#100 of 2010: Paris, Texas

The incredibly slow trickle of narrative disclosure made the first hour of "Paris, Texas" a little tough to get through, but after all is said and done, I think the pacing of the film can be considered one of its most notable achievements. It starts out a garble that we see through "the brother's" eyes, and the tension of what will happen if or when Travis (Harry Dean Stanton) comes back into the life of his son, Hunter, competently propels the garble on through the first forty minutes. By the time Hunter says "Goodnight, Dad" twice, I began to wonder if there was any story left to tell. Or rather, I knew there was story left to tell, but judging from the opening half of the movie, I had my doubts as to whether or not it would get told. At precisely 1:02:01, everything starts all over again, with the simple gesture of walking backwards on the other side of the street. From this point on, I was enamored. The remainder is speckled with little vignettes that keep you watching and listening- fully attentive to what is being shown and said- because your brain figured out early on that here, there's no reward for guesswork.

One of my favorite scenes was the one on the bridge. On first viewing, it seemed completely interruptive (i didn't mind), and now that I skim it again, I see the significance in showing Travis walking at night, then cutting to him walking (in the same direction) across a bridge over some highway in the low light of what could easily be taken for early morning: after learning that there might be a way for him to find his long-lost wife, he walks all night, quickly, without giving much notice to his environment. Still, it isn't the narrative implications that get me about this scene. It's the way the sound (an audio parfait of footsteps and traffic buzz and some echo-y orating within the scene, topped off with that bending and twanging guitar soundtrack) and the visual composition (tracking Travis, who's centered in the shot, as he glides over the bi-directional river of head- and tail-lights) combine and fluctuate and culminate in Travis slowing down as the shot overtakes the orator (who turns toward him without lowering his volume), and the guitar drops back while we listen (along with our main character) about how "none of that area will be called a safety zone. there will be no safety zone. i can guarantee you the safety zone will be eliminated. eradicated." The orator turns back towards the highway, Travis softly touches his back as he walks around him, and the camera let's our main character walk on without it.

ps, Hunter is great. Not like a "great kid actor", but a real kid who doesn't seem like he's on film.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris,_Texas_(film)

#92 of 2010: 10 Shorts by the Bros Quay

i couldn't stop writing while watching these. and "street of crocodiles" is perhaps the single most pressing motivation i can think of (ed's encouragement comes in at a close second) for me to make a film of my own (though it won't be animation). this short has been pivotal in my development of a more detailed and thought out theory of the ability of film to manipulate time like no other medium. and as much as i wish i had the focus and time to hash out everything i thought about even a single film in this collection (perhaps someday, after hundreds of viewings), i can't say anything other than find it and watch it.

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

#90 of 2010: Short Circuit

i thought i had seen this as a kid but i'd actually only seen "Short Circuit 2", which has the advantage of starring the most entertaining two characters (Johnny 5 and Ben) without the baggage of ally sheedy's horrible failing and painfully unnatural line delivery (disclaimer: i haven't seen the sequel since i was maybe 6 or 7, so i can't vouch for it really being good. i do remember a sweet scene in a bookstore or library where Johnny 5 devours all the books, which i have wished i could do ever since). the anti-military theme reminded me of "Real Genius", but with fewer academia-based hijinks and less concern for developing characters that a viewer can really give a shit about. still- somehow- "Short Circuit" managed to be surprisingly delightful. No. 5 was alive enough to make up for (almost) everyone else's glaring creative incompetence.

