A Big Ape, Horses, Cowboys, Crooks and Mad Germans
Fitzcarraldo
Life imitates art; director Herzog’s crazy idea for a film about a man with a crazy idea to move a ship over a mountain. This is probably his most enjoyable film, no doubt due to the similarities between the Fitzcarraldo character and Werner himself; in essence Kinski is playing Herzog.
Fitzcarraldo is a huge opera lover and will do anything to raise the money to bring music to the jungles of Peru. He comes up with an incredible scheme to avoid the rapids of the Amazon River by hauling a huge river boat over a mountain in order to make a fortune from the areas rubber trees.
It’s an insane idea and one they followed through in real life, they actually pulled the boat over the mountain. If that idea alone isn’t enough to show how determined (or mad?) Herzog was to make the film the fact it took three years to make should give you some idea.
Kinski seems to enjoy playing Fitzcarraldo, possibly because he knows he’s really playing his great friend/enemy Herzog. In any case it’s one of his best performances and one of his happiest as well
Cobra Verde
The Kinski/Herzog teams final pairing is very disappointing. Kinski plays the titular bandit who goes to Africa as a slave trader only to find the slave trade outlawed before he can return home to claim his rewards.
The film is just a mess really; the plot is almost nonexistent and what there is meanders all over the place. Having all the black actors dubbed into German also removes much of the feeling of isolation that is so important to understand Kinski’s character.
Having said all that Kinski once again rises above the material to give a great performance.
My Best Fiend
Herzog’s documentary tribute to Kinski is both interesting and enlightening. They say it’s a fine line between genius and madness but with Kinski there was no line. He may have been mad as a march hare but he was also an incredibly gifted actor with tremendous presence.
This is without doubt the most moving thing in the Herzog/Kinski box set. The final scene of Kinski at peace, playing with a butterfly, simple joy written all over his face, is one of the most beautiful pieces of film I’ve ever seen.
King Kong
In this day and age films are much faster paced than they used to be, and yet it takes Peter Jackson over three hours to tell the same tale that this film did in little more than an hour and a half.
What can one say about Kong that hasn’t already been said? One of THE great adventure films and an all time classic. Without this there probably wouldn’t be a Godzilla or Jurassic Park or… well this list goes on. This DVD features one of the best transfers of a film from this era that I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching.
The Ladykillers
A classic British comedy about a gang of crooks and the little old lady who stands between them and the money they’ve stolen.
Peter Sellers’ comic genius is sadly underused but that doesn’t spoil the fun as Alec Guinness delivers one of the all time classic comedy performances as Professor Marcus. Marcus is the leader of the mob and it’s his plans that come unstuck thanks to Katie Johnson. Brilliant as Guinness is without Johnson’s perfect timing as ‘The Old Lady’ it would all fall flat.
They don’t make them like this anymore and (as the Coen’s found out) shouldn’t try. This is a film perfectly of its time and place, much like The Wicker Man, another badly conceived American remake of a beloved British classic.
Ten Wanted Men
A fairly standard Randolph Scott 1950’s western about a range war between two rival cattle barons.
Scott gives a solid but unexceptional performance but thankfully Richard Boone is on hand to liven things up as Scott’s rival. At the start you almost feel sympathy for Boone, as Scott seems to go out of his way to antagonise him, but such feelings soon evaporate as Boone allows his lust for a young Mexican girl to start a confrontation with Scott.
The plot follows a fairly standard pattern and you’re never left in any doubt what the outcome will be. The only puzzle is why they called the film Ten Wanted Men as it bears no relation to the film that I could see.
Dreamer
This is an old-fashioned horse story elevated by an excellent cast.
When a racehorse breaks a leg during a race trainer Kurt Russell finds himself out of a job and with the horse as part payment for his work. His first plan on healing the injured mare is to breed her but…well lets just say things don’t go as planned. Dakota Fanning plays his daughter, who forms a special bond with the horse and through it with her father as well.
The film also features Kris Kristofferson as Russell’s father (needless to say they have ‘issues’ that need to be settled.) Elisabeth Shue plays the wife and mother role but doesn’t get much to do. David Morse is the hissable villain, who was ready to have the horse put down; again, it goes without saying that he’ll get his just deserts.
So no surprises but a nice well acted family film that doesn’t stray into saccharine territory.
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Hitchcock remakes his own 1934 original and improves on it. This time it’s an American family on holiday who get mixed up in an assassination plot.
James Stewart and Doris Day make a great couple. Day is particularly good and must have enjoyed the change of pace from the usual romantic comedies she appeared in. As for Stewart, well this is probably the lesser of his collaborations with Hitch (but then the others are all classics: Rope, Rear Window and Vertigo) and the part of the concerned father hardly stretches his acting muscles.
Not essential Hitchcock but close.
The Stone Tape
Nigel Kneale’s Christmas ghost story from 1972 retains a creepy air even though it looks dated, with that very 70’s BBC studio bound production look.
The setting is the traditional old haunted house but being Kneale that’s as far as being tradional goes. A group of scientists have taken over the house to use as a thinktank to come up with a new recording medium, because tape is dead (how right they were.) When they discover the house is haunted they decide to investigate and discover that the haunting may be stored within the stones.
The performances are all good, all though very much of the time - Jane Asher being female gets to do a lot of crying - and the ending, while not unexpected, is still quite neat.
