The Long Goodbye (1973)

Robert Altman's take on the world of Raymond Chandlers's infamous detective Philip Marlowe is less an adaptation of his 1953 novel and more of a deconstruction of the genre as a whole, updating it to a (then) modern day setting and befitting it with Altman's typical disdain and derision of the wealthy and immoral, not to mention his shunning of typical Hollywood cliché.
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Elliott Gould steps into the detective's shoes here, replacing the character's typically hard boiled edge with more of an affable detachment. He still drinks and smokes his way through the film, and is efficient enough to conduct his investigations into the apparent murder / suicide committed by one of his friends, but his laid back charm and bemusement ('it's alright with me' becomes something of a catchphrase of his directed at various people throughout the film) lend him distance in a very deliberate way.
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As a piece of cinema the Long Goodbye is often very good, the problem though is that Altman can't help being Altman, he is seemingly unable to leave his stylistic tendencies to one side and just serve the story. He clearly here has little interest in the central mystery, instead devoted large portions of the film to slow moving conversational scenes, his love of dialogue and human behaviour here feels out of place at times and as such the film has no great sense of urgency. The detachment of Gould's Marlowe extends outwards as well, Altman's camera roams around the scenes, focusing on the details but languid, his trademark overlapping dialogue and use of diegetic sound take you out of the moment more often than they add to the film.
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As a statement on the genre it might well work, snubbing its nose at the notions of honour and chivalry as usually portrayed. Here Marlowe is dogged and persistent, but there's little nobility about him especially at the end. As one of the police officers remarks early on, he's a wise-ass, but not the typically endearing kind. Here he exists to provoke and annoy, seemingly unflappable and desiring a quieter life that never quite finds him.
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There is a lot of dissect and take away from The Long Goodbye, but it does also work on a surface level. It's just that a lot of the odd touches, the random acts of shocking violence, the cryptic dialogue and bizzare situations (a late film scene where a gangster forces all those in his office to strip, including a young and, at the time, unknown Arnold Schwarzenegger really stands out for this) detract from the story, rather than help it. Altman was a gifted film-maker with a very specific point of view and style, here it seems that this does more harm than good, by looking down on a genre he is simultaneously engaging in it rings as a hollow exercise and prevents the film from coming together as a coherent whole.

13 Assassins (2010)

Takashi Miike, best known for his prolific filmic output and over the top extreme violence (think Ichi the Killer or Audition) returns after a quiet few years with an unlikely venture, a classical and relatively sombre Samurai movie who’s poise and accomplished look are a reminder that under the gimmicks and gore Miike is a supremely talented director, here he tests his hands at an epic and largely succeeds.

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Set in 1844 during a time of peace the film follows a disparate band of Samurai’s who find themselves with no real place in a world that is leaving behind the old ways and customs. They are drawn together in a mission to assassinate a high ranking official, the casually cruel and sadistic Lord Naritsugu (played with relish by Gorô Inagaki), a man who’s lack of conscience and desire for violence would doom Japan should he rise to power.

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From this setup the film becomes a piece of two haves, the first slow and deliberate, putting the pieces of the plan together and spending some time with these characters, none of which are especially showy but who all feel honour bound by a common goal and shared spirit. The second half of the film in contrast is a bravado extended action sequence in a small village where the two sides have their showdown. It is as remarkably constructed and well paced an action scene as I’ve seen in a long time and is punctuated by creative choreography and character beats that stop it becoming tiring or repetitious.

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Due to the number of character it is true that few are sketched all that clearly, one of the exceptions being Shinzaemon the leader of the assassins, a former royal guard who can no longer sit by in silence, the way he compiles his plans and executes on them reveal a man glad to have a purpose and give his life for a cause. A man reborn and it's a strong central performance that carries the film. Having a strong villain is another key reason why the film works so effectively, Lord Naritsugu's sadism is shown early on and he looms over the film as a force that must be stopped, adding urgency and weight to the assassins crusade.

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The film is gorgeously shot throughout, Miike's camera is controlled and patient, the costumes, and sets are superb throughout effectively registering the time and place without drawing attention to it. In fact the film is noticeably restrained, especially at the start., Things do start to get pretty violent and gory late on, but again Miike isn't revelling in the violence and there is always a clear narrative through the action. It is really the final 45 minutes that pull the film together and help it stand out as one of the most enjoyable and well crafted Samurai films of recent years. There is a deeper emotional story here as well, but also a wonderfully entertaining series of set-pieces that really deliver on the film's slow build up. It is a film that should satisfy any fans of the genre, and also those who just want to see a historical epic told with sincerity and skill.

