Archive for the ‘Movies We Watched’ Category

  • 10 Feb

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    Movies We Watched

    1

    Sometimes we watch stuff that we want to talk just a little bit about, not a full review worth. These are those films. If any of the films reviewed are available on Netflix Instant Watch (US or Canada) or HuluPlus (US only), we’ll note that by putting a direct link below the capsule.


    Here

    (5/5)

    2011 US. Director: Braden King. Starring: Ben Foster, Lubna Azabal, Peter Coyote.

    A longer review is forthcoming, but I felt it prudent to scribble down a few thoughts as I will likely re-watch Here prior to providing more fleshed-out thoughts. At this juncture, however, I am uncertain that I saw a superior film from the 2011 calendar year. Foster and Azabal were jointly and severally fantastic, displaying beautifully believable chemistry whilst maintaining their independent characters and characteristics (and without stumbling into the cliché). The cinematography and editing were reminiscent of a Malick or Herzog film, both in terms of fluidity and beauty, with King and cinematographer Lol Crawley conveying landscapes and scenery through both elemental and humanized means. The lack of discussion to-date (as well as the lack of a proper release) is equal parts maddening and saddening, and I’m very hopeful that Here begins to generate some buzz.
    -DOMENIC


    Haywire

    (4.5/5)

    2012 USA. Director: Steven Soderbergh. Starring: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Channing Tatum, Bill Paxton.

    For me, this is exactly what a popcorn action movie should be. It’s not cerebral, it’s not complicated, it’s not flashy, and it doesn’t rewrite any rules of the action thriller genre. But it is solid, well-shot, well-acted, well-directed, as clever as it needs to be, and has some of the best fight scenes I’ve seen ever. The story is pretty much what’s laid out in the trailer – Gina Carano is a private security operative, she’s betrayed by her employers, and then she beats the crap out of them. Carano’s MMA background shows; every hit looks (and sounds) sickeningly real, and the way she moves, the way she fights, even the way she runs are all totally believable. Soderbergh knows just how to support her, too, holding long shots instead of cutting away, as if to say, yeah, she can really do this. But it’s not just a showcase for a fighter – the story is simple, but it works, and Carano is nearly as convincing an actress as she is a fighter (her rawness actually works to her advantage), and the supporting cast is all superb, fitting in perfectly with the ’70s aesthetic Soderbergh pulls out here. I’d trade most any big-budget blockbuster if we could get two mid-budget action films like this in their place.
    -JANDY

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  • 26 Jan

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    2

    Sometimes we watch stuff that we want to talk just a little bit about, not a full review worth. These are those films. If any of the films reviewed are available on Netflix Instant Watch (US or Canada) HuluPlus (US only) or just on You-Tube, we’ll note that by putting a direct link below the capsule.


    Moscow-Cassiopeia

    (4/5)

    1973 USSR. Director: Richard Vicktorov. Starring: Misha Yershov, Aleksandr Grigoryev, Vladimir Savin.

    Clearly, in the early 1970s, episodes of Star Trek, The Prisoner and prints of 2001: A Space Odyssey were sneaking through the Iron Curtain and finding their way into the impressionable minds of filmmakers. Every strange in-camera technique – from the Alien3 Wide-Dolly shot to the kaleidoscopic lens to a fish-eye shot (actually from a fishes eye in this case) – was used in conjunction with some pretty spiffy production design to yield a fun feast for the senses. The film is aimed at children, as the protagonists are 15 year old kids trained up on earth and sent on a 50 year space mission to the star system Cassiopeia such that they will be 40(ish) when the vessel arrives. But these kids are smart, and the script is smart; Einstein’s Space-Time relativity is discussed at length (maybe too much), as is the concept of folding space, and Star Trek’s Holodeck and Q are both effectively used here 16 years before the ST: THe Next Generation Show even was made! It may be a kids adventure, but it is never dumb-ed down. Even sweeter is that the thrust of the character development of this young space crew centres around a folded sheet of paper love note passed around in school. It’s a superbly acted (by actual 15 year olds) and well told story that a lot of care and money were invested – the soundtrack alone is wonderful – and very much worth your while looking up the DVD or watching in 8 parts on Youtube.
    -KURT

    YouTube


    Adolescents in the Universe

    (4.5/5)

