Week 39 in film

Nostalghia (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1983)
Tarkovsky fascinates me. I like all of his films (some are all-time favorites) and I like re-watching his films. Nostalghia is perhaps his slowest and most challenging film. A second viewing made me appreciate this film more than the first time and I can imagine this film can grow on me. Situated in Bologna, Italy we follow a poet who has beautiful nostalgic visions and is fascinated by a guy who allegedly locked up his family for seven years. Tarkovsky was banished from Russia when this was filmed and this film is clearly autobiographical. Lots of depth, symbolism (the candle scene) and filled with visual hints. I might take notes and screenshots during a third viewing, that's the kind of film this is and how it fascinates me. For now:  9/10


Sweet and Lowdown (Woody Allen, 1999)
A documentary style film about the fictional jazz guitarist Emmett Ray (the second best guitar player in the world after Django Rheinhardt). Allen creates a believable world and Sean Penn portrays a character of which I would believe he really existed. These notions are not enough to make this a good film, the story is very Allen-like, focuses on Ray's love life, something that has been executed by the director much better many times. The fact that he is a great guitarist doesn't add much except for a good soundtrack. Dull-ish. 5/10

California Split (Robert Altman, 1974)
Robert Altman en Elliot Gould in the seventies, a wonder formula. This time Gould is a gambler who together with his friend slowly becomes more and more addicted. Portrayal of an addiction Altman style, a lot of noise, odd side-characters, no clear plotlines. I would say messy if it wasn't so interesting and well acted. I believe Altman knew exactly what he was doing. Not his best from this era, but with such a high standard this is still a good film. 7.5/10

The Man Who Fell to Earth (Nicolas Roeg, 1976)
David Bowie as an alien, perfect cast I would say and it works. Unfortunately this film lacks something which you might call a 'plot drive', not uncommon in some of the cinema of the seventies if you ask me. It made me experience this film as messy and unfocused. Just the peculiar Bowie and some good looking imagery is not enough to keep you up for almost two and a half hours.  4/10


Onder Ons (Marco van Geffen, 2011)
Dark dutch film about a Polish au pair and the circumstances in her environment. I like the narrative choice, a choice which asks for a creative twist or surprise. I won't spoil, but this notion has something to do why this movie doesn't convince me fully. 6.5/10

42nd Street (Lloyd Bacon, 1933)
The great Busby Berkeley. I am not a fan of musicals, but this is simply a lot of fun. The plot is like so many and most viewers will be waiting for the eye candy in the final act, which delivers. Not as good as Gold Diggers of 1933. 7/10

The Devils (Ken Russell, 1971)
Hailed as a masterpiece by many, at least according to some of the reviews I am reading over the internet. I can see the historical value, the controversy and why this is interesting. For me it wasn't so special, merely because I didn't like how the story is told and its visual style. I didn't experience much depth or character development (only the protagonist maybe) resulting in a partly tedious experience. 6.5/10

Walkabout (Nicolas Roeg, 1971)

When I prepared for my Australia trip 1,5 years ago I stumbled upon a number of movies in the Lonely Planet guide. I am not sure anymore if Nicolas Roeg’s Walkabout was in there, but I would say it is obligatory for anyone who somehow relates to this beautiful country. Many hail this movie as a masterpiece and I can fully understand why. I will get into the cinematic qualities shortly but first I have to say it was a very personal experience for me, having been a guest Down Under for a year I felt somewhat melancholic watching the red hot desert, the kangaroos, the carpet pythons and even listening to the buzzing blowflies made me want to go back. Disregarding my personal attachment this movie is a pearl!

It tells the story of a father (who works in mining, still the main driver of Australia’s flourishing economy) of two children who took them outback and commits a bizarre suicide. The teenage girl (Jenny Agutter) and her younger brother (Luc Roeg, the director’s son) end up in the deserted but beautiful outback and seem doomed until they run into a 16-year old Aborigine boy.

Director Roeg started his career as a cinematographer (Lawrence of Arabia, Fahrenheit 451) and this is visible throughout the entire film. He captures the endless beauty and harmonious nature in a poetic way like for instance Malick can and uses intelligent editing. His obvious message lies in the visual contradictions between nature and (mining) industry (mainly towards the end). The cross-cutting between the Aborigine boy slaying a Kangaroo and the conventional butcher says a lot but there is more. Like Roger Ebert points out in his spot-on review there is also the issue of communication.

There is definitely a sexual attraction or tension developing between the 14-year old girl and the Aborigine boy but since they cannot communicate the black native (who has no problems communicating with the younger brother) has to fall back to his ritual dance which doesn’t have the desired effect. One could interpret this as if the cultural differences get in the way of natural developments in a number of ways as pointed out by Roeg.

A lot of the problems that are going on in Australia with the Aboriginals are left implicit by the director and are visualized by the surroundings and how both cultures are treating animals and especially nature. Roeg does make explicit that 'western' Australians and Aborigines are in two different worlds together with the striking scene with the abandoned car, not very subtle, but effective. On the other hand this film doesn’t explicitly points out the country’s history of genocide (this is what happened!) but leaves room for interpretation. It may not reach every viewer, but instead of making a 'standard' moralizing picture, we got our visual and poetic masterpiece.

I saw the final sequence 4 times and I believe it is one of the most beautiful and at the same time depressing scenes I ever saw. For a film from the early seventies it is scary how it predicts and criticizes developments that have expanded more and more over the years. I believe it is not just criticizing the Australian mining industrialization, Walkabout is a general statement about man's attitude towards nature.

9/10