Black Death

Wanting something grim and dark, I sat down and watched:

Black Death (2010)

Starring Eddie Redmayne, Sean Bean, Carice van Houten and Tim McInnerny, this gruesome little tale is directed and co-written by Christopher Smith.

The year is 1348 and the Black Death is busy turning Europe into a pestilential soup. Our hero Osmund (Redmayne), a young novice, sends his secret girlfriend away so that she can be safe from the plague. He is torn whether to stay in the monastery or go with her as he is in love. He begs God for a sign and gets one in the shape of Ulrich (Bean), an emissary from the bishop, dressed in black armor. Ulrich is on a mission to investigate a remote village that has been spared the horrors of the plague. This is of course suspicious as they might be devil worshipers, witches or even necromancers. Ulrich demands a monk as a guide and Osmund volunteers.

Thus our young novice sets out with a brutal band of mercenaries turned witch hunters in the service of the church. On the way to the village, some dark and grim things happen and once they arrive, more dark and grim things happen. There is a plague on after all so what else can one expect especially once the witch hunters roll into town?

I won't spoil anything including whether Sean Bean dies which he tends to do a lot of in his performances.

Black Death is essentially a dark fairy tale more than a historical set piece and seen as such it is pretty good. It is well made within the budget they had, and the actors, scenery and props are good. Everything is believable within the confines of the movie. If you make the mistake of stepping back and getting too critical or even demanding historical verisimilitude, then that is on you. Black Death is fantasy set in our world and is better for it. I've seen my fair share of movies that pretend to be historically correct and factual when they are not, and I prefer the movie to consciously step away from that and just indulge in some nasty fun.

Speaking of nasty fun, Black Death has its fair share. Brutal fights, plague victims, execution etc. Most is well done but I must nitpick a bit and complain that the fights are filmed with a lot of shaky cam, which is never a good thing. Despite this little annoyance the fights felt gruesome and cruel like a fight to the death should be.

So, do I recommend this movie? To fans of the grim, dark and brutish, yes I do. It's not a movie for the easily shocked or squeamish so be mindful of that. If you are playing or going to play Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay this is a must watch and for everyone else use your judgment. Black Death is not a masterful movie, but it is well made and does what it sets out to do with style. It's not a classic of the horror/action genre and there are better witch hunter movies out there, but for what it is, Black Death is worth watching.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!

 

Stalingrad

I was again in the mood for a WWII movie and watched:

Stalingrad (1993).

This German production is directed by Joseph Vilsmaier and stars Dominique Horwitz, Thomas Kretschmann and Jochen Nickel amongst others.

With the clue in the name, this movie follows a squad of German soldiers from a rest period in Italy to the Battle of Stalingrad. I knew this wouldn't be a happy or fun movie, but I wasn't prepared for how grim things would be.

Unlike Enemy At The Gates, Stalingrad is a grim march to the grave. There are no heroics, only a desperate struggle for life held together with camaraderie. The only thing these men have are each other and the will to live and both are failing fast. Despite this I never once considered turning the movie off. It is both compelling and well done. But damn is it gloomy.

I found the way the movie is built interesting. Perhaps because it is a German production instead of Hollywood one, but Stalingrad is a series of scenes without much in the way of connections. The unit is on the train, they are marching into Stalingrad, combat scene, rest scene, combat scene etc. Despite the slightly loose format, I had no trouble following the plot, even though I had to read the subtitles. From a technical point of view, the movie is excellent, no complaints whatsoever. The actors are great and the props and scenery is first rate.

