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Synopsis:
An American military policeman (Robert Stack) posing as the friend of a dead gangster in Japan begins to work for the gang’s leader (Robert Ryan), whose current henchman (Cameron Mitchell) isn’t happy about his number-one spot being taken over by Stack. Meanwhile, Stack has a romance with his deceased friend’s widow (Shirley Yamaguchi), who is posing as his “kimono girl”.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Cameron Mitchell Films
• Gangsters
• Hidden or Mistaken Identities
• Robert Ryan Films
• Robert Stack Films
• Sam Fuller Films

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary writes that this “taught low-budget action picture” is “one of Sam Fuller’s best films,” explaining that “Fuller believed that WWII didn’t end with the armistice — Japan was controlled by the U.S. military and exploited by American thugs and profiteers; loyalty among war vets was of utmost importance; [and] Americans still looked down on Japanese culture.” Indeed, many critics have noted the absurdity of the story on display here, with American gangsters creating a powerful syndicate in Japan despite not speaking the language, and despite the presence of the all-powerful Yakuza. With that enormous caveat aside, the film is indeed an impressive thriller with vibrant sets, gorgeous cinematography, and plenty of tension.

Peary points out that the “storyline involving Stack and Ryan greatly resembles that between police infiltrator Edmond O’Brien and gang leader James Cagney in White Heat” — and “as in Walsh’s film, we tend to sympathize with the trusting, insane gang leader” — Ryan’s “mad ex-GI” — “instead of the man who commits the unforgivable: betrayal.”

Critics have also pointed out potential homoerotic valences between Ryan, Mitchell, and Stack — especially given a disturbingly brutal but beautifully filmed bathtub sequence later in the film. After being so disappointed by Fuller’s first CinemaScope outing, Hell and High Water (1954), I was very pleasantly surprised to see Fuller back in true form here, showcasing masterful framing and peak storytelling skills. This one remains well worth a look.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

• Robert Ryan as Sandy Dawson
  
• Excellent use of authentic locales
  
• Fine sets
  
• Strong direction
  
  
• Joseph MacDonald’s cinematography
  
  

Must See?
Yes, as a fine crime flick by a master director.

Categories

• Good Show
• Important Director

Links:

• IMDb entry
• DVD Talk Review
• TV Guide Review (spoiler alert)
• DVD Savant Review
• TCM Article

Synopsis:
When a simple-minded young woman (Giuletta Masina) is purchased by a brutish strongman (Anthony Quinn) to be his assistant in his traveling act, she soon encounters a whole new world of people and places — including a silly Fool (Richard Basehart) who likes to goad Quinn to dangerous degrees. Will Masina stay by Quinn’s side through thick and thin, or strike out on her own?

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Anthony Quinn Films
• Carnivals and Circuses
• Domestic Abuse
• Federico Fellini Films
• Italian Films
• Richard Basehart Films
• Road Trip

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary writes that “along with The Bicycle Thief, Federico Fellini’s classic is the most loved of Italy’s neorealist films of the post-WWII era.” It features Giuletta Masina as “a poor, innocent simpleton” who has “no sense of self-worth to begin with,” and “is made to feel even more inconsequential by [Quinn’s] insensitive brute who drinks heavily, sleeps with other women, insults her talents…, and beats her as if she were a dog.”

Masina’s Gelsomina gets numerous offers to leave her life and start anew — including to “join a circus, run off with a clown and tightrope walker… or stay in a convent” — but “she becomes convinced that Quinn really does need her,” and “perhaps he loves her.” Peary asserts that “Masina mugs too much,” but concedes “she’s captivating. With a round face, dimples, and large, expressive eyes, she has the look of a clown” and will “remind you of a cross between Harpo Marx, Charlie Chaplin, and a puppy.”

Peary argues that her “serious scenes don’t really work because her temporary switch from gamine to disgruntled adult is too swift,” and “the result is that her performance seems inconsistent, although the real problem is with the character.” He further adds that “Quinn’s character is also a bit hard to figure out — it’s true that the bigger they are, the harder they fall, but when the mighty Quinn lies in a drunken heap, what is he thinking?”

I don’t share Peary’s concerns about either character. While it’s true that Gelsomina undergoes significant changes, this is because she’s been thrown out into the world for the first time and is finally meeting a wide range of people. She’s learning that she doesn’t have to simply comply and fit in and “act dumb”. Meanwhile, Quinn’s character (as Martin Scorsese — a huge fan of the film — has pointed out), is representative of so many violent men who simply can’t see farther than their next carnal need, which eventually leads to self-destruction; kind and/or lusty, fun-loving women may be waiting in the wings for awhile, but not indefinitely.

