The Lost Weekend (1945)

Billy Wilder’s “The Lost Weekend” could very well serve as a public service film in some support groups akin to Alcoholics Anonymous! I mean rarely have I come across a film that that is solely dedicated to chronicling an alcoholic’s drinking binge over a trying weekend, as he recalls the period of time during which alcohol got the better of him.

We are introduced to Don (Ray Milland), a down on his luck writer in New York struggling with his alcoholism. Apparently he is attempting to recover from it and has weaned from the stuff for ten days, which is when he and his brother Wick (Phillip Terry) are planning to take a vacation over the weekend as a further attempt to take Don’s mind off alcohol. Don conveniently evades this outing plan by sending his brother with his girl Helen (Jane Wyman) to a concert and agreeing to take the later train. Ensuring that there is no bottle hidden away in one of Don’s many “secret places”, Wick reluctantly agrees.  

A penniless Don frantically seeks out alcohol when opportunity knocks in the form of the cleaning lady, who he successfully manages to con out of her wages, all for whiskey! And thus unfolds Don’s disturbing story of alcohol addiction, told partly in flashback as he pours his heart out to Nat (Howard Da Silva) of Nat’s Bar, Don’s favourite hangout and partly in the present as the weekend turns deadlier by the minute as Don’s alcohol craving gets desperate…

The above summary may seem wafer-thin but you will be surprised at how much material Billy Wilder packs in this 100 mins film that just drifts by…! Ray Milland, in his Oscar winning portrayal of Don, the alcoholic, delivers a scintillating performance. Practically the whole film rides on this masterful performance, for if the performance hadn’t been as effective, the film wouldn’t be as effective! As Don guzzles down shots of Rye Whiskey, we come to know of his past, his involvement with Helen, his embarrassment at being a writer who isn’t able to get a breakthrough and his increasing belief that he is inspired to write only when drunk!

Wilder paints a very frightening picture of what happens when one clings on to the bottle.

I, personally, am a whisky lover too, but I would hate to be in Don’s position. For Don, alcohol becomes the one and only solace. It becomes a way of his miserable life! It becomes the sole goal and drinking appears to be the magical cure for everything! Wilder shows it all…the desperation, the depression, the helplessness at not finding a bottle, the penury that drives Don to even try and pawn his livelihood…his typewriter! And then there’s the hallucinations! On one hand Wilder shows some superbly surreal scenes depicting Don’s thirst for alcohol. Check out that wonderful scene at a stage show, when, while watching a song depicting drinking, Don develops a strong desire to drink and all the performers on stage appear to be a row of raincoats to him, ‘cause his raincoat which he has checked in before entering the auditorium, contains a bottle of rye! And then there are the hallucinations which result from alcoholism going overboard…as a character in the film, Bim (Frank Faylen) says “alcoholics usually imagine seeing small animals rather than pink elephants”!

It is sufficient to say that as far as the deadliness of alcoholism are concerned, Wilder makes sure he covers all the grim effects it would have on a person. A significant part of the film plays out with perfection. The crisp editing and super smooth narrative of the engaging screenplay are some of the winning aspects of “The Lost Weekend”.

It is only towards the end that Wilder decides to go “Hollywood” with his ending!

Why, a film that builds up to such great promise, has to end with a whimper is beyond me. I mean it could’ve been the ultimate picture of inevitable doom and destruction suddenly does an about face and closes with a proverbial “where there’s a will there’s a way” ending full of hope that simply did not fit in the scheme of things in the major portion of “The Lost Weekend”. It would still be convincing if there was a gradual buildup to that ending, but so is not the case. There is a sudden reversal from an obvious point of no return, and that becomes one of the major flaws of “The Lost Weekend”. One only wishes Wilder had revised the ending.

While not a masterpiece like Wilder’s “Sunset Blvd” is, “The Lost Weekend” is most definitely worth taking a look at.

Score: 8/10.

A Place in the Sun (1951)

Oscar winning director George Stevens produced and directed one of the most popular films of our time, “A Place in the Sun” starring Montgomery Clift, Liz Taylor and Shelley Winters.

