Film Flare

Film Flare's Film Diary 2013/38

Happy mondays everyone!

 

It's time to go in with a quirky film starring the always watchable and frequently underrated Daniel Bruhl.

 

It's....

Good Bye, Lenin! (2003)

 

 

This is a tragic comedy film, I could use the word 'tradgicomedy' but I won't because I'm not a f**king c*nthouse.

At the heart of this film is a genuinely touching emotional core that persists through the comedy. The entire premise of the film is unusual and yet gives rise to unforced, natural comedic moments as well as an underlying tragedy.

 

The plot concerns a mother who becomes a strong supporter of East Germany when her husband flees to the West. Through plotting I won't want to ruin here, she falls into a coma and during this time, Germany reunifies. When she wakes up, Daniel Bruhl's character takes the doctor's advice of no undue stress a bit literally, he feels that finding out about the reunification could kill his mother from shock so he tries to hide the reunification from her.

 

It's quite a unique idea and it's executed wonderfully. The lies start out simple, the flat changes from the more modern, bright furniture to the browns and oranges of East German styling. Even some of the plot devices detailing unobtainable Eastern German foods (gherkins in particular) are easy to understand, despite having no knowledge that there were GDR branded gherkins.

Of course, the lies have to grow and get more complicated and suddenly there are fake news reports and more people complicit in the lie and it gets harder and harder to hide the outside world form the bed the mother stays in. There are several very powerful moment, especially towards the end of the film. 

 

Daniel Bruhl has the perfect mix of boyish care and love which makes you believe the levels he would go to to keep up the deception and yet he has enough acting capability to carry the film also when it gets emotional and serious. The mother, played by Katrin Sass is again wonderful. She's more than convincing as the fragile, recovering mother.

 

Anyway, long story cut short, Good Bye, Lenin is a charming, tradgicomedy (sh*t!) which manages the perfect balance of funny moments and sadder moments.

 

Watch it! I'm serious!

 

Trailer:

  

 

Film Flare's Film Diary 2013/37

Hello and welcome everyone.

 

If you have a halfway passing interest in these inconsequential series of words, then you may have realised that there was a 500 word gap last Monday where a blog entry should have been. Truth is I was suffering from a 'technical issue' that meant I could neither write nor upload anything to this platform.

However, my gnarled, withered fingers are coiled about each other so I am technically crossing my fingers that such issues won't take hold here.

 

So the last few weeks have mostly been dominated by a 3 episode miniseries. Seeing as each episode is a good 3 hours long, I've decided to class it as a film series. It also helps that I quite enjoyed them.

 

Let's go.

 

The Millennium Series (2010) 

-The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

It's odd. I don't know what it is about the Scandinavians and their crime fiction. Certainly Steig Larsson's Millennium trilogy is a well known, well read series of books dealing primarily with the character of Lisbeth Salander. The Swedish title for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo translates as Men Who Hate Women, a theme that strongly appears in this gritty and visual crime film.

 

The film is a tightly directed version of the unevenly paced novel. The pacing of the film seems to slip quite dramatically from revelation upon revelation to stagnant periods where not much happens to further either the characters or the plot. It certainly looks amazing, the landscape is visually stunning and the sense of isolation of this community is well realised. What also looks great are the characters themselves.

 

I usually try not to remark on how the characters but certainly Michael Nyqvist has a perfect look as a weathered journalist. He is not a 'pretty' man, he has a handsome quality to him and a well rounded personality but he's not a hero. He is more moral and sympathetic than almost any other character on the screen but he goes through some rough times and his face is able to show almost every line and wrinkle. But he pales in significance to the real star of the show: Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander.

She isn't nice enough to be sympathetic on that level, she's not nasty enough to be a piece of shit. She is a tiny built, chain smoking, bi-sexual, gothic, intelligent, headstrong character who relies on herself and very few other people.  She is a truly interesting character and certainly her story arc in the film contains most of the gritter moments. It isn't a nice story and her revenge against several people who do her wrong is not nice to watch but it's grisly and unmissable. Certainly, for a character as interesting as her to fill the screen, it is odd that she actually has very little to do with the main plot until halfway through.

