Change Your Image
Richard Hobby
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Reviews
Images (1972)
How sexual betrayal can divide the soul
It is understandable that Images will be seen as a horror film about a woman who is not fully in touch with reality.
However I believe there is a deeper meaning to this film. Robert Altman, who wrote and directed Images, shows what can happen when someone betrays another person sexually but cannot face that reality.
Cathryn (Susannah York) is married to Hugh (Rene Auberjonois), a man very interested in hunting quail but not at all interested in making love with his wife.
Cathryn finds love and sexual pleasure with other men.
But over time this causes in her an unbearable torment.
But she does not tell Hugh. Instead she divides her soul into two separate worlds: the wife of Hugh in an asexual marriage and the lover of other men with whom she loves to be treated as a slut and with whom she has intense sex.
But Cathryn is unable to keep the two worlds from spilling into each other. The results are violent and tragic.
Putting a psychiatric label on Cathryn and calling this a horror film actually obscures the deep meaning of the film.
Instead Altman gives us poetry. And he does it brilliantly.
Une femme à sa fenêtre (1976)
a truly great film
I am stimulated to write this review because the review of May 16, 2012, expresses opinions exactly opposite to mine. A Woman at Her Window is I believe one of the greatest films of all time.
Boring? Hardly. The script is quite brilliant and allows the radical Boutros (Victor Lanoux) to have great verbal political skirmishes with Raoul Malfosse (Philippe Noiret) that are very engaging. Romy Schneider plays Margot and she has never been more beautiful. She is married to Rico, Italian diplomat, who has somehow lost interest in her. But with great charm and courage he protects both his wife and Boutros.
The passionate love affair is heartfelt and completely believable. At the same time Margot is not insensitive and her final scene with Rico is very moving.
The complaint that the political side is skimmed over seems misplaced here. The political issues raised in Greece in 1936 under Metaxas set in motion the meeting of Margot and Boutros but this is not primarily a film about politics. Rather it is about complex fascinating characters at the upper levels of society, one of whom---Margot---experiences deep intense love as she has never felt before. To complain that we do not see much of the victims of Metaxas misses the point of the story that is being told. Yes Costa-Gavras pushed politics---but at the expense of drama. Pierre Granier-Deferre is the superior director precisely because he focuses on the human heart--real drama.
This film is brilliant and deeply moving and I strongly recommend it.
The Last Run (1971)
A Forgotten Gem
The Last Run is a forgotten gem.
George C. Scott lives a lonely life in a small fishing village in Portugal. His son has died and his wife has left him. His life has lost meaning. He decides to be once again a getaway driver to get back into the game of life. Of course it is a girl that brings this all out in the open.
The music by Jerry Goldsmith is poignant and beautiful.
Alan Sharp's writing is sharp indeed. And moving as well. Right up there with the screenplay for Arthur Penn's Night moves, which Sharp also wrote.
I strongly recommend this movie. I give it a straight A.
The Girl Hunters (1963)
an unusual and quite excellent movie
I must disagree with the previous reviewer, who had nothing good to say aboout this movie. The Girl Hunters is I agree unusual--but unusual in a good sense. The acting is excellent. The characters sound as one would imagine real DAs and real private eyes to sound. They don't sound like Robert Di Niro--but that is refreshing.
And the musical score is actually exceptionally lyrical and moving.
In some ways I like this movie even better than Kiss Me Deadly.
Each one gets an A- in my book.
Fukai kawa (1995)
an extraordinary film from Japan's greatest director, Kei Kumai
Fukai Kawa is an extraordinary film by Japan's greatest director, Kei Kumai. The most intense and heartfelt emotions are presented in powerful images and with the wonderful music of Teizo Matsumura. I saw this film at its premiere at the Montreal Film Festival seven years ago, and it is still with me. Kumai is virtually unknown in the West and his films are not available. I have had the good fortune of seeing four of them. They are all imbued with a poetic vision that moves one to the very depths of the soul. I hope that this brilliant director will be recognized here and that his films will become available on DVD
Shinobugawa (1972)
The greatest Japanese movie ever made
Kei Kumai, Japan's greatest director, is, sadly, virtually unknown in the United States. I have seen four of his films: Sandakan 8, Death Of A Tea Master, Shinobugawa, and Deep River. They are all amazing and wonderful, but to me the greatest is Shinobugawa. It is the story of a young man and a young woman who, despite suffering and tragedy, find their way to each other. Kumai tells the story with such sensitivity and intelligence and emotion that I was moved to the very depths of my soul. The music by Teizo Matsumura is perfect. It is a great tragedy that not one of Kei Kumai's movies is available on video. I can only hope that this great man's genius will soon be recognized and his films will be made available.