Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

Raymond Chandler’s only original film script is a 1946 murder mystery starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake, considered a classic of the film noir style but with a few problems that could do with some light shedding on them.

As with most film noir tales, the plot of The Blue Dahlia is pretty convoluted. It’s safe to say that, when Alan Ladd returns from the war to find his boozing, partying wife carrying on behind his back, he’s less than pleased with his welcome home. And when she drunkenly reveals that their son died in a car wreck as a result of her drinking (not with diphtheria as she had written to him), he pulls a gun on her but walks out instead. When she’s found dead with a shot from his gun, Ladd goes on the run trying to uncover who killed her whilst keeping one step ahead of the law who consider him to be the prime suspect. Along the way he falls for Veronica Lake, his navy buds get involved (one of whom has shell shock and might be the killer), and there’s lots of plot twists to throw us off the scent.

Despite its Oscar-nominated screenplay, The Blue Dahlia is far from the likes of The Maltese Falcon as an example of the genre which has stood the test of time. Whilst it’s an enjoyable enough film, elements of it grate to the extent where you can sense some of the filming issues which surrounded the production. It was made quickly and without a completed screenplay, and the original killer and, hence, ending, was changed at the insistence of the studio who didn’t want to upset the military (to tell you why would reveal too much). Chandler hated the compromised ending he was forced to come up with. Still, an Oscar nomination probably didn’t hurt…

Ladd and Lake make for an attractive on-screen couple, and both put in spirited performances. It’s a good reminder of why Ladd was such a star, an unlikely leading man in some ways, but a fantastic actor who convinces throughout the film. The supporting cast do a fine job too, particularly William Bendix, given the difficult task of making someone who keeps flying off his rocker because of the metal plate in his head come across as likeable and sympathetic.

And yet, somehow it isn’t as gripping as it should be. Sometimes you’re jarred out of the film. You can’t help but notice when it’s revealed that Ladd’s son was killed in a car crash that, within minutes, he’s flirting with Veronica Lake instead of hurtling into the depths of despair. Similarly, there’s a scene where Lake is in the room when it’s revealed that her husband is dead, and yet she has no reaction at all. None. A minute later and she’s fawning over Ladd. It’s at these points that you sense the need to get a finished script, and it’s a shame because, with a little more attention to realism, The Blue Dahlia could have come out smelling of roses.

THE BLUE DAHLIA / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: GEORGE MARSHALL / SCREENPLAY: RAYMOND CHANDLER / STARRING: ALAN LADD, VERONICA LAKE, WILLIAM BENDIX, HOWARD DA SILVA, DORIS DOWLING / RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 19TH

In the early-‘40s RKO studios had got themselves into a bit of bother. It’s all very well having Orson Welles knocking out critically acclaimed classics like Citizen Kane (1941) and The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), but at the end of the day he was spending rather a lot on movies that not enough punters were very keen to see. So it was time for RKO to get their financial house in order and that included making more of those less risky B-movies. Horror movies had always done the job for Universal, so inexperienced producer Val Lewton got the horror gig for RKO. They gave him a title and all he had to do was turn out something akin to Universal’s monster-movie output of the ‘40s. Definitely not rocket science. But Lewton was a bit more ambitious and decided that a B-movie budget didn’t stop you turning out A-movie quality. He started with Cat People.

Oliver Reed (Kent Smith) falls in love with the Serbian-born Irena (Simone Simon). The only problem is that Irena believes she’s descended from some legendary cat people and will transform into a panther if she gets passionate. Awkward. So with their eventual marriage unconsummated, Ollie gets inevitably involved with work colleague Alice (Jane Randolph). Looks like turning into a panther is back on the agenda but this one might be a bit on the vengeful side. Oh dear.