    1974 USSR. Director: Richard Vicktorov. Starring: Misha Yershov, Aleksandr Grigoryev, Vladimir Savin.

    Not wasting any time, and arriving with clearly a lot more money and strange ideas, the sequel to Moscow-Cassiopeia finds our 15 year old crew accidentally breaking the barrier to faster-than-light travel (a fortunately placed worm hole, or the films “Q” – named ASA – meddling again) and arriving at their destination 25 years too early. Here they discover more The Prisoner references (those white security balls), but also a race of albino-bipeds that have been conquered and ousted by their own created machines. The machines want to make their creators so happy that they relieved them of responsibilities, creative impulsiveness, and eventually, the will to live. Looking like Daft Punk (with bell bottoms, and freaky dance moves to boot) the machines split up our intrepid adolescents until they can figure out a way to escape and thwart the fascist/Cylon/AgentSmith regime. Something tells me the production design team for David Lynch’s DUNE spent as much time with Adolescents in the Universe as they did with H.R. Geiger’s concept art. For all the remake-itis going on in Hollywood (in TV land), nothing makes a stronger case for a modern update in long-form TV than Vicktorov’s pair of films. It could be made into the greatest ‘smart-kids’ television, period! As it stands this is a true cult-kid-cinema experience. Watch for the ‘defective obsolete robot ‘husband and wife’ in this one, they are great.
    -KURT

    YouTube

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  • 12 Jan

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    14

    Sometimes we watch stuff that we want to talk just a little bit about, not a full review worth. These are those films. If any of the films reviewed are available on Netflix Instant Watch (US or Canada) or HuluPlus (US only), we’ll note that by putting a direct link below the capsule.


    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

    (4.5/5)

    2000 China. Director: Ang Lee. Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Ziyi Zhang, Pei-pei Cheng.

    I was pretty pleasantly surprised at how amazingly well this films holds up after almost 12 years; both in its wire work and it’s visual prowess. The storytelling is as simple as it is classic. Watching with English dubs makes it feel even more like a classic Kung-Fu movie but with the beautiful look only a hefty budget can provide. The choreography is still a marvel and loads of fun. Top notch Chinese actors help make this classic tale light years more impressive than a corny Kung-fu film of the late 60′s/70′s. Though it drags a bit in the middle, this comes by highly recommended by yours truly.
    - Andrew

    Netflix Instant (CANADA)


    Tucker & Dale vs. Evil

    (4.5/5)

    2010 US. Director: Eli Craig. Starring: Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden.

    Tucker & Dale vs. Evil is a worthy successor to the superlative Shaun of the Dead, ably bridging the divide between horror and comedy without sacrificing quality. While this is certainly more dependent upon slapstick and shock value than its British predecessor, it did not sacrifice any characterization or charm in doing so – and I certainly found myself attached to the characters within the first act. Labine and Tudyk play off of each other wonderfully, and their bantering, quirks, and mannerisms solicited more laughs than the over-the-top violence and mayhem (which is truly impressive). Also of note, the cinematography and audio editing are very impressive, and the attention to detail is top-notch.
    - DOMENIC

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  • 15 Dec

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    3

    Sometimes we watch stuff that we want to talk just a little bit about, not a full review worth. These are those films. If any of the films reviewed are available on Netflix Instant Watch (US or Canada) or HuluPlus (US only), we’ll note that by putting a direct link below the capsule.


    Trust

    (4/5)

    2011 USA. Director: David Schwimmer. Starring: Clive Owen, Catherine Keener, Liana Liberato, Jason Clarke, Viola Davis, Noah Emmerich, Chris Henry Coffey.

    I had been avoiding David Schwimmer’s film about online sexual predators for a while because it had the potential to be an absolute disaster that mishandled the subject matter. Luckily that wasn’t the case. Although a little on-the-nose, Schwimmer’s latest effort is actually an affecting and powerful little film, one that should be important viewing for those wanting to know about the potential dangers of children surfing the web. Crucially it doesn’t paint the entire idea of using the internet as bad but just alerts to some of the possibilities. And it’s truly amazing Schwimmer went from Run Fatboy Run to this.
    -ROSS

    Netflix Instant (USA)


    Repulsion

    (5/5)

