Song of the day: “Year of the Rat” by Badly Drawn Boy

The Inglorious Bastards

Director: Enzo G. Castellari
Genre: Action/War/Adventure/Comedy
Year: 1978 (1981 U.S. release)

I should have known better than to assume that when Quentin Tarantino he had spent all those years working on the Inglorious Basterds screenplay, that he was writing something original. Anybody that knows anything about Tarantino knows that the ‘borrows’ liberally from just about everybody else and he is pretty outspoken about that fact. So, when I ran into this obscure little flick while browsing around the Netflix archives, I was not exactly thrown for a loop, but the timing could not have been better.

Having seen The Inglorious Bastards and having heard about Tarantino’s own, it would seem that one is basically a remake of the other. Furthermore, this Italian war film is exactly what I would expect Tarantino would love. It has all the over-the-top violence, pointless nudity, over-saturated bravado and unnecessary racial slurs, all of which seem to be a trademark of what Tarantino does.

The film follows a group of deserters and miscreant American soldiers during World War II scheduled to be transported to prison, where judgment will be passed on them. Among them is a thief, a killer, a reckless pilot who also happens to be an officer, a redneck playboy and a kid who never should have been in the war in the first place. They are loaded into a truck and transported, until a flat tire forces the caravan to stop. It is at this time that their group falls into enemy fire and the deserters manage to escape. Caught up behind enemy lines and not exactly able to realign themselves with the American troops, this group of renegades is left to their own device. Odd as the grouping might be, however, they are all extremely good at killing (coincidentally) and can take no the entire German army on their own (who needs American Troops when you have the Bastards!?).

Needless to say, this is an action film for the sake of action, where the protagonists are virtually untouchable all the way to the end where, unfortunately, the formula states they all must suffer some tragic, heroic fate. Think Chuck Norris or Charles Bronson minus the actual kicks and you got the right idea. There are loop holes in this film that are obvious, plot points which roll your eyes, dialogue which is about as thought out as a teenage-written bit of fiction and the characters are all stereo types. Once again….can you see how this might actually be something Tarantino would like? He seems to do best with these type of films and then adding it his own spice. Nothing against Tarantino, he does what he does best, but this is the type of cult film that calls to him and might call out to some of you.

The merit of this film is really not in its quality, but in its pulp essence. It is the sort of me-against-the-world film that just about every American will appreciate, the story of a group of oddballs that take over the world single-handedly and triumph, overcoming their initial lack of vision to do the world some good. At some point in the film, they fall in league with some French, they accidentally dispose of some “superbly trained American soldiers” and end up with a difficult task in their hand, which turns out to be the moment that defines them as a unit.

I have listed the number of things that do not work on this film, from a technical standpoint, but from an entertainment point of view, this film is watchable and at points even enjoyable. I would never buy it, but I certainly am not upset I spent the two hours watching it. However, if you are a fan of pulp…this film will be right up your alley.

Rating:
Comments: Tons of violence but given the time it was made, it is actually pretty tame compared to today’s movies. There is gratuitous nudity and some racial slurs. Not a kid film, in other words.

Ju Dou

Director: Fengliang Yang, Yimou Zhang
Genre: Drama
Year: 1990

Let me get into a necessary bit of spoilage here, because you must know it before you watch this film, or it might be the thing that makes or breaks this film for you: this is a tragic love story. Emphasis on the tragic part. In fact put two underscores just below it. If you are into the tragic, then proceed, if you are not, skip this review altogether, because no great bit of film will likely win you over if the plot itself does not suit. And that being said, technically this film is filled with symbolism, form edits, concept edits and has a really strong script behind it, not to mention good directing and above par acting. All in all this film has all the requirements for a good film, except for the unhappy ending which will likely put everybody in a sad mood. Unless you are some sort of crazy sadist, then you might leave grinning.

The setting is rural China in a small town where the local dye mill owner, Jin-shan has taken his third wife after ‘allegedly’ having killed his past two for failing to give the man an heir. The only other person living in the house is his ‘newphew’ Tian-qing who, as it turns out, is not really his nephew at all but an adopted kid…how exactly this works is rather obscure, with a possibility that the old man could have simply taken the kid illegally to use him as labor at the mill and called him his nephew to kill any rumors. It is not long after Tian-qing returns from a trip that he learns of the new wife and it is that very night that he hears her torments upstairs under the sadistic treatment of the old man, who is too proud to accept the fact that he is infertile. In fact, he is so arrogant the idea never actually crosses his mind.