Arrietty (2010)

Studio Ghibli’s latest offering is another perfectly esoteric choice for the Japanese animation giants, an adaptation of Mary Norton’s the Borrowers, relocating the film but retaining much of its inherent conceits and characters whilst still allowing the studio’s prevalent themes to shine through. Miyazaki is only on script duty here, with former animator Hiromasa Yonebayashi in the directors chair, but Miyazaki’s fingerprints are all over the film from its environmentalist undercurrents to the small details that sell the world.

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Story-wise we follow Arrietty the only daughter of a family of Borrowers living in a remote house in the countryside (the location remains ambiguous) where a sick boy is recuperating along with his aunt and her housekeeper. As usual with Studio Ghibli films the plot is less important than the characters and the ways in which they interact and grow. They are able to say so much with the smallest of gesture or detail that the miniature world of Arrietty and her parents is immediately understood and accepted. When they step outside into the wider world the sense of scale and sound design in particular is wonderful, with every practical detail considered as to how they must navigate the familiar but suddenly hostile and vertigo-inducing environments.

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I have always appreciated how Miyazaki’s stories stray from the usual narrative conventions and this is true again here, later on a villain as such does appear (and played in a more threatening manner than often found in his films) but the threat never overwhelms the films themes and the poignant finale manages to be sweet without going where I expected it to.

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So whilst it may lack some of the more inventive and fantastical elements of the best Studio Ghibli work Arrietty remains a wonderfully animated and highly enjoyable film. It is rich with character and style, its world both gentle and reassuring, a reminder once again that each film from this wonderful studio is a real gift to be treasured.

The Straight Story (1999)

David Lynch has never been one to stand by convention, and back in 1999 coming off the back of the deeply strange and impenetrable Lost Highway he chose to follow it up with a U rated film published by Disney. As odd as that sounds The Straight Story remains a Lynch film through and through, it merely replaces his darker id with a sweetness and decency that feels just as real and resonant. Those familiar with Lynch will know he has always has this side to him, from his love of the cornball aspects of Twin Peaks to the heartbreak at the centre of the Elephant Man. Here he channels it into the simple story of Alvin, an elderly man living in Iowa who sets out to visit his estranged brother after hearing he has suffered a stroke. However rather than taking conventional transport, and due to a lack of a valid drivers license, he instead decides to drive his trusty lawn mower, towing what he needs and sleeping rough along the 300 or so mile to his destination.
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After a brief introductory sequence Alvin is quickly on his way and the film then largely becomes a road movie, showing how he impacts those characters he meets along the way and shares the philosophies and wisdom he has gained from a life fully lived. As Alvin Richard Farnsworth is wonderful in the role, he brings such pathos and generosity to the character without becoming twee or clichéd. He's eccentric but good hearted and some of my favourite scenes in the film were simple conversations where you would get to see worlds collide, and important character details revealed in the smallest of gestures. The script by John Roach and Mary Sweeney is wonderfully restrained and pared back. This isn't a film about big emotion or moments, but little slices of life and it affirms an underlying decency that I loved.
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This isn't a complex film, or one with many layers, it's name is appropriate in more than one way. It has a deliberate pace, as Lynch's films always do, but the lush score from his frequent collaborator Angelo Badalamenti and Lynch's great eye for constructing a shot draw you in and make it a pleasure to absorb. This is a wonderfully human film, deeply felt and plainly presented.

Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

Robert Aldrich’s dark and oppressive Kiss Me Deadly is one of the most renowned film noirs of the 1950s. For me personally it was a case of renting it having heard the name, but not much else which is always a situation I enjoy with a film I can watch with no expectations or prior knowledge. The film starts in familiar fashion, a damsel in distress, a hardboiled private detective and a mystery he finds himself drawn to, but where it goes from there is often unexpected and frequently disturbing in a way that seems atypical for films of the time.
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Ralph Meeker’s Mike Hammer is not an upstanding hero, instead he comes across as a reckless and morally dubious anti-hero who enjoys causing pain as much as he does hiring out his girlfriend / secretary to seduce divorcing men on behalf of their wives. Despite this though he remains a compelling character, and what really starts to separate the film as it goes on is the unsettling atmosphere that managed to pervade every corner of the film. After a while it becomes clear that whatever it is Hammer is after, is dangerous, yet we share his dogged persistence to get to the bottom of the puzzle.

