Li'l Duce's Reviews Palace

[titoli]

The Tales of Hoffman (1951) I'm not enthusiastic about thie Offenbach's work and I can't say that the Powell's visuals are exceptional, Talking about opera, the Ponnelle's work for Rossini and Monteverdi are rather more exciting. Anyway 6\10 for I like Tcherina.

[titoli]

Chair de poule (1963) Good noir set in the south of France based on a James Hadley Chase's novel. Vaguely based on Cain's Postman it follows the genre's main rule that anything that can go wrong it does. But the twists of the plot sometime come unexpected so in the end it is entertaining. 7\10 

[titoli]

Le soleil des voyous (1967) I was amazed watching Robert Stack saying his lines in french, though being dubbed. then I learned that his mother tongues were french and italian: he learned english later: guess that. 
Anyway this is a good caper movie, didn't expect so much. If you add the added attraction of one of my favourite actress (Margaret Lee) this makes it a solid 7\10.

[titoli]

Du Rififi chez les Hommes (1955) First caper-movie and still a great title in the canon. The last 3 minutes with the race toward Paris make me give it a point more. 9\10

[Groggy]

The Tales of Hoffman (1951) I'm not enthusiastic about thie Offenbach's work and I can't say that the Powell's visuals are exceptional, Talking about opera, the Ponnelle's work for Rossini and Monteverdi are rather more exciting. Anyway 6\10 for I like Tcherina.

Pity, I was keen on seeing that one.

[titoli]

Pity, I was keen on seeing that one.

If you don't like the Offenbach's opera I doubt you can make it  beyond the first 20'.

[titoli]

Les Barbouzes (1964) A distant relative to its predecessor Les Tontons Flinguers. It lacks the pace, the jokes, the gags of that one, though it was produced to bank in the success of the previous movie. Mireille Darc shows little of her graces and can't save the day but makes me give a mark more of what I would normally give. 6\10

[titoli]

Black Narcissus (1947) This is a movie which could have been made only in colour, certainly one where the use of colour is the more important part of the story. The story? Bah, I do not care so much for it, probably my fault. The movies it reminded me during the vision where I Walked With a Zombie and The Exorcist.  So I think that this work better without dialogues. And, sure great sets and pretty actresses: but could you believe that Deborah Kerr and KAthleen Byron could have chosen a nun's life? 7\10

[titoli]

Code Name: Tiger (1964) Weak spy action movie, worth watching only for Daniela Bianchi's presence. I suspect though that the car pressing scene in Goldfinger was inspired by an analogous scene here. 4\10

[titoli]

Rashomon (1950) Except for the "humanistic" finale and the staging of the second duel (it seems that none of the duelist can stand up) it's a perfect movie, though small in scope. I didn't remember there was a bolero in the soundtrack, but I saw this movie as a kid and no more since. 8\10 

[titoli]

Dersu Uzala (1975) Good adventure movie, kinda western set in the taiga.It has at least a memorable scene (the storm) and some good images, the actor playing Dersu being great. 7\10

[titoli]

A Canterbury Tale (1945) As this dvd hasn't got captions I could understand about 50% of the dialogues. So I can't be fair toward it. bnut the little I understood doesn't make me give it more than a generous 6\10, as I couldn't find a single motive of nterest except for some shots of belligerant England. The movie is anyway famous for the "match cut" bird\plane, thought to have inspired the more famous one in Kubrick's 2001. Even in this forum opinions are at variance on the subject:

1) "but it seems to me that SK, whilst appropriating the device from Powell, actually improved upon it. In ACT, the transition occurs by linking two objects that have only the quality of flight in common. In 2001, however, the two objects are both tools employed by Man to kill (the "spaceship" is, according to things I've read, a nuclear weapon or weapons platform). The leap from Man's "first" weapon/tool to his most recent shows not merely that time has passed, but that Man, for all his technology, remains unchanged. Hence, "The Dawn of Man" title, which remains in force until the Jupiter Mission."

2) "Now that Michael Powell's A Canterbury Tale is widely available on video, we all can see where Kubrick got the idea (in that earlier film, a bird flying overhead in 15th Century England is matched with a shot of a WWII Spitfire, thus eliding the 5 intervening centuries). Kubrick's application is bolder, but it loses something when compared with Powell's original. "

[titoli]

The Lower Depths (1957) Not my favourite Kurosawa. The limited action area and the characters are not helped by so imaginative dialogues and situations to keep the viewer interested. I had to fight sleep most of the time. 6\10 

[titoli]

Stray Dog (1949) A great police-procedural, noir however you may want to classify it. And of course Kurosawa doesn't limit himself to dish out a genre movie but goes beyond in delineating the character of the main figures. The scene of the chaser and chased finally laying down on the grass is memorable. But maybe some cut would have been in order. 8\10

[titoli]

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967) Only gripe I have about it is Robards as Capone: he doesn't look the part, he doesn't have the mimcry I presume Capone must have had (call it flamboyance, if you wish) and it's funny listening speak some italian words. Great charleston composed by Lionel Newman. Didn't realize Nicholson was there too. 8\10