bernardovillela

The Tin Drum: A Critical Ode in Picaresque (Part Four)

Posted on November 25, 2015 by bernardovillela

The Irrationality of German History

One of the most telling quotes from the bonus features is that this film sought to deal with the “irrationality of German history” much as the book did. That phrase is aptly stated whereas Germans as a people are known for order and efficiency their history is marred by actions and behaviors that seem to belie that. Thus, the history is irrational and Eddie Izzard’s joke about Hitler being unable to paint trees and deciding to “kill everyone in the world” is dangerously close to the truth.

The Tin Drum is a work of the German New Cinema, a name and approach that was created after a meeting that created the Oberhausen Manifesto.

Something had to be built out of the rubble, as Goebbles destroyed the film industry, and a Golden Age of German cinema in the Weimar Republic, before the war anyway, as cinema or a culture that saw no reason to look to its recent or distant past for influence and co-opted American mores as Wim Wenders put it “WWII created a hole in German culture and we tried to fill it with American culture as soon as possible.” This the influx of American distributors and the Marshall Plan created a love/hate relationship with the Hollywood cinema. And who doesn’t have one anyway?

The cultural colonization came to German after so-called “Rubble Films, melodramas with similar backdrops to Germany Year Zero but little else in common.

A nation now “Excluded from its own history” as Timothy Corrigan puts it seemed to scream, like Oskar seeking the protection of its grandmother’s skirts, and that protection cinematically seemed to come from honestly addressing some ludicrous histories. Yet, some films continued to act as flashpoints. The Tin Drum being one, and Spielberg’s Schindler’s List twenty-four years later was another noticeable one as it dealt directly with the Holocaust.

The Tin Drum: A Critical Ode in Picaresque (Part Three)

Posted on November 24, 2015 by bernardovillela

Teutonic Reflections and Francophonic Refractions

Though the nomenclature of Roman Picaresque escaped me I have seen and been influenced by a picaresque before. The Roman Picaresque tradition is visible in Léolo. It is something, at the time, I could not name, but it is the ragamuffin, rapscallion at the center of each tale that drew me in and the confounding unreliable narrator that makes it so fascinating and easy to revisit.

This film was perhaps, with its plotless dalliances falling just short of vignettes, was one of the first I chose to theorize on. Simply state in my own mind “Oskar is Germany.” He stopped growth as the society did. It’s likely an over-reduction of the some of the complex representations of commentary in the film, but he is Germany of a certain time, of a certain generation. One that refused to grow and gave in to childish impulse and unbounded atrocity and aggression; one that told its sons “If you don’t want to grow, I’ll show you how it’s done.”

There are broad yet cunning satires of many aspects of Nazi Germany within such as the ostracism and elimination of homosexuals as detailed by the infamous Paragraph 175 (illustrated by one of the film’s suicides), the carnival act that was Nazi propaganda is here made literal and quite buffoonish for it. Yet, also, ironic as one of the dwarfs wishes Oskar “Mazel Tov” before his first time on stage (an allusion to Nazis playing loose and easy with rules of Aryanism; most notably Fritz Lang was terrified when he was told “We decide who is Aryan, Mr. Lang.”); Oskar’s affinity for breaking glass with his high-pitched scream can be seen as a parallel to Kristallnacht. Oskar’s involvement in propaganda can be seen as a parallel to Grass’ own divulged-late-in-life involvement with the Nazi party as a young man.

An involvement, by the way, that I don’t think makes Grass’ critics disingenuous. Surely, it’s not only those who never fell for the party line who can find fault with the fantasies and delusions they spread across Germany and the terror they inflicted across the globe.

The commentary on domestic activities are omnipresent and embodied in all characters both large or small. Oskar “die trommler,” borrowing one of Der Führer’s many monikers towards the end of the war is sought by the Gestapo for racial impurities – as his suspected father father (Cousin Jan) is Polish and not Kashubian – a self-professed borderland.

