gomorrah (2008)

originally i missed gomorrah theatrically, due to a summer in paris, alas i was looking forward highly to catching up with the film on dvd. matteo garrone's insight into one of the worlds 'silent' mafia's proved a great watch, if a little more inaccessible than originally expected (not that thats a negative thing, im just a little surprised that the film received such high crossover appeal). the film consists of several intertwining stories, each of which revolve around a different aspect of the camorra, the naples organised crime group. the story of two young upstarts is the most immediate and forthcoming, and i can understand just why their visages adorned the marketing campaign, yet for me the story of the haute couture tailor turned truck driver proved to be the most memorable segment, and the one that stuck with me greatest afterwards.

considering the nature of the story, ''gamorrah'' is a staggering achievement. the way in which, alongside the source material book, ''gamorrah'' single handedly managed to bring to light a previously little known crime bracket is interesting to, as prior to this films exposure i had never actually heard of the camorra. the title itself is an interesting commodity, with it being a biblical take on the name of the camorra. comparisons between naples and gomorrah may be a little brash, but understable all the same.

rome, open city (1946)

my first foray into ''proper'' neo-realism (outside of education at least) comes in the shape of roberto rossellini's "rome, open city". the film is a true example of guerilla cinema, with rosselini shooting on location in the genuine aftermath of nazi occupied rome using scraps of found camera film. the film predates such fare as pontecorvo's "the battle of algiers", a film that looks at similiar fare with a similiar attitude.

"rome, open city" has a real charm. the flow of the narrative impresses this point, the way in which an incident is introduced and then revealed later works well (ie the girl moaning about her home, ten minutes before we see just why she hates it so much), and carries a humour that i didnt expect to find. the character of the elderly grandfather, a man paralyzed in some unknown incident projects this humour solidly.

the film struck me as a fairly basic parable on the battle between good versus evil. there is a fairly strong analogy between the tortured "hero" of the film and the suffering of jesus, enforced heavily by the presence of the priest.

unfortunately my copy of "rome, open city" was marred by poor subtitles. its hardly the most complicated film, but this still distracted rather heavily. regardless of this niggle, the film was an incredible portrait of an area that i had previously little familiarity with.

the passenger (1975)

jack nicholson's finest performance, "the passenger" is without doubt one of the greatest films ever made. in turn i would consider the piece to be michalangelo antonioni's finest work too.

nicholson plays journalist david locke, a man fed up of his life and situation. when the oppurtunity arises, he uses it to fake his own death and take on the identity of another man. when the man in question turns out to be an arms runner, locke's life falls into chaos, culminating in the famous ten minute tracking shot that brings with it the films climax.

red desert (1964)

following my previous foray into the world of michelangelo antonioni with the wonderful blow-up, i decided to follow it up with the newly released (on dvd) 'red desert', which incidently was antonioni's first colour film. i havent yet seen any of his black and white work, a situation hopefully soon rectified, so cant really comment on the difference between the colour and the black and white films, but i would like to point out just how beautiful the film looks. his use of colour has many connotations, with the use of red being symbolic of our protaganists state of mind amongst other things. the bold backgrounds, especially the earlier scenes set within the compound of industry gives the feeling of an otherworldy nature, which leads to my next point -

the film is almost like a science fiction piece. the environment and use of sound reminiscent of the worlds later created in films such as stanley kubrick's "a clockwork orange" and andre tarkovsky's "stalker''. ''red desert'' has a very unique electronic score, that adds to the mechanical and otherworldy feel of the picture, and the use of industrial change as a metaphor is similiar to those of those seen in later science fiction work.

i enjoyed red desert wholeheartedly, and look forward to my next antonioni, the passenger (1975).

blow up (1966)

my first experience with antonioni proved a great one (inspiring the decision to pick up his "the passenger" and "red desert" off of the back of this successful viewing!). a filmmaker that i had never been greatly attracted to, antonioni has always alluded me in the past, with blow up long being criminally ignored as i was under the impression that it was simply a product of "the swinging sixties", a period of time i find to be incredibly embaressing (witness the finale of 'carry on camping' for my reasons as to this conclusion).

david hemmings plays a hip young photographer, who MAY have accidently photographed a murder in a park. as to whether or not this is true its never literally revealed, although im inclined to agree with the metaphor carried at the end of the film (that 'you can see what you want to see, even if it doesnt exist' being the message).

for a film prided on its score, and considering the cultural impact of music at the time of the films production, blow up is a very quiet film. entire chunks of the film carry no sound whatsoever, before crashing into the following scene with oral hell, in what are chaotic and loud scenes. the pacing of the film is beautiful. its a bit of a cliche, but blow up is one of those films that you simply dont want to end. i found the world encapsulated totally believable, in a fantastical sense, and felt like i could watch david hemmings break down emotionally all day long! now if that isnt a compliment...