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Reviews
Dr. Caligari (1989)
Great film - for the weird
I love this movie. It is one of my favorites of all time. The connection between it and the original are subtle but present. I am not going to spoil it by giving those away, but I do recommend watching the 1920 movie first, then this one and think about what it would have been like without the revelation at the end. This movie lacks the revelation, it is up to the viewer to deduce it. I saw a number of reviews of this movie that made the claim it had no connection to the original outside of title (on other sites, here loved it or hated it). Sad, sorry people that did not get it. I think that both this movie and the director should get more acclaim for not just this film but his adult titles as well.
Miracle Mile (1988)
Great Movie
I first saw this movie when it was new(ish) at the Neptune Theater in Seattle. It came at a time when nuclear holocaust was the flavor of the day. I loved it for the uncertain characteristic, as a viewer you did not know what was going to happen. And even after watching it multiple times, it was easy to 'forget' that you knew what was going to happen because of the strength of the writing.
One of the things I got from the film was the sense of uncertainty as to whether or not the phone call was real. The possibility was that just maybe Harry's panic may have actually caused the holocaust. Unlikely, but you do not know. The attack was late, and we have no evidence that the call was real. Anyway, excellent film, one that I just bought on DVD.
Clearcut (1991)
Modern day story of Ojibwe mythology
This is an incredible film from start to finish. This is one of the rare films that complement the book, M.T. Kelly's "A Dream Like Mine" perfectly. My wife and I have watched the movie several times and read the book as well. We have concluded that Arthur does not exist as a "real" being in the story but a construct of Peter's due to his rage at losing his battle in court (or rage at his cause being lost as a writer in the book). In Ojibwe stories there are spirits that are normally powerless that can be induced to possess a person to give them short lived power. With the spirit the recipient had great powers of vengeance in exchange for their souls. In the stories this would be what happens to a warrior who comes home to find his village destroyed by another tribe. He would be possessed and become an avenging monster. When talking of Arthur, Wilf refers to him as 'coming from the east' and 'not being from us' which seems to imply that it is Peter that brings the avenging spirit. In the book the clincher is that as Peter is being arrested the mill owner denies there ever being an Arthur at all and that Peter was responsible for the kidnapping.