There is a frame created with the rise and fall of the Beethoven portrait. Hitler replaces him on the wall, when the war comes to an end so does Hitler’s exalted status. Beethoven returns to his rightful and immortal place “Beethoven there was a genius.”

The very patriarch of the family who utters that line dies choking on a swastika – emblazoned pin that he is attempting to hide as the Allies descend on Berlin. Echoing film scholar Timothy Corrigan’s observation, Oskar and his younger brother Kurt end up fatherless reflecting the Fatherless Generation moniker post-war German wore whether they liked it or not.

Oskar knowing he is at a crossroads decides as a twenty-one-year-old orphan to bury his drum so that he may grow. As he buries that drum, Kurt (the younger generation) hits him with a rock. In essence Oskar has to face a sort of death before he is allowed to grown. It is commented upon by grandmother that he “Fell down stairs and stopped growing. Now he fell into a grave and wants to grow again.”

Perhaps the most poignant character as commentary is Fajngold. He’s a concentration camp survivor who comes to run the Matzerath grocery store. He still has delusions that his family surrounds him, in a way it’s a variation of a fatherless generation, but this time it’s a vanished generation that will never grace German soil in a significant way again.

The Tin Drum: A Critical Ode in Picaresque (Part 2)

Posted on November 22, 2015 by bernardovillela

The Beat of My Own Drum

The Roman picaresque was a subgenre I did not know by name before embarking on this blogathon. So, having learned something, and wanting to chronicle a personal journey with a film, it was already a total success. Much like Mark Twain’s prelude/warning at the start of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, “those looking for a plot will be shot” while watching The Tin Drum but that’s not to say there isn’t a point being made and a story being told anyway, the method is just unconventional.

I cannot remember how I first came to view this film exactly. It may have been a rental. I do know that the original DVD release from Kino is one of the first DVDs I ever had. It’s a film that inspired me in a lot of ways from the audacity of its making to the outrageousness of its protagonist. So much so that it’s one of a few films that inspired an online persona. Once upon a time I used AOL Instant Messenger screen names like TheDustFactory, named after a film, and the incorrectly spelled OskarDeTrommler. I was drawn to, and understood, the charms of this character lost amidst historical events, and it’s a wonderful symbol and creation of cinema even if the desire to be drumming, and the fascist leader that should be followed, are read by Schlöndorff; I agree with one can’t even deign to have that kind grandeur of self-regard without some motivation.

As a rebel, and defender of free speech, and an artist; I bristled at the notion of the Oklahoma ruling that it was child pornography. Schlöndorff having faced censorship troubles with the film in quite a few markets understood the trouble he was just baffled by it occurring ten years after the fact.

The cinematic realism with outrageous occurrences and types; the impartial point-of-view that visually transcribes a world; “Germany confronting its past through Hollywood images,” as film scholar Timothy Corrigan stated it; the fact that it’s really a contrarian bildungsroman starring an Anti-Peter Pan (he ages but his body does not – a version of Oskar that only exists in the cinema); are just some of the things that drew me to it. It’s a film that goes beyond overly-simplistic representations, like a Christ figure, and it goes where the camera usually does not, which I am always a fan of.

Through these myriad sections you’ll specific illustrations in image and text as to how all the layers of this film work ever-so-beautifully.

The Tin Drum: A Critical Ode in Picaresque (Part 1)

Posted on November 21, 2015 by bernardovillela

Statement of Intent

If one is not already rolling their eyes at the title of this piece, it is actually one that fits. So, what does the title mean? Mainly that The Tin Drum is a film I owe an homage, an ode, on this blog. It’s not a poetical one but a critical one, and much in the fashion of this film, it is one in a picaresque tradition.

When trying to ponder this blogathon entry, and how I would go about tackling something like The Tin Drum, I had a few different ideas. Prior to even joining the Grace Kelly blogathon, I thought of reading the play. Similarly, I considered reading Günter Grass’ novel theprior to writing this. I did not read The Swan by Ferenc Monár and I barely got into The Tin Drum.

