Topped my all time personal high-score for 'films watched' today and saw five flicks back to back. Though I went over to Louis and Rachel's to watch the last film on this list, not much else occurred today - so here's five mini reviews of all the films I watched in order of me seeing them.
Ratcatcher (1999)
In which a young boy living in 1970's Glasgow dreams about a better life.
Supposedly in Fight Club David Fincher said he snuck a Starbucks coffee cup into every shot of his film. In Ratcatcher it would be easier to count the shots that didn't feature trash or bin bags. It's a truly filthy setting. The only thing piercing through the squalor is the hope and imagination of a young boy. Lynne Ramsay's work always features an almost poetic filmic language that's a wonder to behold. Shots of rats on the moon and golden fields of wheat are enchanting, capable of distracting you from the sordid slums of Glasgow for just a fleeting moment. The Glaswegian dialect is unbelievably thick here (it makes Trainspotting's dialogue look cuddly) yet despite only really comprehending 50% of the spoken dialogue, I could still feel every spoken word. A remarkable and beautiful film best enjoyed in the wee hours of the morning.
Starship Troopers (1997)
In which a Gung Ho and self-important American Military invade an Alien Planet in response to Pearl Harbor Earth getting attacked.
A cult favourite and I get why. It's a campy sci-fi with dialogue that's deliciously on the nose and features enough gore to keep you thrilled. Watching it though feels like being told a loosely funny joke by someone at a party. You both laugh at the punchline, but then they just keep laughing at their own joke way beyond a socially comfortable standard... All while you stand there and pretend to keep laughing to be polite. I 'got' the joke about 10 minutes in and it never really evolved beyond that, which is a pity because I was expecting something a little more. Special effects and art design still holds up though!
Capernaum (2018)
In which a young boy (Zain) living in Lebanon attempts to sue his parents for giving birth to him.
The set-up makes this one almost sound like a kooky foreign comedy, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Told mostly in flashback, we see the conditions of Zain's family life and how his parents treat him and his siblings - it wouldn't be a spoiler to say that his life isn't peachy. An act of defiance leads Zain to another broken home where hopefully his presence can be a force for good.
The anamorphic look of the film creates the sense that Zain's city is omnipresent and all-consuming. No matter how many buses he gets on he'll never escape his hometown. It's a hopeless, sometimes angry film that evokes Grave of the Fireflies and isn't afraid to cast a light on the grim nature of growing up in the Middle East. Though heartbreaking at times, there thankfully isn't a big emotional score trying to squeeze the tears out of me. Every response and reading I had to each scene felt like my own as a result. That alongside the seamless performances kept me engaged the whole way through.
The Wind (1928)
In which a young woman leaves Virginia to live on a farm where the wind blows eternally.
Seemingly set in the eye of a hurricane, this is a turn of the century fairy-tale from the silent era. I fell in love with the setting almost immediately. The howling winds somehow threaten and beckon toward the cast simultaneously and it's a delight to see the main players become increasingly wind-swept as the drama progresses. Ironically for a silent film, this had some of the best intertitles I've seen, with dialogue presented phonetically to give a greater sense of place. Admittedly though, it kinda lost me in the second half as the focus became less whimsical and more hysterical. The end does deliver a clever idea, then it just ends abruptly and in an unsatisfying way. Though the film has a genuinely unique setting, it never quite marries the merciless wind with the ongoing character drama in a meaningful way.
But there is bushy prospector character called Sourdough, so it gets some points for that.
The Lighthouse (2019)
In which a pair of lighthouse keepers are stationed on a lonely island for longer than they'd like.
Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe both lunge head-first into their roles as disparate seamen. Their performances are shocking and transformative as they spiral towards an electrifying madness that you can't take your eyes off. The film makes expert use of the 4:3 aspect ratio to make you feel just as claustrophobic as the two men- in fact, I could almost swear that the picture got narrower still as the film went on. It's a well-paced psychological thriller that knows exactly when to tighten the screw and when to make you chuckle at the mere insanity of it all. Off the top of my head my only criticism is the film lasted for two shots more than necessary, but otherwise it was a tantalizing watch.
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