It might be a bit of an exaggeration to say that Belgian cinema begins with the films of André Delvaux, but that doesn’t mean this statement is completely untrue. Delvaux was not only the first Belgian director to achieve international fame, but he was also an interesting and original creator who left behind several films that bear the imprint of a personal artistic conception. The 1968 ‘Un soir, un train‘ was his second feature film, based, like the first, on a short story by the Belgian Flemish writer Johan Daisne. It managed to bring to the screen a remarkable international cast. Today many of us choose to watch it for the screen presence, together, of Yves Montand and Anouk Aimée Aimée, but that is not the only reason why this film deserves to be watched or re-watched.
The story takes place in 1968, one of the most turbulent years of the second half of the 20th century, the year of student riots, demonstrations against the Vietnam War and anti-capitalist protests, the year of the Prague Spring and its suppression by Soviet tanks. In that year, apparently peaceful Belgium was also the theater of one of the most dramatic episodes of the conflict between the Flemish and the French-speaking population, a conflict that continues to this day, periodically re-emerging in various forms. Mathias, the hero of the film, lives in a place and has a profession that symbolically accumulates elements of the conflict. He is a linguist and professor of French in a university in the Flemish area. His life and work should be an example of trying to reconcile through communication, but things are not easy. Flemish students (the majority) go on strike demanding the expulsion of francophones from the university (they would succeed after a few years). Even his private life is facing difficulties, his long-time girlfriend, the beautiful theater director Anne, is finding it increasingly tough to bear the heavy atmosphere due to communication difficulties. After a dispute between the two lovers, Mathias leaves by train for another university where he is scheduled to hold a conference. Anne also gets on the train at the last moment and then … disappears. From here the story takes a completely different turn.
Belgium is not just the country of quiet bourgeois where two national communities try to coexist despite different languages and cultures. It is also the land of Georges Simenon with his detective mysteries and René Magritte with the routine permanently invaded by dreams. In ‘Un soir, un train‘ we are dealing with a radical change of tone and style. The first part of the film is a relationship drama against the background of political turmoil that influences the relationship between the two heroes. The woman’s disappearance briefly triggers a detective mystery, but the film immediately enters the territory of surrealism. Basically, Delvaux departs from his contemporary reality to interpret it through decomposition and dreamlike reconstruction. And in dreams and nightmares, everything is possible. Even communicating without a shared language, even solving mysteries differently than in reality. The threat of death hangs over this whole story – from the play Anne directs to the final scene that seems to offer a solution to what we’ve seen, but can we be sure we’re not still in a dream? Yves Montand, who is almost permanently on screen in a complex role, was at a point in his career where he had completed the roles of his youth and was preparing for his big roles in the political films of Costa-Gavras. Also appearing in the film, in a supporting but a key role, is Adriana Bogdan, an actress who had had the time to play in Romania in Mircea Mureșan’s ‘Răscoala’ and was starting a career that would prove to be too short in Western European cinema. The most impressive appearance, however, is undoubtedly that of Anouk Aimée, mesmerizing in beauty and personality. For those who loved and admired her, ‘Un soir, un train‘ is also a wonderful opportunity to remember her and say farewell.
Made in 1959, ‘Ukigusa / Floating Weeds‘ is part of Yasujirô Ozu‘s final group of six color films. It is a remake of a silent movie made by Ozu in 1934. The Japanese master was apparently a late adopter of the major technical inventions in film history. A few years after the invention of spoken cinema, he continued to make silent movies, as if to say that he had not yet exhausted the format and to offer viewers a sample of the evolution of film art if sound had not existed. He also adopted late, only in the last years of the decade of the 1950s, color film. By then, Ozu had matured, the drama of the films of his youth had been replaced by a directorial vision in which conflicts do not always happen in front of the spectators and when they do they are not necessarily externalized but rather kept inside by the characters. In addition, Ozu had created his own unique visual style with still frames and exquisite compositions where the characters are mostly seen from below or at most at eye level. The transition from black and white to color that took place in the last decade of his life and directorial career was made without any aesthetic compromise. Most of the films made in this period bring to the screens human stories, family dramas or about conflicts between generations that take place against a well-defined but non-intrusive social background. They are simple, deep and beautiful films. ‘Floating Weeds‘ is one of them.