Lewton and director Jacques Tourneur’s creative use of lighting, plus the very expensive (and huge) stairway-set from the aforementioned Magnificent Ambersons completely disguise the fact that this was made for $134,000 (it made $8 million). But make no mistake; this is one of the most groundbreaking and influential horror movies ever made. It’s themes of female sexuality immediately put into a different category of its contemporaries but where lesser films were very keen on a money-shot of someone transforming into something the make-up budget was spent on, Cat People lets us see… well, practically nothing. With only a 73-minute running time, this manages to be a slow-burner that delivers its thrills via stunning tension-building set-pieces. The swimming pool scene is rightly the stuff of legend and is still as powerful as ever. And this is of course the movie that gave us the most repeated horror trope of all time: The Lewton Bus. You know how it works. Slow terrifying build-up and then suddenly… something completely innocuous happens. Think of Jones and the cattle-prods in Alien (1979) or the attic in The Exorcist (1973) and you get the idea. Well Cat People did it first. It was Val Lewton’s idea and, in this case, it involves a bus. So it’s a Lewton Bus. And if you want mystery, the bit where an oddly catlike woman in a restaurant says “moya sestra” (“my sister”) to Irena without further explanation is one of this reviewer’s favourite film moments.

Cat People’s influence means that it isn’t quite as terrifying today as it once was but it’s still an essential masterpiece.

Special Features: Audio commentary / The Man in the Shadows documentary / Interviews / Essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien / Trailer

CAT PEOPLE (1942) / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: JACQUES TOURNEUR / SCREENPLAY: DEWITT BODEEN / STARRING: SIMONE SIMON, KENT SMITH, TOM CONWAY, JANE RANDOLPH / RELEASED: SEPTEMBER 26TH

On paper, Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works is rather bog-standard anime fare. There’s a Biblical-themed war set to engulf the world into death and chaos, and it’s up to some plucky high school kids, each paired with their warrior sidekicks, to either save our planet or claim it as theirs to conquer. There’s action, romance, drama, comedy, spectacular animation and even more spectacular exposition. All in all, a normal day at the office…

Just what is then that makes Unlimited Blade Works’ second half a richly absorbing and downright thrilling watch? Is it the finely-tuned character development found in Holy Grail War Masters Tosaka and Shiro? Is it in the multi-layered plotting, with its sharp, precise weaving in and out of events and motivations? Is it in the spellbinding animation?

Whatever it may be, it is of course impossible to understand, let alone enjoy, Part 2 without having seen Part 1, which we can now confidently say is left in the dust. It isn’t bad per say, just… dull. A whole lotta exposition and what has the distinct smell of manufactured tension kept a potential riot of an anime lower than boiling temperature.

Fortunately for us, Part 2 blows the lid off of Part 1’s pan as we surge way beyond boiling temperature. Tosaka and Shiro may be the lead characters here, but they aren’t the stars anymore. We see the breadth of the Holy Grail War in full effect, not just in a literal sense, but a personal one too. Each of the Holy Grail Masters are given full dramatic aplomb, as their own stories slip into the narrative. Some are heart-breaking, some are pure evil, but all of them through endless curveballs into the story, crafting an unbeatable level of depth that makes Unlimited Blade Works all the more absorbing.

The Servants, however, come off a little shorter, and live up to their names in more ways than one. Whilst there are some tantalizing attempts at making these warriors three-dimensional, they’re development is trapped by the very story they serve. All except for Archer, the sole Servant who receives the most captivating of stories. He spent much of Part 1 as the buff, uncomplicated thug who hints but rarely delivers. Here, however, Archer is blown wide open…

Perhaps what really makes Part 2 of Unlimited Blade Works tick all the boxes is how it balances everything into a cohesive package. A very all-encompassing tale of death, destruction and war is given a very intimate perspective. The clashing ideologies of how Shiro and Archer is the stuff that Batman v Superman can only dream of. This isn’t an anime to be devoured, it’s an anime to be savoured.

FATE/STAY NIGHT: UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS – PART 2 / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: TAKAHIRO MIURA / SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: AYAKO KAWASUMI, KANA UEDA, JUNICHI SUWABE, NORIAKI SUGIYAMA, JUNKO NODO / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

There is an argument that first and foremost a film must entertain its audience. Whatever the genre or style, it could be said that if a film fundamentally fails to do that then it has not justified the reason for its creation. There is a counter argument that filmmaking is an art form, to be judged as you would a painting or piece of music, and how much it entertains you is secondary to how it makes you feel. A little pretentious? Perhaps, but if there was ever a filmmaker that exemplified the latter more than any other it was Andrei Tarkovsky.

