
audience assumptions of the way
Kim Novak Janet Leigh Eva Marie Saint Marlene Dietrich stories with stars in leading roles
Vertigo Psycho North by Northwest Stage Fright
usually progress in order to shock
them. But while the twist in Psycho
for creating cinematic suspense, specifically geared around is loud and unavoidable, in Vertigo
saying in a 1977 TV interview, creating tension, but the subtext of it is subtle and slow to unfold, and
“Blondes make the best victims. emotional abuse in this sequence, its effect depends on the particular
They’re like virgin snow that shows along with the notion that it is a star chosen to play Scottie. ❯❯
up the bloody footprints.”
Vertigo’s lead, Scottie, remakes
salesgirl Judy Barton (also played He did nothing. The law has little
by Kim Novak) in Madeleine’s
image. He removes everything
to say on things left undone.
that makes Judy an individual in Coroner / Vertigo
order to have her conform to this
visual archetype, a lifeless host for
sexual objectification. Scottie’s
requirements are hugely specific.
He agonizes over the exact shades
of gray for Judy’s suit, and is
disappointed when she returns
home with a hairstyle slightly
different from the one he chose
(changing her from brunette to
blonde). Hitchcock may have put
together bloodier sequences,
Scottie (James Stewart) is a police

officer seen in a rooftop chase at
the start of the movie. He slips, and a
colleague falls while trying to help
him. This is the start of his vertigo.
144 VERTIGO
The casting of James Stewart process is never more clear than plan succeeds, the love story
affects the direction and impact in a dream sequence that sees is poisoned by lies, and the
of the movie profoundly; it adds an Stewart’s disembodied head protagonist is broken emotionally
extra textual layer of dissonance spiraling down into an abyss. His and physically. It is arguably
to the final act. Stewart’s image usual clean-cut image is distorted the darkest movie the director ever
as an actor since the days of his as a wind unsettles his hair and made. It is a Hitchcock movie with
early career, including previous his expression. He looks lost. no Hollywood obligations, as the
roles for Hitchcock in Rear Window director seeks a richer form of
(1954) and The Man Who Knew Twisted thriller terror—not simply to shock,
Too Much (1956), had always been Vertigo is an expertly repulse, or unsettle the
that of the incorruptible everyman, crafted thriller, but audience, but to disturb
decent and likeable to a fault. John one with twisted them, to take everything
“Scottie” Ferguson begins as a perspectives. they think they know
good man, a typical Stewart The villain’s about his style of
character, but ends it as a man lost murderous filmmaking and to
in sexual despair, his mind ruined corrupt it to reveal
by tragedy. By putting James something new.
Stewart through this In Vertigo,
transformation, Hitchcock Hitchcock bares
is not just undoing a man, a little bit more
he’s undoing a screen icon. of his soul so
What we think we know of that he can
Stewart’s character makes twist the
Ferguson’s psychosis that knife a
much more painful to watch, little bit
and his unraveling affects us deeper. ■
that much more deeply. The
visual representation of this
Scottie and Madeleine (Kim

Novak) first embrace after she has
asked him whether she is crazy.
Judy, as Madeleine, has fallen for
Scottie, and it is this that will
ultimately lead to her downfall.
Minute by minute
00:12 00:34 01:16 01:47
Scottie meets with old college At a bookstore, Elster tells Scottie Madeleine climbs Scottie buys Judy
friend Gavin Elster, who asks him and down-to-earth friend Midge the the bell tower. Scottie clothes and has her
to follow his wife, Madeleine. story of suicidal Carlotta, Madeleine’s tries to follow but dye her hair in order
Scottie first sees her as she is great-grandmother. Elster says that cannot. He sees a to make her look just
having dinner with Elster. Madeleine is possessed by her. woman fall to her death. like Madeleine.
00:00 00:30 01:00 01:30 02:08
01:34 01:58
00:28 00:40 Scottie sees Judy Scottie recognizes
Scottie follows Madeleine jumps into the Barton and asks her to the necklace. He takes
Madeleine to a bay. Scottie is watching and dinner. When he leaves, Judy back to the
hotel, where she pulls her out. He takes her she starts to write a tower. They climb to
is registered back to his apartment. She note, and the plot with the top as he reveals
under the name appears not to remember what Elster is revealed. She that he knows. She
Carlotta Valdez. happened. decides to stay. panics and falls.
FEAR AND WONDER 145
This poster shows

the spiral motif that
features in Scottie’s
nightmare, and
which recurs with
the staircase and in
Madeleine’s hairstyle.
146
WHAT DID YOU

DO DURING
THE UPRISING?
ASHES AND DIAMONDS / 1958
IN CONTEXT
GENRE
War drama
DIRECTOR
Andrzej Wajda
WRITERS
Andrzej Wajda, Jerzy
Andrzejewski (screenplay);
Jerzy Andrzejewski (novel)
STARS
Zbigniew Cybulski,
Waclaw Zastrzezynski,
Adam Pawlikowski,
Bogumil Kobiela
T
he title of Andrzej Wajda’s Maciek (Zbigniew Cybulski) is
war movie comes from a plunged into self doubt when he
BEFORE meets Krystyna (Ewa Krzyzewska).
1955 Wajda’s directorial debut, line of romantic poetry by
His crisis is played out over a single
A Generation, is the story of 19th-century Polish poet Cyprian
night—May 8, 1945, the last day of war,
Stach, a wayward teen living Norwid: “Will there remain among when Poland, too, is deeply divided.
the ashes a star-like diamond, the
in Nazi-occupied Warsaw,
dawn of eternal victory?” It is this
Poland, during World War II.
uncertainty that characterizes all Wajda emerged as a world-class
AFTER of Wajda’s movies, most of which filmmaker during the renaissance
1969 After the death of actor recreate the horror and heartbreak of Polish cinema in the 1950s. He
Zbigniew Cybulski in a train of Poland’s recent history—from made three movies dealing with the
wreck, Wajda channeled his its occupation by the Nazis during war. A Generation (1955) followed a
grief into his next, highly World War II to the Stalinist regime group of men and women fighting
personal work, Everything for that lasted until 1989—in order to in Nazi-occupied Poland. This was
Sale, a movie within a movie. make sense of it. They sift through followed by Kanal (1957), which
the wreckage of ordinary people’s chronicles the tragic events of the
lives, looking for glimmers of hope. 1944 Warsaw Uprising, in which
FEAR AND WONDER 147

What else to watch: How to Be Loved (1963) ■ The Army of Shadows (1969) ■ The Birch Wood (1970) ■ The Promised
Land (1975) ■ Man of Marble (1977) ■ Rough Treatment (1978) ■ Man of Iron (1981) ■ A Love in Germany (1983) ■ Katyn (2007)
remember. Looking up at the sky,

Andrzej Wajda Director Maciek sees fireworks exploding
in the darkness. The fireworks—
Born in Poland endured the war, and his movies glittering diamonds rising from
in 1926, Andrzej play an enormously important
the ashes of Warsaw—announce
Wajda became part in understanding what
one of his happened to Poland—and the Germany’s surrender and the end
country’s most celebrated world—in the last century. of war. Yet Wajda’s trademark
filmmakers. He lived through the note of uncertainty hangs in the
German occupation of Europe, Key movies air: it’s the end of an era for Poland,
which shaped most of his work. but what will the future bring?
A key figure of the “Polish Film 1957 Kanal
School,” he brought a fresh air 1958 Ashes and Diamonds Dubious dawn
of neorealism to his depictions 1975 The Promised Land “What did you do during the
of the men and women who 1977 Man of Marble uprising?” is a question that
echoed around daily lives in Poland
Polish Resistance fighters were the killing. This time he is waylaid for decades after the war. In his
crushed by the German army. when he falls in love with Krystyna portrait of one man’s fractured
Third was Ashes and Diamonds, an (Ewa Krzyzewska), who works at the identity, Wajda constantly draws
angry, melancholy movie set during hotel in which his target is a guest. our attention to broken glass and
the chaos of the German occupation’s She confuses him further, forcing splintered buildings. This sense of
aftermath, once the dust of the him to question the beliefs that have fracture runs through the country,
liberation had begun to settle. driven him for as long as he can and cannot be ignored. ■
Questioning the cause

Ashes and Diamonds focuses on You know not if flames bring
Maciek (Zbigniew Cybulski), a
young soldier in Poland’s right-wing
freedom or death.
Nationalist Army who fought in the Krystyna / Ashes and Diamonds
uprising against the Nazis with
the goal of establishing Polish
sovereignty. As the Soviet Union
takes control, Maciek is ordered
to assassinate a new Communist
official, but he has second thoughts
about waging a doomed war
against the incoming left-wing
administration. He bungles the
murder, killing two bystanders.
Torn between his conscience
and loyalty to the cause for which he
fought in the war, Maciek embarks
on a second half-hearted attempt at
In the ruins of a bombed-out church,

Maciek reflects on his equally battered
ideals. It is here that Krystyna finds an
inscription of the poem from which the
movie takes its name.
148
WELL NOBODY’S
PERFECT
SOME LIKE IT HOT / 1959
T
he final words This poster
IN CONTEXT of Some Like It flaunts the
Hot, “Nobody’s glamour of its
GENRE starry cast,
perfect,” could have
Comedy but other
been writer/director versions of
DIRECTOR Billy Wilder’s motto. His this group
Billy Wilder movies are case studies shot show the
of the fatally flawed and two leading
WRITERS the cheerfully cynical, the men dressed
I. A. L. Diamond, suckers, hustlers, and in drag.
Billy Wilder fraudsters who are
motivated by money and as they come—they’ll do anything
STARS
sex and not much else. to get what they want. But Wilder’s
Marilyn Monroe, Jack
Set at the tail end of the Roaring movie is also a breezy feel-good
Lemmon, Tony Curtis
Twenties, Some Like It Hot is no comedy that sparkles with charm,
BEFORE exception. Its main characters are pathos, and the spirit of romance.
1953 Gentlemen Prefer as selfish, deceitful, and grasping
Blondes, Howard Hawks’s Money and lust
musical comedy, is an early Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon play
hit for Marilyn Monroe. Joe and Jerry, two Chicago jazz
musicians who disguise themselves
1955 In Billy Wilder’s romantic as women to flee the mob after
comedy, The Seven Year Itch, they witness a gangster shootout
Monroe poses on a subway Hilariously innocent, during the famous Saint Valentine’s
grate, an updraft lifts her dress. though always on the Day Massacre of 1929. They join an
AFTER
brink of really disastrous all-girl orchestra en route to Florida
1960 The Apartment reunites
double-entendre. and meet vocalist Sugar Kane
Jack Lemmon with Billy Wilder
Pauline Kael (Marilyn Monroe), who dreams of
5001 Nights at the Movies, 1982 bagging a millionaire husband.
for a darker, more cynical take Joe falls head over heels in lust and
on romantic comedy. disguises himself again, this time
1961 John Huston’s The as a playboy, in a bid to bed the
Misfits is Monroe’s last movie. singer. He’s after sex, she’s after
money, but they also fall in love.
FEAR AND WONDER 149

What else to watch: Ninotchka (1939) ■ How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) ■ Sabrina (1954) ■ The Prince and
the Showgirl (1957) ■ The Apartment (1960) ■ Irma la Duce (1963) ■ The Fortune Cookie (1966) ■ Tootsie (1982)
As “Josephine” and “Daphne”, Joe

and Jerry hope to blend in with Sweet
Sue and her Society Syncopators on a
night train to Florida, but there’s no
mistaking who plays the ukulele.
describes her body. Yet Monroe’s

performance delivers something
truly magical. In one scene, during
a lull in the action, Monroe sings
I Wanna Be Loved By You straight
into the camera: she’s seductive,
sweet, and wistful all at once, and
she succeeds in transforming
Sugar’s cynicism into a childlike
vulnerability. When she kisses Joe
on the yacht, he is transformed,
too—from seducer to seduced.
Flaws and frailty

Some Like It Hot reputedly suffered
from behind-the-scenes tensions.
Monroe was initially unhappy with
being filmed in period-style black
and white, and Curtis famously
said that kissing Monroe was “like
kissing Hitler.” Whether the actor
While Joe cavorts with Sugar on In Some Like It Hot, everybody is meant it or not, this illusion-
a yacht—in Curtis’s memorable desperate to get their hands on shattering jibe echoes Wilder’s great
spoof of Cary Grant—the dress- something, and in Marilyn Monroe preoccupation with human flaws
wearing, tango-dancing, but the movie has the most lusted-after and frailties. Nobody’s perfect, it
decidedly heterosexual Jerry gets star in Hollywood history—“Like seems—not even the legendary
engaged to an aging but genuine Jell-O on springs!” is how Jerry Marilyn Monroe. ■
millionaire, Osgood (Joe E. Brown).
“You’re a guy! Why would a guy Jack Lemmon Actor
want to marry a guy?” asks Joe
when he finds out. “Security!” “Magic time” a star. He was often one half of a
replies Jerry, without missing was how double act; key collaborators
a beat, his eyes moony at the Jack Lemmon included zany comedian Ernie
thought of all that cash. (1925–2001) Kovacs, actor Walter Matthau,
In the end, Jerry drops the act described acting. He would and filmmaker Billy Wilder.
and tells Osgood the truth. “I’m mutter this phrase to himself
a man!” he admits with a growl. before stepping onto a stage or Key movies
But Osgood isn’t bothered. in front of a camera. Lemmon
worked in television and light 1959 Some Like It Hot
“Nobody’s perfect!” he beams,
entertainment before finding 1960 The Apartment
and Jerry shoots the camera a his feet in movies, where his 1968 The Odd Couple
“Well, whaddyaknow?” look as everyman qualities made him 1992 Glengarry Glen Ross
the movie fades out.
YOUR PARENTS
SAY YOU’RE ALWAYS
LYING
THE 400 BLOWS / 1959
152 THE 400 BLOWS
M
uch has been written
IN CONTEXT by critics about The 400
Blows. Indeed, the movie’s
GENRE
director, François Truffaut, was one
Drama
of France’s best-known film critics
DIRECTOR before he decided to show the world I demand that a film express
François Truffaut how he thought movies should be either the joy of making
made. He and the other filmmakers cinema or the agony of
WRITERS who led the French New Wave in the making cinema. I am
François Truffaut, late 1950s and early 1960s believed not at all interested in
Marcel Moussy that a director was an author anything in between.
STARS
(auteur) and the camera a pen (a François Truffaut
“camera-pen,” or caméra-stylo).
Jean-Pierre Léaud, Claire
Maurier, Albert Rémy, Semiautobiography
Guy Decomble The 400 Blows is in part a painfully
BEFORE personal memoir describing
1955 Truffaut’s first short, The Truffaut’s Parisian childhood, with
Visit, is the tale of a bungled certain names and events changed, essay, using the thoughts and
proposal of love. It is screened not to disguise the victims, but to feelings to express his own
only for a handful of friends. express something new and true. emotions, he is punished by a
The young Truffaut becomes teacher. It’s an act of homage
AFTER Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud), condemned as plagiarism, and
1960 Jean-Luc Godard follows a fledgling troublemaker who is Antoine’s response is an act of
his colleague Truffaut into constantly accused of distorting delinquency: he steals a typewriter
cinema with À bout de souffle. the facts. “Your parents say you are from his stepfather’s workplace.
always lying,” says the psychiatrist
1962 Truffaut’s Jules et Jim is
sent to figure him out. “Sometimes Recreating adolescence
a story of a love triangle set at
I’d tell them the truth and they still There is often romance in youthful
the time of World War I. wouldn’t believe me,” replies the rebellion, but The 400 Blows is
1968 Jean-Pierre Léaud boy, “so I prefer to lie.” not a nostalgic work. It does not
reprises the role of Antoine Antoine reads the works of look back on adolescence from
in Stolen Kisses. Honoré de Balzac, and when he an adult’s point of view, but rather
adapts the author’s work for a school recreates it in the present tense,
François Truffaut Director

It’s a brave film critic who picks the director as a movie’s author.
up a camera and directs a movie Truffaut was critical of most
of their own. François Truffaut contemporary French movies,
did just that with The 400 Blows, earning the nickname “The
and his courage paid off—the Gravedigger of French Cinema.”
movie was hailed as a But after The 400 Blows, his
masterpiece, and Truffaut went reputation was transformed.
on to direct more than 20 movies
before his death in 1984. Key movies
As a journalist writing for the
influential film magazine Cahiers 1959 The 400 Blows
du Cinéma, Truffaut pioneered the 1962 Jules et Jim
auteur theory, a controversial 1966 Fahrenheit 451
school of thought that identified 1973 Day for Night
FEAR AND WONDER 153

What else to watch: À bout de souffle (1960, pp.166–67) ■ Shoot the Piano Player (1960) ■ Jules et Jim (1962, p.334) ■
The Wild Child (1970) ■ Two English Girls (1971) ■ Day for Night (1973) ■ The Story of Adele H. (1975) ■ Small Change (1976)
Minute by minute
00:05 00:35 01:07 01:24
Antoine is held back after Antoine’s parents turn After stealing a After a discussion
class when he is caught with a up at school after he has typewriter from Antoine’s with the judge, Antoine’s
picture of a girl. At the end of lied to the teacher about stepfather’s workplace, mother agrees to send
the day, he swears he’ll take his his mother having died. Antoine and René try him to a detention center
revenge on the teacher. His stepfather slaps him. unsuccessfully to pawn it. for three months.
He decides to run away.
00:00 00:15 00:30 00:45 01:00 01:15 01:38
01:15
00:54 Antoine is locked up
00:25 In French class, Antoine in a police holding cell 01:35
While playing hooky is accused of plagiarizing after his stepfather turns While the boys
with his best friend René, Balzac. He is sent to see him in to the police. are playing soccer,
Antoine sees his mother the principal, but runs off He is fingerprinted Antoine escapes from
kissing a man in the street. to hide out at René’s house. and photographed. the detention center.
as it is felt, in all its agony, act of escaping. He heads for the the ocean, then turns back to the
uncertainty, joy, and heartlessness. sea, which he has never seen, and land and looks straight into the
The movie’s enigmatic English title runs down country roads until he camera. Truffaut freezes the image
comes from the French phrase arrives at the beach. The camera, and zooms in on Antoine’s face.
faire les quatre cents coups, which like the boy, is constantly moving, It is a bold and ambiguous
mean “to raise hell,” which Antoine keeping track of his flight. Antoine period at the end of the first chapter
certainly does. He doesn’t steal sprints into the surf, dips his toe in in Antoine’s life (Truffaut would ❯❯
the typewriter so he can use it—
he plans to sell it and finance his
escape from Paris. Truffaut is We’ll put him in an orphanage
unafraid to color his protagonist
as a mercenary as well as a lover
so I can have some peace!
of literature. Gilberte Doinel / The 400 Blows
When Antoine has second
thoughts about the theft, he
attempts to return the typewriter,
but is caught. His stepfather
(Albert Rémy) decides to hand
him over to the police, and the
boy spends a night in a jail cell
with prostitutes and thieves.
The police take a mug shot,
Antoine
and the movie freezes for is caught
the instant in which the as he tries
photograph—and Antoine— to return the
are captured. “Around here to typewriter he
escape is bad enough,” says stole from his
an inmate at the institution to stepfather’s
workplace.
which Antoine is eventually sent,
“but getting caught is worse.”
Truffaut mirrors this freeze-
frame with the movie’s final shot,
which captures Antoine in the
154 THE 400 BLOWS

The poster
for the movie’s
cinematic
release shows
Antoine staring
back at the land
as he reaches
the shore and
can escape
no further.
FEAR AND WONDER 155

continue to chronicle the character’s common. Antoine doesn’t know The 400 Blows charts Antoine’s
adventures in a series of movies). who his biological father is, and he descent into delinquency, from
When he reaches the water’s edge, lives with a distant stepfather, just classroom jokes to imprisonment,
as the adult world rejects him.
he can run no further. The final, as the director did in his youth.
frozen moment as he turns back Antoine runs away from home, as
seems to say that, far from having Truffaut did when he was eleven.
escaped, he will remain forever Antoine tries to convince his
captured. The impression it makes teacher that his mother has died Antoine fools
is one of hope mixed with defeat. (one of his outrageous lies). The around in class
young Truffaut claimed that his
Escape to the movies father had been arrested by
Antoine finds another means of the Germans.
escape: the movies. He slips into All movies comprise outrageous
a movie theater whenever he can, lies, and conjure worlds of illusion
Steals from parents
to lose himself in the dark of the and pretense populated by people and classmates
theater’s seats and the images on acting as someone they are not. (pens, money)
the screen, much as the young But Truffaut’s debut movie proves
Truffaut himself did. that, when arranged for a certain
It is here that the character’s purpose and related with heart,
life crosses irresistibly into the life lies can reveal and illuminate R.I.P.
of his creator. There is the constant the truth in a way that the bare
sense that the director is trying to facts cannot. It was this truth, Lies that his
explore or exorcise his own past, as well as the promise of escape, mother has died
redefining it with shots and scenes that excited those French
borrowed wholesale from other filmmakers who dipped their
movies, such as Zero de Conduite toes into the New Wave. ■
(1933, pp.50–51) and Little Fugitive
(1953), in the same way that Runs away
Antoine borrows from Balzac to from home
After Antoine sets fire to his
make sense of himself. It’s not just shrine to Balzac, his favorite
a passion for the movies that author, his stepfather threatens to
Antoine and Truffaut have in send him to a military academy.
Plagiarizes Balzac
for a French essay
Steals stepfather’s
typewriter and
tries to pawn it
Spends the night

in jail before being
sent to a juvenile
correctional facility
REBEL
REBEL
1960 –1974
158 INTRODUCTION
The Berlin Wall goes up
French New Wave and the USSR takes the While America’s growing
breathes new life into lead in the Cold War civil rights movement Musicals continue to
movies with À bout de space race by sending fights racism, so too does charm: The Sound
souffle, as does British New the first man into space, lawyer Atticus Finch in of Music breaks
Wave with Saturday Night 60 years after A Trip the movie adaptation of international
and Sunday Morning. to the Moon. To Kill a Mockingbird. box-office records.
1960 1961 1962 1965
1960 1962 1964 1966
Italian epic La Dolce Vita In the year of the Dr. Strangelove Shot in newsreel
spurns conventional Cuban Missile Crisis, satirizes Cold War style, The Battle of
narrative in following one spy mania runs amok as paranoia, while the Algiers exposes the
man’s search for love and 007, British secret agent Vietnam War escalates brutal realities of
happiness among the café James Bond, makes his and the US introduces guerrilla warfare, in an
society of Rome. debut in Dr. No. the draft. era of decolonization.
R
eleased in the last of TV in Western homes during
moments of the 1950s, the 1950s. Cinema’s response was
François Truffaut’s The thrilling. Many of the greatest
400 Blows was the bridge into the movies of the era were born out
decade to come, and the seismic of a mood of bubbling outrage. In
shake ups that would arrive with The film of tomorrow will the US, the young genius Stanley
it. From the very beginning of be directed by artists for Kubrick took a jab at the ongoing
the 1960s, cinema was, like its whom shooting a film insanity of the Cold War with Dr.
audience, set on breaking rules. constitutes a wonderful Strangelove, in which Peter Sellers
and thrilling adventure. paid homage to Alec Guinness’s
New Wave François Truffaut multitasking in Kind Hearts and
The impetus came from Europe, Coronets by playing three different
in particular from France, where characters. Later, as demands for
Truffaut’s colleagues from the change coursed around the world,
movie magazine Cahiers du the Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo
Cinéma were creating a whole new would influence a generation of
language for movies. The era of the filmmakers with the incendiary
Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) would witty, it immediately made The Battle of Algiers.
be embodied by director Jean-Luc everything that had come before
Godard, a gifted ball of mischief look hopelessly old-fashioned. Counterculture
who would release his own first All this was at a time when Elsewhere, the politics were less
feature in 1960: À bout de souffle many observers thought cinema overt but the air just as thick with
(Breathless). Stylish and extremely was dying, doomed by the spread restlessness and the rejection of
REBEL REBEL 159

Sex gets surreal in Luis New Hollywood hits
Buñuel’s Belle de Jour, the road with Peter
while Hollywood teases Fonda and Dennis Cinematic violence is Kung fu goes
social taboos in The Hopper in Easy Rider, taken to new extremes global, and Hong
Graduate, and smashes and Jon Voight and by A Clockwork Orange, Kong actor Bruce Lee
them wide open in Dustin Hoffman in The French Connection, acquires cult status in
Bonnie and Clyde. Midnight Cowboy. and Dirty Harry. Enter the Dragon.
1967 1969 1971 1973
1968 1970 1972 1974
Space-age science fiction MASH and Catch-22 Francis Ford Coppola Chinatown’s neo-noir
thrills audiences in target the insanity of redefines the gangster goes head to head
2001: Space Odyssey war, while Le Boucher genre with the first of with The Godfather:
and in the erotically explores the impulses The Godfather movies. Part II, while Gene
charged Barbarella. that lead to murder. Hackman eavesdrops
on The Conversation.
old orders. In Britain, another New Warhol’s Chelsea Girls (1966), cinema dazzlingly intricate use of sound,
Wave made hard-edged portraits of was in the middle of a creative free- while his saga of family and crime,
working-class life, such as Saturday for-all. It was hardly surprising to The Godfather, is an all-time classic
Night and Sunday Morning. And a find the ever-subversive Luis Buñuel that still holds audiences in its grip.
new, boldly unsqueamish attitude at large in such an atmosphere, as does The Godfather: Part II, the
to screen violence took hold as the filming The Discreet Charm of the prequel that follows Vito Corleone
decade went on. Taking its cues Bourgeoisie (1972) half a century from the Old World to the New.
from Godard and its story from the after Un Chien Andalou. For an era that began with
lives of two wild young outlaws in Truffaut and Godard gleefully
the Great Depression, Arthur Penn’s New Hollywood riffing on Hollywood tropes, it was
Bonnie and Clyde set a benchmark In response to the prospect of losing fitting to close with a relentless
of stylized bloodshed. young audiences to television, the crisscross of influence between
While the movies got on with Hollywood that had once kept such Europe and the US: visions of Boris
what they had always done best— a tight grip on its filmmakers now Karloff amid the Spanish Civil War
entertaining mass audiences— handed over a measure of control in The Spirit of the Beehive; the
some filmmakers also tapped into to a new breed of singular talents. relocation of German-born Douglas
the avant-garde and upended ideas The results were American Sirk’s lush melodramas from
of what a movie was. From the movies shot through with cynicism Hollywood to 1970s Munich in
post-nuclear time-travel feature and irresolution. Some are best seen Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Ali:
La jetée (The Pier, 1962), made up as historical documents, but others Fear Eats The Soul; and Chinatown,
almost wholly of still photographs, to are enduring masterpieces. Francis a noir exposé of the black heart of
the teasing Last Year At Marienbad, Ford Coppola’s The Conversation is southern California, directed by the
(1961) or the split screen of Andy a mystery of surveillance with a Polish émigré Roman Polanski. ■
YOU ARE THE

FIRST WOMAN
ON THE FIRST DAY
OF CREATION
LA DOLCE VITA / 1960
162 LA DOLCE VITA
I
n April 1953, the partially
IN CONTEXT clad body of a young woman
was discovered on a beach
GENRE
near Rome. Had Wilma Montesi
Satire
accidentally drowned or committed
DIRECTOR suicide, or had she been murdered?
Federico Fellini The police investigated, and so
did Italy’s rapacious media. Gossip
WRITERS and conspiracy theories snowballed
Federico Fellini, Ennio into a national scandal as the
Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli, corrupt, hedonistic underworld of
Brunello Rondi, Pier postwar Rome was illuminated
Paolo Pasolini by the flash bulbs of the city’s
paparazzi. Politicians, movie stars,
STARS gangsters, artists, prostitutes,
Marcello Mastroianni, fading aristocrats—they were
Anita Ekberg, Anouk living la dolce vita, “the sweet
Aimée, Yvonne Furneaux life,” a whirl of drugs, orgies,
BEFORE and general depravity that had
1945 Fellini cowrites Rome, spun tragically out of control. The movie poster casts Marcello
La Dolce Vita became the title Mastroianni as a paparazzo in the
Open City, Roberto Rossellini’s shady underworld, searching for light
gritty Nazi-occupation drama. of Federico Fellini’s satire of this
turbulent period in the history in the form of his perfect Eve.
1958 Marcello Mastroianni of his beloved Rome. The movie
gets his big break in the contains a veiled reference to It’s a chilling image that is both
stylish crime-comedy Big the Montesi affair in its closing grotesque and sad—the final entry
Deal on Madonna Street. scene, when a group of characters in Fellini’s catalogue of lost souls.
emerge from a beach-house orgy
AFTER to find a dead manta ray washed Seven sins
1963 Fellini’s autobiographical up on the shore, a metaphoric La Dolce Vita was released seven
comedy-drama 8 1⁄2 follows a reference to Wilma Montesi. They years after the death of Wilma
director (played by Mastroianni) gather around the corpse in the Montesi. It takes place on the
suffering from writer’s block. dawn light, the sea monster’s eye seven hills of Rome, its narrative
staring back accusingly at them. divided into seven nights and
Federico Fellini Director

Born in Rimini, Italy, in 1920, Fellini’s work combines baroque
Federico Fellini moved to Rome imagery with everyday city life,
when he was 19 years old. He went often depicting scenes of excess.
to study law, and stayed to make He was fascinated with dreams
movies that would immortalize and memory, and many of his
the city. His early adventures as later movies tipped into the
a reporter and gossip columnist realm of psychological fantasy.
exposed him to the world of show
business, and in 1944 he became Key movies
the apprentice of famed director
Roberto Rossellini. In the 1950s, 1952 The White Sheik
Fellini made movies of his own, 1954 La Strada
and established himself as one of 1960 La Dolce Vita
Italy’s most controversial artists. 1963 8 1 ⁄2
REBEL REBEL 163

What else to watch: The Bicycle Thief (1948, pp.94–97) ■ L’Avventura (1960) ■ Juliet of the Spirits (1965) ■
Amarcord (1973) ■ Cinema Paradiso (1988) ■ Celebrity (1998) ■ Lost in Translation (2003)
cafés, and after-dark debauchery, and publicity, that Marcello

searching for happiness in the glimpses perfection. In the
shape of an idealized love. There movie’s most celebrated scene,
are several contenders, including Sylvia wanders into the waters of
his suicidal fiancée, Emma (Yvonne the Trevi Fountain after a long,
All art is autobiographical. Furneaux), and the mysterious carnivalesque night on the town.
The pearl is the Maddalena (Anouk Aimée). But She calls to Marcello to follow her
oyster’s autobiography. it’s not until Ekberg’s Sylvia arrives in, and the viewer sees Sylvia
Federico Fellini in the city, amid a riot of adulation through Marcello’s eyes: the ideal ❯❯
The Atlantic, 1965
Marcello (Marcello Mastroianni)
is smitten with Sylvia, but they can
only spend one night together.
seven dawns. If you look hard

enough, you’ll also find that it
contains the seven deadly sins
and allusions to the biblical
story of the seven days it
took God to make the world.
Religion is core to Fellini’s
work. When the movie’s hero,
a nocturnal journalist
named Marcello Rubini
(Marcello Mastroianni),
falls for the beautiful
movie star Sylvia
(Anita Ekberg), he
tells her, “You are the
first woman on the
first day of Creation.
You are mother, sister,
lover, friend, angel,
devil, earth, home.”
It’s up to the viewer to
decide on the significance of La
Dolce Vita’s religious overtones
and apparent obsession with the
number seven. What is more
certain is that the movie is
concerned with the nature
of men’s relationship with
women. Marcello spends
his nights on Via Veneto,
1950s Rome’s street of
nightclubs, sidewalk
164 LA DOLCE VITA

woman, unearthly in her radiance, La Dolce Vita takes place over seven days, nights, and
a vision of light in the dark city. dawns. While day appears to offer Marcello hope, night
But then dawn arrives and the leads him into depravity, and dawn brings rude epiphanies.
magical spell of nighttime is
• Marcello follows Christ • Meets Maddalena at • Finds fiancée Emma
broken, just as Sylvia anoints statue flying over Rome club; sleeps with her overdosed at apartment
Marcello’s head with water from
• Climbs St. Peter’s • Dances with Sylvia • “Anointed” by Sylvia
the fountain. The next day Sylvia dome with Sylvia at Baths of Caracalla in Trevi Fountain
leaves Rome, and Marcello must
• Reports on children’s • Witnesses stampede • Observes mourning
begin his search again. vision of the Madonna at site of fake miracle for trampled child
The chaos of Marcello’s night-
• Encounters Steiner • Attends Steiner’s • Hears Steiner has killed
wanderings is reflected in the playing Bach in church literary salon himself and his children
movie’s meandering, episodic story
• Sees angelic waitress • Sets up father with girl • Learns of father’s stroke
structure. His adventures take Paola by the sea • Sleeps with Jane at • Spies matron at Mass
him all over the city, from a field in
• Spots Paola beckoning aristocratic house party • Reconciles with Emma
which two children claim to have to him from riverbank, • Argues with Emma • Discovers sea monster
seen a vision of the Virgin Mary— but can’t hear her
the archetypal elusive, idealized • Instigates beach orgy washed up on beach
woman—to the domestic bliss of
Steiner’s house. Steiner (Alain
Cuny) is Marcello’s best friend,
and the epitome of all that Marcello
envies: Steiner is stable, happily A man who agrees to live like this
married with two perfect children,
and enjoys a balance of materialistic
is a finished man, he’s nothing but
comfort and intellectual fulfilment. a worm!
When Marcello visits Steiner’s Marcello / La Dolce Vita
home, he ascends from the dark
underworld of the streets, clubs, and
basement bars, into a kind of heaven. like me. Salvation doesn’t lie within lapse, we see Marcello at the beach
four walls.” That there is no comfort house in Fiumicino, owned by his
Illusion of happiness in either a sheltered, intellectual, friend Riccardo, where the all-night
But, just as Sylvia and the Virgin domestic life nor the hedonistic party descends into mayhem.
Mary turn out to be illusions, “sweet life” is the existential As morning approaches, he finds
Steiner’s domestic happiness is conundrum Marcello wrestles with himself staggering across the
also a lie, as Marcello discovers in the face of Steiner’s subsequent beach, where the staring eye of the
when Steiner tells him, “Don’t be suicide. After an unspecified time dead manta ray is waiting for him.
Minute by minute
00:17 00:50 01:33 02:23
Marcello and Maddalena Sylvia wades into Marcello introduces his Marcello rushes to
make love at the residence of a the Trevi Fountain and father to Fanny, a dancer. She his friend Steiner’s
prostitute. He returns home to find Marcello follows. They takes Marcello’s father back to apartment, where he is
that his fiancée has overdosed. return to her hotel, where her apartment, but he suffers a told that an awful tragedy
her fiancé, Robert, slaps her minor heart attack. has occurred.
and punches Marcello.
00:00 00:30 01:00 01:30 02:00 02:30 02:54
01:29 02:02 02:48

00:33 Working on his novel Marcello bumps into On the beach, a dead
On the balcony of the at a seaside restaurant, Maddalena at a party. ray is pulled out of the
dome of St. Peter’s, Marcello Marcello meets Paola Drunk, she asks him to water. Marcello sees
gets a moment alone with and tells her that she marry her, but is soon Paola in the distance,
Sylvia. He takes her dancing. looks like an angel. distracted by another man. but he cannot hear her.
REBEL REBEL 165
Marcello Mastroianni
Actor
Following a brief period
of theater work, Marcello
Mastroianni became famous
with a role in Big Deal on
Marcello is repeatedly drawn to
Madonna Street. He was
The final scene of La Dolce Vita
Maddalena (Anouk Aimée), but his love Fellini’s only choice for the
contains a second allusion. The role of Marcello Rubini in La
fisherman who hauls the ray out for her cannot lead anywhere. She asks
him to marry her, only to fall into the Dolce Vita. The studio had
of the sea says the bloated, rotting arms of another man moments later. wanted Paul Newman, but
leviathan has been dead “for three Fellini fought to keep his
days.” In the Bible, this is the same friend, and the pair went
period of time that Jesus spends in dangling benignly from a helicopter on to make six more movies
the tomb. La Dolce Vita is a carnival with Marcello following it in a together. Mastroianni often
of Roman Catholic imagery and second helicopter, caused outrage played a version of the
symbols, much of it controversial when the movie was first screened. director in these movies.
in its use. The opening sequence, in Although two Christ figures (the A suave and darkly
which a golden statue of Christ flies statue and the manta ray) bookend handsome figure, Mastroianni
over an ancient Roman aqueduct, the narrative, they fail to offer hope became closely associated
or salvation to any of its characters. with the glamour of Rome and
its beautiful leading ladies,
In fact, Fellini constantly connects
especially Sophia Loren (who
religious myth with disillusionment.
shared the screen with him
Marcello is looking for his Eve, in 11 movies). He earned two
the first woman on the first day Academy Award nominations
of Creation, an angelic figure during his career, one for the
In sum, it is an awesome untainted by the corruptions of la comedy Divorce Italian Style
picture, licentious in content dolce vita or any earthly experience. in 1961 and the other for A
but moral and vastly “I don’t believe in your aggressive, Special Day in 1977.
sophisticated in its attitude sticky, maternal love!” he tells
and what it says. Emma during their endlessly
recurring fight. “This isn’t love,” he Key movies
Bosley Crowther
New York Times, 1960 screams at her, “it’s brutalization!”
1958 Big Deal on
And so whenever he dives back into Madonna Street
the chaos of the Roman night, he 1960 La Dolce Vita
knows that Eve doesn’t really exist; 1961 Divorce Italian Style
all he is doing is trying to forget 1963 8 1 ⁄2
what he knows. ■
166
DON’T USE THE BRAKES.

CARS ARE MADE TO GO,
NOT TO STOP
À BOUT DE SOUFFLE / 1960
J
ean-Luc Godard’s À bout de Before he began directing, Godard
IN CONTEXT souffle (Breathless) marked was a critic for the radical movie
a turning point in cinema. magazine Cahiers du Cinema,
GENRE
Not everyone liked its hectic and he pays homage to earlier
French New Wave
cutting, loose plot, and disdain movies again and again in À bout
DIRECTOR for conventional morality. But even de souffle. For example, Michel
Jean-Luc Godard Godard’s critics were struck by idolizes Humphrey Bogart and has
his innovation, and directors such a giant poster of him on his wall.
WRITERS as Scorsese and Tarantino have But for all his references, Godard
Jean-Luc Godard, François acknowledged their debt to him. and the other young filmmakers
Truffaut, Claude Chabrol In the movie, petty thug Michel of what came to be known as the
(Jean-Paul Belmondo) shoots a French Nouvelle Vague (New Wave),
STARS
policeman. He hides in the apartment such as François Truffaut and
Jean-Paul Belmondo,
of American student Patricia (Jean Claude Chabrol, were determined
Jean Seberg
Seberg), who is unaware of what to overthrow what they saw as
BEFORE he’s done. Eventually, Patricia turns cinéma de papa (dad’s cinema)—
1941 Humphrey Bogart’s Michel in to the police, who shoot studio-bound productions with
performance in The Maltese him in the street. little to say about modern life.
Falcon provides the inspiration Rather, they saw themselves not
for the character of Michel in simply as directors but as auteurs,
À bout de souffle. who would create a new, personal
style of cinema, filming on location
AFTER and tackling tough social issues.
1964 Owing much of its style
to À bout de souffle, Richard Godard has spent his life A gun and a girl
Lester’s Beatles movie, A Hard confronting issues central Godard was adamant that a movie
Day’s Night, has a huge to the future of cinema. did not need a well-constructed
influence on British movies. Derek Malcolm plot. “All you need for a movie,” he
The Guardian, 2000 famously said, “is a gun and a girl.”
1967 Arthur Penn’s Bonnie The story of À bout de souffle is
and Clyde introduces the loosely based on the real-life story
French New Wave style to of Michel Portail, who shot dead a
mainstream US cinema. motorcycle cop in 1952 and who,
like the character of Michel in the
REBEL REBEL 167

What else to watch: The 400 Blows (1959, pp.150–55) ■ Last Year at Marienbad (1961, pp.170–71) ■ Jules et Jim (1962, p.334)
■ A Hard Day’s Night (1964) ■ Band of Outsiders (1964) ■ Bonnie and Clyde (1967, pp.190–91) ■ Pulp Fiction (1994, pp.270–75)
I don’t know if I’m unhappy

because I’m not free, or if I’m not
free because I’m unhappy.
Patricia / À bout de souffle
movie, also had an American transition between shots, splicing

girlfriend, but Godard wrote them together in a fast-moving
the script as he filmed. montage. In one scene that follows
He was deliberately chaotic Patricia driving in a sports car,
in his shooting method, filming the background jumps instantly
on busy Paris streets, snatching from one place to another as
shots on the run, and improvising different shots are spliced
dialogue. To work in this way, he together. The jump cut has now
needed to shoot with a handheld become a staple of filmmaking,
camera and in low light conditions, but at the time critic Bosley
and this is partly what gives Crowther complained that it
the movie its high contrast was a “pictorial cacophony.”
monochrome look. It also led to It was not just the movie’s
a distinctive new cinematic jump cuts that created
technique: the jump cut. controversy, but also its coolness.
Its young hero’s self-obsessed
Jump cuts detachment and disdain for
Previously, one of the requirements authority became hallmarks of
for a well-made movie had always movie for the new generation. As
À bout de souffle was the first
been complete continuity between the 1960s began, filmmakers and movie of the French New Wave.
clips shot from different angles or audiences embraced rebellion over Its bold visual style and break from
on different days. However, Godard the self-sacrificing heroism portrayed the classic studio style were implied
made no attempt to make a smooth in previous decades. ■ in the movie’s poster.
Jean-Luc Godard Director

Jean-Luc Godard was born in (1965)—and politically, in movies
Paris in 1930. In his early 20s, he such as A Married Woman and
joined Paris’s ciné-club scene and Pierrot le Fou (1965). In the late
took up film criticism. Encouraged 1960s, Godard walked away
by François Truffaut, another from commercial cinema
young critic turned filmmaker, completely, but continued to
Godard began to make his own make movies that pushed the
movies. His first major movie, À boundaries of the medium.
bout de souffle, took the world by
storm with its new style. But Key movies
Godard’s work soon became even
more radical, both in look—with 1960 À bout de souffle
movies such as Contempt, Band of 1963 Contempt
Outsiders (1964), and Alphaville 1964 A Married Woman
168
THAT’S WHAT ALL THESE

LOONY LAWS ARE FOR
TO BE BROKEN BY BLOKES
LIKE US
SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING / 1960
K
arel Reisz’s Saturday Night class not as victims, but as
IN CONTEXT and Sunday Morning individuals with their own
brought working-class aspirations and frustrations. Reisz
GENRE
Britain to the screens in a way that was a leader of the British New
British New Wave
had never been seen before. Based Wave of filmmakers that paralleled
DIRECTOR on a semiautobiographical novel the French New Wave. Both
Karel Reisz by Alan Sillitoe, who also wrote
the screenplay, the movie focuses
WRITER Doreen and Arthur meet in secret.
on the story of young Arthur, who While they rebel against their parents,
Alan Sillitoe wants more out of life than a factory whom they consider “dead from the
STARS job. This was one of the first British neck up,” they are not immune to reality
movies to focus on the working when Arthur gets another girl pregnant.
Albert Finney, Shirley
Anne Field, Rachel Roberts
BEFORE
1947 Robert Hamer’s It
Always Rains on Sunday, a
gritty tale set in London’s
East End, is a precursor
of the British realist dramas.
1959 Look Back in Anger,
directed by Tony Richardson
and based on a play by John
Osborne, is the first British
“kitchen sink” drama movie.
AFTER
1965 Starting with his TV
docudrama Up the Junction,
Ken Loach makes a series of
movies mixing working-class
drama with documentary.
REBEL REBEL 169

What else to watch: Look Back in Anger (1959) ■ À bout de souffle (1960; pp.166–67) ■ The Loneliness of the Long
Distance Runner (1962) ■ Billy Liar (1963) ■ This Sporting Life (1963) ■ Alfie (1966) ■ Kes (1969, p.336) ■ Naked (1993, p.340–41)
portrayed by Albert Finney, is

determined not to be diminished
by the limitations of life as a lathe
operator at a bicycle factory in
Nottingham. He rebels against
the drudgery of his class.
Bucking expectations
Despite his declaration “That’s
what all these loony laws are
for, to be broken by blokes like
us,” Arthur is neither a political
rebel nor a criminal. He simply
bucks expectations by having an
affair with Brenda (Rachel Roberts),
the wife of an older colleague,
while two-timing her with young
Doreen (Shirley Anne Field). Even
this small personal rebellion is
brought low by reality when
Brenda becomes pregnant and
The poster style was influenced in its inclusion of adultery, abortion, is forced into an abortion, and
by that of the French movie À bout drunkenness, and violence as Arthur is beaten up by Brenda’s
de souffle, made in the same year. everyday realities. Fifty years husband and his soldier friends.
on, such dramas are the staple of Yet Arthur’s spirit is not crushed,
movements aimed for a more British television soaps, but in 1960 and although harrowing, the film
authentic approach to filmmaking they were new. Arthur, brilliantly is ultimately uplifting. ■
by venturing out of the studio and
into real locations.
British New Wave filmmakers, What I’m out for is a good time—all
however, were less concerned with
innovative cinematography than
the rest is propaganda!
their French peers. The realism they Arthur Seaton / Saturday Night and Sunday Morning
sought was in their subject matter:
the personal lives of the working Karel Reisz Director
class. The first of these “kitchen
sink” dramas on film was Look Born in Ostrava, movement, which strived for a
Back in Anger (1959), adapted from Czechoslovakia, less class-bound, more politically
John Osborne’s play. It spawned the in 1926, Karel aware British cinema, and began
so-called Angry Young Man movie Reisz was sent to direct his own movies in 1960.
genre of the 1960s, featuring to Britain when
working-class heroes. he was 12, just before Nazi Key movies
Yet while Look Back in Anger is Germany invaded his country
relatively theatrical, Saturday Night in 1939. His parents died in 1960 Saturday Night
and Sunday Morning is matter-of- Auschwitz. He served in World and Sunday Morning
War II and studied chemistry at 1964 Night Must Fall
fact, almost documentary, in its
Cambridge, then became a film 1981 The French
depiction of the troubled lives of
critic. Reisz led the Free Cinema Lieutenant’s Woman
its characters. It pulls no punches
170
I HAVE NEVER STAYED

SO LONG ANYWHERE
LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD / 1961
B
eautifully shot in black and agreed to leave her husband M
IN CONTEXT white and in widescreen, (Sacha Pitoëff) the following year.
Alan Resnais’ Last Year A denies his claims, but X persists,
GENRE
at Marienbad has a glacier-paced in between playing rounds of the
Experimental
coolness. Lacking any conventional mathematical game Nim with M,
DIRECTOR narrative, it deliberately challenges which M always wins.
Alan Resnais preconceptions about how movies For Resnais, the movie was an
should work. This approach has exploration of time and memory.
WRITER influenced a generation of directors, The script, written by experimental
Alain Robbe-Grillet including Stanley Kubrick, David novelist Alain Robbe-Grillet, fuses
STARS Lynch, and Peter Greenaway. past and present in a series of
The movie is set in a palatial surreal, almost nightmarishly
Delphine Seyrig, Giorgio
hotel in rural central Europe. Here, repetitive tableaux. Resnais turns
Albertazzi, Sacha Pitoëff
a handsome stranger known only these scenes into a dreamlike
BEFORE as X (Giorgio Albertazzi) insists to world in which all is reduced to
1955 Night and Fog is a beautiful fellow guest, known as appearances and games of mirrors.
Resnais’ contemplation A (Delphine Seyrig), that they met Life goes on in a seemingly ritualistic
of the memory of the Nazi and fell in love the previous year in way, full of allusions and symbols
concentration camps. the resort of Marienbad, where she that leave the viewer continually
1959 Hiroshima mon amour,

Resnais’ first big success, Alain Resnais Director
deals with memory and Born in Vannes enigmatic and poetic movies
forgetfulness in the wake in Brittany in about time and memory, which
of the Hiroshima bomb. 1922, French some celebrate as masterpieces
filmmaker and others find pretentious.
AFTER Alain Resnais Resnais died in 2014.
1977 Providence, Resnais’ continues to divide critics.
movie about the memories of Later in life he focused more on
an aging writer, is hailed in farce and comedy, but in the Key movies
France as a masterpiece but first half of his career he worked
panned by critics in the US. with leading modern writers 1959 Hiroshima mon amour
such as Alain Robbe-Grillet and 1961 Last Year at Marienbad
Marguerite Duras to create 1977 Providence
REBEL REBEL 171

What else to watch: Un Chien Andalou (1929, p.330) ■ L’Avventura (1960) ■ La Dolce Vita (1960, pp.160–65) ■ Pierrot le Fou
(1965) ■ The Shining (1980, p.339) ■ The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982) ■ Open Your Eyes (1997) ■ Flowers of Shanghai (1998)
This famous scene, in which the

figures cast shadows but the trees do
not, highlights the dreamlike, unreal
nature of Last Year at Marienbad, and
of much of Resnais’ work generally.
The midnight chime that opens the

movie is heard again at the end,
echoing life’s endless loop of
acceptance and rejection, as X is
rejected by A, and vice versa. As A
says, “I have never stayed so long
anywhere.” Famously, Robbe-Grillet
has stated that “the entire story of
Marienbad happens neither in two
years nor in three days, but exactly
in one hour and a half”—that is, the
time span of the movie.
Last Year at Marienbad has
been interpreted in various ways,
in terms of Jungian or Freudian
psychology, and using
poststructuralist analysis, but
I must have you alive. Alive, as you agreement on the movie’s meaning
is rare. Nevertheless, for many
have already been every evening, for critics, it is a high point of the
experimental fervor that drove
weeks, for months. the French New Wave to expand
X / Last Year at Marienbad the possibilities and goals of
filmmaking in the late 1950s and
unsettled, unsure whether it’s all matter of fact, is the early 1960s, and it remains
in X’s head, or A’s. The movie is a story of a persuading [une influential to this day. ■
continual interplay of reality and persuasion],” according
illusion. In one famous scene, shot on to Robbe-Grillet. “It
an overcast day when the trees cast deals with a reality
no shadows, the people arranged which the hero creates
elegantly along an avenue all project out of his own vision.”
long shadows across the ground. To There is no sense
achieve this effect, actors’ shadows of time or the story
were painted onto the ground. moving forward—the
plot, such as it is, is
Story of a persuading circular and repetitive.
Resnais said that the movie’s
effects were an attempt to recreate
Delphine Seyrig,
the way the mind works, while playing A, was
Robbe-Grillet insisted that viewers memorably costumed
will get lost if they look for a linear for the role by fashion
narrative. “The whole film, as a legend Coco Chanel.
172
THIS IS THE STORY

OF A MAN MARKED
BY AN IMAGE FROM
HIS CHILDHOOD
LA JETÉE / 1962
L
a jetée (The Pier), by the plans—the movie’s only dialogue.
IN CONTEXT enigmatic director Chris It is in this stillness and quietness
Marker, is a science-fiction that the terror lies.
GENRE
classic that retains its power to La jetée uses time travel
Science fiction
chill and unsettle, despite being as a device to examine the
DIRECTOR overshadowed by its big-budget philosophical nature of memory.
Chris Marker remake: Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys The protagonist witnesses and
(1995). The two movies could not, participates in moments from
WRITER however, be more different. the past—a trip to a museum,
Chris Marker Less than 30 minutes long, and a romantic encounter, and, most
STARS with a narrative composed entirely importantly, the traumatic early
from still photographs, La jetée is event that shaped his character—
Jean Négroni, Davos
about a man traveling back in time yet feels that his awareness of the
Hanich, Hélène Chatelain,
to witness a tragic and defining event dilutes its reality. The movie
Jacques Ledoux event from his childhood. implies that once something is in
BEFORE the past, it only exists in a glimpse,
1953 Marker works with A half-forgotten dream or as a photograph, hence the
director Alain Resnais on The postapocalyptic world movie’s stylistic structure of using
the controversial movie about portrayed in La jetée disturbs still images. La jetée balances the
African art, Statues Also Die. with subtlety. A softly spoken emotional journey of its protagonist
voice-over narration puts the with this thematic intellectualism
AFTER viewer in the protagonist’s place to create one of the most distinct
1977 In A Grin Without a Cat, as he overhears amoral scientists imaginings of the end of the world
Marker documents political whispering and muttering their that cinema has ever offered. ■
radicalism in the aftermath
of the student revolts of 1968.
1983 Marker stretches the
The man doesn’t die, nor does he
documentary genre with Sans go mad. He suffers. They continue.
Soleil, a meditation on world
Narrator / La jetée
history and the inability of
the human memory to recall
What else to watch: The Omega Man (1971) ■ Soylent Green (1973) ■
context and nuance. Mad Max (1979) ■ 12 Monkeys (1995) ■ The Road (2009)
REBEL REBEL 173
GUY I LOVE YOU. YOU

SMELL OF GASOLINE
THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG / 1964
T
he second in a trilogy
IN CONTEXT directed by Jacques Demy,
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
GENRE
(1964) is an innovative movie that
Musical
combines the fantasy of a Hollywood
DIRECTOR musical with the French New Wave’s
Jacques Demy focus on the everyday.
Demy’s insight was to see that
WRITERS the ordinary people being filmed
Jacques Demy by New Wave directors had dreams
STARS and aspirations as romantic as
anyone’s. He took a simple story of
Catherine Deneuve,
thwarted love in a small town, and
Nino Castelnuovo
turned it into a musical fantasy.
BEFORE The story hinges on such New
1931 Marcel Pagnol’s trilogy, Wave concerns as teen pregnancy
Marius, Fanny, and César, and prostitution, but Demy tells it The beautiful Geneviève works with
inspires Demy’s trilogy of in song, on cotton-candy sets. her mother in their failing umbrella
Catherine Deneuve plays store. The music is by Michel Legrand,
seaside movies. and all the dialogue is sung.
Geneviève, the daughter of an
1958 Vincente Minnelli’s umbrella-store owner. She is
musical Gigi is an American bursting with love for a young and she is persuaded to marry a
view of France that Demy mechanic, Guy (Nino Castelnuovo). rich jeweler to save her mother from
cleverly parodies in The When he is shipped off to fight in financial ruin. Years later, she and
Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Algeria, there is an extended train- Guy meet by chance. By this time
platform farewell, underpinned by he is married and has a son. The
AFTER the movie’s soaring theme tune. pair’s exchange is almost mundane,
1967 Demy’s The Young Girls But Geneviève’s story is a story but the swooning music creates a
of Rochefort unites Catherine of real life. She learns that she’s moment of true heartache for the
Deneuve with Gene Kelly. pregnant, Guy fails to write back, life that might have been. ■
2001 Baz Luhrmann recreates
a French musical fantasy world What else to watch: Singin’ in the Rain (1952, pp.122–25) ■ Gigi (1958) ■
in Moulin Rouge! The 400 Blows (1959, pp.150–55) ■ The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967)
174
THERE’S GOLD IN
THE SEA BEYOND
BLACK GOD, WHITE DEVIL / 1964
D
irector Glauber This movie
IN CONTEXT Rocha once said is Glauber
that “Everybody Rocha’s
GENRE fictionalized
wants to kill Glauber
Drama account of
Rocha. They did not the adventures
DIRECTOR forgive me for making of real-life
Glauber Rocha Black God, White Devil at bounty hunter
the age of 23.” It was not Antonio
WRITER simply his precociousness das Mortes.
Glauber Rocha or lack of humility that put
STARS his life in jeopardy; a fierce
pioneer of social realism,
Geraldo Del Rey, Yoná
Rocha saw movies as a tool
Magalhães, Maurício do
of change and an integral
Valle, Lidio Silva
part of the working man’s
BEFORE struggle. Indeed, shortly
1962 In Rocha’s debut feature, before his movie was
Barravento, a man struggles released in his native Brazil, Brazil. A humble ranch hand named
to rid his home village of the a coup ushered in a military Manuel (Geraldo Del Rey) believes
reactionary mysticism he government whose actions later the preacher is the incarnation of
thinks is holding it back. drove him into self-imposed exile. Saint Sebastian, but his wife, Rosa
(Yoná Magalhães), is more sceptical
AFTER Committed cinema and frequently challenges Manuel’s
1966 Italian director Sergio Rocha despised Hollywood, and it belief in the man he follows.
Corbucci’s Django, a bleakly shows: it’s hard to believe that this Manuel tries to improve his and
savage spaghetti Western, abrasive movie was released in the Rosa’s lot in life by selling his cattle
owes a clear debt to Rocha. same year as Mary Poppins. Like to his boss, but several die on the
his debut, Barravento, it is more way to market, and the boss
1970 Chilean director concerned with ideas than action refuses to pay. In a fury, Manuel
Alejandro Jodorowsky’s or character, and it continues the kills his boss with a machete,
El Topo features a gunslinger earlier movie’s exploration of religion. and he and Rosa go on the run,
on a transformative journey Sebastião (Lidio Silva), a following the charismatic and
across the desert. preacher, is rallying the poor of the increasingly powerful Sebastião,
sertão, the barren outback of north the “black god,” who promises
REBEL REBEL 175

