Batman Returns April 22, 2006
Posted by clydefro in : Modern Films, 1990s , add a comment
Batman Returns
The story wisely begins with the Penguin’s origins and shows his parents abandoning him. Throughout the film, the Penguin is shockingly disgusting and crude. This is not the dapper, yet crazed Penguin we’ve seen before in the comic books and the 1960s television show. Danny DeVito is probably the only well-known actor who could have pulled this role off and he still manages to disappear into the role. The DVD extra features mention that DeVito actually stayed in character as the Penguin on the set. Whatever DeVito did it worked because he gives the Penguin a suprising depth not usually seen in comic-book films, especially in villain portrayals.
Nevertheless, if DeVito’s Penguin is one of the best of its kind then Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman may be at the very top. Pfeiffer takes Selina Kyle from a mousy assistant lacking in confidence and transforms her into the dangerously seductive Catwoman. No villain in a so-called comic-book movie has ever displayed the multi-dimensional pathos as convincingly as Pfeiffer’s Catwoman. The audience understands why Selina Kyle is borderline unstable and we also see why Bruce Wayne and Batman would be interested in Kyle and Catwoman, respectively. Credit must be given to DeVito and Pfeiffer for such fearless, captivating performances and Burton for making his actors feel comfortable enough to let loose and dedicate themselves to a superhero movie.
In fact, however, Batman Returns is much less a superhero movie than a Tim Burton movie. Burton had made the gothic fairy tale Edward Scissorhands in between his two Batman films and it’s easy to see that film’s influence in the look of Batman Returns. Burton is one of the relatively few active American directors whose films almost always have a unique look or style. Here, the fairy tale theme from Edward Scissorhands is continued with the Christmas setting and the Penguin storyline. The penguin’s given name in the film, Oswald Cobblepot, is somewhat reminiscent of Edward Scissorhands and the two characters have some things in common, most notably a feeling of abandonment.
Batman has always been my favorite superhero character. The classic antihero, he has no special powers and can be viewed as a very dark, angry do-gooder who exists in the shadows and values his anonymity. With Batman Returns, Tim Burton and his collaborators seem to have made a conscious decision to focus less on Batman and more on the villains. Since the two villains are such strong characters, the film works, even if the audience would have liked to seen a little more Batman. Michael Keaton’s performances in both Batman films are my favorites of the actors who have played the role, probably because he manages to hint at the dark side of the character without shoving it into our face. Keaton broods with repressed anger, but his angst is compelling instead of depressing.
Clockers April 11, 2006
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Based on Richard Price’s novel, Clockers
Price originally set his novel in the fictional Dempsey, New Jersey, but director Spike Lee changed the location to Brooklyn, a more familiar venue for the filmmaker. It was Martin Scorsese who actually was originally to direct the film, but he decided to make Casino instead and Lee took over. In my mind, Clockers is the superior film. (See my thoughts on Casino here) Whereas Scorsese’s film meandered and sputtered out, Clockers is a more focused and interesting work. When the final revelation about Strike and his brother is laid out, the audience realizes that the “murder mystery” is not that important afterall. To some, this may seem anticlimactic, but I would argue that Lee (as well as Price, who also cowrote the script) has developed Strike’s character so well and given the audience such a feeling for his surroundings, that the mystery aspect of the film becomes inconsequential. It doesn’t matter if Strike or his brother was the killer. What matters is that Strike realizes his life as a “clocker” must come to an end.
Strike is obviously not your typical Hollywood gangsta thug drug dealer. Plagued with stomach ulcers, he’s frequently seen downing Chocolate Moo, a Yoohoo type chocolate drink. His hobby is electric trains and his apartment is filled with elaborately displayed and functional train sets. When a young neighbor, despite his mother’s fierce warnings, takes an interest in some of the drug dealers, Strike takes him back to his apartment and shows him his trains while telling the kid the evils of drugs. Unfortunately, since Strike is none too bright, he also shows him the gun he keeps underneath his mattress, which sets up the film’s final scenes.