Less a director, more a purveyor of sensory experience, Tarkovsky dealt with metaphysical themes captured in long, elongated takes often comprising patiently contrived panning shots. Scenes of exceptional beauty often sat uncomfortably next to recurring motifs of rain or fire – on regular occasions indoors – with memory and childhood usually becoming prominent. Tarkovsky’s penultimate feature, Nostalgia, contained all these familiar traits and more, and is possibly the great auteur’s most personal film.

Following the Russian poet Andrei Gorchakov (Oleg Yankovskiy) as he explores a barren, rural Italy, Nostalgia deals primarily with loss and longing. Made soon after Tarkovsky left his native Soviet Union for the last time, this is a film where every major character is unsettled, constantly searching for something without truly knowing what that something is. For his part, Gorchakov appears terminally ill with homesickness, his wife appearing in starkly captured black and white scenes that seem a lifetime away from where the poet currently resides both physically and spiritually. Nothing about Gorchakov is clearly defined, his only real connection coming through a chance meeting with local crazy man Domenico, a man also out of step with reality for his own, very personal reasons.

All this comes back to that initial debate about film. In truth, very little actually happens in Nostalgia. The two men share what little plot there is, their individual arcs dividing towards a finale that is both strangely similar yet wholly different. Those long panning shots are as prevalent here as in any of Tarkovsky’s work, rewarding the patient viewer with extraordinary detail yet frustrating equally as the director seems intent on stylised repetition.

There is no doubt, however, that Nostalgia is a work of cinematic art, and one that should be seen. It may not entertain you – it may even test the limits of your commitment and make you instead want to reach for the latest Marvel release. Persevere, and what Nostalgia will do is occasionally astonish you. There are moments of such inspiration and vision that it becomes difficult to believe they were conceived by just one man. Whatever your stance, there are not many films you can say that about.

NOSTALGIA (1983) / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: ANDREI TARKOVSKY / SCREENPLAY: ANDREI TARKOVSKY, TONINO GUERRA / STARRING: OLEG YANKOVSKIY, ERLAND JOSEPHSON, DOMIZIANA GIORDANO, PATRIZIA TERRENO, DELIA BOCCARDO / RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 19TH

The Human Condition Trilogy is a single story spread across three discs. It is the story of Kaji, a man who serves in the Japanese army during World War II. Through the eyes of Kaji we see the way that the Japanese officials treated not only the people of the lands they invaded, but their own people as well. Kaji’s initial naiveté and socialist ideals often bring him to conflict with those around him.

The Human Condition is based on the autobiographical novels of the same name by Junpei Gomikawa, and the director (Masaki Kobayashi) chose the project because he felt a connection with the movie’s subject matter. This makes the story a deeply personal one for the people behind it.

This only benefits the movie; as Kaji and his journey are the main focus of the movie it is important that we get to know him. The Human Condition has a contemplative feel to it and it never feels the need to lionise its main character. Because the movie doesn’t fail to criticise Kaji for his failings, it feels earned when he has something of a success. This is the story of how Kaji grew up, not the story of how Kaji became amazing.

A big part of why this journey feels so natural is Kaji’s portrayal by actor Tatsuya Nakadai. The character of Kaji in the beginning of No Greater Love is very different from the Kaji we see at the end of A Soldier’s Prayer. Tatsuya Nakadai not only expertly navigates these two extremes, but his performance alters so gradually that you don’t notice the change as it is happening.

Of course, one man cannot carry a movie alone and the rest of the cast play their parts perfectly. Of particular note is Michiyo Aratama, who plays the role of Kaji’s wife, whose portrayal enthuses her role with a great sense of determination.