Basehart’s character, however, is perhaps the most intriguing in the entire film. This “fool” — first seen walking on a highwire (though surely this is a double…):

— becomes a pivotal character in the storyline, given that he can’t help telling the truth and calling out hypocrisy, at risk of his own safety.

Finally, as Peary points out, the film provides “memorable glimpses of [the] Italian countryside, crowded villages, [and] excitement over rituals (weddings, religious parades, circus acts).” Indeed, we see an entire world on display here — one that has left an indelible mark on cinematic history.

Note: Richard Basehart has been an interesting actor to get to know through watching him in a wide range of titles and roles — from Maximilian Robespierre in Anthony Mann’s Reign of Terror (1949), to a fearful corporal in Sam Fuller’s Fixed Bayonets! (1951), to an alcoholic priest in Jean Negulesco’s Titanic (1953), to his role as Ishmael in John Huston’s Moby Dick (1956), to this Italian film with Fellini (he was living in Rome at the time he was cast). What an unusual and varied career.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

• Giuletta Masina as Gelsomina
  
• Anthony Quinn as Zampano
  
• Richard Basehart as the Fool
  
• Otello Martelli’s cinematography
  
• Nino Rota’s score

Must See?
Yes, as a foreign classic.

Categories

• Foreign Gem
• Important Director

(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die)

Links:

• IMDb entry
• TCM Article
• Washington Post Review
• DVD Savant Review
• Time Out Capsule Review

Synopsis:
A woman (Hideko Takamine) seeks out the man (Masayuki Mori) she had an affair with in French Indochina during the war, only to find him still married to his sickly wife (Chieko Nakakita) and flirting with a much younger married woman (Mariko Okada). Will Takamine, who eventually turns to prostitution to survive, be able to forget about Mori and leave him behind — or are they destined to somehow live a life together?

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Feminism and Women’s Issues
• Japanese Films
• Star-Crossed Lovers

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary writes that this “most famous film in the 37-year career of Mikio Naruse” features the star of 17 of his movies — “beautiful Hideko Takamine,” who “gives a sympathetic performance as a young woman” who “will suffer great indignities” because of her enduring love for a married man.

He argues that “Naruse wanted the misery of Takamine and the women who are exploited by insensitive men to reflect the depressed, defeated country,” and asserts that Naruse “believed that the widespread ill-treatment of women was the reason postwar Japan was such a miserable place.” He points out that the “direction by Naruse is typically unobtrusive,” with the camera rarely moving “away from the actors” — but he notes that rather than “being static,” this “unusual film” has “a distinct romantic flow,” and we “feel deeply about what happens to these interesting people.”

I agree with Peary’s points. These flawed characters — who often don’t make “smart” decisions, instead basing their responses on passion or familiarity — feel very real. To that end, however, viewers should be forewarned that the storyline is almost relentlessly bleak; there are no easy solutions or outcomes for these protagonists.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

• Hideko Takamine as Yukiko
  
• Masayuki Mori as Kengo
  
• Fine cinematography and sets
  

Must See?
Yes, to see Naruse’s most celebrated film — but be sure to check out When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960) as well.

Categories

• Important Director

Links:

• IMDb entry
• Slant Magazine Review

Synopsis:
When the foreman (Williams Tubbs) of an American oil company in a poverty-ridden South American town puts out a call for drivers to make a dangerous but lucrative trip across the mountains with nitroglycerine, four men — Corsican Mario (Yves Montand), Parisian ex-gangster Jo (Charles Vanel), German Bimba (Peter van Eyck), and fatally ill Luigi (Folco Lulli) — volunteer.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• French Films
• Henri-Georges Clouzot Films
• Survival
• Truckers
• Yves Montand Films

Response to Peary s Review:
As Peary writes, this “unbearably suspenseful existential classic by writer-director Henri-Georges Clouzot, who adapted Georges Arnaud‘s novel” is about a “heart-stopping” trip in which the four protagonists “may be dead” at any moment. It features no less than “three unforgettable scenes” that “rate with the most thrilling sequences in cinema history”: “the trucks back onto rotting planks over a mountain ledge”:

… “Van Eyck uses nitro to blow up a boulder that blocks the road”:

… and “Montand drives his truck through a lake of spilled oil while Vanel swims in the black liquid, trying to get out of the way.”:

Peary notes that “Clouzot’s film is, in part, about how men are considered expendable,” with Clouzot openly attacking “corporations (the U.S. oil firm) which continually exploit individuals and let them risk their lives — especially non-union workers in Third World countries — so that the company profits.”

