The Filmcake

It’s not
What you thought
When you first began it
–Aimee Mann, “Wise Up”[1]

Ten years ago, Paul Thomas Anderson followed up Hard Eight and Boogie Nights with a three-hour plus powerhouse of a film. Interweaving the stories of nine main characters, Magnolia dealt with cancer, rejection, abuse, and reconciliation in a unique way.[2] While the interwoven and interconnected story line device had been used before (Magnolia owes a lot in this way to Robert Altman’s Short Cuts which also featured Julianne Moore), Anderson took the device to another level. Altman used the device to connect separate Raymond Carver stories with some aplomb, while Paul Haggis seemed to stumble over it in his poorly executed polemic Crash. Interwoven and connected stories can become so overly coincidental that it ruins any emotional connection. The story can become so unreal as to turn into farce. From the beginning of Magnolia, Anderson overcomes this potential pitfall by making it obvious that these overly-coincidental connections are not simply a device. They are a crucial component of his film.

And of course, there are the frogs. I suspect many viewers of Magnolia, if not turned off by the overly-coincidental interwoven story lines, were turned off by the deluge of frogs. Or at least perplexed. The first time I saw those frogs fall from the sky I was in love with this film. To this day, Magnolia remains one of my favorite movies of all time. For me, the frogs are also crucial to understanding the film.

The First Frog Drops

The frogs of Magnolia certainly will mean different things to different people. And there is no singular way to look at the frogs in order to appreciate and enjoy the film. In fact, my own interpretation has evolved over the years. But the immense talents of Paul Thomas Anderson surely necessitate a more thorough examination.

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July 13th – July 19th

L’heure d’été (Summer Hours) - I left the theatre after seeing Oliver Assayas latest film feeling a little like how Frédéric felt about the Corot paintings. I felt a strong affinity for the film, even if I couldn’t quite say why. After all, it was the French who invented je ne sais quoi, right?

In essence, the film is about the value we place on things–art, family, tradition, etc.–without being overly judgmental about the particular choices people make. But of course, we cannot help but be judgmental about the things we are passionate about. Otherwise, what would sustain the passion?

This was the second film that started out as a commission from the Musée d’Orsay to celebrate their 20th anniversary. Four filmmakers–Assayas, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Jim Jarmusch, and Paul Ruiz–were commissioned to create films that featured the museum as well as Juliette Binoche. The first was Hou Hsiao-hsien’s wonderful Le voyage du ballon rouge (Flight of the Red Balloon), an homage to both Félix Vallotton’s painting Le Ballon as well as the classic Albert Lamorisse short Le Ballon rouge (The Red Balloon). Summer Hours featured a number of actual pieces loaned by the museum for the production (as well as some actual Musée d’Orsay appraisers).

Umberto D. - Well, if you want a Neo(-Neo) Realism double feature with dogs, and you don’t mind sobbing like an infant, this is the perfect companion to Kelly Reichardt’s Wendy and Lucy. This film landed in my queue because I’m a sucker for dogs and because I was interested in the Italian realism that may have influenced the Neo-Neo Realist directors of today, including Reichardt, Rahmin Bahrani (Man Push Cart, Chop Shop), and Lance Hammer (Ballast).

Even I who am rather ignorant of Italian history could not help but me moved by the Fascist implications of the dog pound scene. And the closing scene just very well may be my go-to scene whenever I need to let out a good cry. The love and loneliness in that scene is incomparable.

This one (directed by Vittoria De Sica) was shot on location with mostly non-professional actors (only the landlady and Flike, the dog, were professionals) and is considered by some to mark the end of Italian realism. Next, I need to see De Sica’s The Bicycle Thief…and revisit Wendy & Lucy and Ballast (which features perhaps my favorite single shot of a dog on film).

Before Sunrise - I wasn’t too crazy about this one. I really like some of Linklater’s other stuff, like Slackers, Dazed & Confused, and Waking Life, but this one didn’t really do it for me. I found myself more enamored with Vienna then with either Jesse or Céline. I should probably give it another try before categorically dismissing it though–I might not have been in the right mood. At any rate, I liked it enough to still give Before Sunset a shot.

Meteor (TV) - At least with a Sci-Fi Channel (er, Syfy) Original movie you know that the pain won’t last for too long. But this was a four-hour miniseries. I understand that it’s probably cheaper to make one really long bad movie than it is to make two separate bad movies. But, still…those are four hours of my life that I will never get back. I don’t even know whether I have the strength in me for the next installment of NBC’s Survival Sundays, next week’s The Storm.

July 6th – July 12th

Audience of One – Wow. Just wow. What a thoroughly enjoyable documentary. Equal parts religious fanaticism and filmmaking fanaticism equals documentary gold. Bravo!