The Human Condition Trilogy has two viewing options to be selected from depending on your preference. You can choose to watch The Human Condition as a trilogy or as a movie of six parts. The whole movie lasts about 9 hours and 47 minutes, so you will definitely want to pace yourself. Having utilised both options we can confirm that both are good choices, so it really depends how much time you want to spend on any one particular viewing.

The subject of how Japan’s World War II-era legacy has been portrayed in film has been the subject of significant controversy, but The Human Condition feels like it is at least aiming to be honest. The film neither shies away from, nor does it glamourise, its subject matter. It is a thoughtful piece and worth checking out.

Special Features: Original Japanese mono soundtrack (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray) / Optional English subtitles / Introduction to the film by critic Philip Kemp / Selected-scene commentary by Philip Kemp / Theatrical trailers / Booklet featuring archival interview with director Masaki Kobayashi / Scholarly essay discussing post-World War II Japanese culture

THE HUMAN CONDITION TRILOGY/ CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: MASAKI KOBOYA / SCREENPLAY: MASAKI KOBAYASHI, ZENZO MATSUYAMA, KOICHI INAGAKI / STARRING: TATSUYA NAKADAI, MICHIYO ARATAMA, CHIKAGE AWASHIMA/ RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 19TH

Sharknado: The 4th Awakens manages to both try too hard and try not at all, and the result is infuriatingly boring. If you are wondering why this review hasn’t started off with an explanation of the plot, that is because it’s Sharknado. A bizarre type of weather formation has struck (this time despite a weather system that should have stopped it) and the heroes have to survive and stop it. There really isn’t much here.

That in itself isn’t a bad thing – a movie doesn’t need a dense plot if it can make up for it with great set pieces, or a brilliant cast, or by being really funny – but Sharknado 4 has none of these things. The action isn’t exciting, the cast aren’t brilliant (to be honest, it takes them a while just to get to vaguely interesting), and it is almost never funny.

What makes this truly irritating is that on paper this should be a truly entertaining movie. This is a movie in which our heroes travel across Las Vegas on a novelty pirate ship in the wake of a tornado filled with sharks. This is a movie in which someone flies through a tornado and stabs a shark with a chainsaw sword. These things should be amazing and leave viewers filled with adrenaline! However, they aren’t and they don’t. What they are is really, really boring.

The best way to illustrate the paradox of too much and too little are the tornadoes themselves. In this latest installment of the series not only do we have a Sharknado, there is also a Firenado, and a Lightningnado. At one point we see cows swept up into a tornado. The sight of the cows in the air is mildly amusing but the movie immediately cuts to Gilbert Gottfried and has him call it a Cownado.

There are movies that are so bad they are good, but they achieve this through a sincere effort at making a movie which sadly didn’t work out as the creators intended. This movie on the other hand just feels forced. Every time something that might have been interesting happens, the movie has to spend a moment to draw attention to it, almost as if it is patting itself on the back. Yes, a tornado made out of sharks and lightning is pretty cool as ideas go. It stops being so cool, however, when the movie trips over itself to point out how crazy it thinks it is being.

Do not watch this movie. You may see the cover and think that if you watch it you are in store for a roller coaster thrill ride and some good, stupid fun. You aren’t. This movie is stupid, but certainly isn’t fun. Put your time, and your money elsewhere.

SHARKNADO: THE 4TH AWAKENS / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: ANTHONY C. FERRANTE / SCREENPLAY: THUNDER LEVIN / STARRING: IAN ZIERING, TARA REID, MASIELA LUSHA, RYAN NEWMAN, TOMMY DAVIDSON, DAVID HASSELHOFF, SETH ROLLINS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

An event known only as the Apocalypse has left thousands of players of MMORPG Elder Tales permanently trapped within the online world. With the possibility of escape from the game barely even considered, the first season largely focused on the nascent society the gamers gradually built for themselves within the large player city of Akihabara along with the planning and scheming required to maintain it, mostly by central character Shiroe.

