From the Vault Reviews: The Third Man (1949)

By Sean McDonnell

Orson Welles moved on from his magnum opus (hint: “Rosebud”) to something completely different from any other film noir I’ve ever seen. The Third Man is a stunning collaboration between the great Welles, director Carol Reed (known for the Oscar winning Oliver!), novelist Graham Greene as the screenwriter and finally...who can forget Anton Karas as the writer and performer of the score? His weapon of choice being the very Austrian zither. This is a film which was way ahead of its time just like the German expressionists of the 20s, Fritz Lang is an obvious auteur with his experimental use of sound in M.

Shadows certainly love to blend with Austrian architecture!

The Third Man concerns an American pulp novelist named Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) who arrives in Allied-occupied Vienna seeking his old friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles) who has offered him a job, only to discover that Lime was killed by a car whilst crossing the street a few days before. The question is...how did Lime really die? This is the question which prompts Martins to investigate into Lime’s business all while the Brits tell him to clear off back to the States and Harry’s girlfriend Anna (Alida Valli) remains suspicious of Martins' actions. Martins soon discovers dark secrets about Lime’s line of work and his death.

Where do I start to emphasize how beautiful this film is? Well, firstly the cinematography by Robert Krasker is possibly one of the best examples of camerawork I’ve ever seen! Krasker frequently uses the Dutch tilt angle technique, whereby the camera is tilted off to one side, offering to the audience Martins' alienation in a foreign environment. The use of this expressionist technique really reminded of the great German horror The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and the unease that it created as much as The Third Man. The performances are also outstanding and should be greatly admired, Cotten and Valli portray two foreigners struggling to survive, one with a desire to discover whilst one has a desire to remain silent. Welles doesn’t enter the film until roughly an hour in, but when he does, it’s probably one of the greatest entrances in all of cinema. I won’t go into detail (my apologies in advance!) but you just have to see it for yourself, there is perfect use of cinematography, mise-en-scene and lighting! It all works so well within that scene, I was simply amazed at how the crew captured the sense of surprise within Cotten’s fantastic performance. Welles of course offers a very sinister yet stunning performance as Lime who reveals much more than one can really handle to the true purpose of his work, if you can call it that! The music by Karas is without question one of the best examples of film scoring because it’s just so simple and fits in with the setting of post-WWII Vienna, offering a jangled sense of desperation which is repeated throughout the film as the theme of Lime. A very pleasing film, The Third Man remains thrilling today as it was 64 years ago and is certainly one of the prime examples of film noir!
 
The Third Man is available in the College Library in a 1 disc edition format, it has a PG certificate.

Sean McDonnell is on Twitter, you can follow him @seanmcdonnell_. 

Sean also has his own blog, which you can find here.

Quote of the Week Review: Infernal Affairs (2002)

By Thomas Broome-Jones

"I can't finish the novel, I don't know whether he's good or bad" 

The film that was remade into Martin Scorsese's Academy Award-winning 2006 crime thriller The Departed, Infernal Affairs is a tightly-edited, strongly-written masterpiece of kinetic storytelling.
The story concerns a cop who is sent undercover in the Triads and a Triad who is sent undercover in the cops, both organizations find out they have moles and each mole is tasked with the job of finding the other. Their paths will cross at key points in the film and add an extra layer of tension in situations where the audience will know the truth but the characters will not.

Where loyalties lie: Which one of these is the bad guy?

The editing in this film is incredible, it leaves a trail-blaze of energy as the film bursts through the narrative, hitting you with blow after blow and twist after twist. This contains all of the high production standards that you would expect from an American thriller, but the fresh insight into another nation's police force and criminal underworld is welcoming. Gone are the old tropes of watching New York's finest trying to take down the mob, no, this is Hong Kong police vs Triads, two groups whose methods differ hugely from their American counterparts.

Human morality plays a key part in this film as both main characters will have their loyalty put to the ultimate test and you will sometimes forget they're moles and will unwillingly root for the bad guy. I preferred the acting in this film when compared to The Departed, whilst I did love Leonardo DiCaprio I never really bought into Matt Damon as an Irish mobster, probably because he had a pretty unconvincing accent. All of the key scenes from The Departed are present but in a different order and the pacing is much quicker, likely due to the film's shorter run-time.

