Lima

“If I abandon this project, I would be a man without dreams and I don't want to live like that. I live my life or I end my life, with this project.“ A riveting look at the making of one of the most challenging films in the history of cinema, Fitzcarraldo, directed by one of the most skilful filmmakers who never compromised artistically or creatively, Werner Herzog. The idea of carrying a 60-ton steamboat over a mountain ridge with a 40% gradient, in the middle of the Peruvian jungle, 2000 miles from the nearest civilization, was a real challenge that Herzog fought doggedly for 4 years, despite the risk of human casualties. Herzog might come out as an intransigent fanatic, but his witty philosophical monologues towards the end of the film make it clear that this eminent filmmaker had and has his head screwed on straight, whatever you think of him and his work.

Poster tagline: EVERY MAN ITS PRISONER! EVERY WOMAN ITS SLAVE!!! If we are to believe the words of Roger Corman himself, this film was supposed to be a veiled warning against totalitarianism. But the central dramatic line, which slips into self-parody throughout, is grossly mishandled by the director, and the central monster itself also undermines the intended seriousness. The monster that "conquered the world" looks like an overgrown carrot with pointy teeth and crab-like tentacles that move clumsily up and down like a teddy bear. It has no legs, so it moves like it's riding on hidden wheels, it lives in a cave and spits out little bats that bite into the back of its victims' necks, putting them under its mental control. That sounds fun, but the attacks in question are three in total, and the monster itself only appears for a few seconds in the last ten minutes. In the meantime, the viewer has to endure dull dialogue, a pointless romantic plot and "dramatic" acting by all involved, with star Lee Van Cleef, in particular, probably not putting this job in his resume. But I admit that the showdown with the monster would be a hit on youtube :o)

Poster tagline: IT WILL SCARE THE LIVING HELL OUT OF YOU!! SEE THE GHASTLY GHOULS IN FLAMING COLOR!!! Well, alas. The poster and the advertising promised a lot, but the entertainment was scarce. And yet the script is not completely futile (of course, by the B-movie standards of the time). Basically, the point is that chief makeup artist and creator of monster masks Pete Drummond (werewolves are his main specialty) gets fired by the new heads of the American International film studio, on the grounds that his work is no longer needed because the public demands comedy and humor, so the studio will focus only on musicals. Drummond is not willing to accept this and with the help of a special ointment he temporarily subdues (one might say "hypnotises") two young aspiring actors who, disguised as a werewolf (a very nice mask, by the way) and the Frankenstein monster, do his will and murder the studio executives. The premise is decent, but even three murders can't banish the static boredom that completely lacks even a guilty-pleasure element. Perhaps the only thing worth mentioning is the fact that it has a regular musical singing number and also that the last 10 minutes were filmed in colour. But the reason why they wasted Technicolor escapes me a bit (aside from the red flames of the final fire).

Poster tagline: WHAT PRIMITIVE PASSIONS… WHAT MAD DESIRES DROVE HIM ON? HE HELD THEM ALL IN THE GRIP OF DEADLY TERROR… NOTHING COULD KEEP HIM FROM THIS WOMAN HE CLAIMED AS HIS OWN!!! A kind of B-movie variation on Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The "doctor" here is Professor Groves, who tries to prove to the scientific community, with general ridicule, that the ancient Neanderthals had a more developed brain than the present-day homo sapiens-sapiens, while Mr Hyde is his alter ego – a primitive Neanderthal in trousers, white shirt and a funny mask – into which he transformed after the injection of a special serum. The real fun starts after the middle, when the hairy Groves runs through the mountains, knocks out three men and a dog, kidnaps a screaming woman and finally fights a sabre-toothed tiger (his former cat, which he also transformed by injection). Location shots of the Sierra make up about five percent of the film, with the rest wandering around cheap sets with fake trees and the professor's house. Groves's prehistoric mask is not very good, and the illusion of a sabre-toothed tiger is created by shots of an ordinary tiger, probably borrowed from the circus, combined with about five close-up shots of a head mask with artificial incisors, and the two views don't fit together at all.

Poster tagline: TEST TUBE TERROR-BEAST AMOK ON COLLEGE CAMPUS! CO-ED BEAUTY CAPTIVE O A MAN MONSTER! STUDENTS VICTIM OF TERROR-BEAST!!! Neither silly enough to be fun, nor good enough to watch again. In any case, unworthy of the name of Jack Arnold, probably the best filmmaker of the Golden Age of Science Fiction. An average director of his time could have made this and the result would have been the same. The whole thing revolves around the last surviving prehistoric fish that Prof. Blake had brought to his lab. He gets infected from it three times (a cut, a splash of the fish blood from a pipe, and an experiment with an injection directly into a vein) and each time he turns into – well – a Neanderthal!! In the first transformation he kills his friend, in the second he kills the detective who’s after him, and in the last he runs like a Stone Age man across the countryside, with a torn plaid shirt and an axe in his hand, making menacing grunting noises, which is quite at odds with the rest of the film, where he philosophically ponders the narrow line between being human and being an animal. The make up effects deserve praise – neat prosthetics with hair – it’s a pity that the four minutes or so that we get to see it are not enough to fully enjoy it.

It reminded me a lot to The Incredible Shrinking Man. As a result of the revenge of mad scientist Dr Thorkel (who looks like a bald Himmler), a bunch of other visiting scientists are miniaturized to the size of puppets by a special device and struggle for survival in the inhospitable environment of a house and the jungle. Somehow, Schoedsack's films have become synonymous with special effects feasts and the Master didn't disappoint here. There’s plenty to watch, lots of functional rear/front projections, optical wizardry and especially the studio's evocation of the smallness of the main characters – there are countless larger-than-life models of everyday objects: giant scissors, a squid, a table, books, chairs, a briefcase, a rifle and many, many more. And in the jungle there are giant roots, a rock garden, plants and a giant boat by the shore. There is also an attacking cat, a crocodile and a dog that looks at its miniature master with an expression of confusion. Perhaps only the disposal of the main villain I could imagine more spectacularly, as promised by the games with a giant rifle, but otherwise I have no major reservations. A very nice sci-fi flick.

90 minutes of unbelievable emotion. The premise itself is pretty lame and the bland execution doesn't help the final impression, although the actors are obviously trying (the only interesting character is Forest Whitaker). But they are trying in a bad movie.

It's been a long time since I've enjoyed an acting performance as much as I have here in the case of Michelle Williams. She may lack the sexy sparkle of the real Marilyn Monroe, but she has perfectly nailed her gestures, poses and acting mannerisms, and the many film awards she has won for it are well deserved.

A very distinctive directorial imprint in the most depressing film in years. Perhaps it tries too hard. In any case, Tilda Swinton deserves an Oscar.

I like the big productions of old Hollywood, like David Lean and others, but this was just weak tea, not even close to Bondarchuk's version. The Soviet version surpasses the American version in everything: it’s incomparably more narrative (the difference between a few hundred Hollywood extras versus 120,000 Russian extras, mostly conscripted Red Army soldiers, is damn clear, not to mention the fact that it is still the most expensive film production of all time), it’s much more inventive in direction, more interesting, richer in terms of locations (the 168 locations where the Soviet version was filmed is in the Guinness Book). Compared to that, Vidor's version is stripped down, lifeless, passionless and emotionless. And while I love Audrey Hepburn, even she couldn't hold a candle to Lyudmila Savelya and her charm, passion and irresistible immediacy.