The Fastest Eddie to Ever Nelson

The Hustlin' Hustler 

Pretty Rad Poster

    Pool Halls. Billiard Rooms. Bus Depot Lockers. Rundown Hotel Rooms. A Sharp Smile To Lure Them In. What is the sum of all these pieces? 1961's The Hustler. A somewhat faithful adaptation of a pretty good novel. Though after having read the novel for the first time, the film seems to have taken the easier route and focus far more in the melodrama that could be created with a woman in the middle of the story more so than focusing on the character of Eddie Felson himself.

Nine Corner Pocket

The boring US poster

    The film deals with Eddie Nelson. A pool hustler traveling from Oakland all the way to Pittsburgh to play a game of straight pool against one of the best. Minnesota Fats. Hustling along the way to make some traveling money and get his practice in. Arriving around 15 or so minutes into the movie, we get this match of the century. Money matches that go on and on. Hours passing as the title of winner and loser changes hand after every game. The game going on for a solid 24 hours with Eddie burning himself out with JTS Bourbon. Minnesota Fats keeps it clean and simple. Doing what he needs to do to keep on playing. Eddie though doesn't stand a chance and after riding the high of winning 12 thousand dollars, ends up walking out of the place with around two hundred bucks to his name.
    He wakes up hungover and tired in a hotel room. His traveling partner Charlie, his sidekick in all the hustles, snoring on the other bed. Eddie leaves him a hundred and an quick apology and makes his way out to the streets of Pittsburgh. Going to a bus depot to drop off his luggage and pool cue. Eddie is one of those players walking around with a leather satchel that carries his own personal pool stick.
    At the bus depot, he meets up with Sarah and a budding relationship grows. Mostly over alcohol as there ain't much there really between the two beyond being two people on the down-end trajectory that life is providing at the moment.
    Eddie goes around and tries to get some more cash to go up against Minnesota Fats again but he's already made himself a well known figure when it comes to the Pittsburgh scene. He ends up by chance meeting Bert, Minnesota Fats money man, and strikes up a conversation on the nature of being a winner and a loser. Eddie can be a winner but he's got to get himself some true character of a winner because at the moment, he's just a loser with talent. Eddie believes Bert as he himself tells Eddie that he can beat Minnesota Fats but that his character just gets in the way. Bert's talking gets Eddie interested in wanting to work together but the split of 75 to Burt and 25 to him doesn't fly so he gets upset and leaves. 

Bert

    He hustles and bustles to win a couple bucks here and there but one night in particular goes wrong. He loses his cool and shows off his skill to a couple of street toughs when he should have played it smart. Instead, he gets his hundred bucks and some broken thumbs to go with it.
    He ends up in bad shape but Sarah is there to help mother him back to good health. He gets his thumbs back in action and makes a deal with Burt to play on his terms. Burt gets a game going in Kentucky during the Kentucky Derby. He tells Sarah his plans on leaving town for a week but she gets upset and in a turn from the source novel, joins Eddie to Kentucky. 
    Bert and Sarah have enormous friction towards each other the entire trip and Eddie doesn't notice or doesn't care enough to notice as he gets involved in a game of Billiards in this rich dudes basement. Sarah has a drunken explosion of emotion right before as Bert said something to her that the audience couldn't hear but was something upsetting as she threw her drink at him and made a scene. Eddie takes her upstairs and then heads downstairs into the basement to the man cave. The name of the game is Billiards. It looks like pool but there are no pockets on the table for the balls to go into. Weird fucking game but they don't go into the rules so I accept the weirdness without hesitation. 
    Eddie thinks he can win but loses. Bert cuts off the money faucet and Eddie starts begging. Sarah comes down and they get into a fight but then Bert sees the real Eddie and tells him to play the man again. Eddie gets into his hustling mode and ends up winning them 12 thousand. The two leave to the hotel with Eddie wanting to walk and Bert taking the taxi.
    Bert catches Sarah about to leave and then seduces her with a drink. She ends up killing herself and Eddie walks into a crime scene when he arrives. Wanting to kill Burt for what he's done.
    The movie comes to an end with the rematch between Eddie and Minnesota Fats though its lackluster. Eddie giving a monologue on the essence of being a true man or something along those lines. Denouncing Burt while praising Sarah and what it means to be alive. Minnesota Fats declares Eddie the best and Burt lets Eddie leave without having to pay his cut after what happened to Sarah but also warns Eddie to never walk into another big-time pool hall. Eddie and Fats give their nods of approval to one another and Eddie leaves.

The Novel and The Adaptation

the copy I read

   I had seen this movie before but it never really ignited anything in me. It was one of those films you would hear people not shut the fuck about and when seeing it, come out going 'meh'. That was in my earlier film watching years. Feels like a different movie seeing it now but also, far more interesting to critique after having read the novel. The movie watching experience now has been upgraded from MEH to official ALRIGHT. 
    Overall the film seems to be moving at a better pace than I remembered. I had originally felt like the film was going at light speed in those first 20 minutes then slowing down to a snails crawl when Eddie loses and gets into the relationship. Now though, its all more bearable and feels far more genuine, though still flawed, then how I originally perceived the film.
    Though the quantum shift in focus that the novel has of Eddie being this existential hero having to solve and overcome the internal problems of oneself to now being the victim of ego that created this tragic romance where the death of the woman being what brings him to be able to achieve redemption or growth. It's problem the biggest problem when it comes to the film as a while. 
    Though the novel is not perfect, its desire of pondering and ruminating on ideas and such of what it means for an individual achieving their ultimate goal and the sense of how futility it all has when doing so is far more interesting than what the film ultimately achieves. Though in the film it reaches that same place but more so at this forced contrivance of a suicide of the only female character in the film which just doesn't mesh well with me. Especially when it comes to a character like Bert who isn't interested in people beyond what they can provide for him.
    Beyond this drastic differences of the two, the movie pretty much follows the same narrative as the novel except with that increase of the melodramatic. 
    Though what the film does achieve minus its faults is something truly spectacular.

