Tell us about the last film you watched, pt 2

[j*e*t]

Yes, she really was. I think I may’ve seen your video if it was on Morrissey Central. But then again, maybe not. I rate Darling among my least favorite Morrissey songs, unfortunately. Was yours posted as a stand-alone Message From Morrissey, or was it one of those things where seventy videos get drunk-posted all together at once?

It was one of twelve posted on 8th April 2020. I think they were all unofficial videos for tracks from the new album at the time.

 

[Lucifer Sam]

The Heiress (1949). A devastating character study. Olivia de Haviland is the only child of a wealthy doctor, a fusspot of a man who seems to delight in giving her backhanded praise and comparing her unfavorably to her late mother. Presumably because of this constant trickle of subtle criticisms, she has turned out awkward, naïve, and reserved. She is encouraged by her aunt to be a socialite, but she prefers to immerse herself in the solitary joys of embroidery. On an occasion where she is dragged to a society ball, Montgomery Clift is a ne'er-do-well who initiates a surprising romance. Naturally her father disapproves. The ambiguity of whether Clift is after her for the money she stands to inherit is done excellently, but Olivia de Haviland's loss of innocence and tortuous emergence from her cocoon is even better. "Yes, I am very cruel. I have had great masters."

 

[goinghome]

Someone shared these film recommendations by Morrissey a while back:

My relentless obsession with British films of the '40s, '50s and '60s has had an overwhelming influence on everything I've ever written. The list of favorites could be endless: The Killing of Sister George (1969), It Always Rains on Sunday (1947), Poor Cow (1967), The Leather Boys (1963), Yield to the Night (1956), Flame in the Streets (1961), Spring and Port Wine (1970), Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957), The October Man (1947), Turn the Key Softly (1953), An Inspector Calls (1954), We Are the Lambeth Boys (1959), Victim (1961), Charlie Bubbles (1968), The Family Way (1966), A Kind of Loving (1962), To Sir with Love (1967), Oliver Twist (1948), Billy Liar (1963), Dance Hall (1950), The Ladykillers (1955). Modern films do not inspire me at all. I refuse to watch anything post-1971 because every story had been told by then.

- Morrissey, 1993 - https://www.morrissey-solo.com/wiki/Sound_And_Vision_-_Movieline_(1993)

Flame in the Street is a smart English film. The principles of a much-liked trade union activist not shy about protecting the rights of his coloured colleagues, are put to the test when his daughter falls in love with a fellow teacher who unlike her, is black. More drama but well done, with ongoing resonances.

I checked out the Harry Belafonte film mentioned as a Morrissey favourite in the condolences thread, The Flesh and The Devil, which is about 2 men, one black and one white, and a white woman, surviving a nuclear explosion in NYC that apparently kills most of the other inhabitants. There is drama around identity and survival, and the themes of racism, gender and threats to environment remain relevant.

Ship of Fools came up when Central used a still announcing the upcoming tour. It's over 2 hours long, with several plot-lines cross-cutting each other, driven by the characters who are passengers on the cruise boat. Some of the relationships and confrontations echo larger themes going on in society. I think it's set in 1933, though made in the '60s, so the brewing WWII and attitudes that could contribute to allowing that to happen, are aired. A bit slow at times but interesting.

Even longer, and not on the list, or not a Morrissey recommendation that I know of, is the French 1972 Jean Dielman. See above Wild Turkey's observations about use of light and space in The Quiet Girl, similar in this. All very low-budget, with innumerable long shots of the same interior almost but not quite identical. Minimal dialogue, few actors, a lot of sitting with the lead character. This film was recently nominated one of the best ever made by Sight & Sound, and if you don't know the end (and I advise not finding out before viewing), it'll blow your head off!

 

[j*e*t]

I can't remember if 99 River Street (1953) has come up before. John Payne plays a taxi driver who used to be a boxer before getting an eye injury. He has a scar through his eye brow like Morrissey had at one time, and the steps to the boxing club reminded me of the Boxers music video. There aren't many boxing scenes but some good cinematography around the docks. Something about Ernie's body language reminded me of Travis Bickle.

 

[cat on a train]

Istanbul has as many cats as New York has rats. All the cats are dapper lil fellas, loved and cherished by them kind folks in Istanbul. Makes ya wanna hop on a plane and fly to Turkey asap.

 

[Was I ever any good]

Billy the kid meets Dracula from 1965.

A truly awful film.

 

[Lucifer Sam]

Koko: A Talking Gorilla (1978). Not as good as a later documentary on a signing ape, Project Nim. This one has little in the way of a story line. The film crew seems to have set up their cameras for a short while, gotten their footage, and left. We hear of Koko's ingenuity and language ability in anecdotes from her instructor, but it's nothing that matches up with what we see, where sadly it appears more that Koko is trained and encouraged to say things in sign language than to actually express herself. It was the same with Nim the chimpanzee. With Nim, though, there was a poignant denouement after his time as a celebrated prodigy, when he languished for years in a poorly-kept facility, suffered from acute loneliness, and went mad. This one is just a snapshot.

