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Monday, April 27, 2015

David R.'s Foreign Film Selections

Posted by David R.


Rififi 
American director Jules Dassin predates the Western cinema’s Tarantino-driven gangster pap with this smart, fascinating French production, a dissection of a jewel heist gone awry, released in 1955. The cinematography by Philipe Agostini is assured, and the pacing of the film is fairly intense even when viewed today.

Get Out Your Handkerchiefs 
A French romantic comedy from 1978 that wears its bravery on its sleeve, about a young woman who desires a unique cure for her, uhm, depression, a status which neither of her two lovers can fix even though they dedicate themselves to helping her. Humorous, lighthearted, and to Western audiences most likely offensive. Not recommended for younger viewers.

Solaris
Russian science fiction entry from 1972 is a sleep-inducing dredge through the interior corridors of the mind of psychologist Kris Kelvin as he prepares for an interstellar trip into a reality-busting sphere of space—but in your sleep, you will discover one of the most haunting and picturesque dreamscapes ever committed to celluloid, assuming you have enough Nodoz on hand to make the journey. Not nearly as boring as Western critics have deemed it to be, Andrei Tarkovsky weaves together a fantastic tapestry of sheer cinematic poetry.

The Wages of Fear
Clouzot’s original action adventure spectacle from 1953 is still a gripping trek through jungle hell as two nitroglycerin truck drivers face unconscionable peril as they transport the shaky cargo along rough Southern Mexican terrain. You can’t have contempt for adventure film after seeing this one. Recommended for those who appreciate cinema at its most pleasurably harrowing.

Throne of Blood
It’s Shakespeare, kids, and that’s the entire academic defense that anyone requires to enjoy Akira Kurosawa’s 1957 film—a violent but unendingly epic exploration of revenge and tragedy (this one is based upon the Scottish play). Toshiro Mifune’s astonishing performance is still legendary among cineastes, and the film has had a major impact upon literary critics as well as film societies.


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