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

#71 of 2010: Lola

as i mentioned before, "Lola" is the genetically identical graft of it's Marlene Dietrich-starring predecessor, "The Blue Angel". still, in R.W. Fassbinder's hands, it certainly became it's own plant as it progressed. obvious comparisons to be made: a seemingly non-sexual older man in a socially respectable position is at odds with the people at work while he falls in love with a singer in the adult entertainment industry and is subsequently "corrupted"; the woman is financially dependent on men but finds plenty of other ways to be in charge of her own life; idealism doesn't have much of an effect, if any. basic contrasts: more developed rivalries; more circularity and interconnectivity amongst characters; this film is not only in color, it is in hyper-color, with tinted lighbulbs on screen and richly-hued stage-lighting to create giant planes of color which envelope characters or intersect. the second contrast, the interconnectivity, is elemental in developing the complexity of the woman around whom all the other characters orbit. Lola's scenes show her in different costumes (standard vocal performance stage-clothes, lingerie, her conservative and high-class sunday best, 20-something around-the-house wear, etc.) as she interacts with different combinations of friends, coworkers, clients, and family. she's casual at home with her daughter, mother, and friend/coworker Esslin; she's in her room at the brothel being fought over by Shuckert and Esslin while wearing her prostitute uniform; she's singing at a church in a modest (though head-turning) hat and dress while von Bohm sings beside her; she's at her wedding with all the women from work, her mother, and her new husband. but even as she changes costumes- presumably playing different roles in order to be what people want her to be- she has a consistent resilience, a self-reliance, and a kind of ambition that drives her to gather up love and admiration (and to withstand the abuse that comes with them) for her own practical benefit. she isn't attention hungry, she's business-minded, and she knows enough about how to survive in her environment that she allows herself to mix business with pleasure. her predicament (along with her perspective) is summed up well in her response to Esslin when he asks, rhetorically, "you want to live in a world that has lost all morality, where there's only evil and depravity and corruption?" she answers, "gladly. my only problem is that they never let me really join in." though she's left out when it comes to the distribution of clear-cut power, Lola has smarts, is willing to use what she's got, and is adaptable in the extreme. whether or not these abilities can also count as detriments is ultimately left up to each viewer's own system of priorities and moral evaluation. i love when flimmakers allow viewers the privilege of judging for themselves, and i'm starting to really love Armin Mueller-Stahl, so i'm recommending "Lola" highly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lola_(1981_film)

#69 of 2010: Veronika Voss

the story itself and the exceptional acting certainly deserve praise, but the most striking thing about this film is how poignantly it reverses the light=good/dark=bad convention. though Fassbinder chose to shoot "Veronika Voss" in black and white and the story is built largely on the darker, more desperate and disturbing facets of humanity, i don't think it can be considered "neo-noir" for the simple fact that so much of the film is blindingly white- which in this case represents lack, unease (even torture), corrupt power, and decay. like Rembrandt's "hundred gilder print" depicting Christ with the greatest dimensionality possible for the medium (while the "bad guys" are punished by being made lightest, their forms constructed from the fewest and thinnest lines, barely worked on by the artist or visible to the viewer), Fassbinder shows the good people and places of this film in vibrant shadow and modulated light, while the rotten characters gleam. Robert and his extraordinarily devoted (though in no way inferior or dependent) girlfriend Henriette are the self-actualized, affectionate, honest, compassionate ones, and their truthful and openhearted interactions take place in spaces lit like this:

playing for the other (nasty, opportunistic, self-centered, avaricious) team is Dr. Katz, who swindles and makes addicts of Veronika and two elderly Holocaust survivors (who are probably among others not dealt with in the scope of the film). her office/home/trap is completely whitewashed, effecting the feeling that the only comfort or hope or life it can offer is contrived, flattened, and completely fake- and it is also inescapable. everything falls under the terrible whiteness' power, from the palm tree in the white hall

to Veronika herself, all bleached and washed out and sickly, even as she sparkles with the coldness of jewelry and ostentation.

the cleanliness and orderliness of her doctor's corruption eventually drains Veronika of even fake, drug-induced life, and one of the palest frames is the one that displays her demise.

I was stunned by this film on so many levels, but i'll refrain from going into any more of them and simply recommend that you watch "Veronika Voss" for yourself.

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

#59 of 2010: Real Genius

for all it's keen-but-shallow witty one-liners and teen comedy silliness (i.e. the hot braniac throws a sexy de-stressing "beach" party and invites a bunch of correctly-bodied and intellectually deficient "beauticians" from the cosmetology school up the road. plenty of offensive insinuations to go around), this movie packed a substantive bundle of ethics and life lessons. there's the triplet of past, present, and future "top-dogs", a kind of diagram of what can happen to a smart kid who doesn't balance- work with fun, break-through successes in the lab with a philosophically sound conscience, nurturing his abilities with challenging himself to work on or accept his weaknesses. i was especially impressed by the message (which Mitch gets from Chris, then subsequently has to reflect back to his mentor when Chris' sealed future comes undone) that above bragging rights, above grades, above salaries, above rivalries, it is the work we do that really matters (along with the our relationships with and responsibilities to the people who share in our endeavors). and, as everyone comes to find out the hard way, worthwhile work deserves to be thought- and felt- through. all the raw intelligence in the world is valueless, even harmful, without the moderation of the human soul. awwwwwww.

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