What else to watch: Barravento (1962) ■ Barren Lives (1963) ■ Soy Cuba (1964) ■ Entranced Earth (1967) ■
Antonio das Mortes (1969) ■ El Topo (1970) ■ City of God (2002, pp.304–09) ■ Carandiru (2003)
influence on Rocha. As the movie

Glauber Rocha Director draws to a close, the black-clad
figure of das Mortes has the almost
Born in Bahia, Earth and Antonio das Mortes. totally insane Corisco in his sights.
Brazil, in 1939, Exile in the 1970s saw Rocha
Glauber Rocha shooting in Africa and Spain,
discovered
Rallying cry
and though his views and
movies, politics, Sadly, time has not been too kind
his experimental style were
and journalism in his teens, controversial, he remained a to Rocha’s movie. The acting often
quitting law school to pursue hero at home. Within a year of seems mannered or, worse, simply
filmmaking at 20. Inspired by his final movie, The Age of the amateur, while the undoubted
the French New Wave, he led Earth (1980), he died of a lung passion of the director’s vision boils
Brazil’s Cinema Novo (New infection at 42. over into moments of thundering
Cinema) movement of the 1960s, melodrama, hammered home by a
and competed in the 1964 Key movies sometimes overly bombastic score
Cannes film festival with Black by composer Heitor Villa-Lobos.
God, White Devil. This was the 1964 Black God, White Devil But in his strange compositions,
first in a class-conscious trilogy 1967 Entranced Earth complete with crash zooms and
that continued with Entranced 1969 Antonio das Mortes jump cuts, Rocha created a unique
rallying cry for land and liberty,
salvation and the day when “the changes dramatically, and what exposing the way that workers
dry lands will turn into sea and the began as a neorealist drama are manipulated by church and
sea into dry land.” Rosa continues mutates into an increasingly state alike.
to question the preacher’s banal experimental and surreal polemic, “A man is a man when
utterances, but Manuel follows more in the absurdist vein of he uses his gun to change
blindly, carrying out ever more playwright Samuel Beckett than his fate,” says Corisco.
mindless and brutal tasks to satisfy the politically committed drama “Not a cross [but] a dagger
his new master. The Church of Bertolt Brecht, who was a big and a rifle.” ■
hierarchy, alarmed by Sebastião
and the massacres that are engulfing
the region, turn to bounty hunter
Antonio das Mortes (Maurício do
Valle) to eliminate him.
Absurdist turn
Sebastião is killed, and the fugitive
couple press on, stumbling into a
camp run by the vicious Captain
Corisco (Othon Bastos), the movie’s
“white devil,” who rechristens
Manuel “Satan” and folds him into
his shambolic army of bandits.
At this point, the style of the movie
Manuel (Geraldo Del Rey) carries a

rock on his head as he climbs Monte
Santo on his knees, in thrall to the
preacher Sebastiaõ (Lidio Silva).
The rock is loaded with symbolism.
176
GENTLEMEN YOU
CAN’T FIGHT IN HERE.
THIS IS THE WAR ROOM!
DR. STRANGELOVE / 1964
I
n 1963, Stanley Kubrick out on the big screen—and he
IN CONTEXT decided to make a movie expected them to laugh. Originally,
about the Cold War, which was the filmmaker had intended to
GENRE
heating up at the time. The West produce a straight thriller based
Black comedy
and its enemies in the Eastern on Red Alert, Peter George’s 1958
DIRECTOR Bloc had been locked in a staring novel about a US Air Force officer
Stanley Kubrick contest for almost two decades, who goes crazy and orders his
and the superpowers were getting planes to attack Russia. But, as he
WRITERS twitchy; if either side blinked, worked on the screenplay with
Stanley Kubrick, Terry everybody died in a thermonuclear writer Terry Southern, Kubrick
Southern (screenplay); holocaust. This was the basis of found the politics of modern
Peter George (novel) “mutually assured destruction,” warfare too absurd for
the military strategy for peace that drama; he felt that the only
STARS
was beginning to sound like a grim sane way to get across the
Peter Sellers, George C. promise of oblivion. The Cuban insanity of accidental self-
Scott, Sterling Hayden, Missile Crisis had been averted a destruction was a farce.
Slim Pickens year before, but only just—surely In Kubrick and Southern’s
BEFORE the apocalypse was coming? screenplay, the plot of Red
1957 In Kubrick’s Paths of Glory, Alert is given a nightmarish
a World War I officer defends Cold War satire comic spin. The novel’s madman
his men from false charges. When Dr. Strangelove opened to becomes Jack D. Ripper (Sterling
an unsuspecting public in January Hayden), an American general who
1962 Lolita is Kubrick’s first 1964, Kubrick invited audiences to blames his sexual impotence on a
collaboration with Peter Sellers. see this doomsday scenario played communist plot to poison the water
AFTER
1987 The military’s absurdities
are again targeted by Kubrick
Gee, I wish we had one of
in Full Metal Jacket. those Doomsday Machines.
General Turgidson / Dr. Strangelove
REBEL REBEL 177

What else to watch: Paths of Glory (1957) ■ The Pink Panther (1963) ■ A Clockwork Orange (1971, p.337) ■
Being There (1979) ■ The Shining (1980, p.339) ■ The Atomic Café (1982) ■ Threads (1984)
The War Room, vast, impersonal, and

punctuated by the ominous circular
table with its hovering ring-shaped
lighting, was designed by Ken Adam
as an underground bunker.
supply with fluoridation. Ripper

sends a fleet of bombers to destroy
the Soviet Union, and then sits
back to wait for Armageddon.
Sexual metaphors
Dr. Strangelove is a political satire,
but it’s also a sex comedy about the
erotic relationship between men
and war—the “strange love” of the
title. The movie, which is subtitled
How I Learned to Stop Worrying
and Love the Bomb, opens with
the romantic ballad Try A Little which sets off the Russians’ This is a man’s world, in which
Tenderness and ends Doomsday Device. Kubrick’s stark everyone gets off on mass
with Vera Lynn black-and-white imagery bristles destruction. The shadowy Dr.
singing We’ll with man-made erections, from Strangelove (Peter Sellers again)
Meet Again over nukes, gun turrets, and pistols to wields a tiny cigarette, which may
an orgasmic General Ripper’s thrusting cigar. tell us everything we need to know
montage of “I do not avoid women,” he about his motivations.
atomic explains to the RAF’s Group Formerly known as
explosions, Captain Mandrake (Peter Dr. Merkwürdigliebe,
ignited by the Sellers), blowing mushroom Strangelove is a
nuclear bomb clouds of smoke, “but I do German émigré
ridden by Major deny them my essence.” scientist. The models
“King” Kong for Strangelove
(Slim Pickens), were Nazi rocket
scientists now in
the US, such as
Wernher von Braun.
He has a mechanical
arm with a mind of its
own—whenever talk
turns to mass slaughter
or eugenics, it rises
involuntarily in a Nazi salute.
Strangelove has trouble keeping
General “Buck” this particular erection under
Turgidson (George
C. Scott) imitates control, and at the prospect of the
a low-flying B52 world blowing up, he jumps out
“frying chickens of his wheelchair with a shriek of
in a barnyard.” joy. “Mein Führer,” he ejaculates, ❯❯
178 DR. STRANGELOVE
Dr. Strangelove’s sinister black their tryst is put on hold due to the (Marquis de Sade). The bombs,
glove, worn on his errant right hand, crisis, she is instructed to wait: too, have been named “Hi There”
was Kubrick’s own, which he wore “You just start your countdown, and “Dear John,” signifying the
to handle the hot lights on set.
and old Bucky’ll be back here beginning and ending of a
before you can say... Blast Off!” romantic relationship.
“I can walk!” He is literally erect: Many of the characters’ names
sexually awakened, potent, and refer to themes of war, sexual Superpower egos
about to see his Nazi plan for a obsession, and dominance, from the In addition to Mandrake and
supreme race of humans, where obvious Jack D. Ripper (prostitute Strangelove, the mercurial Sellers
there are 10 women for every murderer Jack the Ripper) to plays a third role: President Merkin
man, put into action. Ambassador Alexi de Sadesky Muffley (another sexual innuendo),
There is only one female who attempts to manage the crisis
character in the movie, Tracy Reed, from his war room. In this vast,
who plays Miss Scott, General echoing forum, the US leader meets
Turgidson’s mistress-secretary and with an all-male cabal of diplomats,
also the centerfold “Miss Foreign soldiers, and special advisers to
Affairs” in the June 1962 copy of decide the future of humanity.
Playboy, which Major Kong is seen Dr. Strangelove outraged the The movie’s central comic set
reading in the cockpit at the start Pentagon, though it was piece involves Muffley telephoning
of the movie. In what was one of unofficially recognized to Kissoff, the Soviet Premier, to
a number of “insider” references be a near-documentary. warn him about the imminent
throughout the movie, the issue Frederic Raphael attack; Kissoff is drunk at a party,
of Foreign Affairs draped over her The Guardian, 2005 and the conversation descends
buttocks contained Henry Kissinger’s into petty squabbling. Sellers’
article on “Strains on the Alliance.” monologue is hilarious, but
The mix of sexual and military also terrifying, because the
connotations persist between Miss “red telephone” had only recently
Scott and General Turgidson. When become a reality. The hotline
REBEL REBEL 179

I’m not saying we won’t get our
hair mussed. But I do say no more
than ten to twenty million killed, tops.
General Turgidson / Dr. Strangelove
between Washington and Moscow you can’t fight in here,” says a

had been set up in 1963, and horrified Muffley, “This is the War
Kubrick’s movie nudged the Room!” It is silly, clever, and, deep
concept toward its logical down, full of rage. Kubrick clearly
conclusion: a Cold War reduced hated these characters; the men
to the vying for dominance of two in Dr. Strangelove are a bunch of Stanley Kubrick
men’s wounded egos. “Of course clowns, pathetic and deluded,
it’s a friendly call,” Muffley pouts and the director originally intended
Director
into the receiver, “if it wasn’t to end his movie with an epic Born in New York in 1928,
friendly then you probably wouldn’t cream-pie battle. He filmed the Kubrick spent his early years
even have gotten it.” These jokes sequence, then changed his mind, as a photographer and a chess
must have chilled the blood of and swapped the pies for nuclear hustler. These two interests—
contemporary viewers, and they warheads, in case anyone thought images and logic—would
still unnerve today. these clowns might be harmless. ■ inform his career as a movie
A less sophisticated spat occurs director, which began in 1953
later in the movie, between the with Fear and Desire. Kubrick
gum-chewing General “Buck” The poster for the movie shows cast his analytical eye over
the presidents of the two most several genres—historical
Turgidson (George C. Scott) and the powerful countries in the world,
Russian ambassador (Peter Bull): epic (Spartacus), comedy (Dr.
who squabble over the telephone Strangelove), science fiction
the Cold War reduced even further, like children. They are powerless
(2001: A Space Odyssey),
to a schoolboy scuffle. “Gentlemen, to prevent the nuclear catastrophe.
period drama (Barry Lyndon),
horror (The Shining)—giving
them a unifying theme of
human frailty. He was perhaps
less interested in humans
than he was in machines, not
just the hardware of cinema
but also society’s obsession
with technological progress.
His unrealized final project,
the science-fiction epic A.I.
Artificial Intelligence, would
have offered his last word on
this subject. It was filmed by
Steven Spielberg in 2001, two
years after Kubrick’s death.
Key movies
1964 Dr. Strangelove

1968 2001: A Space Odyssey
1971 A Clockwork Orange
1980 The Shining
180
I CAN’T SEEM TO
STOP SINGING
WHEREVER I
THE SOUND OF MUSIC / 1965
AM
T
oday, screenings of The and, gradually, the captain’s
IN CONTEXT Sound of Music are often heart. Set in 1938, and based on
billed as sing-alongs, at a true story, the movie continues
GENRE
which audiences who know every to resonate, perhaps because
Musical
lyric enjoy a sense of shared it represents values that were
DIRECTOR nostalgia for the songs. Yet behind almost extinguished in one of
Robert Wise the fun there is a significant movie. Europe’s darkest periods.
The story of a misfit postulant,
WRITERS Maria (Julie Andrews), who leaves Vulnerable innocence
Ernest Lehman her abbey to become governess The movie’s first half focuses on
(screenplay); Maria von to the seven unruly children of Maria’s acceptance into the von
Trapp (book); George a stern widower, Captain Georg Trapp family and the dilemma she
Hurdalek, Howard von Trapp (Christopher Plummer), faces when the captain begins to
Lindsay, Russel Crouse unfolds in the bucolic, chocolate- fall in love with her, despite his
(stage musical) box setting of the Austrian Alps. engagement to an aristocratic
Maria’s good humor and musical socialite, Baroness Schraeder
STARS inventiveness win over the children (Eleanor Parker). Distraught at
Julie Andrews, Christopher
Plummer, Eleanor Parker
Robert Wise Director
BEFORE
1956 Ruth Leuwerik stars in Born in 1914 in Still (1951) and The Haunting
The Trapp Family, a German Winchester, IN, (1963). Later in life he worked
adaptation of von Trapp’s book. Robert Wise on musicals, most famously
was 19 when he making West Side Story and
1959 The Sound of Music got a job as a The Sound of Music. Wise died
opens on Broadway, composed sound and music editor at RKO at 91 in 2005.
by Richard Rodgers with lyrics radio pictures, and he eventually
by Oscar Hammerstein II. became Orson Welles’s editor on Key movies
movies such as Citizen Kane
AFTER (pp.66–71). Wise’s first directing 1945 The Body Snatcher
1972 The musical Cabaret job was on The Curse of the Cat 1951 The Day the Earth
is set in Berlin at the time of People (1944), and he went on to Stood Still
the Nazis’ rise to power. direct many notable B movies 1961 West Side Story
such as The Day the Earth Stood 1965 The Sound of Music
REBEL REBEL 181

What else to watch: Singin’ in the Rain (1952, pp.122–25) ■ From Here to Eternity (1953) ■ Gigi (1958) ■
West Side Story (1961, p.334) ■ The Haunting (1963) ■ Mary Poppins (1964) ■ Cabaret (1972) ■ Les Misérables (2012)
Captain von Trapp is bemused to

find his seven children dripping wet
and dressed in loose-fitting clothes
made by their governess, Maria, out
of the floral drapery in her room.
the situation she has created,

Maria flees back to the abbey,
but the abbess encourages her to
return to her new home. To the
children’s delight, the captain
marries her, and the movie might
have ended happily there. Instead,
however, it continues in a markedly
different tone, its focus shifting
from the family’s domestic situation
to its place in the wider world. As
the Nazi Anschluss of Austria
threatens to sweep away all they
cherish, their fate becomes linked
with that of the country.
The danger is most poignantly
represented by Rolfe (Daniel
Truhitte), a local boy who is in love
with von Trapp’s eldest daughter
Liesl (Charmian Carr). Rolfe’s arrival
one day in a Nazi uniform shocks in several instances the songs are The movie’s overwhelming
both the family and the audience, used to overcome fear or to ward optimism does not simply derive
and serves to demonstrate the way off danger. My Favorite Things from the hills being “alive with the
in which innocent youth can be is sung when Maria tries to calm sound of music” (in the words of the
corrupted and turned to malign the children during a violent storm, titular song), but from its message
ends. The captain tells him, “They and in the final set piece, when that honesty and goodness are
don’t own you,” revealing his fear the family performs on stage at defenses against evil. When
of what is happening to the country a festival in Salzburg, they are Captain von Trapp rouses the
and its people, and reminding singing to buy time as danger festival audience to sing Edelweiss,
Rolfe that he has free will. But Rolfe closes in around them. While Nazi a tender song about the Alpine
nevertheless betrays the family. officers watch from the front row, flower that symbolizes Austria, he
there are soldiers waiting in the is affirming his loyalty to a country
Songs of comfort wings to prevent the family’s that has been annexed by a ruthless
Much of the singing in The Sound escape and to force Captain von foreign power, and standing up in
of Music is about finding joy in the Trapp into military service the defense of everything that he sees
ordinary and the commonplace, but moment the show is over. as decent and good.
In a sense, then, Maria and the
captain are protecting not only
When the Lord closes a door, their children, but a whole way of
somewhere He opens a window. life, and their final escape over the
mountains carries the hope that
Maria / The Sound of Music this way of life will survive. ■
IT’S DIFFICULT TO
START
A REVOLUTION
THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS / 1966
184 THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS
T
here are
IN CONTEXT many ways
to tackle war
GENRE
and political strife in
War, political
fiction. Filmmakers
DIRECTOR can approach it from a
Gillo Pontecorvo humanist perspective,
following civilians as
WRITERS the external conflict
Gillo Pontecorvo, escalates around them,
Franco Solinas or follow rank-and-file
soldiers as they carry out
STARS
their duties, and examine
Jean Martin, Brahim
the moral crises they face
Hadjadj, Yacef Saadi in doing so.
BEFORE The majority of movies
1960 Pontecorvo’s movie Kapò about conflict tend to
is one of the first attempts take one of these two
to depict the horrors of the perspectives. The Battle
Holocaust on screen. of Algiers, however,
adopts a journalistic
AFTER perspective instead to
1969 Pontecorvo’s Burn! stars follow Algeria’s attempts
Marlon Brando as a British to gain independence from With its use of documentary-style
agent who manipulates a the French. That is to say, filming techniques, the movie’s
slave revolt on a Caribbean it approaches the conflict large crowd scenes resemble
forensically, its narrative real newsreel footage.
island to pervert it in the
interests of big business. following the progression of
significant events. While it does as the title suggests, the story
2006 Ken Loach’s The Wind have prominent figures in its of the Battle of Algiers. Director
that Shakes the Barley tells the narrative, particularly Ali La Pointe, Gillo Pontecorvo’s camera mimics
story of Republican fighters in one of the leaders of the Algerian that of a photojournalist on the
the Irish War of Independence. resistance, it is not the story of streets, capturing events from
any one individual. The movie is, an objective remove.
Minute by minute
00:10 00:36 00:55 01:44
While in prison in 1954, In response to Colonel Mathieu arrives The FLN leader
Ali La Pointe witnesses the the killing of police in Algiers to take charge Djafar surrenders.
execution of a man who by the FLN, the of the operation against the However, Ali La
shouts out independence police chief plants FLN. He plans Operation Pointe is still free.
slogans. Five months later, a bomb in the Champagne to take place
he joins the FLN. casbah, which kills during a strike called by
a number of children. the FLN.
00:00 00:20 00:40 01:00 01:20 01:40 02:02
01:32
00:18 00:41 At a press conference, 01:52
It is 1956 and the FLN Following the bombing of the Mathieu praises FLN After Ali La Pointe refuses to
announces bans on alcohol, casbah, three FLN women in Western fighters, including arrested surrender, the Colonel blows up
drugs, and prostitution. It clothing plant bombs. One is in a bar, leader Ben M’Hidi, for the house he is hiding in. He
enforces the new rules another at a disco, and a third at the their commitment declares that “the head of the
within the casbah. airport. They kill scores of people. to their cause. tapeworm has been destroyed.”
REBEL REBEL 185

What else to watch: Battleship Potemkin (1925, pp.28–29) ■ Kapò (1960) ■ All the President’s Men (1976) ■ Reds (1981) ■
Waltz with Bashir (2008) ■ Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
and ends with an Algerian man,

Give us your bombers, and you can tortured beyond comprehension,
have our baskets. dressed humiliatingly in a French
military uniform. Colonel Mathieu,
Ben M’Hidi / The Battle of Algiers the ranking officer in charge of
bringing down the resistance
The cost of terror their hijabs and remove any trace movement, chastises one of the
In its depiction of the horrors of of their cultural and religious soldiers when they mock him for
conflict, The Battle of Algiers raises identity for the greater good as his appearance. This moment
questions about right and wrong they would see it. They kill random mirrors the later bombing, where
in war that are still relevant today. Europeans, upon whose faces the Mathieu indicates that something
Pontecorvo portrays both sides camera dwells before the blasts, of themselves—their pride, their
very evenhandedly. The Algerian but there is no triumphalism from moral high ground—has been given
independence fighters, the FLN the women—in their eyes, they up in pursuit of victory. The movie
(National Liberation Front), lack are committing a necessary evil. views both sides’ losses with ❯❯
the means or manpower to The French military make their
confront the occupying French own compromises with morality, as
Ali (Brahim Hadjadj, right) is
military police in direct battle, so they resort to violent interrogation recruited to the FLN by Djafar (Yacef
instead they resort to guerrilla and torture in order to obtain the Saadi, second left). Saadi fought with
warfare and terrorism. They employ information required to bring the FLN, and the character Djafar was
children as messengers and have the FLN down. The movie begins partly based on Saadi himself.
devout Muslim women Westernize
their appearance in order to gain
access to the European quarter.
Their targets are not military,
but rather civilian areas such
as cafés and airports that are
frequented by Europeans.
The sequence with the women
is particularly telling as to the cost
of the fight, as we watch while they
cut off their hair, rid themselves of
The Battle of Algiers

is a training film for
urban guerrillas.
Jimmy Breslin
New York Daily News, 1968
186 THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS

equal regret, as the same mournful decides that their next move will be
music is played over the massacred a strike, in which all operatives are
French civilians as the dead to lay down their weapons. The
Algerians after military raids. It restless Ali questions this action,
asks the question: what matters but is informed by his superior that
How to win a battle against more in warfare, winning or to win the freedom they desire,
terrorism and lose the war of keeping your soul in the process? they must make the transition in
ideas. Children shoot soldiers And it asks the same question of the world’s eyes from terrorists to
at point-blank range. Women both sides. freedom fighters.
plant bombs in cafes. Soon Mathieu’s approach is similarly
the entire Arab population The role of the media media conscious, and he confronts
builds to a mad fervor. The Battle of Algiers poses several a room full of journalists about
questions about the role of the their “have their cake and eat it”
Sound familiar? media in modern warfare. Both attitude to the conflict. They
Poster for screening at
the Pentagon, 2003 sides seem to understand that disapprove of Mathieu’s methods,
just as important as winning
the physical battles is winning the Colonel Mathieu (Jean Martin) is
hearts and minds of the media and sent to Algiers to defeat the FLN in
thus the world. After a series of the wake of an escalation of violence
violent and terrorist acts, the FLN from both sides.
REBEL REBEL 187

but believe France should remain
in Algeria. He points out that Key incidents in the Battle of Algiers
his methods are the only way to
achieve that. He understands the Barberousse
prison Ali La Pointe’s
pyramid cell structure of the FLN, hideout
and that torturing suspects is the CASBAH
only way to move up that pyramid Rue de Thèbes
to the leadership—as he puts it, to
“cut off the head of the tapeworm.”
The 20th century saw the world Milk Bar KEY
become a global community, in Stadium
FLN attack
which advances in communication
technology meant that no war French attack
could pass out of sight, no violent Centers of French
act be hidden. The Battle of Algiers military operation
proposes that winning a modern Cafeteria
EUROPEAN CITY
conflict is not necessarily about
might. Mathieu is a stronger
tactician than the FLN and Special
gradually defeats the group on the interrogation
ground, and yet, ultimately, Algeria (torture) unit
still gains independence, because
the FLN’s action ignited public
opinion about the country’s right to questions it poses about the lines right to independence, but at the
self-determination. Mathieu won people cross for what they believe same time has respect for Mathieu’s
the battle in Algiers, but ultimately are still extremely pertinent and honesty, dignity, and competence.
the French lost the war. difficult to answer. It is also In the end, it even allows him a
perhaps the most clear-headed moment of decency as he pleads
The nature of war movie about war ever made, not with Ali to allow the teenage boy in
The Battle of Algiers is a movie swayed by the emotions that might his company to leave the field of
about the Algerian struggle for cloud the issue, interested in the battle. This moment defines the
independence, yet it is also a movie cold tactics of both sides without whole movie. War is not simply
about the nature of conflict. Its overtly demonizing either side. The about having a just cause. It is also
themes are universal, and the movie clearly believes in Algeria’s about what we do in its name. ■
Gillo Pontecorvo Director

Gillo Pontecorvo was born in remained true to his
Pisa, Italy in 1919. His first job documentarian principles,
in the movie industry was in Paris however, hiring mostly
working as an assistant to Joris nonprofessional actors, including
Ivens, a Dutch documentary the ex-FLN leader Yacef Saadi.
filmmaker with Marxist views. Pontecorvo died from heart
Pontecorvo shared Ivens’ politics, failure in Rome in 2006.
becoming a member of the Italian
Communist Party in 1941. He Key movies
was primarily a documentary
filmmaker, and The Battle of 1960 Kapò
Algiers was one of the few times 1966 The Battle of Algiers
Pontecorvo ventured into more 1969 Burn!
overtly dramatic work. He 1979 Ogro
188
WHO WANTS TO
BE AN ANGEL?
CHELSEA GIRLS / 1966
S
oon after Andy Warhol naturally—talk, bitch, do drugs,
IN CONTEXT and Paul Morrissey’s have sex, listen to music. This
experimental movie Chelsea eccentric clique became known
GENRE
Girls was released in 1966, critic as the Warhol Superstars. They
Experimental
Roger Ebert wrote, “Warhol has included singer Nico, photographer
DIRECTOR nothing to say and no technique to Gerard Malanga, and actor Ondine.
Andy Warhol, say it with.” But few movies have The title of the movie comes from the
Paul Morrissey ever reflected so strongly the Hotel Chelsea in Manhattan where
moment in which they were made. many of them hung out. Other
WRITERS Chelsea Girls was a provocative locations included Warhol’s Factory
Andy Warhol, look at New York’s counterculture. studio and various apartments.
Ronald Tavel To make the movie, Warhol and
Morrissey filmed the lives of his Voyeur viewing
STARS
friends as they did what came The camera was a deliberately
Nico, Brigid Berlin, intrusive presence, and the movie
Ondine, Mary Woronov, captures its subjects’ narcissistic
Gerard Malanga relationships in an unsettling way.
BEFORE The shooting is rough, so we are
1963 Sleep, one of Warhol’s always aware that they are being
first experiments with “anti- filmed, a technique Warhol called
film,” consists of five hours of
It’s the movies that have “anti-film.” Warhol and Morrissey
footage showing his friend
really been running things ended up with twelve 33-minute
John Giorno sleeping.
in America, ever since movies, half in color, and half in
they were invented. monochrome, which they joined
1964 Warhol’s Empire is an Andy Warhol together into a single split-screen
eight-hour-long movie of the movie. As the audience’s eyes flicker
Empire State Building at night. between the screens, the effect is
to reinforce their role as voyeurs
AFTER watching these people during their
1968 Lonesome Cowboys moment in the spotlight. ■
is Warhol and Morrissey’s
raunchy take on Romeo and What else to watch: Scorpio Rising (1963) ■ 8½ (1963) ■ Blow-Up (1966) ■
Juliet, satirizing Westerns. Performance (1970) ■ I Shot Andy Warhol (1996) ■ The Cremaster Cycle (2002)
REBEL REBEL 189
LET’S SEE
THE SIGHTS!
PLAYTIME / 1967
F
rench comedian Jacques
IN CONTEXT Tati combined a gift for
sight gags and silent
GENRE
comedy with a unique and
Musical
eccentric cinematic vision. His
DIRECTOR comic character Monsieur Hulot
Jacques Tati inspired huge affection.
There is little plot in Playtime,
WRITER the third Hulot movie, and for many
Jacques Tati of Tati’s masterpieces. It simply
STAR follows the encounters of Hulot and a
group of American tourists during
Jacques Tati
a day in Paris. But the Paris in the
BEFORE movie is Tati’s own vision—he
1949 Jour de fête, about a created it with a gigantic futuristic
mailman who stops his rounds set that came to be called “Tativille.” At the time it opened,
to enjoy a fête, is Jacques Playtime was the most expensive
Lost in Tativille French movie ever made, due mainly
Tati’s first major success. to its huge, purpose-built set.
Tativille is a supermodernist view
1953 Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday of the city, with mazes of straight
introduces Tati’s most famous lines and shimmering glass and At one point, Hulot looks down on a
character Monsieur Hulot. interchangeable office spaces, in vast floor of identical office cubicles.
1958 Mon Oncle is Tati’s first which the bumbling Hulot is lost It looks at first like a nightmare
color movie, and wins him the again and again. In some ways, it is vision. Yet Tati shot this movie on
Best Foreign Film Oscar. a satire on the dehumanizing effects high-definition 70-mm movie, to
of the cities of the future. And yet it be seen on a big screen, and if you
AFTER is also a delightful celebration of the look very closely, you can see here
1971 Traffic is Tati’s last irrepressibility of the human spirit, and there in the cubicles a few
Hulot movie. and that spark of oddness that other Hulots with their trademark
knocks uniformity a little out of line. trilby hats. Hulot is not alone. ■
2010 Sydney Chomet’s The
Illusionist is based on an What else to watch: The General (1926) ■ Modern Times (1936) ■
unproduced script by Tati. Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (1953) ■ Mon Oncle (1958) ■ Being John Malkovich (1999)
190
THIS HERE’S MISS BONNIE

PARKER. I’M CLYDE BARROW.
WE ROB BANKS
BONNIE AND CLYDE / 1967
B
onnie and Clyde marked Arthur Penn’s story of a young
IN CONTEXT the arrival of a new couple on a bank-robbing rampage,
generation of American based on the real-life crime spree
GENRE
directors whose freer style of of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker
Crime thriller
filmmaking was a departure from between 1932 and 1934, exhibits
DIRECTOR the old studio conventions of a more realistic violence than had
Arthur Penn classical Hollywood. Expensive previously been seen on screen.
productions such as Cleopatra It also treats its outlaw protagonists
WRITERS had flopped, bankrupting the sympathetically, giving them
David Newman, old Hollywood studio system, an innocence and a naivety that
Robert Benton which loosened the studios’ grip represented a new way of telling
on production. Desperate financial stories about bad people.
STARS
times meant greater creative
Warren Beatty, Faye
freedom, and everything about Tabloid stars
Dunaway, Gene Hackman
Bonnie and Clyde, from the movie’s The movie frames its characters as
BEFORE frequent use of unsettling close-ups tabloid newspaper stars, who are
1965 Arthur Penn and Warren to its jagged editing style, was first glamorized and then vilified.
Beatty team up for the first designed to upset the status quo As each of their escapades is
time with the Chicago-set of traditional filmmaking. reported in the next day’s press,
thriller Mickey One.
Arthur Penn Director
AFTER
1970 Faye Dunaway stars Arthur Penn and blind activist Helen Keller
opposite Dustin Hoffman discovered an that he had previously directed
in Penn’s Western Little interest in on stage. Penn’s most prolific
Big Man. theater when years came in the late 1960s.
stationed in He died of heart failure in 2010,
1976 In Penn’s The Missouri Britain during World War II. on his 88th birthday.
Breaks, Marlon Brando stars His first movie was The Left
as a ruthless lawman on the Handed Gun, a Western Key movies
trail of a gang of horse rustlers starring Paul Newman, but
led by Jack Nicholson. his first major success came 1966 The Chase
with The Miracle Worker, an 1967 Bonnie and Clyde
adaptation of a play about deaf 1970 Little Big Man
REBEL REBEL 191

What else to watch: The Defiant Ones (1958) ■ À bout de souffle (1960, pp.166–67) ■ Easy Rider (1969, pp.196–97) ■
Badlands (1973) ■ Taxi Driver (1976, pp.234–39) ■ True Romance (1993) ■ Natural Born Killers (1994)
Bonnie (Faye Dunaway), Clyde situation becomes increasingly Bonnie and Clyde pose for a photo
(Warren Beatty), and even Clyde’s desperate, the barrage of lies told with their hostage, Captain Frank
brother Buck (Gene Hackman) see about them in the newspapers Hamer (Denver Pyle). In real life, Hamer
did not meet either of them until the
how the papers sensationalize the begins to wear Clyde down, most day his posse killed them.
facts and exaggerate the crimes. noticeably when an article falsely
At first, Clyde laughs off the accuses him of robbing the Grand
attention, and he and Bonnie Prairie National Bank—which leaving them powerless to present
take playful, gun-toting photos of enrages him so much that he their true selves to the world. Only
themselves for the press, playing promises to actually do it. as the movie nears its bloody end are
along with the media game and The relentless attention of they given a reprieve of sorts, when
enjoying their celebrity. But as the media ultimately robs the a short, charming poem Bonnie
the law closes in, and the pair’s two thieves of their sense of self, has written, telling of her pride in
knowing a decent man like Clyde,
is published in a newspaper. Their
They’ll go down together / They’ll side of the story is told, just once.
bury them side by side / To a few, it’ll be Like other movies of the time,
Bonnie and Clyde makes it hard for
grief / To the law, a relief / But it’s death the viewer not to root for its amoral
protagonists, sympathizing more
for Bonnie and Clyde. with their media manipulation than
Bonnie Parker / The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde the victims of their robberies. ■
192
I’M SORRY DAVE.

I’M AFRAID I
CAN’T DO THAT
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY / 1968
IN CONTEXT
GENRE
Science fiction
DIRECTOR
Stanley Kubrick
WRITERS
Arthur C. Clarke,
Stanley Kubrick
STARS
Keir Dullea, Gary
A
ll science fiction is about the Completed a year before the first
Lockwood, William Moon landing and 30 years before
unknown, but few movies
Sylvester, Douglas Rain have embraced it as fully as a chess computer beat the world
2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley champion, Kubrick’s space-age vision
BEFORE remains extraordinarily compelling.
1964 Dr. Strangelove, Kubrick’s Kubrick’s journey to the dark side of
Cold War black comedy, shows the solar system. While he and
man’s self-destructive nature. cowriter Arthur C. Clarke draw on The movie is loosely structured
familiar science-fiction story around a series of turning points in
1968 Franklin J. Schaffner’s elements—the dangerous mission, human evolution, but despite the
Planet of the Apes sends an the homicidal supercomputer, grandiose five-note fanfare of
astronaut (Charlton Heston) humanity’s first contact with alien Richard Strauss’s Thus Spake
into the future. intelligence—Kubrick arranges Zarathustra—the movie’s famous
them in an unfamiliar way to give musical motif—these moments are
AFTER
audiences something unique and not epiphanies. They only serve to
1971 A Clockwork Orange is unforgettably strange. deepen the mystery of humankind’s
Kubrick’s darkly comic vision
of a near-future dystopia.
1984 2010, Peter Hyams’ Its origin and purpose are still
sequel to 2001, returns to
the mystery of the Monoliths.
a total mystery.
Mission Control’s last words / 2001: A Space Odyssey
REBEL REBEL 193

What else to watch: Destination Moon (1950) ■ The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) ■ Planet of the Apes (1968) ■
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) ■ Alien (1979, p.243) ■ Gravity (2013, p.326) ■ Interstellar (2014)
Douglas Trumbull Special effects supervisor

Douglas Trumbull was just to win Oscars for his work on
23 years old when he started Close Encounters of the Third
working on the special effects Kind, Star Trek: The Motion
The picture that science- for 2001. He had come to Stanley Picture (1979), and Blade Runner.
fiction fans of every age and Kubrick’s attention for his work
in every corner of the world on a documentary about space Key movies
have prayed (sometimes flight called To the Moon and
forlornly) that the industry Beyond. He was one of four 1968 2001: A Space Odyssey
might some day give them. special effects supervisors on 1972 Silent Running
2001, and was responsible for 1977 Close Encounters of the
Charles Champlin creating the psychedelic star Third Kind
Los Angeles Times, 1970
gate sequence. He went on 1982 Blade Runner
Bowman when given an order. “I’m and is then transformed into the
afraid I can’t do that.” Here Kubrick Star Child, a strange, fetal being
is showing the audience another floating in space—and this is where
turning point in humanity’s the movie ends. As a final image, the
role in the universe. 2001’s opening evolution—the point at which the Star Child is both obscure and
scene centers on Moon-Watcher, a tools begin to turn on the apes. crystal clear. We don’t know what it
prehistoric ape whose tribe is is, or how it came to be, or where it is
fighting another for water and comes Mystery and meaning going, but we know what it means:
into contact with a mysterious black As Discovery’s mission descends hope, and the beginning of another
object known as the Monolith. The further and further into disaster, journey for our species. ■
appearance of the Monolith triggers the Monolith appears again. What
a shift in the apes’ culture; they turn can it mean? Is it the emissary of an
old bones into tools—and weapons— alien race? Proof of the existence of
and the human race’s long journey to God? The scientists are baffled, and
the stars begins in earnest. so is the viewer. Kubrick refuses to
supply any easy answers; he’s more
From ape to astronaut interested in taking the audience
This odyssey is represented by on a journey than he is in revealing
a now iconic cut from one image the destination.
to another, as a bone hurled by The final act of 2001 abandons
Moon-Watcher becomes a spaceship conventional storytelling as the
twirling through the void. Suddenly audience follows Bowman through
the action shifts to the future, where a tunnel of light and into an
astronauts Bowman (Keir Dullea) otherworldly chamber, possibly the
and Poole (Gary Lockwood) are on construct of an extraterrestrial host,
a mission to Jupiter in the spaceship where the Monolith is waiting for
Discovery. Their lives are in the care him. He sees himself as an old man
of Discovery’s computer, HAL 9000
(voiced with chilling detachment by
Bowman finally finds himself alone
Douglas Rain), who malfunctions in the space pod. Time appears to
and grows politely mutinous. When become warped as an older version of
the crew try to shut him down, HAL himself appears, followed at the end
fights back. “I’m sorry, Dave,” he tells of the movie by the fetuslike Star Child.
194
WE’RE GONNA STICK

TOGETHER JUST LIKE
IT USED TO
THE WILD BUNCH / 1969
BE
T
he Wild Bunch gleefully machine gun at the center of the final
IN CONTEXT deconstructs the ethos shootout, presaging the slaughter
of the traditional Western. that was to come in World War I.
GENRE
The lines between heroes and
Western
villains are blurred, and characters In awe of violence
DIRECTOR are not always rewarded for doing Each time a character is hit with
Sam Peckinpah the right thing. a bullet, no matter how minor, the
Set in 1913, the story contains moment of impact is filmed in slow
WRITERS certain motifs of the traditional motion. We see the blood spurt out
Walon Green, Sam Western. The aging thieves—the of the back in close-up, as the body
Peckinpah (screenplay); “bunch”—arrange one last bank contorts toward the ground. The
Walon Green, Roy N. job, which inevitably goes horribly sound drains out of the scene until
Sickner (story) wrong. They are chased into Mexico all we hear is the character’s death
by their old comrade Deke Thornton rattle. Slow motion does not appear
STARS
(Robert Ryan), who has reluctantly in any other context.
William Holden, Ernest switched sides and is leading a The violence of the old West
Borgnine, Robert Ryan, group of hopeless bounty hunters. was notorious, but The Wild Bunch
Warren Oates The old West is fast disappearing, is the first movie to stand back and
BEFORE a fact made clear by the German look on it with such awe. The movie
1961 Peckinpah’s first movie
as director is The Deadly Sam Peckinpah Director
Companions, a classic,
low-budget Western. Sam Peckinpah earned himself a reputation
was born in for bad behavior on set. He
AFTER California in suffered alcohol problems, and
1970 Peckinpah’s next movie, 1925. After died of heart failure in 1984.
another Western, The Ballad of serving in the
Cable Hogue, shows a change US marines in World War II, Key movies
he worked as an assistant to
in pace with far less violence.
Don Siegel on movies including 1962 Ride the High Country
1977 Peckinpah’s Cross of Iron Invasion of The Body Snatchers 1969 The Wild Bunch
is an unflinching portrayal of a (1956). His first movie as director 1971 Straw Dogs
soldier’s life in World War II. came in 1961 with The Deadly 1974 Bring Me the Head
Companions. Peckinpah soon of Alfredo Garcia
REBEL REBEL 195

What else to watch: The Searchers (1956, p.135) ■ The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) ■ Bonnie and Clyde
(1967, pp.190–91) ■ Once Upon a Time in the West (1968, p.336) ■ Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
“We gotta start thinking beyond

our guns,” one of the bandits observes;
“Those days are closing.” The movie
celebrates male bonding, but the sun
is setting on this bunch of outsiders.
The Wild Bunch questions the

motives of the law while also
displaying sympathy for the
outlaws, their loyalty and self-
reliance. The movie’s final
confrontation is set in motion by
the bunch’s decision to try to save
their captured comrade, Angel
(Jaime Sánchez). Many of the law
enforcers that trail the bunch,
by contrast, are shown to be
incompetent and corrupt. The
begins and ends with anarchic in these scenes, just a struggle movie becomes a humane
set pieces of violence. In each to survive. This was perhaps a exploration of the cost of living in
scene, innocents are caught in more honest portrayal of the West amoral times, presenting outlaws as
the cross fire as both sides shoot than the moralizing take of the a product of their surroundings. It
almost blindly at anything that previous generation of Westerns, in finds a compassion for its characters
moves. There is no right or wrong which the good prevail in the end. that the Westerns of old could not. ■
Tector (Ben Johnson),

Lyle (Warren Oates), Pike
(William Holden), and Dutch
(Ernest Borgnine) walk out
to save Angel. They will
stick together to the end.
We’re after
men. And I
wish to God
I was with
them.
Deke Thornton /
The Wild Bunch
196
THEY SEE A FREE

INDIVIDUAL IT’S
GONNA SCARE
EASY RIDER / 1969
’EM
Easy Rider helped to
F
ew movies seem
IN CONTEXT to capture a spark the New Hollywood
phase of filmmaking in
moment in time
GENRE the early 1970s, in which
more completely than directors took a more
Road movie
Dennis Hopper and authorial role, and
DIRECTOR Peter Fonda’s Easy Rider. innovative publicity
Dennis Hopper It’s the quintessential techniques were used.
American road movie,
WRITERS with two youngish men,
Peter Fonda, Dennis half hippy, half Hells big commercial
Hopper, Terry Southern Angels, setting off on a successes with the
journey to freedom on their younger generation. It seemed only
STARS
Harley-Davidson motorcycles. natural to combine the two themes,
Peter Fonda, Dennis
biker gangs and drugs, in one movie.
Hopper, Jack Nicholson
End of the 1960s Fonda brought in screenwriter
BEFORE There’s no real plot or emotional Terry Southern to help with the
1953 The Wild One, in which journey, and the movie’s vague writing and hired Dennis Hopper
Marlon Brando smolders as symbolism may seem dated now. as his co-star and director.
a motorcycle gang leader, was But there’s no denying its cultural Hopper may at first have
the first movie to focus on the status at the time. The year it seemed like a disastrous
idea of outlaw bikers. was released, 1969, young people choice as director, as the
were proclaiming their rejection shoot threatened to
1960 Jean-Luc Godard’s of the values of the old generation
À bout de souffle prefigures by growing their hair long and
Easy Rider with its couple of dropping out to listen to music and
young outlaws on the road, take drugs. Easy Rider reflected
and jump-cut editing. this mood, but it went further.
Peter Fonda, the producer and
AFTER star, came to the project from
1976 Easy Rider inspires playing the rebellious leader of a
a number of road movies, gang of Hells Angels in the movie
significant among them Wim The Wild Angels (1966), and a TV
Wenders’ Kings of the Road. ad director who takes LSD in The
Trip (1967). Both movies were
REBEL REBEL 197

What else to watch: The Wild One (1953) ■ À bout de souffle (1960, pp.166–67)
■ Pierrot le Fou (1965) ■ Woodstock (1970) ■ Kings of the Road (1976)
mire in drug binges and shouting drifting drug dealers heading east
matches. Fonda even threatened to because there’s no longer a Wild
abandon the project. But it may be West. Their bike bags are stuffed
that very anarchy that made Easy with money made from selling
Rider an icon of its time. Hopper felt drugs to Mr. Big, and when they are
he was part of a revolution. The joined by a sharp-suited drunken
disorganized nature of the project lawyer (Jack Nicholson), he ends up
was a rude gesture of rebellion. seeming far more rebellious than
The rough cut is said to have them. The title conveys an image
run for over three hours. Hopper of chilled-out bikers, but it actually
chose to cut out story details to comes from the slang for living off Dennis Hopper
leave behind a series of loosely the earnings of a prostitute. Director/Actor
linked images and moments, held Easy Rider’s bleak violence
together by a pounding sound track. ensures that the movie is no hippy A multitalented actor, writer,
trip, but rather an incoherent blast director, and photographer,
West to east of frustration. In reality, it signaled Dennis Hopper carved out a
In some ways, the two bikers seem a disillusioned end to a previous name for himself as one of the
like modern-day cowboys, riding generation’s idealism. ■ wild cards of Hollywood. Born
in 1936 in Dodge City, Kansas,
off to find freedom, and their names
he showed early promise as
Wyatt (Peter Fonda) and Billy an artist, but was soon drawn
(Dennis Hopper) recall the Western Wyatt and Billy hide the cash
they’ve made from drug smuggling to acting and studied at the
heroes Wyatt Earp and Billy the in the stars-and-stripes-adorned Actors Studio in New York
Kid. In fact the bikers are nothing fuel tank of a chopper, and head to under the legendary Lee
so noble. Rather, New Orleans for Strasberg. He initially made
they are a pair of Mardi Gras. his name with television work,
but it wasn’t until he directed
and starred in Easy Rider that
he became a celebrity. In later
years, Hopper’s problems with
alcohol and drugs stalled his
progress, although he did
direct and star in the excellent
punk drama Out of the Blue.
Eventually, after entering
a rehab program in 1983,
his career took off again
with riveting performances
in such movies as Blue Velvet
(pp.256–57), and numerous
Hollywood bad guy roles.
Hopper died in 2010.
Key movies
1969 Easy Rider

1979 Apocalypse Now
1980 Out of the Blue
1986 Blue Velvet
198
ARE YOU FOND

OF MEAT?
LE BOUCHER / 1970
IN CONTEXT
GENRE
Thriller
DIRECTOR
Claude Chabrol
WRITER
Claude Chabrol
STARS
Jean Yanne,
Stéphane Audran
BEFORE
I
1943 Alfred Hitchcock’s n French director Claude Hélène (Stéphane Audran) first
Shadow of a Doubt tells the Chabrol’s thriller Le Boucher meets Popaul (Jean Yanne, on her left)
(The Butcher), the stark title at a wedding. They strike up a close
story of a young girl who relationship, but it remains platonic
discovers a terrible secret. immediately raises expectations
despite his clumsy efforts to woo her.
of brutality and gore. Played by the
1968 Chabrol’s Les Biches curiously sympathetic Jean Yanne,
stars Stéphane Audran and the Butcher is Popaul, a veteran not least because the woman has
Jacqueline Sassard as two of the French colonial wars of the been stabbed to death with knives,
women who form a lesbian 1950s in Indochina and Algeria, who the tools of his trade. And when a
relationship before both works at a butcher shop in a rural second body is found, discovered
falling for the same man. town. At a friend’s wedding, Popaul by one of her own pupils during
meets Hélène (Stéphane Audran), an idyllic picnic, Hélène finds a
AFTER who becomes strangely fond of him. lighter that she herself gave Popaul
1970 Chabrol’s next movie, Popaul is open and sensitive about as a present. But instead of
La Rupture, features Audran his past, talking of an abusive father handing it to the police, Hélène
as a woman whose husband’s and the cruelty of battle. keeps it, and she is relieved when,
family is hatching a deadly When a woman is killed in the later on, Popaul lights one of his
plot against her. forest, however, Hélène begins to many Gauloises with what appears
think of Popaul a little differently, to be the original lighter.
REBEL REBEL 199

What else to watch: Le Corbeau (1943) ■ Shadow of a Doubt (1943) ■ Les Biches (1968) ■ The Unfaithful Wife (1969) ■
La Rupture (1970) ■ Just Before Nightfall (1971) ■ Wedding in Blood (1973) ■ L’Enfer (1994)
The final act brings revelations

Claude Chabrol Director and confrontations in an intense
scene that shows as much about
Claude Chabrol admirer of Alfred Hitchcock, the couple’s similarities as their
was born in but he was the only one of his
differences. The audience is left
1930 in Sardent, peers to gravitate toward
in rural France, the thriller, making a series
grappling with more questions
where he ran a movie club as a of murder mysteries until his than answers. In the very last
child. Before directing his own death in 2010. shot, Chabrol returns to a scene
movies, he worked as a critic for of the River Dordogne, with which
influential magazine Cahiers Key movies he had started the movie. “I adore
du Cinéma. Like the other symmetry,” Chabrol once said.
directors of the French New 1970 Le Boucher “But I’m not for simple symmetry.
Wave who emerged from that 1971 Just Before Nightfall Symmetry doesn’t mean putting
magazine, Chabrol was an 1994 L’Enfer one chandelier on the right and
another on the left.” The credits
Why wasn’t Hélène scared? This is the Upper Paleolithic era. Hélène roll, and we are left to wonder
the dynamic that Chabrol chooses gives her class a guided tour, noting about the nature of loyalty, the
to deal with in a movie that doesn’t that the paintings were the first step desires that take the people
so much resemble a woman-in-peril taken by man toward civilization. experiencing them by surprise,
saga as a beauty and the beast story. “Do you know what we call desires and the dark mystery of what
Comparisons could be made with when they lose their savage goes on between couples. ■
Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a quality?” Hélène asks. “Aspirations”
Doubt (1943), in which a young girl is her answer. The teacher seems Hélène is drawn to Popaul and his
discovers that her favorite uncle is a to respect Cro-Magnon man and his gauche advances despite, or perhaps
killer of elderly widows. violent purity, which suggests a lot because of, the fact that he has been
about her fascination with Popaul. damaged by his violent past.
Violent purity
The second murder scene explains
the movie’s unusual opening
credits, which depict the Cougnac
grottoes in southwestern France,
home to a series of paintings from
Le Boucher has us always

thinking. What do they
know, what do they think,
what do they want?
Roger Ebert
SOME DAY
AND THAT DAY
MAY NEVER COME
I WILL CALL UPON YOU TO DO
ATHESERVICE
GODFATHER / 1972
FOR ME
202 THE GODFATHER
F
rancis Ford Coppola’s movie
IN CONTEXT The Godfather changed
the gangster-movie genre
GENRE
entirely, with its depiction of
American gangster
gangsters grappling with complex
DIRECTOR existential dilemmas, rather Overflowing with life, rich
Francis Ford Coppola than as one-dimensional, lowlife with all the grand emotions
hoodlums. Previously, all such and vital juices of existence,
WRITERS gangster stories had been told up to and including blood.
Francis Ford Coppola from an outsider’s point of view, Kenneth Turan
(screenplay); Mario Puzo and the gangsters themselves were Los Angeles Times, 1997
(novel and screenplay) seldom portrayed sympathetically.
The Godfather was also the first
STARS
movie to show a Mafia organization
Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, from the inside. Its sprawling
James Caan, Robert portrait of the Corleone family and
Duvall, Diane Keaton their travails acquires the grandeur
BEFORE and scope of an ancient Greek of his own about how the script
1931–32 Little Caesar (1931), tragedy, in which honor, duty, and should be written, and he and Puzo
The Public Enemy (1931), and loyalty to family are seen as the worked together to complete the
Scarface (1932) whet the public characters’ main motivating forces, final draft. Coppola’s insight was to
appetite for gangster movies. rather than criminal intent. see that the essence of the story,
and the focus of the movie, should
AFTER The background be the personal transition of
1974 The Godfather: Part II is The Godfather is based on a best- Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) from
the hugely successful sequel, selling novel of the same name respectable, law-abiding young man
focusing on Michael Corleone by Italian-American author Mario and decorated war hero to eventual
(Al Pacino) as he becomes a Puzo, which was published in 1969. head of a crime family, when he
brutal Godfather. Within a year, Paramount Pictures takes over from the Godfather, Don
had commissioned Puzo to write Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando).
1990 The Godfather: Part III, the screenplay. Coppola also saw the story as a
the less successful third movie, A successful screenwriter metaphor for American free-market
concludes the Corleones’ story. himself, Coppola, who had been capitalism. The Corleones aspire
hired as the director, had firm ideas to the American Dream and fight
Minute by minute
00:01 00:45 01:54 02:32

At his daughter Connie’s After refusing to help Carlo beats the heavily Don Corleone collapses and
wedding to Carlo, Don Corleone a narcotics gang, Don pregnant Connie. She dies while playing with his
receives a series of men seeking Corleone is gunned down speaks to her brother grandson. Just before he dies,
favors. His son Michael is there in the street. He is shot five Sonny, who goes to see he warns Michael that he will
with Kay, who is introduced to times but survives. her, but he is gunned be betrayed.
the family. down at a toll booth.
00:00 00:30 01:00 01:30 02:00 02:30 02:58
00:33 02:04
Movie studio boss Jack Michael’s new 02:38
Woltz wakes up with his 01:29 Sicilian wife, As Michael
prize horse’s head in Michael shoots Apollonia, is killed attends his godson’s
his bed. This persuades drug baron Sollozzo by a car bomb. christening, his rivals
him to cast Johnny and corrupt police Fabrizio, Michael’s are killed across the
Fontane, as requested by chief McCluskey. He bodyguard, has city. He also has
consigliere Tom Hagen. then leaves for Sicily. betrayed him. Carlo killed.
REBEL REBEL 203

What else to watch: Little Caesar (1931) ■ The Public Enemy (1931) ■ Scarface (1932, p.339) ■ White Heat (1949) ■
The Long Good Friday (1980) ■ Rumble Fish (1983) ■ Once Upon a Time in America (1984) ■ Goodfellas (1990)
The Corleones want to appear as

a respectable American family. The
marriage of Don Corleone’s daughter,
Connie, is a lavish affair, but the
invited senators and judges stay away.
to establish their place in the world.

