Out Sick... Film's the Cure

BONNIE AND CLYDE 1967 (Blu-Ray)

One of Time Magazine's 100 Best Films, this film bounced up to the top of my viewing list in a unique convergence of my movie watching and reading habits. Nixonland, a history of the sixties and the conservative movement that came highly recommended by many political blogs I follow, referenced this movie as a key to understanding the counter-cultural movement of that era. What's interesting is the subtle ways a hippie anti-authoritarian mentality is represented by a movie about 1930s gangsters. I definitely think I saw it differently with a political sensitivity as I thought of the references Nixoland makes to this movie. As a cinematic experience, I think it really moved at a solid pace and was over before I thought deep characterizations could be developed. But I think that's what made this film so groundbreaking... a surface level of violence and throw-caution-to-the-wind narrative that made future films like this more acceptable.

BATTLE IN HEAVEN (2005) Netflix Instant

Carlos Reygadas, who directed Silent Light and Japon, with this film in between, stands firm as my challenging pet indie director. All three of these films have been disturbing, sexually graphic, and very patiently paced, but I never have seen long steady shots of landscapes be made so deliberately to further a film's vision. One technique I found interesting in all three films is the use of non-professional actors. While distracting (maybe even moreso if I didn't need the subtitles) the use of them seems more appropriate when the Director makes the location and scenery the star. You can have any person on camera stare into the horizon contemplatively without saying a word... it takes great skill to film the environment around the character in a way that you internalize the character's struggles.

I think I do anticipate this fellow's next film more than other modern directors. His style is so distinctive and evolving, that there are many possibilities to where he can go.