My Week of Movie Watching

Kidnap Syndicate – This 1975 Italian actioner from Fernando Di Leo melds the plots of Kurosawa’s High and Low (Kidnappers grab wrong kid) with that of Boorman’s Point Blank (Pissed-off guy takes down crime syndicate). Luc Merenda plays a mechanic whose son is grabbed along with his best buddy, who happens to be the son of a billionaire (James Mason). Mason doesn’t want to knuckle under to the kidnappers, and the results are tragic. This is pretty good, if a little slow in getting going. One it hits its stride, it’s a tight little film with some good action. The plot could be a bit more streamlined; I’m not sure how Merenda’s character manages to locate the bad guys, but generally well done, and worth a look.

Berlin Express – A mish-mash of nationalities (An American, a Brit, a Frenchman, a Russian) are lumped together on a train, and become involved in a plot to assassinate a prominent German professor. I wish I had liked this one more. The American is played by one of my favorites, Robert Ryan, and the premise is interesting, if a bit contrived in a “we-are-the-world” kinda way. The biggest fault is that the film is hamstrung by an annoying newsreel-style narration. Also, there is never any doubt that the diverse cultures would find a way to pull together for the common goal, although the film does throw a neat twist at us at the end. Directed by Jacques Tourneur, and nicely shot by Lucien Ballard. Much of this was filmed in still war-wrecked Berlin and Frankfort. I’m pretty much on the fence on this one – Let’s call it a lukewarm recommendation.

Before Dawn – Brilliant 2005 short from Hungary that I plucked off MUBI. This ten minute film is done in one continuous shot, and tells a huge story of people trying to escape to a better life, only to have the powers that be clamp down on them. This could have been a 2 hour film, and that its maker (Balint Kenyeres) was able to compress it into this tiny compartment and still tell the story – Without dialogue - is astounding. Check it out.

Seconds – This John Frankenheimer film has been on my want-to list for years, and it was worth the wait. A bored, middle-aged banker (John Randolph) undergoes a mysterious procedure to change his identity, and then emerges (now played by Rock Hudson) to try to create a new life. Seconds is masterful in the way it creates an off-kilter, nightmarish world, and Hudson is terrific as a man struggling to adjust to suddenly being free. The cinematography by the legendary James Wong Howe is unsettling and superlatively done. Here’s something that never gets commented on in film – I LOVE the opening credits for this film. They’re druggy and harsh, and completely set the mood for what is to come. This one would be a great double feature with Teshigahara’s The Face of Another. Enthusiastically recommended.

Forty Guns – Very interesting western from Sam Fuller. This one takes a bit of My Darling Clementine, throws in a bit of Johnny Guitar, and even a small pinch of Seven Samurai, and comes up with a pretty original western. Barbara Stanwyk plays a wealthy cattle baroness with her own private army. Barry Sullivan plays a gunslinger turned Marshall who comes to town with a warrant for the arrest of one of her men. She has a wild younger brother who gets beaten up by Sullivans Griff, and vows revenge. Stanwyk and Sullivan fall in love. This movie is impossible to encapsulate – there’s so much going on, but it is to its credit that it is still a coherent narrative. It is helped by Fullers sly dialogue, like this exchange after Stanwyk asks to see “it” - meaning Sullivans gun.

“Be careful – It could go off in your hand”

Like I said, it’s an interesting movie. It’s cornball in many ways, but at the same time it also has almost a Shakespearian feel to it. I guess I’ll have to watch it again soon. Recommended.

The Landlord – 1970 Hal Ashby film about a spoiled young rich guy (Beau Bridges) who buys an apartment block in a predominately black Brooklyn neighbourhood. This didn’t start out looking very promising. I thought it would be going down a predictable path – Rich white people bad, poor blacks good, but it went some places I wouldn’t have expected, and it won me over. Bridges is very good as a young guy trying to break free of his familys expectations, and Diana Sands has a terrific little role as a poor black woman who befriends (and beds) Bridges. There’s also a light-skinned woman named Lanie (Markie Bey) whom Bridges gets involved with, and the film does some interesting things with her, as well. My only quibble is how the rich white family are portrayed as stereotypical insufferable snobs. Other than that, this was a nice discovery for me. Recommended.