#66- Murmur of the Heart

Quick recap: Laurent is a 15 year old boy who desperately wants to lose his virginity(don’t they all?).IMDb describes this movie as a ‘jolly coming of age story’, which I totally agree with, except for the incest.

Fun (?) fact: Director Louis Malle says the movie is mostly autobiographical, except for the sexual relations with his mother. What a relief!

My thoughts: So, Murmur of the Heart is a French film. I feel like it’s important to point this out because I just don’t believe something like this would’ve ever been ok to American audiences. When looking at it from my perspective as an American girl, every scene seemed outrageous- from the young boys smoking, to the priest coming on to Laurent, and of course, the incest. But maybe if I had been French, only the last scene would’ve been shocking. I recognize that a different culture is at play here so there is no point in judging that, but it’s also impossible to ignore my natural bias.

For starters, I never really warmed up to the character of Laurent. Once again, it might be my bias, but I could never identify with him. Through the entirety of the film, I felt like I was watching something that wasn’t meant for me. As a girl, I have my own share of stories of what it was like in high school as I matured and the awkwardness of it all. And how intimidating it was when I got to college and it felt like all of the guys had so much more experience than I did. But then while watching this movie I realized that a boy going through puberty was no walk in the park, either. For Laurent, it was even more rough having two older brothers constantly pushing him to lose his virginity. It was one of those moments where I felt like I was going ‘behind the scenes’ and entering into a world I knew nothing about.

Everyone seemed to have a relaxed attitude about sex in the film, which once again, seemed shocking to me but might be the norm elsewhere. The second half of the movie takes place in a sanitarium where Laurent recovers from a heart murmur (get it?!? He had a legit medical condition but it was also his symbolic heart! So. Deep). Although he had suspected it, he learns that his mother is having an affair and he wishes her good luck in the endeavor. When she leaves for a couple of days to spend time with her lover, Laurent turns even less likable. There is one girl that he has set his sights on but when she rejects him he calls her a lesbian and becomes upset. Her parents witness the whole thing and even though they seemed offended they didn’t even have him thrown out. Then in a later scene, during Bastille Day, Laurent is back to talking to the girl. He continues to say offensive things and tries to kiss her, but she never really gets too angry about the whole thing. It was as if everyone had the attitude of ‘boys will be boys’.

And finally, we come to the scene with Laurent and his mother. I think the less said about it the better, although I will mention how grateful I was that the entire encounter was only implied and nothing was shown. After it is over, Laurent’s mother tells him that she will think of the time fondly, but that it will never happen again. Laurent seems satisfied by this and I guess the whole thing gave him courage because he ends up sneaking out and having sex with some girl. When he comes back into the room the next morning, he sees his entire family waiting on him. His father talks sternly to him at first but then everyone bursts out laughing, and the movie (thankfully) ends.

Final review: 2/5. On a positive note, I’ve been learning French and was quite pleased to recognize about 10 different words during the movie.

Up next: Kiss me Deadly

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#65- Brokeback Mountain

Quick recap: This is the one about the gay cowboys.

Fun (?) fact: Annie Proulx, author of the short story of which Brokeback Mountain is based on, sent autograph copies to the two main stars. She addressed one to Jake Gyllenhaal but the other she accidentally addressed to Ennis instead of Heath Ledger, because she felt he was the perfect representation of that character.

My thoughts: I saw Brokeback Mountain for the first time in 2005 at a small theater in Lufkin, Texas. I had recently ‘come out’, so to speak, as liberal and felt that this is the sort of movie I should see. I can’t say that I have always been an ally for LGBT rights, but in sitting in that theater and listening to the slurs being yelled out to the screen from the audience, I knew it was the right thing to do.

