Category: Narrative

LFM Review: Jean-Luc Godard’s Film Socialisme

By Joe Bendel. A Mediterranean cruise sounds like a pleasant indulgence, but of course, none of the standard rules apply to Jean-Luc Godard. Certainly narrative and aesthetic conventions will be flaunted, as will polite decorum. Indeed, some might argue Godard’s latest and possibly final film (he has been somewhat coy on the subject) represents the height of self-indulgence. Yet, for hardy cineastes, the arrival of Film Socialisme, Godard’s latest cinematic-essay-provocation is as serious as a heart attack. Needless to say though, there will be plenty of shaking heads in the audience, even amongst the initiated, when Socialisme opens this Friday in New York at the IFC Center.

Dubbed “a symphony in three movements,” Socialisme is not Breathless, which proceeds along a more or less traditional narrative course, despite Godard’s periodic winking subversions. It is closer to his 1987 anti-adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear, but even there Godard left enough structural building blocks laying around for viewers to impose their own order. Rather, like his other post-2000 works, Socialisme is largely a cinematic collage providing viewers hints of narrative only for the sake of immediately snatching them back.

As Socialisme’s initial non-setting, the luxury ocean liner offers Godard a vehicle for some striking images and a frequent water motif. Just how the non-characters came to be on this cruise scarcely matters. Though a colorful assemblage – including a French philosopher, a war criminal of undisclosed nationality, a spy of some sort, and a chanteuse (played by Patti Smith) – they are only here to give voice to Godard’s polemical slogans. As he segues into his second and third movements, the film becomes something of a movie mixtape, juxtaposing text and visuals for ideological purposes.

It is not snarky to question just whom Socialisme is meant for, because of Godard’s signature gamesmanship. While the French dialogue is relatively conventional (if stilted), Godard’s subtitles are translated into crude Tarzan-like English, formatted in a style befitting e.e. cummings. Are English audiences seeing Socialisme as it is truly intended, or were the French, for whom it was presumably exhibited sans subs? Perhaps the film is best appreciated by those fluent in both languages, watching outside the francophone world. Is this a film primarily produced for French expats?

Naturally, Godard’s mischief is not limited to subtitles, but extends to soundtrack drop-outs and film-stock adulterations as well. As one would also expect, his extremist politics are also front-and-center, including a preoccupation with the Arab-Israeli conflict and the rather unsettling observation: “strange thing Hollywood Jews invented it.” Continue reading LFM Review: Jean-Luc Godard’s Film Socialisme

Communists in Japan!: LFM Reviews: United Red Army

By Joe Bendel. It was certainly red, but not always united. Former underground filmmaker Kôji Wakamatsu witnessed the Japanese New Left degenerate into a loose network of terrorist groups plagued by factionalism and internal power struggles. A sometime ally and contemporary of the militant paramilitaries, Wakamatsu has produced a chilling look at the inner workings of the militant left in United Red Army, which opens this Friday in New York at the IFC Film Center.

Wakamatsu leaves absolutely no doubt where the Marxist United Red Army (URA), as well as its Red Army Faction (RAF) and Revolutionary Left Wing (RLF) predecessors, were coming from. During one of many “self-critique” re-education sessions, their leader, Tsuneo Mori, pretty clearly spells out the need to sacrifice any sense of individuality and embrace death to advance the so-called class struggle. To do anything less is construed as counter-revolutionary, unless you happen to be one of the commanders.

In his largely narrated opening sequences, Wakamatsu tries to suggest that the URA terrorists began as misguided anti-war protestors. However, they quickly evolve into violent hardcore Maoists (in fact, when Nixon makes his historic visit to China late in the film, it’s a real buzz-kill for the surviving URA faithful). In fact, as Wakamatsu tells the group’s history, one wonders if he realizes how much he actually reveals.

In the second, centerpiece segment of the film, the RAF consolidates with the RLF into the URA – taking to the mountains, ostensibly for military training. Yet, well before the revolution can possibly begin, the Red Army launches a reign of terror within its ranks. Here URA begins to resemble a horror movie, as one-by-one, loyal members are forced to undergo “self criticism,” clearly inspired by the Cultural Revolution, culminating with torture and fatal beatings.

