molefsky Reviews

Im toten Winkel - Hitlers Sekretärin (2002)

Riveting

[7 June 2003]

The film consists entirely of headshots of Traudl Junge talking about her experiences as secretary to Adolph Hitler from 1941 to the end of World War II. The film is in German with English subtitles; at times the subtitles were hard to read because of a light background.

A slide at the beginning of the film said this was the first time Frau Junge had spoken about her experiences. I seem to recall she was interviewed in the 1970s television series, "The World at War."

The film starts slowly as Frau Junge tells about her background. Her parents were divorced when she was young and she was raised by her mother. She got the job working for Hitler through a family connection. Junge explains she was one of four secretaries who worked for Hitler.

When she starts talking about Hitler she notes that he never talked about Jews or the death camps. She claims not to have known of the Final Solution. I do not doubt Junge's veracity. I do worry this will give ammunition to Holocaust deniers. (How could the German government be perpetrating these murders and Hitler's secretary didn't know.)

The most interesting part of the film is Junge's recounting of life in the bunker at the end of the war. She said that they lost track of time and were, for example, eating at odd times. They had no idea of what was going on outside.

Hitller and the other officials in the bunker mad plans for suicide. Hitler had gotten some cyanide tablets from Himmler. After a rumor started that Himmler had opened negotiations with the allies, Hitler tested the cyanide on his beloved dog, Blondie. The dog died.

Junge was present at Hitler's marriage to Eva Braun. After the wedding, Hitler dictated his "political testament" to Junge. She said she had expected him to reveal what had gone wrong, instead, Hitler dictated his usual diatribes against the Jews and blamed the German people for being unworthy of his vision.

The film ends with Junge observing that Hitler was wrong about what would happen after the war.

Anyone at all interested in World War II should see this film.

Live Nude Girls Unite! (2000)

Look for the union label

[5/10 · 14 May 2003]

This film relates the efforts of "exotic dancers" at a San Francisco establishment called The Lusty Lady to organize a labor union and improve their working conditions.

The narrator and central character is Julia Query, a feminist, Jewish, lesbian, stand-up comic, who turned to stripping to make ends meet. The film relates the conditions the strippers worked under, how they decided to organize the union and negotiated their first contract. The club apparently engaged in arbitrary and discriminatory practices, for example, classifying the dancers by race, hair color and other physical attributes.

Negotiating the first contract took many months and the film shows the agony of making decisions on what was and was not negotiable.

On the one hand the dancers do have legitimate grievances, on the other the work they do is sleazy and some would say antisocial and not to be encouraged. While their working conditions are not ideal, they are not coal miners or migrant workers. Compared to some other jobs, strippers have it pretty easy.

Another plot line of the film is Julia's relationship with her mother. Her mother is a physician in New York, who as it happens, works with prostitutes. Julia has not told her mother what she does for a living. When Julia is asked to speak at a conference on the "sex industry" she discovers her mother will also be at the conference and she can no longer put off revealing her occupation to her mother. Needless to say, her mother is not at all pleased and the two become estranged for some months.

The film has moments of humor and drama. The production values are amateurish, in some scenes the color is off (although that could have been due to the poor quality of the print). The film contain adult language and nudity.

Chicago (2002)

Hypnotic

[7/10 · 6 April 2003]

The heartwarming story of schemers who get away with murder. Set in 1920s Chicago, the film is populated with some of the most despicable characters you will ever see on screen. Richard Gere, playing shyster Billy Flynn, steals the film. He sings, he dances, he smirks, he connives. Gere looks like he was having a lot of fun with the part. Queen Latifah, playning prison matron Mama Morton, is surprisingly good. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zelweger were amazing as singer/dancer Velma Kelly and performer wannbe Roxie Hart.

The music, the singing, the lights are hypnotic. I could not take my eyes off the screen. Unlike a lot of musicals, the song and dances blend right into the plot and show us what the characters are thinking.

On one level the story is a cynical, satirical look at the criminal justice system. On another level it is fun. Go see it.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)

Mixed feelings

[5/10 · 10 February 2003]

The cast was terrific. Sam Rockwell was Chuch Barris. Clooney was good as the CIA handler. Even Julia Roberts and Drew Barrymore were good. There were quite a few laugh out loud moments.

