Neo-Noir Quest 2
-
morrison-dylan-fan — 9 years ago(December 21, 2016 06:58 PM)
Hi Spike,with you being back,I'll give this superb thread a boost.
7
"Murder is killing without a license-and everybody kills."- This review may contain spoilers ***
Despite a family friend being a big fan of their work,I've never had the chance to catch a glimpse of Michael Winner/Charles Bronson's collaborations.Checking updates on Netflix UK,I found out that one of their team-ups was going to be taken off the site in a few days,which led to me fixing things up with the mechanic.
The plot:
Cutting out any connection to a social or personal life, Arthur Bishop trains himself to be a mechanic/hit-man for a group which demands the very best from their assassins. Successfully following an order to kill a member of the group,Bishop attends the funeral of his victim. During the funeral,Bishop crosses paths with the victims son Steve McKenna. Finding McKenna to have a detachment to life that matches his,Bishop begins to think that McKenna has the tools to be a fellow mechanic.
View on the film:
For someone who always sounded like the life of the party in interviews,director Michael Winner displays an unexpected ear for silence,with Winner breaking Bishop's merciless Film Noir loner veins with extended sequences featuring no dialogue,which strike at the cold, soulless emotion Bishop feels towards his job. Whilst screenwriter Lewis John Carlino complained over the hard-nosed script being softened,Winner keeps the Noir chill at the frozen heart of Bishop, shining in stylish scatter-gun tracking shots keeping track of the mechanical nature of Bishop's kills.
Bringing an outsider in to join Bishop and sending them both to Italy,Winner pushes the Noir shoulder aside for a dash in Italian Crime,that despite bringing some frantic chase moments in,does leave to a pause in looking at the empty reflection of Bishop. Opening Bishop's bag of tools for the final,Winner whips the title back to the dour Noir soul of Bishop,in a richly cynical ending that delivers a burning parting shot from Bishop. Stuck with a smug Jan- Michael Vincent as Steve McKenna, Bronson cuts a note of pure Noir class as Bishop. Slithering in the shadows of his victims, Bronson brilliantly expresses in silence the coldness Bishop feels towards each murder,as Bishop sets his target on another mechanical kill.
- This review may contain spoilers ***
-
mgtbltp — 9 years ago(December 22, 2016 07:34 PM)
Via, The Road, La Strada, the ancient conduit of Civilization. Updated to circa 1974. The place, Arena Diner Truck Stop, meadowlands beep halfway between Newark and Jersey beep New Jersey.
Road Movie, a Neo Noir no one has heard of, was directed by Joseph Strick (one of the directors of The Savage Eye (1959), and director of The Big Break (1953),Tropic of Cancer (1970)). Strick was a Braddock Pennsylvania native, who has had a successful career primarily as a documentary filmmaker. The Savage Eye which won 1960 BAFTA Flaherty Documentary Award is often considered to be part of the cinema vérité movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
The film was credited as being written by Judith Rascoe (Who'll Stop the Rain (1978)), and by Joseph Strick (story). Cinematography by was by Don Lenzer (Woodstock (1970), Street Scenes (1970)). The excellent melange of blues and country music was by Stanley Myers (The Deer Hunter (1978).
The film stars Regina Baff (Escape from Alcatraz (1979)), Robert Drivas (Cool Hand Luke (1967), Route 66 (TV Series)), Barry Bostwick (The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)), David Bauer (Dark of the Sun (1968), Diamonds Are Forever (1971)), David Challis, Rodney Cleghorn, Beatrice Colen, Rik Colitti, Eileen Dietz, Laura Esterman and the great American road.
Janice (Baff) is a whore. Started young.A born slut. Teeny Bopper with hot pants. Arcade photo booth. Janice nude under her coat. Taking nudie shots of her pink canoe. Prints sell to perves. Caught! Taken to the office. Owner threats to call the cops. Janice tells him "I got one good reason why we shouldn't go to the cops" and she opened her coat giving the owner an eye full and Janice does it with the creep, does it all right in the office. A new career launched.
Road Movie has an opening credit sequence that beautifully captures vignettes along the transient mileposts in the lives of modern teamsters. The film begins with a tearied eye Janice. She's arguing in a car with a john or her pimp. He kicks her out at the Arena Diner Truckstop. He tells her she'll have to work trucks. A highway hooker.
She goes into the diner. She heads for the ladies room. She straightens her wig. She freshens up. She then heads back out into the lot. She's a bitch. She's a survivor. She'll sell her ass to truckers.
Rolling out of the lot in their Peterbilt with a reefer load of beef, are veteran driver Gill (Robert Drivas) jaded, divorced, woman beater, and Hank (Barry Bostwick) greenhorn trying to follow in his trucker father's wheel tracks, two independent truckers. Gill spots Janice and tells her they are headed to Chicago. Janice says a hundred, Gill counters fifty.
