One Kalenderwoche in, and I have ten films on my 2021 list. I hope I can’t keep up the pace; we can’t stay in Enhanced and Extended Total Lockdown forever, can we?
Der Tiger von Eschnapur (1959) and Das Indische Grabmal (1959)
An epic story told across two movies by Fritz Lang. Warning: German actors wear brownface to portray natives of India. Warning: Endangered cats get murdered.
A typical “exotic adventure” movie for its time. Mr Radish remembered seeing it as a child, so we watched them both when they aired on Austrian public television last week. Debra Paget dances in ways that are NFSW. Some of the dialog about race is uncomfortable to the point I was surprised it was allowed to air on a public channel, but maybe I shouldn’t be. I don’t know anything anymore.
Turn off the parts of your brain that know facts and just enjoy the costumes and the excitement.
The Man Without A Star (1955)
King Vidor directs Kirk Douglas and Jeanne Craine in a movie about barbed wire. I don’t have a lot to say about it, but I liked it. It feels topical; small western normies fighting off the tyranny of a rich East-Coast woman pressing them all out of business.
The German title was “Mit Stahlender Faust“, or “With Steel Fist”. I saw it on Arte, an EU-funded “art and culture” broadcaster that shows a surprising number of 20th century American movies, occasionally in English.
7 Zwerge – Männer allein im Wald (2004)
The story of Snow White, but without a handsome prince. The Dwarves are all men who have been abused by women, and are played by “famous comedians”–as I come to it with no knowledge of early 21st-century German stand-up, Mr Radish had to explain why some of the jokes based on the actors’ other work were funny. The sight gags and running gags and vegan jokes I understood and laughed at unprompted.
Dumb-funny but great costumes.
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
I found it riveting. Entertaining use of color and music. Angela Landsbury was young once. Fun disturbing clues in the set dressings. I didn’t really feel that Donna Reed’s character was in love in Dorian, but (spoiler alert) he didn’t really love her either so who cares.
I have seen the nitpicking in the internet about the costumes not reflecting the fashion of the early 20th century but this is not a costume extravaganza, it’s a psychological study, so I don’t care about the size of the flounce.
See this movie.
