TCP – #204 – The Marriage of Maria Braun

The Marriage of Maria Braun (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1978)

plot synopsis: Maria (Hanna Schygulla) marries Hermann Braun in the last days of World War II, only to have him disappear in the war. Alone, Maria uses her beauty and ambition to prosper in Germany’s “economic miracle” of the 1950’s.

Every once in awhile, my introduction to a new filmmaker is a film so incredible that I immediately have the need to go back and watch everything else he/she has made. With Rainer Werner Fassbinder, that film was The Marriage of Maria Braun. The first of his BRD Trilogy (a thematically rather than linearly connected trifecta of films about women in Post-war Germany) that also includes Veronika Voss and Lola, we follow the story of Maria, who, after, to put it bluntly, a whole mess of crap happens, rises to a position of incredible power and wealth in a French industrial company. The heart, soul, anchor, etc. of the film is Hanna Schygulla as Maria. Her transformation from doting wife/widow to a bigger hardass than Ebenezer Scrooge is fascinating. She knows people are always going to underestimate her, so she uses it to her advantage (to the extreme, at times). The camerawork of Michael Ballhaus is deft, never getting out-of-control flashy but at the same time picking up some truly incredible shots. And the script (which Fassbinder co-wrote) is also great (and surprisingly linear and easy for a “non-cinephile” to follow, which is surprising considering what I’ve read about some of his earlier work). This is a straight-up masterpiece, and one of the best films I’ve seen so far from the so-called “New German Cinema.”

tcp status: 166/505

up next: #205 – veronika voss (rainer werner fassbinder, 1982)

Read Full Post »

TCP – Spine #022 – Summertime

Summertime (David Lean, 1955)

plot synopsis: An American spinster’s dream of romance finally becomes a bittersweet reality when she meets a handsome—but married—Italian man while vacationing in Venice.

tcp status: 165/505

up next: #204 – the marriage of maria braun (rainer werner fassbinder, 1978)

Read Full Post »

TCP – Spine #019 – Shock Corridor

Shock Corridor (Samuel Fuller, 1963)

plot synopsis: Seeking a Pulitzer Prize, a reporter has himself committed to a mental hospital to investigate a murder. As he closes in on the killer, madness closes in on him.

While it’s not QUITE the masterwork that The Naked Kiss was, Fuller’s 1963 psychological thriller is still a brilliant study of the effects of insanity on a sane person masquerading as a schlocky b-movie. Those last ten minutes will stay with you.

tcp status: 164/505

up next: #022 – summertime (david lean, 1955)

Read Full Post »

TCP – Spine #108 – The Rock

The Rock (Michael Bay, 1996)

plot synopsis: A highly decorated, retired U.S. Marine general (Ed Harris) seizes a stockpile of chemical weapons and takes over Alcatraz, with eighty-one tourists as hostages on the San Francisco Bay isle. His demand: Restitution to families of soldiers who died in covert operations. The response: An elite Navy SEAL team, with support from an FBI chemical-warfare expert (Nicolas Cage) and a former Alcatraz escapee (Sean Connery), is assembled to penetrate the terrorists’ defenses on the island and neutralize the threat before time runs out.

 

tcp status: 163/505
up next: #019 – shock corridor (samuel fuller, 1963)

Read Full Post »

TCP – Spine #198 – Ali: Fear Eats the Soul

Angst essen Seele auf aka Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1974)

plot synopsis: Emmi, a woman truly in the second half of life, falls in love with Ali, a Berber guest worker more than ten years younger. When they both decide to marry, everybody seems to be against them. When the folks calm down a bit, Emmi and Ali get deeply unsure about their relationship.

tcp status: 162/505

up next: #108 – the rock (michael bay, 1996)

Read Full Post »

I Want to Save You

An Education (Lone Scherfig, 2009)

plot synopsis: A coming-of-age story about a teenage girl in 1960s suburban London, and how her life changes with the arrival of a playboy nearly twice her age.

A lot has been said about An Education so far, mostly about the supposed powerhouse, breakout performance from relative newcomer Carey Mulligan. And it’s all correct. This is one of the best films of the year.

Mulligan stars as Jenny, a brilliant young British girl growing up in the 1960s. She loves classical music, French films, and discussing Camus in coffee shops. So when along comes the dashing (but much older), and irresistibly charming David (Peter Sarsgaard), she falls head over heels for him. Even if everything else had been a failure, this film would’ve ultimately won me over from Mulligan’s performance alone. Fortunately, that’s not the case. Everything; from the beautifully done costumes, to the razor sharp script by Nick Hornby, to the superb supporting performances from a who’s who of British greats, is incredible.