Janice hops in the sleeper, a ride for a ride, a cooze for the cruise. During the trip West, Hank gets friendly. Gill gets rough, and Janice gets revenge.
Revenge for Janice is monkeying around with the reefer unit on the truck, losing the refrigeration means they got to dump their load for a loss at the nearest meat locker in Pittsburgh. Janice tells them she can get them a load through her mob connections. Of course the road ahead spiral curves into downtown Noirsville.
Road Movie is a great primer on independent truckers, on all the crapola they steer around and all the hoops they drive through. It's also a depressing 1974 ride through the decaying industrial neighborhoods and the sign polluted retail strips of American cities. We get drive bys of the strip mines of coal country, the refineries, junk strewn lots, auto salvage graveyards, chain link fences netting windrows of trash and desperate roadside attractions. The film evokes both the Classic Noirs Detour (1945) and The Hitch-Hiker (1953).
Regina Baff's Femme Fatale Janice is a spunky piece of work. She is audacious, bitter, destitute, hair triggered and self sufficient. Baff really displays her acting chops as she's degraded, beat up, pushed around, bares her straight razor claw during a mugging, offers her body to highway weigh station officers, and shows her dogged ferocity when Gill finally casts her off. Baff's Janice is the soul mate to Ann Savage's Vera.
Robert Drivas' rough edged Gill has the "life's a bitch and then you die" mantra of a life on autopilot, he wants to own nothing to nobody. Barry Bostwick's gentle Hank is the romantic, a dreamer, the down homeboy trying to follow a dream. Both are convincing.
Road Movie is a nice Noir slice of the 70's, the cinematography, music, the sound design, even the diegetic sound of holy roller radio preachers shucking bleeding heart of Jesus statues that actually squirt blood, while the ephemera of cast off americana kitsch constantly rolls past our view is both depressingly bleak and amusingly entertaining. Screenshots are from the Image Entertainment DVD. 7/10.
Full review with screencaps here:
http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/12/road-movie-1974-road-noir.html -
morrison-dylan-fan — 9 years ago(December 24, 2016 12:10 PM)
Hi Spike,whilst this ain't a "traditional" Noir,I think that a strong case can be made for this being a superb slice of Sci-Fi Neo-Noir.
10
** This review may contain spoilers ***
Hearing fear-mongering stories about "Reds under the bed" (or in this case,web) on the news web recently, reminded me of the paranoia allegorically dissected in the Body Snatcher films. Whilst finding Kevin Williamson's riff on the story with The Faculty to be a hip teen Horror and Abel Ferrara's very good 1993 take linked to the then-popular "the truth is out there" paranoia,I've never seen any of the two "major" versions. Looking at Netflix UK,I found that the 1978 version was about to leave the site!,which led to me joining the body snatchers.
The plot:
Talking to her co-worker Matthew Bennell, Elizabeth Driscoll mentions that after taking some flowers home that boyfriend Geoffrey Howell has been acting rather strange. Going to Bennell's friend David Kibner for advice,Bennell and Driscoll are stopped on the road by a mad man screaming about an invasion. Initially laughing it off,the mood soon changes when the man gets run over. Rushing over,Bennell and Driscoll are horrified to find all the pedestrians showing no emotion to the death,and almost appearing to act like aliens.
View on the film:
Keeping the paranormal activity grounded, director Philip Kaufman & cinematographer Michael Chapman give the invasion an "on the spot" news report rawness spanning jagged tracking shots hiding in the crowd of body snatchers. Unleashing the aliens in all their gooey, practical effects Body Horror delight, Kaufman webs the fantastic screeching nightmare soundtrack with a blistering Film Noir atmosphere,lit in suffocating shadows being the lone areas of hope that Bennell and Bellicec can hide from the decaying light of a society drowning the screams of " dissidents."
Following the original film in going for an ending different from Jack Finney's novel,the screenplay by W.D. Richter brilliantly turns the "Red" fear into unrelenting Sci-Fi Noir anxiety. Cleverly making the "aliens" be people Bennell and Bellicec knows,Richter goes off the Richter Scale in drilling fear of society becoming "one voice" and corrupting Noir loners and voices of opposition into transforming into a system that they have fought against.
Facing a Sci-Fi monster a year before the acid mouth of Alien would set its lips on her, Veronica Cartwright gives a great performance as Nancy Bellicec,whose intelligent idea to blend in allows Cartwright to keep Nancy's fears under wraps until they are torn out in a devastating scream. Joined by Jeff Goldblum getting his first taste of Body-Horror and Leonard Nimoy his warm Star Trek image as the creepy,Noir-style "boss" Dr. David Kibner,the beautiful Brooke Adams (who also appears naked) gives an extraordinary performance as Elizabeth. Tangled with Bennell in fighting against the enemy within,Adams delicately expresses Elizabeth desperation to not become entranced by the invaders. Fighting against a system/alien rooted in his own decayed society, Donald Sutherland gives a thrilling performance as Bennell,thanks to Sutherland capturing the anxiety of Bennell being a burnt-out Noir loner who sees all his friends being invaded. -
morrison-dylan-fan — 9 years ago(December 27, 2016 02:24 PM)
Hi Spike,after seeing them co-star (but not share scenes) in the Bourne movies,I looked forward to seeing Paddy Considine and Julia Stiles team up.
