The Silver Screen Oasis

"Malombra" sounds interesting. Perhaps a bit like "Vertigo"?

Would "Crown of Iron" be considered part of the "calligraphic movement"? I saw a documentary "The Goebbels Experiment" recently, and they devoted a bit of time to Goebbels' scathing response to "Crown of Iron." That puzzled me. Were they saying that Goebbels' had no idea what was a good movie, or that he did have a sense of what was good in cinema? Were they being ironic in that a couple of years later the Germans made "Munchhausen"? "Crown of Iron" is hardly known in the US, and I've never seen it, so I'm not sure what the documentarians were driving at.

Would you say that these calligraphic melodramas had any relation to the American films of the forties, the ones with supernatural, noir and gothic elements? Or have I got the wrong impression?

Malombra is a bit like Rebecca or Gaslight though it's darker than both with a tragic ending. You can compare it to forties Gothic American pictures, but it's got a style of its own. It reminded me of Romanze in moll (1943, Helmut Käutner) in some respect. They are both melodramas based on literary works of the past allowing directors to make a film without censors interferences (Fascists or Nazis).
I have never seen La corona di ferro (1941, A. Blasetti). From what I've read, it sound more like a crazy 'sword and sandal' epic mixing periods.

Thanks, Ann!

Christine the film sounds very exciting. Lucky you!

I'll make a copy for you: it seems to have been made for you and it's got Spanish subs!

Yesterday I watched a German film, Ludwig II: Glanz und Ende eines Königs (1955, Helmut Käutner) with O.W. Fischer and Ruth Leuwerik. This a biopic of the famous Bavarian king Ludwig II who met a tragic end in Lake Starnberg and was the generous patron of Richard Wagner. There are many films about this king. I have seen two silents, one by R. Raffé (1920) which was a bore, a 1930 version played and directed by Wilhelm Dieterle and of course, the later Visconti film. This 1955 version shot in colour is unfortunately rather flat. They shot the film on locations, but I felt they didn't manage to capture the king's complex psyche. He was a genuine lover of the arts who spent lavishly building castles and an opera house (Bayreuth Festival house). Deep down, he was a very troubled man. His repressed homosexuality and his isolation for the rest of the world made him a recluse. With such a lyrical personality, you would expect to see a film that takes off the ground following that king's grandiose dreams of castles, opera heroes and music. If O.W. Fischer does a creditable job in the title part, he is hindered by a flat direction and a serviceable script. Overall, it was a rather dull picture from a director who can do far better.

I did not know this film existed Christine. I've tried to watch Visconti's Biopic twice, to no avail, because I have a European DVD edition released only in Italian and German, two languages which I don't know... I tried Italian, because it's supposed to have certain similarities with Spanish, but I gave up after 15 minutes....

I have seen the Visconti film several times. The problem with it, is that because of the mixture of nationalities the film was entirely dubbed. There are two versions, one in Italian and another one in German (a recent dub). As a result you can never hear the voice of the actors. Even Helmut Berger and Romy Schneider were dubbed for the German version. I think either version is all right with a slight preference for the German as I hated the Italian voice for Romy Schneider. The Visconti film is the only one that goes deep into the personality of the King. As with all Visconti pictures, it's very long and takes its time. I nevertheless enjoyed it a lot. I remember watching it once in a cinema in one screening, years ago.
Actually, the Visconti film is now available in the US in Italian with English subs: Here
The Käutner biopic I watched yesterday has no subs at all. I have only a very slight knowledge of German but I managed to follow the film as I knew the king's story.

Thanks for your valuable feedback Christine....the opening sequences of Visconti's Ludwig are visually sumptuous & stunning

I re-watched Irma Vep (1996) one of my favorite films about making a movie; in this case, a remake of the silent serial classic, Les Vampires. Jean-Pierre Léaud plays the director, and his inspired choice to play Irma is Maggie Cheung, the Hong Kong star who plays herself in the film. She's terrific, and looks pretty amazing in her Vep costume.

While parts of Irma Vep are very funny, it is not exactly a comedy and the story makes many unexpected but wonderful turns so it is best left discovered.

Would be an interesting double-bill with Truffaut's Day for Night, or, perhaps, Shadow of the Vampire.

MichiganJ wrote: Would be an interesting double-bill with Truffaut's Day for Night, or, perhaps, Shadow of the Vampire.

I second that. I have seen Shadow of the Vampire ... and heard some things from Day for Night too. For what I heard, these two movies together in a double-bill would great. I would love TCM to pair up these two movies together anytime in the near future!

MichiganJ ... I like your thinking here!

I watched Antonioni's first color film, Red Desert on blu-ray and have to say that pollution and toxic waste never looked so good.

