green2u

I just caught this on its Turner Classic Movies (TCM) premiere and it totally blows me away by how relevant it remains! The dialog, the direction, the performances are all top-notch and instantly hurtles this film into my top 10. Very little blows me away these days, but this did. If it were released today, I think it would be even more of a hit and get the Oscar respect it deserved (and didn't get) back then. "Closer" also happens to be one of my fave films, brilliant in every respect as "Carnal Knowledge." It's no surprise that Nichols directed it too. These two films should be seen back-to-back.

Now THAT's the Jack Nicholson I fell in love with! The bedroom scene between him and Ann-Margaret where's he's going bonkers over the messiness of the house is a tour-de-force. And dig Jack's groovy pad near the end of the film: It looks like it came right out of today's Metropolitan Home magazine. And Rita Moreno's brief appearance at the end is the perfect cap to a near-perfect film.

Sick of the current cinema output, particularly American cinema, I've been making an effort to see the Oscar-winning foreign films. That's when I came across this gem. Slow to start, it picks up nicely once war is declared. Basically an old fashioned girl-waits-for-boy-to-return-from-war-story, the performances, the cinematography make this so very much more. Why Tatyana Samojlova as the young woman didn't become an international star after this is beyond me(though she has remained successful in her own country). You take the journey with her: young, defiant impetuous young girl, who, through the ravages of war becomes a very sober, somber woman who keeps a glimmer of hope (her final scene is devastating). We love her as much as the camera does. And the camera-work! Was this the pioneer in hand-held camera work? It truly adds an immediacy to the story. And the beauty of it (like when Tatyana's character is running up stairs and next to a slatted fence). I am humbled and grateful to see this film.

"You've had an abortion?" "Evie, I've had more kids pulled outa me than a burning orphanage."

That dialogue was a test of your tolerance for this screamingly politically incorrect in your face laugh til ya vomit outrageous comedy. I'm a big fan of MAD Magazine, Strangers with Candy, and some John Waters films. I also think Valley of the Dolls, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and Mommie Dearest are three of the campiest films ever made. If you feel the same, then you will love this movie.

Sure it's silly and falls apart by the end but enjoy the ride til the train wrecks! Three leads are dead on and play their parts to the hilt. The production value (costumes, art direction) alone is a good third of the laughs. On DVD, the pop colors are so bright you need sunglasses. And the opening titles are worth the price of the DVD alone. The Menu selections are very clever as well as the characters talk to you (disparagingly) about their section. Highly recommended.