Based on the novel “An American Tragedy” by Theodore Dreiser, the screenplay written by Michael Wilson and Harry Brown tells the tragic story centering around a young, ambitious yet financially poor man named George Eastman (Montgomery Clift) who leaves behind the religious missionary work his parents were a part of and moves out with the hopes of seeking some decent employment with his business tycoon distant uncle Charles Eastman (Herbert Heyes). Initially perceived as socially “misfit” amongst the Eastmans, George is given a menial packaging task on the Factory floor. Early on, George seems to have developed the hots for a beautiful socialite and wealthy family friend of the Eastmans, Angela Vickers (Elizabeth Taylor). But she hardly even notices him in the beginning, and believing her to be way out of his reach owing to his social status, George probably decides to leave it aside.

Meanwhile, breaking one essential rule of not mixing with the female co-workers, George gets romantically involved with one Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters).  Their romance heats up quickly enough and George also finds himself steadily climbing the ladder in the Eastman industry, thanks to his hard work and last name Eastman! Soon enough he finds himself shoulder to shoulder with some of the who’s who in an Eastman party and Angela Vickers finally notices him and predictably enough, falls for his boyish charms! George seizes the opportunity and gets involved in a passionate affair with Angela.  Things however take a turn for the worse when Alice declares she is pregnant with George’s child…….

“A Place in the Sun” is one of those rare motion pictures which unfold in a predictable fashion, yet manage to hold our attention, thanks to the riveting performances and the superbly written scenes full of exciting drama. So we all know how it’s all gonna turn out…at least initially! The romantic relationships build up most predictably and you know very early in the film how the love triangle will eventually take its shape. We all know then that there is bound to be some turbulence when Alice gets pregnant. Now it is post this point that the protagonist starts to take drastic decisions and we immediately begin to sense the outcome for his every action!

Yet George Stevens manages to give us a highly watchable film. A film that starts with sugar-candy-floss romance, soon turns into a bleak noir-like drama! The quality of the film is only enhanced by William C. Mellor’s Oscar winning cinematography and William Hornbeck’s crisp editing. Stevens takes the helm of this project and ably delivers a solid drama. Only one wishes the romance wasn’t as cheesily portrayed and the dialogs weren’t as excessively sappy! I mean how many times have we heard “I've loved you since the first moment I saw you”!! And this is said by the protagonist to Angela not long after he has confessed his “everlasting love” to Alice! It is only human to behave like that…succumb to ravishing beauty (especially when you have the likes of Liz Taylor eating out of your hand), but Clift’s portrayal of his character looks calm and gentle with a discreet charm, a far cry from being a suave, yet sly womanizer who would two-time two beautiful ladies. 

Clift was nominated for an Academy award for his portrayal, yet I felt something was certainly lacking, especially in later scenes where he is required to emote, more so for a person or character who finds himself in the sticky situation he is in! He has done a far better job in some of his other films.

Taylor looks ravishing enough as a high society girl, whose every move makes headlines in the local papers. So even if she goes on a boating trip somewhere, she is captured by the paparazzi and it appears in the morning papers! For a girl spoilt by the media like that, it is quite surprising that she turns out to be such a fool for love, falling for a man whom she hardly knows about and even being ready to marry him! One would think such a girl would have a jolly time with several young men dying to woo her and get close to her!

The only character that is the most realistically portrayed, then, is Shelley Winters’ Alice Tripp. It is a spectacular performance that deserved the Academy award nomination. Winters clearly understands her character, that of a poor girl working in a factory; one who’s afraid to bring boys to her humble rented apartment, for fear that she would be in trouble if her landlady found out. One who gives her everything to the man she loves; one whose angst is visible when she begins to sense betrayal, just as her lover gets a taste of the rich and famous (read Angela Vickers!). It is a solid performance that deserves most accolades.

Of the supporting cast, it is Raymond Burr’s portrayal of the limping District Attorney R. Frank Marlowe, that holds our attention, although he has but a few scenes to his credit.

“A Place in the Sun” is definitely worth checking out. The sappy romance and some unconvincing character traits notwithstanding, it is one of the most accomplished works in American cinema.

Score: 8/10

Klute (1971)

With a strange name like “Klute” I wondered what’s in store, considering all I knew was that this was an early Alan J. Pakula film and the first of his informally known “Paranoia trilogy”.

