#1 - THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO
Stars - Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, Ava Gardner
Director - Henry King
Memorable Quote - 'I'll tell you the only right approach to real writing: it's like a hunt in which a man pits his brains against the forces of ignorance and evil. It's a lifelong, lonely safari, and the prey he seeks is a truth worth telling; faith worth living by; something worth spilling his guts about that he's tracked down himself.'
Review - I'll open right away by saying that I thoroughly enjoy this film. I watched it once when I was much younger and could barely remember it, but it was even better than I recalled. Even though the quality of the film is poor, even though the special effects are laughable considered to what we can achieve today, I love every moment of it. The camera leads the eye so skillfully, and it has just the right mixture of reality and insanity - that half-baked feeling that is so recognisably Hemingway. I loved particularly the wit of Street's character, and the way Peck delivered the lines - what a charmer! 'How would you like it if you and I would just... 'piety' on out of here?' and 'with tassles of them!' have to be two of my favourite Street moments. I love the tragedy of the story too; the inevitability of the way that he finds Cynthia just as she is dying, and the final injury of the fact that he is kept from her as the stretcher bearers carry her away. When he becomes feverish in Africa and starts calling for the stretcher bearers again the comparison is perfect, and chilling. I love also the inherent moralising that comes with a Hemingway story: 'The fact that the airplane is quicker than the horse does not necessarily mean that the world is getting any better.' I highly recommend it! I almost wish it could be redone with the same actors and the same exact scenes, only adjusted so that the effects are all believable and the quality is what we expect nowadays; but then, that's part of its charm. 5/5
#2 - LE TEMPS DU LOUP
Stars - Isabelle Huppert, Béatrice Dalle, Lucas Biscombe, Anaïs Demoustier, Hakim Taleb
Director - Michael Haneke
Memorable Quote - 'You were ready to do it, that's the important thing.'
Review - The beady-eyed will have spotted the name Haneke above, and will be expecting me to use words like "amazing", "intense", and "strange". I will use those, yes, because Haneke is consistent in his ability to bring something new to cinema, and to show us something different from the pack. In this story of a world plagued with what seem to be post-apocalyptic issues, nothing is given to you for free: you must work it out. We learn that Anne and her family have left the city, but not why. Indeed, for a large part of the film Anne seems to be almost as in the dark as we are, as people constantly ask her if she has not heard this or that. But nothing is ever explained or added to the backstory, so we must make our own conclusions. Whatever the reason, food and water and even shelter are now valuable commodities, and the rivers are polluted, causing the livestock of the area to drop like flies. Fitting in with the Haneke vision of an alternate hero, Anne's husband dies very early on and has little to do with the survival of his family, as you would have seen in other films, such as 'The Road' or 'I Am Legend'. Though the entire film deals with the ruthlessness of humanity, the way that we pull apart rather than together, featuring scenes of theft, murder, rape, fighting, and a large amount of arguing, the message of the film is surprisingly optimistic. Though 'the boy' ruins everything, as Eva points out to him, at the very end she reaches out to him, a gesture of forgiveness; though the guards often turn violent and attack others, finally one of them saves Ben's life; and though he is only a boy, Ben intends to sacrifice himself to make the world a better place. Finally the ending sequence, following the train, gives us hope that the worst is over, and their struggle will be over soon. There were some Haneke trademarks of course - the sudden appearance of the strange in their house was the shock moment, as well as the long scenes that seem to end after they should have, and also the tension-builder as Ben approaches the fire. I wouldn't say I enjoyed it as much as Cache or The White Ribbon, but it was certainly a compelling story and very interesting. The point here, as always, is not the events but the way they shape the people involved. The reason for this nightmarish new world is not important any more; what is important is how the people that are still alive deal with it, and how they deal with each other. Worth a watch if you are a fan of Haneke, or of post-apocalyptic scenarios. 4/5
#3 - AMERICAN OUTLAWS
Stars - Colin Farrell, Scott Caan, Ali Larter, Gregory Smith, Timothy Dalton
Director - Les Mayfield
Memorable Quote - "I swear to god I will shoot you in your sleep."
Review - American Outlaws is a film that I could review with both eyes shut, one arm tied behind my back, and no access to IMDB. This was a favourite of my teen years, and the only reason I haven't watched it for a while is the fact that I don't need to - I can recreate half the movie in my head alone. Thanks to this I fell in love with Colin Farrell - who can resist his sweet, awkward portrayal of Jesse James? - and Gregory Smith, whose shy but plucky Jim Younger makes the most tragic scene of the movie. If you're looking for historical accuracy than you're probably better off with Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck, since this relies mostly on creating an aura of romanticism and good times around the James-Younger gang that was more than likely absent in real life. But hey, everyone loves an underdog story, which is why it is important for Jesse to be a lovable rogue robbing from the rich to give to the poor, rather than a murderous rogue who was neither as pretty nor as witty as this film makes out. That doesn't mean it's not a great feel-good adventure movie, because it is. The banter between the gang members (the memorable quote above has long been a part of my own vocabulary), the humour of scenes such as the Shakespeare quotations or the opening battle, and the drama of the barn burning or Jim's death, and finally the optimistic ending as Jesse and Zee ride into the sunset all add up to something I could watch again and again. Hell, I have. Who needs historical accuracy? Jesse actually married his first cousin and was a supporter of slavery, and no one wants to hear about that when they're trying to watch a movie. 4.9/5
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