Jin-shan’s third wife, is a humble, beautiful woman named Ju-Dou, modest in every way and willing to please her husband who apparently acquired her for a large sum of money. But there is nothing the woman can do to alliviate the situation and accepts her abused fate, waiting for the time to die at Jin-shan’s hands.

But there is a hole in the wall of the stable and through it Tian-qing spies on the bathing Ju-Dou, who soon finds out and after a struggle with it allows the incident to happen and eventually she hands herself over to Tian-qing who accepts her as his lover. But this being China, of course, things are full of tradition and cultural pride and word of this could be disastrous for everybody involved, so when Ju-Dou suddenly becomes pregnant, things begin to get a bit more complicated for everybody in this strange triangle.

Told in a very straight forward fashion, the film relies heavily on its visuals and concept edits to deliver its full message. The acting is for the most part very well carried out and the directing is very solid. This is however a film that is nearly 20 years old and foreign. Needless to say some of the special effects, particularly the ones revolving fire, require a bit of tolerance. However, that is a small price to pay for a film filmed with very interesting shots, rich color and an intriguing story…not to mention the fact that it provides an opportunity for you to see a bit of where director Zhang Yimou started before he made his other, masterful films.

Rating:
Comments: Aside from a few moments of violence, the film is visually not that violent and shows no nudity, concept edits are utilized throughout to carry out sexual and violent themes (they are quite formidable at this, I must say), but there is adult content still involved, so I would most likely recommend this for the more mature teens and up.

10 Items or Less

Director: Brad Silberling
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
Year: 2006

Paz Vega is to me everything that Penelope Cruz was supposed to be and could never achieve. Paz Vega can open her mouth and talk and I do not feel like somebody is drilling at my cranium with a quarter inch drill bit just above my ear. Paz Vega is also much more good looking, but I suppose that is subject to debate and a matter of taste. All I know is that I fell in love with her when I saw Sex & Lucia and have since admired her not only for her looks but also her superior acting skills. 10 Items or Less, is for all intents and purposes, Paz Vega’s break into the US market and judging on the waves created by the wake, the impact was minimal. I am strangely okay with that, something tells me that overcomercializing her would kill everything that I love about her. This also gives some sort of indication that this small independent film was not 2006′s Little Miss Sunshine (actually, Little Miss Sunshine WAS 2006′s Little Miss Sunshine…go figure). But it did try!

The opening scene, which is funny as all hell, sets the scene for this drama, set in present day California, where Morgan Freeman plays Him (himself), preparing for a role in a minor Independent film in which he is to play a manager for a grocery store. It is a job he is only considering, he makes sure to point out to his young driver Packy (Jonah Hill, of Superbad fame), who is convinced that Freeman’s voice-over work on the audio tape of Titanic is the greatest….ever! Even though that is not even him. The conversation that ensues around this topic is so disarmingly funny, that one can not help but open up to the rest of the film, even if it falls a bit short of expectations.

This is, all things said, a slice of life film. Character meets character and we are given a glimpse of their interaction, however brief it might be, without overdramatization. While there are plot arcs happening in this story, they are not earth shattering events, they are the small life changing moments that might happen in any one’s life at any given point in time. Morgan Freeman is teetering on his career, aware that a lot rides in this film. His study subject of choice, Scarlet (Paz Vega and hell…who can blame him for picking her right?) is an independent, passionate woman with all of the ingredients to make her successful…except for the fact that she has some confidence issues.

Character meets character and we are privvy to the small moments in their life that potentially change it. Humor and coincidence play a heavy hand…at times too heavy. Subtlety could have been a word that Silberling might want to look up in the dictionary, because he fails to consistently use it on this film, which is slightly disappointing, given the tremendous potential this film has. When the scenes work, they truly work, charming and witty and quirky enough to put a big smile on your face. But when it does not, it reminds you that you are watching a movie, that all of this is scripted and that might seem small to some, but to me, in a film of this type, is absolutely crucial in keeping the audience hooked. Every little thing the director is selling us is the small bits of life, the individual points that make a person beautiful and because the scheme is so small and so precise, one must take extra care to be as subtle as possible. Needless to say, character inconsistencies are also out of the question, and unfortunately there are a couple here and there.

So, this film is not perfect, I can be honest about that, but it still is very much worth the watch. There are memorable scenes here and characterizations that are unforgettable and it is the sort of film that (if you are not a picky bastard like myself) will likely become a favorite.

Rating:
Comment: I watched it a while ago so I am not exactly fresh as to the content specifics. I do not recall much language, I do recall minor nudity (insert uncontrollable shivers here). I think this film will play out well with the young adult crowd and up, but still not a family film.
Quote: Male Receptionist: You made me want to be a woman.
Him: I have that effect on people.