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Tunes of Glory (1960)
Ten Stars for Two Groups Only
There are two groups for whom I think "Tunes of Glory" rates ten stars and for whom it should be required viewing: 1) Commissioned Officer/Career-Designated NCO's in the allied armed forces (i.e. NATO) and 2) those who love the complete art of movie-making. For everyone else, it rates an eight for compelling art.
But first, two disclaimer caveats: 1) I am of Scottish descent from my Paternal Grandmother, who belonged to the Kearns sept of the Clan Grant and 2) like Jock Sinclair, I began my military life as an enlisted man (USMC), was promoted through the ranks, served in a combat zone (Vietnam '69-'70) received a direct commission, retiring as an O-5 (CDR, USN), the equivalent of Lieutenant Colonel, a rank that Major (Acting Colonel) Sinclair would typically have reached before he retired.
One indicia of an exceptional movie is the impact it has on one over the years. I first saw Tunes of Glory in my Junior Year in High School and I remember quite clearly being impressed by it for reasons I could not at that time understand. As it was not a particularly popular movie with the public, I did not see it again until last week, yet as I watched it in my mid-seventies, I could remember every character and every major plot twist as they unfolded before my eyes. "Well," one may say, ",,, of course with Sir Alec Guinness and Sir John Mills, what else would one expect!?" But I saw other movies by those two luminaries and enjoyed them all, but did not experience the life changing insight and catharsis I experienced from Tunes of Glory.
The story is gripping enough and the direction is not unduly intrusive into either the script or the acting, but why was (is) it so effective? When I thought back on the film over the years, usually when hearing the pipes play The Black Bear, it was the minor characters who stood out. Miles' Barrow and Guinness' Sinclair were striking enough, but it was some of the supporting characters who shone forth in my memories: Gordon Jackson's loyal Capt. Cairns (a variant spelling of my Grandmother's Kearns,) Duncan Price's oily second in command Charley Scott, Allan Cuthbertson's sensitive Captain Simpson, Duncan Macrae's Pipe Major Maclean, and Percy Herbert's Warrant Officer Riddick. Little did I know in 1961 that I would meet them all, or some slightly less dramatic version of them, in the Corps or in the Navy.
On watching the movie some 56 years later, I could see that all of these characters were memorable because they were not cut out caricatures, but each had been blessed by an actor with enough dramatic skill to imbue their character with human spirit. I wanted to serve with the paternalistic Pipe Major, and in a way, I did. I learned to be wary of oily self-promoters, to honor faithful adjutants like Captain Cairns, to enjoy the good-natured bruffness of many a Warrant Officer Riddick, and to revere the serviceman's undying loyalty to his unit and his CO, as well as to grieve for any internecine warfare that corrupted that loyalty by challenging the incumbent or the position itself, cf. The Caine Mutiny and 12 O'Clock High.
During my viewing of the movie more than half a century later, I was irretrievably drawn in and wanted to enter the scene and tell the characters "Don't do this! Don't listen to that! For God's sake, STOP!" Good literature and good theater not only touches us, it changes us. I pray to God I was a better barracks mate, a better NCO, a better officer and a better CO because of this movie. There was a scene near the end of the movie, with Major Sinclair and Lieutenant Mackinnon in the lavatory, which has been etched in my memory over all of these decades. I took that as a model for a senior officer's noblesse oblige to surmount even the most traumatic situation and help a junior officer become the professional he needs to be.
I am not alone in having a high regard for this work. Sir Alec, Sir John and director Ronald Neame all consider it among their best work. It just seems the British are suffused with the brilliance of Shakespeare and the screen presence of Sir Laurence Olivier. This film is an excellent product of the best of those traditions. Watching it, one is not cognizant of the art; just carried away by the tale. Going back and watching again, looking for the magic, finds one unable to perceive whence the miracles spring, but there they are, nonetheless. It eschews the modern cheap inclination to use color tinting to suggest mood and it tells its story with good acting, good cinematography and good music much more effectively than current movies do with gratuitous violence, wanton CGI and poor scripts. Movie buffs should watch this as a lesson of how it should be done.
So, gird up your loins and watch this movie; you can always screen the Marx Brothers tomorrow night.
The Beast (1988)
Cinematography: great, Plot: shaky. Situations: inconceivable Result: waste of time
This has some really stunning shots of Israel. The old Russian tank running around the desert is rather impressive, but the plot is rather creaky as a dramatic tool; its execution here is offensively trite pacifist tripe, with the characters being so over-the-top as to be caricatures of themselves. Hats off to the professionalism of the actors for speaking their lines with such apparent sincerity. I cannot think of any one role that stuck me as realistic. Sad to note the service affiliation of the military advisor and one can only hope that, were we to take him out for a beer, he'd spend the entire time complaining about how the director refused to take his advice. It seems like every time any of the characters spoke, I'd be thinking "That would never have been said!!". To make up for the insulting portrayal of Russian tankers, I would suggest turning the sound off and playing the entire movie while listening to music by Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Borodin and Rimsky-Korsakov. Then all you would be upset by are the stupid weapons effects and ridiculous costuming. BTW: That type of tank gets about one mile per gallon of fuel, another issue that kept making the whole thing just look "stupid."
