Instant Watch Film Society's Bogus Journey - Week 11: The Red and the White

Thomamelas · March 2012

It's time for the return of the Instant Watch Film Society.

Netflix's Instant Watch offers access to a truly staggering number of films. But this choice can sometimes be overwhelming. There are simply so many films from so many genres and periods that finding the good stuff can be intimidating. The D&D [Instant Watch] Film Society is here to help. This Film Series will be ranging from the low brow comedies to the high brow dramas. We'll be offering a sample of films designed to offer some informed choices about the offerings available on Netflix. Each week a forumer will present a movie for your viewing pleasure. These are films they feel passionate about. Some of these films may be in genres, movements or periods you have decided you don't like. I suggest you try them anyway, there are always gems to be found in any kind of movie style. Here are our presenters and the weeks they will be presenting:

Week 1: Jacobkosh, Chinatown
Week 2: Thomamelas, Shane
Week 3: Bogart, Sonatine
Week 4: Atomic Ross, The Big Lebowski
Week 5: Amateurhour, Ghostbusters
Week 6: Elki Everyone Else
Week 7: Wash Hunger
Week 8: TychoCelchuuu One, Two, Three
Week 9: JoeDizzy Way of the Gun
Week 10: CapFalcon Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
Week 11: Gim The Trial
Week 12: Premire Kakos The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

If you'd like your name added to the list, PM me with the film you'd like to present. If you can't manage your write up, then let me know and I'll make sure it gets taken care of. The films will be presented on the Wednesday of each week. If you're curious about what the write ups should look like, let me give some examples from the previous thread:

Midnight Run:

Spoiler:

Bogart wrote: »

The buddy movie will never die. It has hit heady highs with Butch and Sundance, and deep, deep lows with Jay Leno and Mr Miyagi. Take two guys, or two gals, or a guy and a monkey, and put them together in circumstances that mean they have to stay together. Make sure they loathe each other, or at the very least make sure they're very different characters. Now watch them bounce off each other. That's it. Oh sure, you need a plot, and you need supporting characters, and maybe a love interest or whatever. But that's usually just window dressing. The buddy movie lives or dies on the lead pairing. If they don't strike sparks off one another, you're fucked and the movie will be a terrible stain on humanity.

Midnight Run is my favourite buddy movie and a masterclass in screen chemistry.

This is the trailer.

Very little of that dialogue is actually in the final cut, and that minute and a half itself is pretty unrepresentative of the film. To be honest, you'd be hard pressed to find a minute and a half of the movie where someone isn't shouting "FUCK" at the top of their lungs, so you can kind of understand that. Anyway, Midnight Run isn't the kind of film you can sell on the basis of the plot, or a few clips.

Robert De Niro plays Jack Walsh, an ex-cop kicked off the force by corrupt colleagues, and who now scrapes a living as a bounty hunter dragging in scumbags he used to arrest for the wonderfully low-rent bail bondsman Moscone, played by the incomparably sleazy Joe Pantaliano. Charles Grodin plays Jonathan Mardukis, an accountant who embezzled millions of dollars from mobster Jimmy Serrano and then gave it all to charity before sensibly going on the run. Walsh is sent after Mardukis, and has to get to him from New York to an LA jail before the mob, the FBI, or a rival bounty hunter gets to him first. You will be unsurprised to learn that Mardukis and Walsh are not thrilled with each other's company. And that's the plot. They have chases, gun fights, fist-fights, helicopters attacking them and so on on the way, but all that's besides the point. The reason to watch this film is the pairing of Grodin and De Niro.

It is not, at first sight, an appetising prospect. "From the director who bought you Gigli, and the writer of The Whole Ten Yards, comes a comedy starring that well-known comic genius Robert De Niro, alongside the guy from those movies about a St. Bernard". And since both Robin Wiliams and Cher were once mooted for the role of Mardukis, the film could have been even less enticing. It's certainly true that the film isn't perfect. This isn't a masterpiece of cinema verite, nor is it emblematic of sea-change in the art form; it has almost no ambitions beyond being a buddy movie, some scenes don't work, the direction is often merely workmanlike, and I have difficulty believing that De Niro can kill a helicopter with a handgun.

And yet.