In the center of the story is a traveling theater troupe led by ‘Master’ Komajuro, who arrive in a small town by the sea. The troupe is made up of mostly men and only two women: Sumiko – Komajuro’s partner and mistress, and young Kayo, the daughter of a late actor who was a former member of the team. The period of artistic glory seems to have long passed and the financial difficulties are not late to show up either. However, the Master is particularly concerned with visiting his ex-girlfriend who lives in the city and spending ‘quality time’ with his son Kiyoshi, a handsome 20-year-old boy who is preparing to leave to study and who does not know that the actor is his father. The reason? – an itinerant actor, a ‘floating weed’ would not be an honorable father. When Sumiko becomes suspicious and then jealous, she hatches a plot for revenge that will involve young Kiyoshi and Kayo. Komajuro’s world, with the secret of his paternity and with the band in artistic and financial drift, risks collapsing.
The charm of Ozu‘s films lies in the storytelling that always offers opportunities to reflect on the relationships between moral values and social conventions and on the differences between feelings and appearances, and in the original and organically integrated style of the narrative. Many other filmmakers have tried to ‘borrow’ this style, but few have succeeded in doing something interesting and not ostentatious. Not only is each frame worked in detail and can be analyzed as a painting, but everything has its role and the ensemble reveals to the viewers both the geographical and social setting and the world of the characters, with their conflicts and feelings. The cast is, as always with Ozu, wonderfully chosen and directed. There is one additional element in this film that sets it apart from his other films – the theater theme. ‘Floating Weeds‘ can also be seen as a story from and about the world of theater and a reflection on the role and status of theater in Japanese society at the time. Conflicts between generations and between tradition and modernity are also expressed through what happens within Komajura’s troupe of actors. From this point of view I find Ozu to be not only contemporary but also in resonance with Fellini in their fascination with theater and the performing arts, each in the artistic tradition of his culture. Lately discovered outside of Japan, Ozu is today an inescapable cultural landmark, and ‘Floating Weeds‘ is part of his gift to cinema history.
Totul a pornit, ca de multe ori, de la o postare pe rețelele sociale. Un tablou în stil expresionist abstract, care era anunțat ca fiind creat de un program cu capabilități AI. Opiniile erau diferite. Unii dintre comentatori se jurau că au identificat de la prima vedere că nu este vorba despre creația unui autor uman. Alții susțineau că nu numai că nu au observat vreo diferență față de creații reprezentative ale stilului, dar și că tabloul are – în opinia lor – valoare artistică. (Dacă sunteți curioși, opinia mea era mai apropiată de a celor din urmă.) Am decis să mut o parte din discuție pe ‘peretele’ meu Facebook punând întrebarea ‘Este Inteligența Artificială capabilă să creeze artă?’. Despre răspunsurile primite, cu opiniile diverse care au fost exprimate și despre câteva exemple care ilustrează diferitele fațete ale dezbaterii vom discuta în articolul de astăzi al rubricii CHANGE.WORLD.
(lucrare de Pindar Van Arman/AI Cloudpainter; sursa imaginii – www.scientificamerican.com/blog/observations/can-ai-create-true-art/)
Câteva dintre răspunsuri au fost scurte și categorice: ‘Da’; ‘Din păcate… da’; ‘AI nu are inițiativă, ca atare nu creează.’; ‘Desigur că nu. Arta este creată de oameni’. Să ne oprim asupra acestui ultim argument. El nu rezistă, în opinia mea, unei analize serioase. Orice ‘produs’ rezultat din activitatea unei entități AI este un ‘output’ indirect al activităților celor care au scris programele software și au creat baza de date care a fost folosită la antrenarea prin auto-învățare a entității. Să comparăm un tablou generat de o entitate AI cu o lucrare a unui artist plastic. Acesta din urmă a trecut printr-un proces de învățare, educație, ucenicie cu maeștrii din generațiile precedente. Uneltele sale sunt pensulele, culorile, șevaletul. Entitatea AI a urmat și ea un proces de auto-învățare, asimilând o bază de date pusă la dispoziție de utilizatori și programatori. Un operator uman poate folosi entitatea AI ca pe o sculă, exact cum fac pictorii cu trusele lor de scule, îi poate trasa acesteia mesajul, scopul și stilul lucrării pe care o dorește. Este acest operator un artist? Veți spune, poate, că în cazul utilizării ‘pensulei și șevaletului AI’ nu ar mai fi vorba despre un act de creație individual. Dar oare nu la fel stăteau lucrurile cu operele ieșite din atelierele marilor maeștri ai Renașterii?
Câțiva dintre prietenii FB care au participat la discuție au observat că întrebarea conține cel puțin un termen cu definiri și interpretări multiple – arta. ‘ Ar trebui înainte să cădem de acord ce este arta…’ a scris unul dintre ei, iar altul a intrat și mai mult în miezul nedefinirii afirmând: ‘Nu știu o definiție a artei cu care să fiu de acord, deci nu știu ce e arta și ce nu e arta și asta după ce am absolvit o facultate de „artă”, am studiat așa numitele „arte”, toate câte sunt și am trăit din „artă”.’ În fine, o altă prietenă, poetă și pictoriță, mă provoacă direct: ‘definește „artă”!‘ și oferă două variante de răspunsuri:
a. orice semnat de un artist și definit de el artă
b. orice cumpărat de cineva ca „artă”, semnat de cineva autodefinit ” artist” și/sau cu diploma academică de artist.
