Movies II

To be continued

Driving Miss Daisy, 1989. With Jessica Tandy, and Morgan Freeman as her chauffeur. Driving through the woods, he has a hard time convincing this very proper southern lady they had to stop so he could relieve himself. Then at the end he visits her in a retirement home and lovingly feeds her, bite by bite. I watched it at night, alone in my country villa.

All the Mornings of the World, 1991. With Depardieu, both father and son. A musician, Sainte-Colombe, whose instrument is the viola da gamba, mourns his wife who appears as a ghost and shares wafers and pickled pears with him. In the film, the younger Depardieu plays the part of a pupil who also becomes a musician and plays at the court of Louis XIV. Beautiful photography. Saw it with a composer friend who was so overwhelmed that on leaving the theater he took hold of what he thought was his companion’s hand. Only it wasn’t his companions hand.

L’amante,1992. From the 1984 novel by Marguerite Duras.

The scene I remember most is when the hands of the girl and her future Chinese lover touch as they ride in a carriage.

The Secret of the Old Woods, 1993. Directed by Olmi and with Paolo Villaggio. A fable. It is winter. The old colonel, looking for his grandson, waits in the snowy woods and an endless river of soldiers comes marching down the road. Was surprised to see Villaggio in a film where he was a real actor and not only Fantozzi (which I never liked). From a novel by Buzzati.

Il postino, 1994. Massimo Troisi, Philippe Noiret. Troisi was sometimes hard to understand because of his dialect but one couldn’t help loving him as Philippe Noiret, who played Pablo Neruda, shows him what poetry is. 

Train de vie, 1998. How many times have I watched this Romanian film by Radu Mihaileanu. Full of joy in the dancing in the village, the putting together of a train to deport them all the villagers before the arrival of the Nazis. Perhaps one of the most touching scenes is when the whole group stops in the countryside for their Shabbat services and Schlomo, considered the village simpleton, gives the accompanying prayer, saying man was created in the image of God. But who says so? Man does. 

The Legend of 1900, 1998. A verbatim rendering of Baricco’s monologue. Fills your heart with music and has several heart-breaking performances. Tim Roth, generally cast as a villain, here is the pianist who never leaves the ship, for the streets of the city are too many to take in. And Pruitt Taylor Vince as the trumpeter who becomes his friend and tells us this story. Perhaps one of the most memorable scenes is in the beginning when the steamship arrives in sight of New York and the immigrants on the deck all rejoice, knowing the end of their journey has come.

Tea with Mussolini, 1999. Florence, war is about to break out. As secretary to a cloth merchant, Joan Plowright puts his florid language into an English business letter. His 30 words into her 10. With Cher, Maggie Smith and Judi Dench.

O Brother where art thou, 2000. A film that keeps you waiting for the next episode, based on Homer’s Odyssey. Loved the initial scene with the blind seer pumping his cart along on the railroad, predicting the future of the three escaped convicts, including a cow on the roof of a house.  

A Walk in the Clouds, 2002, Anthony Quinn and Keanu Reeves. Frost threatens a vineyard and all come together to wave big fans to keep air moving. Like butterflies.

Slava’s Snowshow, 2002. A coat is hung from a coat rack. Slava, the clown, wraps himself in the coat and the coat embraces him and hands stroke his face. Whose hands? Whose arms?

Il Dono (The Gift), Michelangelo Frammartino, 2003.  Not so much individual scenes as the overall picture of a dying Calabrian village and a few of its inhabitants. Each frame is a beautifully composed masterpiece. Saw it in Paris in 2004 with Carolyn.

We Have a Pope, 2011. Nanni Moretti. Famous is the scene of cardinals playing ball. The main character flees from the responsibility of being pope. The courage to renounce. Wonderful scenes of the red-robed cardinals and their world.

Caesar must die, 2012, Taviani brothers. Convicts staging Shakespeare’s play in a high security prison. The actor who plays “Caesar” is shown, in a pause, reading Caesar’s De bello gallico and realizes that he hadn’t at all understood it when in school. Then Mark Antony in his elegy over Caesar’s body repeats over and over – “but Brutus says Caesar was ambitious, and Brutus is an honorable man.” Which brings to mind the mafia who are all “honorable men”. I must have seen it a dozen times for I wanted to share it with friends.

And then came Covid. And a broken leg. Life changes. I can no longer go for walks down the lane with my dog. Have to leave the country for the city. Need help in getting out of bed. Accept the fact that I am no longer young. Be grateful for my children and my friends.