It's been one of my favourite movies for almost twenty years, ever since I first hired it from the tiny VHS video rental place on the way home from school. The chemistry between De Niro and Grodin is one of the best I've ever seen, and is all the more remarkable because it's a chemistry that exists not only between two actors obviously enjoying themselves, but also between the characters they play. Too many buddy movies have their lead pair dynamic revolve around artificial one-liners, knowing winks to the audience and a partnership made up of one cool guy and one comedy doofus. If Midnight Run were made today I'm sure they'd get someone like Steve Carrell to play Mardukis, and he'd be egged on by an eager director to present a neurotic hive of mannerisms and self-conscious schtick, while Walsh would be played by, I dunno, The Rock or Nic Cage, gurning frustration to the camera at every opportunity. Lessons about friendship would no doubt be learned. Instead, we get Grodin and De Niro, and every single exchange they have in the movie seems to spring naturally from the characters they portray: neither has been designated by a scriptwriter as 'the funny one', and neither is guilty of ever trying to force a laugh out of their odd couple dynamic.

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Improvising many of his scenes with Grodin (at one point looking right at the camera and opining "what a pain in the ass this guy is"), the two leads bounce brilliantly off each other (De Niro cites it as one of the movies he most enjoyed making), Grodin constantly nagging De Niro into ulcerating anger. Grodin picks at De Niro every single second they're together, berating his measly tipping, his smoking, his lack of sensitivity and his furious silences. And De Niro responds with some of his best work on the screen, managing to make Walsh both hilarious and poignant, furious and bedraggled, a man clinging to his dignity and his incorruptibility in a business even he admits is "fucking miserable". Brest said later that he would leave the camera running when a scene was done just in case De Niro added a little touch, like the watch, a tic that pays off near the end in an entirely improvised scene in a boxcar.

I said earlier that the movies action scenes are kind of besides the point, but they're still pretty good action scenes.

The supporting cast is also fantastic. Dennis Farina, a real life ex-cop and tough guy, is both chillingly cruel and hilariously pissed off as Jimmy Seranno, the mobster Mardukis ripped off; Yaphet Kotto as Agent Alonso Mosley; Pantaliano as Eddie Moscone, a two faced shyster who would sell his own mother if he could turn a profit on the deal; John Ashton, a thick, unshaven slob who dogs Walsh's tail throughout the movie. The two asshole mobsters Serrano put on Walsh deserve a mention as well, affectionately known by their boss as moron number 1 and moron number 2. They even got Jack Kehoe in to play a role, a sure sign that someone wants quality in every part, no matter how tiny.

There are so many little moments of delight it's tough to pick a favourite. De Niro turning to camera and flashing an FBI badge after filching it from Kotto's pocket; the furrowed brow of Kotto as he surveys the wreckage left by a car chase through the desert that leaves a count of trashed Police cruisers that would not shame a Burt Reynolds movie; "fistophobia". And then there is the swearing. If you've ever seen the film on TV the chances are some fuckwit has dubbed over and cut out most of the incredibly brilliant swearing that goes on in this movie, an act I consider to be artistic vandalism akin to spraying DWAYNE 4 SHARONDA in neon yellow paint on a Carravaggio. This is fifth dan, black belt swearing, of the kind rarely seen outside of The Sopranos or a Martin Scorcese movie. Profanity spews forth from every character as freely and naturally as carbon dioxide is exhaled from the mouths of ordinary mortals. It's wonderful.

As I said earlier, this isn't a masterpiece of cinematic style or a visionary film from an auteur at the top of his game. It's just a buddy movie. But in their exchanges and the hard-earned moments of connection and understanding between the two, De Niro and Grodin manage to engage your senses of empathy and humour at the same time. The film is not an Ibsenesque tragedy, and ends as you probably suspected it would, but the happy ending has been earned by the sterling character work from the its two leads, and rings true. I've seen the film many times, and every time it's been like a reunion with an old friend, clinking a beer together and then settling back into an easy chair to bask in the comforting glow of company you know will neither disappoint nor bore you. It will never start a cult of cinema showings where the audience dress as their favourite characters, and it will not inspire a wave of young film-making Turks to follow in its footsteps.

It is just a buddy movie, after all. Sometimes, that's all you want.

