The Beauty of the Real

From August 17 to 23, the Roxie presented a 14 film series called "The Beauty of the Real: A Celebration of Contemporary French Actresses!"  The series was programmed by San Francisco Chronicle film critic Mick LaSalle.  Some of the films in the series also played at the Smith Rafael but I don't recall which ones or how many films.

I saw 12 of the 14 films; all at the Roxie.  The two films I missed were Empty Days and 5x2.  I saw Emtpy Days at the 2012 Sacramento French Film Festival which LaSalle partially programmed.  I had not seen any of the 12 films before.

Anthony Zimmer starring Yvan Attal & Sophie Marceau; directed by Jerome Salle; French with subtitles; (2005)
Le Prix à Payer starring Christian Claiver & Nathalie Baye; directed by Alexandra Leclère; French with subtitles; (2007)
Le Petit Lieutenant starring Nathalie Baye; directed by Xavier Beauvois; French with subtitles; (2005) - Official Website
Entres ses Mains starring Isabelle Carré & Benoit Poelvoorde; directed by Anne Fontaine; French with subtitles; (2005)
Le Role de sa vie starring Agnes Jaoui & Karin Viard; directed by François Favrat; French with subtitles; (2004)
Le Cérémonie starring Sandrine Bonnaire & Isabelle Hupert; with Jacqueline Bisset; directed by Claude Chabrol; French with subtitles; (1995)
Post Coitum Animal Triste starring & directed by Brigitte Rouan; French with subtitles; (1997)
A nos Amours starring Sandrinne Bonnaire; directed by Maurice Pialat; French with subtitles; (1983)
Les Ambitieux starring Karin Viard; directed by Catherine Corsini; French with subtitles; (2006)
Alias Betty starring Mathilde Seigner & Sandrine Kiberlain; starring Claude Miller; French with subtitles; (2001)
Didine starring Géraldine Pailhas & Julie Ferrier; directed by Vincent Dietschy; French with subtitles; (2008)
Intimate Strangers; starring Sandrine Bonnaire & Fabrice Luchini; directed by Patrice Leconte; French with subtitles; (2004)

§§§

The Beauty of the Real was one of the most satisfying film series/festivals I've attended.  Night after night, outstanding films were screened.  I was largely unfamiliar with the films although I was surprised at how many of the actresses I recognized.  There were healthy crowds too.  I predict there will be a follow up although the series was designed to promote LaSalle's (then) new book - The Beauty of the Real.  Towards the end of the series, I considered buying a copy of the book but they weren't selling them.  After the first or second day of the series, LaSalle was out of town.  He had prerecorded introductions to each film which would precede each film.

My favorite film was the last film I saw, Intimate Strangers.  Sandrine Bonnaire is Ana, an agitated housewife who goes to see a psychiatrist.  Taking a wrong turn on the floor, she enters the unmarked office of tax accountant William (Fabrice Luchini).  Assuming his secretary forgot to mark the appointment on his calendar, William invites Ana in to discuss her "problems."  Thinking he is a psychiatrist, she divulges intimate details of her marriage and sex life.  Stunned, William attempts to keep his composure but he is doesn't correct her mistaken assumption about his profession.

Attracted and intrigued by Ana, William allows the charade to continue over several sessions.  He even seeks advice from the psychiatrist down the hall who Ana was intending to see.  Some of the funniest scenes are between William and Dr. Monnier (Michel Duchaussoy) who begins to psychoanalyze Williams...and even bills him for it.

If the first half of the film is a comedy with romantic overtones, director Patrice Leconte mixes it up in second  half as Ana's life and motives are seen in a different light.  These plot twists (always with an undercurrent of black humor) are deliciously intriguing.  Intimate Strangers is the cleverest of films.  The audience never guesses the next step and is constantly entertained while Ana & William are peeled like an onion - remove one layer and there is another beneath until the end when I still wondered if there were more layers to them.

I'm becoming a big fan of Fabrice Luchini.  I had previously seen him in The Women on the 6th Floor.  A skilled comedian, Luchini is able to shift into dramatic scenes effortlessly.

§§§

Le Prix à Payer (The Price to Pay) was a showcase for Nathalie Baye, an actress I've previously enjoyed in Beautiful Lies.  Jean-Pierre (Christian Clavier) and Odile (Baye) are a wealthy married couple whose marriage has become strained.  When Odile refuses Jean-Pierre amorous advances one time too many, he retaliates by disabling her credit cards and bank account.  He is tired of being treated as human ATM without enjoying any of the carnal aspects of marriage.  He agrees to restore Odile's access to funds if she will resume marital relations.  Thus begins a delightful sex farce which draws the chauffeur (Gérard Lanvin) and his girlfriend (Géraldine Pailhas) who represent the proletarian view.  I could go on but writing fatigue and time force me to cut this capsule short.

