Hidden Treasures - Week of May 11th
Here’s the latest installment of Hidden Treasures. Also, in case you missed, it, I’ve opened up the doors of Hidden Treasures to give you, yes you, a chance to contribute. Read more about it here
Key Largo (1948)
The first time I saw John Huston’s Key Largo was back in 1984, on a day I was home sick from school. As I sat watching this film, I became so caught up in its energetic dialogue that I completely forget my illness. It proved to be the perfect remedy for whatever it was that was ailing me. Former Army Major Frank McCloud (Humphrey Bogart), who’s just returned home from the war, travels to Key Largo to visit the relatives of a buddy who was killed in battle. James Temple (Lionel Barrymore), his late friend’s wheelchair-bound father, owns a first-class hotel on the Keys, and his daughter-in-law, Nora (Lauren Bacall), helps him manage it. Mr. Temple and Nora invite Frank to stay for the night, but unbeknownst to the three of them, some shifty characters have already checked in; a gang of thugs whose leader is none other than notorious mobster, Johnny Rocco (Edward G. Robinson). Rocco, who’s been barred from ever returning to the United States, has high hopes of rejuvenating his criminal empire south of the border, in Cuba, and is hiding out in the Keys until he can make his move. However, his plans are temporarily derailed when a violent hurricane paralyzes the entire area, trapping them all inside the hotel as the violent winds rage outside. Aside from being the fourth and final pairing of Bogie and real-life wife, Lauren Bacall, Key Largo also marked the fifth film in which Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson appeared together, a fact that certainly explains why the banter between the two superstars is both sharp and confident. At one point, McCloud is filling the Temple’s in on Rocco’s criminal history, telling them all how big Rocco was in the rackets during prohibition. McCloud then looks at Rocco and says he knows exactly what the gangster wants out of life: more. Upon hearing this, Rocco’s eyes light up. He does indeed want more, and realizes that ‘more’ is all he ever wanted. A bit taken aback by McCloud’s accurate description of his past, Rocco responds, “OK, smart guy, what is it you want out of life?” to which McCloud replies, “To live in a world where there’s no room for Johnny Rocco”. Key Largo is chock-full of spirited give and take such as this, and, thanks to its veteran cast, screenwriter Richard Brooks’ clever dialogue is always delivered crisply.
Dillinger (1973)
Based on the life of John Dillinger, whose bank-robbing exploits propelled him to the top of the FBI’s most wanted list in the early 1930’s, John Milius’ Dillinger wastes no time in getting down to business. In the film’s opening scene, Dillinger, played by Warren Oates, enters a small Midwestern bank, where he proceeds, with the help of his trusty machine gun, to make a rather large withdrawal. It’s a quick start to the action, and Dillinger takes full advantage of it, maintaining this same bristling pace throughout its entirety. By 1933, John Dillinger had already emptied dozens of banks in the American Midwest, but the FBI wanted to take him down for an entirely different reason. A while back, Dillinger and his gang had ambushed some FBI agents in Kansas City, an event that resulted in the deaths of five of the Agency’s top men. The FBI’s Midwest Bureau Chief, Melvin Purvis (Ben Johnson), has vowed to bring Dillinger to justice, dead or alive. However, capturing the elusive bank robber won’t be easy. Not only has Dillinger strengthened his gang with the likes of Baby Face Nelson (Richard Dreyfuss) and Pretty Boy Floyd (Steve Kanaly), but his reputation as a bank robber in these dark days of the depression has also turned him into a folk hero to millions across the United States. Obstacles aside, however, Purvis waits patiently for his chance to strike, and for Dillinger to make that one fatal mistake. At the center of Dillinger are two fascinating characters, John Dillinger and Melvin Purvis, and director Milius goes to great lengths to ensure that we get know what makes each of them tick. During the depression, bank robbers were more than just criminals; they were celebrities, and John Dillinger considered himself the best of the bunch. He was completely aware of his own notoriety, and even boasted when he held up a bank. “You’re being robbed by the John Dillinger gang”, he would proclaim proudly, “and that’s the best there is. These dollars you spend here today will buy you stories to tell you’re grandkids and great-grandkids”. On the other side of the coin, Melvin Purvis, who was a personal friend of several of the agents Dillinger and his men killed in Kansas City, has promised to smoke a cigar over Dillinger’s dead body. It seems that Purvis is just as ruthless as the gangster he’s chasing, an ‘ends-justifies-the-means’ officer of the law who is, in reality, the perfect man for the job. After all, if you want to bring a mad dog like John Dillinger to justice, why not send an even madder one to do it? In keeping the action charged, John Milius has done his part to keep Dillinger’s legend alive, thus allowing Dillinger to take its place among the best of the depression-era gangster films.