Things start to happen immediately as the credits begin to roll, and we soon come across the situation around which “Klute” is centered. Tom Gruneman, a Pennsylvania executive has disappeared without a trace, under mysterious circumstances. It is after six whole months of wasted efforts and no outcome on part of the police, that Gruneman’s friend and colleague Peter Cable (Charles Cioffi) entrusts the responsibility of investigating the disappearance to Tom’s family friend, John Klute (Donald Sutherland). All he has, to start with, is an obscene letter, apparently written by Gruneman to a New York prostitute named Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda). With the Bree Daniels link, Klute begins his investigation hoping to reach Gruneman.

But Klute soon realizes that things aren’t gonna be easy, as it becomes difficult to get the reluctant Bree to talk. Bree is a call-girl but is clearly not enjoying it. She wants to be an actress, but doesn’t seem to be getting a break. In the midst of all this she is haunted by the constant feeling of being stalked. She feels she is being followed around, even gets blank calls in the wee hours of the night! Obviously in a troubled state of mind, she visits a shrink from time to time and reveals her deepest fears to her.

The film then delves upon Klute’s investigations and Bree’s personal problems as it moves along its steady and gripping screenplay. Does he finally uncover the mystery of Gruneman’s disappearance? Is there more to it than he can ever handle?

“Klute” reminded me of Francis Ford Coppola’s terrific psychological drama “The Conversation” on many levels. Although “Klute” came out before “The Conversation”, one can’t help but notice the astounding similarities in the “atmosphere” of both the films. The film is slow-paced, there is considerable focus on surveillance and the use of tape-recorded voices, the constant paranoia of being followed and watched all the time, along with other things. Of course, that said, the two films are completely different in terms of plot and central theme.

This is only Pakula’s second film as director and he does a fantastic job with the material at hand, the screenplay written by Andy and Dave Lewis. It is great to see Donald Sutherland underplay his character of Klute, thus making his performance quite memorable. Jane Fonda is superb in her Oscar winning role as the troubled call-girl wanting to quit. The always dependable Roy Scheider appears briefly in an important role as Frank Ligourin, Bree’s former pimp and makes sure he makes a mark in whatever little screen time he gets! Michael Small’s enigmatic music is creepy and at some point reminded me of some B-horror films but that is actually a compliment as the music suits some of the more nail-biting moments shot in the dark.

However I must admit that while the film is built up in a pretty solid fashion up to its climax, the final few minutes are a tad disappointing…but maybe it’s just me; perhaps I was expecting a bit more from this film and hence ended up feeling somewhat underwhelmed!

Nonetheless, credit must be given where it is due, and this film is surely a must-see for lovers of old school mysteries and whodunits!

Score: 8/10.

The Girl by the Lake (2007)

It was a weekend well spent for me for having watched yet another hidden Italian gem that is “The Girl by the Lake”.

Toni Servillo stars in this intriguing whodunit set in a picturesque, quiet little mountain village somewhere in Italy. The film opens with great promise of a finely crafted film, as we see a little girl named Marta walk down the road in her neighbourhood exchanging sweet hellos, when she is stopped midway by a man in a truck whom she calls Mario and seems to know well. What he says isn’t audible to us, but she accompanies him in his truck and he drives away.

But there are other things happening elsewhere in this little obscure place that is sparsely populated and everyone seems to know every other person! So it is no surprise that everyone knows a beautiful girl in her late teens who turns up dead by the nearby lake. She is left there naked by her killer, but strangely enough there isn’t much evidence of physical abuse on her body and she seems to have died of strangulation. Inspector Sanzio (Toni Servillo) starts pursuing the case with the assistance of his loyal fellow officers Alfredo and Lorenzo Siboldi. As he begins unearthing evidence based on his clues and starts rounding up suspects who all happen to be locals and those who have seen Anna alive not more than a few hours before her death, we also learn that the Inspector is dealing with some personal problems of his own. Battling his own personal demons, the inspector begins to realize that every one of his suspects has a secret which may or may not be directly related to Anna’s death…

