Stalag 17 (Billy Wilder)

Spot the traitor.

Film Review Archive (date seen: October 7, 2010)

Perfectly balanced World War II film (or a POW film to be more specific) with the elements of comedy and drama contrasting and merging at the same time to great effect. On one hand, the whole humorous tone of the film is incredibly, almost single-handedly carried by the characters of Shapiro and Animal (Harvey Lembeck and Robert Strauss, respectively). While the complex tone of human spirit and survival against all odds flawlessly embodied by William Holden (in an Oscar-winning performance) as J.J. Sefton on the other.

In the expansive magnitude of films such as those of the war genre, it's very rare for a picture of this kind to play with the "whodunit" plot device. But the screenplay (based on a theatrical play) has brought the film into its revelatory climax without being very obvious of what (or who) it is pertaining to.

Besides its thrilling suspense and trivial comedy contained throughout as it heads into a surprise ending, "Stalag 17" also shows the side of soldiers unblemished even by captivity; that of their extreme devotion of preserving a much-admired "war hero"(Lt. Dunbar) from certain death.

But once they looked at J.J. Sefton with disdain and brow-raising judgments, both to his stance, his cigarette-trading antics and their hunch of him being a "stoolie", they never were aware that they're looking at yet another hero. He conforms with his captors, he's a loner in their ranks, but his ultimate gallantry's what really counts.

FINAL RATING

All the President's Men (Alan J. Pakula)

The knights of the Watergate.

Film Review Archive (date seen: October 5, 2010)

Hearing and reading all about the scandals of the higher offices attached with the "-gate" suffix, it's great to arrive at where all of these have started; the political scandal that defined the 70's: The "Watergate". "All the President's Men" is to the 70's what Oliver Stone's "JFK" is to the cinema of the 90's. Both tackle and explore, with investigative purpose, some sensitive, explosive issues that can make or break, accuse or acquit.

This film, directed by Alan J. Pakula, is one of those rare ones that temporarily departs from the aesthetic pleasures the medium can offer and instead collides and focuses with hard facts and truths, leaving a bit of character arc behind (although this being based on a true story). Throughout the film, we see Bernstein and Woodward (Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford) running, talking, and frantically typing, but we never see their characters show any semblance of depth, making them solely as instruments of a search for truth. But then, it may also have been a subtle touch, enhancing their tireless quest too much that we never had the chance to peek into their personal lives; a quiet, yet effective commentary on the "clockwork" lives of investigative journalists at their most relentless.

To this day, the "Watergate" scandal is viewed as the primary testament of a system (and its officials) too consumed by power, and Bernstein and Woodward as the puny knights that dared to bring them down. "All the President's Men" is their tale.

FINAL RATING

White Heat (Raoul Walsh)

'Made it Ma. Top of the storage tank!'

Film Review Archive (date seen: October 4, 2010)

One of the cornerstones of the "crime" genre, featuring arguably its most recognizable face: That of James Cagney as Cody Jarrett, a criminal trying to shoot and rob his way from the vile bottom into the top of the world. But as one would watch the film, Jarret is indeed its heart (or the absence thereof) and soul, but never is the straightforward focus of the film.

"White Heat" gets its main tension and suspense from Vic Pardo's (played by Edmond O'Brien) undercover mission to evade Jarrett's circle. But it was indeed a great treatment for the film as it has able to magnify Jarrett's psychosis by way of viewing him and his actions through the eyes of an outsider and as a result, it has heightened the effect of alienation and disgust to Jarrett's actions even more. Another great part of the film is its detailed portrayal of a police procedural at the time, with a primitive positioning system as a particular highlight.

"White Heat" is an unforgettable thematic journey into the "crime does not pay" territory of the gangster genre, and with it heading into an explosive climax that may very well be the maxim's definitive companion image.

FINAL RATING

City After Dark (Ishmael Bernal)

A glimpse of death.

Film Review Archive (date seen: September 30, 2010)

Before our film industry has turned into the mainstream disappointment that it has been today, masters like Ishmael Bernal strengthened the industry's foundations, not by big-budget films that boasts of colorful, shallow nationalism, but supported its pillars with 'critical bravery'; exploring the themes, subjects, and immoralities in a time of modernistic bondage of expressive sovereignty (Marcos era).

I've always conditioned my mind that "Maynila: Sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag" is the best film to ever portray the eponymous capital of the Philippines. But witnessing this work for the first time, it has altered my perception of the Lino Brocka classic and at the same time "City After Dark", for me, has immediately entered the realms of being one of the "definitive" Filipino films with the highest artistic control.

But do not get me wrong, "Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag" offered an unforgettably painful look of the city from the eyes of, putting it bluntly, an alienated 'promdi'. It's a film that steers raw emotions, and at times slips into complete melodrama. But "City After Dark" may have been the opposite; it explores apathy in the midst of moral decadence and hysteria without offering much mercy.