Aguirre Wrath of God (1972)
The opening scene of Werner Herzog’s Aguirre Wrath of God looks as if it was lifted directly from a dream, or perhaps even a nightmare. Spanish Conquistadors, with nothing but a crude dirt path and some jagged rocks to guide them, make their way down a rugged mountainside. Slowly, methodically, they descend from the clouds, wondering what perils await them around each and every turn. Thus, the tone of Aguirre Wrath of God is established, its world created. With the famous Peruvian expedition of 16th Century explorer Gonzalo Pizarro serving as the backdrop, Herzog weaves Aguirre Wrath of God into a mystical tale of greed and power. Pizarro (Alejandro Repulles) is determined to locate the fabled city of El Dorado, which rumor has it is made entirely of gold. But his men are exhausted from their long journey into the jungles of Peru, so the explorer decides to send a smaller delegation ahead to locate the golden city. This expedition, which will travel by river on hastily constructed rafts, is to be led by Pedro de Ursua (Ray Guerra), with Lope de Aguirre (Klaus Kinski) serving as his second in command. But when a conflict arises between Aguirre and Ursua, it leads to a violent mutiny, during which the power-hungry Aguirre takes charge of the expedition. In typical Herzog fashion, the jungle setting of Aguirre Wrath of God becomes as much a character in the film as any portrayed by the actors. Herzog has stated that he never selects a film’s setting simply for its beauty, or to “dress up” the background. For him, each one must take on “almost human qualities”, and the jungles of Aguirre Wrath of God do just that. It is a fierce, unforgiving place, an untamed wilderness as dangerous as it is beautiful. The rafts are tossed from side to side by the river’s raging current, and the jungle itself, dark and ominous, seems to mock them as their journey stretches from days into weeks, with no end in sight. Herzog’s career is defined by the sacrifices he has made for his art. In Fitzcaraldo, he dragged his crew to the Amazon, where, against everyone’s better judgment, he decided it was best to also drag a 320-ton steamship over a mountain using nothing but ropes, pulleys and an army of natives. To bring a realistic tone to the characters of 1976’s Heart of Glass, which detailed an 18th century Bavarian village, he had the entire cast hypnotized before putting them in front of the camera. With Aguirre Wrath of God, Herzog would suffer through a great many ordeals, including the perils of the jungle and the notorious temper of his leading man, Klaus Kinski. Yet Herzog’s pain never goes unrewarded. As a result of his method, each one of his films exudes a total sense of period and place, as if they’d actually found a way to travel backwards in time, physically inhabiting the world they sought merely to recreate. Aguirre Wrath of God is a perfect example, and is Herzog’s finest achievement. It is so alive, so organically progressive, that it doesn’t even seem like a film. It is a dream…or perhaps even a nightmare.
I admit, there have been a few occasions where I have found myself ill-prepared for a film, and afterwards come to realize just how ill-prepared when on second viewing the once inert images become alive with possibilities. I was not ripe for Mulholland Dr. the first time I saw it, and the same goes for Aguirre. With Herzog I can understand why I didn’t get it, his films are almost deliberately elusive in their simplicity… one dare say naive, the same way people call Herzog himself some naive adventurer. The difference is Herzog does not code his films to satisfy the analytical, he scarcely attempts to explain himself, he lets whatever feels right to him guide the creative process. With Herzog this indulgence is deserved, the man knows what he is doing and Aguirre is more than a film, it is a living document. Here art does not imitate life, life imitates art, and Herzog patiently waits for it.
A Klaus Kinski marathon anyone?
Comment by rot — May 9, 2008 @ 7:12 pm
@ A Klaus Kinski marathon anyone?”
Great Silence
Comment by Rusty James — May 9, 2008 @ 7:26 pm
Oh, I’d love to see Paganini. That’s an elusive film.
Comment by Rusty James — May 9, 2008 @ 7:28 pm
Word is Paganini is terrible but I have not seen it.
silence indeed
Comment by rot — May 9, 2008 @ 8:20 pm
I prefer to watch films on my own volition, sorry for the lack of socialism.
Comment by Henrik — May 9, 2008 @ 9:02 pm
Anyone seen MY BEST FIEND? Again I admit, when it comes to Herzog, his documentaries are a black hole for me. I’ve not seen one yet.
