My MacBook Died ...

My MacBook Died ...

Late last night, after working - and distracting myself on the internetz - on the computer for hours, my MacBook started making strange noises. It sounded like a flurry of clicking with occasional beeping noises. I ran the wonderful program OnyX, which repairs permissions and runs various maintenance scripts, but the computer was now acting sluggish as well as making scary noises.

So I decided to hook up my external hard drive - it had been two weeks since I had done so - and back it up, pending an unlikely crash. I had been in the midst of working on two final essays for two final classes, so I emailed my drafts to my parents in the event that a worst-case scenario ever transpired. And it did.

Initially, the excellent back-up program SuperDuper! ran normally. But after a couple of minutes, I started getting the spinning beach-ball-of-death on all of my applications. I could actually move application windows, but I couldn't issue any commands with them, nor could I access my dock and desktop. SuperDuper! was now perpetually stuck at the half-way point in its copying phase and the fan whirred loudly. After fifteen minutes of this nonsense, I decided to force shut down my computer, even though it's basically the worst thing you can do if you're in the middle of backing up a system.

I restarted the computer and saw a gray screen with an apple logo for about five minutes. There was no noise - just total silence. I noticed that my external hard drive was on, so I flipped the power switch off and immediately - I think that this was merely a coincidence - a circle with a diagonal line cutting through it instead of the apple logo appeared. Then, a flashing folder with a question mark inside of it popped up. I restarted the computer. The same thing happened.

So here I am, about to head off to the Apple store in Emeryville to hopefully get this fixed. I only had three hours of sleep last night because I was so worried about this; plus, I had to sign up for community college classes at seven in the morning. Not only did the hard drive failure - I'm quite sure that this is what happened - probably erase everything on my computer, but it probably ruined everything on the external hard drive since it was in the middle of copying when it froze. Fortunately, my roommate, who has had to turn in his MacBook eight times for repairs, gave me directions and advice on what to do at the Apple store. Hopefully, everything will go well. I'll provide an update when I get back from the store later.

An Update ...

After a forty-five-minute bus trip, I finally reached the Apple store in Emoryville. The employee who was helping me said that the hard drive was making bad clicking noises in their tests, which probably means that the reading-and-writing heads were scratching the disk itself. Naturally, my data is ruined and my external hard drive wouldn't launch on any of the computers at the store.

On the upside, Apple contacted me less than two hours later and told me that they had replaced the hard drive. I could pick it up tonight or tomorrow. That was a remarkable turnaround time.

But this really sucks. All of my data from July of last year on is gone, unless I find a way to extract data from my EHD. (Now is the time for me to shamelessly ask anybody for advice/programs that would help). But most of all, I'll miss my pictures - I took five-hundred in the last eight months and they are irreplaceable. Needless to say, I am in a state of mourning.

Juno

Juno (2007) - 8/10
Directed by Jason Reitman

First Viewed: 4/25/08
Starring Ellen Page as Juno MacGuff, Michael Cera as Paulie Bleeker, Jennifer Garner as Vanessa, Jason Bateman as Mark, Allison Janney as Bren MacGuff, and J.K. Simmons as Mac MacGuff

It is strange to watch a film where teen pregnancy is almost celebrated as a milestone. This is in contrast to the reportedly gloomy Romanian film, also released last year, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, which I have yet to see.

Juno, which takes its namesake from our pregnant protagonist, patiently goes through the process of the eccentric and precocious 16-year old – played wonderfully by Ellen Page – accepting her dilemma and deciding to give the baby up for adoption. Juno finds a friendly, yuppie couple that would like to raise the child. Complications arise when the husband, Mark, shows a romantic interest in Juno, which she, at her young age, remains oblivious to. This is not a surprising plot turn, but Reitman, in relying on an honest portrayal of the characters that allows the performances to shine, manages to make this situation of forbidden love resonate more deeply than it should.