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The ending of the film is both strange and unexpected, but on reflection also totally fitting. This isn’t a film afraid to go big and weird and that twist actually adds a real edge that separates it from more traditional noir. With some expertly crafted scenes, top notch black and white photography and some charismatic performances Kiss Me Deadly is a great little thriller, its anachronisms easy to overcome even today and a great example of a classic film genre with a twist.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

For the fourth entry in the Mission: Impossible series the producers sought out Brad Bird for his live action debut, and it turns out to have been (surprise surprise) an excellent decision. What results is a fast, slick and highly entertaining blockbuster that sits right up there with the best the series has offered in the past.

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Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt, this time when his team is framed for an attack on the Kremlin he and his IMF team are firced to go underground. Working with limited resources and no backup they have to figure out who set them up and stop their plans to spark worldwide nuclear war. It's a neat premise (even if the bad guy's motivation is suspect at best) and one that allows the 'team' aspect of the franchise to take centre stage. It also allows the filmmakers to have their cake and eat it, by displaying much of the super-cool futuristic tech (a device for concealing progress down a corridor was a favourite) but also stopping the team from relying on it too much, as they are often entering situations here under-prepared and out of their depth.

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Joining Cruise this time are Simon Pegg reprising his role from the third film and excellent by the way of comic relief, along with Jeremy Renner and Paula Patton, the four of them work well together and Bird stages some expertly crafted and nerve-wracking set pieces throughout the films running time. The most famous of these is Cruise's ascent up the Burj Khalifa hotel in Dubai which is truly astonishing, especially if you catch the film in IMAX.

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Given how much I love all of Bird's previous films there was a touch of disappointment about Ghost Protocol which was really inevitable, it lacks any real depth of character or story and has moments that make very little sense in hindsight, one involving a reveal of a masked character seems to have come from a dropped subplot or earlier draft as it has no logical place in the story we end up seeing. That said the film is constantly entertaining, frequently funny and has a surprisingly tense and satisfying conclusion, it just falls short on a character level leaving a lot of spectacle but not much lasting resonance.

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But not every film has to have that, and on the whole this is far, far better than any fourth film in a series has any right to be. A lot of that is down to Bird who's obvious knack for action cinema is highlighted here, his confident hand steers the film through its own absurdity and ensures that the Mission: Impossible franchise is as healthy as it's ever been. After this I would be more than happy to see future instalments involving this team if they were all as much fun as this.

Songs from the Second Floor (2000)

Occupying the very top tier of the arthouse cinema scale of intelligibility comes this strange, sad and oddly compelling Swedish drama from the turn of the millennium. Written and directed by Roy Anderson the film doesn't tell a story insomuch as it provides a meta-commentary on modern society through a series of carefully constructed, and invariable odd, vignettes typically populated by elderly, unhappy men (often resplendent with white facepaint for reasons unknown) struggling against life's absurdities. Whether it's Kalle (pictured) a man who burned down his furniture store for the inheritance, but who worries about being caught, or a businessman being fired unceremoniously in the middle of a corridor each of these characters is lost and searching for something that seems to have passed. Some characters weave in and out of scenes, strange events occur in the background of Anderson's frames, which are all filmed with long takes and static cameras that invite you to search the frames and contextualise what you are seeing.
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Songs from the Second Floor is anything but an easy watch, individual scenes are often darkly funny. sad or just plain bizzare. They don't always work, the lack of propelling narrative or exposition will frustrate, and the long periods of silence and obtuse dialogue threaten boredom, but then something will click, be it a revered businessman and army hero living out his 100th birthday from a metal cot, literally helpless in front of those he has known, or Kalle's mute son, who is housed at a mental institute, crying silently in reaction to his brothers prosaic poetry. One of my favourite scenes comes near end as a series of businessmen make their way across what appears to be a vast airport check-in area, each struggling to manoeuvre their overburdened trolleys, each filled with all their worldly possessions. Each being held back from escape and freedom by all that they cling to.
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It's not a film I would necessarily recommend, but one that has stuck with me in ways I was not expecting. It's an interesting realisation of a singular vision, one man's angry shout at an absurd world and for those moments when it resonates, it's worth the effort.