Five Easy Pieces

I’m way behind writing up my thoughts on Five Easy Pieces since I watched it God knows how many months ago, but here goes…I knew very little about the film except for the famous diner scene in which Jack Nicholson’s character Robert Dupea simply wants a piece of toast, but finds there’s no easy way to obtain it:

Going by this scene, I think I had expected a movie high on drama and black comedy, but it’s actually a rather meandering story trailing along after Dupea as he avoids settling down in any way, whether it’s back home with his wealthy artistic family or with his sweet but “trailer trash” girlfriend Rayette (Karen Black).

Dupea with his country star wannabe girlfriend, Rayette.

There’s a cringeful clash of worlds when Rayette follows Dupea back to his family home and dying father, and they are both worlds which Robert now wishes to escape because, as he admits to his now mute father, he’s always “getting away from things that get bad if he stays”. You find yourself piecing together reasons for Dupea’s behaviour and his need to keep moving on in life; certainly there seems to have been tension between himself and his father, who no doubt would have expected his son to pursue his musical gift (it turns out Dupea was a very talented piano player). Then there is the simple fact that there are people in the world who are just not suited to family life, fatherhood or marriage, all of the things that those around Dupea want him to embrace. Those hoping for a nicely wrapped up ending will be disappointed, yet the film surely stays true to Dupea’s character right down the closing credits. Unless he himself decides to put down roots, nobody else is going to make him do so. This is a movie definitely worth a look if only for Nicholson’s great performance. You will be humming Tammy Wynette songs for days afterward however. All together now: “Stand by your man…”

Don’t Look Now

I approached this film with some trepidation, as I had frequently heard it described as a horror film, and as a result I had visions of Omen-like terror looming over me. Don’t Look Now, in fact, turned out to be what I would describe as a tense psychological thriller, horrifying in the way it reminds us of the fragility of the human mental state, so easily manipulated by grief, need and desire. While the principal characters, John and Laura Baxter as played by Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie, attempt to piece their lives back together after the tragic death of their little girl (something which, if you delve into the generous use of symbolism throughout this film, could be seen in Baxter’s piecing together of age-old mosaics), a chance meeting with two old ladies in Venice propels them further into extreme forms of contentment (Laura) and unease (John), when one of them claims to have ‘seen’ their daughter in spirit. It is, however, just the beginning of a string of events which determine the fate of Jack himself, and despite the ladies’ warning to leave Venice, Jack cannot seem to tear himself away from the city.

The most recognisable image from Don’t Look Now, taken from the opening act.

Venice is like a character in itself-and one that is going through troubled times at that. From the ‘Venice in Peril’ sign which hangs outside the church that Jack is helping to restore, to the remote streets described by the psychic lady as a ‘dinner party where all the guests are dead and gone’, Venice is a city closing in on itself, not in the least inviting, yet seeming to trap those already within its walls. I loved the foreboding shots of dank damp alleyways and moss-covered statues, the dizzying POV depictions of buildings taken from the canals below, and the rolling fog creating a noirish feel that lasts to the end. Only once did I notice Venice in a good light and that was when Laura has just left for England, midway through the film, leaving Jack to cross the large open plaza in the early morning light back into a city where open spaces are seemingly far and few between.

As the story develops, we learn that Baxter has psychic powers of his own, even if he is largely unaware of these. He continues to be haunted by visions of his daughter skipping along in her bright red mac-a device well used in a city where almost everything else seems black and white, (you cannot help but think of Schindler’s List and the little girl in the red dress), and yet, these particular visions stem not from a psychic ability but an ironic reality which reveals itself in the final scenes. If you are unaware of this twist, all I can say is, please don’t google the movie title under google images! Without giving too much away, I do believe that the more recent movie, The Others, may have been inspired by this twist (think of the little girl dressed up in her Communion outfit..), but whereas this trickery worked fine in a passable ghost story, Don’t Look Now is a fine film marred slightly by its sudden somewhat out-of-place ending. An ending, which, I felt, did not sit well within the film as a whole. What does truly merit it a viewing , however, is the terrific pacing, editing and overall style of this film (and that includes Julie Christie’s smart dress sense!)

I’m glad I’ve faced the unnecessary fear and watched this..another one off the list of shame. It’s certainly worth the watch, although, as a friend mentioned to me earlier, possibly not with your parents. Really…there definitely is a whole ten minutes where you wouldn’t know where to look.

-Gemma

Glengarry Glen Ross

I’m tentatively getting the ball rolling here, having just watched Glengarry Glen Ross, and then proudly scratched it off my list of shame. Many years ago, somebody told me that Glengarry Glen Ross was a great film, and I immediately had visions of a drama set high in the Scottish highlands like some Scots version of The Quite Man. Obviously my knowledge of theatre was fairly non-existent back then, because this film is, of course, based on the play by David Mamet, is set in New York, and depicts the desperation of real estate salesmen, scrabbling for good leads, and more than willing to stab each other in the back in the process.

There’s a cast here that needs no introduction: Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Kevin Spacey, Alec Baldwin..and Johnathon Pryce pops up too.The acting cannot be criticised, but what amazed me most was Jack Lemmon’s performance in the role of Shelley Levene. Pacino is great, but Lemmon is in a league of his own..in a fleeting moment you can see so many emotion pass over his face. One minute I was disgusted by him, the next I was sympathetic. Having only ever really seen him in The Odd Couple and The Apartment, I’d forgotten what a great actor he was.

I’m guessing that some films on my list may be slightly heavy going-perhaps this is why I failed to include 2001-A Space Odyssey. Glengarry Glen Ross, however, was a pleasant surprise-it was a drama the likes of 12 Angry Men, in the way that it was obviously adapted from a play, but yet thanks to strong cast was successfully translated from stage to screen. There’s not much to like in any of these characters, they are the personifications of greed and deceit, yet there is just enough humanity present to allow us to understand their actions. A carefully placed photo of Shelley’s daughter is all it takes to redeem him somewhat in our eyes.

Certainly one to watch again, Glengarry Glen Ross is now off the list!

Gemma 27/01/2013