 

 The actual plot of the film awkwardly introduces ANOTHER mystery halfway through, which, on top of the main mystery doesn't make too much sense. However, the ending of this second mystery is the one that satisfies. I found the same outcome with the novel which I guess makes sense but the ending of the book feels a bit of a cop out and not a truly satisfying ending to what was a compelling mystery.

 

However, this is a gritty and compelling crime film and sets up extremely well developed and written characters for the later instalments in the series.

 

Trailer:

 

-The Girl Who Played with Fire 

Certainly after the events of the last film were nicely wrapped up within the 3 hour running time, this expansion of the character of Lisbeth Salander and the new perils she finds herself in is as compelling as the first part of the series.

The tone shifts more this time from fascism and misogyny towards bureaucratic corruption and institutional misogyny. Certainly this film involves the Swedish police as well as government and both institutions contains deeply nasty people, some of them have a kind of ingrained sexism which, if nothing else, conflicts against the women working in the same offices, let alone the alternative character of Lisbeth Salander.

 

Certainly, the character of Lisbeth is expanded here with more detail of her young life as well as her family horrifying the viewers. In fact, the ties to family seem a little forced in the film. It's just so happens that various family members are important, that is why x and y and z. It's a little convenient. Mikael Blomkvist is once again involved in horrible goings on when some journalists investigating the sex trade are murdered.

The relationship between Blomkvist and Salander is much more interesting this time around. Initially, Blomkvist worries about Salander as some kind of parent would but as the events of the film proceed, it is obvious that there is still a distance between the two which is quite a fresh difference from the norm.

 

However, the main highlight of the film for me comes from Lisbeth's drive for revenge. It is different from the kind of the revenge she gains against Bjurman in the previous film but Noomi Rapace has a fantastic steel edge that really means that Salander comes across as utterly driven and devoted and much stronger than her build would suggest.

 

However, the plot is the weaker point and the film ends far too suddenly. Whilst it does set up the third part of the series nicely, it's frustrating to not see a proper climax to the events.

This has a difference in tone which may surprise those who really enjoyed Dragon Tattoo but the characters are no less enthralling.

 

Trailer: 

 

 

-The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

And so we reach the final part of the trilogy. 

Following straight on from Played With Fire, this film deals much more with conspiracy and an attempt to prove Salander's insanity so she can be committed again. 

There are moments during this part of the series which are among the best out of the whole trilogy, however, as the trial starts and continues, it slowly loses steam and whilst it ends in a satisfactory way, it doesn't quite have the 'bang' you'd hope for.

 

The start of the film is incredible, dealing directly with the end of the previous film in a way that you wish there was an extra 30 minutes at the end of Playing With Fire. However, the ongoing saga with the police, various government institutions and the journalists themselves intertwine and there's conspiracy, assassination attempts.

 

Certainly, the main characters are every bit as engaging as you'd hope. Again Rapace and Nyqvist are on top form here. There are many peripheral characters given larger roles and it helps drag along the thin story until the trial begins.

It's a shame that the big showdown of many characters is in a courtroom because Salander herself remains so quiet. It's almost always been her driven, albeit, illegal activities that thrill but here she remains quite whilst a lawyer talks most of the time. She's there giving information which you yourself have managed to piece together over the last seven and a half hours but can do nothing too excessive, although it's obvious that she wants to.

It's odd that for a character written as free as Lisbeth Salander, that her biggest moment comes in a court room. After the trial, there is revenge of a more physical kind against a character who escaped at the end of Fire but it's not the slimy pieces of shit that you hate in their first scenes.

 

It's not a bad end to the trilogy at all but it seems oddly muted.

However, all three instalments of the Millennium series are full of drama, emotion and suspense. It's not the best crime fiction around but I would argue that it is certainly better than most.

 

Trailer:

  

 

 

 

Phew.

Next week it's 'Goodbye Lenin' and 'Thelma and Louise'.

Until then, goodbye.

Film Flare's Film Diary 2013/36

In the name of the sun goddess, let us dance about the maypole and offer bountiful sacrifice that there is another fire hot edition of Film Flare Film Diary.

 

Oh, I saw The Wicker Man this week. The original 1973 version. At the Arts Picturehouse that they're looking at closing. Sacrilege!

 

Oh and if any of you read The Wicker Man and thought of Nicolas Cage rather than Clive Woodward then please find the nearest beehive and pour the angry swarm over your head, screaming "Not the bees. Blarg blarg rarg-a-blarg!"

