#107 of 2010: A Woman is A Woman

i don't have much of a desire to review Godard. that's not really an option based on how/why i watch his movies. and how/why is that? by making/to make a list, as follows:

emile (Jean-Claude Brialy): "why are you crying?"

angela (Anna Karina): "because i wish i could be both little yellow animals at the same time."

emile: "you always want the impossible."

angela: *smile*

angela says a general, contentedly-affirming-but-overall-emotionally-neutral thing in response to alfred's (Jean-Paul Belmondo) request to hear her thoughts and then she walks across the street away from the camera. he turns to the camera with his cigarette dangling out his mouth, says, "and off she goes," then turns away to watch her as the focus drifts up to the neon sign on the building.

alfred: "i'm very clever."

angela: "oh really? bet you can't do everything i can."

alfred: "bet i can"

several shots of them standing in identical poses, revealed in the last shot to have been angela's plot to get alfred back for slapping her ass by kicking his.

angela: "could you sweep the floor instead of acting like a jerk"

emile stops at the window and turns, the camera traces his sight line as the words "EMILE TAKES ANGELA LITERALLY BECAUSE HE LOVES HER" appear one by one across the screen, then disappear. the camera reaches her, she stands, and the camera pans back, a stare volley, while "AND ANGELA CAN'T BACK DOWN BECAUSE SHE LOVES HIM" appears last word to first word in a right to left progression.

after a little spikey speech back and forth, they both look down and then look up at some off center focal point, the camera starts a slow rotation leftwards, towards the door, and another sentence appears a few words at a time, backwards as the one about angela had: "BECAUSE THEY LOVE EACH OTHER EVERYTHING WILL GO WRONG FOR EMILE AND ANGELA". stops. volleys back to the couple with: "THEY MISTAKENLY THINK THEY CAN CROSS THE LIMITS DUE TO THEIR MUTUAL UNDYING LOVE".

alfred (Belmondo) says "make up your minds, Breathless is on tv and i don't want to miss it"

the boys whisper to each other and laugh, suddenly allied against angela's toying with them. somehow incredibly precious. everyone is on a schoolyard in demeanor.

woman: "they're showing vera cruz"

alfred: "my pal burt lancaster is in it" (turns to the camera, grits teeth in a Lancaster Grin)

angela flips an egg into the air, runs next door to answer the phone, asks alfred to hold on, runs back in her apartment, catches the egg.

happy ending with forgiveness and books and sex and Anna Karina winks at the camera.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Woman_Is_a_Woman

#99 of 2010: Hara Kiri

In the tradition of non linear storytelling, "Hara Kiri" calls into question the efficacy of first impressions and, in the process, also casts doubt on the morality of strictly defining what kinds of behavior count as"honorable". Most of the film is fairly understated, but moments of tension (i.e. are they gonna make him stab himself with a bamboo blade?) are furiously anxious, and the quiet sadness of Tatsuya Nakadai's character is absolute.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harakiri_(1962_film)

#87 of 2010: Daisies

they giggle, maniacally; they're thin and peppy in swimsuits, dresses, heels; they'll hang out with a rich old dude for a meal and entertainment. but after they get bored of teasing and frolicking, they'll light wads of crepe paper on fire in their room and cut phallic foods (pickle, sausage, crescent roll, banana) into tiny pieces with scissors to the soundtrack of a lovesick butterfly collector on the phone.

it might be possible to miss the feminism of this film- the message isn't militant or presented in an altogether serious fashion- but you aren't watching very closely if you do. "Daisies" continuously points out contradictions in society's opinions on propriety and feminine behavior [example: stylized drunkeness and suggestive dancing by a couple performers doing a flapper number are enjoyed by a chuckling, clapping audience, but the crowd is completely indignant when the two girls get drunk and dance for real. ACTUALLY having fun instead of faking a good time is NOT ok].

far from being a manifesto, or even suggesting how things "should" be, Chytilova's attention-getting early feature film is an absurd/surreal interpretation of the current (as of the 60's, and we can argue how far we've come since then) state of womanhood, which was and still is rather absurd on its own. this is the point. it is made with joyous, psychedelic, and well-paced deftness. and you should watch it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisies_(film)

#78 of 2010: The Notorious Landlady

first and foremost, i was surprised to find Jack Lemmon carrying himself more gracefully than Fred Astaire (who i kept wishing would break into a fit of irrepressible tap-dancing, but alas. . .). oh man, that scene where Jack's going downstairs to snoop around or get the scoop after he hears something, and down an entire flight of stairs his hunched shoulders and lowered brow both stay perfectly level, perfectly parallel to the floor. he just glides around. what a charmer. people (including me) say that the best actors aren't the drama mongers, the best actors are often the truly funny comedians. maybe they're the best dancers, too. Kim Novak was enchanting except for when she clung to Jack and bobbed her head and flung her eyebrows impossibly high, all alternately, robotically, and to some horrible rhythm. that was hard to watch, but it was over in a matter of seconds and she was her same slick, wide-faced whisperer once again. The crazy camera angles and light-speed panning and zooming at the moment of the movie-opening murder were notable, as was the coherence of the plot-driving mystery's resolution. it's a sexy romp and a sizzling suspense and might even be considered female-empowering. and if for no other reason, watch it because the guy who plays officer Oliphant is so. spot. on.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056289/