Black Balloon

Another film that I saw coming attractions for (from the DVD of Captain Abu Raed), and interloaned. A family moves to a new neighborhood; the father is in the armed forces, his wife is heavily pregnant, and they have two grown sons: Charlie, who is autistic, and Thomas, 15, who is charged with caring for his older brother. There is some excellent acting, especially, I thought, by Luke Ford, who plays Charlie. Autism is shown is its different parts: Charlie's behavior, its effects in his family, the ignorance of others. Quite well done, though the ending was a bit weak.

Harvest (2010)

A gem of a film. Three generations gather for the patriarch's last summer: he is dying of cancer, and it is the last chance for all to be together. Well, almost all: one son, who lives locally, is waiting for his father to apologize for some past transgression, and even his approaching death does little to end the anger. The other son is something of a manipulative passive-aggressive jerk, and manipulates his father into changing his will. It is the daughter who cares for their dying father and Alzheimer's riddled mother.

Great acting, really, and something of a gritty camera work make the movie unusual. This review from May 2010 captures it well: In a just world, Harvest would be getting a wide release alongside of, if not necessarily instead of, Thor. Writer-director Marc Meyers's sophomore feature is an astonishingly confident work that avoids nearly all the pitfalls of contemporary independent cinema, flirting with cloying treacle in only the handful of moments the film employs a borderline-cliché alt-rock soundtrack. The rest of the film is sterling, its modest strengths amplified by a finely tuned creative process that never overexerts its ambitions or condescends to its subjects: three generations' worth of family living together during their cancer-stricken patriarch's last summer.

Descendants

A.O. Scott of the NY Times reviewed it two weeks ago: The emotional trajectory of “The Descendants” is familiar enough. It is about the fracturing and healing that take place within families. Matt needs to bond with his children, make peace with his wife and deal with the pesky politics of entitled cousins. As he works his way through these challenges and others, including a confrontation with his wife’s lover (Matthew Lillard), a lively and complicated mesh of plots and subplots takes shape, but the most striking and satisfying aspects of “The Descendants” are its unhurried pace and loose, wandering structure.

It does move at a leisurely pace, without dragging, not hurrying the action to fit a preconception.

 To call “The Descendants” perfect would be a kind of insult, a betrayal of its commitment to, and celebration of, human imperfection. Its flaws are impossible to distinguish from its pleasures. For example: after what feels as if it should be the final scene, a poignant, quiet tableau of emotional resolution and apt visual beauty, Mr. Payne adds another, a prosaic coda to a flight of poetry. Without saying too much or spoiling the mood, I will say that I was grateful for this extra minute, a small gift at the end of a film that understands, in every way, how hard it can be to say goodbye. 

“The Descendants” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Bad language, impossible situations.


In the New Yorker, Anthony Lane makes a comparison to From here to Eternity, and ends his review with a nice twist of that line, in assessing that closing scene. Death, which has loomed ahead throughout, begins to drift away behind them, and the film completes its journey: from eternity to here. ♦

 From left, George Clooney, Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller in "The Descendants." More Photos »

Fox Searchlight

The young actors did great work. Sid is a stoner, yet has an additional dimension that some people miss: he is not a boyfriend in the romantic sense, but simply a friend who is a boy, a young man; what he shares with Alexandra is a sublime friendship, an abiding loyalty.

Very enjoyable.

Yasujirō Ozu

From reading The elegance of the hedgehog, I became aware of this Japanese film maker. Luckily, the library where I work owns 3 of Ozu's films on DVD. I have watched three of them over the past week. Aside from enjoying them, I noticed a few details about each, and all, that simply stood out. Ozu's films are different than just about any other film I can think of: the camera work is completely different, and that makes the films different than, say, Hitchcock.

My tendency and habit are to become emotionally involved with the film (otherwise, I turn it off), so evaluating one critically is not something I do well. Yet with Ozu's films I found myself seeing some aspects without trying: they just appeared clear to me.

The camera looks at a room, at a space, before a character enters, and remains after the character leaves. Thus space is assigned its own worth, given its own respect, as Renée Michel might have said (if, perhaps, more eloquently). Women's roles are clearly in transition in the three films that I saw: while embracing the traditional, they are redefining their roles. And the war looms as a major factor, of course, though it is never overdone.