    1965 UK. Director: Roman Polanski. Starring: Catherine Deneuve.

    An early Roman Polanski masterpiece that tracks the mental breakdown of a young Belgian woman, Carole (Catherine Deneuve), as she tries to make a life for herself in the hustle and bustle of London with her sister. Imagine being a literate cineaste in the 1960s just having just seen the previous year’s candy coloured French musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (a coming out party of sorts for Ms. Deneuve as a major new film star) and then selecting Polanski’s film to get more of the same only to receive a black & white cramped apartment mind-fuck! Miss Deneuve tackles the role with relish, gets raped and has a sort of misplaced revenge before a climactic mental and physical collapse. Half is in the mind, half is in reality, but the audience gets the complete package of horrors doled with with an exacting precision that belies its loosey-goosey camera-work and overabundance of supporting characters. Repulsion has been called “Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho turned inside out” and certainly it has its own fair share of surprises and lasting images; not the least of which is reportedly the first on-soundtrack-if-not-onscreen female orgasm to be shown in regular British Cinemas. I’m not sure if there is a conscious subtextual inversion of Alice in Wonderland, but rotting and skinned rabbit is might be a clue. The closing shot may be a revelation of sorts as to why things are happening to poor Carole, (and it is a doozey in retrospect that is prescient of a litany of other Polanski themes) but here it is as much the journey as the destination.
    -KURT

    Netflix Instant (CANADA)

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  • 02 Dec

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    2

    Sometimes we watch stuff that we want to talk just a little bit about, not a full review worth. These are those films. If any of the films reviewed are available on Netflix Instant Watch (US or Canada) or HuluPlus (US only), we’ll note that by putting a direct link below the capsule.


    Buried

    (3.5/5)

    2010 USA/Spain/Frane. Director: Rodrigo Cortés. Starring: Ryan Reynolds.

    An extreme form of one-room film, with the whole thing set in a coffin buried somewhere underground. Ryan Reynolds carries the film admirably as an army contractor who gets taken hostage and buried alive with just a cell phone and a few other items, with the intention that he will get a sizeable ransom from the US government for his release. As we know, the US government doesn’t negotiate with terrorists, leaving Reynolds hoping that the dispatched search and rescue team will find him before his air runs out. The film ratchets up tension admirably, keeping the audience engaged through 95 minutes of basically nothing happening except a man talking on a phone. There are nitpicks to be made, and I do wish there had been some better explanation for why he didn’t try to dig out through the obviously loose and relatively shallow dirt above him, but for the most part, it’s pretty effective as a tight-space thriller.
    - JANDY

    Netflix Instant (USA)


    Gattaca

    (4/5)

    1997 USA. Director: Andrew Niccol. Starring: Ethan Hawke, Jude Law, Uma Thurman.

    While Gattaca did not fly quite as far under the radar as The Man from Earth or Dark City, I cannot help but feel that it remains incredibly underseen and underappreciated. It is generally regarded as a strong film, to be sure, yet I would argue that it is among the greatest sci-fi films ever made. Nimbly toeing the line between the bleak and hectic Blade Runner and the philosophically draining The Man from Earth, Niccol’s universe not only feels realistic – it feels possible … if not probable. The physical presentation of the world is bleak, yes, but it is also vibrant and alive, crafting a future that is advanced, but not so advanced so as to be a distraction. This, of course, ignores the tremendous turns of Ethan Hawke and Jude Law, whose relationship is organic and beautiful. Uma Thurman is undoubtedly the weak link in the chain, but that may be as much a product of her underutilization, if not a side effect of the brilliance of most everything else.
    - DOMENIC

    Netflix Instant (CANADA)

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  • 18 Nov

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    10

    Sometimes we watch stuff that we want to talk just a little bit about, not a full review worth. These are those films. If any of the films reviewed are available on Netflix Instant Watch (US or Canada) or HuluPlus (US only), we’ll note that by putting a direct link below the capsule.


    Con Air

    (4.5/5)

    1997 USA. Director: Simon West. Starring: Nicolas Cage, John Malkovich, John Cusack, Colm Meaney, Danny Trejo, Ving Rhames, Dave Chappelle, Steve Buscemi.

