The Steelworker Who Hunts The Deer and Plays Russian Roulette

A Throwback 

 

    With the 250th year of this country, and more importantly my 40th review, known as the United States reaching a milestone of showing off that it only took 250 years to reach such a state shit of existence though the greatest question of: was America ever great in the first place? still needs to be answered. I don't have an answer to give but at this momentous time, it only makes sense to look back at American history and reflect on one of the biggest wars of the past to echo for 40 plus years. The failure being known as the Vietnam war.

A war that was initiated to stop the communist dominoes from falling and spreading their red influence over the rest of the world but all that came out of it was too many dead civilians, too many dead American soldiers, and a solidified guarantee that the military industrial complex will grow forever like the deadly cancer it is. 

    In the years that follow the war, there will be movies about it and the one that I have on the forefront of my mind is Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter.

 

I always thought this poster was dumb

    Though I did have a quick thought of writing about that John Wayne movie The Green Beret's because if there was ever a comedy of errors, its that film all the way.

Aldo Ray is pretty good in the movie though 

A Quick History

    I have been reading the book Final Cut: Art, Money, and Ego in the Making of Heaven's Gate, the Film that Sank United Artists – A Witty Insider Account of Epic Hollywood Disaster and Human Absurdity which with a blowhard title such as that you wouldn't expect much but it surpasses expectations and delivers the goods about how Michael Cimino's third film Heavens Gate destroyed a studio which is still a verdict still needing to be presented for me to believe it but the book is good so far. It's possible in the near future I might do a proper book review of this but as I continue reading this text, I come around to the notion that I need to re-watch The Deer Hunter. For this was the film that granted Mr. Cimino carte blanche to make Heaven's Gate.

    A film that looked to have come out of nowhere and steal the show at the 1979 Oscars ceremony. A new hot director with only his 2nd film. Though not his debut film, as that would be Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, this one can be considered his first personal film. For his debut was a stepping stone and introduction to the film industry that he was a guy that was able to complete a film on time and on budget without any issue. A lesson that he would forego as time went, for there were several issues throughout the production of The Deer Hunter, by the time he made his third film.

    Now, I had seen this particular film a couple of times over the years though it was never one to be placed as a favorite of all time. The first time was in high school, during the true blooming years of movie watching, and at the time I thought it was good. It wasn't great but in high school you focus on the more exhilarating stuff such as the Russian roulette sequences and the hunting. The character stuff as well but it doesn't really connect well when one is in their late teens. I would watch the film a couple more times over the years, probably about 3 since those late teens into my late 20's, and as now I am in my 59th year of existence; I have seen it once more with a new clarity.

The Film in 3 Parts

Part 1

    As the film is broken into 3 parts, I have no choice but to write about each section. 

    The first part of the film is showcasing an untarnished America that has never existed but is one that we, or a particular niche in American society, idolize or fantasize as having existed before it all went to shit. Though I cannot agree with this on personal terms, its interesting to see how well it works in bringing these characters to life.

    The film following this group of small town American guys but the main three: Michael (Robert De Niro), Nick (Christopher Walken), and Steven (John Savage) are the main main guys but you get a good amount of side characters, with a very strong performance from John Cazale as Stanley, that help bolster the characters and bring depth to it all. These are hardworking Americans celebrating their lives for what they have and ultimately coming together for Steven's wedding. 

    One of the more interesting parts to the film is that this portion is told through the lens of these characters as being first generation. All of them having ancestry from the early 1900's Eastern European influx in the Eastern part of the country. The setting is Small Town, Pennsylvania though I believe some of the exteriors are shot in Cleveland since there was a panel of Harvey Pekar's American Splendor #8 showing off the landscapes to Wallace Shawn during the time of My Dinner with Andre.

    As the men clock out of their steel mill gig, get cheers for heading off to Vietnam, and then go to the local bar to have some early morning drinks you get the notion that Michael Cimino isn't all that interested in the personal relationships between man and woman. 