This time around events are far more focused on combat, with the bulk of this first half of season 2 taken up with the preparation and execution of two protracted battles. First, when a seemingly indestructible killer begins stalking the streets of Akihabara, relentlessly taking out players for no apparent reason, a band of the city’s female gamers co-ordinate an assault to take him out. At the same time, three guilds undertake a dungeon raid to raise the gold needed to meet the costs of maintaining the world the gamers now call home.

Although reminiscent of the likes of .hack and Sword Art Online, and to a lesser extent Accel World, Log Horizon distinguishes itself by taking place entirely within the confines of its gaming realm, with the outside world barely even given lip service. Now that the players are properly settled all that matters to them is the preservation of the way of life they have developed.

While the players’ ability to respawn effectively eliminates any true sense of danger, the first season revealed that is done so at the cost of memories of their lives outside the game, presumably implying that should they be killed often enough their very sense of self will become gradually eroded. We now see for the first time what actually happens when a player dies, the experience adding some philosophical undertones to the story before they are lurched back into the fray. Other problems for the gamers are caused by flavour text – the supplemental descriptions of the history of unique weapons and equipment – having taken on a life of its own by calling into existence the myths it references, further expanding the mutable reality by which the Elder Tales realm has begun to function. One further welcome development is far more variance in the character design, with the largely generic repetition of the first season’s incidental characters now giving way to a prismatic explosion that better represents the endless and inventive variation with which people customise their gaming avatars.

The plot progresses as leisurely as before, with single stories stretching out over several episodes, skilfully wrangling the multiple characters involved in each collaborative moment of action. One episode consists almost entirely of a monologue of one character attempting to inspire others to carry on after a crushing defeat, while at the same time also touching upon the social aspect of gaming and how people who have difficulty making friends in the real world can often find solace in the virtual one.

After a meandering first season, Log Horizon is now becoming more focused on its story, and the season’s second half promises to bring in some much-needed permanent antagonism for our heroes to battle against.

LOG HORIZON SEASON 2 (PART 1) / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR: SHINJI ISHIHIRA / SCREENPLAY: TOSHIZO NEMOTO, MICHIKO ITOU, SHINSUKE ONISHI, SHINGO IRIE / STARRING: MIKE YAGER, JAD SAXTON, ANDREW LOVE, JOVAN JACKSON, EMILY NEVES, CHELSEA MCCURDY, MAGGIE FLECKNOE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Oh yes, STARBURST does cult and they don’t come much more cult than this. Just to get that early-‘70s vibe, lets imagine (the slightly terrifying prospect of) sitting in a darkened room listening to Black Sabbath’s seminal Paranoid album. What are we visualising? Stone Circles? Séances? Motorbikes? Bringing down the establishment? Coming back from the dead through force of will alone? Knocking over parking cones in Hepworth Way shopping centre? Well with Psychomania (which was recently screened at the inaugural STARBURST International Film Festival) we get all this and more. They don’t make them like this anymore and, if we’re honest, they never really did.

Tom (Nicky Henson) is the leader of a biker gang called “The Living Dead” (of course they are) who like riding round a stone circle in the rather eerie opening titles. But they also like to “blow people’s minds”, which largely involves running them off the road with fatal consequences. So far they’re not clocking-up the audience sympathy and Tom gets rid of any you may have had when we find out he’s a posh boy whose mother (Beryl Reid) does séances and even has a butler (George Sanders in his last movie). But there’s some kind of devilry going on as there’s a locked room where Tom’s father died and more talk of resurrection than is normal in most households. The trick is to simply believe you’ll come back. It may also involve frogs but the film’s sketchy on that front. Suffice to say, after a bit of cone-related shopping centre aggro, Tom “does a ton” and deliberately drives off a motorway bridge. The gang bury him on his bike (the hole isn’t quite deep enough but hang in there) while playing sub-Donovan folk songs, and he brilliantly comes back to life by bursting out of the grave like a low-rent Ghost Rider (without the expensive skull-motif or flames). Then he kills someone trying to repair one of the movie’s many Morris Minors. The gang are so impressed that they all commit suicide in various unlikely ways and continue to run murderously amok among the Morris Minor-filled roads of the local countryside. Only Tom’s girlfriend Amy (Mary Larkin) resists…

