Quote of the Day [9.05.13]
“And then what did he do? Did he train you? Did he rehearse you? Did he tell you exactly what to do, what to say? You were a very apt pupil too, weren’t you? You were a very apt pupil! Well, why did you pick on me? Why me?”
Scottie (Jimmy Stewart), Vertigo
Quote of the Day [9.01.13]
Look at the birds in the sky: They do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Matthew 6:26
I’m sure I’ve embedded this before, but you can never get enough Vertigo.
I recently saw it again over the weekend. It was awesome. I really dig the madness of both Madeleine and Scotty.
And it had the greatest nun scene ever: “I heard voices.”
Maybe, one time, I should go out to SF and check out the places in the film. Perhaps a ghostwalk style endeavor of SF. Vertigo by the Bay.
“There’s nothing wrong with you Lisa. You’ve got this town in the palm of your hand.”
“Not quite it seems… Goodbye Jeff.”
“You mean ‘Good night.'”
“I mean what I said.”
“Well Lisa, couldn’t we just… couldn’t we just keep things status quo?”
“Without any future?”
“Well, when am I gonna see you again?”
“Not for a long time… At least not until tomorrow night.”
L.B. ‘Jeff’ Jeffries (Jimmy Stewart) & Lisa Carol Fremont (Grace Kelly), “Rear Window”
It took me three sitting, but I finally finished Millenium Actress. The first time it put me to sleep in twenty minutes. The second time just under ten. This last time was the pure sitting and then I found out how good of a love story it was.
Millennium Actress is an animated film by Satoshi Kon. He’s another celebrated Japanese animation director famous for Paprika and Three Godfathers. I’ve seen Paprika but didn’t think anything of it. I’ve partially seen Three Godfathers but didn’t think anything of it. I almost didn’t finish this film, but glad I did. Satoshi Kon while not as great as Miyazawa is a cut above Makoto Shinkai.
In Millennium Actress, a documentary crew goes to interview the reclusive titular actress, Chiyoko Fukiwara. Her story is told in flashbacks that are filmed like the movies she starred in. It plays around with the settings. What era are we in? Is this one of her movies? Are they saying the script or what she said in real life? And her story is one of finding the love of her life. She helps an left-leaning artist escape for a time from the police and falls in love with him. She doesn’t seem him again until she follows him to Manchuria under the guise of being an actress. But the times are tough for them to meet as war follows and he is imprisoned because of his politics.
The movie plays out in how she yearns to reunite with him. She lives her life always looking for him and a chance to find him once again.
There is a prop that reminds me of Notorious. It is a key that Chiyoko longs to return to her love. And just like the key to the wine cellar in Notorious that was given back to Hitchcock from Ingrid Bergman at a celebration before he died. I liked how Millenium Actress reminded me of that.
One thing I love about animation is that it can tell many stories well. It is a stylistic choice that a strong creative person can use to great effect. I wish it would expand from the children story ghetto we’ve currently got it slotted into in the US.
4 of 5 stars.
“I look up. I look down. I look up. I look down.”
Scottie (Jimmy Stewart), Vertigo
Which one of you did it? Which one of you killed my dog?
You don’t know the meaning of the word ‘neighbor.’ Neighbors like each other, speak to each other, care if anybody lives or dies, but none of you do. But I couldn’t imagine any of you bein’ so low that you’d kill a little helpless, friendly dog – the only thing in this whole neighborhood who liked anybody.
Did ya kill him because he liked ya?
Just because he liked ya?
Wife living above Thorwalds, “Rear Window”
Psycho was playing at The Charles. I’ve never seen it straight through, so what better way to watch it but on celluloid in a revival theatre.
And it was great. I got chills when “mother” comes out and kills the detective. It was enough to make me jump a bit.
Afterwards, I got to arguing with the seed about if it was a modern movie or not. He says it was because of the editing. I said no because of the staging and framing. I’ll give him the editing as it is more modern than the studio films of 40s and 50s, but I feel that it had some of the mise-en-scene you get from a film noir of the earlier era. The closeups and the tight shots highlighting the tension of the story. It’s a toss up. I won’t give ground and he won’t either.
It’s a good movie for this fact.
4 of 5 stars.
“Only one is a wanderer; two together are always going somewhere.”
Madeleine/Judy, Vertigo