The Film In of Itself

another better poster than the US one

    The look and feel of the film is what sells it. Set dressing here is just the way it was back then. The dust on the furniture. The smoke in the air. The dirt and grim on the walls. Nothing here feels staged or inauthentic. The clothes the men wear are the kind you don't see anywhere these days. Casual garbs that are pulled off effortless and would make you look like a dork if you were to wear them today because you aren't cool like Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, or George C. Scott. If anything the film shows off the less than polished realities of the late 50's and late 60's New York where it was shot. Though the setting of the film is Pittsburgh and Chicago in the novel. Its always fun to see pieces of history like this since the devolution of men's wear is one issue that I take seriously. 
    The soundtrack really invokes a far more underground feel than that of say an orchestra piece to this world of pool hustling. Jazz going good with just about every moment and this choice of music instead of pop hits of the time is probably one of the biggest pluses since the soundtrack manages to be one of the few that you could listen to outside of watching the film.
    The performances are good and all but sometimes this dialogue just falls flat. There is scene specifically written in this film that has Paul Newman, who is great as Eddie Felson, giving a monologue about what pool means to him and how it just makes sense when he plays the game. Asking Sarah if he is a loser and she just replying that he is a winner. The two then excited in their appreciation and positive reinforcement of one another. A real nothing burger of a scene that stifles the actual relationship a pool hustler and a lush older college student would have. Just feels so awkward of a moment that was thrown in to create some organic resonance in their budding relationship. 

What Else is There?

get that shrug on

    An alright adaptation of a pretty good novel. There is something wanting when it comes to seeing an adaptation of the novel that the film ignores for the sake of the doomed relationship. You can see it easy that another adaptation shot in black and white going the distance and just follows the character of Eddie Felson but that would have to be a period piece more so than something of the time like when the film first came out. Something impossible really but one can dream of a better movie. 

Hard Times answers the call

Just a Break

    Days having passed and a rut has been setting in. The want for movie watching diminishing slowly and steady. Something needed to get me back into the fold. The fold being the groove. The groove of watching a movie. Easy solution. A simple film can knock me back onto the tracks. An American film is wanting. Walter Hill is calling. Hard Times answers picks up the phone.

The Film

    Charles Bronson is Chaney. A wanderer in Depression era Louisiana arriving into town on a train-car with no goal in mind and nothing but six dollars to his name. He wanders around town, gets some coffee, then hears a commotion. He makes his way into a warehouse where a bare knuckle boxing match is occurring. He notices Spencer "Speed" Weed, played by a charismatic as always James Coburn, hyping up his fighter to get the bets higher but as the fight ensues, his fighter loses and he's left with pocket change.

    The two have a meet cute in an oyster bar where Chaney wants Speed to hype him and put his six bucks on him to win. Speed agrees and they go back to the warehouse. Chaney wins and suddenly a booming business agreement occurs.

    The movie then follows the two go from fight to fight. A 2 year medical student addicting to opium by the name of Poe, played by Strother Martin, joins the team to take care of Chaney. The main villain doesn't throw a punch but spends enough money to try and get Chaney to lose the hard way. Ultimately, the final match comes around with Speed being held against his will for being unable to pay off a debt and its up to Cheney to make good.

Before the Film

    This film has always been a personal favorite of mine as well as being one of my favorite Walter Hill films. So let us speak fondly of Walter Hill.

    Walter Hill is a pretty good director. One that would have thrived in the studio systems of the past as he had made the kind of movies that all audiences would enjoy but his career started up during the weirdness of 1975. A shifting year for Cinema for it is the year of Jaws and the end of the low budget B movie receiving theatrical distribution. It is the middle years of the Movie Brats phase where people who have never made movies look back and think 'The artists were truly alive then.' instead of seeing the reality that it was all luck that the movies they made had an audience. Like honestly, who the fuck wasn't going to go see The Godfather?

    Walter Hill though was someone that could be considered kin to those Movie Brats but more so the loner sitting at the table by himself enjoying the vibes of the party while drinking his beer. Influences coming far and wide when it came to films, with Akira Kurosawa probably being the biggest, but also genre. The man loved genre films as he has claimed that every movie he has ever made has been within the context of a western. Maybe this is why his films seem to bleed Americana no matter the subject.

    He starts his career gigging as a Assistant Direct and then moving his way up to screenwriting and sells his screenplay for Hickey & Boggs then gets the job of writing the adaptation of The Getaway. Getting enough juice to get his career off the ground.

Now the Film

    I watch it now and will all bias aside have to consider this a near masterpiece of a debut. There are so many character moments that exist in this film that have nothing to do with pushing the plot forward. All of these scenes though are inherent to the overall structure of the film that to cut one would start a bleed to death by many cuts scenario because if one goes then another has to go and soon enough there ain't much but probably 30 minutes and that ain't a movie. So wonderfully done these scenes are to create stronger outlines around these character types that you have seen again and again in various other sports films. 

    And in the middle of this is Charles Bronson giving one of his better performances that surely can stand strong alongside the very few worthwhile performances he has had over his long career. Everyone in this movie though is giving their best and for the stakes set up in this underworld circle of life of gamblers, hustlers, and people getting by; it all just works.

    Unfortunately, I do have to call the film near perfect because of how it falls short to truly accentuate the strengths of having a lead like Bronson that could have shot this movie to the moon as one of the best boxing films of all time. 

    For you see, it is Bronson's stoicism that strikes the heart of every viewer and the less dialogue used the better off you are. It's not like he can't speak English or grunts to communicate but its the fact that his face is where everything needs to expanded from. All the cracks of a hard life, the rough features, but most of all the eyes. So much power is in those eyes and if you able to work off these inherent traits then you could get yourself a fantastic Charles Bronson performance.

no mustache Bronson is the biggest threat 

    Now, his delivery though can be on point. Just look at how he delivers lines if either that one Twilight Zone episode Two or how he manages to steal every scene he shows up in The Magnificent Seven. The guy can deliver if you work with him and maybe its the fact that Walter Hill was a first time director and Bronson seems like a very rough around the edges kind of guy to interact with but the way he says a couple of lines here hinders the performance. Especially those with Jill Ireland which are the core of the Chaney's want to keep fighting.