On paper, Psychomania ought to be a stinker. The plot is silly, the character’s motivations incomprehensible (coming back from the dead we get, but why all the murders?) and it isn’t in the slightest bit frightening: the bikers come back from the dead looking and talking exactly as if nothing happened and any attempts at portraying even mild peril are hamstrung by the whole British homeliness of it all. Even the motorbikes look like they’re about to fall apart (and are most definitely not the Harleys the original script intended). But Psychomania is just great fun.  Director Don Sharp was no mug but you can’t help the feeling it’s great by accident; its uniqueness allowing it to ooze singular charm. According to legend, George Sanders committed suicide straight after watching the movie’s preview. We hope that’s not true because Psychomania is a bona fide cult classic.

Special Features: Eight interviews and documentaries / Trivia track / Trailer / Booklet

PSYCHOMANIA (1973) / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: DON SHARP / SCREENPLAY: ANDREW DONALLY / STARRING: NICKY HENSON, MARY LARKIN, BERYL REID, GEORGE SANDERS, ANN MICHELLE, ROY HOLDER, DENIS GILMORE, MILES GREENWOOD, ROBERT HARDY / RELEASED: SEPTEMBER 26TH

“I know this sounds insane, but this is an insane world,” states Rick (Andrew Lincoln) at the beginning of The Walking Dead’s sixth season. It’s certainly a fitting opening for a season that features more zombies, more bloodshed and more fatalities than ever before.

First Time Again picks up from where the dramatic Season 5 finale left off as black-and-white flashbacks show the residents of Alexandria in the aftermath of the bloody town meeting. In the present, Rick and Co. discover a quarry jam-packed with walkers and Rick devises a plan to divert the undead away from Alexandria’s direction. This season premiere is a thoroughly satisfying opener, providing impressive spectacle, bursts of explosive action and engaging character interplay. The intelligent use of black-and-white footage also adds an intriguing visual depth to events.

The first half of Season 6 solely deals with the fall-out of Rick’s plan and a simultaneous attack on Alexandria by a murderous gang called The Wolves. This tight focus helps sustain a palpable sense of danger throughout and allows each of the now extensive cast to receive a decent amount of exploration. Rick’s multifaceted relationship with both Deanna (Tovah Feldshuh) and Morgan (Lennie James) particularly stand out. In fact, Morgan becomes one of the most interesting characters, adding an emotional weight to the show. His stand-alone episode Here’s Not Here, which explores how he went from psycho to pacifist, is a season highlight. A contemplative, compelling and insightful study of what it means to be human in a world leached of its humanity, Here’s Not Here is a surprise gem.

The only misjudgement of this first half of is the deceitful handling of one character’s fate but an unpredictably brutal and altogether thrilling mid-season finale more than makes up for this. No Way Out sees the residents of Alexandria stand-off against an overwhelming horde of walkers and it’s television at its very best – filled with jaw-dropping developments, gripping action and a dizzyingly entertaining edge-of-your-seat montage.

Unfortunately, The Walking Dead has long been characterised by inconsistency and that doesn’t change here as an impressive beginning of the season gives way to a lacklustre and ponderous second half which sees the group expanding their connections with other communities. While on a supply run, Daryl {Norman Reedus) and Rick encounter a masked individual named Jesus (Tom Payne), a member of the Hilltop colony, who is interested in beginning trade with Alexandria. Rick and Co. soon discover that a violent and authoritative group called The Saviors are exploiting Hilltop’s resources and conflict soon ensues…

There’s a distinct lack of narrative drive in this latter half and the show spends too much time pre-occupied with setting The Saviors up as the next big bad for Season 7. Consequently, The Walking Dead gets somewhat bogged down in lethargy and doesn’t match the sharpness of the season’s opening nine episodes. Despite this, there are some thoughtful considerations on the consequences of violence on the human soul and Carol (Melissa McBride) is at the forefront of these existential questions. Her character has undertaken quite a remarkable journey from a helpless, vulnerable widow to one of the strongest and most versatile survivors in the group. She remains one of the most unique, intriguing and complex characters in The Walking Dead and on television today.

