All posts for the month March, 2012

Elem Klimov’s Come and See

Elem Klimov’s Come and See (1985) is one of the most powerful movies I have ever seen. During the Nazi occupation of Byelorussian SSR, young Florian Gaishun finds a rifle and joins the partisan rebellion. As is typical with these films, Florya begins to lose his innocence as he witnesses the horrors of war. Despite its typical thematic materials, Come and See distinguishes itself from other war films by the brutal and relentless mental warfare it wages upon the viewer.

As Florya witnesses the death and destruction that begins to surround him, the viewer is taken alongside him, witnessing everything with the same savagery that Florya does. Klimov powerfully has his characters look and speak directly into the camera. This breaks down the boundary between the viewer and what is happening to the characters on-screen. As opposed to witnessing everything from behind a veil, the audience is directly addressed by the characters, directly implicating the viewer.

Apart from the visuals, Klimov uses sound to constantly weigh down the viewer, extending his mental assault upon them. After Florya narrowly survives an air raid, he is rendered temporarily deaf. The soundtrack is filled with a shrill ringing and an oppressive ambient tone. While the ringing fades away, the heavy, muddy sound never leaves the soundtrack, forcing the viewer to listen beyond it to get the full story. The sounds are atonal and leave the viewer physically uncomfortable, but beyond that they are no longer able to clearly hear what is going on.

Come and See left me nauseous. It is one of the most effective psychological horror films I have ever seen. Watching the film is painful. There were many occasions when I simply wanted to turn away and forget what I had seen. Yet the film leaves you hooked. The acting is often ridiculous and over-the-top, intentionally so – as opposed to turning you off, it leaves you uncomfortable and unable to relate to the events onscreen. Klimov’s film is brilliant, and I believe it to be one of the greatest films I have ever seen.

Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan

Released in 1990, Whit Stillman‘s Metropolitan generated considerable critical buzz before largely disappearing from the radar. This is a shame, as it is one of the most charming and witty movies I have ever seen.

I have probably seen this movie at least 15 times in its entirety. The film revolves around Tom Townsend, a middle-class Princeton University student living in Manhattan. One night he falls in with a group of upper-class intellectuals. Tom is hesitant to join their group (known as the SFRP) as he is a “commited socialist,” a Fourierist, and the SFRP are all conservative Yuppies. However, as he spends more time with them, he realizes that they are not as bad as he originally thought, and perhaps even his ideas were wrong.

The other dramatic arc running through the film is Tom’s love triangle. Tom still has feelings for his old girlfriend Serena, while Audrey, a member of the SFRP and Jane Austen-enthusiast, loves Tom. Audrey is lovably played by Carolyn Farina, an actress who disappointingly largely disappeared after this role.

The film’s concerns run deeper than the surface might suggest. At face value, the film playfully critiques the pretentious and the upper-class. While the characters may be very well-read and well-spoken, it is unclear how much practical use they can get from their knowledge. However, the film is more concerned with classic coming-of-age themes. The struggle to maintain a unique identity with unique values, and the pressure of familial expectations. As one character in the film states, they are all “doomed.” They are the downwardly mobile, paralyzed by the expectations placed upon them by their parents success.

Metropolitan is a delightful coming-of-age comedy. The dialogue is among the quickest and wittiest I have ever heard. I personally consider it the most quotable movie of all time. While some may consider its intellectual loftiness a turnoff, Metropolitan is truly a smart movie. It is particularly resonant for those soon-to-be college graduates like me who are also about to confront the world and all of its expectations.

Tom, Audrey, and Charlie

Mark Sandrich’s So Proudly We Hail

Mark Sandrich’s So Proudly We Hail! (1943) works as typical piece of U.S. propaganda, with one glaring exception. It is not a combat film; instead, the film tells the tale of a group of woman nurses and their experiences throughout the South Pacific.

Propaganda served to keep the morale high for everyone involved in the war effort, and So Proudly We Hail! is intended to show the sacrifices by those not directly fighting in combat. The women are portrayed as tough, taking cover from artillery fire and bombings alongside the soldiers, and handling the pressures just as well. However, the women experience minor hysteria, but it is always brief and is later laughed off as nerves.

Despite intending to show the female participants in the war as just as hardy and important as the men, the film is still littered with Hollywood’s typically sexist portrayal of women. For many of the characters, their husbands, boyfriends, and lovers are the most important thing they are holding on to. They fuss over their hair and outfits in typical “woman” fashion – one of them claims that the thing she longs for most on safe shores is a beauty parlor so she can finally get her hair done. While under fire from the Japanese, another nurse runs from the safety of her escape truck back to their house in order to retrieve a black dress, endangering not only her life, but the rest of her troop’s. However, this dress has added significance, as she wore it the night she first danced with her lover when they were all together and safe (thus, retrieving the dress has double-significance trivializing her as a silly woman).

Despite the sometimes stereotypical treatment of the female characters, they are shown in a positive light and the movie deserves credit for that. Featuring an A-list cast, the acting is believable and sympathetic. The film deserves most of its praise, however, for showing that war is not merely a man’s game, and that people from all walks of life make sacrifices in the name of our country.

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cahiersoncinema

All posts for the month March, 2012

Elem Klimov’s Come and See

Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan

Mark Sandrich’s So Proudly We Hail

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