    A very peculiar criticism I know but for a film that has hardly anything to criticize about, this was always the small thing that nagged me about the film.

    The camera keeps itself steady and determined with very little movement except for the fights themselves but even then, there is no flash to the fighting. People getting punched. People taking punches. People then getting knocked out. There's no music or nothing except for grunts and groans of the fighters as the blood lust crowd cheers on a winner to win that dollar bet to get something to eat. 

    It all looks great though. You get introduced early on to the idea that all these characters are very small people in a much bigger big world. You get the sights of empty trainyards, New Orleans graveyards, and low quality rooms for rent. There isn't anything superfluous to any of it and that makes the film feel lean. Real lean all throughout. This going alongside the music being real sparse and coming around every so often but mostly as something playing out of a radio or jukebox.

The Night is Coming to an End

    I equate this film to near perfection and to create an image; it is the end of a late night, say around 2 or 3 in the morning, and you are sitting all alone in a booth. All night diner offering the only solitude one needs and a cheap cup of coffee to pass the time with. You stare outside the window and watch the world stand still as the sky starts turning brighter and brighter. There is solace to be had in moments like this when all alone and this is how the film feels. A late night cup of coffee as the world keeps turning.

Danish Dish 4; The Main Entrée

Into the Unknown I Go with a 4th Danish Feature Motion Picture

Danish Roast Pork with Crackling (Flæskesteg)

    I have been struggling to get through this strange weekend in which I was to spend three days in a foreign city three hours away but circumstances beyond my control caused it all to fall apart on that 1^st night. Spending the next couple days struggling to come up with something to do but when money and time have been wasted in trying to achieve a worthwhile weekend that was meant to escape the horrors of everyday reality, the brain goes into rest mode and doesn't give a much of a fuck about achieving anything worthwhile

    And so it is Sunday and work is less than a couple hours away and with the feeling of hopelessness dwelling inside to face the week ahead, I decided that I might as well get around to watching the fourth Lars Von Trier's film Breaking the Waves to at least try to send myself in a new direction for the week ahead.

    Of what I expected, I had no expectations as I hadn't seen the film before and only ever just heard about it but never about anything that was in depth about it. Especially after hearing all the shit my buddy was telling me about the fucking bells but more on those later.

The Film

    Taking place in the northern part of Scotland in a very remote coastal town lies a very secular and strongly religious group of town folk and in the middle of it is Bess. Bess is a woman with a soft way of seeing life as she retains this sense of child like wonder with the world. She has one on one conversations with God where she would speak to the holy spirit with her eyes open and then close her eyes to vocalize the response from God. The townsfolk treat her with cautious hands as she has had mental issues before that got her committed. Most likely having to deal with the death of her brother.

    At this moment of time that this film catches up with her, Bess is getting married to an oil rig worker. He comes into her life with great affection and a joy for life that is on par with Bess. Living on the same level and just like her, he is the complete opposite of what everyone in town strives to be. Though this guy has no Church affiliation, loves to get his beer drinking done, and can't get enough of making love. They get married as soon as he arrives from the oil rig and the honeymoon is one of fruitful expectations as we see them and know that the love they have will last

    Unfortunately, his job calls him back too soon and through a tumultuous goodbye for now, Bess is having trouble being able to deal with the adversity of loneliness. In her conversations with God, she pleads that he comes back to her. God asks if she is sure about this and she replies that basically she would want nothing more than for her husband to come back. Her prayer is answered as he has a near death accident when a loose pipe knocks into his head while on the job. He arrives back to the remote part of the island and he can't seem to cope with his current situation as he is now paralyzed from the neck on down.

    In his anguish, he asks his wife for a simple favor; that she go out and find herself a lover and retell her tale of the affair to him so that he could live vicariously through it. Without this request being fulfilled, he does not believe he will be able to keep on living. The movie follows Bess as she tries to navigates her way to try and save her husbands life while also dealing with the consequences of the rigid townspeople and her own family that look at her with disdain for acting out of what is expected of her. Reaching the boiling point of her becoming excommunicated from the community. Bess is being torn internally from knowing what to do until having an epiphany that leads to the film ending on a note of tragic that transcends & transforms into an ending of  great spiritual release.

Powerful Impak!

Its why I spelled Impact as Impak!

    Whoa. Mr. Von Trier, I didn't expect you to be pulling off 180 degree turns from your last feature into this. What feels like a completely new ground he has ventured into as the film follows Bess, with no judgment from the camera, to end up with such a beautiful ending.

  The Goods

    There are many pieces of this film that I want to go through and a bit uncertain as to how to go through all of them but nonetheless, I will try my best and so let us speak of structure/style. 

    The film is broken up through 7 chapter breaks with beautiful panorama shots that used with a standing still camera, which the images in the frame are in movement, and 1970's pop/rock song playing along with the image. Setting a tone that feels far more congruent with the film more so than an idea that was shoehorned into the film. Stuff like this can always work against the flow of the film as a whole but it works here. The only film that comes to mind that feels as though it ham fists this stuff into the film was that last Suicide Squad film. Enjoyable as far as comic book movies go but damn did all those needle-drops feel unnecessary and mostly just a point of place to have James Gunn show off another favorite piece of music he enjoys. Here though, its perfect. Working to enhance this strange fairy tale of a story.

    Hand held. That's the name of the game here when it comes to cinematography. There is a beautiful loose feeling to the entire film that goes well with following around a character like Bess. She is far too free in her nature to be shot with camera movements that require a stedicam or a dolly track. The film was made with the understanding that the only feasible option had to be a hand held camera. 

    The amount of control Von Trier managed to give up in the sense of rigid composition to do strictly this type of cinematography must have been tough. Looking deeper into the matter, I came across this clip from Mark Cousins pretty good documentary series The Story of Film where Von Trier was interviewed about his influences.

    Apparently the American television show Homicide: Life on the Streets was a mind blowing event for him as he saw the television show was shot with hand held but that the editing of a certain scene where the it was cut within the frame was something truly revolutionary. The idea of being able to cut within a shot to a shot in the same scene but its not a clean cut.