URA concludes with the ill-fated Asama-Sansō hostage crisis, in which a remnant of the terrorist group held an innocent woman captive in her husband’s mountain lodge. Despite his personal disillusionment, Hiroshi Sakaguchi commands his men in this act of horrific folly. As disturbing as the final stand-off might ordinarily be, it is something of a let-down compared to the sheer gut-wrenching cruelty of the self-criticism sessions. What we see in URA is the sublimation of the individual to the collective—a textbook example of how cults work. Continue reading Communists in Japan!: LFM Reviews: United Red Army

Experiment in Fascism at a German High School: LFM Reviews The Wave; Film Opens Friday (5/27) in New York

By Joe Bendel. Any experiment in social control that deliberately exploits obedience and conformity is cause for concern. In Germany, it is all kinds of disturbing, for obvious reasons. As Libertas readers are well familiar through Patricia Ducey’s recent review of the documentary The Lesson Plan, the so-called “Third Wave” classroom exercise was actually the brainchild of American leftist Ron Jones, who converted his Palo Alto high school into a fascist mini-state in 1967. The incident subsequently inspired Morton Rhue’s young adult novel The Wave and Dennis Gansel’s film adaptation – the Sundance standout The Wave – which opens this Friday at New York’s ReRun Gastropub on a double bill with Gansel’s hipster vampire noir We Are the Night.

Mr. Wenger is a popular teacher. He lets kids call him Rainer and reminisces about his time on the barricades. He’s all geared up to teach a special topics class on anarchism, but a senior faculty member nips that in the bud. Instead, Wenger is stuck with the ‘autocracy’ course. Yet, low and behold, the topic inspires him. Suddenly it’s “Mr. Wenger” again, but only during autocracy class. Surprisingly, the students also take to the new discipline he dishes out, embracing the rather stylish white button-down shirt and blue jeans as their uniform. As befits a collective, they also adopt an ominous sounding name: The Wave. Yes, they even have their own special salute.

Naturally, students who are not part of The Wave, feel keenly excluded. Those not enrolled in Wenger’s class are still able to join, provided they blindly submit to the rules of the budding cult. A few, like Karo, the formerly popular ex-girlfriend of Marco (the star water-polo player) recognize the insidious nature of the Wave. Yet as long as they are not too outrageous in their tactics, the administration condones Wenger’s ill-conceived project.

Continue reading Experiment in Fascism at a German High School: LFM Reviews The Wave; Film Opens Friday (5/27) in New York

The New Trailer for Showtime’s Homeland Series

By Jason Apuzzo. I’m curious as to what readers think of this trailer for Showtime’s forthcoming war-on-terror themed series, Homeland. The series, from what I’ve read, involves a CIA officer (Claire Danes) convinced that a recently-rescued American POW (Damian Lewis) may be a brainwashed al Qaeda sleeper-agent charged with carrying out a terrorist plot here in America. The series also stars Mandy Patinkin as the CIA officer’s mentor.

The eagerness with which the networks always want to depict Americans as the ‘true’ villains never ceases to amaze me, even when it’s done in this convoluted form.

Posted on May 23rd, 2011 at 4:25pm.

Ring-a-Ding-Ding: Pan Am, Playboy Club Trailers Begin the ‘Mad Men’ Cash-in

By Jason Apuzzo. I’m curious as to what people think of the new trailer above for NBC’s forthcoming show The Playboy Club, as well as the clip below from ABC’s forthcoming series Pan Am. Both series are set in the early, swingin’ 60s – and both are looking an awful lot like Mad Men … in fact, almost embarrassingly so. Christina Hendricks and January Jones would seem to be owed some residuals, here.

It seems fairly clear that the major network Mad Men cash-in has begun, except that whatever ironic detachment and/or sophistication with which Mad Men approached the 50s/early 60s seems to be jettisoned here in favor of abject lifestyle propaganda and product placement (even of an obsolete brand, in the case of Pan-Am).

Due to their overall flavor of pandering, my sense is that the networks are going to have a difficult time selling these shows – although I certainly could be wrong. In any case, it’s fascinating to me that this is the turn popular entertainment is taking during the Obama era. Obama has always struck me as a 50s-style, Adlai Stevenson-type person in terms of his tight, disciplined personal demeanor, academic-style liberalism and Illinois background. Perhaps we are, in sense, going back to the late 50s/early 60s these days. Reader feedback is encouraged. Continue reading Ring-a-Ding-Ding: Pan Am, Playboy Club Trailers Begin the ‘Mad Men’ Cash-in

The New Cars 2 Trailer + The ‘Appeal’ of Larry the Cable Guy

By Jason Apuzzo. Pixar has released a new trailer for Cars 2, which I’ve embedded above. I’m curious as to what people think of it.

I’m particularly interested in readers’ thoughts on Larry the Cable Guy’s ongoing performance as Mater. Here’s my question: is the ‘appeal’ of Larry the Cable Guy as a media personality real or imagined? Hollywood seems to assume Red State audiences just love this guy, that he is some sort of touchstone for middle American identity. Is that true?

Posted on May 13th, 2011 at 10:38am.