There was a distinct lack of character development in this film and The Departed very much handled the character relationships more effectively. But 'The Departed' did have a longer run-time to work with, in fact it was a full 50 minutes longer. This lack of development did bother me towards the end but in retrospect the strength of the script and the tension that is created more than made up for it.

Even though I knew what the plot twist was having The Departed, it was handled much better in 'Infernal Affairs' and felt like a more important moment. The supporting character equivalents were pretty much all the same, aside from the fact that Jack Nicholson's mob boss in 'The Departed' got more development. Although I must say I did prefer Mark Wahlberg's character, Staff Sergeant Dignam, in The Departed, the key part his character plays in the ending was added in by Scorsese. In fact, the films both have two completely different endings, although I do prefer 'Infernal Affairs's ending personally.

Overall, an exhilarating watch fueled with great writing, interesting humanistic themes and tension you could cut with a knife. I recommend this to both fans of The Departed and people who haven't seen either, a brilliant film. 

Thomas Broome-Jones is on Twitter, you can follow him @TBroomey.

Will The Death Of Nelson Mandela Bring High Profile To New Biopic And Its Star?

By Thomas Broome-Jones

Last week, I was lying on my bed just casually surfing the net when I heard that Nelson Mandela, one of the single most influential figures of all-time, had passed away at age 95. Because I'm an utter film nerd, it wasn't long before I started to consider the effect his passing would have on the new biopic, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, based on Mandela's autobiography of the same name. The film has already premiered and has actually received a somewhat mixed response from critics, but then so did The Iron Lady and that still won Meryl Streep almost every award under the Sun, including the Oscar.

Elba's performance has received universal critical praise.

We do indeed seem to be in a generation of biopic acclaim, in fact, since 2000, 20 actors, male and female, have won an Oscar across all acting categories for portraying  real people out of a possible 52. That's a pretty large figure in my mind, and whilst Morgan Freeman didn't manage to net the prized golden statue for his portrayal of Mandela in the 2009 sports film, Invictus, I believe Idris Elba has a much better chance of taking home Oscar gold due to the circumstances. We need only look to the significant amount of hype generated from Christopher Nolan's 2008 superhero epic, The Dark Knight. Batman Begins, the first installment in Nolan's acclaimed Batman trilogy, managed to net just under $375,000,000 at the global box office and received just one Academy Award nomination (for Best Cinematography). Fast-forward to the build towards its sequel 3 years later and there is a shock sent throughout the world as the new Joker, Heath Ledger, tragically dies under mysterious drug-related circumstances. The Dark Knight would go on to make over a billion dollars at the box office, becoming the first ever superhero film to do so and was, at the time, the highest-grossing superhero film in history. It also received a whopping eight Academy Award nominations and Ledger completed a posthumous near clean-sweep of the industry's acting awards that year.

Many people, myself included, believe that a significant amount of The Dark Knight's success can be attributed to the highly-publicized death of Heath Ledger. Now, I know that Idris Elba hasn't died but how many people will flock to the theatres now to see the film based on the incredible life of Mandela in his memory? I'm willing to wager a lot. I'm fully aware that much of The Dark Knight's Oscar attention came from the fact that it was one of the most highly acclaimed films that year but as The Iron Lady proves, a tremendous performance will generally receive attention regardless of the film's critical notoriety. Elba has consistently been touted as the strongest thing about the film and it isn't surprising, his performances in The Wire and Luther quickly established him as an incredibly charismatic and gifted actor, the latter winning him a Golden Globe Award.

Immediately after Mandela's passing was announced, I saw many tweets and Facebook statuses from people saying how they were going to watch Invictus in tribute to the man. How fitting then, that a film about his life story is out. I can see Long Walk to Freedom becoming a runaway box office success, I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was re-packaged and marketed as a film dedicated to Mandela's memory. Coupling this potential high profile with what has been called "a towering performance" and "commanding" by critics, I think that the balance will tip in Mr. Elba's favour and that his chance to win The Academy Award for Best Actor just shot up dramatically.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is in cinemas now, it has a 12A certificate.

Thomas Broome-Jones is on Twitter, you can follow him @TBroomey.