I was prepared for differences between the screen and print versions. The different mediums have different requirements and capabilities. There are a lot of differences. A lot of what's in the book never makes it to the screen. Some of what's in the film is not in the book or done differently from the book. That's OK. What was not OK was the slow pace of the action. The book is extremely fast paced, things move along very quickly. The film was too slow, too long, and too arty.

The Pearls of the Crown (1937)

Delightful

[9/10 · 10 February 2003]

This unusual tri-lingual (French, English, Italien) film traces the history of seven pearls acquired at the behest of Pope Clement who gave them to Catherine d'Medici. The pearls are passed down to Mary, Queen of Scots. At the time of Mary's execution the pearls are stolen and separated. Four of them become part of the crown of England. The characters then try to discover what happened to the other three pearls.

It is a delightful film with clever, amusing dialogue. At one point a character is instructed to only speak using adverbs. She does so in answering a string of questions. It is a marvelous scene. Anyone who gets a chance to see this film should do so.

Adaptation. (2002)

Wacky/Offbeat

[8/10 · 5 January 2003]

Think "Sunset Boulevard" as written/directed by Hunter Thompson. Nicolas Cage gives his best performance since "Raising Arizona."

The film jumps around in time and place, careening from Los Angeles to Florida to New York, as screenwriter Charles Kaufman attempts to complete a screenplay based on the book "The Orchard Thief" by Susan Orleans. Kaufman can't get a handle on the story. His life and mind are chaotic. Things get worse for him when his twin brother Donald announces that he too wants to be a screenwriter. Merriment ensues.

I highly recommend this film. Anyone who does see it should stay for the "Easter egg" at the end of the credits.

Die Another Day (2002)

A good, not great Bond adventure.

[8/10 · 1 December 2002]

This is the first Brosnan as Bond film I've seen. He is probably the best Bond since Roger Moore. The opening sequence is terrific. All the special effects are very good. Halle Berry as Jinx, the capable NSA(?) agent, and John Cleese as Q, are excellent. Judy Dench is not right as M, and I didn't care for Smantha Bond as Moneypenny.

It's a typical Bond plot with the usual bad puns and double entendres. The plot takes Bond from North Korea, to Hong Kong, to Cuba, to London, to Iceland. This time the evil genius is a nefarious North Korean colonel.

Four things I did not like. First, it was very dark. We actually see Bond being tortured. Also, we see blood. I can't recall another Bond film with blood being shown. Usually there is a suggestion of blood and torture off screen. Second, the theme song by Madonna. It was just awful. More like screeching than singing. Third, with all the references to previous Bond films, I think the producers, writers, etc. are taking themselves way too seriously. Fourth, it was about 10 minutes too long.

I thought the episodes in Hong Kong and Cuba were the film's best. Also, the sword fight was very enjoyable.

In the pantheon of Bond films I'd rate it about average. Not as good as "From Russia With Love" or "Goldfinger" better than "Octopussy" or "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." It is worth seeing.

Welcome to L.A. (1976)

Awful! Awful! Awful!

[11 November 2002]

Without question the worst movie I have ever seen. No plot, disjointed. The singing was terrible, the songs inane. Seeing a young Sissy Spacek was the only thing of interest. The costumes were ridiculous, what was it with that hat. A total train wreck.

Manna from Heaven (2002)

A modern day Frank Capra film.

[8/10 · 28 October 2002]

A little too sentimental at times, with more than a few laugh out loud moments, overall very entertaining.

The story starts in Buffalo, NY in the early 1950s on a bright sunny day when a truck load of $20 bills falls from the sky. A young saintly Theresa, in her Cathlic school uniform, devines that the money is a gift from God. Her family and friends split the money. Thirty years later, Theresa, now a nun, returns to Buffalo and realizes the money was not a gift, it was a loan and the time had come to repay it. Theresa assembles family and friends who took the money. No one has any money to repay the "loan," and they don't know who they should repay. The group works to raise money before Easter. As they go about the business of fund raising we learn their unfullfilled hopes and dreams. We also slowly learn the provenance of the money.

The film has an all star cast. Wendie Malick as the cynical, hard as nails Inez and Frank Gorshin (didn't know he was still alive) as the flim flam man, Ed, are terrific. Ursula Burton as Sister Theresa has a continual blissful expression.

I highly recommend this film.