Spartan:

Spoiler:

Preacher wrote: »

Spartan

There are many David Mamet movies out there, the excellent GlennGary Glen Ross, The Spanish Prisoner, Heist, Ronin, even a misfire like Red Belt has great moments in it. But for me above all else the definitive Mamet movie is Spartan.

Set your Mother Fucker To Receive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puJVPBVnki4&feature=related

This is the world of Spartan, you’re introduced to this movie abruptly, Mamet does not take the time to hold your hand, explanations/motives/what’s going on, these are rewards the audience gets for paying attention. I’m not going to link a trailer because this movie is best watched without an idea of what is going on, and the trailer gives away too much. Go in blind and you’ll get more out of it. The basic delivery here is that Val Kilmer is a government agent sent to aquire a very important persons missing child, and the movie spirals from there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QtkhYD14nw&feature=related

The one thing you’ll notice from the clips I have provided is how abrupt the dialogue is, these aren’t characters going to explain their every motive. A trademark of Mamet is that smart rapid fire dialogue, its like catching a glimpse of real people going about their lives (although stylized of course I’ve dealt with real estate agents, aside from the language none of the agents I’ve dealt with our half as intelligent as Glenngary makes them out). Spartan takes this to the ex military, current military, behind the scenes government world of half truths, and implied obedience. One thing you’ll notice about Mamet films in general and Spartan in particular is that his characters don’t have much of a backstory, there is implication, maybe a sentence outside of the current conversation, but Mamet as a writer and director believes in acting what’s on the page. This creates a more realistic sense of characters for me, they don’t go into long monologues about who they are or what they are doing, they just do it.

Direction by Mamet is tight, shots linger, music is sparsely used and not looney tunes, most of the movie takes place at night, or low light, but its not difficult to follow what’s on camera. Action is well directed, the shooting parts are brief, this is not a John Woo action movie. One thing I appreciate from Mamet here is there is not a lot of/any shakey cam. It would only detract in a movie like this where they expect you to pay attention.

Acting wise you have a fantastic main in Val Kilmer, good supporting cast from William H. Macy, Ed O’neil, David Paymer, Clark Gregg, and Kristin Bell. I liked how for this movie they went with more that guys then a star infused cast like Glenngary.

Overall Spartan is part spy thriller, part who done it, and part snappy dialogue, shooken up with a cynical world view and delivered like a karate kick to the balls. Enjoy!

Brick

Spoiler:

Wash wrote: »

Brick

Brick is Rian Johnson's first film. He filmed a good chunk of it at his old highschool. That information's not important when you're watching the movie, but it says something about the man who made it.

The movie opens with Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) crouched over the dead body of a girl with a blue bracelet. Soon we find out her name is Emily, and she is his ex-girlfriend and the person he loves. We don't know who killed her. Brendan needs to find out.

The plot isn't original, it's your classic whodunit murder mystery, glued together with all the best noir tropes. You've got your stoic, morally questionable "detective" Brendan, his man behind the scenes and nerdy sidekick, affectionately called Brain (Matt O'Leary), the femme fatale Laura (Nora Zehetner), the dame who set the whole thing into motion, Emily, (Emilie de Ravin), and a mysterious crime boss, the Pin (Lukas Haas). Brendan needs to know who killed Emily, and he's willing to dive deep into the shady criminal element at his highschool to find out.

You'd be surprised at what a detective story can become in a different setting.

It's a little amazing how well old noir tropes lend themselves to a highschool setting. Highschool has always been a test-run for the real world, a tiny cloistered society within a society. You've still got your social elite, your intellectuals, and your criminals. They're all still there, just a lot younger, and a lot out of their depth.

So yeah, it's an old formula. Still, you can't claim this film ain't fresh.

The score, composed by Rian Johnson's brother, is gentle, sad and sweet. The characters, too, are fragile. One thing that sets this aside from other detective stories and neo-noir flicks is that most protagonists are, well, older. Jaded middle-aged detectives who drink too much and have already seen it all are common-place; it's different when you're dealing with people who are, comparatively, innocent. This is a detective story but it's also a story about a kid looking for whoever's responsible for the death of his love. When your jaded old detective takes a beating, or provokes murderers and scoundrels, you expect he has some experience with this, he's been around.