Pastor Richard Gazowsky sets out with his church to make the greatest movie ever made–”Star Wars meets The Ten Commandments.” And, he’s convinced that God has told him that the $100 million dollar German investment money will be coming in any day now. Yep, any day now. Uhmm, yeah. It’s a shame that God didn’t instead tell him to spend more time in pre-production. Bad God. Shame on you.

Lest anyone think this is a documentary attacking Christianity, director Michael Jacobs most fairly captures his subjects. When laughs come at the expense of Gazowsky and his followers, they arise from filmmaking ineptitude and not religious mockery. In fact, the director may have been too kind. Jacobs never really confronts Gazowsky over what practically amounts to extortion (getting people to give money and volunteer labor based solely on a message received from God). Then again, that happens every Sunday (and daily on certain TV channels), doesn’t it? In the end, Gazowsky needs little help showing us how delusional he really is (as both a pastor and filmmaker).

Crips & Bloods: Made in America – Decent enough documentary by Stacy Peralta. Not sure what it has to do with skateboarding though.

The Ice Storm – Ahhh, the movie that introduced us to key parties and Katie Holmes. Thank you Ang Lee for that gift you have given me. I shall never forget it.

John Adams (TV miniseries) – After recent discussions surrounding favorite Founding Fathers, I was compelled to finally make it through the HBO miniseries about our 2nd President. Now I want a 7-part miniseries each for Jefferson, Abigail, Washington, Franklin, Hamilton, etc. It is truly fascinating and amazing history. I only wish there were more hours in the day that would allow me to read more biographies and histories of our founding. It’s unfortunate that some–Sally Kern for one–distort the legacy of these men (and women) by suggesting that they were founding a Christian nation.

Waltz With Bashir – More proof that 2008 was a great year for documentaries. I still prefer Man on Wire, but this was also a special documentary film that is deserving of all its accolades. The animation was perfectly utilized to show someone coming to grips with shrouded memories and the difficult history of war.

Stranded: The Andes Plane Crash Survivors – I must admit that the story of the Uruguayan rugby team crash has always fascinated me. I quite liked Alive, the 1993 film starring Ethan Hawke that dramatized the events. I’d probably seen it on VHS 10 or more times. I think it is the very human determination to survive that fascinates me. And Hawke, of course. This documentary, though, revisited the tragedy from the voices of its survivors–a respectful tribute to those who perished in the mountains and a celebration of the lives the survivors were granted.

Magnolia – I’ve got some more detailed thoughts on this one–a personal favorite–that I’ll post sometime later this week.

June 29th – July 5th

Rescue Dawn – Werner Herzog is quickly turning into one of my favorite directors. I haven’t seen a whole lot of his stuff, but what I’ve seen has shown him to fully possess an independent spirit of filmmaking. As much as Vietnam War films have become stale, this one seemed like a fresh take. Exciting and heartbreaking with great performances from Christian Bale, Steve Zahn, and Jeremy Davies. Bale’s Dengler was goofy yet sharply competent. I’m itching now, especially since Herzog has just released his diaries about it, to see his epic Fitzcarraldo.

Barton Fink – A Coen brothers film seen for the first time. Decent and funny enough, but nothing amazing. John Goodman was great. I know there is a lot more in there to devour, but it was otherwise rather “meh” for me.

Don’t Look Back – Documentary of Bob Dylan’s 1965 tour. This early Dylan is pure genius. Beyond the songwriting and musicianship, the evolving Dylan persona of the time is absolutely fascinating. It feels like everybody else was just pawns in Dylan’s genius game (and what a priviledge to watch). It makes Todd Hayne’s I’m Not There all the more compelling. I need to revisit that one soon.

Harlan County, USA – The classic documentary about striking mine workers. Captured is the classic battle between capitalists and workers. While no such battle is ever that simple, it is easy here to take the side of the workers against the gun-toting thugs representing corporate interests. It’s fascinating, if not altogether surprising, to see how notions of racism and sexism fade away once people realize that they all share a desperate plight. The country and bluegrass music in this movie was also quite amazing. I really need to spend some time with a study of American folk music.

Ask Not, Steal a Pencil for Me – Two Independent Lens documentaries. The first was a short doc about the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy of the US military. The second a holocaust love story. Both were compelling based on subject matter alone, but neither of the two had any major effect on me. Good and worth watching, but not great.

The Wizard of Gore – A bloody feast from the Master of Splatter, Herschell Gordon Lewis. This is the movie that convinced Juno MacGuff that Lewis, and not Argento, was the true master of horror. I like that there’s a tinge of social commentary–something perhaps about the effect of television on our minds–but even that is haphazard because it’s truly only about blood and guts.