Diablo Cody’s script features dialogue that is enjoyable and quirky – this is the word of the day, by the way – even if it proves to be a distraction a few too many times; quirky for quirky-ness’ sake. Cody’s story, which features a more positive outlook on pregnancy, is a refreshing change, as this devastating situation doesn't over-shadow the characters. Indeed, the film’s very light-hearted atmosphere allows us to learn much more about the characters than we would otherwise; but this approach poses its own problems.

One major issue is the way the film portrays Paulie, the nerdy guy who is responsible for Juno’s pregnancy. Most of the burden is placed on Juno alone and the film fails to delve into deeper issues, namely why Paulie is not held more responsible for the pregnancy. The film establishes that he is an awkward, naive high schooler – and to his credit, Michael Cerra plays the character to perfection – but this shouldn't serve as an excuse. I have the nagging feeling that Reitman and Diablo, in focusing almost exclusively on the quirkiness and the joys that a pregnancy can produce, have played it safe, leaving the darker aspect of pregnancies mostly undisturbed.

Juno is a short, enjoyable film with very likable characters, but I wish that it wasn't so reluctant in delving into the seamier side of pregnancies.

Summer Storm

Summer Storm (2004) - 2/10

Directed by Marco Kreuzpaintner

First Viewed: 4/25/08
Starring Robert Stadlober as Tobi and Kostja Ullmann as Achim

I have the hardest time finding good gay films. Most of the ones I have seen have a bad script, poor acting, and are poorly shot. Unfortunately, the German film Summer Storm is not an exception to this trend.

Tobi and Achim are long-time best friends who are on a rowing team. Kreuzpaintner decides to help establish this relationship by introducing, within the first five minutes, an extended sequence of the two teens wrestling and then masturbating together on a bathroom floor. This sequence seems to have been directly lifted from Alfonso Cuaron's film Y Tu Mama Tambien - the two bored protagonists also jerk off together - but it lacks the wit, passion, and technical mastery of that sequence.

It all goes downhill from there. The rowing team sets off to train for an upcoming tournament at a beautiful lakeside location where they meet their various competitors, some Catholic women’s team that is essentially ignored and “The Queerstrokes,” a team of gay rowers who slowly seduce many of the rowers of our protagonist’s team. Tobi has a crush on Achim, which he tries to hide by pretending to enjoy making out with his boring girlfriend, Hansi. The presence of a bunch of flirting gay – and sadly, for the most part, not very cute – guys compounds Tobi’s troubles and results in many angst-filled moments.

Even though I enjoyed watching Summer Storm with my friend, it simply does not work well. The entire plot of a questioning character crossing paths with a team of gay rowers is incredibly contrived and predictable. The script and dialogue are poorly written and the characters and the actors playing them are boring. The technical aspects do not fare any better as the film suffers from poorly paced editing and amateurish cinematography. In short, Summer Storm fails to rise above the muck that is most of gay cinema – my search for excellent films in this genre continues.

I Was Born, But...

I Was Born, But... (1932) - 9/10

First Viewed: 4/22/08
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu

All of us are familiar with the typical growing-up story. A kid moves into a new neighborhood and he gets into fights with some local bullies, but in the end everything works out for the best. I Was Born, But... is the quintessential growing-up film, the first and most original of this now-overdone genre.

The director Yasujiro Ozu presents a middle-class family that has just moved into the Tokyo suburbs. The two young sons, still acclimating to their new environment, are harassed by a group of bullies. The power play that follows is both humorous and uncomfortable to watch. We can relate to these boys, these outcasts, as they try to adapt to an unfamiliar area through rather unscrupulous means.

There is a fascinating dynamic between the children and parents. The boys are the future of Japanese society and, being young, are at once sweet, incisive, and even violent. The parents seem to be civilized versions of the kids - the only real difference between them is that they use common courtesy instead of getting into brawls. Ozu's greatest accomplishment is his ability to portray the adult and kids' world as one and the same; they both have similar issues that are merely dealt with in different ways.

While I was watching the film, I came to the depressing realization that these child actors, in the real world, were probably sent into World War II. The ending of I Was Born, But..., in which the parents fondly look at their sleeping sons, serves as both a happy ending and a warning; children are the future and they are not to be taken lightly.

