![]() ![]() I also turned around on "Groundhog Day," which made it into this book when I belatedly caught on that it wasn't about the weatherman's predicament but about the nature of time and will. In the case of "Blade Runner," I think the director's cut by Ridley Scott plays much better. Among the films here, I've changed on "The Godfather: Part II" and " Blade Runner." My original review of "Part II" puts me in mind of the "brain cloud" that besets Tom Hanks in "Joe vs. People often ask me, "Do you ever change your mind about a movie?" Hardly ever, although I may refine my opinion. The scene has truth in it but is also funny, although no one in the audience laughs. Gabin mirrors his inner monologue with subtle body language. He has a voice-over, a monologue about his old pal who has stupidly made it necessary for him to go into hiding. ![]() In my review of "Touchez pas Au Grisbi," I describe a scene where the Gabin character returns to his secret gangster hideout, a room with a comfy charm, a phonograph, fresh clothes and even guest pajamas. " Groundhog Day" is sort of a comedy, and sort of a profound exploration of why time makes it possible for us to connect with others.įor that matter, some of the funniest film scenes don't play as comedy at all. Indeed, looking over the list, I'm surprised to see only four purely comic entries: the Chuck Jones cartoons, " My Man Godfrey," Chaplin's " The Great Dictator" and Harold Lloyd's " Safety Last." A good case can be made for " The Scarlet Empress" and " Playtime." There are lots of smiles in " The Bandwagon," "My Fair Lady, "Top Hat" and "Thief of Bagdad," but you can't call them comedies. In those months I wasn't finding many things funny. Norman Cousins famously found during an illness that comedy helped heal him. I'd seen all these films on first release, but now, at an older age, having walked through the valley, I saw them quite differently. I responded strongly to Bergman's passion about fundamental questions of life and death, guilt, mortality, and what he regards as the silence of God. It's conventional to write of "his great cinematographer, Sven Nykvist," but my God, he is great, and I found myself trying to describe the perfection of his lighting. His new Criterion discs have been restored to an astonishing black and white beauty, and I fell into them. Soon after I returned home I turned to Bergman, who is a filmmaker for thoughtful moods. It also confirmed my affection for Becker and Jean Gabin. Like the others, it conferred the gift of taking me to another place. I saw Jacques Becker's "Touchez pas au Grisbi" in a revival house in Seattle while I was there getting dosed with radiation. Most of them I watched on DVD several, like "The Godfather: Part II," on big screens. Above all that included a Great Movie essay every other week. You won't find it in this book - or the next one, if there is one - but still, an excellent choice.Īfter returning home from the hospital, I resumed my usual schedule. The first film I saw in a theater after a period of forced abstinence was " Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." On reflection, that was an excellent choice. In fact, there is a fourth Bergman in this book, " Fanny and Alexander." I have no desire to belabor my adventures with health during the period since "The Great Movies II," but I went through a period of not seeing or writing about movies at all. Just as I return time and again to London, I return to " Fitzcarraldo," " Dark City," " Late Spring," and Bergman's trilogy " Through a Glass Darkly," "The Silence," and " Winter Light." Although the sainted Pauline Kael was adamant about never watching a movie twice, I think of a good film as like a favorite record album that I might listen to time and again. I was just now looking over the 100 titles in this third volume, and I wanted to watch most of them again. I like to say they open windows in our box of space and time. ![]() They allow us to empathize with those whose lives are different than our own. ![]() I believe good movies are a civilizing force. ![]()
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