For being a movie about possibly the bloodiest battle in human history, there is a surprising lack of gore. There is some in a few scenes here and there, but the real horror is the winter, starvation and the terror of death. Interestingly enough, there is basically no overt Nazism either nor are the Russians really “the bad guys”. I'd say the biggest villain in the movie is the military police captain Haller, who is a sadistic bastard. This puts the focus on the squad instead of the bigger picture, reinforcing the small scale look at their humanity, their suffering both physically and mentally, as well as the cruel winter. Oh yes, this movie actually has winter unlike Enemy At The Gates. You are intimately locked in with these wretches, whether you like it or not.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes and no. This is not a “war as an adventure” movie and it's not about anything important as such, it is just a dark journey full of horror and pain. It is also a look at what it was like for the soldiers at Stalingrad. The movie omits cannibalism which did take place historically, and perhaps it is for the best. It is dark enough as it it. If anything I said above seems compelling, then yes watch it. If you need something lighter, than no, go elsewhere. It is an effective anti war movie and no mistake.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

The Eagle Has Landed

This week we're going back to WWII with the movie:

The Eagle Has Landed (1976).

More often than not I have the problem that I can't talk too much about a movie without spoiling it. This time that is not a problem.

The Eagle Has Landed is all about a Nazi plan to kidnap Sir Winston Churchill and bring him back to Germany. To no ones surprise this does not succeed since they didn't and still don't make movies where the Nazis get a strong win.

This movie has an amazing cast with Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland, Robert Duvall, Jenny Agutter, Donald Pleasence. Treat Williams, Larry Hagman, even the famous Swedish actor and singer Sven-Bertil Taube. Two of the actors went on to play Indiana Jones villains. I found so many familiar faces it became impossible to keep track of them all. The Eagle Has Landed is directed by legendary director John Sturges (The Great Escape and The Magnificent Seven) and it was in fact his final movie.

Inspired by the rescue of Benito Mussolini, Hitler wants German military intelligence chief Admiral Wilhelm Canaris to plan the kidnapping of Churchill. He turns the operation over to Colonel Radl (Duvall) who recruits paratrooper Colonel Steiner (Caine) and his men. They also have the help of IRA man for hire Devlin (Sutherland) who goes in first to prep the way for the paratroopers. Predictably enough things go wrong and the German paratroopers find themselves in a fight against US Rangers led by the hysterical Colonel Pitts (Hagman).

The Eagle Has Landed is weird movie to watch. It has so many actors that I like and admire that play Nazis and I found myself wanting the actors to succeed and their characters to fail. It was a confusing movie to watch on an emotional level. Despite that, this is a good movie. It feels very real from start to finish. All the actors are incredibly good, especially Donald Pleasence who plays Heinrich Himmler and gives a terrifying performance.

Michael Caine stated that he was excited to work with the legendary John Sturges but was very disappointed that for Sturges it was only a paycheck. He took the job to make more money for his deep sea fishing hobby and left as soon as his job was done. This makes the editing a bit wonky at times which does show from time to time. He later stated: “The picture wasn't bad, but I still get angry when I think of what it could have been with the right director. We had committed the old European sin of being impressed by someone, just because he came from Hollywood."

The Eagle Has Landed is over two hours long and for a movie like this it is a bit long, but it never got boring. In fact, I wanted more, especially with Devlin as he infiltrates the sleepy English village.

Fun Fact, there is a water mill in the village where the action happens that is pretty famous. It is the same mill that is featured on the cover of Black Sabbath's first album, Black Sabbath, which is considered by many to be the first metal album of all time.

So, do I recommend this movie? Oh yes, I really do. It's an unusual WWII movie but very good. Sure, it's the actors that make it good, but any fan of war movies that haven't seen it really should.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

We are weird creatures

A lot of the things we do and take for granted in life and society are actually pretty weird if you step back and look at them dispassionately. Things like relationships and modern living. 

Comedians Julie Nolke and Ryan George have created a few sketches poking fun at these things and they are pretty good. Have a look and I'll see you next time, so until then, have a great week!

 

 

 

  

 

The Suspicious Death of a Minor

This week I watched an Italian movie and I can't decide which genre it is:

The Suspicious Death of a Minor (1975).

Directed by Sergio Martino, whose name is familiar here on Eccentric Spheres and starring a good chunk of Italian actors across the Giallo and Poliziotteschi catalogue. The main character Paolo Germi is played by Claudio Cassinelli who hasn't appeared here yet.