“The Girl in the Lake” is surprisingly overlooked, possibly because it had limited release outside of the Italy and only recently was released on DVD in the US by IFC Entertainment. It is a neatly made film and ensures it doesn’t stray from its focal point, even though the proceedings are a tad slow. It steers clear of cheap gimmicks and instead relies on intricate characterization, slowly introducing us and getting us acquainted with all the individuals that Anna interacted with. Like any standard mystery, of course, there are red herrings, but not to the extent of seeming forced. The cinematography is spectacular as the camera pans and lingers on some of the most amazing locations you may have seen. Everything is so beautiful and cut away from the rest of the world, it will make you wanna go there on a weekend getaway trip! Adding to the merits of the fantastic camerawork is the fact that even the most ordinary scenes seem out of the ordinary as they are shot in a way as to please the viewer’s eye! The film also avoids the use of gratuitous gruesomeness in the form of excess violence or nudity. In fact this is a surprisingly clean film as far as such ‘visual’ devices in a murder mystery are concerned. 

 

The performances are all genuine and convincing, but of course, one that stands out belongs to Toni Servillo as he impresses yet again with a brilliant act after his “The Consequences of Love” which I saw last. Also watch out for an interesting cameo by Valeria Golino (“Hot Shots!”, "Rain Man").

For first time director, Andrea Molaioli, “The Girl by the Lake” is quite a commendable debut, even if the conclusion may seem a tad underwhelming to some. I, on the other hand was quite impressed as it took me entirely by surprise and I couldn’t help but think how well it distances itself from the usual conclusions that most films of the genre typically resort to!

For all its worth, “The Girl by the Lake” definitely deserves to be seen and is worth the time invested, rest assured!

Score: 8/10.

The Return (2003)

Sometimes some seemingly ordinary situations in the lives of common people can serve as premises of highly extraordinary films such as Andrei Zvyagintsev’s 2003 film, “The Return (Vozvrashcheniye)”.

Somewhere in a remote part of Russia, two boys, Andrei (Vladimir Garin) and his younger brother Ivan (Ivan Dobronravov) reside with their mother and granny. Everything seems fine and the brothers share a fine brotherly chemistry. The status quo is suddenly disturbed when the boys’ father (Konstantin Lavronenko) who’d been gone for an estimated period of 12 long years returns home. Where he had been and whence he had returned isn’t disclosed by their mother when they inquisitively question her. ”He just came back”, she replies and leaves it at that! The boys begin to wonder why he returned after that long a time and discuss all sorts of theories. They even dig up an old photograph of the whole family taken when Ivan was a baby to convince themselves that the man who has returned is indeed their father!

At (apparently) their mother’s request, the boys’ father takes them out on a fishing trip the next day. Now, considering that these kids have absolutely no emotional attachment (not surprisingly) whatsoever with this man who says he is their father, it becomes a pretty challenging task to suddenly obey him as he tries to exercise his right over them as a father would. The whole exercise seems to be clearly awkward for the father as well, who also doesn’t seem to exhibit any real connection with the kids. While the older Andrei tries his level best to adjust to his newly returned father’s whims, the younger Ivan takes a rebellious stand and refuses to comply with his father’s authoritative demeanor. 

Ivan’s attitude towards his father grows more negative as he begins to suspect his father may be involved in something and has returned only for selfish reasons! What starts off as a fun, adventurous fishing trip and a perfect means of bonding with a long absconding father, turns out to be an ultimate test of endurance that would change the brothers’ lives forever….. 

 

“The Return” manages to grip you from its very first frame. Each scene is intelligently written and drives home important facets of each character; right from that first scene in which some neighbourhood boys are showing off their guts by jumping in a nearby lake from a considerable height. Young Ivan who is scared of heights just sits there and cries as other kids call him “chicken” and move along. It is a pivotal scene, the importance of which, one will only realize later in the film.

There are moments of subtle brilliance all throughout the film like one scene in which, as the father parks his truck near a diner, he ogles at a couple of young ladies passing by through the rearview mirror. The look on Ivan’s face is priceless as he catches his father in the act. “The Return” is full of such fine moments and more which are best left for the viewer to find out. 