Comment by Kurt — May 9, 2008 @ 10:32 pm
I own MY BEST FIEND and it is great. Grizzly Man is great. Incident at Loch Ness I have seen and it is great. But Herzog is so big, and my life is so short… Nah, in all seriousness, I would love to see all his films, but you just can’t import all of them if you’re not rich, and I have a pile of DVDs to get to before hand anyway!
MY BEST FIEND - definitely worth a purchase and a watch.
Comment by Henrik — May 9, 2008 @ 10:48 pm
I agree with Henrik. MY BEST FIEND is certainly a keeper. If I were to rank Herzog’s documentaries, I would do so in this order:
1. Grizzly Man
2. My Best Fiend
3. Gesualdo: Death for Five Voices
4. Little Dieter Needs to Fly
5. The White Diamond
INCIDENT AT LOCH NESS is also a wonderful mockumentary. Of course, as he freely admits in interviews, Herzog will occasionally cross the line into the dramatic in his supposed ‘documentaries’. Gesualdo contains many moments of straight-out fiction. Still, they’re well worth a watch.
Herzog is one of my absolute favorite directors. If you’re up for it, I would definitely recommend a festival of his films, which would tie in nicely with the proposed Kinski marathon. Aside from AGUIRRE, the two teamed to make WOYZECK, NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE, FITZCARALDO and COBRA VERDE, all of which are available on DVD. Then, to cap it off, throw in MY BEST FIEND.
Though, admittedly, I’d love to watch THE GREAT SILENCE as well. It’s a movie I bought years ago because of Kinski, and it has been sitting on my shelf unopened. So, if everyone is game, I’m in!
Comment by Dave Becker — May 10, 2008 @ 3:00 am
There are two Herzog boxsets circulating presently, and I recently bought one of them, which is the Kinski collaborations, and which includes Fritzcarraldo, Aguirre, Nosferatu, Wolzeck, Cobra Verde and My Best Fiend. I’m half-way through it and am enjoying it immensely. The other boxset focuses on his documentaries but strangely includes the fiction film The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (a great film and one Dave already added as a hidden treasure). I was not aware until reading interviews that Bruno S. who plays Kaspar was not an actor but actually a very disturbed individual with a back story similar to the central character (a person isolated from the world for the first half of his life - think of the Viennese woman locked in the basement, kinda like that). Nobody wanted Bruno S. to star because he was too volatile and unpredictable. But what a performance, honestly he blows Kinski out of the water, but I guess it is not so much acting, and this why it is included in the documentaries boxset.
Comment by rot — May 10, 2008 @ 5:38 am
I already had purchased all the Kinski/Herzog films separately, but am definitely going to pick up the second box set.
Comment by Dave — May 10, 2008 @ 9:51 am
A Herzog marathon would be cool if only because there are so many weird films to choose from.
I would pick
Grizzly Man
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
Fritzacarraldo
of the ones I have seen. if only because they have something to offer the passer-by, and depending on who was interested. But there are so many I have not seen that are insane like the one Dave mentioned, Heart of Glass, or the one about the deaf-blind woman, or his remake of Nosferatu.
Comment by rot — May 10, 2008 @ 1:18 pm
Rescue Dawn is far and away my favorite Herzog film, followed by Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre.
Little Dieter Needs to Fly is very good too.
And I’ve seen Herzog speak in real life before, too! (I bring this up whenever anyone talks about Herzog)
Comment by Roy — May 10, 2008 @ 3:19 pm
Speaking of insane, let’s not forget EVEN DWARFS STARTED SMALL, which offers the following synopsis (lifted from Amazon):
“With a cast composed entirely of dwarfs, Werner Herzog (Aguirre, the Wrath of God) tells a tale of inmates taking over the asylum. The institution’s governor is holed up in his home with a rebel hostage to keep him company. As the inmates’ wrangling for the release of their fellow captive comes to naught, all symbols of ordered society are mocked and brought to a shambles. Typewriters are smashed, flowers are set on fire, a dinner ceremony ends with the slapstick smashing of plates, a monkey is tied to a crucifix and paraded in solemn observance, chickens resort to cannibalism. All vestige of order is disrupted in Herzog’s blackly humorous, fatalistic parable, leaving us with nothing but the mad, strident cackling of a dwarf”.
As bizarre as Herzog can be (take the ending 10 minutes or so of STROSZEK as an example), he’s done nothing to rival EVEN DWARFS STARTED SMALL, yet I had an absolute blast with it.