But let’s start with Mulligan’s performance. I’ll be amazed if I see a better performance (in any category) this year. She manages to straddle this incredibly thin line of appearing to be this elegant, wiser-than-her-years woman, when, in actuality, she’s just another kid who doesn’t know the first thing about life being seduced and screwed up by someone who does (more or less). Endless comparisons have been made between her and Audrey Hepburn, and they’re all deserved. Every time she gives a smile (or more) to David, you just want to grab her and take her away from him so he can’t do anymore damage. These are the kinds of roles that make stars and win Oscars.

The supporting cast is also great, namely Alfred Molina (another good bet for Oscar) and Cara Seymour as Jenny’s parents. Molina’s simultaneous concern for his daughter’s future and disregard having the slightest idea of what she may want for herself is very hard to watch, while Seymour’s eyes give about 90% of her performance.

Finally, I want to give a special mention to the soundtrack, which, while it does include some legitimate 60s songs, also includes recordings from modern artists that may as well have been recorded 50 years ago. Beth Rowley’s “You’ve Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finger” could be big very soon.

An Education is one of the best films of the year, and it’s just a matter of time before every hipster girl in America is doing everything they can to dress like Ms. Mulligan.

Read Full Post »

TCP – Spine #018 – The Naked Kiss

The Naked Kiss (Samuel Fuller, 1964)

plot synopsis: The setup is pure pulp: A former prostitute relocates to a buttoned-down suburb, determined to fit into mainstream society. But in the strange, hallucinatory territory of writer/director/producer Sam Fuller, perverse secrets simmer beneath a seemingly wholesome facade.

One of Samuel Fuller’s early works, The Naked Kiss is billed as a pulpy b-movie, and in a lot of ways it is; there’s a lot of overacting (and some that’s just straight up bad), the story is quite “risque” (especially for the time period), and you couldn’t count the number of sexual innuendos on several pairs of hands. But I really think this film is a near-masterpiece. Constance Towers is brilliant in the lead role, and the film features several beautifully shot sequences (and one particular “sing-a-long” that is both hauntingly beautiful and slightly disturbing). The story may be over-the-top to the extreme, but what you see here is the early makings of one of America’s great independent filmmakers.

tcp status: 161/505

up next: #198 – ali: fear eats the soul (rainer werner fassbinder, 1974)

Read Full Post »

TCP – Spine #012 – This Is Spinal Tap

This Is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner, 1984)

plot synopsis: Spinal Tap, the world’s loudest band, is chronicled by hack documentarian Marti DeBergi on what proves to be a fateful tour.

tcp status: 160/505

up next: the naked kiss (samuel fuller, 1964)

Read Full Post »

TCP – Spine #021 – Dead Ringers

Dead Ringers (David Cronenberg, 1988)

plot synopsis: Twin gynecologists take full advantage of the fact that nobody can tell them apart, until their relationship begins to deteriorate over a woman.

Cronenberg’s 1988 psychological drama about twin gynecologists (how’s that for a selling point?) explores some very interesting, compex ideas, but it falters a bit near the end because of Cronenberg’s need (which is clearly gone now, with A History of Violence and Eastern Promises) to put a touch of sci-fi/horror (however remote) into his works, but the performance (as both twins) of Jeremy Irons is so mesmerizingly good that you don’t really care. Not only can you not tell that both roles are being filled by the same actor, it’s also pretty much impossible to tell that they are never actually talking to each other. Yet another performance that probably should’ve won the Oscar, yet wasn’t even nominated.

tcp status: 159/505

up next: #012 – this is spinal tap (rob reiner, 1984)

Read Full Post »

TCP – Spine #414 – Two-Lane Blacktop

Two-Lane Blacktop (Monte Hellman, 1971)

plot synopsis: Story of two men drag racing across the USA in a primer grey 55 chevy. Wilson is the mechanic, James Taylor is the driver.

 

While I don’t know if I’d call Two-Lane Blacktop the “greatest road movie ever,” Monte Hellman’s 1971 cult classic is definitely up there. While Dennis Wilson and James Taylor aren’t the best actors, it’s made up for by beautiful shots of the country and a truly fantastic performance from Warren Oates (think Giamatti in Sideways as a comparison as far as Oscar snubs go). Bonus: One of Tarantino’s key influences for Death Proof, be on the lookout for one of his go-to shots from that film, the backseat two-shot.

tcp status: 158/505

up next: dead ringers (david cronenberg, 1988)

Read Full Post »