WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[JackFavell]

I love that scene too, Chris. It captures a little inkling of genius for us, as well as for Salieri.

It is very rare that a movie can capture an artistic life or even a shred of what the artist goes through, and I am a big fan of these kinds of movies when they are done well - I haven't seen either of the films you spoke of but I believe someone on the other message boards said they are interesting, if not factual. We aren't really going to get factual at this point anyway. There is no way of knowing what Mozart went through or how Salieri felt.

If the film conveys something you thought was unconvey-able - that is a success to me .... there are a few movies I like that speak to me about intangible things, though not always about music - Impromptu is one (more about the selfishness and plain messiness of art than the beauty), and I find The Unbearable Lightness of Being says something about inner life that is virtually untold anywhere else.

[movieman1957]

Lafitte told me about "Eroica." Netflix was happy to oblige.

[JackFavell]

I'll check it, thanks!

[feaito]

I watched the Blu Ray Edition of "The Wizard of Oz" (1939) a film that I had been eluding for years (I bought 2 DVD editions and never got around to seeing them...I was kind of tired of its fame-I wanted to see only more obscure films)...I have been reconciled with Oz, Judy and Vic Fleming.... ...And reading Vic Fleming's long Bio by Sragow (which has become more readable with time) has encouraged me to revisit and watch some of his films. A beautiful, beautiful film...much, much more timeless -in my opinion- than "The Sound of Music" (1965).

[JackFavell]

I totally understand, Feaito. I recently reconciled with Ninotchka.

[intothenitrate]

I totally understand, Feaito. I recently reconciled with Ninotchka.

Glad to hear you and Ninotchka are back together again. I recently learned that, on the run up to production, they were lobbying hard to cast Cary Grant as Leon. I usually don't indulge in hypotheticals, but can you imagine???

[JackFavell]

I don't usually play the "what if" game either but that info floored me! You can hear his voice in the lines!

[feaito]

Cary as Leon? I'd picture Bill Powell as Leon, or Warren William, or even John Barrymore, but not Cary for some reason.

I haven't seen Ninotchka for a long time, but I like the film and the story and its musical remake "Silk Stockings" (1957) is a favorite of mine.

Wendy, one film I haven't been able to get reconciled with is "The Sound of Music"...as a youngster a loved it and now I can't abide it....I have to reconcile with "My Fair Lady" (1964) too... I became much fonder of "Pygmalio[n/b]" (1938)....changing tastes!

[JackFavell]

Well, you and I are on the same wavelength, I think - I have never liked My Fair Lady at all, having been charmed by Pygmalion as an impressionable 14 year old.... I remember watching it on the Public Television station when we lived near Chicago (they showed all kinds of wonderful movies there - all the Criterion releases, etc.) with wide eyes. It immediately became my favorite - it has remained in my top 3 or 4 movies ever since.

[charliechaplinfan]

I olny saw The Sound Of Music for the first time when I was 27, how I'd missed it in the preceding years I don;t know. It's probably always been played in the Christmas holidays when there were other things to do. As a result I love it, it's a real guilty pleasure, although I've only watched it 3 times and only one time completely. The last time was at Christmas with the kids. They loved it.

I haven't seen Pygmalion yet, but it's here on a pile waiting to be watched. I love Audrey Hepburn and although My Fair Lady isn't her best, I still love it but again it's another musical usually played at the holidays and never managed to be watched completely.

Cary Grant might have livened up Ninotchka for me. I think Silk Stockings spoiled Ninotchka for me.

Last night I tried Alphaville but gave up after half an hour, not that I think it was bad, just unusual and needing a better clarity of mind than I have at the moment.

[feaito]

Wendy & Ali, I'd like to have Pygmalion on DVD...Maybe I do but I do not remember I think I have Wendy Hiller's other great film "Major Barbara"...She was a GIFTED actress -I recently saw her in "I Know Where I'm Going", "Murder on the Orient Express" and "Separate Tables".

I think that Silk Stockings has been vastly underrated....I love that film.

Ali, Alphaville belongs to the Nouvelle Vague Movement?

[intothenitrate]

I saw My Fair Lady when I was very young, so young that I couldn't filter anything and just got completely caught up in the story. Watching it years later, I was surprised at how many little details were firmly etched in my memory. In particular, when Eliza was hurt or distressed during the ups and downs of her relationship with Higgins, those moments registered as big tragedies in my little brain. Maybe I was just an overly sensitive child, but it seems like I lived a week's worth of story in the space of a two-hour film.

When I watched Pygmalion a few months ago, I couldn't help but compare it against my unusually vivid memory of MFL. In the scenes, for example, when Eliza ad libs a few personal stories--using her own native constructions but with perfect diction--I would think, "That was OK, but Hepburn knocked that one out of the park." And in other places too, when Eliza needs to show vulnerability, or when she needs to muster courage, Hepburn seems to dig a little deeper in her portrayal. [Harrison also, I think, conjured up more imperious menace than Howard's bookish pestering].

In Kevin Brownlow's documentary Universal Horror, there's an interview with the author Isaac Asimov in which he shares his early experiences watching Lon Chaney films as a little boy. He puts forth the idea that the films 'work' because as you watch them, you are the afflicted one, you are the one who is somehow misshapen. That's the 'hook' that gets you to invest yourself emotionally in the story.

Seeing My Fair Lady at such an early age, when I would have felt perhaps less presentable, less articulate and mannered, I must have experienced that same vicarious 'hook' that Asimov described.

So, long story short, I'd vote for My Fair Lady for bringing home the emotional impact, though I admit I saw it when I was quite defenseless against cinematic story-telling.

[feaito]

Thanks for sharing that interesting insight on MFL, intothenitrate, and about watching a film as a boy. I plan to revisit the film again, but as far as Audrey Hepburn's characterization goes I'd agree with you that she did a great job, but the film as a whole is not the same as it used to be -for me- when I watched it again in my early '30s, compared with what I perceived as a kid and in my teens; because it really used to be a huge favorite of mine.

[Ann Harding]

Well, it's funny, Intothenitrate, I feel quite the opposite. I discovered the Pygmalion story through My Fair Lady about 20 years ago. But, when I saw the Asquith picture recently, I was totally won over. I felt Leslie Howard gave far more subtlety to his Higgins than the grand (and terribly efficient) acting of Rex Harrison. As for Audrey Hepburn, I must admit I never quite believed that she could be a cockney girl. She looks like a posh girl dressed as a cockney girl, that's all. I guess it's perhaps unfair to compare a comedy to a musical. But, the main problem with the Cukor picture is that it's quite 'inflated' as if Jack Warner wanted everything bigger and larger. Nowadays, I feel more at home with the small scale B&W delight of Asquith.

[charliechaplinfan]

I wish they'd let Audrey use her own singing voicewhich was adequate than dub her. I'm won over by Rex Harrison and can't believe Leslie Howard's portrayal will be in the same ball park. Yet I'm sure I'll be equally touched by Pygmalion, looks like that will be heading to the top of the queue for watching.

I believe Alphaville is classed in the nouvelle vague but I'm quite vague myself as to what exactly fits into that category.