The Deep Focus

I recently visited the VUE cinema in Manchester. Prior to the film I felt the need to go to the toilet. So I walked in, only to be blasted with some awful music, I mean it was terrible. Terrible and loud too. So terrible and loud that I couldn’t relieve myself. Mainly because I couldn’t relax due to the incessant music bombarding my ear-drums. At least turn it down a bit, please. Or play some classical music (maybe Handel’s Water music).

Telephone calls in films – will we ever get a realistic telephone conversation? One in which the party on the phone just responds with “Yes”, “No”, “Uh-huh” or “I see” rather than repeating everything that is said to them by the other party so that the viewer can understand what is happening. The only time I saw a realistic phone conversation (ie one which did not provide exposition or move the plot forward) on film was in a John Cassavetes film. I realise that a completely realistic phone conversation would be boring but at least I would respect the attempt.

NB Top ten favourite new films are listed in a different colour font. Films I consider to be masterpieces have the letter M written after the title in red.

Lower City (Brazil)

Double Indemnity (1944) M

Brokeback Mountain

Match Point

A Cock and Bull Story

The New World

Munich

Hidden (France)

Grizzly Man (documentary)

Lady Vengeance (Korea)

13 (France)

Good Night, and Good Luck

Syriana

Capote

The Proposition

Tsotsi (South Africa)

V For Vendetta

Basic Instinct 2

Inside Man

Junebug

Glastonbury (documentary)

Brick

Army of the Shadows (France) M

United 93

Hard Candy

Enron (documentary)

Superman Returns

Thankyou For Smoking

A Scanner Darkly (animation)

Volver (Spain)

Adrift

Little Miss Sunshine

World Trade Centre

Odd Man Out (1946)

The Queen

The Departed

Red Road

Borat M

Children of Men

The Host (Korea)

Requiem (Germany)

Pan’s Labyrinth

Casino Royale

US v John Lennon (documentary)

London To Brighton

Deep Water (documentary)

I first watched a Jean-Pierre Melville (real name Grumbach) film about twelve years ago. It was Le Samourai. It instantly became one of my favourite films and I left the cinema thinking “How come I’ve never heard of this guy before?” and “Why have I not heard of this film before?”

Now in his centenary year HOME cinema in Manchester has screened a season of his best-known films and I was blown away again. I came away thinking that he really is the Bresson of the crime drama. Spare, low-key, incisive. Minimal dialogue in which every line counts. Detail. Ritual. One of the things that most impressed me was the way he lets scenes “breathe”.

I saw:

Bob le Flambeur (1956)
Le Doulos (1963)
Le Deuxieme Souffle (1966)
Le Samourai (1967)
Army of the Shadows (1969)
Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
Un Flic (1972)

I have also seen Le Silence de la Mer (1949), although not as part of the season.

I love the way he uses sound: the opening of Le Samourai where the only sound is the chirping bird; the dog barking during the burglary in Le Doulos; the crashing waves at the beginning of Un Flic. I love the way he uses colour: the washed out, muted tones but with the occasional splash of vivid colour which may be created simply by a lamp-shade on a desk. I love his humour, such as his focus on footwear.

He is a master at building tension too – look at the scene in Army of the Shadows where Lino Ventura is about to escape from the police near the beginning. The only sound is a ticking clock. You know he is going to try to escape by distracting the guard but you don’t know WHEN he will do it. Melville draws this scene out without dialogue for as long as possible where-as lesser film-makers would have rushed it. This is what I mean by letting scenes breathe.

And who could forget the 30 minute wordless heist scene in Le Cercle Rouge. Simply stunning, it out-Rififi’s Rififi. It sets the bar for all subsequent heist films.

His most personal film is Army of the Shadows, based on his time in the French resistance during the Second World War. I couldn’t begin to convey the brilliance of this film. It has one memorable scene after the other.

The only film in the season which I was disappointed by was Le Deuxieme Souffle, although it was a terrible print of the film so I really need to see a cleaned up version. Initial impressions are that it wasn’t as focussed as the other films.

Melville’s style is unique. His films are infused with his love of all things American, but filtered through a distinctly Gallic sensibility.

I’m pleased to say that Criterion are releasing a restored version of Le Samurai in November, and I will be the first to buy it.

So here’s to Jean-Pierre Melville, father of the New Wave, poet of the underground.

NB Top ten favourite new films are listed in a different colour font. Films I consider to be masterpieces have the letter M written after the title in red.

Slumdog Millionaire

Rachel Getting Married

Doubt

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1931) M

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Anvil (Documentary)

The Class

Che: Part 1

Far North

Frost/Nixon

Gran Torino

Il Divo (Italy)

Wendy and Lucy

Let The Right One In (Sweden)

Religulous (Documentary)

In The Loop

Gun Crazy (1950)

Star Trek

State of Play

Synecdoche: New York  M possible on second viewing

A Girl Cut in Two (France)

Coraline (Animation)

Drag Me To Hell

Anything For Her (France)

Spartacus (1960)

Ashes and Diamonds (1958) (Poland) M

Katyn (Poland)

Public Enemies

Bruno

Moon

Barry Lyndon (1975)

Mesrine: Part 1 (France)

The Hangover

Inglorious Basterds

The Hurt Locker

Broken Embraces (Spain)

Frozen River

District 9

Katalin Varga

The Beaches of Agnes (Documentary) (France)

Thirst (South Korea)

Triangle

Inferno (Documentary) (France)

The White Ribbon (Germany)

A Serious Man

Paranormal Activity

Up (Animation)

Citizen Kane (1941) M

Avatar

This film made by Mohamed Jalaby is about as intense and harrowing as films can get. It is filmed largely from inside an ambulance in Gaza during the Israeli bombings of 2014. When I first read about this film, I knew I wanted, indeed needed, to see it. As much as City of Ghosts was a worthy documentary, to me it still sugared the pill about what was happening in the other hell-hole of Syria and remained too detached from events. Ambulance blows City of Ghosts out of the water. Sadly I think City of Ghosts will get all the plaudits and awards and Ambulance will have limited screenings and little publicity.

