Bergman's silent god trilogy
I’ve watched a few Ingmar Bergman films before but nothing quite grabbed me like this so-called trilogy (starting with Through a Glass Darkly last month). Now I’m thinking he might become one of my favorite filmmakers. Let's call it Bergmania.
Winter Light is a bullseye for me; the apparent silence of God, and the absurdity of our struggles is the organizing (or disorganizing) principle of my life. An impossible distance separates us from God and each other such that we are all alone. This film astutely observes how this abyss is barely covered over by our platitudes and rituals. Have a nice day though.
Concluding the trilogy is The Silence. Composed in light and shadow, with an active, sweeping camera, the word for this film is cinematic. I’ve noticed that Bergman trusts his audience, and that’s never more true than in this work wherein long, often wordless, scenes are nevertheless full of information about his characters. It’s surprising just how complex a psychological profile can be communicated this way.
Powell and Pressburger
A Canterbury Tale is a beautifully shot 1944 film set in rural southeast England during WWII. It’s a good movie, but I think I might have been able to appreciate it more if I had any familiarity with the area or with Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. One of the main characters is an American GI who is gratingly loud and plain-talking, but over time I did find him lovable.
The Small Back Room is another WWII film by Powell and Pressburger that focuses on one of the men left at home due to disability. The movie takes its time to give you a full impression of the man and his situation, which brings weight to its conclusion. I appreciate how the Archers told war stories that focused on people rather than combat. They clearly loved their country, and people too.
49th Parallel is a strange watch. Conceived as a propaganda film to influence the United States to join the allies, it follows a crew of Nazi fugitives in Canada. It is sort of a picaresque, which I don’t respond to, and it is moralizing in tone. I mean, the ideology it opposes is literally Nazism, so I get it, but I don’t need that speechified, and that was never going to be the approach that roused the US to action. I think I’m just not likely to enjoy propaganda.
The Jimmy Stewart Story
Jimmy Stewart is a favorite of mine going back to when I first saw him as George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life, and as a leading man in some of my favorite Hitchcock films. Last month I gave Harvey a shot, and I wanted to keep working through his filmography.
The Philadelphia Story is a 1940 romantic comedy starring Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and Jimmy Stewart, which I found funny, clever, and charming. Definitely one that’s earned its reputation as a classic.
The Glenn Miller Story is a 1954 biopic about the famous big band leader who I wasn't familiar with but I did recognize some of his music.
Mamoru Hosoda
Last month my kids and I enjoyed Mamoru Hosoda’s The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, so we decided to check out more of his stuff.
The Boy and the Beast is a charming 2015 fantasy adventure with unique character design and great animation.
Summer Wars is a 2009 science fiction film about a fantastical version of the Internet, told from this down-to-earth humanist perspective with a big cast of lovably flawed characters, set in a rustic, mountainous region of Japan. This was a great family movie.
Asian film
Thirteen Assassins is a 2010 samurai film by Takashi Miike with an elaborate setup and an absolute doozy of a finale. It’s very rated R for violence. But it’s also cleverly conceived and ensouled with wonderful characters.
Ip Man, a rewatch for me, is a film about the martial artist of the same name, set in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War, with stunning martial arts. I’m more comfortable with this sort of story when it’s not about a real person because this tips into propaganda. As with 49th Parallel—also watched this month—the enemy ideology is that of an Axis power which is rightly opposed. But a percentage of viewers watch this kind of thing and take it for biography and history, which it is not. I watched this with one of my kids and we discussed how all of that works.
New releases
Obsession is a 2025 horror film by young filmmaker Curry Barker, with a strong performance from Inde Navarrette. I had the same issue with this film that I had with The Drama this year, which was that I couldn’t suspend my disbelief due to stilted acting and tedious dialogue. I think Barker has talent, that can improve through experience and a bit of editing. Keep passing him the ball.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu is based on the Disney TV show The Mandalorian which I had a lot of fun with. The movie is fun too. There are some great creature designs and everything with Grogu is great. In fact, my favorite part of the film is a quiet Grogu-led part. It suffers from the Disney problem, which is that it has a poor story. It’s overloaded with cool looking action sequences—none of which evoke a sense of danger—and light on character and theme.
Misc
Out of the Past is a fantastic noir; everything works. The performances are great; Robert Mitchum is fully believable as the lead, Jane Greer entangles as the femme fatale, and Kirk Douglas’ smirking kingpin is duly threatening. Many noir plots are incomprehensible, but this one is just twisty enough for my little brain. It’s also always interesting, being filled with lots of locations and bit players. This is an all-timer.
I opted for The Naked Gun one night as an antidote to the regular stress of life. It employs the type of humor where the world itself makes no sense; everything is a setup for the next gag. This is not normally my style, but I did have a great time.
Graphic novels
Last Days of an Immortal is a graphic novel set in a sci-fi world where life is indefinite and species across the universe are trying to understand each other, despite vast cultural differences. The art has a charming hand-made quality to it. In theory, this is exactly the kind of work that excites me most—strange world, interesting philosophy—and while I enjoyed it, I didn’t think it all worked together to amazing effect.