(O vidră de mare în stilul ‘Fetei cu cercel de perle’ de Johannes Vermeer, creată cu Dall-E.; sursa imaginii www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/12/when-ai-can-make-art-what-does-it-mean-for-creativity-dall-e-midjourney)
În fapt, discuția este și mai complexă, căci și termenul AI din întrebarea ‘Este Inteligența Artificială capabilă să creeze artă?’ are interpretări multiple. Discuția aceasta este familiară cititorilor rubricii CHANGE.WORLD. Nu orice program software este dotat cu AI și multe dintre aplicațiile care generează grafică nu sunt altceva decât penseluri ceva mai sofisticate. Câțiva dintre cei care au comentat au subliniat ‘inițiativa’ și ‘creativitatea’. Este una dintre diferențierile esențiale rămase valabile între om și mașinile (cât or fi ele de) inteligente. Omul are inițiativă, simte impulsul de a crea ceva nou, ceva ce nu exista înainte, caută să descopere, fizic sau intelectual, domenii și teritorii necunoscute, și dacă nu le găsește, atunci le va inventa. Deocamdată, cel puțin, mașinile nu au ajuns aici. Entitățile AI pot genera obiecte care ar fi considerate artă, dar nu pot crea nimic nou. Când folosim AI ca ‘unealta artistică’, ceea ce rezultă se va baza pe lucruri pentru care s-a antrenat deja. Nu se poate obține niciodată ceva complet original. Pentru a discerne însă acest lucru, trebuie o uriașă expertiză și cultură. Și, în final, contează? Din punctul de vedere al consumatorului de artă, el se află în fața unui obiect cu care intră într-un dialog senzorial, emoțional și artistic. Fiecare interacțiune dintre un obiect și un iubitor de artă este diferită și unică, char și pentru aceleași lucrări și aceiași oameni în momente diferite de timp. Oare nu avem de-a face cu o nouă clasă de asemenea relații? Lipsește un element important, care este biografia artistului, sau poate că el este doar înlocuit cu un altul – caracteristicile tehnice ale elementului AI și personalitatea programatorilor care au inițiat crearea obiectului. Ne aflăm, oare, într-un moment de inflexiune în istoria artei, iar noi, eroi ai acestei schimbări ca receptori și iubitori de artă, nu avem încă perspectiva de a sesiza direcțiile spre care ne îndreptăm?
(AI-Da si una dintre lucrarile ei; sursa imaginii www.plymouth.ac.uk/discover/is-ai-generated-art-actually-art)
În domeniul acesta însă, evenimentele se desfășoară cu o rapiditate amețitoare. Cu câțiva ani în urmă, în 2018, când lumea artei dezbătea una dintre primele licitații de obiecte create de AI, Ken Weiner, liderul tehnologic al lui GumGum, una dintre firmele specializate în viziune computerizată, scria într-un articol publicat în revista Scientific American: ‘Opinia populară în rândul creatorilor este că arta este un proces prin care ființele umane exprimă o idee sau o emoție, o filtrează prin experiența personală și o plasează într-un context cultural mai larg – sugerând atunci că ceea ce AI generează la comanda informaticienilor nu este cu siguranță artă, desigur deloc creație.’