Géraldine Pailhas appeared in Didine, another film from the series which I liked.  A contrived romantic comedy, I would typically eschew this type of film.  Like Beautiful Lies (another contrived romantic comedy), it appears that what I reject in Hollywood films, I will accept in French films.  Didine works for me because Pailhas and Julie Ferrier's performances.  The younger Didine and older Muriel (Ferrier) start at odds with each other but become friends with Muriel imparting some lessons on life along the way.  Even one sentence description sounds clichéd.  Sometimes the performances in a film (and one's latent Francophobia) can overcome a tired script.

§§§

So I enjoyed the comedies but most of the films were more serious.

Le Petit Lieutenant and Le Cérémonie were the most well known films in the series.  The eponymous Lt. is Jalil Lespert, a young police officer from Le Havre who transfer to Paris.  His commanding officer is Caroline Vaudieu (Nathalie Baye).  The first half of the film follows Antoine (Lespert) as he adjust to his new job in a the big city.  We sense there is tension between Antoine and his wife who remains in Le Havre.  The police in Antoine's precinct begin investigating a series of killings which bring Lespert into closer contact with Vaudieu.  The film slowly shift its focus to the relationship between these two.  Vaudieu is recovering alcoholic who son died at age 7 and she never fully recovered.  Antoine reminds her of her dead son and she begins to nurture the young police officer as his mentor and surrogate mother.  In the background, are these murders which will have tragic consequences for Antoine.  Not quite functioning as a taut thriller or policier, Le Petit Lieutenant hits it stride when it explores the lives of Antoine & Vaudieu.  It adds complexity to the characters as they go about their jobs which is 99% boredom and 1% terror.  Le Petit Lieutenant is worthy of whatever accolades and awards it has received.

Le Cérémonie was outstanding also.  Sandrine Bonnaire is Sophie an illiterate woman who comes to work for the Lelièvre family as a live-in maid in a small town.  Catherine (Jacqueline Bisset) and Georges (Jean-Pierre Cassel) are a well-to-do couple with two teenage children.  They treat Sophie well but their patronizing attitude towards her and affection towards each other create a distance between Sophie and her employers.  Her unwillingness to admit her illiteracy also causes misunderstandings.

Into this void steps Jeanne (Isabelle Huppert), the postmistress of the town.  Rebellious and resentful of people better off than her (such as the Lelièvres), Jeanne proves to be a bad influence on Sophie.  When Sophie discovers a secret about the Lelièvres' daughter, she threatens blackmail since the young woman knows about her illiteracy.  This results in Sophie being fired which in turn results in the violent finale.  Shocking in its brutality, Le Cérémonie ramps up the tension until Sophie breaks.

§§§

At the 2012 Sacramento French Film Festival, I saw Romantics Anonymous which also played at the Roxie in July.  That reminds me, for some reason "The Beauty of the Real" was delayed by about a month.  Originally scheduled for July 20 to 26, it was postponed to August 17 to 23.  On the Roxie printed calendar, Romantics Anonymous was scheduled for August 17 to 23 but actually played July 20 to 26 (it may have been held over for another week).  In a nutshell, "The Beauty of the Real" and Romantics Anonymous swapped places on the Roxie calendar.  No explanation was given.

Romantics Anonymous, a 2010 comedy, was successful because of the chemistry between its two lead actors - Isabelle Carré & Benoit Poelvoorde.  Perhaps their on-screen chemistry was due to the fact that Romantics Anonymous was their second film together.  They made Entres ses Mains in 2005.

Entres ses Mains is the story of woman (Carré) who falls in love with a serial killer (Poelvoorde).  She is initially unaware of his murderous predilections but it is the scenes after she begins to suspect his "hobby" which make the film memorable.    Carré & Poelvoorde show a palpable on screen chemistry which must have led to their being cast in Romantics Anonymous.  It was particularly interesting to see Poelvoorde go from a meek chocalatier to a psychopathic killer.

A nos Amours was Sandrine Bonnaire's film debut.  She plays Suzanne, a promiscuous 15 year old. (Bonnaire's actual age during filming).  Bored at home, she begins to sleep around to the consternation of her father (played by director Maurine Pialat).  When he abandons the family, Suzanne mother (Evelyne Ker) has a nervous breakdown.  Her brother (Dominique Besnehard) becomes head of the household and begins beating her (while simultaneously showing more than brotherly love).  It's a Eurotrash family portrait rendered in realist brushstrokes and unsentimental tones.  A nos Amours is powerful film and Bonnaire's performance is amazing considering her age and lack of acting experience.  LaSalle said it was Bonnaire's sister who auditioned for the role but Pialat was immediately drawn to Sandrine's look and attitude.

§§§

Three other films were not quite to the level enjoyments as the one I've summarized here.  I still liked them but just not as much.

Le Role de sa vie stars Karin Viard as a writer who becomes the personal assistant for a famous actress (Agnes Jaoui).  The film explores their relationship which evolves over the course of the film.

In Post Coitum Animal Triste, a 40something woman (Brigitte Rouan) begins a passionate but destructive relationship with a younger man.  It destroys her family (husband and two children) and nearly herself.

