Cross of Iron (1976)

RATING:	100%
FORMAT:	Cinema

(http://homecinema.thedigitalfix.com)

Fascinating and engrossing variation on the Bathsheba myth that is not so much a classic war movie as an exploration of the reasons for, and the exact nature of, class-war.

There is no alternative to such internecine conflict and the inevitable result is the need for the ruling class to be dependent on the poor to achieve its goals; the fear of poor people being that if they do not suck up to their rulers, they will either be killed or be unemployed.

The love between men in combat and for each other is very strongly presented - so much so that they seem more alive in the thick of battle than in a woman’s arms. The acting is superb as is the writing. This is a film you are very unlikely to forget in a hurry - especially because of its dark humor.

(http://homecinema.thedigitalfix.com)

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Copyright © 2011 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.co.uk) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

Ulysses (1967)

RATING:	100%
FORMAT:	DVD

(Image: http://www.8weekly.nl/)

Brilliantly-inventive take on a brilliantly-inventive novel that vividly captures the clever wordplay of the original. Starting off with a cine-realistic style it becomes fantastical as we come to learn that Leopold Bloom is haunted by his sexual impotence and his wife's inevitable response in making him a cuckold to satisfy her resulting sexual frustration. His nightmares of sexual inadequacy are central to this drama and produce most of the humor here.

Unlike Lady Chatterley, Molly Bloom does not find fulfillment in the arms of a gamekeeper but at least her long felt want indicates the hope that continues to burn while one is still alive and which makes suicide so abhorrent.

The performances are committed from a troupe that utterly believes - quite rightly - in the quality of the material they are to embody - and fully embody it they do. The performers make the poetry seem natural when spoken and draws us into the enhanced world of James Joyce's Dublin - exaggerated to make the world in all its complexity clearer.

Copyright © 2011 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)

RATING:	80%
FORMAT:	DVD

(Image: http://ebruinfilmreview.blogspot.com/)

Superb film about the negative effects of living in a culture obsessed with appearance as more important than essence. Here, emotional relationships are stillborn as few learn to develop their emotional life to its fullest flowering.

The affective retardation is compared to those born brain damaged in the form of a morbid parody that’s quite funny, as parents warn against talking to strangers yet don’t treat their own children as kin if they aren’t photogenic.

Copyright © 2011 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

Chariots of Fire (1981)

RATING:	100%
FORMAT:	DVD

(Image: http://soulfoodmovies.blogspot.com/)

Subtle appreciation of White supremacism from a White author – especially the anti‑Semitism. Here, Jews are shown as loyal to a White supremacist country despite the fact they are not accepted as a true Englishmen. This is tempered by the inherent nationalism of the Olympic Games; meaning that an English Jew's victory can be seen as a national victory - not the ethnic one it actually is – while his defeat would be seen as a Jewish failure only.

The characters are as very well‑defined as the situation they find themselves in; elucidating both. A devout Christian is athletically‑pitted against a Jew; making for a religious- and race‑war between men of the same nationality that their love of the sport transcends. They deal with their additional inner conflicts of running to overcome their fear of winning and of being the best – all to the music of Vangelis and Gilbert & Sullivan.

Copyright © 2011 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.

Delicatessen (1991)

RATING:	60%
FORMAT:	DVD

(Image: http://5plitreel.wordpress.com/)

Like Big Meat Eater and Texas Chainsaw Massacre before it, this is a paean to vegetarianism. This is a dystopian science-fiction movie of which the Demon Barber of Fleet Street would approve as a shortage of meat for the butcher creates a market to satisfy the cravings of anthropophagous carnivores.

(Image: http://5plitreel.wordpress.com/)

This is visually interesting but thematically weak – Terry GILLIAM with a touch of Russ MEYER. Despite the high quality actors on show, they are in the grip of the general, all round weirdness and can make little headway with deepening their characterizations beyond the trite. Nevertheless, as a love story of the possibility of escape from poor parenting into a world of happiness and fulfillment it just about makes sense.

(Image: http://5plitreel.wordpress.com/)

Copyright © 2011 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.