Film, Literature, & the Human Condition

James Cameron, in my opinion, is one of the few directors that can get people to come to his movies solely on the merit of his name. He has made only seven films in nearly three decades, and each of them is highly innovative, pushing the envelope not simply in effects, but in implementing effects for unique dramatic and narrative purposes. Every one of his movies, in some way or another, has made a breakthrough in filmmaking technique and in 2009, Cameron is once again set to rattle the world of cinema with the release of his long awaited sci-fi epic, Avatar. Besides the advancement in photo-realistic motion capture animation technology, which Cameron himself supervised specifically for the film, he is also utilizing the Fusion digital 3-D camera system that has been developing for years. Aspects of traditional filmmaking, such as miniatures, live action shooting on high tech soundstages, and filming in real environments, make this project a seriously ambitious endeavor. And, like I mentioned before, these superlative technical elements are not merely some gimmick as the narrative scope of Avatar is in the pure Cameron fashion of challenging ideas which reach towards a mythic level of storytelling. Film geeks, myself included, are already salivating, but our wait has been prolonged another few months since the release date has been pushed from May to December of 2009. Until then, we are to make due with what James Cameron has already given the world, but trust me, the breadth of his films thus far is enough to keep us occupied a plenty. From his concerns of a nuclear holocaust to the complex relationship between humanity and technology, James Cameron has woven a rich tapestry of both science and art. (continue reading…)

Clint Eastwood is the ultimate polymath of the filmmaking world. He started as an actor, but slowly evolved into a director, then a producer, then a film composer, and on the title song of his film, Gran Torino, he sings. He’s pushing 80 years old and shows no signs of slowing. Judging from his demeanor in Gran Torino when his family presents him with the prospect of a nursing home, I imagine merely uttering the term senior citizen in his proximity would be hazardous. While I think other artists his age would rather spend their time playing the grandfatherly figure in a lighthearted comedy or direct a cliched Bucket List kind of movie, Eastwood continues to dredge through brooding existentialism. Since the start of his career, he has been apt at exploring the darker sides of human nature. Most of the characters he’s played are antiheroes or at least anti-establishment, and the characters put under his directorial microscope have their most flawed attributes showcased. The interesting thing about Clint Eastwood’s films is in the way he chooses to see people as individuals. While he has examined characters of diverse cultural backgrounds, he does not ascribe their behavior to anything but who they uniquely are, not ethnically, but as a person. Like I said, the aim of his art is to dissect human nature, trimming away everything, all excuses for a character’s immorality, until there’s nothing left to speak for it except their own human integrity. (continue reading…)

In 2009 comes Inglourious Basterds (yes it’s supposed to be spelled with an ‘ou’ and an ‘e’), the newest film from Quentin Tarantino. It has come to be that whenever Tarantino releases a film, it is an event of sorts. Our last foray into his universe was the 2007 release of Death Proof, the second half of the Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino homage to the heyday of self-proclaimed sleaze cinema. Tarantino appears to be obsessed with the nostalgic resonance of exploitation films, from scratched film stock to crackling cheap sound, but his ideas and most certainly his filmmaking sensibilities are uniquely ingenious and transcend the quality of the 70s genre. The elements from them most heavily imbued into Tarantino’s work is the hard edged grittiness and fast paced vitality of that kind of moviemaking. Combined with his own trademarks of quirky storytelling, unique characters, and profanely articulate dialogue, witnessing Tarantino’s tapestry gives the viewer a rhapsodic connection to the material that wholly accentuates his love for movies and creating them to the point that the explosive visuals and soundtrack give us an almost synesthetic sense of being able to smell the celluloid. Now I won’t tell you how, but I managed to come across a copy of his screenplay for Inglourious Basterds and I am ecstatic to say it will be nothing but sheer titillation for fans of Spaghetti Westerns, French New Wave cinema, Bunch-Of-Guys-On-A-Mission movies, Historical War films, and of course, a category all unto himself, Quentin Tarantino. (continue reading…)

The story of the making of Satyajit Ray’s first film is like the life of its protagonist, a miraculous odyssey. The movie I am referring to is none other than Pather Panchali, the inaugural entry of the sweeping Apu Trilogy. Its creation must be legendary among filmmakers as a stunning example of guerrilla moviemaking, not simply because it was made, but because it was made into a piece of art that is so uniquely beautiful and effective. What’s more impressive is that Ray had never before directed a scene, his cinematographer had never photographed anything, the child actors had never been in front of a camera, and even the fellow who composed the music was a novice. That fellow, of course, is Ravi Shanker. The film was plagued with financial problems and was on the brink of collapse many times throughout its ridiculously prolonged production of three years, but the finished product is such a miracle of writing, acting, and directing that its imprint on the face of movies is sacred. That the great Satyajit Ray was able to overcome all the obstacles and fight his way to complete his masterpiece is nothing less than an affirmation of the human spirit. (continue reading…)