Casablanca (1942)

What is there left to say about a pinnacle of romance films and film in general? That's it is a beautifully crafted masterpiece? it's been said. That Rick Blaine is one of the most believable and attractive romantic leads in history? Said a thousand times. Or that Ingrid Bergman is, was and always will be a sublime actress? It has been said millions of times by millions of people across the world. And if they ever try to remake this, everyone one of those millions will band together and become the angriest mob in history.

Really, there is nothing new to say. Everyone knows how it ends, everyone knows the lines and everyone knows the song. I suppose that there being nothing new to say is a compliment to the movie, the idea that all that is good has been said about it is high praise when you think about it.

Rick (Bogart) and Ilsa (Bergman) are the epitome of doomed romance, you just want them to be together. You feel their pain when ever it becomes apparent that they can't. Giving good support are Paul Heinreid (as Laszlo), Claude Raines (as Louis) and (with limited but memorable screentime) Peter Lorre. It is a timeless tale of boy find girl, girls leaves boy, boy meets her again and loses her in a phone box (okay i made that last part up). But it is a perfect film set against the back drop of WW2. But for all of its war references there iare few fights, and the film is better for it. In my opinion.

i would like to take some time to say that i am sorry for all the delays in posting, i have been busy as of late and haven't had the time. Homework sucks. Anyway--

I wont go into details about the plot because it's better just to let you watch it and see it all for yourself. i hate it when people give away all of the plot and not let me be surprised by a few plot points. So i am pretty much putting into effect the old 'treat those as you want to be treated' thing. Anyway that's my review, it's not as long or as in depth as i would like, but as i said before- there is nothing new to say. Although i would like to say that if any man said "Here's looking at you kid" to me, i would fall head over heels in love with him.

"Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walked into mine" Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), Casablanca

Ode to a sob story

We have all seen them. We sometimes expect that sad ending (Schindlers List [1993], Romeo and Juliet [1996]) and other times we really don't expect that sudden death or heart melting reunion (Vertigo [1958], Little Women). Yes the sob story aka 'Chick Flick aka 'weepie' is firmly imbedded into the psych of all those scarred by memories of Bambi (1942) and Old Yeller (1957), who never trusted the smiling faces of 'family friendly' movies again. But why do we love them? Why is it that the doomed romances and shots fired in a meadow have held us and gripped our hearts for years and years? How is that people still see Romeo and Juliet even though they know every detail? Besides the good looking leads.

i myself have cried at the odd movie, during every version of Little Women i cry without fail, how is it that these characters make you fall so in love with them that you cry as though they were a real person when they leave/die? i'll never get it. Of course, most of us know when we're about to see a sad story, (we all knew what we were getting into when we saw My Sisters Keeper [2009]) so i guess we sort of prepare for it, but a good one will make you cry anyway. It's so strange. I never really watch tragic love stories because they usually depress me, although some leave me in a good mood because at least my love life doesn't suck half as bad as theirs. Thats not the point. i'm trying to do a good post about sob stories and why we like them.

It could be a different reason for all of us. Some of us like them because there's a sort of mystical beauty when you die for love. Others because it could just be a good story. And then there is the sacrifice for love. The ultimate gesture, not to give your own life, but to let the other person be happy without you. Casablanca (1942) brought this great sacrifice to the forefront of cinema, and while there have been movies that have made a good job of it, there is only one Casablanca.

Little Women is a whole different story. for most of the movie we see the girls trying the make do with what they have while trying to get past their own sibling squabbles, like kids/teenagers have done for years and years, very relatable is it not? But then comes the (SPOILER! SPOILER!) death. That rip your heart out moment that makes you realise that this film has made you love it and you didn't even realise it.

I haven't seen that many sob stories, sure like every teenaged girl i'll watch them with friends or see them just so that i know what the hell everyone is talking about. But there are very few that i will actually watch again. i saw 3 versions of Little Women (1933, 1949, 1994) and loved them all, i think i liked the last two most, the 1933 version, while boasting an impressive cast (Katharine Hepburn!!) fell victim to the obvious fact that most of the girls were too old to play their respective parts. Anyway....
I saw Gone With The Wind (1939), i didn't cry at the end but know that i felt tears coming in some parts. to tell you the truth i don't cry in many movies. i held in my tears when i saw Gallipoli (1981), boy was that hard.

