by James McNally on June 22, 2002
Last night we watched Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), one of director Peter Weir’s first films. It’s a strangle little film, about a group of Australian schoolgirls who disappear while on a picnic at a rock formation on Valentine’s Day, 1900. The first part of the film, before the disappearance, is charged with expectation. There’s an eerie feeling, but also a sort of sexual tension (it is the Victorian era, after all) that’s really powerful. It’s not a suspense or mystery film in the usual sense, and you never really know what happened, but if you enjoy creepy films, you might want to check it out. Peter Weir went on to direct lots of successful Hollywood films, including The Year of Living Dangerously (1982), Dead Poets Society (1987), and The Truman Show (1998).
In other film news, today would have been Billy Wilder’s 96th birthday. I’m currently reading On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder, by Ed Sikov, and Billy was certainly a fascinating and brilliant man.
And tonight, our little film group will be screening The Sweet Smell of Success (1957), starring Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis. Being a fan of great writing, I’m looking forward to hearing all of the great lines in this one. In Barry Levinson’s great movie Diner (1982), set around the same time, there’s a character who walks around only speaking in quotes from this film.
by James McNally on March 30, 2002
Billy Wilder was born in 1906 in what is now Poland. He came to America in 1934 to work on a screenplay for a film that would never be made. Not surprising, since Billy barely spoke English. Forced to leave the country since he didn’t have a job, he went to the border town of Mexicali, where after sweet talking a consular official, he was readmitted to the United States as a resident alien. He went on to write and direct some of the most intelligent and funny films ever made in Hollywood. A short list of highlights:
He was wonderfully direct and unpretentious. On the subject of “arty” European films: “I could clean up in the film festivals if I took $25,000 and made a picture about the sex life of fishermen in Sardinia—as long as it had a certain morbid message and was slightly out of focus.” I’ll miss Billy Wilder, even though he hadn’t made a film for many years. He was sharp-witted until the end. I’m disappointed that he wasn’t dragged into a recording booth over the past few years and made to record commentaries on all of his films that have been released on DVD. I received a biography of Wilder for Christmas that I’m currently reading. It’s called On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder. And I just discovered there’s another book, called Conversations with Wilder, by Cameron Crowe. Do yourself a favour and rent one of Billy Wilder’s films this weekend.
by James McNally on March 28, 2002
by James McNally on July 9, 2001
Over the weekend, we watched all 460 minutes of the ten-part series, AFI: 100 Years, 100 Movies. Though I enjoyed it thoroughly, I wished there were a way to talk about each of these great films without giving away the entire plot, including the ending. It will make watching the films I haven’t seen yet a little less enjoyable. By the way, I’ve seen 33 of the top 100, but Brooke has seen 50.
On a related note, our first “Film Club” evening was last Friday, and we watched Billy Wilder’s The Apartment (number 93 on the AFI Top 100, and number 20 on their list of the Top 100 Comedies). I loved it, even more than Some Like It Hot, which was their top comedy overall and number 14 on the Top 100. It was a fitting tribute to the late great Jack Lemmon, and I’m becoming a huge Billy Wilder fan. Any other Billy Wilder fans out there?