Few movies have focused quite so
starkly on the moral contradictions
involved in this pursuit.
Justice and loyalty

The movie opens with the wedding
celebration of Don Corleone’s
daughter, Connie (Talia Shire),
at which the undertaker Bonasera,
a family associate, seeks a private
audience with Don Corleone.
Bonasera asks the Godfather’s
help in avenging the beating and
rape of his daughter by men who
escaped justice through being daughter outside of the law. It is no exchanges such as this are central to
wealthy and well connected. accident that the movie begins at a this portrayal of the Corleone family.
“I believe in America,” Bonasera family gathering. The Corleones are There are, in fact, many more scenes
says. “America has made my fortune. presented as a family that must set around the dinner table than there
And I raised my daughter in the remain close-knit in order to survive are shoot-outs. The men describe
American fashion.” He has bought in the world. Loyalty is everything. what they do as business, which they
into the American Dream, yet Later in the movie, Michael warns keep strictly separate from family.
America has betrayed him. To Don his brother Fredo, “Don’t ever take “This is business, not personal,” they
Corleone, then, falls the task of sides with anyone against the insist. They see themselves simply
getting justice for Bonasera and his family again. Ever.” Domestic as men doing their job. ❯❯
Marlon Brando Actor

A Hollywood actor renowned first Academy Award for playing
for his brooding presence and a longshoreman in Elia Kazan’s
the championing of the “Method” On the Waterfront. In the 1960s,
style of acting, Marlon Brando Brando’s career hit a low, but
was born in 1924 in Omaha, was revived in 1972 with The
Nebraska. After being expelled Godfather and Last Tango in
from military school, he enrolled Paris. He died in 2004.
in Lee Strasberg’s Actors Studio in
New York, where he was coached Key movies
by Stella Adler. In 1947, he was a
sensation in Tennessee Williams’ 1951 A Streetcar Named Desire
play A Streetcar Named Desire. 1954 On the Waterfront
Four years later, he reprised his 1972 The Godfather
role in the movie. He received his 1972 Last Tango in Paris
204 THE GODFATHER

Don Corleone,
Tips off RIVAL the Godfather, is
Carlo Rizzi
FAMILY at the center of
Constanzia a web of family
Married “Connie” and associates,
Corleone-Rizzi bound together
Kills by respect,
Frederico Father of
honor—and
“Fredo” Corleone Father of violent revenge.
Kills Father of Santino “Sonny”

Adopts Don Vito Corleone Corleone
Tom Hagen The Godfather
Ally to
Father of Betrays
Apollonia Married Salvatore Tessio
Vitelli-Corleone (1st wife)
(killed by bomb)
Michael Married
Kay Adams
Corleone (2nd wife)
Coppola is careful to avoid showing but others maintained that it

the victims of the family’s criminal captured perfectly a man wearied
enterprises—the drug addicts, by power and its obligations. Puzo
prostitutes, and ruined families. told Brando that he was “the only
The only victims of the Corleones’ actor who can play the Godfather.”
brutality that the viewer sees are Studio executives were initially
the members of rival gangs who wary of the actor’s disruptive
posed a threat. And so the viewer reputation and box-office credibility,
sees the Corleones as they see but he won a Best Actor Oscar for
themselves, as a quasi-respectable his performance.
family fighting to maintain Although Brando supplies the
supremacy in a dangerous world, face of the movie, it is Al Pacino’s
rather than as a bunch of thugs. Michael who carries the story.
They have a code of honor, and At the start, he is a college
when Don Corleone finally dies graduate, engaged to a beautiful
while playing with his grandson
in his vegetable garden, we see
it as the passing of a giant, the
sad end to a titan. The effect is
reinforced by Nino Rota’s lush
musical score, which gives the
movie a heroic and tragic feel. The Godfather changed my
life, for better or worse.
Acclaimed cast It definitely made me have
Most telling of all are the remarkable an older man’s film career.
performances from the universally Francis Ford Coppola
superb cast. Marlon Brando gives
Brando was given prosthetic jowls an iconic performance as Don
to give him the appearance of ravaged Corleone. At the time of the movie’s
seniority. He was just 48 years old at release, there were critics who felt
the time of filming. his rasping delivery was affected,
REBEL REBEL 205

I’m gonna make him an offer
he can’t refuse.
Don Vito Corleone / The Godfather
non-Italian girl, Kay, played by out of reach of their family. They

Diane Keaton. He appears to have may have senators in their pockets
every hope of living a crime-free but, in public, the senators will
life, of fulfilling the American always shun them.
Dream. Pacino, then a little-known
actor, received an Oscar nomination The sequel
for Actor in a Supporting Role. The Godfather: Part II returns to the
Corleone family once Michael has Francis Ford Coppola
Family destiny taken control. While he may have Director
Michael is drawn inexorably into been reluctant to step into his
the gangster world of the Corleone father’s shoes, Michael soon loses Coppola was born in 1939
family, finally pledging by his both his morality and the family’s to a Detroit family of Italian
father’s hospital bed, “I’ll take care respectable aspirations. Unlike his descent. His father Carmine
of you now. I’m with you now. I’m father, Michael no longer has ties was a composer who would
with you.” When his brother Sonny to Sicily, the “old country,” and its work on the scores of The
Godfather: Part II and
(James Caan) is gunned down, code of honor, however skewed
Apocalypse Now. In his early
Michael becomes the new heir and violent. Nor does he have the
twenties, Francis enrolled in
apparent. His descent from a bright same belief in the New World. He the University of California,
hope is the movie’s central tragedy, becomes, in the end, more brutal Los Angeles (UCLA) film
yet we understand how strongly than old Don Corleone. ■ school, and was soon writing
he feels that he has no choice. Don screenplays for Hollywood.
Corleone had wanted Michael to Sonny (James Caan, left) is Corleone’s He began making movies
become a senator or a governor, eldest son. When his brother-in-law during the New Hollywood
but the movie hints that such Carlo (Gianni Russo) hits Connie, Sonny movement, also referred to
respectability will always be beats up Carlo in the street. as the American New Wave,
which aimed to tackle new
subjects using different styles.
The Godfather, one of the
highest grossing movies in
history, was the first major
movie he directed, and he
cemented his reputation with
a string of hits throughout
the 1970s. Considered one
of America’s most energetic,
if erratic, filmmakers, his
later movies have not quite
matched his early successes.
Key movies
1972 The Godfather

1974 The Conversation
1974 The Godfather: Part II
1979 Apocalypse Now
206
THAT MAN IS A HEAD

TALLER THAN ME.
THAT MAY CHANGE
AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD / 1972
W
erner Herzog’s Aguirre, hardships as Aguirre’s expedition:
IN CONTEXT the Wrath of God is one climbing mountains, braving rapids
of the most original on makeshift rafts, and hacking
GENRE
pieces of cinema ever created. It through jungle. Kinski went beyond
Adventure
is based on the doomed 1561 the confines of “temperamental”
DIRECTOR expedition of Spanish conquistador into the outright unhinged, regularly
Werner Herzog Lope de Aguirre to find El Dorado, raging at Herzog, the crew, and
the mythical Amazonian city of gold. local extras. At one point, he shot
WRITER Herzog’s story is of an obsessive off an extra’s fingertip.
Werner Herzog quest that descends into madness, The fact the movie was even
STARS driven by a mesmeric performance finished is due to Herzog’s ability to
from Klaus Kinski as Aguirre. see possibilities on the spot. He
Klaus Kinski, Helena Rojo,
made up much of the dialogue as
Ray Guerra, Del Negro
Extreme location he went along, and frequently
BEFORE The filming of Aguirre has become incorporated incidents into the
1968 In Signs of Life, Herzog something of a legend. It was shot movie that occurred among the
explores how isolation causes in the Peruvian rain forest in a extras. Herzog’s cinematographer,
a man’s madness, a theme he matter of weeks, and the cast and Thomas Mauch, produced a visually
would develop in Aguirre. crew endured many of the same stunning movie, described by a
AFTER Werner Herzog Director

1979 Francis Ford Coppola’s
Apocalypse Now pays homage Werner Herzog He made his first feature movie
to Aguirre by using “visual is a director Signs of Life in 1968. Four years
quotations” from the movie. with a singular later, Aguirre, the Wrath of God,
cinematic brought him international fame.
1982 Fitzcarraldo, Herzog’s vision. Born He has also made many
second movie about a deluded in 1942, he grew up in a remote acclaimed documentaries.
European in the Amazon, also village in Bavaria, Germany. He
stars Klaus Kinski. was a rebel at school, but at 14 Key movies
he read in an encyclopedia about
1987 Cobra Verde is Herzog’s filmmaking and, as he later 1972 Aguirre, the Wrath of God
final work with Kinski as a admitted, stole a 35 mm camera 1979 Nosferatu the Vampire
madman lost to civilization. from the Munich Film School. 1982 Fitzcarraldo
REBEL REBEL 207

What else to watch: The African Queen (1951) ■ Deliverance (1972) ■ Apocalypse Now (1979, p.338) ■ Fitzcarraldo (1982)
■The Mosquito Coast (1986) ■ Platoon (1986) ■ El Dorado (1988) ■ The New World (2005) ■ Apocalypto (2006)
German reviewer at the time as “a dynasty the world has ever seen.”
color-drenched, violently physical He lets nothing stand in his way.
moving painting.” This look, When a man talks of turning back,
combined with a churchlike he says, “That man is a head taller
musical score, gives the movie an than me. That may change.” Then
almost mythical quality. he beheads him while he is still Mr Herzog… is a poet who
talking. Aguirre’s brutality and constantly surprises us with
Smashing taboos resilience are so breathtaking, we unexpected juxtapositions…
Aguirre is a monstrous figure, so might almost find him heroic. This is a splendid and
overtaken with ambition that he But Herzog leaves us in no haunting work.
completely ignores all social rules doubt that Aguirre’s ambition is Vincent Canby
and human obligations. He shows futile and destructive. The final The New York Times, 1977
no mercy or sympathy. Left alone scene shows Aguirre alone on
in the jungle, he contemplates an a raft, and his only company is
incestuous relationship with his hundreds of monkeys. He grabs
teenage daughter. “I, the Wrath of one, and his heroic declamation, “I
God, will marry my own daughter, am Aguirre, I am the Wrath of God.
and with her I will found the purest Who else is with me?” is addressed
to the monkeys. The scene is
bathetic in the extreme. Aguirre is
I am the Wrath of God! The earth I a man to be ridiculed and pitied, a
pass will see me and tremble. man who has brought nothing but
destruction through his own folly. ■
Aguirre / Aguirre, the Wrath of God
From the outset of the
expedition, Aguirre’s eyes
shine with the insanity of
his obsession. The
movie’s message warns
of the dangers of myths
on the human psyche.
208
THE GUESTS
ARE HERE SIR
THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE / 1972
L
uis Buñuel was a master of why. In The Discreet Charm of the
IN CONTEXT social satire and the surreal, Bourgeoisie, Buñuel carries out a
who had been making droll variation on the theme, as six
GENRE
movies for nearly half a century by well-to-do friends attempt to have
Art-house drama
the time he made The Discreet dinner together but are continually
DIRECTOR Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Le charme thwarted by a brilliantly unhinged
Luis Buñuel discret de la bourgeoisie). Buñuel series of mishaps.
took the idea for the movie from an At first, the problems are
WRITERS anecdote told by his producer, mundane: the hosts were simply
Luis Buñuel, Serge Silberman, about guests expecting the guests to arrive the
Jean-Claude Carrière turning up at his home for dinner following day. But soon, a dead body
only to find his wife in her robe and shows up to disrupt the proceedings.
STARS
no food, since he had forgotten to Thereafter, flamboyant sexual
Fernando Rey, Paul
tell her he had invited them. escapades and the interruption of
Frankeur, Delphine Seyrig,
In Buñuel’s earlier movie, The the army on maneuvers are just
Bulle Ogier, Stéphane Exterminating Angel (1962), guests some of the obstacles. The movie
Audran, Jean-Pierre Cassel at a dinner party are marooned becomes increasingly surreal, yet
BEFORE there for weeks, unable to leave shows the guests behaving as if
1929 Luis Buñuel’s first movie, without them or us ever knowing nothing untoward is going on.
Un Chien Andalou, a short
made with Salvador Dalí, is Luis Buñuel Director
a startling surrealist work.
Luis Buñuel was Andalou, and a second, L’Age
1962 In Buñuel’s The celebrated for d’Or (1930). Buñuel moved to the
Exterminating Angel, guests his surreal US during the Spanish Civil War,
are unable to leave a dinner. movies, biting then to Mexico, and finally
social satire, and interest in France in 1955. He died in 1983.
AFTER religious fanaticism. He was
1977 Buñuel’s last movie, born in Calanda, Spain, in 1900, Key movies
That Obscure Object of and studied as a Jesuit before
Desire, is about the frustration he met playwright Federico 1929 Un Chien Andalou
of an aging man’s desires for Garcia Lorca and painter 1967 Belle de Jour
a young Spanish woman. Salvador Dalí, with whom he 1972 The Discreet Charm
made his first movie, Un Chien of the Bourgeoisie
REBEL REBEL 209

What else to watch: The Rules of the Game (1939, pp.60-61) ■ Divorce Italian Style (1961) ■ The Exterminating Angel
(1962) ■ Pierrot le Fou (1965) ■ Belle de Jour (1967, p.336) ■ The Ruling Class (1972) ■ Amarcord (1973)
Buñuel is not remotely concerned satirized through the The poster for the
with conventional narrative flow. movie as, for instance, cinema release had
Intercut with the frustrated efforts the bishop is thrown a suitably surrealist
design in the style
of the dinner guests are dream out when he is
of Belgian painter
sequences that pop from their heads mistaken for a mere René Magritte.
and sometimes overlap with each gardener, then
other, as well as skits involving prop welcomed fawningly
food, flashbacks, and at the center when he returns in his
of it all, the ambassador to the Latin episcopal vestments. countryside, a
American Republic of Miranda metaphor for their
(entirely fictional), who finds himself Road to nowhere hollow obsession
drawn into a bizarre terrorist plot. Even as the world with status.
crumbles around Buñuel won the
Class and convention them and everything Oscar for best
Dinner is the occasion on which begins to fall apart, foreign picture for
the social elite can come together the six friends are determined to the movie, and many directors
to display their taste, refinement, press on with their dinner, and no acknowledge its influence. Its
and material wealth. It assumes obstacle, no matter how absurd, message about the self-obsession
a symbolic place far ahead of will stop them. Throughout the of the well-to-do is as relevant as
anything else in these people’s movie, the six are often seen ever, and the inventiveness of
lives. The party’s snobbery and striding purposefully down a Buñuel’s playful vision remains
superficiality are continually seemingly endless road through the hugely fun. ■
You’re better suited for making

love than for making war.
Rafael Acosta / The
Discreet Charm of
the Bourgeoisie
In one of the movie’s

digressions, a soldier
tells how he poisoned
his stepfather as the
ghosts of his real father
and mother looked on.
210
DID YOU REALLY

SEE HER?
DON’T LOOK NOW / 1973
D
on’t Look Now opens What can and cannot be “seen” is
IN CONTEXT with the death of a child, the enigma at the heart of this
but it’s more concerned devastating movie, whose title
GENRE
with the fate of her
Supernatural thriller
parents, John (Donald
DIRECTOR Sutherland) and Laura
Nicolas Roeg Baxter (Julie Christie).
The grieving couple
WRITERS relocate from their home
Allan Scott, Chris Bryant in Britain to wintry, out-
(screenplay); Daphne of-season Venice, where
du Maurier (short story) John busies himself with
the restoration of a church
STARS
mosaic. When Laura
Donald Sutherland, befriends two elderly
Julie Christie sisters—one a blind
BEFORE clairvoyant—her husband
1970 Roeg’s twisted crime begins to catch glimpses of
drama Performance stars Mick a figure that resembles their
Jagger as a reclusive rock star. dead daughter. Is John
seeing things? Or could it
AFTER be that Christine has come
1976 David Bowie plays an back from beyond the grave?
alien in Roeg’s sci-fi odyssey
The Man Who Fell to Earth.
The movie poster hints
1977 Julie Christie is attacked at the ending without giving
by a computer in Demon Seed, anything away. Like John,
the audience only finds out
directed by Donald Cammell.
at the end of the movie what
the “warning” was all along.
REBEL REBEL 211

What else to watch: Dead of Night (1945) ■ Peeping Tom (1960, p.334) ■ The Birds (1963) ■ Rosemary’s Baby
(1968, p.336) ■ Death in Venice (1971) ■ Walkabout (1971, p.337) ■ The Wicker Man (1973) ■ The Shining (1980, p.339)
The movie opens with a slow-

motion sequence in which John
drags Christine’s lifeless body
from a pond. It introduces many
of the movie’s key motifs, including
water and the color red.
seems to be a warning. “Don’t look

now!” it screams, begging the
audience to avert its gaze. But, as
with many things in Nicolas Roeg’s
paranormal chiller, the title is not
what it seems. In fact Roeg wants
the viewer to look carefully,
especially at the patterns created
by his strange, kaleidoscopic
arrangement of images.
The director experimented with
complex visual editing in his
previous movies, Performance (1970)
and Walkabout (1971); in Don’t Look
Now, he uses these techniques to
convey both a sense of menace and
the fractured psychological states
of his two main characters. Images
are repeated and echoed at jarring
moments: ripples on water; the
color red; breaking glass; close-ups
of gargoyles and statues. The
viewer glimpses them here and
there, just as John catches sight
of the scarlet-coated figure from
the corner of his eye, and they
accumulate to build an atmosphere
thick with paranoia.
quick, disjointed cuts between contemporary viewers assumed the
Love scene the couple in bed and the two of sex was real. This is a movie that
Perhaps the most celebrated them dressing for dinner later in forces us to look again, to ask
example of this fragmented editing the evening. The result is a sex ourselves, “Did I really see that?”
style is the sequence in which John scene unlike any other—intense, John cannot see what is in front
and Laura make love for the first time touching, melancholic, and comic; of him: that he possesses the gift of
since Christine died. Roeg makes and so realistic that many second sight. He doesn’t believe in
psychics, and when Laura tells him
that the clairvoyant has “seen” their
This one who’s blind. daughter in Venice, he reacts by
She’s the one who can see. getting drunk and angry. Even
after he sees Christine’s reflection
Laura Baxter / Don’t Look Now in a canal, rippling across the ❯❯
212 DON’T LOOK NOW

water, he refuses to open his mind mistaken for a peeping tom while traps; St. Mark’s Square, for example,
to the existence of ghosts. In Don’t searching for the home of the makes a single, easy-to-miss
Look Now, seeing is not believing: peculiar sisters. Other characters appearance. The movie sticks to the
you must believe in order to see. have no problems navigating the backwaters, creating a trap of its
Roeg and his writers, Allan Scott city, but John is forever getting lost own from a maze of dank passages,
and Chris Bryant, find moments and finding himself back where he churches, and empty hotels.
of sly humor in John’s willful started. For him, time and space Much of Roeg’s Venice is unseen:
“blindness.” When he loses his are jumbled up and compressed, the audience hears cries in the
way in the labyrinthine alleyways just as they are in Roeg’s editing. night, a piano playing somewhere
of Venice, he pauses beneath an nearby, footsteps that echo all
optician’s sign (in the shape of a Venetian setting around. “Venice is like a city in
huge pair of glasses). “Do look now!” Venice is the perfect backdrop for aspic,” says the blind clairvoyant.
it seems to say, but he ignores it and a horror movie about déjà vu; there “My sister hates it. She says it’s
hurries on. In another scene, John is are reminders of death and decay like after a dinner party, and all
around every corner, and its bridges the guests are dead and gone.
John follows the red coat on and canals all seem to look alike. Too many shadows.” The camera
the Calle di Mezzo to the gates Shot on location in and around the lingers on dust-sheeted furniture
of the Palazzo Grimani where he Italian vacation destination, Don’t and shuttered windows, suggesting
encounters the dwarf. Look Now mostly avoids the tourist something concealed from view.
REBEL REBEL 213
The fanciest, most

carefully assembled enigma
yet put on screen.
Pauline Kael
5001 Nights at the Movies, 1982
The sense of danger intensifies

when the audience learns that a
serial killer is on the loose. This
revelation comes late in the movie, the sisters know more than they The danger of falling is ever present.
but Roeg leaves a bread-crumb trail are letting on? Eventually, Roeg Laura is taken to hospital after a fall in
of clues leading up to it: the killer is pulls focus on fate and a truly the restaurant. John is nearly killed in
a fall, their son is injured in a fall, and
seen in one of John’s photographic macabre finale, the kaleidoscope
Christine died after falling in the lake.
slides, hidden in plain sight, in the resolving itself into an image of
very first scene; a police inspector pure Gothic horror.
doodles a psychotic face as he Finally, in a fog-chilled Venetian
interviews John at the station. Closing montage chapel, memories come to life and
“What is it you fear?” he asks. Roeg saw his movie as an “exercise tragedy descends in a queasy flash
The subplot of the murderer in film grammar.” This is never more of horror and recognition. Roeg
adds another layer to the movie’s evident than in its extraordinary crowned the movie with a dizzying
kaleidoscope, forcing the audience climactic sequence, which begins montage of moments, images, and
to question everything it has seen with a séance and ends with a overlooked clues from the past 108
so far. Is Christine in fact a ghost or funeral. Don’t Look Now forces minutes of story. Much too late, the
something even more sinister? Do John to stare death in the face. audience sees everything. ■
Nicolas Roeg Director

Roeg first made his mark as the and the complex relationship
cinematographer for such cult between time and space. Don’t
classics as Roger Corman’s The Look Now is often referenced
Masque of the Red Death (1964) by other filmmakers, but Roeg
and François Truffaut’s Fahrenheit has directed many fascinating
451 (1966). In 1970, he teamed movies since, including The
up with the writer and painter Man Who Fell to Earth (1976).
Donald Cammell to create
Performance, a gangster movie that Key movies
starred Mick Jagger as a reclusive
rock star. Roeg’s next two movies, 1970 Performance
Walkabout (1971) and Don’t Look 1971 Walkabout
Now (1973), continued to explore 1973 Don’t Look Now
his fascination with sex, death, 1976 The Man Who Fell to Earth
214
YOU CAN TALK TO HIM

WHENEVER YOU WANT.
JUST CLOSE YOUR EYES
AND CALL HIM
THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE / 1973
E
ven though he was going it is so slow-moving and enigmatic
IN CONTEXT blind, cinematographer Luis that the censors believed it would
Cuadrado shot every frame never find an audience.
GENRE
of The Spirit of the Beehive (El
Historical drama
espíritu de la colmena) in honey- Finding the monster
DIRECTOR colored sun and earth tones, rich in The movie opens with the arrival of
Victor Erice texture and deep, soft hues. Yet the a traveling cinema in a village. The
movie’s true beauty lies in the way movie playing is James Whale’s
WRITERS director Victor Erice immerses us 1931 monster flick Frankenstein.
Victor Erice, Ángel in the imagination of a six-year-old The child Ana is thrilled by the
Fernández Santos, child, unforgettably played by the monster, but baffled by the
Francisco J. Querejeta wide-eyed Ana Torrent. scene in which he
The movie is set in 1940, the year appears to drown the
STARS
after the Spanish Civil War ended in little girl—thanks to
Fernando Fernán Gómez,
victory for Franco’s Nationalists. It a misleading cut
Teresa Gimpera, Ana was a violent period of bloody made by Spanish
Torrent, Isabel Tellería retribution, about which it was still censors, who were
BEFORE not possible to talk openly in Spain, showing the movie
1961 In British movie Whistle even in 1973. General Franco was as propaganda
Down the Wind, a little girl still in power, and censors strove to that equated
finds a fugitive in a barn curtail any criticism of the regime. the monster
and believes he is Jesus. Erice’s movie not only depicted a with socialism.
controversial era, but also contained
AFTER coded messages about the state of
1976 In Carlos Saura’s Cría the nation. Yet the movie made it
Cuervos (Raise Ravens), Ana past the censors, possibly because
Torrent again plays a little
girl haunted by visions.
Ana (Ana Torrent)
1983 Erice’s second movie, The offers an apple to the
South (El Sur), is about a girl fugitive she finds
fascinated by the secrets her hidden in the
family outhouse.
father left in southern Spain. She believes he
is the monster.
REBEL REBEL 215

What else to watch: Pather Panchali (1955, pp.132–33) ■ Whistle Down
the Wind (1961) ■ Cria Cuervos (1976) ■ Fanny and Alexander (1982)
Victor Erice Director

Victor Erice is regarded by
many as Spain’s finest movie
director. Yet he has made
few movies. Indeed, his high
reputation rests on just two
poetic works, The Spirit of the
Obsessed by visions of the monster, Ana and her sister Isabel talk with Beehive and The South, both
although not afraid of him, Ana goes their father (Fernando Fernán Gómez). of which are period pieces
home. Here, in echoing, shadowy He keeps bees, and writes of his
centering on rural childhoods.
revulsion for their mindless lives, one
rooms behind honeycomb-shaped Erice was born in Karrantza
of many allusions to Francoist Spain.
windows, her bookish beekeeper in the Basque country (Spain)
father and her far younger mother in 1940, around the same time
seem impossibly far apart, literally tender relationship, but the The Spirit of the Beehive is set.
and emotionally, as her mother Francoist troops are never far away. He studied economics, law
Teresa (Teresa Gimpera) writes Ana has more visions of the monster, and politics at the University
sad letters to an unknown although the doctor reassures her of Madrid before going to film
young man. mother that the delusions will pass. school in the early 1960s. He
worked for almost a decade as
Ana’s sister Isabela fuels
a film critic before making a
Ana’s visions, telling her to Political allegory series of short movies.
close her eyes and call the The movie ends with an image of The Spirit of the Beehive
monster, like a spirit. When Ana at the window, her eyes closed was Erice’s first feature-length
Ana closes her eyes and again. When the movie was made movie, but he did not make his
calls, “It’s me, Ana,” she in 1973, Franco’s regime was second, The South (El Sur),
finds, hidden in the outhouse, already faltering; its end would until almost 10 years later. Ten
a haunted-looking young have felt very near to a Spanish years after that, he made a
man, presumably a Republican audience. Telling a story from the beautiful documentary, The
on the run, who she believes past, The Spirit of the Beehive also Quince Tree Sun, about the
is the monster. They develop a gave Spain a glimpse of its future. ■ painter Antonio López García.
While Erice has contributed to
other work, these have been
Little but the walls remain his only feature-length movies.
of the house you once knew, Key movies

I often wonder what became 1973 The Spirit of the Beehive
of everything we had there. 1983 The South
1992 The Quince Tree Sun
Teresa / The Spirit of the Beehive
YOU KNOW WHAT

HAPPENS TO
NOSY
FELLOWS?
CHINATOWN / 1974
218 CHINATOWN
R
oman Polanski’s movie
IN CONTEXT Chinatown is a gripping
thriller with a truly nasty
GENRE
sting in its tail. Jack Nicholson
Neo-noir crime thriller
plays the seedy private detective
DIRECTOR Jake Gittes, who investigates Time has lessened our sense
Roman Polanski a conspiracy surrounding the that this superlative 1974
Los Angeles water supply in film is simply a pastiche of
WRITER the 1930s. During the course the classic ’30s gumshoe
Robert Towne of his investigation, he uncovers thrillers—it now looks like
STARS a disturbing personal tragedy as a straightforward classic.
he becomes involved with the Peter Bradshaw
Jack Nicholson, Faye
chief water engineer’s wife, Evelyn The Guardian, 2013
Dunaway, John Huston
Mulwray, played by Faye Dunaway.
BEFORE
1941 John Huston’s movie Powerful script
noir The Maltese Falcon is Key to the movie’s power is Robert
released, and Polanski studies Towne’s Oscar-winning script,
it avidly before he embarks which is widely regarded as one
on making Chinatown. of the finest screenplays ever becomes Hollis Mulwray, and the
written for Hollywood. It was partly story turns into a fictional tale of
1968 Rosemary’s Baby is inspired by the true story of William the corrupt manipulation of the
Polanski’s acclaimed horror Mulholland, chief engineer of the Los Angeles water supply for profit.
movie about a young woman, Los Angeles Water Department, Towne wrote the script with
played by Mia Farrow, who who, on March 12, 1928, declared Jack Nicholson in mind for the
is impregnated by the devil. that the St. Francis Dam was character of Gittes, the private
safe, just hours before it failed eye who becomes unwittingly
AFTER catastrophically, with the resulting embroiled in the shadowy affairs
1988 Frantic, starring flood killing at least 600 people. In of Mulwray’s associates. Nicholson
Harrison Ford, is Polanski’s Towne’s screenplay, Mulholland is said to have been responsible for
first successful return to
the thriller genre since
making Chinatown. He owns the police!
Evelyn Mulwray / Chinatown
Jack Nicholson Actor

Jack Nicholson is one of the Pieces (1970) was widely
leading American movie actors of acclaimed. Both movies brought
the last half century, renowned him Oscar nominations for his
for playing difficult outsiders acting, while One Flew Over
who can disarm with charm and the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) earned
humor. He was born in 1937 in him his first Oscar win.
Neptune City, New Jersey, where
he grew up. His Hollywood acting Key movies
career was slow to take off, and
he had more success with writing 1970 Five Easy Pieces
screenplays. He had his first big 1974 Chinatown
acting break in Dennis Hopper’s 1975 One Flew Over the
Easy Rider (1969), and a year later, Cuckoo’s Nest
his performance in Five Easy 1980 The Shining
REBEL REBEL 219

What else to watch: The Maltese Falcon (1941, p.331) ■ The Big Sleep (1946) ■ Kiss Me Deadly (1955, p.134) ■
Vertigo (1958, pp.140–45) ■ The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) ■ L.A. Confidential (1997)
Gittes has his nose slashed as he

gets too near the truth about the plot
to dump water from the LA reservoirs.
He is warned that if he continues to
snoop, his whole nose will come off.
the wrong conclusions. At the

start of the movie, for instance,
he is commissioned by the wife
of Hollis Mulwray to prove her
husband’s adultery. Very quickly
Gittes hands her the seemingly
incriminating photos—only he’s
got it wrong twice over. First,
the woman who commissioned
him is not Mulwray’s wife but
an impostor. Second, the young
woman that he snaps out with
the hiring of Polanski, renowned detective movies such as The Mulwray is not his mistress at
for the psychological thrillers Maltese Falcon. The audience all, as he, and we, the audience,
Repulsion (1965) and Rosemary’s knows that Marlowe will triumph will discover much later. Later in
Baby (1968). Polanski was in Europe in the end, but it becomes apparent the movie, Gittes wrongly assumes
at the time, having left the US after that Gittes is going to mess up that the real Evelyn Mulwray
the murder of his wife in 1969. He again and again, as he jumps to all murdered her husband. ❯❯
was tempted back by the strength
of Towne’s script, although Polanski
and Towne had many differences Noir conventions overturned
over the final version.
There were two elements in Genre convention Chinatown subversion
particular that Polanski changed.
First was the tragic and disturbing Female lead is typically Evelyn is revealed
ending. Second was the decision a “femme fatale” to be a victim
not to use the voice-over narrative
that so many private-eye film-noirs
Gittes is incompetent,
had employed in the past. Polanski Protagonist is a hard-boiled
missing clues and
insisted on letting the audience private investigator
making mistakes
discover each new twist as Jake
Gittes does. The effect of this is
that both Jake and the audience are Noah Cross escapes to
Antagonist gets punished
much more in the dark and far more continue his crimes
unsettled by each new revelation.
Incompetent sleuth Protagonist succeeds in Gittes leaves town

Gittes’ desperate attempt to make resolving crime or issue after failing
sense of everything makes him a
different kind of private eye from
Humphrey Bogart’s Philip Marlowe Narrative closure No resolution
a generation earlier in hard-boiled
220 CHINATOWN
An audience familiar with the roles supply to his own advantage different from other crime thrillers,
of femmes fatales in earlier noir leads to the murder of his former and makes it linger long in the
movies would naturally assume the business partner, Evelyn’s mind. In most movies about power
same. But Mrs. Mulwray is the real husband Hollis Mulwray. and corruption, the detective
victim, and the truth is so unsettling simply homes in on, and then
that Gittes can barely take it in. Unexpected twist exposes, those responsible for a
The real villain of the piece, it turns There is a twist at the end of crime and its cover-up. But at the
out, is the seemingly urbane old Chinatown that makes crucial moment in Chinatown,
man Noah Cross, Evelyn’s the movie disturbingly the focus is diverted away from
father. He is the wealthy Cross’s efforts to control the water
man whose determination supply. Instead, we are faced with a
to use the city’s water shocking revelation that appears to
come out of the blue. Right at the
end of the movie, we are left
Gittes confronts Mrs.
Mulwray with his theory that
with the deeply disturbing
she killed her husband. But image of Cross—who appears
Gittes still has no idea what to have got away with
is going on. everything—comforting
his granddaughter.
Controlling men
Chinatown, it
turns out, is
not just about
power and
corruption.
Minute by minute
00:19 00:42 01:30 01:57
Evelyn Mulwray reveals After nearly drowning in Gittes follows Mrs. Mulwray to Gittes arranges for Mrs.
to Jake Gittes, the private a water channel, Gittes is a house in which her husband’s Mulwray and her sister to escape
detective, that he has been threatened at knifepoint “mistress” is staying. Mrs. Mulwray to Chinatown. He then confronts
duped in a ploy to discredit and his nose is slashed. tells him that she is her sister. Noah Cross with the glasses.
her husband, Hollis Mulwray.
00:00 00:15 00:30 00:45 01:00 01:15 01:30 01:45 02:10
01:15 01:45
00:31 Gittes and Mrs. Mulwray After finding the woman who had
Gittes turns up at the follow the paper trail of the pretended to be Mrs. Mulwray dead, Gittes
dam just as the police property sales, which leads them goes to the Mulwray house and finds a pair
are pulling Mulwray’s to an old people’s home. Gittes is of glasses in the pond. He confronts Mrs.
body out of the water. shot at and narrowly escapes. Mulwray, who tells him the shocking truth.
REBEL REBEL 221

It also concerns the whole notion
of male control. At one point, Gittes
asks Cross why he feels the need
to be richer: “How much better can
you eat? What can you buy that you
can’t already afford?” “The future, You have to show
Mr. Gittes,” Cross replies, “The
violence the way it is.
future.” Women and water are the
source of the future that Cross
If you don’t
wants to control. And in his own
show it realistically,
way, Gittes, too, is pursuing control, then that’s immoral
probing and sticking his nose in and harmful.
where it is unwelcome. Roman Polanski
His investigations lead to one Roman Polanski
of Chinatown’s nastiest and most Director
memorable scenes. Gittes has
his nose slit by a thug, played by Born in Paris in 1933 to Polish
Polanski himself: “You know what parents, Roman Polanski grew
happens to nosy fellows? Huh? up in Poland. During World
No? Wanna guess? Huh? No? Okay. The problem for Gittes is that War II, his parents were sent
They lose their noses.” It is a kind of he is living, metaphorically, in to a concentration camp where
emasculation, and Gittes’s dogged Chinatown, a place that holds his mother died, but Roman
survived by hiding in the
determination to solve the mystery bad memories for him, which
countryside. After the war, he
reflects his need to regain control. date back to his time spent in
went to film school. His first
the police force. Yet it is Gittes feature movie, Knife in the
himself who in Water (1962), was acclaimed
the end chooses internationally, and he moved
Chinatown, a to the UK to make movies such
world where as the chilling Repulsion. In
anything goes, 1968, he met actress Sharon
for the movie’s Tate and moved to the US,
tragic denouement. where he made the horror
There is no point movie Rosemary’s Baby. The
in trying to do following year, Tate was
the right thing, murdered by the serial killers
his former police known as the Manson Family.
colleague tells him Polanski left the US but
was invited back to direct
in the movie’s final
Chinatown. A few years later,
line: “Forget it, Jake. he was convicted of unlawful
It’s Chinatown…” ■ sex with a minor and fled to
France, where he still directs.
The poster for Key movies

Chinatown suggests an
old-fashioned film noir, 1965 Repulsion
with a chain-smoking 1968 Rosemary’s Baby
detective and a femme 1974 Chinatown
fatale. But Polanski 1979 Tess
effectively subverts the 1988 Frantic
genre and plays with 2002 The Pianist
audience expectations.
222
AND WE’LL BUY

OURSELVES A LITTLE
PIECE OF HEAVEN
ALI: FEAR EATS THE SOUL / 1974
IN CONTEXT
GENRE
New German Cinema
DIRECTOR
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
WRITER
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
STARS
Brigitte Mira, El Hedi ben
Salem, Barbara Valentin,
Irm Hermann
BEFORE
1955 Douglas Sirk’s romantic
melodrama All That Heaven
R
Allows provides inspiration ainer Werner Fassbinder’s Fassbinder (left) plays Eugen,
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul son-in-law of German cleaning woman
for Fassbinder’s Ali. Emmi (center). He and his wife Krista
(Angst essen Seele auf)
1972 Fassbinder makes (Irm Hermann) laugh at Emmi when she
is an intense study of an unlikely
his mark as a provocative says she has fallen in love with a
but tender relationship between younger Moroccan man.
filmmaker with The Bitter an aging German cleaning woman
Tears of Petra von Kant. and a younger Arab immigrant achieved the emotional
worker.It is also a trenchant engagement of classic melodrama
AFTER
commentary on the state of 1970s while exposing the underlying
1979 The Marriage of Maria Germany, as the couple face the tensions in German culture.
Braun is Fassbinder’s biggest derision and criticism of their New German Cinema directors
mainstream success. family and friends. By focusing on such as Fassbinder sought to create
1980 Fassbinder’s TV mini- the relationship between a white something peculiarly German by
series Berlin Alexanderplatz German woman and an immigrant, bringing together the sharp
becomes a cult classic. and placing it in the tough urban modernity and realism of the French
heart of Munich, Fassbinder and British new waves with the
REBEL REBEL 223

What else to watch: All That Heaven Allows (1955, p.130) ■ Lola Montès (1955) ■ The Damned (1969) ■ The Bitter Tears
of Petra von Kant (1972) ■ The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979) ■ The Tin Drum (1979) ■ Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980)
Happiness is not always fun.

Epigraph / Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
storytelling power of Hollywood. Ali: In his movies, Fassbinder
Fear Eats the Soul can also be seen presented to German society
as a homage to one of Fassbinder’s an uncompromising portrayal
cinematic heroes, German émigré of its flaws. While Emmi and
Ali may stay together, the
Douglas Sirk, whose 1955 movie racism that makes him ill
All That Heaven Allows portrayed will not go away.
the romance between a well-to-do
widow and a younger gardener.
Fassbinder always worked They move in together,
quickly, but this movie was made realize that they love each
exceptionally fast—in under two other, and decide to marry.
weeks, squeezed between two Their marriage is quickly
other projects. The result of this exposed to the prejudice
rapid shooting schedule is a lean, and gossip of everyone
stripped-down work of great around them, and an end
directness and immediacy. to outright hostility only
comes from the local
Racial tensions shopkeepers’ and bar
The German woman in the movie owners’ hypocritical
is the 60-year-old Emmi Kurowski need to keep their
(Brigitte Mira) and the immigrant is custom. The constant
40-year-old Ali (El Hedi ben Salem). pressure threatens to
They meet when Emmi ducks into destroy their relationship,
an Arabic bar to get out of the rain and Ali seeks solace in the arms of In many of Fassbinder’s movies, his
on the way home from work. Ali asks the female bartender who used to attitude to his characters can be
Emmi to dance, and despite his cook for him, Barbara (Barbara harsh and mocking. In Ali: Fear
limited grasp of German, a heartfelt Valentin, far left). Yet in the end, Eats the Soul, it is the cruelty of the
relationship develops between them. their love endures. people around Emmi and Ali that is
exposed. By contrast, Emmi and
Rainer Werner Fassbinder Director Ali’s relationship is handled in a
touching and sincere way.
Fassbinder was directing play after play. He At the end of the movie, Ali
the driving force made his first feature movie in collapses and is taken to a hospital,
of New German 1969 and quickly achieved suffering from a stomach ulcer—
Cinema. In a international acclaim, but his something common, the doctor
career spanning private life was often troubled, says, among migrants, because of
just 14 years, he made more than and he died of a drug overdose the continual prejudice they face.
40 movies, many TV dramas, and at just 37. As Ali says, “Fear eats the soul.”
24 stage plays. He was born in Emmi promises to do everything
Bavaria, Germany, in 1945, and Key movies she can to reduce the stress, and
had a lonely childhood in which
has a solution that is profound in
he watched thousands of movies. 1974 Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
By 21, he was running a theater its almost banal simplicity: “When
1979 The Marriage of
company, manically writing and Maria Braun we’re together, we must be nice to
one another.” ■
ANGELS
MONSTE
1975 –1991
AND
RS
226 INTRODUCTION
Star Wars takes Two epic turns usher in
Taxi Driver and All the science fiction and the 1980s: Jack Nicholson
President’s Men reflect franchising into a in Kubrick’s psycho-
Steven Spielberg’s Jaws the psychological scars whole new galaxy, while horror The Shining
ushers in the era of of the Vietnam War Spielberg thrills again and Robert De Niro in
the blockbuster, and and the Watergate with Close Encounters. Scorsese’s boxing
is a box-office triumph. scandal, respectively. of the Third Kind. biopic Raging Bull.
1975 1976 1977 1980
1975 1977 1979 1981
Video recorders go New York inspires both Science fiction veers from While Raiders of the
mainstream as Betamax Woody Allen’s wry look crazed dystopias in Lost Ark launches
and (one year later) VHS at love in Annie Hall and Stalker and Mad Max to the Indiana Jones
long-play formats enable the disco inferno that is all-out horror in Alien, franchise, a German
moviegoers to record Saturday Night Fever. while Apocalypse Now U-boat stalks its
and play movies at home. lays bare the horrors of war. prey in Das Boot.
A
fter the major upheavals of Two years later, when George (starring Robert De Niro as cabbie
the Swinging Sixties, the Lucas’s Star Wars came along and ex-Marine Travis Buckle)
1970s saw a different kind to capture the imagination of a would be the first of Scorsese’s
of revolution unfold. For all the generation, the movie business was masterworks, a dazed snapshot
tremors at their foundations, it further transformed. Entering the of paranoia and urban decay that
seemed Hollywood’s big studios world of Wookies and Jedi would became an instant time capsule.
were still standing, but now a new become a rite of passage for each Alvy Singer was the hero
kind of movie burst onto the scene. new generation of moviegoers, but and neurotic narrator of another
Director Steven Spielberg was, Lucas’s success also meant that consummate New York story:
like so many of his peers, a young, soon, for Hollywood, there was no Woody Allen’s romantic comedy,
movie-literate hotshot. But deep such thing as mere movies any Annie Hall. For years to come, rare
down he was also an old-fashioned more—only franchises in waiting. was the movie that wasn’t in debt
showman. In the classic Hollywood And yet this was also a time to one of those characters and
tradition of happy accidents and when some of cinema’s finest its creators.
unlikely triumphs, the production minds made their most audacious
of Jaws was cursed by a man-eating and enduring movies. In America, Beyond Hollywood
great white shark that Spielberg after Chinatown’s definitive Outside America, ambiguity
felt was so laughably unrealistic he portrait of LA’s murky backstory, throbbed at the heart of movies that
could barely bring himself to put it the spotlight now fell brilliantly once seen, would be impossible to
on screen. And yet it became the hit and unforgivingly on New York. By ignore. From Australia, in the same
that changed the movies, installing the mid 1970s, Martin Scorsese year that Spielberg’s shark thrilled
a new type of blockbuster at the top had already announced himself audiences in Jaws, director Peter
of the food chain. as a giant talent—but Taxi Driver Weir made Picnic at Hanging Rock,
ANGELS AND MONSTERS 227

Spielberg’s heartwarming
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
is science fiction for all Blue Velvet achieves Pedro Almodóvar’s black Set in 1920s China, Raise
the family; not so Ridley instant cult status for comedy, Women on the Verge the Red Lantern seduces
Scott’s epic Blade Runner, David Lynch’s surreal of a Nervous Breakdown, audiences worldwide with
a neo-noir vision of Los and subversive take wins the Spanish director a the intensity of its visual
Angeles in 2019. on Americana. global following. and emotional power.
1982 1986 1988 1991
1985 1987 1989 1992
The Sundance Institute Angels alight in Indies come of age with Disney’s Beauty
hosts its inaugural movie Berlin in Wim Wenders’ Sex, Lies, and Videotape, and the Beast is the
festival in Utah, to Wings of Desire, two a breakthrough hit for first animated
champion independent years before the fall of studio Miramax and movie to be
and world cinema. the Berlin Wall dividing debut director nominated for an
East and West Germany. Steven Soderbergh. Oscar for Best Picture.
a story that inspired equal dread by the subconscious, and at least

with its wispy account of missing as surreal, funny, and disturbing
schoolgirls in the outback of 1900. as real dreams can be.
Meanwhile, in an industrial pocket By the end of the 1980s, other
of Estonia, the great Russian voices were speaking up. Indie
director Andrei Tarkovsky was movies were in the ascendant, from
Now more than ever we need
making Stalker, poised between Spike Lee tracking racial tensions
science fiction and philosophy.
to listen to each other and in Brooklyn, to Steven Soderbergh
These are movies that remain, even
understand how we see the training his lens on sexuality and
now, gloriously unfathomable. world, and cinema is the best relationships. From China, Zhang
medium for doing this. Yimou’s Raise the Red Lantern was
New decade, new voices Martin Scorsese both a gorgeous period drama and
In the 1980s, Wall Street traders a signal of a global future.
and mainstream movies looked Meanwhile, cinema itself
slicker than ever, but around the survived another attack on its
edges, directors still drilled down very existence: just as TV had been
into what lies beneath. Perhaps supposed to leave it for dead in
nothing sums up that better than previous decades, so too was the
the fact that David Cronenberg— gung-ho landmark, Top Gun (1986). rise of home video in the 1980s.
whose notorious “body horror” And then there was David Lynch— In the battle between VHS and
scenes were less disturbing than who, like Hitchcock before him, cinema, there was only one winner:
the psyches of his characters—was was unique enough to exist as a new formats come and go, but the
once offered the chance to make that genre of his own, his movies driven movies endure. ■
228
YOU’RE GONNA NEED

AJAWSBIGGER
/ 1975
BOAT
T
here are many memorable which smashes out of the water,
IN CONTEXT lines in Jaws, but “You’re mouth gaping, heading straight
gonna need a bigger boat” for the audience in their seats.
GENRE
is the one most people remember.
Action adventure
It comes just after Brody (Roy The shark’s first victim is lone
DIRECTOR Scheider), the aquaphobic police skinny-dipper Chrissie (Susan
Steven Spielberg chief of Amity Island, first sees his Backlinie). The attacker is all the
nemesis: the great white shark, more terrifying for being unseen.
WRITERS
Peter Benchley, Carl
Gottlieb (screenplay);
Peter Benchley (novel)
STARS
Roy Scheider, Richard
Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw,
Lorraine Gary
BEFORE
1971 In Spielberg’s thriller Duel,
a driver is chased by a truck.
AFTER
1977 Close Encounters of
the Third Kind is Spielberg’s
ambitious sci-fi drama.
1993 In his blockbuster Jurassic
Park, Spielberg brings dinosaurs
back from extinction.

What else to watch: Godzilla (1954, p.129) ■ Moby Dick (1956) ■ The Deep (1977) ■ Piranha (1978) ■
Alien (1979, p.243) ■ Open Water (2003) ■ The Shark Is Still Working (2007) ■ All Is Lost (2013)
What this movie is

about, and where it
succeeds best, is the
primordial level of fear.
Gene Siskel
Chicago Tribune, 1975
It’s a theme-park moment—the

shark is clearly mechanical, a
prop on a hydraulic crane, but
we don’t mind because Jaws
is as much a ride as it is a movie.
When Steven Spielberg’s
monster movie was released in
June 1975, there was a sense
that something new had arrived.
Adapted from a best-selling novel
by Peter Benchley about a shark with deliberately tricky characters Brody (Roy Scheider, center) wants
that terrorizes a small beach and ambiguous moral codes. to close the resort, but is overruled by
community, Jaws sold 25 million Spielberg’s big-fish tale was a the mayor (Murray Hamilton, left), who
fears that rumors of a shark attack
tickets in 38 days—it started throwback to the fun-house origins will ruin the tourist season.
big and swelled to mammoth of the moving image—it was pure
proportions. Studio executives entertainment, a roller coaster
quickly realized that they were that promised scares but at the After Jaws came the Star Wars
onto something—Jaws 2 was same time sought to reassure movies, Spielberg’s Indiana Jones
rushed into production and came its audience. The movie contained saga, Back to the Future, and then
out in 1978. Spielberg had invented all the elements that would go the superhero mega-franchises
the “summer event movie”—the on to make a typical Spielberg of the 21st century. But, looking
action-packed blockbuster aimed sideshow: ambitious special back, the picture that spawned
at summer audiences that became effects, a high-concept story, these behemoths is a very different
Hollywood’s great obsession for cute kids, a small-town American creature. Jaws, in comparison, is
the next four decades. hero who finds himself out of his a relatively modest adventure, its
depth, and plenty of opportunities chief spectacle a rubber shark so
Pure entertainment for marketing. unconvincing that Spielberg ❯❯
Jaws changed American
cinema, which, for the first half
of the 1970s, had been in thrall
This was not a boat accident.
to low-key, European-style movies Hooper / Jaws
230 JAWS
worked hard to keep it off the
screen as much as possible. Instead
of the full-blown orchestral swoons
for which he would later become
famous, composer John Williams
employs a jaggedly minimalist
musical score to herald the approach
of the shark; the result, a kind of
panicked heartbeat, is the most
haunting movie motif since the
stabbing strings in Alfred
Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960).
Claustrophobia
As the narrative moves into its
final act, the big showdown with
the great white, its trio of heroes
journeys out to sea—but Spielberg
narrows his focus on their tiny
fishing boat, the Orca, and the
story shrinks to a human drama. story of the sinking of the USS With the Orca sinking and the
For all the movie’s snapping Indianapolis in World War II. “Eleven shark about to swallow Brody, he
shark jaws, exploding gas canisters, hundred men went into the water, has one final desperate plan to kill
and severed heads bobbing toward three hundred and sixteen men it in a spectacular finale.
the screen, the most memorable came out,” he growls. “The sharks
scene in Jaws is nothing more took the rest.” awesome terror. Spielberg is a
spectacular than three men talking: canny showman, and he knows
Chief Brody, shark expert Hooper Quiet before the storm that roller coasters rely on a lull
(Richard Dreyfuss), and psychotic The Indianapolis speech is a before each stomach-churning
sea dog Quint (Robert Shaw) share moment of quiet that gets under plunge. It’s a mark of his genius
a late-night drink below deck. They our skin, so when that fake-looking that Jaws contains more lulls than
compare scars and sing songs, and mechanical shark-prop rises out of plunges, yet is remembered for its
eventually the conversation turns the ocean we see it as the director shock horror and white-knuckle
dark, as Quint tells the chilling intended: a monster imbued with action adventure. ■
Steven Spielberg Director

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1946, drama. In 1993, he told a true
Steven Spielberg has been a story of heroism during the
household name for four decades. Holocaust with Schindler’s List.
An all-American storyteller with Since then he has balanced
a European eye, he has made historical drama with special-
some of the most successful effects spectacles.
movies of all time. With Jaws, his
first hit, he invented the “event Key movies
movie.” His enthusiasm for the
silver screen led him to make the 1975 Jaws
Indiana Jones series, a homage 1978 Close Encounters of the
to 1930s action adventure serials, Third Kind
while his family fable E.T. proved 1982 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
he was a master of emotional 1993 Schindler’s List
The movie’s
poster is one of
the most iconic
designed for any
movie. As with
most Spielberg
movies there were
extensive spin-off
toys and products.
Surprisingly, though,
it took 15 years
before a Jaws theme
park attraction
opened, with
enormous success,
in Florida.
232
THERE’S SOME QUESTIONS

GOT ANSWERS AND
SOME HAVEN’T
PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK / 1975
P
icnic at Hanging Rock mysteries posed in this haunting
IN CONTEXT opens with a caption Valentine’s Day trip into the wilds
stating that on February 14, of the Australian bush.
GENRE
1900, a party of schoolgirls went on
Mystery drama
a picnic at Hanging Rock near No resolution
DIRECTOR Mount Macedon in the Australian The strange events at Hanging
Peter Weir state of Victoria. It ends with the Rock were first related in a
words: “During the afternoon 1967 novel by Australian author
WRITERS several members of the party Joan Lindsay, which itself was
Cliff Green (screenplay); disappeared without a trace.” This ambiguous about whether the
Joan Lindsay (novel) creates the impression that the case of the missing party was
story that follows is based on true true. When Weir came to adapt
STARS
events—but it isn’t. The movie, the book for movie, he faced an
Rachel Roberts, Anne-
made in 1975, is entirely fictitious. unusual challenge: Lindsay had
Louise Lambert, Vivean
So why are the words there? offered no explanation for the
Gray, Helen Morse Are they a trick, or a clue—or story’s central mystery. The three
BEFORE both? This is the first of many girls and their teacher simply
1974 Weir’s first feature, The vanish—there is no suggestion of
Cars That Ate Paris, develops where they go, or why. Could the
his trademark theme of director expect his audience to
macabre happenings in sit through a two-hour mystery
a small community. that has no resolution? Weir’s
response was to draw out themes
AFTER A movie composed of absence—not only do the girls
1981 Like Hanging Rock, almost entirely of clues. and Miss McCraw, their teacher,
Gallipoli, Weir’s World War I It forces us to stretch disappear early in the story, but
drama, authentically captures our imaginations. no solutions or clues are found to
Edwardian Australia. Vincent Canby the questions asked. Another
The New York Times, 1979 teacher, Mr. Whitehead (Frank
1989 Weir’s acclaimed US Gunnell), is the first to accept that
drama, Dead Poets Society, the event is unsolvable—“There’s
echoes Hanging Rock in its some questions got answers and
story of a tragedy at a school. some haven’t,” he says simply. In
Picnic at Hanging Rock, Weir is

What else to watch: Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) ■ Wake in Fright (1971) ■ Walkabout (1971, p.337) ■ The Year of Living
Dangerously (1982) ■ The Blair Witch Project (1999) ■ The Virgin Suicides (1999) ■ The Way Back (2010) ■ The Babadook (2014)
Peter Weir
Director
Born in Sydney in 1944,
Weir started his career
making documentaries with
Australia’s Commonwealth
Film Unit. Associated with
Irma, Marion, and Miranda share 1900, when European settlers the movement dubbed the
an eerily idyllic moment just before “Australian New Wave,”
were still strangers in an ancient
they set off to climb Hanging Rock. which included performers
land they did not fully understand.
Irma will be found later with her corset and filmmakers who found
missing. The other two, along with international acclaim in the
Miss McGraw, disappear without trace. Possible hint 1970s and 80s, he went on to
There is a hint that sexuality make movies that focused on
is at the heart of the vanishing. communities under strain, his
asking the viewer to respect the When one of the girls “returns,” atmospherics mirroring the
mystery for what it is. A kind unable to put her experience into tumultuous forces affecting
of supernatural event seems to words, why is her corset missing? the characters’ lives. After the
have occurred. It has no context Is it significant that the vanishing success of his World War I
and is therefore frightening. Weir occurs on Valentine’s Day? Or that drama Gallipoli, Weir’s films
builds his drama on this menacing the rock itself sits on a dormant have often been star vehicles
atmosphere, which hums with volcano, a potential symbol of that put a man into a closed
the stifling heat of the Australian repressed desire? It’s impossible society and watched him
summer. He shoots Hanging Rock to know. Any answers to the riddle struggle to connect, such as
Harrison Ford’s John Book in
as though it were the surface of evaporate in the dry haze of the
Witness (1985), set within an
a hostile alien world, which is bush. In Picnic at Hanging Rock, Amish community.
what it must have felt like to the it is the mystery that endures, and
characters. The movie is set in not the explanation. ■
Key movies
We shall only be gone 1975 Picnic at Hanging Rock

1981 Gallipoli
a little while. 1989 Dead Poets Society
1998 The Truman Show
Miranda / Picnic at Hanging Rock
SOMEDAY A REAL
RAIN
WILL COME
TAXI DRIVER / 1976
236 TAXI DRIVER
I
t is 1976, and there are around
IN CONTEXT 7.8 million people living in
New York City. Travis Bickle
GENRE
(Robert De Niro) regards them all
Psychological thriller
through the filthy windows of his
DIRECTOR cab—everywhere he looks, from
Times Square to East 13th Street
The immediate response
Martin Scorsese is usually very visceral
by way of Park Avenue South, there
WRITER are people, but to Travis they may and angry. But if this film
Paul Schrader as well be characters in a movie. weren’t controversial,
He is an outsider, alienated and there’d be something
STARS wrong with the country.
angry, who views the world from
Robert De Niro, Jodie Paul Schrader
the inside of a car. This is the taxi
Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Interview with Roger Ebert,
driver of Martin Scorsese’s movie,
Harvey Keitel who drifts through the city in a
BEFORE clammy fever dream.