I think that no matter what, the greatest sob stories belong to the classic era, sure we have the odd few now and again but there are these things, they're called: 'Class', 'sentiment' and 'memorable'. Anywhere from Chaplin taking the flower but not the money in City Lights (1931) to Sam playing it again (for old times sake) and yep even Cary Grant finding out why Deborah Kerr didn't meet him that day atop the Empire State Building in An Affair To Remember (1957).

The understated sentiment, the tell tale song and warmth of true love conquer all tragic endings. Few will see a movie to see that tragic ending, the people who saw Titanic (1997) surely hoped that that door could support both Jack and Rose, we want the beautiful ending when we're sure it wont happen, but when it does it can be more memorable than any tragic death or forbidden love.

"i love being home, but i don't like being left behind" Beth March (Claire Danes), Little Women (1994)

My ideal comedy....

I still love movies, i try to see as many good ones as possible and if that means paying the money to go to the cinema i am all for it. But somehow i always find myself wondering how it could have been better, did Megan Fox really need to say "you give me such a wettie" in Jennifer's Body? That was really a cringe worthy line, the movie wasn't that flash either. Really i have to wonder sometimes how the movie stars of the classic studio era would have implied anything raunchy. I've seen movies with double entendre's that you really had to listen to understand and love and they were way funnier than Jennifer's Body. Enough about that movie.

I love how they implied things, i suppose there is something to be said for subtlety. I kind of just want to see a movie that has the double entendre's and dry wit of the classic era combined with the darkness of modern comedies like (here i go again) Jennifer's Body. That was really dark, it had some good idea's but it's attempts at being edgy were kind of cheap and awkward. However if i took the best things about the movie (the action and storyline) and combined it with the comedy of old, then i'd be closer to my ideal film.

I suppose it is just a pipe dream and i feel silly for even saying it aloud. But it's true. The recent death of one of the last great movie stars, Elizabeth Taylor, has sort of spurred this post. I decided not to do a whole post on her specifically because in truth i haven't seen many of her movies. But i do know that she was THE movie star. Her sheer presence in a film made it watchable, even The Flintstones. I suppose that anyone who watches an Elizabeth Taylor movie will see just that: Elizabeth Taylor. She could act (she was great in Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf), but i'm not sure that was why she was so successful. Personally i think it was her looks (i wish i had those eyes) and her attitude. That's my opinion. Here another of my opinions: i thought she'd live forever. Her movie's will though.

Back to what i was saying. The comedy of the classic era (at least the good ones) were witty, screwball and lighthearted. I loved them, i want the modern sex comedy to be mixed with the screwball and slapstick of the classics. It would be epic.

Then there are the stars. I'd want....
Johnny Depp
Cary Grant
Katharine Hepburn
Anne Hathaway
Jack Lemmon
Tina Fey
Natalie Wood
James Dean (i am just curious how he would have been in a comedy)
Robin Williams (circa Mork and Mindy)
Mae West
The Marx Brothers
Tony Curtis
Barbra Streisand (circa What's Up Doc?)
Liz Taylor (circa Father of the bride)
Spencer Tracy (circa Woman of the year)
Madeline Kahn
Gene Wilder
directed by Frank Capra
written by: Mel Brooks, Woody Allen and Billy Wilder

That is who would be in my perfect comedy. With a cast like that it would have to be a road movie or something, but still... it would be so cool. Even if it is unattainable.

This was a pretty pointless post....

"Is that a gun in your pocket or you just glad to see me?" Marlo Manners, (Mae West) Sextette (1978)

Gone With The Wind (1939)

i have just completed the classic: Gone With the Wind starring Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Leslie Howard (whom i keep calling Ashley by mistake) and Olivia De Havilland. There isn't much to say about this marvelous film (but i'll try hard) except that it is worthy of every praise and reference it has ever had.

It rarely feels like a film from the 30s, almost every movie from that era i have ever seen has felt like a 30s movie but this one didn't, it felt just as fresh and as new as ever. The camera angles couldn't ever be improved upon, not even by todays greatest directors and i think Victor Fleming was a genius. The only time when i felt like it was from 1939 were the closeups of faces, the falling (very rehearsed) and the annunciation of the actors. But somehow this added even more to it's charm, it's a 30s film with barely any hint of it's time and when it does hint to when it was made, it hardly makes a difference. Ah movie's that don't feel dated now THAT's something gone with the wind.

