O is for Out of Africa

O is for Out of Africa, winner of Best Adapted Screenplay at the Academy Awards for screenwriter Kurt Luedtke. The story is based on the life of Karen Blixen. It is a sweeping epic that takes place in Kenya. The film also took honors at the Academy Awards by winning Best Picture, Best Director for Sydney Pollack, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction–Set Decoration, Best Sound, and Best Original Score composed by John Barry.

Karen Blixen published under the pen name of Isak Dineson. Her stories and memoirs are now considered to be classics by this extraordinary woman living ahead of her time. (She wrote the story Babette’s Feast, which was made into a film that won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film for Denmark in 1987.)

Out of Africa is rated PG. The film is a whopping 2 hours and 41 minutes, but as I watched it again, it didn’t seem that long. It is an engrossing story of a time past when Africa was still colonized and relationships between native peoples and the ruling elite was ruled by etiquette and a sense of place, as misbegotten as that was.

Karen (Meryl Streep) is a Danish woman, independent and headstrong. She seems a bit bored, and ends up marrying Bror (Klaus Maria Brandauer), the brother of a former lover. They decide to buy a farm in Africa in 1913. Bror arrives in Africa first and has without Karen’s knowledge bought a coffee plantation instead of a dairy farm.

They begin their life in the strange new land with all the conveniences from Denmark Karen brought with her, and their home is elegant and civilized. Early on she meets Denys (Robert Redford), a man equally as forward and outspoken as Karen herself. They fall in love and all sorts of complications develop. Since Bror has already been unfaithful to her, she has no qualms about taking up with Denys. The relationships Karen has with others, whether the men in her life or the native workers subjugated in their own land, are often fraught with drama alternating with tenderness and genuine caring.

The vistas of the savannahs with its abundant wildlife are photographed so beautifully. The story lingers over the safaris that Karen and Denys take together for some wonderful scenes of this place so unlike the country she left behind in Denmark.

Kenya was a harsh place for women at the time, but Karen would not allow herself to be intimidated. I highly recommend Out of Africa. If you saw it a long time ago, perhaps at the time of its release in 1985, watch it again. You won’t be disappointed. It was one of my mother’s favorite films, and I got to thinking as I watched it again how she admired the strong willed and independent woman on screen, in charge of her own destiny, for better or worse.

Have you seen Out of Africa? What did you think of the depiction of that time period in Kenya?

Out of Africa - Official Trailer 

N is for No Country for Old Men

N is for No Country for Old Men, winner of Best Adapted Screenplay at the Academy Awards for Joel and Ethan Coen. The screenplay was based on a book by Cormac McCarthy. The film is rated R for strong graphic violence and some language.

The year is 1980. Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is hunting antelope one day in the deserts of Texas when he happens upon a drug deal gone bad. Several bodies lay about on the ground, and the drugs are still on the flatbed of a truck underneath a tarp. Llewelyn is a good tracker having served in Vietnam. He follows the trail of a lone man who had fled the scene. He finds the now deceased man in the shade of a tree, and discovers a briefcase loaded with stacks of hundred dollar bills. Llewelyn absconds with the briefcase and the small fortune that turns out to be about two million dollars.

Thus begins a nightmarish ordeal for Llewelyn when Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), a ruthless criminal who wants that money back, stalks him. The good sheriff Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) becomes aware of what is happening, as does Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson), hired by the investor who is upset about the loss of the briefcase of money. With three people in pursuit of him, Llewelyn has to outsmart all of them. Or will he?

No Country for Old Men was primarily filmed on location in New Mexico, with some filming completed in West Texas. The dry sandy desert blows dust into every corner, and into the souls of those who inhabit this tale of greed and murder. It’s a bloody film, one where the Coen brothers seem to again be asking, “Why would you do this for money?” (Recall my review for F this month with Fargo.)

No Country for Old Men won three additional Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Javier Bardem, and Best Director for the Coen brothers.