Brendan, our protagonist, is in highschool, and when you watch him slowly, over the course of the film, breakdown physically and emotionally on his quest for justice while dealing with things way above his maturity level, it's heartbreaking. Levitt does a great job.

It's meaningful in a way that Rian Johnson filmed his first movie at his old highschool. He chose a place symbolic of his childhood for his ascension from aspiring filmmaker to filmmaker proper. Brick was his graduation. I think that's pretty cool.

There is one very important rule: No fucking terrible films. I don't mean films that are so bad they are good. Or bad films that perhaps have cinematic importance. I mean no fucking repeats of The Love Guru, a film with no good qualities at all.

To help with your film searching requirements:

Instant Watcher use Netflix's API to find out what titles have been released.

Instantwatchdb.com/ allows you to do detailed searches of Instant Watch, restricting by time period and movie rating for example.

The films selected in the previous thread:

Week 1: Bogart, Midnight Run
Week 2: Preacher, Spartan
Week 3: Jacobkosh, Blue Velvet
Week 4: Thomamelas, The Searchers
Week 5: Gim, Play Time
Week 6: Ryadic, Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
Week 7: Xenogears of Bore, The Love Guru
Week 8: Elki, Sans Soleil
Week 9: JamesKeenan, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Week 10: Drez, Show Me Love
Week 11: Fluffy, Our Beloved Flopsy Bunny Friend, Brick
Week 12: Quid, Red Cliff
Week 13: Thanatos, Falling Down

And some films to tide you over:

My Left Foot. Daniel Day Lewis plays Christy Brown who had cerebral palsy and only had control of his left foot.
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover. Helen Mirrian plays the wife of a mob boss who falls in love with a patron of her husband's restaurant.
The Long Good Friday Bob Hoskins plays a mobster attempting to go legit.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
This is Spinal Tap
The Naked Gun

Edit: Bogart and Atomic Ross added.
Edit: Amateurhour added.
Edit: Elki and Wash added.
Edit: TychoCelchuuu and JoeDizzy added.

BobCesca · March 2012

Ohhh. Shane. Watched that on Thomamelas' suggestion and it is awesome.

I'd love to do something for this, but I don't know what films are available on Netflix in the US. Is Layer Cake on the Instant Watch? 'cos I love that film (and not just to perve on Daniel Craig).

Atomika · March 2012

I'm down for this.

Tomanta · March 2012

OP made me check again if Spartan was back on instant watch, because I wanted to see it again.

It isn't

.

Thomamelas · March 2012

BobCesca wrote: »

Ohhh. Shane. Watched that on Thomamelas' suggestion and it is awesome.

I'd love to do something for this, but I don't know what films are available on Netflix in the US. Is Layer Cake on the Instant Watch? 'cos I love that film (and not just to perve on Daniel Craig).

I'm really glad you liked Shane. My write up for it is going to let me finally touch upon discussion of PTSD and the post war western that I've been ~~threatening~~ promising to write for Jacob. And Layer Cake isn't currently available.

Bogart · March 2012

I wanted to write about Hana Bi, but that isn't on Netflix. Sonatine is almost as good.

Linespider5 · March 2012

This sounds like a good time.

amateurhour · March 2012

PM sent

initiatefailure · March 2012

so should we watch the movies before or after each wednesday for optimal effect?

RhalloTonny · March 2012

If there's anyone that's on the fence, all the suggestions (5 at the moment) are wonderful/great films that may be impossible to not enjoy.

Thomamelas · March 2012

initiatefailure wrote: »

so should we watch the movies before or after each wednesday for optimal effect?

I recommend doing it after the person has presented their film. Their writing may have interesting insights.

amateurhour · March 2012

I'm going to write a review of Die Hard that will make you all go to the office Thursday morning, take off your shoes, and climb into an air conditioning maze in an effort to stop terrorism which is really a smokescreen for stealing lots of money.

Kana · March 2012

I'll definitely be participating. Though I've got to think of a good movie... Will have to do some browsing.

Joe Dizzy · March 2012

This sounds appealing. I'd love to paticipate with The Great Escape. Although I probably won't have the time until late April.

Elki · March 2012

Sweet.

y2jake215 · March 2012

I really liked Sonatine when I saw it a few years ago, good choice

visiblehowl · March 2012

amateurhour wrote: »

I'm going to write a review of Die Hard that will make you all go to the office Thursday morning, take off your shoes, and climb into an air conditioning maze in an effort to stop terrorism which is really a smokescreen for stealing lots of money.