I also planned on watching the definitive cut before this blogathon started as well as the supplements. With many recent blogathons I was ready well ahead of time. Not this time.

So, I will have to do what I did for Léolo, except I will start this as a series on the last day of the blogathon and will continue daily until I am finished. I am dealing with a leviathan much more unruly than what I allowed myself with Léolo.

I will use this post as an index linking to each individual post as they go live.

Thank you all for reading and bearing with me. I hope you come back, and as a teaser as of this writing I am planning on 12 parts and have so far written at least 3,688 words.

Unlike in the film, Santa Claus will come, not the gasman.

Rewind Review: Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky

Posted on November 17, 2015 by bernardovillela

Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky is an odd case of a tale, at least as it is recounted in this film, that may have been best left as a historical footnote, or better yet a historical rumor which this is.The set up is certainly one that is loaded with promise. The film begins with the then controversial premiere of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. After which his fame and fortune topple and seven years later he was living hand-to-mouth in a hotel with his wife being seriously ill. Chanel who admires his work offers him and his family residence in her country home. This leads to an affair and that’s about the apex of the film.

The beginning of the film where in we see not only a hint of their attraction between Chanel and Stravinsky but also the fiasco that is the opening of his show in 1913 is nothing short of riveting. However, making a compelling first act is not the difficulty it’s the other two that often present the challenge. This three-pronged beginning is worth noting though. First, there is the pre-show where we see not only him and Chanel but also his pre-show jitters and an intimation of what his family life is like. Second, there is the chronicling of what the show itself was like which is quite something because listening to the music with modern ears it’s difficult to see what is so offensive. The music is wonderful but ahead of its time and thus receives a negative reaction. The last part of the opening is also compelling as you see opposite sides of the then failed symphonic ballet pointing fingers at each other. You have Nijinsky blaming Stavinsky and vice versa with Diaghilev trying to play mediator.

The positive effect that the move to Chanel’s has on Stravinsky’s work is obvious. He is able to compose. The difficulty the film ends up having is in the conveyance of the affair. To be just it doesn’t seem to be unrealistic but that’s where the issues come in. It is possibly too realistic for there to be sustainable drama and conflict that is truly compelling.

The affair begins and they are secretive about it but of course they are discovered, not only do Chanel’s friends suspect, as one scene illustrates, but Stravinsky’s wife and oldest son find out. Not that things need to blow up into melodrama but not enough does happen. Stravinsky’s wife takes it for as long as she can. She confronts both her husband and Chanel but in very subdued ways not making any overt threats or fuss. Again realistic for period but not necessarily making for the best drama.

Also you have an issue in that the two protagonists are quite similar in many ways. They are both driven to succeed in their profession and both consider themselves to be instinctual artists. They are demanding and not very open but physically passionate. When you have two characters who do not wear their hearts on the sleeves you need more incisive, perhaps even intrusive, filmmaking than you get in this film. It is all surface, glimpses beneath are few and far between and the water is murky.

Though you do get interesting time cuts which allow you to see the two in their old age hearkening back to their tryst it doesn’t stir up much emotion because the dénouement in this film seems massive. Chanel and Stravinsky fight, essentially ending their affair but he has work to finish and stays until he does. She attends his opening and applauds as people now appreciate his work. However, their relationship is over and we know it. We also know they will not fight for it. Similarly, Stravinsky’s wife really doesn’t fight for him to come back but hopes that he will.

It is unseen but he does go back and there is another failing. You have here a triangle with no real tug and pull. He is never truly torn, we assume he will return to his wife who doesn’t struggle to get him back so aside from seeing the great work both he and Chanel create by the fact that they are mutual muses what else is the tale really telling aside from an interesting footnote?

At one point Stravinsky’s wife cites the effect of the affair on the children but we don’t see it. We take her word for it. On occasion we get a glimpse into how she feels but not enough and the fact of the matter is how she feels isn’t that unique either. She loves him, wants success for him, wants him for only her but knows she can only push him so far.

