Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi If the title character of Asako I & II were more devious, maybe even just more active, then this might be more like Vertigo. She meets and falls immediately for a young man named Baku, his stringy long hair acting like a theater curtain slowly being drawn over his face, hiding something. Asako falls … Continue reading Asako I & II (2018)
melodrama
Moonrise (1948)
Directed by Frank Borzage Moonrise opens in brutal fashion, with the shadow of a man being hanged (without a chance at his final words, no less). From there we cut to the shadow of a hanging doll teasing a crying baby, the son of the hanged man. We next see that boy, Danny, a little … Continue reading Moonrise (1948)
Floating Weeds (1959)
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu Floating Weeds is a melodrama about a man whose ill-conceived but well-intentioned lie catches up to him. He is Komajuro, the leader of a small, struggling acting troupe as it arrives in a seaside village in which resides a former mistress, Oyoshi, and adult son, Kiyoshi. Komajuro is immensely proud of … Continue reading Floating Weeds (1959)
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
Directed by Peter Greenaway The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & her Lover is a theatrical movie which takes place almost entirely within the large, ornate London restaurant owned by mobster Albert Spica (Michael Gambon, aka Albus Dumbledore). He eats there every night with his wife Georgina (Helen Mirren) and a group of his thugs … Continue reading The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
Freaks (1932)
Directed by Tod Browning Freaks is a bit of a melodrama about a group of circus "freaks" and a trapeze artist who goes by Cleopatra. Most of those in the traveling circus are severely disabled and deformed, whether they be limbless, legless, stunted or otherwise different. They see Cleopatra as an outsider, partially because she … Continue reading Freaks (1932)
The Way We Were (1973)
Directed by Sydney Pollack The Way We Were is a good 'ol fashioned romantic drama set against a politically charged backdrop over the course of a couple decades. The couple is Katie and Hubbell (Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford), college classmates and political opposites. Well it's not so much that they're opposites, just that their political … Continue reading The Way We Were (1973)
Cast Away (2000)
Directed by Robert Zemeckis Because of its simplicity, performance and the relative restraint on the part of director Robert Zemeckis, Cast Away is a remarkable film. It tells the story of Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks), a FedEx worker who finds himself stranded on an island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, for over four years. The best … Continue reading Cast Away (2000)
Everybody Knows (2018)
Directed by Asghar Farhadi Everybody Knows takes a kidnapping and turns it into a melodrama. That may sound facetious, but it's an effective, tense family drama that plays out like something Shakespearean. There's a wedding in a small, idyllic Spanish town that brings together a large family and their orbit of friends. The two most … Continue reading Everybody Knows (2018)
This Property is Condemned (1966)
Directed by Sydney Pollack Depression Era Dobson, Mississippi is a small southern town with little work to offer save for a railroad company and the Starr Boarding House. Owen Legate (Robert Redford) arrives quietly in town, taking up residence at the Boarding House on the night it's crowded in celebration of the landlady, "Mama" Starr … Continue reading This Property is Condemned (1966)
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
Directed by Jacques Demy "People only die of love in the movies." So apparently I love musicals, or at least I loved this one. Jacques Demy's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg tells the story of two young lovers who are separated by circumstances out of their control, moving quickly through the months so that things happen very … Continue reading The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