“The Return” succeeds with flying colours in the primary departments of Screenplay, Direction, Cinematography and Acting. It is amazing how effortlessly the events unfold on screen and how deftly director Andrei Zvyagintsev handles some of the most challenging scenes in the film. Ten on ten points go out to Mikhail Krichman for his brilliant cinematography. Behold how his camera lovingly captures some of the most picturesque shots of the rain-drenched Russian countryside with colours and clarity one can only dream of! Acting is bravura all throughout but the real hero of the film is the youngest actor Ivan Dobronravov who impresses the most with his outstanding performance. Watch the lad deliver an affecting performance with such ease, it is extremely difficult to even believe that a camera was there and he actually rehearsed all those scenes! 

“The Return” may end on a note that may be a tad underwhelming to some for its abruptness as some plot details are withheld and left for the viewer to interpret. But perhaps that is beyond the point. The scope of the film is only clear long after we reach the ending credits, and in the end, after some pondering, we realize that the conclusion is befitting indeed!

9/10 for this Russian gem. Films like “The Return” are hard to come by. Embrace it with open arms!

Don't Look Back (2009)

Marina de Van’s 2009 French thriller “Don’t Look Back” actually had potential! If only the promise shown in the first half of the movie had lived up till the end, “Don’t Look Back” could have been a solid example of a must-see, psychological thriller. But alas! So is not the case!

Jeanne (Sophie Marceau), a writer by profession lives in a plush apartment with her two children and husband Teo (Andrea Di Stefano). A strange encounter with a little girl triggers a string of events that seem to be visible only to Jeanne. These events particularly involve “changes”. By changes, we do not mean changes in someone’s behavior or circumstances.

These are physical changes…we are talking a complete metamorphosis; as she sees the arrangement of furniture in her house changing…she sees even some of the interiors in the house changing..and little by little the changes frighteningly start to happen in the physical appearances of her children, her husband and her own self……Jeanne knows what she is seeing isn’t imagination, yet as everything around her, including her own appearance change in a way that they start to look like different people altogether, others around her insist that this is the way it has always been! Even when she sees her own video recordings she sees the ‘other’ woman in the footage that actually belongs to her! Baffled, as Jeanne is, just like us shocked viewers, her ‘changed’ self, the new Jeanne (Monica Bellucci) tries to find some answers to this situation, using only one old photograph she finds in her mother’s place, as a clue…

For the first half, the film keeps us glued to our seats with its highly innovative and outlandish plot and its use of some interesting special effects. Yes..we must talk special effects here, as at one point, when the change is “in progress”, you actually see a lady that is a “mix” of Sophie Marceau and Monica Bellucci…of course, this woman isn’t a pleasant sight to watch, as half her features resemble those of Bellucci and the other half look like those belonging to Marceau (gasp!)!. This is not a perfect half-n-half either…it is a strange “blend”, as this partly ‘changed’ woman has the eyes of Monica Bellucci, the mouth of Sophie Marceau, a nose that is part Bellucci - part Marceau, and so on! It is this aspect of the effects that I particularly was in awe of. It was done so well…likewise the other characters, but their changes aren’t shown to be as realistic as those seen in the central character. 

 

Nonetheless, it is when Jeanne (Monica Bellucci) finds an old photograph that she believes will give her some answers to the spooky happenings, that the film starts descending the downward spiral! What could’ve been a truly awesome Kafkaesque or even Lynchian thriller, succumbs to the “trying to wrap everything in a neat package” syndrome, as the writers actually start dishing out some “realistic” answers pertaining to the “real world” to a plot built around surrealism! And not surprisingly, this approach actually does the film a lot of disservice, as the conclusion seems so contrived and unconvincing, that it renders the rest of the happenings illogical and more incoherent even from the perspective of the “unreal” world! Real world justifications (especially lame ones) for unreal happenings just don’t hold water…and perhaps Marina de Van forgot this little fact!

The two lovely ladies do their job quite well and their astonishment at the bizarre things happening to them is convincingly portrayed. The filmmaking itself is atmospheric and visually brilliant until things start to steadily march towards their tepid conclusion. “Don’t Look Back” can certainly be looked at once, because it is something you may not have seen before. After that one watch, however, it is simply not worth looking back at, even if you hope to find answers to certain things you may have missed…cause you won’t!