Dude

....

Spoilers!

Spoiler:

Kana · March 2012

visiblehowl wrote: »

amateurhour wrote: »

I'm going to write a review of Die Hard that will make you all go to the office Thursday morning, take off your shoes, and climb into an air conditioning maze in an effort to stop terrorism which is really a smokescreen for stealing lots of money.

Dude

....

Spoilers!

Spoiler:

You forgot to mention the most important lesson

Spoiler:

wandering · March 2012

I wouldn't plan things out too far in advance (because Netflix Instant is so mercurial.)

visiblehowl · March 2012

Goddammit, I was going to do Aliens, but it's not on Instant Watch anymore.

Thomamelas · March 2012

The only one at risk of expiring is Die Hard.

Wash · March 2012

Sweet. Glad to see this make a comeback.

visiblehowl · March 2012

Fucking A, Ink isn't on instant watch anymore either!

Variable · March 2012

glad to see so many people are interested, great idea Thom

I gotta make a choice soon, there's so many good movies on netflix. the bastards.

amateurhour · March 2012

visiblehowl wrote: »

Goddammit, I was going to do Aliens, but it's not on Instant Watch anymore.

That was my first choice... I noticed it wasn't there so I moved to Die Hard.

If Die Hard gets removed before week 5, I think I'm going to do Reindeer Games, or Phantoms

TychoCelchuuu · March 2012

wandering wrote: »

I wouldn't plan things out too far in advance (because Netflix Instant is so mercurial.)

http://instantwatcher.com often tells you when things are expiring. For example, although OSS 117: Lost in Rio expires in 8 days, someone could still pick OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies because it'll be around for another 500 days or whatever.

amateurhour · March 2012

Die Hard does indeed expire April 1, which means it won't be around for week 5, or more realistically it will be around for like two days max and then no one will see it.

I'd like to officially replace it with either Reindeer Games, or Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai, I'll let the OP decide

Thomamelas · March 2012

amateurhour wrote: »

Die Hard does indeed expire April 1, which means it won't be around for week 5, or more realistically it will be around for like two days max and then no one will see it.

I'd like to officially replace it with either Reindeer Games, or Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai, I'll let the OP decide

It may be renewed. It has at least once before. So we can hold off on a decision till it gets closer.

Arthil · March 2012

Why not just bump it up on the list?

Thomamelas · March 2012

Arthil wrote: »

Why not just bump it up on the list?

Because that clever solution didn't occur to me. Let me work that out.

Elki · March 2012

I love the list, so far.

4 movies I'd love to rewatch, and 4 that I either wanted to watch or haven't heard of.

Jacobkosh · March 2012

CHINATOWN
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Chinatown/374030?trkid=4213507

The cramped, dirty office, lit by sunlight filtered through Venetian blinds. The cigarette smoke coiling lazily through the blades of a ceiling fan. The rumpled trenchcoat and fedora. The mouthy secretary. The mysterious, classy dame. The gumshoe.

Even people who've never watched a private eye movie in their life know the drill. After seventy years the little tics and visual shorthands left over from the great heyday of hardboiled detective fiction still saturate our pop culture, surfacing in everything from kids' cartoons to SNL sketches. They've been done, redone, examined, turned over, refuted, parodied, laughed at, revived - the whole long arc that any really good idea takes as it passes through a thousand hands over the years. That's the thing with good ideas; they're perennial. They keep turning up, and they stay fresh.

So in one sense, you already know Chinatown. But make no mistake - you're in for an experience as fresh, original and bracing as if it had come out yesterday. Chinatown is a movie that's full of good ideas.

Jack Nicholson stars as Jake Gittes (pronounced "gittys"), private eye in Depression-era LA. He's a little different from the private eyes you might be used to. He's not a loner; he employs a large staff of competent professionals to handle the drudge work of tails and photographing. He's not a rumpled, heartbroken Bogart character; Gittes keeps a clean, spacious, modern office, dresses to the nines, and moves through his environment with an easy, extroverted confidence. He's a smart, worldly guy who likes what he does for a living and is pretty sure he's got it all figured out.

Is it a spoiler to say that he doesn't?