9
"Like Jimmy Stewart's banister."
** This review may contain spoilers ***
Looking back at my viewings this year,one of the highlights was finally catching the Bourne franchise. Checking BBC iPlayer over Christmas,I was thrilled to discover a Patricia Highsmith Neo-Noir adaptation starring Bourne co-stars Paddy Considine and Julia Stiles,which led to me getting ready to hear the owl cry.
The plot:
Stuck in a bitter divorce, Robert Forrester begins spying on Jenny Thierolf,due to the image Forrester sees of Thierolf being of blissful happiness. Succeeding in not being spotted when her boyfriend Greg Wyncoop is in, Forrester's tracks get spotted by Thierolf.Telling her about his recovery from mental illness (always a good ice breaker!) Forrester gets set for the cops to be called. Understanding his issues, Thierolf invites him in,and starts a relationship with Forrester. Furious over his lover leaving him, Wyncoop starts making plans for Forrester to hear the "crying owl of death" as Thierolf lets slip how she met Forrester.
View on the film:
Looking ill at ease in every encounter, Paddy Considine gives an excellent,skin-crawling performance as Neo-Noir loner Forrester. Carry a well handled fake US accent, Considine expertly makes Forrester completely uncomfortable in his own skin,which is squeezed into every dark corner by Considine,whose ill-fitting clothes barely hide the shrunk view Forrester has of himself. Replacing Sarah Polley at the last moment, Julia Stiles gets an impressive grip on rural Femme Fatale Thierolf. Giving Thierolf an outer, emphatic appearance,Stiles digs into one of Patricia Highsmith major theme of a "good" character having a narrow vision and being blind to the Noir decay seeping in.
Flying from music Videos to a Noir adaptation,writer/director Jamie Thraves dissects an icy Neo-Noir that cuts deep into Highsmith's major themes,with Thraves making every Noir loner be "detached" and unable to connect with the shattered conditions of each other. Uncoiling a possible murder, Thraves sharply tugs at Forrester's fragile mental state and pushing down to hit Forrester with a freezing shark of Noir serendipity.
Walking on the pure snow with Forrester,director Jamie Thraves & cinematographer Luc Montpellier melt it with a blistering evil under the sun Noir atmosphere,cracking the pristine image of Thierolf by stepping into the dark side street Forrester is trapped in. Bringing acid snow down with a blunt use of violence, Thraves releases pure Noir magic of switching the point of view to the audience,who are given the chance to stalk and look into Forrester finally having a "blissful" view,as Forrester hears the cry of the owl. -
morrison-dylan-fan — 9 years ago(December 29, 2016 04:36 PM)
Hi Spike,after reading the interesting review from IMDber GUENOT PHILIPE a while ago,I've finally seen this shocking Neo-Noir.
10
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Reading reviews by a fellow IMDber in the run-up to Christmas,I found a review for a "ripped from the headlines" French Neo-Noir. Not having many X-Mas viewings planned,I was pleased to find the title in the handful of French flicks on Netflix UK,which led to me listening in on the informant.
The plot-
Gibraltar 1987:
Fleecing his boss, Marc Duval leaves with his family and bags of cash for Gibraltar.Wanting to have a dream family life,Marc buys a boat and opens a café (both of which end up costing far more than the cash he stole.) Due to disagreements between the UK and Spain over who owns "the rock" Marc notices shady characters visiting his café,who appear to think that there is no risk of the underworld drug deals being broken. Tracking Marc down,French customs officer Redjani Belimane offers to help Marc pay his bills,in exchange for spying on his customers. Accepting the offer,Marc soon finds his life on the rocks.
View on the film:
Sailing to Gibraltar with the Duval's,director Julien Leclercq & cinematographer Thierry Pouget present a golden paradise of warm,sand colours layered on the café,and vast helicopter shots placing Gibraltar at the entrance of the underworld boarders. Taking the offer with the hope it will brighten his family life, Leclercq shakes Marc into a brittle Neo-Noir choke-hold,that drains the colours from Marc's life into dry dirt and low-hanging shadows closing down Marc's hopes in the café. Pushing Marc deeper into the Noir tar pit, Leclercq holds back from presenting the violence lavishly,to instead deliver it in short shocks which shakes Marc's Noir loner awareness over what he is now trapped in.
