Into the summer we go and here comes the next batch from Criterion. Two films are re-editions, two join the club, and a film director gets a very special box set a lot like his fellow countryman, Federico Fellini. While the re-releases are a 1930s French masterpiece and an eye-popping adventure from a Monty Python member, the two newcomers are a psychosexual drama from Britain’s New Wave and the debut film from an American modernist who stands as one of the best directors of today.
The Rules Of The Game (1939)
One of two re-releases for 4K also comes with a new cover, and I have to say, it speaks out on the era it is from and the formality in which it presents itself. Except, this film is no formality. It is a comedy of manners and it zings the bourgeois heavily, exposing the French upper class as rotten that call out their hypocrisies. For Jean Renoir, who directed and co-starred in this satirical devil of a story, it also looks back on his upbringing as the son of a famous artist and how much he despised the elite he once was part of. Banned and cut, its incredible restoration after the Second World War brings us what Renoir had originally served to unsuspecting viewers.
The Servant (1963)
Legendary writer Harold Pinter scripted this story of class structure through a psychological prism as Dirk Bogarde plays a new servant for a wealthy family. Soon, he becomes a tool in the family’s personal relationships and even gets to switch roles. The upper-class family being stripped down to unabashed power is disorienting and creates the social monster from its Victorian roots in a decade where such family values fall like dominoes. It was a great vehicle for director Joseph Losey who had been blacklisted from Hollywood and allowed him to instill his leftist views in the story.
Time Bandits (1981)
The second re-release for 4K is from Terry Gilliam and his magical fantasy tale that cemented his solo directorial skills. With his fellow Monty Python players John Cleese and Michael Palin, Gillam’s creativity went wild in this adventure of a boy and a group of thieves who go through periods of history. Sean Connery, Shelly Duvall, Ian Holm, David Rappaport, Kenny Baker, and Sir Ian Richardson are part of an ensemble that plays along the journey with impressive animation and special effects that fully encapsulated Gilliam’s visions for his future works.
Medicine For Melancholy (2008)
Barry Jenkins showcased his talent with this romantic drama of two people (Wyatt Cenac and Tracey Heggins) who have an affair and spend the day together through Bohemian San Francisco. The story focuses on the identity of Blackness and their social gentrification in a community that is mostly White and how the two see things differently. It is an inner look of being Black, very much like Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk, and maximizes the use of shooting on video (with a budget of $15,000) that was a first look at how artistic Jenkins could get with any story anywhere.
Pasolini 101
I wrote an article about this controversial figure last year, who was unlike anyone that had sat in the director’s chair before or since. He was flagrant with purpose and his films of the 1960s told the world what he was about. Pasolini’s films focused on the poor, such as the plight of prostitutes, sex amongst the hierarchy, and the religious quality of life, which is ironic because he was an atheist. But, he was also about attacking Italy’s embedment with capitalism and consumerism, especially by referencing the country’s past with fascism.
Nine films from the decade are now in one box, from his debut Accattone to his Greek tragedy Madea. The lifelong Communist was not afraid of angering the establishment and his films were always under attack by conservatives as immoral. This group of films spat in the face of the elite (and his final film, Salo, got him killed for it) to pick apart the hypocrisies he saw, and the injustices, and Pasolini turned them inside out to show how corrupt it all was.
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