1973 Martin Scorsese,
Robert De Niro, and Harvey Cleansing rain
Keitel team up for the first Taxi Driver is a dirty movie,
time with Mean Streets, the not in the same way as the porn
story of a low-ranking New movies that Travis likes to watch
York mobster. in the run-down theaters of 42nd degenerate, railing against
Street, but in its depiction of the prostitution, homosexuality, and
1974 De Niro shoots to fame grimy city. Scorsese shot the movie drug taking. When Travis talks
in The Godfather: Part II, as in the summer heat wave of 1975, about a cleansing rain, he means
the young Don Vito Corleone. during a trash-collection strike that it biblically, apocalyptically. But
left Manhattan mountainous with he is not a religious fanatic—he
AFTER rotting garbage. “Thank God for just wants a purpose. His God
1982 Scorsese directs De the rain to wash the trash off the exists only to give him the order
Niro in The King of Comedy, sidewalk,” says Travis. “Someday to kill, just as his commanding
a black comedy about another a real rain will come and wash all officer did when Travis served
delusional New York loser. this scum off the streets.” as a marine in the Vietnam War.
1990 Scorsese returns to the In Travis’s world, the only clean
mob with Goodfellas, one of things are his conscience and his Lost soul
his most popular movies. driving licence. To him, everything Travis is lost in so many ways:
else is disgusting, including his he fought on the losing side in the
fellow New Yorkers. He finds them war in Southeast Asia, and now
Minute by minute
00:19 00:32 01:05 01:30
Travis enters the When Travis takes Betsy A store is held up at At a rally for Palatine, Travis
campaign office of Senator to a porn movie, she walks gunpoint while Travis is in it. is spotted by a security guard
Palatine to volunteer, as an out in disgust. He calls her He shoots the thief. The store as he approaches the Senator
excuse to talk to his aide and sends flowers, but she owner covers for him, since and seems to reach for his gun.
Betsy. He takes her for coffee. brushes him off. Travis has no gun permit. Travis leaves without firing.
00:00 00:15 00:30 00:45 01:00 01:15 01:30 01:53
00:27 00:51 01:21 01:34

Palatine gets into Travis’s After nearly running The day after paying for Travis shoots Sport,
cab. Travis tells him the city over Iris, Travis buys her time, Travis sees Iris for a hotel owner, and a
needs to be cleaned up. Later, guns. He starts an breakfast. He says that he will gambler who is with Iris.
teenage prostitute Iris gets in, intense fitness regimen give her the money to leave He tries to shoot himself
but pimp Sport pulls her out. and practices shooting. Sport and go to a commune. but is out of bullets.

What else to watch: Mean Streets (1973) ■ The Deer Hunter (1978) ■
Raging Bull (1980, pp.338–39) ■ The King of Comedy (1982) ■ After Hours (1985)
he has lost his faith in the country are his passengers—but, like
that he was fighting for. Even his him, they have no idea where
ability to sleep has deserted him. they are heading.
Most crucially, he has lost his
way in life. “All my life needed Ride through hell
was a sense of someplace to go,” From the opening moments of
he murmurs in his half-awake, Taxi Driver, Scorsese invites the
half-dreaming narration, as he viewer into the tormented mind
glides endlessly through the of this antihero, suggesting his
night in his taxi, taking others to character’s instability through
their destinations. Travis’s eyes chaotically arranged images and Martin Scorsese
are glimpsed on-screen in the rear- camera angles. Director
view mirror, as though the audience The first shot of the movie is
a cloud of steam venting from the “My whole life has been
Travis determines to save Iris movies and religion,” Martin
(Jodie Foster), a 12-year-old prostitute, sewers, tinged by red neon light.
It looks like brimstone rising from Scorsese once said. “That’s it.
from her pimp, Sport, whether she
hell, and Travis’s cab appears Nothing else.” He was born a
wants him to or not. By saving her,
Travis can be the cleansing rain. suddenly in its midst, as if it is ❯❯ Catholic in Queens, New York,
in 1942, and movies have
become for him a religion in
themselves, an art form to
revere and treasure.
Scorsese studied film
at New York University. He
directed his first feature, I Call
First, in 1967. Since then, his
output has been diverse, from
gritty urban thrillers to grand
historical dramas, paying
homage to screen classics.
Religion finds its way into
most of his movies, most
notably The Last Temptation
of Christ (1988) and Kundun
(1997). He also has another
great passion: New York City,
the subject of so much of his
work, from his first major
success, Mean Streets, to
Gangs of New York.
Key movies
1973 Mean Streets

1976 Taxi Driver
1980 Raging Bull
1990 Goodfellas
2002 Gangs of New York
2006 The Departed
238 TAXI DRIVER

on a journey through the underworld. (Cybill Shepherd), a campaign
The car rolls across the screen, volunteer he has fallen for, “and
slowly, as though pulling up and you’re gonna die in a hell, just like
asking the audience to step inside. the rest of ’em!” Hell is what he sees
On the sound track, the music when he looks around him, and he
swells and crashes. It’s a moment wants to save her from the flames. I know of nobody who can
of dread that tells the audience- She is an activist campaigning for surprise me on the screen
as-passenger exactly where “clean politics,” and in her own way the way De Niro does…
it’s heading. she, like Travis, is praying for rain.
“You’re in a It is a sentiment that struck a chord
who can provide such
hell,” Travis with audiences at the time. When power and excitement.
tells Betsy the movie was released in 1976, Martin Scorsese
the Watergate scandal, in
which President Nixon
was exposed as a liar and
removed from office, was still
fresh in the national memory.
Many Americans had lost
their faith in politicians, and a 12-year-old prostitute called Iris
felt they were leaderless. (Jodie Foster), who is every bit as
confident as Betsy—and equally
Finding a cause uninterested in being saved by
Betsy, a beautiful and self- Travis. But Travis gives her no
assured young blonde, rejects choice in the matter.
Travis after he takes her to a Travis happens upon a hold up
porn movie on their first date. in a store and shoots the robber
Travis reacts badly, sending Betsy dead. The store owner covers for
flowers afterward and harassing Travis, advising him to leave the
her at work, but then he turns his scene because he does not have
attention to another cause: a gun licence. Travis sees that
this killing, his first act of
“cleansing,” is gratefully
received. Now he
dons the
combat
Travis, alone in his apartment,

prepares for his day of action.
He meticulously builds holsters
for his guns and imagines talking
to his victims as he looks at
himself in the mirror.

Travis Bickle’s transformation
Before After
• Is mentally unstable, • Shaves his hair into a threatening
drinks heavily, and suffers mohawk, and wears sunglasses
from insomnia to hide his eyes
• An ex-marine, • Becomes ever more
struggles to fit in mentally unstable and
and connect with violent, developing an
other people obsessive delusion that
• Wears a casual assassinating Senator
checked shirt, jeans, Palatine will make
and shoes him a hero Robert De Niro Actor
• Keeps a diary • Wears an army
combat jacket and Robert De Niro has starred
• Visits porn a badge bearing the
theaters regularly in more than 90 movies, eight
presidential slogan,
of them directed by Martin
to help him blend into
the crowd during his
Scorsese. He rose to fame
assassination attempt playing the young Vito
Corleone in Francis Ford
• Conceals guns and
Coppola’s The Godfather:
a knife under his clothing
Part II, and soon won a
reputation for his dedicated
approach to researching
his roles. His preparation for
gear, shaves his head into a with the cab emerging through Scorsese’s Raging Bull became
mohawk, and sets out to enact it, and Travis’s mumbled narration, legendary after he gained
vengeance on Iris’s pimp, Sport the climax of the movie appears 60 lb (27 kg) to play the boxer
(Harvey Keitel), in what turns out to take place in a nightmare Jake LaMotta.
to be a horrific bloodbath. Inside world. Scorsese has often talked For the first three
about movies existing at the decades of his career,
intersection of dreams and De Niro specialized in the
reality, and this is where he portrayal of misfits, outsiders,
takes the audience. and violent, unpredictable
personalities, from Corleone
Travis’s head, A dreamy coda to the
and Travis Bickle to Al
the storm breaks—the slaughter, in which Travis survives Capone in Brian De Palma’s
real rain has come at last. and becomes a tabloid hero, has The Untouchables (1987)
been interpreted as his dying and Max Cady, the stalker in
Nightmare world fantasy. Whether real or imagined, Scorsese’s Cape Fear (1991).
The cinematography of Travis’s it is Travis’s longed-for moment in More recently he has played
rampage is hallucinogenic in its the spotlight. Writer Paul Schrader gentler, less volcanic roles,
contrasting colors and unnerving sees the end as taking the audience and diversified into comedy.
angles, as though the movie is now back to the beginning, and so
descending fully into unreality. Travis drives away, but neither he
Like the opening shot of the steam, nor the world has been cured. ■ Key movies
1973 Mean Streets

Are you talkin’ to me? 1974 The Godfather: Part II
1976 Taxi Driver
Well, I’m the only one here. 1978 The Deer Hunter
1980 Raging Bull
Travis Bickle / Taxi Driver
240
I LURVE YOU YOU

KNOW? I LOAVE YOU.
IANNIELUFF YOU.
HALL / 1977
TWO ‘F’S
W
oody Allen’s Allen’s movie stole
IN CONTEXT 1977 movie the Best Picture Oscar
Annie Hall from Star Wars, a rare
GENRE example of a small,
is a New York romantic
Romantic comedy intellectual movie
comedy with its two beating a major
DIRECTOR elements in perfect blockbuster to the
Woody Allen balance. Allen himself coveted prize.
plays comedian Alvy
WRITERS Singer, and Diane Keaton,
Woody Allen, Allen’s girlfriend at the As a New Yorker,
Marshall Brickman time, plays Annie Hall. Alvy is dismissive
The movie is imbued with of Los Angeles,
STARS
Allen’s trademark neurotic which he sees as a
Woody Allen, Diane
humor, and may have been a comic cultural wasteland. Upon receiving
Keaton, Tony Roberts
reflection of the ups and downs of an invitation to present an award
BEFORE his real-life relationship with Keaton. on TV there, he replies: “In Beverly
1933 The Marx brothers, a It is also very much a document Hills, they don’t throw their garbage
huge influence on Allen, make of its time and place, focusing as it away. They turn it into television
Duck Soup (p.48). He later does on the preoccupations of the shows.” And when Annie expresses
uses a clip from it in his movie late 1970s Manhattan intelligentsia, a desire to go to LA, Aly sees it
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986). with their long-winded, competitive as a defect in her personality.
opining on the meaning of art, film, At the same time, however, he
1973 Ingmar Bergman’s and literature. Alvy lampoons their recognizes that he is trapped by
Scenes from a Marriage pretentiousness while at the same the persona that New York has
shows a married couple’s time reveling in it. given him.
ups and downs in a hyper-
realistic way.
A relationship, I think, is like a shark.
AFTER
1993 Allen and Keaton reunite You know? It has to constantly move
on screen for the last time forward or it dies. And I think what we
to date in the director’s
Manhattan Murder Mystery. got on our hands is a dead shark.
Alvy Singer / Annie Hall
ANNIE HALL 241

What else to watch: 8½ (1963) ■ My Night at Maud’s (1969) ■ Scenes from a Marriage (1973) ■ Sleeper (1973) ■
Manhattan (1979) ■ Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) ■ Deconstructing Harry (1997) ■ Blue Jasmine (2013)
The self-absorption of the New

York set is central to Annie Hall, Woody Allen Director/Actor
and Alvy epitomizes it. In many
ways the movie is an evolution of Born Allen Konigsberg in slapstick comedies before
Brooklyn, New York, in 1935, developing works that were
Allen’s stand-up routine, in which
Woody Allen’s New York Jewish influenced by European art-
he made comedy out of his own
background would become a key house movies. Allen continues
insecurities and preoccupations. theme in his movies. He started to make a new movie almost
The movie opens with a out writing jokes for newspapers every year.
monologue to camera in which and television before becoming
Alvy sums up his problems with a stand-up comic in the early Key movies
women by quoting Groucho 1960s, creating monologues that
Marx’s famous comment: “I would drew on his mix of intellect and 1977 Annie Hall
never want to belong to any club self-doubt. By 1965, he was 1979 Manhattan
that would have someone like me making movies, starting with 1986 Hannah and Her Sisters
for a member.” Of his first wife
Allison, Alvy later says: “Why did futile, since the relationships he says, ‘Well, why don’t you turn him
I turn off Allison Portchnik? She encounters are fleeting and not in?’ And the guy says, ‘I would, but
was—she was beautiful. She was particularly meaningful. One couple I need the eggs.’” In this case, the
willing. She was real… intelligent. attributes happiness to their mutual eggs are love, and Annie is the love
Is it the old Groucho Marx joke?” shallowness and the fact that they of Alvy’s life. Annie Hall is Allen’s
have “nothing interesting to say.” analysis of how love goes wrong—
“We need the eggs” In the end, Alvy has to admit that how the eggs get broken. ■
Throughout the movie, relationships are “totally irrational
Alvy explores what and crazy and absurd… but I Alvy (Woody
makes a successful guess we keep going through Allen) keeps being
relationship and it because most of us need the drawn back to
why relationships eggs.” This is a reference to a Annie (Diane
Keaton), but he is
fail, even asking joke in which a man goes to a doomed to fail in
people randomly psychiatrist and tells him that all his relationships.
on the street. But his brother thinks he’s a
it seems that chicken. “The doctor
his search is
242
THE FORCE IS STRONG

WITH THIS
STAR WARS / 1977
ONE
J
ust as fairy tales begin with magical expression of the
IN CONTEXT “Once upon a time… ,” Star American Dream, stressing the
Wars opens with a title card power of the individual.
GENRE
that reads “A long time ago in a
Science fiction, adventure
galaxy far, far away…” With these Mixing genres
DIRECTOR words, the audience is transported For any fan of the movies, the joy of
George Lucas to a storybook universe of heroic Lucas’s blockbuster is its magpie
farm boys, dueling knights, comical approach to genre. Star Wars is
WRITER servants, dark lords, oppressed a science-fiction adventure, a fairy
George Lucas rebels, and princesses locked in tale, a Western, a war movie, a
STARS deep, dark dungeons. George Lucas samurai epic, a slapstick comedy,
combines these elements to relate a and even a Shakespearean tragedy—
Mark Hamill, Harrison
defiantly American tale. Obi-Wan and all of these blended into a single
Ford, Carrie Fisher,
Kenobi, the grand old Jedi master movie that’s accessible to anyone
Alec Guinness
(played by Alec Guinness), is a from the age of five up. In short, it is
BEFORE fusion of warrior-wizard and self- a great introduction to the endless
1971 George Lucas’s first help guru, while “the Force” is a possibilities of the moving image. ■
movie, THX 1138, is a science- Princess Leia
fiction fable set in a dystopian (Carrie Fisher)
future policed by androids. joins Luke
Skywalker (Mark
AFTER Hamill) to do
1980 Lucas vacates the battle with the
director’s chair for The Empire evil Empire. They
become close, but
Strikes Back, the first follow-up have a big surprise
to Star Wars, which formed in store for them.
“Episode V” of a narrative arc.
1983 The initial Star Wars
trilogy concludes with Return
of the Jedi. It is followed in
1999 by The Phantom Menace, What else to watch: Flash Gordon (1936) ■ The Hidden Fortress (1958) ■
the first of three prequels. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) ■ The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
YOU STILL DON’T

UNDERSTAND WHAT
YOU’RE DEALING
WITH
ALIEN / 1979
DO YOU?
A
lien was released The poster was
IN CONTEXT two years after designed to give
Star Wars, which nothing away to
GENRE audiences, and the
had rekindled Hollywood’s
Science fiction, horror movie reveals the
appetite for space. Like alien’s form only
DIRECTOR Star Wars, it featured bit by bit in order
Ridley Scott spaceships, distant to ratchet up
planets, and innovative the tension.
WRITERS special effects. Unlike
Dan O’Bannon, Star Wars, however,
Ronald Shusett it was terrifying—a tough-as-hell
nihilistic nightmare protagonist Ripley.
STARS
story spun around Audiences who
Sigourney Weaver,
cinema’s most disturbing alien. went to the movie expecting laser
Tom Skerritt, John Hurt,
The project was originally called guns and amusing robots were in
Ian Holm Star Beast. It had a B-movie script for a surprise.
BEFORE about an alien stowaway onboard
1974 The concept for Alien a spaceship full of humans. In the Terror of the unseen
originates in Dan O’Bannon’s hands of director Ridley Scott, The alien is the story’s real star, in
student movie Dark Star. however, this seemingly unoriginal spite of the fact that Scott keeps his
concept became something new in monster hidden for most of the
1975 In Jaws, Steven Spielberg the science-fiction genre: a dark, movie. The viewer glimpses its
builds up dread with only brief sinister horror movie with gore, spiny hand, its quivering drool,
glimpses of the shark. violent deaths, and weird, the black shine of its skull. The
psychosexual imagery. Scott brought audience’s imagination fills in
AFTER
groundbreaking, grimy realism to the rest. The terror comes from its
1986 The sequel to Alien,
the design of the spacecraft, engaged dread and unbearable silences, and
James Cameron’s Aliens Swiss Surrealist artist H. R. Giger to the knowledge—thanks to Alien’s
has multiple monsters. design the alien, and cast a woman iconic tagline—that “in space, no
1992 In Alien 3, Ripley crashes (Sigourney Weaver) in the role of the one can hear you scream.” ■
on a prison planet, where the
aliens wreak havoc among the What else to watch: It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) ■ Jaws
grizzled inmates. (1975, pp.228–31) ■ The Thing (1982) ■ Aliens (1986) ■ Prometheus (2012)
244
IT’S SO OUIET OUT HERE.

IT IS THE OUIETEST
PLACE IN THE WORLD
STALKER / 1979
L
ike all The movie’s
IN CONTEXT great artists, meaning has
Russian been endlessly
GENRE discussed since
director Andrei
Science fiction it first came
Tarkovsky was out. Tarkovsky
DIRECTOR often asked himself refused
Andrei Tarkovsky where he found to be drawn in.
the ideas for his
WRITERS movies. Tarkovsky
Arkady Strugatsky himself, however,
and Boris Strugatsky did not think the It is worth
(screenplay and novel) topic of inspiration mentioning
was really much of a these things
STARS
point for discussion. since they go
Alisa Freyndlikh, “The idea of a film,” some way in
Aleksandr Kaydanovsky, he once said, “always explaining
Anatoly Solonitsyn comes to me in a the director’s
BEFORE very ordinary, boring own, oblique
1966 Anatoly Solonitsyn stars manner, bit by bit, by attitude to
in Tarkovsky’s Andrei Rublev, rather banal phases. To his art, which he discussed himself
about a medieval iconographer. recount it would only be a waste in his 1986 book Sculpting In Time,
of time. There is really nothing its title the perfect metaphor for
1972 Tarkovsky’s movie fascinating, nothing poetic, his cinematic technique. A
Solaris begins a prolific period. about it.” Tarkovsky movie is in some
Tarkovsy’s pessimistic view ways like a piece of sculpture by
AFTER
of art in general might also seem British artist Henry Moore: the
1986 In his final movie, The surprising. “It is obvious that art abstractions mean as much as the
Sacrifice, a man bargains with cannot teach anyone anything,” he realities, and what is left out often
God to save mankind. said, “since in 4,000 years humanity has as much significance as the
has learned nothing at all.” elements that remain.

What else to watch: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, pp.192–93) ■ The Color
of Pomegranates (1969) ■ Solaris (1972) ■ Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)
When a man thinks of the past,

he becomes kinder.
The Stalker / Stalker
Stalker, like many of Tarkovsky’s by the strange phenomena that

other movies, was adapted from an they stumble across after the
existing work, in this case, the Visitors have left.
1971 novel Roadside Picnic by
Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, The unexplained Andrei Tarkovsky
which describes the aftermath Unusually for science fiction of the Director
of a series of extraterrestrial time, the actual Visitation itself
incursions, called the Visitation, was of no concern in the novel; nor Born in 1932 to a family of
at six zones around the globe. is it for Tarkvosky. His interest in poets and writers in the Soviet
The casual detritus left behind the science-fiction genre resulted town of Zavrazhye, Andrei
by the unseen Visitors is compared in another masterpiece, Solaris, but Tarkovsky decided upon a
in the book to “the usual mess” left he used the form to suit his own career in movie in his early
twenties. Enrolling to study
at a picnic: “apple cores, candy artistic ends. Indeed, Stalker’s
direction at Moscow’s State
wrappers, charred remains of the slow opening does not even try to Institute Of Cinematography,
campfire, cans, bottles, somebody’s explain what has given rise to the ❯❯ where Sergei Eisenstein was
handkerchief, somebody’s penknife, also taught, he made his first
torn newspapers, coins, faded student short film in 1956: The
The “Writer” (Anatoly Solonitsyn)
flowers picked in another meadow.” places a crown of thorns on his head Killers, adapted from a short
Just as a picnic’s detritus baffles— as the men wait in the telephone room story by Ernest Hemingway.
and threatens—the animals that while in The Zone. Like many images Tarkovsky’s first feature,
find it, so too are humans perplexed in the movie, the allusion is obscure. Ivan’s Childhood, launched a
high-profile career of stylish
and nuanced art-house movies.
After a slow start—just two
full-length features in the
1960s, including the acclaimed
Andrei Rublev—he made up
for lost time in the 1970s,
beginning with the space
story Solaris. Characterized
by long takes and mysterious
symbolism, his movies pose
deep existential questions
about life and its meaning.
He died in Paris in 1986.
Key movies
1962 Ivan’s Childhood

1966 Andrei Rublev
1972 Solaris
1979 Stalker
246 STALKER
mysterious entity called “The first portion of the movie, but his The Stalker lies injured as the men
Zone.” At this point, nothing is wife still begs him not to go into first enter The Zone. As they venture
known about its origins, its purpose, The Zone and is afraid for his safety. into the unknown, to the sound of
dripping water, the Stalker describes
or its nature except that anything He brushes away her concerns and
it as “the quietest place in the world.”
that goes into The Zone does not heads off to meet his two clients,
come out again, and that it has known simply as the Writer and the
been sealed off by the authorities, Professor, who want to travel to The When the trio arrive at The Zone,
and is guarded by military police. Zone, hearing that it has strange the movie suddenly switches from
What it is that lurks in The and possibly magical powers. sepia into the colors of the modern
Zone is something Tarkovsky has world: “We are home,” says the
no desire to reveal. As the title of Stalker. But the men have not yet
Sculpting in Time suggests, he reached their ultimate destination.
is interested in time, something Within The Zone, where the normal
he uses a lot of—his movie clocks practicalities of life no longer apply
in at around the three-hour mark. It and lots of strange, inexplicable
begins on the outskirts of the story, The quintessence of phenomena seem to occur, there
where the title character (played by Tarkovsky’s spaces, the is a place called The Room. When
Aleksandr Kaydanovsky) is getting Zone is where one goes they find it, the Stalker tells them,
ready for work. The word “stalker” to see one’s innermost with excitement and awe, “Your
suggests menace, but in this near- desires. It is, in short, most cherished desire will come
future world, a Stalker is both a the cinema. true here…” adding, “The desire
thief who tries to smuggle artifacts Robert Bird that has made you suffer most.”
out of The Zone and a guide who is Andrei Tarkovsky: However, it is not The Room
willing to take others in. Elements of Cinema, 2008 itself that concerns Tarkovsky
but his characters’ arrival at its
Entering The Zone threshold. What is it that they really
The Stalker’s world is poor and want? And what will they find
run-down, a fact reflected in the inside? At this point, Stalker mutes
sepia cinematography used in the its thriller aspect and becomes a

My conscience wants vegetarianism interview, “but we are judged
by people who don’t want to
to win over the world. And my understand the work as a whole
subconscious is yearning for a piece or even to look at it. Instead they
isolate individual fragments and
of juicy meat. But what do I want? details, clutching to them and
trying to prove that there is
The Stalker / Stalker some special, main point in
them. This is delirium.”
postapocalyptic existential drama, movie, it comes with no To realize his stark vision,
in which its three protagonists explanation. One might see Stalker Tarkovsky searched for a suitably
discuss their lives and destinies, as a Soviet answer to Stanley bleak location for Stalker, and
reminiscent of Samuel Beckett’s Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, found it in Estonia, at an old
play Waiting for Godot (1953). which poses the question, “Where hydroelectric power station and a
do we go from here?” But as to factory dumping toxic chemicals
What next? whether Tarkovsky was making a upstream. He, his wife, and
The final section deals with the comment about life in the Soviet actor Anatoly Solonitsyn all later
Stalker’s wife and child, finally Union or life on Earth, the director succumbed to cancer, possibly due
closing in on his daughter’s face himself refused to be drawn in: to contamination at the location. ■
as she lies with her head on the in his mind, a true artwork should
kitchen table, staring at three not be reduced to its components After the men draw lots, the Writer
glasses that seem to rattle under and interpreted so simply. “We are is chosen to enter a metal tunnel in
her gaze while a train passes. Like judged not by what we did or The Zone. The tunnel leads them
many of the images in Tarkovsky’s wanted to do,” he said in an toward the mysterious Room.
248
YOU HAVE TO HAVE

GOOD MEN. GOOD
MEN ALL
DAS BOOT / 1981
OF THEM
W
olfgang Das Boot has been
IN CONTEXT Petersen’s released as a movie and
Das Boot as a TV mini-series with
GENRE added scenes. In 1997,
(The Boat) is an action
Action thriller a 209-minute director’s
movie set almost cut was released.
DIRECTOR entirely in the
Wolfgang Petersen narrowest, most
claustrophobic space Mediterranean. Das
WRITERS imaginable—a German Boot is not a movie
Wolfgang Petersen U-boat during a single about heroes; its
(screenplay); Lothar- voyage in World War II. characters are all
Günther Buchheim (novel) The story follows the ordinary men whose
anxieties of the crew survival depends on
STARS
in such a way that our each other. “You
Jürgen Prochnow,
attention, like theirs, is have to have good men,” says the
Herbert Grönemeyer, gripped within this undersea apolitical, battle-hardened captain.
Klaus Wenneman vice of iron and rivets. “Good men, all of them.”
BEFORE After a brief scene in which the
1953 Charles Frend’s The crew carouses in a French bar before An antiwar war movie?
Cruel Sea, the story of a a mission that seems to fill them, Lothar-Günther Buchheim, on
British corvette protecting and the viewer, with a feeling of whose novel the movie was based,
a convoy from U-boat attacks, impending doom, the U-96 departs criticized the movie for being too
La Rochelle and heads deep into exciting to convey the antiwar
establishes the World War II
the North Atlantic. There the boat message he intended. This echoed
naval thriller genre.
intercepts Allied convoys, is heavily the view of the French director
AFTER damaged in a depth-charge attack, François Truffaut, who said that a
2009 Samuel Maoz’s tense then makes a perilous attempt true antiwar movie was impossible
war movie, Lebanon, which to slip undetected into the because such movies inevitably
tells its story entirely from
the inside of an Israeli tank,
is compared to Das Boot by The sea cannot claim us, Henrich.
film critics. No ship is as seaworthy as ours.
Captain Lehmann-Willenbrock / Das Boot

What else to watch: In Which We Serve (1942) ■ The Cruel Sea (1953) ■ Above Us the Waves (1955) ■ The Enemy Below
(1957) ■ Sink the Bismarck! (1960) ■ The Hunt for Red October (1990) ■ Crimson Tide (1995) ■ Lebanon (2009)
Nerves become strained as the

mechanics desperately try to figure out
a way of refloating the U-boat before it
becomes crushed by depth pressure.
made war thrilling. Not all critics

agreed with Buchheim. Audiences
came out of the movie drained
physically and emotionally.
Petersen’s movie does not depend
on thrilling action sequences,
though there are those. Rather, it
oscillates between tense moments
of danger and the tedium of weeks
of fruitless hunting, in which the
relationships between crew
members becomes fraught. The
movie’s grip is in its psychology
rather than in its action sequences.
As its tagline said, it is “A journey
to the edge of the mind.”
inside a real U-boat (on dry land), popping of rivets as the boat dives
Putting us in the boat which could be tilted to 45 degrees to a dangerously low depth. Second
Das Boot’s power stems from the to simulate a sudden dive. Two is the cinematography of Jost
director’s determination to attain techniques contribute to the Vacano. Despite the cramped space,
realism. He makes viewers heightened realism. The first is Vacano used a handheld camera to
understand what it was like an innovative use of sound. When create a sense of intimacy, training
to be in a wartime submarine, destroyers are circling above the himself to run through narrow
attempting desperate repairs, U-boat, all we hear in the silence spaces and over bulkheads. The
running out of oxygen and time. are the sonar pings ringing off the effect he created has influenced
The movie was shot almost entirely hull, or the ferrous groaning and a whole generation of movies. ■
Wolfgang Petersen Director

Wolfgang Petersen is Germany’s the prestige to direct Hollywood
leading director of action movies. thrillers such as In the Line
Born in Emden, Germany, in 1941, of Fire with Clint Eastwood,
he studied theater in Berlin and Outbreak (1995) with Dustin
Hamburg, before enrolling in the Hoffman, and the hugely
Berlin Film and Television popular Air Force One with
Academy, after which he was Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman,
making movies for television. In and Glenn Close.
1974, he directed his first feature,
the thriller One of the Other of Us, Key movies
and then in 1977 the controversial
Die Konsequenz, a movie about 1981 Das Boot
gay love. But he made his name 1993 In the Line of Fire
with Das Boot, which gave him 1997 Air Force One
I’VE SEEN
THINGS
YOU PEOPLE WOULDN’T
BELIEVE
BLADE RUNNER / 1982
252 BLADE RUNNER
N
ear the end of Blade
IN CONTEXT Runner, Roy Batty (Rutger
Hauer), a fugitive at large
GENRE
in a near-future Los Angeles,
Science fiction, thriller
delivers his last words to an ex-cop
DIRECTOR called Deckard (Harrison Ford). “I’ve As poignant as any sci-fi film
Ridley Scott seen things you people wouldn’t I know… a film noir that
believe,” he says softly. “Attack bleeds over into tragedy.
WRITERS ships on fire off the shoulder of David Thomson
Hampton Fancher, David Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in Have You Seen…?, 2008
Webb Peoples (screenplay); the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate.
Philip K. Dick (novel, Do All those moments will be lost in
Androids Dream of time, like tears in rain. Time to die.”
Electric Sheep?) The speech strikes at a moral
dilemma, because Roy Batty
STARS isn’t human—he’s a “replicant,”
Harrison Ford, Rutger an android bioengineered by Lang’s Metropolis (1927) to the
Hauer, Sean Young, industrial scientists at the mysterious black obelisk that
Daryl Hannah all-powerful Tyrell Corporation. bookends Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A
BEFORE Replicants are supposed to be Space Odyssey (1968). While Blade
1979 Ridley Scott’s first foray machines, yet Batty’s desire to live Runner also shimmers with visual
into the future is the science- and questioning nature prove that poetry, it is Batty’s lament, a few
he has consciousness. For Deckard, lines of semi-improvised dialogue,
fiction horror Alien.
a specially trained detective (blade that truly cements the movie’s
AFTER runner) whose job it is to hunt down place in movie history. The words
2006 Philip K. Dick’s novel and liquidate rogue replicants, this articulate a question that hangs
A Scanner Darkly, about a realization is particularly relevant. over Scott’s enigmatic masterpiece:
future in the grip of an all-out If Batty can feel sorrow and longing, what does it mean to be human?
war on drugs, is adapted as then how is he any different from Blade Runner is set in 2019, a
a partially animated thriller. his creators? long way off to the audiences who
first lined up to see it in 1982.
2012 Ridley Scott returns A hanging question At the time of its release, the movie
to science fiction with Science-fiction cinema is often presented a new kind of future, a
Prometheus, a prequel to memorable for its unforgettable weird fusion of familiar elements:
the Alien franchise. visual images, from the robotic corporate buildings the size and
Maria sparking into life in Fritz shape of Babylonian ziggurats; the
Minute by minute
00:07 00:31 01:02 01:44
Leon shoots the blade Rachael visits Rachael shoots Leon After a chase across
runner Holden, who has Deckard at his to save Deckard. Back the rooftops, Batty saves
been testing him to see apartment. He at Deckard’s apartment, Deckard from falling. Batty
if he is a replicant. tells her about her they make love. then sits down and dies.
memories to show her
that she’s a replicant.
00:00 00:15 00:30 00:45 01:00 01:15 01:30 02:00
00:17 00:50 01:22 01:52

Deckard tests Rachael Deckard tracks down Sebastian helps Batty As Deckard and Rachael
and discovers that she is a Zhora to a bar where she get an audience with leave his apartment, he picks
replicant. Tyrell tells him performs with a snake. Tyrell. Batty asks Tyrell up an origami unicorn. Does
that she does not know He chases her and for more life, but is told Gaff know his dreams? Does
what she is. shoots her dead. that it is not possible. that make him a replicant?

What else to watch: Metropolis (1927, pp.32–33) ■ 2001: A Space Odyssey
(1968, pp.192–93) ■ Brazil (1985, p.340) ■ Ghost in the Shell (1995) ■ Gattaca (1997)
Ridley Scott Director

Ridley Scott is a British
director, born in 1937, whose
movies combine cool visual
style with dynamic storytelling
and crowd-pleasing Hollywood
chutzpah. His debut feature,
Genetic designer J. F. Sebastian In Blade Runner, the future is The Duellists, was swiftly
(William Sanderson, left) helps Pris a place in which humans and followed by science-fiction
(Daryl Hannah) to reach Tyrell. He machines have become all but horror Alien and the futuristic
has a premature-aging disease that dystopia Blade Runner, two
makes replicants sympathetic to him.
indistinguishable. Robotics, voice-
activated computer systems, bionic classics of modern cinema.
Through the 1980s, Scott
implants, artificial intelligence, and
established himself as a
teeming night markets like those genetic programming are part of
hard-working filmmaker, but it
of Tokyo in the 1980s; the mean the culture, and all controlled by was not until the 1991 mold-
streets of postwar pulp detective faceless corporate mega-entities. breaking female road-movie
fiction; the crumbling architecture In this dehumanized age, people Thelma & Louise that he came
of 19th-century Los Angeles. The are forced to take a polygraph-like close to matching the success
flying cars offer viewers a futuristic exam (the “Voight-Kampff test”) of his science-fiction double
glimpse, but they are piloted by to prove that they are human. act. A decade later he hit big
militaristic beat cops—symbols The replicants are the ultimate once more, going back in time
of fear rather than progress. product of this bleakly mechanized with the Roman epic Gladiator.
human society. They look and act In 2001, Scott directed the war
Dystopian vision like people, but they are not people. movie, Black Hawk Down,
For moviegoers more used to They have limited lifespans—four based on a US raid on
the escapism of Star Wars (1977), years in Batty’s case—and are bred Mogadishu. He returned to
Scott’s vision of a mashed-up “off-world,” forbidden to visit Earth. science fiction in 2012 with the
Alien prequel Prometheus.
near-future is disorienting. In its Deckard believes these unfortunate
depiction of people’s relationship creatures are nothing more than
with new technologies, the movie automatons—until he falls in love
retains its power to unnerve. with Rachael during his hunt for ❯❯ Key movies
1977 The Duellists

It’s not an easy thing to meet 1979 Alien
1982 Blade Runner
your maker. 1991 Thelma & Louise
2000 Gladiator
Roy Batty / Blade Runner
254 BLADE RUNNER

Batty pulls Deckard to safety
before sitting down and ending the
chase. He knows that his time is
nearly over, and finally gives up
the urge to carry on.
says Batty as he dangles the

battered Deckard from a rooftop.
“That’s what it is to be a slave.”
Batty and his fellow replicants are
staging a revolution, forcing their
makers to see them as possessors
of souls in need of liberation. They
have been labeled inhuman, called
“skin jobs” by Police Chief Bryant
(M. Emmet Walsh). They are
“retired” rather than killed, and
society treats them accordingly.
Blade Runner is prescient—
it foresees a world immersed in
technology, an urban sprawl in
Batty and his three associates, who truth as he interrogates her. He also which humans adopt machines
have come to Earth in search of senses something else, a gnawing as extensions of themselves. As
answers. Rachael (Sean Young) is fear that his own memories could its vision of tomorrow edges nearer,
a Tyrell employee who, unusually, also be an illusion. Is Deckard a the movie’s questions grow more
doesn’t know she’s a replicant—she replicant too? How would he know? insistent. How long will it be before
can remember growing up. Deckard our own inventions begin to think,
tells her those memories are fake, Human identity crisis question, and feel like us? How will
copied from her creator’s niece, but Blade Runner is a portrait of humanity we respond to their awakening?
he cannot banish his own nagging in the throes of an identity crisis, When they refer to us bitterly as
doubts: Rachael, like Batty, like all but Scott’s movie is also concerned “you people,” will we be able to look
replicants, is a living being, and with inhumanity. “Quite an them in the eye—or will we be too
Deckard senses the stirring of this experience to live in fear, isn’t it?” afraid of seeing our own reflection? ■
Is Deckard a replicant?
Many Blade Runner fans speculate that Deckard is a replicant.
There are a number of possible clues.
Human Replicant
• Replicants are illegal on Earth; why would • Deckard’s eyes glow orange (as replicants’ do)
Tyrell allow Deckard to operate independently, in a few scenes.
and why would police employ a replicant? • Rachael asks Deckard if he has taken the
• Deckard doesn’t respond to the origami Voight-Kampff test; he doesn’t answer.
unicorn that Gaff leaves outside his room • When Roy—a replicant—saves Deckard
and its implication that he is a replicant. from falling off the roof, he shouts “Kinship!”
• Philip K. Dick’s original book explicitly • Deckard dreams of a unicorn; blade runner Gaff
states that Deckard is human. places an origami unicorn outside his room, hinting
• Ford endorses this view. that Deckard’s memories are implanted.
• Scott states that Deckard is a replicant.
The movie was

first released with a
voice-over by Deckard
explaining the plot,
and an upbeat ending.
In 2007, a “final cut”
was released with
both removed on
Scott’s request.
256
I CAN’T FIGURE OUT IF

YOU’RE A DETECTIVE
OR A PERVERT
BLUE VELVET / 1986
IN CONTEXT
GENRE
Thriller, mystery
DIRECTOR
David Lynch
WRITER
David Lynch
STARS
Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella
Rossellini, Dennis Hopper,
Laura Dern
BEFORE
1957 Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear
R
Window explores the nature ich, haunting and Jeffrey (Kyle MacLachlan) finds
subversive, Blue Velvet himself trapped in Dorothy’s closet
of voyeurism as a wheelchair-
is the story of a college when Frank arrives. He must look
bound photographer spies on helpless at what unfolds.
on his neighbors. student drawn into the seamy
underside of his hometown after he
1977 Lynch’s debut feature finds a severed human ear in a field. his later masterpiece, Mulholland
Eraserhead is a surreal horror Since his extraordinary 1977 Dr. Instead it follows the structure
shot in black and white. debut with Eraserhead, David of an old-fashioned film noir, as
AFTER Lynch has become a genre unto the curious but strait-laced young
himself, a master of combining the student Jeffrey (Kyle MacLachlan)
1980 The Elephant Man is
shocking, the comic, and the falls for the wholesome Sandy
Lynch’s sensitive real-life
surreal in what feel like visions (Laura Dern), but is also attracted
drama about a disfigured man.
straight from the subconscious— to the nightclub singer Dorothy
2001 Mulholland Dr. is Lynch’s cinematic dreams (or nightmares). (Isabella Rossellini), who is trapped
neo-noir LA mystery about an If anything, Blue Velvet is one of in an abusive relationship with the
aspiring actress. his more straightforward movies, psychopathic villain Frank (Dennis
without the complex structure of Hopper). This dynamic is clearly

What else to watch: Peeping Tom (1960, p.334) ■ Eraserhead (1977, p.338) ■
Lost Highway (1997) ■ Mulholland Dr. (2001, p.342) ■ Inland Empire (2006)
a throwback to the noir era, although innocence is as much of a lie as

Lynch adds a very modern take on the seemingly perfect front yard
sexual deviancy and voyeurism. from the prologue.
The repulsion we feel in witnessing Blue Velvet approaches horror in
Frank’s perversions is amplified by a new way. Its depravity derives not
Lynch’s fondness for noir tropes, so from guns and gore, but from sex
that the audience is made to feel used as a vehicle for the worst
that he is corrupting something aspects of humanity. The hero,
familiar to them all. Jeffrey, is seen hiding in a closet,
a voyeur peeping at Dorothy. Frank
The horror beneath is threatening physically, but his David Lynch Director
One of Lynch’s favorite stylistic sado-masochism is what makes
themes is the artificiality of postwar him terrifying. This key moment, David Lynch was born in 1946
Americana and the darkness that placing us in the closet with Jeffrey in Missoula, Montana, a small
town not dissimilar to those
lies beneath it. The opening scene as he watches Frank rape Dorothy,
featured in his movies. His
pans through an idealized suburban is one of cinema’s debut feature, Eraserhead,
yard, with neat, white picket fences most unsettling was a cult success that took
and blooming flowers, the owner examinations him to Hollywood, where he
of which suffers a stroke while of sexual directed The Elephant Man
watering his plants. The family pet deviancy, as and Dune. The latter was a
rushes to drink the water from the well as being flop, but he reestablished
discarded hose, while the shot pans the moment his career with the critical
deeper into the grass to reveal a when Lynch success of Blue Velvet and
colony of ants foraging relentlessly. perfected his the surreal TV series Twin
The surface world is a veneer of distinctive themes, Peaks. He has since
happiness, below which there exists tones, and followed a singular
baseness, struggle, and violence. darkness. ■ path, creating
This theme is movies that
could only ever
continued in the
have been made
director’s use of
by him.
music. From Bobby
Vinton’s Blue Velvet in the title
track to Roy Orbison’s In Dreams,
Lynch hijacks innocent songs of Key movies
romantic longing and juxtaposes
1977 Eraserhead
them with Frank’s broken sexuality,
1986 Blue Velvet
going so far as to have him quote 1990 Wild at Heart
the lyrics while he beats up Jeffrey. 2001 Mulholland Dr.
It’s almost as if the music’s 2006 Inland Empire
You’ve got about The blue velvet of the

one second to title is a robe that Frank
forces Dorothy to wear as
live buddy! he rapes her. Typically for
Lynch, a beautiful thing
Frank Booth / Blue Velvet is used for a corrupt end.
258
WHY AM I ME,
AND WHY NOT
WINGS OF DESIRE / 1987
YOU?
I
nspired by the visionary story of an angel, tired of his
IN CONTEXT poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke immortal life of care, who falls in
and scripted by the playwright love with a circus trapeze artist—
GENRE
Peter Handke, Wim Wenders’ and of another, played by Peter
New German Cinema
Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Falk, who has already found
DIRECTOR Berlin) is both a moving allegory contentment by crossing over.
Wim Wenders of Berlin—just two years before the
fall of the Wall—and a poignant The angels Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and
WRITERS study of the need for love and what Cassiel (Otto Sander) are an invisible
Wim Wenders, Peter it means to be human. It is the presence in people’s lives.
Handke, Richard Reitinger
STARS
Bruno Ganz, Solveig
Dommartin, Otto Sander,
Curt Bois, Peter Falk
BEFORE
1953 Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo
Story shows everyday life as a
struggle of quiet desperation.
1972 Andrei Tarkovsky
meditates on existence
with Solaris, a slow-paced
science-fiction movie.
AFTER
1993 Wenders’ sequel to Wings
of Desire is Faraway, So Close!

What else to watch: La Belle et la Bête (1946, pp.84–85) ■ It’s a Wonderful Life (1946, pp.88–93) ■ Andrei Rublev (1966) ■
Alice in the Cities (1974) ■ The American Friend (1977) ■ The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)
Film is a very, very

powerful medium. It can
either confirm the idea that
things are wonderful the way
they are, or it can reinforce
the conception that things
can be changed.
Wim Wenders
Watching from on high

At the beginning of the movie two
angels, Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and The movie
Cassiel (Otto Sander), gaze down poster shows
at the city of Berlin from on high, the angel Damiel
gliding through the air or poised perched high above
atop the city’s great monuments. Berlin at the top of
the Victory Statue.
They are there to listen and The movie’s
observe, as they have done since sweeping shots
long before the city was built. give an angel’s-eye
Their role is to give people hope, view of the city.
or the intuition that they are not
alone. However, they are unable and dreams, almost as if they were Why am I here?
to intervene directly—and they listening to snatches from different At the start of the movie is a
are unable to experience anything radio stations while turning the poem, written by Handke, which
physically themselves. dial—parents worried about their explains why. “When the child
The movie unfolds at a son, the memories of a Holocaust was a child, it didn’t know it was
measured pace. It is patient, like victim. The angels may sometimes a child. Everything was full of life,
the angels themselves as they be sensed, but only children can and all life was one.” Later in the
listen in on human thoughts, fears, actually see them. movie, the poem continues, “When
the child was a child, it was the
time of the following questions:
To draw all the demons of the earth Why am I me and why not you?
Why am I here and why not there?”
from passers-by and to chase them out The angels, who know the
into the world. To be a savage. answers to these questions, are
somehow bereft. They might know
Marion / Wings of Desire and see everything as they gaze ❯❯
260 WINGS OF DESIRE

Physical and metaphysical themes
of duality are explored within the
movie. Self-reflective and alone,
Marion is the earthly equivalent
of the angel Damiel.
is the right decision, because Peter

Falk, an angel who crossed over
long ago, is a living testament of
contentment. In crossing over, he
has not lost his spiritual side but
reunites the spiritual with the
material, the child with the adult.
He can still sense the presence of
the angels, saying “I can’t see you,
but I know you’re here.”
Finish vs spontaneity
The parts of Damiel and Cassiel
were scripted by Peter Handke,
since Wenders felt the angels
should speak in elevated language,
but Peter Falk’s part is almost
down from on high—as the movie captures the pleasure in everyday entirely improvised. Falk plays a
shows with its dizzying aerial experiments with identity that are version of himself, an American
shots. But they feel nothing of the beyond the angels. actor who is in Berlin to make
simple sensual pleasures of being a movie about its Nazi past.
human, the joy in the mundane— Separations The children in the streets
a division shown cinematically Wings of Desire is about dualities call him “Columbo,”
by shooting every scene with and separations. Set in a city after the
the angels in black and white. divided artificially by the Berlin
In an improvised scene, Peter Wall, the spiritual is
Falk tries on various hats with a separated from
costume director, a simple act that the sensual,
as the heavenly
from the mundane, TV detective in the
men from women, adults from series that had made Falk
children. Above all, the movie is a famous screen presence.
about how we are all separated At one point, Wenders noticed
from each other, and a deep sense Falk making sketches of extras.
The film is like music of loneliness runs through it. He decided to incorporate this into
or a landscape: It clears When the angel Damiel begins the movie, and had Falk improvise
a space in my mind, to fall for the beautiful but lonely a voice-over, which gains resonance
and in that space I can trapeze artist Marion (Solveig from its roughness: “These people
consider questions. Dommartin), we sense that they are extras, extra people,” says
Roger Ebert should be together. The process is Falk. “Extras are so patient.”
Chicago Sun-Times, 1998 slow, and in the end Damiel must The contrast between the refined,
finally choose whether or not to rehearsed script of the angels
give up his immortal status in and the rough spontaneity and
order to experience a physical mundanity of the scenes with Falk
love for this woman. The viewer represents the two halves of human
is encouraged to believe that this life that need to come together.

