Breathless

The French New Wave is probably the most famous cinematic movement of all time. I'm ashamed to admit that my knowledge of the movement is far from sufficient and right now I'm trying to fix that. Along with Francois Truffaut's The 400 Blows (1959), Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless (1960) is the most important and popular film of the entire movement. Initially the film seems like a thriller or a gangster film because a murder sets the story into motion. However, it becomes something totally different - and something so much more satisfying and fascinating - after a while.

The story is hard to get a grasp of. It is the "spontaneity" that makes the film as great as it is. There is no clear rising and falling action in the film apart from a few moments, which makes it more "anti-cinematic". There is a natural tone in the dialogue - partly because the actors didn't know the lines beforehand and partly because the dialogue doesn't drive the plot forward most of the time. Despite this incoherency the film manages to deliver us with something tangible that will linger on our minds for some time after we have seen the film.

Godard's form is even more bewildering and energetic than the content of the film. The camera moves in erratic ways and the editing is even wilder - you can figure that out when you know that this film created the jump cutting technique.

It was a weird experience to write this review: initially I thought I would give this film a 9, but the more I think and write about it, the more I love it. I ended up appreciating it even more after I wrote this review. This film is rightfully praised and popular. Go watch it. Now.

Score: 10 out of 10

Preparing for a new Top list

I have decided to make a list of my favourite 80's films by the end of June this year. For this project, I collected all the films I would put to the list right now, the ones I need to watch again and also the ones I want to see.

The films I consider eligible for the list right now 

A Summer at Grandpa's (Hou)
Akira (Otomo)
Aliens (Cameron)
Angel's Egg (Oshii)
Blade Runner (Scott)
Blue Velvet (Lynch)
City of Sadness (Hou)
Fitzcarraldo (Herzog)
Grave of the Fireflies (Takahata)
Koyaanisqatsi (Reggio)
Laputa: Castle in the Sky (Miyazaki)
My Neighbour Totoro (Miyazaki)
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Miyazaki)
Once Upon a Time in America (Leone)
Pink Floyd The Wall (Parker)
Raging Bull (Scorsese)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (Spielberg)
Ran (Kurosawa)
Star Wars Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back (Kershner)
Star Wars Episode 6: Return of the Jedi (Marquand)
The Color of Money (Scorsese)
The Meaning of Life (Gilliam)
The Thing (Carpenter)
This Is Spinal Tap (Reiner)
Wings of Honneamise (Yamaga)

The film I need to watch again

1984 (Radford)
As Tears Go By (Wong)
Blood Simple (Coen & Coen)
Brazil (Gilliam)
Come and See (Klimov)
Do the Right Thing (Lee)
Fanny and Alexander (Bergman)
Full Metal Jacket (Kubrick)
Kiki's Delivery Service (Miyazaki)
Mystery Train (Jarmusch)
Nostalgia (Tarkovsky)
Scarface (De Palma)
Stranger than Paradise (Jarmusch)
The Last Temptation of Christ (Scorsese)
The Sacrifice (Tarkovsky)
The Shining (Kubrick)
They Live (Carpenter)
Time Bandits (Gilliam)

The film I should watch (listed under the director's name)

Aki Kaurismäki
- Ariel
- Crime and Punishment
- Shadows in the Paradise

Akira Kurosawa
- Kagemusha

Alejandro Jodorowsky
- Santa Sangre

Bela Tarr
- Damnation

Bernardo Bertolucci
- The Last Emperor

David Cronenberg
- Scanners

David Lynch
- The Elephant Man
- Dune

Edward Yang
- The Terrorizer
- Taipei Story

Francois Truffaut
- The Last Metro

Hsiao-hsien Hou
- Daughter of the Nile

Jean-Luc Godard
- First Name: Carmen

Kon Ichikawa
- The Burmese Harp

Krzysztof Kieslowski
- Decalogue
- A Short Film About Killing
- A Short Film About Love

Louis Malle
- Au revoir les enfants

Mamoru Oshii
- Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer

Martin Scorsese
- The King of Comedy

Nagisa Oshima
- Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

Nicolas Roeg
- Bad Timing

Robert Bresson
- Money

Shohei Imamura
- Black Rain
- Ballad of Narayama

Takeshi Kitano
- Violent Cop

Terry Gilliam
- The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

Werner Herzog
- Cobra Verde

Once Upon a Time in America

Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America (1984) is regarded as one of the most important and brilliant gangster films alongside The Godfather and Goodfellas - and rightfully so. I would actually say that it is the best film made about mafia. Essentially the film is about 5 friends who commit crimes together as kids and the film reveals us how they end up later in life. The film is told in three periods: 1910's, 1930's and the 1970's. This film was Leone's last and it's a great ending for a career - only rivalled by Edward Yang's Yi yi in that regard.

Leone observes the twisted moral values of the main characters - especially how they change over time. He reveals just how corrupt and hideous these characters can be yet he makes them lovable in a peculiar way. The narrative is incredibly dense and even exhausting even though the film has a calm pace. The pace is certainly challenging, but once you get used to it you are rewarded.

