By Ed Garea
I’m
still on the mend, so we’re continuing the bi-weekly format for Cinema
Inhabituel. The brevity for the week of November 15-30 is not due so much
to my recuperation as to the holiday season.
November 16
1:00 am Simon of the Desert (Producciones Gustavo Alatriste, 1969) – Director: Luis
Bunuel. Starring Claudio Brook, Silvia Pinal, and Hortensia Santovena.
The
last film of Bunuel’s Mexico period, it concerns the story of 5th-century
Syrian saint Simeon Stylites, who spent 37 years of his life perched atop a
pillar as a show of his devotion to God. As Bunuel tells it, Simon is pious to
a fault, which is soon revealed to be a combination of egotistic pride and
self-delusion. His reason for sitting on the pillar is to get closer to God
while occasionally ministering to the devotees who come to see him in the
desert. The miracles he performs oft times have unexpected consequences: For
example, he restores the hands of a man who had them chopped off for thievery in
order that he may provide for his family. The first thing the man does once his
hands are restored is to slap his annoying daughter.
November 23
2:15 am The Tempest (World Northal, 1979) – Director: Derek Jarman. Starring Peter
Bull, David Meyer, and Neil Cunningham.
Derek
Jarman is a director who makes radical interpretations of classical material
for his many fans. I am not one of those fans. I find Jarman weird, but not entertaining,
which is the point of film. In this reinterpretation of Shakespeare, the mad
Prospero is now cast as a struggling artist desperate to transform his bleak
world into something more spiritually satisfying. It’s a dark film with little
to recommend as it off as just one big orgy.
November 25
3:00 am L’Atalante (New Yorker Films, 1934) – Director: Jean Vigo.
Starring Michel Simon, Dita Parlo, and Jean Daste.
This
film has been recognized over the years as one of the most beautiful romantic
films ever made, though not without a little touch of the surrealistic. Juliette
marries Jean and comes to live on board his ship sailing the Seine River.
Besides the two of them are a cabin boy and a strange old second mate called
“Pere Jules.” Juliette is bored by life on the Seine and slips off to see the
nightlife when they arrive at Paris. Jean gets so angered over Juliette’s
actions that he sets off and leaves her behind. But over time Jean is overcome
by grief and longing for Juliette and soon falls into a depression. Pere Jules
takes it upon himself to go and find Juliette. Vigo died the year the film was
released at the tender age of 29.
November 30
11:15 pm Touchez Pas Au Grisbi (Del Duca Films, 1954) – Director: Jacques
Becker. Starring Jean Gabin, Rene Dary, Dora Doll, and Vittorio Sanipoli.
Aka Do
Not Touch the Loot. Jean Gabin rejuvenated his career with this superior
noir about two gangsters that have stashed an incredible 50 million francs in
gold bullion only to have one of them kidnapped and held for the gold. Becker
has given us film fans an incredibly absorbing, character-driven story and a
lesson in what constitutes true loyalty. The black and white photography adds
to the overall atmosphere, and Becker beautifully inserts episodes of violence
into the most seemingly innocuous scenes. Of course, during the course of the
movie, Gabin gets to slap almost everyone around, which is his trademark of
sorts, but the scenes where he has to act to save his friend contain some of
the best acting he has ever done in movies. And while you’re there, look for
young Jeanne Moreau in a small role as Josy.
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