Random Thoughts

That’s a title technique I haven’t seenbefore.

Wow, this is really something. I don’t think I’ve seen anything this chaotic from a Japanese director… I guess it’s a supercharged reaction to the media reports about nihilistic post-Rebel Without A Cause teenagers?

But with jazz instead of rock.

Amazing camera movement.

(And Breathless, I guess.)

This is beyond deranged. These guys run over a man and kidnap a woman, and then one of the guys rapes that woman (but then it turns ambiguous, because she, of course, because it’s 1960), and…

I think the point of this movie is that rape is fun.

Oops.

Sounds logical to me.

This movie is way less racist than Japanese movies usually are.

Anyway, I’m not sure I’d argue that this is a “good movie”… but it’s fantastic.

The Warped Ones. Koreyoshi Kurahara. 1960.

This blog post is part of the Eclipse series.

I’m starting to wonder whether the Eclipse box set series is less about resurrecting lost film gems and more about just utilising the Janus Films library. (Janus Films and Criterion have the same owners.)

Because most of these movies carry the Janus title card, and… er… more than a few of these movies haven’t really seemed like… they would be the kinds of movies people would want to resurrect?

But perhaps I’m wrong; I’m just a quarter of the way through these movies.

This one looks pretty promising, though.

I say, this is quite entertaining. It’s a proper slightly-over-the-top melodrama.

Uhm.

Oh, right, James Mason.

I know!

So many coats.

But unfortunately… the tension dissipates and then you’re just left with a kinda not very interesting drama.

I think this started off being really entertaining, but then it got bogged down.

The Man in Grey. Leslie Arliss. 1943.

This blog post is part of the Eclipse series.

Oh, is this a Japanese noir? Only funnier?

I think it is!

This is pretty great.

But now it’s kinda getting bogged down?

It started off brilliantly. The twists and turns are good — very noir — but it’s just a bit hard to care that much?

Intimidation. Koreyoshi Kurahara. 1960.

This blog post is part of the Eclipse series.

This is the final movie on this Czech new wave box set from Eclipse, and… it kinda looks really good? Which makes a change.

EEK SHOES IN BED

This is kinda riveting. It movies so fluidly between “the present” and either remembrance or fantasy (it’s hard to tell whether the movie is him thinking about how he imagines things will happen)… it’s original and fresh.

And looks great. Talented cinematography and snappy editing. And great casting for the somewhat creepy protagonist.

It’s fascinating the line the filmmakers are teetering on — this character was totally mistreated by the Czech regime in the fifties — but in the movie’s current time, he’s a total sleazeball. Any other movie would have been building sympathy for him, but this movie is like “uh nuh. that’d be too easy”.

This is totes fab.

The Joke. Jaromil Jires. 1969.

This blog post is part of the Eclipse series.

I’ve been pretty underwhelmed by this Criterion box set of 60s Czech(oslovakian but not really) new wave movies. I mean, it’s not necessarily the plots or anything, but just how sloppy these movies look. Which is probably totally unfair. I mean… if you’re waiting for the Soviets to roll in and crush everything, perhaps getting the perfect framing on your shots isn’t the priority?

But this one looks better, at least. Even though I have absolutely no idea what they’re going on about. I think it’s supposed to be an amusing, absurdist thing?

Possibly?

Nice long johns! Do those things still exist?

But it’s like they don’t actually look through the viewfinder? I mean, that’s an almost striking shot — if they’d gotten rid of those people sitting on the fence, which just makes it look awkward.

The casting is also really weird.

Capricious Summer. Jirí Menzel. 1968.

This blog post is part of the Eclipse series.