# 174 Les diaboliques (1955)

Les diaboliques is a French suspense film directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot (the same person that directed the film I reviewed in my previous post). The plot revolves around a boarding school headmaster, his wife, and his mistress. Both of the women are treated very badly by him, and when they realize that they can't take it anymore, they plot to kill him. They have planned what they believe to be a perfect murder, but everything goes the way they had planned.

The first two thirds of the movie feel like they have been heavily influenced by Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. The body disappears, which leaves the women confused, and causes them to think that someone else knows about their secret. The wife of the killed man keeps thinking that they are going to get caught, and wants to turn herself in to the police. And even though the director managed to make this part very intense, the idea itself is not new.

Towards the end of the film, the direction, in which the plot unfolds, changes dramatically. The suspense deepens. Some unexplainable things start to happen, and for a second I started to think that may be it was going to turn into some sort of a mystic horror movie, I really didn't know what to expect. I don't want to give it all away, but I just want to say that the ending exceeded all of my expectations. And I'm not only talking about the substantial part, but also the camera work, the lighting, the pacing, everything.

This movie contrasts Clouzot's previous film (The Wages of Fear) so much, that it's hard to believe both movies were directed by the same person. He was able to create so much suspense, without even using any background music, and, I hope that Hitchcock's fans will forgive me for this, but I found this movie even more thrilling than Psycho. Highly Recommended.

Interesting fact: The film is based on Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac's novel "Celle qui n'était plus" (She Who Was No More). Alfred Hitchcock also attempted to buy the rights to this novel; Boileau and Narcejac subsequently wrote "D'Entre les Morts" (From Among the Dead) especially for Hitchcock, who filmed it as Vertigo (1958).

Favorite quote: "I may be reactionary, but this is absolutely astounding - the legal wife consoling the mistress! No, no, and no!"

# 173 Le salaire de la peur (1953)

La salaire de la peur also known as The Wages of Fear is a film about men who are stuck in a South American village because buying a plane ticket is beyond their means. A US oil company dominates the village, and when one of its oil wells catches on fire, four men from the local community drive trucks full of nitroglycerine across miles of rocky mountains to the oil field in order to extinguish the fire.

The movie is 131 minutes long, and the first half of the movie nothing significant or even a little bit interesting happens. It's devoted to introducing the characters and showing their day-to-day routine, but I think that twenty minutes of this would be enough to understand what's going on, an hour was just too long for a set-up, I was sitting and wondering if anything was going to happen at all. The only reason I kept watching was knowing that later I would have to write a review.

In the second half of the film we see the obstacles the truck drivers have to face on their way to the oil field, and, what's even more important, we see a reversal in the roles of the main characters. The younger driver, Mario, who used to look up to his older companion Jo, has to take everything in his own hands because Jo turns from a macho into a coward in the face of real danger. I guess this character drama is the main point of the film, and it's pretty interesting to watch it develop, but I found the whole idea too simple.

Spoiler here. The only thing that I found really good in this movie is the scene where Jo dies. No matter how mad Mario was at him, he still shed tears when Jo was dying as if he was losing the best friend. It's interesting, that when his roommate's truck explodes, he doesn't look nearly as devastated. The ending is not bad, but it's predictable. I don't recommend this movie unless you're a fan of old French cinema.

Interesting fact: Henri-Georges Clouzot originally planned on shooting the film in Spain, but Yves Montand and his wife, Simone Signoret, refused to work in Spain as long as fascist dictator Francisco Franco was in power. Filming took place instead in the south of France, near Saint-Gilles, in the Camargue. The village seen in the film was built from scratch.

Favorite quote: "Those bums don't have any union, nor any families. And if they blow up, nobody'll come around bothering me for any contribution".

# 172 Twelve Monkeys (1995)

Twelve Monkeys is a post apocalyptic drama about a convict who is sent back in time to 1990s in order to gather the information about the epidemic that wiped out 99 percent of human population. In "the past" he gets in trouble with the authorities, wanted for murder and kidnapping. He also refuses to go back to the future and falls in love with the woman he kidnapped.

When I first watched this movie, I was probably around twelve years old, and I found it weird and boring. After that I watched it a few more times, and I gradually grew to like it. The first thing that attracted me was Pitt's acting. To me this was the role that made me realize that he is more than just a pretty boy. I honestly don't think I've seen anybody do a better job portraying a psycho.

This film touches upon such issues as totalitarian society, both in the future, where the main character has to do everything he is told by a group of scientists, and in the past, when he gets locked up in a mental hospital. But this is not the main theme of the movie. Being very sympathetic to environmental concerns, I also find it interesting how the movie shows us that any idea can turn into a disaster in the hands of a madman.