But it needs to be seen by everyone. It doesn’t take sides, it simply shows the horrific effects of the bombs and the sheer hell in which the Palestinians live. Yet they always maintain their dignity and stoicism. And even some humour.

This is the must-see documentary of the year. It does what all good documentaries should do. It documents. It is truly brave film-making in which the person behind the camera really did put his life on the line. It raises the bar in first-person reportage and documents unflinchingly what is happening in a part of the world in which the mainstream media sanitises, distorts, and lies. Will this be shown on the BBC? Somehow I think not.

NB Top ten favourite new films are listed in a different colour font. Films I consider to be masterpieces have the letter M written after the title in red.

The Road

Up In The Air

A Prophet (France)

Ponyo (Animation) (Japan)

A Headless Woman (Argentina)

Micmacs (France)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Sweden)

Shutter Island

Green Zone

Kick-Ass

I Am Love (Italy)

Nowhere Boy

The Ghost

Psycho (1960) M

Dogtooth (Greece)

The Disappearance of Alice Creed

City of Life and Death (China) M

Four Lions

The Bill Hicks Story (Documentary)

M (1931) (Germany)

Lebanon (Israel)

Rec 2 (Spain)

The Manchurian Candidate (re-make)

Bad Lieutenant

Revanche (Austria)

The Killer Inside Me

Ajami (Israel)

Inception

Rashomon (Japan) (1950) M

Mother (South Korea)

Salt

The Secret in their Eyes (Argentina)

Winter’s Bone

Certified Copy (France)

The Last Exorcism

Enter the Void

Scott Pilgrim v The World

Buried

The Town

The Social Network

Metropolis (restored version) (Germany) (1927) M

We Are What We Are (Mexico)

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Thailand)

Monsters

Catfish (Documentary)

Of Gods and Men

The Illusionist (Animation)

NB Top ten favourite new films are listed in a different colour font. Films I consider to be masterpieces have the letter M written after the title in red.

The Way Back

Enemies of the People (Documentary) (Cambodia)

127 hours

Black Swan

The Leopard (Italy) (1963) M

Abel (Mexico)

The King’s Speech

Inside Job (Documentary)

Animal Kingdom

True Grit

Confessions (Japan)

The Adjustment Bureau

Submarine

Fair Game

Essential Killing

The Silent House (Uruguay)

Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Documentary)

Source Code

Meek’s Cutoff

The Big Sleep (1946) M

Farewell (France)

13 Assassins (Japan) M

TT:3D (Documentary)

Hanna

Outside The Law (France)

How I Ended This Summer (Russia)

Julia’s Eyes (Spain)

Silken Skin (aka La Peau Douce) (France) (1964)

Apocalypse Now (1978) M

Senna (Documentary)

Kaboom

Les Diaboliques (France) (1955)

Incendies (Canada)

Tree of Life M

A Separation (Iran)

Day For Night (France) (1973)

Cell 211 (Spain)

Arrietty (Animation)

Super 8

Days of Heaven (1978)

The Skin I Live In (Spain)

The Guard

Taxi Driver (1976) M

Troll Hunter (Norway)

Kill List

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Drive

Melancholia

Sleeping Beauty

Midnight in Paris

Miss Bala (Mexico)

Tintin (Animation)

Gilda (1946)

We Need To Talk About Kevin

Hugo

In Time

My Week With Marilyn

Yay, the new HOME programme is out and I’ve gone through it with a fine tooth-comb. I’m really looking forward to the Jean-Pierre Melville season as Le Samourai is one of my favourite films and Army of Shadows is also excellent. I’m keen to see all the others in the season. Also jumping out at me is Billy Wilder’s The Lost Weekend (1945), one of his masterpieces, a searing and powerful portrayal of an alcoholic. A season of independent Indian films also looks fascinating, I particularly like the look of Ankhon Dekhi.

NB Top ten favourite new films are listed in a different colour font. Films I consider to be masterpieces have the letter M written after the title in red.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (US)

War Horse

The Artist M

The Shining (1980)

The Descendants

Carnage

Martha Marcy May Marlene

The Woman in Black

Michael (Germany)

Zero Hour (Venezuela)

Chronicle

The Hunt (Spain) (1966)

The Last Circus (Spain)

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Turkey)

Carancho (Spain)

The Hunger Games

Into The Abyss (Documentary)

Headhunters (Norway)

Coriolanus

L’Atalante (1934)

Cabin in the Woods

Damsels in Distress

Avengers Assemble

Ordet (Denmark) (1955) M

The Raid (Indonesia)

Juan of the Dead (Cuba)

La Grande Illusion (1937) M

Prometheus

The Dictator

Cosmopolis

Snow White and the Huntsman

The Five Year Engagement

The Dark Knight Rises

Nostalgia for the Light (Documentary) (Chile)

Jackpot (Sweden)

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) M

Shadow Dancer

The Impostor (Documentary)

The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)

Berberian Sound Studio

To Rome With Love

Killing Them Softly

Looper

Holy Motors (France)

Death Watch (France)

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Rust and Bones (France)

The Shining – Extended Cut

Room 273 (Documentary)

Red Desert (Italy) (1965)

Amour (France)

The Master

Lawrence of Arabia (1962) M

Argo

Sightseers

The Hunt (Denmark)