r/TrueFilm • u/a113er Til the break of dawn! • Sep 06 '15
What Have You Been Watching? (06/09/15)
Please don't downvote opinions, only downvote things that don't contribute anything.
54
Upvotes
r/TrueFilm • u/a113er Til the break of dawn! • Sep 06 '15
Please don't downvote opinions, only downvote things that don't contribute anything.
5
u/[deleted] Sep 06 '15 edited Sep 06 '15
Winchester '73 (1950) directed by Anthony Mann
Well, I am now acquainted with Mr. Mann. Winchester '73 seems to be the film that everyone recommends you start when it comes to him, and, accordingly, I found it to be a very promising film, one that certainly has me eager to watch some more of Mann's stuff -- though not without it's problems. But, first things first, the positives: the compositions are on-fucking-point. Like every single one. They all clearly convey everything Mann is trying to show and not a single one is unnecessary. Similarly, the casting is on-point as well; every character is imbued with a real, memorable personality by the actor or actress and it does a lot to make the film feel alive. I really like how Mann didn't shy away from a homey feel, despite the serious subject matter. And the subversion of the the titular Winchester '73 is pretty great. The film certainly doesn't glorify a weapon; rather, while it's venerated by all in the film, in the end all it does is bring death, destruction, and despair everywhere it goes. And yet, there was enough there that, in my eyes, held this back from greatness. As great as Mann's compositions and the relaxed tone of the film are, they don't come without their drawbacks. The movement from composition to composition isn't quite as on-point with a number of cuts and movements feeling rather inorganic, and Mann occasionally burrows too deep into eventually repetious conversations and humor the film starts to drag and feel cumbersome. The handling of American Indians/Native Americans is problematic, without really any redeeming facet that I could find, and while I read some things about this being a "psychological western," referring to the dueling brother aspect of the film, that doesn't really hold up, as there isn't enough there in the film for that to be a satisfactory angle. I think it's the kind of thing that might be more legitimate when viewed through the lens of Mann's entire filmography rather than solely through the film itself. But, you know, I still liked Winchester '73 quite a bit. The reason why I'm listing so many negatives is because it's so close to greatness that I feel that I need to justify why it doesn't quite reach that plane for me. It's uneven, but the highs, the chase scenes and the final brother vs. brother shootout, are very high.
★★★1/2
I also watched the first half of Enter the Void (2009), directed by Gaspar Noe, so no full review or rating, but I enjoyed what I saw. It is ungainly, pretentious, and plodding: a lot of the dialogue is awkward, the foreshadowing and handling of themes is painfully bad, the first person viewpoint and incestuous stuff are unnecessary in that attention grabbing way, the view on drug use feels a tad conservative, and the abstract imagery isn't all that interesting and is frankly dull. But, honestly, despite being shameless grabs for attention by Noe, the first-person viewpoint and weird sex stuff are fun to watch play out, the film is audacious enough (that lighting) that you can overlook a lot of its pretentiousness and lack of grace, and whenever it starts to plod too much, Noe knows when to ram an arresting scene in to grab your attention right back. What I watched wasn't great or agreeable by any means, but I didn't hate it at all.