Ripped from the headlines,the screenplay by Abdel Raouf Dafri makes his adaptation of Marc's own book a terrifying Noir tale,which is still unfolding (one of the gangsters who was up and running in '87 was finally arrested in Spainin 2010!) Peeling open the "issues" Marc had with cash, Dafri puts the pieces of his Noir life down piece by piece, clattering with the fantastic dry atmosphere of underhanded deals being typed up by Marc and Belimane,being thrashed by the sobering anxiety of Marc having to prove to the underworld that he is one of them. Joined by a brilliantly shifty Tahar Rahim as Belimane, Gilles Lellouche gives an extraordinary gritty performance as Marc. Open and relaxed round the café, Lellouche knocks the wall down to a Noir dread which closes Marc off into a loner,with Lellouche pressing the law and the unlawful on his shoulders,as the informant becomes misinformed. -
mgtbltp — 9 years ago(January 05, 2017 05:45 AM)
"What did it matter where you lay once you were dead? In a stagnant lake or in a marble tower on the top of a high hill? You were dead, you were sleeping the big sleep, you were not bothered by things like that."
1978's The Big Sleep is best watched cold turkey. If you have never read Raymond Chandler's novel, and didn't know that the original tale took place in 1939, in Southern California, nor ever seen Hollywood's Bogart/Bacall 1945 Film Noir interpretation, you may find this version quite enjoyable.
Comparatively, Chandler's The Big Sleep (1945) with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall was retooled to take advantage of the chemistry that arced across the screen between Bogart and Bacall, the studio added a love story angle and the accompanying dialog.
The Big Sleep (1978) with Robert Mitchum in the Philip Marlowe role, doesn't have that Bacall/Bogart love story, it follows the novel more closely with it's original dialog, and isn't hampered by the Hayes Code. It's biggest complication is the whole story is shifted to The United Kingdom and updated to the present 1978. Instead of ramshackle, decrepit and shabby it wallows in old world opulence. Marlowe drives a '71 BMW instead of a 1930's Marmon.
All this modifying and Anglify-ing is interesting considering that Chandler was sort of modified and Anglicized himself, born in 1888 in Chicago, Illinois, he spent a few years in Nebraska living along the Missouri River with relatives and then moved with his mother at the age of 12 in 1900 after his father abandoned them to a borough of London in the UK. He flipped back again ending up in the States, moving first to San Francisco, then Los Angeles.
So I'll repeat, if you don't know that the original story was supposed to be all taking place in 1939 and was supposed to be in Los Angeles you'll actually find it a pretty good film, the story updates pretty much flawlessly. Marlowe in this version, is an ex US soldier who stayed on in the UK after WWII to open a Commercial and Civil Investigations Agency and all the supporting cast is actually top notch. I can guess that being an English Production, with mostly English actors and with a modest budget in mind it was far easier to update the story to the present and change the local. But what makes all this an even bigger shame was Mitchum played a top notch Marlowe three years earlier in Farewell My Lovely (1975) a remake of 1944's Murder My Sweet. the '75 film kept the story to the year 1941, and it was also not hampered by either the Hayes code nor by the unofficial PC "code" that seems prevalent today . If they would have just followed the previous film there could have possibly been a whole series of Marlowe films that would have been true to Chandler's novels in the correct time period, i.e., The High Window 1942, The Lady in the Lake 1943, The Little Sister 1949, and The Long Good-bye (1953).
The film was directed by Michael Winner (Lawman (1971), Chato's Land (1972), Death Wish (1974)) the screenplay was by Michael Winner based on Raymond Chandler's novel. Cinematography by Robert Paynter (The Mechanic (1972)) and the music was by Jerry Fielding (The Wild Bunch (1969)).
The film stars Robert Mitchum (eight Classic Noir, Farewell My Lovely (1975)) as a 61 year old Philip Marlowe Sarah Miles (Blow-Up (1966), Ryan's Daughter (1970), The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973)), as Charlotte Sternwood Regan, Richard Boone (Man on a Tightrope (1953), Vicki (1953), I Bury the Living (1958)), as Lash Canino, Candy Clark (American Graffiti (1973), The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), Zodiac (2007)Twin Peaks, TV Series (2017 )), as Camilla Sternwood, Joan Collins (Judgment Deferred (1952), The Slasher (1953), The Good Die Young (1954)), as Agnes Lozelle, Edward Fox (The Day of the Jackal (1973), Never Say Never Again) as Joe Brody, John Mills (The Gentle Gunman (1952), The Long Memory (1953), King Rat (1965)), as Inspector Jim Carson, James Stewart (Call Northside 777 (1948), Rope (1948), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), Anatomy of a Murder (1959)), as General Sternwood, Oliver Reed (Wild for Kicks (1960), The Hunting Party (1971), Gladiator (2000)) as Eddie Mars, Harry Andrews as Norris, Colin Blakely (This Sporting Life (1963)), as Harry Jones Richard Todd (Chase a Crooked Shadow (1958) Never Let Go (1960) Why Bother to Knock (1961)), as Commander Barker, Diana Quick as Mona Grant, James Donald (King Rat (1965)), as Inspector Gregory, Martin Potter as Owen Taylor, and John Justin as Arthur Geiger.