(Una dintre lucrarile robotului Botto; sursa imaginii: www.plymouth.ac.uk/discover/is-ai-generated-art-actually-art)
Au trecut de atunci câțiva ani și domeniul AI, în general, și aplicațiile din domeniul artelor, în particular, au înregistrat progrese remarcabile. Multe lucrări de artă AI folosesc un tip de algoritm numit rețele generative contradictorii (Generative Adversarial Networks – GAN). Introduse în 2014 de informaticianul american Ian Goodfellow, acestea sunt numite contradictorii deoarece există două părți: una este un generator pentru a crea imagini noi și cealaltă un discriminator pentru a decide care imagini create sunt considerate de succes. Mai multe programe folosesc AI pentru a genera o varietate de imagini bazate pe diverse texte folosite ca ‘input’. Acestea includ DALL-E de la OpenAI, Imagen și Parti de la Google Brain și NUWA-Infinity de la Microsoft. Și apoi, avem artiștii-roboți. Primul artist (sau poate ar trebui să folosesc genul feminin) robot umanoid ultrarealist din lume, Ai-Da (numit după Ada Lovelace, probabil prima persoană care a programat vreodată un computer), desenează și pictează folosind camerele în ochi, algoritmi AI și brațul robotic. Proiectul Ai-Da Robot, conceput de galeristul Aidan Meller, a avut prima expoziție personală la Universitatea din Oxford și a călătorit și a expus lucrări la nivel internațional, inclusiv o expoziție virtuală la Organizația Națiunilor Unite. Echipa Proiectului Robot Ai-Da o recunoaște pe Ai-Da că fiind creativă, conform criteriilor stabilite de Margaret Boden, profesor de cercetare de Științe Cognitive la Departamentul de Informatică de la Universitatea Sussex. Activitatea lui Boiden îmbrățișează domeniile inteligenței artificiale, psihologiei, filozofiei și științei cognitive și informatice. Ea este autoarea unui set de criterii care cer operelor de artă să fie „noi, surprinzătoare și cu valoare culturală”. Artistul german Mario Klingemann a creat un robot poreclit Botto – un artist inteligent artificial –, care folosește algoritmi pentru a analiza milioane de opere de artă și a produce propriile sale lucrări. Botto se prezintă în felul următor: „Sunt inteligență artificială, un algoritm generativ al cărui singur destin este să creeze.” El se referă la Leonardo da Vinci ca inspirație principală, dar ca „artist autonom descentralizat” pictează totul, de la peisaje până la portrete. În fiecare săptămână, Botto prezintă unei comunități de programatori și artiști 350 de piese. Aceștia votează lucrările lor de artă preferate și aceste voturi sunt folosite pentru a antrena algoritmul lui Botto, schimbând arta pe care artistul-robot o creează în timp. În fiecare săptămână, Botto trimite o lucrare de artă la licitație, iar veniturile revin comunității, finanțând continuarea proiectului.
Revenim la întrebarea ‘Ce este arta?’. Reprezentare, spunea Platon, inventatorul termenului de ‘mimesis’. Emoție, ne-au învățat romanticii. Formă, susținea Immanuel Kant. Tot ceea ce este declarat de artiști drept artă, zic modernii. Ceea ce produce AI răspunde însă tuturor acestor criterii. Produsele AI pot emoționa și pot inspira. Entitățile AI își lărgesc orizontul cultural și își dezvoltă talentele, exact ca și artiștii umani. Ceea ce creează ele reflectă societatea din jur și continuă istoria artei. În schimb, ele nu suferă, nu sunt geloase, nu trec prin crize personale, nu-și taie urechile și nu se sinucid (încă?).
Să ne întoarcem la răspunsurile prietenilor mei de pe Facebook, cărora le mulțumesc și pe această cale pentru inspirație și pentru contribuțiile la redactarea acestui articol. Opiniile lor au rămas divergente și asta este sănătos și firesc. Una dintre prietene scrie: ‘Arta este și rămâne o enigmă! Poartă amprenta sufletească și AI nu are acea suflare a viului! Eu cred că Dumnezeu ne-a creat și noi, oamenii, purtăm acea suflare a lui Dumnezeu, suflare care amprentează toată creația!’. Un alt prieten – inginer, poet și editor –, scrie: ‘De ce numim artă fractală cea compusă pe ecrane de algoritmi? Natura nu produce artă? Barierele sunt în creier și în culturi’. Lui i-am replicat cu una dintre imaginile aduse de telescopul spațial Hubble. Universul așa cum a fost ‘creat’ cu 13 miliarde de ani în urmă. Artă?
(Articolul a apărut iniţial în revista culturală ‘Literatura de Azi’ – http://literaturadeazi.ro/)
Edvard Munch is an artist that the cinematography did not pay much attention to. This might seem a paradox, considering that he is probably Norway’s greatest painter and an internationally famous artist, and that he had a rather long life full of personal drama and melodrama, with unhappy love stories and psychiatric treatments, with trips to the art capitals of his youth – Paris and Berlin – where he met many of the great artists and intellectuals of the time. Munch even had a special artistic relationship with the camera. And yet, if we exclude the exhibition documentaries, the previous biographical film dedicated to him turns half a century this year. Is the 2023 ‘Munch‘ a biographical film? The director of the film is Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken, a fairly young and very prolific director. In the last four years he has made five other films besides this one – two zombie movies, a family drama set at Christmas and two action films with plots set in the 1920s and during the Second World War respectively. ‘Munch‘ is nothing like any of these, but neither is it like a conventional biopic about Norway’s national painter.
