Paper Battleships

I deliberated for quite some time over which film was the most suitable for my introduction.

Like the lovely Ms. Lee, I generally gravitate towards films from the silver screen era, what could be more enticing to a cinophile than shadows, celluloid, and sexual repression. But I’m also drawn in by the abundance of dominant leading ladies, a tradition which, like the use of film itself, is fast fading.

So, in a fit of nostalgia, I decided my review would have to hearken back to a different time in American cinema, a time when a woman could, and often did, carry a major motion picture. And maybe because I was reflecting on the dearth of interesting roles for American actresses ever so slightly violently, while wanting to select an actress whose films you’ve definitely heard of, but possibly have not yet seen, all my ruminating led me to one singular conclusion:

Ms. Pamela Grier in, “Coffy.”

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I must be subconsciously missing Paris a lot more than I realize because here’s another review on a French film to join the ranks of the last couple. This one, however, is different because firstly, it’s new. And it’s not entirely in French. Written and directed by Julie Delpy (Before Sunrise and Before Sunset) and co-starring Adam Goldberg (whom I will always remember for his short appearance as Chandler’s crazy neurotic roommate on Friends), 2 Days In Paris is a fun, witty relationship comedy that follows Marion (Delpy) and Jack (Goldberg) as they stop over in Paris for a couple of days (to visit her parents) en route to NYC on their way back from Venice.

Marion is French, but more descriptively Parisian. For those of us who’ve lived in that country, we know there is a vast difference between being Parisian and just being generally French. She is pretty. Out-spoken. Sometimes melodramatic. She moved to NYC several years ago and has managed to fuse her Parisian and Manhattan sensibilities into one gigantic ball of high-strung craziness. Jack is solidly American, but more particularly a New Yorker in all sense of the word. Speaks not a single word of French. Talks fast. Is wary of strangers. Insecure. Gestures a lot. And becomes utterly caught off-guard by the French culture.

The film works off the premise that while in Venice, Jack read a book on the “collective dynamics of a small world network” which postulates that if you travel to the other side of the world, there’s a high chance that you’ll bump into someone who lives right down the street from you. Everyone and everything is connected. But during their vacation, Jack doesn’t run into a single person he knows and just as he was complaining about the failures of the theory, the wheels are set in motion and one by one, they begin to encounter Marion’s ex-boyfriends.

the collective dynamics of the small world network explained.

Meeting Marion’s ex-boyfriends (and it turns out, she has many) releases a whole Pandora’s box of relationship issues between the formerly lovey-dovey couple. Jack gets increasingly upset as he discovers that she still keeps in touch with several of them. And Marion tries her best to lie her way out of arguments only to have all of them catch up with her in the end.

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Because I’m currently working on a production of a big musical, I got to thinking about films set to music. When someone asked me what my favorite film-adapted musical was, I immediately responded “Sound of Music (1965).” But then I was asked, “But do you know any films that is all music? Like, even the recitative?” and all I could think of was Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, or The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), the film that catapulted a young Catherine Deneuve into the cinematic stratosphere three years before her defining role in Belle de Jour (1967).

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg was the first French musical filmed in color and yes, indeed, everything was sung. Unlike the Hollywood sing-song films made about the French (I’m talking about those Vincent Minelli treasures like Gigi (1958) or An American in Paris (1951) or even Stanely Donen’s Funny Face (1957)), that have made the romantic country into some sort of happily-ever-after amusement park full of bonnets and cotton candy, this one is truer to the French tradition of cinéma triste (that’s a made-up term by the way). It’s so sad and beautiful that I’m getting a bit teary eyed just thinking about it.

Geneviève looking out of her mother’s umbrella shop

Guy (the one in the sweater) getting ready for their big date in the locker room of the auto shop

the sweet innocence of young love

Young Geneviève (Deneuve) lives with her single mother who owns a small umbrella shop in Cherbourg, a city in Normandy about 200 miles from Paris. She is in love with Guy (Castelnuovo), a a young auto mechanic who doesn’t have much money and lives with his ailing grandmother. Guy is then drafted to fight in the Algerian War and before he leaves, they consummate their relationship. Geneviève becomes pregnant and while waiting for Guy’s return, her mother forcefully “encourages“ her to forget about him and marry M. Cassard (Marc Michel), a rich businessman who fell in love with her the instant he walked into their umbrella shop.