Not Pictured: Apples

 

The Wicker Man (1973)

Still one of the creepiest and most unsettling films I have scene, Anthony Shaffer's tight screenplay and Robin Hardy's claustrophobic and visual direction take an already unsettling idea and form a near nightmarish film.

The clash between the strict Catholic values of Sgt. Howie (Clive Woodward) and the much more liberal, extreme Pagan views talked about by Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee at his very best) is what I still find most interesting about the film. But much more than a simple clash of cultures. The strict Catholic code of the policeman end up forming the reasons he's sent to the island to search for Rowan Morrison.

The film's greatest triumph though is making the whole film uniquely unsettling. From the moment he lands on the island, it's not just the misleading and lies that unsettle. It's the framing of people singing or the use of percussion to mimic heartbeat and sex. It's the (almost biblical) temptation of Howie in the now infamous scene with Britt Ekland. Towards the end of the film, the film gets more tense and it ends in a scene which has not lost a single iota of power even after 40 years. When Howie first sees the wicker man itself, it's goosebumps o'clock. Without fail. No matter how many times I've seen the film and knowing how it ends, the film still shocks.

So it's a horror film in the truest sense of it creating a sense of horror. It's not a horror film that scares throughout, it unsettles. It's quieter than the sudden noise jumping shock you expect from horror films these days. It's more measured than that. The pacing the of the film betrays that it's in no hurry to get to scaring you. The film is more than happy to take it's time to get you involved and then to ratchet up the tension, ending with something more terrifying than 99% of horror films could imagine. 

With the great script and the scene stealing performance from Christopher Lee, it's perhaps surprising that the best performance in the film goes to Clive Woodward. His Sgt. Howie is so nuanced and you can see him grating subtly and not-so-subtly with everyone he meets and the attempts to obstruct his investigations give rise to him taking more extreme actions. In addition to this, you have his incredulous reactions to so many of the Pagan teachings, it's outrage. It's a fantastic performance that even though he is the 'hero' of the piece, he has flaws that other characters are more than willing to take advantage of. 

 

So this film is without a doubt a landmark of British cinema. It's a perfect example of using direction, misdirection and a great script to create a palpable sense of tension. By the time the film ends, everyone in the cinema just sits there, utterly drained. It's a triumph.

 

Trailer:

(The trailer for this film contains too many spoilers which will ruin the film if you haven't seen it. If you want to watch the trailer, it's on Youtube.

 

 

See you next time.

Film Flare's Film Diary 2013/35

Evening everyone,

Although I do not have a driving license and am officially (and legally) incompetent, I do have a rather large fond spot for films involving cars.

...and stupidly hench men beating the shit out of each other.

Can you guess what it is yet?

 

Fast and Furious 6 (2013)

After the series high of Fast Five, director Justin Lin returns with the full continent of Fast and Furious crew to bring another seriously high octane action film to our screens.

 

This film doesn't quite hit the surprising heights of Fast Five but it's still a very enjoyable action film but it does stretch the limits of credibility of a film franchise not known for its subtle actions. The film wisely moves away from the colourful world of Brazil to the bright world of the Canary Islands and the endlessly cool streets of London.

 

The acting is once again made up of several things:

1) Gravel-voiced mumbles during emotional scenes. Hint: Vin Diesel is superb at this.

2) Evil British accents. (boo hiss!)

 3) Long, lingering stares.

 

To be fair, new villain Luke Evans is a great character. An ex-SAS soldier who has scenes which actually make him quite varied and interesting but towards the end, his actions just descend towards 'token evil man'. The idea of honour and family is mentioned quite a few times but provides a nice contrast between what makes Dom and his crew different from Owen Shaw and his crew. The crew of peripheral characters have a charm to them and there isn't quite the grotesque pornography of anything female that appears in previous instalments. Overall, the story has a nicely low key feel to it after the $100 million heist of Fast Five. The main draw being the emotional attachment Dom has to a character called Letty.