On searching Ozu's name in the web, I found a website devoted to his films (or, rather to Ozu himself, his films being an aspect of the site. In fact, the site is about film, and Ozu is simply one part thereof). Of course, there are others; one is Senses of Cinema.

Late spring 1949. A father and daughter live together in apparent happiness. Somiya is a college professor; Noriko is an office worker. In her twenties, she is unmarried, and that soon becomes an issue (for everyone but her; she is content with her life). The professor's sister presses him to have his daughter marry, and busies herself finding a suitable match. At first the professor is content, but soon realizes that if he himself does not press Noriko to marry she might wind up with an unfulfilled life. He and his sister concoct a scheme, wherein he pretends to be planning to marry, as a way to pressure Noriko. Aghast that her father is planning to remarry, she gives in, and marries. In a wrenching final scene, the professor peels a pear, wan, resigned, poignant.

One fascinating aspect of this film if the professor's reluctance to pressure his daughter to conform to traditional expectations and roles. He's happy living with her, having her take care of him. Yet he is pressured by those around him, and sacrifices for her future good. Divorce seemed to be casually mentioned, and I wondered when divorce became an acceptable topic to mention in Hollywood films (I think of Lucy and Ricky sleeping in separate beds in the 1950s, as an example of different mores).

The camera work was stunning. I could not remember ever having seen a camera dwell on a room without a being in it. I've read that one criticism of Ozu is that his camera is always mere inches off the ground, but that seems absurd, though not entirely an inaccurate comment.

The two main actors in this film, and others of Ozu, were Hara Setsuko and Chishu Ryu.

A posting by Peter Bradshaw on Wednesday 16 June 2010 in the Guardian celebrates the 90th birthday of Setsuko Hara.

AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON

Sanma no aji

Her best friend, who is divorced and happy to be so, pushes her to marry. Her father's friends, with whom he regularly has restaurant meals that include copious amounts of saké and the more-than-occasional beer, soon begin to press him on why his daughter is unmarried (including one who has remarried).  on seeing his former teacher living with his old, unmarried daughter,

Escape from Amsterdam

Sherwood, Barrie. (2008). Escape from Amsterdam. New York : Thomas Dunne Books.

After reading Housekeeper and the Professor, and Elegance of the hedgehog, watching Ozu films as a result therefrom, I yearned for more Japanese. This book seemed in keeping with that theme, yet offering a slightly different take.

Started out fine: a young man deep in debt is informed by his father that he and his sister have inherited prints and other assets from a deceased aunt that could results in vast sums of yen for them. Seeing his ticket out of debt, Aozora goes looking for his sister in southern Japan, where he imagines she is working. They both must appear at the lawyer's office for the inheritance to go to them.

As he travels south, Japan does emerge as a character in this novel, and the narrative moves along nicely. Mai's phone is being used by another woman, and her cryptic answers draw Aozoa south. But as he arrives at Amsterdam, a theme park that promises all the pleasures tourists might want, from parades featuring a Princess Michiko look-alike (that is one of two of Mai's jobs) to prostitution, the story weakens. From there is goes on a sort of glide pattern, and although Sherwood tries, he can rescue the book from its two and a half star rating.

La Mission

Watched La Mission last night. Enjoyed it a lot. Some reviewers liked it. Times review panned it; Ebert gave it 2½ stars. I give it 3: powerful acting overcomes some clichéd dialogue; great story; beautiful cars, wonderful music. Rex Reed, whom I did not realize is still around, gives it warm praise and 3 out of 4 eyeballs.

Running with Scissors

Wanted to watch something with Jill Clayburgh acting; she passed away last Saturday. Strange, weird film. Enjoyable, I suppose. In a weird sort of way. Certainly not the run-of-the-mill film.

This entry appears in Clayburgh TCM profile: "Nip/Tuck" creator Ryan Murphy was so impressed with the now character actress that he also tapped her to play the depressed adoptive mother of Augusten Burroughs in his film version of the author's best-selling memoir, "Running with Scissors" (2006) - in which she was often cited as the best thing about the depressing, bizarre film.

You can count on me

Nice film. Enjoyable. IMDb has it being filmed in Phoenicia and Margaretville.

Errors in geography: The film is set in Scottsville, New York, which is in the far west of the state, south of Rochester. However, a sign is seen for NY Rt28, which does not run anywhere near Scottsville. This is because the film was shot in and around Phonecia, New York, through which NY Rt28 runs.

I saw the signs for Route 28 and Route 30, and wondered about the location.