Page Based Productions

Cronenberg’s shiny/grimy adaptation of Cosmopolis (a sharp knife in the shallow guts of 21st Mammonism) retains some of it’s edge despite the uneven performance from Twilight Pattison. The film follows the book quite closely with most of the billionaire-on-the-brink’s varied antics included during his slow limo crawl across a gridlocked city and I’m sure there’s a fair bit of dialogue lifted too but there’s not enough time to give either their significance. It’s a fine looking film and there’s still plenty of smarts behind it’s gleeful, grim comedy so it’s worth catching but I’d recommend the novella first.

Another thought provoking, nuanced novel, Steppenwolf, got a big screen version back in 1974 and although good, similarly lacks the depths of the original. Max von Sydow stars as the melancholic scholar who, adrift after WW1, finds his mind and life lifted by an unusual jazz loving woman oh and lots of drugs and esoterica. The acting is excellent, the production not so much, peppered unnecessarily with some dated, gimmicky animations and sfx . Still there’s an effectively dreamy, dissolute weirdness that pervades proceedings and like Cosmopolis plenty of the big thoughts are intact.

There’s something about Stacy

Stacy Keach puts in a powerful performance in Luther, a 1974 film about the religious reformer produced as part of the so far excellent Masterpiece Theatre series of stage adaptations. The film follows the theologian's career from ordination and onto Wittenberg and his cataclysmic showdown with the Vatican sporting a powerful script which manages to balance the character of the man with his unflinching scorching idealism. Keach is ably supported throughout but dominates this film with a nuanced, quite remarkable turn. Heavy going but brilliant.

 

Keach's stunning portrayal of a damaged Viet Vet focuses the kaleidoscopic threads of 1970 counter-culture classic End of the Road. Adapted for the screen by Terry Southern (famed screenwriter rake) the film charts the recovery of a once catatonic patient and his reintroduction to society under the manic but paternal tutelage of his psychiatrist, played with much brio, by James Earl Jones. Shot with dollops of 60's psychedelic accoutrements that are probably an  acquired taste this is a tricksy, occasionally amusing film that shines a light into the damaged, delirious mindset of late Sixties Amurica that has plenty of substance to back up it’s style.

Rare Good Feelers

The Bird People in China is a beautiful, quite touching film about the toil and toll that contemporary life fosters reflected against the simplicity of country, peasant life. A salary-man and yakuza are sent to mainland China to investigate a jade mine and after a gruelling journey they become entranced by the picturesque village and the purity of the villagers lives. Aside from stunning cinematography and the marvellous performances there’s a gentle humour to the script and depth to the plot that takes the viewer on a remarkable, emotive journey. It’s not often I gush about films but this is probably one of the best films I’ve watched this year as well as the most surprising, who knew Japanese horror maestro Takashi Miike was capable of such humanism.

The heart warming continues with Harry &Tonto, a 70’s road trip flick about an old man crossing the US with his pet cat after being evicted from his apartment block. The central performance of Art Carney as Harry, the weary but wise pensioner, shines with a warmth and understanding throughout which occludes some of the cheesier encounters during his journey. For the most part it’s a charmingly amusing, poignant movie that takes the time to address the darker aspects of our lives and our treatment of the elderly, it’s just a shame that it’s period styling seems almost laughable now. Still it’s a testament to it’s effectiveness that Carney won the Best Actor Oscar against Pacino in Godfather Part 2 and Nicholson in Chinatown.

Mavericks Monographed

Wilhelm Reich, a colleague of Freud & Jung's, was an unusual, grandiose thinker whose theories of sexuality and political freedom have largely been ignored by the scientific community, eclipsed as they were by his later more er, esoteric work but they did find a resonance in the counter culture movement of the 60's and 70's. In 1971 Serbian director Makavejev created W.R. Mysteries of the Organism, a chaotic, kaleidoscopic view of Reich's theories interspersing various documentary pieces with fairly insane narrative sections all mashed lovingly together with a LSD fervour and revolutionary zeal. If you're unaware of Reich I wouldn't start here as it's more of a dialogue about his work than an exposition (and it's 70's styling probably an acquired taste) but it's a surprisingly entertaining watch with a bravado and intellectual ambition seldom seen these days. It's a shame there's not a 'straight' examination of Reich's work but this film succeeds at the very least in matching it's subject's idiosyncrasy.

R Buckminster Fuller, another unique intellect, was successful in a number of scientific fields and is probably most famous for his Geodesic Dome design, however his theorising went well beyond normal disciplines and still seems startling groundbreaking today. The World of Buckminster Fuller initially seems to take a more traditional approach, with Bucky himself explaining his theories straight to camera but 10 mins in and it becomes apparent that the film makers thought a cut and paste approach to the editing equalled style and it suffers badly without a coherent progression to the segments. This scattergun effect combined with the aging Fuller's slightly eccentric manner and speech, made me think, occasionally, of Rowley Birkin from The Fast Show which is a bit of a shame as though it lacks the panache of W.R, if you stick with it, it does offer an interesting, more comprehensive look at another neglected thinker's work.

Allegorical Frippery

A pair of young men escape their dreary lives and become talented gunslingers in the Rock N Roll, Acid(ish) Western, Zachariah. Don Johnson & John Rubenstein's friendship becomes strained as their notoriety increases and their divergent, barmy experiences shape them into mirror images of one another and an final confrontation becomes inevitable. There's some great tunes from Country Joe et al and nice period visuals which help flesh out the nonsense but it's essentially a diet version of El Topo festooned with ham fisted, cheap symbolism and a few laughs. Still I liked it and I'm quite surprised it's not received more attention.

I'm not really sure what to make of Rhinoceros, starring Gene Wilder & Zero Mostel. Filmed as part of the American Film Theatre series and based on a play by Eugen Ionesco this is a seriously odd little fable about one man's stand against a citywide tide of metamorphoses from man into Rhino. Wilder puts in a decent performance as the boozy office clerk who withstands the change but it's Mostel's film with an amazing transformation from effete city gent to monstrous apartment trashing beast that single handedly rescues the film from it's obtuse purpose. I dunno it's quite funny in bits but with the budgetary constraints precluding any actual Rhino action and it's general atmosphere of hysteria obscuring any meaningfulness it was a little disappointing, especially so given the potency of the previous Wilder & Mostel feature. Apparently the play has a bit more substance behind nonsense.

Rare Strains

Gene Hackman & Al Pacino star as a pair of hobos who join forces to tramp their way across America in 1973's Scarecrow. Hackman's plays a belligerent ex-con trying to realise his dream of owning a car wash while Pacino's an ex-sailor heading to meet his estranged wife and child. Their uneasy alliance is challenged by their particular exuberances (as well as the expected tribulations) but the film's focus is squarely on the burgeoning friendship between the two men who've fallen on hard times and with two seriously talented actors like Hackman and Pacino providing flavourful, powerhouse performances this is simple take becomes an engrossing, emotional journey. A strangely neglected slice of Seventies cinema.


Glenda Jackson and Susannah York star as a pair of overwrought, slightly deranged, psychologically indentured servants in The Maids, released as part of the American Film Theatre series. The pair take turns to role play their mistress when left alone and this exploration of the tensions and frustrations of their lives leads to some disturbing, real world consequences. A chamber piece like this relies on the quality of script as well as the actors involved and though the former is dense and intense the acting is of a consistently high standard, more than sufficient to drag you into this claustrophobic maelstrom of melodrama. Must check out some of the other AFT releases, appears there's decent actors and directors involved in almost all.