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Faulkner333
Reviews
Duck Soup (1933)
One of the greatest comedies ever made
Duck Soup is called the funniest of the Marx brothers films. It was a flop when it was first released in the thirties, but found by liberal college students in the sixties. It remains as one of the great classics of comedy today. Non stop comedy through the whole film. Chico and Harpo with their slap-stick and visual humor, Graucho with his brilliant one liners that are dished out constantly, and of course the satirical musical sequences including the "We're going to War" sequence, which in my opinion, remains as one of the funniest scenes in cinema history, and one of the greatest musical scenes ever put on film. This must be seen by all film lovers.
The Conversation (1974)
Brilliant Coppola film
The Conversation is yet another great film that goes to Coppola's credit. Gene Hackman gives a brilliant performance as Harry Caul, the paranoid snoop who is given a job to record a couple's conversation in a crowded square. The film opens with an elaborate sequence of Harry Caul and his crew recording this conversation which remains as the center of the plot for the rest of the film. Coppola masterfully switches back and forth from an intruiguing mystery, to an in depth character study. The film plays like a thriller but is a story of this man's coming to his senses, and taking responsibility for his work. He realizes that the tapes he has recorded could lead to the murdering of two people. His initial principal of his work is that he shouldn't care about what the people are talking about, he shouldn't care at all. However, he does become involved and becomes responsible. The film also includes a lot about surveillance witch adds authenticity to the picture. It's compelling all the way through. The plot twists and becomes broader and broader. Good guys turn out to be bad guys, Harry Caul may have witnessed a murder in the hotel or he may have been having a psychotic episode. None of it is an absolute, and it could be viewed in different ways. It has an atmospheric piano score, and all of the supporting parts are well played. One of the best films of the seventies.
Amarcord (1973)
Excellent fellini nostalgia
Not made in the traditional way of Fellini's "golden-age" films. This film is a luscious, colorful, and visually striking piece of cinema. It revolves around adolescence, politics, and emotion. It does not rest on plot, or story line. It lets the viewer escape into another world of culture. It's stylistically elaborate, but instinctively accurate to human nature. Nino Rota's sweeping score is almost constant, the characters are vibrant and humorous. A satirical masterpiece with unforgettable images: A peacock in the snow, an enormous cruise ship, the grand hotel, and the dark public streets of Italy. But is it sentimental? Absolutely. However, I believe sentiment was a necessary tool for Fellini to use to show what is obviously his childhood.
Un chien andalou (1929)
One of the few films made on the surrealist principal
Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel made this crazy abstract film in the twenties. Even by today's standards is extremely out there. Legend has it, that Bunuel brought rocks in his pockets to the premier in case the audience attacked him. Considering how potent the film was for it's time, this wasn't a bad idea. The film makers are known to laugh when they heard that critics were trying to analyse.This film is not meant to be interpreted. It should not be applied to Freudian analytical categories or any other forms of psychology. The film is strictly experimental, and explores new cinematic territory. I will not think about this film much more than I already have, for it is basically unapproachable, it will remain in my cinematic knowledge and experience, but it will not be one of the films that I treasure most.