My Not So Funny Half Foreign Film Festival

My wife recently put me on to something that I didn't realize existed. When I was younger I would borrow movies from the library but they would cost a dollar. Since blockbuster went out of business, we didn't rent much. She found out she could borrow DVDs from the library completely free of charge. Last week we borrowed Life is Beautiful with Roberto Benigni, Bullitt with Steve McQueen and Saving Private Ryan starring Tom Hanks. We've been on this WWII kick lately. I always seem to gravitate to foreign films, because most Hollywood films annoy me. I was never one to buy into the blockbuster film hype.

 
On our last voyage to the library I looked through everything they had before I ended up back at the foreign film section. I was trying to pick a Japanese film and an Italian film. I had over done it with the Kurosawa films as of late. Instead I went with the animated classic, Akira. Since I had just watched an Italian film, I chose 8 1/2 by Fellini. I had seen Akira over the years on several occasions. The other film was completely new to me. The description on the back of criterion version made it out to be a classic of modern cinema.

When I met up with my wife she showed me her picks. The first being The Hangover Part II. The other was film starred Sally Field titled Sybil. I was disappointed that Sally Field did not play Private Ryan's mother since I liked her portrayal of Mrs. Gump so much in Forrest Gump. I wasn't quite sure what this would turn out to be. I knew I would hate the Hangover sequel since I seemed to be the only person on Earth that hated the first one. I had no idea what Sybil was about. So upon returning to the house to kick off my 2 days off from work, we sat down in front of the TV and started to watch our hodge podge of films.

We decided to watch The Hangover Part II first. It was basically a clone of the original. Four guys are celebrating (the same guy's) wedding by showing him a night on the town. They get drugged (again) by the same guy. They wake up (again) days later in a hotel room not knowing what happened (again) and what happened (again) to one of their quartet. The big plot twist is this time it was in Bangkok and not Vegas. The only pleasant recurrence, and funniest part was Mike Tyson singing at the wedding.

Now onto Sybil, which out the 4 films, turned out to be my favorite film. It was based on a book written by a Psychiatrist named Dr Wilbur, played by Joanne Woodward. Sally Field is the protagonist and title character Sybil. She's a young woman living in New York City. She tries to live a normal life but her mental state interferes with her work and normal social interactions. She has spells and can't remember what happens to her. When being treated for a wound from broken glass, she meets Dr. Wilbur who quickly senses that there is more to her story than it seems. She begins to study Sybil and diagnoses her with having split personalities. As she delves deeper she discovers that it stems from childhood abuse at the hands of her mother. Sally Field really brought the different personalities to life. She also brought out emotion and pity for Sybil.

I had forgotten half of Akira. The first half an hour always stayed with me. Kanida's red bike. The protester getting beat up at the police station. The little white haired boy hollering in fear. This time I really got down to the nitty gritty of the story. I didn't realize how funky this film was, especially toward the end when Tetsuo turns into that fleshy, intestinal blob at the stadium. The art, although crude by today's standards, really stood out to me. I can see how this film influenced modern Japanese animation and even some American animators.

After I got home today I sat down to watch the fourth film in my story. Otto e Mezzo or 8 1/2 by Federico Fellini. I had never watched a Fellini film, but was well aware of his standing as a respected and legendary director. The film is described as a Comic Drama. I didn't find it to be funny as much as ironic and confusing. Basically the main character Guido Anselmi is a frustrated director. He's working on a Science Fiction film, while staying at a health spa. They have him drinking water from a spring, and taking sauna baths, among other activities. While on this trip he meets up with his mistress. Throughout the film he's trying to focus on the film, but all he does is have childhood flashbacks mixed with fantasies. The problem for me is that I'm not sure what is real. It was all confusing and it doesn't start to make sense until the last hour. I did like the cinematography. Anything black and white that is shot well always garners my admiration. Maybe if I didn't have to keep up with the subtitles, I would have followed the story better.