What surprises most about the plot of the film is how it draws on literally all the previous films in the series. It's like Saw, I'm not even joking. The film's opening credits give a brief run down of the plot and major players so far but similar to Fast Five, you have characters who appear in Fast and Furious, 2Fast2Furious and Tokyo Drift. They're all built up over the previous film and I certainly appreciated it more having certainly watched Fast Five. The end of the film leads really really nicely into the events of Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift (the 3rd in the series, although the 6th chronologically) with the introduction of the villain for the upcoming Fast and Furious 7, WHO IS MOTHERFUCKING JASON STATHAM! Ahem! sorry, got a little excited.

 

 The action though is the main draw and it is awesome. Whilst the main action scene from the trailers involves a tank, it was actually for me the weakest action scene. The final action of the film involves the longest runway in the world and Justin Lin has utterly nailed down how to do good action scenes. They're not only utterly incredible, they feature superb stunt work and they have a visual style to them so you're always aware of where things are in relation to each other. It's quite stunning, especially when several action scenes involve six of seven cars in one go.

My personal favourite action scene is a multiple car chase through the empty-ish streets of London and it is so, so cool to see the streets of London become a low gravity, action playground. Again, the chase is thrilling, varied and has you able to follow everything as it happens. Whilst not matching the sheer inventiveness of the train heist or safe scene from Fast Five, director Lin has certainly placed himself near the top of the pile for action scenes.

 

 All in all, this film satisfies every urge I could want for an action packed film. The idea of losing the 'street racing' angle works because suddenly the film isn't too technical or dense with the cars to put people off. Add in there a dash of sentimentality and a nice family angle and you have one good film.

 

Trailer:

  

Film Flare's Film Diary 2013/34

Evening everyone.

I've only seen one film this week that I've not seen before, and it's proper unusual.

 

The Skin I Live In (2011)

Directed by legendary Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, this film was fantastic to watch for several reasons. Firstly, it is quite different in tone to any other Almodovar film I've seen so far. Secondly, it cements in my mind Antonio Banderas as a brilliant dramatic lead rather than a brilliant action lead as he appears in Desperado. Thirdly, it's creepier than Creepy the creepy crawly creeping over a wall of creeps.

Firstly, the similarities I assumed it shared with french film Les Yeux Sans Visage based on the use of skin and masks are thankfully absent.

 

Instead the film tells a story full of the typical intense character drama you'd come to expect from Almodovar film. The families broken by tragedy and the study of gender and transgender roles comes through in this film. Antonio Banderas is almost as good as someone like Cary Grant in a Hitchcock role or Sean Connery as James Bond, it's a suave and cool performance but with a dangerous edge and a chilling level of determination. The plot is such that I don't want to reveal too many details but needless to say, there are twists I didn't see coming.

Apart from Antonio Banderas, the other cast member who really stands out is Elena Anaya as Vera. Apart from a stunning beauty, there is an understated physicality to the role I almost didn't notice until more of the plot had been revealed. It's a stunningly played role that really brings out a strength of character with very little dialogue.

It's here also that Almodovar's brilliant direction also comes through. The film looks amazing, the scenes have a brilliant mix of cold metals and plastic whilst filling several scenes with intense and searing colour. The character of Vera is shot to look like some kind of mannequin which really adds to the character in many ways. Again, there is fantastic direction with several scenes which give Antonio Banderas a genuine menace and create a superior sense of tension. The film is also without doubt a thriller, I would argue a psychological thriller because much of the tension and suspense is created through simply exploring the minds of the characters and once you see how driven they are, the disturbing actions seem plausible. It's quite a horrific film in places but without a single scare in the film, it's just tension and atmosphere.

 

I thought it was one of those rare films that seek to unsettle you rather than have you leaping behind the sofa. It does this admirably.

 

Trailer:

  

Rush Film review

Hello everyone.

I saw Rush. Here is what I thought about it.

 

 

I thought it was really good.

I had little interest in Formula 1 but the winning strength of the film is that the Formula 1 aspect of it doesn't really play a huge part. It is an important part of the story because of the danger, the thrill and the politics that takes place in the film but the core of the film lies in the rivalry between two men, both very different.

There is some archival footage of James Hunt and Niki Lauda played right towards the end of the film and suddenly you are made aware of how similar the actors look to their real life counterparts. Daniel Bruhl is the real revelation here because I've not seen him in a leading role much before and he utterly nails the mannerisms and character. Niki Lauda comes across as a hugely driven, arrogant and talented man who manages to cross paths with so many people. It's testament to the well written script that his character isn't too unpleasant to put the viewers off. Chris Hemsworth has an easier job because James Hunt is the classic playboy with the heart type character. He doesn't need to try too hard to make himself the funnier, more laid back and easy to love of the two characters. 

