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Movie Report: MISHIMA, HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER, and POINT BLANK
Had a little lonely movie-marathon last night, finally catching up on my Netflix queue. I started with the ones I wanted to see the least, to get them out of the way:
1.)
... whoa.
When the little Netflix sleeve called this film "literate and challenging," they weren't kidding. Even having read a couple reviews, it took me until three quarters into the film before I could wrap my brain around what was happening, by which time I was enthralled.
I already knew the basics of Mishima's life from Paradox Press' THE BIG BOOK OF LOSERS, which treated him as far more of a pathetic figure of mockery. This movie does not glorify Mishima's actions and mentality as much as show what happens when an artist tries to force reality to the vivid mental life of his art.
This is shown in a way that could easily have been a jarring gimmick, or a clusterfuck mishmash, but is pulled off brilliantly. The film cuts between the last day of his life (in muted colors), flashbacks, (in black and white), and adaptations of his stories (in VIVID colors and hyper-stagey sets). But then there's the narration, which can be set on your DVD to either Japanese (performed by actor Ken Ogata) or English (performed by Roy fucking Scheider!). Doing the latter could be even more jarring and distracting, but instead adds a whole new layer to the film.
And to think, it's all by Paul Schrader, the guy still riding TAXI DRIVER after all these years amid a seriously mixed cinematic oeuvre, who understandably considers this his best film. Indeed, it's a fucking masterpiece, a brilliant, frustrating, and dazzling puzzle box of a film, one of the truly greatest "art" (about and being) films I dare say I've ever seen. Methinks now I need to read some of Mishima's books. Hopefully good translations are out there.
2.)
I'm just starting to get into post-Leone pre-UNFORGIVEN Clint Eastwood westerns. I recently saw THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES and was underwhelmed, mainly due to the "eeeeeevil Union soldiers persecuting poor li'l Southerners" themes, although Chief Dan George was awesome. My brother loves HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER, so I thought I'd finally check it out.
I think I loved it, and yet for now I'm still a little too hung up on the rapes. Eastwood was a particularly rapey hero. And what's more, we have not one but two cases of the women quickly enjoying the rapes. "You brute you brute you brute you ooooh mmm scruffy." And yet it's a pretty awesome movie regardless. Gonna need time to work out my thoughts.
3.)
What in the name of Dormammu's flaming testicles happened? What was a pretty goddamn awesome crime movie ended like... huh? What?! What the hell happened at the end? After a hardcore and awesome neo-noir build-up (you can definitely see how it influenced THE LIMEY, my favorite Soderberg film), it ends and... fuck, it's like BLOW-UP all over again! Ugh, French New Wave cinema, I blame you!
Ah well. At least now I can finally watch PAYBACK. I hear the director's cut is pretty great.
1.)
... whoa.
When the little Netflix sleeve called this film "literate and challenging," they weren't kidding. Even having read a couple reviews, it took me until three quarters into the film before I could wrap my brain around what was happening, by which time I was enthralled.
I already knew the basics of Mishima's life from Paradox Press' THE BIG BOOK OF LOSERS, which treated him as far more of a pathetic figure of mockery. This movie does not glorify Mishima's actions and mentality as much as show what happens when an artist tries to force reality to the vivid mental life of his art.
This is shown in a way that could easily have been a jarring gimmick, or a clusterfuck mishmash, but is pulled off brilliantly. The film cuts between the last day of his life (in muted colors), flashbacks, (in black and white), and adaptations of his stories (in VIVID colors and hyper-stagey sets). But then there's the narration, which can be set on your DVD to either Japanese (performed by actor Ken Ogata) or English (performed by Roy fucking Scheider!). Doing the latter could be even more jarring and distracting, but instead adds a whole new layer to the film.
And to think, it's all by Paul Schrader, the guy still riding TAXI DRIVER after all these years amid a seriously mixed cinematic oeuvre, who understandably considers this his best film. Indeed, it's a fucking masterpiece, a brilliant, frustrating, and dazzling puzzle box of a film, one of the truly greatest "art" (about and being) films I dare say I've ever seen. Methinks now I need to read some of Mishima's books. Hopefully good translations are out there.
2.)
I'm just starting to get into post-Leone pre-UNFORGIVEN Clint Eastwood westerns. I recently saw THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES and was underwhelmed, mainly due to the "eeeeeevil Union soldiers persecuting poor li'l Southerners" themes, although Chief Dan George was awesome. My brother loves HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER, so I thought I'd finally check it out.
I think I loved it, and yet for now I'm still a little too hung up on the rapes. Eastwood was a particularly rapey hero. And what's more, we have not one but two cases of the women quickly enjoying the rapes. "You brute you brute you brute you ooooh mmm scruffy." And yet it's a pretty awesome movie regardless. Gonna need time to work out my thoughts.
3.)
What in the name of Dormammu's flaming testicles happened? What was a pretty goddamn awesome crime movie ended like... huh? What?! What the hell happened at the end? After a hardcore and awesome neo-noir build-up (you can definitely see how it influenced THE LIMEY, my favorite Soderberg film), it ends and... fuck, it's like BLOW-UP all over again! Ugh, French New Wave cinema, I blame you!
Ah well. At least now I can finally watch PAYBACK. I hear the director's cut is pretty great.