The season finale Last Day on Earth, which introduces one of The Walking Dead‘s most notorious villains, is the season’s most major disappointment. It’s an extremely poorly-executed, bloated and directionless episode which builds to one of the most infuriating and cheap cliff-hangers you are likely to encounter. The only positive is that Jeffrey Dean Morgan looks fantastically evil as Negan, it’s just a shame his introduction is so laboured and clumsy.

All that aside, with Season 7 looming, we’re intrigued to see where the nefarious Negan will take The Walking Dead next.

Special Features: Inside The Walking Dead / The Making of The Walking Dead / In Memoriam / 601: Out of the Quarry / Guts & Glory: The Death of Nicholas / Strength In Bonds / Negan: Someone to Fear / The Face Of Death: Iconic Walkers of the Season / Deleted Scenes

THE WALKING DEAD – SEASON 6 / CERT: 18 / SHOWRUNNER: SCOTT M. GIMPLE / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: ANDREW LINCOLN, NORMAN REEDUS, STEVEN YEUN, LAUREN COHAN, CHANDLER RIGGS, DANAI GURIRA, MELISSA MCBRIDE / RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 26TH

In
Conversation Piece, a retired and reclusive professor (Burt Lancaster)
lives alone in a luxurious house in Rome, full of books, paintings and
art.  The ‘conversation piece’ of the
title refers to portraits well-to-do families would have done of themselves in
their finery to be a point of discussion. He has dedicated himself to the
collection and preservation of these tangible things and ironically shut out
people almost completely.  The
professor’s life is one of order and refinement, removed from the vulgarity of
the outside world and people.  When he is
forced via the demands, cajoling and borderline bribery of a countess to rent
his upstairs apartment to her and her coarse companions he eventually begins to
question his choice of solitude.  His
tranquil, meditative existence is rudely (even literally) shattered by the
countess and her boorish lover Konrad (for whom the apartment was really
rented), as well as her daughter and her daughter’s companion.  Despite this, it stirs up memories and
thoughts within the professor that a different kind of life might have been his
if he had made other choices and let people in.

Luchino Visconti had worked
with Burt Lancaster 11 years previously on the highly regarded The Leopard (it’s
one of Martin Scorsese’s favourite films). 
That film dealt with a similar kind of theme as Lancaster’s ailing
prince was forced to deal with the social changes of the 1860s as they impacted
his family.  Conversation Piece is
a more intimate treatise on change of a kind, and although it might seem
initially more about the clash between young and old, it’s more about the
interior life of the professor and the challenges he faces from these outsiders
as they unravel his isolation.  Although
the foul-mouthed Konrad might smoke and drink and put his feet up on the
professor’s coffee table, the young man also has a sensitive side and an
affection for Mozart and shows real interest in – and an understanding of –  the portrait pictures in the professor’s
collection.  As with many who do, when
making judgements on others the professor finds his broad opinions don’t
reflect the layers present within people. 
And then it happens: even though these interlopers bring a chaos to his
order that the professor fears, he is forced to admit he might want, indeed desire
the messiness that comes with the real human contact he has purposely shunned
for so long.  The relationship that
develops between the professor and Konrad becomes the heart of the film.

As he approached the twilight of his
career, Burt Lancaster had made the switch from youthful action star to subtle
character acting and that’s in clear evidence here in his sad-eyed, melancholic
performance.  Visconti creates a world
outside of time in the professor’s house (there’s no other set) that’s at once
artificially unreal and emblematic of his interior life.  It’s a sumptuous and beautiful film, lushly
made, contemplative and rich in subtext that should reward further viewings. 

CONVERSATION PIECE / CERT: 18 /
DIRECTOR: LUCHINO VISCONTI / SCREENPLAY: SUCO CECCHI D’AMICO / STARRING: BURT
LANCASTER, HELMUT BERGER, SILVANA MANGANO, CLAUDIA MARSANI, STEFANO PATRIZI /
RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW