THE DAMNED AND DEPICTIONS OF FASCIST PERVERSIONS

The difference between how American films portray Nazism and fascism and how European films do is perhaps a difference based on distance.  For the US, the Nazis were cold-blooded killers and the personification of evil.  The accounts they heard of Nazi atrocities were secondhand prior to the start of World War II.

Europeans on the other hand offer at the same time a more realistic and a more scathing portrayal of fascists as decadent perverts- sort of a throwback to royalists of wars past going back to the Roman Empire.  It is a less comic book, more personal caricature.

This is problematic as some portrayals (which are rooted in fact) flirt with homophobia.  In particular, how the influence of the SA under Ernst Rohm before the Night of the Long Knives is shown.  They are portrayed as homosexuals.

Luchino Visconti‘s THE DAMNED certainly shows them this way (The night before they are murdered by the SS as one big homosexual orgy) and also ties Nazis to German big business and uses that to strongly suggest German society as a whole post Treaty of Versailles was sick.  Aside from homosexuality, we are presented with incest, rape, drug abuse, child molestation.  Dirk Bogarde as Frederich Buckmann the social climber who plots to take over the Essenbeck family business is the least bad of the lot.

The tempting, devilish SS officer Aschenbach himself a distant member of the Essenbeck family initiates their downfall through a series of intrigues and conspires to have the Nazi government take over the business.  This film is overwrought maintaining high levels of decadence throughout.  It sees fascism and capitalism as kin  Not as explicit as a film like 120 DAYS IN SALOM but in every way paints a similar picture of fascists as evil corrupt perverts.

This film is part of what I call Dirk Bogarde’s “streak” by which I mean when he switched from being a cookie cutter heartthrob to making arty interesting films culminating in his masterpiece THE NIGHT PORTER....I wrote more about that here   http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2009/03/night-porter-plus-dirk-bogarde-poster.html

DUEL IN THE SUN AND MALE FEAR OF FEMALE SEXUALITY

Fear of a woman’s sexuality or it could be argued jealousy of a woman’s sexuality or one could also say control or ownership of a woman’s sexuality is at the core of the most conservative regressive fundamentalist form of religious thinking.  The Taliban and right wing Christian groups share this fear.

To them, a woman is a voracious creature unable to control her sexual urges.  She requires a man to control her otherwise she’ll be easily led astray.

This type of thinking is a core plot point of DUEL IN THE SUN.  Pearl (played by Jennifer Jones who, at her peak around the time this film was made, was one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen) is the daughter of a Native American mother and a Hispanic father.  After her father killed her mother and her mother’s lover and is executed for the crime, Pearl is sent to live on a ranch with the family of her father’s second cousin and former love (Lillian Gish).  There Pearl encounters her sons; a “good” brother (Joseph Cotton) and a “bad” brother  (Gregory Peck).  Although she likes Cotton, she ends up getting involved with Peck.  Their big love scene is really a tightrope walk between rape and seduction.  For the rest of the film, she struggles with this attraction as she knows Peck is not a good person.

Despite this rather sexist notion at its heart (check out the scenes with Walter Huston as the sinkiller) and a woefully racist character in the African-American family maid who rolls her large eyeballs and speaks in shuck and jive slave language, I would still say this is a very good film.

King Vidor’s direction uses the sweeping Technicolor terrain to lay out a big story, a sort of anti-Wuthering Heights, where the two forces of nature do connect and havoc ensues.  The film’s other big plot point- the coming of the railroad which leads to a falling out between Cotton and his father (Lionel Barrymore) is every bit as progressive as the Jones plot point is regressive.  The movie argues that opening up lands from private ownership by cattle barons paved the way for people to move west.

I also like that Peck is allowed to be evil through and through.  In fact, he does more and more bad things as the movie progresses.  There is no redemption for him.  The final confrontation between him and Jones is as it should be – Kill the sin by killing the source.  If my own eye offend thee, pluck it out.    

 

SCALENE AND THE UNRELIABLE NARRATOR

SCALENE, an indie film from 2012, tells the same story at different times from three different points of view – In this order, a single mother in her late 40’s early 50’s, her brain damaged son, and the female college student age caregiver hired to look after the son who later charges him with rape.

By the end of the film, we are left with a very different picture about what has gone on then we had at the beginning and continuing through the first segment, the mother’s segment. 

The use of the unreliable narrator, someone who tells his version of a story that isn’t necessarily the truth, can be complicated as it almost always recalls multiple points of view and the planting of clues so the audience can understand what is really happening.

Of course, if the plot is constructed well enough one can go for a big reveal at the end like for example THE USUAL SUSPECTS when all that is happened has set up Verbal Kint and Kaiser Soze and that long walk down the street from the police station.

Showing events out of order such as in the films MEMENTO and 21 GRAMS directly contrasts the actions and words of characters.  In those cases, the camera itself is the unreliable narrator.

In the case of SCALENE, although I found the explanation of the denouement a bit farfetched, we see the mother’s view of her care for her son is very different than what the caregiver finds.  This results in the caregiver’s actions (the farfetched part).  

The acting is quite good here.  Margo Martindale turns in a desperate layered performance as the mother.  It reminded me of Ann Dowd’s performance in COMPLIANCE (not as good a movie).  Scalene IS An interesting movie that does a better than competent job of playing around with narrative structure.

LINKS TO PAST WRITINGS ON FILM

I have attempted in the past to write about film but found there were so many other topics(which is the main reason I started a blog just for film)....Here are some links to past film writing on my other two blogs.

http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2012/01/best-movie-of-2011.html

http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2012/08/three-films-absentia-iron-sky-vhs.html

http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2012/12/john-dies-at-end-best-film-of-2012.html

http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2011/07/five-best-clint-eastwood-as-actor.html

http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2012/12/ooru-naito-rongu-or-all-night-long.html

http://rgdinmalaysia.xanga.com/660725052/why-i-wont-be-seeing-the-new-indiana-jones-film/

http://rgdinmalaysia.xanga.com/676948581/my-list-of-favorite-11-surprise-or-twist-endings-in-movies/

http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2009/07/three-movies-ichi-killerthe-suicide.html

http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2009/09/why-i-like-final-destination-films.html

http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2009/08/fury.html

http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2010/05/three-movies-inside-martyrs-horseman.html

http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2009/07/re-making-and-re-modeling-friday-13th.html

http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2009/03/greatest-cop-movie-of-all-time.html

http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2010/11/some-thoughts-on-saw-films.html

http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2009/03/night-porter-plus-dirk-bogarde-poster.html

http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2009/03/im-one-of-few-people-who-didnt-like.html

http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2012/07/laurence-harvey-good-actor-or-bad-actor.html

http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2011/04/hobo-with-shotgun-rubber-faux.html

http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2009/02/best-performances-by-actors-this-decade.html

http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2009/02/on-mickey-rourkes-unlikely-comeback.html

http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2009/02/third-man-and-good-german.html

http://rgdinmalaysia.xanga.com/688874649/the-return-of-the-horror-movie-plus-gorno-sucks-and-the-signal/

http://rgdinmalaysia.xanga.com/662819398/where-the-sidewalk-ends/

http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2009/09/five-great-grade-b-horror-films-from.html

http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2011/12/we-jam-econo-and-what-we-do-is-secret.html

http://rgdinmalaysia.xanga.com/666688732/unrealistic-expectations-and-the-films-of-m-night-shyamalan/

http://rgdinmalaysia.xanga.com/683144761/the-dude-abidesthe-big-lebowski-re-visited/

WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT GENE HACKMAN - CASE IN POINT: NIGHT MOVES

When journalists attempt to sum up what is special about Gene Hackman as an actor, they inevitably fall back on comparisons to laborers.  He’s a “lunch bucket’ type of actor.  He’s a tradesman.  He’s a blue collar actor.  He’s one of us.  This type of thing was parodied in TROPIC THUNDER when the Australian actor character played by Robert Downey Jr spoke of his "tools" in an interview.

These oversimplifications are meaningless and are useful only in that morons will find them easy to remember.  Yes, Hackman in his movie roles is someone a lot of American men (and women) find it easy to identify with.

But where Hackman has perhaps carved out a special niche for himself is as a “third” type of actor.  I say “third” because I basically see actors in movies falling into two groups – the first group are movie stars that play versions of themselves in most if not all of their movies – Clint Eastwood is an example of this perhaps Tom Cruise too.  The second group are actors like Dustin Hoffman and Gary Oldman who vanish into a role trying their best to be another person.  Some actors move back and forth between both groups one could say for example Robert De Niro in the first half of his career fit the second kind of actor but more recently perhaps he fits the first.