Marion is a trapeze artist at a
failing circus. She lives in a trailer,
and leads a lonely existence dancing
on her own and wandering the streets
of Berlin.
Wim Wenders
Director
Born in Düsseldorf, Germany,
in 1945, Wim Wenders is
known for his lush, lyrical
filmmaking. He studied
medicine and philosophy at
university before dropping
out to become a painter.
However, cinema became his
focus and he enrolled in the
University of Television and
Film Munich (HFF). Wenders
soon became one of the
leading lights of the New
German Cinema movement.
The director first came to
prominence with his feature
The Goalkeeper’s Fear of the
Penalty Kick, based on a novel
by Peter Handke. The English-
Wenders dedicated his movie meditations full of spiritual language Paris, Texas, with
a screenplay by Sam Shepard,
to three “filmmaking angels,” yearning. Rainer Maria Rilke once
brought him international
directors whose work inspired wrote that “Physical pleasure…
fame. He has also made
him. The first is Yasujiro Ozu, is a great unending experience, documentaries, the most
who showed how to depict the which is given us, a knowing of successful of which was
quiet desperation of the mundane. the world, the fullness and the Buena Vista Social Club, about
The second, François Truffaut, glory of all knowing.” Falk’s joy in a group of aging musicians in
demonstrated how to film the the simple experience of tasting Havana, Cuba.
reality of children as a profound coffee is spiritual and drives home
experience. The third, Andrei the idea that to have experience at
Tarkovsky, created slow-paced all is a wonder of being alive. ■ Key movies
1972 The Goalkeeper’s Fear

The whole place is full of those who of the Penalty Kick
1984 Paris, Texas
are dreaming the same dream. 1987 Wings of Desire
1999 Buena Vista Social Club
Cassiel / Wings of Desire
262
I THOUGHT THIS
ONLY HAPPENED
IN THE MOVIES
WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS
BREAKDOWN / 1988
W
omen on the Verge of the 1940s. It looks to the past, but
IN CONTEXT a Nervous Breakdown the movie’s comedy is also thrillingly
(Mujeres al borde de un contemporary. Post-Franco Madrid
GENRE
ataque de nervios) is the story of is the perfect setting for its manic
Comedy drama
Pepa (Carmen Maura), a Spanish farce, with Almódovar whipping up
DIRECTOR actress who dubs the voices of US subplots involving Arab terrorists,
Pedro Almodóvar movies with her faithless boyfriend, dance-crazy cab drivers, and soup
Iván (Fernando Guillén). Their spiked with sleeping pills. Yet the
WRITER relationship is not so much a love boisterous stuff is shot through with
Pedro Almodóvar story as a door-slamming farce. the director’s
STARS trademark sense
Carmen Maura, Antonio
Panic attack of humanity. ■
It’s perhaps appropriate that the
Banderas, Julieta Serrano,
meaning of the movie’s title
María Barranco gets lost in translation. The
BEFORE ataques de nervios of the
1980 Almodóvar makes Spanish title refers to a
his ultra low-budget, playfully panic attack, a state of
outrageous debut with Pepi, breathlessness that
Luci, Bom, and Other Girls director Pedro Almodóvar
Like Mom. sustains at a madcap pace
inspired by the Hollywood
AFTER “screwball” comedies of
1999 All About My Mother,
one of Almodóvar’s best, brings At Pepa’s
apartment, a
all his themes to the boil. suicidal Candela
2002 Almodóvar’s Talk to (María Barranco)
Her is a controversial, highly is distracted by
Carlos (Antonio
charged romantic thriller Banderas).
about two men caring for
two women, both of whom What else to watch: Matador (1986) ■ Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989) ■
are in a coma. High Heels (1991) ■ Live Flesh (1997) ■ Volver (2006) ■ The Skin I Live In (2011)
BEING HAPPY ISN’T

ALL THAT GREAT
SEX, LIES, AND VIDEOTAPE / 1989
G
raham (James Spader), MacDowell) is married to Graham’s
IN CONTEXT the protagonist of Sex, old friend John (Peter Gallagher),
Lies, and Videotape, is who is cheating on her with her
GENRE
young, handsome, intelligent— sister. Ann and John no longer
Independent drama
and impotent. He achieves sexual make love, and Ann thinks sex
DIRECTOR satisfaction only when watching is overrated. At first horrified by
Steven Soderbergh videos he has made of female Graham’s unusual predilections,
acquaintances talking about about which he is disarmingly
WRITER their sexual fantasies. Ann (Andie open, Ann soon opens herself up
Steven Soderbergh on camera—and in the process
STARS discovers that she is not quite
who she thought she was.
James Spader, Andie
The movie launched the career
MacDowell, Peter Gallagher,
of director Steven Soderbergh,
Laura San Giacomo who would go on to become one
BEFORE of the most unpredictable talents
1974 John Cassavetes’ A in American movies. Just as
Woman Under the Influence significantly, it was vital in kindling
is financed by the director a new wave of US independent
mortgaging his house; it wins cinema. After his movie won the
him an Oscar nomination. Palme d’Or, Soderbergh’s success
helped lay the ground for creators
AFTER like Spike Lee, Richard Linklater,
1991 Richard Linklater’s and Quentin Tarantino, who work
Slacker is a freewheeling outside the studio system. ■
amble through Austin, Texas,
that receives acclaim amid Written in a week and made
renewed interest in new young on a small budget, Sex, Lies, and
American filmmakers. Videotape nonetheless managed
to achieve box-office success.
1998 Soderbergh has a
mainstream hit with Out of What else to watch: Do the Right Thing (1989, p.264) ■ Slacker (1991) ■
Sight, starring George Clooney. Reservoir Dogs (1992, p.340) ■ Safe (1995) ■ In the Company of Men (1997)
264
TODAY’S TEMPERATURE’S
GONNA RISE UP OVER
100 DEGREES
DO THE RIGHT THING / 1989
F
ew movies capture the unease. The story is set in New
IN CONTEXT drama of city life as York, in the diverse Brooklyn
successfully as Spike Lee’s neighborhood of Bedford-
GENRE
Do the Right Thing. The story is Stuyvesant, where racial tension is
Drama
driven by outrage at racial never far beneath the surface. As
DIRECTOR discrimination, but the movie the temperature rises, the veneer of
Spike Lee conveys its message with sizzling civility begins to crack, and a
energy and a refusal to offer any montage of characters is shown
WRITER easy solutions. From the first scene, delivering a stream of racial abuse
Spike Lee in which a radio DJ announces the direct to camera, each face wild
STARS heat wave that engulfs his listeners, with hatred.
the physical discomfort of the Mookie, played by Lee himself,
Spike Lee, Danny Aiello,
characters is a metaphor for social works as a pizza delivery man for
Ossie Davis, John Turturro
Sal (Danny Aiello). Previously seen
BEFORE as a tolerant man, Sal unleashes his
1965 In The Hill, directed by own verbal tirade when black youths
Sidney Lumet, racial tensions stage a protest after an argument
rise among soldiers in the over why his restaurant only displays
intense heat of Libya’s desert. pictures of Italian-Americans, when
Do the Right Thing doesn’t ask most of his customers are black. As
1986 She’s Gotta Have It is its audiences to choose sides; tempers fray, the protest escalates
Lee’s comedy about a Brooklyn it is scrupulously fair to both into violence. By the time the police
girl juggling three suitors. sides, in a story where it is our arrive, the whole neighborhood is
AFTER society itself that is not fair. threatening to boil over into chaos.
1992 Lee makes Malcolm X, Roger Ebert Do the Right Thing is a movie
brimming with life but shot through
a critically acclaimed biopic of
with ambivalence. Even in a
the radical civil rights activist. racially diverse community, it is
2006 Inside Man is Lee’s saying, there is a worrying limit to
hugely successful movie anyone’s tolerance. ■
about a Wall Street bank heist,
starring Denzel Washington. What else to watch: The Cardinal (1963) ■ Jungle Fever (1991) ■
Malcolm X (1992) ■ 25th Hour (2002) ■ Inside Man (2006) ■ Selma (2014)
SHE HAS THE FACE OF

BUDDHA AND THE HEART
OF A SCORPION
RAISE THE RED LANTERN / 1991
W
ith its portrayal of the its admirers as a feminist parable,
IN CONTEXT traditional formalities of director Zhang Yimou insists it was
the past, Raise the Red neither. His use of the color red is
GENRE
Lantern initially seems more archaic perhaps best seen as a metaphor for
Historical drama
than it really is: it is set in the 1920s, the constraining effects of Chinese
DIRECTOR in the warlord era before China’s Communism after the crackdown
Zhang Yimou Civil War of 1927. Songlian (Gong Li) that followed the Tiananmen
is a penniless teenage girl who Square protests of 1989.
WRITERS becomes the fourth concubine
Ni Zhen (screenplay); of Master Chen. Rivals, the four Fading hopes
Su Tong (novel) women live in an uneasy truce, but Betrayed by her rivals and a jealous
Songlian soon learns that she is the maid, Songlian goes mad. She swaps
STARS
target of a secret conspiracy. her elaborate robes for her white
Gong Li, He Saifei, Cao
Although the movie was initially school blouse, oblivious to the red
Cuifen, Jingwu Ma
seen by its critics as a tourist-board lanterns that are lit to show whom
BEFORE version of Chinese history and by the master chooses each night. ■
1984 Zhang Yimou is the The red
cinematographer for Chen lanterns
Kaige’s historical drama symbolize each
Yellow Earth. concubine’s
desperate hope
1987 Red Sorghum, Zhang’s that the Master
debut, wins the top prize at will favor her
the 1988 Berlin Film Festival. over the others.
1990 Zhang’s rural drama Ju

Dou is China’s first nomination
for an Academy Award for Best
Foreign Language film.
AFTER
2002 Zhang’s wuxia martial
arts epic, Hero, is a global hit. What else to watch: One and Eight (1983) ■ Yellow Earth (1984) ■
The Old Well (1986) ■ Red Sorghum (1987) ■ Ju Dou (1990)

SMALL
WORLD
1992 –PRESENT
268 INTRODUCTION
Quentin Tarantino’s Danish directors David Lynch continues to

debut feature, the Lars von Trier and explore nonlinear Ang Lee brings wuxia
stylish thriller Thomas Vinterberg take narratives in Lost to an international
Reservoir Dogs, an artistic “vow of Highway; Curtis Hanson audience with
announces a confident chastity” with their conjures up the spirit of film Crouching Tiger,
new talent. Dogme 95 manifesto. noir with LA Confidential. Hidden Dragon.
1992 1995 1997 2000
1994 1996 1998 2002
With a story by Quentin Joel and Ethan Coen Vinterberg’s Contemporary

Tarantino, Oliver Stone find warmth in a tale first Dogme movie, gang life is vividly
shocks and challenges of icy violence with Festen, is shot portrayed in City of
audiences with the Fargo, while David using a handheld God, while Gangs
violence of Natural Cronenberg provokes digital camera. of New York depicts
Born Killers. audiences with Crash. 19th-century crime.
A
s this book nears the wuxia but purpose made by its
end of its broad sweep of Taiwanese-American director Ang
movie history, the time Lee to be accessible to audiences
has come to introduce Quentin across the world. From Brazil,
Tarantino. By the early 1990s, a Fernando Meirelles’s City of God
century of movies was available to applied the stylistic swagger of
filmmakers to pay homage to and
When people ask me if I Martin Scorsese to a story set in
to repurpose. Tarantino—a movie
went to film school, I tell them the favelas of Rio.
obsessive who filled his movies “no, I went to films.”
with endless nudges and nods to Quentin Tarantino Digital revolution
that past—was a controversial A less heralded revolution also
figure from the moment the world stirred in the last days of the 20th
saw his debut Reservoir Dogs. But century. Since the dawn of cinema,
no one could question the filmmakers had been just that:
excitement he generated. film was not just the name of the
art form, it was what physically
Beyond Hollywood norm for movie lovers to celebrate went into cameras and projectors.
From the 1990s onward, Hollywood the movies of Southeast Asia, In 1998, the Danish family drama
was increasingly one part of a Turkey, India, and Latin America. Festen, filmed according to the
bigger story. The curious audience Cultures clashed, to glorious effect: rules of the Dogme 95 manifesto,
was looking far afield, and rather Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon became the first high-profile movie
than the occasional box-office was a martial arts extravaganza to be shot on digital video, then
breakout, it was becoming the steeped in the Chinese tradition of mostly used in cheap home
SMALL WORLD 269

The Hurt Locker wins Jackson’s The Hobbit:
Peter Jackson completes director Kathryn An Unexpected
his blockbuster Lord of Guillermo del Toro Bigelow an Oscar; Journey is the first
the Rings trilogy; mixes fantasy with Danny Boyle adds a commercial feature
Tarantino continues to gritty realism in his touch of Bollywood movie to be shot at a
show stylish invention Spanish drama style to Slumdog high frame rate of
with Kill Bill: Volume 1. Pan’s Labyrinth. Millionaire. 48 frames per second.
2003 2006 2008 2012
2003 2007 2011 2013
Park Chan-wook’s Paul Thomas Anderson Turkish director Nuri In Gravity, Alfonso
innovative and violent tells a tale of oil and Bilge Ceylan’s Once Upon Cuarón uses the latest
thriller Oldboy brings greed in his historical a Time in Anatolia charts computer technology
South Korean cinema epic There Will the grim duties of a to produce a visually
to an international Be Blood. homicide team. stunning 3D space
audience. adventure.
camcorders. Nothing would be the jagged energy of its special the children of a German village in
the same again. In the short term, effects ideal for a story about the 1913, used digital technology to
filmmakers now had cameras so Iraq War. More significant, perhaps, erase stray signs of modern life.
small and light they could move was that its director, Kathryn In the blockbuster Gravity, on
through scenes with boundless Bigelow, became the first woman the other hand, nothing was what it
agility. For some (among them to win an Oscar as Best Director. seemed; its outer space adventure
Tarantino), the loss of film was had mostly been filmed with a lone
an ongoing tragedy. For others, Computer effects Sandra Bullock locked for months
digital put filmmaking in the For much of the course of this into a “cage” in front of a green
hands of people who could never book, “special effects” were the screen, “space” to be added later.
have afforded to get their ideas on preserve of a certain kind of Yet Georges Méliès would surely
screen otherwise—and made the movie: big-budget spectaculars, have smiled at finding we were
riches of movie history accessible the sons (and daughters) of still thrilling ourselves with trips
to anyone with a memory stick. King Kong and animator Ray to the stars. While it was firmly
The digital revolution not only Harryhausen. By now, movies of earthbound, he would have
transformed the way movies were all kinds were being made in admired Boyhood too: shot for a
shot, it also changed how they were front of computers. German few days every year for 12 years
seen, as noiseless digital projection director Michael Haneke’s to map one child’s journey through
replaced the time-honored whir hypnotically austere filmmaking life, it sounded like a gimmick.
of 35 mm. could hardly have been further In fact, it reminded you, with
Other barriers were also falling. from the additive-packed summer enormous power, what it was to
The Hurt Locker was a movie that, blockbuster; yet The White Ribbon, be human. What better emblem
in 2008, felt impossibly modern— his tale of strange goings-on among for the movies could there be? ■
THE TRUTH
IS YOU’RE THE WEAK. AND I’M
THE TYRANNY OF
EVIL MEN
PULP FICTION / 1994
272 PULP FICTION
I
n the early 1990s, a movie Pulp Fiction, which kept up the
IN CONTEXT fanatic and video-store clerk verbal zing of its predecessor
named Quentin Tarantino, but also introduced a dazzlingly
GENRE
originally from Knoxville, Tennessee, inventive structure and A-list
Crime, thriller
had a seismic impact on American Hollywood stars.
DIRECTOR movies. Although the likes of Tarantino’s profane, freewheeling
Quentin Tarantino Richard Linklater and Spike Lee style was like an adrenaline shot to
had brought exciting new ideas the heart—a motif that would appear
WRITERS to American cinema, it had been a in Pulp Fiction. Part of what made
Quentin Tarantino, Roger long time since it had felt dangerous. him such a novelty was his approach
Avary (story); Quentin Tarantino relocated to Southern to genre. Just as Reservoir Dogs had
Tarantino (script) California, and his debut as the reimagined the heist movie, so Pulp
director of Reservoir Dogs felt very Fiction took the conventions of the
STARS
dangerous indeed—a foul-mouthed, B-movie—a gangland killing, a
John Travolta, Samuel L. blood-soaked crime story that was boxer taking a dive, and a hitman
Jackson, Uma Thurman, also incredibly funny. Two years in search of redemption—and
Bruce Willis later, Tarantino followed up with repurposed them in new, brilliantly
BEFORE knowing ways. The result has the
1955 Noir thriller Kiss Me stylistic charge of a genre movie
Deadly features a glowing while remaining a genuinely original
suitcase that’s thought to have and innovative movie experience.
inspired the one in Pulp Fiction.
Structural shift
AFTER One of the iconic elements of Pulp
1997 Similarly to Pulp Fiction, Fiction is its use of nonlinear
Tarantino’s Jackie Brown storytelling. By fracturing the
weaves together a large cast narrative, Tarantino does not allow
and many plot elements. the audience to settle into the
traditional rhythms of watching ❯❯
2003 Revenge romp Kill Bill
sees Tarantino elevating Uma
Thurman to a blood-soaked Vincent Vega (John Travolta) pairs
up with Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) at
starring role. Jack Rabbit Slim’s for some comically
clichéd dance moves.
Minute by minute
00:20 00:54 01:43 02:13
On a job for Marsellus Returning to her Butch escapes from Jules and Vincent
Wallace, Jules and Vincent house after the night the dungeon, but goes arrive at the diner for
shoot some men who have out with Vincent, Mia back with a sword to some breakfast. Jules
taken a suitcase belonging accidentally overdoses free Marsellus. He then discusses his miracle
to Marsellus. on Vincent’s heroin. He takes off on Zed’s bike. and announces that he
takes her to his dealer is quitting the business.
for an adrenaline shot.
00:00 00:30 01:00 01:30 02:00 02:34
02:01
The Wolf is called to 02:22
00:24 01:29 clean up the mess after Pumpkin takes
At Marsellus’s club, Butch returns to his Vincent accidentally Jules’s wallet and
Butch agrees to take a fall. apartment to look for his shoots Marvin while asks about the case.
As he is leaving, Vincent watch. He finds a gun and Marvin is in the Jules allows Pumpkin
and Jules arrive dressed in shoots Vincent as Vincent backseat of the car with to leave with the wallet
T-shirts and shorts. comes out of the bathroom. Vincent and Jules. but without the case.
SMALL WORLD 273

What else to watch: Kiss Me Deadly (1955, p.134) ■ Shoot the Piano Player (1960) ■ Band of Outsiders (1964) ■
Blood Simple (1984, p.339) ■ Reservoir Dogs (1992, p.340) ■ True Romance (1993) ■ Jackie Brown (1997) ■ Go (1999)
This iconic
poster for
Pulp Fiction
apes the covers
of the trashy
crime novels
from which it
draws its title,
right down to
the 10-cent
price tag and
much-thumbed
appearance.
274 PULP FICTION

a crime thriller. Instead of a story
with an identifiable beginning, Nobody’s gonna hurt anybody. We’re
middle, and end, the movie features
a segmented structure in which
gonna be like three little Fonzies here.
three self-contained stories are told And what’s Fonzie like?
out of sync with one another. The Jules / Pulp Fiction
director is careful to ensure that
each segment feels like part of one
world, so he connects the stories in the plot of all three stories, for deliberately avoids projecting his
through the supporting characters: example, and key protagonists from own sense of right and wrong onto
gangland kingpin Marsellus one story show up for walk-on parts his characters. The most telling
Wallace is featured prominently in other plotlines. Vincent Vega instance of this is found in one of
(John Travolta), who spends much the movie’s earlier sequences, in
of the first hour as a lead character, which Vincent and Jules make their
recedes into a supporting role as first appearance. The audience first
Prelude to
“The Gold the movie progresses—he shows up lays eyes on them as they have a
Watch” 1 for a brief (and unfortunate) cameo low-key conversation about fast
in “The Gold Watch” storyline food, during which they appear to
featuring washed-up boxer Butch be charismatic, likeable characters
Prelude to Coolidge (Bruce Willis), then plays who are fun to hang out with.
“Vincent Vega second fiddle to his partner Jules However, they are professional
and Mia Wallace” Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) in the killers on their way to a hit, and
final segment, as the latter following their conversation they are
experiences a spiritual awakening. shown doing something monstrous,
“The Bonnie The result of this disassembled something that would traditionally
Situation” structure is that Pulp Fiction isn’t be considered evil. This framing of
about any one character or story, their characters forces viewers to
but instead is almost a mood piece, accept Pulp Fiction’s nonjudgmental
Prologue The Diner designed to evoke the feel of Los
Angeles and the slick but seedy
characters who live there. At the
end of each segment, the story’s
Epilogue The Diner momentum comes to a halt and the
movie reboots in another place,
with other people, at an
indeterminate point in time.
“Vincent Vega
and Mia Wallace”
Amoral morality
Crime thrillers are not known for
Prelude to stories about morally upstanding
“The Gold individuals doing good, yet as well
Watch” 2 as having clearly
identifiable heroes and
villains, most of them
have a distinct idea of
“The Gold Watch”
what is right and
wrong, even if that
Pulp Fiction’s nonlinear narrative doesn’t always comply
starts in the middle. When its chapters with the letter of the
are arranged chronologically, does the law. In Pulp Fiction,
story seem less open-ended? however, Tarantino
SMALL WORLD 275

stance and conditions them for the
best way to appreciate the movie,
which is simply to submit and go
along for the ride.
Pulp Fiction, in all its obscene
glory, is perhaps one of the best
examples in movies of how
You get intoxicated by it…
originality and daring will win out. high on the rediscovery
There were a lot of obstacles of how pleasurable a movie
between the critical establishment can be. I’m not sure I’ve ever
and the movie, from its language to encountered a filmmaker who
its violence to its subject matter combined discipline and
(indeed, it was famously and control with sheer wild-ass joy
controversially beaten to the 1995 the way that Tarantino does. Quentin Tarantino
Best Picture Oscar by Steven Owen Gleiberman Director
Spielberg’s far more conventional Entertainment Weekly, 1994
Forrest Gump), yet its enduring Quentin Tarantino was born
popularity shows that it functions in Knoxville, Tennessee, in
perfectly as a showcase for 1963. After dropping out of
Tarantino’s talent as a filmmaker, high school at 15 to pursue an
with the broken structure allowing acting career, he was diverted
into writing scripts by a
for singular moments of directorial
meeting with producer
flair to become prominent instead you’re looking for a fresh and Lawrence Bender. His first
of being lost as part of the whole. If engrossing take on the well-trodden movie, Reservoir Dogs, gained
territory of the criminal underworld, him international acclaim, and
you can’t do much better than his follow-up, Pulp Fiction,
Pulp Fiction. ■ won the Palme d’Or as well
as earning him the Oscar for
Best Original Screenplay.
Tarantino has since made
movies in a variety of genres,
from revenge thrillers in the
Kill Bill series to war movies
with Inglourious Basterds
(2009) and Westerns with
Django Unchained. His movies
continue to do well with both
critics and audiences.
Key movies
1992 Reservoir Dogs

1994 Pulp Fiction
2003 Kill Bill: Volume 1
2012 Django Unchained
Although he is being held at

gunpoint, Pumpkin (Tim Roth) is
about to witness a truly unusual
moment of enlightenment as Jules
vows to change his ways.
276
I FEEL SOMETHING
IMPORTANT IS HAPPENING
AROUND ME. AND IT
SCARES ME
THREE COLORS: RED / 1994
T
hree Colors: Red is the former judge, Joseph Kern (Jean-
IN CONTEXT final part of Krzysztof Louis Trintignant). Valentine and
Kieslowski’s trilogy based Kern form a strange rapport, such
GENRE
on the three colors of the French that, had they not missed each
Drama
flag: red, white, and blue. Each other by a mere 40 years, they
DIRECTOR movie explores one of the three may have fallen in love.
Krzysztof Kieslowski ideals of the French Revolution:
liberty in Blue (1993), equality in Reclusive observer
WRITERS White (1994), and, in Red, fraternity. Kern has resigned from his career.
Krzysztof Kieslowski, Red is the warmest, most Tired of passing judgement, he
Krzysztof Piesiewicz sympathetic of the three movies, now simply wants to be an
featuring an affecting performance observer. He
STARS
by Irène Jacob as Valentine. watches life
Irène Jacob, Jean-Louis
Set in Geneva, Switzerland, the
Trintignant
movie, shot through with symbolic
BEFORE red, tells what at first seem to
1987 In Blind Chance, be stories of separate lives, until
Kieslowski explores the deeper connections emerge. The
influence of chance and choice central story is of a young
in three alternate stories about model, Valentine, who
a man catching a train. accidentally runs over a
dog with her car. She
1991 Kieslowski teams up takes the dog to its
with Irène Jacob for the first owner, a reclusive
time with The Double Life
of Veronique.
Valentine (Irène
AFTER Jacob) discovers
2002 Kieslowski’s last that the dog
screenplay, Heaven, is directed she injured is
by Tom Twyker and stars Cate pregnant. Kern
Blanchett. It had been written gives the dog
to her when
as the first in a new trilogy. she returns it
to him.
SMALL WORLD 277

What else to watch: Ashes and Diamonds (1958, pp. 146–47) ■ We Have to Kill
This Love (1972) ■ Europa, Europa (1990) ■ The Double Life of Veronique (1991)
Krzysztof Kieslowski
Director
Polish director Krzysztof
Kieslowski is renowned for
his moving meditations on
the human spirit. He was born
from his windows and eavesdrops Kern (Jean-Louis Trintignant) in Warsaw in 1941. His father
reevaluates his life after meeting suffered from TB, so his
on his neighbors’ telephone
Valentine. But before he can give her childhood was nomadic,
conversations. It eventually as the family moved around
the advice he thinks she needs, he
transpires that one of those on sanatoriums. At 16 he tried
must first do the right thing himself.
whom he eavesdrops is a young training as a fireman, then
judge, Auguste—Valentine’s as a theater technician,
neighbor whom she’s never met. Underpinning the movie is a concern before finally enrolling at the
In an uncanny echo of Kern’s own with the fraternity of human souls Lódz film school. He made
past, Auguste is being betrayed across time and gender. Those documentaries in the 1960s
by his weather-girl partner Karin. bonds can easily be lost to false which were skilled in getting
Kern convinces Valentine to connections—like the phone lines across subversive messages
try to mend her relationship with that seem to link Valentine and her that the authorities would
her boyfriend in England. She lover and that Kern eavesdrops on, miss. His first major hit movie,
takes his advice, but fate has and like the windows through The Double Life of Veronique,
different plans, bringing which the judge spies, which give explored human emotion
through the lives of two
together the illusion of contact but make real
identical women, one Polish
Valentine and connection impossible. Only once
and the other French. He
her neighbor. the glass is shattered can a real then followed with his lauded
bond, a real physical connection Three Colors trilogy before
between people, be restored. surprisingly announcing his
Yet the two main characters retirement. He died suddenly
manage to relate to one another in 1996, at just 54.
in a way that enriches the lives of
both of them, and this clear truth
adds a warm feeling to the movie’s Key movies
enigmatic ending. There is no
1988 A Short Film about Killing
obvious sense or clear message to
1989 Decalogue
be absorbed as the closing credits 1991 The Double Life
roll by, merely an impressionistic of Veronique
reflection on the lives we have been 1994 Three Colors: Red
eavesdropping on for a brief time. ■
278
GET BUSY LIVING

OR GET BUSY DYING
THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION / 1994
A
movie that The movie’s
IN CONTEXT deals with initially low
the triumph returns at
GENRE the box office
of the human spirit
Drama were rapidly
over adversity has a offset by
DIRECTOR delicate line to tread. seven Oscar
Frank Darabont Misjudge the balance nominations
between dignity and and lasting
WRITERS suffering and the popularity
Frank Darabont triumph will either feel with the
(screenplay); Stephen public.
hollow or not worth the
King (short story) ordeal, for protagonist
and audience alike.
STARS
In The Shawshank
Tim Robbins, Morgan
Redemption, with its
Freeman, Bob Gunton story of a man who is
BEFORE sentenced to life in a 1947, Andy is a sensitive, thoughtful
1979 Escape from Alcatraz prison run by a corrupt warden, man. His strength is not physical;
tells the true story of a director Frank Darabont achieves it derives from his belief in the
breakout from prison. the perfect balance. The movie individual’s inviolate right to justice
emphasizes humanity over and humane treatment, which allows
1983 The Woman in the Room brutality, and it has become one him to maintain his integrity even
is Darabont’s first movie, also of the most popular movies ever when his situation seems hopeless.
based on a Stephen King story. made about the power of self-belief. Although Andy is trapped in a
system that seeks to crush him and
AFTER Unconventional prisoner institutionalize him, the audience
1995 Tim Robbins directs In its lead character, Andy Dufresne has the impression that he is freer
Dead Man Walking, the (Tim Robbins), the movie subverts than many of those at liberty. He
story of a man on death row. the tough-guy protagonist of never loses hope that life can get
1999 Darabont films King’s previous prison dramas such as better, whether he is campaigning
The Green Mile, another prison Cool Hand Luke (1967) or Escape for an improved prison library or
drama, set in the 1930s. from Alcatraz (1979). A former cutting a deal with one of the most
banker who is convicted of brutal guards to get his fellow
murdering his wife and her lover in jailbirds a beer after a day’s labor.
SMALL WORLD 279

What else to watch: Cool Hand Luke (1967) ■ Midnight Express (1978) ■ Escape from Alcatraz (1979) ■ The Shining
(1980, p.339) ■ Sleepers (1996) ■ The Green Mile (1999) ■ The Majestic (2001) ■ The Mist (2007) ■ A Prophet (2009)
It is this hope that impels Andy

to turn the tables on the brutal Frank Darabont Director
Warden Norton (Bob Gunton), who
The child of short story. This brought him
exploits Andy’s bookkeeping skills
Hungarian worldwide acclaim and an Oscar
in order to launder money. Each immigrants, nomination. He directed more
night, Andy chips away at his cell Frank Darabont adaptations of King’s work in
wall in order to carry out an escape was born in The Green Mile and The Mist,
that is 20 years in the making. His 1959 in a refugee camp in before working on TV horror
determination also inspires his Montbéliard, France, and moved series The Walking Dead
friend Red (Morgan Freeman) with his family to the US as between 2010 and 2011.
to find his own redemption. an infant. He began his career
with various jobs on movie sets, Key movies
Paying the price including as production assistant
In contrast, fellow inmate Brooks on the horror movie Hell Night 1994 The Shawshank
Hatlen (James Whitmore) is so (1981). His first full feature was Redemption
dependent on the certainties of The Shawshank Redemption, an 1999 The Green Mile
prison life that he dreads his adaptation of a Stephen King 2007 The Mist
release. When Brooks is let out
on parole in 1954, he is shown what makes Andy’s Fellow lifer Red (Morgan
attempting to cross a road, shocked fortitude so miraculous. Freeman) is drawn by the
by the speed of traffic, overwhelmed The Shawshank steely determination of
Andy (Tim Robbins) not
in an enormous world. Brooks is Redemption suggests that to be broken. Red’s slow,
neither weak nor cowardly, but he it is possible for a person measured voice-over
does not know how to cope. to hold on to their self- as the movie’s
Time in prison worth even in the very narrator adds to its
can change direst of circumstances, and somber dignity.
people, often to maintain their humanity
for the worse, even in the face of the most
and this is inhumane treatment. ■
280
TO INFINITY
AND BEYOND!
TOY STORY / 1995
© Disney·Pixar
T
oy Story is a landmark appeal derives from its highly
IN CONTEXT movie: it was the first full- original characters and its plot—a
length film to use entirely simple yet heart-warming buddy
GENRE
computer-generated imagery (CGI) story with plenty of excellent gags.
Animation, adventure
instead of traditional hand-drawn From the outset, Pixar set out
DIRECTOR animation. Pixar, the new studio to be modern, and chose not to
John Lasseter behind the movie, convinced movie- seek inspiration in fairy tales and
goers of CGI’s possibilities without legends—the staples of Disney
WRITERS relying solely on its technological animated movies. In fact, the central
John Lasseter, Pete novelty. Indeed, much of the movie’s conflict in Toy Story is about old
Docter, Andrew Stanton, versus new. A boy, Andy, discards
Joe Ranft (original story); his favorite toy, Woody, a cowboy
Joss Whedon, Andrew of the Old West, when given a Buzz
Stanton, Joel Cohen, Alec Lightyear, a futuristic space-ranger
Sokolow (screenplay) toy. Critics have suggested that
Woody’s difficulty in accepting
STARS the new toy, with its gadgets and
Tom Hanks, Tim Allen laser, and his grouchy attitude
BEFORE mirror audience fears about CGI
1991 Disney’s Beauty and excess replacing much-loved classic
the Beast uses some CGI. animation. The film shows Woody
can coexist with Buzz. There
AFTER is a place for nostalgia alongside
1998 CGI moves on in A Bug’s progress, particularly when it comes
Life, Lasseter’s ant colony tale. in a package as good as Toy Story. ■
1999 Toy Story 2, the first fully
digital film, is another big hit. Woody watches enviously as
Buzz Lightyear wows the toys. Buzz
2007 Ratatouille combines has no idea that he is a child’s toy—
CGI with a daring, original plot. one of the jokes that drives the plot.
© Disney·Pixar
2012 Lasseter produces a 3D What else to watch: Monsters, Inc. (2001) ■ The Incredibles (2004) ■
version of Beauty and the Beast. Toy Story 2 (1999) ■ Ratatouille (2007) ■ WALL·E (2008) ■ Toy Story 3 (2010)
SMALL WORLD 281
IT’S NOT HOW YOU

FALL THAT MATTERS.
IT’S HOW
LA HAINE / 1995
YOU LAND
M
athieu Kassovitz’s La
IN CONTEXT Haine (Hate) is a movie
driven by the anger of
GENRE
three young men from a riot-scarred
Drama
housing project in the banlieues
DIRECTOR (high-rise, poor suburbs) of Paris. It All the kids around
Mathieu Kassovitz won Kassovitz the award for Best the world have the same
Director at Cannes, yet its violence problems—in London, New
WRITER and its criticism of the police made York, Paris, wherever.
Mathieu Kassovitz it hugely controversial. Mathieu Kassovitz
STARS The three men are all sons of
immigrants—Vinz (Vincent Cassel)
Vincent Cassel, Hubert
is Jewish, Hubert (Hubert Koundé)
Koundé, Saïd Taghmaoui
is black, Saïd (Saïd Taghmaoui) is
BEFORE Arab—and the anger in the movie
1993 Café au Lait, Kassovitz’s is fueled by the marginalization
first movie, is influenced by of minorities. The trigger for the Bickle in Martin Scorsese’s movie
Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It. action is a bavure (slipup) by Taxi Driver, is determined to take
the police, who beat Abdel, one revenge on the police. But as Vinz
AFTER of the trio’s friends, into a coma. realizes that he is no killer, the three
2001 As an actor, Kassovitz are drawn into a spiral of violence
stars in the hugely successful A spiral of violence involving police and racist thugs.
comedy Amélie. Such bavures were disturbingly The stark black-and-white
common in France at the time, and photography, filmed mostly in the
2011 Rebellion, a thriller set
Kassovitz says he started writing banlieues, and the intensity of the
in French New Caledonia, is a
the movie on April 6, 1993, the day acting, particularly from Cassel, give
critical success for Kassovitz, a young man from Zaire, Makome the movie rawness and realism. Few
with some of the anger that M’Bowole, was shot dead in police movies have captured the divide
fueled La Haine. custody. In the movie, Vinz, who between the haves and have-nots
2014 In Girlhood, French models himself on vigilante Travis quite so uncompromisingly. ■
director Céline Sciamma tells
another drama of the banlieues, What else to watch: The 400 Blows (1959, pp.150–55) ■ Do the Right Thing
from a girl’s perspective. (1989, p.264) ■ Amélie (2001, pp.298–99) ■ City of God (2002, pp.304–09)
282
I’M NOT SURE I AGREE

WITH YOU ONE HUNDRED
PERCENT ON YOUR POLICE
WORK THERE, LOU
FARGO / 1996
IN CONTEXT
GENRE
Crime drama, comedy
DIRECTORS
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
WRITERS
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
STARS
William H. Macy, Frances
McDormand, Steve
Buscemi, Peter Stormare
BEFORE
F
1984 The Coens’ first feature, argo is a tragic farce that Grimsrud (Peter Stormare) and
plays out at the slow, steady Showalter (Steve Buscemi) are a pair
Blood Simple, is a film noir in
pace of a glacier. It begins of hapless fools. Everything they do
which ordinary folk are led to sinks them deeper into trouble.
destruction by their own greed. with a car salesman named Jerry
Lundegaard (William H. Macy), who
AFTER desperately needs money to save Dakota, in the small towns of
2013 Another winter’s tale, himself from bankruptcy. Jerry Fargo and Brainerd, and on the
the Coens’ Inside Llewyn Davis hires grizzled goons Showalter bleak highway that connects
is the tale of a down-on-his- (Steve Buscemi) and Grimsrud them. During the course of the
luck songwriter in New York. (Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife kidnapping, Grimsrud accidentally
(Kristin Rudrüd) and promises to kills a carful of people, and he and
2014 In David Zellner’s split the ransom with the pair once Showalter soon find that it is hard
Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, the job is done. It’s a simple plan, to dispose of corpses in weather
a Japanese woman goes but, as with most things in Jerry’s so cold that graves cannot be dug
in search of treasure in life, it goes horribly wrong. and flesh does not rot. Grimrud
Minnesota after watching Jerry’s crime plays out against hits on a novel solution to this
Fargo, believing it to be real. the blinding white wilderness of problem in the movie’s audacious
winter in Minnesota and North final act, but not before Brainerd’s
SMALL WORLD 283

What else to watch: Blood Simple (1984, p.339) ■ Miller’s Crossing (1990) ■ The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) ■
The Big Lebowksi (1998) ■ The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001) ■ True Grit (2010)
As filmmakers, the Coen brothers

Joel and Ethan Coen Directors are masters of balancing laughs
and chills, and thanks to its
Joel and Ethan genres as a starting point, before
crime-thriller trappings and wintry
Coen have sprawling off in a direction of
landscape, Fargo is one of their
made more than their own and crafting an off-
20 acclaimed kilter, funny-scary atmosphere chilliest works. The tone is set in
movies. After their first, the that is entirely their own. the opening shot, when the camera
sleek thriller Blood Simple, they peers at a car—Jerry’s—threading
surprised admirers with Raising Key movies its way through the blizzard. A
Arizona, a romantic black doom-laden musical score starts
comedy, and have confounded 1984 Blood Simple up, and this doesn’t feel like a
expectations ever since, fusing 1991 Barton Fink comedy: from the outset there
darkness with laughs. The Coens 1996 Fargo are hints of horror.
often use other movies and 2007 No Country for Old Men Marge is the heart of the story.
Her pregnancy is a symbol of
police find his victims by the side accent that suggests she’s a bit of hope in the white wasteland of
of the road. The chief of police a bumpkin. But Marge is clearly double-crossing and butchery.
is Marge Gunderson (Frances on the ball. Carefully, she traces Although she is never in any real
McDormand), perhaps the only the trail of disasters back to Jerry, danger, there is a lingering dread
heavily pregnant detective in who’s not coping well with the that she will be overcome by the
the history of cinema. pressure. Macy’s study in stress movie’s violence. But the Coen
(visible in the close-up far left) brothers manage to maintain their
Uncommon detective is funny and upsetting, masterful balancing act amid the
Like everyone else in Brainerd and he turns the folksy carnage, the nihilism of the case
and Fargo, Marge has a folksy regional accent into forced to co-star with Marge’s
Scandinavian–American a rhythm of despair. deeply rooted decency. ■
Marge (Frances
McDormand) inspects There’s more to life than
the body of a state
trooper. Her provincial
a little money, you know.
manner belies a
sharp intelligence.
Don’tcha know that?…
I just don’t understand it.
Marge Gunderson / Fargo
284
WE’VE ALL LOST

OUR CHILDREN
THE SWEET HEREAFTER / 1997
M
ost dramas build up to seek redress is a manifestation of
IN CONTEXT tragedy; few begin with the despair in his own life, as he
its aftermath. Canadian struggles to cope with losing his
GENRE
director Atom Egoyan’s movie deals own daughter to drug addiction.
Drama
with the fallout from two tragedies,
DIRECTOR weaving them together in a subtle Seeking closure
Atom Egoyan meditation on survivor’s guilt. Stevens meets his match in Nicole
In a town in British Columbia, (Sarah Polley), a 15-year-old who was
WRITERS 14 children have died when the bus on the bus but survived. Contrary to
Atom Egoyan (screenplay); they were on slid into an icy lake. his expectations, Nicole has no rage;
Russell Banks (novel) Lawyer Mitchell Stevens (Ian instead, she feels left behind, in a
Holm) suspects negligence, and ghost town shattered by grief. Her
STARS
tries to build a case against the sabotaging of his case with a wholly
Ian Holm, Sarah Polley,
bus company and its driver, the unexpected deposition is the payoff
Caerthan Banks
horrified and otherwise harmless to this beguiling movie. Why she
BEFORE Dolores (Gabrielle Rose). Stevens’ does it is something for both
1994 Exotica, a story set in a bid to persuade reluctant locals to Stevens and the viewer to ponder. ■
strip joint in Toronto, brings Nicole survives
international attention to Atom the accident but is
Egoyan’s work. left paralyzed. So
too, in a sense, is
AFTER the small town
2002 Ararat, Egoyan’s drama torn apart by the
about the Armenian genocide loss of the children
who died that day.
of 1915, wins critical acclaim
but faces distribution problems
due to political pressure from
Turkey, which denies genocide.
2009 Chloe, an erotic thriller
staring Liam Neeson and
Julianne Moore, is Egoyan’s What else to watch: Short Cuts (1993) ■ Exotica (1994) ■ Breaking the
biggest commercial hit. Waves (1996) ■ Ararat (2002) ■ Mystic River (2003) ■ 21 Grams (2003)
SMALL WORLD 285
I MISS MY
FATHER
CENTRAL STATION / 1998
O
n its release in 1998, Walter her outraged friend, “He’ll be better
IN CONTEXT Salles’s breakout hit was off.” That Dora eventually finds her
immediately nominated conscience and puts things right is
GENRE
for the Best Foreign Language no surprise, but what stands out
Drama
Film Oscar. The story of an orphan is the naturalism and ease with
DIRECTOR looking for his father might sound which the story develops. When
Walter Salles like sentimental Hollywood fare, but Dora’s attempt to take the boy back
in Salles’s hands it is an often dark, to his father backfires, she gives up
WRITERS always clear-eyed look at big-city trying to outwit fate and simply
Marcos Bernstein, poverty, given added authenticity by plays her part: once a reluctant
João Emanuel Carneiro, the fact that its child star, Vinícius messenger, she makes sure this
Walter Salles de Oliveira, was making ends meet package gets to its destination. ■
as a shoe-shine boy in Rio de
STARS
Janeiro when Salles spotted him.
Fernanda Montenegro,
Vinícius de Oliveira A journey
BEFORE Although it is a boy, Jesué (de
1996 Terra Estrangeira Oliveira), who is lost, alone in Rio
(Foreign Land) is Salles’s first after his mother dies in a road This is not a heartwarming
notable movie, and it is shown accident, Central Station (Central movie about a woman trying
at more than 40 film festivals do Brasil) isn’t so much the story to help a pathetic orphan,
around the world. of his emotional journey as that of but a hard-edged film about
Dora (Fernanda Montenegro), his a woman who thinks only
AFTER reluctant guardian. Dora works at of her own needs.
2004 The Motorcycle Diaries, the titular station, writing letters Roger Ebert
about the life of the young for illiterate people who trust her
Che Guevara, brings Salles to mail them—but few make it to
another international success. the mailbox, since Dora has no
conscience. When she sells Jesué to
2012 Salles’s On the Road,
an illegal adoption agency, she tells
a screen adaptation of Jack
Kerouac’s iconic novel, is a What else to watch: Foreign Land (1996) ■ City of God (2002, pp.304–09) ■
commercial flop. Carandiru (2003) ■ Slumdog Millionaire (2008, pp.318–19)

286
HERE’S TO THE
MAN WHO KILLED
MY SISTER
FESTEN / 1998
O
n March 13, 1995, a group movement. Following Dogme
IN CONTEXT of Danish filmmakers rules, the movie takes place in one
came together to create setting, a family-run hotel hosting
GENRE
an artistic manifesto. There were a patriarch’s 60th birthday dinner.
Family drama
many rules in this document, but His three estranged children return
DIRECTOR the core idea behind the Dogme 95 for the occasion and dark secrets
Thomas Vinterberg movement was the removal of are exposed. The claustrophobia
artifice from cinema. Knocking away and intense realism of the filming
WRITERS creative crutches and devices, from style add to the pressure-cooker
Thomas Vinterberg, music to superficial dramatic tropes atmosphere gradually built up by
Mogens Rukov such as murder, the goal was to the proceedings.
purify movies, to tell stories that are
STARS
focused entirely on the characters The speech
Ulrich Thomsen,
and the moment they are in. Festen subverts social conventions,
Henning Moritzen,
The first Dogme movie, Festen perhaps most tellingly in its use
Thomas Bo Larsen (The Celebration), was Thomas of a formal speech to expose the
BEFORE Vinterberg’s contribution to the truths under the veneer of familial
1960 Jean-Luc Godard
brought a new and radical Thomas Vinterberg Director
filmmaking style to À bout
de souffle. Thomas Kristian Levring, and Søren
Vinterberg Kragh-Jacobsen. His movie
AFTER was born in Festen was the first, and most
1998 The second Dogme Copenhagen, successful, of the movement,
movie is Lars von Trier’s The Denmark, and was met with international
Idiots, about a group of friends in 1969. After graduating from acclaim, including winning the
the national film school of jury prize at Cannes.
who pretend to be disabled for
Denmark in 1993, he made his
their own amusement. feature debut with The Biggest Key movies
1999 US director Harmony Heroes, a road movie that was
Korine makes the first non- met with acclaim in his native 1996 The Biggest Heroes
European Dogme movie, Julien Denmark. He later formed the 1998 Festen
Dogme 95 movement with 2003 It’s All About Love
Donkey-Boy.
fellow directors Lars Von Trier, 2012 The Hunt
SMALL WORLD 287

What else to watch: The 400 Blows (1959, pp.150–55) ■ À bout de souffle (1960, pp.166–67) ■ Breaking the Waves (1996,
p.341) ■ The Idiots (1998) ■ Julien Donkey-Boy (1999) ■ The King is Alive (2000) ■ Dear Wendy (2004) ■ The Hunt (2012)
In removing artifice, Festen was Festen was one of the first

a self-consciously “little” movie, in the movies to use digital cameras,
tradition of the French New Wave. It and this gives it the feel of an
cost just over $1 million to make. uncompromising family video,
putting the viewer in the center of
family whose private conversations the emotional firestorm. In doing so,
have been full of lies for so long, it it makes the audience forget that it
makes sense that the structural is watching a “movie.” There are no
artifice of the speech becomes the musical cues to tell viewers when
place to find honesty. to be upset, no empowering scenes
of revenge. The movie presents the
Anarchy and order disintegration of a family with a
The Dogme 95 principle was a minimum of directorial comment,
much-needed stripping back of leaving the audience free to decide
frippery in the guise of punish what to feel, when to be horrified or
prank, ridding cinema of overly amazed. By affording the viewer
familiar trappings in order to get such trust, Festen leaves an
right to the soul of the piece. affecting emotional mark. ■
politeness. Traditional speeches are

Don’t diss my family, get it?
often a contrived conversation that is Michael / Festen
used to mask an agenda or keep the
peace—it lends itself to dishonesty.
In Festen, however, it is where
characters are at their most honest.
Once they have tapped a wine glass
with a fork, they bare their souls.
In his first speech, Christian
(Ulrich Thomsen), the eldest son
of the patriarch Helge (Henning
Moritzen), accuses his father of
committing a terrible crime against
his children years earlier, one that
ultimately led to his twin sister’s
death. In this moment, Christian
is fearless, yet a few moments later
his father speaks to him privately
and the mask returns—Christian
apologizes and recants. The party,
and the speeches, continue. For a
After making a terrible and very

public accusation against his father,
Christian (Ulrich Tomsen, center) is
forcibly ejected from the patriarch’s
birthday party by his younger brother
Michael (Thomas Bo Larsen, left).
288
EVERYONE’S FEAR
TAKES ON A LIFE OF
ITS OWN
RINGU / 1998
A
s with many Nakata’s movie
IN CONTEXT Western inspired a new genre
horrors— of Japanese chillers,
GENRE several of which
Poltergeist (1982) and
Horror were remade by
The Blair Witch Project Hollywood. In these
DIRECTOR (1999), for example— “J-horror” movies,
Hideo Nakata Hideo Nakata’s movie the terror is less
Ringu (The Ring) draws explicit, with less
WRITER its shivers from folklore reliance on “jump
Hiroshi Takahashi and legend: in this case scares” and more left
(screenplay); Kôji Suzuki to the imagination.
an old samurai tale
(novel) transferred to modern-
day urban Japan. The tape lasts just
STARS
movie is based on Kôji a few seconds
Nanako Matsushima, Suzuki’s hit 1991 novel and contains
Hioyuki Sanada, Rikiya of the same name, strange imagery
Ôtaka, Yôichi Numata, which in turn was of a circle of light, a woman
Miki Nakatani inspired by a well-known brushing her hair, a man with his
BEFORE 18th-century ghost story about head covered, a pictogram seen in
1996 Don’t Look Up, Nakata’s a serving girl, Okiku, who is a close-up of an eye—all played in
first feature, is not a box-office murdered by her lord. the static crackle of a degraded,
Taking a key element from US much-watched video. After each
hit but gives him the critical
horror movies in which teenagers are viewing of the tape, the viewer
prestige to direct Ringu.
drawn to objects or places that are receives a phone call saying they
AFTER taboo or forbidden, Ringu concerns will die in seven days. A week later
1999 Nakata completes a videotape that is being passed they are dead, their faces twisted
the story with Ringu 2. around provincial schools. The by some unimaginable terror.
2002 Nakata directs
Dark Water, which, like It’s not of this world. It’s Sadako’s
his previous two movies,
is remade by Hollywood. fury. And she’s put a curse on us.
Ryuji Takayama / Ringu
SMALL WORLD 289

What else to watch: Kwaidan (1964) ■ Poltergeist (1982) ■ Ghost Actress (1996) ■ Rasen (1998) ■ Kairo (2001) ■
Dark Water (2002) ■ One Missed Call (2003) ■ Ju-on: The Grudge (2004) ■ Pulse (2006) ■ It Follows (2014)
Reiko, a journalist, stares at the

static that marks the end of the deadly
videotape. Within moments, her phone
will ring and a mysterious voice will tell
her of her fate.
backstory, and so the focus

switches from the untimely deaths
of teenagers to Reiko’s attempt to
right the injustice done to Sadako
in the past and lift her curse. And
yet there are virtuoso moments of
goose-bump horror to come, and
images that will haunt the viewer
long after watching this movie.
Although Hollywood produced
a watchable remake in 2002, it
could not inspire the same dread.
The figure of Sadako became
an instant icon and influenced
a whole genre. The imagery is
based on Japanese yurei ghosts:
The teen-horror element initially time, the story winds back into she has a pale face and long,
seems to be a misdirect, since the past to uncover the terrible matted hair, suggesting that her
Ringu quite quickly becomes a secrets that have begun to seep corpse received no burial rites
detective yarn, with journalist into the present. (Japanese women were traditionally
Reiko (Nanako Matsushima) As with other Japanese horrors buried with their hair up, not
becoming interested in the case that Ringu later inspired, there is a down). In this, the movie explores
after discovering that her niece is prospect of redemption; although the clash of ancient folktale and
one of the latest victims. Retracing she is clearly a malevolent spirit, Japanese modernity, with the
the girl’s final steps, Reiko finds the Sadako (and Okiku in the original ghost’s terror hiding in something
videotape and watches it. She then folktale) has a sympathetic as prosaic as a videotape. ■
has seven days to avert her own
death—a race against time to Hideo Nakata Director
decipher the mysterious imagery
she has seen. By chance, Reiko’s Born in rural in a new genre of Japanese
teenage son watches the tape too, Okayama in horror—J-horror—in which
raising the stakes even higher. 1961, Hideo female leads are stalked by
Nakata worked the ghosts of young girls. He
Ghosts of the past for seven years continued the formula with
With Reiko inching closer to solving as an assistant director before 2002’s Dark Water.
the mystery, it almost seems as making his debut with the 1996
though Nakata is going to abandon fantasy-horror Don’t Look Up (or Key movies
the horror element altogether, as Ghost Actress). He secured his
reputation internationally with 1996 Don’t Look Up
Reiko begins to piece together the
Ringu, switching the gender of 1998 Ringu
story of a famous psychic who lost the protagonist in the tale on 1999 Ringu 2
her powers when her daughter, which it is based. Ringu ushered 2002 Dark Water
Sadako (Rie Inô), was born. For a
A SWORD
BY ITSELF
RULES NOTHING. IT ONLY
COMES ALIVE
IN SKILLED HANDS
CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON / 2000
292 CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON
M
ovies including Sense Critics noted the way it seemed
IN CONTEXT and Sensibility (1995), to capture an idealized China,
The Ice Storm (1997), and a China of dreams. As Ang Lee
GENRE
Ride With the Devil (1999) propelled himself admitted, such a place
Wuxia (martial arts)
Ang Lee to the A-list of Hollywood never really existed. But the
DIRECTOR directors. So it was a brave move to combination of romance, balletic
Ang Lee make his next project a martial arts martial arts sequences, and poetic
movie set in ancient China with cinematography created a movie
WRITERS dialogue entirely in Mandarin that Western audiences engaged
Hui-Ling Wang, James Chinese. Yet Crouching Tiger, with. In China itself, however, the
Schamus, Tsai Kuo-Jung Hidden Dragon justified the risk. initial response to the movie was
(screenplay); Wang The movie is based on a wuxia less positive, and an appreciation of
Dulu (story) novel (see box, below), written in its merits was slow in coming.
the 1930s by Chinese author Wang Among the best-known wuxia
STARS Dulu, the fourth title in his five-part in the West are the Once Upon a
Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Crane-Iron Series. In the US and in Time in China series, which are
Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, Europe, the movie was an instant regarded as some of the best of
Chang Chen critical and commercial hit, and the genre. Many Chinese critics
BEFORE won the Oscar for best foreign film. viewed Ang Lee, despite his
1991 Once Upon a Time in Chinese roots, as a cultural tourist
China, starring Jet Li, starts a jumping on the wuxia bandwagon
craze for wuxia movies in Asia. and getting it wrong. The martial
arts sequences were tame, they
1993 Ang Lee’s The Wedding complained. There was too much
Banquet is Oscar-nominated talk and not enough action. In their
for Best Foreign Language film. It’s a good exam— opinion, Ang Lee was pandering
how to tell a story to Western audiences’ need for
AFTER with a global sense. emotional involvement.
2004 Zhang Yimou’s visually Ang Lee Yet engaging the audiences
stunning wuxia movie House emotionally and psychologically is
of Flying Daggers, also starring precisely what Ang Lee intended.
Zhang Ziyi, is clearly aimed at He believed that the popular
Western audiences. martial arts movies had barely
begun to explore the true meaning
Wuxia movies
Wuxia stories are an old tradition 1960s that they became a
in China. The word wuxia means phenomenon in China. In the
chivalrous warrior, and first 1990s, Hong Kong filmmakers
emerged during the Ming Dynasty made the Once Upon a Time in
(1368–1644). Like the knights of China series, featuring the folk
European romances, wuxia hero Wong Fei-hung (played
combined a quest for personal by Jet Li, left).
perfection with skill in combat. Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Ming and Qing rulers tried to Dragon changed the nature of
suppress wuxia stories because wuxia in China, with movies
of their emphasis on social justice, such as Zhang Yimou’s House
but they remained hugely popular. of Flying Daggers (2004) telling
The first wuxia movies were made a more psychological story than
in the 1920s, but it was in the the earlier action-led movies.
SMALL WORLD 293

What else to watch: Once Upon a Time in China (1991) ■ Drunken Master II (1994) ■ Sense and Sensibility (1995) ■
Hero (2002) ■ House of Flying Daggers (2004) ■ Brokeback Mountain (2005) ■ Lust, Caution (2007) ■ Life of Pi (2012)
Minute by minute
00:06 00:34 1:11 1:34
Shu Lien delivers the legendary Li Mu Bai confronts Lo disrupts Jen’s wedding After dueling with Jen,
sword Green Destiny to Sir Te Jade Fox for poisoning his procession and urges her to Li Mu Bai throws Green
in Beijing. There she meets the master. Jade Fox kills the return with him to the Destiny over a waterfall.
young Jen Yu, who is envious policeman who has been desert. She runs away Jen Yu chases after it and
of Shu Lien’s warrior lifestyle. tracking her. disguised as a boy. is saved by Jade Fox.
00:00 00:20 00:40 01:00 01:20 01:40 02:00
1:45
00:10 00:50 1:26 Wounded by one of
A masked thief steals Lo, a bandit, slips into Jen Jen rejects Shu Lien’s Fox’s darts, Li Mu Bai
Green Destiny from Sir Te’s Yu’s bedroom. In flashback, we friendship and the pair speaks his love for Shu
study, and is chased by see him raiding her baggage duel spectacularly. Shu Lien Lien. Jen asks Lo to
Shu Lien across the train in the desert, and the two wins, with a broken sword make a wish. She then
rooftops of Beijing. of them falling in love. held to Jen Yu’s throat. jumps off Mt. Wudang.
Jen Yu is a skilled martial artist.