    What else catches the eye is the strange look of the film. Something that looks like film but then again doesn't? Sepia tones similar to The Element of Crime but not a total complete washing over the film itself to maintain that tint. Warm tones that fall into each frame but looking into the matter I came across this interesting tidbit of information. Apparently, the film was shot in film and then transferred over into digital tape then transferred back to film. Along with Von Trier breaking the 180 rule, cutting within the frame, and the strange tones all throughout. It is a film that was given a true sense of free for all when striving to capture this story as best as possible.

Bess

    Emily Watson. The movie wouldn't be much of anything if they couldn't have someone carry the film and what a sight to see her become this character and create someone so empathetic and what on paper could be seen as just a Marquis De Sade model of a woman being used and abused but without the artistic, is that possible?, integrity of the work itself but Emily Watson really does wonders with the role. She never plays the character as though looking down on her or the situation that she finds herself in. She leads her on  righteous as possible path to the destiny of the character and for that, obviously with the film being so critically acclaimed and such, she deserves so much for the role. It must been real tough to be in this mindset day in and day out as there is no glamour that some actors need to thrive. There is no happy ending for the character as there is only abuse and pain to be endured and for her having to play this character with all this baggage waiting; what a performance.

Music

    The music. The usage of the time music is pretty solid. 

 "All the Way from Memphis" – Mott the Hoople
"Blowin' in the Wind" – Tom Harboe, Jan Harboe & Ulrik Corlin
"Pipe Major Donald MacLean" – Peter Roderick MacLeod
"In a Broken Dream" – Python Lee Jackson, featuring Rod Stewart
"Cross-Eyed Mary" – Jethro Tull
"I Did What I Did for Maria" – Tony Christie
"Virginia Plain" – Roxy Music
"A Whiter Shade of Pale" – Procol Harum
"Hot Love" – T. Rex
"Suzanne" – Leonard Cohen
"Love Lies Bleeding" – Elton John
"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" – Elton John
"Whiskey in the Jar" – Thin Lizzy
"Child in Time" – Deep Purple
"Life on Mars" – David Bowie
"Siciliana" (Sonata BWV 1031 / 2nd movement) – Johann Sebastian Bach
"Gay Gordons" – Tom Harboe, Jan Harboe & Ulrik Corlin
"Scotland the Brave" – Tom Harboe, Jan Harboe & Ulrik Corlin
"Barren Rock of Aden" – Tom Harboe, Jan Harboe & Ulrik Corlin
"Happy Landing" – P. Harmann 

    As you can see from the tracklist, the music in this film is very mixed and very good. 

The Filmmaker in Question 

    What a sense of growth. When it comes to certain filmmakers, you can understand that they are on a certain path of film making that is more or less set in stone. Some of my favorite directors like John Milius, Robert Altman, or Steven Spielberg are like this. You watch a film out of their repertoire and you can kind of get a sense of what they accomplished with just about the rest of their entire catalog. There is no surprise to be had when watching one of their films and you can be guaranteed quality will be there. They understand the craft of film making to such a degree that as long as they stick to their essentials then they can provide a pretty solid movie all around.

    Then there are certain filmmakers that seem to grow more and more as well as take risks in the films they strive to make. Being able to understand as a fan that the next film will be something different than their last. You get a stronger sense of someone wanting to truly strive for perfection or for something more. Akira Kurosawa, Jim Jarmusch, and Martin Scorsese come to mind when thinking of filmmakers such as this. Similarities in style and execution can be seen in between all of their films but the ultimate goal of each film is different than the last and achieves them ultimately in original ways inherent to only those films

    Lars Von Trier, as I write this with under the idea that I have only seen 4 of his films, is a filmmaker that I would place as one of those striving for true originality. Willing to break the rules of conventional filmmaking with the last film. As this film was shot under the rigid guidelines, though very flexible in execution, of the Dogme 95.

    A quick overview of that Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg set down as a set of rules to follow when creating a film. As stolen from Wikipedia:

These were rules to create films based on the traditional values of story, acting, and theme, while excluding the use of elaborate special effects or technology. It was supposedly created as an attempt to "take back power for the directors as artists" as opposed to the movie studio. 

     1. Shooting must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in (if a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found).    
    2. The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa. (Music must not be used unless it occurs where the scene is being shot.)                                                                                                   3.The camera must be hand-held. Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted.
    4.The film must be in colour. Special lighting is not acceptable. (If there is too little light for exposure the scene must be cut or a single lamp be attached to the camera.)
    5.Optical work and filters are forbidden.
    6.The film must not contain superficial action. (Murders, weapons, etc. must not occur.)
    7.Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden. (That is to say that the film takes place here and now.)
    8.Genre movies are not acceptable.
    9.The film format must be Academy 35 mm.
    10.The director must not be credited.

     The only other movie that I have seen to be certified as a 'Dogme 95' was Julian Donkey Boy by Harmony Korine. What a fucking terrific movie that is but for another review.

    The overall idea is probably one of the more interesting things to come out of the 1990's when it just comes to art in general. Somebody out there wanting to set a goal for filmmakers to follow and unfortunately, America chose poorly by having Harvey Weinstein shove Pulp Fiction down our throats for the next couple of decades. 

    Though this film is certified under this banner, it is not necessarily following the rules to the letter as certain rules are broken throughout the film. But the overall execution of the film manages to be certified under the Dogme 95 banner as the rules play more so as to be able to think out of the box and experiment. As it is known that creativity thrives when having restrictions to overcome.

When It Ends 

    And what I want to bring up with this striving for originality is the ending. Bess gets herself into a situation where she ultimately sacrifices herself for the sake of her husband's survival. Understanding that God understands and condones the situation and will give permission to allow this martyrdom to occur.         She gets herself killed and with her being the spurn of the town but still a part of them, they allow her to be buried in the town cementary. But her husband already knows the deal about them condemning her to hell and so he switches out the body for sand. 

    Taking her to the oil rig and sending her off into the freedom of the ocean. The husband waking up the next morning and when reaching the deck, hears the sounds of bells ringing. Though it is not only him that hears as everyone else around all stand on the oil rig deck and listen to the chiming of these bells. Then we cut to a shot in the sky as we see this bells from heaven ringing over the oil rig.

