There are some movies that I think are more appreciable to general audiences though.
I recommended 'the man from nowhere' to this board once and it seemed to go over well.
Yeah, I think there are different kinds of films that appeal to larger audiences. I don't think this means that they are necessarily 'better' though.
Which george stevens did you watch ?
I watched
Vivacious Lady starring James Stewart and Ginger Rogers for a course on marriage films that I took. I didn't think it was a great film, but definitely a very enjoyable one that had good chemistry between the two leads, some funny scenes, and a crazy enjoyable plot. I don't remember much about the directing, but I thought that the directing was great Hollywood filmmaking craftsmanship, which is what I think about directors like Michael Curtiz, George Cukor, and Victor Fleming; and I think these kind of directors are always capable of making a few masterpieces and several enjoyable films.
National Lampoon's European Vacation directed by Amy Heckerling; written by John Hughes - 6/10
Definitely a lesser entry to the
Vacation series, but still pretty enjoyable. I can't say the film was bad, but it wasn't special either.
The Whole Family Works directed by Mikio Naruse - 6/10
While I give it a lower rating compared to many other early Naruse films, it is one of his most interesting films of the period. It seems to be a film that fits more of the 'art film' mode than any other Naruse film of the period (and indeed, more than any pre-
Rashomon Japanese sound film I've ever seen!). The film is about the struggles in a working class family with generational conflicts, and I think that the film had an amazing set-up with this, it sets up the world and the characters really well, so well that I think it could've been one of the best films on filial piety in Japan! However, the film suffers from the fact that there are way too many siblings in the family, and each of them gets some screentime, and only two of them are interesting or memorable. Also, the film doesn't really push any idea or story forward after setting everything up. And the biggest flaw with the film, is that it lacks strong scenes. But if we look at the film from another perspective, it is a masterpiece of form. It reminds me of Naruse's
Apart From You which was a silent film with perfect form but a mediocre story.
The Whole Family Works has an amazing set-up and story potential and masterful form, but it ultimately lacks good writing and scenes. What makes the form so amazing is that it adds a visual theme of darkness, every frame in this film is delightfully dark. The way that the shadows and light play with one another is truly masterful. I wish that Naruse went all out and did an abstract film with these concepts, because I feel like this is two films. It's a film about filial piety that could've been great, and it's a film about visual space, rhythm, and darkness that could've been great. But it would've been a masterpiece if it combined both elements perfectly. Occasionally the film does reach the level of a masterpiece such as its brilliant ending which is surprisingly happy, and we never get happy endings from Naruse. It is a very expressive ending that is different from the usual traditional narratives of Naruse's films. There are also a few other genius scenes, but the problem is that most of the film really is mediocre in terms of character development and storytelling. This is one of those films that I so badly wanted to view as a masterpiece due to its amazing use of the medium's form as well as one of the best endings I've ever seen, but Naruse needed a better script.
The French Connection directed by William Friedkin - 8/10
At first, I didn't get this movie, and I'll say that it never fully clicked with me until about halfway through, but once it clicked, it delivered one of the best visceral experiences I've had with cinema. This film has the best chase sequences I've ever seen captured on film, and it also has a very amazing ending. There is just this great pacing that the film has that makes me want to keep up with it. For some reason though, I felt very detached for the first half of the film, I'm not sure why, I'll have to give it a re-watch to see if this film deserves more than an 8 from me, or if it really is that the early parts are not too great.
