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March 18, 2005
Drama, Comedy, Noir
Okey-dokey. Another Shabbos is almost here and afterwards some of you may want to sit back, relax, and watch a movie. Problem is, so many films on the New Release shelves of your local Blockbuster are just plain wretched. So I'm here, once again, to perform a mitzvah. This week I'm just going to recommend three great movies. Hopefully they will cover a variety of tastes. Again, all these movies are kosher. No nudity, no profanity. Though I should point out that my first pick hints at the sexual violation of a woman. But be aware that you see more explict imagery on any episode of The OC or Desperate Housewives. What am I saying, there's more explicit imagery in the commercials.
Rashomon, 1951. I confess, I love Japanese movies. My first brush with greatness was with Kurosawas's The Seven Samurai. The single greatest film ever made. But Kurosawa was not a one-hit wonder. Some people consider Rashomon to be an even greater film. The structure of this movie has been copied perhaps more than any other film I know of. The story is simple, but the structure is not. It takes place in Medieval Japan. A terrible thing happens to a young nobleman and his unbearably beautiful wife, the legendary Japanese actress Machiko Kyo. Five witnesses present their testimony to an unseen court. Each story is told in flashback and each story is entirely different from the previous account: thus the Rashomon Effect, telling one story visually and morally in multiple dimensions. Who is telling the truth? What is the truth? Rashomon, more than any other film I know of, captures man's inability to face his true self. We are, says the film, who we want to be, not who we really are. For if we saw with any clairty the naked truth, we would no longer be able to face oursleves in the mirror. Watch for the single most sensual shot in film history: don't worry, no nudity here; simply this: a gentle breeze blows a gauzy white veil away from a woman's face; her radiant beauty is revealed -- and the world goes mad.
His Girl Friday, 1940. Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell deliver the fastest, snappiest dialogue in the history of movies. One of the greatest scripts ever written by partners and hard-drinking ex-newpapermen, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. Directed by the master of rapid-fire dialogue Howard Hawks. This is the screwball comedy that defines the genre. "Oh Walter, you're wonderful--in a loathsome sort of way." Russell tells Grant with unmistakable affection. His Girl Friday is about two people with an unyielding contempt for the world and an equally unyielding respect for each other. Grant plays Walter, a ruthless, manipulative newspaper editor who is determined to lure ace reporter and ex-wife Hildy Johnson back to the newspaper, and in the process save her from marriage to a painfully boring and proper man. Walter just knows that she won't be happy and he is determined to save her, in spite of herself. Don't miss Russell's wild hats, in those days even leading ladies' hats were designed right down to the stitching. It's sad and perplexing; once upon a time Hollywood knew how to write great roles for women. In this age of so-called feminism, women's roles are so much less compelling, and depend so often on nudity.
Double Indemnity, 1944. Screenplay, get this, by Raymond Chandler and Billy Wilder, from the novel by James M. Cain. Talk about yichus. Ever heard of film noir? That's French for dark movie. These movies take place at night, usually in Los Angeles, there's always a dangerous dame and a private eye with a singular code of honor that is at odds with the surrounding milieu. This is the best noir movie ever made. Barbara Stanwyck plays Phyllis Dietrichson, a platinum blonde with a matching heart who seduces fast-talking insurance agent Neff, Fred MacMurray, into devising a brilliant scheme to murder her husband and collect on his insurance policy. But after the crime is committed MacMurray's passion for Stanwyck sours. Further, the heartless Stanwyck has used MacMurray for her own purposes. Evil plots are hatched in bland supermarket aisles. Lovers double-cross each another without a second thought. Ordinary men turn into human monsters. There is no love, only brute animal passion. Miklos Rozsa's score is the ultimate noir statement: unrelenting and memorable. Watch for the moment when MacMurray first catches sight of Stanwyck; actually all he sees is a delicate gold chain around her slim ankle. From that moment on, his reason and ethics turn to dust. Like Rashomon, this is another amazing example of a universe exploding because of one man's gaze. No image I know of in movies is as erotically charged. Billy Wilder, a Jew who fled Hitler's Germany, was best known for such comedies as Some Like it Hot. But here Wilder directs with a dazzling sure touch. There's also the perfect set-up and pay-off -- with a cigar and a lighter. It's classic, and should be taught in every film course.
Have a lovely and meaningful Shabbos. Next week I hope to write about the films that Seraphic Secret readers recommend. So please, write in and let me know what films you love and want to share.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at March 18, 2005 11:28 PM
Comments
Seraphic Secret is private property, that's right, it's an extension of our home, and as such, Karen and I have instituted two Seraphic Rules and we ask commentors to act respectfully.
1. No profanity.2. No Israel bashing. We debate, we discuss, we are respectful. You know what Israel bashing is. The world is full of it. Seraphic Secret is one of the few places in the world that will not tolerate this form of anti-Semitism. That's it. Break either of these rules and you will be banned.
I don't know how many of these will meet your hashgacha, but here is a partial list off the top of my head:
Casablanca
The Maltese Falcon
The Big Sleep
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Ikiru
The Hidden Fortress
Throne of Blood
Yojimbo
Sanjuro
Seppuku (aka "Harakiri")
Aleksander Nevsky
High Noon
The Adventures of Robin Hood (with Errol Flynn)
The Sea Hawk
M
Tanpopo
The Seventh Seal
Citizen Kane
The Third Man
More later, maybe.
Posted by: Earl Hartman at March 18, 2005 03:01 PM
Oh, wait:
Twelve Angry Men
Inherit the Wind
To Kill a Mockingbird
Mr. Hulot's Holiday
Posted by: Earl Hartman at March 18, 2005 03:04 PM
Don't know that it's one of the best films of all time, but it's certainly one of my favorites of all time -- ROOM SERVICE, with the Marx Brothers and Lucille Ball, a very beautiful and young Lucille Ball.
The scene with Harpo in bed, fully dressed, bedcovers up to his chin, being given a quick physical by a doctor, being asked to open his mouth and say "Ahhhh"...and him squeezing the Kewpie doll in response is one of the ultimate entertaining scenes I've ever seen in a film.
I could view the film a dozen times and laugh heartily each time at that Kewpie doll scene.
An oldie, but a goodie!
Posted by: Pearl at March 19, 2005 06:37 PM
I have a few movies that I like from the early 40's - they may not be 'classics' but they are cute and good for the whole family...(well maybe they are chick flicks, but at least are kosher chick flicks...)
"A Little Princess" (a drama/musical with Shirley Temple, who is sent to an elite boarding school when her widowed father is off to war...when her father is presumed dead, she is forced to become a servant at the school to pay her way.)
"Junior Miss" (a comedy about a meddling young teenage girl who gets involved in everyone's lives by playing cupid. Her tomboyish sidekick is hysterical).
That's all I can think of for now -
Posted by: Rachel at March 20, 2005 11:14 AM