Les Ambitieux has a similar plot as Post Coitum, right down to the fact that both women are book editors.  In Les Ambitieux, Karin Viard plays an older woman having an affair with younger man (a writer) who begins secretly write a story about Viard's 1970's revolutionary father.  Les Ambitieux is a dark comedy whereas Post Coitum is drama.  In both films, I didn't find the lead character compelling.

Alias Betty felt like a Tarantino film at time.  There were a lot characters, many of the criminals, interacting with each and several plot threads that came together and then split apart and then came back together again.  Alias Betty tried to be too clever for its own good.

§§§

The only film I didn't like was Anthony Zimmer, the first film of the series.  Zimmer was original material from which The Tourist (Angelina Jolie & Johnny Depp) was drawn.  Recalling how LaSalle's felt The Tourist was inferior to Anthony Zimmer, I think my expectation were raised too high to be fulfilled.  Not nearly "nerve-racking" as LaSalle led me to believe and with an ending I found incredulous, "The Beauty of the Real" did not start well for me but I'm glad I stuck with for 6 out of its 7 day run.

End of Watch

While visiting my father in Las Vegas for Thanksgiving, we saw End of Watch.

End of Watch starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña; directed by David Ayers; some Spanish with subtitles; (2012) - Official Website

Visiting Las Vegas a several times over the past 15 years, I notice the differences in cinematic options. There are no rep houses in Las Vegas.  Nothing akin to PFA, Castro Theater, Landmark Theaters, Stanford Theater, Roxie Theater, etc.  It's strictly metroplex - Cinemark and Regal with only one AMC location.  That is interesting to me.  In SF and the Peninsula, it's most Cinemark & AMC with only the Stonestown as a Regal outlet (UA or United Artists is part of Regal).  There are a few more location in East Bay - Jack London Square in Oakland, the UAs in Emeryville and Downtown Berkeley.  For whatever reasons, Regal is weak in the Bay Area and AMC is weak in Las Vegas.

In general, this means I can't see anything but general release films when I go to Las Vegas.  There are a few exceptions such as That Evening Sun which never screened in the Bay Area.  A more common occurrence is to see films that have left the Bay Area chains still playing in Las Vegas.  End of Watch is one of those films.

According to Fandango, End of Watch was not screening in the Bay Area during Thanksgiving week with the exception on daily 9:10 PM screening at Bluelight Cinemas, a second run theater in Cupertino. It had dedicated screens at AMC and Regal locations in Las Vegas that week.  These difference in demographics and audience preferences interest me but I'd still rather live in the Bay Area than Las Vegas.

§§§

LAPD Officers Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Zavala (Michael Peña) are partners.  Over the opening credits we see them (via a dashboard camera) pursue a car and have a shootout with two suspect.  Cleared of any wrongdoing, the film opens with Taylor & Zavala back on duty in the precinct.  Taylor is the smarter and more ambitious one.  Zavala is the sidekick but holds his own.  Taylor is single and a ladies man.  Zavala has been married to his high school sweetheart since graduation and was pushed by his wife into marriage and the police force.  He's not weak willed but is susceptible to suggestion from people he loves and respects.  Taylor & Zavala have a serious "bromance" going on which can only occur when people risk their lives for each such as in military combat or patrol cops in South Central LA.

The rapport with the two characters is really the heart of End of Watch   There are lot of shots from within the police cruiser of the two talking about all sorts of things.  I began to like both men; particularly Zavala who is more well-adjusted of the two probably due to the influence of his wife and family.  Actually both men are a bit of envious of the other.  Zavala wants to hear about the women in Taylor's life and Taylor's admires the relationship Zavala has with his wife.

The sidekick designation flips back and forth between the two although Gyllenhaal is considered the lead.  Early on Zavala challenges an African American suspect to fight in response to racial comments. He wins the fight (I would have insisted take off his bullet-proof vest) but doesn't report the incident which could have resulted in assault charges against the suspect.  This earns Zavala some respect among the Crips (or was he a Blood?).  As the film goes on to show, it's a new world in South Central. Later Zavala runs into a burning house to retrieve three children.  Hesitatingly, Taylor follows him in.  Both receive medals for their actions.

The real power in South Central is held by Mexican drug cartels (the Sinaloa Cartel in this film).  Taylor and Zavala make an arrest which produces some blinged out weapons including a gold plated assault rifle.  No one in the LAPD seems to follow up on the leads so Taylor decides to follow the leads because he wants to make detective.  Using the house fire as leverage, he gets Zavala to back his play.  They raid a house where they find human smuggling going on.  Within minutes, ICE shows up and tells Taylor that he interfered with an ongoing investigation.  Taking Taylor and Zavala aside, the ICE agents cautions them that they just took down a Sinaloa safe house and they should "power down" for their safety.

Events conspire against them.  Following up on a report of an old woman who hasn't been heard from for several days, they kick down the door to find drugs, the woman dead and tortured/mutilated remains of several other bodies.  The arrest makes the evening news which gets the attention of the Sinaloan shotcallers.  They put a hit on Taylor and Zavala.