The recreation of Brooklyn in those periods is painstakingly authentic - I wonder how they pulled it off so well for so many scenes on such an epic scale. Leone's cinematography is simply a wonder to look at. There weren't a lot of shots that didn't astound me in a way or another. Ennio Morricone's score is brilliant and reminded me a bit of Once Upon a Time in The West - which is only good.

When I saw the film for the first time I wasn't so amazed by it. I guess I watched expecting something else after I had seen Once Upon a Time in The West. However, this time I totally loved it and now I would call it one of the greatest American films I've ever seen.

Score: 10 out of 10

Letters to Father Jaakob

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Now that I've seen all the films Klaus Härö has directed, I can declare that his latest, Letters to Father Jaakob (2009), is his masterpiece. A pardoned convict Leila (Kaarina Hazard) is assigned to help a blind pastor (Heikki Nousianen) with his letters. As the film goes further, both of them have to deal with guilt, loss and even an existential crisis to a certain extent. Härö observes the two main characters carefully and closely. Their hidden complexities are gradually revealed and you can not avoid caring for them by the end of the film. Both of them are only broken souls barely coping, trying to find a way out. Härö's usual sentimentality is very underplayed until the end which is heartbreaking in its magnificence.

The form is refined even in comparison to Härö's earlier films. The cinematography is stunning, the editing is smoother and the music is poignant (a lot less dramatic than the music in his earlier films). The performances by the lead actors are pitch-perfect - even though both of the performances are rather towering, neither dominates the film. 

Letters to Father Jaakob is a vivid film that made me genuinely cry. I consider it the best Finnish film ever made - although that doesn't mean a lot when the film industry is in terrible condition in Finland.

Score: 10 out of 10

Mother of Mine

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Klaus Härö's Mother of Mine (2005) touches on a subject which is rarely discussed nowadays (even in Finland): during World War II tens of thousands of Finnish children were sent to Sweden to avoid the conflict by living with a surrogate family. In Härö's film, a 9-year-old boy's mother sends him to Sweden after his father dies. Initially he hates the surrogate the members of which are just as broken and vulnerable as he is. Eventually their wounds begin to heal and they bond.

The screenplay is magnificent because it handles the subject and characters thoroughly and honestly. Problems concerning coming of age, language and family are explored and observed in an unforgettably poignant way. The screenplay is simply top-notch in all aspects. Härö's form is stunning yet again - especially his cinematography is simply impeccable. The only gripe I had with this film is rather minor: the last 20 minutes had a few weird formal choices that could have been done better. However, that is still a really tiny problem in a fantastic film.

Klaus Härö's Mother of Mine is Finnish (albeit a co-production with Swedes) cinema at its best. Forget Kaurismäki: it doesn't get a lot better than this.

Score: 10 out of 10

Elina: As If I Didn't Exist

The Finnish director Klaus Härö has recently reached international fame with his film Letters to Father Jaakob (2009). I decided to watch his entire filmography and started from the debut, Elina: As If I Didn't Exist (2002) which I had seen once as a kid. It is the story of a Finnish girl who has problems with her strict teacher (played by Bibi Andersson, by the way) and coming to terms with the death of her father. The film shoots questions concering old-fashioned education, bilingual problems and coming of age. Klaus Härö makes most of the short running time (80 minutes). He creates truly wonderful characters and sucks the viewer effortlessly into his world.

Härö's storytelling and editing rely on basic tricks, but he uses them in the best possible way. While these aspects are rather ordinary, his cinematography is breathtaking by any standards. I was flabbergasted at the colors and compositions in pretty much every scene. The way the swamps and the school are portrayed is impeccable.

Elina: As If I Didn't Exist is one heck of a debut for any filmmaker. All of its aspects work well and Härö is able to make the film a truly emotional experience without falling for over-the-top sentimentality.

Score: 9 out of 10

Bad Guy

Kim Ki-duk's fans often describe his film, Bad Guy (2001), worse than most of his other films. I was surprised because the film is actually an effort more solid than Address Unknown (2001) and The Isle (2000). The film tells about a young woman who is forced to become a prostitute. The English title is a bit weird and I prefer the Finnish translation which literally means "The Pimp".

Despite the weak beginning and overwrought melodrama, the film's writing is quite decent. This time Kim finds truly poetic and beautiful moments in the harsh world. However, the film is quite uneven because there are scenes that stand out as brilliant and then there are scenes that are so utterly failed. The characters are decent enough to not distract me while watching the film - which can not be said of The Isle. The central relationship is explored in a peculiar yet successful way and the final result is intriguing.

Kim's form has become completely refined by now. His use of alienation through compositions is perfect and framing is magnificent in other ways as well. Music is nearly nonexistent apart from two songs which are used well.

Ultimately, Bad Guy is the first sign of true sophistication in Kim's films before he made 3-Iron (2003) and Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring (2004).

Score: 7 of 10