The film stylistically lets you know right from the get-go credit sequence you're not in sunny SoCal. It's diffuse light, sunless and somber, a gloomy cloudy day. And it's all a bit off (at least to this Yank). A POV from the cockpit of a 1971 BMW 2500. We are cruising down the blacktop and taking an exit from what looks like an "M" designated high speed motorway, the highway markings are strange, you are driving on the right and exiting on the left, and you continue downshifti -
XhcnoirX — 9 years ago(January 05, 2017 07:32 AM)
Watched this one a while ago, I found it a pretty awkward viewing experience at times. It almost feels like they filmed it as a 40s movie set in the 70s, disregarding any difference in era, lingo and location, rather than updating it to the era (something which 'The Long Goodbye' did much better in my opinion, even if it's also not a favorite of mine). Maybe I also need a few more viewings to appreciate it more? For now, I rated it 6/10.
Anything with Mitchum in it is worth watching at least once tho. But watching James Stewart in this movie was depressing and sad, he was having health issues at the time and it really showed. -
Jessica_Rabbit69 — 9 years ago(January 05, 2017 06:25 PM)
Great review and nice screen shots. I have always avoided this movie for just the reasons you mention. The change of locale and time is simply strange to me. But maybe I should give it a try.
Jessica Rabbit
"I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way." -
XhcnoirX — 9 years ago(January 05, 2017 07:13 AM)
The Town
(2010): Ben Affleck lives in Charlestown, a suburb of Boston that is supposedly a hotbed for robbers and such. He's one of them, part of a 4-man crew working for 'the Florist', Pete Postlewaite. During a bank robbery they take bank manager Rebecca Hall hostage as collateral, and release her once they're safe. They find out she lives in their neck of the woods however and Affleck decides to check up on her, to see what she knows. They grow close however, and Affleck starts to envision a new life, free of crime. But FBI agent Jon Hamm is on their tail, and boss Postlewaite has more robberies lined up for them, including a big one, robbing Fenway Park stadium during broad daylight. There's even more trouble in paradise when Hamm informs Hall of Affleck's real identity and connection to the robbery, and he also has to deal with fellow crew member, and close friend, Jeremy Renner who's a loose cannon not afraid to kill, something Affleck is not so willing to resort to.
Story-wise, this heist movie is not all that surprising, and mimics earlier classic ones. The story is similar to that of 'Heat', but for instance Mann's 'Thief' also comes to mind (particularly with Postlewaite's character and Robert Prosky's in 'Thief'). Hommage or rip off? The movie's based on a novel by Chuck Hogan tho, which I haven't read, so who knows Either way, actor/director Ben Affleck (his second movie as director after 'Gone Baby Gone'), who also co-wrote the screenplay, manages to deliver a solid, if derivative, movie. It's not a fast or action-packed movie (despite 3 robberies and a chase sequence), but the slower pace helps with the different story lines, altho it still felt some characters were underdeveloped/had scenes cut from the original cut. Affleck's original unreleased cut was 4 hours long tho, but he cut it down to just over 2 hours (with an extended cut approaching 3 hours also available). The cinematoraphy by Robert Elswitt ('There Will Be Blood', 'Nightcrawler') is solid but the grittiness of the movie comes more from the crummy blue collar neighborhood environment and inhabitants than the way it's shot.
Acting-wise, Affleck doesn't disappoint either, and neither do the rest of the cast, with Postlewaite ('The Usual Suspects') giving an especially chilling performance, as well as Chris Cooper ('The Bourne Identity') who excels in a small role as Affleck's dad who's a lifer in prison. Renner ('The Hurt Locker') even got an Oscar nomination for his part, altho I am not sure why Solid? Yes Amazing? Nah Anyways, solid acting, and Affleck seems to have encouraged the cast to use thick Boston accents which I appreciated, even if Renner and Postlewaite were sometimes difficult to understand to my Dutch ears (subtitles help tho, hah).
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie (and I will definitely check out the extended cut), but a more pronounced noir-ish visual style could've really elevated this movie (aside from the rehashed story). Still, I can recommend 'The Town' if you enjoy a good heist movie (and haven't watched 'Heat' in recent times). 8/10 -
morrison-dylan-fan — 9 years ago(January 05, 2017 05:37 PM)
- This review may contain spoilers ***
After watching the superb "ripped from the headlines" Aussie Noir mini-series Deep Water recently,I read reviews by a fellow IMDber. Nearing the end of a page,I noticed a tantalising Aussie Noir title.Finding the name of the flick familiar,I found out that it was about to air on TV! Which led to me going down the mystery road.
