Movie Notes: A Matter of Life and Death

A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Directors: Powell and Pressburger

This was an interesting film, and I mean that in the very best sense.

The movie's plot, in a nutshell, is that the British pilot of a WWII Lancaster survives, against all odds, his fall from his shot-up plane over the coast of England without a parachute.  Afterward, he meets the last person to whom he had spoken, an American radio operator with whom he falls in love, and Death -- in the form of an effete French gentleman who attempts to convince him to die.  The movie's plot travels forward in parallel: a technicolor production on earth wherein a neuroscientist and his new found love work to save his life, and a black-and-white drama in heaven where he appeals his death sentence to the highest court.

Heady stuff this, but the production rises to the occasion in its own peculiar style.  David Niven is very good, and I like the look and sound of Roger Livesey, but in this film his single-tone manner of delivering lines got a bit old.

The movie, shot during the last days of the war, is eminently timely.  Death is an ever-present reality, but to say it is more immediate during wartime is to trivialize that very real horror.  Heaven is shown to be very large, and young men in flying uniforms are constantly passing through its doors.  Other doors are also referenced, and the scale and scope of this catastrophe is thereby portrayed both cleverly and poignantly.

All in all, this is a movie I'd recommend!

Movie Notes: The Quiet Man

The Quiet Man (1952)
Director: John Ford

There are some movies that I'd like to love, but there are things about it I just can't get behind.  The Quiet Man is a fantastic movie in a lot of ways.  This movie is fantastically well crafted.  The crescendo at the end is hectic in the best John Ford tradition, full of a warm and rich humor that may leave you grinning silly.

Unfortunately, the sexual politics are just terrible!  It's supposed to be funny, and it is, but it struck me quite often as simply inappropriate.  Dragging your wife (literally, sometimes) for five miles in a fit of anger may produce needed reconciliation, but it's still a form of abuse.

It occurs to me that John Ford's movies are always fantastic, but always have something that I can't quite get behind.  I like how he doesn't fit in a box; it really matches his prickly personality.

Movie Notes: Easter Parade

Easter Parade (1948)
Director: Charles Walters

This is an entertaining technicolor musical.  It contains several very fun numbers that take full advantage of the talents of its stars.  Astaire's dancing is always fantastic, and Garland's singing equally so.

The plot was also interesting, as it kept me guessing until near the end as to who would end up with whom.  Part of this stems from a lack of chemistry between Garland and Astaire, but there was also some interesting commentary on the nature of feminine attraction and empowerment.  This is typified in the two women to whom Astaire's character is drawn.  In their climactic and competing headliner acts, they express their talent very differently.  Garland dances dressed as a man alongside Astaire and uses her powerful voice and comedic ability to bring the house down (in "A Couple of Swells"), while the character played by Ann Miller depends on her looks and sensuality in an act about cover girls (in "The Girl on the Magazine Cover").

All in all, a decent musical.  Not the best for either actor, or for Irving Berlin, but it was a bright, light hearted way way to spend a couple of hours.

Movie Notes: Meet Me in St. Louis

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Director: Vincente Minnelli

The most remarkable element of this film to me was the fantastically rendered nostalgic Victorian setting.  Buildings inside and out, costumes, and family dynamics all capture and communicate in Technicolor the same feeling you have walking down main street at Disneyland.

The music is good, if not (with some exceptions) as catchy as some other musicals.  There's no doubt that Judy Garland can sing!  Also, I didn't know that "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" was from this film.  I kept waiting for "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

The narrative arc is pretty weak, and has a pleasant smallness to it.  It's just about people living lives without any real remarkable drama.  I imagine it's capturing quite well the spirit of its midwestern inspiration.  Still, when it ended Libby and I both looked at each other and said, "That's it?"

Movie Notes: The Thief of Baghdad

The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
Directors: Michael Powell, Ludwig Berger, Tim Whelan

This is a remake of the 1924 silent version, but the story is completely rewritten.  In fact, it has more in common with a famous Disney animated movie of my childhood than it has with the Douglas Fairbanks adventure.  It includes a toy-loving sultan, a wily thief and lovable sidekick named Abu, an all powerful but silly genie, and an evil vizier named Jaffar intent on stealing away the toy-loving sultan's daughter.

This is not a perfect film.  Ahmad, the romantic male lead, is dull and uninteresting.  So is the princess in whom he is interested.  However, Sabu plays the titular character Abu to perfection.  He brings energy and life to the whole movie and is a joy to watch.

At the end, the movie springs a philosophical reflection that justifies the whole exercise in spectacle and nonsense in a vein of thought that  reminded me pleasantly of Winnie-the-Pooh or Peter Pan.