Suspiria (Dario Argento, 1977)

the film begins as an Italian giallo (pulp thriller) with a series of murders staged in the baroque manner of a musical. But Argento reminds us that film isn´t only the story told, but an experience. What he reveals isn´t a masked killer but a world of supernatural forces and malignant witches.

The film is Italian, takes place in Germany and is in English, in the tradition of Italian film making the film?s sound was dubbed and post-synchronized, therefore picture and sound don´t necessarily sync. The movie is about an American woman who goes to study in a ballet school in Germany, something evil is afoot and the corpses start piling up.
The color and music of the film create an overwhelming atmosphere that the viewer becomes a part of. The ballet school the film takes place in is unrealistic in itself but creates an atmosphere of terror and beauty at the same time. The score was made by Argento´s band, Goblin, it is highly unusual but sets the film in a very fitting soundscape. It has earned a cult status.

The film is a relatively late entry in the European horror sub-genre of the film. It´s very stylized and Argento is obviously under the influence of his mentor, director and cinematographer Mario Bava. It can be seen in the photography which is a direct tribute to Bava, and Argento makes his own.
The film is a Grimm?s fairy tale, stylized madness from beginning to end, that draws the crowd into the insanity.

Come and See (Idi i Smotri, Elem Klimov, 1985)

A young boy in Belarus decides to fight the nazis after finding an abandoned rifle. After losing his unit he decides to go back to his village and thus starts his nightmarish journey.

No war film and very few films in general are as powerful, disturbing and shocking. The film shows in a truly harrowing way what it's like to be in a warzone...not in battle or combat but the middle of a war. It completely abandons classic conventions of the war film like heroic feats or sacrifices, there is no attempt or brave speech to stir people into action. We are subjected to death, brutality and random victims. Those who survive are no better off.

The courage, compassion and craft of Elem Klimov to make such a film is admirable and Aleksei Kravchencko who plays the main role is incredible when one thinks that he was only thirteen when he played this role. This is an unforgetable film and has more effect on the viewer than almost any other. It forcefully asks how something so horrible and wrong could ever happen .

There are many (and not exclusively Hollywood) anti-war films. But they normally make the mistake to show war as an exciting, even beautiful, spectacle. One example is Apocalypse Now, which Come and See is often compared to. But Come and See shows a vision of Hell on Earth.

The Battle of San Pietro (John Huston, 1945)

John Huston is one of the best known and most respected directors of all time (The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Asphalt Jungle, The African Queen, The Man Who Would Be King, Prizzi's Honor along with many others) but this documentary short is not well known, which is no wonder as it was attempted to bury it. Like many other Hollywood directors he was commisioned to make films for the OWI (Office of War Information) during the war. The purpose of this documentary was supposed to be propaganda but Huston made this a dedication to the soldiers he had followed and it is no less a searing indictment on those who command wars far behind the front lines and can't see the sacrifices.

The objective is a small piece of land and the sacrifices are great. We get to see the actual happenings of war, the wounding of soldiers, the boredom and homesickness, the sacrifices and the pain and suffering of civilians. When Huston had finished the film it was "tidied up" and a prologue was added to justify the hard-fought battle. Huston himself does the cynically flag-waving narration. It got a very limited release and was subsequently buried for thirty years until after the Vietnam war when many began to revise World War II.

Commando Duck (Jack King, 1944)

Donald is a soldier whose mission is destroying a Japanese airfield. The Japanese soldiers naturally spot him instantly and all manner of mayhem ensues...

The short is a classic example of the many war-time propaganda cartoons made during the war and it contains many elements you would never see today. Amongst those is the overt racism which shows the Japanese as caricatures.

Der Fuehrer's Face (Jack Kinney, 1942)

Here we have an anomaly for its time and for that matter any time. It's original title was Donald in Nutziland but due to the enormous popularity of the song in it the title was changed to that of the song.

This short comes as something of a shock. Donald Duck is a nazi in it! Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito are all featured as characters and Donald works at assembling cannon shells. It's impossible to imagine this being made today and it's no coincidence that it's never been publicly shown since it's original release.

