Change Your Image
tdesai99
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Spetters (1980)
Excellent satire of Western culture
Verhoeven/Soetman's Spetters is a variation on Saturday Night Fever, a depiction of youth in their age, but unlike the latter film it accomplishes more by serving as a criticism of the entire society it depicts.
This criticism (whether conscious or not) is most obvious in the story of Rien Hartman, who kills himself not because he is in a wheelchair per se but because he can no longer get it up, even when his girlfriend tries to give him a blowjob. His manliness and potence is so important to him in this smalltown macho culture that he does not feel human without an erect penis. Of course plenty of people are disabled and live decent lives, but many are able to release their frustration over what they had by finding an inner peace through meditation or something similar. Rien never even considers such a thing because his culture does not allow it. The only religious outlet he has is the occult version of "Christianity" that is depicted in the film, a kind of extroverted showy social religion with nothing to offer the inner soul of the individual except temporary escape. Rien refuses to accept even this, both due to his own internal weakness and also due to its social character, which he feels shamed by.
Verhoeven depicts a world with only fake spirituality and no real values except for crusade and conquest. Sexual predation/conquest, financial opportunism, hypocritical preachers, reporters and businessmen are plentiful, but there is little give and take. People take action with limited vision, seeing only themselves and their own interests rather than a larger humanity or their place in it.
In SNF, the girl is a pathetic hanger-on who is raped in the end by her own friends for fun, because to them she is worth nothing because she gives herself no worth. In Spetters, the girl is strong but opportunistic, and there is a scene where you see the complexity and guilt of her character underneath the facade. The sexual stuff is accomplished with the closeted homosexual character, who is brutally raped for sport, and then ironically becomes gay because of it.
As in SNF, but in a more artistic and ironic way, the values are all skewed for these people. But in SNF, dancing provides a temporary outlet for this macho culture, and ultimately it seems that there is escape for the main character if he can just get out of his class. There is escape possible for the woman in Spetters too, yet it isn't clear that the escape will be better than the current reality, and the only one who really escapes is the predatory brother.
In any case, as one of the better "social" films of the past 40 years, I give it 10 stars.
Footlight Parade (1933)
They don't make them like this anymore!
Clever, gritty, witty, fast-paced, sexy, extravagant, sleazy, erotic, heartfelt and corny, Footlight Parade is a first-class entertainment, what the movies are all about.
The realistic, satirical treatment gives a fresh edge to the material and its pace and line delivery are breathtaking. To think that they only started making feature talking pictures 7 years before this! The brilliance of the dialogue cannot be matched anywhere today, especially considering that "realism" has taken over and engulfed contemporary cinema.
This film was made at a time when the Hayes code restricting content was being ignored and the result is a fresh, self-referential, critical and living cinema that spoke directly to contemporary audiences suffering through the depression and the general angst of the age. I'd recommend watching any film from this period, that is 1930-1935, for a vision of what popular cinema can potentially be.
Lie with Me (2005)
Disappointing
Story is trite, and frankly kind of boring. Slutty young woman with conventionally dysfunctional family life ultimately finds love, I think. Director and actors did all they could with this, Smith is good, but they don't have enough to work with. Sex scenes are raw and explicit yet somehow not completely impressive. Reminded me of "In the Realm of the Senses" but that is a MUCH MUCH better movie with rawer and more imaginative sex scenes, as well as a purpose beyond the POV of a two-dimensional main character. Scene in playground probably most impressive, and apparently was improvised while filming. Seems director's wife wrote book it's based on, but I haven't read it. The voice-over is very rarely used by screenwriters for a reason.
ABCD (1999)
Solid, engaging drama about Indian-Americans
Why is this film supposed to be bad?
Tight, engaging script with interesting, believable characters and complicated conflicts I related to as an Indian-American. I've definitely known these characters, especially the girl (and it's only a slight exaggeration).
Yes, the "ABCD" title is inaccurate, its reference in the movie is silly and some of the direction is inconsistent, but otherwise it struck a nerve with me. It is the best movie I've seen about Indian-American identity conflicts. They were actually handled honestly, no gimmicks needed.
It's too simple, serious and straightforward to be on the level of films like "East is East" and "My Beautiful Laundrette," but it was solid and moving, much, much better than American Desi.
Art School Confidential (2006)
Not as bad as others would lead you to believe
I saw this film last night, being a very big fan of Zwigoff's films (Crumb, Ghostworld). For the most part it was excellent. Every moment where a conventional smiley-face reaction could have triumphed was subverted for a reaction sardonic and true. The story is quite sad but so funny that it's difficult to know how to feel, the best qualities of his films--one critic, I believe it was for Entertainment Weekly, described "Crumb" as being a "party and a nightmare" at the same time, and I think you could describe this film similarly. There is a lot more stereotyping than delving into truths per se, but that's a strength of the film, not a failure. Though I didn't go to art school, I definitely saw many of the types I encountered on the art side of my lib arts college here. And of course the love story is painfully true for any non-stud male.
The only bad aspect of the film is the "confidential" part, regarding a serial killer who has been murdering students. The third act creates a revelation that makes this a central aspect of the story. I thought this was unfortunate and a Lynchian/Hollywood add-on that was superfluous, but at the same time it was handled very well and integrated into the story seamlessly. What it enhanced was the comic book/graphic novel feel of the film, since it is based on the graphic novel by Clowes. So it wasn't actually that bad. In any case, I recommend watching it.