Now I Get It

    After watching the film, I now understand the true significance of the bells but not as to why my friend reacted so negatively towards them. The bells are there to announce that Bess has arrived in Heaven and depending on the amount of cynicism that runs through your blood, it is easy to dismiss them. For me though, I welcomed the sound of the bells entirely and really am considering it as a top 5 film of all time for me. 

Future's song 'Mask Off' is a good song to keep on repeat when writing a review about the Lars Von Trier film 'Europa' Pt.3

 Can I Have a Danish with my Kafka?

the all father

    The end of the Europe trilogy is at hand and what a film to end it all on. Now, to those that go about in parading their cinematic knowledge without giving the Wikipedia a glance, let me explain the trilogy as a whole. Shit happening in Europe. The first story was taking a murder mystery and placing it in a hypnotic and hallucination vision of post World War 2 Europe. The 2nd takes place primarily in Denmark as the world slowly succumbs to a killer disease via two writers trying to get writers block for a script that's coming due.

    This third and final entry is one that dives into quite interesting terrain and could be seen as the true blossoming of Lars Von Trier as a cinematic milestone at this time. I don't believe it is hyperbole to say this as this film was released in 1991 and Cinema was going to change for what can be described as the worst of times but at the time, the false assumption was that it was the best of times. It was a time when a strange cloud was forming in the horizon and behind that moon shaped cloud was a film that would have enough force to destroy film for the remainder of the 1990's but before the massacre of Pulp Fiction, film was doing pretty good.

 

if only Clint Eastwood had better taste

    It is 1991. Krzysztof Kieślowski has just made The Double Life of Veronique. Barton Fink has just won the Palm d'Or and upon hearing the news, Lars Von Trier walks out of the auditorium and flips off everyone on the way out. What a beautiful last breathe before the end.

The Film

    Before the nitty gritty comes the plot; Leopold Kessler is an American with German roots. It is 1945 and he feels as though he must do something to help out war torn Germany. A personal moral calling he has placed unto himself as no one is asking for his services.

    He travels to Germany and meets up with his Uncle who works at Zentropa trains. What seems to be the only train service still running during these terrible post war times. He gets a job as a sleeping car conductor, in the first class area, and begins to 'help' out, though what he is doing and calling it help can be considered two different things, as he goes about in navigating through the world of post World War 2 Germany.

    As he continues on his idealist work, he gets himself involved and pulled in various directions; one is a group of Nazi loving saboteur's calling themselves Werwolf's. Another is the US Army wanting to know if he could possibly get any information that would help them in figuring out who is part of this underground sympathetic Nazi group. Then there is his Uncle who holds nothing but contempt for his nephew and wants him to do nothing more but succeed as a sleeping car conductor but as German love goes, its tough.

    Getting pulled in all these directions and then falling in love leads to a climax culminating into the ultimate moment of self assertion and the absolute failure of self assertion when Leopold acts upon his own decision for the first time throughout the entire film which turns out to be the worst one that he could make.

The Nitty Gritty Prelude

    First off let us talk style. This movie has a lot of style. So much fucking style that I gotta break the stylistic decisions that were made in this film. Will it be in order? Of course not. This is free flowing and if you don't like it then free flow yourself the fuck outta here.

The Nitty Gritty Act 1 

    Lets talk about the visuals. The overall mood and feeling of this is in between that of a 1940's or 1950's World War 2 picture like those Humphrey Bogart joints and an art film tipping the line of something commercial and something inaccessible to the layman schlub. It's an interesting take for the material being that those kind of films don't really exist especially during these turbulent 1980's. Then again, this is a film outside of the United States so maybe the world is thriving while the US is lagging and getting fatter while world cinema is getting stronger.

    Though the real cool choice is not only shooting it in black and white film stock which really makes it just look so slick as there is a clear understanding of putting shadows to work and it gives off such cohesive solid look overall but there is a twist to this. There are several moments in the film where the black and white film is being projected into the background and the actors are in the foreground being filmed in color stock. The sort of fading hue that looks to be reminiscent of the technicolor prints of the past. 

getting sick shots like this

    Taking it even more step to the extreme, the film has these moments occur with actors in the foreground interacting with people are objects in the background or vice versa. Having to spend more time timing it so that when they leave the frame, the will appear on time in the background/foreground. Beyond just scenes, this effect is also used to express emotional distress without having to involve interior monologue or anything but strictly visual expressions of these moments.

sick shit all around

    Real solid stylistic choice that feels far more integral to the telling of this film more so than being some pandering to make the film seem more exciting for mass appeal or something cheap and derivative to capture the attention of those with art crowd sensibilities.   

The Nitty Gritty Act 2

    Visually the film achieves so much and now, let us dive into this nitty gritty. There is a theme here regarding the idealistic individual. The kind of the guy that goes about his way, without any sense of wanting acknowledgment for their selfless act, or so they say?, in trying to make the world a better place but never truly considering the limitations of what their goals are.

    War torn Germany is a desolate place. In the history books and in the fictional world but then again, is this the true state of the world after such a war? There is a narrator that follows the character all throughout the film, It cannot be God for this is a godless world. It must be some other force propelling the story forward but we are introduced to this world under the calming voice of Max Von Sydow who tells us to fall under hypnosis and instructs us at the count of 10; we will arrive in Europa.

    And so, we must come to the point that this Germany is one in which one must be under hypnosis to enter and what a fucking hellscape that any idealist would have to deal with in order to make a difference in this world but what is the ultimate goal of the idealist? As the film goes on, Kessler fucks up again and again and yet, still believes that he is making a difference by working as a sleeping car conductor. The world throws shit his way and he still believes in making a difference. Up to a point.

    There was a mention in the previous film about idealists and Von Trier commits to showcasing the failure of idealism at the climax of this film. Spoilers ahead and if you haven't seen it yet then that's a you problem.

