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CARLOS SAURA’S FLAMENCO TRILOGY

This was the revelation of the year for me. I was virtually unfamiliar with Saura’s work, except by reputation, and because for many years Geraldine Chaplin was his main squeeze.
But I’ve always been fond of Flamenco, and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to check out three films on the dance/hand-movement/song form, descended from Gypsy culture, but having become much more complex over the centuries as others contributed to its development. Still, there is a tendency for ‘dance’ films to lose a certain amount of cinematic trappings by focusing on the dance, so I was also tentative in my approach…
Well, imagine my amazement when I discovered a series of films which are never for a moment hampered by the subject. The fluidity of camera, the aesthetic use of space and light, the uniformly excellent, naturalistic acting, and the dancing…!”
In CARMEN, Antonio Gades, for decades probably the greatest exponent of Flamenco, is a treat to watch and, on another level, he’s fairly disorienting. Once you get over his resemblance to Peter Cushing (crossed with Roman Polanski)…once you get past that, then you see the similarity to Danny Kaye, and that’s disturbing enough to haunt you for the duration. In context, his refined facial features, combined with his incomparable dance skills, make one wonder why the woman playing Carmen isn’t satisfied enough with him to relinquish all her other promiscuities. However, true to the oft-told story (including Otto Preminger’s all-black 1954 version of it – CARMEN JONES), she isn’t, and for all his talent, he’s still human and vulnerable, and therein lies a painful tragedy, as well as an extraordinary, comprehensive insight into Flamenco dance, into the training process, into the ways dance communicates complex emotions. Saura’s direction of camera and actors is marvelous. Where’s he been all my life?! He does some shadow manipulations that would stand the hair on the back of Eisenstein’s neck on end.
The transfer is immaculate – as it is with all three films – and has great range and sensitivity to light and color. The wardrobe changes affect mood as much as the dance. The soundtrack, so vital to the film’s success, is bright and resonant. And the staccato stomping of heels is galvanizing. No extras, but good, succinct liner notes.
As to EL AMOR BRUJO, how pleased I am to be reviewing a Flamenco zombie flick (I’ll let you discover my meaning when you check it out). The key dancers from Carmen are back, in particular the mesmerizing-faced Christina Hoyos, two years older, but just as feisty and visually compelling. I wish they’d done several more of these cinematic tours-de-force, but alas, this was their last.
Gades, whose best man at his 1964 wedding was Fidel Castro, loved Cuba, and requested hi his final will and testament that his ashes be interred at the National Pantheon of Heroes of the Cuban Revolution in Havana. He died in 2004 of cancer. Saura, still going strong, has recently completed IO, DON GIOVANNI for 2008 release.

The set includes:

BLOOD WEDDING – 1981. 71 mins. Color. 1.33:1 AR.
Director – Carlos Saura. Screenplay – Antonio Artero. Based on theplay by Federico Garcia Lorca. Cinematography – Teodoro Escamilla. Chorereography – Antonio Gades. Costume design – Francisco Nieva. Original Music by – Emilio de Diego. Editor – Pablo Gonzalez del Amo.
With: Antonio Gades, Christina Hoyos, Juan Antonio Jimenez, Pilar Cardenas, Carmen Villena.

CARMEN – 1983. 101 mins. Color. 1.66:1 AR.
Director – Carlos Saura. Produced by Emiliano Piedra. Written by Antonia Gades, Carlos Saura. Based on the Novella by Posper Merimee. From the opera by Georges Bizet. Choreography – Antonio Gades, Carlos Saura. Cinematography – Teodoro Escamilla. Art Direction – Felix Murcia. Costume design – Teresa Nieto. Music – Paco de Lucia, Regina Resnik, Mario del Monaco. Editor – Pedro del Rey.
With: Antonia Gades, Laura del Sol, Paco de Lucia, Cristina Hoyos,

EL AMOR BRUJO – 1986. 103 mins. 1.66:1 AR.
Director – Carlos Saura. Screenplay – Antonio Gades, Carlos Saura. Choreography – Antonio Gades, Carlos Saura. Cinematography – Teodoro Escamilla. Art direction and Costume design – Gerardo Vera. Music – Manuel de Falla. Editor – Pedro del Rey.
Cast: Antonio Gades, Cristina Hoyos, Laura del Sol, Juan Antonio Jimenez, Candy Roman.