Watching Llewelyn calmly plan how to keep the money for himself and methodically carry out his strategy for survival is really fascinating, as is Anton’s chilling persona as a man who likes to play a game of chance with his victims before offing them. The Coen brothers have set just the right pace for the men’s journeys that will eventually collide. We are with Llewelyn as he problem solves every step of his path. Josh Brolin does a really fine acting job with Llewelyn, and Javier Bardem as Anton is so cold and calculating, we won’t ever forget him as a man who has no heart.

Tommy Lee Jones plays the sheriff well, the man who has worked for many years in law enforcement, and is growing a little too old to stomach the blood and crime that seem everywhere within his jurisdiction. No Country for Old Men is a well-written and executed film, and you may find it to be a good film to watch if you can stand the blood. 

No Country for Old Men - Official Trailer

M is for Marie-Louise

M is for Marie-Louise, winner of Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards ceremony in 1946. This is the only film I could not get my hands on out of all of the films that showed up on my list to write about. Despite not being able to see it, I did some research on the Internet, and was sufficiently intrigued by this story to include information about it here.

Marie-Louise was the first foreign language film to have the honor of winning Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards. The film was made in Switzerland, is in black and white, and was released in 1944. The languages spoken in the film are French and Swiss German. The subtitles are in German and French only.

Here is the trailer for Marie-Louise: Marie-Louise (trailer)

This trailer was on the website for the Zurich Film Festival, archived in 2015, which is the year they featured the film during their very extensive and diverse screenings. They said they were showing a fully restored digital version of the film. The cinematography appears to be quite good and of better quality than some of the other black and white films I’ve reviewed for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

I found two reviewers who had watched what were probably bootlegged copies of the film, and their reviews were enlightening. One reviewer said she laboriously translated the film into English so she could understand most of the dialogue. Marie-Louise is a French girl, perhaps about 12 years old, who was evacuated to Switzerland in 1943 during the Nazi occupation of France. After three months, it is time to return to France, and Marie-Louise is understandably reluctant to go back. Some synopses of the film state that she has become a spoiled brat, while others feel that her behavior is due to the traumatic experiences she endured in France. Her home was bombed, her brother killed, and she is a shell-shocked teen who understandably is fearful going back into what she fears is still a war zone. Why she is being sent back there after three months, I could not discover. It may have been after the liberation of France.

Scenes another reviewer wrote about that stood out to him were the initial air raid sequence; a tender moment when Marie-Louise’s Swiss surrogate family gives her a dollhouse that is a replica of her home in France; and a funeral scene where four people killed in the air raid speak from the great beyond about their lives. It is mentioned that Marie-Louise attempts to run from the train meant to return her to France, trying to protect one cherished keepsake. What that keepsake might be is not mentioned.

Given this film was in production while World War II was still in progress, it must have been heartbreaking and even stressful for the actors involved to make, especially the children. It is unfortunate it is not available for widespread audiences. I think I would have enjoyed watching Marie-Louise. Have you seen it?

L is for The Lavender Hill Mob

 L is for The Lavender Hill Mob (de l’or en barres), winner of an Academy Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay in 1953. This black and white comedy tells the story of a formerly faithful bank employee gone bad. The story begins with Henry “Dutch” Holland (Alec Guinness) telling his tale of how he came to be rich to a man he meets at a restaurant at his hotel in Rio de Janiero. (There is a delightful cameo by Audrey Hepburn early in the film as a woman friend of Holland’s named Chiquita.)

It all began when by happenstance a new resident, Al Pendlebury (Stanley Holloway), moves into the boarding house in South London where Holland lives. Al’s occupation sparks an idea in Holland. He begins to see a new future for himself with the help of Pendlebury. Holland’s job involves seeing that gold bullion bars are transferred safely from the foundry to the bank daily. Al is a businessman who manufactures trinkets for sales to tourist markets. One of his creations from his foundry is Eiffel Towers of substantial size that he markets to curio shops in Paris for souvenirs.