Comment by Dave — May 10, 2008 @ 3:42 pm
About a year ago I was lucky enough to receive a copy of the Werner Herzog Documentaries and Shorts DVD box set for review on The Documentary Blog. I’m a big Herzog fan, though I’ve probably seen more of his non-fiction work than his fiction. And of course, when talking about Herzog’s ‘documentaries’, you must take his portrayal of truth with a grain of salt.
In regards to the documentaries, here’s where I’d start:
1. Land of Silence and Darkness
2. Lessons of Darkness
3. Fata Morgana
4. Grizzly Man
5. Little Deiter Needs to Fly
If you’re interested in films that are interesting portraits of Herzog himself:
1. My Best Fiend
2. La Soufrier (His journey up the side of an active volcano)
3. Incident at Lochness (Zak Penn’s mockumentary, as previously mentioned)
4. Les Blank’s ‘Burden of Dreams’
5. Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe
Also, if you want bizarre, check out some of Herzog’s short films. Specifically ‘Precautions Against Fanatics’ and ‘Last Words’. His sense of humour definitely shines through.
Finally, for those interested in a great experiment in non-fiction meets science fiction filmmaking, check out ‘Wild Blue Yonder’, starring a manic Brad Dourif. A great blend of documentary footage and otherworldly storytelling. (The film is part of a sort of non-fiction, science fiction trilogy that began with Fata Morgana and Lessons of Darkness)
LOTS more worth mentioning.
Comment by Jay C. — May 10, 2008 @ 8:01 pm
I also highly recommend reading Herzog on Herzog, and you honestly do not even need to be a particular fan of the director, rather you need to be a fan of jaw-on-the-floor anecdotes of near-death experiences that he shares. I would question a lot of his stories were it not for the fact that external documentaries such as Burden of Dreams substantiate some of it. His story about being stranded on the top of one of the most dangerous mountain peaks in the world, and the story about his near-miss with a famous plane crash are too unbelievable for words.
That sounds like a solid five docs to work from, Jay.
Comment by rot — May 10, 2008 @ 8:26 pm
Wait, I thought Rusty was making ajoke as to their being a great silence to my request for a Kinski marathon, but he was referring to an actual spaghetti western with Kinski in it. Just looked it up and the actor from My Night at Maud’s is in it as well, a film I just recently watched and thoroughly enjoyed. Marathon or no marathon I am seeing that film.
Comment by rot — May 10, 2008 @ 8:36 pm
The Great Silence is one of my favorite films: my review
Comment by Jonathan — May 10, 2008 @ 9:47 pm
Hey Rot,
Regarding Herzog’s near miss plane crash: check out his documentary ‘Wings of Hope’ in which he and the sole survivor of that exact plane crash visit the site of the accident (in the jungle of course) and retrace her amazing survival story. Very similar in fashion to Little Dieter Needs to Fly.
Comment by Jay C. — May 11, 2008 @ 1:27 am
I just have to say Key Largo is still one of my favourite movies of all time!
Comment by Mercurie — May 11, 2008 @ 10:32 am
Jay: Great call on WILD BLUE YONDER! I watched this one recently, and it is extremely engaging. Brad Dourif is off the wall, and as manic as you’re likely to ever see him. Definitely worth checking out!
Mercurie: I agree with you about KEY LARGO. It’s not the most popular of the Bogie-Bacall teamings, but it’s probably my favorite (Though I love THE BIG SLEEP as well).
Comment by Dave — May 11, 2008 @ 7:06 pm
I could also go for a spaghetti western marathon that included great silence. I am shameless ignorant of the subgenre.
Comment by rot — May 11, 2008 @ 10:01 pm
Wild Blue Yonder stars Brad Dourif? Holy Crap, why have I not seen this yet? I love it when the actor is serious (Deadwood) or apeshit batty (Dune, most of his filmography actually!)…
Comment by Kurt — May 11, 2008 @ 10:28 pm
Rot, reminds me of the time someone asked me my favorite Warren Oates movie and then thought I called ‘em a cocksucker.
True story.
Wasn’t as excited about Wild Blue Yonder as everyone else. The similiar Lessons Of Darkness is one of my favorite by Herzog. And then I don’t really like Fata Morgana. Weird.
I would like to see Warren Oates, Klaus Kinski and Buster Keaton together in some kind of Down By Law style comedy. Someone get on that.
Comment by Rusty James — May 12, 2008 @ 2:40 am