I don’t believe Brokeback Mountain to be the best representation of the gay culture, past or present, but I do think the movie serves a purpose to a certain extent. For a girl growing up in Texas, I really didn’t have much knowledge about what it meant to truly be gay. I guess I always saw it as a sexual thing, since that is what everyone focused on, instead of the more simple idea that two people love one another. And then when I saw the relationship between Jack and Ennis in the movie, it really opened my eyes to the whole concept of homosexuality. In watching the film a couple of nights ago, I still didn’t find the sex scene very romantic, or many of the other scenes when the characters made out. But I recognized the love and passion the two had for each other. It was even more evident when contrasted with their marriages to the women they settled with. The kicker for me was the last scene with Ennis and the shirt. I normally don’t hold back on spoilers,but I did on that one because I reacted to it the same way I did back in 2005. It broke me.

As for the ‘technical’ aspects of the film, I felt that Jake Gyllenhaal was more recognizable as a gay character but it was Heath Ledger who really owned the emotional mess his character was in. And because of that, I agree with Proulx that his acting was more believable. The scenery was gorgeous and still makes me want to visit the area at some point in my life. I also loved the choice of music: simple so as not to distract from the plot, yet helping the emotional scenes resonate even more.

Despite all of the victories this year for LGBT rights, we are far from over. There are many places where being called ‘gay’ is still the worst thing you can say to a person. And even for the more liberal cities in America, a stereotype still lingers as to what ‘gay’ looks like- and it’s certainly not a pair of cowboys. I’m not sure people who are homophobic would watch this movie and turn their beliefs around, and in fact, with a few of the explicit scenes, it’s bound to cement what they believe even further. But the movie is a good reminder of how things used to be, and in many parts of the world, still are. And hopefully, maybe in 20 or 50 years, Brokeback Mountain will be the kind of classic that we look back on and have trouble fathoming a world in which so much inequality and hatred existed.

Final review: 4/5.

Up next: Murmur of the Heart or Kiss Me Deadly

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#64- Mildred Pierce

Quick recap: Mildred Pierce is the story of a woman who started out as a housewife whose husband had just left her, to becoming a successful restaurant owner. Her life seems perfect, except for the fact that her second husband is only in it for the money and her daughter Veda is about as spoiled as you can get. It’s almost as if there is a lesson to be learned here, maybe something about money and selling out?

Joan Crawford as Mildred Pierce

Fun (?) fact: Nobody really wanted Joan Crawford in this movie. Everyone was gunning for Bette Davis, but when she turned it down, they had no choice. Crawford ended up earning an Academy award for her performance, but that didn’t change the fact that people didn’t much care for her.

This probably didn’t help her image much

My thoughts: At this point in my list, nothing strikes more fear in me than the word ‘melodrama’. As has previously been noted, I am not a fan of the genre. It just seems like such a cheap way to do cinema: to tug on the heartsrings of the audience and make them love you. On the other hand, the formula works. This movie did very well in its time and won several awards. I’m sure that back when it was first released, it was a film that appealed to a wide audience and had many plot points that people loved to discuss. I do understand why it made the list, but it just wasn’t the movie for me.

For starters, nothing screams ‘melodrama!’ more than someone getting murdered during the very first scene of the film. And as what has become my pet peeve, the death was in no way realistic. I don’t know why I expected more because that was just how you did things back then. But it just made the movie seem even more cheap and hokey.

Although I didn’t love the plot, I do think some of the actors did a fine job telling the story. The actress who played Veda was my favorite. She played the bratty socialite to perfection. She did a fine job showing her true colors, as well as attempting to hide them when she was trying to get what she wanted. The performance I didn’t love, however, was that of Joan Crawford. I admit that there was some bias beforehand, because the only thing I knew about her was ‘Mommie Dearest’.I wavered back and forth throughout the entire movie, trying to decide if I could really see her talent or not. And even now, I don’t know. The movie called for a strong woman, someone who doesn’t crumble in the face of adversity, and Crawford plays that like no one else can. But also, the character of Mildred Pierce is supposed to invoke sympathy with the audience. I was supposed to sit there and think, ‘oh my god, that poor woman’, and I didn’t feel that way at all. Crawford could never seem to lose the ‘bitch’ face, like when she was interacting with her children. The acting stopped being realistic and started to take on the melodrama title proudly.

