littlemartinarocena

I'm not sure how many time I've seen it but it doesn't matter. Every time is like the first time. Carole Lombard in her last film before her untimely death is not just beautiful and impossibly funny but modern, profoundly modern. A performance that will still be relevant a hundred years from now. Jack Benny is perfect in what must be his very best film. Robert Stack, beautifully wooden, as usual, reports to duty with a delicious Lubitsch touch. As if all this wasn't enough, this film was made in 1942 and that in itself will give film lovers and historians a lot to tal;k about for centuries to come.

To sit through "The Go-Between" again, after years - maybe 20 - since the first time I saw it, turned out to be an almost religious experience. Harold Pinter adapted L P Hartley's novel and Joseph Losey directed - Lose, a blacklisted American who became one of the pillars of British Cinema in the 60's - think "The Servant" or "Accident" - Then, of course, Julie Christie, sublime. Alan Bates at his pick and the spectacular Margaret Leighton ensure that "The Go Between" will always be alive and relevant. Dominic Guard is wonderful in the title role as well as Michael Gough and Edward Fox. Michel Legrand and his score are the only elements who seem rooted in 1971. The film opens with the line "The past is a foreign Country...." Yes indeed, I believe that that applies to film too because in the past, even a recent past, is like a foreign Country, even a close and friendly Country, people behave differently there, then.

I hadn't seen A Bigger Splash but after being dazzled by Call Me By Your Name, I rushed to find and see this Luca Guadagnino 2015 film and it confirmed without a doubt that Luca Guadagnino is a remarkable filmmaker with a retro eye and a futuristic sensibility. His elegance makes cinematic the most unpalatable of tales and this one, a four sided triangle, it's unpalatable and scrumptious all at the same time. Tilda Swinton is superb as the voiceless singer, Dakota Johnson gave me, for the first time, a glimpse into what she could be, Matthias Schoenaerts hits all the right notes even the most unexpected ones but Ralph Fiennes gives a performance that it hast to be seen to be believed mostly because this is the same actor in Schindler's List, Quiz Show, In Bruges and last year he provided me woth one of the funniest scenes of the year in Hail Caesar. So, as you must gather, I had a great time and I'll wait for the next Guadagnino with childish anticipation