#157- Swing Time

Quick recap: A dancer, Lucky Garnett, moves to New York City in order to raise $25,000 to marry his fiancée. Instead he ends up falling for his dance partner and making a huge mess, although no one seems to care in the end.

and a little Blackface thrown in for good measure.

Fun (?) fact: During the scene where Lucky sings ‘The Way You Look Tonight’, Penny (played by Ginger Roberts) can be seen washing her hair. After several attempts using egg whites, shampoo and various other ingredients, the director settled on whipped cream since it didn’t run down her face so quickly.

My thoughts: After being pleasantly surprised by Singin’ in the Rain, and maybe swooning a bit over Gene Kelly, I’ve wanted to see something by Fred Astaire. While both are talented beyond measure, it is Astaire who I have always thought of as the classier of the two, more likely to be found waltzing in a ballroom than tap dancing on top of some piano. I’m not sure if that belief still holds true after watching Swing Time, but Astaire is definitely classy.

Swooning may have happened a few times

When people sat down to watch this movie in the 30s, most people weren’t too concerned with the plot. Throughout the course of their career, Astaire and Roberts made a total of 10 films together so I’m not really sure how many scenarios there could possibly be for the two of them to dance and fall in love. At any rate, people came for the dancing and musical numbers. Think of it like porn, the 1936 version. I got a little confused at times as to what exactly was going on because I felt like I was watching an I Love Lucy episode rather than a movie. The chemistry between the two of them felt real, however, and charmed me despite the ridiculousness of it all.

Oh my god, the dancing. THAT is what it is all about. The first time the two of them dance is magical and I could watch it a million times without getting tired. These numbers, especially ‘Never Gonna Dance’ is what I think of when I think of Old Hollywood- ballroom dresses, tuxedos, diamonds. It’s just beautiful. I can’t imagine all the hours and pain the two of them went through to film this, yet they do the dances so effortlessly, like they were taking a stroll. The musical numbers themselves were catchy. Overall, a wonderful experience to see something like this.

Final review: 3/5. If it was just the dancing and singing I would have given it a 5, but the end of the movie is mainly everyone laughing for 10 minutes straight and the whole thing seemed ridiculous. Also, Fred Astaire’s character was kind of a jerk to Penny, in the 30s way of how men treated women.

Up next: Terminator 2

#139- Farewell, My Concubine

Quick recap: This is the story of two men, Douzi and Shitou, whose friendship spans over 50 years in China.

best friends, being bros, doing bro things

Fun (?) fact: This is going to be a big one, so be prepared:

Ready?

China banned this movie. I KNOW. Crazy right?!

showing young boys being beaten and tortured was cool for China, but not the homosexual vibes going on between the two characters

showing young boys being beaten and tortured was cool for China, but not the homosexual vibes going on with Douzi

My thoughts: You guys, opera is badass. Seriously. I know next to nothing about it, and what little I do know concerns Italian opera. I think I was aware that China had their own productions but I wasn’t aware how, well, badass it all was. Chinese opera has the same themes as opera around the world: love, death, war, but they have an added element of acrobatics, amazing feats of strength and stunning costumes. Watching Farewell, My Concubine makes me want to hunt down a show and watch it live because although the movie was good, it’s not the same as watching the real thing.

The plot is straightforward enough: two friends stay close for over 50 years. But oh my god, the things these two men went through. I don’t know if you are aware of this, but China has some really messed up history. At times, it felt like the director was going for melodrama, with one tragedy occurring after another, but then again Farewell, My Concubine takes place during a very turbulent time in China’s history. Although this story is fictional, I imagine most of what the movie portrays is something someone lived through at some point.

One thing that really captured my attention was the depth of the characters. Douzi is the main character, whose story starts with his mother abandoning him at the training headquarters for the Peking Opera. He is initially rejected because of an extra finger on his hand, but his mother chopped it off and walked away. The training was brutal, with boys constantly being beaten with swords and expected to be perfect. Douzi is strong, but feminine, and so is trained to perform the Dan (female) roles. Throughout the movie, he maintains his feminine personality, to the point of being overly dramatic, like many people thought homosexuals acted back in 1993. Shitou is the more masculine of the two, but very caring. He has a very short temper but somehow endless patience for Douzi. I really enjoyed not having to pick a protagonist and root for one person because everyone in this film had faults.

the story is that a king is defeated in war. All his soldiers abandon him, except for his horse and concubine. The concubine stands until the very end and then kills herself with his sword.

Final review: 5/5. Many of the scenes were very difficult to watch but I was engrossed the entire 3 hours and at the end, it felt like it was almost too short of a film

Up next: Tongues Untied

#119- Out of Africa

Quick recap: A somewhat biographical story of the Baroness Karen Blixen, who goes to Africa and then later gets ‘out of Africa’. And also falls in love with Robert Redford, because didn’t we all at some point?