There are moments in the film where the characters asks each other artificial questions like "Do you really love me?", or "Will you really marry me?". They're not honest queries, but merely asked so to pass the time. And though same questions may have come from sincere hearts, it's beyond their grasp. Manila's too busy a city to provide secure answers.

FINAL RATING

Metropolis (Fritz Lang)

The futuristic whore of Babylon.

Film Review Archive (date seen: September 25, 2010)

Now, who would say that limitless imagination can only be met by advanced special effects? Made in 1927 by Fritz Lang, "Metropolis" is a relentless early science fiction masterpiece. But the praise and influence haven't stopped in the confines of the silent era; instead it surpassed that seminal border to also become one of the best films of all time.

Aside from it being one of the foundations of the genre, it has ever since been the most commonly followed blueprint both in visuals and themes when filmmakers and writers formulate a derived dystopian universe. Yes, the film techniques used in the film were of course dated, but witnessing such effects and conceptual scale in a time period where even such things can't still be imagined, it's still an image to behold, appreciate, and inspire awe from its immense beauty in all its silent, black and white glory.

I also admire how Fritz Lang has interwoven the sci-fi bits with apocalyptic symbolism and Marxist themes, making "Metropolis" not just a technical masterwork from the silent era, but also a consistently layered film filled with varied evocative emotions from the simplest idea of love and brotherhood to the most anarchic feeling of doom. "Metropolis" has succeeded to hit the right criteria not just of a 'great' silent film, but of all films as a whole.

Unlike other films of the era which only served as fading brush strokes of aged masters of the craft, "Metropolis" still stands tall, up in a tower as tall as that of Babel. But unlike the parable that surrounds it, everyone's on one clear understanding regarding "Metropolis": A phenomenal treasure of world cinema and an early example of imagination at the peak of its creative powers.

FINAL RATING

The Thing (John Carpenter)

The thing.

Film Review Archive (date seen: September 19, 2010)

Pure exercise in paranoid filmmaking, with a very exceptional science fiction concept (quite reminiscent of "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers") as a canvas for the blood and gore, the suspense and tension. The story is quite fundamental, a bunch of people in one place hunted by a mysterious force. With this simple premise, it all comes down to how it was executed.

Helped by the very impressive special effects by Rob Bottin, "The Thing" is a significant film that relentlessly explores the human condition if enclosed in such a hellish situation. Kurt Russell was great as Macready, a character that I think has established a cult following as one of the all-time great heroes of the horror/sci-fi genre.

But when you look at it, he never possesses any characteristics identifiable with such. He never set on to save anybody but himself, purely relying all of his actions to his id. But maybe it's these kinds of traits that all of us viewers like to see from a protagonist: an everyman facing an otherworldly predicament. A nobody in complete survival mode.

While watching "The Thing", the tagline of Ridley Scott's "Alien" repeatedly recurs in my mind (come on, don't pretend you don't know!) and I thought, it never needs to reach space; Antarctica in its vast icy glory is enough to inspire deaf ears, deep fears, and loud screams.

FINAL RATING

Das Boot (Wolfgang Petersen)

Submerged claustrophobia.

Film Review Archive (date seen: September 18, 2010)

Claustrophobic and tense, "Das Boot" is an epic human study of survival set in the less-explored battlefields of the great second world war: the vast nothingness of the oceans. We know the stories of war zones: Stalingrad, Iwo Jima, Normandy. All has been said about those places: heroism, tragedy, casualties, you name it. But then there lies, beneath the watery abyss, the untold lives and existence of U-boat crews. The tension, anticipation, disappointments and camaraderie. Who would have surmised that a film out of these would be conceived? And even more so, the Germans, the much-dreaded stereotypical villains of the war genre, as chief protagonists? Director Wolfgang Petersen broke the boundaries of the genre and presented the said race not as ideological, ethnocentric monsters, but as vulnerable individuals that still cower on the face of imminent danger.

Jurgen Prochnow is unforgettable as the U-boat's captain, having the required experience and strength of character for such position, but still mentally encapsulated by endless insecurities and anxiety about the military hardware and capabilities of the Nazi regime. There were sequences of supreme technicalities always obligatory on the war genre but ultimately surpassing it and boasts not of the loud explosions and hard clashing of metals, but its brilliant foreshadowing of tension, its perfectly-balanced criss-cross between the narrow, sweaty confines of the U-boats' interior and the turbulent expanse of the perilous waters. Some complain about its long running time, but I think its the right approach to the film to thoroughly maintain the distress throughout the film, bombard audiences' senses with relentless suspense and create a credible bond and affection between the characters.

Adolf Hitler is on his podium, reciting reasons of the Aryan race's supremacy and yelling preposterous ideologies. But deep down the unforgiving bowels of the seas, lies the men to whom the world he promised; disillusioned, desperate, and hungry for home, they don't care about global conquest, they just need the 'silent run' and the 'surface'.

FINAL RATING