New screening time

Just a Reminder if it escaped someone...

We've moved our screening time forward one hour, so from now on we'll screen our films from 20:00 on tuesdays.

Tomorrow's screening, second film

Branded to Kill (Seijun Suzuki, 1967)

Western people don't really know Japanese films, particularly older ones. It's commonly believed that Japanese films were until recently invariably slowly paced "respectable" dramas like the many masterpieces of Kurosawa, Mizoguchi og Ozu. But this is totally wrong. What the people of Japan themselves flocked to see were low-budget B-movies, especially Yakuza flicks, which the studios churned out and made by contractually obligated directors who simply got a script on their desk to work from.

Seijun Suzuki did not like this setup but decided to use it to the limits. His films are stylistic masterworks full of funky types, excellent music, unbelievable compositions and an amazingly athmospheric mood. Mixing the sexual humour of Russ Meyer, the roughness and violence of Don Siegel and the eroticism of Nagisa Oshima you end up with Seijun Suzuki.

Few films are as original, disturbing and downright perverse. For some this film might be simply be too much but others discover a whole new world. Suzuki was basically on probation with Nikkatsu studios when he made this film and he was promptly fired after making it for not following instructions. He made no film for a decade but has since been very active and has just recently made a film.

Tomorrow's screening, former film

Rififi (Jules Dassin, 1955)

Heist films are now a staple and the formula for them is widely known. But 50 years ago there really was only one truly great such film, The Asphalt Jungle by John Huston which certainly has the hallmarks of the genre. But Jules Dassin laid down the foundations for what have since been the commandments of the heist film.

The story's a familiar one, but the film has little use for complex plot or characterizations. This is a stylistic and technical masterpiece. It handles the story of a group of professional thieves, each with a speciality. Naturally there are twists and turns when rival gangsters and molls enter the fray.

Rififi is particularly famous for the heist sequence itself, which takes a quarter of the running time and is so realistic that one can't help suppose that actual thieves were technical advisors. Dassin had ambitions for making the scene as edge-of-the-seat exciting as possible. Later on he returned to the heist in Topkapi where the robbery was far more high-tech and also stolen wholesale for the first Mission: Impossible.

The film is being remade with Al Pacino in the leading role.

Tuesday's other screening

Gimme Shelter (Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin; 1970)

Rock documentaries throughout the years have most of the time been little else than promotions or overlong music videos... generally with rather bad interview segments. But there are noble exceptions to this like Don't Look Back, Woodstock and Monterey Pop. But it is Kinofíll's opinion that the undisputed king of them all is Gimme Shelter.

Originally intended as a document of the Rolling Stones' American tour in 1969, it dramatically changed course after the events of the disastrous final concert at the Altamont Speedway. With 300.000 in attendance and the security in the hands of the Hell's Angels it shouldn't cause surprise that all hell broke loose.

If Woodstock showed the strengths and advantages of the hippy philosophy and lifestyle, then here we have the folly and holes in their vision of the world. It's very hard not to admire how the Maysles brother and Charlotte Zwerin build up to the cataclysmic events that unfolded.

If you're interested in great music,hippies, Hell's Angels and a murder caught on camera we strongly recommend that you come and see Gimme Shelter.

Tuesday's screenings

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jaques Demy, 1964)

The musical has always the number one form of cinematic escapism, you only have to think about it's popularity during the depression and world war II.

But here we have something else entirely. This a realist melodrama disguised as a classical Hollywood era musical with all the trimmings... dynamic colour, inspired art direction and of course song and dance numbers. But the story subverts all that we see from Hollywood's musicals. This is pure tragedy where a young woman (Catherine Deneuve) must choose between the mechanic she loves and a more financially secure gem-dealer. The film also subverts classical motifs by have having every single line of dialogue sung, there is no speech.

The film was a worldwide smash hit when originally released, going far beyond any expectations. This maybe because of how it breaks up the classical build of a form that was still popular but getting stale. The film got a wide range of awards and award-nominations, including five Oscar nominations and the Golden Palm at Cannes.