To Kill a Mockingbird

Drawing from Harper Lee's semi-autobiographical novel To Kill a Mockingbird tells its story through the memories of a child - as siblings Jem and Scout discover truths about prejudice, misconception, as well as learning that their unglamorous, unconventional father, was truly an admirable man. To me, it's a beautiful film, with a Southern Gothic ambiance that mixes romanticism with harsh reality - something that is reflected in the cinematography, direction, Elmer Bernstein's score, and the screenplay penned by Horton Foote. Acting-wise Gregory Peck gives the performance of his career and young Mary Badham is memorable as tomboy Scout. She's a natural, believable - which was needed as this tale unfolds through her eyes. Mockingbird captures the essence of the novel but improves upon it by cutting out the excess and the –at times- condescending tone.

Back to 1962

Platoon and Blue Velvet

Platoon was a good choice by Oscar, but I dunno, something about Oliver Stone's directorial style, the pitch and rhythms of his productions, and the way he gets on his pulpit and lectures - it generally doesn't stir my pot. Saying that Platoon is frequently stunning, the best thing he has filmed. It was the first movie to really show what it was like to be a soldier in combat in Vietnam, written a guy who lived through it. I like how Stone created a sense of confusion during the battle scenes; there was no cinematic safe haven or hiding place. I felt the chaos, the fear of it all. And it achieves this without glorifying war, which is a difficult trick. It filled me with revulsion and outrage, and that makes it an effective anti-war movie.

The acting is top rate – I really hated the guy Tom Berenger played and really loved Willem Dafoe (which might say a lot about my own character). And while it is overwritten and heavy-handed, it did generate a powerful emotional response in me.

David Lynch messed with my mind with his offbeat Blue Velvet, which I can only describe as Norman Rockwell meets Hieronymus Bosch, where wholesome suburbia is split open to expose the corruption and sickness inside. It's an odd melodramatic Oedipal nightmare that pendulums in style from ‘slick Hollywood’ to ‘grade Z’ production. While it is sometimes too goofy for its own good (too goofy to be a complete success in truth) and it leaves more questions than answers - it is an eye-opener - a screwed up ‘happening’, to be experienced more than understood. From the moment Kyle MacLachlan’s Jeffrey finds a severed ear in a field, the film spirals into a demented adventure that’s akin to a Hardy Boy stumbling onto a perverse freak show of crime. And no Hardy Boy ever met anything as unhinged as Dennis Hopper's Frank Booth. 

Back to 1986

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Nazarin and Apur Sanser

Luis Buñuel's powerful Nazarin asks the question of whether there's a place in this world for a man who practices Christianity in its purest form. The title character, a Priest, is admirable in his steadfast faith, but he can also maddening in his strict adherence to it -- he gives when he has nothing, trusts those he shouldn't and is ultimately accused and abandoned by the very people and Church he serves. Nazarin is one of the director's most straightforward, and it knocked my socks off. The ending -while ambiguous- was memorable and stuck with me for days (was it supposed to symbolize a restoration of faith, or was it expressing the pointlessness of it all? After all, what good does a pineapple do a condemned man?) Trivia: Guillermo del Toro named this his favorite Buñuel film.

The 3rd and final chapter in Satyajit Ray's "Apu Trilogy", Apur Sansar (also known as The World of Apu). Steeped in neorealism, the trilogy does hit a few dreamy dramatic beats but does so without losing its verisimilitude. Apur Sansar shows us our protagonist (Soumitra Chatterjee) as a struggling young man, who suddenly finds himself with a bride (Sharmila Tagore). Inexperienced, and certain he's made a mistake, Ray quickly clues us in that this couple were meant to be together. And their love story, told in montage, is heartwarming, ah, but if you've seen the previous picture's, you know this will be short lived. Because the Apu series is centered around death and grief. Seeing our lead character fall to pieces is gut-wrenching. However, life is also full of beginnings. and in this feature's closing scenes, we are given one that full of hope and smiles.

With Sansar, Ray has become even more accomplished on cinematic levels. This 3rd feature is complex, impressively structured. And all 3 are incredible looking pictures, rife with imagery and music (by Ravi Shankar), settings and scene transitions and characters that burn into your mind and linger.

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