Starring Antonioni regular Monica Vitti as the wife of the factory manager and Richard Harris (Italian dubbed by someone else, so his distinctive Irish brogue is not present) as an engineer, Red Desert is chock full of gorgeous shots and sequences laden with metaphors that enhance the experience of the unfolding drama all the more. Like his previous films, reducing Red Desert to its 'plot' is meaningless; but, especially given our contemporary--let's say "concerns"--with global warming, it is amazing how modern Red Desert is.

Great film.

I noticed I posted this last time in the wrong thread.. I can not delete the original post, but I'll copy it over here...

I've seen two movies with one of my favorites: Daniel Auteuil. They're no classic movies, but, well, I will post them anyway.

Le placard (The Closet) - It's my favorite Auteuil movie. Well, yes, I am a person who loves comedies. And this one is so funny, though it's Gerard Depardieu who gets the most laughs.

Palace - Claude Brasseur has the leading part. Auteuil plays his brother. The movie is set during the 2nd WW. It's not bad, I liked it.

MichiganJ wrote: Would be an interesting double-bill with Truffaut's Day for Night, or, perhaps, Shadow of the Vampire.

To combine Irma Vep with Day for Night would be a great idea, not alone because of the theme of making a movie, but also because Jean-Pierre Léaud is in both of them. Somehow, that makes it even more interesting, imo.

I watched yesterday a German movie from 1937 with Zarah Leander named Zu neuen Ufern. I never liked Leander, I have never seen her before, but I do not like for what she stands, working under the Nazi's, etc. I thought, be fair, give her a chance, watch the movie. I found it.. terrible.

Her acting was stiff and mannered. It seemed to me, as if she/they tried too hard to make her become mixture of Garbo and Dietrich. For her it was best, at least in this particular movie, to not open her mouth for anything else than singing. And I am not even fond of anyone singing in movies. Definitely not my kind of movie.

(spoilers might be included)
The story itself was also... boring. An actress in love with a man who counterfeits a cheque. She says it was her, he travels to Australia, she goes to jail in the same country. This happened in about the first 20 minutes, the rest is about her waiting for him to come, which he doesn't... and.. well, the end. I won't say more, just in case someone ever wants to watch it, but it was too unbelievable. The direction of Detlef Sierk (aka Douglas Sirck) was ok, but it was somehow too slow.

I wouldn't worry too much about posting on the wrong thread, I do it constantly

I watched A Woman's Face today directed by Gustave Molander in 1938 and starring Ingrid Bergman and remade in part by George Cukor for MGM. This one wins for me hands down, Ingrid plays an aggressive, troubled woman her face ravaged in a fire when she was a child, curling the left hand side of her face curled up bearing her teeth like a frightened animal. She blackmails and is part of a gang of four who blackmail anyone they can, she meets both her match and salvation when she tries to blackmail a wife to retrive her letters to her lover, whilst waiting for the wife to get the letters the husband comes home and finds her trying to escape with his wife's jewels in her purse. He is a plastic surgeon who has helped those injured during war. He takes her on as a patient, mends her face and she leaves for another life but she is still part of the underworld, can she escape? She goes to look after a young heir to fortune, as a nanny and is meant to kill the boy but can she now she has found some inner contentment. I thoroughly enjoyed both the movie and Ingrid's performance, it's very different to the later film, more concise yet with more of a story and a dramatic chase on the snow. Some stunning locations too.

Sounds very interesting Alison!

I saw two days ago Les Frères Karamazoff (1931, Fédor Ozep) with Anna Sten and Fritz Kortner. This adaptation of Dostoievsky was the French version of the same film, Der Mörder Dimitri Karamasoff, made in Germany the same year with the same director and cast. I was intrigued by this picture which apparently drove Goldwyn to sign Anna Sten. But, it's mostly a great silent director picture. Ozep had been active in Soviet cinema for years before making this picture in Germany. The editing shows considerable skill. Ozep manages to suggest the unease and restlessness of the characters with rapid-cutting and also thanks to a brilliant score written by Karol Rathaus. It was very unusual (in Europe and in the US) in 1931 to have such an innovative score over a picture. At that time, music was used sparingly in dramas. It proves a powerful film delineating the violent impulses of the lead character. Anna Sten showed already some great talent as Grouchenka. Here is a short clip, without any dialogue, showing the best scenes of the film. Dimitri Karamazoff (Fritz Kortner) thinks he killed an old servant. In the meantime, his father is murdered. He then drives a carriage at full speed to find Grouchenka in Mocroy, as he is madly jealous and in love with her. (note: Anna Sten does not appear in that sequence)
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