 

The central story of the film is the 1976 Formula 1 season and the culmination of the rivalry between the two drivers. The film itself covers a far longer period of how they both meets and the frequent clashes the two had on and off the track. I've heard that in real life, the two were far closer friends but the film tends to portray the rivalry as a fierce one. The main scene of the film for me is where a crash occurs (won't say who, don't wiki it either!) and the films really becomes more interesting as the incredible recovery and character of the driver is almost too incredible to believe.

 

The direction is top notch. Ron Howard has a history of nice looking films with Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind and Frost/Nixon. Rush is no exception. Firstly, the film looks fantastic. The authenticity of the 70s is amazing and the vibrant colours of the cars and the racing perfectly offset the slightly more brown world off the track. The racing scenes are also exceptionally well done. They are tense and tight and give off the sense of danger, especially a later race in the rain. The intensity is mainly due to the characters though. The racing scenes are never as 'action packed' as many other race scenes can be but they look painfully realistic, with exceptional detail given to the cars and the pit lanes too.

The script crackles along too at a fair old pace, each character has deep flaws but enough charm, charisma and personality to have the audience rooting for them and not being around to know how the Formula 1 season ended in 1976 meant that the final few races were actually shocking and surprising.

If there is one flaw of the film I had, it was that there was a scene towards the end in an aircraft hanger that just felt a little bit too convenient, that it had to be put in there to have the main character talking one last time before the credits rolled. It wasn't a bad scene at all, but it felt a tiny bit forced.

 

However, the film is a thrilling character study of a very interesting season of a very interesting sport. The racing scenes are incredibly well done but naturally play second fiddle to Daniel Bruhl and Chris Hemsworth doing really good work at playing their characters with a great script with great direction.

 

Great!

Trailer (complete with dubstep!):

 

  

Film Flare's Film Diary 2013/33

She weighed nothing in my arms. I sat down on the couch and held her close. She tried to get out of my grip when I told her that Sugar Joe was heading for the cells. I held her tightly and she soon settled down,

"Why didn't you kill him like I asked?" she breathed at me.

I looked at her gently,

"I told him and I'll tell you. I don't kill people anymore. You're a doll but I'm not like that any more."

She fell quiet so leant in and kissed her. I told her he wasn't going to get out anytime soon. 

I let her go and left. The D.A was waiting in a car downstairs and I didnt' want to keep him waiting, I may have a case for me.

 

Oh! It's the last noir review of the week and this week, I'm stumbling blindly into neo-noir with:

 

L.A Confidential (1997)

 

Directed by Curtis Hanson, this film is based on the complex James Ellroy novel of the same name. The novel is actually surprisingly different in many of the plot points although the film retains many of the themes, scenes and elements of the novel.

 

One of the main differences between L.A. Confidential and the previous film noir films reviewed this week is that this film explores with far more detail the psychology of the main characters themselves, not just their history but their minds, emotions and psychological profiles. Whilst the three main characters initially appear to be three 'stock' type characters, they grow, mature and change over the course of the film. Certainly, most of the anti hero characters in the noir films end the film very similar to how they were when the film started. They may have been beaten up, or solved a crime, or witnessed murders but they don't really change from hardboiled Private Eye or whatever.

It's certainly one of the most noticeable differences between this film and the previous noir films.

 

This film also makes fantastic use of colour, something the films from the 40s of course didn't have access to.  The film drips with bright colours, when coupled with the fantastic set design gives the film an incredible look. In the middle of this, you have a cast that is picked to perfection. Guy Pierce is perfect as the uptight and cold career man who slowly gets more tough and cynical. Kevin Spacey is cool, suave and debonair, the closest to the classic film noir characters in this film. Russell Crowe is a beast of a man, his physical presence is outstanding and he works well off the other leads. The peripheral characters work well too, Kim Basinger is sultry, mysterious and intelligent in her role. 

 

The film has so many classic elements of noir films, the mood and characters could have jumped straight into the black and white frames. It's the more mature, violent and psychological elements that lift it from that genre.

