Citizen Kane

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Orson Welles' Citizen Kane (1941) is probably the single most revered film in existence. It is often said it is the film that saved, defined and revived the medium and the industry. It has been raised on a ridiculously high pedestral and if anyone even dares to second guess the film for a moment he (or she) will be attacked at or at least completely ignored. It's the Holy Bible of film lovers.

What is this great film about, then? The rise and fall of Charlie Foster Kane. This sort of story has become increasingly popular after Citizen Kane, but none of them have really mastered the idea as well. The life of the complex main character is thoroughly explored, but the narrative is probably a bit too dense for its sake. The narrative exposition feels a bit forced at times and it managed to make me feel a bit alienated. The film's emotional impact was reduced.

Pretty much everything has been written about the film's impeccable from. Its camerawork is probably as refined as it can get. The editing is ambitious and works well throughout the film's running time. The musical score is a tad generic, but it was hardly a nuisance.

In the end, Citizen Kane is a film I can admire, but I will probably never love.

Score: 9 out of 10

And the film lovers gasped in unison once they saw the "low" score.

Scandal

Before Akira Kurosawa became famous outside Japan with his Rashômon (1950), he made Scandal (1950). It is his direct assault against Japanese media. A young painter (Toshiro Mifune) offers his help to a famous singer, but the eager paparazzi take a photo of the two and imply that they are secretly in love. The story is partly based on Akira Kurosawa's own experiences when it was implied by the press that he had an affair. However, the true main character of the film is the corrupt lawyer (Takashi Shimura) who decides to help the painter.

Scandal is heavy-handed and melodramatic even by Kurosawa's own standards. He points out a simple problem caused by Japan's rapid change during the 40's (and eventually in the 50's as well). Even though the film is over-sentimental Kurosawa manages to keep it together miraculously thanks to his strong characters and cast. Especially Takashi Shimura's towering performance dominates the entire film.

Although Kurosawa's form works well enough in the film, it seems he still hasn't completely refined it. There are a few truly brilliant moments - like the wonderful (if over-sentimental) bar scene. 

In overall, Scandal is an interesting film - especially for the fans of Kurosawa - despite being somewhat flawed and over-the-top.

Score: 7 out of 10

Frost/Nixon

Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon (2008) is an interesting political thriller. It is based on a true story of how a British talk show host, David Frost, forced a confession out of Richard Nixon regarding the Watergate scandal.

The screenwriter Peter Morgan's approach to the subject is careful and good, but nothing revolutionary or involving. The structure of the story is good, but the build-up phase isn't necessarily good. Luckily, the film generates more tension once the interview begins - and explodes in a great way. At the very end, the film's emotional core becomes a little mixed up, but fortunately it's not too distracting. The film is a nice study of two significant historical figures and it is honest especially about Nixon. The best thing about the film is that it never becomes preachy or one-sided - it's comfortably smart that way.

The form is nothing new under the Sun (the Sun being Hollywood in this case), but it is very good during the interview. The lack of music adds a nice touch to the film and makes the film more like a documentarian take on the subject. There are also these pseudo-documentarian interviews that are used as a narrative device once in a while. It actually works quite well even though I'm very skeptical towards using this in films - it doesn't seem to work usually.

The most important (and successful) aspect of Frost/Nixon is the acting. Frank Langella makes one of the best performances of the entire decade as Richard Nixon. His intimate take on the disliked president is unforgettable. Michael Sheen's portrayal of David Frost is amazing as well, but the character is far from being as great as Nixon in this film. The rest of the cast do quite well in general - especially Kevin Bacon is pitch-perfect in his supporting role.

In general, Frost/Nixon is a very good accomplishment in Hollywood: it remains strictly inside the safe boundaries, but it does the best it can within these "restrictions".

Score: 8 out of 10