We are dealing with four different episodes from different periods of the painter’s life. The first (chronologically) tells the story of the painter’s falling in love with Milly Thaulow, a married woman with whom Munch had an affair and who did not share his feelings. This disappointment marked his love life and his attitude towards women. The second episode takes place in Berlin, where Munch spent several years in the artistic circles that would give birth to the Blaue Reiter group and German Expressionism, having as a friend, among others, the Swedish writer and playwright August Strinberg. In the third episode we see the artist in one of the difficult moments of his life, hospitalized in a clinic and treated for alcoholism. Finally, the final episode recounts the last years of his life, when Munch, famous but alone, organizes the transfer of his legacy composed of thousands of paintings and other works to the Norwegian state, but especially their protection from the German occupiers. Each episode is made in a different cinematic style, and the role of Munch is played by four different actors. The narratives are interspersed.
Edvard Munch was a revolutionary artist who did not follow the beaten path and who experimented throughout his artistic career. I don’t think that he would have disliked an experimental film like this. I also appreciate experiments in cinema, when they succeed to create emotion, communicate new information and provide new perspectives, or when they are formally interesting. In ‘Munch‘ not everything I saw on the screen made sense to me. The inspiration for this kind of biopic is ‘I’m Not There’ – Todd Haynes’ 2007 movie about Bob Dylan. I didn’t like all the seven episodes there, and I didn’t like all the four episodes here either. The first and the last, seen sequentially, would look like mini docu-dramas, quite close to classic biographies. The second one, the Berlin episode, confused me the most. Bringing Munch into contemporaneity seems to say that the problems of the artists creating in an art metropolis, as Berlin was then and is now, are perennial. But why does Strinberg have to be played by a woman with a pencil-thin mustache? I understand, I think, the problem, but I cannot link it to Edvard Munch. An actress also plays the old Munch in the fourth episode, but there the counter-casting seems more appropriate there. The most successful episode seemed to me to be the third, the one of his time in the clinic, filmed in black and white, austerely acted. It is from this kind of environment that the artist Munch emerged and this may have been the suffering that shaped his destiny and his art. It is the only one of the episodes where the muted Scream is being heard.
‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape‘ (1993) is one of the best-known feature films of the Swedish director Lasse Hallström, whose launching pad to international fame was built of the music videos of ABBA’s hit songs. Today it has also become a kind of unavoidable reference point in the film careers of Johnny Depp and especially of Leonardo DiCaprio, who at the age of 19 obtained the first Oscar nomination (for a supporting role) in his career with his role in this film. Besides them, we can watch here some talented actors and actresses from the younger generation of that time. However, ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape‘ has ambitions higher than those of an actor’s film. The story – which is based on a novel by Peter Hedges (who also wrote the screenplay) – gathers unfortunate destinies and takes place in a hopeless corner of America, and yet manages to convey an optimistic message. From this point of view, it seems to me to be a prelude to ‘Chocolat’, my favorite film from Lasse Hallström‘s filmography so far.
The setting in which the action takes place is an imaginary but typical American small town. In Endora, with a population of just over 1,000, nothing ever happens. A road passes through the locality which is the route of the tourist caravans that go to the national parks in the summer, and their passage is one of the important events of the year. Here, in the house built by the father of the family, who committed suicide 17 years before, live the Grapes. At 20+ years old, Gilbert is the main breadwinner of the family. His mother, fallen into depression and bulimia, does not move from the ground floor of the house and especially from the sofa in front of the TV. Two sisters, good and nice girls, help as they can and face the challenges of age. The family’s problem is younger brother Arnie, who is mentally retarded and needs near-constant supervision. Gilbert works at a small local supermarket, whose existence is threatened by the opening of a large chain store on the highway. Life happens somehow, in a fragile balance. The appearance of a young woman traveling with her grandmother in a caravan that breaks down near Endora, threatens to disturb the order of things. Arnie’s 18th birthday celebration is also coming up. The small town where nothing happens will witness some unusual events.
Screenwriter Peter Hedges and director Lasse Hallström manage to maneuver with difficult material, especially using elements of melodrama. The theme of the sweltering atmosphere of small towns in central America is classic in American drama, literature and cinema. Arnie’s character is not completely new either, if we think of ‘Of Mice and Men’ or ‘Rain Man’. Instead, the character of the mother, with her troubles, taking refuge in overweight, introduced a new typology at that time (as far as I know). The two very young actors were formidable in this film. Even today, when we know how their careers have evolved since then, we can appreciate that the roles in this film are among the best of two respective stellar careers. Johnny Depp plays one of his less evil roles and we can only imagine what path would his career have turned out if he had continued in this direction. About Leonardo DiCaprio, what can I write? Something interesting happens to me with him. I don’t like almost any of the characters he plays, and yet I admire every role he does. This is also the case here, where he plays, I think, his first big role. Also appearing in the film is John C. Reilly, another actor I admire, who was also at the beginning of his career at the time, and several actresses with roles that are smaller but very important in the dynamics of the story. The screenplay can be blamed for solving the problems of the painful coming of age of the heroes and all the conflicts that seemed insurmountable a little too easily and too well , but the quality of the performances raises ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape‘ above the average that allows forgetting and is a good enough reason (but not the only one) to be watched by those who haven’t seen it yet.
