Wrapping up

I am getting out of the habit of blogging, but the day after the Academy Awards seems an opportune moment to wrap up. I watched much more of the awards program than I would normally do, for three reasons: Jon Stewart was host, I’d uncharacteristically seen all the nominated films, and most important, I had TiVo to fast forward through commercials, thank you speeches, and excruciating performances. Turns out Jon was miscast as ringmaster of this scripted orgy of self-congratulation (at least he pointed out how lame the montages were -- except for the gay cowboy pastiche -- and the nominee attack ads brought some NY snark to the proceedings, though they seemed notably out of tune with the proceedings.) Hollywood came across as an amazingly insular community, and this a very tiny event when compared to the insane hype that precedes it, raising the betting stakes to a Super Bowl or Final Four frenzy. The bright spot of the evening was definitely Lily & Meryl’s intro to Altman special Oscar.

Crash for Best Picture was the most arguable of the winners, but it was easy to figure how it appealed to Academy voters, and each film (except the utterly unworthy Munich) received a token award or two: Lee, Hoffman, Witherspoon, Clooney. I began my *7-* review of Crash thus: “Too schematic and artsy, too eager to sell its message, this is nonetheless a well-made film on an essential American subject” (see September 2005 Archives.) I rate it on a par with Pride & Prejudice and Hustle & Flow.

None of my own top choices for best film of 2005 was even nominated. At the top of my list, along with several other critics’, was The Best of Youth, which as an Italian tv series belatedly released in the U.S. as a 6-hour film was probably disqualified on multiple counts. The Squid and the Whale would have been my pick of eligible films, with Brokeback Mountain belatedly joining Walk the Line and Syriana in the runner-up group. If Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room is exiled to the documentary catergory, The Constant Gardener might sneak into the best five domestic films, just edging Good Night, and Good Luck. In the same *7+* rank with the latter were two small but delightful films, Junebug and My Summer of Love; also several documentaries slightly better than the Oscar-winning March of the Penguins, including Grizzly Man and Mad Hot Ballroom; plus the animation winner Wallace & Gromit. I thought Capote was worth watching, but more on the *6+* out-of-the-running level of something like Mysterious Skin.

The only Hollywood contender I haven’t seen yet is A History of Violence, which arrives on dvd next Tuesday. There are a number of foreign films that have gotten Top Ten rankings from scattered critics, which I will be catching up with over the next month or two, but even at this I think it’s fair to say that 2005 wasn’t a bad year for films, as long as you were willing to look beyond the mainstream.

Of course I’m way behind on my ratings here, for whatever they may be worth, so I’ll offer a few brief observations in descending order of my recommendation:

Moolaade. (2004) *8* (MC-91) It’s mean to top the list with a film you have very little chance of seeing, not on dvd and not coming to a theater near you, but I was in a lucky group that saw this at Images Cinema, courtesy of the collaboratively-supported series, “Beyond the Femme Fatale: Leading Women in French and Francophone Film.” It is by the 81-year-old Senegalese director Ousmane Sembene, and I will definitely be looking further into his oeuvre. You are transported to a different world, right into a remote West African village, a deeply traditional society experiencing the first incursions of modernity. While retaining a documentary realism, the film has the quality of a beautiful folk tale, in its elemental struggles and pageant-like set-pieces. One strong woman stands up against the patriarchal practice of female genital mutilation, taking in four girls who have escaped from the ritual of “purification” because they did not want to be cut, and offering them “moolaade” or sanctuary. And the whole structure of the society starts to tremble and fall, with dynamics recognizable in any society, and well-rounded characters also recognizable across cultural divides. This film will give you a new perspective on the world, and a richer appreciation of just what’s at stake in the world’s passage from tribalism to globalism. Hard to imagine, but here the final shot of a television aerial is an image of hope.

Brokeback Mountain. (2005) *8* (MC-87) When I finally caught up with this much-discussed film last week, my companion and I were the only two people in the theater, a quasi-private screening. I’m glad it hung around long enough for me to see it on the big screen. By now you’ve heard all you need to about this film, but personally I liked it a lot, would certainly have picked it out of given Oscar noms. For me the only thing lacking for an absolute rave was the failure to capture the moment when Jack and Ennis fall in love, though the Rocky Mountain landscape makes an effective “objective correlative” (is that obscure Eliotic phrase still in academic circulation?)