Robert Redford can make hair washing look hot

Fun (?) fact: In one scene, Meryl Streep (Blixen) had to fire at a lion. She was promised the lion would be restrained but he was not, so her fear is real. It’s kind of like when I think one of my cats is asleep next to me, only to find out they aren’t and I have left my feet uncovered. It never ends well.

But the lions hung out on Denys’ grave at the end of the movie so all was forgiven

My thoughts: For a lady who ran a plantation all by herself in Africa while surrounded by lions and war, Karen Blixon’s life onscreen is rather dull. If I had to attribute it to one thing, I think the reason the movie didn’t really resonate with me is that it is framed as an ‘epic romance’. I’m not saying that because I don’t really like romance movies, but because the story is about a woman’s life in Africa.I felt that there were many scenes that could’ve been grittier and shown more emotion. There were so many opportunities to show how fierce and strong she was, but instead we see that she struggles until Denys (Robert Redford) strolls up and saves the day and in the end, all that’s really been injured is Blixon’s hair. She also had Syphilis during the movie but I don’t think many people would consider that a fun adventure.

I could go into the offensive colonial mindset that was present throughout the film, but considering that’s how Blixon presented her world in her writing, I suppose Out of Africa was accurate in that regard. I also liked Denys’ opposing viewpoint that the indigenous tribes were fully formed people who didn’t really need to be civilized. Blixon fought for workers to have their own land and not be split up so I’m glad she realized what was best.

I suppose I am contradicting myself a little bit, but what I loved most about Out of Africa was the gorgeous scenery when Denys and Blixon went on adventures and faced danger. It was beautiful and almost made me want to see the landscape up close. Almost. So while I didn’t find the action all that exciting, the scenery made up for it.

the real Karen and Denys

Final review: 2/5. Almost a 3, especially considering how much I loved Streep’s performance but in the end a 2 because it was so LONG.

Up next: Murder, My Sweet

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#105- The Golden Coach

Quick recap: An actress in a traveling troupe must choose between 3 men who are in love with her, one of whom gives her a golden coach. But then the actress realizes that she is a self-sufficient talented woman and chooses none of them. In a further ‘screw you’ move, she gives the coach to the Bishop who will in turn use it to help the sick and dying. An important life lesson there: Stick it to your love interests by giving to the poor. I should cross stitch that on a pillow or something.

but first I need to learn how to cross stitch

Fun (?) fact: Director Jean Renoir was the son of Pierre Renoir, the artist. That’s about as fun as I can get on this movie.

Baby picture!

My thoughts: I was afraid to watch this movie for fear I might die from overexposure to pretentiousness. The movie is directed by a French guy, set in Peru, featuring Italian actors. Add to that, the story centers around a Viceroy whose main problem is that he falls for an actress who he can be himself around. You know, a down to earth guy who buys golden coaches. And of course, after giving her this rather extravagant gift, he finds out she’s been seeing two other guys. But really though, the Viceroy should’ve had a bit more common sense than that. Anyone knows that you don’t throw out the golden coach as a gift first thing. If that’s where you start, how can you possibly top yourself?

Visually, the movie is very colorful. The traveling acting troupe’s costumes were gorgeous and made the skits much more enjoyable to watch. I was little confused by the nobility, though. I’m not up on my Peruvian history, far from it, but I don’t think they had a bunch of white guys running around in powdered wigs back then. The plot itself is silly so I won’t analyze it too much. Beyond the colorful costumes and scenery, I was definitely not a fan of the musical score. It was typical classical music, which is fine, but it played THE ENTIRE TIME. Sometimes it was even hard to hear what was going on because the music was so loud. The music didn’t even really match with the plot. If you are going to have a symphony playing at all times, you should at least thrown in a Sad Trombone of Regret or the Triangle of Doom to give the audience cues on how to react.

I’m still confused as to who I was supposed to sympathize with during the movie. Camilla, the actor, is being wooed by a soldier, the viceroy and a bull fighter, one of whom gives her a golden coach.Not really the worst options, if you ask me. As for the suitors, I guess I liked the soldier because he was there from the beginning and Camilla dumped him once she saw she could get something better. The Viceroy annoyed me with his purchases of golden coaches and a never ending trail of women who swooned over him. The bullfighter seemed like a decent choice, minus the ego but isn’t that par for the course for a profession like that? I was a fan of the ending though, Camilla deciding to pursue her acting career and giving the coach away.It was really the best decision because she had caused so much strife within the small community.

This is how to impress the ladies in 18th century Peru

Final review: 1/5. Not a fan, although this wasn’t traumatic like some of my other 1 point movies

Up next: The Conversation

1001 Movie Nights

Tag Archives: romance

#157- Swing Time

#139- Farewell, My Concubine

#119- Out of Africa

#105- The Golden Coach

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