After chasing Lo, a handsome bandit
who has stolen her comb, she finds
herself in his desert camp surrounded
by brigands, and takes every one of
them on in an acrobatic fight sequence.
of wuxia. To get to the heart of

its role in the Chinese psyche, he
felt he had to “use Freudian or
Western techniques to dissect
what… is hidden in a repressed
society—the sexual tension, the
prohibited feelings.” In other
words, he consciously used a
Western approach to filmmaking
to uncover a psychological
meaning behind the action.
Left unsaid
Most earlier wuxia movies pitched
the viewer straight into the combat.
However, Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon opens with a five-minute-
long dialogue between a noble
swordsman, Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-
fat) and a female warrior, Shu Lien
(Michelle Yeoh). The story is set in I would rather be a ghost drifting by
the 18th century, during the Qing
Dynasty. Li Mu Bai has retired from
your side as a condemned soul than
fighting and has joined a monastery enter heaven without you. Because of
as a path to enlightenment, but
neither he nor Shu Lien can cast
your love, I will never be a lonely spirit.
aside their love for each other, or ❯❯ Li Mu Bai / Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
294 CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON
confess their feelings. Both are pei), the killer of his old master, Jen Yu rejects Shu Lien’s offer of
constrained by notions of honor. to be the culprit. Before he can friendship and the pair duel. Shu Lien
These unspoken desires heighten reveal his heart to Shu Lien, fights with every weapon available, but
the sexual tension between them. therefore, Li Mu Bai must recover each is destroyed in turn by Jen Yu
wielding Green Destiny.
“Crouching tiger, hidden dragon” Green Destiny and avenge his
is a Chinese expression alluding master’s death.
to a situation full of danger. in a spectacular aerial chase, is in
In Lee’s movie, chief among Women warriors fact Jen Yu (Zhang Ziyi), a fiery
these dangers is suppressed sexual At this point in the narrative, it young noblewoman who has been
desire. Just when Shu Lien and Li becomes clear that Lee is making secretly trained in brilliant but
Mu Bai seem about to overcome a second major departure from the uncontrolled combat skills by the
propriety and declare their love, Li wuxia movie tradition by putting villainous Jade Fox, also a woman.
Mu Bai’s sword, Green Destiny, is women to the fore. The sword thief, Li Mu Bai’s ally and his two
stolen, and he suspects his elusive who is shown leaping away across adversaries are three strong women
archenemy, Jade Fox (Cheng Pei- the rooftops of the Forbidden City who all have major roles in the plot
and the fighting. It is Li Mu Bai’s
beloved Shu Lien who plays the
Fighters have rules, too. Friendship, customary male part of sublime
trust, integrity. Always keep your swordsman with Zen-like emotional
control. Jen Yu and Jade Fox are
promise. Without rules we wouldn’t their out-of-control opponents.
Jen Yu is in violent rebellion
survive long. against the social and chivalric
Shu Lien / Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon conventions Li Mu Bai and Shu
SMALL WORLD 295

By Hollywood is only doing so
standards, the budget because he desires
for Ang Lee’s movie was her sexually.
small: $17 million. Jade Fox was once
Studio executives were
taken aback when it
a student of Li Mu Bai’s
grossed $128 million old master, but killed
in the US alone, and him when he tried to
nearly $215 million take sexual advantage
internationally. of her. Her hostility as a
character, and her fury
and vengefulness,
Lien live by. She is could also be sexual in
contemptuous of origin. The entire story
their self-discipline, is driven by sexual Ang Lee Director
or as she sees it, undercurrents.
their self-repression. “Stop Born in 1954 in Taiwan, Ang
talking like a monk,” she retorts, Fantastical fighting Lee graduated from the
National Taiwan College of
when Li Mu Bai tries to advise her In another departure from
Arts before moving to the
that the sword is a state of mind. genre tradition, the fighting US. His first critical success
She has taken a lover, Lo (Chang scenes are not so much staged came with The Wedding
Chen), a bandit, with whom she is as choreographed, becoming Banquet, the first of several
sexually intimate, and defies her extraordinary aerial ballets. In movies made with
family (unthinkable in China at that the most stunning sequence, screenwriter James Schamus.
time) by escaping on her wedding with Li Mu Bai fighting Jen Yu Lee returned to Taiwan to
night from an arranged, respectable amid swaying bamboos, the effect make Eat Drink Man Woman
marriage to a nobleman. was not achieved with computer (1994), a critical and
Jen Yu acknowledges that trickery but with the actors flying commercial success. His
Li Mu Bai’s martial skills are on wires. The result is enigmatic adaptation of Jane Austen’s
greater than those of Jade Fox, rather than violent, capturing the Sense and Sensibility (1995),
and she wants him as her teacher. mystery and poetry of a mythical with a screenplay by the
When he agrees, she says that he ancient China. ■ movie’s star, Emma
Thompson, revealed his range.
The tragedy The Ice Storm
and the US Civil War drama
Major fight scenes Ride with the Devil (1999)
were followed by Crouching
bamboo forest
Rescuing Jen
Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The

night fight
Hulk (2003). He won an Oscar

Returning
the sword
Teahouse
Jade Fox
appears
Dueling
Rooftop
Jen for Best Director with

sisters
In the
Brokeback Mountain (2005),

fight
about the gay relationship

between two cowboys. A
second Oscar came in 2012
Li Mu Bai
with Life of Pi.
Key movies
Shu Lien 1993 The Wedding Banquet

1997 The Ice Storm
2000 Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon
Jade Fox 2012 Life of Pi
296
YOU DON’T
REMEMBER
YOUR NAME?
SPIRITED AWAY / 2001
T
he animators at Tokyo’s film to win an Oscar. It was also a
IN CONTEXT Studio Ghibli—chief among masterpiece of its genre, a glorious
them cofounder Hayao flight of imagination based on the
GENRE
Miyazaki—have been making wildly idea of “the magical doorway” found
Animation, fantasy
inventive movies since 1986. With a in much children’s fiction. Children
DIRECTOR highly distinctive style of animation often see reality as something to be
Hayao Miyazaki influenced by the manga tradition of escaped from, and the genius of
Japanese comic books, Studio Ghibli Spirited Away is allowing the child
WRITER has expanded the tastes of in everyone to do just that.
Hayao Miyazaki audiences around the world.
STARS Miyazaki’s Spirited Away brought After a long train journey, Chihiro
Ghibli worldwide commercial and the mysterious No-Face (left) have
Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino,
success, and also acclaim—it was tea with Zeniba, the twin sister of the
Mari Natsuki
the first foreign-language animation greedy and controlling witch Yubaba.
BEFORE
1979 The Castle of Cagliostro,
the tale of a clever thief, is
Miyazaki’s first movie.
1984 Nausicaä of the Valley
of the Wind stars a pacifist
princess in a postapocalyptic
world; its success leads to the
creation of Studio Ghibli, home
to a string of animation hits.
1997 Princess Mononoke is
Miyazaki’s first movie to use
computer graphics.
AFTER
2013 The Wind Rises tells the
fictionalized life story of aircraft
designer Jiro Horikoshi.
SMALL WORLD 297

What else to watch: Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986) ■ Grave of the Fireflies (1988) ■ Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) ■
Princess Mononoke (1997) ■ The Cat Returns (2002) ■ Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
The bizarre town that Chihiro later reveal their caring side and
wanders into is home to Japan’s humanity. Even No-Face, the quiet
legions of demons, spirits, and spirit who becomes the villain of the
gods, where humans are turned movie’s second act, is also portrayed
into animals. Chihiro avoids the
spell, but her parents do not. sympathetically, in his desire to
connect with Chihiro and his
attempts to give her gifts to win
by the end of the movie, the her over. The boundless imagination
tyrannical Yubaba still holds that Miyazaki uses to create his
sway, and while Chihiro fantastical worlds is matched by
manages to escape, many his endearing compassion for his
others are left behind. characters—their strengths and
For all the movie’s sense of flaws, dreams and fears—and this
wonder, it is this grounding in allows us to care about them as
reality, this refusal to whitewash deeply as we marvel at them. ■
the darker elements of life, that
makes Spirited Away more
poignant than many other
fantasy tales. It’s not about
defeating evil and creating a
utopia, but instead about simply
surviving and finding moments This visual wonder is
of happiness and compassion the product of a fierce and
One subversive aspect of wherever you can. fearless imagination whose
Spirited Away compared with creations are unlike any
Miyazaki’s other work and the Everyone has a story you’ve seen before.
fantasy genre as a whole is that Spirited Away strives to portray its Kenneth Turan
the fantasy realm presented here is characters in an evenhanded and Los Angeles Times, 2002
often anything but majestic. While nuanced fashion. It often introduces
it does feature wondrous magic and characters in quite a harsh light—
supernatural creatures, the movie from the seemingly unsympathetic
also focuses on the harrowing day- coworker Rin to Zeniba, Yubaba’s
to-day existence of the protagonist, sister and fellow witch—only to
a 10-year-old girl called Chihiro, as
she is put to work in a bathhouse Hayao Miyazaki Director
run by the witch Yubaba.
Hayao Miyazaki 20 years later, with Princess
Real fantasy was born in Mononoke. Spirited Away, his
While the magical realms depicted Tokyo in 1941; follow-up, won him an Oscar
in children’s fiction are usually more he and his and was perhaps his best-
dangerous than our own, populated family were received movie. The Wind Rises,
as they are by strange and terrible evacuated to escape the US in 2013, was his last movie.
monsters, they also come with a firebombing of Japanese cities.
significant upside: the characters Miyazaki got his first job in Key movies
animation in 1963, and made his
who wander into them will often be
directorial debut in 1979 with 1997 Princess Mononoke
given a chance to win the crown or The Castle of Cagliostro. He rose 2001 Spirited Away
right some terrible wrong. In Spirited to worldwide prominence almost 2013 The Wind Rises
Away, however, not much changes:
298
I LIKE TO LOOK
FOR THINGS NO-ONE
ELSE CATCHES
AMÉLIE / 2001
A
fter enjoying In Amélie, Jeunet
IN CONTEXT critical success succeeded in finding a
in France, Jean- new take on the tired and
GENRE much-derided romantic
Pierre Jeunet’s first
Romantic comedy comedy genre, using an
venture into Hollywood ambitious pairing of style
DIRECTOR was a troubled one. Hired and subject matter.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet to direct the fourth movie
in the science-fiction Alien
WRITERS series, the project suffered a waitress meeting
Guillaume Laurant, production difficulties and the man she’s
Jean-Pierre Jeunet was released to mixed destined to fall in love with; in
reviews. Jeunet returned to France practice the movie is a tribute to a
STARS
discouraged, and for his next movie virtuoso creativity and imagination.
Audrey Tautou, Mathieu
concocted Amélie, a work in which Despite the smallness of the central
Kassovitz, Dominique Pinon
every frame seems to celebrate a story, Jeunet uses techniques
BEFORE freedom that had perhaps been usually reserved for action movies
1991 Jeunet and Marc Caro’s denied to him on his previous and epics. The far-reaching and
Delicatessen is an inventive project. Structurally, Amélie is a expansive script, the strong use of
fantasy movie set in a romantic comedy—the story of color, and the experimental editing
postapocalyptic France.
1995 The baroque fairy tale
Jean-Pierre Jeunet Director
The City of Lost Children gets Jean-Pierre follow-up, The City of Lost
Jeunet noticed by Hollywood. Jeunet was Children, Jeunet was offered
born in the Alien: Resurrection. After it
AFTER Loire region, performed poorly, he returned
2004 Jeunet teams up with France, in 1953. to France and directed Amélie,
Tautou for the war drama He bought his first movie camera his most celebrated movie.
A Very Long Engagement. at 17 when he studied animation
at Cinémation studios. His first Key movies
2009 Micmacs is a comedy- feature movie was Delicatessen,
satire by Jeunet about the which he codirected with Marc 1991 Delicatessen
arms industry. Caro. Based on the commercial 1995 The City of Lost Children
and critical success of their 2001 Amélie
SMALL WORLD 299

What else to watch: Funny Face (1957) ■ The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964, p.173) ■ Delicatessen (1991) ■
The City of Lost Children (1995) ■ Alien: Resurrection (1997) ■ A Very Long Engagement (2004)
techniques all serve as platforms routine to the point where he Amélie (Audrey Tautou) plays jokes
for the director’s skill without losing doubts his own sanity, such as by on the bullying grocery-store owner
touch with an intimate story: that swapping around door handles in (Urbain Cancelier) for his cruelty to
Lucien (Jamel Debbouze). She secretly
of a young woman finding herself. his apartment and changing the
falls for Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz, far left).
alarm time on his bedside clock.
Saying without words By the same token, when she tries
Amélie has a very pronounced to reignite her father’s dream of because she sees the world in a
visual showmanship, which seeing the world, she does so by different way. She notices things
underscores one of the movie’s key “kidnapping” his garden gnome other people don’t and acts in a
themes—that the most valuable and sending her father photos of way other people would not. This
communication is done without it appearing in several exotic is especially so when Amélie finds
words. Its central protagonist, the locations. These are disparate herself face to face with her love
young waitress Amélie, is so shy goals. One is an act of social interest, Nino. There is no speech
that she plots elaborate ways to vigilantism, the other a familial of any kind. They simply look at
convey things she is incapable of gesture of love. Yet Amélie goes each other, seeing into the person
putting into words. For example, about both in the same way, honestly, and realize they are meant
instead of confronting a shop owner manipulating reality to get the for each other.
she sees abusing his employee, she person to the place she wants Though some criticized Amélie
subtly disrupts the owner’s daily them—not out of malice, but for what was seen as a dated portrait
of Paris, others fell in love with
the way it merges ambition with
She doesn’t relate to people, soulfulness, juxtaposing high-
she was always a lonely child. energy visuals and narrative
adventure with the simple story of
Amélie / Amélie a boy and a girl falling in love. ■
300
WHAT AN
EXTRAORDINARY
STANCE!
LAGAAN / 2001
A
story about a village cricket
IN CONTEXT match in India under the
British Raj in the 1890s,
GENRE
Ashutosh Gowariker’s Lagaan, Once
Musical drama
Upon a Time in India (to give it its
DIRECTOR full title) is one of the few Indian The movie is not just a story.
Ashutosh Gowariker movies to have achieved audience It is an experience. An
and critical acclaim both within experience of watching
WRITERS India and far beyond. something that puts life
K. P. Saxena (Hindi The scenario is a simple one. At into you, that puts a cheer
dialogue), Ashutosh a time when the remote village of on your face, however
Gowariker (English Champaner in Gujarat is suffering depressed you might be.
dialogue) from a drought, one of the villagers, Sudish Kamath
Bhuvan (Aamir Khan), goes to the The Hindu
STARS
local British officer, Captain Andrew
Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh, Russell (Paul Blackthorne), to plead
Rachel Shelley, Paul for relief from the lagaan, or crop
Blackthorne; narrated tax. Russell dismisses his plea, but
by Amitabh Bachchan before Bhuvan leaves, he sees the
BEFORE British playing cricket and mocks
1957 Mehboob Khan’s the game. Incensed, Russell offers old-fashioned adventure in which
melodrama Mother India to cancel the villagers’ taxes for plucky underdogs get together
three years if they can beat his men to take on the bullies, and it has
is the first Indian movie to be
in a game—but if they lose, they everything you’d expect from such
nominated for the Best Foreign
will have to pay triple. To the horror a classic story. There is a romantic
Language Movie Oscar.
of the villagers, Bhuvan accepts the triangle, as Captain Russell’s sister
AFTER challenge. The match occupies the Elizabeth (Rachel Shelley) falls for
2004 Gowariker’s acclaimed entire second half of the movie, right Bhuvan, who is already pledged
follow-up to Lagaan, Swades, up to the final, crucial ball. to local girl Gauri (Gracy Singh).
tells the story of a NASA There is a jealous lover, Lakha, who,
scientist who returns to Crowd-pleasing story spurned by Gauri, helps the British.
his native Indian village. Lagaan’s success at the box office There are comic characters galore,
was partly due to its sheer and even the poor outsider who
entertainment value. It is a stirring, turns out to be a hero.
SMALL WORLD 301

What else to watch: The Pride of the Yankees (1942) ■ Mother India (1957) ■
Playing Away (1987) ■ Salaam Bombay (1988) ■ Jodhaa Akbar (2008)

Ashutosh Gowariker
Director
Ashutosh Gowariker is
He who has truth and courage in renowned for beautifully shot,
his heart shall win in the end. well-crafted stories. He was
born in Mumbai, India, in
Bhuvan / Lagaan 1964. After earning a degree
in chemistry, he pursued a
career in movies as an actor.
But this is much more than just an but that is also where its political It wasn’t until he was in his
entertaining romp. The movie carries message lies: feeling good, feeling 30s that he directed his first
a Gandhian message of redemption valued, is essential to healing the movie, Pehla Nasha (First Love,
and unity, as the fight against the wounds that divide people. 1993). His big breakthrough
oppressor is undertaken entirely Above all, Lagaan is a celebration came with Lagaan, followed
without violence or bitterness. The of India. It is a beautiful movie that by Swades. Romantic comedy
team’s inclusiveness is Gandhian, captures the rich and exuberant What’s Your Raashee? (2009)
too: the players include Hindus, a colors of the landscape, with its was a change of direction,
Sikh, a Muslim, and even a Dalit, a ambers, browns, and yellows. but his period drama Khelein
member of the untouchable caste. Added to this is the acclaimed Hum Jee Jaan Sey, about the
Bhuvan has to fight to persuade the soundtrack of A. R. Rahman, Chittagong uprising, put him
other villagers to accept Kachra, the that punctuates the movie with back on familiar territory.
Dalit, but Kachra’s maimed hand, captivating songs and music. ■
Key movies
the physical symbol of his social
handicap, turns out to be his trump Bhuvan (Aamir Khan) dances with 2001 Lagaan
card, as his misshapen fingers give Gauri (Gracy Singh) as the rest of the 2004 Swades
him a remarkable ability to spin the village looks on in one of the movie’s 2010 Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey
ball. Lagaan is a feel-good movie, set-piece musical numbers.
302
IT ALL BEGAN WITH

THE FORGING OF THE
GREAT RINGS
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP
OF THE RING / 2001
N
ot since the biblical epics exploits its special effects, it does
IN CONTEXT of Hollywood’s classical not depend on them. Its success
era has a movie been owes far more to the skill of its
GENRE
made on the scale of The director, Peter Jackson, who also
Fantasy
Fellowship of the Ring, the first cowrote the screenplay.
DIRECTOR installment in the Lord of the Rings Jackson understood that he had
Peter Jackson trilogy. For many years, J. R. R. to compress the intricate backstory
Tolkien’s sprawling fantasy novel as much as he could, keep the
WRITERS was considered to be unfilmable. narrative pace fast, and
Peter Jackson, Only with rapid advances in maintain focus on the
Phillippa Boyens, Fran computer-generated imagery did central character of
Walsh (screenplay); the mythic locations, creatures, Frodo Baggins (Elijah
J. R. R. Tolkien (novel) and vast battle scenes become a Wood). In doing so, he
possibility for a movie director. pulled off the notable
STARS
However, although the movie fully feat of pleasing the
Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen,
Viggo Mortensen Much of the
BEFORE movie’s critical
and box-office
1994 Heavenly Creatures, success was due to
based on a notorious New Jackson’s trimming
Zealand murder case, brings of the plot,
Jackson critical prestige. enhancing the
action sequences,
AFTER and expanding
2005 Jackson’s box-office the female roles.
blockbuster King Kong is a
remake of the 1933 classic.
2012–14 Jackson repeats
the success of the Lord of
the Rings trilogy with a
three-part adaptation of J. R. R.
Tolkien’s novel The Hobbit.
SMALL WORLD 303

What else to watch: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) ■
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) ■ King Kong (2005)
novel’s worldwide legions of fans him, but he does not lose his innate
while also engaging with those goodness. Although he has guides
viewers who had never read it. and magical objects to aid him on
Frodo is an innocent, a hobbit his journey, in the end it is his
who has come into possession of goodness that shields him.
the long-lost ring of power, and
with it holds the fate of Middle Good vs evil
Earth. Guided by the wizard Behind the complex story is a very
Gandalf (Ian McKellen), he sets straightforward fight between good
off on a quest to destroy it in the and evil. What gives this struggle
fires of distant Mordor, the evil added nuance and jeopardy is the Peter Jackson Director
land where it was forged. He is ring’s insidious power to corrupt
protected by a fellowship of eight all who come near it, including Born in New Zealand in 1961,
others, including men, a dwarf, and those on the side of good—the Peter Jackson grew up
fascinated by the fantasy
an elf. Frodo’s character matures stout-hearted members of the
movies of animator Ray
with each ordeal he overcomes; fellowship. Frodo alone is immune Harryhausen, and began
knowledge and experience change to the ring’s evil, but his duty as making shorts with a Super 8
the ring bearer becomes an cine camera at nine. He
increasingly burdensome one. received no formal education in
In the hands of a lesser director, film, and learned through trial
the movie might easily have and error. His first feature, the
become a convoluted sword-and- cult-classic horror Bad Taste,
sorcery saga. Happily, Jackson’s was made in 1987. Fame came
realization of Tolkien’s world is with Heavenly Creatures
instead one of the most (1994), based on a true-story
successful novel-to- murder committed by two
movie adaptations schoolgirls, which won the
ever produced. ■ Oscar for best screenplay. In
1999, Jackson got the go-ahead
to make The Lord of the Rings
into three big-budget movies,
Four hobbit friends, in a deal with Hollywood
Merry (Dominic studio New Line Cinema,
Monaghan), Frodo although the movies were shot
(Elijah Wood),
entirely in New Zealand. The
Pippin (Billy
Boyd), and
Return of the King (2003), the
Sam (Sean final episode of the trilogy,
Astin), set won 11 Academy Awards,
off on their including Best Picture. In 2005,
epic quest. Jackson directed a blockbuster
remake of King Kong, his
favorite childhood movie.
Key movies
1994 Heavenly Creatures

2001–03 The Lord of the Rings
2005 King Kong
2012–14 The Hobbit
YOU NEED MORE THAN

GUTS TO BE A
GOOD GANGSTER.
YOU NEED IDEAS
CITY OF GOD / 2002
306 CITY OF GOD
S
tylish, compelling, and de Deus in Rio de Janeiro, and how
IN CONTEXT hugely entertaining, organized crime there corrupted,
Fernando Meirelles’ City and, in many cases, destroyed its
GENRE
of God (Cidade de Deus) also has local youth. Yet Meirelles does not
Gangster, crime
a serious point to make. Told lecture his audience. Instead, he
DIRECTOR from the perspective of Rocket uses every stylistic trick in the
Fernando Meirelles (Alexandre Rodrigues), an aspiring cinematic book, from inventive
photographer, it is a movie about montages to adventurous camera
WRITERS one of Brazil’s most notorious and work, to ensure the story is vividly
Bráulio Mantovani impoverished favelas, the Cidade and energetically realized, and
(screenplay); Paulo Lins engages the audience with
(novel) the human tragedy.
In one scene, a gang of
STARS
children walks through the
Alexandre Rodrigues, favela, joking about taking
Leandro Firmino, over the slum and the people
Alice Braga they would need to kill in the
BEFORE process. It is darkly humorous
1990 Martin Scorcese’s but also horrifying to see
Goodfellas tells the story children bred into violence
of the Mafia from the point from so young an age.
of view of mobster-turned-
informant Henry Hill.
Tale of a city
The movie’s action is played
AFTER out at an ambitious scale.
2005 Meirelles’s Hollywood Its story spans more than
debut, The Constant Gardener, a decade and charts the
is a love story set in Kenya.
2008 Blindness, Meirelles’s Most of the movie’s
movie about an epidemic of actors were inhabitants
blindness in an unnamed city, of the favelas portrayed in
the movie. Several went on
receives mixed reviews. to appear in Meirelles’
sequel, City of Men.
Fernando Meirelles Director

Born to a middle-class family City of God, which earned him
in São Paolo, Brazil, in 1955, an Oscar nomination for Best
Fernando Meirelles studied Director. Since then, he had
architecture before winning further critical successes with
several awards at Brazilian film The Constant Gardener and
festivals with his early shorts. Blindness, for which he was
He went on to find success in nominated for the Palme d’Or.
Brazilian television, most notably
the children’s show Rá-Tim Bum. Key movies
His first feature was a children’s
movie, The Nutty Boy 2 in 1998. 2001 Maids
He made his name nationally in 2002 City of God
2001 with the comedy Maids, and 2005 The Constant Gardener
internationally a year later with 2008 Blindness
SMALL WORLD 307

What else to watch: Goodfellas (1990) ■ Casino (1995) ■ Bus 174 (2002) ■ The Constant Gardener (2005) ■
City of Men (2007) ■ A Prophet (2009)
experience of growing to adulthood of voice-over, as Rocket summarizes Dadinho, or Li’l Dice, (Douglas
in the City of God. To achieve this, the favela’s defining moments, from Silva) is the psychotic kid whose
Meirelles did not bind himself to the downfall of the Tender Trio in criminal career takes off after he
massacres the inhabitants of a
the narrative constraints of one the late 1960s, to the rise of Li’l Zé
motel during a robbery.
person’s story. The movie does have as a gang leader in the early 1980s.
a central character in Rocket, but Rocket observes everything as
he is a photographer, an observer characters flourish and die, as high- the opportunity for more stylistic
who acts as an audience surrogate, rise buildings rise and cartels fall. experimentation. The movie
involved but not involved, there to The use of voice-over also shifts its focus from one central
witness the events in the City of allows for bolder visual techniques, protagonist to another, taking turns
God as they occur. The movie such as montages that enable a telling their stories. It takes up the
clarifies this intention with its use faster passage of time, as well as tales of Shaggy, the leader of the
Tender Trio, Benny, the pacifist
friend of Li’l Zé, and Knockout Ned,
A kid? I smoke, I snort. I’ve killed a working man dragged into gang
and robbed. I’m a real man. warfare after his family is attacked.
With these switching perspectives,
Steak-with-fries / City of God Meirelles turns the favela itself ❯❯
308 CITY OF GOD

the wicked to thrive and the
Relationships, allegiances, and enmities innocent to perish. This is
demonstrated starkly in the
Loves Rocket Brothers movie’s opening sequence, in
Angélica Goose
(Narrator) which two chickens are about
to be plucked and cooked by Li’l
Boyfriend Friends Zé’s gang. A knife flashes as it is
sharpened against a rock. One
Brothers Friends chicken flinches as the other is
Kills
Benny Shaggy Clipper killed, and makes a break for it,
Partners in crime but there is no escape.
Kills When Knockout Ned tries
to draw a line between being a
Kills Enemies hoodlum and his noble vigilante
Blackie Carrot Li’l Zé mission against Li’l Zé, the City
of God intervenes, just as it does
Team up against Li’l Zé Rapes when Shaggy tries to flee the
criminal life in the name of love, or
Knockout Boyfriend Ned’s when Benny decides that he’s too
The Tender Trio Ned Girlfriend good a person to be a gangster.
Each time a character gives in to
their better nature, that character
into the central character, with is punished. They are protagonists
other characters entering only in their own Greek tragedies, with
when they matter to the overall the city in the role of Fate.
story of the slum.
Journalistic ethics
The sacrificial chicken The city as fate City of God is a gangster story,
conveys with the force of a One of the main themes Meirelles an impassioned piece of social
blunt instrument how cheap explores is the favela’s corrosive commentary, and an ambitious
life has become in the ghetto. effect on everyone it touches. The work of visual cinema. Rocket’s
Peter Bradshaw violence it spawns does not simply role as a photographer also allows
The Guardian stay among the criminals, but the movie to touch upon the ethics
rather is all consuming and of journalism in a war zone, or in
perpetuates a culture of suffering this case, the act of dramatizing
for all the inhabitants. Meirelles very real problems of poverty and
presents the City of God as an violence. This is highlighted when
entity in itself, a place that allows Rocket confronts a newspaper for
Minute by minute
00:10 00:32 1:09 1:40
The Tender Trio rob a motel At the beach, Rocket Benny is shot by Blackie at Rocket’s photo of Li’l Zé
with Li’l Dice as lookout. We photographs his friends, his farewell celebration. Blackie appears in the newspaper.
later find out that Lil’ Dice and meets Angélica for was aiming at Li’l Zé. Carrot He is offered a job, and
went back afterward and the first time. He buys then kills Blackie. Li’l Zé is pleased by
shot everyone in the motel. pot to impress her. the publicity.
00:00 00:15 00:30 00:45 01:00 01:15 01:30 02:00
00:30 00:50 1:26 1:52

As he tries to run from Li’l Dice becomes Li’l Zé Knockout Ned joins Knockout Ned is killed by
the police, Shaggy is shot dead. and starts a killing spree to forces with Carrot in a Otto, the son of a murdered
Rocket sees his first camera as take over the drug business war against Lil’ Ze. A year security guard. Li’l Zé is
a man photographs the body. in the City of God. later, the favela is divided. gunned down by the runts.
SMALL WORLD 309

publishing without his permission set up a workshop in the favela to
the pictures he took of Li’l Zé. train a group of around 100 amateur
Rocket is sure that this has placed actors. The cast of City of God
his life in danger, but from the was drawn from this pool of talent.
paper’s perspective, the story Over the course of several months,
comes first. As it turns out, Li’l Zé Breathtaking and terrifying, they developed scripts through
is delighted by the publicity, and urgently involved with its improvisation sessions. The social
his battle with Knockout Ned is characters, it announces a commitment continued after
played out in full media glare. The new director of great gifts and filming ended as the actors
newspaper staff manipulate Rocket passions: Fernando Meirelles. received ongoing help to build
into taking more pictures in the Remember the name. new lives for themselves. ■
war zones of the City of God, and Roger Ebert
the tensions between the desire Police corruption
to highlight social problems to sell and rampant drug
papers and compassion for those dealing lead to
involved in the stories told to do gang wars in
the City of God,
so are never totally resolved. where Rocket
finds himself
Actors from the favela time there simply were not caught in
The majority of the cast for City of enough black actors in Brazil the middle.
God were not professional actors. to make this kind of movie. Two
As the director explained, at the years before filming, Meirelles
Why return to the City of God,

where God forgets about you?
Stringy / City of God
310
LAUGH AND THE WORLD

LAUGHS WITH YOU. WEEP
AND YOU WEEP ALONE
OLDBOY / 2003
O
ldboy (2003) is the second body. This theme intensifies as
IN CONTEXT entry in the Vengeance the movie progresses, with both
trilogy by Korean director protagonist and antagonist waging
GENRE
Park Chan-wook, coming between a war of minds with each other in
Revenge thriller
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) which their motives are defined by
DIRECTOR and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance suffering, rather than by their urge
Park Chan-wook (2005). The fact that Oldboy is the for violent revenge. In this sense,
only one without “vengeance” in Oldboy is more than a revenge
WRITERS the title is telling, and signifies a movie. It is an examination of
Park Chan-wook, Lim difference in focus from the others. despair. When Oh escapes,
Chun-hyeong, Hwang Oldboy is certainly a revenge he sets out to discover the
Jo-yun, Lim Joon-hyung movie, but it is concerned more identity of his captor and
(screenplay); Nobuaki with the corroding effect of an avenge himself, only to
Minegishi (comic); Garon obsession than with the catharsis
Tsuchiya (story) of killing the one who has
wronged. The very
STARS concept, in which
Choi Min-sik, Yu Ji-tae, an unassuming
Kang Hye-jeong loser, Oh Dae-su
BEFORE (Choi Min-sik),
2000 Park’s first movie Joint is abducted and
Security Area is a thriller set kept prisoner in a
room for 15 years
on the border with North Korea.
without knowing
2002 Park directs Sympathy why, or by whom, is
for Mr. Vengeance, the first more about torture of
part of his Vengeance trilogy. the mind than of the
AFTER
2009 Park tries his hand at A guard restrains Oh Dae-su
horror with Thirst, the story of just as Oh learns the reason for
his imprisonment. In a gesture
a priest becoming a vampire
of remorse, he commits a
after a failed experiment. gruesome act of self-harm
with a pair of scissors.
SMALL WORLD 311

What else to watch: Vertigo (1958, pp.140–45) ■ Infernal Affairs (1990) ■ Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) ■
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005) ■ Mother (2009) ■ Thirst (2009) ■ Stoker (2013)
Oh Dae-su attacks the guards of the

prison where he has been held captive
for 15 years. The long fight scene was
filmed as one continuous shot.
is trying to break free from his

body. The director forgoes realism
in order to communicate the
character’s emotional state.
A similar stepping-out-of-reality
occurs at the end, when we see an
elaborate flashback to the events
we now realize sparked the story
into life. Visually, key characters
should be young—but no, they
look exactly the same as they do
in the present, Oldboy suggesting
that they never escaped the
trauma of their past. (Do any
find that his imprisonment had orchestral. One gruesome sequence of us, the movie asks?)
itself been designed to avenge is accompanied by the Baroque
an old wrong. chamber music of Vivaldi’s “Four Hi-tech violence
Seasons.” The original score, by South Korean movies at the turn of
Blood opera Jo Yeong-wook, is also classical the century became noted for their
Perhaps Oldboy’s most vital in style. This creates a grandiose, violence, but what has been less
ingredient is a stylistic and operatic feel that elevates the story noticed is the technical artistry
technical artistry that above the violence. The same that accompanies them. This was
serves as a counterpoint is achieved visually, too, most never more aptly represented than
to the movie’s violence. memorably in a remarkable special in Oldboy, a movie that is certainly
The director achieves effect in which the camera pans brutal, but high-mindedly disturbs
this in a number of ways. around Oh Dae-su in his prison as much as it viscerally shocks,
First, the sound cell, and his face appears almost to a revenge movie for both the
track is highly vibrate out of its skin, as if his mind connoisseur and the gore hound. ■
Park Chan-wook Director

Park Chan-wook movie was The Moon Is the
was born in Sun’s Dream (1992). This was
Seoul, South not a success and it was five
Korea, in 1963. years before Park got his next
While studying chance to direct. He is best
philosophy at college, he known for his Vengeance trilogy.
discovered a love of film, and
started a film studies group called Key movies
the Sogang Fil Community. After
graduating, he wrote for movie 2003 Oldboy
journals before becoming an 2009 Thirst
assistant director. His first 2013 Stoker
312
YOU DON’T
KNOW ME BUT
I KNOW YOU
THE LIVES OF OTHERS / 2006
T
he Lives of Others was Germany’s Communist regime. It
IN CONTEXT inspired by an image was one of the first serious
formed in the mind of attempts to capture the day-to-day
GENRE
German director Florian Henckel hell of the East German state, in
Drama
von Donnersmarck. He pictured a which people attempted to live
DIRECTOR secret policeman, inert and gray- normal lives without the right to
Florian Henckel faced, headphones clamped to his privacy or individual thought.
von Donnersmarck ears, listening in on the lives of
others because it was his duty to The listener in the attic
WRITER “know everything.” Was it really The story centers around a model
Florian Henckel possible, Donnersmarck wondered, Stasi officer, Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich
von Donnersmarck that this policeman could remain Mühe), who is given the routine job
unsentimental about the private of finding incriminating material
STARS
lives under his surveillance? on a playwright, Georg Dreyman
Ulrich Mühe, Martina
Set in East Berlin in 1983, (Sebastian Koch), by spying on him
Gedeck, Sebastian Koch, this powerful movie offers a and his lover, the famous actress
Ulrich Tukur glimpse into the workings of the Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina
BEFORE Stasi, the secret police of East Gedeck). Installed in the roof of the
1989 Ulrich Mühe stars in
Spider’s Web, West Germany’s Modern German cinema
last submission to the
Academy Awards before the After the acclaim that greeted the subject of The Baader
country’s dissolution in 1990. the New German Cinema of the Meinhof Complex (2008),
1970s, German movies of recent while The Lives of Others
2003 Wolfgang Becker’s Good years have tended to concern and Good Bye Lenin! offered
Bye Lenin! is a comedy about themselves with the past. There audiences a human take on the
the reunification of Germany. have, of course, been exceptions, dissolution of East Germany.
but the most highly regarded
AFTER German movies of this century Key movies
2008 The Baader Meinhof have been fascinated by the
Complex tells the story of country’s modern history. The 2003 Good Bye Lenin!
far-left West German militant Counterfeiters looked back to 2004 Downfall
group the Red Army Faction. World War II, as did Downfall. 2006 The Lives of Others
The terrorism of the 1970s was 2007 The Counterfeiters
SMALL WORLD 313

What else to watch: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) ■ The Conversation (1974) ■
Wings of Desire (1987, pp.258–61) ■ Nikolaikirche (1995) ■ Black Book (2006) ■ The White Ribbon (2009, p.323)
During an evening at the theater,

Wiesler’s boss, Lieutenant-Colonel
Anton Grubitz, points out the target
for Wiesler’s surveillance.
and personal integrity. The movie

underscores this psychological
pressure and dread with its
desolate depiction of East Berlin,
a shadowy, nightmare city of
invisible eyes and ears.
Redemption and fall

While The Lives of Others had
a particular potency for German
audiences, its success in winning
the Oscar for Best Foreign Movie
proved that its power traveled
beyond borders. The venality of the
couple’s apartment building with his the Minister of Culture lusts after Stasi was familiar to many who
listening equipment connected to Christa-Maria and wants to had felt the chill of repressive
microphones hidden in the home’s eliminate Georg, Wiesler’s idealism regimes, or who simply feared a
light switches and walls, Wiesler deserts him. “Is this what we surveillance state. And in the story
eavesdrops on the couple’s phone signed up for?” he asks his amoral of Georg and Christa-Maria the
calls, conversations, lovemaking, superior, Grubitz (Ulrich Tukur). movie featured a classic tortured
and arguments. Gradually, he Georg, however, is indeed romance, with the sad-eyed secret
begins to appreciate the basic having politically disloyal thoughts. policeman as its mute witness. ■
decency and humanity of Georg As he falls under suspicion for
and Christa-Maria. When he learns writing a subversive article about
that Georg is being targeted not for the country’s suicide rate, and the
any political disloyalty, but because government’s callous indifference
toward it, for a West German
magazine, the Stasi blackmails
Christa-Maria into betraying
him. And this is where the movie
resonated so strongly for many
former East Germans. The regime
You never know, from one functioned by making everyone
moment to the next, what complicit in a brutal system, using
course any of the characters fear to compel ordinary people to
will choose. betray their neighbors, colleagues,
A. O. Scott and families. It forced moral choices
The New York Times, 2007 between career and love, safety
The movie was praised for its

accuracy, except in one regard.
Historians note there is no record of a
Stasi agent ever having saved a target.
314
YOU’LL SEE THAT

LIFE ISN’T LIKE
FAIRY TALES
PAN’S LABYRINTH / 2006
F
airy tales abound with the unsettling audiences for more
IN CONTEXT sinister and the macabre. than a decade before making Pan’s
Good invariably conquers Labyrinth. In the manner of the
GENRE
evil, but the battle is hard fought best fairy stories, he succeeds in
Fantasy, war
and evil is not without power. It finding a way both to challenge
DIRECTOR seems fitting, then, that one of the innocence and to celebrate it.
Guillermo del Toro directors who has best captured
the essence of the fairy tale on Fantasy vs reality
WRITER movie is one who made his name in Pan’s Labyrinth consists of two
Guillermo del Toro horror. Mexican director Guillermo narratives unfolding at the same
del Toro had honed his talent for time. One tells the story of Vidal,
STARS
a captain in General Franco’s
Ivana Baquero, Sergi
Nationalist army who has been
López, Maribel Verdú
sent to the mountains to round
BEFORE up the remnants of the defeated
1984 The Company of Wolves Republicans in the aftermath of
is an early example of the the Spanish Civil War.
“dark fairy tale” movie genre. In this magical and The other is the story of his
immensely moving film, the stepdaughter, Ofelia. She is a young
2001 The Devil’s Backbone, two sides of the film come girl who is very much lost in the
described by del Toro as the together to constitute an world and who, either through her
“brother movie” to Pan’s allegory about the soul and the imagination or by magic (the movie
Labyrinth, follows a group of national identity of Spain. cleverly leaves this question open),
boys in a haunted orphanage. Philip French escapes to a fantasy realm where
The Observer she assumes the spirit of a long-
AFTER
dead fairy princess.
2013 Blockbuster Pacific Rim A faun sets her three tasks
is del Toro’s take on Japanese to complete before she can be
kaiju (monster) movies. permitted to take her rightful
place in the magical kingdom. ❯❯
SMALL WORLD 315

What else to watch: La Belle et la Bête (1946, pp.84–85) ■ Spirit of the Beehive (1973, pp.214–15) ■ The Company of
Wolves (1984) ■ Cronos (1993) ■ The Devil’s Backbone (2001) ■ The Others (2001) ■ Hellboy (2004) ■ The Orphanage (2007)
This poster
with the original
Spanish title shows
the protagonist,
Ofelia, in the main
image. Below her is
the gnarled, hollow
tree that Ofelia
must enter for
her first task.
316 PAN’S LABYRINTH

Vidal and Ofelia can both be way to die.” Ofelia shows the same
considered true believers, each conviction when attempting the
fully convinced of the validity of faun’s tasks. The sense that Vidal’s
the world they have built around bad qualities mirror Ofelia’s good
themselves. Vidal believes in ones adds a complexity to events
Franco’s cause and admits that as they unfold. The film works on so many
he is hunting the stragglers “by Whether or not Ofelia’s fantasy levels that it seems to change
choice.” He is a man without doubt, realm is real is left to the viewer to shape even as you watch it.
just as Ofelia is without doubt decide. It is also up to the audience Stephanie Zacharek
when she braves the to decide which world The Village Voice
horror of the child- they believe in
eating Pale Man more: Ofelia’s
to pass the or Vidal’s.
second of the
faun’s tests.
In Pan’s
Labyrinth, Both stories feel as textured and
evil is just as vivid as the other—the Grand
convinced of its righteousness Guignol set design of the Pale
as good. Vidal is not a hypocrite Man’s lair is matched by the
or a coward, and charges into specificity of Vidal’s quarters
battle without fear. He even and his eerily controlled shaving
tells a doubting comrade that routine. This is where the success
this “is the only of Pan’s Labyrinth lies—not simply
as a twisted fairy tale, but one that
also explores the sadness of the
need to escape into a fantasy world.
Although Ofelia must trust the faun

as her guide to the fairy-tale world, he
is a mysterious and morally ambiguous
character whose ultimate motivations
are hard to discern.
Guillermo del Toro Director

Guillermo del Toro was born in well as setting two movies in
Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1964. His Franco-era Spain, The Devil’s
debut feature Cronos was released Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth,
in 1992, and proved to be enough to great critical acclaim. Most
of a success for producer Harvey recently, he directed the kaiju-
Weinstein to grant him a $30 influenced action-adventure
million budget to make Mimic, an Pacific Rim.
American-set studio horror. It was
also around this time that his Key movies
father was kidnapped and del Toro
was forced to pay a large ransom 1993 Cronos
for his release. Del Toro went on to 2001 The Devil’s Backbone
achieve Hollywood success with 2004 Hellboy
the Hellboy horror franchise, as 2006 Pan’s Labyrinth
SMALL WORLD 317

The movie taps into the traditional
fear of the wicked stepparent,
The portal will only open if we offer
a staple of fairy tales. Vidal is the blood of an innocent. Just a drop
uncaring toward Ofelia, even
callous toward her pregnant mother, of blood: a pinprick, that’s all. It’s the
Carmen; he is using his wife solely final task.
as a means to produce a son. With
her mother bedridden, Ofelia’s The faun / Pan’s Labyrinth
closest relationship with an adult is
with the housekeeper Mercedes, information, and when the doctor movie’s most powerful moments,
who cares for her when her mother puts the dying man out of his we ask ourselves whether she can
dies in childbirth. In this respect, misery, Vidal is genuinely puzzled. truly prove she is better than Vidal,
the movie subverts the traditional When asked why he disobeyed, and if good can still vanquish evil.
fairy tale, because while Vidal the doctor replies contemptuously, One common criticism of
very much fits the traditional evil “Captain, to obey—just like that— fantasy movies is that they lack
stepparent mold, Mercedes’s role for obedience’s sake, without a grounding in humanity. Pan’s
shows that family is not simply questioning, that’s something only Labyrinth is a retort to this, a movie
blood, but whatever works when it people like you do.” At that, Vidal deeply rooted in emotion even as
comes to support and affection. shoots the doctor, even knowing it dreams up terrifying monsters. ■
that in doing so, he is putting his
Breaking the rules wife’s life at risk. The child-eating Pale Man, whom
Obeying rules, even if morally Later, in the fairy story, Ofelia is Ofelia encounters during her second
wrong, is integral to Vidal’s world given a frightful order handed down task, is a nightmarish creation—but
view. He tortures a partisan for to her by the faun. In one of the the real monsters are all too human.
318
THIS IS OUR
DESTINY
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE / 2008
S
et in Mumbai, Slumdog The story begins with Jamal
IN CONTEXT Millionaire tells the rags-to- Malik (Dev Patel), a penniless
riches story of a kid from the orphan from the slums of Mumbai,
GENRE
slums who tries his luck on a game just one question away from
Drama
show. The movie’s influences are winning 20 million rupees on
DIRECTOR wildly cross-cultural. The source Indian TV’s “Who Wants to Be a
Danny Boyle novel, Vikas Swarup’s Q&A, was Millionaire?” But when the show
Indian, but the director Danny breaks before the crucial final
WRITERS Boyle and screenwriter Simon question, he is arrested on
Simon Beaufoy (screenplay); Beaufoy are British. They present suspicion of cheating—for how
Vikas Swarup (novel) a Mumbai where traditional Indian could a poor “slumdog” know all
and modern global influences are the answers? A cynical police
STARS
stirred together, backed by a sound inspector (Irrfan Khan) spends the
Dev Patel, Freida Pinto,
track by A. R. Rahman that mixes night interrogating Jamal, who
Madhur Mittal, Anil
Indian classical music with hip-hop explains how his answers have
Kapoor, Irrfan Khan and house, Bollywood, and R&B. been tied to events in his past.
BEFORE
1996 Trainspotting, a gritty
black comedy based on the
novel by Irvine Welsh, shoots
Danny Boyle to fame.
2002 City of God shows the
potential of dramas set in the
developing world to have
worldwide box-office appeal.
AFTER
2012 Boyle directs the 2012 Jamal (Dev
London Olympics opening Patel) and
ceremony, including a Latika (Freida
Pinto) overcome
Punjabi song composed adversity and
by A. R. Rahman. prejudice to
find love.
SMALL WORLD 319

What else to watch: Los Olvidados (1950, p.332) ■ Pather Panchali
(1955, pp.132–33) ■ Central Station (1998, p.285) ■ City of God (2002, pp.304–09)
Danny Boyle Director

Known for his versatility,
ability to work in many genres,
and kinetic camera angles,
Danny Boyle made his name
directing tough, funny movies
The movie delves back into earlier The nation watches enthralled
with pulsating sound tracks.
moments in Jamal’s life, showing as Jamal (Dev Patel) progresses
through the rounds with correct
Born in Lancashire, UK, in
how he learned each answer. The 1956 to Irish parents, he
answers, heading for the 20 million
audience learns his life story in rupee jackpot. was brought up Catholic
a series of flashbacks, each and considered entering
corresponding to a question. It the priesthood. Instead, he
begins with the moment when de vivre. Cinematographer Anthony studied English and Drama
Jamal is five and he and his brother Dod Mantle, using digital cameras at Bangor University in Wales,
Salim are fleeing the 1992–93 to their fullest potential, puts the becoming a theater director
Bombay Riots. They run into young audience right in the heart of and working at the Royal
Latika, who will become the love of frantic, vibrant Mumbai. An Shakespeare Company and
his life. The story reveals other exuberant Bollywood-style dance the Royal Court. In 1987,
he started working in TV,
moments in which Jamal and Salim at a train station only further
producing many TV movies.
use their wits to survive everything cranks up the adrenaline. He claims that his love
from chilling encounters with The movie was showered with for movies started with
gangsters who maim street children acclaim, eventually winning eight Apocalypse Now (1979):
to Jamal’s heartache over Latika. Oscars, including Best Picture “It had eviscerated my brain
But will it be enough to convince and Best Director for Boyle. And completely.” His first feature
the police inspector to set him free, yet in India and elsewhere, some movie, the black comedy
and to find his sweetheart? felt Slumdog had only gained Shallow Grave, was a UK hit.
recognition because it had a British Two years later, Trainspotting,
Mixed reception director, while “real” Indian movies a stylish movie about drug
The reception of Slumdog Millionaire were ignored. Others felt that its addicts in Edinburgh, propelled
in the West was overwhelmingly view of the Mumbai slums was him to international attention.
positive. The movie bubbles with unrealistic and that the rags-to-
feel-good energy and a raucous joie riches plot was implausible. ■ Key movies
1994 Shallow Grave

We used to live right there, man. 1996 Trainspotting
2002 28 Days Later
Now, it’s all business. 2007 Sunshine
2008 Slumdog Millionaire
Jamal / Slumdog Millionaire
320
THIS BOX IS FULL

OF STUFF THAT
ALMOST KILLED
THE HURT LOCKER / 2008
ME
S
cripted by reporter Mark of footage that was edited down
IN CONTEXT Boal, Kathryn Bigelow’s The to just 131 minutes. The movie was
Hurt Locker follows the story praised for portraying a viscerally
GENRE
of a three-man US bomb disposal intense, real war experience,
War movie
team during the Iraq War. It was although detractors criticized its
DIRECTOR shot on location in Syria, near the lack of a moral stance. Bigelow offers
Kathryn Bigelow Iraqi border. Four handheld little or no comment on the purpose
cameras were used to of the war; instead
WRITER give a powerfully she focuses
Mark Boal plausible newsreel narrowly and
STARS effect, out of 200 hours
Jeremy Renner, Anthony
Mackie, Brian Geraghty Staff Sergeant William
James runs from the scene
BEFORE of a controlled explosion.
1986 Oliver Stone’s Platoon He will recklessly return
shows a ground-level view of to pick up his gloves.
the Vietnam War.
2001 Black Hawk Down
emphasizes the comradeship
of soldiers even as it seems to
criticize American policy.
AFTER
2010 Paul Greengrass’s Iraq
war movie Green Zone uses a
handheld camera technique
and has a political message.
2012 Kathryn Bigelow makes
her adrenaline-fueled movie
Zero Dark Thirty about the
hunt for Osama Bin Laden.
SMALL WORLD 321

What else to watch: Platoon (1986) ■ The Battle of Algiers (1966, pp.182–87) ■
Black Hawk Down (2001) ■ Green Zone (2010) ■ Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Bigelow’s movie won carriers. Their

Academy Awards for commander is
Best Movie and Best battle-hardened
Director. It was the
maverick Sergeant
lowest-grossing movie
ever to win Best Picture. William James
(Jeremy Renner).
His team, Sergeant
sympathetically on the Sanborn (Anthony
dilemmas and mental Mackie) and
states of the three main Specialist Owen
characters. In doing so Eldridge (Brian Kathryn Bigelow
she in fact creates an Geraghty), become so Director
anti-war movie more concerned by James’s
powerful than others. recklessness when he With The Hurt Locker, Kathryn
acts without waiting for the bomb Bigelow became the first
Addicted to war disposal robot and without wearing woman to win the Oscar for
The Hurt Locker opens with a his protective suit, that they discuss Best Director. Born in California
quotation by US journalist Chris killing him before he gets all three in 1951, she began making
movies even before graduating
Hedges from his book War is a of them blown up. Yet, interestingly,
from Columbia University,
Force That Gives Us Meaning: “The they also seem to admire his with a short called The Set-Up
rush of battle is a potent and often craziness, and understand what is (1987). Soon she was making
lethal addiction, for war is a drug.” driving it. The adrenaline of his action movies with Blue Steel
The Hurt Locker shows how this death wish makes him feel alive. (1989), Point Break (1991), and
addiction affects the human After a failed attempt to remove a science fiction Strange Days
psyche. The narrative follows bomb vest from an Iraqi civilian, (1995). Her next movie, K-19:
the three men through their Sanborn begins to unravel The Widowmaker (2002), was
year’s tour of duty, as they psychologically, admitting that he a submarine thriller. Oscar
deal with unexploded cannot cope with the stress. Once success came with The Hurt
bombs, snipers, and home in the US, James, on the other Locker, based on reportage
civilians used hand, does not cope with real life. He of the Iraq War. Her movie
as bomb feels that his purpose is to be in the about the hunt for Osama
conflict zone, where the perpetual Bin Laden, Zero Dark Thirty
(2012) was acclaimed but
danger made his life meaningful.
also attacked for what
The movie drew criticism for
critics saw as an apparent
focusing on a bomb disposal unit: endorsement of torture.
soldiers without the troubling duty
of killing anyone on screen. Most,
Key movies
however, praised Bigelow’s feat in
putting the viewer inside the “hurt 1991 Point Break
locker”—a psychological prison of 2008 The Hurt Locker
pain that comes from constantly 2012 Zero Dark Thirty
being near explosions. ■
As you get older, some of the things you

love might not seem so special anymore.
Sergeant William James / The Hurt Locker
322
IF I DIE WHAT A
BEAUTIFUL
MAN ON WIRE / 2008
DEATH!
S
creen portraits of one
IN CONTEXT person, whether drama or
documentary, are usually
GENRE
about two kinds of lives: those that
Documentary
are interesting in themselves, and
those noted for achieving something
The documentary, a hybrid
DIRECTOR of actual and restaged
James Marsh remarkable. James Marsh’s Man
on Wire portrays a life that fits into footage, is constructed
WRITER both categories. It is the story of an like a first-rate thriller.
Philippe Petit (book) audacious high-wire walk between Roger Ebert
STARS the twin towers of the World Trade
Center in 1974, yet it speaks to the
Philippe Petit,
larger theme of how far a person will
Jean-François Heckel,
go for art. The movie presents French
Jean-Louis Blondeau high-wire walker Philippe Petit as a
BEFORE man whose art is all consuming, to
1999 Marsh’s Wisconsin Death the point that he risks his life for it. night that Petit and his crew broke
Trip reconstructs strange Rather than burnish its subject, Man into the World Trade Center and the
events that took place in a on Wire derives its power from its hurdles they had to overcome to
small American town at the focus on Petit’s flaws as well as his enact their stunt; the other tells the
end of the 19th century. talent and determination. The broader tale of Petit’s life leading up
viewer is left marveling at how such to the event. Everything—from wire-
2005 In Marsh’s drama The a restless personality can attain the walking across the two towers of
King, a man named Elvis Zen-like concentration needed to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris or
tracks down his reluctant walk across an abyss on a wire. the Sydney Harbour Bridge to
father, a pastor. moving to New York City—was in
Raison d’être preparation for the World Trade
AFTER The movie is structured into two Center walk. For Petit, this was
2014 The Theory of Everything, parallel narratives: the event and more than an ambition—it was the
Marsh’s biopic of physicist the life. One strand follows the very reason for his life. ■
Stephen Hawking, earned a
Best Actor Oscar for its star, What else to watch: Wisconsin Death Trip (1999) ■ Touching The Void (2003)
Eddie Redmayne. ■ Project Nim (2011) ■ The Imposter (2012) ■ The Theory of Everything (2014)
SMALL WORLD 323
I’D LIKE TO ASK YOU

SOMETHING
THE WHITE RIBBON / 2009
FATHER
H
aving spent most of his Murders go unsolved, and mayhem
IN CONTEXT working life in TV, Michael reigns. Meanwhile, the local pastor
Haneke was 47 when he forces his children to wear a white
GENRE
made his first movie, The Seventh ribbon for any misdeed they have
Historical drama
Continent, in 1989. Since then, his committed. The ribbon is meant
DIRECTOR reputation as one of Europe’s most to symbolize the innocence from
Michael Haneke important directors has only grown, which they have strayed, but it
with movies that are as stark as actually seems to represent their
WRITER they are sophisticated, exploring violation by those institutions that
Michael Haneke humanity to disturbing effect. should keep children safe—home,
STARS family, and church. The ribbon
Burghart Klaußner, The specter of death means nothing to anyone because
Shot with an exquisitely detailed there is no purity to be found.
Christian Friedel,
sense of realism, The White Ribbon There is a shard of optimism in
Leonie Benesch
tells the story of life in a small the form of a young couple falling in
BEFORE German village just before World love, but the terrible realization is
1997 In Haneke’s Funny War I. There, a series of cruel and that a generation of children whose
Games, two psychopaths play mysterious events sow fear and development is being warped by
cruel “games” on the family confusion among the villagers, from authority in the movie would come
they have taken hostage. the tenant farmers to the baron. of age as the supporters of Nazism. ■
2001 Haneke’s The Piano The congregation

that worships in
Teacher tracks the destructive the village church
power of sexual fantasies. is rife with secrets
2005 In Caché (Hidden), and resentments; is
the violence in their
Haneke exposes a family to midst a sign of the
its past, but who is behind barbarism that will
the ensuing violence? follow during the
two world wars?
AFTER
2012 Old age deals a
cruel hand in Haneke’s What else to watch: Le Corbeau (1943) ■ Rashomon (1950, pp.108–13) ■
Amour (Love). The Seventh Seal (1957, pp.136–39) ■ The Tin Drum (1979) ■ Caché (2005, p.342)
324
EVERYONE PAYS FOR

THE THINGS THEY
ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA / 2011
DO
P
olice work and all Eschewing
IN CONTEXT that comes with cop-show
upholding the law clichés, Nuri
GENRE Bilge Ceylan’s
has long been a source of
Crime, drama Once Upon
fascination in movies. The a Time in
DIRECTOR police represent order, and Anatolia
Nuri Bilge Ceylan for the common good they portrays the
must endure terrible things drudgery of
WRITERS on our behalf. Turkish police work
Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge director Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s with raw,
Ceylan, Ercan Kesal unflinching
brooding, tragic movie honesty.
Once Upon a Time in
STARS
Anatolia is a tale of cops,
Muhammet Uzuner,
doctors, and lawyers as they
Yilmaz Erdogan, Taner
search through the night for
Birsel, Firat Tanis the body of a murder victim.
BEFORE Stripping out the artificial The policemen and lawyers in
1997 Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s glamour and excitement that define Once Upon a Time in Anatolia are
critically acclaimed debut these professions in most movies, forced to deal with the horrors they
feature The Town is a the movie presents their work as a witness while also fulfilling the
dreamlike examination of punishing journey in an endless demands of their respective
childhood and family. night that is filled with frustration, bureaucracies. Unable to express
tension, and very little glory. Here, their true reactions to what they
2008 In Ceylan’s Three the officials who uphold law and see, they are allowed very little
Monkeys, a politician offers a order are heroes not because they catharsis. Police officer Naci
family money to cover up a always catch the bad guy, but (Yilmaz Erdogan) is repeatedly
hit-and-run accident. because they give up a part of their rebuked for his impulsive reactions
humanity so that we don’t have to. to setbacks. When a body is found,
AFTER
2014 Winter Sleep earns
Ceylan the Palme d’Or at Nobody just dies because they said
the Cannes Film Festival.
they would.
Cemal / Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
SMALL WORLD 325

What else to watch: The Big Heat (1953, p.332) ■ Le Doulos (1962) ■ In Cold Blood (1967) ■ A Short Film about Killing
(1988) ■ Insomnia (1997) ■ Zodiac (2007) ■ Three Monkeys (2008) ■ Leviathan (2014)
hog-tied and buried in the ground,