The Rewrite (2014)
Under-rated movie with excellent performances
This movie has a witty script, an excellent cast, and several absorbing sub-plots. It bore re-watching by me, usually a good test to see if a movie is vacuous. The lines are delivered with such skill that even the most improbable characters seem real. As for me, I like the fact that the director and cinematographer did not succumb to the current fad of tinting every scene to add drama. They let the charm of the script, the skill of the actors, and the beauty of the setting tell the story. The result is: that which should be familiar (American academia and upstate New York) felt comfortable and that which was supposed to be on the fringes of weird (some of the students and some behaviors) came across as fun, not unbelievable. On the other hand, those looking for bizarre plot twists, deep angst, or blood-splattering violence should probably look elsewhere. Also, I think it requires a certain familiarity with American "Hollywood" and "Campus" behaviors and mores to fully enjoy the repartee and irony. Viewers from overseas might be well-advised to stick to Bergman, Eisenstein and Cocteau. Teachers, writers, students and university faculty and staff will surely enjoy the portrayals and the treatment of issues dear to them. I did.
The Nutcracker (1993)
Lackluster Version; Badly Miscast
The best thing about this movie was the Orchestra and the incomparable Tchaikovsky score. A few of the dancers were literally amazing and virtually all of them were superb. The staginess of the production was very evocative of a live performance. However,the production as a whole detracted from the art we should have gotten. We ordered the DVD in hopes of showing it to our grandchildren, but the score, story and name alterations were so disconcerting that we decided to not introduce them to the Nutcracker this way. Of course, inserting a non-dancer into a ballet is like asking Rosanne Barr to sing at the Met. It is sure to elicit the exclamation: "What WERE you thinking?!?!" and it did. The major complaint about the production as a whole is hard to pin down, but the DVD was disappointing nonetheless. It just lacked the essence of great art. We simply were not "swept away." In general, some performances leave you feeling they were not up to snuff, but this one left us with the feeling of having been affronted. I would love to see it re-shot with a standard plot line, all dancers (no current heartthrobs), and more drive via the editing. One final whine: as the music was the best part, why don't they include the names of the musicians in the end-title roll? It wouldn't take up that much time.The violin solo was one of the high points of the entire performance, yet we got the names of all kinds of tradesmen whose output was indiscernible to us, but not the names of the musicians.
Tim's Vermeer (2013)
Wonderful Exposition of the Love of Art
Wonderful exposition of the artistic process, the history of painting and the devotion of art lovers. Vermeer has held an almost mystical sway over art lovers as long as I can remember. In this lovingly captured quest to understand the techniques of one of the masters of the art world, we see both the passion and the innovation that went into the artistic creations that mean so much to all of us who love art. The new approach to understanding how Vermeer accomplished this in no way diminishes the art of the composition and lighting that truly differentiate a Vermeer from other artists. The insights revealed reinforce our admiration for his genius, a genius that has certainly created an unmistakably unique series of images that so many of us long to see, over and over. Tim's genial personality softens his dogged commitment to really comprehend Vermeer and his process. Teller's good-natured, but erudite commentary helps keep the story moving. This combination makes "Tim's Vermeer" a riveting hour and twenty minutes. If you love art, are fascinated by technical innovation or just enjoy an adventurous quest, this is a good movie for you. I would have given it a ten, save for a gratuitous cheap shot at the Queen, who, after all, did admit Tim into her residence to see her Vermeer. A simple thanks would have been more gracious than whining about the initial reluctance to grant some stranger special access into her own quarters. One last comment: if you grew up in the era where most movies have a car crash, an evisceration or a planet exploding every two minutes, or if you were bored with Alida Vall's long walk down the cemetery road in "The Third Man," this movie may not be right for you.
Strange Cargo (1940)
A Simple Thriller with a Moving Twist
When you first start watching this movie, it seems like a pretty straight forward prison escape movie, with good actors (Gable, Crawford, Hunter and Lukas) but nothing to "write home" about. Then one of the characters portrays a palpable and unusual sense of grace and empathy toward those around him. This and other incidents soon move the plot from a simple thriller into a depiction of spiritual grace that can be very moving. Those at peace with their own faith will be able to appreciate the message, whether it is in accord with their own beliefs or not. Those who are still tortured by where they stand in the cosmos may find it unsettling and my heart goes out to them in their suffering. A sign of good acting and good directing is when there is a story line that sounds really off-kilter, but the action on the screen rings true. That was the impact this movie had on me. Kudos to the crew for telling a story of grace, redemption and the power of acceptance in such an effective, yet unobtrusive way.