My Week of Movie Watching
Open Letter To The Evening News – Low budget Italian political satire from 1970. Letter concerns a group of well-off communist intellectuals who draft a letter pledging to go to Viet Nam to help fight the Americans, only to have the letter get published. That synopsis is the seed of a great black comedy, but unfortunately, this movie isn’t it. There are good things: The idea of satirizing the “limousine socialist” set is promising, and the film does an OK job of skewering the no-risk pomposity of its characters. The problem is that the film is way too dense and talky, and it’s impossible to keep straight who’s who. An interesting idea, and one that someone should remake, but not recommended.
Pearls of the Deep – Five of the giants of the Czech new wave combined on this multi-chaptered salute to surrealist writer Bohumil Hrabal. Segments directed by Jiri Menzel, Jan Nemec, Evald Schorm, Vera Chytilova, and Jaromil Jires each bring one of Hrabels short stories to life. Melzel’s chapter follows a couple as they prepare to watch a motorcycle race, and are morbidly fascinated with drivers who have died on the track. Nemec does a short piece on two elderly cancer patients who regale each other with stories from their careers – One as a writer, the other as an opera singer. Schorm’s chapter (The only one in color) follows a couple of insurance salemen who visit a house that has been transformed into one big mural by its elderly occupants. Chytilovas’ segment is the most overtly surrealistic, as a late night diner is host to a runaway bride and a corpse. And Jires’ section follows a young plumber as he begins a flirtation with a beautiful gypsy girl. There isn’t really a thematic link between the stories and this one is mainly interesting as a showcase for the filmmakers involved. An offbeat recommendation.
Dirty Mary Crazy Larry – Peter Fonda (Larry) is a wannabe race driver who resorts to kidnapping and robbery to finance his dream. Susan George (Mary) is a one-night stand who ends up tagging along for the ride. This movie is essentially one long chase, as the two title characters, along with Larrys’ mechanic (Don Stroud) go on the run from a rumpled, gruff, cop played by Vic Morrow. DMCL is probably best known for its jarring final scene (Involving a super-sweet lime green Dodge Charger). I can’t recommend this movie, however, because character development and sensible dialogue are put aside in favour of screeching tires and bent metal.
