THROUGH THE OLIVE TREES (1994, IRAN)

30 from the 90's (Post 14 of 30)

Through the Olive Trees

Intesting thing about art films. Sometimes you get them or you don’t. I didn’t like Through the Olive Trees nearly as much as the same director’s Close-Up. What was Through the Olive Trees about again? A director was shooting a movie, or at least one scene from a movie over and over again, the boy had a crush on the girl in the scene and she totally ignored him and the village where the movie was being shot had just gone through a catastrophic earthquake. My thoughts on this one are pretty jumbled, but in all fairness, so is the movie. But this movie may fall into that odd category of “I thought it was good, but I didn’t like it very much.” But after Close-Up and Through the Olive Trees I am still looking forward to the last two Klarostami movies on the 1001 list, so at least that says something.

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CLOSE-UP (1990, IRAN)

Hossain Sabzian in Close-Up

30 from the 90's (Post 13 of 30)

Close-Up (1990)

One of the reasons that I am trying to look at everything on the 1001 list is to watch films that I would have never come across otherwise. Close-Up is a story of a con man named Sabzian (who looks like former Iranian President Mahmoud Abdojinizad to me) who poses as the filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf to trick a family into making a film about them. I guess that’s all he really wanted, though the family he deals with do question whether burglary might be an additional motive. The odd part about this film (inspired by an article in the newspaper that director Abbas Klarostami read) is that the roles in this film are recreated by the actual con man and the actual family involved! Fiction and re-creation meet here in a really strange way. The real Mohsen Makhmalbaf even has a small part (as himself, of course) towards the end of the film. It has been noted that there are hints of Rashoman, the neo-realists, the deconstructionist cinema of Godard and the alternating points of view of Robert Altman all here. I admit I’ve never seen anything quite like this before, and think it's a very welcome edition to the 1001 book.

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL (1994, GREAT BRITAIN)

30 from the 90's (Post 12 of 30)



Four Weddings and a Funeral

Clever English film that should more accurately be called Three Weddings, a Funeral and Another Wedding, but I guess that title wasn't quite as catchy.

Who is that Simon Callow fellow?- Mr. Callow is one of those actors that keeps showing up in 1001 films (Amadeus, A Room With a View) and is also an accomplished biographer who penned a three volume set on the life of Orson Welles. If you want to look at one of Callow’s volumes on Welles, you might want to skip watching A Room With A View, or you might find it hard to blot out the picture of the author crazily running around naked. I mean wasn't it bad enough I just had to see Harvey Keitel naked in The Piano? Just saying.

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THE PIANO (1993, AUSTRALIA)

30 from the 90's Post 11 of 30

The Piano

A movie about a mail order bride who loves playing the piano moving to the New Zealand jungles to be with her new husband. Her new husband is indifferent to her love of her piano and she takes up with another man.

My wife’s reaction: “If he had just taken the time to understand what she needed just a little bit and not been such an ASS, she wouldn’t have had to go to the other man.” That’s about it, I guess. Holly Hunter is always good. The very young Anna Paquin is very good. Harvey Keitel is good, but I could do without seeing him naked. Just saying.

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SHINE (1996, AUSTRALIA)

30 from the 90's (Post 10 of 30)

Shine

This movie really made me think about Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 3.
Is it really so difficult to play? Is it really that much of a mountain to climb? Would just the effort to play it cause a breakdown like it did for Geoffrey Rush’s character is the film?

Since the piece is far too difficult for me to play, I just listened to it instead. In fact, I’m listening to it now. It sounds nice. No breakdowns yet. That’s good. I made it through the whole thing! But just to be safe, I think I’ll move on to something else.

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FARGO (1996)

30 from the 90's (Post 9 of 30)

Fargo

Fargo may be my favorite movie of the Brothers Coen. Which is a bold statement, since I like just about all of their movies (Though I wasn't overly enamored about A Serious Man).

But why is Fargo my favorite? Is it the plot? No, I love the plot, but most Coen movies have a pretty kooky plot.

Is it the fun local charcters? Yah, yah. Maybe. But I don’t think that’s what puts it over the edge.

Is it the performances? William H. Macy, Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi and are all good, but I don’t think it makes it number one in my book.

Is it funny? Yes, but may not be overall as funny as Raising Arizona or The Big Lebowski.

So what is it?

A: I think it’s the humanity. You have characters (Jerry Lundegaard and the two hit men) who never seem to consider doing things the right way or give a second thought about killing someone. And then you have characters (Marge Gunderson, her husband and most of Brainerd) who never seem to consider not doing things the right way.

Spoiler Alert:

Continuing the previous thought to the final scene. Marge is taking one the surviving kidnapper (Carl) off to jail. She has the saddest of looks on her face as she tells him that she can’t understand why he would cause so much mayhem just for a little money. The scene strikes me as very poignant, because Marge will never fully understand someone like Carl and Carl will never understand anyone like Marge. Anyway, the ending leaves me a little teary eyed, I admit.