Mulholland Dr.

Mulholland Dr. (2001) - 10/10

First Viewed: 4/22/08
Directed by David Lynch
Starring Naomi Watts as Betty, Laura Harring as Rita, and Justin Theroux as Adam Kesher

David Lynch, the director of such bizarre work as Blue Velvet, has crafted something that may very well be a masterpiece. And I say "may be" because the film, with its two-hours and thirty-minute running time, does not make any sense until the very end.

The basic premise of the film is that Betty, a promising new actress who has just arrived in Hollywood, discovers that another woman already inhabits her bungalow. Rita, as we learn in a bizarre opening sequence, is an actress who is the target of a shady, omniscient entity that controls the inner workings of Hollywood. She has taken refuge in the bungalow and suffers from amnesia as a result of this incident. Betty, who has a perpetually winsome demeanor and an unsettling, naive curiosity, subsequently decides to help Rita figure out her identity.

I cannot describe the rest of the premise very well because there is no "normal" plot beyond this point. Here are some of the plot points, just to provide a taste of what occurs: There is a hit job that goes wrong, we discover a monster lurking behind a Denny's-like restaurant, we follow the director Adam Kesher and his dealings with the mysterious Hollywood entity, and we witness a terrifying presentation at a run-down theater. There is no need to worry if none of that makes any sense. Lynch initially grabs our attention with what appears to be a traditional plot, but we soon discover that the plot is hardly essential; the film serves only to evoke our visceral feelings. It is a very different approach, an adventure in which we allow Lynch to serve as our guide.

Mulholland Dr. may be the best representation of a dream-like state I have ever seen. A number of the sequences spontaneously shift from being "normal," to sexy, to absolutely terrifying. Lynch uses sound to a meticulously subtle and eerie effect and his unchained, impatient camera-work evokes a feeling of restlessness as these characters - and we, the voyeuristic audience - try to resolve this unconventional mystery. The film ultimately demonstrates the power of our dreams and their ability to influence our perception of reality. And like many dreams, Mulholland Dr. is both astonishing and horrific - a repository of our greatest aspirations and of our greatest fears.

The Knack ... and How to Get It

The Knack ... and How to Get It (1965) - 8/10

Directed by Richard Lester
Starring Michael Crawford as Colin, Ray Brooks as Tolin, Donal Donnelly as Tom, and Rita Tushingham as Nancy Jones

The Knack is an enjoyable, quickly-paced, and darkly comedic take on the traditional love story. Our protagonist is Colin, a lanky and clumsy schoolteacher who has never had the pleasure of connecting with or loving a woman. So naturally, he shares a large house with his suave roommate, Tolin, whose claim to fame is his ability to do a woman from top to bottom in under ten minutes.

A second narrative follows Nancy, who is looking for the London YWCA, but sadly keeps getting mis-directed by every person she asks directions from. Her path, inevitably, converges with that of Colin and they gradually establish an unconventional connection that blossoms into romance.

The film is truly British. And I mean that in the best possible way. The extremely dry humor, Lester's inclusion of hilariously random dialogue played over footage of real British people, and the bizarre, playful nature of every scene adds to the portrayal of a group of weird and desperately lonely people. There are some scenes, particularly one involving Colin running around a room pretending to be a lion, that are too distracting and bizarre for their own good. But the film is so much fun that I find it difficult to really criticize it for pushing the envelope.

Shine a Light

Shine a Light (2008) - 6/10

First Viewed: 4/18/08
Directed by Martin Scorsese

Shine a Light, which records a live Rolling Stones concert at the Beacon Theater in New York City, presents four older musicians who are having the time of their life in simply performing and playing music. The film starts off with a hilariously neurotic Martin Scorsese trying to organize his crew and deal with the volatile nature of the band's song line-up. I personally enjoy this behind-the-scenes footage, but Scorsese instead chooses to focus exclusively on the band once the concert kicks off with the rousing song Jumping Jack Flash.