He adds that Clouzot is “equally disappointed in men (such as our ‘heroes’) who are careless with their own lives” — but I take the opposite view; these men are far from “careless,” but instead simply feel they have no other options left. (The film was originally released in a truncated version which left out portions of the first establishing hour; this could help explain Peary’s stance.)

Regardless, there is very little about this relentlessly bleak film that’s easy to take — from opening lines spouting blatantly racist and colorist notions, to the miserable treatment of “Vera Clouzot as the knocked-about barmaid who loves Montand”:

… to every single moment of the drivers’ harrowing journey.

Indeed, this is such a deeply uncomfortable and stressful film that I put off re-watching it for decades, and will admit it’s not one I plan to return to. However, it is most definitely must-see viewing at least once.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

• Yves Montand as Mario
  
• Charles Vanel as Jo
  
• Armand Thirard’s cinematography
  
  

Must See?
Yes, as a knuckle-biting classic.

Categories

• Foreign Gem
• Genuine Classic

(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die)

Links:

• IMDb entry
• DVD Savant Review
• NY Times Original Review
• Q Network Review
• Washington Post Review
• Criterion Essay by Peary
• Criterion Essay by Dennis Lehane
• TCM Article

Synopsis:
When a widowed bureaucrat (Takashi Shimura) learns he has stomach cancer and will die within six months, he begins to reassess his life — including his relationship with his son (Nobuo Kaneko) and daughter-in-law (Kyôko Seki). He heads out on the town, where he encounters a drink-loving writer (Yûnosuke Itô) and hangs out repeatedly with a young colleague (Miki Odagiri) who has just quit. Will Shimura be able to find purpose and meaning in his final months?

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Akira Kurosawa Films
• Character Arc
• Death and Dying
• Do-Gooders
• Flashback Films
• Japanese Films
• Widows and Widowers

Response to Peary’s Review:
As Peary writes, this “precious film” — loosely inspired by Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich (1886) — may be Akira Kurosawa’s masterwork.” He notes that the storyline begins by showing us a “pathetic, self-pitying, insignificant person” (Shimura) who is “ignored by his grown son” at home and “part of the do-nothing Japanese bureaucracy, a minor government worker who has spent 25 years rubber-stamping the papers that pile on his desk.”

When Shimura “is told he is dying of cancer,” he wants to live (this is what the film’s title translates into), and thus “withdraws his money and goes out on the town for a night of pleasure” — but “when drinking and carousing don’t please him, he “decides to find happiness through another person” (Odagiri), only to find that “still he is unsatisfied.”

The film pivots in its second half to “five months in the future [at] Shimura’s wake, where family and fellow employees praise (but not too much) what he accomplished before he died.” We are shown through a series of flashbacks how Shimura goes “on a one-man crusade to build a park for children where a dangerous cesspool stands” and “becomes indomitable as he goes through bureaucratic red tape, taking insults right and left, ignoring negative responses, circumventing runarounds.”

Peary notes that this picture — a “beautiful film in every way” — is a “strong indictment of Japanese bureaucracy, a wonderful character story, [and] a heartfelt meditation on the meaning of living and doing one’s part.” He adds that “Shimura’s performance is exquisite,” with “many great moments,” but perhaps the “most memorable has Shimura… sitting on a swing and, while snow falls gently on him, singing softly about the shortness of life.”

In addition to focusing on one of life’s enduring challenges — finding meaning in one’s existence — we see incontrovertible evidence of the need to value human well-being over bureaucracy. Indeed, in this case, without deliberate disruption of dysfunctional norms, children will be harmed and society overall will be much worse off. This lesson remains as important as ever these days, making Ikiru truly a timeless classic.

Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:

• Takashi Shimura as Watanabe
  
• Asakazu Nakai’s cinematography
  

Must See?
Yes, as a foreign gem.

Categories

• Foreign Gem
• Genuine Classic
• Important Director
• Noteworthy Performance(s)

(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die)

Links:

• IMDb entry
• DVD Savant Review
• TCM Article
• Q Network Review