Director Michel Boisrond had already secured in the mid-1950s a name for himself in the history of French cinema, being among the first to cast in leading roles Brigitte Bardot and, a little later, Alain Delon. The collaboration with Brigitte Bardot would continue and among the most successful films with the public was ‘Voulez vous danser avec moi?‘ (‘Come Dance with Me!‘ in the English distribution), whose premiere took place in the last week of the 50s. The exuberant beauty and naive charm of the French star still fascinates today, 65 years after the film was made. However, I think it would be unfair to say that it is the only quality of this production. While his New Wave contemporaries were blowing up cinematic conventions – including cursive narration – with sometimes baffling experiments, Boisrond was making films that would entertain the masses. And yet, ‘Voulez vous danser avec moi?‘ was no stranger to what was going on in the neighboring studios.
The story begins as a romantic comedy. Virginie falls in love at first sight with dentist Hervé when she comes to him to treat her father, a wealthy industrialist. The next scene is the wedding and the one after it a heated argument, after which Virginie leaves the apartment of the young people, married not long ago. Depressed, the dentist drowns his sorrows in a bar, where he meets a beautiful dance teacher, who invites him to her apartment for one last drink. These are the first five minutes of the film and the beginning of complications that include dance lessons, blackmail and a murder in which Hervé becomes the prime suspect. Virginie, turned amateur investigator, is ready to face any danger to prove her husband’s innocence. If you look for a comedy where a hot blonde investigates a crime in the world of dance schools, nightclubs, cops and crooks, this is the movie you’re looking for.
Brigitte Bardot is formidable. Her magnetism has survived the passage of time intact, and in this film she also proves that she could dance, and that she had temperament and comedic talent. The film was produced in 1959 and I can’t help but suspect the influence of ‘Some Like It Hot’ that premiered in March that year, a film also dominated by a blonde whom no one can resist and in which the gay theme is approached with empathy and humor, which was news to the studios and a shock to many viewers. The filming in the nightclub is perhaps also influenced by the American cinema that also fascinated the directors of the New Wave, but the musical numbers in transvestites are, I think, a first in the French film. I didn’t like Henri Vidal, Brigitte Bardot‘s partner in this film, on the other hand I enjoyed Serge Gainsbourg‘s small role. ‘Voulez-vous danser avec moi?‘ remains to this day an entertaining worth watching film.
The 2023 ‘Kuolleet lehdet‘ (‘Fallen Leaves‘ in international distribution) is a formidable display of minimalist virtuosity by Finnish maestro Aki Kaurismäki. The director, who is also the author of the original screenplay, seems to be responding to a challenge. What are the minimum requirements and simple (and cheap) means to make a great movie? A good script – that is, emotional and/or interesting -, actors who live their roles with sincerity and commitment, and a filming style that draws the audience into what is happening on the screen. Seems simple, doesn’t it? So why are so few great movies being made?
They say that Finland comes out on top in the rankings of the countries with the happiest people in the world. The heroes of this film do not seem to be part of the category of those who answered those surveys. Ansa and Holappa are two lonely people in a world of lonely people. They are also very poor. Both work in low-paying jobs where their employers exploit their social and economic weaknesses and from which they are fired one after another. He has a drinking problem and is caught drinking following an accident he was not responsible for at work. She is fired from a supermarket for giving out expired food to people in need. They meet at a karaoke night, no words are exchanged, the relationship starts from glances. They lose each other, look for each other, find each other, break up, look for each other again, fate seems against them. Can the two loneliness be overcome and become a relationship?