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JOHN FORD AT FOX (Fox Home Entertainment)
Review by Glenn Andreiev

Do you have a film fanatic on your shopping list? Look no further than some of the early John Ford films recently released by 20th Century Fox. My favorite is his masterful 1936 film THE PRISONER OF SHARK ISLAND. The story is based on fact and is one of harrowing injustice: as John Wilkes Booth fled Maryland after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, he made an unplanned, random stop to Dr. Mudd (an excellent performance by Warner Baxter). Just because Mudd set Booth’s broken leg, he was labeled an assassination conspirator and sentenced to a life of hell at Florida’s Fort Jefferson. This is film-making at its most story-driven. Every line of dialog, every gesture commanded by Ford, drives the story forward, and much of it is conveyed visually. There are no stops: Ford glues us to the screen. Oh, and when John Carradine enters the picture as a sadistic prison guard who mourns Lincoln and delights in tormenting Mudd, the chill and fright factor hits the roof! Carradine, with his empty, hate-filled eyes and bony face, comes across like Nosferatu’s kid brother. Now if Fox would only do a DVD release of Ford’s 1937 haunting and exciting spin at disaster films, THE HURRICANE, then the world would be a better place!
Among the many Ford films in this spectacular release are a handful of silents, among which THE IRON HORSE has been getting the most attention – public screenings with live orchestras, etc. It is indeed a template for future horse operas, and so becomes at once historically vital and all too familiar. Definitely worth the viewing, with a nice score.
And some of the previously released titles have been revitalized with new commentary tracks (eg. DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK and HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY). In addition, in the huge multi-pack, and in the three 5-packs, the DVDs are now in those svelte sleeves which make for more storage room on your shelves, and for that reason alone are worth replacing the former copies you currently own.*

The set includes:
The Grapes of Wrath (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941), My Darling Clementine (1946), The Iron Horse (1924), Drums Along the Mohawk (1939), Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), Tobacco Road (1941), The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936), Up the River (1930), Wee Willie Winkie (1937), Four Men and a Prayer (1938), What Price Glory (1952), Four Sons (1928), When Willie Comes Marching Home (1950), Doctor Bull (1933), Pilgrimage (1933), Hangman’s House (1928), Judge Priest (1934), Born Reckless (1930), 3 Bad Men (1926), Steamboat Round the Bend (1935), Just Pals (1920), The World Moves On (1934), Seas Beneath (1931)

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(Universal Home Entertainment) 2 discs. 2005. 2 hrs. 9 mins. Both 2.35:1 and 1.33:1 AR. Commentary track with Director Joe Wright. Featurettes: “Jane Austen, ahead of Her Time”, “HBO First Look: Pride & Prejudice”,
“The Politics of Dating.” Interactive photo galleries: “Galleries of the 19th Century”,
“The Stately Homes of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE”, “PRIDE AND PREJUDICE Family Tree.” Souvenir book enclosed inside DVD case.

P&P was my vote for best film of 2005. It was fairly overlooked by the voting societies, and I don’t know why. Just one of those ill fortunes of the draw, I guess. Outside of little niggling things, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it, and everything to recommend. The casting, the screenplay, the performances, the art direction – sets, costumes, makeup and locations, the direction, the cinematography, the music, the editing. It’s really a completely successful, immaculate piece of filmmaking.
Okay, so in the first act, Keira Knightley’s denture-bearing smile looked like a dog pulling its lips back to show all its teeth. And Donald Sutherland’s mixture of emotions in his final shots are more uncomfortable than cathartic. And Judi Dench’s final close-up looked like she’d been hosed down with peanut oil. But, as I said, these are niggling little annoyances.
Aside from the wondrousness of the film experience, this makes for a fine stocking stuffer because of the imaginative packaging. A double-disc presentation of the film is fitted inside what is made to look like a book rather than a video box. It’s larger and therefore more substantial. There’s also a booklet tucked into the crevice beneath the disc, nicely produced in old-colored paper, detailing the making of the film, with comments by the cast, etc.
For a nice companion piece to PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, you might consider picking up the book “Literature on Screen’, edited by Deborah Cartmell and Imelda Whelehan, from Cambridge University Press. Jane Austen is discussed – and the essay makes a case for Joe Wright’s film as having been targeted for young viewers through it’s use of dress, posture, hair styles, and one-liners. Other authors discussed include Shakespeare and Tolkien. A serious collection of essays, good for tight reads in preparation for screenings.

Directed by Joe Wright. Screenplay by Deborah Moggach, from the novel by Jane Austen. Produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Paul Webster. Cinematography by Roman Osin. Edited by Paul Tothill. Production Design by Sarah Greenwood. Original music by Dario Marianelli. Art Direction by Nick Gottschalk and Mark Swain. Set Decoration by Katie Spencer. Costume Design by Jacqueline Durran. Special Thanks to Emma Thompson.

Featuring: Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Rosamund Pike, Donald Sutherland, Brenda Blethyn, Judi Dench,, Simon Woods, Talulah Riley, Carey Mulligan, Jena Malone.

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