More films I’ve watched!
Fanny and Alexander (1982)
This is the longest film I’ve ever seen. 312 minutes. I was quite wary of watching this, as I didn’t particularly care for the other Ingmar Bergman film I watched from my list (The Seventh Seal), so five hours seemed a particularly daunting prospect. Fanny and Alexander (imdb rank: 210) is a film about a family of actors (the Ekdahls) in early 20th century Sweden. Fanny and Alexander themselves are the sister and brother of the main family.
The family is pretty entertaining. In the first hour or two of the film we become very familiar with Fanny and Alexander’s parents, uncles (and their various problems with their wives), grandmother and family friends. I was a bit surprised how much some of the characters talk about sex – particularly when it was coming from the grandmother. It’s all done really nicely though.
When a death befalls the family, this proves the catalyst for a variety of difficulties befalling Fanny and Alexander. They end up moving away from their well-to-do extended family and their friendly housekeepers, to a much more austere setting. A recurring theme is that Alexander sees ghosts, and his relation to the spiritual world becomes a pivotal feature of the tale.
The children themselves don’t actually feature as much as might be expected (particularly Fanny) considering the film revolves around their fate. Though the main attraction is in the characters for a large part of the film, the main story does become a source of tension and excitement on its own merits (though after half way through, I would say).
There’s a nice structure to the whole saga. Some of the characters are really compelling. That being said, the 312 minutes is a bit arduous. There are scenes that I thought dragged on a bit. Glad I’ve seen it, but I probably won’t try it again.
Barry Lyndon (1975)
I hadn’t really even heard of this film before I watched it so didn’t know what to expect. It does seem odd that I would be so unaware of such a highly-regarded Stanley Kubrick film (imdb rank: 218). It is based on a 1844 book (The Luck of Barry Lyndon) by William Makepiece Thackeray, and follows the title character, an 18th century Irishman, throughout his life. There are two distinct acts. The first details the character’s youth, his ne’er-do-well-ish gallivanting and how he came to be known as “Barry Lyndon” (he is called “Redmond Barry” originally). The second shows how his luck takes a turn for the worse.
As I find is often the case with period dramas, the film hasn’t really dated (at least I don’t think so). The main aspect of the film which seems a bit weird is the ageing of the main character. As the character is played by the same actor (Ryan O’Neal) throughout, when he is playing a teenager, this is pretty unconvincing. Of course, several far more recent films have fallen afoul of this, but it does seem quite noticeable.
I liked this film, but it’s all about the presentation. The general path of the story is a fairly predictable (though the intricacies are anything but). The music is really nice. There are a lot of classical pieces, particularly a version of Handel’s Sarabande, which acts as the main theme and works really well. Anyone who appreciates the wardrobe selections in period dramas would probably like this a lot, as a great deal of care clearly went into the large variety of costumes featured.
The Imitation Game (2014)
I suspect that this Alan Turing biopic will not be in imdb’s top 250 for too long. At the time of writing, it stands ranked at no.222, but I suspect it to slowly drop out. This isn’t to say it was a bad film, and the story of Alan Turing is an interesting one that needed to be told. Unfortunately, due to several liberties taken with history, this film doesn’t really do that.
Alan Turing is a figure that philosophy students often become acquainted with fairly early on. We discuss the Turing Test – the test of computers to see whether they can, in a text conversation, convince human beings that they are also computers – which gives the film its name (this though of the film’s name to the film itself was utterly tangential and unnecessary). So philosophers tend to have a fondness for Turing. And rightly so. His contributions not only to philosophy and computer science, but the war effort as a whole were momentous.
It does seem tainted by its disingenuousness, but looking at the film independently of its historical inaccuracies, it is a fine piece of entertainment. It’s told through three time periods of Turing’s life. We see him struggle as a youth in school, working at Bletchley Park during World War II, and in the post-war years. Most of the film, unsurprisingly, takes place in the Bletchley Park years. Cumberbatch plays him as barely capable of social interaction, or understanding people at all.
While I wouldn’t recommend this film to anyone who wants to learn about Turing, for those who are willing to take it with a pinch of salt, it is tolerable. My particular position about the film is definitely affected by my dislike of Cumberbatch (why is he in everything???), but he was fine in this (despite playing up Turing’s social difficulties, though I imagine that was not entirely his decision).
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Studio Ghibli does very well on the imdb top 250. With My Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Laputa: Castle in the Sky (not counting Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind) as well as this, the studio is extremely well-represented. As I discussed previously, I really enjoyed My Neighbor Totoro, and though they weren’t my favourites, I thought Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke were at least enjoyable. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Grave of the Fireflies (imdb rank: 64).
One virtue this film does possess is brevity. At 89 minutes, it isn’t much of a commitment. That’s enough for positives.
The film is about a brother and sister who are left alone after their mother dies in Japan towards the end of World War II. The older brother finds himself trying to take care of his younger sister however he can. Essentially, loads of bad things happen to them and it sucks. It seems like this has the potential to tug on the heartstrings extensively. I did not feel moved by the film though. While in Totoro, the characters demand one’s interest and empathy, I never felt this here, until right at the end, where some nice music came in.
Visually the film is similar to other Studio Ghibli films, so for people who are in love with that style, this film will have something to offer. As might be expected, however, I would not recommend this film. It’s just sad.
Films I watched just for fun
While taking breaks from the list, I’ve also watched Ant-Man at the cinema recently. I did enjoy that. As one would expect, it’s lighter than a lot of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, with a load more jokes. Paul Rudd does the role perfectly. I was glad to see Joe Cornish (of Adam and Joe fame) among the writing credits.
I also re-watched Alien Resurrection recently with some friends. We were playing a board game which is based on the Alien series, containing scenarios for each of the films, and some of my friends hadn’t seen Resurrection, which we duly rectified. It was actually better than I remembered, despite the story making very little sense. A lot of the film seemed set up to give Sigourney Weaver cool lines. There were a few decent characters though, particularly those played by Winona Ryder and Ron Perlman. It’s definitely not the best writing Joss Whedon has done, however.
Joe Slater: A Rantspace 