Holland suggests that they steal the gold bars and transform the gold into Eiffel Towers that they can smuggle into Europe and sell on the black market. Al likes this idea and they begin to plan.

The two schemers need to find some help though and a search, or rather putting out some bait, for seasoned criminals ensues. Lackery Wood (Sidney James) and Shorty Fisher (Alfie Bass) take the bait like mice to cheese, and are deemed suitable for the heist. Thus is formed the Lavender Hill Mob.

The film is entertaining enough, and laugh out loud funny during several scenes. As with any undertaking of a sensitive nature such as a complicated robbery, there are bound to be delays and complications, and the troubles the four run into are quite amusing.

T. E. B. Clarke wrote the screenplay. The film was made by Ealing Studios, which began in 1902 and transitioned to sound in 1931. It is the oldest continuously operating studio for film production in the world. Ealing Studios was known for making comedies up until 1955 when the BBC purchased the facility.

Charles Crichton, who later went on to write and direct the comedy A Fish Called Wanda, directed The Lavender Hill Mob. A Fish Called Wanda is a very funny film that you should see if you haven’t already. It was released in 1988 and starred John Cleese, Kevin Kline and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Does crime really pay for the Lavender Hill Mob? And for Holland? You’ll have to watch to find out. I found this film on streaming Amazon Prime. I enjoy watching these older films as they rely on some slapstick humor to impart lightness to what could be a very serious tale of crime in another’s hands.

I leave you with a very silly trailer for The Lavender Hill Mob: 

The Lavender Hill Mob - Trailer 

K is for Kramer vs. Kramer

K is for Kramer vs. Kramer, a film from 1979 that swept the Academy Awards. It won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for Robert Benton (novel by Avery Corman), Best Actor for Dustin Hoffman, and Best Supporting Actress for Meryl Streep. It is the story of a custody battle between divorced parents for their son. The film is rated PG.

Ted Kramer (Dustin Hoffman) is a driven New York advertising executive who we find is neglecting his wife Joanna (Meryl Streep) and even his young son Billy (Justin Henry). Joanna abruptly leaves both Ted and Billy late one night for points unknown. Ted now finds he is faced with the uncomfortable task of being a father in a motherly way to Billy.

His sounding board is neighbor Margaret Phelps (Jane Alexander) who is recently divorced with children of her own, and knew the couple prior to Joanna’s departure. Ted struggles to be a good father to Billy despite his anger at Joanna for deserting both of them. His work takes a downturn as he copes with being there for Billy’s school and activities.

Joanna resurfaces over a year later and has decided she wants to parent Billy, having discovered herself and gotten a job in New York. Ted mounts a defense to keep Billy with himself as primary custodian, and the court battle is none too pretty. I found myself thinking about how in some respects, the courts have changed in their treatment of custody battles, especially in terms of visitation. The attorneys still use every opportunity to make the other parent look bad.

I found that Justin Henry who played Billy was really, really a good little performer. He in fact was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, the youngest to ever be nominated in that category at the age of seven years, and in the same decade as he was born. He didn’t win, but what the director got out of him was truly amazing, particularly in a scene where he defies his father at the dinner table. His traumatized feelings at being abandoned by his mother are truly heartbreaking.

I enjoyed seeing Ted go from an inept sort of guy at home to a loving, caring and competent father to Billy. There is so much to admire about this film. Since it is 1979, there are also some interesting comparisons to make to present day, such as Ted’s and Joanna’s announced salaries to the courts during their trial. Salaries in the thirty thousand range must have been quite substantial back then for New York City; they aren’t anywhere near what is considered well off today.

I recommend Kramer vs. Kramer for a character driven story that will pull at your heartstrings. I saw it when it first came out in 1979, and I chose to watch it again. The musical score is enchanting, mostly classically based, and fitting the scenes well. And it’s fun seeing Hoffman and Streep at very early stages of their careers. 