Naci is the only one in his team to Nuri Bilge Ceylan Director
react to the sight truthfully, and for
Nuri Bilge Monkeys (2008) and Once Upon
that he is taken aside and sternly
Ceylan was a Time in Anatolia. He won the
told to behave more professionally. born in 1959 Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2014 for
in Istanbul, Winter Sleep.
Due process Turkey, and
A similar incident occurs later studied electrical engineering. Key movies
in the movie when Doctor Cemal His first movie, The Town,
(Muhammet Uzuner) conducts an gained him instant international 1997 The Town
autopsy and discovers something acclaim. His third movie, 2002 Distant
horrific about the death. Like the Distant, won a host of awards, 2011 Once Upon a Time
police officers, the doctor is not and he continued to enjoy in Anatolia
allowed to be affected. All he can critical success with Three 2014 Winter Sleep
do is suppress his feelings, write
up his report, and stare through Once Upon a Time in Anatolia is a trajectory of the characters’ own
the window at the victim’s family thoughtful, original take on some lives: each of them is destined to
as they walk away—just as he very well-covered ground. It is not be worn down by their job until
will have to do next time, and interested in presenting the police they reach the point of degradation,
the time after that. as unflappable action heroes, or just like the body they must find to
The practicalities of due process lawyers as righteous crusaders, eventually put in the ground. There
mean that good men are asked to or doctors as kind and benevolent. is no rest, and no end in sight. ■
treat horror in the same way that Rather, it focuses on the human
the monsters they are hunting treat cost of being required to witness Kenan (Firat Tanis, center) is
it; they surrender their right to feel, and interact with the worst of one of two suspects who must travel
because papers need to be filed and humanity. The metaphor of one with the police in order to help them
the process needs to be respected. endless night symbolizes the find the murder victim’s body.
326
SO WHAT DO
YOU LIKE ABOUT
BEING UP
GRAVITY / 2013
HERE?
O
n one level, Gravity is a Gravity features action sequences
IN CONTEXT simple affair—the tale of shot in long, unbroken takes. When
astronaut Dr. Ryan Stone Stone, trying to reach the safety of
GENRE
(Sandra Bullock) stranded in orbit the International Space Station, is
Thriller, science fiction
after her shuttle is destroyed, pelted by orbiting debris, the camera
DIRECTOR surviving on her wits in the hostile follows her every move, swooping
Alfonso Cuarón environment of space. However, and spinning as she tumbles
while its story of a lone adventurer through space. These nonstop
WRITERS trying to get home could have been sequences allow the audience to see
Alfonso Cuarón, told in any movie since the medium with pin-sharp clarity the endless
Jonás Cuarón began, director Alfonso Cuarón expanse around her—and to feel
uses the very latest in filmmaking exactly what she’s going through. ■
STARS
technology, including stunning 3D
Sandra Bullock,
effects, to create an experience that Before the disaster that destroys
George Clooney
physically pulls in the audience. their shuttle, Stone (Sandra Bullock) and
BEFORE The result feels like a landmark her colleague Kowalski (George Clooney)
1995 Ron Howard’s Apollo 13, in cinema history. collaborate on repairs to the telescope.
about the disaster-stricken
space mission of 1970, evokes
a mix of claustrophobia
and desolation.
2006 Children of Men,
Cuarón’s first science-fiction
movie, is set in a future in
which all people are infertile.
AFTER
2014 Christopher Nolan’s
Interstellar follows mankind’s
urgent quest to leave dying
planet Earth and find a new What else to watch: A Trip to the Moon (1902, pp.20–21) ■ 2001: A Space
home among the stars. Odyssey (1968, pp.192–93) ■ Alien (1979, p.243) ■ The Right Stuff (1983)
SMALL WORLD 327
WE’RE ALL JUST

WINGING
BOYHOOD / 2014
IT
I
n his own low-key, low-budget
IN CONTEXT way, Richard Linklater has
always been interested in
GENRE
revolutionizing movies. Filmed in
Family drama
his native Austin, Texas, like his
DIRECTOR debut Slacker, Boyhood is at once an
Richard Linklater incredibly simple idea and a hugely
radical one. Probably one of the most
WRITER authentic coming-of-age stories ever
Richard Linklater told, it follows its protagonist, Mason
STARS (Ellar Coltrane), from the age of six
right up to his graduation from
Ellar Coltrane, Patricia
school at 18. And if the movie feels
Arquette, Ethan Hawke
real, that’s because it practically is,
BEFORE with Linklater shooting with Mason Sr. (Ethan Hawke) offers
1993 Dazed and Confused, Coltrane and the other cast for a few some rare fatherly advice in a tender
days every summer for 12 years, the scene with his son (Ellar Coltrane); for
Linklater’s coming-of-age both, perhaps, childhood has ended.
movie set in 1970s Texas, actors aging in time with the story.
does poorly at the box office
but soon acquires cult status. Capturing childhood which capture the bittersweet,
Boyhood deals subtly with the haphazard, scrapbook nature of
1995 Before Sunrise is the changing times: as family life shifts childhood and adolescent memories.
first movie in a romantic and changes, iPods replace CD While the focus is on Mason, the
trilogy by Linklater starring players and Barack Obama replaces other performances are captivating
Ethan Hawke as an American George W. Bush as president. After too—notably from Hawke as the
in Europe and Julie Delpy as Mason’s flaky father (Ethan Hawke) man who married too young, Lorelei
his French lover. leaves, his mother (Patricia Arquette) Linklater (the director’s daughter)
embarks on new relationships. as Mason’s sister, and Arquette,
2012 Linklater’s Waking Life, a Everything and nothing happens in who would go on to win an Oscar
story that takes place within the exquisitely paced 165 minutes, for her role in the movie. ■
a dream, uses a technique
called rotoscoping to make real What else to watch: The 400 Blows (1959, pp.150–51) ■ Slacker (1991) ■ Before
actors look like animations. Sunrise (1995) ■ Before Sunset (2004) ■ Before Midnight (2013) ■ Girlhood (2014)
DIRECTO
RY
330
DIRECTORY
A
ny list of the greatest movies of all time, whether it is 10, 100,
or 1,000 titles long, will inevitably be subjective in both its
selections and omissions. Indeed, much of the fun of the debate
comes from the disagreements it provokes. This section features a
selection of the movies that came close to being included in the main
section, but did not quite make the final cut. It is, like the main list,
subjective in nature, but helps fill some of the inevitable gaps. Spread
widely across time, place, and genre, the list provides additional samples
from world cinema over the last century or so, a selection of movies to
celebrate and to argue over, to watch and to rewatch. Each movie title is
followed by the director’s name and the year the movie was released.
Max Schreck, who played Orlok,

THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY the movie has a vampire like no THE JAZZ SINGER
Edwin S. Porter, 1903 other, one that is more rat than bat Alan Crosland, 1927
in appearance.
This 12-minute short was possibly See also: Sunrise 30–31 The first full-length “talkie” feature
the first Western, with cowboys, movie, The Jazz Singer marked the
six-shooters, and a rowdy saloon. beginning of a new era in cinema.
The robbers use a fake telegraph to DR. MABUSE THE GAMBLER There are about two minutes of
stop the train, rob the safe, and Fritz Lang, 1922 synchronized dialogue, plus six
hold up the passengers, then take memorable songs, mixed with
off on horseback—only to be caught Nine years before making his serial- intertitles. Al Jolson plays Jakie,
by a posse, also summoned by killer masterpiece, M, Fritz Lang who defies his religious Jewish
telegraph. At one point, a robber explored his fascination with the father in order to pursue a dream
fires into the camera— a scene that criminal mind in this silent great of becoming a jazz singer. Jakie
had contemporary audiences of German Expressionist cinema. changes his name to Jack and
ducking for cover. In doing so, he created the first adopts a “blackface” persona on
movie archvillain: the manipulative stage. The story of an immigrant’s
mastermind Dr. Mabuse, who struggle for identity is still a
NOSFERATU steals secret information to make powerful one, but the blacking up
F. W. Murnau, 1922 a fortune on the stock exchange, makes the movie an uncomfortable
and cheats at cards to rob the watch for modern audiences.
Murnau was a leading light of the wealthy denizens of a decadent,
German Expressionist movement, degenerate society. Lang tapped
which emphasized style and into the mood of the Weimar-period UN CHIEN ANDALOU
symbolism, and this comes to the Germany, which was in political Luis Buñuel, Salvador Dalí, 1929
fore in his vampire movie Nosferatu. and economic turmoil. His trick
It is packed with memorable of revealing both the villain and The 16-minute short Un Chien
images, from the dark shadow of his methods to the audience Andalou (An Andalusian Dog)
the vampire Count Orlok creeping as a device to build suspense was the first movie by Spanish
through his castle to Orlok’s look influenced Alfred Hitchcock. director Luis Buñuel, who made
of terror as he faces the rising See also: Metropolis 32–33 ■ it in collaboration with Spanish
sun before vanishing. And in M 46–47 Surrealist painter Salvador Dalí. It
DIRECTORY 331
is most famous for a heart-stopping the book down to focus on the

moment in which a girl appears family and their endurance against MESHES OF THE
to have her eyeball sliced open. the odds. As Ma Joad says at the AFTERNOON
The movie is a montage of end: “They can’t wipe us out, they Maya Deren and Alexander
strange scenes with no apparent can’t lick us. We’ll go on forever, Pa, Hammid, 1943
connection, but Buñuel was later ’cause we’re the people.” The movie
eager to stress that there is no marked the first major success for Ukrainian-born choreographer
symbolism in this movie. He said Henry Fonda, who played Tom Joad. Maya Deren was one of the most
that the eyeball scene came from See also: The Searchers 135 important experimental filmmakers
a dream, and that its meaning of the post-World War II years, and
can only be established through Meshes of the Afternoon, made
psychoanalysis. THE MALTESE FALCON with her husband Alexander
See also: The Discreet Charm John Huston, 1941 Hammid, is a landmark of the avant-
of the Bourgeoisie 208–09 garde. It lasts just 18 minutes, and,
Humphrey Bogart played hard- through unsettling camera angles,
bitten private detective Sam Spade spirals through the dreams of a
FREAKS as if born to the role in John woman falling asleep at home,
Tod Browning, 1932 Huston’s The Maltese Falcon, a where ordinary objects—a knife,
stylish and atmospheric thriller. a key—become frightening and
Tod Browning’s disturbing US Spade was an entirely new kind of surreal in her subconscious. The
horror movie Freaks was banned hero, a tough guy who never yields revelation that movie could explore
in the UK for 30 years because of for a moment to sentimentality, and the workings of the mind in this
the way it seemed to exploit the Huston’s low-key, shadowy lighting, way was hugely influential.
physical attributes of its cast, who and often startling camera angles,
worked in a circus sideshow. It brilliantly created the movie’s
has since become a cult classic. shady world. The Maltese Falcon is DOUBLE INDEMNITY
At a circus, Cleopatra, a beautiful considered the first American film Billy Wilder, 1944
trapeze artist, agrees to marry the noir. It turned Bogart into a
dwarf Hans in order to poison superstar and launched Huston’s Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity
him and take his money. But her career as a major Hollywood director. uses the classic film noir setup,
plan is foiled and the circus’s other with a femme fatale, shabby
“freaks” take their revenge on her motives, betrayal, and murder;
in a truly gruesome way. The SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS however, the movie has romance
original movie was destroyed, and Preston Sturges, 1941 at its heart. An ordinary insurance
only the marginally less unsettling man is persuaded by a beautiful
cut version still exists. The movie Sullivan’s Travels is a witty send- blonde (Barbara Stanwyck) to
ruined Browning’s career. up of pretentious filmmakers who issue an insurance policy in her
make socially worthy drama. Young husband’s name, and then to
director John “Sully” Sullivan (Joel murder him in a staged accident,
THE GRAPES OF WRATH McCrea) is renowned for his frothy but the plan unravels horribly
John Ford, 1940 comedies, but goes on the road as each believes the other has
disguised as a tramp in order to betrayed them. The movie gains an
Based on John Steinbeck’s 1939 gather material for a serious movie edge by casting against type: Fred
novel, The Grapes of Wrath is set in about the downtrodden. He meets MacMurray, so often Mr. Nice Guy
Oklahoma, in the Depression years the Girl (Veronica Lake), who hopes in Disney movies, plays the seedy
of the 1930s. It tells the story of the to be an actress, and soon realizes insurance man; while Edward G.
Joad family, who lose their farm that making comedies that take Robinson, so often the gangster,
and journey across the US to people’s minds off their worries is plays the decent investigator.
California in search of a better life. of more social use than a serious See also: Sunset Boulevard
The movie pares the narrative of movie with a profound message. 114–15 Some Like It Hot 148–49
■
332 DIRECTORY
heart of film noir. A private eye “everything but the bloodhounds

BRIEF ENCOUNTER (Robert Mitchum) tries to escape snapping at her rear end,” Eve
David Lean, 1945 his seedy past and start a new life worms her way into Margo’s life
with a decent girl, but he is and takes over her celebrity—but
British director David Lean’s haunted by a beautiful femme at a price, since she ends up in
early masterpiece is a simple story, fatale (Jane Greer), with whom the power of manipulative theater
based on a Noel Coward play, and he may or may not be in love, and critic Addison DeWitt. The movie
very different from the epics, such who may or may not be in love with also features a brief appearance
as Lawrence of Arabia, for which him. They are tied together by fate, by a young Marilyn Monroe.
he later became better known. and, as she goes on the run for
Housewife Laura (Celia Johnson) murder, their mutual destruction
and Doctor Alec (Trevor Howard) becomes all too inevitable. LOS OLVIDADOS
meet at a train station café. Luis Buñuel, 1950
Tempted into an adulterous affair,
they pull back because both are, THE RED SHOES Also known as The Young and
at heart, deeply decent people. The Michael Powell and Emeric the Damned, Los Olvidados is
shadowy light of the station, and Pressburger, 1948 Buñuel’s retort to neorealist movies.
the music of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Set in the slums of Mexico City, it
Concerto No. 2, give emotional Powell and Pressburger’s The is the story of two boys: El Jaibo,
weight to Johnson’s and Howard’s Red Shoes is both a glorious and who escapes from prison; and
understated performances. seductive tribute to the ballet and a Pedro, who is led astray by El Jaibo
horror movie full of menace, as as he tracks down and kills the boy
ballerina Victoria (Moira Shearer), is he thinks put him in jail. To this
MURDERERS AMONG US driven to despair by the ruthless and gritty scenario Buñuel adds his
Wolfgang Staudte, 1946 obsessive demands of an impresario, own brand of realism, including
Lermontov (Anton Walbrook). The dreams, which for him were as
Murderers Among Us was one of movie contains a story within a much a part of life as pots and
the first German movies made after story: the 20-minute ballet sequence pans. He eschews a liberal social
World War II, completed in the telling Hans Christian Andersen’s conscience for a confrontational
Soviet-occupied sector, and tale of “The Red Shoes,” in which a approach that got the movie
reflecting Germany’s struggle ballerina is danced to death by a banned in Mexico for many years.
to come to terms with its past. pair of magic shoes, echoes the See also: The Discreet Charm
Shot in the ruins of Berlin, it tells movie’s main story. of the Bourgeoisie 208–09
the story of a military surgeon See also: A Matter of Life
who returns home to find his and Death 86–87
home destroyed. He moves in THE BIG HEAT
with a young woman who survived Fritz Lang, 1953
the concentration camps. The ALL ABOUT EVE
surgeon plans to kill his captain, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950 “Somebody’s going to pay…
who murdered Polish civilians in because he forgot to kill me…”
the war, but the woman persuades Dark and bitingly witty, Joseph L. reads the tagline on the poster for
him to let the man go to trial. Mankiewicz’s All About Eve is Fritz Lang’s taut film noir, scripted
one of the bleakest movies ever by crime reporter Sidney Boehm.
made about show business. At Glenn Ford stars as an honest
BUILD MY GALLOWS HIGH its heart is a riveting performance homicide detective who becomes
Jacques Tourneur, 1947 by Bette Davis as the aging caught up in a world of organized
star Margo Channing, who is crime and police corruption. Gloria
Known in the US as Out of the Past, targeted by ambitious actress Grahame is the memorable femme
the movie Build my Gallows High Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter). fatale, a gangster’s moll who turns
captures the grand tragedy at the With a sob story that has against her boyfriend, brutally
DIRECTORY 333
played by a young Lee Marvin. visual style and fast-paced political allegory, but it is unclear
Much of the violence occurs editing, plus his ability to give whether its message is attacking
offscreen, but that reduces none scenes a huge emotional kick, turn communism, or the oppression and
of the movie’s power—honesty it into an epic of true heroism. paranoia created by McCarthyism.
may win out in the end, but only The movie is also a study in
after exacting a terrible cost. The Japanese social mores, as two
movie is the ultimate refinement of mutually distrustful social classes TOUCH OF EVIL
Lang’s realistic, brutal style. uneasily come together in pursuit Orson Welles, 1958
See also: Metropolis 32–33 ■ of a common cause.
M 46–47 See also: Rashomon 108–13 Crime thriller Touch of Evil was
one of the last of the classic film
noirs. It is extravagantly theatrical,
LA STRADA RIFIFI with the gigantic presence—
Federico Fellini, 1954 Jules Dassin, 1955 literally and figuratively—of Orson
Welles, who wrote and directed
Fellini’s La Strada (The Road) can In French heist movie Rififi, the the movie, and who also plays the
be seen as his reaction against the robbery of a jewelry store on bent and bloated cop Quinlan.
neorealist movement of which he Paris’s Rue de Rivoli takes place Set on the Mexico–US border, the
had been part. It is a determinedly in 20 minutes of almost total story focuses on a Mexican drug
unrealistic fable of three circus silence. The effect was so enforcement official (Charlton
performers, for whom a theatrical believable that some critics have Heston), who realizes that Quinlan
façade hides their inner sadness. called the movie a guide for is corrupt. The movie is famous for
The strongman Zampanò buys the criminals. Dassin hated the novel its uninterrupted, three-minute-
waif Gelsomina from her mother to on which the movie was based (he long crane tracking sequence,
be his comic foil, but he continually changed the villains’ ethnicity to which moves slowly through four
abuses her, until she eventually make the story less racist), but this blocks of the troubled town.
leaves him for high-wire artist Il only made him work harder to give See also: Citizen Kane 66–71
Matto. In a fit of jealousy Zampanò the movie both tension and heart,
kills Il Matto, and Gelsomina is paying meticulous attention to
desolate. The movie features Fellini’s detail in a way that was to be ASCENSEUR POUR
trademark visual themes, such as imitated later by movies such as L’ÉCHAFAUD
figures suspended between heaven Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. Louis Malle, 1958
and earth, and a desolate seashore.
See also: La Dolce Vita 160–65 Known as Elevator to the Gallows
INVASION OF THE in the US and Lift to the Scaffold
BODY SNATCHERS elsewhere, Louis Malle’s Ascenseur
SEVEN SAMURAI Don Siegel, 1956 pour l’échafaud is a dark thriller
Akira Kurosawa, 1954 about a pair of lovers, Florence
Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a (Jeanne Moreau) and Julien (Maurice
Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai was science-fiction thriller that reflects Ronet), who plot to murder Florence’s
inspired by Hollywood Westerns, the paranoia of the Cold War era. husband. The plan goes horribly
and it, in turn, inspired the Western The idea is simple: a doctor is wrong when Julien is trapped in an
The Magnificent Seven, but it is mystified when all his patients elevator on his way from the crime
very much a Japanese movie, complain to him that their families scene. The claustrophobic shots
steeped in the traditions of the have been replaced by impostors. of Paris at night give the movie a
Samurai warrior class and notions He soon discovers that the town noirish feel, but there is a sense
of honor. The story is a simple has been colonized by alien of realism that anticipates the
one—seven warriors band together seedpods that can replicate French New Wave. The action is
to protect a village against humans in all but their emotions. accompanied by an atmospheric
bandits—but Kurosawa’s stunning The movie has been seen as a jazz score from Miles Davis.
334 DIRECTORY
played out between New York semiautobiographical novel,

PEEPING TOM gangs, with the Sharks on one side and focuses on the relationship
Michael Powell, 1960 and the Jets on the other. The between two friends—shy Austrian
movie is made exhilarating by writer Jules and French bohemian
Peeping Tom received a negative Leonard Bernstein’s sophisticated Jim—and a free-spirited girl,
response on its release, but it is score, hugely memorable songs Catherine (Jeanne Moreau), whom
now considered a masterpiece. A such as Tonight and Somewhere, they both fall for. It celebrates
photographer (Karlheinz Böhm) with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, friendship but ends in pain
introduces himself to women as a and the spectacular dance and betrayal.
documentary filmmaker, then sequences directed by Jerome See also: The 400 Blows 150–55
murders them while using a movie Robbins. It won 10 Oscars, more
camera to record the terror of their than any other musical, including
dying moments. The movie opens one for Rita Moreno, who made THE MANCHURIAN
itself up to various psychoanalytic the song America her own, as Best CANDIDATE
interpretations as it homes in on Supporting Actress. John Frankenheimer, 1962
the phallic role of the camera. Italso
throws a chilling spotlight on the way Shot during the Cuban Missile
movies turn audiences into voyeurs. THE INNOCENTS Crisis, when paranoia about
See also: A Matter of Life and Jack Clayton, 1961 encroaching Soviet power was at its
Death 86–87 height, John Frankenheimer’s Cold
The Innocents is a chilling British War conspiracy thriller captures the
supernatural thriller inspired by spirit of the times perfectly. It
PSYCHO Henry James’s 1898 novella The Turn concerns an apparently heroic
Alfred Hitchcock, 1960 of the Screw. Miss Giddens (Deborah American officer, Shaw (Laurence
Kerr) is employed as a governess to Harvey), who was captured by
Psycho had an extraordinary take care of a girl and a boy, and the Soviets and brainwashed to
effect on contemporary audiences. finds that they are haunted by the commit murder when triggered to
The shower scene, in which a ghosts of their former governess and do so. Major Marco (Frank Sinatra)
woman (Janet Leigh) is stabbed the alcoholic valet who seduced her. is the friend who discovers that the
repeatedly, is now one of the most Director Jack Clayton brilliantly KGB “operators” controlling Shaw
famous in cinema. The movie set uses dissolves created by editor Jim are actually his mother (Angela
new standards for horror movies Clark to suggest ghostly presences, Lansbury) and stepfather. Dark,
with its psychological complexity and to bring tension and terror into surprising, and inventively shot in
and the way Hitchcock ratcheted everyday scenes such as lessons a style that owes a debt to the
up the tension to fever pitch— and bath time. The innocence of French New Wave, it is a gripping,
helped by Bernard Herrmann’s the children gradually transforms disturbing satire.
extraordinary jagged string score— into something “secret, whispery,
as disturbed motel owner Norman and indecent.”
Bates (Anthony Perkins) dresses up DRY SUMMER
as his mother and turns murderous. Metin Erksan, 1963
See also: Vertigo 140–45 JULES ET JIM
François Truffaut, 1962 Metin Erksan’s powerful story of
passion and greed upset critics in
WEST SIDE STORY Truffaut’s Jules et Jim was a classic his home country when it was
Robert Wise and Jerome of the French New Wave, shot in made, because of what they
Robbins, 1961 black and white, and packed with considered its negative portrayal of
stylistic innovations such as freeze Turkish people, but it is now widely
West Side Story takes William frames, wipes (frame transitions), regarded as a masterpiece. The
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and voice-over. The story is based movie tells the story of a selfish
and turns it into a dynamic musical on Henri-Pierre Roché’s 1953 tobacco farmer who builds a farm
DIRECTORY 335
to stop water from being lost to his

neighbors’ crops, and who is in love I AM CUBA PERSONA
with the village girl whom his Mikhail Kalatozov, 1964 Ingmar Bergman, 1966
brother marries. Shot in shimmering
black and white, the movie elevates Hidden away in Soviet archives Persona, by Swedish director
melodrama into poetry. for three decades, Kalatozov’s Ingmar Bergman, is an intense
I Am Cuba was restored following psychological drama that turns
a campaign led by US director into a horror movie as the central
JASON AND THE Martin Scorsese in the 1990s. A relationship unravels. A young
ARGONAUTS joint Soviet–Cuban production, it nurse (Bibi Andersson) is
Don Chaffey, 1963 was not well received on release, assigned to take care of a well-
and had been mostly forgotten. known actress (Liv Ullmann),
Underpinned by Bernard Yet the movie is an extraordinary who has mysteriously become
Herrmann’s stirring brass music, document of its time, telling the mute. To fill the silence, the nurse
Don Chaffey’s movie makes the story of oppressed peasants in confides in her about her life,
most of Ray Harryhausen’s stop- 1950s Cuba, and their resistance, including having an abortion as
motion animation of clay models to spurred on by the hope that Fidel a young girl. But things turn nasty
bring to life the story of Jason, the Castro’s revolution would bring a when the nurse discovers the
hero of Greek mythology who led brighter future. The movie is now actress has been psychoanalyzing
his crew, the Argonauts, on a quest also celebrated for its extraordinary her. The actress’s silent rejection
for the legendary Golden Fleece. tracking shots in which the camera of the gender-restrictive roles of
Harryhausen’s animations have a seems to float magically about— motherhood and nursing is, some
distinctive style, and his army of an effect achieved by strapping the critics believe, the focus of the
skeletons rising from the ground camera to the cameraman’s waist movie, but it also explores the
is impressive even today. Seen on and moving him along a carefully bleakness of illness and madness.
the big screen in full color and linked set of pulleys. See also: The Seventh Seal 136–39
sound, Jason and the Argonauts
remains a genuinely stirring epic.
CLOSELY OBSERVED TRAINS THE GRADUATE
Jirí Menzel, 1966 Mike Nichols, 1967
ONIBABA
Kaneto Shindo, 1964 Set in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, At the time it was released, The
Jirí Menzel’s Closely Observed Graduate seemed daring in its
Kaneto Shindo’s Onibaba works Trains (known in the US as Closely subject matter, dealing as it does
both as a horror movie and a period Watched Trains) is a wry and with intergenerational sex. Young
drama. It tells the story of a mother touching look at the perils of sexual college graduate Benjamin Braddock
and daughter who set traps and awakening. The grim realities of (Dustin Hoffman) embarks upon a
murder samurai in order to survive war are never far away as young sexual relationship with Mrs.
during a time of civil war in 14th- station guard Miloš strives to lose Robinson (Anne Bancroft) and then
century Japan. Shot in a decidedly his virginity, but Menzel’s witty falls in love with her daughter Elaine
chilling black and white, it is a screenplay, inspired by Bohumil Robinson (Katherine Ross), when he.
parable of the suffering undergone Hrabal’s book, keeps the focus The apparently conventional happy
by all the innocent bystanders firmly on a universal human ending, in which Benjamin stops
throughout history. When the problem. Like other movies of the Elaine from marrying the wrong
old woman kills one samurai, she Czech New Wave, the movie serves man and escapes with her on a
pulls off his mask to find his face as a reminder to Czechs of the bus, is not quite what it seems. The
disfigured like a hibakusha (a brutalizing effects of the system movie deliberately aimed to tap into
victim of the nuclear bomb). under which they live, but the youth culture with its iconic sound
When she wears the mask, her tone is sardonic and gentle rather track (by Simon and Garfunkel),
face becomes disfigured too. than strident. setting a trend for youth movies.
336 DIRECTORY
of the build up to a shoot-out, rather

BELLE DE JOUR SALESMAN than the shoot-out itself. The music
Luis Buñuel, 1967 Albert and David Maysles, 1968 by Ennio Morricone gives an epic
quality to long, drawn-out scenes
Spanish director Luis Buñuel’s This fly-on-the-wall documentary in which almost nothing happens.
French movie Belle de Jour appears follows four traveling salesmen
on the surface to be a conventional as they peddle illustrated Bibles
male sexual fantasy in movie form. around suburban New Jersey. KES
A bored housewife, played by the The movie is an example of the Ken Loach, 1969
ravishingly beautiful Catherine “direct cinema” movement of
Deneuve, spends her afternoons documentary making, in which Based on Barry Hines’s 1968 novel
as a prostitute in a local brothel, lightweight cameras were used A Kestrel for a Knave, Kes was the
indulging all kinds of strange to capture everyday life with a first fiction movie made by British
requests—a lady of the day (de minimum of interference from director Ken Loach following a
jour), rather than of the night. In the filmmakers. The four men string of raw and powerful
Buñuel’s hands, the story becomes appear remarkably unaffected docudramas. It tells the story of
a poetic, psychological study in by the presence of the cameras, emotionally neglected and bullied
which the sex is never graphic but the precariousness and quiet teenager Billy Casper (David
and appears almost incidental. desperation of their existence Bradley), who finds inspiration in
It blends reality and dreams in a is plain to see. At a motivational training a kestrel he takes from a
hallucinatory and beguiling way meeting, the area manager nest on a farm. Through the bird,
that leads toward an ending in chillingly points out that he has Billy learns to open his eyes to
which, unexpectedly, the woman “eliminated a few men.” The money broader horizons. The lyrical realism
and her husband are happy at last. is out there, he says, and if you of the movie and the beautiful shots
See also: The Discreet Charm can’t get it, that’s your fault. The of the bird in flight help make this a
of the Bourgeoisie 208–09 movie was made in the late 1960s, moving, uplifting movie despite its
but depicts an America that has almost inevitable sad ending.
changed little since the 1950s.
ROSEMARY’S BABY A year later, the Maysles brothers
Roman Polanski, 1968 would document a very different MIDNIGHT COWBOY
world with their movie Gimme John Schlesinger, 1969
Roman Polanski’s horror movie Shelter, in which they followed
about satanic possession was the Rolling Stones on tour. Reverberating to Harry Nilsson’s
filmed with an understated realism, jaunty song Everybody’s Talkin’,
which has the effect of making Midnight Cowboy is a poignant
it more frightening. Rosemary ONCE UPON A TIME movie that homes in on the
(Mia Farrow) and her husband IN THE WEST loneliness of the seedy side of life in
Guy (John Cassavetes) are Sergio Leone, 1968 the city, yet delivers an ultimately
portrayed as a convincingly real upbeat message about the power of
couple with a typical set of marital This tense, slow-burning Western relationships. It follows young
issues, before their situation takes was a critical and box-office flop on Texan Joe Buck (Jon Voight) as he
a sinister turn. Eschewing the its release but is now recognized as arrives in New York determined
normal conventions of suspense, Leone’s greatest movie. It is a to make a fortune as a gigolo. Joe’s
Polanski gives plenty of hints simple tale of greed and revenge in naivety ensures that his seedy
about what is really happening a small town where the railroad is encounters come to nothing, and he
next door. Ruth Gordon excels as due to arrive. With Henry Fonda ends up bonding with consumptive
the couple’s strange neighbor, cast against type as a killer and con man Ratso (Dustin Hoffman).
and won one of the few Oscars Charles Bronson as the mysterious When it transpires that Ratso is
ever to go to a horror movie. loner out to get him, the movie dying, Joe gives up his ambitions
See also: Chinatown 216–21 revels in the atmosphere and ritual and takes him on a trip to Florida.
DIRECTORY 337
unpredictability in the desert

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE LAND OF SILENCE that is absent from the ordered
Stanley Kubrick, 1971 AND DARKNESS world of the city.
Werner Herzog, 1971 See also: Don’t Look Now 210–13
Adapted from Anthony Burgess’s
dystopian novella, A Clockwork Werner Herzog’s documentary
Orange is an anarchic and follows a deaf-blind German THE HARDER THEY COME
inventive satire that aroused so woman who works on behalf of Perry Henzell, 1972
much controversy over its violent other deaf-blind people. The movie
content that Kubrick himself depicts the isolation of severely Perry Henzell’s The Harder They
withdrew it from release in the disabled people who are largely Come is the movie credited with
UK for 30 years. In futuristic excluded from modern life. The popularizing reggae music beyond
London, sociopathic delinquent woman, Fini, has lost her sight its Jamaican home, with a sound
Alex (Malcolm McDowell) and and hearing in her youth, but track by Desmond Dekker and The
his gang of “droogs” go on a spree many of those she visits have Maytals, and a title track by Jimmy
of “ultraviolence” that ends in been born deaf-blind, and struggle Cliff, who also plays the movie’s
rape and murder. Alex is later to connect with others in any lead, Ivanhoe “Ivan” Martin. Country
arrested, and the institutional way. Their obvious distress is boy Ivan comes to Kingston,
violence to which he is in turn harrowing, but Herzog also tries Jamaica, full of hope, but when
subjected robs him of his humanity. to convey the possibilities of a every avenue leads to nothing,
See also: Dr. Strangelove 176–79 ■ rich inner life for someone whose including the song he wrote and
2001: A Space Odyssey 192–93 contact with the world is through recorded, he turns to drug dealing,
taste, smell, and touch. Since the and becomes a trigger-happy
1970s, Herzog has made a number gangster. Despite the movie’s grim
HAROLD AND MAUDE of documentaries that attempt to ending, it has an energy that
Hal Ashby, 1971 capture a poetic truth about matches its sound track.
their subjects’ everyday lives.
Hal Ashby’s dark comedy Harold See also: Aguirre, the Wrath
and Maude breaks many taboos in of God 206–07 A WOMAN UNDER
its story of an unlikely relationship THE INFLUENCE
between a young man and a 79- John Cassavetes, 1974
year-old woman. They meet WALKABOUT
through their mutual interest in Nicolas Roeg, 1971 A Woman Under the Influence was
funerals, but their characters could a family affair, with the director’s
not be more different. Harold Based on James Vance Marshall’s wife Gena Rowlands taking the
(Bud Cort) is morbid and suicide novel, Nicolas Roeg’s beautiful lead, and with both of the couple’s
obsessed, doing his best to thwart and haunting movie Walkabout is mothers in the movie, too.
his mother’s efforts to make him about a teenage schoolgirl (Jenny Rowlands plays Mabel, who is so
conform to the expectations Agutter) and her young brother (Luc unstable in her desperation to
of his privileged upbringing. Roeg) stranded in the Australian please that her husband Nick (Peter
Maude (Ruth Gordon) relishes every outback after their father kills Falk) commits her to an institution.
moment of life, with a complete himself. They meet an Aboriginal However, Nick proves no better
disregard for rules and disdain for boy (David Gulpilil) who helps than Mabel at looking after their
money. The movie’s ending reveals them survive in the wild, though children. Upon her release Mabel
a secret that explains Maude’s communication between them seems unable to cope, but the
attitude. In the background looms is difficult. Metaphors abound children’s profession of love for her
the threat of Vietnam for Harold, as in Roeg’s movie, and the outback seems to offer hope. Cassavetes’
his uncle tries to persuade him to has a hallucinogenic intensity, picture of the family is unflinching
enlist. It is a warm, irreverent movie full of movement and color, but ultimately liberating in its
with moments of comic genius. suggesting a vibrancy and an freedom from judgement.
338 DIRECTORY
elite following independence, who Morricone. The movie begins in

SHOLAY exploited the poor and became 1916 and tells the story of Chicago
Ramesh Sippy, 1975 pawns in the colonial game. steelworker Bill (Richard Gere) who,
after a bust-up with his boss, flees
Often credited to director Ramesh to Texas with his girlfriend Abby
Sippy’s producer father G. P. Sippy, ERASERHEAD (Brooke Adams) and teenage sister
Sholay is a Hindi action-adventure David Lynch, 1977 Linda (Linda Manz), who narrates
movie, which transported the the movie. They work long hours
conventions of the Hollywood David Lynch’s debut feature was in the fields until, seeing a chance
Western to India, to create the an enigmatic, low-budget movie to escape poverty, Bill encourages
country’s first blockbuster. Set in that became a cult hit. The story Abby to marry the farmer, who
the rocky terrain of Karnataka in focuses on Henry Spencer (Jack has apparently just a year to live.
southern India, it tells the story of Nance), a label printer with a weird However, the farmer lives on, and
two small-time villains, Veeru and shock of hair, whose girlfriend has the story spirals into a tragedy of
Jai, who become heroes when a reptilian-looking premature baby. jealousy and biblical plagues.
they are hired by a retired police But the basic plot is just a hook for
officer to help capture the dacoit an increasing array of unsettling
(bandit) Gabbar Singh, who is images and scenarios. The movie’s APOCALYPSE NOW
terrorizing their village. Some title comes from a moment when Francis Ford Coppola, 1979
critics condemned the movie’s part of Henry’s head is removed
glorification of violence, but it was and taken to a pencil factory to Inspired by Joseph Conrad’s 1899
a huge hit at the box office in India, be made into erasers. novella Heart of Darkness, Coppola’s
and quotes from the movie (“What’s See also: Blue Velvet 256–57 Apocalypse Now is set during the
going to happen to you now, Vietnam War, as Captain Willard
Kaalia?”) are embedded in Indian (Martin Sheen) is ordered to go
culture. It is the defining “masala” DAWN OF THE DEAD deep into the jungle and kill Colonel
movie—a blend of action, drama, George A. Romero, 1978 Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a decorated
comedy, romance, and music. officer who has gone insane and
Dawn of the Dead is the classic commands his troops as a
zombie horror movie, an demigod. The difficulties faced
XALA unrestrained follow-up to Romero’s while filming in the Philippines are
Ousmane Sembene, 1975 1968 feature Night of the Living legendary, but the result was a
Dead. After the US is devastated by movie of hallucinatory power, with
Xala is a movie by Senegalese an infection that reanimates the a relentless sound track that swings
director Ousmane Sembene, dead, four friends escape by from roaring helicopter blades to
adapted from his own novel. “Xala” helicopter and hole up in a the pounding rock of The Doors.
(pronounced “hala”) is the curse of shopping mall, where they have all See also: The Godfather 200–05
sexual impotence that businessman their needs met but are besieged
El Hadji believes has befallen him by the living dead. While the movie
after his third marriage. As he is generally regarded as a clever RAGING BULL
searches for a cure, El Hadji critique of American consumerism, Martin Scorsese, 1980
neglects his business. Finally, a it is also an unashamed gore fest.
beggar who has haunted his office Robert De Niro’s Jake La Motta is
for years reveals it was he who laid a hungry and desperate boxer who,
the curse on El Hadji, for ruining DAYS OF HEAVEN after finally winning a champion’s
his own life years before. El Hadji Terrence Malick, 1978 belt, descends into a world of seedy
will only be cured by standing bribes. He abuses his wife and all
naked while beggars spit on him. Days of Heaven is most memorable his friends, and ends up bloated
The movie is seen as a metaphor for for its sumptuous Texan landscapes and overweight. It’s a measure of
the French-speaking Senegalese and its captivating score by Ennio Scorsese’s and De Niro’s skill that
DIRECTORY 339
viewers retain their sympathy for government agents move in. The
this angry, frustrated man as he movie is also notable for some PARIS, TEXAS
desperately tries to prove himself outstanding performances by its Wim Wenders, 1984
to the world. child actors, including Henry
See also: Taxi Driver 234–39 Thomas as Elliott and Drew Paris, Texas opens with a man
Barrymore as Gertie. (Harry Dean Stanton) wandering
See also: Jaws 228–31 lost in the Texan desert, and
THE SHINING follows his slow and painful return
Stanley Kubrick, 1980 to his old life, as his brother drives
SCARFACE him across the country to Los
Adapted from Stephen King’s book Brian De Palma, 1983 Angeles to be reacquainted with
of the same name, Kubrick’s The his son and wife. Playwright Sam
Shining turned the author into a Violent, graphic, and over the top, Shepard wrote the script, producing
household name. Jack Nicholson Brian De Palma’s remake of the a sensitive and understated
plays the writer (and recovering 1932 Howard Hawks movie pulls no character study that explores the
alcoholic) Jack Torrance, who takes punches as it charts the rise and nature of family and fatherhood,
an off-season caretaker job at the fall of gangster Tony Montana, as the man, who starts the movie
Overlook Hotel in the Colorado played with relish by Al Pacino. mute, gradually regains his voice
Rockies, bringing his wife Wendy Montana spirals so far out of control and identity. Shot by Wenders’s
(Shelley Duvall) and young son, that he kills his sister’s husband regular collaborator Robby Müller,
Danny, to stay with him in the vast, on her wedding night. The movie the movie features stunning, bleak
empty building. Over the weeks, divided critics. Some reveled in its shots of the desert and of the
Danny is haunted by increasingly detailed characterization; others seedy neon world of the city.
horrifying visions as Jack slowly found it unpleasant and clichéd. See also: Wings of Desire 258–61
becomes homicidal, eventually
chasing his family with a fire axe
and the now-famous cry, “Heeere’s BLOOD SIMPLE COME AND SEE
Johnny!” Kubrick laced the movie Joel and Ethan Coen, 1984 Elem Klimov, 1985
with symbolism to produce a horror
masterpiece, although King is said The Coens began their directorial Soviet director Elem Klimov’s
not to have liked it. careers with this blood-soaked Come and See is one of the few
See also: Dr. Strangelove 176–79 ■ debut, a noirish thriller that movies to show the devastation of
2001: A Space Odyssey 192–93 features many of the themes they war without a redeeming gleam
would revisit in later movies. A of heroism. Drawing on Klimov’s
sleazy bar owner (Dan Hedaya) own boyhood trauma of fleeing
E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL hires an even sleazier private the besieged city of Stalingrad
Steven Spielberg, 1982 detective (M. Emmet Walsh) to kill during World War II, the movie
his wife (Frances McDormand). follows the boy Florya, who
Few screen creatures have Through crossing, double-crossing, joins the Belarusian partisans
captured the hearts of the world and plain incompetence, the hit to fight the Nazis but is separated
as effectively as Spielberg’s E.T., goes bloodily wrong for everyone from his unit. An explosion shatters
with its giant, baby eyes and the involved. Yet the Coens succeed his eardrums, and from then on the
distinctive cute, rasping voice in making the outcome absurd, movie moves through a series of
(spoken by Pat Welsh). Spielberg’s funny, horrible, and inevitable. ever more dire scenes, including
direction and Melissa Mathison’s Critic Roger Ebert has remarked one that shows his home village
script mix sentiment, sadness, and of the Coens’ skill in plotting that piled high with corpses. There
comedy in just the right proportions “they build crazy walls with is no redemption in the movie, or
to keep the audience enthralled as sensible bricks,” and this was never flinching, and yet Klimov finds
E.T. befriends 10-year-old Elliott more true than in Blood Simple. a strange beauty in the terrible
and then faces danger when See also: Fargo 282–83 images he creates.
340 DIRECTORY
a priest to perform a passion play. gunrunning ring. It is relentlessly

BRAZIL To prepare a thought-provoking pacy and uncompromising in its
Terry Gilliam, 1985 production, Daniel draws on violence, with explosive action
academic research relating to scenes and slow-motion gunfights
Terry Gilliam’s Brazil (which takes the life of Christ, but his novel that become almost balletic even
its title from a 1939 song) is part interpretation of the story upsets as they horrify. The centerpiece
satire, part fantasy. It is set in a the Church authorities, and he finds of the movie is an action scene in
surreal future where people are himself undergoing an ordeal that which a handheld camera follows
trapped in humdrum urban lives parallels the Passion itself. The the two cops in a single shot, guns
controlled by a Kafkaesque Ministry movie seems to challenge the blazing, through a hospital unit
of Information. When an innocent established Church hierarchy, and up in an elevator to another
man is wrongly arrested due to a suggesting that it would fail to floor. Woo’s action style has since
bureaucratic error and dies in understand Christ if he returned. been widely imitated.
custody, records functionary Sam
Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) tries to
make it right, and in the process HEARTS OF DARKNESS: A RESERVOIR DOGS
falls in love with the enigmatic Jill FILMMAKER’S APOCALYPSE Quentin Tarantino, 1992
(Kim Greist) whom he fears may be Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper,
a terrorist working against the and Eleanor Coppola, 1991 Tarantino’s debut feature focuses
ministry. The movie is probably the on the aftermath of a diamond
most complete representation of Filmed by the director’s wife, heist gone wrong, as the gang
Gilliam’s absurdist humor. Eleanor, this behind-the-scenes gathers in a warehouse and tries
documentary follows the troubled to identify the traitor in its midst.
making of Francis Ford Coppola’s The movie made Tarantino a star,
DOWN BY LAW 1979 Vietnam War movie and drew strong performances
Jim Jarmusch, 1986 Apocalypse Now. The production from its mostly male cast, including
was beset with difficulties that Michael Madsen and Tim Roth.
Shot on a low budget in black and paralleled the movie’s actual Its ultraviolence is made theatrical
white, Down by Law adopts a narrative, with drunk, high, or by smart, rapid-fire dialogue laced
laconic take on life. At some uncooperative stars, bad weather, with pop-culture references.
moments bleak and others cheerful, and political problems on location Combined with sharp suits and
it tells the story of three misfits— in the Philippines. The movie a retro sound track, the movie
down-at-heel disc jockey Zack includes interviews with the introduced Tarantino as a new
(Tom Waits), hustler pimp Jack surviving protagonists, in which and stylish filmmaker.
(John Lurie), and lost Italian Coppola reflects on the experience: See also: Pulp Fiction 270–75
tourist Bob (Roberto Benigni)— “We were in the jungle, there were
who happen to end up sharing too many of us, we had access to too
a prison cell and decide to make much money, too much equipment, NAKED
a break for it. As they go on the and little by little we went insane.” Mike Leigh, 1993
run through the Louisiana forests, See also: The Godfather 200–05
the story seems part dream, part Naked follows a young man from
postapocalyptic nightmare. Manchester, Johnny (David Thewlis),
HARD BOILED who, with nowhere else to go, turns
John Woo, 1992 up at the London apartment of an
JESUS OF MONTREAL old girlfriend (Lesley Sharp). Johnny
Denys Arcand, 1989 Hard Boiled is a high-energy wanders the streets, where he has
thriller about two unconventional chance encounters, including one
Jesus of Montreal tells the story of Hong Kong cops, Tequila (Chow with night security guard Brian
a company of actors led by Daniel Yun-Fat) and Alan (Tony Leung), (Peter Wight), who shows Johnny
(Lothaire Bluteau) who are hired by who team up to break a the workings of his mundane job.
DIRECTORY 341
“Don’t waste your life,” warns kill Pauline’s mother when she tries so, God will cure Jan. Scandalized,
Brian, but this bleak movie ends as to keep them apart. As the girls her local church casts her out, but
it began, with Johnny on the move, blur the line between reality and when, at the end, she sacrifices her
in the process of doing just that. the fantasy world they create with life, Jan is apparently cured.
Director Mike Leigh uses a long stories, pictures, and plastic
rehearsal process with his actors to figurines, so does Jackson, creating
develop characters and scripts for a movie that deals with a grim TASTE OF CHERRY
his movies, and in Naked, he story in a surprisingly uplifting way. Abbas Kiarostami, 1997
provoked a stunning performance See also: The Lord of the Rings:
from Thewlis—egoistic, bitter, and The Fellowship of the Ring 302–03 Taste of Cherry, by Iranian director
nihilistic, yet funny and endearing Abbas Kiarostami, is a minimalist
at times. movie about a man who drives
DRIFTING CLOUDS around Tehran, looking for someone
Aki Kaurismäki, 1996 who will bury him once he has
SHORT CUTS killed himself. We never find out
Robert Altman, 1993 Drifting Clouds, by Finnish director why he wants to die. As he drives
Aki Kaurismäki, is a wry, tender he picks up various candidates.
Based on nine short stories by look at the lives of an ordinary Kiarostami had no script, but
Raymond Carver, Robert Altman’s couple brought low by a recession. improvised the dialogue almost as
Short Cuts follows the fortunes of Ilona (Kati Outinen) works in a a series of interviews, either from
22 ordinary people in Los Angeles restaurant and her husband Lauri the man’s point of view or that of
as their lives interweave over a (Kari Väänänen) is a bus driver. The his passenger. The end, in which
few days. The people, played by couple scrape by until both lose the man is seen waiting for death
an all-star cast that includes Jack their jobs. Lauri loses his licence for in his grave, is surprisingly uplifting.
Lemmon and Julianne Moore, have medical reasons, and although Ilona
little in common, and do nothing finds a new restaurant job, she is
especially dramatic, but beneath cheated out of her wages. It ends WERCKMEISTER
their lives is a sense of insecurity ambiguously, but hopefully, with HARMONIES
and unease about the future, the couple opening a restaurant Béla Tarr, 2000
symbolized by a plague of flies and seeing it fill with customers.
and earthquake warnings. Altman The Hungarian movie Werckmeister
creates a sense of something Harmonies consists of just 39 long
heroic in their willingness to keep BREAKING THE WAVES shots in black and white, each a
trying, hoping for something better. Lars von Trier, 1996 complete scene in itself. The story
is set in a bleak town in winter. A
Set in a remote part of Scotland circus arrives, and a stuffed whale
HEAVENLY CREATURES in the 1970s, Breaking the Waves is its main attraction. The story is
Peter Jackson, 1994 is the strange story of Bess (Emily seen through the eyes of the wise
Watson). Deeply religious and fool János (Lars Randolph). János
After an early career making low- naive, Bess begins to come out looks after György (Peter Fitz),
budget splatter movies, Peter of her shell when she impulsively who believes the world’s problems
Jackson had a dramatic change of marries Swedish oil rig worker Jan began with the musical theories
direction with this touching movie (Stellan Skarsgård). Things change of 17th-century organist Andreas
based on a true story about a dramatically when Jan is paralyzed Werckmeister. It may be an allegory
murder in Christchurch, New in a rig accident. He tells her that for Communist-era Hungary. Its
Zealand. Two misfit teenagers, rich they can still have a sex life—by target could also be capitalism
English girl Juliet (Kate Winslet) proxy—if she will sleep with other or totalitarianism; either way, its
and shy New Zealander Pauline men and describe for him her acts. view of humanity is pessimistic,
(Melanie Lynskey), develop an Bess debases herself sexually with showing acts of collective brutality
intense relationship and decide to other men, believing that by doing committed for no clear reason.
342 DIRECTORY
and visual inventiveness. On finds himself obliged to care for it.

