There is not much solid ground for the viewer to stand on here. Other than an early scene with his sister’s family where we learn that maybe Juanico is not the most reliably grounded person I cannot point to another scene I trust objectively. In this scene his young nieces play at being pregnant mirroring their mother Martha’s condition. For the rest of the film’s runtime, Juanico goes on to indulge his fantasies in general and about his mother in…
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Profound Desires of the Gods 1968
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
While fully a tragedy, the film is strange, funny, epic, horrifying, out of time, mythic, supernatural and surreal. The foundational myth is that the island of Kurage was created by two Gods coming together—a brother and a sister. Unnatural couplings—real and perceived—have a profound effect on the fortunes of one family in this isolated community.
Two sons, “war buddies,” return to the island after WWII—Nekichi Futori and Ryugen Ryu: the former ends up in chains, basically a slave, while the…
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Kontakti 2021
A frustrating watch. Context and motivation are obfuscated here for an exercise of arthouse sensibilities: a winding staircase seen from below, stark shots of building facades from varying angles, and a focus on eyes.
Inspector Osmo Malkia is the unraveling protagonist. Named the “Police Officer of the Year” he does nothing to justify this honor after receiving it. Instead he goes on a tremendous drinking binge while tasked with trying to solve three murders. Suspicious of his wife (a top…
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Mr. Arkadin 1955
I watched the Criterion Collection’s ‘complete’ version of Mr. Arkadin presented on TCM. The designation ‘complete’ hints of a troubled production—or afterlife—of the film and I was aware of the difficulties Welles had completing Othello some years earlier.
In Guy’s first scene—as he endeavors to get Jakob on the move—the dialogue of the two actors was so mismatched with their lips that I was worried that the film was dubbed. Thankfully, the lips catch up so that particular distraction is…
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