High Noon (1952)

USA
directed by: Fred Zinnemann
written by: Carl Foreman
starring: Gary Cooper, Lloyd Bridges, Katy Jurado, Grace Kelly, Lee Van Cleef
commented on 10th March, 2015

So, the first thing I absolutely must comment on is Katy Jurado. I kept wondering where I know that defiant and fascinating face from - and she is that vigorous gunslinger from "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" that weeps to the tune of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" that her husband's been shot. And the husband cries with her. I had a problem with that scene when I first watched the film, but it grew on me in time. And in connection with her performance in High Noon (when she says to Grace Kelly that if she had that kind of man, she would get a gun and go fight by his side!) she is now officially one of my favourite actresses/heroines.

But about the film itself. I can't do anything but admire that uncompromising straightforwardness on its way to the poignant finale. It tells the tale of cowardice deeply rooted inside comfort, but I also like the message that the path matters as much as the end goal, given how long the preparations for the confrontation last and how quick the fight itself is. 

The camera work is rather classic, but still delightful as heck. I love the ominous scene of the two women riding past the sheriff and looking back at him getting smaller and smaller in the distance. I really, really love the way the score is incorporated in the film. That dark variation on the main theme playing just before the train arrives - chef's kiss. And even just the intro constitutes a great piece of cinema, thanks to a great song and thanks to the fact that Lee Van Cleef might be bad, but he certainly is beautiful.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

USA/France
režie: James Cameron
scénář: James Cameron, William Wisher Jr.
hrají: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick
komentář ze dne 3. 3. 2015

Oh my, this is such a beautifuly composed film. What happens with Sarah (her physical transformation, both scenes of psychiatrist interviews!, her change into an animal and then back to a human), what happens with friendship and love (how John, who is considered to be a rascal and a rule-breaker, without thinking twice explains that some things are not to be done and some things cannot be explained to the inexperienced terminator, how Dyson's son throws himself in front of his father screaming "Don't hurt him!"), how the roles switch (the viewer is left in the dark for a while not knowing who is good and who is bad, Sarah's captors become the crazy ones), how twins are used, how iron bars are defeated, how the T-1000 is looking at the silver mannequins at the mall, and hell, T-1000 is probably my favourite terminator model. 

I even don't mind the film relentlessly moving forward because it also leaves enough time for the viewer to navigate every situation, to understand all emotions and motives that keep the machine moving. I am most touched by the scene where Sarah wakes up from her nightmare and sees that she carved "NO FATE" into the wooden table in front of her. And I also absolutely adore the scene where Arnold is already badly hurt and beaten, he falls to the ground, has only one arm, and yet he still keeps crawling forward and we see him reaching for a gun below him. It would not be easy to find a scene like this in more recent blockbusters, one that non-verbally relies on actor's performance and context to provoke emotion. Or it is possible that I just like heroes with determination, even if it's just been programmed into them. 

-"The unknown future rolls toward us. I face it, for the first time, with a sense of hope. Because if a machine, a Terminator, can learn the value of human life, maybe we can too."