Katyń (Andrzej Wajda, 2007)

This film attracted a lot of attention, particularly in Poland, and given my Polish background, the film had a more significant and personal connection with me.

The title of the film refers to the mass executions of officers and public servants by the Soviet secret police in 1940. The Soviets denied responsibility for the massacre until 1990, when it formally acknowledged the ordered killings and cover-up that had ensued. The “secret” nature of the massacre forms a significant part of the way the event is portrayed in the film.

Unlike for instance, Life is Beautiful, a film set during the Holocaust, which really tugs on the heartstrings, Katyń seems like a colder, more distanced portrayal of another of the war’s horrors. It feels more like the film is focusing on the political situation of the time, as a way of trying to come to grips with the event, as well as be able to give Poland’s uncensored account of what was (and perhaps still is) one of the lesser-known yet one of the most significant mass tragedies to have taken place during the Second World War, to the rest of the world watching through the medium of cinema.

The film, directed by celebrated Polish director Andrzej Wajda, features a few personal stories entwined with each other but I think it is more about reflecting the general state and sentiment of the country at the time − the confusion, the cover-ups, the propaganda and just the unknown. So, I feel as if, sympathy and emotion take a back seat in the film, which is more about showing people the situation Poland was facing, physically, emotionally and politically. It’s a country struggling between two forces, trying to find the lesser of two evils: the Germans and the Soviets. On the one hand, you have Nazis and Auschwitz, and on the other side of the country (literally), the Soviets are undertaking a secretive massacre in the Katyn forest. It’s just incomprehensible to me − and I usually feel like this whenever I watch something about historical tragedies and events that I, thankfully, did not have to live through but through my heritage, feel connected to. Years ago when I first heard about the Katyn massacre from my parents, I had trouble believing it. It was hard enough to come to terms with the Holocaust, and to hear of more large-scale secret mass killings of Polish people by another country, just blew my mind.

I knew this review would have a more personal touch but it’s quite unavoidable, and watching films like these will unfortunately have this effect on me, and on many others I’m sure. But it’s through telling peoples’ stories and reflecting on them that can help create wider discussion and education and hopefully, leave some mark for future generations to remember and try to avoid repeating.



4/5

Chaplin (Richard Attenborough, 1992)

The first thing I noticed as soon as the opening credits for this film appeared was the high calibre of the cast. Obviously you have Robert Downey Jr playing the lead role of Charlie Chaplin (his Academy Award nomination for this film was definitely deserved), as well as Anthony Hopkins, Dan Aykroyd, Marisa Tomei, Milla Jovovich and Geraldine Chaplin, who is in actual fact, Charlie Chaplin’s daughter, playing his mother in the film.

It would be no simple task to condense the incredible life of Chaplin into one film, so I was curious to see how this one would pan out. We see a few what moments of Chaplin’s early life, such as scenes with his mother, who is later taken to an asylum. The film focuses on Charlie’s personal life − of course, at some points we see how it sometimes took a backseat to his busy career − but his relationships with women, as well as America, are really put under the spotlight. The film portrays Chaplin as a decent, humble, good-natured individual who gets quite swamped with attention and fame. As a result, he does seem to live quite an isolated life, in a way, which is manifested through his affairs and four marriages.

Anyway, I really enjoyed the film, and found the cinematography quite creative and fitting. For instance, when Chaplin is trying to escape with his film reels, the footage speeds up as him and his group comically pop their heads around the corner and then speed away − using techniques seen in Chaplin’s films themselves.

Given that Chaplin is based on a biography and autobiography, and the fact that his daughter is involved in the film, I’d like to think this film is a truthful and accurate account of his life. Regardless, it is an endearing, enjoyable film, which brings to life the comic legend that is Charlie Chaplin.

4/5

La Terra Trema (Luchino Visconti, 1948)

Well, after having seen quite a few neorealist films within quite a short time, I’m not surprised that I was intuitively expecting a sad/more natural non-resolved ending. And that is what I got.

La Terra Trema (The Earth Trembles) centres on the Valestro family in Sicily, where Antonio, a fisherman sick of working for someone else, revolts against the wholesalers, prompting his family to mortgage the house in order to buy oars, nets, etc. However, after what first seems a prosperous night catching barrels of anchovies, Antonio and his brother and some of the other family members go to sea in a storm and come back with a damaged boat, having lost everything. Thus, the spiral of misery ensues, as the older brother leaves (to try and get a job somewhere else), the grandfather goes to hospital and the family begins to be shunned by the others in the village. 

It’s a film about pride and your place in the world. Antonio wanted to set an example and although that is admirable, after he loses everything he isn’t willing to swallow his pride and return to the same job working under the very same people he revolted against − until the end that is. The film ends with Antonio and his two younger brother going out with the crew on a boat − no real conclusion but reflecting how life really is − full of ups and downs and cycles, not always happy endings. Some of the characters in the film, including Antonio and his sister, talk about marriage and we can see how in those times, in different cultures, love was not enough to marry. It’s kind of sad but the images speak truth. We do in fact see those moments of banality or just when the camera lingers for a while longer but all in all it is a very realistic film. It becomes more engaging as the film progresses and you begin to empathise with the characters, joining them on their journey, where everyone is a spectator in life.