Quote of the Week Review: Rashomon (1950)

By Thomas Broome-Jones

"No one tells a lie after he's said he's going to tell one" 

Rashomon isn't exactly a film that has aged brilliantly, I think that would be fair to say. Many of its characters and plot devices are considered overdone by today's standards. But liberties must be taken for a film that is 63 years old going on 64, we must bear in mind that many of the techniques in 'Rashomon' were radical for the time and helped to set in motion new styles and approaches to filmmaking in the West.
This was one of the first films to make us of, well 'The Rashomon Effect', the cinematic device of re-telling the same story from multiple perspectives. Whilst it is impossible to determine which film was definitively the first to use this practice, 'Rashomon' is certainly regarded as such, hence the name of said practice. 

"Look! America are trying to remake us!"

The plot concerns 3 men, each describing a trial for the murder of a samurai, within each of their recollections are the testimonies given at the trial, so a story within a story, yes, just like 'Inception'. The re-telling of these events was very engaging to watch unfold and allowed me to analyze the narrative deeply. The film definitely requires multiple watches as it's hard to decide who is telling the truth. What really happened, we may never know, but the fun part is theorizing over why each individual account may or may not be true.
The camera work was awesome and innovative of its time, the Japanese aesthetic of filmmaking was unknown to Western audiences and its introduction allowed so many stylistically bold films to be made. The acting was excellent, many may call it hammy but Asian cinema is typically more grandiose as it is very closely related with folklore, which is traditionally told in a very visual and loud way, so the acting can't be criticized for that.

Now, there were elements that took away from my enjoyment of the film, like I said, it's old but I just feel like these issues flawed the storytelling. My main issue was characters constantly falling over, and I don't exaggerate, it happens A LOT. I understand that when in a heated situation that would be realistic, but it makes the scenes disjointed and totally throws the pacing off kilter. For a mere 84 minutes this certainly felt a lot longer just because of the pacing issues. Some scenes also lasted for far too long, I felt like the story could have been told much more effectively with as much as 10 minutes shaved off it.

The film seems to be making a comment on humanity as well as rebirth but I don't see it as a thematic marvel. It certainly isn't 2001: A Space Odyssey in that respect. I see it as an important film in use of cinematography and non-linear storytelling, which isn't a bad thing. Classic American films such as The Usual Suspects, Pulp Fiction (or most of Tarantino's work, for that matter) or Fight Club arguably wouldn't exist without this film, so it does deserve your attention.

A recommended watch, most definitely for historical benefit, this is the kind of film that a cinema fan needs to see to understand where so many hailed conventions in the medium first started. It is flawed, but Rahomon's influence alone is enough to earn the acclaim of anyone, at least in my eyes. 

Thomas Broome-Jones is on Twitter, you can follow him @TBroomey.

Choose Your Weapons

By Chloe Burrell

For today’s blog, I think it’s best to dispel a myth that I, only recently, discovered to be untrue. A few of you might even have already known this, but for those of you who didn’t, this may come as a big relief. Ready? Film courses don’t care about what equipment you’ve use. In fact, having rubbish equipment could work to your advantage. Let me explain that. 

Something's not right here...

When you apply to a practical film course, the majority ask to see a portfolio of your creative work, in order to see what skills you may or may not have. This means getting out and about, and practising your skills and making your own films. Now, this might automatically send alarm bells ringing if you aren’t armed with a Canon 600D, but that shouldn’t be the case at all. Whilst having a 600D makes things a hell of a lot prettier, most of these courses in the UK, including all the ones I have visited, suggest picking up the closest thing with a record button on it is a perfectly fine alternative. They say they couldn’t give a single monkey whether you use a £5000 camera, your dad’s camcorder, or your Nokia – it’s not about what you use. All they want is to see your interest, your ability to frame shots, to edit, to tell stories. In short, they want to see you work with what you’ve got. You could create the same beautifully framed shots on a top-range DSLR as on your iPhone. Think, Blair Witch Project – a wildly popular film, created on a ridiculous small budget and a couple of camcorders that Daniel Myrick probably had lying around his house. Think about the cheesy phone adverts with the beautifully filmed shots. They can do it, and so can you. In fact, I can guarantee your course will be more impressed if you’ve managed to cobble together a great short with a mediocre camera, than a mediocre short with a 600D. We have no excuses, so dust off your camcorders and happy filming!

From the Vault Reviews: Berberian Sound Studio (2012)

By Sean McDonnell

Immediately after watching Berberian Sound Studio I thought, “this is something special from any other psychological thriller I’ve seen”. Indeed, Peter Strickland’s second film is a beautifully made triumph and a strange tribute to giallo horror!