One night, they see a car run a red light and they pursue it but it's a trap.  They chase the suspect into an apartment with the hit squad is waiting.  After escaping the initial attack, the two cornered on the street an Zavala thows himself on the wounded Taylor.  End of Watch ends with Taylor giving a eulogy at Zavala's funeral.  Actually there is a hilarious postscript in the patrol car where Zavala recounts his unsuccessful attempt to lose his virginity with his wife.  The scene is tinged with sadness because the audience knows what happens to him.

End of Watch is an extremely tense and violent film.  It would have been easy for this film to devolve into two adrenalin junkie cops kicking ass in da hood.  Writer & director David Ayers (who wrote the fabulous Training Day) spends considerable time fleshing out Taylor, Zavala and their relationship.  To the extent the audience likes and bonds with these two men, End of Watch will work.  I liked the two characters and thought End of Watch was incredible.  Michael Peña shines in the smaller of the two lead roles but the film is well cast - David Harbour as the dyspeptic cop, Natalie Martinez as Zavala's wife, Maurice Compte and Yahira Garcia as hardcore gangbangers and America Ferrara as a fellow cop.

And You Thought Your Job Was Bad...

In September, the Castro had very enjoyable double feature.

Office Space starring Ron Livingston; with Jennifer Aniston & Gary Cole; directed by Mike Judge; (1999)
Secretary staring James Spader & Maggie Gyllenhaal; directed by Steven Shainberg; (2002)  - Official Website

Office Space is a modern day classic.  People in my office talk about the film and were surprised that I had not seen.  I've now rectified that situation and can attest that it is very funny.  Set at software in the months leading up to Y2K, Office Space stars Ron Livingston as Peter Gibbons, an unmotivated tech worker.  His best friends are Samir (Ajay Naidu) whose last name no one pronounce and Michael Bolton (David Herman) who hates having the same name as the singer.  The three of them are subjected to the petty tyranny of VP Bill Lumbergh (great performance by Gary Cole) but that's nothing new - same shit, different day.

A few things occur to change their live.  First, the two Bobs (John C. McGinley & Paul Wilson) arrive.  Consultants who specialize in corporate layoffs, their presence sends shock waves through the office.  The second thing to happen is that Peter undergoes hypnotherapy at the urging of his girlfriend (whom everyone suggests is cheating on him).  Under hypnosis, Peter is to imagine not feeling any stress and to imagine removing everything that causes him stress.  The hypnotist dies before bringing Peter out of the trance so Peter rest of the movie avoiding stress which is pretty much everything at work.

Rather than costing him his job, Peter new attitude impresses the two Bobs who find his calm demeanor and candor qualities of upper management.  They recommend Bob for promotion but Samir & Michael Bolton aren't so lucky.  They decide to plant a virus in their accounting system.  An oldie but a goodie, they will divert the fractional cents from all the transactions being processed into a their bank account.  Executed on Samir and Michael's last day, the scheme is more successful than they could have imagined which makes them worried that they'll get caught.  Peter decides to take full responsibility for the crime and writes a letter with cashier checks for the diverted amount.  A fire at the office destroys all evidence of the crime and Peter's admission.

I've omitted the character of Miton (Stephen Root), a meek employee who constantly ends his sentences in an indecipherable mumble.   Milton is the most abused of all employees in the office.  The two Bobs discover he'd been laid off years ago but through a payroll glitch he's been receiving paychecks all that time.  First, they cut off his paychecks and Lumbergh refers to Payroll which becomes one of Milton's Seven Rings of Hell.  Lumbergh next shrinks his cube until he is forced to work in electrical closet of the basement.  Finally, Lumbergh confiscates his prized red Swingline stapler because it is not standard company issue.  Root's performance is probably the most memorable which is saying a lot because there were a lot of quirky characters in this film.

It's quite ridiculous but there is enough basis in reality to make an office worker recognize him/herself, a co-worker or a work situation.  I'm certain that's what made the film a cult classic.

§§§

I recognized aspects of the workplace in Office Space but the office shown in Secretary was completely foreign to me.

Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is a cutter (i.e. self-injury with razor blades if I recall correctly).  Awkward and overly sensitive, Lee gets out of a hospital to live with her family.  Not fitting in at home and keeping her cutting supplies hidden under the bed for stressful moments, Lee decides she needs to make a change.  Acquiring a certificate from a secretarial school, Lee gets a job for attorney E. Edward Grey (James Spader).

With office in what appears to be a converted barn or church, Grey is eccentric but the audience doesn't know the half of it yet.  Struggling to keep his emotions in check, Grey & Lee settle into a routine but after one typo too many, Grey explodes.  Typos are his pet peeve.  He sternly tell Lee to correct the typos and to make sure she doesn't forget, he has her bend over his desk and spank her while she reads the mistyped letter aloud.  That never happens in my office...at least not during working hours.

Rather than filing an EEOC complaint against Grey, the incident has a profound effect on Lee's self-esteem.  Although she has a boyfriend (a timid high-school acquaintance), Grey's attention arouses sexual feelings which Lee was unaware she possessed.  The two settle into a routine where Lee dresses better and occasionally slips in an intentional typo in order to receive her "corrective feedback" (to use the parlance of my workplace).