Mekhi Phifer is perfect as Strike. He manages to skillfully balance the line between dangerous drug dealer and naive dimwit. His vulnerability gives the audience a reason to not give up on the character. We understand when Keitel’s cop is determined to nail Strike for the murder his brother has confessed to, but, as things become murkier, we begin to see how initial perceptions are not always accurate. Turturro is much less interested in who actually killed the victim than Keitel since they have a confession. By the end of the movie, one cynically wonders if Keitel regrets not listening to Turturro’s plea to just accept the confession and move on.
Released in 1995, Clockers is a gritty, complex film and it looks appropriately stark and unpolished. The cinematography gives the film almost a documentary-like feel and makes it easier to accept the dark themes found throughout the story. Lee even begins the film with shots of murder victims riddled with bullets and blood, perhaps as a way of preparing the viewer for the realistic and desensitizing violence. The two murders that serve as bookends are accompanied by crowds of onlookers, including Spike himself, who seem to accept the violence as a reality they cannot escape.
Also of note is the film’s theatrical poster, shown above, which was an homage of sorts to the Saul Bass-designed poster for Anatomy of a Murder. Instead of just a dead body, however, the Clockers poster has a bullet-riddled black victim. There’s also a version where the body is white and I have not been able to determine the significance or rationale behind the difference.
I know that Spike Lee has plenty of detractors, but I find him to be one of the most interesting American filmmakers working today. His films are frequently brilliant, if uneven, and he consistently manages to display his unique talent on the screen. I don’t want to digress into a Spike Lee defense manifesto, but he may be the most important black filmmaker ever and he should not be reviled for speaking his mind. For those who dislike his personality or opinions, it might be a good idea to separate the work from the man. Since he gained so much notoriety for Do the Right Thing
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse April 8, 2006
Posted by clydefro in : Classic Films, 1930s, Fritz Lang , add a comment
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse) was Fritz Lang’s last film before fleeing Nazi Germany. It was banned in Germany and not shown there until after World War II. Regardless of Lang’s foresight into Hitler’s dictatorship, the film can be viewed as a strong rebuke of the Nazi regime and anti-propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels refused to allow German audiences to see it. The great thing about the film, though, is that it plays beautifully even if you don’t take into account that it was completed in 1933 Nazi Germany. It’s a compelling story that, like many of Lang’s other German films, holds up remarkably well today.
The basic plot is that Dr. Mabuse (pronounced Mah-boo-sah), an evil genius who has refused to speak and is locked up in an insane asylum, has begun scribbling elaborate criminal plans from his bed. Somehow, an “empire of crime” has formed and they are carrying out these horrific crimes. Even after Dr. Mabuse dies, the crimes continue and the crafty Inspector Lohmann must try to solve the elaborate puzzle. There’s also a romantic subplot involving one of the men in Dr. Mabuse’s gang who becomes frustrated when he is unable to find honest work and reluctantly returns to a life of crime. He finds redemption in a woman he meets at the employment office and wants to get out of the gang and settle down with her. Eventually, he becomes vital in Inspector Lohmann’s investigation.
It was only Lang’s second sound film (following M), but the director manages to keenly employ everyday noises to achieve a realistic result. The first few minutes of the film are mostly silent until we hear various street noises. This immediately allows the viewer to build an interest and sweeps us into Lang’s film. I was also struck by the image of Dr. Mabuse’s “ghost” conversing and hypnotizing the psychiatrist. It’s an eerie scene and gives the film some elements of horror.
Interestingly, Lang simultaneously filmed a French language version of the film starring mostly different actors. Criterion’s two-disc special edition has included this version, albeit in a much more damaged transfer than the German version, which looks remarkably good for a movie over seventy years old. There is also a useful comparison between the two versions, as as the American dubbed version released several years later, after World War II. The American version changes dialogue and attempts to make more direct connections to Hitler and the Nazis. It appears, not surprisingly, that Lang always intended the German version to be the definitive film and his opinion of the American release is unclear.