By itself though, you have an incredibly well written and directed film which is cast to perfection and treats you like an adult to present a complex and mature crime story. One of my all time favourites.

 

So over the weekend, I'll be talking about the Hayes Code (as previously mentioned) and it's influence on the noir films covered this week.

 

By the way, here's the L.A. Confidential trailer:

 

Film Flare's Film Diary 2013/32

She was right, he was huge. Sugar Joe was an Everest of a man, all sinew and scar tissue. His wild hair and broad jaw made him look like a heavyweight boxer who dabbled as a mad scientist. His eyes were dull and made him look stupid, he opened his mouth and confirmed the fact.

"Gen'rel sent you?"

I shook my head and smiled,

"No dice Joe. Shirley sent me."

He took a while to process that,

"Shirley?"

"That's right. She doesn't want to dance with you anymore."

The way he flexed his knuckles made me shiver,

"It ain't for you t'interfere, gorgeous!" He moved towards me.

My gun was out of my jacket pocked faster than he could spit. Even a man this dim knew to stop dead when faced with a piece this size. Joe was no different.

"Take a seat Joe." I gestured with the gun, "She wants me to put the big sleep on you Joe, she wants me to kill you. You understand? But I don't do that anymore, I've got enough sins on me that one more is something I don't need."

Joe was about to ask what I was going to do, he never finished the question but I could see the question form in his head as clear as if he spoke it himself. There was a knock at the door.

I let the police in and they took him away in handcuffs. I put the gun back in my pocket.

 

Entry number 4!

Hope you're still having fun.

 

The Big Sleep (1946)

 

 

Now this is the classic film noir.

Much like yesterday's Murder, My Sweet, this film is based on a Raymond Chandler novel of the same name and stars the amazing Humphrey Bogart. The film is directed by the legendary Howard Hawks.

It shows, the film is a sumptuous piece of cinematic gold of such quality that it stands up today as being a gritty, dangerous and smooth piece of cinema. Much of the smooth element comes from Bogart himself, who is as cool as a cucumber in an ice bath. Unlike Dick Powell's 'rough around the edges' Marlowe, Bogart is almost unbelievably cool. He's too cool for the film and its flawed characters to handle, the character of Marlowe is flawed here but he remains so magnetic that any scene without him is worse off. He appears in the vast majority of the film is every move, every line is delivered in such a classic way that this ens up being one of the easiest films to quote from, it just sounds great.

Lauren Bacall is a furious piece of female here, capable, intelligent and witty. The charisma between her and Bogart is fantastic, the script and the scenes between the two of them are fast, slick and witty with crackling electricity.

 

The story itself differs in some cases from the far more confusing novel (mainly thanks to the Hayes code again) but the plot in this case is a bit easier to follow. It's still pretty confusing if you're not paying attention as Marlowe finds himself in quite a web of criminal activity. The ending of the film is much more satisfying than the previous noir films I've covered this week because the consequences of the actions during the film are explored a little more rather than the ending coming so abruptly.

 

This film is a stone cold classic. The quintessential noir film and it's not hard to see why.

 

Trailer:

  

 

Film Flare's Film Diary 2013/30

The guy knew where Sugar Joe was holed up, I could see it.

He was playing tough so I tapped him on the jaw with the business end of my Colt. The guy sat back in the chair in a second, guess he was a tough guy after all. I asked him again, he told me to go spit. Another harder tap with the barrel on his jaw threw his head to the side and threw his rebellion out of the window into the street.

"The Yacht Club you son of a bitch. He's bein' kept at the Yacht Club."

"Who's got him?"

 "General Price. The old man's got a keen eye for muscle and Sugar Joe fits alright."

 

Welcome to the second entry for Film Flare's Film Noir week. After the treasonous shenanigans of last night's This Gun For Hire, we move on to:

 

The Glass Key (1942)

 

 Oh look! It's Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd again.

 

This time they are starring in a film directed by Stuart Heisler, based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett. 

A tightly directed knot of betrayal, political intrigue and noirish murder. The film is a much more fleshed out film than This Gun For Hire which better uses the talents of Lake and Ladd far better.

