Monday, December 01, 1980

DECEMBER 1980, STOCKHOLM

A Woman of Paris / Nainen Pariisissa. US 1923. D: Charles Chaplin. Edna Purviance. tv. The Chaplin year: The Kid still touching. A Woman of Paris important and full of insight, but suffers from the lack of a strong cast.
Picnic at Hanging Rock / Huviretki hirttopaikalle. AU 1975. D: Peter Weir. tv. A mystery from Victorian Australia.
Paths of Glory / Kunnian polut. US 1957. D: Stanley Kubrick. Filmklubben / Filmhuset. By this year I have seen all K.'s films except Fear and Desire. Paths of Glory is an ardent anti-war film. Lolita is K's only erotic and humoristic film. The Shining is his best since 2001, I confess it frightened me, although I was not profoundly impressed at first. "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy".
Ramodenime interviu pirad sakitkhebze / Несколько интервью по личным вопросам / Henkilökohtaisia kysymyksiä / Personliga frågor. GE-SU 1979. D: Lana Gogoberidze. tv. New style Soviet cinema. A newspaperwoman investigates complaints made on officials and gets to examine questions on the quality of life. Working overtime she is distanced from her husband. Attractive milieux. Somewhat half-hearted.
The Kid from Brooklyn / Pahus mieheksi. US 1946. D: Norman Z. McLeod. Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo. tv. One of the original pop comedies, before Tashlin, Lewis.
Les quatre cents coups. tv [2]
Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar god jul / Samu Sirkan joulusirkus. US. A Walt Disney Christmas cavalcade with very funny Swedish dubbing.
The Silent Lovers / Moviola 1: Greta Garbo. TVM. US 1980. D: John Erman. tv. Miserable, Kristina Wayborn (Garbo). Brian Keith all wrong as Stiller.
The Flame and the Arrow / Liekki ja nuoli. US 1950. D: Jacques Tourneur. Lancaster & Cravat. tv
Arsenic and Old Lace / Arsenikkia ja vanhoja pitsejä. US 1944. D: Frank Capra. Fkl / Fst. The Capra year: Meet John Doe fascinating and naive. Arsenic and Old Lace a special black farce.
The Scarlett O'Hara War / Moviola 2: The War of the Stars. TVM. US 1980. D: John Erman. tv. Morgan Brittany (Vivien Leigh), Tony Curtis (David O. Selznick)
ABBA - The Movie. SE 1977. D: Lasse Hallström. tv
Le Testament d'Orphée. Fkl / Fst. [3] Favourite scenes this time: Orphée meets his double and tells Cégeste they hate each other; the wanderers meet the intellectual lovers which take notes while embracing and give their autographs to two autograph hunters who drop them into a stone augur's muzzle. The augur has the capacity to make anybody famous in fifteen minutes.
Help! tv [2]
Salt of the Earth / Maan suola. US 1953. D: Herbert Biberman. Fkl / Fst. Great. The story of the miners' strike is also psychologically credible. Many layers of conflict included: workers / employers, the white / the coloured, men / women. A feminist classic, too.
This Year's Blonde / Moviola 3: This Year's Blonde. US 1980. D: John Erman. tv. Constance Forslund (Marilyn Monroe). Based on Garson Kanin's novel this was a good tv miniseries. This episode is about the MM - Johnny Hyde relationship. Not profound, neither scandalous.
All This and World War II / Yesterday - det andra världskriget. US 1977. D: Susan Winslow. Rigoletto. A futile compilation.
Broken Blossoms / Katkenneita kukkasia. US 1919. D: D.W. Griffith. Fkl / Fst. The Griffith year: in the spring I caught the fine A Romance of Happy Valley in the Helsinki archive series, and now this masterpiece from the London Chinatown. Lillian Gish one of the discoveries of the year for me.
The Heroes of Rock and Roll. TV. US 1979. D: Malcolm Leo. tv. Narrated by Jeff Bridges stupidly. A magnificent cavalcade of 127 clips. - The rock film year: The Rose clichéd; Monterey Pop deservedly legendary; Celebration at Big Sur serviceable; Breaking Glass big budget punk without inspiration; Rust Never Sleeps has Neil Young in good form; The Harder They Come and Rockers prime reggae films; Radio On an existentialist road movie fuelled by Kraftwerk and Bowie; ABBA the Movie starts electrifyingly with SOS I think but gets formulaic; Help! boring; The Heroes of Rock and Roll at best on the 1950s. - After John Lennon's death also clips such as "Penny Lane" (1967), "Stand By Me"; "Slipping and Sliding" (1975 - his last performance), the concerts of The Beatles in Sweden (1963, 1964), "Some Other Guy" (1962), The Dick Cavett Show: John Lennon and Yoko Ono (1971?), "Erection", "Imagine".