    In the climax, Kessler is instructed to plant a bomb on the train as it crosses a bridge. The passengers on the train range from poor civilians, first class passengers, army brass and everyone else that can fit onto a train and thus gives the reason why these Werwolf's want it bombed. Though none of this interests Kessler as his only reason for action is to try and save his wife. This frantic situation being even more so since on this specific trip he is taking a test to be a certified sleeping car conductor. The US army also want to meet him on the trip and have a conversation about what the hell is going on with his relationship with these saboteurs. It all boiling down to him regretfully rigging the bomb to blow and jumping off the train.

    He lies in a field and feels at ease knowing that he succeeded and that his wife will be safe. Believing ultimately that he had no choice in setting the bomb off as he wants to save his wife but then, his good morals get the better of him and he gets back up to chase down the train. Time going against him but with only a second to spare, defuses the bomb and saves everyone on the train. The true action of man believing he can make a difference.

    Turns out his wife was using him, the US Army couldn't give 2 shits about him, and there is little to no chance of him having a chance to pass the test. Rage flies within him and he steals a soldiers Thompson machine gun and fires it into the ceiling. Demanding that the train stay exactly where it is but even with a gun, the world doesn't care and the train continues on its way. It's at this moment that Kessler makes a true decision strictly out of his own need to since he has nothing left. He reconnects the bomb and train explodes over the bridge with everyone inside of it.The train tumbles into the water below and Kessler is stuck in the bathroom to die but before dying, he sees a father holding his now dead son. He had met them earlier when the father was asking for some information and now the last thing he hears is the screams of a father no more. This scream reminding him what his selfless acts amount to. Nothing good. 

    I have seen this film quite a few times before and it always there this realization but without the conversation of talking with other film fanatics and such, it was never one that I was able to gauge and realize. To be an idealist in trying times is to suffer and if you are unwilling to suffer then you must not truly be an idealist. Maybe that's just the positive spin to it all but I can't just be a permissive no matter how hard I try.

The Nitty Gritty Act 3: The Wrap Up

 

    I feel as though I made a point or stumbled into believing I have a point to make. There is so much here and it is a shame that in its wake, it did not leave much of an impression. Nonetheless, Europa remains one of the most fundamental films in my building blocks of cinema. Certainly now a piece of foundation I don't have to worry about and replace with something else. 

    Truly one of my favorite films, most definitely in the top 15 but possible that it can crack the top 10, of all time and so far my favorite Lars Von Trier film.

The Second Danish to Danish Part II

Into Something Unexpected

    After burning my retinas while trying to distinguish certain shapes through the sepia tint of The Element of Crime, I didn't know much what to expect for Lars Von Trier's second movie. 

 

when one watches The Element of Crime

    I mean, I did have an idea of what the second film was going to be but only from a strictly surface point of view. Though let us take a look at what it could have meant seeing it back then when his second film Epidemic came out in 1987.

The Unexpected Follow Up

    1987. Cannes Film Festival. As an imaginary film fan that doesn't exist at festivals like this, you try to catch as many screenings as you can. You check out Barbet Schroeder's Barfly and are surprised to see a Cannon films playing as you have heard through the grapevine that its looking like the writing is on the wall for Cannon films production. You check out Wim Wenders Wings of Desire and believe again that films have something worthwhile to tell. Then you notice something playing in the Un Certain Regard section; Lars Von Trier's Epidemic

    Okay you think. I like The Element of Crime. Strong debut for a new voice in the cinema that is full of old men that don't know when to give it up. Though this thought will be one of diminishing value as you get older and realize that Martin Scorsese is pulling off feats of magic in his older age but this realization will only come in time when you yourself get old as shit. So you get yourself some popping corn, do they even have this at Cannes?, and sit yourself down and watch the following:

The Film

    Lars Von Trier and his writing buddy Niels Vørsel go about in trying to write a new screenplay in the span of one work week. This obviously taking place in another timeline where their script entitled 'The Policeman and The Whore' aka The Element of Crime became corrupted data on a 5 inch floppy drive and they have to start from scratch. The funniest part of the entire film being that Von Trier admitting that he didn't care much for the script but could admit there was a few parts that were good.

    The week goes on and as they start brainstorming, they come up with the story of a plague starting to spread with an idealist doctor as the main character wanting to go out into the world and try to cure it. Though as Von Trier states as they create their timeline of the film in progress, this all taking place in a fun scene of a camera pointing at a wall and the two writers are physically painting a line across a wall, that it should be the idealist himself should be the one who is in fact spreading the disease. Soon enough, a sickness starts to spread in the actual world they live in and now blurs the line of reality as to fiction bleeding into the real world.

The Initial Reaction

    My imaginary time traveling self would be very confused as to what the fuck I just got finished watching. I travel all the way to the bum end of France to see this? I mean, I always enjoyed these type of meta films that go about in showcasing the process of making a film. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. No examples come to mind at the moment but I'm sure if I place my brain to work that something should come up. Hopefully something before the end of this review but I digress.

    To see this would leave me wondering if the boy Von Trier shot his load with the first film. Then I would go about enjoying the other films in the festival with this bad taste in your mouth.

In the Initial Reaction in the Actual Present

    Watching this in the now of 2026 with Von Triers entire filmography existing to compare and contrast one film to another, there is something more here but before I get into it, let me just say what I thought of the film; I very much enjoyed it.

    The cuts between the two films with the movie they are speculating shot in beautiful 35mm while the reality of the writers trying to write something seems to have been shot in 16mm that was then blown up to 35mm. The amount of grain between the two sequences being the biggest indicator. Or maybe I'm just bullshitting. Not too sure. Anyway, it all looks great.

    Also, the fact that Von Trier was either needing or wanting to place himself at the center of it makes far more interesting being that the world knows about those depression episodes that debilitate him but maybe this was before he was suffering from those symptoms that DJ Khaled proclaimed to have. 

 

Lars Von Trier after Breaking the Waves

    Seeing what I can only assume is his process by being a guy yammering to his buddy about wanting to make a film, he makes a pretty decent main character to follow. He also becomes the star of the disease bits as the doctor wanting to try and change the world for the better.

    Then the ending comes around of the virus starting to spread but it means something more. Its of a wanting desire for the world to suffer through this apocalyptic disease in order to avoid the responsibility of having to actually make a film. A real solid ending and one that I am sure many creative types have had when hitting brick walls in their creative process.

