Spartacus (1960)

USA
directed by: Stanley Kubrick
written by: Dalton Trumbo, Calder Willingham, Peter Ustinov + Howard Fast (book)
starring: Kirk Douglas, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, Herbert Lom, Woody Strode, Tony Curtis
seen on 25th December, 2020

-"I'm Brian and so is my wife." 

Interesting. When I saw Ben-Hur a couple of years back, every scene I recognized from Life of Brian made me laugh out loud, but while watching Spartacus I was still moved to sincere tears regardless of the laughs Monty Pythons have imprinted in my brain. The actors are really, really good, I'd say it's them what lifts the film above the average sword-and-sandal movie. I loved Kirk the most, obviously, but also Herbert Lom, Woody Strode and Tony Curtis deserve a shout-out, as well as Ustinov, whose acting I would label as "the most modern" of the bunch and I guess that's why he got that Oscar (but I was also a bit surprised that the Academy was able to appreciate that at the time).

I am currently going through a bit of a Kubrick-themed period and as such it does feel like an old (aged) movie that does not peak my interest too much. It's monumental even in places that do not need to be that big, and it does have some rather redundant passages. The refreshing thing is that it does not bring religion into proceedings (and maybe that's the reason why Spartacus brings me to tears without the need to sneer at it). And now for a completely random fact: as I was looking for sources to find out whether Kubrick was religious or not, I found out that he had an IQ of 200, which was news to me.

The Red Shoes (1948)

United Kingdom
directed by: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
written by: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, Keith Winter + Hans Christian Andersen (fairy tale)
starring: Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring
seen on 19th December, 2020

Very, very intentense. All those details and meaningful props. How completely separated from everybody else Lermontov looks in his sunglasses and a hat, I bet that was the inspiration for Coppola's rejuvenated Dracula in London. How suddenly differently Craster looks in a leather coat. But the most essential thing to me is that the dancer is being played by a dancer, body and soul. There is nothing worse than when a film makes a point of being about dance and then casts an actor that only pretend-dances. (There is more that one film that comes to mind, but the remake of Suspiria is the most recent scar on my heart.)

-"You're a magician, Boris, to have produced all this in three weeks, and from nothing." -"Not even the best magician in the world can produce a rabbit out of a hat if there isn't already a rabbit in the hat."

Stagecoach (1939)

USA
directed by: John Ford
written by: Dudley Nichols, Ben Hecht
starring: Claire Trevor, John Carradine, John Wayne
seen on 15th December, 2020

I will have to have a ponder if it bothers me politically/ideologically or if I'm just supposed to be in awe of the beauty of Claire Trevor and John Carradine and not mind the rest. But I do follow a lot of indigenous artists so I think it does bother me. 

The Handmaiden (2016)

 Agasshi
South Korea
directed by: Chan-wook Park
written by: Chan-wook Park, Seo-kyeong Jeong + Sarah Waters (book)
starring: Min-hee Kim, Tae-ri Kim, Jeong-woo Ha
seen on 14th December, 2020

I'm not sure. Chan-wook Park is indeed extremely talented when it comes to adapting books against their grain and crossing the lines behind the lines considered uncrossable (and his Thirst will forever be one of my most favourite films), but he does not completely win me over with this one. It is not subversive enough to be actually different from the stories read within the story, but at least the whole effort seems to be sincere and genuine (or I chose to see it that way). 

White Heat (1949)

USA
directed by: Raoul Walsh
written by: Ivan Goff, Ben Roberts +Virginia Kellogg (short story)
starring: James Cagney, Edmond O'Brien, Margaret Wycherly
seen on 11th December, 2020

My oh my, that is one cold blooded movie. I wonder how they even got away with it being so. Cagney is magnificent of course, but to me the most wonderful surprise was the part of Margaret Wycherly. That was one dedicated mom.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

Portrait de la jeune fille en feu
France
written and directed by: Céline Sciamma
starring: Adèle Haenel, Noémie Merlant, Luàna Bajrami, Valeria Golino,
seen on 9th December, 2020

It bothered me that she could not smell the paint on her. 

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

United Kingdom
directed by: David Lean
written by: Robert Bolt, Michael Wilson + T. E. Lawrence (book)
starring: Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn
seen on 8th December, 2020

Of course there are no speaking female parts when it's as much gay as it could be acceptable/unnoticeable for 1962. Omar Sharif is heavenly beautiful. I myself would be happy with only the first half, it being so visually and sound design-vise perfect and story-vise simple and clean, just the desert and inner demons. The other, more action based and political part I could do without, it did not seem as exceptional. Plus points for soundtrack and brilliant acting even in the supporting roles.