Burn

Burn, a 2012 documentary directed and produced by Tom Putnam and Brenna Sanchez is thoroughly absorbing. Also known as Burn: One Year on the Front Lines of the Battle to Save Detroit (2014 DVD). Detroit firefighters -- modestly paid even in the best of times -- routinely have to take on a surplus of the half-depleted city's most immediate emergencies. Though not to be confused with Gillo Pontecorvo's 1969 film Burn! / Queimada (starring Marlon Brando, soundtrack by Ennio Morricone), this Burn is just as urgent in setting and style. 

The soundtrack sticks it deep inside the psyche, too. Burn dives immediately into the fray with Iggy & the Stooges' "Gimme Danger" blaring from beyond the flames.  

Click on the image to see the full picture, if you wish. Here's a link to the official Burn website for a whole lot more.

Today's Rune: Fertility. 

     

Shirin Neshat: Women Without Men, Take II

Shirin Neshat's Women Without Men (2009) reminds me in a good way of the work of several other favorite filmmakers, including Luis Buñuel, Costa-Gavras, Deepa Mehta and Gillo Pontecorvo. Intentionally or not, it seems as if Women Without Men is paying homage to, having a dialogue with and picking up from where these others left off in past films, while adding additional concerns.  

 This scene could be captioned Men Without Women. Here, uniformed men with guns chase men in white shirts with knives and a flag. "What immortal hand or eye / Could frame thy fearful symmetry?" It's a scene very reminscent of something from a Costa-Gavras or Pontecorvo film, with detailed emphasis on composition and contrast. Comparative examples: La battaglia di Algeri / The Battle of Algiers (1966), Z (1969), Queimada / Burn! (1969) and Missing (1982).      

Here, Faezeh (Pegah Ferydoni) walks alone down a deserted road, a scene that's repeated in variations during the course of the movie. Anyone familiar with Luis Buñuel's 1972 Academy Award-winning surrealist masterpiece Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie / The Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoisie would recognize very similar imagery in that film. But there is a key difference, and the clue is in the titles: Shirin Neshat's Women Without Men emphasizes women and gender roles while Buñuel's is emphasizing socio-economic class. Also, Buñuel employs humor and satire whereas Neshat employs forlorn beauty and stark tragedy. The sensual feel of Neshat's film is more akin to Deepa Mehta's Fire (1996) Earth (1998) and Water (2005).  

Today's Rune: Initiation.           

Lost Command/Les Centurions: Take II

If Mark Robson's Lost Command / Les Centurions (1966) -- like his Peyton Place (1957) and Valley of the Dolls (1967) -- could be tweaked here and there, it could be very sharp indeed. I'd start with a whole new soundtrack, something from the mind of Ennio Morricone (who is still with us) probably. In any case, the Algerian Revolution / Guerre d'Algérie (1954-1962) war scenes are particularly strong. Watching them, I couldn't help but see the real similarities with the Iraq War (2003-2011) and Afghanistan (2001-present).

Together with Gillo Ponecorvo's masterful La battaglia di Algeri / The Battle of Algiers (1966), Lost Command / Les centurions gives a clear picture of how this kind of conflict plays out. It's not a pretty sight.

Surprise, ambushes, reprisals, bombings, assassinations, murder, civilian deaths: it's all there, and we're seeing plenty more of the same reality in 2012.

Today's Rune: Signals.

Gillo Pontecorvo: Burn!

Don't mind the absurdly terrible overdubbing at points: Gillo Pontecorvo's Queimada / Burn! (1969) is a rare masterpiece of socio-economic analysis in movies. It also sports one of Marlon Brando's great performances (eccentric mock British accent and all).  Though set in the Caribbean in the 1800s, Burn! as filmed was equally concerned with what was going on in the world of the late 1960s, and remains just as relevant in the 21st century. Theme music by Ennio Morricone.

Today's Rune: Journey.