My favorite part in this movie is when the main character starts doubting his own sanity. He'd rather believe that he has a multiple personality disorder, than that he comes from a world destructed by a lethal virus. He convinces himself that everything that happens in the future is nothing but hallucinations, and wants to be cured. My least favorite part is the sentimental stuff towards the end of the movie, but who knows, I might grow to like even that part next time I watch it.

Interesting fact: A tagline originally suggested for this film was; "The future is in the hands of a man who has none." This was considered to be a confusing tagline, as it made it sound as though he had no hands, as opposed to having no future.

Favorite quote: "There's no right, there's no wrong, there's only popular opinion".

# 171 Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is Guy Ritchie's feature film debut. It's about a guy who loses £500,000 to a powerful crime lord in a card game. He overhears his neighbors, who plan a heist on marijuana growers, and, in order to pay off his debt, he and his friends decide to rob them after they come back from their heist. "Lock, stock, and a barrel" is an English expression, which means basically the same as "the whole nine yards", which is a title of another well known movie.

If you watch the movie after seeing Snatch, like I did, you probably won't find anything new here. These two movies share the same ideas, themes, motifs, visual style, and some of the same actors. I've heard that some critics accused Ritchie for delivering two very similar movies, but of course, if there is anything to criticize for that reason, it's Snatch, since Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels came out first.

I had difficulty understanding what was going on at first, because of all the characters we see on the screen, and it's hard to understand in which way they are connected before their plot lines intertwine. The movie is very well balanced between being humorous and serious at the same time. I got to laugh a lot because the characters were acting like complete idiots. There was also a good psychological scene in this film, I'm talking about the three card brag game scene.

Sting's appearance as the father of the main character was a nice surprise. Sting's wife Trudie Styler was an executive producer on the film, and the two later introduced director Ritchie to Madonna, whom he later married. So I think the film is good. It didn't blow my mind like Snatch did, but if I watched this one first, it probably would have had the same effect on me. And it's definitely a great movie for a director's debut.

Interesting fact: The movie is dedicated to Lenny McLean. He was a famous bare knuckle boxer before he became an actor. He was ill during filming with what he believed was the flu. After filming had ended he was hospitalized and initially told that he had pleurisy. However, tests revealed that he had lung cancer which had metastasized to his brain. McLean died of cancer exactly one month before the movie's debut in England.

Favorite quote: "Hatchet" Harry: You must be Eddie, J.D.'s son.

Eddie: Yeah. You must be Harry. Sorry, didn't know your father.

"Hatchet" Harry: Never mind son, you just might meet him if you carry on like that.

# 170 8½ (1963)

Don't get confused by all the numbers in the title of this post, today I'm reviewing Federico Fellini's 8½, or Otto e mezzo (the way it's pronounced in Italian). This movie is about a famous director, played by Marcello Mastroianni, who struggles to work on his next masterpiece, a deep sci-fi film with autobiographical references. Besides having a "director's block", he also goes through marital problems, and because of this, he loses his inspiration for the upcoming movie.

It was funny when, after twenty minutes of watching this film, I realized that I've already seen this somewhere else. The thing is, a 2009 musical Nine is based on this movie, and I saw it when I was watching Academy Awards nominees last year. I'm expecting disapproval from my readers as I'm writing this review because I barely found the strength to finish watching Nine a year ago, and I think that 8½ isn't any better.

The characters left me cold. I kept getting lost between the director's memories, fantasies and reality. There is almost not plot. After all, I've never liked movies about the struggles involved in the creative process. And I didn't know where the title came from until I looked it up online. For those of you who still have no idea, it refers to being Fellini's eight and a half work, after six feature films, two short segments and a collaboration.

Now I'm ready for your criticism, because I seem to be the only one who feels this way about the movie. I really didn't get it. Aside from it being # 170 on the list, it received two Oscars, and ranked 3rd best film of all time in a 2002 poll of film directors conducted by the British Film Institute.

Interesting fact: Federico Fellini attached a note to himself below the camera's eyepiece which read, "Remember, this is a comedy."

Favorite quote: "You see, what stands out at a first reading is the lack of a central issue or a philosophical stance. That makes the film a chain of gratuitous episodes which may even be amusing in their ambivalent realism. You wonder, what is the director really trying to do? Make us think? Scare us?"

# 169 The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

The Grapes of Wrath is a drama based on John Steinbeck's novel of the same title. It tells us about a family struggling to survive during the Great Depression. After losing their farm in Oklahoma they travel across the United States trying to find a job. Several of their family members die along the way, and the ones that are still alive have to stay in migrant camps and work for pennies.