All is well for the time being but Lee desires more than a physical relationship with Grey who has some issues of his own.  Ashamed of his own sexual habits and fearful of a committed relationship, Grey is unable to give Lee the emotional support and romance she needs.  The situation at work becomes intolerable for Grey who fires Lee to remove the object of his dysfunctional desires.

Rejected, Lee agrees to marry her boyfriend.  While being fitted in her future mother-in-law's wedding gown, Lee bolts for Grey's office and tells him she loves him.  As a test, Grey makes her sit in a chair without getting up until he returns.  This goes on for days as family and acquaintances visit to dissuade or encourage her.  Even the local television news sets up a vigil.  Eventually Grey returns and carries an exhausted Lee to the second floor of the office where there is conveniently a clawfoot bathtub.  The film ends with the two happily married with clues of their continuing S&M activities.

Secretary has a dreamy, fairy tale like quality to it which belies the sexual acts which are so crucial to its plot.  Even the poster for the film is provocative.  Showing a woman (we can't see her face but it is implied to be Gyllenhaal) "assuming the position" for a spanking, the poster plays up the prurient aspects of the film.  The filmmakers took care to retain a sweet-naturedness in the characters presumably because the S&M scenes could lead to some darker implications.  This dichotomy (an S&M fairy tale) gives the film much of its unique atmosphere.

Gyllenhaal and Spader are very good in their roles.  The film was a complete surprise to me.  I had never heard of the film before.  I went to the Castro Theater to see Office Space and stuck around to see Secretary as an afterthought.  I remember between shows wondering if I should just go home so I'm glad I stuck around.

An Army of Phantoms

In October, PFA held a series called An Army of Phantoms: American Cinema and the Cold War.  Curated by noted film critic J. Hoberman, An Army of Phantoms is also the name of Hoberman's latest book.  That arrangement seems more overtly commercial than most PFA series.

The films in An Army of Phatoms, the PFA program, "captures the hottest decade [1950s] of the Cold War with all the unnerved, high-spirited, and irrational emotions that combative moment could muster."

I saw only saw two of the nine films in the series.  Among the series were two films I've seen in rep houses within the past few years - Pickup on South Street and The Wild One and two I've seen on television - Fort Apache and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.  I regret missing Storm Warning (with Ronald Reagan, Ginger Rogers & Doris Day) and Panic in the Streets (with Richard Widmark, Jack Palance & Zero Mostel).  I don't regret missing Invaders from Mars despite Hoberman description of it as "a Cold War Cabinet of Dr. Caligari."

The two films I saw were:

The Next Voice You Hear starring James Whitmore & Nancy Davis; directed by William Wellman; (1950)
The Steel Helmet starring Gene Evans; directed by Sam Fuller; (1951)

The Next Voice You Hear looks like a B film but is a cut above.  Let's call it a B+ film which is what you would expect from William Wellman.  Actually, I wouldn't expect Wellman to be making B films so maybe this wasn't one.  The premise of the film is that God comes on the radio every night for one week.  You never actually hear his voice due to some clever cutaways.  Instead reacting to the voice, the audience reacts to the characters' reaction.  Joe and Mary Smith (Josepth & Mary!) are played James Whitmore and Nancy Davis (she was still a couple years from marrying Ronald Reagan).  With son Johnny (Gary), they form the nuclear family although they are far from perfect.  Joe has a bit of a temper and he gets fall down drunk which frightens young Johnny.

The God in The Next Voice is secular based on his recited messages.  His message is not "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."  It's more "Can't we all just along?"

At 83 minutes, the film loses traction at times but Whitmore's performance is enough to buoy the film for most of the way.  An under-appreciated actor, Whtimore has always reminded me a little of Spencer Tracy crossed with William Bendix.  He captures the common man (even though he went to Choate and Yale and was a member of Skull & Bones) with flashes of anger in many of his films including The Next Voice.  The way he tears out of carport onto the street was memorable.

If The Next Voice isn't a great film, I wasn't disappointed because I wasn't expecting anything; one way or another.  I saw The Next Voice You Hear because it was part of a double feature.  I was more interested in the second half - Sam Fuller's The Steel Helmet.

Steel Helmet is an unusually frank cinematic depiction of men at war for the era as well as the first film set during the Korean War.  Sgt. Zack (Gene Evans), the protagonist, shoots an unarmed prisoner towards the end of the film.  The North Korean prisoner (Harold Fong) is one these wily and diabolical Orientals...and he speaks English.  Credited as The Red, Fong's character attempt to foment discord among the US ranks by reminding the African American soldier about Jim Crow laws and Nisei soldier about the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII.  The Red deserved what he got.  That's the attitude which underlies The Steel Helmet, at least on the surface.

As anyone who has read The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer knows, captured prisoners were shot; especially in the Pacific Theater where Japanese mistreatment of Allied prisoners were well known and Japanese troops often fought to the death making captured prisoner a rarity compared to Europe.  Never publicized but easily understood (perhaps even tacitly approved of), these practices would have shocked the home front or so military censors thought.  Similarly, segregation was the law in several states at the time and Order 9066 was fresh in everyone's memory.  These are taboo film subject for 1950.