There's a tantalizing interview with a San Francisco zookeeper, not an animal rights person and damn proud of it, who disapproves of Koko having been taken from him in order to live as a human, so to speak. He feels humans are humans and beasts are beasts, and for him it isn't right to blur the line. And yet Koko's carers in academia do not have much success in blurring it. At the end we see Koko sat at a voicebox keyboard, pressing buttons to say words in a female monotone, and there isn't much in the way of communication that a cat's range of mewing couldn't accomplish. It's pathetic, but of course that's by human standards. She may have things on her mind that cannot be articulated in our own specialized manner. As good old Montaigne wondered, "the defect that hinders communication betwixt them and us—why may it not be on our part as well as theirs?"

 

[gashonthenail]

Went to see the new film by Ira Sachs this weekend - Passages.
Excellent movie and can thoroughly recommend. A very modern tale of a gay married couple, one of whom has an affair with a woman.
The soundtrack uses this song at one point - which I had never heard before. Very striking.

 

[gashonthenail]

The Happy Prince, about Oscar Wilde's life, mainly after he got out of prison. Rupert Everett's pet project from 2018. It's more melancholy than the effervescent 1997 film Wilde, starring Steven Fry. They're both carefully done, and go some way to satisfying those curious.

Yes, I thought Mr Everett did a very good job with The Happy Prince. Clearly a labour of love, to write the script, play the lead role, and direct. Have watched it several times.
Apparently you can book the hotel room on Rue Des Beaux Arts where Oscar died, although I'm sure it doesn't come cheap. It's just called L'Hôtel now, although back then it was called Hôtel d'Alsace. No visit to Paris is complete though without paying a visit to Oscar's tomb at Père Lachaise, sculpted by the great Jacob Epstein - got to be one of the greatest sculptures of the 20th century. The genitalia of the original sculpture were saved for posterity by Aleister Crowley, no less, at least until they were chiselled off several decades later...

Rooms | L’Hotel Paris

Our iconic spiral staircase leads to six floors of opulent, individually designed luxury bedrooms and suites. Explore our rooms and book your stay.

www.l-hotel.com

The Scandal of the Tomb of Oscar Wilde – Oscar Wilde House

oscarwildehouse.com

 

[goinghome]

Yes, I thought Mr Everett did a very good job with The Happy Prince. Clearly a labour of love, to write the script, play the lead role, and direct. Have watched it several times.
Apparently you can book the hotel room on Rue Des Beaux Arts where Oscar died, although I'm sure it doesn't come cheap. It's just called L'Hôtel now, although back then it was called Hôtel d'Alsace. No visit to Paris is complete though without paying a visit to Oscar's tomb at Père Lachaise, sculpted by the great Jacob Epstein - got to be one of the greatest sculptures of the 20th century. The genitalia of the original sculpture were saved for posterity by Aleister Crowley, no less, at least until they were chiselled off several decades later...

Rooms | L’Hotel Paris

Our iconic spiral staircase leads to six floors of opulent, individually designed luxury bedrooms and suites. Explore our rooms and book your stay.

www.l-hotel.com

The Scandal of the Tomb of Oscar Wilde – Oscar Wilde House

oscarwildehouse.com

Interesting. I visited the tomb in 2009, when Morrissey played Le Zenith, but I wasn't aware of the extent of the trouble caused by the tomb. There really is nothing like it, which is perfect.

I watched the 2021 film Benediction since, about the life of poet Siegfried Sassoon, which very quickly segued into a follow-up of the Wilde film, in that Robby Ross and Bosie were both mentioned as acquaintances early on, as WWI was breaking out. Another lure is the fact that the lead was ably played by Jack Lowden, who starred as Morrissey in England Is Mine.

There was an amount of what sometimes felt like name-dropping to me, risking more a documentary than fiction film feel, but of course the plot was based on a biography. Ivor Novello, the celebrated songwriter, was a close friend for a while. I think this Variety review is fair and informative.

 

[gashonthenail]

Interesting. I visited the tomb in 2009, when Morrissey played Le Zenith, but I wasn't aware of the extent of the trouble caused by the tomb. There really is nothing like it, which is perfect.

I watched the 2021 film Benediction since, about the life of poet Siegfried Sassoon, which very quickly segued into a follow-up of the Wilde film, in that Robby Ross and Bosie were both mentioned as acquaintances early on, as WWI was breaking out. Another lure is the fact that the lead was ably played by Jack Lowden, who starred as Morrissey in England Is Mine.