    They just don’t make ‘em like they did back in the late 90s. On rewatch, the movie is as goofy as ever but done so completely deliberately; which is something I actually appreciate now, more so than my theatrical experience 15 years ago whereas I just looked at everything as action cheese. It’s as simple as it gets but the outlandish scenarios keep things interesting at every turn. The score is awesome! It’s a unique blend of mechanical sound effects (listen closely whenever Buscemi is on screen), heavy metal and strings. The action and effects still hold up (the Vegas crash scene is terrific!). And of course it’s Nic Cage in proper mode working next to a fucking great, over the top John Malkovich performance. It’s fun and funny. For good ol fashioned, proper action flicks, you could do a lot worse.
    -ANDREW


    The Hunger

    1983 USA. Director: Tony Scott. Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Susan Sarandon, David Bowie.

    Finally, a Tony Scott film I can actually get behind. OK, I do like True Romance, but it doesn’t quite hit on all it’s cylinders with me – especially towards the end. Though the last 15-20 minutes in this modern day vampire story (well, it was modern day when it was released 25 years ago anyway – those hairstyles certainly couldn’t be mistaken as modern at this point), go slightly astray here as well, there’s a lovely slow build up as Catherine Deneuve marks medical researcher Susan Sarandon as her next companion. A lot is made of the steamy scenes between Deneuve and Sarandon, but they aren’t the focus here (in more ways than one – things are so soft focus you’d swear they were filmed through a feathered pillow). Deneuve plays the countess with a wonderful icy cool exterior that belies the real fire beneath and Sarandon’s big eyes soak all of it in (Bowie is actually very good as her previous companion as his Thin White Duke character slides perfectly into place). The style occasionally threatens to undercut it all, but (short of that last section) it achieves a strange tense balance that had me solidly entranced for most of it.
    -BOB

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  • 04 Nov

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    2

    Sometimes we watch stuff that we want to talk just a little bit about, not a full review worth. These are those films. If any of the films reviewed are available on Netflix Instant Watch (US or Canada) or HuluPlus (US only), we’ll note that by putting a direct link below the capsule.

    Point Blank

    (4/5)

    2011 France. Director: Fred Cavayé. Starring: Gilles Lellouche, Roschdy Zem, Gérard Lanvin, Elena Anaya.

    The immediate comparison when talking about Point Blank is to Guillaume Canet’s Tell No One. Both are high-paced French language thrillers about the search for truth and motivated by love for a wife. That comparison is certainly apt. And while Point Blank is a decidedly less memorable and weighty piece than Tell No One (I still think that’s one of the best mystery thrillers of the last few years, foreign language or otherwise), I still very much enjoyed Point Blank mainly for its taut pace that barely stops for breath throughout its pleasingly brisk 80 minute runtime.
    -ROSS

    Cold Souls

    (3/5)

    2009 USA, France. Director: Sophie Barthes. Starring: Paul Giamatti, David Strathairn, Emily Watson, Dina Korzun, Lauren Ambrose.

    This was a big disappointment for me. It has a great, unique premise in which people extract and store their own souls, with Paul Giamatti playing a version of himself, an actor struggling to play a part because he feels his soul is weighing him down. It is going for the same sort of quirky but realistic feel of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation and Being John Malkovich (all written by Charlie Kaufman) but doesn’t come together in an entirely satisfying way as those movies do. I wanted a lot more from it instead of just hints and snippets of brilliance here and there. I still enjoyed it for its existential ideas and great cast (Giamatti is particularly good) but I felt it didn’t fulfill its potential.
    -ROSS

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  • 20 Oct

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    7

    Sometimes we watch stuff that we want to talk just a little bit about, not a full review worth. These are those films. If any of the films reviewed are available on Netflix Instant Watch (US or Canada) or HuluPlus (US only), we’ll note that by putting a direct link below the capsule.


    Manic

    (4.5/5)

    2001 US. Director: Jordan Melamed. Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel, Don Cheadle.

    Shot in a pseudo-cinéma vérité style, Manic, at its most basic level, details the experiences of young adults in a mental health facility. It does not preach an agenda, at least not obnoxiously so, instead relying on an intimate connection between the viewer and its very talented group of actors. A very raw film, both in style and substance, this was the film that first showcased Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s considerable talents. His subtle facial tics and expressive body language are both endearing and heartbreaking throughout, and his character is far more nuanced than one would suspect for such an underseen (and underappreciated) film. I would also argue that, despite the fine performances of Zooey Deschanel (who hasn’t quite returned to the heights reached in this film) and always impressive Don Cheadle, Gordon-Levitt also demonstrated his ability to carry a film, stealing most every scene with relative ease. With his popularity skyrocketing due to (500) Days of Summer, Inception, and 50/50, I found it quite worthwhile to revisit what may still be his most impressive turn.
    -DOMENIC

    Netflix Instant (US)

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  • 06 Oct

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    Sometimes we watch stuff that we want to talk just a little bit about, not a full review worth. These are those films. If any of the films reviewed are available on Netflix Instant Watch (US or Canada) or HuluPlus (US only), we’ll note that by putting a direct link below the capsule.

