France, 1933, 41 Minutes, Black & White, 00:41:00, French.
This week I’ve understood there are still big gaps in my education regarding must-see movies. Having being seen dozens if not hundreds of classic films over the past 30 years or so, from the silent Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin (Бронено́сец «Потёмкин», 1925) to Tarkovsky’s Andrei Rublev (Андрей Рублёв, 1966), that I’ve seen earlier this year, it yet seems that I’ve skipped so many, not to mention I hardly remember some of the ones I did see. That’s why I’ve decided not to wait for someday and imposed myself with a challenge of A Movie A Day. The rule (for the time being) is: the movie has to be freely accessible online. It also helps that I can manage with English subtitles. I hope I can keep with this having been scheduled to watch at least 16 theatre performances in the next month and a half, being a judge in the Israeli Fringe Theatre’s Golden Hedgehog Awards. Next week 3 performances are scheduled and the week after – 4. But there are also short films.
So, I’ve started with Kevin Smith’s Dogma. I’ve seen some of his films in the past (… Chasing Amy). And while it may look quite nonsensical at first, getting into it may reveal it is contemplating quite heavily and seriously about faith in general and Catholism in particular, as if Mr. Smith disguises himself as a clown (sorry, Silent Bob) for feeling somehow ashamed of having not-cool at all dumb serious thoughts. I’ve told you I have some strange gaps…
Yom Kipor, Day of Atonement, summoned another kind of blessed challenge: a day without screens. No computer, no mobile phone. Just me and paper books. This year it was Kapka on one hand (and every one out there pretends to be a writer, please do yourself a favour and read some of his short stories for setting the bar) and on the other hand – the reviews of François Truffaut, with whom I’ve embarrassly discovered more holes need urgently to be addressed… So I’ve started with Jean Vigo, maybe Truffaut biggest idol, whose only feature L’Atlante I did see back in the days, with no recollection whatsoever so I intend to get back to it. It worth mentioning though that it stars Dita Parlo, a big inspiration for Madonna (her book Sex and her subsequent world tour, which I’ve witnessed first hand on 1993 in Tel Aviv) and for Dita Von Teese, the burlesque artist, although I don’t think Dita was at all provocative in that film… But I was short on time so I’ve decided to watch his second film, only 41 minutes, Wiki called it featurette – a little feature: Zero for Conduct (Zéro de conduite) from 1933, its brief I’ve read in advance clearly indicated this is a big influence on Truffaut’s 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cents Coups, 1959), that I’ve seen twice (a least) which gives me the benefit of remembering something of it)…
A few eye and heart captivating highlights (Like Montserrat Caballé transcending from a grand forte to the most subtle of pianissimo at the end of Puccini’s Turandot, which I’ve seen just after that, making my jaw dropped). So, in no particular order…
- The mutiny scene in the dormitory in slow motion – with feathers confetti sparkle in the air…
- The little doodle drawn by the teacher (while standing on his hands) that was suddenly animated when the camera focused on it in a closeup (Please do remember, the year is 1933). I had to see it twice to make sure I’m not imagining…
- The same teacher walking around in the yard like Charli Chaplin… and the reason he went on his hand at class (in the previous bullet), drawing that said doodle, is because he mischievously followed one of his students who was actually taking the liberty to disrupt the class.
- In anatomy class – the skeleton, hanging from the ceiling, starts to move following the footsteps of the teacher
- Who makes a pass at one of the students, tender in years… Oh dear…
- The Principal, a little person (back in the day, we used to call them dwarfs), finds it hard and struggle to put his hat over the mantel.
- The life-size dolls who sit in the second row of the VIP box at the school important ceremony … Do only I recall the movie of PP Pasolini with similar life-size (although talking) dolls (episode “What are clouds?/Che cosa sono le nuvole?” from Caprice Italian Style/Capriccio all’italiana, 1968).
- The teacher who was tied up to the bed, which was then raised to vertical position (which then reminded me the performance of Adina Bar on’s Rest, where her bed was hanged on the wall), but here it’s not clear what is holding it up and then the kids put something on it, so this poor fellow looks crucified.
- The pranks of the 2 children in the train cabin at the beginning of the movie. That ends with them smoking and smokes their cabin, so much so that the sleeping chap riding with them declared by them dead. They then escaped the train only for us to see the sign of No-Smoking cabin. If you wonder, the (dead) teacher is all-safe.
- The kids who have escaped to the roof make themselves a banner, drawing a chalk skull on a piece of dark cloth, at the end they are marching there toward the camera … asking for… well you name it…
I believe that the censorship in France banned the movie back then when it premiered so children (and adults alike) won’t come up with uncalled-for despicable ideas… well … following the Second World War it seems somehow redundant…
Tomorrow I’ll watch the first movie of Vigo, a short one, À propos de Nice (About Nice), and then L’Atlante…
