BEST FILMS OF 1959
by Mike Lorefice

Anatomy of a Murder
Otto Preminger

***

Ben-Hur
William Wyler

***1/2

A Bucket of Blood
Roger Corman

***

Full Movie Review

Cat's Cradle
Stan Brakhage

***

Compulsion
Richard Fleischer

***

The Devil's Disciple
Guy Hamilton

***

Floating Weeds
Yasujiro Ozu

Technically speaking this is a remake of Ozu's own 1934 film, this time with talking and color. However, Ozu is one of those body of work directors who focuses on the same few themes so the term remake is almost irrelevant. The title is a metaphor referring to the itinerant actor who suddenly returns, his constant movement in contrast to the static lives of the locals. Amongst the locals lives his old flame and his son who was always told he was his uncle to hide the shame of being a poor actor in the bad plays they are allowed to put on. Of course, Ozu punctures the glamour of the acting profession, showing why it is anything but the great life the media portrays it as (to avoid delivering any real news). This involves the actor's vain current flame, who quickly becomes so jealous of any interaction with the aging older flame that she bribes the best looking actress in the troop to seduce the old flame's teenage son. What's amazing about Ozu's stories is though they seem to represent the most mannered and traditional side of middle class Japan, every character is all too familiar in modern day America, Ozu's just have nicer hair and aren't ridden with advertisements and logos. The story remains the same, but Ozu's technique is now refined, eliminating all camera movement. Technically it's one of Ozu's best, as he worked with the great cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. One aspect that makes Ozu's family dramas so strong and so different is he not only identifies with every character, but within that he favors the older (generally more knowledgeable) characters. Virtually every film about a child ready to leave the nest is a coming of age film that sees things almost entirely from the child's perspective, but Ozu goes so far as to argue it might be a bad thing for the children to leave because their parent(s) will have no one. While we might not agree with all his ideas, Ozu's films are among the richest in wisdom and incite into the human condition because he's able to understand so many perspectives, sometimes selfish and silly sometimes judicious and prudent. [3/23/06] ***1/2

The 400 Blows
Francois Truffaut

****

Hiroshima Mon Amour
Alain Resnais

****

Last Train From Gun Hill
John Sturges

***

The Mouse That Roared
Jack Arnold

Peter Sellers plays three characters in a parable of cold war paranoia, helplessness, and absurdity where politicians play deceitful games and a nuclear warhead may kill us all. Five years before Dr. Strangelove, camp horror director Jack Arnold (Creature from the Black Lagoon) helmed this much more lighthearted work of the Ealing Studio variety. A miniscule Duchy stuck in the 15th Century declares war on the United States because the country is bankrupt, planning an immediate surrender where they'll reap the reparation benefits of the Marshall Plan. The Fenwick "army" happens to arrive in New York, with their one stolen boat and 20 longbowmen protected by the chainmail, on the one day everyone is underground for an air raid drill. Failing to find anyone to surrender to, inept everyman Field Marshall Sellers manages to capture the eccentric scientist (David Kossoff) who has the bomb along with his daughter Jean Seberg and the bomb itself. Taking them and a few US military men who also happen to not be underground back to Fenwick, the Duchy must decide what to do now that they've won the war. A smart but biteless satire on moronic foreign policy, the film urges the weak to try to stand up to the powerful; you never know what might happen. Sellers is great as the dim Field Marshall, but his other two roles as the Prime Minister and in drag as the Grand Duchess and, while funny, could easily have been played by lesser comics. Even though certain aspects like NY being completely vacant are unimaginable, the amiable little film works because it understands how the world works - the thought process of the leaders and citizens - and doesn't take itself too seriously or insult the audience. Mainly it has the lively lead performances by Sellers in its favor. [1/4/07] ***

Nazarin
Luis Bunuel

***

North By Northwest
Alfred Hitchcock

****

North West Frontier (aka Flame Over India)
J. Lee Thompson

***

A Nun's Story
Fred Zinnemann

***

Odd Obsession
Kon Ichikawa

****

Odds Against Tomorrow
Robert Wise

***

Ohayo
Yasujiro Ozu

***1/2

Full Movie Review

Pickpocket
Robert Bresson

****

Rio Bravo
Howard Hawks

***

Shadows
John Cassavetes

***1/2

Verboten!
Samuel Fuller

***1/2

Wedlock House: An Intercourse
Stan Brakhage

***

When Angels Fall
Roman Polanski

***