The plot:
Returning to his old small town where his ex-wife and daughter live, aboriginal Detective Jay Swan is sent to investigate the body of an aboriginal teenage girl found at an "unofficial pit-stop." Learning that her name was Julie Mason,Swan finds out that Mason was an addict,who was a hooker that had sex with truckers at the stop. Searching for info from Mason's pals,Swan tracks down her phone,and finds messages from his daughter. Whilst trying to find out what his daughter is caught up in,Swan begins to notice that a number of his fellow officers appear very keen in stopping from going down a road that gets to the heart of the case,and the town.
View on the film:
Retaining the way he could give a calm situation an underlying sense of menace in the first Matrix flick, Hugo Weaving gives a chilling performance as cop Johnno,whose "friendly" small-talk and shoulder taps to Swan crackle with a sinister unease,whilst Ryan Kwanten (minus his fake Deep South accent from True Blood) gives a creepy performance as Pete Bailey,with Kwanten using space to open the uncomfortable mood between Bailey and Swan. Gliding in wearing cowboy boots and hat, Aaron Pedersen gives a marvellous performance as lone Noir "cowboy" Jay Swan,as Pedersen gives Swan a Noir gravitas over the horrific treatment of fellow aboriginals,with a rebellious kick to clear the town of all the outlaws standing on the road.
Stroking the brittle Noir tension with coiled crane shots scanning the decayed wilderness for figures wanting Swan to not uncover the full mystery,writer/director/editor/cinematographer/composer Ivan Sen breaths unrelenting dread into the landscape,with lingering looks at Swan's face displaying the shot of anxiety cast across his face,as Swan finds himself a Noir loner in a town that wants to keep its mystery.
Hitting Swan with bullets of racism,the screenplay by Sen exposes the mistreatment of aboriginals in its rawest form,where people who live in run-down housing projects are treated like dirt,and Swan's aboriginal roots are mercilessly leaned on for threats. Pulling Mason's body from the roadside,Swan drives down a cracking Noir mystery Thriller. Limiting the violence to short rounds of bloodshed,Sen brilliantly uses the scorching hot setting to give the dialogue a heaviness that is pulled by the murky underbelly that Swan finds under the mystery road.
- This review may contain spoilers ***
-
XhcnoirX — 9 years ago(January 09, 2017 02:57 AM)
Body Double
(1984): Struggling actor Craig Wasson just lost his job due to his claustrophobia and is out on the streets after catching his gf, who owns their apartment, in bed with another man. He catches a lucky break when fellow actor Gregg Henry, who's taking care of a fancy apartment for a friend, has to leave town for several weeks and asks Wasson to look after the apartment for him. He shows Wasson a telescope pointing at a neighboring house where each night Deborah Shelton does a sexy dance. Wasson becomes infatuated, and when he spots a menacing looking guy also watching Shelton, he senses danger, even more so when he sees the guy follow Shelton the next day. He follows them as well, but cannot prevent the guy robbing Shelton of her purse, stealing the key card to her apartment. That night he sees the guy in her apartment, but he's too late to prevent Shelton from getting killed. Distraught he spends the night watching late night TV, where he sees a trailer for porn actress Melanie Griffith's latest movie. Doing the exact same dance he's been watching the past few nights! Convinced it's her he's been watching and not Shelton, he tries to get in touch with Griffith, to find out who hired her
I watched this movie on TV many years ago, before I really knew about De Palma, neo-noir, Hitchcock, etc And it felt incredibly forced and ridiculous. What I didn't like back then tho, I love now, having already gained an appreciation for De Palma and his (earlier) movies. The guy wears his influences on his sleeve and likes to throw everything but the kitchen sink into his movies, but he also knows how to direct (both a movie as well as the viewer). In a way this movie is a follow-up to his earlier 'Dressed To Kill', which also took more than a few elements from Hitchcock's 'Vertigo', and he combines it here with another Hitch classic, 'Rear Window'. He creates a voyeuristic thriller that seems intent on making the viewer uncomfortable, with a protagonist who's not just a loser, but an actual creep who even keeps one of Shelton's discarded panties in his pocket. Yet we're supposed to root for him, and be a peeping tom alongside him. Wasson's journey into the hardcore porn business only adds to the movie's weirdness and even gives it a kitsch flavor, with British popband Frankie Goes To Hollywood performing their classic track 'Relax' on set as Wasson and Griffith shoot a hardcore porn scene for her next movie. If you didn't understand the lyrics to that song before, you will now (the band also used this scene for an alternative version to the regular video clip). De Palma also has some fun with Hollywood and film making in general by not just 'accidentally' showing the crew in a door mirror in this scene (as well as having a Gloria Swanson/Norma Desmond lookalike at the start of the porn scene), but also in the scenes involving Wasson as an actor for a cheapo horror movie (with Dennis Franz ('Dressed To Kill', 'NYPD Blue') as the director/De Palma).