    The Long Good Friday

    (5/5)

    1982 UK. Director: John Mackenzie. Starring: Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren, Paul Freeman.

    Allow me to use a cliché that has garnered far too much use, yet applies here more so than any other film that comes to mind – The Long Good Friday is the best film you’ve never heard of. Or, perhaps, Bob Hoskins provides the greatest performance that you’ve never seen. In what may be the best performance of the 1980s (hyperbole alert), Hoskins’ turn as underworld kingpin Harold Shand is nothing short of fantastic. He is eloquent yet understated; cold and calculating, yet reckless; domineering, yet sympathetic. Hoskins’ ability to delicately craft such an in-depth character creates a pull on the viewer every time he graces the screen, leaving you tense with anticipation. The supporting cast is understandably a clear second fiddle, though the witty dialogue and staging prevents this from becoming a drag on the film. Francis Monkman’s score was quite good, albeit somewhat awkward within the context of the film, and the camera work (including an incredibly powerful tracking shot) was very strong.
    -DOMENIC

    Netflix Instant (USA)

     

     

    Julia

    (5/5)

    2008 France/Mexico/USA/Belgium. Director: Erick Zonca. Starring: Tilda Swinton, Saul Rubinek, Aidan Gould.

    Proving once again that Tilda Swinton is the worst ‘movie-mom’ in cinema (See also The Deep End, We Need to Talk About Kevin) here she is actually a kind of surrogate mother through a chain of events involving kidnapping, desperation and copious amounts of alcohol. A darkly disturbing, yet slightly absurd noir that makes Fargo look like a model of restrain, Julia is nothing if not unpredictable. Beginning with textbook case in how to not elicit empathy for your main character as she rocks out sloppily to the Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams (Are made of this).” It goes from bad to worse, as crime enters the equation, and a young child is abducted, drugged, tied up and dragged across the US/Mexican border in a stolen car. Things get kind of crazy from there, as the Helsinki syndrome sets in. Highly, highly, highly recommended – another example of a hidden gem in Ms. Swintons non-Hollywood filmography that seems more based on a dare to the viewer than any sort of commercial or even arthouse intentions.
    -KURT

    Netflix Instant (CANADA and USA)

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  • 22 Sep

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    Sometimes we watch stuff that we want to talk just a little bit about, not a full review worth. These are those films. If any of the films reviewed are available on Netflix Instant Watch (US or Canada) or HuluPlus (US only), we’ll note that by putting a direct link below the capsule.


    Win Win

    (4/5)

    2011 USA. Director: Tom McCarthy. Starring: Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Alex Shaffer, Jeffrey Tambor, Bobby Cannavale, Burt Young.

    The always commendable Paul Giamatti headlines an emotionally sincere cast in Tom McCarthy’s modest family dramedy Win Win. The story follows a small town lawyer, family man and assistant high school wrestling coach named Mike Flaherty (Giamatti), who hopes to turn around the flagging fortunes of his team with the inclusion of a talented but troubled new student named Kyle (Alex Shaffer). Rarely descending into sports movie cliché, the film, like McCarthy’s previous effort The Visitor, is packed full of understated feeling, unpretentious humour and questions of everyday morality. Amy Ryan is excellent as always; Bobby Cannavale is very funny as the films most overtly jokey character, and newcomer Alex Shaffer is completely convincing as the polite but introverted Kyle, a teenager who, like real teenagers, speaks every word in the same disinterested tone. But the highlight of the film is lifetime character actor Burt Young, who is simply spectacular as Kyle’s dementia suffering grandfather Leo. Neither overly ambitious nor tediously trivial, Win Win is a top notch independent production. [See also Marina's capsule]
    -TOM


    Hunger

    (4.5/5)

    2008 UK. Director: Steve McQueen. Starring: Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham.

    Bold. Visceral. Heartfelt. Beautiful. Breathtaking. Epic. Hunger is the sort of film that is difficult to convey beyond the most basic of descriptions – rather, it is a film that must be experienced. The painstaking attention to detail places the viewer in the prison cell with Bobby Sands (Fassbender), allowing us to experience the disillusionment of one being betrayed by his body and the circumstances surrounding his perils, and the strength that it takes to overcome such misery. McQueen does not pull any punches, and it seems difficult to imagine any other fictionalized work having such an emotional impact without resorting to the cliché. Never before has waiting for dialogue felt so jarring, nor has any conversation been so exceptional as the seventeen minute unbroken exchange between Sands and a priest (Cunningham). Fassbender’s turn is equal parts traumatic and wonderful, and I cannot help but wait with eager anticipation for his future films. [See also Marina's review]
    -DOMENIC

