BEST FILMS OF 1933
by Mike Lorefice

Baby Face
Alfred E. Green

***

Duck Soup
Leo McCarey

***1/2

Ecstasy
Gustav Machaty

***

Land Without Bread
Luis Bunuel

Bunuel's only "documentary" portrays the desperate lives of Las Hurdanos, the indigent farmers living under prehistoric conditions in one of the poorest areas of Spain (near Portugal), a region few plants and animals can inhabit. Though critics were shocked and confused that the surrealist darling did something so different the connection to Bunuel's previous two films lies in his willingness to shock, and we can see how this man went on to make the neorealistic Los Olvidados. Bunuel begins by showing how close the Hurdanos are to a prosperous region, easing us into their misery by delivering what seems like a travelogue designed to entice us to visit this wonderful area. Bunuel's wicked comic wit is on display in the narration by poet Pierre Unik that acts like these horrific images of poverty are no big deal. In many ways it's more shocking to the viewer than anything in Un Chien Andalou, but Bunuel is simply providing the perspective of Las Hurdes. Yes, their living conditions are horrible but they are used to it so it's nothing out of the ordinary for them. Bunuel, of course, gets his digs in on the state and religion, for instance noting education is mandatory but the children go to school barefoot and can't afford/produce food for lunch. Bunuel sides with the Hurdanos, yet he portrays them as ignorant inbred morons. His impersonal and distanced treatment allows us to contemplate the situation rather than just think it's awful, but has always led to accusations of him being compassionless and insensitive. If you only want to feel sorry for the poor subjects you probably won't like this film and might as well stick to the network news. However, if you are able to laugh at the folly of people traveling miles up mountainous terrain in search of strawberry plants that provide inferior fertilizer only to get bit by adders picking them and die not from the nonfatal snakebite, but from the infection they get doing a haphazard job of treating it, it's a kind of twisted classic. [4/25/06] ***

The Pharmacist
Arthur Ripley

W.C. Fields attempts to be an upstanding good-hearted shopkeeper, upholding the motto "the customer is always right." Some films work because a character is cast so far against type; we keep waiting for Fields to bash one of his remarkably annoying customers or at least throw in some wise cracks, but instead he stands mute, trying his hardest to keep the smile on his face. Fields, of course, isn't a great guy; he's selling spirits of the illegal variety under the table, or more accurately the counter. He's only nice to those who are paying, but this time he gets what some of his other characters deserved. After much grief the customers all wind up with freebees. The best scene has a man looking over every item in the store only to settle on a 3 cent stamp, which he immediately attempts to back out of buying because it's not the right color! Finally, he agrees to take the center stamp because it's clean. Fields ruins most of the sheet to rip it, only to find the customer can only pay with a $100 bill he can't change. In addition to the customers, Fields' family typically undermines his attempts at successful business. Fields is at his subtlest and quietest. His personality only comes out in the scenes with his family, who are awful and/or insane, making it even harder to judge Fields harshly. That aspect is disappointing, as what I like about Fields is he doesn't usually grope for sympathy like Charlie Chaplin always did. The major problem with these shorts is the production values. Let's put it this way, if you just filmed W.C. and co. Performing at a theater it would be only slightly less accomplished. ***

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
Fritz Lang

Lang revives criminal mastermind Dr. Mabuse and star detective Inspector Lohmann (M's Otto Wernicke) in what certainly plays like a concealed warning about Adolph Hitler, who had just seized control. Lang later claimed this to be the case, but it's more true of the power hungry psychopath type that dominated his worldview, thus an enduring value, than of the specific thugs. Mabuse is confined to prison, scribbling his instructions for evildoer domination like Hitler in Mein Kampf, but generally influencing through mind control. Lang keeps him shrouded in mystery, he's a sinister transparent apparition whose shady authority is never solidly rooted; it's always shown in the abstract perhaps because it's seemingly so hard for people to believe this stuff would work on many people. But Dr. Mabuse comes out with actual ideas and slogans of the nazis, much of which are also scarily familiar from today's fear creating and exploiting fascists. Mabuse's instructions are conveyed (by phonograph) without anyone actually seeing him though the people receiving believe he's simply protecting his identity, much of which is also scarily familiar from today's top terrorists who will inspire loony fanatics long after they are captured or killed because the technology they utilize to convey their hate lives on. Needless to say this was Lang's last film in Germany for over a quarter decade. Joseph Goebbels banned the film prior to its release because of its power to incite anti-nazi action, or as he put it for "endangering public order and security." But he understood the potential of Lang's work to influence people, and reportedly tried to sign him up (supposedly Lang bolted to France that night). As important as Mabuse, perhaps more, is the good inspector Lohmann. He's not a brilliant Sherlock Holmes type; he's just a regular guy who isn't influenced by the nonsense. Mabuse and his lot can only win through manipulation, thus a super detective would have presented a completely hopeless picture. Though Lang's film is loaded with dread and creates impotence almost as well as those things that inhabit porns these days, this is ultimately upbeat for Lang because he shows it only takes stepping back and analyzing the information. Maybe that's even too strong, while logic and science are very helpful, it's mainly good old common sense that sees through the lies. Though somewhat of a disappointment coming after M, one of the great landmark films in all of cinema and arguably the film of the decade, Testament is quite a memorable film in it's own right. Lang was the original master of sound, and the opening jewelry heist is some of the best work. Lang cuts all the human sounds and greatly amplifies the object sounds to very tense and disturbing effects. Initially utilizing an unseen machine to represent a system of terror taking over, when the escape starts he switches to seen objects that present a threat to one of the parties. One of the reasons Lang succeeded in Hollywood is his films didn't depend on the quality of his own writing, in fact his and his then wife Thea von Harbou's writing were often pretty weak. The film is muddled in spots and silly in others, much like Metropolis it is marred by a completely hokey love story, but generally it's pretty fast paced and has enough style to keep things interesting. Though the subject matter supplies some of Testament's lasting power, much of it, and certainly the influence on so many later films, comes from Lang's brilliance in blending genres. Lang had already combined the thriller and the police procedural, but here he adds the supernatural to the mix and rather than this causing him to lose credibility it actually allows him to sneak in his social commentary. [10/12/05] ***1/2