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We here at PB have a special place in our hearts for films about being a child, especially those who grew up as outsiders because we know what that was like. Oh, how we know. The stories we could tell. From me being teased for my British accent (almost successfully dropped by the way) to Elizabeth being excluded during playtime for her Nazi-esque blond hair (it was a Japanese school), we have enough stories of not being wanted to fill up ten bookshelves. So when this little pearl of a film came across my lap, I just had to share it with you.

Mit mir will keiner spielen or No One Will Play With Me is a short 12-minute film by the legendary Werner Herzog. Herzog, brilliant and crazy, is usually known for his over-the-top Wagnerian epics like Fitzcarraldo (1982) and beautiful documentaries like Glocken aus der Tiefe (Bells from the Deep, 1993). But I wanted to show you something that you may never otherwise get to see, especially since these early shorts are so hard to come by.

Here is little Martin, banished to a corner of the classroom because his classmates refuse to play with him. He doesn’t quite understand why, they just won’t.

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Coup de Foudre…aka Entre Nous is a beautiful film, both visually and contextually, released in 1983 under the direction of Diane Furys detailing the blossoming relationship of two women in 1950s France. While in a concentration camp during WWII, the Jewish Lena (Isabelle Huppert) marries a Frenchman as a way to be released, and they escape to Italy to wait out the war. Meanwhile, art student Madeleine (Miou-Miou) suffers her own heartbreak when her boyfriend is shot by a stray bullet during a small resistance effort at her school. A decade later back in Lyon, France, now with Madeleine married to someone else, these two women just happened to meet at their children’s school play and, as the saying goes, such was the start of a beautiful friendship. But the film takes us much deeper as this friendship gradually evolves into romantic love, one that is profound and intense but not without destructive consequences.

Entre Nous won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1984 and is considered a rare gem among the countless films about love that’s out there, not the mention lesbian love. Its beauty lies in its sexual restraint. We don’t see passionate embraces between the two women. Instead we follow them about their day, gaining insights into their fears, sorrows, hopes, and dreams. We tag along on picnics, family dinners, nights out, and trips to Paris. By showing us just how normal their lives are, we begin to accept the normality of their increasingly taboo relationship and eventually not only understand but also appreciate the maturation of their love for each other.

We could go into this review much further but we’d rather not because it’s not exactly an obscure film and there are plenty of other, much more professional and eloquent reviews out there already. So instead we’re going to tackle a problem that we haven’t seen anyone else solve - the problem of showcasing the amazing fashion in this film. We are not embarrassed to admit that we here at PB are undeniable style addicts and a stunning dress can floor us just as easily as a well-written piece of dialogue or a perfectly timed pause. In fact, we just might start up a whole other category just for this topic of wardrobe and/or art direction. Hmmm…something to think about.

Being that it was set in France in the 1950s, which was a fabulous decade for fashion triumphed only slightly by the 1940s, we are treated with an onslaught of simple but chic ensembles that would still work well in today’s world . Clothes that highlight the female figure by tailoring to the body and cinching at the waist. Cardigans. Lady gloves. Brightly colored scarves. Low-heeled pumps and ballet flats. Bold accessories highlighted against monochromatic silhouettes. The essential little black dress. Wide belts. Narrow belts. Fun hats. Crisp white shirts. Some of it glamorous, most of it simple, and all of it classic and elegant. This film is worth viewing just for the clothes alone.

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We know we’ve been away for a long time and we apologize for the absence of posts. But just because we haven’t had the opportunity to sit down and write about films doesn’t mean we haven’t been watching them. That be would sacrilegious. It’s rare that a day goes by that we’re not watching something.

So while we’ve seen countless films during our time away - some good, many bad, and a few that fell us to sleep - we wanted to highlight one that really caught our eye - The Spirit of the Beehive or El Espíritu de la Colmena, released in 1973 and directed by Victor Erice.

It’s 1940, right after the Spanish Civil War. The story opens in a remote Castillan village in the great plains of central Spain (think Don Quixote of La Mancha) and the townspeople flock to their ramshackled town hall for a screening of the classic horror flick Frankenstein (1931). Little six year old Ana went with her older sister Isabel and comes home shocked by the morbid ending (remember the Monster threw a little girl in the lake thinking she would float like the flower petals? Then when everyone found out, they hunted him down and killed him?)

