Gateway Cinephiles

Film Diary: Sherrybaby

2006
Director: Laurie Collyer
Viewed: November 16, 2007
Format: DVD - Universal (2007)

Filim Diary: Inland Empire

2006
Director: David Lynch
Viewed: November 16, 2007
Format: DVD - Absurda / Rhino (2007)

While I can appreciate how some Lynch aficionados might have found this film aimless or just tedious, I have the same impression I had after my first viewing of Mulholland Drive: the sense of a compelling, almost biblical story, despite my difficulty in grasping it or conveying it. Unlike the unfinished plot threads in Mulholland Drive–likely relics of the miscarried television series–I didn’t get the sense of much that was extraneous or unresolved here. And like most Lynch films, Inland Empire has an oppressive nightmare sensibility to which I instinctively respond. This film will definitely require multiple viewings and conversations with other fans before I can digest it completely.

Film Diary: A Mighty Heart

2007
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Viewed: November 15, 2007
Format: DVD - Paramount (2007)

Film Diary: The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)

2006
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Viewed: November 13, 2007
Format: DVD - Sony (2007)

3-Minute Intro: 12 Angry Men

Screened: November 12, 2007
Format: DVD - MGM (2001)
Selected by: Roland

Sidney Lumet was no novice when he directed his 1957 feature film debut, 12 Angry Men. He had already made his mark as a performer in Yiddish theater, on Broadway, as a cinematographer, and as a television film director. However, his skill is on stunning display here, especially given the risky source material. Consider that in an era when epic color films were ascendant, 12 Angry Men is a taut, black-and-white legal drama featuring twelve detailed characters, filmed almost entirely on one set and in real time. Although the film was a box-office disappointment, the fact that it stands as one of the great dramas of American cinema five decades later is a credit to Lumet, the script by Reginald Rose, and an ensemble cast of uncommon talent and energy.

On the surface, Rose has crafted an unconventional whodunit. Save for its brief bookend scenes, the entirety of 12 Angry Men takes place in one sweltering New York City jury room. We learn everything about the alleged crime, and the events of the trial, through the jurors’ deliberations. The jurors simultaneously reveal details about themselves—their personalities, backgrounds, traumas, and prejudices. The conflict enters in the form of Henry Fonda’s Juror Number #8. Rational, serious, and selfless, he begins to chip away at the supposedly “open-and-shut” case. From this simple premise a more complex film begins to emerge: a socially conscious work of art, an ambitious character study, and a sobering morality play tinged with American idealism and cynicism.

Tapping his cinematographer instincts, Lumet demonstrates the power film can exert over even the leanest of stories. Watch for how he gradually tilts the camera’s angle from high to low and increases its focal length, resulting in a creeping sense of claustrophobia. Lumet’s filmography is packed with finely-wrought dramas that tackle controversial subjects: Long Day’s Journey Into Night, The Pawnbroker, Fail-Safe, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, and Network. His bold technical leadership has not faded, and at 83 he recently stated that all his future projects will be shot on high-definition video. It is therefore remarkable that his first film still stands alone, inspiring and defying every director who would make the next Great American Drama.

Film Diary: The Descent

2006
Director: Neil Marshall
Viewed: November 11, 2007
Format: DVD - Lions Gate (2006)

Film Diary: Breach

2007
Director: Billy Ray
Viewed: November 11, 2007
Format: DVD - Universal (2007)

Film Diary: Half Nelson

2006
Director: Ryan Fleck
Viewed: November 11, 2007
Format: DVD - Sony (2007)

Film Diary: Cape Fear

1962
Director: J. Lee Thompson
Viewed: November 9, 2007
Format: DVD - Universal (2001)

Review: The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

2007
Director: Andrew Dominik
Viewed: November 6, 2007
Format: Theatrical Print

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford opens with the tattered remnants of the James gang preparing for and committing their final train robbery. It’s a marvelous sequence, even spooky at times, and serves to introduce us to both of the titular characters. Despite the bloody violence that unfolds when the train is boarded and ransacked, the sequence stands apart from the rest of the film. Sudden acts of brutality punctuate the remaining story, but none can be regarded as standard action sequences. Instead, The Assassination makes much of tension of imminent violence, signaling its approach with its spoiler title. It is about knowing that something traumatic and transformative is going to happen, but not the when or where or how. In this the film echoes the themes of every ambitious Western that ruminates on industrialization, expansion, and destiny, Manifest or otherwise.

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