Movies Watched -- A Single Girl (1995)

In French. 90 minute running time. The perfect length. I really enjoyed this movie, green-go. It’s the story of a beautiful 19-year-old Parisian girl named Valérie, played by Virginie Ledoyen. The camera stays tight on her face and steady gaze for nearly the entire length of the movie. She’s tough and sticks up for herself, but also has a sense of humor and playfulness. It’s hard being a beautiful young woman (all men filled with lust, all women filled with envy).

She is four-weeks pregnant and the movie begins with her disclosing this fact to her loser boyfriend. I have to say that the boy who played that role blew me away with his reaction, late in the movie, to her final remark.

She has a new job as a room service waitress in a hotel, and encounters all the awful stuff that normally happens in hotels, just within her first hour of work. Farr (thanks for the reco, John) says “she battles conditions that would wilt most mortals of any age.” She keeps moving forward, keeps her chin up, and her pace quick. There’s a determination there that you admire. And she’s beautiful, just stunning … and not a rich kid, not spoiled.

Very interesting camera work. Handheld on the streets of Paris, no permit, natural light, bystanders looking on curiously, but the filmmaker doesn’t care, it’s beautifully done.

Loved it, highly recommended.

Movies Watched -- Birth (2004)

100 minute running time so the perfect length … I’m a huge fan of Jonathan Glazer, but had never seen his second movie, Birth. It is a weird one and the mainstream critics HATED it, but I didn’t mind it, in fact I liked it, it’s definitely NOT terrible, and I’ve added a copy to my permanent collection. I love Nicole Kidman, she’s super talented. It’s a love story, but a twisted one. I would recommend it if you like Glazer and are a completist like me. Green-go!

[Not just the Wagner getting to her]

Movies Watched -- The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978)

In Italian … 179 minute running time … normally I’d say this is twice as long as it should be, but this was a special movie and gets a pass because it had many beautiful moments … it’s not a single story, but a series of dozens of vignettes… the life of Italian peasants at the turn of the 20th century.

I liked it and am glad I saw it and can recommend it and would have also voted for it if I were on the Palme d’Or committee, but be warned, it’s three hours long.

From the Criterion blurb: “Through the cycle of seasons, of backbreaking labor, love and marriage, birth and death, faith and superstition, Olmi naturalistically evokes an existence very close to nature, celebrating its beauty, humor, and simplicity but also acknowledging the feudal cruelty that governs it. Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1978, The Tree of Wooden Clogs is intimate in scale but epic in scope—a towering, heart-stirring work of humanist filmmaking.”

Marriage is a Holy Sacrament

Movies Watched -- The Headless Woman (2009)

In Spanish. 89 minute running time so the perfect length. SPOILERS … this is art house stuff from Argentina, shows you what Argentine society is like… a professional woman (a dentist) (probably) hits and kills a peasant boy and his dog and gets away with it (I say probably because it’s never made clear what actually happened, which is part of the movie’s charm) … her brother is also a dentist, and her lover (not her husband) is a doctor and they both help her cover her tracks, but the victim is just a peasant boy so no authorities would ever pursue the case, but just in case, they do manage a pretty thorough cover-up … but the woman, the killer, she’s sort of a basket case (the woman lost her head, get it?) because of the accident, or maybe she was always a basket case, it’s hard to tell … it wasn’t bad, just very art-housey, so not good for a Murkan audience.

Argentina is all screwed up because of the time when political enemies were “disappeared.” The class differences in Argentina are stark. This is a movie about guilt. I thought the kid’s handprint on her car window was a little, er, heavy-handed, but this woman director is talented, no doubt.

UPDATE: I’ve been thinking about this movie a lot since I watched it and decided to upgrade it to green-go as a result.

Movies Watched -- The Celebration (1998)

In Danish. 106 minute running time. I LOVED this movie and I have NO IDEA how it came out twenty-five years ago and I never saw it… John Farr said it well: “this stinging parable about the facades of respectability and the ugly frailties they hide is one disturbing, skin-crawling ride.” Totally blown away by this, I just sat there agog, wow. GREEN GO!

You will always be my children and I have loved you and love you…

Movies Watched -- Raise the Red Lantern (1991)

In Mandarin Chinese. 125 minute running time which I’d normally say is 25 minutes too long, but I loved this movie and have seen it many times… Zhang Yimou may have been at his peak here and he had a real star in Gong Li … this is so beautifully shot. I was an exchange student in China in 1991 so I have a special connection to this movie. This is a green-go. John Farr recommends it too.

按照老规矩。。。

Movies Watched -- The Gift (2015)

108 minute running time so just 8 minutes too long, but I liked this one a lot… it was a re-watch for me. A W.D.S. By Movie (written, directed, and starring the same guy) … Edgerton is a talented Australian and the beautiful Rebecca Hall is British … American Jason Bateman plays a great scumbag yuppie … this was well-made and a good thriller. Green-go! John Farr recommends it too.

And I want to make crazy, weird love to you, with my creepy, with my creepy little pee-pee pleasey-weasy.

Movies Watched -- The Circle (2000)

In Persian. 87 minute running time so the perfect length. Very interestingly constructed movie with the story shifting seamlessly from one character to the next over the course of a day … clever … the conclusion is I’m darned glad that I’m not a woman in Iran … this is feminism at its best … Jafar Panahi worked with Abbas Kiarostami (my favorite Iranian filmmaker) and clearly learned a lot … this is a green-go, but it ain’t a feel-good picture. John Farr also recommends it.

Movies Watched -- A Soldier's Story (1984)

101 minute running time, so the perfect length. Movie set in 1944 Louisiana on a segregated army base … honest about racism and murder and self-hatred. I enjoyed it and recommend it. Green-go. Rare to see a movie with an almost all-black cast. This was a John Farr recommendation and I second it.

We need ·doctors, lawyers, generals -- senators! Stop thinkin' like a niggaI [In the script but less heavy-handed on the screen]

Movies Watched -- Julia (1977)

116 minute running time so 16 minutes too long ... I liked this one ... it's a thriller of sorts ... I make fun of Hanoi Jane, but she was truly beautiful and a very talented actress, and may have been at her peak here at age 40 ... young Meryl Streep makes an appearance ... I'm surprised I hadn't heard of this movie, I guess Fred Zinnemann made several good movies (High Noon, of course) and this was definitely one of them. This is a green-go. John Farr says this is a personal favorite.