It starts, of course, with the dame. A woman calling herself Evelyn Mulwray comes into Gittes' office to hire him to tail her husband Hollis and find proof of his infidelity. Gittes, an old hand at these things, tries several times to turn her away. "Let sleeping dogs lie," he advises. He really seems to believe that it's better that way. Of course, when she pulls out the giant checkbook...

The husband will not strike you as the unfaithful type. He's a much older man, tall and gangly, and seems to lead an incredibly boring life. He gives a lecture at City Hall about the dangers of a new proposed dam - it seems Hollis is the county water commissioner - and then spends the night visiting drainage ditches and dry riverbeds all over town before going to bed in his home at a respectable hour.

Jake is good at his job, though, and..."determined" isn't the right word. It's more businesslike than that. Let's say "persistent." After some clever tricks with a stopwatch and the judicious use of a telephoto lens, Jake does catch the husband with a young woman. The photos create a scandal; the man's name is dragged through the mud, while Jake Gittes gleefully passes his business cards to the press.

And then a woman, a complete stranger, turns up at Jake's office, demanding to know who hired him to follow her poor husband.

Whoops.

That's where Chinatown really kicks off, and the less said about the twisty, complicated plot that ensues, the better. It's a really good plot, a pleasure to follow, with clues that lead seamlessly into a complicated web of corruption and, ultimately, the blackest human evil. As a mystery, Chinatown is almost unparalleled in the craftsmanship of its construction. Raymond Chandler used to joke that whenever he was stuck on a difficult chapter, or had trouble getting his hero to the next stage of the story, he'd have a couple tough guys kick down the door and start shooting. As you watch, notice how rarely that happens in Chinatown. Jake Gittes may not be as noble or incorruptible as the classic private eyes - although he's more noble and incorruptible than he looks - but he's every bit as competent if not more so. He's in every scene of the movie, and the story always moves ahead because of his tenacity and facility at unraveling the maze that's been set before him.

That's why it's all the more distressing that, good as he is, Jake may be up against a problem that even he can't solve. The movie's title is a reference to something the screenwriter, Robert Towne, was told by a former LAPD officer; back in the old days, unsure of how best to deal with the complexities of Chinatown, the police opted to do "as little as possible." It's a sad lesson in pragmatic cynicism that Jake Gittes has learned before, and will learn again in the movie's legendary, eminently quotable "downer" ending.

Largely because of that ending, Chinatown has a formidable reputation as a classic, but I want to emphasize that that doesn't mean it's not fun. It is! There are fights, chases, and menace a'plenty. Jake's journey takes him from a midnight confrontation with a genuinely chilling pair of hired killers -

- to the sunlit portico of the most powerful man in LA -

- to, of course, the bed of a beautiful woman. I think because Chinatown was made in the 1970s and directed by a European, some people blithely assume it is somehow satirizing or deconstructing the hardboiled detective genre. I don't think that's true at all. Chinatown unironically delivers all the pleasures of that kind of story; it just does them really well, with a piercing intelligence, a dash of urbane wit, and a painstaking, craftsmanlike dedication to authenticity and historicity.

The director, Roman Polanski, is a contentious subject. I won't say anything except to note that missing this movie because of him is a huge mistake, and Polanski is only one of the reasons it works so well. The story comes to us courtesy of Robert Towne, who also wrote Bonnie and Clyde and co-wrote The Parallax View, the beautiful photography is by Robert Alonzo, and the music was composed by none other than the great Jerry Goldsmith. For whatever reason, all of these men turned in some of the best work of their careers here.

Let them, and Jake Gittes, take you on a ride to Chinatown. It's unforgettable.

Thomamelas · March 2012

I love the last shot in the film. Where Jake is being walked off, and both sides of the street are softly lit, but in the center of the road there is nothing but darkness. I love the symbolism of it.

AngelHedgie · March 2012

Chinatown is THE classic deconstruction of traditional noir, as well as the bridge to neo-noir. It also helps that the story is rooted in actual history - the dam did exist; Mulholland did push for it despite the known structural flaws; and in the end, it did fail, killing people. And yes, it IS a deconstruction, because it breaks down and analyzes the traditional elements of noir, in large part by merging it with a not too distant (at the time) real world tragedy and scandal.

