Movies, Theater

Jan 24. WENDY AND LUCY (DVD). Wendy, an unemployed young woman, decides to leave Oregon to find a job in Alaska, along with her yellow-brown dog Lucy. Her car breaks down and the dog wanders away. Some people help her; others are stony. At the end of the movie, her money all gone, she and Lucy hop a ride on a train heading in the direction of Alaska. Sad, indeed.
Feb 5. THE LAST STATION. Hellen Mirren stars as Sofia, the wife of Tolstoy played by Christopher Plummer. The two separate in the last few weeks of the great writer's life, angered by disagreements about the disposal of the writer's legacy, such as his country home and his copyrights. The writer finally signs away his rights just before his death, but the wife goes to the courts and has this last will annulled. Very amusing argumentation.
Feb 11. PICKPOCKET, directed by Robert Bresson (DVD,1959). A semi-noir film about a useless young man who will not work, but falls into pickpocketing to survive. The theme is taken from Dostoievesky's Crime and Punishment, where the protagonist claims he is superior to everyone else, and so is not to be judged for his crimes. Unlike Crime.., the criminal does not kill anyone, but he does not visit his mother while she is dying. In other words, this is Crime and Punishment light.
Mar 18. TOUCH OF EVIL, starring Orson Wells. Wells is a crooked American detective on the Mexican border, often planting evidence to convict a drug runner or murderer. He tries to destroy Charlton Heston's reputation by kidnapping his wife, injecting drugs into her, and killing one of their suspected druggies. Violent film noir! Not a success in the fifties, but it became famous in Europe. Catches one's attention.
Mar 29. A French film A SECRET by Claude Miller. A Jewish French family has difficulties with their son, who is weak and given to fantasies about an older, invisible brother. There is a secret. During the war this brother, the son of his father's first wife, is taken and killed by the Nazis. None of this is passed on to the son. Gripping.
Apr 26. ANNIE HALL (DVD), Woody Allen's best comedy, according to some critics. It has that fabulous scene where Woody is annoyed by a loud person behind him in the queue, so he brings in Marshall McLuhan to argue with him.
May 11. MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL (DVD), a murder mystery by Clint Eastwood. Savannah will never be the same after this murder of the partner of a wealthy bon vivant and collector. Great midnight scenes in gloomy cemeteries, a voluptuous drag queen, etc, etc. All the stops are pulled out.
July 22. BLOWUP by Antonioni. Murder mystery in London. A photographer in London snaps pictures of a killing in the park. Instead of summoning the police, he calls up his editor. He revisits the park in the morning. The corpse is still there, but when he brings his editor to look, it has been removed. Mystery never solved.
Aug 7. THE HOUSE OF MIRTH (dvd), based on the novel by Edith Wharton. Lily Bart, a 29-year old beautiful woman, tries to remain in the upper class of NY society by marrying a rich man. She turns down one too many suitors. When she is invited to join a rich couple sailing in the Mediterranean, the wife spreads scandal about Lily and her husband in order to hide her own love affair. After that, it's the lower classes for Lily, who becomes a clumsy seamstress. The end? Suicide by overdose of sleeping tablets.
Aug 10. CAMILLE CLAUDEL (dvd), assistant and lover of the sculptor Rodin, who worked well with Rodin for a time, but became increasingly jealous of his other lovers and his work. Near the end she accused him of stealing her ideas. She threw stones at his house and became abusive to her friends and family. Finally, her brother, a writer and poet, put her away in an asylum for thirty years. She had a few years of notoriety followed by incarceration. A sad story.
Aug 31. MERCI POUR LE CHOCOLAT, another thriller by Claude Chabrol. Isabelle Hubert stars as the head of a Swiss chocolate factory. Her husband is a noted pianist. A beautiful young pianist enters their life, holding out the belief that Andre, the pianist, is her true father. Disturbances and mayhem follow.
Aug 29. LES BICHES by Claude Chabrol. A homeless waif is picked up in the streets of Paris by a rich country woman, a lesbian. The waif then meets an up-and-coming architect, who is then passed on to the rich woman. Meanwhile, two troublesome gay men who live in the country house are put up with for a while, eventually thrown out. The waif then metamorphs into a knife killer. Not for the easily shockable.
Sept 14. TEN DAYS WONDER and THE BRIDESMAID by Claude Chabrol. (He died several weeks ago, by the way) Ten days Wonder stars Orson Welles as a tycoon whose adopted son, Anthony Hopkins, is afflicted by amnesia. Hopkins has an affair with Welles wife, but he receives blackmail letters. Several people die violently. We suspect Welles, but at the end the finger is pointed at the son. In the BRIDESMAID two young people fall passionately in love. The young girl insists that her suitor kills someone to prove his love. A few murders follow.