Whether through adding more points-of-view or perhaps exaggerating historical facts or hearsay something needed to be done to up the ante in this film because all through the film there just wasn’t enough conflict and the outcome of the tale was ultimately a bit too predictable.

Some good acting and interesting cinematography is ultimately wasted in service to a script that seems to never want to, and never does, go for the jugular.

5/10

Mini-Review: Frances Ha

Posted on November 16, 2015 by bernardovillela

Introduction

This is a post that is a repurposing of an old-school Mini-Review Round-Up post. As stated here I am essentially done with running multi-film review posts. Each film deserves its own review. Therefore I will repost, and at times add to, old reviews periodically. Enjoy!

Frances Ha

What you have here is a tale of female arrested development wherein the protagonist Frances (Greta Gerwig) watches the world (i.e. her friends) grow up and move on around her, and she has to shape up or ship out in order to not be left miserable and alone. Shot in black-and-white, located in and around New York, save for some of her aimless soul-searching; it tries to hearken to Woody Allen in the ’70s but forgets to include the comedy, acerbic wit or insight. The protagonist isn’t even as dubiously engaging as an obviously-flawed Allen creation, merely annoying.

Mind you I’ve seen an even more immature man-child in The Almost Man. However, Henrik needs to be beaten over the head less often before snapping out of his fantasy life and starting his soul-searching and latter-life maturation; with Frances she’s not humorous, engagingly rendering, intriguingly portrayed or more complex, yet she takes more prodding and is more bothersome. “You’re bullshit,” Frances’ bestie snaps at her. Indeed she is, and it takes her far too long to agree and get her shit together, and even if that was excusable it’s not an engaging watch before then.

2/10

Rewind Review: City Island

Posted on November 15, 2015 by bernardovillela

Sometimes it seems like fate when you hear about a film. Again this plays a bit into pre-life but this connection is a little more direct as I agree with the sentiments to follow. I had never heard of the film City Island until Jake T. Austin, the actor best known for Wizards of Waverly Place and the upcoming The Perfect Game, tweeted that he had just seen it at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival and said it’s the kind of film he wants to be involved in. Which is high praise from any actor and equivalent to a director saying “I wish I made that movie.”
This film concerns itself with the secrets a nuclear family keeps from each other that are unearthed as its patriarch, Andy Garcia, brings home an ex-con who is his son from a pre-marital tryst.This is the best most accurate way to encapsulate the film other cutesy pitch-like attempts give you some but not all of the tale like a partial modern day Greek tragedy with a comedic slant or Secrets & Lies with a sense of humor – both while somewhat true don’t say it all and even the secrets angle borders on hyperbole because what the film is really about is disconnect within a family unit and all members living separately, as if on islands, such that any communication is a task and keeping secrets is easier than saying what’s really going on in their lives.   This truly is a cast that is flawless and has absolutely no weak link whatsoever even in the smallest part. First, you have Andy Garcia who narrates the tale and carries us through it we see how he likes to define his existence simply such that anything beyond being a corrections officer threatens his sense of normalcy. There is Julianna Margulies who plays his wife and finally gets a chance to shine on the silver screen in a meaty role after so many successful years on TV. Emily Mortimer, who even though most of the time she serves to give Vince (Garcia) confidence, has her own baggage and is like those we may meet shortly in life that left something behind for reasons we don’t quite know. Steven Strait as the prodigal son is also an outsider who sees things in this family dynamic so much more clearly than any of them do for he never lived in it. Ezra Miller as Vince, Jr. is the family clown but only because he seeks to break the cycle and not get caught up in the secrets himself and just be himself. There is Alan Arkin’s character whose acting class plays so beautifully into the plot of the film and he even has his own moments of struggle and frustration. There’s also Dominik García-Lorido as their fiery daughter who frequently butts heads with her mom and believe it or not I could go on.
Here is another example of where a film’s setting plays a role as the locale not only serves as a backdrop but it also influences the protagonist’s outlook on life as he defines all people by the local vernacular of Clamdiggers, those born and raised on City Island, and Musselsuckers, those who moved there. It’s more rare for a film to utilize its location to its advantage as a book would as typically you’re trying to disguise one location for another but being the title of the film as well as the location City Island was definitely a strength.