Deadwood. (2004) *8-* Quite a different view of the West. I've finished the first season of this HBO series on dvd, and now I’m sufficiently hooked to be TiVo-ing the whole second season in anticipation of the upcoming third. No surprise really, since it’s the brainchild of David Milch, co-creator of NYPD Blue, which for years was the only network series I watched. This portrait of an outlaw town growing up from scratch around a gold strike is reminiscent of Robert Altman’s masterpiece, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, though much raunchier. The unremitting obscenity, the squalid sex and violence, are justified on grounds of historical accuracy, but take some getting used to. Many will not want to get used to it, but for those who do, that long-form magic will take hold. You will be part of this frontier community, familiar with all the characters, and eager to see what damned thing will happen next. But you’ve got to start from the beginning and give yourself four hours or so to get the hang of the neighborhood. For once a slogan has meaning: it’s not tv, it’s HBO. For me, this joins Rome in the pantheon of series, just below The Wire and The Sopranos. And Six Feet Under, before it wore out its welcome.

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. (2005) *7+* (MC-87) Who doesn’t love Wallace and Gromit, just awarded the Oscar for animated feature? I’m showing the three preceding W & G shorts in an animation festival at the Clark on Sunday, March 26 (check this space later for exact schedule.) But I have to admit I got drowsy in the middle of this film, which may have been that beer with dinner or it may have been some stretching of the material, tempo as well as plasticine. Still, cracking good cheese.

Nine Lives. (2005) *7* (MC-80) This no-budget indie shares several qualities with Crash but does more with less. Writer-director Rodrigo Garcia is the son of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Maybe that helped him line up an A-list of actresses working for minimum scale, or maybe it was the appeal to theater people of spending one day of rehearsal and blocking and one day of shooting single 11-14 minute Steadicam takes of well-written domestic drama. Robin Wright Penn, Sissy Spacek, Holly Hunter, Molly Parker, Glenn Close, et al. -- how could a film with such a cast not break through to public recognition? Well, to be honest, it’s work to watch -- but very rewarding work. You have to pay close attention while each scene unfolds in real time, and then you have to start over again with new characters and a new situation. It’s like reading a book of short stories straight through; requires a different sort of attention than sinking into a novel. All the story lines do not collide as they do conveniently in Crash, but there is some overlap. This matches up nicely with Personal Velocity as an interesting depiction of contemporary women’s lives in multiple.

Pleasantville. (1998) *7-* (MC-71) Another matched pair, this with The Truman Show. The technical conceit of having color invade the world of a Fifties b&w tv sitcom is nice handled, but is barely skin deep. Gary Ross’s first effort as writer-director is a pleasant trifle. Reese Witherspoon and Tobey Maguire show promise of stardom to come, as contemporary teenagers transported into an oldie tv world. Joan Allen and William Macy lend their usual effective support as the tv parents. But this film is not up to the standard of Back to the Future or Peggy Sue Got Married.

8 Women. (2001) *5+* (MC-64) Twice I tried to watch Netflix disks that proved defective, and then I couldn’t make it when this film led off the “Beyond the Femme Fatale” series at Images. Then I saw the dvd while browsing in the college library, and took it out. I needn’t have gone to the effort. Francois Ozon’s confection was not to my taste, just too arch, too little attached to any reality whatsoever. It’s a Christie-like country house mystery, with an astounding line-up of great French actresses from Darrieux and Deneuve to Beart and Ledoyen, put to the task of sheer silliness.

I had disappointing audiences for my “Triple Feature: 3 Painters” program at the Clark, but take the opportunity to remind local residents that dvds shown at the Clark are subsequently available for borrowing from the Milne Public Library in Williamstown. For me Artemisia seemed even better on second look, once you get past the undenial bodice-ripping aspect and quibbles about biographical accuracy. Carrington (with Emma Thompson and Jonathan Pryce) and Pollock (with Ed Harris and Marcia Gay Harden) remain well worth seeing if you haven’t already done so.