Maybe the most remarkable thing about The Testament of Dr. Mabuse is its continued relevance. It has aged very well and may even play better today, when people are more informed as to terrorists and organized crime, than when it was first made. The idea of a criminal mastermind pulling strings from an undisclosed location and having people who’ve never seen or met him carrying out his crimes is a timely and always fascinating story. I’m not sure if Fritz Lang was simply a gifted filmmaker with incredible foresight or if possibly Hollywood used his template to craft their studio crime films and maybe that’s why Lang’s German movies still seem so fresh today. Either way, Lang was certainly on to something and seeing his films restored onto DVD today is a real treat.
Keane April 3, 2006
Posted by clydefro in : Modern Films, 2000s , add a comment
Some films make us feel uncomfortable and troubled not only as we watch them, but for days afterward. It’s often easy to dismiss these films as not being your cup of tea, but there must be something extraordinary about them when it becomes impossible to forget what you’ve seen. One such recent film that stands out in my mind is Gregg Araki’s stark sexual molestation drama Mysterious Skin. It was a struggle to get through it because I didn’t like what I was witnessing. Then something strange happened. As the days passed, I still had the film etched in my memory. The two main characters seemed like real young men who had suffered the unimaginable horrors portrayed in the film. A few months later, I can’t unequivocally say I intend on watching the film again, but it’s still nearly as vivid and disturbing as when I first saw it. Another such film is Lodge Kerrigan’s Keane
Keane is the story of a man in his mid-thirties who is haunted by memories of his daughter being abducted in New York City’s Port Authority bus terminal. He also struggles with mental illness that, like much of the film, is never explained to the viewer. The audience is plunged into Keane’s world without the knowledge of whether his daughter was really abducted or even existed at all. Keane is also in search of a job despite apparently receiving a government disability check for reasons not fully explained. At times, he is able to interact normally and seem like a stable, normal person. On other occasions, however, we see the ugliness of his mental illness such as when Keane becomes paranoid and yells at no one in particular to stop looking at him.
This outburst happens when he’s looking after a little girl (who happens to be about the same age as his abducted daughter) whose mother is staying in the same motel and whom he has befriended. The whole sequence involving Keane and the young girl is extremely suspenseful in a perverse sort of way. The audience almost knows that something tragic is likely to happen and we must wait to see if and how our fears are realized. It’s painful, yet riveting, to watch.
In the title role, Damian Lewis is brilliant and fearless. Watching the beginning of the film and being familiar with the locations, I found myself wondering if the camera was hidden and the reactions of the passersby were real. I have experienced people as disturbed as Keane and Lewis is eerily realistic in his performance. Yet, despite Keane’s many, many flaws, I was never repulsed by him and I was hopeful that he could somehow avoid falling into the trap he appears to be setting himself up for as the film plays out. Again, I think that’s a testament to Lewis’ performance, that the audience feels empathy for Keane instead of him being some one-dimensional wackjob.
Ultimately, Keane is an enigmatic film without any real answers. The audience doesn’t really learn too much about Keane aside from the ninety minutes we spend with him. He tells the little girl’s mother he was married and had a daughter, but we have no idea if he’s telling the truth and the writer/director Kerrigan never tells us what is or is not real or imagined by Keane (aside from his obviously delusional search for his daughter’s abductor). Kerrigan also chooses to focus his camera on Keane throughout the film in tight, claustrophobic close-ups. This technique commands the audience’s attention and gives us little escape from Keane’s world. If someone is easily frustrated by stories like this, where there are no little bows to nicely wrap up what’s happened, then Keane is not the movie for them. If, however, they enjoy strikingly bold and original films that sometimes make the audience feel uncomfortable and refuse to placate the lowest common denominator then I would recommend this film without reservation.
