1993: Carlito's Way (Brian De Palma)

1993: Carlito's Way (Brian De Palma)
Cinematic from the very get-go.  And what an opening it is.  Black-and-white, slow motion, voiceover, and what music!  A long take, choreographed, beginning with the camera at a dutch angle.  Sensuous, complex, abstract, graphic, many elements of style all brought into some harmonious balance.  I couldn't pull that off.  Most people couldn't pull that off.  De Palma is some kind of master, huh?

And that's just the filmmaking.

At the root of this, one of my favorite crime films of all time, is also a theme that affects me deeply, the idea that one mistake may trap you forever.  If Carlito had just left Benny Blanco alone, stayed out of his way, all would have been okay.  But he made one blunder and could never quite escape it.

It's the only movie I've ever seen that makes you forget about its ending, so much so that you feel all the more duped when it gets there AGAIN. This one moves me in the highest way at every level imaginable.  I admire it, I love it, and I feel it deeply.  And I know it has its detractors, but chalk me up as one of its biggest fans.  


Other contenders for 1993:  From this year, I still have some things to see.  These include Atom Egoyan's Calendar, Hou Hsiao-hsien's The Puppetmaster, James Ivory's The Remains of the Day, and Eric Rohmer's The Tree, The Mayor, and the Mediatheque.  At some point, I'll need to revisit Jane Campion's The Piano, Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colors: Blue, and Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List as it's been too long since I've seen any of them to know where they'd place on this list.  From this year though, I love Akira Kurosawa's Madadayo.  And my closest runner-up is Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence.

4/30/10 I watched Abel Ferrara's Body Snatchers.  It wouldn't contend for my top spot.  But like much of Ferrara's work, I sat through much of it thinking it an unmitigated disaster and then emerged with the feeling that it was actually up to something quite interesting.  The first time they try to "snatch" Anwar is particularly strong, as are some of the final moments.   

3/28/11 I watched Tsai Ming-Liang's Rebels of the Neon God.  A very strong debut from Tsai, full of all his usual themes -- urban isolation, water fetishes, and a keen interest in bodily fluids.  What's most shocking at the beginning is how much verve Tsai's style has.  In fact, it feels like he's riffing more on Wong Kar-Wai for awhile here than Antonioni, who would ultimately become his closest influence.  Not as pure and distilled as some of Tsai's later work, but certainly worth a look.

9/19/11 I watched James Ivory's The Remains of the Day.  I like how there are consistent thematic concerns in each of the Merchant/Ivory films I've seen.  There's an interest in a certain old world order, people's inability to express themselves emotionally to one another, and a respect for one's class, no matter the sacrifice or loss of opportunities it might create.  This film is his most daring narratively, but at times the sheer audacity of the endeavor might lead to a little repetition and awkwardness that would have been avoided with a slightly easier narrative.  Still, I have great respect for the team Merchant/Ivory assembled and the clarity of their approach.  

6/3/12 I watched Manoel de Oliveira's Abraham's Valley.  Beautiful, deep, and Rohmeresque but also distancing for me because of the actor playing Ema.  I have more respect and admiration than I do a deeply felt connection to this one.

8/23/13 I watched Andre Techine's My Favorite Season.  Techine's desire to be real, emotional, subtle, and naturalistic are all there.  But whereas I find his next two features (Wild Reeds and Thieves) to go to daring places while always remaining in the right emotional register, this one seems to veer off at times.  It still has some great feel and depth but just feels minor compared to where he would go next.  

1/16/18 I rewatched Harold Ramis' Groundhog Day.  It is somewhat interesting to see how Ramis handles its non-linear narrative but otherwise it's fairly generic in terms of the rest of its design.

12/21/21 I watched Patricia Mazuy's Travolta et Moi.  A film that I have been wanting to see for more than 25 years is interesting and unexpected.  It captures both the feeling of youth on fire but also explores some of the frustration that ultimately fueled the punk rock movement of the late seventies into the early eighties.  

1/27/22 I watched Paulo Rocha's Oliveira l'architecte.  I've still seen very little of the Portuguese's work but I loved Angelica and look forward to taking in many more of his films.  This was far from one of the strongest of the Cinema de Notre Temps series I have seen but nonetheless I enjoyed spending a little time with Oliveira the person.  

7/4/22 I watched Victor Nunez's Ruby in Paradise.  What jumps out at first view is to think about the historical context in which it was made.  It was the height of American indy cinema and "auteurs" working overtime to emphasize their personal style.  Spike, the Coen brothers, Jarmusch, Hartley, Tarantino all came to the medium with heavily mannered approaches.  In fact, it is hard for me to think of an indy filmmaker, at that time, who was working in a more naturalistic way.  

Perhaps it's the fact that Nunez was 48 when he made Ruby.  Whatever the reasons, Nunez distinguishes himself from the rest of the abovementioned filmmakers by his careful attention to place and character and his subdued use of music, sound, and any other aspect of cinematic style.    

10/23/22 I watched Jon Turteltaub's Cool Runnings.  A sports film targeted mostly at young kids.  It has heart and a few genuinely moving moments but overall a bit too broad for my taste.