aakostar Reviews

Tokyo Story (1953)

Very interesting movie however it needs some patience from the moviegoer

[8/10 · 24 December 2004]

Tokyo monogatari (or Tokyo Story) is a very human story. It contains a lot of everyday life which at times can make it difficult to follow since it may feel a little bit slow.

However who is patient gets rewarded. And Ozus way of telling this story is very quiet but effective. The images he produces and the very minimalist camera work creates a rhythm that sucks the viewer in and slowly opens him/her up for the sad but essential ending of this movie.

Ozu never tries to impose his story to the viewer. It looks like he follows his actors very disciplined and calm. This very structured and clear camera-work will alienate many modern moviegoers who are used to much more dynamic images. However lovers of purist cinema and fans of Aki Kaurismaki will probably love it.

Impressing also to see how close the everyday life of Japan in the mid 50s is to the western way of life.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

An absolute must see. A movie full of Ironic twists of fate that reaches the dimensions of an ancient drama

[10/10 · 23 December 2004]

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a movie par excellence. Not only does Sergio Leone in close cooperation with Ennio Morricone and his groundbreaking score manage to create a masterpiece of modern movie history. He also revolutionizes the Western by shifting the clean and glorified image of the west that existed so far and changing it into a dirty, often ugly and very brutal face. Furthermore he underlines some of the motives that kept this era going as they do today. Greed, violence and the absolute fight for survival and sometimes the strongest one revenge (which is a dominant factor in his movie Once Upon a Time in the West).

However his characters which carry this movie all along give it a much more human and realistic feel. Lee van Clef, Clint Eastwood and above all Eli Walach make their characters become very vivid and the viewers sometimes catch themselves identify with them although they probably would not have expected it earlier. The twists and turns that bring the characters into situations that no one would have expected moments earlier are truly what life is all about; you never know what will happen the next moment. With a little twist of fate (and it twists a lot in this movie) the character that is on top on the one moment is the one who looks into a barrel of a gun the very next moment.

The allegories that Leone uses in his move seem almost endless. Let's mention just two examples. The truly inspired and masterful invention of the amphitheatric setting of the cemetery which has a center stage that is surrounded by crosses and almost looks lice an ancient theater. It is there where Tuco, the Ugly (who is notably the most "human" character in this movie) runs full of anticipation like a little child trying to find a familiar face. However he just searches for the grave that contains what everybody is hunting after in this movie, the treasure. It almost seems like the dead are watching these three characters as they aspire to become rich or ... just become another cross in this cemetery. Inside this "arena" the final shootout takes place with Leone producing an editing with his ultra close ups that are breathtaking. In this theatrical surrounding the high point of the story (that has elements of an ancient drama) is reached.

Another really astonishing moment is the final scene with Tuco, his neck in a rope, balancing on a cross with 100.000 $ in gold dollars lying before him but he is not able to do anything with that money since he is on the verge between life and death and all the money on earth not being able to help him. A truly ironic picture and Leone manages to produce a lot of such irony in his movie. Before the liberating shoot from the Good (played by Clint Eastwood who almost acts as a character who is responsible for divine justice) that cuts the rope, the viewer is for a moment exposed to the paradox of life and death.

This movie is an absolute must see! Although some might think it is just a spaghetti western its influence remains unparalleled even today!