Wasson ('Malcolm X') is pretty convincing in his role, it's a shame this movie didn't lead to more opportunities for him. Henry ('Payback') is great as always in the type of role he's made for, the moment you see him you know he's up to no good. Griffith ('The Bonfire Of The Vanities') is also great as a pornstar who's not ashamed of her profession (she did have De Palma destroy the original footage of her nude scenes tho), while Shelton, who did mostly TV work besides this, doesn't have a lot to do besides be very pretty and sexy. Griffith & Shelton also add to the overall creepiness of Wasson's character. At first he becomes infatuated with Shelton, but as soon as she's dead and out of the picture, he sees Griffith on TV and his infatuation is directed towards her. He's a lot of things, but a knight in shining armor saving the damsel(s) in distress he's not.
I've seen the movie listed on various neo-noir lists, but for me its noir-ness lies in the protagonist and the story, and not so much in the visuals. While the movie is very stylish, and De Palma and DoP Stephen Burum ('Carlito's Way') make effective use of long/wide shots vs cramped shots to create a visual discrepancy between the rich splendour of Shelton's world and the less glamorous world of Wasson's, it's not very noir-esque visually. It works tho, also because they use the camera to disorient the viewer, by showing things from Wasson's POV. The movie offers a sleazy ride that occasionally veers into kitsch territories and the end result is definitely not standard material, but it always entertains and fascinates. Recommended! 8+/10 -
morrison-dylan-fan — 9 years ago(January 09, 2017 01:54 PM)
Hi Spike,hope you enjoy Mystery Road (a sequel of which came out in 2016:
www.imdb.com/board/14911996/?ref_=tt_trv_cnn
) and for an Aussie Noir double bill,I would highly rec this 3 and a half hour mini-series/one-off film. After reading up on the real cases,writing this review for last 2/3 weeks,I've decided to just stick to first 10 mins of the plot.
10
Region 2 DVD:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deep-Water-DVD-Noah-Taylor/dp/B01N0CAUFX
The real case:
www.smh.com.au/nsw/police-to-review-88-possible-gayhate-deaths-20160519-goz7x6.html- This review may contain spoilers ***
Ordering the 2002 Aussie Comedy The Nugget for a family friend,I asked if there were any other Aussie titles that they were after.Whilst checking up other Aussie flicks,I got told about a 4- part Aussie Noir mini-series currently airing on the BBC. Finding a number of Aussie Noir (which include The Rover and Square) to be incredibly gritty,I decided to swim into the dark waters of Aussie Noir.
The outline of the mini-series:
Whilst the official ruling was suicide,police officer Tori Lustigman has always had doubts over the ruling of her brother's death in 1989,due to his death taking place when a serial killer was murdering gay men (a case,which due to a mix of disinterested and homophobia in the force remains unsolved.) Stuck in a messy divorce, Lustigman decides to return to her home city. Sent on the beat with Nick Manning,they get told of dead body found on the beach. Recognising marks on the victim, Lustigman starts to fear the killer has come back to shore.
View on the mini-series:
Closely based on what is still a partly unsolved case, (with there being 88 "gay-hate" victims whose deaths remain unsolved) director Shawn Seet & cinematographer Bruce Young sway between the pristine present and the Disco lights of the 80's. Cruising into the gay underground scene of the 80's,Seet rolls out a tense Aussie Noir atmosphere,where the dazzling lights from the discos are unable to reach the corners where the killer lurks. Turning the Disco lights off,Seet gives the present a stylish shine,as slow motion and jagged tracking shots pull the past up with Lustigman. Bringing the past back into focus, Seet and Young pour ultra-stylised blood-red water over the present to reflect the murky dealing hidden underneath.
Examining the attitude cops have towards gays,the script by Kris Wyld and Kym Goldsworthy cuts deep into the homophobia under the "clean" veneer of the police,via the dialogue having a confrontation edge perfectly fitting the cops wanting to be seen as Noir "tough guys." Whilst the mentions of her divorce feel well-worn,the writers give Lustigman and Manning a magnetic evil under the sun mood,where modern tech (such as a dating app) are cleverly used to coil the murders of the past into the fading sun of the present.
Attempting to turn from the Aussie Noir rules of the "old boys club" Noah Taylor gives a fantastic performance as Nick Manning,who Taylor threads with a focus of solving the case,whilst staying in the good books with "the boys." Causing a ripple across the deep water, Yael Stone gives an excellent performance as Lustigman,thanks to Stone striking a gritty emotional gravitas over uncovering the full events that led to the death of her brother,as Lustigman finds herself at the Aussie Noir deep end.