Although Fuller cloaks Steel Helmet in virile and patriotic disguises, he is really levelling some serious indictments against US hypocrisy, self-delusion and war, in general.  I didn't fully pick up on this until after I watched the film.   The film ends on such a jingoistic note that it is unclear if it is intended tongue-in-cheek or at face value.  Sgt. Zack intones, "[We're] US Infantry."  Within the context of the film, is that something to be proud of?

The American Scream

I forgot that the 2012 San Francisco Documentary Film Festival had a launch event/screening at the Roxie on October 16.

The American Scream; directed by Michael Stephenson; documentary; (2012) - Official Website

The American Scream is a documentary about three families in a small Massachusetts town who go all out in their Halloween house decorations aka "haunters" - similar to those people who go all out in their Christmas house decorations.  Superficially uplifting, director Michael Stephenson keeps exploring his subject until some disturbing facets of their lives come.

Victor Bariteau is married with two children.  The storage of his Halloween decorations and props take up every spare inch of his house to his daughters and wife's consternation.  Despite that, wife and elder daughter are completely behind Bariteau.  His obsession is odd until he shares that he was raised Branch Davidian which is the same "religion" as David Koresh and his Waco followers.  Not allowed to celebrate Halloween for religious purposes, Bariteau compensates as much for his own sake as his children.  Although he says it for the kids, I wondered how much was a coping mechanism for himself.  His commitment to "haunting" has more dark overtones considering his youth.

Manny Souza almost died of a heart attack and approaches haunting as if each year is his last.  He displays a fatalism which at odds with the wholesome Halloween festivities.

Matthew Brodeur seemed to have a mild learning disability.  He and his father, Victor, create the least sophisticated haunt and bicker nonstop with each other.  The father is a retired civil engineer.  The son (with his father) appeared to make his living as a clown at children's events which I have always considered peculiar on its face.  While Victor & Manny had full time jobs which they discussed, Matt didn't seem to have a "regular" job.  What makes Matt odder yet is that he has no wife or children (unlike Victor and Manny).  In fact, there is a woman who helps Matt and Victor out in their haunting.  She stated that Matt has told her explicitly that their relationship is platonic  and will remain so.  She seemed eager to be with Matt but he was oblivious or asexual.  I guess he could be not interested in her but I suspect Matt is not beating women off with a stick.

Director Michael Stephenson never confronts the subjects.  He likely gained their trust and then let them reveal their own troubled pasts.  The film isn't exploitive of the three men but it does much more than just document their preparations and Halloween activities.  I'm always surprised what people will willingly or inadvertently reveal about themselves in a documentary...or a blog.

Cinematic Spelunking

In late June, Lost Weekend Video opened the Cinecave.  I have not been there yet.  In my defense, they don't always keep their website up to date.  I've frequently checked their website in the past six months and the Cinecave program listing is out of date or not even listed.

One of the recurring events I've wanted to see is Shaolin Sundays.  Not held every Sunday (or even most Sundays), Shaolin Sundays celebrates kung fu films.  At 7 and 9 PM tonight, Cinecave is holding an Alexander Fu-Sheng Tribute.  It has captured my interest.

I'm still not sure how one attends.  I've never been inside Lost Weekend Video which is at Valencia at 21st St.  As their website says, "Cinecave is a private club, but it's free to join!  (It's included in your LWV membership)."  What is that all about?  Calling something "a private club" (while it essentially remains open to the public) is typically a way to get around some local ordinance.  

Perhaps coincidentally, the Roxie is having a Kung Fu double feature on December 13 - Seven Grandmasters (1978) and Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978).  Snake in the Eagle's Shadow was Jackie Chan's breakthrough role   Director Yuen Woo-ping would go on to more success (Drunken Master w/Chan) but to Western audiences, he would become best known for his fight choreography in The Matrix films, the Kill Bill films and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

I have a spotty record with Kung Fu films.  I want to like them but I'm often bored by them.

Forever Natalie Wood

On Veterans Day Weekend, I split time between three film series.  The San Francisco Film Society's Cinema By the Bay at the Viz, DocFest at the Roxie and Forever Natalie Wood at the Castro.  The Natalie Wood tribute was a Marc Huestis Presents event.  Marc Huestis is a local events filmmaker and film tribute events planner.  For more than a decade, Huestis has been holding tribute screenings at the Castro with the guest of honor present for an on-stage interview.  I've somehow missed all of them.  Typically, these events are one night only but the Natalie Wood event was three days so I was able to catch three films.  Obviously Natalie Wood couldn't be there but her sister, Lana Wood was there although I missed that evening to see Amity.