    Netflix Instant (US and Canada)

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  • 08 Sep

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    9

    Sometimes we watch stuff that we want to talk just a little bit about, not a full review worth. These are those films. If any of the films reviewed are available on Netflix Instant Watch (US or Canada) or HuluPlus (US only), we’ll note that by putting a direct link below the capsule.

    Hereafter poster

    Hereafter

    (2.5/5)

    2010. Director: Clint Eastwood. Starring: Matt Damon, Cecile De France, Bryce Dallas Howard, Thiery Neuvic, Jay Mohr, Frankie McLaren, George McLaren, Richard Kind.

    Clint Eastwood is perhaps more known now for being a director than an actor and he almost always delivers a handsomely made film, even if they don’t break any sort of new ground. But Hereafter sticks out like a sore thumb in his modern directorial repertoire – a too often overly sentimental, emotionally manipulative three-way story about death and what might come after. To be fair the blame falls on the script (by the usually excellent writer Peter Morgan, of such films as Frost/Nixon and The Last King of Scotland) and not on Eastwood’s direction, and the performances across the board are all very solid. But aside from a surprisingly bold but arguably entirely unnecessary (and tasteless?) Tsunami scene at the start, Hereafter follows the path you’d expect pretty much from start to finish. And the fact it had so much potential makes it all the more frustrating.
    -ROSS

    Aliens poster

    Aliens

    (4/5)

    1986 USA. Director: James Cameron. Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Lance Hendrickson, Bill Paxton, Jenette Goldstein.

    And with this I scratch another off my List of Shame, one that many many people have been nagging me to watch for a very long time. I had put it off after being less than enthused with the first film when I saw it ages ago (but I do want to rewatch it now), and because the shift from sci-fi to action that I’d heard about the second film didn’t really intrigue me. But I ended up quite enjoying it. It’s a great example of how to build a good and suspenseful action story; it says high-octane for most of the time, but it never loses sight of Ripley, and it allows her to gradually build into the action heroine she is at the end by using traits and skills established early on. The emotional throughline involving Newt is predictable, but effective. It’s interesting to compare this movie to Avatar, because lots of details from here turn up again, except here they all work much better within the narrative, with no over-earnest message-picture pandering. Similarly, this is a much better female empowerment narrative than a lot of so-called girl power movies in recent years, although my one complaint with the film is the over-determined machismo of the marines – I got the point, but some of those early boasting scenes went on far too long. Overall, though, a more than solid film that more sci-fi actioners should learn from.
    -JANDY

    (CANADA)

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  • 24 Aug

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    0

    Sometimes we watch stuff that we want to talk just a little bit about, not a full review worth. These are those films. If any of the films reviewed are available on Netflix Instant Watch (US or Canada) or HuluPlus (US only), we’ll note that by putting a direct link below the capsule.


    La Bataille Du Rail

    1946 France. Director: Rene Clement. Starring: Jean Clarieux, Jean Daurand.

    Thought those train crashes in “Lawrence Of Arabia”, “The General” and “Bridge On The River Kwai” were pretty awesome because of the fact they actually crashed real trains? Well you’re right. And now there’s another film to add to that list: Clement’s almost documentary-like take on the French Resistance struggle against the Germans via the railway system. “La Bataille Du Rail” (“The Battle Of The Rails”) shows how a core set of resistance fighters work on the railyards and lines chipping away at the German plans by delaying trains, helping people escape, passing messages along, etc. As the Germans make several final efforts to bring forth some major artillery, the various team members pull together to risk everything to stop its passage. The derailment of one of the trains makes for a spectacular moment as it careens off the tracks and spills its military payload indiscriminately over the countryside. As devastating a crash as it is, it’s less jarring then you might think because of Clement’s very neo-realist approach to the making of the film using many non-professional actors and avoiding sets. It stays away from the melodrama and lets the situations themselves build the tension. Made shortly after the war had ended, it feels like an important document of the Resistance’s role. Not to mention a riveting watch.
    -BOB

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