Sunday 26 May 2013

Films This Week

(Click here to read my general introduction to the 'Films This Week' series of posts.)

After an unintentional hiatus last week, I'm back. (I was so busy last week that all my comments are too pithy to be worth posting here). 

Something in the Air
21/05/13
Watched The Seventh Victim, which has a good atmosphere, a couple of standout sequences and a brilliantly bleak ending, but which feels like the weakest of the Lewton's I've seen so far.
 
22/05/13
Went to see Something in the Air. It took me a while to get into it – which I guess was the time it took me to get to know the characters. And when I did, I can't say I particularly liked any of them (which perhaps isn't the nicest thing to say about an autobiographical film, although Assayas came across well in the Q&A which followed). The film suffers throughout from a slightly meandering structure, but as it progresses it builds a quiet profundity. It's also beautifully realised, and it feels like an authentic recreation of the period. Something interesting Assayas said in the Q&A: "I am defined by the perspective of the Nouvelle Vague" – in the freedom, if not the outlook. 
 
23/05/13
Watched The Ghost Ship, which starts as a clunky B-movie, but goes on to become an interesting examination of power (albeit one which still has the occasional clunk). I wondered if, given the year it was made, there was perhaps an aspect of political allegory to it - although something I read afterwards said it was meant as an attack on Lewton's bosses at RKO. Either way, it's a tense thriller with effective sequences throughout.

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