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jimrader
Reviews
Portrait of Jason (1967)
New York, New York/ it's a hell.
Notes from the underground. It helps to have a "little fella" at hand while watching this off-beat classic. Weirdly, there was no mention of Warhol's scene. Or maybe not so weirdly, as, though as wacky and self-absorbed as any "superstar", Jason was too uptown for that scene. He probably used to hang out at the Cafe Carlyle during Bobby Short's residence. / I knew a fair number of people in New York who were on Jason's kind of trip, the hustlers who focus on lonely rich folks. They justified their lifestyle as hip, or alternative, or as a kind of stardom. They were a lot like Jason, by turns fun, hypersensitive, and bitchy. Jason is fun to watch, and i can see him in "Laugh-In", or as a black gay Lenny Bruce. I saw acting potential in two hustler friends, but like Jason the only stage they understood was the stage of life.
The saddest part in this film is Jason's ho-hum night club act; you can't wait till he returns to his desperate performance-in-life.
Já, Olga Hepnarová (2016)
depression chic
This is one odd item. The film is about an alienated young Czech woman who talks like Raskolnikov on a particularly bad day. Olga is stylistically portrayed by able, photogenic actress Michalina Olszanska who looks a cross between Nouvelle Vague princess Ana Karina and the young Patti Smith. Though always nice to look at, she looks too chic to play the part of a real-life mass murderer, and getting stuck w/ lines such as, "I know I'm a psycho, but I'm an enlightened one," doesn't help matters, nor does a somewhat graphic lesbian love scene, unless you're hard-up for cheap thrills./ Artfully shot in Bresson-like black and white, the film is full of itself, its art-on-the-sleeve approach undermining both its drama and Michalina's dynamism. Still, her memorable performance makes the film semi-worthwhile.
Léon Morin, prêtre (1961)
interesting but flawed
"Leon Morin, Priest" owes a bit of a debt to Bresson's earlier "Diary Of A Country Priest", but it lacks that film's high drama of a dying young priest hated by his small-minded parish of coarse peasants. Here we see sexual tension between a priest and a female so in love w/ him that she rejoins the Catholic church. This makes no sense as the film opens w/ this woman "Barny's" voice-over confession of love for a female coworker, a character who fails to burden Leon with a conflict of interest as she disappears after one brief early appearance. Likewise, all other supporting characters appear only occasionally in the two -hour saga, the bulk of the film devoted to theological discussions between Leon and Barny. Though not w/o interest, these discussions take up too much of the film./ Miscast Belmondo tries hard, as does Riva, but the script is a real dog. Oh, it looks great, as do all of Melville films, but w/ the exception of "Bob THe Gambler", the writing in his films is half-ass, and here he is no Bresson or Georges Bernanos.
De Sade (1969)
unique trash
At the tender age of 17 I was dying to see this flick but blinked and it disappeared. Around that time i was interested in Sade (or "De Sade'), whose writings were being pushed by Grove Press. I read bits and pieces of his work which thrives on irony and paradox, staples of French lit. Those looking for cheap thrills in Sade will be disappointed as even the freakiest activities depicted are written in ironically refined language./ Anyhow, the person who wrote, "We see God the way a blind man sees colors," is depicted here as a lavender-clad fop w/ a crazy priest uncle (john Huston chews up the lavender here). Sade's real first name was Donatien Alphonse; here, God knows why, he's "Louis."/ The scattered plot, the period psychedelic colors, cheapo effects, and fleeting t and a typify early '70s "sexploitation" flicks. Most hilarious (and frustrating to some) is a silly, frantic "orgy" scene obscured by a lava-lampish red tint. Directed by Hollywood vet Wm. Wyler who tried liked hell to avoid that X rating via quick cutaways and a lot of running around, ripping up pillowcases, smashing champagne glasses, etc---but no screwing! So why'd the code bunch lump in "de Sade" w/ "Curious Yellow" which went all the way? Well, the name had a rep preceding it./ It is a fun movie to watch, the sumptuous sets and garish clothes shot in a fuzzy wash that shoots for "art". / In an ironic, nostalgic way, i appreciate "de Sade." It looks CHEAP, trashy, while EVERYTHING in film today is so high def as to be dull. "de Sade" sucks, but i love it. It's stupid, pretentious, smarmy FUN, an unintentional comedy. Those were the good old days!
The Misfits (1961)
coulda been better
I was 14 when I first saw The Misfits on TV. I was quite taken with it but seeing it at 70 is another story./ It has lately been deemed "a classic," despite its hilariously bad script. Writer Arthur Miller seemed to be shooting for his own Red Desert or La Strada, American style, and was out of his depth. It's a shame because the acting in this film is nothing short of great. Yeah, there's "icons" Marylin and Gable, but Clift added something special and strange. Like Dean and Brando, Clift was not just a "Hollywood icon" but a real actor. Eli Wallach does a great job as "Guido," but three men vying for "Roslyn" (Marilyn) needlessly complicates things. Rewriting
"Perce" (Clift) and "Gay" (Gable) as rivals for "Roslyn" (Marilyn) could've been more interesting than Miller's embarrassing platitudes. Perce's being torn between Gay's macho trip and Roslyn's animal rights trip couldve.made for better storytelling. Cinematography is stunning, and cast makes the most of what they have to work with.
Chappaqua (1966)
Too far out, man
I lived close to NYC back then, and at 15 had already Howl, Naked Lunch & half of Desolation Angels by the time this item hit the street I was dying to see it, but couldn't get any friend to go to NYC with me./ CHAPPAQUA got quite a bit of advance hype, especially in that old chestnut The Evergreen Review. I vaguely recall a 30 second TV ad that looked real cool. Well, as it turns out, the whole film is so pretentious and incohesive I might not have swallowed it even at 15. However, Frank's photography makes it worth watching and some of its images still arrest./ As for the above beat writers: i now see the work of Kerouac and Ginsberg as uneven, but Burroughs has never disappointed me. For all his wicked ways, he was the most disciplined, consistent writer of the big beat three./ Wow, now I remember seeing Rooks on a talk show, i think Merv Griffin.