My first viewing of this film happened in high school, in US history class. I was tired, bored, and falling asleep. I also had to write a paper on it, and since I didn't get it, it wasn't very easy. You get the idea. My second viewing was more successful, as I knew that it's considered one of the best movies in movie history (at least based on the rating and the fact that it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress), and also was aware of the historical background.

The film is very compelling. Most of all I liked Ma Joad for being such a strong and wise woman. You rarely see women like this in old Hollywood movies. And I think grandpa and grandma were adorable too, especially in the scene where they were all sitting at the table, right before Tom's return. I also liked the southern accent a lot.

In my opinion, the movie focuses extensively on Tom, portrayed by Henry Fonda. There was a funny episode involving him that I really enjoyed though. Right after he returns home, every family member asks him if he "bust out" of prison, and he has to explain that he's on parole, and that he "got his papers". Overall I think that the movie is too long, and the final part, with all of its monologues, was unnecessary, but other than that, it's pretty interesting, and I'm glad I got a chance to watch it again and re-evaluate it.

Interesting fact: The novel's original ending was far too controversial to be even considered for a film in 1940. It involved Rose-of-Sharon Rivers (Dorris Bowdon) giving birth to a stillborn baby and then offering her milk-filled breasts to a starving man, dying in a barn.

Favorite quote: "Seems like the government's got more interest in a dead man than a live one".

# 168 The Gold Rush (1925)

The Gold Rush is Charlie Chaplin's forth film on the list. It tells us about "The Tramp" who takes part in the Alaska Gold Rush. We follow him through different adventures as he's trying to find gold and win the heart of a saloon girl.

I got to see a re-release of this movie, which I believe was made in 1942, with a new musical score. Much of the new music was written by Charles Chaplin himself, in collaboration with musical director Max Terr. Chaplin also added sound effects to the film, and replaced the silent movie title cards with descriptive voice-over narration.

If you get past the fact that I watched the re-release, this is the oldest movie I've seen to this day. Nevertheless, the plot is pretty interesting (for such an old movie). Chaplin himself mentioned many times that this is the movie he wanted to be remembered for. There's not much I can say about it, I mean everybody knows it's a classic, but motion pictures have advanced so much that it's sort of hard for me to take this film seriously.

There were two really memorable scenes though. The first one is, of course, the dance with bread rolls, so if you haven't seen the movie, at least check out the dance on youtube, it's absolutely worth it. My second favorite scene is when Charlie Chaplin was dancing with his girl, and he didn't know he had a dog tied to his belt. He was a genius, a good actor, and an outstanding comedian.

Interesting fact: The "dancing rolls" sequence was so popular with audiences that, in some cases (such as the film's Berlin premiere), projectionists stopped the film and replayed the scene.

# 167 V for Vendetta (2006)

The plot of V for Vendetta is set in the near future, in Britain, ruled my a totalitarian government. A masked freedom fighter, known as "V" is planning a rebellion. He also avenges the ones who disfigured him and does all sorts of fun things in the process. A young woman, whom he saves from being raped, complicates his plans even more. As a result we have an incredible mix of a dystopia, a thriller, an action movie and a love story.

As a college student I loved the genre of dystopia, and I think I've read too many of these novels. Don't get me wrong, I think this movie offers a very good graphic representation of the idea, and is way better than Equilibrium (2002) which has a lot in common with it, except for it's too primitive. But at the same time I feel that everything that could have been said about it, was said back in 1920s - 1940s by Zamyatin, Huxley and Orwell, when the subject was the most relevant. So if the movie was all about the idea, it would have ruined it for me.

Fortunately, there is also a very complex plot in V for Vendetta, and this is that made this film so enjoyable for me. The most interesting part was the story of V's origin, his incarceration in the detention center, and his vengeance. What I liked the least were the action scenes, with all the slow motion and flying daggers. Talking about the love line, I don't think it was so important, but I didn't seem out of place either. After all, I believe that most women who became part of revolutionary movements, did it because they fell in love with revolutionary activists.

It was good to see Stephen Rea in this movie, he is a very talented actor, who became internationally known after playing the lead role in The Crying Game (the movie I highly recommend to everyone). Another thing I would like to mention is the dialogues. They are very witty and poetic, a little bit too intense at the beginning, but you get used to it after a while. The pacing is good, especially for an adapted screenplay. It' amazing how the Wachowski brothers managed to fit so much plot into one movie.

Interesting fact: The cast and crew were only allowed to shoot near the British Parliament and the Clock Tower from midnight to 4:30 am, and they could only stop traffic for four minutes at a time.

Favorite quote: "I killed you ten minutes ago. While you slept".