I think I want to be Joan Crawford for Halloween next year

The revelation that Veda was the real killer was not a surprise, but I liked that the movie turned salacious when it was revealed she was having an affair with Pierce’s second husband. I’m sure that was shocking at the time. The twist seemed reminiscent of a VC Andrews book, which, if she were still alive, Joan Crawford would’ve been perfect for a role in an adaptation of any one of those books.

Final review: 2/5. Melodrama.

Up next: most likely Brokeback Mountain

#63- Woman in the Dunes

Quick recap: A schoolteacher explores the dunes, looking for a rare insect. Realizing he has missed his bus for the night, some villagers offer to help find him a place to sleep. They send him down into a dune with a widow, whose job is to shovel sand for a company. The next morning, the schoolteacher realizes he is trapped. With no way out, he begins to bond with the woman and eventually they fall in love.

obligatory ‘tie her up because she lured me in here’ dance before falling in love

Fun(?) Fact: Quicksand isn’t really all that deadly. Most of the time, it runs just a few feet deep and if you make slow movements, you’ll end up floating to the top and be just fine. I don’t know why, but I always assumed quicksand would be an obstacle in my life at some point and now I’m a little disappointed that it wasn’t the enemy I feared. 😦

bonus fun fact! Apparently there is a fetish for people getting stuck in quicksand. Thanks, Google images!

My thoughts: When people gush to me about their love of foreign films, what they usually mean is Amélie. Which is fine, and I totally get it because it is a sweet movie, after all. But then I have the experience of watching an unexpected foreign film and I wonder why it isn’t getting the same recognition as all the others we ‘love’. Woman in the Dunes is a weird movie, but not so weird that it couldn’t be embraced by all the foreign film aficionados. In fact, if I had to come up with a tagline for this movie, it would be, ‘It’s not El Topo‘. Clear and concise, just the way it should be.

One of the thoughts that struck me throughout the movie was that I could never get a handle on what genre I was actually watching. This was the first time I chose to forgo research before sitting down to watch something and I must say that it increased my affection for the movie just a little bit more because everything is unexpected. The beginning of Woman in the Dunes would make for great horror film fodder: A young man, unaware of his situation, is lured into the dunes where there is no escape. The sand almost becomes a monster, a living thing. It is its own life force. And there is no escaping it. In fact, the widow must shovel daily, not just because it is her job, but also because if she didn’t the sand would bury her house within a couple of days, with her along with it. But it was also horror as the man realized he was just as trapped as his insects were, after catching them. This is his life now.

At some point, the mood changed and the plot centered more on the romance than the Sisyphus lifestyle. Earlier the sand had frightened me, but now it was being used for sexual tension. One of the aspects of living in a dune is that water is not readily available and when it is, it must be rationed. Therefore, when bath day rolls around, it is a big deal. The scenes with the schoolteacher and widow bathing each other were pretty hot and made me wonder if I had a future in writing sand dune related erotic novels. But then I also thought of a certain scene in the desert from El Topo, and the thought was gone. I guess it makes sense that love would blossom, seeing as literally the only other activity is shoveling sand.

And then finally, after an escape attempt where the schoolteacher falls into quicksand, he is resigned to his fate. One day, he stumbles across an idea to pump water from underground so that it will be available at all times. When his lover is taken away due to an ectopic pregnancy, he even has a chance to escape. Instead of doing so, the schoolteacher climbs out of the dune to look at the ocean, and then puts himself right back where he was so that he can continue his project. It was a very depressing ending, although I suppose there are several ways to take it. My opinion is that there are aspects of life that seem like you may be trapped, and you very well might be, but there is always something interesting that you can throw yourself into and focus on.

Final review: 3/5. Very interesting concept, but there were some slow moving parts and it seemed like there was one disaster after another, which lost my interest a few times.

Up next: I actually haven’t a clue. I’m open to suggestions!

1001 Movie Nights

Category Archives: Movies

#66- Murmur of the Heart

#65- Brokeback Mountain

#64- Mildred Pierce

#63- Woman in the Dunes

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