Yogi's Movie Consumption Blog

A supernaturally gifted boy from a Gypsy community is forced to survive in the world of crime. The intriguing qualities of Kusturica's films I've seen is his relentless depiction of basically crazy communities. Not just agreeably potty, they're usually outright interstellar-nuts. Here, he follows the fate of the rather harmless boy Perhan, that leaves for Italy in hope of a better future for him and his loved ones. There are some enormously interesting images in the film that kept ringing long after. The ritual in the river and the last scene in the church ruin (with a horse standing somewhere far back in the image...). After sketchily mapping out the scenes it is surprising how rigorously three-acty the screenplay is constructed. The first act seems quite long in terms of time and number of scenes, but there is also a lot of imagery spent on depicting life in this crazy universe, which makes the second part in Italy much more believable. And there is a certa...

Two petty criminals are hired by a former police officer to protect his village from an evil gang. This is the first of the 'classic' Bollywood movies from the early days that I watched. There is an acceptable amount of singing, the over-the-top comedic acting and the Western-inspired morals. Most of the scenes seem to have been lifted straight out of the American films and some suspiciously simple comedy films - I suspect mostly cartoons and silent comedies. Things become more original when our two heroes settle in the village, fall in love and act so incredibly dumb that I couldn't help myself smiling. The characters are grotesque most of the time. The screenwriter came up with a very exaggerated idea for the old police officer, but it still worked nicely. There are some of the more absurd details and the situations in the film that are interesting for pointing out. They are all here for comedic relief and I was trying to find with some 'typical' comedy s...

An aging womanizer receives an anonymous letter from a child he didn't know he had and promptly sets out to visit his former lovers. This is the perfect vehicle for Murray's dead-pan performance. The film starts out as a Murray being the straight man in a world populated by his more-or-less-crazy exes. Which made me root for his character to reach the goal of his mission. And the way the film is told it really seems that he manages to reach it. But a mixture of the character's personality and the circumstances (and, obviously, a sense of reality that sets in quite suddenly) render his attempt futile. Pell James: how to be impressive in 20 seconds screen-time In my opinion, the way Murray's character is constructed is by far the most exciting part of the film, although I enjoyed the film altogether very much. Don Johnston (!) is in his late 40s and seems to have made enough money in "computers" that he is not really concerned about work anymor...

During WWII a simple carpenter is given control of the disowned shop of the old Jewish lady Rosaria. The film starts out as a wonderful comedy. The quirky Tono is a simple-minded stubborn carpenter who has not much love for his fascistic brother-in-law and his nagging wife, but wants to be left alone. When his brother-in-law arranges for him to become the new head of the dry goods shop on main street, he reluctantly takes the job. But the absent-minded woman running the shop sees a new assistant in him and immediately puts him to work. Poor Tono just goes with the flow and at first everything seems to work out fine for everybody.  But history runs its evil course and soon the harsh realities of deportation can no longer be ignored - at least by Tono. The shop lady only has a dim idea what's going on around her. As long as he can Tono tries to protect her. But at one point he sees that he can no longer keep her hidden. At this point the film turns into a haunting tragedy. The...

A death obsessed young man encounters a crazy, but spirited elderly lady and a most improbable love story unfolds. After "Being there", I felt pleasured recognize the director's trademark. Slow editing, a penchant for very long shots and an incredible attention to production design. The story is rarely cut for punch lines and once in a while I felt that he would linger around a bit too long after the point was made. (Most notably in the shot where the 'date' runs off after presumably having seen him burning himself in the garden) Although it is too early to derive anything from only having seen two of Ashby's films I had the impression that the films don't take place in the US, but they seemed to fit the general mental landscape of the quirky English upper class whose brains deteriorate in lavish mansions somewhere in the countryside as the growing grass on their perfect lawns watches them wither away morally. In any case, both films have an ...

A very simple-minded gardener is turned out of his house when his master dies and in search for a TV set he encounters fame and fortune. This very beautiful, quietly set film is a tour de force of Peter Sellers' comic timing. His character is slow and mostly repeats what everybody says around him. This doesn't only lead to great comic moments, but renders the whole spectacle into a farcical satire. I enjoyed Sellers' dead-pan performance a lot and was amazed by the careful balance that Ashby manages to give the portrayal of the character. Most of the times I was meandering between pity, amusement and even a bit of cringing at Chancy's outrageous actions, or rather, non-actions. The film is deliberately paced very slowly but has meticulous attention to details in the set and the production design. Many fabulous long shots introduce the characters in their respective settings and leave it up to the actors to fill those lush sets with life. The camera also des...

An over-ambitious police officer is relocated to the countryside where he soon finds himself on the trails of a brutal murderer. I watched this on a popcorn night but nevertheless I couldn't quite enjoy it like Shaun of the Dead. It has its funny parts, but somehow the story felt a bit too contrived. Instead I wanted to give a shot at analyzing the camera positioning/editing: the first scene in the police department. I am becoming interested in shoot-reverse-shot scenes and alternatives to them, so maybe it's good to start with a standard setup. The scene is important as it is presents the protagonist with his big obstacle - being transferred to the country side. The viewer learns that officer Angel is quite oblivious and stubborn. His character traits will get him into loads of trouble later in the story. (He still felt a bit flat, though) Here is the setup as I see it: (click to enlarge) C1, C2 are closeups - one whip pan on C2/OS2 OS1, OS2 are over the should...