The film is at its best in presenting the little moments: Keith Richards leaning on Ronnie Wood's shoulder, Mick Jagger posing for a number of seconds in mid-song while an audience member snaps a photo with her camera-phone, Bill Clinton telling the audience how the Stones, starting to walk on-stage, are concerned about climate change when the band members obviously couldn't give a fuck. The film makes it very clear that The Stones are, above all, performers, and very charismatic ones at that.

Scorsese, knowing that it is essential to capture fleeting moments in an environment with less than ideal lighting, wisely enlists some of my favorite cinematographers including Robert Richardson (Kill Bill), Robert Elswit (There Will be Blood, Good Night and Good Luck), Emmanuel Lubezki (Children of Men, The New World, Sleepy Hollow), Andrew Lesnie (Lord of the Rings), and John Toll (Almost Famous, The Thin Red Line). Needless to say, the concert, shot with a myriad of angles, excellent compositions, and good exposures, looks outstanding.

The overall film, however, suffers because Scorsese struggles to determine what kind of film he is making. He flirts with the behind-the-scenes work in the beginning, then the film becomes a concert film, which he then intersperses with footage of interviews involving younger and even more egotistic members of the band. The result is a strangely structured and jumbled film that doesn't offer a fresh perspective on the band.

The experience, with all its visual and aural stimulation, becomes numbing and, frankly, a little boring. I am not a fan of the songs in the middle, which all seemed to blend together and I did not like Jagger's vocal - to make a distinction from his incredible physical - performance, as he seemed to be talking rather than singing. But if my senses are going to be beaten into submission, The Stones are certainly the preferred and optimal method.

The Graduate

The Graduate (1967) - 9/10

First Viewed: 4/17/08
Directed by Mike Nichols
Starring Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddock, Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson, and Katherine Ross as Elaine Robinson

My Review Will be Re-Posted Soon.

Shelter

Shelter (2007) - 5/10

First Viewed: 4/13/08
Directed by Jonah Markowitz
Starring Trevor Wright as Zach, Brad Rowe as Shaun, Katie Walder as Tori, Tina Holmes as Jeanne, and Jackson Wurth as Cody

Zach is a lower-middle class teenager who drifts aimlessly amidst his various misfortunes. He has not been accepted into his art college, he has been having an off-and-on relationship with his best friend, Tori, and he takes care of his nephew, Cody, since his sister, Jeanne, and his dad live out their lives in an even more desultory manner.

Zach, who spends most of his free time surfing, runs into an old friend, Shaun, who has an uncanny semblance to my Sociology 1 GSI. The pair form a tight friendship until, in an alcohol-induced encounter, their relationship takes a sudden sexual turn. Confused by this turn of events, Zach becomes even more angst-ridden than usual. Jeanne - who thinks that the two men are just friends - conveniently tells Zach that Shaun is openly gay and, as irrelevant as this plot point is, forbids him from letting Shaun get close to Cody.

Shelter does deserve credit for its refusal to make Zach's homosexuality the central aspect of his character. I only wish that the character's other aspects and difficulties were more interesting. This fault largely arises from the uninspired writing, which makes the characters stereotypical - see Jeanne - and dull. Shelter could have been an interesting film about fascinating, desperate people; sadly, it devolves into such a predictable and inoffensive film that it is forgotten almost immediately upon leaving the theater.

Army of Shadows

Army of Shadows (1969) - 8.5/10

First Viewed: 4/12/08

Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
Cinematography by Pierre Lhomme and Walter Wottitz

Starring Lino Ventura as Philippe Gerbier, Paul Meurisse as Luc Jardie, Simon Signoret as Mathilde, Claude Mann as Claude le Masque, and Christian Barbier as Le Bison

Jean-Pierre Melville's film is about members of the French Resistance fighting a losing war against Nazi occupiers during World War II. The plot revolves around a resourceful man named Gerbier and his experience, presented in chronological order, with the Resistance. Initially, Gerbier, who we know very little about, is quarantined by the French government, but manages to escape and meet up with his cohort of fellow revolutionaries, led by the mysterious Luc Jardie.