What does ultimately make this film as successful as it is that it’s a comedy. The drama is there, of course, as it is the foundation upon which all other genres are created but if all these situations are played out and revealed in a straightforward manner it ultimately would lose its effectiveness. It’s because you laugh that it feels more real because some familial situations are so crazy all you can do is laugh.
As demonstrated above where the cast deserves very high praise but note that most of what is mentioned is character related and not performance related. It truly is a character driven piece in which all the people we meet are drawn out and made to seem real. Some scenes are momentarily broken, for example, as Vince is away to build Vince Jr.’s secret/character. It’s the kind of film where one can likely walk away from it identifying with any number of characters. For example, what I found interesting was that to me Vince, Jr. seemed the most well-adjusted or at least the least crippled by his secret. He didn’t panic when Tony (Strait) indicated that he knew his secret and when Vince, Jr. found that the webcam he was watching was across the street he didn’t hesitate to go there. Also, at the end he didn’t hesitate to go outside and see what was happening at his house and interject in the conversation though he was dining with two girls.
This film is truly well-written and directed and is a strong debut that is most deserving of the Audience Award it won at Tribeca last year. Aspiring writers and/or directors should read Raymond De Felitta’s blog on the making of the film on Facebook and Twitter. If you have a chance you should seek this film out. It’s the kind of independent cinema you seek to see more often: truthful and insightful and not different just for the sake of being different- absolutely spot on.
10/10

Short Film Saturday: Cosmic Scrat-tastrophe

Posted on November 14, 2015 by bernardovillela

With the release of The Peanuts Movie there was the unexpected surprise of a new short film in front of it. It’s an Ice Age tale, following scrat again, and with a similar formula to others. It’s humorous, and diverting enough though it ends a bit abruptly.

Free Movie Friday: Semper Est Sperare (Always Hope)

Posted on November 13, 2015 by bernardovillela

Similar to my last post in this category this is one where I recuse myself on commenting too much in a critical capacity, but do want to link to it, and promote it, because one of the stories within this documentary pertains to close personal friends of mine.

And, following on the heels of sharing this film from Jacks Gap on other forms of social media, I believe in both opening avenues to discussion on mental health issues, and doing what I can to try and end the stigma.

This is a topic that actually has some current traction in the States as this recent piece by John Oliver comes to mind.

The feature is little more than and hour, so if you see all three you have three strong voices; young, older, and in between trying to keep the debate going and end stigmatization. Keep the conversation going.

The Wonderful Grace Kelly Blogathon: The Swan (1956)

Posted on November 12, 2015 by bernardovillela

Introduction

This is the first of two consecutive blogathon participations where I had intended to read the original texts (the play in this case, and the novel in the next). As it stands, these grandiose plans will have to be scrapped, and I will need to include both The Swan along with the Tin Drum (should I get to the book) to the long list of titles I watched before I read. Most of the Hungarian playwright, Ferenc Molnár’s, works are available online in the public domain either on Project Gutenberg or Internet Archive.

As for the film version, which was released in 1956 (four years after Molnár’s death) was one of Grace Kelly’s final screen credits before retiring from the screen after becoming Queen of Monaco.

A renewed interest in Kelly, sparked partially by the forgettable Grace of Monaco, is what drew me to this blogathon, and Molnár and this connection to her late career drew me to The Swan.

Grace Kelly the Swan

Firstly, yes, I believe I will be reading Molnár’s work after having seen this film. More on that later, but first the focus of the blogathon: Grace.

