Dogs Bark

Mono-No-Aware - - Onna Ga Kaidan Wo Agaru Toki [When a Woman Ascends the Stairs] (1960, Japan, B/W, 111 min)

Strongly recommended. If one is organizing a feminist film class, When a Woman Ascends the Stairs, might be an essential. Mikio Naruse (Floating Clouds) directed this and several other powerful films focused on the experiences of women in postwar Japan. Specifically, he casts one of his favorite actresses (Hideko Takamine, Mother) as a 60’s-era, Ginza bar hostess. Takanine’s acting is impeccable . . . registering the unhappy restraint she feels with subtle expressions. When she drops the mask in a few scenes, her agony is shown as all the more intense. Naruse’s story argues that the mama-san has only two rational aspirations, go into debt and own a bar or marry a rich man. But, after numerous setbacks, the unresolved staircase is where Takanine begins and ends the story and despite this, she resolves at the end to refuse to accept either male-dominated unhappiness and accepts her transient, painful - - but independent - - fate.

Friends Of His - - The Irishman (2019, USA, Color, 209 min) - - 20 December 2019

Recommended. The autumn of a genius is often their most interesting period. At this point, self-indulgent is a silly reproach. We want indulgence. Thus, opinions of Martin Scorsese’s (Silence) sprawling film, The Irishman, are presumptuous . . . but questions are useful. Three emerge: are the aging/anti-aging effects distracting? Is it too long? Why Netflix? The first answer is ‘definitely;’ however, Scorsese wanted this specific cast ripened across the entire story. Both Robert De Niro (Jackie Brown) and Joe Pesci (Casino) are as scary in restraint as in rage. And Al Pacino (Donnie Brasco) uses his well-honed frenzy exactingly. Each is indispensable. The movie is long because the unpacking of minutia is intentional. The endless third act of The Irishman answers why gangsters fascinate Scorsese. Evil - - in authenticity - - is dramatically banal. But streaming this 3.5-hour-long movie is difficult. Distraction is its enemy and in the theater, it’s brilliance may be easier to apprehend.

 

 

Sam Goldwyn’s Christmas Card - - The Bishop’s Wife (1947, USA, B/W, 109 min) - - 14 December 2019

Strongly recommended.  Is The Bishop’s Wife an essential? It’s a very good picture, a warm, witty script (ghost re-written by Wilder and Brackett, Sunset Boulevard) and wonderful supporting comedy. It certainly should be a Christmas classic. The Bishop’s Wife lost the Oscar to Gentlemen’s Agreement . . . a didactic thing that returned immediately into the medicine cabinet. The use of Cary Grant (His Gal Friday) as the Angel Dudley was brilliant, appropriating his good-looks and audience recognition to deftly signal fantasy. David Niven (Separate Tables) is adequate as the befuddled, mildly irritated husband. Monty Woolley (The Man Who Came To Dinner), Gladys Cooper (Now, Voyager) and Elsa Lancaster (Bride of Frankenstein) amuse. The non-essentiality is the miscasting of Loretta Young (The Farmer’s Daughter). Young generates only mild laughs and little chemistry with Grant. Imagine instead, Jean Arthur (Only Angels Have Wings) in the part, who was Goldwyn’s first choice in this marriage!

What They Don’t Know Can Hurt You - - Dark Waters (2019, USA, Color, 126 min) - - 6 December 2019

Recommended. Dark Waters, as timely as it is, should be seen . . . soon. Its documentary-like style details the true story of lawyer Rob Bilott (Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight), who took on DuPont in the first Teflon lawsuit. Since this problem has now metastasized into the ubiquitous PFAS contamination of the Nation’s ground water. Although the problem is not as acute as the West Virginia plant in Dark Waters, the nationwide PFAS releases around Air Force bases is a serious concern. As a movie, Dark Waters is very good - - not as dramatic as HBO’s Chernobyl - - but much more accurate. The plot concentrates on the (literally) agonizing struggle of Bilott to get justice for his clients. A solid supporting cast is present, in particular Tim Robbins (The Shawshank Redemption) and Bill Pullman (The Last Seduction) as fellow lawyers and Bill Camp (Joker) as the late Wilbur Tennant, the farmer who first sounded the alarm.