The costumes and sets were sublime, the clothes Vivien Leigh wore were a sight to behold, especially when the costumes were green, red or blue. Green and blue seemed to match her eyes (sometimes they looked green and sometimes they looked blue) and red suited the name of her character: Scarlett O'Hara (but who didn't know that?). The costumes worn by Melanie (Olivia De Havilland) complimented the humbleness of her character perfectly and although she didn't look half as glamorous as Scarlett there was far more... i can't think of the words for it, well anyone who has seen the movie will know what i mean.
The clothes worn by Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) and Leslie Howard (Ashley Wilkes) were nicely understated and dignified, they added ruggedness to Rhett and respectibilty to Ashley.

The sets were beautiful and rich with vibrant and emotive colour, sometimes they looked painted (a 30s staple) but most of the time they looked realistic. Especially that beautiful plantation by the name of Tara.
A little bit of trivia: my Dad named my sister Tara after that house, what do i get named after? a race horse!

The music was beautiful. Tara's theme perfectly captures the essence of the film, it is about love, survival, hate, friendship, or in other words: life. A life that hasn't changed so much from the time it was set: before, during and after the civil war. Yes there are no slaves and yes no-one says 'fiddle dee dee' but the love/hate relationships and cruelty of living is still here and every time the music plays it is a constant reminder of this fact. The music adds emotion when it's either playing softly in the background or erupting into it's encompassing beauty. The movie would not have been as good without it's music.

Now for the actors: 
Clark Gable was a great one. To be honest i'd never really thought twice about him, i thought he was one of those actors who played himself in every damn movie. But it wasn't so. He adds emotion and humour to his handsome tough guy character, in those old movies it was rare to see such a realistic father-daughter relationship, much less one that is torn apart. He should have won that Oscar, he lost out to Robert Donat in Goodbye Mr chips, which while good, wasn't as good as this.

Vivien Leigh deserved her Oscar. The life in the character of Scarlett O'Hara is greater than any i have ever seen on film. Her wit, beauty, charm, stubbornness, selfishness and devotion to Tara adds up to a tour de force performance. Not to mention those scenes with Olivia De Havilland (Melanie), even when Scarlett is hopelessly in love with Ashley (whom Melanie is married to) Scarlett does all she can for her. Scarlett is the kind of character many people wish they could be like (perhaps so they can attract a guy like Rhett) and in some scenes you love her, in others you hate her and in some you just don't know.

Olivia De Havilland should have won that Oscar (not saying the Hattie Mcdaniel didn't deserve to win but when you compare the performances it's pretty obvious). The heart and soul she gives the selfless and humble Melanie is joyful to watch and it is sad to see her go through so much in the film when she is so undeserving of it. Melanie is practically a polar opposite to Scarlett which is why they work so well together on screen. Melanie is the friend we all wish we had.

Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes is a strange thing. at the start of the movie i'm not sure i could understand how Scarlett hated Rhett and was in love with this guy. This skinny guy who really wasn't that good looking, seemed sort of soft spoken and far too different from her. But as the movie progressed i found it easier to believe. The character, while not physically strong looking nor handsome was a man of honor and respect, i think a lot of women want a man who is honorable in the end. It seems that almost any ordinary woman would fall for the Rhett kind, but marry the Ashley kind (not Scarlett though, because she wasn't ordinary nor were the circumstances).

The supporting players like Hattie McDaniel were pretty good. I can't tell you how dedicated McDaniel's character Mammy is to the O'Hara's and how good her all too brief scenes with Rhett are. The little girl who plays Bonnie (Rhett and Scarlett's daughter) was well cast, she had the right kind of face to be a young Scarlett and her scenes with Leigh and Gable (especially Gable) show the family dynamic very, very well.

I've seen biographical movies about real people, but somehow i never saw them as real people, they were characters to me, but this was completely different, the actors made me see (perhaps even wish) as though these fictional characters were real. I think if there were more Melanie's and Ashley's in the world the world would be much nicer.
When we reach the end of this 4 hour film (personally i would have been just as happy if it had been longer) we see Rhett walking away in the mist and we see Scarlett, she should be a defeated woman. But she is there with the camera aimed squarely at her face, she has hope that she will get Rhett back. And we hope with her.

I've seen a lot of movies in my lifetime, not all of them good and i enter some with extremely high hopes, i entered this one with them too and in a very rare moment (maybe even for the first time) i was completely satisfied with a film.

"I can shoot straight if i don't have to shoot too far" Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh), Gone With The Wind.