Melville, through his use of a de-saturated color scheme and perfectly framed compositions, effectively paints a dour world where the dignity of life, once taken for granted, has been thrown out the window in favor of the disturbingly machine-like order imposed by the Nazi regime.

Gerbier's internment is merely a precedent as other revolutionaries are subsequently hunted down by the Nazis. The Resistance fighters, in their struggle against the Nazis, find that they themselves have to resort to committing terrible acts such as killing off their own members, whether because they are traitors or give away vital information while under duress.

Melville's fascinating thriller unfortunately suffers from a strange, halting story structure. For instance, when a Resistance member is captured by Nazi agents, Melville spends over half an hour with various episodic scenes that help the audience better understand the various members of the Resistance. This badly-timed focus on character development detracts from the suspense that is inherent in a seemingly imminent rescue.

Nevertheless, Melville's film is a powerful statement about the atrocities that occur when the appreciation of life is literally drained away by war.

Random Musings:

I learned a cool new word yesterday: Sesquipedalian = Long-winded

The Black Stallion

The Black Stallion (1979) - 6/10

First Viewed: 4/6/08
Directed by Carroll Ballard
Cinematography by Caleb Deschanel
Starring Kelly Reno as Alec Ramsey, Mickey Rooney as Henry Dailey, and Teri Garr as Alec's Mother

The ability for anyone to overcome hardships and prove successful is a theme that is all too common in film. The Black Stallion ties in this optimistic mindset with the natural enthusiasm of a boy named Alec. What are his hardships? The ocean-liner he is on suffers an explosion, an evil Arab horse trainer threatens him with a knife, his dad saves his life at his own expense, and the ship sinks, leaving Alec stranded in the middle of the ocean.

How does Alec overcome his hardships? Mostly through luck. The film initially spends fifteen minutes hinting at - or rather hitting us over the head with - Alec's destiny of riding a beautiful black stallion that does come to his rescue when Alec nearly drowns in the ocean. Boy and beast end up on the same desolate island, watching out for each other and surviving by eating kelp. Alec and Black, as the horse is named, are eventually saved by foreign fishermen and returned home without incident.

Black has a hard time keeping still in the small confines of a suburban tract house's backyard, so when he escapes into the town's streets, he inevitably runs into former horse trainer, Henry Dailey, who encourages Alec to give Black a spin at a horse race. Alec's mother, suffering from the loss of her husband, is understandably concerned for the boy's safety, but ten minutes of melodrama and Alec pleading about his aspirations with the horse easily convince her otherwise.

The plot, as seen above, is unfortunately trite and predictable and the characters are essentially two-dimensional. Yet the film still proves to be an exhilirating experience on occassion. There are wonderfully dark moments, such as the ship sinking, that are very well-crafted on a visual and auditory level. Cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, who is really the star of the film in my mind, provides many amazing shots that convey both the beauty and the danger present in a creature like Black.

I Am Legend

I Am Legend (2007) - 6/10

First Viewed: 4/4/08
Directed by Francis Lawrence
Starring Will Smith as Robert Neville and The Dog as Samantha

I Am Legend is essentially a big budget film that serves to provide thrills. Will Smith plays a colonel/doctor named Robert who helped engineer a virus that was designed to destroy cancer. The virus, of course, goes out of control and kills off most of the population, leaving the few survivors to fend off against zombie-like victims.

The film's main problem is that it juggles between different storylines and genres that don't mesh well. Initially, we are shown many fascinating shots of what New York may look like without having any people for three years. Robert, along with his canine companion, Samantha, goes through a daily routine that includes gardening, renting movies, and hitting golf balls off of aircraft carriers. This concept is the most fun and inventive and the film inevitably falters when it ventures into other territory.

Robert frequently has flashbacks to the night he tried to get his family off of Manhattan Island, which had been infected with the virus. This is where the script's weaknesses are most apparent with cliched dialogue, obligatory shots of panicked people, and Robert's little daughter who simply says the dumbest things. While this is kind of irrelevant, I'll just go ahead and say that the way Robert loses his family is astoundingly lame.

