Screening Room

by Ari

Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925)

What is there to say about Battleship Potemkin that hasn’t been said? This is, no question, one of the best and most influential films in the history of the medium. Not only is Potemkin a masterful example of cinematography and editing, it’s a brilliant and highly emotional story about uprise. This is as tense and compelling as filmmaking gets. The power of the imagery, the score, the pacing.....this is beyond anything we see today. It doesn’t matter if most silent films bore contemporary audiences. I find it difficult to believe that a person could NOT be utterly gripped by the excellence of Eisenstein’s masterpiece. It’s thrilling, it’s emotional, it’s visionary.

Sansho The Bailiff (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1954)
If you like happy, optimistic, light-hearted fare, then stay the hell away from this emotionally draining masterwork by Kenji Mizoguchi. Sansho The Bailiff is one of the most dour film experiences I’ve had, but no matter how bleak and depressing it gets, there’s not a single false moment in the entire film. It’s a terrifying film, but through the suffering and pain, Mizoguchi reaches a place of heartfelt beauty. At the beginning of the film, a governor tells his son the most important advice before he's forced into exile: “Without mercy, man is like a beast”. When the Governor’s wife, son and daughter travel across Japan to join him, they encounter an old woman who offers them shelter. The next morning this woman and a few bandits separate the children from their mother, sell the children to Sansho the Bailiff, and force the mother into prostitution. The children grow up under the harsh conditions imposed by Sansho; slaves to a man without compassion or remorse. Once they become adults, Zushio, the son, loses hope, while his sister, Anju, still believes in the possibility of freedom. It’s a tough film to watch, and it builds to one of the most incredibly moving endings I’ve seen.

Shortbus (John Cameron Mitchell, 2006)
We need more filmmakers like the talented John Cameron Mitchell. Here’s someone who refuses to compromise his artistic sensibilities by making singular, provocative and ambitious films for a mature, intelligent adult audience. I’m not exactly sure why non-simulated sex is such a frightening concept, but, sure enough, the sexuality in this film is a major turn-off to many people. Screaming, “pornography!”, is a lazy argument, especially since the sex in Shortbus isn’t meant to arouse and stimulate. It’s real, yes, but so what? People have sex. Fact. What’s funny is that besides the sex, Shortbus is the kind of accessible drama that mainstream audiences usually flock to. It’s about relationships, love, finding happiness, etc. All the components of the romantic drama. It’s a good film - moving and funny, inspired and entertaining. Give it a chance.

Sweet and Lowdown (Woody Allen, 1999)
One of Woody Allen’s most pleasurable films, Sweet and Lowdon is the fictional account of a jazz guitarist named Emmet Ray (Sean Penn), an exceptionally gifted musician who falls for a mute girl (Samantha Morton). Set in the 1930’s, we get a glimpse of the different experiences and people he encountered during the most creative and adventurous period of his life. Sweet and Lowdown was Woody Allen’s last brilliant film before his triumphant return to form with Match Point, and it’s as well written and well acted as any of his other work. Sean Penn is particularly great as Emmet Ray; funny, charming, weird, and a little crazy. Samantha Morton is beautiful as his girlfriend Hattie - the performance that almost steals the movie. Uma Thurman and Anthony LaPaglia appear in brief, but memorable supporting roles.