    Meryl Streep is in the film playing the character of Linda who is just a woman that just gets beaten down, rejected and is hardly there on the page but even with a lack of actual character, Streep brings a real sense of loss and wanting that the character suffers from. 

    What matters to Cimino is the interpersonal relationships between men. Men dealing with their own sense of insecurity, their lack of communication, but most of all the lack of emotional acceptance to this force called love. 

    Now during this whole hour that introduces the main characters, Michael is the odd man out of the bunch. Completely reserved and unto himself. He plays everything close to the chest. Everyone else around him is alive and open to the world but Michael cannot exist this way. The people around him are more of acquaintances that he grew up alongside more so than friends. He sticks to being a wallflower to fit in except when it comes to Nick. His one true and only friend. He won't admit but its plain to see in his eyes that he needs Nick in his life. Both Nick and Hunting. As hunting is the only place where he can feel totally in tune with the present and to some semblance of accepting his existence. Which is why he's so adamant on going hunting even though they have to go to a wedding.
    And what a beautiful wedding ceremony it is. Eastern Orthodox, I suppose Russian?, ceremony for Steven and Angela (Rutanya Alda) and its spectacular. The gravitas that Cimino shows off in this sequence with the way he shot it and the drama through just looks. Nick looking at Linda then Linda looking at Michael and Michael just trying to avoid eye contact. From this comes the reception where everyone is just having the best of time. The only sour note coming from the 3 main characters interaction with a returning Green Beret who they antagonize into trying to tell them a war story but all he can reply with is: "Fuck It."

    The only worthwhile advice one can give when it comes to that place. The reception winds down and the newlyweds leave with Michael and Nick chasing them down. Michael this whole time avoiding hitting dancing floor and being with the crowd and instead drinks and drinks and becomes more and more uninhibited. So much so that he strips himself down as he runs down the street. Nick chasing him and the two sharing a a small silent moment together. Not much said but that's more than enough for the both of them.

    The Hunt. From that early morning end to the wedding, the remaining cast of characters drive off into the mountains to go hunting. Fun is had on the way up to the mountain but as soon as they arrive, a situation grows. Stanley having forgotten his boots wants to borrow Michael's. He says no but Nick defuses the situation by letting him take the boots. Michael relenting. 

    A crucial moment as Michael cements his philosophy of the world to the rest of them for the first time. Holding out a rifle bullet and stating "This is this. This ain't something else. This is this." while the rebuke Stanley gives is calling Michael out as being a homosexual since he never wants to hook up with any of the women. 

    This is quite possibly the most important scene as it is the only moment when Michael is able to express himself. It's the only snapshot of how this guy has been living all these years. Believing that the individual on their own is all that matters. It breaks down the coldness of the character, of the self-exile, and of the self hatred. 

   Can I definitely say it is the most significant moment of the film? Most likely. Maybe. I don't know. I need coffee. Then there's the hunting scene itself and what a scene. So much so that one must watch it and even that is insignificant to what the power of it all.

    After that fantastic scene, the first hour winds down and ends on their celebratory return to town with the deer on the hood of the car. Late night beers in the bar and John Welsh (George Dzundza) sitting down at the piano and playing some Chopin as the men settle down and watch. The piano playing on as the movie shifts into high gear as the setting changes to Vietnam

Part 2

    Vietnam. Shit's fucking tough. Michael has apparently gone through Green Beret training and we catch up with him at the end of a mission that went bad. He was the only one in his group to survive and kills an enemy combatant without hesitation with a flame thrower when he wakes up. Nick and Steve get dropped off via helicopter at Michael's location and the three meet up for the first time in a long time from the looks of it but then enemy bombing cuts the meeting short.

    They are taken as prisoners of war in some desolate river cabin by Vietnamese persons. Whether or not soldiers, this cannot be determined. It just seems like the three along with other American and American allied troops are stuck in this hell. I remember reading a theory somewhere that the three had actually died and this is their purgatory but nothing verifiable to support this can be found.