The film devolves into a horror movie that pits Robert against swarms of zombies. I think that Lawrence made a poor decision in choosing to rely exclusively on CGI. It's a bad sign when the deer Robert hunts in the beginning of the film look laughably fake running through the streets of New York. The zombies don't fare any better; their movements resemble cartoons and the actual renderings of their faces in close-ups is, again, laughable. Lawrence should have used costumes and makeup, but the animation team should be ashamed of themselves for failing to create memorable creatures.

Finally, I strongly dislike the ending. It was very anticlimactic and sickeningly optimistic in a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant-ey (WASP-ey) way. That description probably sounds strange, but the survivors' colony is portrayed as a land with lush lighting, church bells ringing, American flags flying, people shaking hands and smiling - this vision is completely, once again, laughable.

Despite many weaknesses, the film is still enjoyable, if safe, blockbuster entertainment. There are some sequences that are intense and Will Smith is pretty good in his role as the only human in New York, but the film's wasted potential is inexcusable.

Brokeback Mountain

Brokeback Mountain (2005) - 9/10

First Viewed: 4/4/08
Directed by Ang Lee
Cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto
Starring Heath Ledger as Ennis Del Mar, Jake Gyllenhaal as Jack Twist, Michelle Williams as Alma, Anne Hathaway as Lureen Newsome

The consensus seems to be that Brokeback Mountain is "that gay cowboy movie." I remember my classmates back in high school snickering at this concept, though one of my "artsy" acquaintances, who was probably the only person in my school who had actually seen the movie, merely said that he found the editing bothersome.

The film is leisurely-paced and meditative, spending the first forty minutes of its running time focusing on two cowboys who are hired to lead a herd of sheep through the Brokeback Mountain region in Wyoming during the 1960's. Ennis (Heath Ledger), with a hushed, gravelly voice, has a chiseled face that hints at the toll of putting up a facade while Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal), with a boyish face and a lustful glint in his eyes, is the more genial - and flirtatious - of the two. After spending weeks in the wilderness in each others' company, the pair inexplicably grows closer, culminating in a violent explosion of passion in their cramped tent.

Unfortunately, they run into trouble when they have to return to civilization, go their separate ways, and start a family. Despite the facades they have put up, Enice and Jack cannot stay apart from each other. They go on "fishing trips" while leaving their wives behind to care for their kids. Instead of focusing exclusively on the characters' homosexuality, an aspect that could have easily devolved into cliches, Ang Lee elevates the two men's story to a general allegory about the power of love and its capacity to both create and destroy lives.

Society plays an integral role, no less in 1970's Wyoming, in defining what kind of behavior is acceptable. But Ang Lee assumes that the audience is already aware of this society's norms and instead chooses to focus on how individuals' decisions make and destroy relationships. While society is responsible for Ennis having to resort to running into the wilderness in order to spend time with Jack, he is equally culpable for abandoning his family to fulfill these desires. There is a particularly emotional scene where Ennis' ex-wife, Alma (Michelle Williams), confronts him about his homosexuality. Ledger and Williams are both incredible in playing, respectively, the ashamed man and the confused woman, and the scene inevitably ends with both parties feeling betrayed.

The rest of the film, which could have been trimmed while retaining its impact, portrays Ennis as a burnt-out cowboy living in a trailer while Jack, whose wife's father is a rich tractor manufacturer, uses his wealth to hide his insecurities. These two men, as a result of societal and personal pressures, essentially become empty shells, shadows of their former selves. The sparseness of the sets, the cold lighting, and the slow pacing accentuate this depressing notion, that the destruction of families and individuals is a result of the hiding of and refusal to recognize people's true nature.

Leon the Professional

Leon the Professional (1994) - 7/10

First Viewed: 4/3/08
Directed by Luc Besson
Starring Jean Reno as Leon, Natalie Portman as Mathilda, and Gary Oldman as Stansfield

Leon the Professional is a fun movie that begins with a stunning opening sequence where an almost super-human hitman named Leon blasts away a drug cartel's cohort of guards. After the film shows how Leon is a badass - another talent, in addition to his gunplay, is his ability to drink huge quantities of milk - he befriends a young girl, Mathilda (played very well by a very young Natalie Portman), whose family has been killed by Stansfield (Gary Oldman), a detective who has become involved in the drug trade.

