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Thursday 06/25/09

5:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
La Strada (1954 ITA): Federico Fellini's picaresque tale of itinerant entertainers returns to the small screen after an absence of almost six years. Anthony Quinn stars as Zampano, a circus strongman who brings his act to the masses via his motorcycle-hauled caravan. Zampano needs a helping hand, and finds it in the form of Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina), a waif on the cusp of womanhood sold to him by her desperately poor mother. She's not the sharpest nail in the tool-chest, and he treats her with a mixture of contempt and cruelty, but Gelsomina manages to make the most of her miserable existence and brings a measure of stability to Zampano's life — until the two hook up with a traveling circus and lock horns with its star attraction, The Fool (Richard Basehart). One of the most important films of the post-war period, La Strada helped kick off America's love affair with the foreign language film — an affair that would burn brightly until the late 1970s, when Spielberg and Lucas would return the big budget blockbuster to center stage and suck the air out of the rep house business model.

7:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Juliet of the Spirits (1965 ITA): Normally, I would piggy-back my recommendation for this film with La Strada, but Juliet of the Spirits is too big, too beautiful, and too important to play second fiddle to anything. It's a film that deserves and rewards multiple viewings, scene-by-scene (and sometimes frame-by-frame) analysis, and a hearty appreciation for surrealism. Giulietta Masina is perfect as the middle-aged woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown, trying to decide if husband Mario Pisu is cheating on her. Director Federico Fellini's camera flatters Masina (his real life wife) at every turn, in sharp contrast to the outrageously costumed and made-up likes of Sylva Koscina and Valentina Cortese. Hints of the macabre are laced throughout, in anticipation of Fellini's own Satyricon (1969) and countless Italian horror films of the '70s. I pose two questions: what is the significance of the very frequent facial shots of characters that are shrouded in shadow? And is the split-second shot of a David Hemmings look-alike, complete with camera, some sort of psychic forecast of what Michelangelo Antonioni would be filming in Blowup (1966)? Watch the film, and submit your answers to the usual address!

Friday 06/26/09

12:30 AM HBO Signature
Hard as Nails (2007 USA): Credit where credit is due: "youth minister" Justin Fatica found a market niche for himself, and is milking it for all it's worth. Fatica is a "born again" Catholic from a VERY wealthy family who got into all sorts of trouble as a teenager and then turned it into a brand during his 20s. Now he lives a comfortable existence of his own whilst abusing impressionable teenagers with his Hard as Nails Ministry, which seems to involve tremendous amounts of shouting, violence (in one scene, he seems to be kicking one of his students; in another, he allows someone to hammer him repeatedly on the back with a folding chair), and abuse of "the other" disguised as empathy. This film is completely non-judgemental, but Justin's borderline psychotic behavior and poor little rich bad-boy schtick tells you everything you need to know about this New Jersey Elmer Gantry. Fascinating and deeply disturbing.

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