Right off the bat I want to give a mild spoiler warning. If you look up this movie on IMDB or Wikipedia you will discover this anyway so it isn't a big deal, but if you really want to remain spoiler free, go watch the movie before you read another word.

Paolo is an undercover police inspector who's job it is to secretly look into kidnapping cases since the families usually don't want to involve the cops for fear of angering the kidnappers. We don't find out that he is a cop until about the halfway mark.

The movies starts with a young woman being stalked by a creepy man in mirrored sunglasses. She encounters Paolo but runs away and gets killed. Paolo starts snooping around her death and discovers a seedy conspiracy filled with drugs, sacks of money and underage prostitutes that lead up to some seriously dangerous people.

I want to point out that the underage girls are about 16 while I'm sure the actors were 18+ or the brief nudity would have been illegal. Gross as it is anyway, I'm at least glad that the minor mentioned in the title wasn't even younger.

The reason I can't decide on what kind of movie The Suspicious Death of a Minor is, falls to the fact that IMDB calls it a Giallo, but it feels more like a Poliziottesci movie with a strong tough inspector as the male lead. It also has a strong comedic element. I don't think it is trying to be a comedy but there are scenes that are deliberately slapstick which is odd for a Giallo. I slammed Four Flies on Grey Velvet for its comedy elements, but oddly enough, it doesn't bother me as much here. Possibly because it is such a hybrid movie and because many Poliziottesci movies don't take themselves too seriously anyway. They can be funny in a way Gialli can't. Sure there are some pretty gruesome murders here in Minor, but the overall tone is nowhere near as dark as many Giallo.

The Suspicious Death of a Minor is definitely a “journey not the destination” movie. Particularly since the ending was quite weak, while the rest of the movie is pretty entertaining. Paolo has no problems using some very unorthodox investigative methods, and his bosses are non too happy with him at times.

From a technical perspective, I have no complaints. It is a solid Italian action/drama/mystery/comedy. The actors are fine, the cinematography is fine. The music is what it is as always. Some of the dialog is goofy as hell, and could have been better, but that could also be the comedy rearing it's confusing head, I really don't know.

So, do I recommend this movie? To Giallo and Poliziottesci fans, yes. It's nowhere near the top of any list in my opinion but that also includes the bad lists. The Suspicious Death of a Minor is solidly alright, but I wouldn't recommend it to someone who isn't a fan of the above mentioned genres. I wasn't bored at any time, and in fact I was even intrigued, but middle of the road is what it is.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!

 

The Thing on the Doorstep

Being a long time fan of H.P. Lovecraft I was hesitantly excited to discover a movie version of his story:

The Thing on the Doorstep (2014).

The story in a nutshell is this; Daniel Upton, a successful and level headed person narrates how his best friend Edward Derby, a sensitive and nervous writer, falls in love with and marries the mysterious Asenath Waite. Things turn sinister when Edward claims that his wife can possess his body and takes it to terrifying old occult places. Her power over him grows and it becomes a question whether Daniel can help his old friend before it is too late. There is of course much more to the story, but this description will suffice for now.

The movie tries to copy the original story as well as it can. It is set in modern days, which some have criticized it for, but I don't think it matters at all. Modern technology has no bearing on the horror The Thing on the Doorstep contains. They have used all the correct names, which is nice, but for some reason they decided that Daniel had to have a wife. She does little but remark on how Edward really needs to grow up and how annoying he is as well as snoop around where she really shouldn't. They have also added a couple of other characters in order to give more backstory which is okay as it doesn't harm the story too much.

What does harm the story is the complete lack of a budget. The Thing on the Doorstep is one of Lovecraft's stories that don't have any huge squiggly monsters so you can absolutely save some money there, but using cheap CGI for gunshots looks bad, really bad. Likewise, the actual thing on the doorstep itself was also bad CGI instead of even a simple makeup job which would have been so much better. There is nothing wrong with being low budget, but you have to work within your means, and sometimes this isn't easy. For some reason, most scenes are lit in a weird yellow-green light that made no sense. Such an effect used sparingly in specific flashbacks can work, but over half the movie is lit this way.