What follows is a "modern" take on Paper Moon, where the killer Leon trains the intelligent Mathilda and vice versa, but with a subversive edge and cheesiness that only Luc Besson could provide. Like Besson's later film The Fifth Element, Leon the Professional has a strange mixture of comedy and brutal violence. This sometimes works to hilarious effect, but just as often fails. Gary Oldman's performance is a perfect example. Sometimes his deranged cop is wonderfully eccentric, much like Dennis Hopper's character in Blue Velvet, but Oldman plays the character so over-the-top, with random screams and a love for Beethoven, that it is often distracting.

Despite its relatively short running time, the film drags in the middle as the interplay between Mathilda and Leon grows old. This is a problem inherent in the plot itself; there are only so many times Mathilda can prove to be a resourceful girl in the face of danger. Perhaps recognizing these shortcomings, Besson unwisely introduces awkward subjects such as the possibility of pedophilia, a fascination with hitmen killing children, and skits involving - yes - a pig puppet and dressing up in costumes. These plot points, much like the film itself, are endearingly unconventional, but usually just flat-out weird.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) - 10/10

First Viewed: 4/1/08
Directed by Robert Wiene
Written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer
Starring Friedrich Feher as Francis, Werner Krauss as Dr. Caligari, Lil Dagover as Jane, and Conrad Veidt as Cesare

This film is best understood with some background, which my film professor thankfully provided. Germany was suffering from the death of millions of its youth and the debilitating Treaty of Versailles after World War I. German Expressionism, an artistic style that focused on the dark, fearful, and paranoid parts of people's imaginations, understandably gained widespread adoption. Writers Janowitz and Mayer had plenty of personal experience that meshed well with German Expression. A creepy rape and murder had taken place in a town recently; they had recently seen a strange sleep-walking man at a fair give prophecies to patrons; they had been scarred by their involvement in war and had terrible experiences with doctors.

Out of their experiences came The Cabinet of Caligari, an outstanding silent film that uses German Expressionism to wonderful effect. The film begins with our protagonist, Francis, recounting his story to a friend. The film transitions to a flashback and we suddenly enter an alien world. A creepy man named Dr. Caligari opens a booth at the town fair where he displays the even scarier Cesare, a tall, wiry somnambulist - a chronic sleepwalker - who predicts dire outcomes for his customers and subsequently kills them, at the behest of Dr. Caligari, in the middle of the night. Needless to say, Francis and his love interest, Jane, are threatened by this terrifying entity.

Much of the film's impact comes from the brilliant use of the mise-en-scene during the flashback. The sets are extremely angular with shadows and light actually painted into the wood itself. The costumes and makeup are eccentric yet perfectly at home in this bizarre setting. The best analogy is that this art direction is the precursor of Tim Burton's work. All of the actors give brilliant performances, using a slower, more exaggerated movement that was typical of German films at this time.

Mayer and Janowitz's work is at once an intriguing murder mystery, a love story, an exploration of people's obsessions, and one of the first horror films. The entertaining story, in combination with the visual and thespian brilliance, makes this one of the best films of the silent era.

Rant - Stupid DVD's:
Kino, the distributor of many older films, sucks. First of all, the DVD itself is not well mastered. Edge enhancement, the equivalent of the "unsharp mask" in photoshop that seems to make lines "sharper" while actually obscuring fine level detail, is sadly abundant, covering up much of the film in a digital haze.

Worst of all is the score, a "modern" interpretation of the film complete with synthesizers, bad bass guitar, cheesy classic guitar riffs, and saxophones. The composers do not know anything about subtlety as they use the loudest, most obnoxious use of the aforementioned instruments during the most suspenseful scenes, which are visually arresting in their own right. The result is a horrendous, distracting collection of noises that actually takes away from the film and manages to make most of the film's creepiest moments corny. I'm surprised that my professor didn't run up to the receiver and mute the film ASAP. This DVD gets a 0/10.