Random Thoughts

The 400 Blows. François Truffaut. 1959. ⚅

I really thought I’d seen this before, but I couldn’t find it anywhere… until I searched for Quatre Cents Coups. Duh.

Anyway, I watched this in 2016, and now I’m watching it again. I don’t actually remember much of this (pre?-)Nouvelle Vague movie other than that it was quite pretty? And had something to do with school? Let’s find out.

[half an hour passes]

Well, OK, I didn’t remember this movie before starting to watch it, but immediately whenever a new scene starts it’s “aahhh! this scene…” like it’s an iconic scene I’ve lived with all my life. Which I haven’t. But Truffaut makes everything seem like the perfect instantiation of the concept: That’s The Schoolroom; that’s The Flat; that’s The Gorgeous Mother; that’s The Goofy Dad. How could it be otherwise?

[the end]

I love this movie, but it’s not perfect. The kids are a lot of fun to watch, but they’re not exactly er good actors — frequently they’re just standing around waiting for their cues to deliver their lines, which they’ll do with great alacrity. It’s fun to watch. The adult actors are also quite variable, with some of the teachers devolving into panto at times.

It is a wonderful movie, though I can’t really say whether the pleasure I’m having watching this is due to the film being, you know, great, or whether I just love watching these people moving around in their impeccably stylish 50s French clothes in these impeccably stylish picaresque French surroundings.

This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.

Andrei Rublev. Andrei Tarkovsky. 1966. ⚂

I watched this a couple of years ago, and it’s a bit naff. Which was really surprising for me, because Tarkovsky is usually absolutely brilliant.

This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.

Fanny & Alexander. Ingmar Bergman. 1982. ⚅

I watched this in 2018, but I’ve watched it a bunch of times before. It is 100% amazeballs.

This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.

Seven Samurai. Akira Kurosawa. 1954. ⚂

[two minutes pass]

I thought I had seen this movie before, but now I think not? And it lasts ALL THE HOURS. I may have to take a pause in the middle of this. I mean, I got up at 6 this morning and it’s 20 now…

[half an hour passes]

Oh, right, this is the original version of The Magnificent Seven.

I’m mostly wondering what these hairdos are all about:

Was that the fashion at the time? Or is it just a really bad hairdresser employed by Kurosawa?

It seems too… consistent… to be anything else than a thing Kurosawa wanted to have happen.

Anyway!

This movie is kinda boring? Rashomon, at least, had a singular focus (even if it somehow managed to seem too long at 1:30), but this seems so scattered.

As in Rashomon, the actors are really bad I mean totally Japanese and stylised and mysterious no I mean bad. The fetishation of Japanese otherness is really grating sometimes, and some directors (like Kurosawa) really lean into that for commercial reasons. I think! I know nothing about him! That’s just my impression!

[an hour and a half passes]

*sigh*

Has anything of interest happened? Not really. I guess you could enjoy the slow world-building… but… the “funny” bits are dreary and the serious bits are risible.

I don’t get it.

Even the cinematography is pedestrian — there’s nothing exciting about the sets or the scenery or well anything. The performances are pedestrian at best. Do I need to google why people like this?

Wow! A 100%! That’s scary. It’s deranged. What did the reviewers like about this?

Er… ok… uhm…

WHAT TIMES!!!

NO! BOTH THINGS ARE TRIVIALLY WRONG, RACHEL! There’s so many scenes here where you wonder whether Kurosawa or the cinematographer were even present when they were shot, because they’re all kinds of boring and awkward, and few of the actors are compelling.

So are people just rating this so high because they’ve somehow been sold on a narrative that this is a classic? It’s so weird.

[another hour passes]

I’ve been so bored by this movie that I’ve lost track of what the plot it? There’s been a lot of risibly bad panto acting, and now… finally… the bad guys are attacking? I think that’s it.

[the end]

Man, that final battle scene looks cold and miserable. I feel sorry for the actors.

This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.

Rashomon. Akira Kurosawa. 1950. ⚃

[fifteen minutes pass]

I’ve seen this before, of course, but only once? I think? But the Rashomon concept is so well-known that it feels like I’m just waiting for the plot elements to happen… which isn’t the best way to watch a movie.

So far, the cinematography has been a lot of fun, but the actors are pretty uninspiring.

[twenty more minutes pass]

I have to say that I’m kinda disappointed. It’s kinda long-winded… and when you know that you’re going (I mean, I know that I’m going) to watch the same scenes two more times (with variations), I’m mostly just sitting here wondering what the variations are going to be.

That’s obviously not a fault with the movie itself, but just me knowing what the gag is.

Because I seem to remember watching this the first time with huge enthusiasm.

And also… the soundtrack is really annoying.

[half an hour more passes]

OK, now it’s hilarious and I’ve changed my mind: This is great stuff.

But… it took a while to get there?

[the end]

OK, I admit that I’m probably wrong about this one, but I think it’s not entirely successful melodrama. Sure, it’s not trying for realism or anything, but even within its parameters, the moral setup is a bit… much?

But I’m probably wrong! It’s probably as good as I remember it being, and not the slight disappointment it is, watching it now.

This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.