The Medium and Understanding: War Films

In Homer's The Iliad, the reader comes to understand why the different parties fight and what they are aiming to achieve. It's not a pretty picture, but it's understandable and it makes a powerful, enduring and universal story. The following three movies do the same, and they go "the whole hog."  Turner Movie Classics is airing the first one: Gillo Pontecorvo's La battaglia di Algeri / The Battle of Algiers / La bataille d'Alger (1966/1967). We see what motivates opposing forces, we see tactics, strategy, policy, and (brutal) consequences.

Should we remain in Algeria? If you answer "yes," then you must accept all the necessary consequences.

The enduring importance of this history-based fictional film should be obvious. This is the real deal. I haven't been able to see and process all the recent documentaries about Iraq and Afghanistan, but somehow I doubt more than a fraction of them are able to show all sides with such clarity.

The other two, along the same lines: Pontecorvo's Queimada / Burn! (1969), set in the Caribbean, and Moustapha Akkad's Lion of the Desert (1981), set in Libya.

Opening lines of The Iliad:

Rage -- Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus' son Achilles,

murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses,
hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls,
great fighters' souls, but made their bodies carrion,
feasts for the dogs and birds,
and the will of Zeus was moving toward its end.

(Robert Fagles' translation from the Greek).

Today's Rune: Defense.

Guerrilla Cinema: The Spook Who Sat by the Door

Ivan Dixon's The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973), based on co-screenwriter Sam Greenlee's 1960s novel, merges forces with a handful of other subversive films like Gillo Pontecorvo's  The Battle of Algiers / La battaglia di Algeri (1966) and Burn / Queimada (1969), Costa Gavras' Z (1969) and State of Siege / État de Siège (1972), Emile de Antonio's In the Year of the Pig (1969) and David Fincher's 1999 excellent adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's short novel Fight Club: all intense, thoughtful and relevant cultural expressions. As befits subversive films, they are mostly low budget but high in the make-you-think-and respond zone.

With a jazz fusion soundtrack by Herbie Hancock and beautifully controlled performance by Lawrence Cook, The Spook Who Sat by the Door envisions a Chicago-based black (and mostly male) uprising in the top ten urban areas of the USA. Despite an abrupt ending and production values reminiscent of early 1970s TV action series, it's an important film, well-worth seeing.

Today's Rune: Fertility.

This Is Boston, Not L.A.

For anyone living in or traveling to the Boston USA area, there's a beautiful cultural complex, the Coolidge Corner Theatre, at 290 Harvard Street, Brookline, MA 02446. The Coolidge is celebrating its 75th anniversary (and remember it's also the 75th anniversary of Baker's Keyboard Lounge in Detroit!). Part of the festivities include an airing of one of the frankest and most enlightening films I've ever seen (despite some horrible dubbing, but featuring Ennio Morricone's eerie cool soundtrack), a parable of colonialism and post-colonialism, as valid for the US role in Vietnam and Iraq as it is about the European sugar plantations and slave/worker uprisings of the Caribbean -- Gillo Pontecorvo's Queimada / Burn! (1969), with Marlon Brando and Evaristo Márquez. It's brilliant on a large screen -- first got to see it that way in Philadelphia in 1992 at the Rittenhouse Square branch of the Free Library.



The Coolidge began operations during The Great Depression -- and it's still going strong. The Coolidge, in a wonderful setting that showcases intelligent and often cutting edge films, has a milieu comparable to the various Angelika Film Centers and also The IFC Center (323 Sixth Avenue at West 3rd Street, New York, NY 10014).

For more, please see the official Coolidge website: http://www.coolidge.org/

From the Coolidge website: "Best-selling historian Howard Zinn introduces his favorite film as part of our 75th anniversary celebration."

That's right -- the influential historian Howard Zinn, 86-year old author of A People's History of the United States (1980+), You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times (1994), and many more, would be worth hearing in his own right.

When? March 9, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.



Finally, today's post title comes from this 1982 compilation, which I bought at the time in vinyl in Chapel Hill. For hardcore/post-punk enthusiasts, you can't go wrong with bands like Jerry's Kids, The Proletariat and Gang Green. You betcha . . .

Today's Rune: Partnership.

Movies, A-Z

I've been tagged by Bubs to make an A-Z list of movies. The meme originated here.

