Man With A Movie List

Director: Norman Z. McLeod Year: 1934 Run-time: 1 hr 9 min - It's not easy to root for W.C. Fields' character in this film, given how much of a jerk he is, but in the end I was won over by his understated comedy.  I'd read beforehand that his routines were honed (and even patented), but this film has a much more improvisational feel than something like Duck Soup , so I found that surprising.  The film is rarely riotously funny, but it did manage to win us over in the end.

Director: Fernardo de Fuentes Year: 1934 Run-time: 1 hr 25 min - This is the first Mexican film on this list.  I watched an interview with Guillermo del Toro in which he remarked that until a landmark film in late 20th century (whose name I have unfortunately forgotten), Mexican films were mostly "folkloric" in nature.  I don't think that's fair to the quality of a film like El Compadre Mendoza , but it is accurate in the sense that the film is proud to display Mexican song and culture, and I can't fault it for that.  There's a lot of wonderful song, as well as distinctive costumes that come with the Revolutionary setting.  The story builds to something really interesting by the end, even though it's not unpredictable and the acting leaves something desired.  Ultimately, it's an important reminder that the "golden age" of film is not contained to the three pillars of Japan, France, and the US.  These early efforts outside these countries ...

Director: Josef von Sternberg Year: 1934 Run-time: 1 hr 44 min - This at first seemed like one of the lesser films from von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich, but on reflection I like it a lot.  The set design is phenomenal - the insane chairs with grotesques hovering above the backs, the skeleton at the dinner table.  It's a fever dream, and the fact that it's shot in enough darkness to make the cameras of the time period strain to pick up these backgrounds makes it even more astonishing. - This is from an era of period pieces when actors could just get away with American accents - I'm reminded of the excellent Youtube series on accents.  Surprisingly, I'm not entirely opposed to the old method - it allows the actors to be more naturally expressive.  It just sends a different directorial message, putting the emphasis more on commonalities between that time and place and now.  (It also inevitably comes off as insensitive to culture - I'm not saying we should ...

Director: Wu Yonggang - It's easy to see why this is often hailed as the "pinnacle" of Chinese silent film.  It's an accomplished melodrama that might have drawn inspiration from Borzage or von Sternberg (and seems of a similar lineage to Mizoguchi's early work), but carries a style distinct from these.  My heart was in my throat  near the end. - I was surprised to see equal access to education be such a prominent theme - there were definite parallels to modern educational segregation in the way that the other parents want the child of a prostitute out of their school (in this case for the sake of "reputation"). It definitely hit home.

Director: Basil Wright Year: 1934 Run-time: 38 min - Compared to Salt for Svanetia,  this doesn't have the same larger agenda of promoting Soviet unity and progression. It's actually a sympathetic portrait of a land on the edge of British colonialism, and melancholic about what the future would have in store for its people.  It isn't particularly interested in having the Sinhalese narrate their own story, instead choosing to recount a British sailor's account of the island (I didn't catch much of the narration, since the version I picked on Youtube had poor sound issues). Nevertheless it's the strongest documentary we've seen so far, unless you count Man with a Movie Camera .

Director: Jean Vigo Year: 1934 Run-time: 1 hr 29 min Source: Criterion Channel Streaming - This is one of those eternally influential films that doesn't resonate with me as much as it does many others, ranking as high as 12th on the latest Sight and Sound poll.  I don't dislike it, it just seems a bit slight to me.  There are some beautiful shots, and the romance is sweet although clearly doomed. - Along with Marius , it's another reminder that if you were middle-class and wanted to see the world before mid-century, then you needed to become a sailor.  What a hard life that would have been, and the rootlessness really infects this film and its poor heroine. - The film was heavily erotic for the time - the shots of the man and his wife longing for each other in different beds is pretty genius - the dotted shading is strangely evocative. - Michel Simon stars as the clown Pere Simon, a slight evolution of his character in Boudo Saved From Drowning  (which Ren...

Director: Frank Capra Year: 1934 Run-time: 1 hr 45 min - This is one of those movies that I could watch any day.  The romance isn't the most interesting thing about it. It's the premise of a high-class socialite (and a fast-talking newspaper man) getting a taste of real America via a cheap road trip, an idea which translates well to modern times.  This is the kind of America that's easy to be nostalgic for, if it ever really existed: a land of camp fire songs, and sleeping in hay bales, and taking the bus.  Gable's character is one of screwball's best, with his fast talk and left-field plans.  But Claudette Colbert holds her own against him. Clare and I loved it.

Director: Raymond Bernard Year: 1934 Run-time: 4 hr 49 min Source: Criterion Channel Streaming - This is frequently cited as the best adaptation of Hugo's novel, but even at nearly five hours, it's surprising how much is omitted.  It has a good Valjean, although his thoughts are occasionally brought out in this, whereas in the book he is almost a complete cipher.  Marius and Cosette seem a little more vapid, and Javert has no redeeming qualities.  I miss the omission of the convent scenes, although I understand they bear no relation on the larger plot (except for the reappearance of the cart driver). - It's quite fitting that Bernard would be the Frenchman to adapt this, as The Chess Player  had established him as a master of the blockbuster epic, particularly in balancing character and plot. - A recent ad email from Criterion Channel revealed that Wes Anderson is a big Bernard fan, including Les Mis.  It's an interesting comparison - obviously Bernard ...