BEST FILMS OF 1944
by Mike Lorefice

At Land
Maya Deren

An imaginative dreamlike work of perspective and displacement that tells its story through a circling narrative pattern. Small revelations are gradually provided, but the film is far more concerned with structure than clarity. It starts by employing an unnatural rhythm, as although Deren is washed ashore like a sea creature the waves are breaking away from the beach. Deren liked to criticize ritual as well as deal with her outsider status (aside from working completely independent of commercial film she was a Jew who emigrated from Kiev to US at age 5). In this case there's a large dinner party but none of the snobbish guests notice her crawling the entire length of the table. Deren rotates between a series of scenes, all the others taking place on the island. This is a silent film with Deren giving no hint of the words when there is a conversation, but much of the fun lies in the ways she eliminates the need for sound. One example is the use of slow motion, which acts as an alternate heightening method. It also reveals the structure of motion, both physically with the repetition and mentally with the indecision and agony. [4/16/06] ****

Bluebeard
Edgar G. Ulmer

Fans of German expressionism will like this typical atmospheric Ulmer that operates almost entirely on the visual level. Ulmer's work is strong on mood but thin on plot and not all that well acted (though John Carradine fares is better than his typical leads). Ulmer was one of the best at making a bad movie interesting. He never had a budget, but in the days before blockbummer an artist could survive in Hollywood without constant meddling as long as they were quick and economic, keeping the cost down so profitability was attainable if not very probable. Ulmer was not a master stylist, but certainly a notable one who used smoke like no other to convey an unsettling mood (and mask the cheap sets). The closeups in this film are extremely effective. Rather than showing the graphic killings of the serial killer, Ulmer focuses on Carradine's face, and the combination of the proper framing and good silent acting convey the character's torment. [9/14/05] ***

The Curse of the Cat People
Robert Wise & Gunther von Fritsch

This quasi-sequel to the 1942 masterpiece is a lyrical tale focusing on the imagination of a young girl. She happens to be the Cat Woman's daughter, but taglines like "The Beast-Woman Haunts the Night Anew!" couldn't be further from the truth since this time Simone Simon's character is the sweetest and most benevolent of imaginary friends. The least horror oriented of Lewton's RKO work, it's quite an interesting study of the conflict between reality and fantasy. Amy is a friendless girl who survives through her imagination. Her father Oliver Reed (Kent Smith) is marked by what imagination did to Simon, so he keeps demanding truth from Amy. He quickly disbelieves all her stories in a loud manner, yet when it's convenient for him he instills all the accepted mysticism into her head, confusing her. The film itself is a bit confused because RKO didn't get what they were looking for (something very similar to Cat People) and forced the addition of silly action scenes like boys chasing a black cat up a tree and cut some "boring" scenes providing important plot detail. The film failed monetarily because RKO insisted on marketing the film they wanted rather than the one they had (which Lewton wanted titled Amy and Her Friend). Though far from a total success artistically, it's unusualness makes it memorable. Robert Wise was slated to once again be the editor, but took over the direction after first timer Gunther von Fritsch only finished half the film in the allotted 18 days. The film has a certain poetry, but not that of an artist since Tourneur wasn't directing. It's more like the very idealized look you get from Disney's fairyland with everything and everyone being overcute. Yet rather than being idyllic drivel that glorifies the child for her brilliant imagination, the film is somehow a textured psychological portrait of a needy solitary child. The way reality and fantasy are mixed is excellent, it's the most unbelievable of Lewton's films in a sense because a dead person regularly appears, but the most believable because whatever Amy sees or hears is then incorporated into her world. Lewton beautifully incorporates The Headless Horsemen into the Tarrytown set story, and I don't know if it's conscious but there may be a reference to the oldest book in Amy refusing to denounce her friend even when faced with punishment. [10/24/05] ***

Double Indemnity
Billy Wilder

****

Hail the Conquering Hero
Preston Sturges

***1/2

Ivan the Terrible: Part 1
Sergei Eisenstein

***

Jane Eyre
Robert Stevenson

***

Laura
Otto Preminger

****

Lifeboat
Alfred Hitchcock

***

Maria Candelaria
Emilio Fernandez

Though only slightly known in the US for his memorable role as the general in Peckinpah's quintessential western The Wild Bunch, Emilio Fernandez actually put Mexican film on the international map with this Cannes winner. Like Kurosawa's Rashomon it's more memorable for opening eyes to films from the region than it's own merits. Everything about the film is beautiful, the settings yet unsoiled by man, the photography of Mexico's greatest cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa, and the leading lady (an "old" Dolores Del Rio who left Hollywood for lack of quality roles). The simplistic tale of puritanical tyranny is quite familiar, and while this isn't nearly as melodramatic as most renderings, the good and bad guys are still idealized myths. [9/14/05] ***

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
Preston Sturges

***1/2

Murder My Sweet
Edward Dmytryk

***

The Seventh Cross
Fred Zinnemann

***1/2

To Have and Have Not
Howard Hawks

***

Full Movie Review

Torment
Alf Sjoberg

***

The Woman in the Window
Fritz Lang

***1/2