I'll take this one step beyond and list films A-Z that I really like (or love), and I'll heartily exploit international titles, titles in English translation, and documentaries as needed. Each and every one of these flicks is a choice that comes highly recommended. Here goes:

Affliction (1999). Tour de force with Nick Nolte and James Coburn. Director, Paul Schrader.

Blue Collar (1978). Paul Schrader's hard to find first film, set in Detroit. Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel, Yaphet Kotto.

Clockwatchers (1997). Director, Jill Sprecher. Toni Collette, Parker Posey, Lisa Kudrow, Alanna Ubach. If you've ever temped, worked for Kelly Services or Manpower . . .

Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoisie / Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie (1972). Director, Luis Buñuel. Fernando Rey, Paul Frankeur, Delphine Seyrig, Stéphane Audran. This is one I'd watch repeatedly on a desert isle or in Hell, if I could only watch one movie.

Eight Mile (2002). Again, Detroit! Director, Curtis Hanson. Eminem, Kim Basinger, Brittany Murphy, Mekhi Phifer.

From Russia With Love (1963). Director, Terence Young. Sean Connery, Daniela Bianchi, Robert Shaw, Lotte Lenya, Pedro Armendáriz. Let's Just Say Istanbul is a Rough Town.

Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980). Director, William A. Graham. Powers Boothe, Ned Beatty, LeVar Burton, Colleen Dewhurst, Randy Quaid, James Earl Jones. It doesn't get any better than this, or more corndog weird!

Heart of Glass / Herz aus Glas (1976). Director, Werner Herzog. Josef Bierbichler, Stefan Güttler, Clemens Scheitz, Sonja Skiba.

I'm All Right, Jack (1959). Director, John Boulting. Peter Sellers, Richard Attenborough, Margaret Rutherford, Terry-Thomas. Compare Office Space (1999), British style.

Jesus Camp (2006). Directors, Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing. Nails Ted Haggard, for one.

Kinsey (2004). Director, Bill Condon. Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Peter Sarsgaard, Chris O'Donnell, Timothy Hutton, John Lithgow.

Last Picture Show (1971). Director, Peter Bogdanovich. Jeff Bridges, Timothy Bottoms, Cybill Shepherd, Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman, Ellen Burstyn, Eileen Brennan, Randy Quaid, Eileen Brennan, Sam Bottoms, Clu Gulager.

Manhattan (1979). Director, Woody Allen. Woody Allen, Mariel Hemingway, Diane Keaton, Michael Murphy, Meryl Streep.

Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979). Director, Werner Herzog. Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani, Bruno Ganz. Also, F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu: Eine Symphonie des Grauens / Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) with Max Schreck.

O Lucky Man! (1973). Director, Lindsay Anderson. Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, Ralph Richardson, Rachel Roberts, Alan Price.

Play Misty for Me (1971). Director, Clint Eastwood. Clint Eastwood, Jessica Walter, Donna Mills, John Larch. Clint's first as director, this is a great early stalker movie -- compare with Alan J. Pakula's Klute (1971).

Queimada / Burn! (1969). Director, Gillo Pontecorvo. Marlon Brando, Evaristo Márquez, Norman Hill, Renato Salvatori, Thomas Lyons.

Road Scholar (1993). Director, Roger Weisberg. Andrei Codrescu, Allen Ginsberg, Tyree Guyton, Detroit!

Stardust Memories (1980). Director, Woody Allen. Woody Allen, Charlotte Rampling, Jessica Harper, Marie-Christine Barrault, Tony Roberts.

Times of Harvey Milk (1984). Director, Rob Epstein. Harvey Milk, Harvey Fierstein (narrator), George Moscone, Dianne Feinstein. Fantastic documentary and Mark Isham soundtrack. I look forward to seeing Gus Van Sant's Milk (2008) and fully support gay/lesbian marriages and unions. (Separate post on that soon).

UFOria (1985). Director, John Binder. Fred Ward, Cindy Williams, Harry Dean Stanton.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008). Director, Woody Allen. Scarlett Johansson,Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Rebecca Hall, Patricia Clarkson, Chris Messina. "Speak English!"