    The soldiers are then forced to take part in the fun parlor game of Russian Roulette. All for the enjoyment of the Vietnamese who place bets on who'll shoot themselves and who'll pull the trigger to an empty barrel. Absolute brutality that will go a long way in giving the Vietnamese no leeway in being anything other a villain. But even with this shortsightedness, the film does an amazing job in creating this insanely intense sequence that goes on and on to reach this violent climax.

    Watching it now is interesting to see about the actual intent of these moments being used as a metaphor but also I am now in the belief now that Michael Cimino could not have realized any of this without the effort of Deric Washburn.
    Apparently, through the Wikipedia of the film so take what I say with a grain of salt, the original script, The Man Who Came to Play, was about something entirely different. A story about men going to Las Vegas to play Russian roulette. Cimino was given the script and had questioned the purpose of the Russian roulette sequence when first dealing with the material as that doesn't seem to be something, this only being conjecture, that he probably couldn't make heads or tail of. This indifference though leaves me to theorize that maybe he just didn't know what to do with the material when it first began. 
    Watching the various other films of Cimino that I have had access to, he always seems to come off as the type of filmmaker that isn't interested in containing metaphor or subtext in his films. If you look at Heaven's Gate, everything on the screen is on the screen. If you look at Year of the Dragon, whats there on the screen is the screen. He has a sense of a maximalist while also striving for perfection. Each of those films are as, for a lack of a better term, blatant as can be and done in a very beautiful way but there is nothing in between the scenes and so the mise-en-scene is straight forward. 

    The characters in those films are wholly his and exist in a similar manner of those in The Deer Hunter. Aloof, idealized, masculine with something sensitive hidden underneath the surface but then again, this is probably just the interpretation of the material by the actors. There is a reason why the first hour of this film is strictly about the characters. He just loves these types of people or at least the imagery of these people.
    For the Russian Roulette scene though, and in this one in particular, which is the crux of these characters being forced to change their entire being, it seems as though this idea was something he could not latch onto until somebody came along, Deric Washburn in this case, and set it up to became the end all be all metaphor for surviving combat in the Vietnam war. 

    The smallish scope of the film following just these characters wouldn't allow for big scenes of these three going to boot camp, getting orders for missions, or fighting in the jungles in a platoon with other soldiers. There is no room for any of that in this and so to centralize the violence, the anguish, and pain into this 1 consolidated idea is the perfect metaphor for the war as a whole. This idea being nothing new as I believe Roger Ebert had written about it in his review or to some rebuttal but it was one that I can only now feel is the only way to see the movie as a whole.

    So the three manage to make their escape by luckily being seen by a Huey chopper flying past them. Nick manages to get in the helicopter while Michael and Steven are holding on to the landing skids. The chopper tries to get them out but Steven loses his grip and falls in the river and Michael follows right after. Steven comes up with both legs broken and Michael carries him on his back. Reaching a trail of persons leaving and manages to get Steven on an army jeep. He himself having to walk alongside the rest of them.

    Nick ends up at a hospital where he's questioned about his real name which the doctor asks if its Russian but Nick corrects him and tells him its American. Nick, now disillusioned with what has to be some real fucked up PTSD and guilt for being the sole survivor, wanders the streets of Saigon and falls in with a Frenchman who talks of a game being played nearby. A body is taken out and Nick is persuaded to enter the parlor and watches two men sit at a table while a referee/announcer handles the bullet and the revolver. Nick gets mad at the slow pace of the gun and breaks the game by grabbing the pistol and pulling the trigger over and over without hesitation.

    The game breaks, all bets are off, and Nick is being funneled out by the Frenchman who sees a good deal of money in Nick. Michael was in the crowd the entire time and only too late does he try and catch up with Nick. The Frenchman and him driving off into the night with Michael standing in the middle of the road.