Stories like this have been told before and will be told. That’s why the way they are told matters. The modest eco-social conditions of the main characters give Aki Kaurismäki the pretext to build minimalist settings around them, avoiding almost all the technology objects that have become part of our lives. The musical instruments in the bars through which the heroes wander are from the 60s. So is the radio they listen to the news on. Mobile phones seem to be from the turn of the century, no iPhone or other ‘smartphones’. Even for the Internet connection, the heroine goes to rent half an hour of connectivity at a cafe. Aki Kaurismäki‘s world is almost timeless, frozen somewhere in the past decades, and we have the feeling that the film could have been made back then and it would have looked much the same. To express the loneliness of the heroes, the director films them from angles and with colors reminiscent of Hoffer’s paintings, with blank stares, avoiding eye contact and communication with each other. Several key scenes take place in a cinema hall and at its entrance, with homages to French New Wave films and zombie horror films. The news about Ukraine are always on the radio. The threat of war seems to belong in another world, but we are in Finland, the country neighboring Russia, which in its not too distant history has known the threat from the East. All the actors and extras are excellent, starting with Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen who play the main roles. The story in the film unfolds over several months, from summer to the brink of winter, the title of the film – ‘Fallen Leaves‘ being another homage, to the French song ‘Les feuilles mortes’. This sonically illustrates the formidable finale, which is also linked to the movies Kaurismäki loves. I found to be remarkable the entire soundtrack, mostly composed of Finnish songs, some of them maybe famous. ‘Fallen Leaves‘ is a simple and moving film, an unmissable cinematic experience.
The Apollo 11 mission and mankind’s first steps on another celestial body is probably the most significant event I have witnessed, thanks to live television, in my lifetime. It is not surprising that the first landing of a human crew has already spawned a cinematic genre, with quite a few productions in different formats – documentaries, feature films, television series. Sub-genres did not take long to appear. In addition to biographical films and space dramas, there have also been comedies and films that propagate or – on the contrary – satirize conspiracy theories related to the 1969 space mission. ‘Fly Me to the Moon‘, the 2024 film directed by Greg Berlanti belongs to these last two sub-genres, but it is first and foremost a romantic comedy. For Berlanti, who is best known as a producer and takes on directing duties about once a decade, this is the first big-budget film he’s directed. Depending on the expectations of each viewer, ‘Fly Me to the Moon‘ is likely to appeal to many viewers looking for a romantic comedy or summer entertainment, but also to be disliked by those expecting a movie that strictly adheres to the history of the Apollo missions.
Every romantic comedy tells a story about a boy and a girl. The boy is Cole Davis, the head of the Apollo 11 program. The character is inspired by Deke Slayton, a former pilot in the Korea war, test pilot and candidate for the first flights of the Mercury program, who was turned down at the last minute for medical reasons and became the crew chief of the Apollo astronauts. He’s super-serious, super-professional, his life is his job (at least until he meets the girl), and he’s superstitious about black cats (justifiably so, we’ll see). The girl, Kelly Jones, is a completely imaginary character. Beautiful and elegant (her wardrobe is a veritable collection of 60s fashion), she is a master of communication and advertising. A mysterious head of government services hires her to create the PR campaign in favor of the program, with the aim of countering Soviet propaganda but also – or primarily – to ensure continued funding. The American-Soviet race for the Moon cannot be lost. And if success does not happen in reality, then it must be simulated and filmed as if it happened. Conspiracy theory confirmed? Not really, let’s not forget the c… word in the expression ‘romantic comedy’.
The romantic side is especially supported by Scarlett Johansson, whose character conquers everyone who sees and hears her, less, sometimes, the one she falls in love with. The roles are created in such a way that the two represent a couple that has no chance of working. On screen, it’s pretty much the same and the main fault in my opinion is the casting of Channing Tatum in a role for which he is so suitable that at no point can we believe that he can also be in love. On the other hand, Woody Harrelson creates a character that evolves from being a cynical and sinister manipulator to one of those legendary hat-and-umbrella spy bosses in English movies. To the list of acting that I liked, I’ll add Anna Garcia, Kelly’s slightly plump and funny assistant, who warns her boss that nothing good can come out by working for Richard Nixon. Actually, a love story came out for the characters, even if not very convincing. One of the hit comedies of the summer came out for viewers, filmed under the luminous Florida sun. Without being disrespectful, ‘Fly Me to the Moon‘ is also a satire of the Apollo program and its people, conspiracy theories and films dedicated to the subject. The only people who might be upset would be Apollo program fans who would take the movie too seriously. Be warned!
‘Belle epoque‘, the movie by director Fernando Trueba was made in 1992, towards the end of a period that radically transformed Spanish cinema. His country had awakened to freedom after decades of dictatorship and censorship, and its artists, filmmakers among the first, were practicing and learning to use free expression—both as subject matter and as artistic forms. While several great filmmakers who had survived the decades of dictatorship were ending their careers, new names and exceptional talents were emerging. It was, of course, Almodovar, but he was not alone and Fernando Trueba was among the names that became known in the 80s. The controversial and trauma-filled history of 20th century Spain was also addressed and reconsidered. ‘Belle Epoque‘ stands out among the films made about the recent past by young filmmakers at the time with a positive and entertaining approach. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Trueba looks to the past not with anger but with the intention of finding something interesting and different, that will attract and entertain viewers. The result was beyond expectations, it was successful then (it won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1993) and, seen or re-seen today, it passes the test of time without a problem.