Don't let that salad go to waste.

The film is set in the 1970s and follows sound technician Gilderoy (Toby Jones) being sent to Italy to work on a horror film called The Equestrian Vortex which we, as the audience, never see. Instead, we witness the grueling tasks of Gilderoy having to create the sounds of anguish and suffering through your average shopping basket such as melons being hacked to bits, cabbages being stabbed, blending tomato juice...you get the idea. From then on, things get very out of hand with Gilderoy’s shift in his line of work as he becomes lost in a world of sound.

The film is, without question, astonishing. I have to agree with Peter Bradshaw that this film definitely has a Lynchian feel to it with its unique dream sequences and explicit fear through not only Gilderoy, but also through Veronica (Susanna Cappellaro), a voice actress constantly under pressure and treated “like a whore” by the crew, who use various unorthodox methods to create the perfect, painful, frightening scream.
The music by the electronic group Broadcast provides a gorgeous representation of anxiety, not only through linking with the giallo film as Gilderoy does his magic; but also expresses his feelings on this dramatic change in contrast to working on softer works in his native land. Along with that, Jones delivers a spellbinding performance, presenting a timid man who has the magic to create any sound, including a very intimate scene creating UFO noises with a light bulb, all through candlelight! The cinematography by Nicholas D. Knowland is beyond interesting, offering close knit shots of fear through Gilderoy and Veronica and of course, the precious items to destroy! All of this is seen whilst edited by Chris Dickens to give an almost exploitative like feel to this very dark film. This is certainly a very unusual thriller but alluring and left me in shock and awe at its originality! Weird, immersive and original. This is something else, and something else
I would highly recommend seeing. A top class piece of madness!

Berberian Sound Studio is available in the College Library in a 1 disc edition format, it has a 15 certificate.

Sean McDonnell is on Twitter, you can follow him @seanmcdonnell_. 

Sean also has his own blog, which you can find here.

From the Vault Reviews: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

By Sean McDonnell

A classic which existed before Nosferatu and Metropolis, this is a horror which is truly influential and very special.

Directed by Robert Wiene, the narrative of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari concerns a mysterious showman (Werner Krauss) who arrives in a small town during their annual fair. He amazes the crowd with his Somnambulist, Cesare (Conrad Veidt) who sees the future. However, Caligari has more savage plans outside of his act.

"All by myself, don't wanna be, all by myself"

There are various reasons why this film is very unusual and distinctive for a silent film. Firstly, the expressionism is astonishing through the use of a distorted film set. The characters live in a town full of sharp angles, trees with spikey leaves and diagonal stars. For an audience back in the early 20th century, when cinema was still developing, it must have been very disturbing to have seen something like this in contrast to typical light-hearted comedies and historical dramas. The title cards are even stylised, something which I didn’t really expect for a very old silent film and yet it really helped add a sinister nature of despair for audiences. Many scenes are also tinted in sepia, blue and green, almost giving the film a nightmarish appearance throughout as the investigations of the murders develop even more. The cinematography by Willy Hameister is also composed interestingly, there’s frequent use of close ups of characters such as Francis (Friedrich Feher) expressing constant dread due to the series of mysterious murders which includes his best friend as a victim. The close ups are also used on Caligari who expresses an obvious sense of fierce pleasure for horror whilst Cesare doesn’t really express, he merely awakens, foreshadows death and despair and sleeps again.

Krauss gives a fantastic performance as the sinister Caligari, portraying him as a mad man wanting to cause grief for the local community whilst showing unconditional care for Cesare. Veidt also portrays the dangerous Cesare beautifully as a dark, shady and submitting character controlled by Caligari’s hypnotic methods. The music of Giuseppe Becce is also composed tremendously with frequent use of crescendos and fortissimos to add more thrills and chills. This is certainly one of the best silent films I’ve seen in a while and not only is a film with creative expression, style and beauty, but arguably the first horror film and most certainly the first film with a brilliant twist ending. If you are reading this and not a fan of silent cinema…just watch this. A film which I found very frightening at times that I even jumped out of my seat at one point! Thrilling, deceitful and
striking.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is available in the College Library in a 1 disc edition format, it has a U certificate.

 

Sean McDonnell is on Twitter, you can follow him @seanmcdonnell_. 

Sean also has his own blog, which you can find here.