One thing that was interesting to see, as someone who has now seen nearly 1/3 of her scant titles, was the added range this role allows her. We all have blind spots almost everywhere, even film enthusiasts, and Grace outside Hitch’s movies was one of mine. Kelly was Hitchcock’s perfect blond not only in terms of appearance but for how he could cool down her refined class, and make her be quiet, or calculating, or a cipher as the case may be. Here she was likely drawing off real-life emotions but was allowed several facets – a few I’d not quite seen.

Firstly, there is the physical prowess she exudes. Now, it’s very clear from the first time you watch her that few actors’ names were ever so fitting as Grace Kelly’s. She has a regal air and gait anyway, always, did but when you add her fencing, ballroom dancing, and some of her emotional vulnerability it’s very impressive. Emotionally she’s ill-at-ease, distraught, nervous, and very noticeably listening and reacting in the most intense scenes.

That and she’s practically a textbook example, even in Cinemascope, of the rule that actors on film must adjust to the framing; having more leeway of movement and gestures in wide shots and being more subtle the closer the camera comes. Not that it’s ever that close as there are lots of wide shots and long takes.

This and the minimal airing out of the play were used to exploit Cinemascope, which was created to offer something TV couldn’t play up some the of theatrical elements in a cinematic milieu, fitting as much early TV were playhouse shows and the lines of theatre, television, and film were blurred.

The drawing from real life experience is not me stretching that she was royalty later and plays royalty here, this film was actually released shortly after her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco, surely that was part of the appeal to her and to MGM’s marketing department. “I want to be a queen” she protests at one point as her becoming a princess was imminent.

Hungary

The setting of this film is labeled as Central Europe 1910, but it’s really the Austro-Hungarian Empire right before World War One. The decadence of the Empire in its latter days has been fodder for Hungarian writers and will likely continue to be. This was a project that director Charles Vidor could relate to as he was one of many who left either Hungary or Austria-Hungary before it to Hollywood. Born Károly Vidor in Budapest, 1900; he was around the age of Alexandra’s brothers at this time.

However, some of the setting is evident even in Anglicized text like the paddle game, mentions of the great plain, the Puszta; which I never heard being referred to as a place where mirages frequently happen; Szeged and (where your paprika likely comes from). I was also glad they broke into French on occasion which was almost universally the language of European royal courts. At least this is a compromise of the convention of translating to English.

Whereas sometimes foreign comedies don’t translate this does because it’s about dry wit, impropriety in highly proper environments and some well-played, subtle physical comedy.

Themes and Motifs

The themes and motifs in this film are quite apparent but very much appreciate nonetheless. Among them are the role of religion in politics and maintaining the status quo. Father Hyacinth, the monk and a relative, is likely an underrated character and quite shrewd. He’s nearly duplicitous in his ability to influence even though he also admonishes the royals, most of the characters are layered like this rather than being archetypes. There are also overtures of class warfare, the rights to culture and one’s “place in society.” As is not atypical with royals, and in Hollywood couples, there is an age difference of 15 years. The plot also centers on marrying for political gain versus love, there’s a refreshing spin on jealousy plots and a jilted lover.

Conclusion

This film is also proof that older films are worth watching despite their Oscar pedigree or lack thereof. The film is an early Cinemascope title, the sets are as opulent as Golden Age mise-en-scènes, and the score by Bronislau Kaper, albeit sparsely used is mellifluous.

Despite focusing on Kelly it is an ensemble piece and aptly performed by Alec Guinness, Louis Jourdan, Jessie Royce Landis, Brian Aherne, Estelle Winwood, Agnes Moorehead, Christopher Cook and Van Dyke Parks.

Even though there is a slight bit of predictability, I appreciated the refereshing take on a manipulated love triangle and the sociopolitical themes aside from the romance.

The Swan, a nickname and metaphor that plays early and late in the film. To not tease the end too much I was not surprised what the ending was after seeing Internet commentary like “the end didn’t work for me.” Keeping in mind the cultural relativism of Hungrian works, which I am familiar with, as well as realistic expectations in the real worls and not in Hollywood claptrap the ending makes perfect sense and it is all the more bittersweetly beautiful for it.

The Movie Rat