The three films I saw were:

This Property is Condemned starring Natalie Wood & Robert Redford; with Charles Bronson & Robert Blake; directed by Sydney Pollack; (1966)
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice starring Natalie Wood, Robert Culp, Elliott Gould & Dyan Cannon; directed by Paul Mazursky; (1969)
Inside Daisy Clover starring Natalie Wood; with Robert Redford, Christopher Plummer, Roddy McDowall & Ruth Gordon; directed by Robert Mulligan; (1965)

Other films screening in the series were Rebel Without a Cause, Gypsy, Love With a Proper Stranger, Splendor in the Grass and West Side Story (sing-along).  When was the last time the Castro played West Side Story without the karaoke subtitles?

Before the event, I knew a few things about Wood.  She was of Russian descent; her sister Lana's full name is Svetlana.  She was deathly afraid of water as she almost drowned during a movie shoot.  Also, she injured her left wrist at a young age (also on a movie shoot).  Wood's mother was worried if the wrist was treated and cast, Natalie would be dropped from the film so they hid her injury and it was never treated.  As a result, it healed incorrectly and her wrist was noticeably deformed.  Whenever Wood's wrist was exposed, she would wear a bracelet or wristwatch over it to hide the protruding bone(s).  In every Natalie Wood film I've seen, I see the bracelet or watch.  Huestis mentioned that Wood is in water for many of her films which must have been difficult for her.

I think Natalie Wood was a terribly sexy woman.  For many years, I was not aware that she was the girl in Miracle on 34th Street but as Huestis alluded to, her years as a child actor affected her the rest of her life...and not necessarily for the better.  I wonder if her childhood years infused her acting with a vulnerability that many men find appealing at some level.

§§§

This Property is Condemned is based on a one act play by Tennessee Williams.  Francis Ford Coppola shares screenwriting credits.

Wood plays Alva Starr, the beautiful elder daughter of Hazel Starr (Kate Reid), owner of the Starr Boarding House which caters to railroad workers; there is a maintenance facility in town.  Starr Boarding House is a raucous place with Alva as the object of the boarders' attention.  Used to the attentions (wanted and unwanted) of the many men who come & go through her mother's boarding house, Alva is intrigued by Owen Legate (Robert Redford), the new and mysterious boarder.  Legate is put off by Alva's coquettish behavior.

Legate is tight lipped about his job because he is the railroad's hatchet man.  He's there to layoff workers due to a dropoff in railroad traffic (the film is set during the Great Depression).  Among the layoff victims are two residents of the Starr Boarding House - J.J. Nichols (Charles Bronson), Hazel's boyfriend who shows a not-so-secret preference for Alva and Sidney (Robert Blake), a younger man who is Alva's most unctuous admirer.  Both men sense Alva's attraction to Legate which adds one more reason to resent him.

Hazel has been pressuring Alva "to be nice" to an older and wealthier boarder, Mr. Johnson.  Hazel is essentially pimping Alva out to Johnson, whose wife is an invalid.  With marriage out of the question, Hazel hopes Johnson will be Alva's sugar daddy with some of the excess sugar going into her pocket.  This desire is made more intense when news of Legate's layoffs makes the rounds.  Hazel realizes her boarding house isn't worth much with the railroad workers to fill it.  She manipulates Johnson into agreeing to relocate the Starr family to Memphis and bankrolling a new boarding house there...if Alva will play nice and go along with the implicit arrangement.

Alva has plans to go to New Orleans with Legate but Hazel manipulates his insecurities about Alva's true character.  Legate and Alva have an argument which ends in him calling her a whore a leaving.  Thinking she has achieved her desired outcome, Hazel, J.J., Alva & Johnson to out to dinner to celebrate but Alva gets drunk and reveals J.J.'s untoward behavior towards her.  To spite Legate & her mother, Alva manipulates J.J. into asking her to marry him which she readily accepts.  They marry that night and the next morning, Alva sneaks out of their room with J.J.'s cash and the marriage certificate.

Alva makes her way to New Orleans to see Legate although that is not stated.  They eventually reunite and reconcile although Alva keeps her marriage a secret.  Happy for the first time in her life, Alva asks Legate if they can send for her younger sister (Mary Badham who played Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird).  Alva sends a postcard to arrange her travel but Hazel intercepts it and arrives in New Orleans with revenge on her mind.  Over her daughter's pleas, Hazel informs Legate that Alva is already married...to J.J. and he wants his wife back.  Horrified that her secret has been revealed, Alva runs off into the rainy night.  We learn through Badham's voiceover narration that Alva later died of lung disease most likely brought on or exacerbated by her flight into the night.

This Property is Condemned is one of the better Tennessee Williams adaptations I've seen.  I have to believe a young Francis Ford Coppola's script treatment must have contributed to my opinion.  Some knowledge of Wood's life comes in handy as well.  Wood made her transition to adult roles with Judy in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) directed by Nicholas Ray.  Ray, in his 40s at the time, and Wood, 16-17, became lovers which no doubt influenced the casting of the role.  There is some debate about whether Wood was the sole instigator or if Wood's mother put the idea into her head.  With that tidbit in my mind, the scenes between Kate Reid and Wood, as mother and daughter, took on special meaning.  Reid's performance was one of the best parts of the film.  Maybe I saw what I wanted to see w.r.t. Wood's performance but her best scenes with Reid were the most powerful in the film.  This (strong scenes between Wood & her on-screen mother) a trend in a few of her films - with Rosalind Russell in Gypsy and with Ruth Gordon in Daisy Clover. 