Ana at the cinema

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PB drove up to the Northshore yesterday for no apparent reason and on the way back, decided to stop by the little port town of Gloucester, MA for a little walkabout. Having grown up on the Cape, PB has a soft spot for all things dealing with the sea and the men who brave it. It is no coincidence that she learned The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner before Mother Goose and read Herman Melville before Jane Austen. Why, just the smell of the salty sea air and the shadowy figures of circling seagulls bring her immediately back to all those summers spent dockside baiting bluefish and digging for clams. Wearing t-shirts that say “Have a whale of a good time!” and running around in unfashionably floral short shorts while her Mother peddled homemade pastries to tourists downtown.

So while in Gloucester, PB thought of the classic film that made this town famous - Victor Fleming’s Captains Courageous (1937). Based on the novel by Rudyard Kipling, Captains Courageous is part high-seas adventure and part heartfelt coming-of-age story delivered by an all-star cast of Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore, and Freddie Bartholomew.

Did you know that Freddie Bartholomew was considered the Macaulay Culkin of his time? He was one of the highest paid child actors in the 1930s, with a salary that was only surpassed by the even more legendary Shirley Temple in the 1940s. (Btw, did you know that Shirley Temple is still alive?!) Anyway, so Freddie plays Harvey, a spoiled little rich kid who falls off his Dad’s massive yacht and into the great big ocean. As his ship mercilessly leaves him floundering in its foamy wake, Harvey is then rescued by a Portuguese fisherman Manuel (Tracy) who then brings him onto a expedition schooner full of other seasonal fishermen.

and down he goes!

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Who needs workout music when you’ve got old black and white movies to keep your attention while pounding on the treadmill? PB has very little spare time to sit down and watch a film in its entirety these days so she’s come up with a new system - watch them while exercising. A few days ago, PB pulled out some earlier Cary Grant films that she hasn’t seen before and delighted in discovering a more stoic side to the comedic actor. Only Angels Have Wings (1939) is a fine example of an aviation-adventure classic, heralding quintessential male camaraderie and the women who must choose to accept it and love without attempting to change it.

When her ship docked at a small South American port for a short stopover, Brooklyn native Bonnie Lee (Jean Arthur) hops off for a stroll about town. She then meets two American pilots who are just a little too eager to buy her dinner. Turns out they both work for Geoff Carter (Cary Grant) who manages a local aviation company specializing in high-risk flights with dangerous cargo into areas where the landing is nearly impossible.

Who’s going to pay for Bonnie’s steak?

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Guess what PB watched on Valentine’s Day? Yes, she knows that was two weeks ago but all that self-empowering chocolate has put her in a coma, which she only awoke from yesterday. Yesterday was also when she finally took down her Christmas lights and she is glad to report that no, she did not flagellate off the porch like a crazy woman… like she did last year. Anyways, the film. PB watched the 1943 classic Heaven Can Wait starring the most beautiful onscreen overbite the world has ever known, Gene Tierney. PB fell in love with Tierney at the age of seven, while watching The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947). That was also the first time PB has ever seen anyone with an overbite and immediately decided it a most splendid trait until she later learned that it is not generally considered so by the rest of society…

Heaven Can Wait teams up Gene Tierney with a lovable Don Ameche, a very popular actor known for his historical roles in epic biopics at the time. The film was made in vivid Technicolor and directed by Ernst Lubitsch, whose films were celebrated for their stylish European flair. Here Henry van Cleve (Ameche) spots Martha (Tierney) for the very first time at a public phone booth, concocting an elaborate excuse to her mother about why she’ll be late in returning home.

“Here was a girl lying to her mother. Naturally, that girl interested me at once.”

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Although director Wong Kar-Wai is a household name among film critics and international cinema aficionados, he has yet to become fully acknowledged by the American audience. Actually, the vast number of the world’s great filmmakers still unknown to the American public puts PB immensely ill at ease, but that’s another discussion altogether. So in honor of the Chinese New Year, PB will continue her series on Chinese films for those who may not already know about them.

Wong Kar-Wai is a true auteur, posessing a distinctive style that oozes of nostalgia, melancholy, and alienation, all sensually backdropped against hauntingly vivid urban landscapes. In the Mood for Love centers around two neighbors, Mr. Chow (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) and Mrs. Chan (Maggie Cheung) who develop a deep, intimate bond after discovering that their spouses are having an affair with each other.

The film plays out gradually, but the movement is achingly poetic. Maggie Cheung glides in and out of scenes like a phantom memory, slowed by our own mind’s inclinations toward wistful reminiscences, and perhaps those of her love interest’s. She sashays from one room to the next, down long empty corridors, and dark narrow stairwells - veiling everyday banality in a shroud of romanticized loneliness.

Even going out to fetch noodles is sexy.

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