Score: 7/10

Affliction (1997)

Domestic violence is disturbing, indeed! Especially when the head of the family, like a husband or a father turns out to be an abusive alcoholic who flies off the handle every once in a while and turns violent at the slightest of provocation! It is unimaginable what impact that might have on young minds, children of the person in question…how do the people at the receiving end of this affliction turn out?

Screenwriter/Director Paul Schrader’s surprisingly less known 1997 film “Affliction” touches upon a situation like this and chronicles the happenings in the life of one such “victim” as a seemingly unrelated incident in the small town he resides in ultimately results in a personal crisis of sorts for him.

Rolfe Whitehouse’s (Willem Dafoe) voiceover narration chronicles the events (from his own perspective) leading up to the disappearance of his older brother Wade Whitehouse (Nick Nolte). Wade is a police officer and part time security in-charge in a quiet little town. However, he seems to have troubles of his own..he is preparing to fight for the custody of his daughter Jill who’s currently with his ex-wife. He is also haunted by the memories of his traumatic childhood in the shadow of his abusive, perpetually drunk father Glen (James Coburn). He also feels for his mother who has had to suffer for years living with a man like that. His younger brother, Rolfe, on the other hand has managed to escape that world and move out, become a successful teacher in Boston University and live a good life.

Life seems to be decent enough for Wade, with his good friend and newfound romantic interest, Margie Fogg (Sissy Spacek) who works at a local diner. Unbeknownst to him, though, some of his father’s violent streak seems to have rubbed off on Wade…which doesn’t manifest until much later after a hunting accident. Wade suspects that the hunting “accident” which took the life of a rich man by the name of Twombley, is actually murder, with some of his friends and colleagues involved in it. The incident is quickly followed by Wade’s mother’s demise which puts his father’s responsibility on him, adding to his woes, as Glen seems to show no signs of improvement with age, and makes life difficult for him as well as Margie. Wade finds himself struggling to stay afloat, trying to keep his job, stay in the good books of his daughter Jill, retain Margie’s affection, and somehow keep his father at bay…..but how much can one handle?!

“Affliction” is, on one hand, a murder mystery and on the other, a profound character sketch detailing the difficult Glen Whitehouse and his son Wade who seems to be coming dangerously close to treading his father's ugly footsteps. The driving force of “Affliction” is some deftly crafted moments that manage to disturb you as you are left with no choice but to try and fathom how men could resort to such terrible behavior and what makes them so difficult to handle. None of the episodes come across as forced or unrealistic, at that, as these are the traits of real people. One can’t deny the existence of such traits in individuals belonging to perfectly normal families. Why does Glen drink so much? How does Glen feel absolutely no remorse after hitting women and children and relentlessly spewing abuses? And what makes the ones at the receiving end so tolerant? There are some highly intense moments in this bleak picture that make for some great drama, like the brawl during Wade’s mom’s funeral or Wade’s outburst when he suspects his friends/colleagues being involved in the “accident” of Twombley. The intensity clubbed with some powerhouse performances make for a great viewing. 

While James Coburn bagged the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his remarkable act as the grumpy old irritable father, Nick Nolte emerges a clear winner with his Oscar nominated, volatile performance as Wade, who is doing his best in his attempts at not being like his father and trying hold together his life that is steadily unraveling. It is a performance to watch out for, although one can’t deny that there were times when he seemed to be a tad Jack Nicholson-ish in his acting! That in no way takes any credibility out though, as your heart goes out to the hapless Wade, who’s clearly a victim of circumstance!

Others like Willem Dafoe, Holmes Osborne and Sissy Spacek appear very briefly. Dafoe’s voice appears more than his physical presence itself, which is a pity, but maybe the screenplay demanded Nolte’s character’s presence much more than anyone else’s!

Paul Schrader, a name not unknown to fans of Martin Scorsese classics such as “Taxi Driver” and “Raging Bull”, pens a powerful screenplay based on the novel by Russell Banks and directs the same with the finesse of a master,  although Paul Schrader, the director, seems to be under-recognized amongst film lovers.

Do check out “Affliction”. It is a fine work of cinema that certainly is essential viewing for film lovers who like their dramas laden with intensity.

Score: 8/10