10 films: Millennium Actress to Session 9
Millennium Actress (original title: Sennen joyû) (Satoshi Kon, 2001). A TV team interviews an old Japanese actress, and the story consists of flashbacks to her collaboration with a famous director. I like realistic anime, anime films and series that could have been made as regular films, and this is one of them. There’s a lot of neat playful things in the way it blends the flashbacks with present-day events. The main character is based on the real-life actress Setsuko Hara and the way she worked on many films with director Yasujirō Ozu. [7/10]
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (Tom Tykwer, 2006). Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is an olfactory Wunderkind who develops an obsession with capturing smells. The story was good enough, but with silly gimmicks and a drawn out orgy scene at the end that didn’t add much. I haven’t read the book so I can’t compare the film to it. [6/10]
Bullets Over Broadway (Woody Allen, 1994). A struggling scriptwriter/director in New York in the 1920s desperate for getting his play performed has to compromise his artistic vision. A fun Woody Allen comedy with many memorable characters, characters that are stereotypes on theater people. I’ve seen it before, but from watching it again increased my rating from 6 to 8. [8/10]
Babel (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2006). Seemingly unrelated stories from around the world converge in this film on the necessity of communication. All stories are interesting on their own, and the way the film moves back and forth between them makes for an engaging experience. Brad Pitt is always good and in this film his character faces a really bad situation, but the character I empathized with the most was his child keeper played by Adriana Barraza. A very good film. [8/10]
The Illusionist (Neil Burger, 2006). A stage magician uses his tricks off stage to get the woman he wants. I like the actors Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti, and they do one of their usual good performances. The story is good, but not surprising or impressive enough to warrant a top rating. [6/10]
Only Yesterday (original title: Omohide poro poro) (Isao Takahata, 1991). A Japanese woman travels from Tokyo to the countryside and reminisce her childhood. A simple, realistic and engaging anime film. I would like to see more of these non-fantastic animes. The central love story actually works, as well, which is rare. [8/10]
Marie Antoinette (Sofia Coppola, 2006). Queen Marie Antoinette of King Louis XVI lives a sheltered life, but reality creeps up on her and the people revolt. Sofia Coppola has made three really good films, this one included. I like how the modern and the historical is mixed. [8/10]
Klute (Alan J. Pakula, 1971). Private detective John Klute tries to find a missing man, but gets drawn into something big. I’ve heard good things about this film, and Donald Sutherland is good as Klute, but it seemed like the story got lost somewhere during the film. When it ends it’s about something different than in the beginning. [6/10]
The Three Faces of Eve (Nunnally Johnson, 1957). Eve suffers from multiple personality disorder, and her different personalities all have ideas on what she should do with her life. This feels like a pretty accurate depiction of multiple personality disorder, even if it’s hard to tell what is fact and fiction. A good film, and a must-see if you’re interested in deviate behavior. [7/10]
Session 9 (Brad Anderson, 2001). An asbestos cleaning crew working on an old asylum wakes an old evil. So, it’s pretty cool to use shaky hand cameras with a visual style of home videos, because it makes the film seem real, but to convince the audience it’s real the characters need personalities. The film is quite good until the horror clichés start appearing too frequently. [4/10]