After the grizzled anti-hero of Raven, it's nice to see Alan Ladd play a much more rounded, sympathetic character as Ed Beaumont. The character has his flaws (as is natural for a noir film), mainly his association and friendship with crooked polical man Paul Madvig (Brian Donley). Veronica Lake plays the daughter of a candidate for governor who is attracted to the enigmatic Beaumont.

The film is thrilling, gripping, and pretty brutal at times. Some parts of the film seem almost unseasonably violent, especially considering the influence of the Hayes Code on films in general of the era (this topic I'll discuss further over the weekend). 

The script crackles with quick quips, funny remarks and makes each character either hard but sympathetic as in the case of Ladd's character, or smart and enigmatic in the case of Lake's character. In other cases, some characters of the gangsters are cold and violent whilst others are charming. Each character has their own personality and the plot whips along at a fair pace but never really confuses even though there are quite a few characters and threads of the plot to concentrate on.

 

As the film goes on it gets nastier and more desperate, both in terms of the actions on screen but also the direction gets more rapid and the score moves into faster tempo and you are carried along the way. The film moves quickly towards the final third act at a breakneck pace and it's only really here that the plot points of the film start to falter. Whilst the plot makes perfect sense, a lot of the motivations don't quite satisfy considering how well the plot is told.

 

Certainly the film looks incredible, it's not quite a hauntingly black and white as This Gun For Hire but the film as a whole has a sumptous, vivid look to it that really works well. The scope of the film also works really well, the indoor sets and well as the outdoor scenes never overwhelm the senses and certainly there's nothing as pretty as the railyard scene from This Gun For Hire.

All in all, when the film ends it's a little abrupt but you end up satisfied.

A really good film.

 

Trailer:

  

Film Flare's Film Diary 2013/29

The night was dark, as dark as it gets.

Piercing the veil were the far off distant lights of San Francisco. I didn't have the stomach for a night on the town but after sampling the office bottle, I hit the bars looking for trouble.

I soon found it.

Her skin was as pale as an Alaskan snowflake and her eyes cut through you like a slug from a .45. She knew all the right words and the all the right movements, like a perfected routine, it was only a matter of time before she made me kill again.

 

Oh hello everyone!

I thought I'd introduce this FFFD with some original prose because this week it's been all about FILM NOIR.

Yes! The hard looking, fast talking, well dressed men and the seductive, dangerous femme fatales have been my bread and butter this week, and I'm most satisfied.

I am so satisfied in fact, that I'm planning a run of five noir films over five days for my first ever FFFD week long entry, sort of. 

We start this entry with:

 

This Gun For Hire (1942)

 

 Goddam! Look at that poster!

Although he only receives fourth billing for this film, the true star and main character of this film is really Alan Ladd and his character Raven. 

For starters, apart from Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake, the rest of the cast are more or less peripheral characters. The two billed actors of Robert Preston as the LAPD officer and Laird Cregar as the two timing businessman. Veronica Lake plays a magic performer who is in a relationship with the LAPD officer but partly falls for Todd's Raven character.

Certainly the Raven character is initially a hard one to love. The film starts and he's killed some people in cold blood and slapped a cleaner about for shooing away a cat, as you do. But his intial business with double crossing Willard Gates (Gregar) set ups a stirling revenge story where Raven finds his payment was paid with stolen money to set up his arrest.

The rest of the film is a perfect noir story as the moral but cruel man is driven by revenge against the man who did him wrong and finds a woman who falls for him and helps him on his quest.

Certainly, like most noir, the film looks incredible, the black and white German Expressionist type framing and colouring sticks in the mind and the film graces both glamerous clubs and grotty drain pipes.

 

The film doesn't make the most sense and throws in story lines regarding the Japanese and treason which is seemingly written in to make the anti-hero's motives not simply just emotion in nature, but also that he's doing the country a favour.  

The film ends FAR too soon after the climax without really trying to explain how the character and the events have influenced the narrative, which is a shame really. The film was a really stylish, cold film noir before the ending just cuts into the moment where you really hope it wouldn't. Director Frank Tuttle has until this point put no foot wrong in showing us the story. There are incredibly subtle and tense scenes as well as the typical quieter moments between the anti hero and the femme fatale, which crackle in this film thanks to the acting of Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd.

An enjoyable film:

 

  

 

Tomorrow there will be another film review (The Glass Key) as well as more original FFFD film noir prose. Look forward to it!