A Random Cinematic Year In Review
Preface: I have decided to write this series at least in part because I don't make it out to see new films very often and I've found that I spent too much time at the end of the year attempting to see all the big releases (many of which I'm not even interested in) for no other reason than to make an obligatory 'year end list'... This is a way that I can continue writing about films without feeling the pressure to see a bunch of stuff that I wouldn't otherwise take the time to. I'll still see most of them eventually, just on my own time. I use a random number generator to pick a year and I use letterboxd.com to determine the actual release year.
1983
On May 13,
1983 a human head was discovered in a bog in Lindow Moss, England. The police,
as they do, began questioning a local man whose wife had been missing and
believed dead for over 25 years. The local man, Peter Reyn-Bardt made a full
confession to the murder and dismemberment of his wife. “It has been so long I
thought I would never be found out.” He said. Allegedly, he killed her after
she caught him sharing his bed with another man and attempted to extort him.
Homosexuality was still illegal in England in 1961 so Reyn-Bardt chose to
eliminate the witness to his illicit affair.
Flash forward
a few months, the police carbon dated a fragment of the skull and found it to
be from the Roman period (around 250 A.D.). Reyn-Bardt tried to revoke his
confession but the charges stuck. He was convicted and sentenced to life
imprisonment. Now, I’m not sure what the moral to this story is. It could be
some sort of Poe-esque moral tale about the conscience of a guilty mind. Or, if
I were a law student, I’d probably say that lesson here is to never talk to the
police. I don’t know. It’s just a weird story and I like it.
In other
worldly news, World War 3 was narrowly prevented by a Lieutenant Colonel of the Soviet Air Defense Forces named Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov. On September 26th,
Petrov was the on-duty officer at a command center when its nuclear
early-warning system indicated that up to six nuclear missiles had been
launched by the U.S. Petrov made a judgement call to treat the warnings as a
false alarm. He disobeyed official military protocol and did not report the
warnings to his superiors, who may very well have quickly launched a very real
counter-strike. As you would expect from 35-year-old information from behind
the Iron-Curtain, the details seem to be unclear at best. But the consensus
does seem to indicate that this incident was likely the closest this world ever
came to an all-out nuclear battle in the four decades of the Cold War...
NOTABLE FILMS
A CHRISTMAS STORY (Directed by Bob Clark)
Bob Clark
has somehow made two great films that have made it into my regular Christmas
rotation. The other I’m referring to of course is his 1974 masterpiece BLACK
CHRISTMAS, my all-time favorite horror film. But I digress. I’m talking this
time about his “more traditional” holiday film. Like most my age, I grew up
with this one on TV in the late eighties and early nineties. Now, this one
usually finds itself on a constant loop at my house from the moment we wake up
Christmas morning until someone finally gets way too sick of it, usually early
afternoon, right after naptime. It’s like a warm blanket.
STYLE WARS (Directed by Tony Silver)
This
is a documentary exploring the earliest years of hip-hop culture that somehow,
over thirty years later, still feels fresh and relevant. This is a subject that
feels to be obviously foreign to the filmmakers. But to their credit, every
perspective is treated with the respect and dignity that is somehow still
lacking in modern discourse. Although the film touches on rap music and
B-boying, its prime focus is on graffiti writing. It’s interesting to see how,
although styles have changed and evolved over the years, the theories and
motivations behind the culture remain true.
SANS SOLEIL (Directed by Chris Marker)
Do
you ever feel like you’ve just been gaslit by a film? I’m not talking about the
newest D’nesh D’souza debacle or the latest Washington/Pyongyang co-production.
This film plays with its own perspective in a way that simultaneously
deconstructs, reconstructs and thumbs its nose at conventional narrative
structure. It’s hard to even describe what you’re really watching. Is it a
documentary, a semi-fictional travel log or some sort of avant-garde
experimental combination of both? I happened to rewatch this film right after
the recent death of Anthony Bourdain. Since then, the film community has been
sharing a list he made of his favorite movies. I was sad to
see that this one is not on there because I can only assume that he never got
around to watching it.
ANGST (Directed by Gerald Kargl)
There
are plenty of films that are much more gory and bloody than this one. But this
is disturbing on a whole new level. You are not likely to find many films in
which the murderer displays this type of apathy for his victims. In that
manner, it reminds me of MAN BITES DOG (’92). The camera work here serves to
add to its upsetting nature. It’s frenetic floating point-of-view makes its
audience complicit in our subject’s spree.
MEANTIME (Directed by Mike Leigh)
Bruce
Robinson’s WITHNAIL & I (’87) made British poverty look like a lot more fun
than this film does. This was a made for TV movie featuring great early career
performances from Tim Roth and Gary Oldman. Oldman’s talent is undeniable. His
supporting “Coxy”, an east-ender skinhead could probably be best described as a
brilliant audition tape for the lead role in Alex Cox’s SID & NANCY three
years later. I tend to compare every successful melodrama made after the 1930’s
to the work of Yasujirō Ozu. Shouldn’t I? Mike Leigh’s work always seems to
hold up to that comparison quite nicely. One particular shot, from a low angle,
focusing on a fidgety washing machine door shows this inspiration rather
clearly.
SLEEPAWAY CAMP (Directed by Robert Hiltzik)
Camp is the
overwhelmingly operative word here. Although I think this film is often
unfairly lumped in with a slew of far more forgettable fair from the eighties.
This one is a standout for me. I think it’s easy to identify with the ‘weird
kid’ clumsily trying to hide their awkwardness. I also think that this
particular story was in its own way ahead of its time, although this may have
been incidental.
L'ARGENT (Directed By Robert Bresson)
One
of the French New Wave’s most cherished and celebrated filmmakers gave us his
swan song in ’83. This film is probably cinema’s most elegant condemnation of
capitalism ever made. It’s a simple ‘money is the root of all evil’ moral tale
in which necessity and desperation, rather than greed are what feed our
abstract antagonist.
MERRY CHRISTMAS MR. LAWRENCE (Directed by Nagisa
Ōshima)
This film on
the other hand, was not missed by the late Anthony Bourdain. And I
wholeheartedly share in his enthusiasm. At its core, this is a story about
empathy and how easily it is lost to war. The culture clash is on full display here
as a group of British soldiers try to grasp their reality as prisoners of war
in Japan. The heart of the film beats with the great performances of David
Bowie Tom Conti and Takeshi Kitano.
NOSTALGIA (Directed by Andrei
Tarkovsky)
“Feelings are unspoken
and unforgettable.”
VIDEODROME (Directed by David Cronenberg)
According
to Elon Musk, we are in fact most likely digital beings living in a simulated
reality. If this is true, (and why wouldn’t it be?) then maybe Cronenberg’s
VIDEODROME is our only known portal into the real world. As if it’s some sort
of artifact from another dimension prophesizing our overtaking. I mean, does anyone actually remember this
film being released?... Or has it always just been? And what is its real
connection to that sarcophagus they just found in Egypt? Or maybe it’s just a
really cool movie with great practical effects. Either way, I would like to
take this opportunity to welcome and pledge my undying allegiance to my new
overlords. Long Live the New Flesh.
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