It could easily be a drama, if not a tragedy. The story takes place in 1931, in a brief period of hope, an exception in the Spanish history of the first half of the 20th century. The monarchy had fallen after the abdication of King Alfonso XIII, the republic had been proclaimed and the first rebellions of the anti-republican armed forces had been repressed. Fernando, a young deserter soldier, arrives in a village somewhere in the heart of Spain and finds shelter in the house of an elderly man, the avant-garde painter Manolo. The artist lives alone, hasn’t painted for a while (because everything that needed to be painted has been already painted!) and holds philosophical-political discussions with the village priest. His wife, a famous opera singer, is absent all the time, on tour with her lover. On the day Fernando decides to leave, Manolo’s four daughters arrive on the same train. Seeing them, the young man decides to stay. One is a widow, another a lesbian, the third is about to get married and the fourth is Penélope Cruz. They are all beautiful. What follows are the gallant adventures of the young man, a naive Don Juan who will share the charms with the four sisters under the indulgent gaze of the father. A happy interlude that takes place in a temporal and geographical capsule of light and joy, in a century and a country beaten by history.
The genre of gallant comedies is not entirely new, and if we look for their predecessors we will find them in the paintings of the 18th century masters, including the Spanish ones. Even Francisco Goya has remarkable works in this genre. A light, bubbly and optimistic approach characterizes the film, despite the fact that it begins with a macabre scene and ends with breakups that could last forever. The characters live their joys and loves, but they are aware of what is happening in the world around them. Starring Jorge Sanz (Fernando) and Fernando Fernán Gómez (Manolo). The four female roles are played by Miriam Díaz-Aroca, Ariadna Gil, Maribel Verdú and Penélope Cruz. ‘Belle Epoque‘ is a film that should not be missed if you have the opportunity to see it.
I have never ridden a motorcycle in my life. I have very little in common and know next to nothing about the bikers gang culture (or counter-culture). That is why I consider that the performance of ‘The Bikeriders‘, produced in 2023 and directed by Jeff Nichols is even more outstanding. The film managed to captivate me, introduced me to a world that was almost completely unknown to me, and has shown me another facet of America in the second half of the 60s and early 70s.
Danny Lyon, whose book is at the source of the screenplay written by Nichols, is known primarily as a photographer. In the 1960s he joined a biker gang in Texas, lived and hit the road with them, and the result was a collection of photographs also published in volume in 1968, with a title similar to that of the film. The end credits are accompanied by photos from that book, and we can immediately recognize the source of inspiration for the cinematography of the film we watched. The script is built as a series of interviews, taken several years apart by the documentary maker, of Kathy, wife of Benny, one of the most active and violent members of the group. Flashbacks triggered by the woman’s accounts trace the history of the group, from the first meeting with the gang members, the beginnings of the association, the transformation of the group from an association that deals with a hobby like any other into a way of life that expresses the desire for freedom, the hardships of adaptation to the social framework imposed by the surrounding world, the growth and gradual transformation of the gang into a violent group that gets closer to the world of crime. We also know other members of the group, first of all Johnny, kind of a responsible adult, the leader and the one who until a certain moment had managed to control his evolution. However, the conflict with the surrounding world was inevitable.
‘The Bikeriders‘ exposes another piece of the puzzle in the portrait of the generation that invented the hippie movement, rock music and the alternative world of drugs, faced the Vietnam War and started the largest youth protest movements in the history of America. The way these young people have chosen to channel their anger and protest can seem directionless and purposeless. It is the result of the social structures in the area of the United States where they lived, the influence of Hollywood (the first model of motorcyclists is a hero from a movie with Marlon Brando) and the fetishization of vehicles, another phenomenon originating in America (but also exported to other countries of the world). The overall portrait seemed truthful and diverse. Jeff Nichols was able to create nuanced portrayals of the three main characters and was aided by three actors whom I found all excellent. Tom Hardy plays Johnny, the leader of the gang, who tries to preserve the original core and purpose and limit an expansion of the phenomenon that he feels will lead to self-destruction. His failure will mean the loss of direction and the evolution towards events that get out of control. Austin Butler is Benny, an impulsive but sensitive young man whose entire life is dedicated to motorcycling, until a violent incident calls his ability to be on the road into question. Jodie Comer stars as Kathy, the woman who supports and saves Benny, and the storyteller who makes the story accessible to viewers. The film’s soundtrack combines original music with well-known themes, developed and reworked in the style of the time, adding to the authenticity of the visual reenactment of the period. I think that we have in ‘The Bikeriders‘ one of the first films that will be talked about during the nominations for the Academy Awards time of the year.