 Kramer vs. Kramer - Trailer (1979)

J is for Julia

J is for Julia, a film released in 1977 that is based on a true story. Julia won three Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor for Jason Robards, Best Supporting Actress for Vanessa Redgrave, and Best Adapted Screenplay (written by Alvin Sargent, based upon a story by Lillian Hellman). Julia is rated PG.

Lillian “Lily” (Jane Fonda) and Julia (Vanessa Redgrave) have been the best of friends since childhood. Julia lived with her wealthy grandparents, and Lily visited her frequently at their estate.

While studying medicine at Oxford, Julia becomes an activist as she becomes acutely aware of the inequities between people in the world. This is the 1930’s, when Hitler is coming to power in Europe.

Lily has pursued a career as a writer, and is living with writer Dashiell Hammett (Jason Robards), her lover and mentor, while she writes a play. She desperately misses Julia, and eventually goes to Paris where she hopes to see her while in Europe.

Julia is injured in a riot at the University of Vienna, and Lily is understandably upset at her condition when she goes to visit her. But then Julia disappears for “therapy.” Years pass, Lillian has a resounding success with her play, The Children’s Hour, and is suddenly summoned by Julia to Europe. Julia needs her to do her a favor, a big favor. She wants Lily to help smuggle funds across the German border, funds that will be used to help people escape the Nazi terror that is growing.

Despite being unsure of herself, Lily sets off by train through Berlin on her way to Moscow. I really loved the way the film allows us to see Lily’s anxiety, and all the little steps she has to take along the way as she tries to get to Julia.

Jane Fonda is stellar in her performance, and the 1930’s setting is depicted very well in the costuming and music of the era. Meryl Streep has a small role as Anne Marie, and she is noticeable immediately. I saw this film years and years ago, before Meryl became the acting legend she is today and was captivated by her brief performance.

Lillian Hellman was accused of making up the story of Julia, something she protested up until her death. Whether the tale is true or not, it is still a fine movie, one that shows the loyalty between friends, the courage it took to stand up to the Nazis, and the danger involved in doing so. I highly recommend you watch Julia for yourself.

Dashiell Hammett was the author of The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man. He was an activist, and during the blacklisting era of Hollywood writers, he refused to testify or give names, was found to be in contempt of court, and imprisoned. Lillian Hellman was also blacklisted. This was a grim period in Hollywood for those who spoke out. It reminds us that freedom of speech is a right always to be held sacred. Our history demands it.

Julia - Trailer 

I is for The Imitation Game

 

I is for The Imitation Game, a brilliant film that won Best Adapted Screenplay at the Academy Awards for Graham Moore. The screenplay was based on the book Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges.  The film for me is a tribute to Turing who helped crack the Enigma code of Nazi Germany, thus shortening the war by an estimated two years and saving millions of lives.

The film is rated PG-13 for some sexual references, mature thematic material and historical smoking. Unusual within the film is that the character Alan Turing provides a voiceover at times, allowing us to hear his thoughts about his life and the work to decrypt Enigma.

Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) is an intense mathematician who applies for a job at the radio factory, which is really a covert operation to crack the Nazi coding. Among others traits, including a genius mentality, he is a homosexual, and has struggled with tormentors since a boy in boarding school because he is different. We learn about his past as the action moves between three different time periods: World War II; the 1950’s when he was vilified as a homosexual; and as a boy, struggling with his feelings and idiosyncrasies.

Alan rises to head the department and hires Joan Clarke (Kiera Knightley), which is unusual, as women were rarely given that type of position. She was brilliant, and Alan recognized it. She cares deeply for him, and is his protector of sorts.

His colleagues and fellow mathematicians have to warm up to him, and it takes some time getting over Alan’s brusque ways and demanding nature. Until that breakthrough Alan has a very difficult time at a job he takes very seriously, and is also ridiculed by his superiors who are impatient with what appears to be lack of progress in breaking the Enigma code.

The horrible practice of drugging homosexuals to rid them of their predilections is addressed in this film, as that is what happened to Alan. A barbaric practice, one that I hope never returns. That part of the film was really heartbreaking.