It's also interesting that the film was made around the time Nicholson found out the truth about his parentage (he was raised thinking that his grandparents were his parents, and his mother was his sister, not exactly an unknown practice). Which, if you've watched the movie, adds some interesting metatext to some of the scenes.

initiatefailure · March 2012

Looking forward to having a reason to watch this movie again.

Atomika · March 2012

As the story goes with Chinatown, writer Robert Towne (who developed the story) got the idea from a simple place. This seems to be a recurrent phenomenon; the best things happen organically, and a brilliant storyteller won't create a story from wholecloth in his or her head, but rather fixate upon a notion, and then build a story around that notion, planting it as the single narrative force of resonance and momentum.

This is what is referred to in screenwriters' circles as "the throughline." It's not the plot; it's what the movie is about. The Godfather trilogy's plot is how the son of a prominent mafioso rises to power in a dangerous world of crime and betrayal. The Godfather's throughline, however, is the notion of "family" and how that can be perverted in pursuit of ideals. The throughline is what defines a film or a character. It's the intangible humanity that allows the audience to engage in a meaningful way. Not every movie has a throughline; however, all great movies do.

Towne's throughline for Chinatown came organically one day as he was driving around the hilly coast of Southern California. He grew up there and spent time with his grandfather, who had an orange orchard, which was not at all uncommon in those days. Almost all of America's oranges came from California at that time, and the Tuscanesque topography of the greater Los Angeles area was less the bustling metropolis we know today and more of a breezy agrarian mecca of horticulture. Towne drove through the hills of the ever-modernizing L.A. outskirts and had the thought, "What ever happened to the oranges?" He was suddenly reminded of his childhood with his grandfather and how no matter where you went in Southern California, you could always count on a cool Pacific breeze blowing the scent of the citrus orchards up the coast and into your nostrils. It sounds lovely. But now, thirty years on, Towne couldn't remember the last time he smelled oranges in the air of Los Angeles. The more the thought about it, he couldn't remember the last time he smelled anything but car exhaust and the fumes from constant construction. The city was no longer a dusty little farm-and-ranch town, but one of the top five largest cities in the US. Soon, it would be in the top two.

And made him entirely saddened. That wonderful reminder of his childhood was gone forever, and not only would he not experience it ever again, but no one would. That part of L.A. was in the past, and not welcome in the cosmopolitan future of the city. The place had lost something simple and pure and never gave it a second thought. Progress was the future, and that future would be tamed and shaped by men who believed in it. The passive innocence of yesteryear wasn't just forsaken, it was forgotten, or maybe even omitted out of purpose. Modern living didn't have a place for anything delicate, or at least not for something delicate that could be a communal and persisting experience. Modernity was roughhewn and ruthless and unforgiving, and those who were to succeed in that environment had to play by those rules better than everyone else.

Innocence wasn't lost. Innocence had been taken, used up, corrupted, tossed aside, and forgotten in the way people are careless about things they find no value in.

And then Robert Towne wrote Chinatown.

wandering · March 2012

After seventy years the little tics and visual shorthands left over from the great heyday of hardboiled detective fiction still saturate our pop culture, surfacing in everything from kids' cartoons to SNL sketches.

And Calvin and Hobbes.

I've watched Chinatown twice and both times I wasn't entirely able to follow the labyrinthine plot.

Bogart · March 2012

It isn't that difficult a plot to follow, I don't think.

I like the line in the mostly disappointing sequel, The Two Jakes: "I'm the leper with the most fingers." It neatly sums up Gittes' status in LA.

Thomamelas · March 2012

wandering wrote: »

After seventy years the little tics and visual shorthands left over from the great heyday of hardboiled detective fiction still saturate our pop culture, surfacing in everything from kids' cartoons to SNL sketches.

And Calvin and Hobbes.

I've watched Chinatown twice and both times I wasn't entirely able to follow the labyrinthine plot.

Spoiler:

Atomika · March 2012

For those acquainted, is The Two Jakes worth a look? Chinatown is one of my all-time favorites, but I have no desire to tarnish my impression with a faulty sequel.

Bogart · March 2012

It's ok, but not in the same league. It feels distinctly unnecessary.

Penny Arcade

Instant Watch Film Society's Bogus Journey - Week 11: The Red and the White

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