I don't like the dark

Average rating: 8.25

Lust, Caution (2007) - "Set in Japanese-occupied Shanghai during WWII, Lust, Caution follows a college student (Tang Wei) recruited by a resistance cell to seduce and help assassinate a powerful intelligence officer (Tony Leung Chiu-wai). What begins as a patriotic mission becomes a dangerously intimate psychological entanglement. The film moves slowly, with precision and elegance, into a space where seduction, loyalty, and selfhood become indistinguishable—and lethal." 

length: 2h, 37m  |  source: my DVD  |  directed by Ang Lee  |  why I watched: it touches on many loves (WWII; cinematic desire; period drama; and of course Tony Leung) and was led by a surprising, multi-genre director

IMDb: 7.5/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: 73% / 84% Audience  |  my IMDb: 10/10  |  MPAA: I have the R-rated DVD; originally NC-17 

tone & texture: Intimacy as espionage / languid & dangerous 

notable quote: "I'm in your hands."

my notes: whatever I thought this movie would be, it is utterly different, and far better. A long film and a slow starter, it packs a visceral punch that's still reverberating through me days later. 

    Tony Leung is phenomenal. Mr. Yee is quiet, but reveals much in the set of his jaw or the flick of his eyes. What he does choose to say is often the least of what he conveys. When he finally does move, it is flabbergasting. He embodies both lust and caution, albeit not in standard ways. 

    The female lead is Wong Chia Chi (a.k.a. Mak Tai Tai), the astonishing debut role of Tang Wei. Though she presents with a curious mix of demureness and bravery, ultimately she is powerless. The men—Mr. Yee, would-be suitor Kuang Yu Min (Leehom Wang), mentor Old Wu (Chung-Hua Tou), her surprising tutor Liang Jun Shen (Lawrence Ko), and her absent father—dictate everything she believes she's deciding.

    This is an intensely, disturbingly erotic film. Even the R-rated version is not for the faint of heart.

    The RogerEbert.com review is here, from which I learned some things, from the Chinese point of view.

themes: identity as performance / deception & self-revelation / cost of conscience
overall: most highly recommended

 

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956) - "Tom Rath is a suburban father and husband haunted by his memories of World War II, including a wartime romance with Italian village girl Maria, which resulted in an illegitimate son he's never seen. Pressed by his unhappy wife to get a higher-paying job, Rath goes to work as a public relations man for television network president Ralph Hopkins. Drawn into poisonous office politics, Tom finds he must choose his career or his family." 

length: 2h, 33m  |  source: my DVD  |  directed by Nunnally Johnson  |  why I watched: I'd seen it before (previously reviewed here) but hadn't rated it, and had forgotten the plot

IMDb: 7.1/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: 73% / 73% Audience  |  my IMDb: 6/10  |  MPAA: Approved 

tone & texture: Sober, introspective, morally weighted / clean lines, quiet rooms, internal storms

notable quote: "Big successful businesses are not built by men like you. 9 to 5 and home and family. You live on them but you never built one. Big successful business are built by men like me. They give everything they got to it. Live it body and soul. Lift it up regardless of anybody or anything else. Without men like me there wouldn't be big and successful businesses."

my notes: I can see why it's a classic of sorts. Here's why it's not for me: Gregory Peck (Tom Rath) is SO mild that it's hard to root for him. Jennifer Jones (Betsy Rath) is not a favorite of mine—she hits only two points on the emotional spectrum (annoyingly happy, or stridently and shriekingly pissed off, crying lunatic) and doesn't ring true anywhere. And there is sooooooo much backstory; this could have been an excellent 99 minute film, but in 153 it's drowning in blah blah blah. The high point: Lee J Cobb's Judge Bernstein, wise and gentle but powerful.

themes: the long shadow of trauma / truth v. comfort / finding meaning
overall: mildly recommended

sex, lies, and videotape (1989) - "The story of Graham, a long-lost college friend who drifts back into town, and a look into the lives of philanderer John, his wife Ann, and her sister Cynthia. One by one, each is drawn into the very personal project Graham is working on, leaving the relationships between them forever transformed." 

length: 1h, 40m  |  source: my DVD  |  directed by Steven Soderbergh  |  why I watched: craving the comfort of a familiar but still edgy experience (previously reviewed here and here)

IMDb: 7.2/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: 96% / 79% Audience  |  my IMDb: 9/10  |  MPAA: R 

tone & texture: Intimacy under glass / slow-build, atmospheric 

notable quote: "'You're right, I've got a lot of problems. But they belong to me.'

    'You think they're yours, but they're not. Everybody that walks in that door becomes part of your problem. Anybody that comes in contact with you. I didn't want to be part of your problem, but I am. I'm leaving my husband, and maybe I would have anyway, but the fact is, is, I'm doing it now, and part of it's because of you. You've had an effect on my life.'

    'This isn't supposed to happen. I've spent nine years structuring my life so this didn't happen.'"

my notes: God, I love this movie. When it was released, I was on the young side of the target audience. Over time, I considered myself the same age as the characters, but now I'm definitely on the older side looking back. That changed my perspective dramatically. Graham is still my favorite and most relatable character, but I can see a bit of Ann in me, too. Less and less of Cynthia or John (not a bad thing). This time around, I was really struck by the late John Vawter as Ann's therapist. An excellent, understated, vital performance.

     For what it's worth, I don't love Soderbergh as a writer or director. Some of his films are pretty good, but much of what he says about them is insulting to viewers. Not cool. 

Academy Award nominee: Best Writing, Screenplay written directly for the screen—Steven Soderbergh

themes: authenticity under pressure / the masks we wear / love redefined through vulnerability
overall: strongly recommended

Gilda (1946) - "A gambler gets a job, his boss gets a wife who’s the gambler's ex, tungsten is involved, and everyone’s strangely obsessed with each other… it’s basically a really intense soap opera in Argentina."

length: 1h, 50m  |  source: my DVD  |  directed by Charles Vidor  |  why I watched: it's classic, and I was in the mood for something with bite

IMDb: 7.6/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: 90% / 88% Audience  |  my IMDb: 8/10  |  MPAA: Approved 

tone & texture: Glossy noir / desire weaponized through elegance 

notable quote: "Women can be extremely annoying."

my notes: Rita Hayworth was one of the most beautiful women who's ever lived. Her portrayal of the borderline Gilda is outstanding. 

    Glenn Ford is hard edges and anger... and desire.

    It's weird, and romantic, and ends on the perfect note. 

themes: Love as control / redemption through endurance / authenticity under pressure
overall: highly recommended

 

[the title quotation is from Lust, Caution]