Actor Alex Lawther plays the young Alan exquisitely. I have rarely seen such a completely nuanced performance from someone, and you just feel that he is really Alan the young teen who grew up to be the adult Alan, acted so brilliantly by Benedict Cumberbatch.

Alexandre Desplat composed the beautiful music for the film, which was nominated for Best Original Score.  Quite unique is that he lost to himself when he won Best Original Score that year for The Grand Budapest Hotel. I have always enjoyed Desplat’s scores. His compositions accent many films and render them more beautiful and touching.

I highly recommend this film. It is the best illustration of how the geniuses among us are different, and thank goodness they are. Their differentness may well be their gift to humanity for the benefit of all of us. The Imitation Game is a really great film, expertly written, acted and executed.

The Imitation Game - Official Trailer 

H is for How the West Was Won

H is for How the West Was Won, a wonderful film from 1962. I was surprised that I really enjoyed this film. It is long, 2 hours and 44 minutes, and it being in full color helped. It has a musical overture at the beginning to help set the tone for the movie; the old intermission about halfway through called an Entr’acte that used to be used in movies so that theatergoers could get up and go to the bathroom and buy some popcorn; and exit music as the movie comes to an end. This sweeping epic is set between 1839 and 1889 across four generations of the Prescott family.

I have always loved the West, beginning when I was a little girl on family vacations that led us over the Mississippi River to the majestic mountains that Wisconsin does not have. I share the wanderlust of those early settlers, preferring the open spaces to the crowded East, which may be why I liked these stories so much.

There was music, great storytelling and many famous actors in this tale of the American West. Somewhat romanticized, it gave a picture of the Prescott family on their journey west, through the Civil War years, and the aging of the family. The Prescott’s are the ones who tie the ends of the story together.

The saga begins when Zebulon Prescott (Karl Malden) and his wife Rebecca (Agnes Moorehead) get set to travel west with their two beautiful daughters, Eve (Carole Baker), and Lilith, aka Lily (Debbie Reynolds). Due to unkind circumstances on the voyage, the two sisters must find their own way in life. Marriage being a primary goal for young women at the time, Eve has her sights on Linus Rawlings (James Stewart), a frontiersman, and Lily, who is a singer and dancer, on the suave gambler Cleve Van Valen (Gregory Peck).

Dangers are everywhere, including rapids on the rivers, thieves, and Indians disgusted with the white man. I particularly liked the part of the film where the Arapahoe give those railroaders something to think about.

It is a sweeping epic with three directors for five distinct sections of the movie. John Ford directed The Civil War, Henry Hathaway directed The Rivers, The Plains, The Outlaws, and George Marshall, The Railroad. There is some narration spoken by Spencer Tracy, and many cameos by famous actors, including John Wayne and Henry Fonda.

The film won Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards, as well as Best Sound and Best Film Editing. For its time, I think it was a good film, establishing what settlers heading West encountered as they searched out new lives and lands for themselves. There’s great singing and dancing, especially by Debbie Reynolds, and a little humor here and there amongst the inevitable tragedies that occurred along the way. My husband and I really enjoyed How the West Was Won. The time flew by, and I never tired of the story of these brave settlers traveling toward their dreams.

How the West Was Won (1962) Trailer 

G is for The Great McGinty

G is for The Great McGinty, a 1940 black and white film written and directed by Preston Sturges. It is a comedy and a political satire, and won Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards. Just 82 minutes long, it is cleverly written, and was Mr. Sturges’ directorial debut.

Dan McGinty (Brian Donlevy) is a man who is down and out, and in the breadlines during the Great Depression, when he is approached with a corrupt proposition. He will be given $2.00 for each time he votes for mayoral candidate Tillinghast in the election. Dan sees this as a sure thing to earn some quick cash, and proceeds to vote in many precincts, each time getting proof of his deception so he can collect. The Boss (Akim Tamiroff), who asked that a man be hired to carry out this voter fraud, is amazed at what Dan has done so successfully, and hires him to shake down business owners for “protection” money.