AMORES PERROS the face of it, the movie tells the The movie is driven by the vibrant
Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2000 story of aspiring actress Betty Kwaito music of Zola, described by
Elms (Naomi Watts) who arrives one critic as “slowed-down garage
Sometimes translated as Love’s in Los Angeles and makes friends music,” and a dynamic score by
a Bitch, the Mexican movie Amores with amnesiac “Rita” (Laura Mark Kilian and Paul Hepker.
Perros paints a disturbing world, Harring), but it follows many other
especially with its graphic scenes little stories whose connection is
of dog fighting. The movie is set in cryptic. Lynch described the movie CACHÉ
Mexico City, and consists of three as “a love story in the city of Michael Haneke, 2005
stories of loyalty and disloyalty, dreams,” and offered no more
each involving a dog and briefly explanation than that. Michael Haneke’s Caché (Hidden)
linked by a car accident. Octavio See also: Blue Velvet 256–57 is a French psychological thriller
runs off with his brother’s wife; starring Daniel Auteuil and Juliette
Daniel leaves his wife for a model Binoche as a well-to-do couple who
who then loses her leg; and the GOOD BYE, LENIN! are sent a series of anonymous
hitman El Chivo is trying to make Wolfgang Becker, 2003 surveillance videos showing
contact with the daughter he the exterior of their home. The
abandoned at two years old. Wolfgang Becker’s tender movie videos take on a more disturbing
tells a story set in East Berlin just significance when they are
before and after the reunification accompanied by crayon drawings
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE of Germany. In 1989, Alex’s mother that reveal an intimate knowledge
Wong Kar-Wai, 2000 suffers a nearly fatal heart attack of the man’s early years, when his
when she witnesses him being family was considering adopting
Chow (Tony Leung) and Su (Maggie arrested while involved in an an Algerian boy. The movie is
Cheung) are neighbors in a Hong antigovernment protest. She falls partly about the repressed memory
Kong apartment block in 1962. Each into a coma and doctors warn Alex of la nuit noire, the night of October
is convinced that their spouse is that any sudden shock—such as the 17, 1961, in Paris, when French
having an affair—perhaps with the news that the Berlin Wall has just police massacred demonstrators
other’s spouse—and they meet to fallen—could kill her. And so, when against the Algerian War. Haneke
discuss it. They are aware that they she awakes, Alex goes through an skillfully handles the political
may be in love with each other, but elaborate and touching charade to message while keeping a taut,
resist, unwilling to make the same keep her believing that life is edge-of-the-seat menace that
mistake as their partners. The carrying on as normal in the GDR. carries the movie along.
resignation to their fate is perfectly See also: The White Ribbon 323
underpinned by the movie’s
luminous cinematography and the TSOTSI
slow, mesmerizing sound of a Gavin Hood, 2005 TIMES AND WINDS
repeated Nat King Cole melody. Reha Erdem, 2006
Adapted from an Athol Fugard
novel, Gavin Hood’s Tsotsi is the Reha Erdem’s Times and Winds is
MULHOLLAND DR. story of David, an inhabitant of a visual poem. It is an affecting
David Lynch, 2001 a Johannesburg shantytown. As a look at the lives of three adolescent
boy, David finds himself homeless children in a mountain village in
Originally conceived as a TV series, and has to grow up quickly to Turkey—two boys, Ömer and Yakup,
Mulholland Dr. leaves the viewer become Tsotsi, the brutal leader of and a girl Yildiz. Life in this bleak
hanging, almost as if it were a a violent gang. He is stopped short place is harsh, as the villagers try
trailer for episodes that will never when he finds a baby in the car of to scratch a living from the soil, but
happen. It is full of Lynch’s one of his victims. The helplessness the challenges the three children
characteristic enigmatic twists of the baby challenges him as he face in growing up are harder still.
DIRECTORY 343
This is no coming-of-age movie, driven insane. The movie seems to brothers used incidental music
but a deeply felt and realistic get to the nub of capitalism’s true for this movie, explaining that its
portrait that captures the pain nature: that, ultimately, it is about fairy-tale structure required it.
and beauty of young life. domination not profit.
HOLY MOTORS
TEN CANOES THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES Leos Carax, 2012
Rolf de Heer and Peter Djigirr, 2006 Juan José Campanella, 2009
Holy Motors, a fantasy drama by
Ten Canoes was the first Australian Retired Buenos Aires federal agent French director Leos Carax, has
movie ever made completely in an Benjamín (Ricardo Darín) is writing been described as a parable of
Aboriginal language, and with an a novel, but has writer’s block. So human relationships for the internet
exclusively Aboriginal cast. But it he calls on former colleague Irene age. It is a hard movie to pin down,
would be a mistake to think it was (Soledad Villamil) to go over the however, and is certainly surreal.
notable for these things alone. In details of a case they worked on It follows businessman Monsieur
fact, it is a charming and hugely together 25 years earlier. As Oscar (Denis Lavant), who is taken
imaginative movie in which there Benjamin revisits the case, he around Paris in a white limousine,
is rich complexity behind apparent rekindles a buried passion for Irene, driven by Céline (Edith Scob),
simplicity. Set in the remote as well as revealing the obsessions entering a bizarre sequence of
Arnhem Land, at first the story of the other people involved in the worlds and roles: as assassin,
seems like a simple fable of young case. Campanella splits the action raging father, bag lady, and many
love, but with flashbacks to ancient between the 1990s and the 1970s, a more. It defies narrative logic, and
times it becomes a mesh of time of brutal military dictatorship, seems to combine the worlds of
different perspectives. The most in which political murders were Lewis Carroll with those of David
modern time period is shot in black sanctioned by the state. The result Lynch and Luis Buñuel.
and white, while the past is is a movie that works both as a
brought to life in color, a beautifully tightly scripted thriller with a very
simple idea that illustrates how the clever twist, and as a frank THE GRAND
past can be as vital as the present. examination of Argentina’s BUDAPEST HOTEL
The movie is narrated by David troubled recent past. Wes Anderson, 2014
Gulpilil, who starred in Nicolas
Roeg’s Walkabout, and one of the In The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes
cast is Gulpilil’s son Jamie. THE KID WITH A BIKE Anderson maintains his reputation
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, 2011 for walking the line between folly
and genius. Set in a fictional central
THERE WILL BE BLOOD The Kid With a Bike (Le gamin au European state between the two
Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007 vélo) is the tender story of 12-year- world wars, the story recounts in
old Cyril (Thomas Doret) finding flashback the comic adventures
At the heart of Paul Thomas comfort with a young woman called of Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes), a
Anderson’s There Will Be Blood is a Samantha (Cécile de France) who legendary concierge, and his
remarkable performance by Daniel gives him a bicycle after his father trusted bellboy Zero Moustafa
Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview, the abandons him. Samantha is in (Tony Revolori and F. Murray
silver miner turned oilman in his some ways a fairy godmother, but Abraham). The plot is driven by
ruthless pursuit of wealth. To the Dardenne brothers’ directing Gustave H.’s attempts to get his
persuade small landowners to allow keeps the movie realistic. Their hands on a priceless painting, with
him to drill on their land, Plainview work owes a clear debt to neorealist the rise of fascism providing the
presents himself as a prophet of classics about childhood such background tension. The film is a
profit. He becomes so obsessed as Kes and The Bicycle Thief. In fast-moving farce, a love story, and
with finding oil and destroying his a departure from their previous, a lament for a vanished aged of spa
competitors that he is eventually intensely naturalistic work, the hotels and their eccentric guests.
344
INDEX
Numbers in bold indicate main entries. Apocalypse Now 197, 205, 206, 226, Bergman, Ingrid 72–73, 75, 143
319, 338 Best Years of Our Lives, The 45
3D 106, 269 Apollo 13 326 Bicycle Thief, The 37, 45, 94–97, 132
8½ 162, 165 Arcand, Denys 340 Big Deal on Madonna Street 162, 165
12 Monkeys 172 Arletty 81 Big Heat, The 47, 332–33
39 Steps, The 44 Armstrong, Robert 49 Big Sleep, The 12, 65, 75
400 Blows, The 94, 107, 150–55, 158 Arquette, Patricia 327 Bigelow, Kathryn 269, 320, 321
2001: A Space Odyssey 159, 179, L’arrivée d’un train en gare de Biggest Heroes, The 286
192–93, 247 La Ciotat 12 Bird, Robert 246
Artist, The 122 Birds, The 142, 143
Ascenseur pour l’échafaud 333 Björnstrand, Gunnar 137, 138
A Ashby, Hal 337

Ashes and Diamonds 146–47
Audran, Stéphane 198
Astin, Sean 303
Black God, White Devil 174–75
Black Hawk Down 253, 320
Black Narcissus 86, 87
Blackthorne, Paul 300
À bout de souffle 158, 166–67, 169, Australian New Wave 233 Blade Runner 193, 227, 250–55
196, 286 Blair Witch Project, The 288
Abel, Alfred 33 Blind Chance 276
Academy Awards 19
action adventure movies 228–31
Adam, Ken 177
Agee, James 118
B Blindness 306
Blood Simple 282, 283, 339
Blue Angel, The 19, 36
Blue Velvet 197, 227, 256–57
Aguirre, the Wrath of God 206–07 Bacall, Lauren 72, 75 Boal, Mark 320
Aiello, Danny 264 Back to the Future 229 Body Snatcher, The 180
Aimée, Anouk 163, 165 Baader Meinhof Complex, The 312 Bogart, Humphrey 13, 45, 72–74, 75,
Albertazzi, Giorgio 170 Bahr, Fax 340 166, 219
Aldrich, Robert 134 Banderas, Antonio 262 Boileau, Pierre 107
Alekan, Henri 85 Bandyopadhyay, Bibhutibhushan 133 Bonnie and Clyde 159, 166, 190–91
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul 159, 222–23 Banerjee, Karuna 133 Boot, Das 226, 248–49
Alien 226, 243, 252, 253, 298 Banerjee, Subir 132 Borchert, Brigitte 37
All About Eve 106, 332 Barbarella 159 Borgnine, Ernest 195
All the President’s Men 226 Barranco, Maria 262 Boucher, Le 159, 198–99
All That Heaven Allows 106, 130, 222, 223 Barrault, Jean-Louis 81, 82 Boyd, Billy 303
Alland, William 69 Barravento 174 Boyhood 15, 269, 327
Allen, Woody 226, 240, 241 Barrymore, Lionel 92 Boyle, Danny 269, 318, 319
Almodóvar, Pedro 227, 262 Bastos, Othon 175 Brackett, Charles 114, 115
Altman, Robert 341 Battle of Algiers, The 158, 182–87 Bradshaw, Peter 97, 218, 308
Amélie 281, 298–99 Battleship Potemkin 19, 28–29, 106 Brando, Marlon 106, 116, 117, 184, 190,
L’Amore 106 Beatty, Warren 190, 191 196, 202, 203, 204
Amores Perros 342 Beaufoy, Simon 318 Brasseur, Pierre 81
Amour 323 Beauty and the Beast 84, 227, 280 Brazil 340
Anderson, Lindsay 50, 51 Becker, Wolfgang 312, 342 Breaking the Waves 341
Anderson, Paul Thomas 269, 343 Beckett, Samuel 175, 247 Brecht, Bertolt 175
Anderson, Wes 343 Before Sunrise 327 Breslin, Jimmy 185
Andersson, Bibi 137, 335 Belle de Jour 159, 336 Bride of Frankenstein, The 52
Andrei Rublev 244, 245 Belle et la Bête, La 84–85 Brief Encounter 332
Andrews, Dana 79 Belmondo, Jean-Paul 166 British New Wave 158, 159, 168–69,
Andrews, Julie 180–81 Benchley, Peter 229 222
Annie Hall 226, 240–41 Benny, Jack 76 Brokeback Mountain 295
Antonio das Mortes 175 Bérard, Christian 84 Brown, Joe E. 149
Antonov, Aleksandr 28 Bergman, Ingmar 107, 136–38, 139, Browning, Tod 331
Apartment, The 148, 149 240, 335 Bryant, Chris 212
INDEX 345
Buchheim, Lothar-Günther 248, 249 Christie, Julie 210 Curtis, Tony 14, 148–49
Buena Vista Social Club 261 Cinderella 20, 53 Curtiz, Michael 72
Build my Gallows High 118, 332 Cinema Novo (Brazil) 175 Cybulski, Zbigniew 146, 147
Bullock, Sandra 269, 326 Citizen Kane 13, 45, 66–71, 100,
Buñuel, Luis 19, 50, 159, 208, 209, 102, 180
330–31, 332, 336
Burn! 184, 187
Buscemi, Steve 282
City of God 268, 304–09, 318
City Lights 19, 38–41, 95
City of Lost Children, The 298
Clair, René 50
D
Clansman, The 22, 23 Day, Josette 84
C Clarke, Arthur C. 192

Clayton, Jack 334
Clockwork Orange, A 159, 179,
192, 337
Dalí, Salvador 19, 50, 208, 330
Dalio, Marcel 60, 61
Darabont, Frank 278, 279
Dardenne brothers, Jean-Pierre
Caan, James 205 Clooney, George 263, 326 and Luc 343
Cabaret 180 Close Encounters of the Third Kind Dark Water 288, 289
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The 18, 24–27 193, 226, 228, 230 Das Gupta, Uma 133
Caché 323, 342 Close, Glenn 249 Dassin, Jules 333
Cain, James M. 78 Closely Observed Trains 335 Dasté, Jean 51
Calamai, Clara 78 Clouzot, Henri-Georges 13, 106, Davies, Marion 71
Campanella, Juan José 343 107, 128 Davis, Bette 106, 134
Canby, Vincent 207, 232 Cocteau, Jean 84, 85 Dawn of the Dead 338
Canudo, Ricciotto 14 Coen, Joel and Ethan 268, 282, Day the Earth Stood Still, The 106, 180
Cape Fear 118, 239 283, 339 Day for Night 152
Capra, Frank 90–92, 93 Colbert, Claudette 91 Days of Heaven 338
Carax, Leos 343 collision 29 Dazed and Confused 327
Carette, Julien 60 color 14, 57 de Heer, Rolf 343
Carné, Marcel 45, 80–82, 83 Coltrane, Ellar 327 de Landa, Juan 78
Caro, Marc 298 Come and See 339 De Niro, Robert 226, 236, 239
Carr, Charmian 181 Committee Investigating Un-American De Palma, Brian 239, 339
Casablanca 45, 72–75 Activities 45 De Sica, Vittorio 37, 45, 94, 97, 132
Casares, Maria 82 Company of Wolves, The 314 Dead Man Walking 278
Cassavetes, John 134, 263, 337 Constant Gardener, The 306 Dead Poets Society 232, 233
Cassel, Vincent 281 Contempt 46, 167 Dean, James 131
Castelnuovo, Nino 173 Conversation, The 159, 205 Decroux, Étienne 81
Castle of Cagliostro, The 296, 297 Cool Hand Luke 278 Deer Hunter, The 239
Catch-22 159 Cooper, Merian C. 49 Del Rey, Geraldo 174–75
Central Station 285 Coppola, Eleanor 340 Delicatessen 298
Ceylan, Nuri Bilge 269, 324, 325 Coppola, Francis Ford 159, 202, 204, DeMille, Cecil B. 114
Chabrol, Claude 166, 198, 199 205, 206, 239, 338 Demy, Jacques 173
Chaffey, Don 335 Corman, Roger 213 Deneuve, Catherine 173
Champlin, Charles 193 Cotten, Joseph 70 Departed, The 237
Chandler, Raymond 115 The Counterfeiters 312 Deren, Maya 331
Chanel, Coco 171 Coward, Noel 102 Dern, Laura 256
Chang Chen 295 Crash 268 Deschanel, Zooey 56
Chaplin, Charlie 18, 19, 40, 41, crime movies 46–47, 134, 190–91, Devi, Chunibala 132
44, 51, 95, 96 216–21, 270–75, 304–09, 324–25 Devil’s Backbone, The 314, 316
Chelsea Girls 159, 188 Cronenberg, David 227, 268 Diaboliques, Les 107, 128
Cheng Pei-pei 294 Cronos 316 Dietrich, Marlene 19, 36, 143
Chiaki, Minoru 110 Crosland, Alan 330 Dirty Harry 159
Chien Andalou, Un 19, 50, 159, 208, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 268, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
330–31 290–95 159, 208–09
Children of Men 326 Crowther, Bosley 84, 165, 167 Disney, Walt 34, 44, 53, 227
Children of Paradise 45, 80–83 Cruel Sea, The 248 Distant 325
Chinatown 159, 216–21, 226 Cuadrado, Luis 214 Divorce Italian Style 165
Chloe 284 Cuarón, Alfonso 269, 326 Django Unchained 275
Choi Min-sik 310–11 Cukor, George 58, 62, 63 Djigirr, Peter 343
Chow Yun-fat 293 Cuny, Alain 164 Do the Right Thing 264
346 INDEX
documentaries 322 gangster movies 200–05, 304–09

Dogme 95 manifesto 268, 286, 287
Dolce Vita, La 158, 160–65
Dommartin, Solveig 260
Donen, Stanley 122
F Ganz, Bruno 258, 259
Garbo, Greta 19
García Lorca, Federico 208
Garland, Judy 56
Don’t Look Now 210–13 Fahrenheit 451 152, 213 Gaynor, Janet 30
Double Indemnity 114, 115, 331 Fairbanks, Douglas 19 Gedeck, Martina 312
Double Life of Veronique, The 276, 277 Falconetti, Maria 35 Generation, A 146
Down by Law 340 Falk, Peter 258, 260, 261 Geraghty, Brian 321
Downfall 312 Fallen Idol, The 103 German Expressionism 18, 26, 27, 32,
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 58 Fargo 268, 282–83 45, 118, 121
Dr. Mabuse the Gambler 32, 33, 47, 330 Fassbinder, Rainer Werner 159, Ghost Actress 289
Dr. No 158 222, 223 Giger, H. R. 243
Dr. Strangelove 158, 176–79, 192 Fehér, Friedrich 26 Gilliam, Terry 172, 340
Dracula 44, 45 Fellini, Federico 107, 162, 163, 165, 333 Gimpera, Teresa 215
Dreyer, Carl Theodor 35 Fernán Gómez, Fernando 215 Girotti, Massimo 78
Dreyfuss, Richard 230 Festen 268, 286–87 Gish, Lillian 23, 121
Drifting Clouds 341 Field, Shirley Anne 169 Gladiator 253
Dry Summer 334–35 film noir 78, 79, 100–03 Gleiberman, Owen 275
Duck Soup 48, 240 Finney, Albert 169 Glengarry Glen Ross 149
Duellists, The 253 Fisher, Carrie 242 Godard, Jean-Luc 46, 152, 158, 159,
Dugan, Tom 77 Fistful of Dollars, A 110 166, 167, 196, 286
Dullea, Keir 193 Fitzcarraldo 206 The Godfather 159, 200–05
Dumont, Margaret 48 Five Easy Pieces 218 The Godfather: Part II 159, 202, 205,
Dunaway, Faye 190, 191, 218 Fleming, Victor 56–57, 58, 62–63 236, 239
Dune 257 Fonda, Henry 91 Godzilla 14, 106, 107, 129
Duras, Marguerite 170 Fonda, Peter 159, 196, 197 Goebbels, Joseph 44
For Whom the Bell Tolls 72 Golstein, Coco 51
Forbidden Planet 107 Gone Girl 113
E Ford, Harrison 218, 233, 242, 249,

252, 255
Ford, John 135, 331
Forrest Gump 275
Gone with the Wind 45, 56, 58,
62–63
Gong Li 265
González Iñárritu, Alejandro 342
Ealing comedies 45, 98–99 Foster, Jodie 237, 238 Good Bye, Lenin! 312, 342
East of Eden 117, 131 Frankenheimer, John 334 Goodfellas 236, 237, 306
Eastwoood, Clint 249 Frankenstein 33, 44, 45, 52, 214 Goring, Marius 87
Easy Rider 159, 196–97, 218 Frantic 218, 221 Gowariker, Ashutosh 300, 301
Eat Drink Man Woman 295 Freaks 331 Graduate, The 159, 335
Ebert, Roger 14, 75, 101, 124, 133, 135, Freeman, Morgan 279 Grand Budapest Hotel, The 343
188, 199, 236, 260, 264, 285, 309, 322 French Connection, The 159 Grand Illusion, The 60, 61
Edison, Thomas 12 French, Philip 63, 314 Grant, Cary 64–65, 142, 149
Egoyan, Atom 284 French New Wave 51, 83, 97, 107, 152, Grapes of Wrath, The 135, 331
Eisenstein, Sergei 19, 28, 29, 245 155, 158, 166, 167, 171, 173, 175, 199 Gravity 269, 326
Ekberg, Anita 163 Frend, Charles 248 Great Depression 40, 41, 44, 62,
Ekerot, Bengt 137 Freund, Karl 18, 46 91, 118
Elephant Man, The 256, 257 From Here to Eternity 106 Great Dictator, The 40
Enter the Dragon 159 Front Page, The 64 Great Train Robbery 18, 330
Entranced Earth 175 Funny Games 323 Green Mile, The 278, 279
epics, historical 22–23 Furneaux, Yvonne 163 Green Zone 320
Eraserhead 256, 257, 338 Greenaway, Peter 170
Erdem, Reha 342 Greene, Graham 45, 47, 101–03
Erdogan, Yilmaz 324
Erice, Victor 214, 215
Erksan, Metin 334
Escape from Alcatraz 278
G Greengrass, Paul 320
Greenwood, Joan 99
Griffith, D. W. 18, 22, 62
Grimm, Brothers 53, 85
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial 227, 230, 339 Gable, Clark 63, 91 Guillén, Fernando 262
experimental movies 170–71, 188 Gallipoli 232, 233 Guinness, Alec 45, 98, 99, 158, 242
Exterminating Angel, The 208 Gangs of New York 237, 268 Gunton, Bob 279
INDEX 347
Hobbit, The 269, 302–03 Jo Yeong-wook 311
H Hoffman, Dustin 159, 190, 249

Holden, William 115, 195
Holm, Ian 284
Holy Motors 343
Joan of Arc 58
Johnson, Ben 195
Johnston, Sheila 73
Joint Security Area 310
Hackman, Gene 159, 191 Honda, Ishiro 129 Jolson, Al 19, 30
Hadjadj, Brahim 185 Honma, Noriko 110–11 Jules et Jim 152, 334
Hagen, Jean 123 Hood, Gavin 342 Julien Donkey-Boy 286
La Haine 281 Hopper, Dennis 159, 196, 197, 218, 256 Jurassic Park 228
Haley, Jack 57 House of Flying Daggers 292
Haller, Ernest 63 Howard, Leslie 63
Hamer, Robert 98, 99, 168
Hamill, Mark 242
Hammerstein II, Oscar 180, 181
Hammid, Alexander 331
Howard, Ron 326
Howard, Trevor 101
Hudson, Rock 130
Human Beast, The 60, 61
K
Hand, David 53 Hunter, Kim 87, 116 Kael, Pauline 15, 50, 80, 133, 148, 213
Handke, Peter 258–61 Hurt Locker, The 269, 320–21 Kalatozov, Mikhail 335
Hands of Orlac, The 26, 27 Huston, John 148, 218, 331 Kamath, Sudish 300
Haneke, Michael 269, 323, 342 Hutchinson, Pamela 31 Kanal 146, 147
Hannah, Daryl 253 Kane, Charles Foster 68–71
Hannah and Her Sisters 240, 241 Kapò 184, 187
Hanson, Curtis 268
Hara, Setsuko 126, 127
Hard Boiled 340
Harder They Come, The 337
IJ Karas, Anton 100
Karloff, Boris 44, 52, 121, 159
Kassovitz, Mathieu 281, 299
Kaurismäki, Aki 341
Harold and Maude 337 I Am Cuba 335 Kaydanovsky, Aleksandr 246
Harryhausen, Ray 49, 269, 303 Ice Storm, The 292, 295 Kazan, Elia 106, 116, 117, 131, 203
Hauer, Rutger 252 Idiots, The 286 Keaton, Buster 18, 19, 34, 44, 114
Hawke, Ethan 327 Ill Met by Moonlight 87 Keaton, Diane 205, 240–41
Hawks, Howard 64, 65, 148 In the Mood for Love 342 Keitel, Harvey 236, 239
Hayden, Sterling 176 Indiana Jones 226, 229, 230 Kelly, Gene 122–23, 124, 173
Hays Code 44 Innocents, The 334 Kelly, Grace 143
Hearst, William Randolph 45, 71 Inside Llewyn Davis 282 Kes 336
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Interstellar 326 Khan, Aamir 300–01
Apocalypse 340 Intolerance 18, 22–23 Khan, Irrfan 318
Heaven 276 Invasion of the Body Snatchers Khan, Mehboob 300
Heavenly Creatures 302, 303, 341 107, 194, 333 Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey 301
Hedges, Chris 321 The Invisible Man 45, 52 Kiarostami, Abbas 341
Hedren, Tippi 143 It Always Rains on a Sunday 98, 168 Kid Auto Races at Venice 18
Hellboy 316 It Happened One Night 90, 91, 93 The Kid with a Bike 343
Helm, Brigitte 33 Italian neorealism 94–97 Kieslowski, Krzysztof 276, 277
Helmore, Tom 142 It’s a Wonderful Life 88–93, 142 Kill Bill: Vol. 1 269, 272, 275
Henckel von Donnersmark, Florian 312 Ivan’s Childhood 245 Kind Hearts and Coronets 45,
Henreid, Paul 73–75 Jackson, Peter 269, 302, 303, 341 98–99, 158
Henzell, Perry 337 Jackson, Samuel L. 274 King, The 322
Hepburn, Katharine 13 Jacob, Irène 276 King of Comedy, The 236
Hermann, Irm 222 Jagger, Mick 210, 213 King Kong 44–45, 49, 84, 269
Herrand, Marcel 81 Jamieson, Wendell 93 King Kong (remake) 302, 303
Herrmann, Bernard 70 Jannings, Emil 36 King, Stephen 278, 279
Herzog, Werner 206, 207, 337 Janowitz, Hans 26 Kinski, Klaus 206
Hickenlooper, George 340 Jarmusch, Jim 340 Kiss Me Deadly 134, 272
Higashiyama, Chieko 126 Jason and the Argonauts 49, 335 Klimov, Elem 339
Hiroshima mon amour 170 Jaws 14, 15, 226, 228–31, 243 Koch, Sebastian 312
His Girl Friday 64–65 Jazz Singer, The 19, 30, 40, 122, 330 Korda, Alexander 62, 103
Hitchcock, Alfred 19, 27, 44, 71, 91 Jesus of Montreal 340 Korine, Harmony 286
107, 128, 142, 143–44, 198, 199, 227, Jet Li 292 Kosma, Joseph 81
230, 256, 334 La Jetée 159, 172 Koundé, Hubert 281
Hitler, Adolf 36, 40, 69, 77, 149 Jeunet, Jean-Pierre 298 Kovacs, Ernie 149
348 INDEX
Kragh-Jacobsen, Søren 286 Loach, Ken 97, 168, 184, 336 Married Woman, A 167
Krzyzewska, Ewa 146, 147 Lockwood, Gary 193 Marsh, James 322
Kubrick, Stanley 158, 170, 176–78, Lodger, The: A Story of the martial arts movies 159, 268, 290–95
179, 192–93, 226, 247, 252, 337, 339 London Fog 19 Martin, Jean 186
Kuleshov, Lev 29 Lombard, Carole 76 Marx Brothers 44, 48, 240
Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter 282 Look Back in Anger 168, 169 Chico 48
Kundun 237 Lord of the Rings, The: The Fellowship Groucho 48, 241
Kurosawa, Akira 13, 106, 107, 110, of the Ring 302–03 Harpo 13, 48
111–13, 129, 333 Lord of the Rings, The trilogy 269, 302 Zeppo 48
Kürten, Peter 46 Lorre, Peter 46, 47, 75 MASH 159
Kyô, Machiko 110 Lost Highway 268 Mastroianni, Marcello 162–63, 165
Lubitsch, Ernst 45, 76, 77 Matsushima, Nanako 289
Lucas, George 226, 242 Matter of Life and Death, A 86–87
L Lugosi, Bela 44
Lulli, Folco 128
Lumière brothers, Auguste and Louis
12, 14, 18, 20
Matthau, Walter 64, 149
Mauch, Thomas 206
Maura, Carmen 262
Mayer, Carl 26
LA Confidential 268 Lynch, David 13, 170, 227, 256, 257, Mayer, Edwin Justus 76
La Pointe, Ali 184, 187 268, 338, 342 Maysles brothers, Albert and David 336
Lady from Shanghai, The 102 Mean Streets 236, 237, 239
Lagaan 300–01 Meeker, Ralph 134
Lanchester, Elsa 52, 118
Land of Silence and Darkness 337
Lang, Fritz 13, 18, 19, 30, 32–33, 44, 46,
47, 79, 252, 330, 332–33
M Meirelles, Fernando 268, 306, 307–09
Méliès, Georges 12, 13, 18, 20,
21, 84, 269
Menzel, Jiri 335
Larsen, Thomas Bo 287 M 32, 44, 46–47 Merrill, Virginia 40
Lasseter, John 280 McCarey, Leo 48 Meshes of the Afternoon 331
Last Tango in Paris 203 McDaniel, Hattie 62, 63 “Method” acting technique 117, 203
Last Temptation of Christ, The 237 McDormand, Frances 283 Metropolis 19, 30, 32–33, 46, 47, 252
Last Year at Marienbad 159, 170–71 MacDowell, Andie 263 Mickey Mouse 34, 53
Laughton, Charles 118, 121 McKellen, Ian 303 Micmacs 298
Laura 79 Mackie, Anthony 321 Midnight Cowboy 159, 336
Leachman, Cloris 134 MacLachlan, Kyle 256 Mifune, Toshiro 110, 111
Lean, David 98, 332 Macy, Wiliam H. 282 Miles, Vera 135
Léaud, Jean-Pierre 152 Mad Max 226 Miller, Arthur 94
Lebanon 248 Magalhães, Yoná 174 Mira, Brigitte 223
Lederer, Charles 64 Maggiorani, Lamberto 94 Mist, The 279
Lee, Ang 268, 292, 295 Magnificent Seven, The 110 Mitchell, Margaret 62
Lee, Bruce 159 Magritte, René 209 Mitchum, Robert 118
Lee, Spike 227, 263, 264, 272, 281 Maids 306 Miyazaki, Hayao 296, 297
Lefebvre, Louis 51 Malanga, Gerard 188 Modern German Cinema 312
Legrand, Michel 173 Malcolm, Derek 83, 166 Modern Times 40, 96
Leigh, Janet 143 Malcolm X 264 Monaghan, Dominic 303
Leigh, Mike 340–41 Malick, Terrence 338 Monroe, Marilyn 148–49
Leigh, Vivien 62, 63, 116, 117 Malle, Louis 333 monster movies 44–45, 49, 52, 106, 129,
Lemmon, Jack 64, 114, 148, 149 Maltese Falcon, The 45, 72, 75, 100, 228–31
Lengyel, Melchior 76 166, 218, 219, 331 montage 29
Leone, Sergio 336 Man Who Fell to Earth, The 210, 213 Montand, Yves 128
Levring, Kristian 286 Man Who Knew too Much, The 144 Montenegro, Fernanda 285
Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The Man on Wire 322 Mori, Masayuki 110
86, 87 Manchurian Candidate, The 334 Moritzen, Henning 287
Life of Pi 295 Manhattan 241 Morrissey, Paul 188
Lindblom, Gunnel 137 Mankiewicz, Herman J. 71 Mother India 300
Lindsay, Joan 232 Mankiewicz, Joseph L. 332 Motorcycle Diaries, The 285
Linklater, Richard 263, 272, 327 Mantle, Anthony Dod 319 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Little Fugitive 155 Maoz, Samuel 248 90, 91, 93
Lives of Others, The 312–13 Marais, Jean 84 Mühe, Ulrich 312
Livingston, Margaret 30 Marker, Chris 172 Mulholland Dr. 256, 257, 342
INDEX 349
Mummy, The 45 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 218 Prévert, Jacques 80, 83
Murderers Among Us 332 Onibaba 335 Price, Dennis 98, 99
Murnau, F. W. 18, 30, 31, 330 Ogro 187 Price, Vincent 79
musical comedies 48 Orbison, Roy 257 Princess Mononoke 296, 297
musicals 54–59, 122–25, 158, 173, Orphée 84, 85 Prochnow, Jürgen 248
180–81, 189, 300–01 Osborne, John 168, 169 Providence 170
Muybridge, Eadweard 12 Ossessione 45, 78, 94, 97 Psycho 27, 46, 142, 143, 230, 334
Out of Sight 263 Pulp Fiction 270–75
Outrage, The 110, 113 Puzo, Mario 202, 204
N Ozu, Yasujirô 13, 106, 126, 127, 258, 261
Nakata, Hideo 288, 289

Naked 340–41 P R
Narcejac, Thomas 107 Raging Bull 226, 237, 239, 338–39
Natural Born Killers 268 Pacific Rim 314, 316 Rahman, A. R. 301, 318
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind 296 Pacino, Al 202, 204–05 Raiders of the Lost Ark 226
neo-noir 159, 216–21, 227 Pan’s Labyrinth 269, 314–17 Rain, Douglas 193
neorealism 15, 94–97, 147 Paris, Texas 261, 339 Raise the Red Lantern 227, 265
New German Cinema 222–23, Park Chan-wook 269, 310, 311 Raising Arizona 283
258–61, 312 Parker, Eleanor 180 Raksin, David 79
Newman, Paul 113, 116, 165, 190 Passion of Joan of Arc, The 35 Ran 110
Nichols, Mike 335 Pastrone, Giovanni 22 Raphael, Frederic 178
Nicholson, Jack 78, 190, 197, 218, Patel, Dev 318–19 Rashomon 106, 108–13
220, 226 Pather Panchali 107, 132–33 Ratatouille 280
Nico 188 Peckinpah, Sam 194 Ray, Nicholas 13, 131
Night and Fog 170 Peeping Tom 86, 87, 334 Ray, Satyajit 13, 97, 107, 132, 133
Night of the Hunter, The 118–21 Penn, Arthur 159, 166, 190 Rear Window 142, 143, 144, 256
Niven, David 86 People on Sunday 37 Rebecca 142
noir conventions 219 Performance 210, 211, 213 Rebel Without a Cause 131
Nolan, Christopher 326 Persona 136, 139, 335 Red Shoes, The 87, 332
North by Northwest 142, 143 Petersen, Wolfgang 248, 249 Reed, Carol 100, 102, 103
Norwid, Cyprian 146 Petit, Philippe 322 Reed, Donna 90
Nosferatu 18, 30, 330 Phillips, Richard 259 Reinhardt, Max 27, 33
Novak, Kim 142–44 Pianist, The 221 Reisner, Charles 34
Piano Teacher, The 323 Reisz, Karel 168, 169
Pickens, Slim 177 Rémy, Albert 153
O Pickford, Mary 77
Picnic at Hanging Rock 226, 232–33
Pitoëff, Sacha 170
Pixar 280
Renner, Jeremy 321
Renoir, Jean 44, 60, 61, 78, 94
Repulsion 219, 221
Reservoir Dogs 268, 272, 275, 340
Oates, Warren 195 Platoon 320 Resnais, Alain 170, 171, 172
O’Brien, George 30 Playtime 189 Rey, Fernando 208
O’Connor, Donald 124 Plummer, Christopher 180 Reynolds, Debbie 124
O’Hara, John 68 Polanski, Roman 159, 218–19, 221, 336 Richardson, Tony 168
Odd Man Out 103 Polish Film School 147 Ride with the Devil 292, 295
Oldboy 269, 310–11 political movies 182–87 Rififi 333
Oldman, Gary 249 Polley, Sarah 284 Rilke, Rainer Maria 258, 261
Oliveira, Vinícius de 285 Poltergeist 288 Ringu 288–89
Olvidados, Los 332 Pontecorvo, Gillo 158, 185, 187 Roach, Hal 93
On the Road 285 Poppe, Nils 137 road movies 196–97
On the Waterfront 116, 117, 203 Porter, Edwin S. 18, 330 Robbe-Grillet, Alain 170–71
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia 269, Postman Always Rings Twice, The 78 Robbins, Jerome 334
324–25 Powell, Dilys 71 Robbins, Tim 278–79
Once Upon a Time in China 292 Powell, Michael 86, 87, 332, 334 Roberts, Rachel 169
Once Upon a Time in the West 336 Preminger, Otto 35, 79 Rocha, Glauber 174, 175
Ondine 188 Pressburger, Emeric 86, 87, 332 Rodgers, Richard 124, 180, 181
350 INDEX
Rodrigues, Alexandre 306 Selznik, David O. 28, 63, 102, 142 Spielberg, Steven 179, 226, 227,
Roeg, Nicolas 210–12, 213, 337 Sembene, Ousmane 338 228–29, 230, 231, 243, 275, 339
Romero, George A. 338 Sense and Sensibility 292, 295 Spirit of the Beehive, The 159,
Rose, Gabrielle 284 Senso 78 214–15
Rosemary’s Baby 218, 219, 221, 336 Seven Samurai, The 107, 110, 333 Spirited Away 296–97
Rossellini, Isabella 256 Seven Year Itch, The 115, 148 Stack, Robert 76–77
Rossellini, Roberto 106, 162 Seventh Continent, The 323 Stagecoach 135
Rota, Nino 204 Seventh Seal, The 13, 107, 136–39 Staiola, Enzo 94, 97
Rudeman, Dolly 28 Sex, Lies, and Videotape 227, 263 Stalker 226, 227, 244–47
Rudrüd, Kristin 282 Seyrig, Delphine 170, 171 Star is Born, A 56, 122
Rules of the Game, The 44, 60–61 Shadow of a Doubt 198, 199 Star Trek 193
Russell, Rosalind 64–65 Shallow Grave 319 Star Wars 98, 226, 229, 240, 242,
Russo, Gianni 205 Shankar, Ravi 132 243, 253
Ryan, Robert 194 Shaw, Robert 230 Staudte, Wolfgang 332
Ryû, Chishû 126 Shawshank Redemption, The 278–79 Steamboat Bill, Jr. 34
Shelley, Rachel 300 Steamboat Willie 34, 53
Shepard, Sam 261 Sternberg, Josef von 19, 36
S Shepherd, Cybill 238

Shimura, Takashi 110
Shindo, Kaneto 335
Shining, The 179, 218, 226, 339
Stewart, James 13, 90, 91,
142–44
Stoker 311
Stone, Oliver 268, 320
Saadi, Yacef 185, 187 Shire, Talia 203 Stormare, Peter 282
Sacrifice, The 244 Sholay 338 La Strada 107, 162, 333
Saint, Eva Marie 142, 143 Short Cuts 341 Strangers on a Train 142
Salem, El Hedi ben 223 Siegel, Don 194, 333 Strasberg, Lee 117, 197, 203
Salesman 336 Silberman, Serge 208 Strauss, Richard 26, 192
Salles, Walter 285 Silence of the Lambs 46 Streetcar Named Desire, A 63, 106,
Salou, Louis 82 silent movies 12–13, 18–19 116–17, 203
Sander, Otto 258, 259 comedy 38–41 Stroheim, Erich von 114
Sanderson, William 253 drama 30–31, 37 Strugatsky brothers, Arcady
Saphead, The 18 Silent Running 193 and Boris 245
satire 21, 44, 48, 60, 76–77, 106, Sillitoe, Alan 168 Studio Ghibli 296
122–25, 160–65, 176–79, 208–09 Silva, Douglas 307 Sturges, Preston 331
Saturday Night Fever 226 Silva, Lidio 174–75 Sullivan’s Travels 331
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning Singh, Gracy 300–01 Sunrise 30–31
158, 159, 168–69 Singin’ in the Rain 106, 122–25 Sunset Boulevard 106, 114–15
Scarface 65, 202, 339 Siodmak, Curt 37 Surrealism 50–51, 208, 209
Schamus, James 295 Siodmak, Robert 27, 37 Sutherland, Donald 210–13
Scheider, Roy 228, 229 Sippy, Ramesh 338 Suzuki, Kôji 288
Schindler’s List 230 Sirk, Douglas 106, 130, 159, 222, 223 Swades 300, 301
Schlesinger, John 336 Siskel, Gene 229 Swanson, Gloria 114–15
Schoedsack, Ernest B. 49 Slacker 263, 327 Swarup, Vikas 318
Schrader, Paul 236, 239 Slumdog Millionaire 269, 318–19 Sweet Hereafter, The 284
Schüfftan, Eugen 32 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Sydow, Max von 136
science fiction 20–21, 32–33, 106–07, 44, 53 Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance 310
129, 134, 159, 172, 192–93, 226–27, Soderbergh, Steven 227, 263
242–47, 250–55, 326 Solaris 244, 245, 258
Scorsese, Martin 12, 166, 226, 227, 236,
237, 238, 239, 268, 281, 338
Scott, Allan 212
Scott, A. O. 313
Solonitsyn, Anatoliy 245
Some Like It Hot 14, 114, 115,
148–49
Sound of Music, The 158,
T
Scott, George C. 177, 179 180–81 Taghmaoui, Saïd 281
Scott, Ridley 227, 243, 252, 253, 254 South, The 214, 215 talkies 19, 30, 44, 47
Se7en 46 Southern, Terry 176, 196 Tanis, Firat 325
Searchers, The 135 Spader, James 263 Tarantino, Quentin 166, 263, 268, 269,
Seberg, Jean 35, 166 Special Day, A 165 272, 274, 275, 340
Secret in their Eyes, The 343 Spellbound 143 Tarkovsky, Andrei 227, 244, 245,
Sellers, Peter 158, 177, 178 Spider’s Web 312 246–7, 258, 261
INDEX 351
Tarr, Béla 341 White Ribbon, The 15, 269, 323

Taste of Cherry 341
Tati, Jacques 189
Tautou, Audrey 298, 299
Taxi Driver 226, 234–39, 281
UV White Sheik, The 162
Whitmore, James 279
widescreen movies 106
Wiene, Robert 18, 26, 27
Ten Canoes 343 Ueda, Kichijirô 110 Wild Angels, The 196
Tess 221 Ulmer, Edgar G. 37 Wild Bunch, The 194–95
That Obscure Object of Desire 208 Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The 173 Wild Strawberries 107, 136, 139
Thelma & Louise 253 Untouchables, The 239 Wilder, Billy 14, 37, 64, 106, 114,
Theory of Everything, The 322 Usual Suspects, The 113 115, 148–49, 331
There Will Be Blood 269, 343 Uzuner, Muhammet 325 Williams, John 230
Thief of Bagdad, The 19 Vacano, Jost 249 Williams, Tennessee 116, 203
Third Man, The 45, 100–03 Valentin, Barbara 223 Willis, Bruce 274
Thiriet, Maurice 81 Valentino, Rudolph 19 Wind Rises, The 296, 297
Thirst 310, 311 Valle, Maurício do 175 Wings of Desire 227, 258–61
Thompson, Emma 295 Valli, Alida 101 Winter Sleep 324, 325
Thomsen, Ulrich 287 van Eyck, Peter 128 Winters, Shelley 118
Thomson, David 85, 252 Vanel, Charles 128 Wisconsin Death Trip 322
Thorpe, Richard 58 Veidt, Conrad 26 Wise, Robert 70, 180, 334
Three Colors: Red 276–77 Vengeance trilogy 310, 311 Witness 233
Three Monkeys 324, 325 Venice Film Festival 61 Wizard of Oz, The 45, 54–59
Thurman, Uma 272 Verne, Jules 20, 21 Woman in the Room, The 278
Tierney, Gene 79 Vertigo 91, 107, 140–45 Woman Under the Influence, A
Times and Winds 342–43 Very Long Engagement, A 298 263, 337
To Be or Not to Be 45, 76–77 video recorders 226–27 Women on the Verge of a Nervous
To Have and Have Not 65, 72, 75 Vigo, Jean 50, 51 Breakdown 227, 262
To Kill a Mockingbird 158 Villa-Lobos, Heitor 175 Wong Kar-Wai 342
Tokyo Story 126–27, 258 Vinterberg, Thomas 268, 286 Woo, John 340
Toland, Gregg 70 Vinton, Bobby 257 Wood, Elijah 302, 303
Tolkien, J. R. R. 302 Visconti, Luchino 45, 78, 94, 97 Workers Leaving the Lumière
Toll of the Sea, The 18 Voight, Jon 159 Factory 18
Toni 78, 94 Wray, Fay 49
Top Gun 227 wuxia movies 268, 292
Toro, Guillermo del 269, 314, 316
Torrent, Ana 214–15
Touch of Evil 68, 333
Tourneur, Jacques 332
W Wyler, William 45
Wyman, Jane 130
Town, The 324, 325

Towne, Robert 218–19
Toy Story 280
Trainspotting 318, 319
Wages of Fear, The 106, 128
Wajda, Andrzej 146, 147
Waking Life 327
Walkabout 211, 213, 337
XYZ
Trauner, Alexandre 81 Walsh, M. Emmet 254 Xala 338
Travers, Henry 91 Wang Dulu 292 Yamamura, Sô 127
Travolta, John 272, 274 Warhol, Andy 159, 188 Yanne, Jean 198
Trier, Lars von 268, 286, 341 Wayne, John 135 Yeoh, Michelle 293
Trintignant, Jean-Louis 276–77 Weaver, Sigourney 243 Yojimbo 110
Trip, The 196 Webb, Clifton 79 You Can’t Take It With You
Trip to the Moon, A 12, 13, 18, 20–21, The Wedding Banquet 292, 295 91, 93
84, 158 Weir, Peter 226, 232, 233 Young, Sean 254
Truffaut, François 51, 83, 94, 107, 152, Welles, Orson 45, 68, 69–71, 100–03, Zacharek, Stephanie 316
153–55, 158, 159, 166, 167, 213, 248, 107, 180, 333 Zavattini, Cesare 94, 97
261, 334 Wells, H. G. 20, 21, 52, 68 Zellner, David 282
Truhitte, Daniel 181 Wenders, Wim 196, 227, 258–59, Zero Dark Thirty 320, 321
Trumbull, Douglas 193 261, 339 Zero de Conduite 50–51, 155
Tsotsi 342 Werckmeister Harmonies 341 Zhang Yimou 227, 265, 292
Tukur, Ulrich 313 West Side Story 180, 334 Zhang Ziyi 292, 294
Turan, Kenneth 202, 297 Westerns 135, 194–95 Zinnemann, Fred 106
Twardowski, Hans Heinrich von 26 Whale, James 52, 214 Zola, Émile 60
352
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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27 (b) Decla-Bioscope/Kobal. 28 (tl) Goskino/ Filmsonor/CICC/Vera-Fono Roma/Kobal. 129 (tl) Elias Querejeta Productions/Kobal; (b) Elias Columbia/Kobal/Chan Kam Chuen. 293 (cr)
Kobal; (c) Goskino/Kobal. 29 (tr) Goskino/ (tl) Toho Film/Kobal; (bc) Toho Film/Kobal. Querejeta Productions/Kobal. 215 (tl) Elias Columbia/Kobal/Chan Kam Chuen. 294 (t)
Kobal; (bl) Paramount/Kobal/Otto Dyar. 30 (tl) 130 (tl) Universal/Kobal. 131 (tl) Warner Querejeta Productions/Kobal; (tr) Kobal. 217 Columbia/Kobal/Chan Kam Chuen. 295 (tc)
Fox Films/Kobal; (bc) Paramount/Kobal. 31 Brothers/Kobal; (bc) Warner Brothers/Kobal. Paramount/Kobal. 218 (bl) Kobal. 219 (tl) Columbia/Kobal; (tr) Focus Features/Kobal.
(tc) Fox Films/Kobal; (br) Fox Films/Kobal. 32 132 (tl) Government of West Bengal/Kobal; (b) Paramount/Kobal. 220 (c) Paramount/Kobal. 296 (tl) Studio Ghibli/Kobal; (br) Studio Ghibli/
(tl) Kobal/Deutsche Kinemathek; (c) Kobal/ Government of West Bengal/Kobal. 133 (tl) 221 (tr) Kobal; (bl) Paramount/Kobal. 222 (tl) Kobal. 297 (tl) Studio Ghibli/Kobal; (bc) Studio
Deutsche Kinemathek. 33 (tl) Kobal/Horst von Government of West Bengal/Kobal; (tr) Priya/ Tango Film/Kobal; (c) Tango Film/Kobal. 223 Ghibli/Kobal. 298 (tl) UGC/Studio Canal +/
Harbou-Deutsche Kinemathek; (br) Kobal/ Kobal. 134 (tl) United Artists/Kobal; (cr) (tr) Tango Film/Kobal; (bl) AF archive/Alamy. Kobal; (c) UGC/Studio Canal +/Kobal; (bc)
Horst von Harbou-Deutsche Kinemathek. 34 (tl) United Artists/Kobal. 135 (tl) Warner Brothers/ 228 (br) Universal/Kobal. 229 (tr) Universal/ Claudie Ossard/Constellation/Kobal. 299 (t) ©
United Artists/Kobal; (cr) United Artists/ Kobal. 136 (cr) Sunset Boulevard/Corbis. 137 Kobal. 230 (tr) Universal/Kobal; (bl) Universal/ Miramax/Everett/REX. 300 (tl) Aamir Khan
Kobal. 35 (tl) Societe generale des films/Kobal; (br) Photos 12/Alamy. 138 (tl) Pictorial Press Kobal. 231 Universal/Kobal. 232 (tl) Picnic/ Productions/Kobal. 301 (br) Aamir Khan
(bc) Societe generale des films/Kobal. 36 (tl) Ltd./Alamy; (b) AF archive/Alamy. 139 (tr) BEF/Australian Film Commission/Kobal. 233 Productions/Kobal. 302 (tl) New Line Cinema/
UFA/Kobal; (bc) UFA/Kobal. 37 (tl) Filmstudio Bettmann/Corbis. 141 Paramount/Kobal. 142 (tl) Picnic/BEF/Australian Film Commission/ Wingnut/Pierre Vinet; (bc) New Line Cinema/
Berlin/Kobal. 39 United Artists/Kobal. 40 (bl) (bl) Kobal. 143 (br) Paramount/Kobal. 144 (c) Kobal; (tr) MGM/UA/Kobal. 235 Columbia/ Wingnut. 303 (bl) New Line Cinema/Wingnut/
United Artists/Kobal; (tr) United Artists/Kobal. Paramount/Kobal. 145 (c) Paramount/Kobal. Kobal/Steve Schapiro. 237 (tr) Columbia/ Pierre Vinet; (tr) New Line Cinema/Wingnut/
41 (br) United Artists/Kobal. 46 (tl) Nero/ 146 (tl) Film Polski/Kobal; (c) Film Polski/ Kobal/Steve Schapiro; (bl) Columbia/Kobal/ Pierre Vinet. 305 Globo Films/Kobal. 306 (c)
Kobal; (bc) Nero/Kobal. 47 (tr) Nero/Kobal; Kobal. 147 (tl) Kobal; (br) Film Polski/Kobal. Steve Schapiro. 238 (bl) Columbia/Kobal/Steve Globo Films/Kobal; (bl) Rhombus Media/
(bl) Paramount/Kobal. 48 (tl) Paramount/ 148 (tl) United Artists/Kobal; (c) United Artists/ Schapiro. 239 (tr) Paramount/Kobal. 240 (tl) Kobal. 307 (t) Globo Films/Kobal. 309 (b)
Kobal; (cr) Paramount/Kobal. 49 (tl) RKO/ Kobal. 149 (tl) United Artists/Kobal; (bc) United Artists/Kobal/Brian Hamill; (c) United Globo Films/Kobal. 310 (tl) Egg Films/Show
Kobal; (bc) RKO/Kobal. 50 (tl) Jacques-Louis Columbia/Kobal. 151 Sedif/Les Films du Artists/Kobal/Brian Hamill. 241 (b) United East/Kobal; (br) Egg Films/Show East/Kobal.
Nounez/Gaumont/Kobal; (c) Everett/REX Carosse/Janus/Kobal. 152 (bl) Anglo Artists/Kobal/Brian Hamill. 242 (tl) Courtesy of 311 (bc) Pascal Le Segretain/EdStock/
Shutterstock. 51 (tr) Jacques-Louis Nounez/ Enterprise/Vineyard/Kobal. 153 (br) Sedif/Les Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC, Star Wars: Episode IV – A istockphoto; (tl) Egg Films/Show East/Kobal.
Gaumont/Kobal. 52 (tl) Universal/Kobal; (br) Films du Carosse/Janus/Kobal. 154 Sedif/Les New Hope ™ & © Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC; (bc) 312 (tl) Wiedermann & Berg/Kobal. 313 (tl)
Universal/Kobal. 53 (tl) © 1937 Disney/Kobal; Films du Carosse/Janus/Kobal. 155 (bl) Sedif/ Courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC, Star Wars: Wiedermann & Berg/Kobal; (br) Wiedermann
(bc) © 1937 Disney/Kobal. 55 MGM/Kobal. 57 Les Films du Carosse/Janus/Kobal. 161 Episode IV – A New Hope ™ & © Lucasfilm & Berg/Kobal. 315 Warner Brothers/Kobal.
(b) MGM/Kobal/Eric Carpenter. 58 (bl) Riama-Pathe/Kobal. 162 (tr) Riama-Pathe/ Ltd. LLC. 243 (tl) 20th Century Fox/Kobal; (c) 316 (cl) Warner Brothers/Kobal; (bl) Warner
Paramount/Kobal. 59 MGM/Kobal. 60 (tl) Kobal; (bl) PEA/Artistes Associés/Kobal. 163 20th Century Fox/Kobal. 244 (c) Mosfilm/ Brothers/Kobal. 317 (b) Warner Brothers/
Nouvelle Edition Francaise/Kobal; (br) Nouvelle (br) Riama-Pathe/Kobal. 164 (cr) Leontura/ Kobal. 245 (tr) Mosfilm/Kobal; (bl) Mosfilm/ Kobal. 318 (tl) Film4/Celador/Pathe/Kobal; (br)
Edition Francaise/Kobal. 61 (tr) Nouvelle iStockphoto. 165 (tl) Riama-Pathe/Kobal; (tr) Kobal. 246 (t) Mosfilm/Kobal. 247 (b) Mosfilm/ Film4/Celador/Pathe/Kobal. 319 (tl) Film4/
Edition Francaise/Kobal; (bc) Kobal. 62 (tl) Titanus/Vidas/SGC/Kobal. 166 (tl) SNAP/REX Kobal. 248 (tl) Bavaria Film/Radiant Film/ Celador/Pathe/Kobal; (tr) Film4/Celador/Pathe/
MGM/Kobal; (c) MGM/Kobal. 63 (tr) MGM/ Shutterstock. 167 (tr) SNC/Kobal; (bl) SLON/ Kobal; (c) Bavaria Film/Radiant Film/Kobal. Kobal. 320 (tl) First Light Production/Summit/
Kobal/Laszlo Willinger; (bc) MGM/Kobal. 64 Kobal. 168 (tl) Woodfall/British Lion/Kobal; (br) 249 (tr) Bavaria Film/Radiant Film/Kobal; (bl) Kobal; (b) First Light Production/Summit/
(tl) Columbia/Kobal; (br) Columbia/Kobal. 65 Woodfall/British Lion/Kobal. 169 (tl) Woodfall/ Kurt Vinion/EdStock/istockphoto. 251 Warner Kobal. 321 (tc) First Light Production/Summit/
(tc) United Artists/Kobal; (br) SNAP/REX British Lion/Kobal; (bc) Woodfall/British Lion/ Brothers/Kobal. 253 (tl) Warner Brothers/ Kobal; (tr) First Light Production/Summit/
Shutterstock. 67 RKO/Kobal. 68 (bl) RKO/ Kobal. 170 (tl) Terra/Tamara/Cormoran/Kobal/ Kobal; (tr) Warner Brothers/Kobal. 254 (tl) Kobal. 322 (tl) Snap Stills/REX Shutterstock.
Kobal/Donald Keyes. 69 (bc) RKO/Kobal. 70 Georges Pierre; (bc) Spectrafilm. 171 (tl) Terra/ Warner Brothers/Kobal. 255 Warner Brothers/ 323 (tl) Wega Film/Lucky Red/Kobal; (bc)
(b) RKO/Kobal. 71 (br) RKO/Kobal. 72 (bc) Tamara/Cormoran/Kobal/Georges Pierre; (br) Kobal. 256 (tl) De Laurentiis/Kobal; (c) De Wega Film/Lucky Red/Kobal. 324 (tl) Imaj/
Warner Brothers/Kobal. 73 (t) Warner Brothers/ Terra/Tamara/Cormoran/Kobal/Georges Pierre. Laurentiis/Kobal. 257 (tr) Universal/Kobal; Kobal; (c) Imaj/Kobal. 325 (tc) Bredok Film/
Kobal/Jack Woods. 74 (b) Warner Brothers/ 172 (tl) Argos Films/Kobal. 173 (tl) Parc Film/ (bc) De Laurentiis/Kobal. 258 (br) Road Zeynofilm/Kobal; (b) Snap Stills/REX
Kobal/Jack Woods. 75 (tl) Warner Brothers/ Madeleine Films/Beta Film/Kobal; (cr) Parc Movies/Argos Films/WDR/Kobal. 259 (tr) Road Shutterstock. 326 (tl) Warner Brothers/Kobal;
Kobal/Jack Woods; (tr) Columbia/Kobal/Bob Film/Madeleine Films/Beta Film/Kobal. 174 (tl) Movies/Argos Films/WDR/Kobal. 260 (tl) (b) Warner Brothers/Kobal. 327 (tl) IFC
Coburn. 76 (tl) United Artists/Kobal/Bob Copacabana Films/Kobal; (c) Copacabana SNAP/REX Shutterstock. 261 (tc) Road Productions/Detour Filmproduction/Kobal; (cr)
Coburn; (c) United Artists/Kobal/Bob Coburn. Films/Kobal. 175 (tl) Everett/REX Movies/Argos Films/WDR/Kobal; (tr) Kobal/ IFC Productions/Detour Filmproduction/Kobal.
77 (bc) United Artists/Kobal/Bob Coburn; (tc) Shutterstock; (br) Photos 12/Alamy. 177 (bl) Stephane Fefer. 262 (tl) El Deseo/Lurenfilm/ 330 (tl) Sashkinw/istockphoto.
SNAP/REX Shutterstock. 78 (tl) ICI/Kobal. 79 Hawk Films Production/Columbia/Kobal; (tr) Kobal; (br) El Deseo/Lurenfilm/Kobal. 263 (tl)
(tl) 20th Century Fox/Kobal; (bc) 20th Century Hawk Films Production/Columbia/Kobal. 178 Snap Stills/REX Shutterstock; (bc) Everett/REX All other images © Dorling Kindersley.
Fox/Kobal. 81 (tl) Pathe/Kobal; (br) Pathe/ (t) Hawk Films Production/Columbia/Kobal. Shutterstock. 264 (tl) Universal/Kobal. 265 (tl) For more information see:
Kobal. 82 (tl) Pathe/Kobal. 83 (tr) Kobal; (bl) 179 (bl) Hawk Films Production/Columbia/ Era International/Kobal; (bc) Era International/ www.dkimages.com

Big Ideas Simply Explained - The Movie Book

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РЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.

BONNIE AND CLYDE

DK LONDON produced for DK by First American Edition, 2016

28 What are we waiting for?

30 This song of the Man

49 Don’t be alarmed, ladies 76 How dare you call me

132 When I’m better, we’ll

108 We all want to forget 134 Get me to that bus stop

170 I have never stayed so 196 They see a free individual,

1992–PRESENT your name? 323 I’d like to ask you

T I don’t know yet what I’m going to tell

Telling stories of moving pictures. From there, the

1894 1914 1920 1922

1902 1916 1920 1922

1924 1927 1927 1930

1925 1927 1929 1931

Painters were also drawn to the their craft in American vaudeville

Méliès’s short movies were simply

When they reach the moon, the

OUT OF THE CRADLE

The central courtyard in Babylon

To some critics, the effect is almost

26 THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI

Caligari, Cesare’s “master,” claims sinister close-ups, mostly of the

The Untouchables (1987) ■ JFK (1991)

A carriage careers down the steps

Odessa Steps. Now known as the

THIS SONG OF THE

sensationalist story of Sunrise was one of

Unable to go through with the

THOSE WHO TOILED KNEW

depicted as a malevolent monster, a

Should I say now that I like

IF YOU SAY WHAT

HAS GOD PROMISED

Day of Wrath (1943) ■ Ordet (1955) ■ Gertrud (1964)

A Patch of Blue (1965) ■ Chaplin (1992) ■ The Artist (2011)

I’m cured. You’re my friend

1931 1933 1935 1939

1931 1934 1937 1939

A GOLDEN AGE IN BLACK AND WHITE 45

1941 1942 1944 1947

1941 1943 1946 1948

DON’T WANT TO,

A GOLDEN AGE IN BLACK AND WHITE 47

The killer Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre)

The tangled mind is exposed… their investigations, the citizens

WILL YOU MARRY ME?

BEFORE after breaking a mirror, Harpo

A GOLDEN AGE IN BLACK AND WHITE 49

A GOLDEN AGE IN BLACK AND WHITE 51

The boys’ revolution against the

sequence, he takes them all with

TO A NEW WORLD OF GODS

1933 Whale ﬁlms H. G. Wells’s

A GOLDEN AGE IN BLACK AND WHITE 53

MAGIC MIRROR ON THE

00:00 00:15 00:30 00:45 01:00 01:15 01:42

A GOLDEN AGE IN BLACK AND WHITE 57

Spirited Away (2001, pp.296–97)

When Dorothy ﬁrst

Victor Fleming Director

A GOLDEN AGE IN BLACK AND WHITE 59

The movie was a

A GOLDEN AGE IN BLACK AND WHITE 61

late 1950s, two movie enthusiasts passes in front of their guns.

A GOLDEN AGE IN BLACK AND WHITE 63