The very Italian giallo meets burgeoning blaxsploitation in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in the 1972 crime mystery Tropic of Cancer (sometimes also referred to as Death in Haiti or Peacock’s Palace), directed by Giampaolo Lomi and Edoardo Mulargia (both also co-write along with star Anthony Steffen). A couple on the rocks, Fred and Grace Wright (Gabriele Tinti and Anita Strindberg), make their way to the island paradise to seemingly rekindle their relationship... yet the husband also plans on meeting up with long unseen friend Doctor Williams (Anthony Steffen). Unbeknownst to them (or is it), the M.D. and veterinarian by day and scientist by night (this guy can do everything) has discovered a rather desirable aphrodisiacal hallucinogenic drug formula that everyone is out to get – some legitimately, others not so much.
A violent dystopic vision of the future, Kinji Fukasaku’s 2000 feature film Battle Royale sets up a scenario in which adults do not trust children – as a lack of jobs, student protests and many other ominous happenings have led to the government passing the controversial BR Act. Selecting one class each year, the students will be transported to an uninhabited island where they will have to duke it out until only one teen is left alive. A more intense, visceral example of The Hunger Games, it is set up to quash the idea of rebellion, dissidence and youthful exuberance – a horrific example of a totalitarian government with no scruples when it comes to curtailing the behaviour of its people.
The saying ‘the eyes are the windows to the soul’ is perhaps no better explored than in the Argentinian Academy Award winning (for Best Foreign Language Film) 2009 motion picture The Secret in Their Eyes. Though the face is often inscrutable, as many put on masks to hide their true feelings from those around them, the eyes truly show the love, hate, lust, passion, pain regret and confusion that lies just below the mysterious facade. Co-written, directed, edited and produced by Juan José Campanella, the story follows retired criminal investigator Benjamín Esposito (Ricardo Darín) as he contemplates the innumerable hours he spent on the Liliana Coloto (Carla Quevedo) murder case (it is his white whale) by way of writing a novel. Struggling with a proper beginning, he visits Judge Irene Menéndez Hastings (Soledad Villamil), who he worked with all those years ago (the murder took place in 1974).
Made with a surprisingly nuanced touch and a quiet grace by a first time filmmaker, Jean-Pierre Melville’s (Le Samouraï) 1949 drama Le Silence de la Mer is a philosophical study in how the lives of two individuals are affected when an occupying German soldier billets at their house, and, in turn, how living in their home changes him during World War II. Based upon Jean Bruller’s novel of the same name (which he published under the nom de plume Vercors), it became a symbol of resistance against the Nazi occupation of France (Melville himself was a part of the French Resistance, as was Bruller). As an interesting sidenote, Bruller discovered that Melville was planning on making the movie without the rights to his work. Meeting up with the filmmaker, he threatened to burn the negative if he did not like it, yet he allowed him to make the movie in his own home just outside of Paris. The pact was that Bruller would show his version to 24 former Resistance members and that they would have to unanimously give it their blessing (or Melville would burn the negative in front of the author). 23 of 24 voted in favour, the sole individual to go against the crowd did so not because he disagreed with the content of the film, but rather, how he found himself as part of the panel (as a last minute substitute – which offended him). Melville won out and Le Silence de la Mer became a huge hit in France.
A two part feature, Jean-François Richet’s action crime films Mesrine Part 1: Killer Instinct and Mesrine Part 2: Enemy #1 are best watched when paired together. That is why I am utilizing my dual review feature to discuss both here today. Together, running a little over four hours, the story looks at the life of real life figure Jacques Mesrine (Vincent Cassel) – brought to vivid life by the talented French actor, who is able to capture the man’s charm and Robin Hood (thief) appeal, as well as the scary side that bubbles just below the surface. From its very onset, we are drawn into the suspense-filled tale, as Richet utilizes a split screen effect (and sometimes more) to ratchet up the ominous foreboding. Resembling something from a Brian De Palma flick, it is an effective way to have us looking over our shoulder for some unknown threat. By the end of the sequence, we know the fate of our elusive figure and are transported back to learn the entire sordid tale. Part 1 spans the years 1959-1972.
It would be hard not to argue that the fall of the Berlin Wall was one of the most iconic moments of the last thirty years. Dividing families, separating a city, forming a chasm between the Western and Eastern world; the Berlin Wall was a symbol of the borders that we, as humans, put in our own way, blocking us from achieving unity and peace. The fall of the wall was an empowering and supremely positive event, and Wolfgang Becker’s 2003 film Good Bye Lenin! is a heartfelt motion picture that builds an intriguing family centred story around the iconic happening. Narrated by Alex (Daniel Brühl), a twenty-something who lives in Berlin on the east side of the wall, he transports us through a tumultuous year in his family’s life. With a father that fled to the West without his wife and children, Alex has grown up with a mother, Christiane (Katrin Saß), who has become married to the Socialist Fatherland. An idealist and ardent patriot, she is enamoured with the system that she lives within. Alex’s older sister, the quirky Ariane (Maria Simon) also lives with them (she has an infant daughter).
From a modern perspective, it may not be immediately recognizable that the classic 1954 monster movie Godzilla was, in many ways, a product of its time. Highlighting the anxiety of the nuclear age at the height of The Cold War, the gargantuan reptile first appears after a hydrogen bomb test in the middle of the ocean. Even this occurrence that starts off the film is based on reality, as the United States tested a giant nuclear weapon on March 1st, 1954, under the code name Castle Bravo. Fishermen, who were outside of the radius, were hit by the fallout from the blast, being covered with copious amounts of coral and radioactive ash. One man died following the event, creating an onslaught of international press that questioned these tests (though, other articles impugned the men on the vessel, suggesting that they were spies).