An idea is hatched: Dan should run for mayor during the next election, and follow The Boss’s bidding. He must first, however, get married as no one wants to vote for a bachelor he is told. Upon mentioning this to his secretary Catherine (Muriel Angelus), she suggests he marry her.

The Great McGinty has elements of slapstick comedy that make the film more entertaining. What could have been a boring movie or even have turned preachy with its political theme instead turns into a pleasant romp. Adding to the intrigue are the secrets that Catherine has kept from Dan until after they are wed, namely that she was once married and has two small children. The ready-made family helps catapult him into the good graces of the public.

The rest of the film is a cross between a romantic comedy and a serious drama where Dan, moving up in the political world, grows a conscience, much to the chagrin of the Boss, who continues to threaten Dan to comply with his orders so he can grow rich off government contracts. Sound familiar?

It should. Only thing different today is that election fraud consists of discrediting voters, not the populace out to vote repeatedly. (See my review of the documentary film, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy.)

Preston Sturges was a well-known screenwriter and director in his time. He came from a wealthy family, and loved writing and storytelling. For early cinema, which I broadly classify as up until 1940, The Great McGinty is a tale of social conscience that should win over the greed of organized crime and dirty politics. But does it? Anything can be bought in the world of greed, corruption and favoritism that is politics. Mr. Sturges wanted to direct the film so badly, he sold the screenplay to Paramount for $10.00 with the understanding that he would direct the film.

In 1944, in The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, McGinty and The Boss reprise their roles. Sounds like another screwball comedy from esteemed screenwriter Preston Sturges.

The Great McGinty Trailer 1940 

F is for Fargo

F is for Fargo, a film from 1996 that put brothers Joel and Ethan Coen on the movie-making map. It won Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards, as well as Best Actress for Frances McDormand. It launched the careers of Frances, William H. Macy and Steve Buscemi due to their great performances in this crime drama.

At the beginning of the film is a statement that the story you are about to see is true. It is not. Leave it to the Coen brothers to try and fake you out. But human nature being what it is, it could have been true. I like to say it is the truth about a fictitious story.

Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) is a car salesman in the Minneapolis area, short on money and brains. He devises a plot to have a couple of thugs, Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) and Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare), from Fargo, North Dakota kidnap his wife Jean (Kristin Rudrüd), hold her for ransom and demand the money from his father-in-law, Wade Gustafson (Harve Presnell). Trouble is the best-laid plans don’t always work out, and these plans go seriously awry.

Enter Police Chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand), seven months pregnant, and the smartest of the bunch we see on screen. She begins investigating the mysterious murders of two civilians and a State Trooper near Brainerd, Minnesota, who were killed in the night on a lonely highway somewhere in her jurisdiction.

She soon finds a trail to follow and pursues the criminals. I liked how the filmmakers let us see firsthand how unforgiving the North Dakota and even the Minnesota winters can be. You can almost feel the cold piercing through even the warmest coat and gloves, and the ice and snow making travel difficult and dangerous for all involved. The musical score sets the scene for the film nicely. I appreciated the accents and nuances of language that the Lundegaards in particular showcased. It’s very Norwegian or Scandinavian which is what much of Minnesota is or was when originally settled. This is Prairie Home Companion country after all.

The film is rated R for strong violence, language and sexuality. The violence is especially disturbing. Fargo inspired a successful TV series of the same name, which is currently in production with its fourth season. I have not watched it, as I rarely have time to indulge in extended series with lots of hours of viewing involved, and also because I really don’t like violence in film, despite my watching it from time to time.

The Coen brothers have created some other great films; comedies Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski are two I particularly enjoyed, as well as more serious movies such as No Country for Old Men, A Serious Man, and Suburbicon. A common theme they often employ is showing how absurd it is to lust after money, and how people will do horrible things when trying to get it. Hopefully those films will wake some viewers up.

Fargo - Original Theatrical Trailer