midnite-7 Reviews

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

you have to do some of the work yourself

[10/10 · 8 June 1999]

Oh my, how sci-fi fans--weaned on "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and "War of the Worlds"-- must have loathed this film upon its release in 1968. This movie, containing no malevolant aliens, no battle scenes, nor any threat to Earth, except from ourselves, threw the entire science fiction lexicon out the proverbial air-lock. The audience bristled, and many walkouts were assured. It was found wanting by the mainstream critics as well, and alternative critics in the day were few. " I really like dialogue in my films" a few were heard saying. "What about the plot" said others. " We never get to know the characters," "you never understand what is going on," "nothing ever happens" blah, blah, blah. Well that's just fine: you guys didn't deserve this film anyways. On the other hand, if you love allegory, expressive imagery, depth, and classical music, then you will have a never-ending affair with this film. Put all other observations aside: this film is about Birth, expressed by the monolith(a long-time symbol for simplicity, the essential origins of life) and the fetus-star in the final scenes. Birth of a new world? Of a new species? Rebirth of man? You'll have to decide that for yourself. Greatness in art arises from ambiguities. The theme represents a wonderful paradox in the film: we have to abandon our cradle to reconnect with our origins. An important philosophical question emerges: man's pursuits, all of which seek transcendance, might all be only an attempt to reconnect with our primordial beginnings. We only want to taste mother's milk again. I love a movie that makes you ponder.

The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress (1944)

You'll never take war movies seriously again.

[10/10 · 6 June 1999]

Ever see paramedics resuscitate a dead man? If you have, it's impossible to take a medical drama seriously again. There is absolutely no drama in their actions. "The Memphis Belle" left me with same impression about soldiers. Although they worked in an inherently tense situation, a situation in which their lives could end on a whim, or an instant shift in kharma, it was their calmness that colored them the most. For two magnificent segments, director William Wyler plays taped intercom conversations over the already breathtaking photography. What we get are scenes that put those of ANY fictionalized war movie to shame. In the first, the camera is in the right place at the right time as he captures the waistgunner engaging a charging Messerschmidt. He lets his gun loose, and a stream of tracers goes sailing off into oblivion, wreathing the enemy plane. Then a few hit, then a few more and then the enemy fighter is engulfed in a cloud of black smoke. As he watches the plane drop with a sickening whistle, he hollers over the intercom in joy: "ha, ha, I got him, I got him." The Captain, annoyed, barks back: "don't yell on the damn intercom!" No joy, no bravado, just the grim realities of war. In the second, the camera captures a foundering B-17 turning on its side and slowly nosing down in a beautiful arc. Their response: {calmly} "a B-17 is goin' down at four o'clock" The crew chants in irritation "come on you guys, get out of there. What are you fellows asleep in there, get out!" Finally, two or three parachutes unfurl, closely resembling a Daffodil blooming. War turns out to be beautiful. Kurosawa's "Ran" and Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" argued this same point. But they were just movies. This film with its countless shots of the clear blue skies and the appealing flak patterns, proves it to anyone who dares to believe. In the film, there was not one patriotic utterance, or a single pean to heroic sacrifice, at least not from the men who flew the planes. These men were not heroes, nor were they warriors, or even soldiers in the sense that we portray those things. They were EMPLOYEES of the U.S. Army Air Corps. They did a job, and did it only because the "Boss" told them to. Even if they hated it (and you get the sense that they did), they did it. That impression never leaves me. The human species and its ability to accept any situation and get used to it. From now on, the passions of the soldiers in all the "blockbuster" war flicks will make me sick. Why dramatize that which is inherently full of tension. but we know most people that write war flicks have never been in jeopardy, so what do you expect. "The Memphis Belle" requires no histrionics or flowery dialogue to be the greatest war movie ever made.