Most of the actors were pretty good. This isn't some sexy teenagers meet something scary, but actual adults, and they did their best, which I appreciate. My one exception is Rob Dalton (Edward Derby), who look like he could barely hold himself from laughing through half the movie. He also did nothing to show why Daniel would be his friend, he comes across as completely unlikable and that is pretty unforgivable. The friendship between Daniel and Edward is the central core that makes the story work in the first place, and sadly it fails here.

Overall, the biggest failure is that the movie isn't scary, it isn't even tense. I wouldn't even write about it but for one thing: they really tried. The passion does shine through and there are scenes that are pretty good, although those are few and far between. Is that enough though?

So, do I recommend this movie? No, not really. Lovecraft fanatics who have to see every movie adaption out there could enjoy it, there are certainly worse works out there, but casual horror fans should give this one a miss. I still appreciate that they did what I assume was their best, but sometimes trying your best isn't enough.

That is that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!

 

Enemy at the Gates

I was in the mood for a war movie so I watched,

Enemy at the Gates (2001).

This movie is set in the Battle of Stalingrad and follows a young soldier turned sniper, Vassili (Jude Law) as he goes from a nobody to a heroic figure thanks to the propaganda created by his friend Commissar Danilov (Joseph Fiennes). Soon enough the Germans send their top sniper Major König (Ed Harris) to hunt him down in the torn apart ruins of the industrial city.

That is the story in a nutshell. We also have Rachel Weisz as Tania Chernova, Bob Hoskins as Khrushchev and Ron Perlman as Koulikov. Enemy at the Gates is directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud who also directed amongst others The Name of the Rose and Seven Years in Tibet.

First off I want to point out that the movie does many things that are not true. In the beginning, the Soviet troops are sent in to fight, but only every other man gets a rifle. This never happened. Ammunition could be incredibly scarce, but they never sent their troops into battle without weapons. There are other things like bombers flying way to low to the ground, the fact that it is not winter in the movie, but the real Battle of Stalingrad was blanketed in an unusually cruel and hard winter. There is also apparently no German records of a Major König, though it is proven that Vassili (who was real) did kill several highly skilled German snipers.

There are many errors like that throughout the movie, yet it doesn't really matter that much. Enemy at the Gates is two hours long and somehow it didn't feel that long. Annaud has done something special in this movie, and I'm not really sure what. Yes, the actors are really good and both Law and Harris were cast specifically because they are so good at acting with their eyes. The music is fine, and very reminiscent of other movie scores, but I can't say what and from where, but throughout the movie I had a strong feeling that I had heard the score before.

The movie itself is beautiful, which is weird to say about a war movie, but the way it was created is stunning. The ruins, the bombings, the masses of people all feel so real. Sure it is often panicking civilians or the dead and wounded, but the first thing a war movie needs to work is a sense of realism, and Enemy at the Gates has that in spades. The romance subplot between Law and Weisz is likewise realistic and quite sweet. Perhaps it is in the balance of the story that the genius lies? When the war part risks getting too overwhelming we get friendship or romance and when that starts to get a bit stale, we are back to the war.

My biggest complaint is the lack of actual sniping. The back and forth hunt between Vassili and König is incredibly tense and exciting, but there is a surprising lack of people actually getting shot. Being such a huge fan of the Sniper Elite games, I was hoping for more, but you get what you get. Although I'm 100% sure the developers of Sniper Elite has seen this movie several times since I found scenes and scenery that is incredibly close to scenery I have traversed in those games.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes, I do. Fans of war movies that haven't seen it should see it, and even those who aren't that big on the genre could like it. Unlike other war movies I have written about, this movie has a solid arc, character development, and though I can't state that the movie has anything to really say, it has a story that makes sense. I won't go so far as to say Enemy at the Gates is a great movie, but it is solid and worth two hours.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great and safe week!