Freddy's Take: Friedkin has long been a favorite of mine. It was tough to choose the 3 films I wanted to show Tanner and Chris, but since it was around Halloween when we were doing this, I went with his horror classic and two of his more bizarre films. Yes, it was difficult to not include The French Connection, Sorcerer (very underrated movie from 1977), or To Live & Die in L.A., but what are you gonna do? I count The Exorcist as one of my favorite movies of all-time and watching it with other people is a treat for me. It's aged very well and even though it's so obviously a 1970's movie, it doesn't feel irrelevant or dated. I think that not having CGI and still holding up is a testament to how much work went into its' production. Bug and Killer Joe are both films that weren't quite made for mass consumption. They end on down notes and highlight the worst side of human nature and mental illness. I have had Friedkin in my pocket since we started doing Director Days years ago and finally had to put him out there. I believe that Chris and Tanner also enjoyed the day and if they didn't, I couldn't tell it or they didn't say it. All in all, Friedkin can be an acquired taste simply because of his eclectic nature and how he doesn't always give the audience a satisfying ending and tends to pull out the most raw and even negative aspects of human nature. That's probably part of why I'm intrigued so much by the work that he has done.
Freddy's Take: A very enjoyable day and much more lighthearted than the previous Director Day featuring Lars Von Trier, but that was an easy accomplishment. LOL! What can anyone say about Spielberg that hasn't been said a thousand times. He is one of the all-time greats and the movies that Tanner chose were just a few from 20 that would have been satisfying to watch with my friends. Jaws is a personal favorite and I have always been a fan of Close Encounters also. It had been a very long time since I watched Raiders, and it was as action packed and fun as I remember it.
Freddy's Take: I stumbled on to Kazan through watching "On The Waterfront". I always try to learn some things about the movies I watch and when I saw that the director had also done famous films such as "East of Eden" and "A Street Car Named Desire" (Stella!!!! Hey, Stella!!!!), I figured I should look into his work more closely. My intention was to have us watch movies from a younger filmmaker, but Kazan intrigued me and I changed my mind. I bought the "Elia Kazan Collection" that was compiled by Martin Scorsese and watched several documentaries. It was quickly apparent that this guy was already one of my favorite filmmakers after seeing the aforementioned movies along with "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn", "Baby Doll", and "Gentleman's Agreement". Over the course of three weeks I watched 10 Kazan films. The guy was a master filmmaker! Each film delivered on the promise of the last one. I can honestly say that his films attack subject manner that is timeless and are still very relevant today. Themes of labor/class strife, racial inequality, media saturation in our culture, mental illness, and sexism. Any movie lover would be doing themselves a favor to look into his work.
I had so many great films to choose from but I went with "On The Waterfront", " East of Eden", and the terrifically underrated "A Face In The Crowd". "OTW" featured Marlon Brandon, Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, and Rod Steiger, as well as the awesome Lee Cobb (12 Angry Men, The Exorcist). The quality of the acting along with the story leaves no doubt as to why this is considered one of the greatest movies of all-time. This was Kazan's answer (explanation?) to his involvement in naming people that may have had ties to communism back during the "red scare", disguised as a film about the mob ran shipping yards in New Jersey. Brando is pretty awesome and the backseat scene with him and Steiger is a piece of classic cinema. "You was my brother. Charley, you shoulda looked out for me a little bit".
Next up was "East of Eden", starring James Dean. I had seen all of Dean's films (Rebel Without A Cause, Giant) previous to this and while I thought he was solid, I understood what the fuss was after catching "East of Eden" a second time. Dean's performance is raw and real. I couldn't imagine another actor in the role of "Cal". The story is pretty much that of Cain and Abel from Genesis in the the Bible. Betrayal, jealousy, the want for acceptance, and misplaced ambition are all themes and though that's a lot to put on the plate of one movie, Kazan weaves it all into a powerful and touching film. This film elevated my interest in Kazan and Dean.
The third film should have been easy, right? "A Street Car Named Desire" seemed like an easy choice, but having watched "On The Waterfront", I felt like we got a sense of how Kazan was great with an almost "play" like script, so I decided to move off the beaten path and choose a film that was not reviewed very well upon its' release but has gained momentum as a classic years after it's release; "A Face In The Crowd". It stars Andy Griffith and Patricia Neal and is a sharp look at how the media (radio, then television) can shape the way people feel about the world around them, lead people to buy products, and how it can even influence the way the general public views a politician. This topic was decades ahead of its' time and it's probably more relevant today than when it was released. Griffith gives a fantastic, over the top performance and Patricia Neal is given plenty of script to work with to develop her strong and savvy character, which was kind of a rarity for women in 1950's era Hollywood.
The films were the catalyst for a little more conversation than we sometimes get into, so it made me happy to know that even if Chris and Tanner weren't crazy about the films, there were aspects that caught their attention and triggered a want to express feelings about the film. James Dean seemed, in particular, to be a standout in our discussions. I was pleased with the day and look forward to the next get together!
On The Waterfront
East of Eden
A Face In The Crowd
Elia Kazan discusses working with Marlon Brando and James Dean.
Freddy's Take: The only movie by Bergman I had ever watched was "The Seventh Seal" and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I don't suppose it struck me enough to immediately follow up with Bergman. Tanner brought "The Seventh Seal", "Wild Strawberries" and "Persona", so I was going to get exposure to a couple movies I wasn't familiar with at all.
The films can be a little confusing at times, but I found them to be so much more sophisticated than many (most?) of the American films I've seen from the same time period. I have to learn more about that, as it seems European film from that era were fairly abstract, open, and challenging, whereas American film was much more focused on story narrative and character and were rarely overt on the topics of race, sex, and politics. Religion and death are points that get touched on quite a bit in "Seventh Seal" and "Wild Strawberries" and Bergman never seems to take a very clear stand on just exactly how he feels about either. I believe these are three movies that I am going to go back to again and in all probability I'll seek out even more of the directors work. Ingmar Bergman has a new fan.
The Seventh Seal
Wild Strawberries
Persona
A short segment from a Charlie Rose interview with Max von Sydow, discussing Ingmar Bergman.