Hackman though fits neither.  He is instantly recognizable even on the rare occasions he changes his looks for a role but he never plays a caricature of himself.  His characters are film creations not part of a persona but yet he never disappears into them.  The name of Gene Hackman and the character he plays are equal when he’s in a film.

While I think THE FRENCH CONNECTION is still the greatest film Hackman has made, I think his best performance might be in NIGHT MOVES an extremely well written film.

Here Hackman plays all American middle-aged masculinity which looks good on the surface (former professional football player private eye business) but is falling apart underneath (wife cheating on him business not so good). 

NIGHT MOVES is also a damned good mystery but at its heart is Hackman.  His character is not very bright but also amazingly sensitive.  At times, you expect him to burst into violence but he doesn’t. The scenes between him and his wife and also him and his wife's lover are amazing and unexpected in their tenderness and depth.  He also doesn’t put the pieces of the case he is working on together until it is too late- In other words he’s not very good at his job.

There is no better embodiment of the befuddlement of a certain type of pre 60’s thinking (about priorities, about masculinity etc.) in the new post 60’s world and there is no better metaphor for this than the end of the film.  Hackman injured on a boat by himself going round in circles having been one step behind the criminals.  This hellish morass is the result of the 60’s social conscious being stripped away leaving only the me centered hedonism of the 70’s.  

 

JOHNNY GUITAR - TWO INTERPRETATIONS - PSYCHOSEXUAL VS BLACKLISTING

JOHNNY GUITAR is a film that was made to be analyzed.  Saying it is a Western is like saying CITIZEN KANE is a film about a sled.

It’s one of my favorite films not only because it is complex and rich in meaning.  Good films should be more than just special effects and handsome people.

However, I’ve come across two different weightages of what the actual meaning of JOHNNY GUITAR is.  Roger Ebert and others tend to view the psychosexual elements of the film as more important, as what the film is really about citing director Nichols Ray’s bisexuality, the hint of lesbian attraction between adversaries protagonist Vienna (Joan Crawford) and antagonist Emma (Mercedes McCambridge), and even the clothing which for the women is black and dyke-y and for the men is colorful and flamboyant.

The other meaning given to this film is a loosely disguised allegory on blacklisting and McCarthyism..  Two accompanying themes in the film, guilt by association and public condemnation without fair presentation of evidence, are a direct commentary on McCarthyism.  I tend to downplay the psychosexual elements (other than gay fashions as kitsch) and think the blacklisting critique was the more urgent prerogative of the filmmakers.

I do agree that sexual repression figures into the relationship between Vienna and Emma but not because of homosexuality.  We are told that Emma’s brother who we never met as he is killed right at the beginning of the film had a crush on Vienna.  Throughout the film we are also led to believe that Emma has a crush on the Dancin’ Kid (Scott Brady) who also likes Vienna.  Emma’s repression is a result of a.) Having a fixation bordering on incest with her own brother – If you don’t believe me on this observation, watch the first scene where she comes face to face with Vienna b.) Liking another man (The Dancin’ Kid) who is out of her reach.  Vienna represents the sexual freedom Emma herself wishes she could have and this leads to anger and frustration on her part and Vienna becomes her target.

Sterling Hayden (who is great here laid back and iconic at the same time) as the title character represents the fellow traveler.  The person who might not be a communist himself but because his friends or coworker are, he is tarred with the same brush.  Vienna also is seen this way. The Dancin’ Kid and his gang (Ernest Borgnine, Royal Dano) are accused communists although we never find out if they are actually guilty of the robbery at the beginning of the movie.  They do eventually commit another robbery although they were perhaps pushed to due to this by what the earlier accusation of the other robbery had cost them.

Emma is Roy Cohn and other villainous HUAC types and the landowner Mr. McIvers is the authority figure who allows all this to happen because he has other reasons (coveting Vienna’s land).  The Sheriff is the weak opposition who doesn’t put up much of a fight (like the Democrats at the time) and the posse represent the mob that mindlessly follow.   

Regardless of the meaning, JOHNNY GUITAR is a standalone film shot almost completely on sets with the brightest colors and strangest costumes.  It’s like an internal moral play played as a dream, a dream of conflict, a dream of colors, of symbols.