Wonder Boys (2000). Director, Curtis Hanson. Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand, Robert Downey, Jr., Katie Holmes, Rip Torn. "I am a writer . . ."

Xiao Wu / The Pickpocket (1997). Director, Jia Zhangke. Wang Hongwei, Hao Hongjian, Zuo Baitao.

Year of Living Dangerously (1982). Director, Peter Weir. Mel Gibson, Sigourney Weaver, Michael Murphy, Linda Hunt.

Zentropa / Europa (1991). Director, Lars von Trier. Max von Sydow (narrator), Jean-Marc Barr, Barbara Sukowa, Ernst-Hugo Järegård, Eddie Constantine, Erik Mørk, Henning Jensen. In the morning, the sleeper has found rest on the bottom of the river. The force of the stream has opened the door and is leading you on. Above your body, people are still alive. Follow the river as days go by. Head for the ocean that mirrors the sky. You want to wake up to free yourself of the image of Europa. But it is not possible.

Whew! Now I'm supposed to tag five more people. Please link back to the original meme: http://blogcabins.blogspot.com/2008/11/alphabet-meme.html
It's now your A-Z movie meme mission, should you choose to accept it:

JR
Beth
Rocket Scientist
MacGuffin
Sid


Today's Rune: The Mystery Rune.

Queimada, or Burn! (1969)

Brando, Pontecorvo. I'm showing this in Latin American Studies. One of the coolest films ever! And a long long way from Hollywood. . .

Kicking Against the Pricks

I'm the very happy recipient of a DVD copy of Black Snake Moan. Not only do I like the movie, but there are extras, commentary by writer/director Craig Brewer, short commentaries on its making, another one on the blues, and one on Blind Lemon Jefferson's circa 1926 song, "The Black Snake Moan."


Black Snake Moan -- not to be confused with Russ Meyer's 1973 film Black Snake / Blacksnake! /aka The Duchess of Doom or Black Snake: The Whip, set in 1853 and filmed on Barbados. I have yet to catch this one, which supposedly has an anti-racist, anti-colonial subtext. A film that certainly does is Gillo Pontocorvo's Queimada / Burn! / The Mercenary (1969) starring Marlon Brando as "Sir Richard Walker," complete with outlandish English accent.


And not to be confused with the 1913 silent film, The Black Snake, either. Pictured just above is Marilyn Monroe posing for Richard Avedon as silent film star Theda Bara, whose birthday is today. Hot stuff.

Today's Rune: Growth.

Birthdays: Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville, Booth Tarkington, Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini, Theda Bara, William Powell, Mikis Theodorakis (Z soundtrack), Monica Calhoun.

Ciao!

Burn!

The legacy of Italian filmmaker Gillo Pontecorvo (11/19/1919– 10/12/2006) has made, thanks in part to the Iraq War and multiple insurgencies, a major resurgence. Pontecorvo and his crew created two of my favorite films, both relatively low budget but smart and very exciting, / La battaglia di Algeria / The Battle of Algiers / Maarakat madinat al Jazaer (1966) and Queimada / Burn! (1969). At some point, I'll write a lengthier post for each.


From The Battle of Algiers:

Journalist: M. Ben M'Hidi, don't you think it's a bit cowardly to use women's baskets and handbags to carry explosive devices that kill so many innocent people?

Ben M'Hidi: And doesn't it seem to you even more cowardly to drop napalm bombs on defenseless villages, so that there are a thousand times more innocent victims? Of course, if we had your airplanes it would be a lot easier for us. Give us your bombers, and you can have our baskets.

U.S. warplanners have used this film to assess how they're coping with Islamic insurgencies. Apparently with mixed results. Iraqi insurgents have begun taking down helicopters in significant numbers. The Surge, so far, is more The Bloody Fizzle.

The current American President seems as bellicose and imbecilic as Benito Mussolini, which doesn't make him any less of a menace to his own people and to people in those countries he's chosen to invade. The Iraq War is without question one of the biggest American foreign policy blunders in the entire history of the U.S.A. Bank on it.


Today's Rune: Protection.

Birthdays: Martin Buber, Jules Verne, John Ruskin.

RIP: Anna Nicole Smith.

Ciao!