Part 3 

    The return home. There are a lot of Vietnam movies that delve into the coming home process but this film in particular showcases the truest part of it all in that the rest of the world stays the same. Nothing has changed. For better or for worse, life is at a stand still and I think it's probably the most realistic aspect I have seen of soldiers coming home. The mundane air of it all being in sharp contrast to the high energy/anxiety they had to deal with overseas.

    Michael comes back but doesn't want any of the attention that a soldier coming home would get. There isn't guilt or anything that is fueling this but just his being. He is as reclusive as ever but with medals and a fancy uniform, he needs to be paraded around. He ends up having a relationship of sorts with Linda and it's here that the movie changes back into the interpersonal drama it always has been. 

    Michael comes back trying to assimilate himself into the role that Nick played. To have the girl, to be more involved with his friends, and ultimately try to wholly achieve this role by being able to hunt. None of this is possible though. Nick is the fundamental person he needs in his life. He tries to hunt down a deer just like he did in the beginning but he can't kill it. He is no longer able to just be in the moment. 

    He meets up with Steven, who no longer has the use of his legs or left arm, and brings him home against his will. Needing him more than Steven needing Michael now. Though in their meeting, Steven reveals that Nick is still alive. Sending him money and wooden elephants. After failing his hunt and failing in being able to be the hero soldier returning home, Michael travels back to Vietnam. The air of defeat in the air as Saigon is just about to fall. 

    It is as though Michael traveled onto the set of Apocalypse Now but just now in the urban part of the cinematic Vietnam hellscape.

    He finds the Frenchman that had put Nick into the Russian roulette games and has him help him find Nick. Michael pays his way inside but Nick ain't listening to what he has to say. Forcing him to go face to face with Nick in order to talk to him. They play the game but its here and only here with the possibility of death and gun to his head where Michael truly revels his innermost feeling. His love for Nick. 

    In this story, the only true love that exists is one that Man has for another Man. Tears streaming down his face for Nick to realize it and Nick smiles that he does. Then he grabs the gun and puts it against his head and pulls the trigger. Ending his life and banishing Michael to his loneliness as he mourns and cry as his best friend bleeds to death in front of him. 

 

The Coda

 

    Michael brings Nick back and they have a funeral for the guy. After burying him, they all go back to the bar to have breakfast. Trying their best to go through the motions but everyone is on the verge of breaking down until they hear John in the kitchen start to sing and hum to himself God Bless America. Soon enough, everyone at the table begins to sing the song and the last words they say is 'For Nick'. 

    I don't know but I've always had a tough time figuring out what was being meant in this final moment. I still have trouble trying to understand it to be honest. Is it just the notion of American jingoism to try and bring some concept of a beautiful ending to something so tragic and preventable? Is it just of immigrants in a country singing for a country they still believe in even though it has taken one of their own? I can only attribute it to what I have seen in the beginning which is of Cimino's idealization when it comes to small town America. That even though a death is tragic there is something of an idolized farewell that they can give to the deceased. All of them singing God Bless America is what they need and the only way to move forward even though the reality of it all is that it's far from that.

The Film Now

    Watching the film now as an older person and I connect with it a bit more. There some sense of inner reflection needed to verify whether I am more connected to it via the idolized America or because the film itself is great, which it is, and that is the end all be all reason. It's still probably top 3 of Michael Cimino's films but I still have yet to see the directors cut of The Sicilian or The Sunchaser but most likely this will be in the top 3 for certain. 

pretty good poster
 

    There are certain films that are easier to become more attached to when getting older. Like Bergman's Wild Strawberries, The Deer Hunter is another one of these kind of films. Losing connection with people we meet in this lifetime and wishing that it can go back to what it was but having to accept it can never be.     For some its easier to deal with but nonetheless is something we must all confront in our own way. Hopefully healthier than the self destructive nature that some have no choice but to face. 

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.