§§§

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice was a film I saw many years ago.  I was familiar with the general plot but not the details.  Bob & Carol Sanders (Robert Culp & Natalie Wood) start the film at a...I'm not quite sure what to call it.  It's not New Age but it's similar.  It's an institute where people strive to achieve emotional honesty through open discussion, hugging, scream therapy. etc.  I see the term "Esalen" used but I'm not familiar with that organization or its technique.

Changed by the experience, Bob & Carol pledge to live their lives in a more honest manner.  They share their new outlook of life with their best friends Ted & Alice Henderson (Elliott Gould & Dyan Cannon) who are more conservative and skeptical of what they are preaching.  Alice seems to have some sexual hangups that interfere with her marital relations.  Ted, frustrated by his lack of relations with Alice, just needs a little push to embrace the free love concept which evolves from Bob and Carol's respective extramarital affairs.  Rather than keep them secret, the Sanders proudly share the news with Hendersons.

In one of the best scenes, Alice sees a psychiatrist and it becomes clear she has latent desires for Bob which she has not confronted due to her friendship with Carol.  Bob's extramarital affair seems to bring out Alice's jealousy; it was a "if you are going to cheat, why not with me?" resentment.

The famous bedroom scene takes place in Las Vegas as the two couples drive there for a weekend getaway.  When Bob exposes Ted's past infidelity, Alice retaliates by voicing her desire for Bob.  In the name of emotional honesty, Carol I believe, proposes they swap husbands to make everything all right between.  Ted is the last one to go along with the idea but he eventually is on board (with some odd looking jockey shorts).

They don't "go all the way" but they go close enough that it gets uncomfortable which is the moral of the story.  Honesty is frequently not the best policy and the Sanders' honesty have caused problems between themselves and it's seeped into the Henderson's life.  When you are married, a good rule of thumb is to keep your mouth shut regarding sexual desires and sexual relations with people not your spouse.  It's an interesting and oft debated moral quandary.  What if dishonesty (a "white lie") is morally superior in the big picture?

The film has gotten a reputation for salaciousness and there is some.  Wood rocks a bikini like no one's business.  At its core, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice is exploring the morality of the era which did revolve around sex to a large extent.  Gould & Cannon had some of the best scenes, particularly the bedroom scene after Bob admits his infidelity to them at a dinner party.

The final scene was inspired also.  Bob & Carol, followed by Ted & Alice lead an ethnically diverse procession of people out of their Las Vegas hotel while Jackie DeShannon's (music by Burt Bacharach) What the World Needs Now is Love plays on the soundtrack.

I enjoyed Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice more than I thought I would.

§§§

Inside Daisy Clover must have hit close to home for Natalie Wood.  Set in 1930s Hollywood, Daisy Clover (Wood) is a teenager who submit a recording of her of voice to Swan Studios, hoping to break into the movie business.  Daisy lives on the beach with her mentally unstable (but sweet natured) mother (Ruth Gordon) selling "autographed" photos of movie stars.  Studio executive Raymond Swan (Christopher Plummer) signs Daisy to a contract and puts his studio to work manufacturing her stardom.  To better sell her image, Daisy becomes an orphan while her mother is put in an asylum   This actually happened to Marilyn Monroe by the way.

The headstrong Daisy clashes with the equally assertive Swan while his wife Melora (Katharine Bard) plays a more maternal role.  Always present is the efficient Walter Baines (Roddy McDowall), Swan's eyes, ears and hands (when he doesn't want to get them dirty).  Unhappy, Daisy quickly becomes involved with handsome Wade Lewis (Robert Redford), Swan Studios biggest matinee idol.  Despite her being underage, the two get married over Swan's objections.  He abandons her in a Arizona roadside motel and we later discover Swan is bisexual making Daisy's abandonment more painful.

After a failed romance with Swan and her mother's death, Daisy has a nervous breakdown.  There is a great scene where she is singing voiceovers for one of her films.  She is in a soundbooth watching the film being projected while singing to match her on-screen lip movement.  The director keeps asking her to do take after as her mental state slides downward.  By the end, she has a full nervous breakdown.  When the camera is outside the booth, we hear silence.  When the camera shows Daisy from inside the booth we hear the beep-beep-beep-beep of the countdown from 4 to 1 before the images come on the screen and Daisy sings.  The beeping sound is haunting.

The film is very depressing and a damning indictment on the Hollywood studio system which Wood grew up  in and which, to a limited extent, the movie was produced in.  Gordon received an Oscar nomination for her role although I wasn't that impressed.  Once again, Wood seemed to thrive in scenes where her character was abused or vulnerable.  Christopher Plummer was very convincing in the role of the studio honcho who views Daisy as a commodity to be exploited.  Also the musical numbers were  not quite as toe-tapping as I was expecting.

I didn't like Inside Daisy Clover as much as the other two films but it was still worthwhile.