- This review may contain spoilers ***
-
mgtbltp — 9 years ago(January 12, 2017 11:37 AM)
The film is about a Surveillance P. I., Harry Caul (Hackman) an electronics nerd who incrementally becomes paranoid, alienated, and obsessed. Caul is "tops" in his field on the West Coast, a thorough and meticulous, snoop. His headquarters is in a chain link cage in the corner of an empty warehouse floor, at the edge of the rail freight yards of San Francisco. His workbench holds an array of audio equipment. He makes his office calls from various random payphones.
His standoffishness is manifest in the lack of details in his barren relationship with his girlfriend Amy (Garr). Harry has told her nothing of his past, he remains a stranger. When he calls on her, he sneaks to her flop door, putting his key quietly into the lock then flinging open the door as if to catch her doing something. He's a friendless, secretive, overly cautious schlub who wears a cheap plastic raincoat on sunny days, has installed four separate locks on his flat door, and gets anxious flashbacks to the young couple his work has put in jeopardy during a momentary power interruption on a streetcar. His only two release/retreats seem to be the confessional at his church and his saxophone, which he plays to the accompaniment of Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Lady spinning on his turntable.
During a big and intricately involved high tech eavesdropping surveillance job on a target couple Ann (Williams) and Mark (Forrest) in Union Square, San Francisco, Caul neglects the first rule of surveillance and begins to get personally involved. His past nagging guilt about previous assignments begins to gnaw on his conscience. As he works on the recordings and transcripts he begins to ponder if this job going to physically hurt or possibly kill the couple under surveillance as happened to others in another job in a similar situation.
Hackman gives a great performance as the wound a bit too tight, idiosyncratic loner. The cast comprising Caul's peers are equally eccentric and nerdy. The rest of the players are more peripheral with only Harrison Ford standing out as an ominous flunkie of the nameless "director." The soundtrack is excellent. 9/10
Screencaps with full review are from the 2010 DVD here:
http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-conversation-1974-surveillance-noir.html -
morrison-dylan-fan — 9 years ago(January 18, 2017 08:21 PM)
Hi Spike,after watching both parts a second time,I've done some notes on this very good Noir mini-series.
7- This review may contain spoilers ***
Seeing a number of fine adaptations on stage in 2015,I was disappointed in missing out on a new mini-series version of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.Planning to catch up on films during the Christmas/New Year holiday,I was intrigued to find that a new mini-series of a lesser-known Christie was being shown,which led to me taking a seat in the witness box.
The plot:
Returning from WWI after joining the army with his son (who died in battle) solicitor John Mayhew goes round the prisons offering to work on cases at a low fee. Sticking his hands out of the bars, Leonard Vole cries for help. Struggling to cover costs with his wife Romaine Heilger,Vole becomes a "paid lover" for heiress Emily French,who has been found murdered. Seeing his son in Vole,Mayhew takes on a case where he will be judged by a prosecution on what he left behind.
View on the mini-series:
Coughed up in the aftermath of WWI, director Julian Jarrold lines the first ep and the outdoor scenes of the second in a thick green tint,which whilst subtly expressing the green with envy hidden in some and offering a touch of BBC Victorian Costume Drama atmosphere, drowns out all that try to rise above it. Playing on how people are perceived, Jarrold's green smog blocks out much of the facial details of the cast and the scope of the setting. Bringing a focus as Mayhew lays out the case,Jarrold peels away the green for a stylish gold which shines on the wealth that blinds Mayhew from the decayed envy retained underneath.
Sending this adaptation to post-WWI,the screenplay by Sarah Phelps brilliantly dips into Film Noir pessimism,as Mayhew's battle to bring justice to this world can't stop him being wrapped with the shadows of failure from the past. Keeping Christie's original ruthless ending sharp,Phelps wonderfully lays out the entangled relationships between Mayhew,Vole & Heilger,which are deliciously twisted into a final that recalls the Giallo sub-genre corrupt bourgeoisie.
Joined by a glamorous Kim Cattrall taking the Sex and the City socialites to a brutal death as French,the elegant Andrea Riseborough gives a fantastic performance as Heilger,whose brittle dialogue Riseborough smartly uses to carry an ambiguity with the character. Unable to free himself from the horrors of WWI, Toby Jones gives an excellent performance as Noir loner Mayhew,via Jones giving any sign of hope in Mayhew's life a harsh,isolated bitterness,as Mayhew becomes a witness to the wrong prosecution.
- This review may contain spoilers ***
-
XhcnoirX — 9 years ago(January 19, 2017 02:27 AM)
Thank you for your excellent review, which I ticked. I didn't realize it had been made into a mini-series, I'll try to check it out!
Have you seen the 1957 movie with Tyrone Power and Marlene Dietrich? It's excellent (altho I have no idea how close it is to Agatha Christie's play).