In the Larger Context

    Seeing this film being sandwiched in-between his debut The Element of Crime and his third film Europa, I now see the connection. This film at the heart of it all is a cinematic bridge. A true exercise in not only showcasing a filmmaker at work substituting making am actual film but more so of a filmmaker needing to film a movie in order to get the ideas out of his head. A far more valuable source of brainstorming than butting his head against the wall.

    Without this film, it is tough to see if Von Trier would have had the courage to make something like Europa. As it is in this film where the idea of the idealist failing to make change comes to be. Though the bigger implications is that without this film, would he even dare tread into the ideals of the Dogme 95? Something that becomes inherent for him to be placed inside of a box so that he would able to think outside the box. This idea being one that he must have seen in one of his favorite filmmakers, Andrei Tarkovsky.    

    The philosopher Slavoj Žižek had mentioned this idea when it came to the work of Andrei Tarkovsky. That the inherent roadblocks of bureaucracy when dealing with the Soviet Union were the kind that forced a filmmaker like him to have to work in creative ways to pull off a film. Being constricted in a box and having to work against it. Then when Tarkovsky left the Soviet Union for Europe, he was unable to create work similar to the kind that he made since the freedom was something he couldn't comprehend.

 

truly a man to read when it comes to the filams

Important but Minimal

    There isn't too much to say about Epidemic. It's a film that will interest fanboys and completionist of Lars Von Trier filmography but even their opinion would be similar to mine. As a whole, if you need to know the thought process of creation to go from one film to another then give this a watch. If not then give it a pass and head straight to Europa. 

A Journey Into the Danish Part 1

What Has Come Is All That Will Be

    Another night comes along where sleep seems to be nonexistent. Tiredness arrives soon enough when the sun rises but its not enough of a tired state of mind for the sandman to come along and do something about it. Coffee and whatever else to keep the engines chugging along during the work week until Friday night comes along when you can relax and drift into something resembling rest. 

i can't get no sleep

    It was during one of these restless nights when I searching the youtubes for something interesting and came across an interview Lars Von Trier had given on the Louisiana channel. I couldn't remember the last time I had thought about Mr. Von Trier. The two films I own of his come across my vision every once in a while but I never had a true emotionally reaction declaring that I would need to watch one of those two movies right at that moment. The two movies? Keep reading to find out. 

    It was an interview that was conducted five years ago from this sentence being written and even without knowing, it would have been easy to identify that the man has Parkinson's. This kind of disease comes about in showcasing itself even when standing still. It was a familiar sight as I have seen it many before in my personal life. Seeing how the spirit of the man keeps going but the edge is off. For the man I know and love is debilitated to the point of being unable to do simple tasks as they used to with ease. If what I saw in the video is any indication, as 5 years later it probably did not get any better, then its most likely Lars Von Trier will never make another film. 

 the interview in question

    I hope I am wrong but from all of various interviews I have read of him from the past and the various people he has worked with; he always seemed like a guy that reached a point of fragility that a simple break of the mental prowess would cause him to just fall into a deep depression. Unable to work and even when working, just having to profusely apologize for his lack of engagement. Just go look into and read about the production of Antichrist. Troubled to say the least. It sucks but it what is what is.

 troubled production but GREAT MOVIE!

    Dwelling on this reality made me want to finally get around to purchasing that Europe Trilogy that was released on Criterion some time ago. I already own the Criterion DVD's of The Element of Crime and Europa but never got around to seeing Epidemic and wouldn't you know it, it was already sold out & out of print. Goddamn cinephiles.

dammit

    Disenchanted I was at my laziness to buy the movies before this but fate had other desires. I then went about in searching for some other avenue of obtaining these films legally as I am too lazy to do so illegally and saw that UK distributor Curzon is releasing a smaller boxset, apparently they had released a similar bigger boxset last year, with all of Lars Von Trier's films. It is the 22nd as I write this and far later that I post it but on the 22nd, excitement was growing as the next day it will hopefully be shipped out.

    Days passing before that goddamn box was in my hand but now with this boxset in hand, it will be an interesting experience/journey/good movie watching time to go through this chronologically though I would like to say a few words about the first film as it is one that I have experienced.

the box in question

The History I Have With The Element of Crime

    I forgot where I had first seen the strange images of the film or maybe it was during those first few years of Youtube where I was just looking for as many new trailers for films I haven't heard of that I came across one for The Element of Crime.

    Hypnotic, strange, and most important of all; foreign, but not just foreign in the sense of it being a foreign film but more so in the otherworldly sense. These were images that were not computing as a regular film. Watching the trailer unfold, I was seeing something that I hadn't seen before and stuck out as truly foreign. As time goes on and more movies have been seen there are very few films that I could consider to be in the same space visually as this one. I suppose the closest thing that comes to mind is Mandy as the tone of those images reach a similar point of foreign but the feeling that is conveyed between the two films are something entirely different. Where Mandy has a far more hopeful tone in its sense of dread, there seems to be no hope when it comes to any shot in The Element of Crime. Obviously Von Trier's biggest influence for this is Andrei Tarkovsky but I wanted to delve elsewhere.

    And so, with these images circulating in my brain to try and come up with a film that explores the usage of them I just had to find a copy. Traveling through the available locations in search of it but it all came down to purchasing a copy off of Ebay. What a beautiful, maybe 50/50 beautiful, website it used to be.         Receiving my copy and trying to negotiate the time to be able to watch it without the oversight of either my mother, who probably could care less, and my older sister, a real witch of a person, looking to see what I was watching on the living room TV as that was where the DVD player. .
    So I watch the film and I couldn't really comprehend what the fuck I saw. The pace of it moved along fine enough and the whole mystery in of itself was interesting as I was also trying to fulfill that need of film noirs but the reveal of the killer didn't seem that satisfying. 

    It was a movie that kept me pondering and thinking but I couldn't be able to make heads or tails of it. I didn't even bother to involve my friends around me to watch it because i felt as though it had fallen too far into the 'far out' type of media that they would ever venture into enjoying. Though as time went on, we would all enjoy the spectacle of something like El Topo so maybe there was time to bring it up again before we all went all separate ways in life but c'est la vie.