Here is the opening of the film:

3/5

8 ½ (Federico Fellini, 1963)

Wow, what an interesting/weird film (and I mean that in a good way). Initially I didn’t know what the film was about but it all sort of fell into place by the end. (From the music in the DVD menu, I got the sense that this is a sort of circus atmosphere, like Fellini’s La Strada, which I also really enjoyed). Actually, there was fantastic music throughout with a few well known classical pieces that really got the drama going. 

So anyway, I thought there would be some neorealist elements to this film but I was wrong. I mean, there were some hand-held camera shots in the fantastic opening sequence in the car (when he’s trapped in the car, with people in surrounding cars frozen and watching him almost like they’re watching a film, before Guido goes flying up into the sky). But overall the film is definitely a departure from neorealism − I would say it is closer to surrealism at times. It is definitely a fictional, imaginative piece, however, it felt like a documentary at times and it’s interesting how Fellini manages this. I felt there were also so many similarities to Godard, especially how the camera and voiceover narrated some of the parts. The film also makes reference to cinema itself, particularly when the producer is speaking to Guido and talks about the “ambiguous reality” of cinema and how it is “50 years behind the other arts”. I think the film suggests something about the nature of memories and film itself − art itself.

Also, I just have to mention, the main character, a director named Guido (played by Marcello Mastroianni) − well, I was quite struck by this handsome actor. He reminded me of George Clooney cross Robert Downey Jnr cross Johnny Depp (now that’s a compliment). He was so stylish and suave like a James Bond character, and at one point when he is looking at a girl, the music stops and we know this guy is at the top of his game. And it wasn’t until after the film I research his filmography and surprise, surprise he was in Visconti’s Le notti bianche − another great film. He played a similar role too, as a kind of womaniser, although I liked him more in this film.

The whole movie is like a dream, as they describe it on the DVD cover, “a shimmering dream, a circus and a magic act”. It definitely was. I now see how the working title for this film fits in: “The Beautiful Confusion”. So weird yet intriguing, the whole film was like a hallucination. I didn’t understand every moment but that’s ok. There was no real plot, it was about a director who is making a film but doesn’t have any ideas and the film is filled with his memories, flashbacks and dreams, sort of fuelling his inspiration. There is a scene when he is with a harem of girls (who are all the cast in the film, as well as his wife, Luisa) and flashbacks to his childhood (taking a bath, dancing with the woman Saraghina, who the Catholic priests tell him is a “devil woman”). It all makes for melodramatic film unlike anything I could’ve expected. There were lots of pans and very quick, sort of clumsy sharp close-ups (although I imagine there were purposely done in that way).

One of the first scenes, when everyone is at this large outdoor gathering, lining up and drinking water − well it all makes sense now because at the time I was not sure what was happening but clearly it was the cast and crew (this gathering is also echoed in the final sequence when everyone is lined up holding hands in a circle around what looks like a circus ring, next to the spaceship prop). This final scene actually features the music from the DVD menu that I mentioned above, the circus music, perhaps suggesting whether this all was just a dream. In any case, it makes you think twice about the nature of reality in a truly unreal way.

4/5

The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1993)

Now this is the type of film I’m talking about when I mean a great thriller film. Combining horror, crime and bit of psychology, The Silence of the Lambs was one of those enthralling thrillers (which seem to be increasingly rare) and it’s no surprise that it won five Academy Awards. Now I’m looking forward to watching Hannibal and Red Dragon (the sequel and prequel), though naturally, I’m not expecting them to be as good as the original film.
 

The notorious character of Dr Hannibal Lecter was really what made this film so appealing, as well as the performance by Jodie Foster. Foster plays Clarice Starling, a trainee FBI agent who seeks the help of Hannibal, an imprisoned cannibal, to find the serial killer known as “Buffalo Bill”. Hannibal, who is played brilliantly by Anthony Hopkins, is a complex, intelligent psychiatrist himself and thus, he makes the interactions between him and Starling quite challenging and mentally exhausting for her. But, interestingly, a kind of relationship forms between them − sort of mutual trust and respect. This aspect of the multifaceted personality of Hannibal is what intrigues me about him. Compared to most other serial killers depicted in films, he seems almost sane − well, until he takes a bite out of one of the policemen’s faces − then once again he repels you.

Foster’s portrayal of the FBI trainee was also really good to watch. She was determined to be a strong, female force in the agency but there were times, particularly when she was with Hannibal, where glimpses of her weaknesses shone through. She is, in effect, like one of the young, delicate lambs in the slaughterhouse she saw as a child − an experience which she recounts to Hannibal (despite being told not to discuss her personal life with patients).

Anyway, I also have to mention the ending, which I thought was a great, refreshing way to conclude a film like this − Hannibal remains on the loose and even calls up Starling, telling her is “about to have an old friend for dinner”. Nice.

4.5/5