Watching The Element of Crime for What Feels Like the First Time 

watching the film now

    I put in the movie and the initial feelings of 'aw shit, here we go again' that were rising to the surface were familiar as the opening shots showing off the still strangeness world of Cairo was setting the stage for the nostalgic nightmare to start up.
    The film stars Michael Elphick as Fisher. A former detective that is in the middle of a hypnoses therapy session where he is trying to process a murder case he was called for. The period of time before the event and this hypnotherapy is unsure but the movie doesn't hold your hand as the setting shifts from a hot room in Cairo to a desolate hallucinating world of a Post World War 2 Europe. He is brought in to hunt down Harry Grey, a killer who was thought to have died but apparently is killing again, and does so by following the procedures placed in the police manual The Element of Crime that was written by his mentor Osborne.
    Slowly, Fisher begins to travel down this disjointed memory to solve a murder mystery that will leave nothing gained and everything lost.

From the Film

    I remember being somewhat entranced when I first had seen the film so long ago and watching it now, I couldn't believe the power that the film had over me.
    Seeing the hell world of post war Europe was far more compelling as an older man than a young moron as the destruction was far more visceral for some reason. Maybe since then having seen the various landscapes of destruction that the past wars have brought or maybe because I have seen more movies where the false sensibility of a destroyed landscape looks weak compared to the imagery in this film. I can't say for certain but there is something in the images here that hit me harder emotionally than before.
    You know what this hellscape reminded me of? Apocalypse Now. Not just in tone but in the overall journey, for lack of a better word, that the film showcases. A broken man being jettisoned down this path that he cannot avoid and having to deal with the hellscape of their environment. The plus side for something like The Element of Crime though is that the images feel far more brutal in their godlessness. 
    This world that Von Trier is showing is one where God has left and here were humans rummaging around trying to make sense of it of what was left behind. Everyone and everything is lost as there is not a single drop of hope within any frame of the film.
    In the middle of this godless world is a murder mystery. Now the notion of solving a mystery is that there is a sense of order bringing brought to the world from the chaos that was created from the mystery. This movie negates that notion by creating a mystery that isn't presented in any way as ordinary or orderly. Clues come about in fragments and in those fragments, information that could be gleaned is nothing near something that would bring a eureka moment. There is only obsession and ultimately madness that comes about as Fisher traverses through this nightmare. Slowly we believe that we are getting closer and closer to the killer of these lottery murders until the final realization of the killer is one that deflates the entire notion of bringing order. Flipping expectations on their head so the notion of calling this a film noir seems so strange to me but I digress. 

    The ending of the film after the mystery is solved seems to come out out nowhere and feel like a non sequitur but I actually think its what grounds the whole film. Fisher, after having killed a child and finding out that his mentor was in fact the lotto murderer after Harry Grey had been dead, is sitting in the rain and for no reason other than a feeling that he has, which he doesn't announce to the audience via voice over, walks over to a storm drain and looks inside to see a creature hiding in the dark. Then he asks to be woken up by the hypnotist but there is no one there. 

    Though this feels like out of nowhere, I think this moment is the only time that Fisher is actually seeing himself for the first time as to what he really is. Looking into his bare soul to see a frightened animal. One that has no strength to go on and no one to count on. 

what is left 

   Haunting to say the least but what was fascinating was the commitment Michael Elphick had with this role. I haven't read anywhere or anything in regard to Von Trier and him having issues during the production of the film so maybe, he just clicked with the material. Or maybe he was just a professional the whole time. No clue but as the film is weighted entirely on the performance of Fisher to carry the movie, he does it with a lot of gusto. His narration sounds like a truly broken man retelling a tale and just the amount of rain and general unpleasantness that he had to be in a state of mind for; it's one hell of a performance. What's most interesting is how he plays the main character as someone suffering from a terrible case of PTSD. Whether it was the war or just his life in general state of mind, there is just a consistent state of disarray that Fisher lives in. One particular moment in the film, possibly the breaking point for the character, is where he is driving and as he drives in this frantic state, there are images of bombed out Europe being projected onto him. There is no reference to these images as they just exist but it has to mean something. It has to. 

merrily merrily merrily

 

And So 

    There is a sense of wonder here that I hadn't felt for some time. Feeling something otherworldly. Truly otherworldly. Maybe I mentioned this when reviewing Possession but that movie as a whole was going somewhere else but staying grounded in our reality while this film travels into another dimension. 
    Nothing here looks tangible as grounded reality unless you either place it within a dream world or maybe even shove it into a genre like Science Fiction. The wonder comes from seeing these strange images that create no true logical sense but nonetheless maintain a sense of narrative follow through that enables to keep me engaged in the material without ever taking a second to subconsciously realize that a certain moment isn't working. It all works though depending on how much you care to invest into the film.    
    Just seeing how every shot takes place at night, has rain pumping nonstop, and everything is draped and covered in sepia tone lighting. I could only imagine that the production must have been truly hell. How the fucking a guy like Michael Ephick could turn out a performance like this and not go infuckingsane is just a testament to the movie gods. 

Concluding Thoughts

    What a debut film. There is already so much potential here in craft with what this film manages to accomplish by transporting you into another dimension is something that I have seen fumbled over and over again by veteran directors. Though I must admit that this review didn't delve into the character of Kim (played by Me Me Lai) but I couldn't find a way to delve into the character because there isn't much there. Not even fulfilling the notion of a femme fatale or damsel in distress. She just exists in this nightmare world as someone there. This possibly being the fault of the director as she serves more so a purpose for Fisher to have an interaction with someone more so than form a relationship.
    As I delve into Lars Von Trier filmography, I think to myself as to what a strange odyssey this will be to see the growth of potential and thematic interests of filmmaking that he has committed to after this film.  
    Now as it has been twenty something years since first buying that Criterion DVD with the Spine#80 on the side of it, I am watching it again for what seems like the first time and I can't help but kick myself for not being able to enjoy it for a longer time than now.