There was an amount of what sometimes felt like name-dropping to me, risking more a documentary than fiction film feel, but of course the plot was based on a biography. Ivor Novello, the celebrated songwriter, was a close friend for a while. I think this Variety review is fair and informative.

Yes, I saw Benediction at the cinema last year when it was released. Terence Davies I think is one of the best directors working in the UK currently, although Benediction is far from being his best work. His early work, the Trilogy, Distant Voices Still Lives, and The Long Day Closes are poetic and breath-taking. And very, very Smithsesque in their capture of British working class life. The black and white Trilogy would make great material for a Moz or Smiths fan video.

 

[Lucifer Sam]

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946). Not bad, but not great either. A bit overlong, some too-convenient twists, and the characters' motivations are difficult to read behind their bland personas. Only Lana Tuner among them seems to have any dimension and subtlety. Her goofy husband almost seems to invite being cuckolded, and John Garfield plays a drifter with that corny "say, Mister" quality. I can see why this was remade in 1981 with Jack Nicholson in the Garfield role. Assuming Nicholson did not play it with the same earnest "aw, shucks" routine, and it is difficult to imagine he would.

 

[goinghome]

Mon Oncle (1958)

A charming little film about a playful misfit whose eminently respectable sister is trying to settle him down. Her house shows off alienating technological advances, provided by her equally respectable husband. Their child enjoys the practical tricks of the uncle who frequently visits from across the city where he lives in a traditional area of street-sellers and in the attic of an old house of non-matching parts. Enjoyable

 

[j*e*t]

Mon Oncle (1958)

A charming little film about a playful misfit whose eminently respectable sister is trying to settle him down. Her house shows off alienating technological advances, provided by her equally respectable husband. Their child enjoys the practical tricks of the uncle who frequently visits from across the city where he lives in a traditional area of street-sellers and in the attic of an old house of non-matching parts. Enjoyable

I too found Mon Oncle charming, enjoyable and memorable. The little boy really doesn't fit in with the labour-saving, ultra-efficient home his parents are so keen to create, does he? I have the BFI Jaques Tati collection in a DVD box set that I return to many times.

Yesterday, I watched two German films on YouTube. Decoder (1984) has William S Burroughs and Genesis P-Orridge in the cast so I thought it worth a look but in fact I had to flick through, partly because my German has comletely rusted up, but also because there are too many unattractive scenes of people eating and in general it's too slow and repetitive. I suppose the year inspired some filmakers to go Orwellian in theme with CCTV surveillance and such. I thought Morrissey's friend Hannah would look right at home in this film!

The other film was Diary of a Lost Girl (1929). Quite long but Louise Brooks kept me glued. There's rape, suicides, a Christian reformatory, prostitution, inheritance, an effeminate man, oh it's got it all and Louise is radiant throughout! Unusually for a silent fim, I really liked the soundtrack that had been added (by Joseph Turrin, who appears to be a modern composer).

 

[nicky wire's legs]

The Heiress (1949). A devastating character study. Olivia de Haviland is the only child of a wealthy doctor, a fusspot of a man who seems to delight in giving her backhanded praise and comparing her unfavorably to her late mother. Presumably because of this constant trickle of subtle criticisms, she has turned out awkward, naïve, and reserved. She is encouraged by her aunt to be a socialite, but she prefers to immerse herself in the solitary joys of embroidery. On an occasion where she is dragged to a society ball, Montgomery Clift is a ne'er-do-well who initiates a surprising romance. Naturally her father disapproves. The ambiguity of whether Clift is after her for the money she stands to inherit is done excellently, but Olivia de Haviland's loss of innocence and tortuous emergence from her cocoon is even better. "Yes, I am very cruel. I have had great masters."

that sounds so good! i wish i could watch it!

 

[goinghome]

I too found Mon Oncle charming, enjoyable and memorable. The little boy really doesn't fit in with the labour-saving, ultra-efficient home his parents are so keen to create, does he? I have the BFI Jaques Tati collection in a DVD box set that I return to many times.

Yesterday, I watched two German films on YouTube. Decoder (1984) has William S Burroughs and Genesis P-Orridge in the cast so I thought it worth a look but in fact I had to flick through, partly because my German has comletely rusted up, but also because there are too many unattractive scenes of people eating and in general it's too slow and repetitive. I suppose the year inspired some filmakers to go Orwellian in theme with CCTV surveillance and such. I thought Morrissey's friend Hannah would look right at home in this film!

The other film was Diary of a Lost Girl (1929). Quite long but Louise Brooks kept me glued. There's rape, suicides, a Christian reformatory, prostitution, inheritance, an effeminate man, oh it's got it all and Louise is radiant throughout! Unusually for a silent fim, I really liked the soundtrack that had been added (by Joseph Turrin, who appears to be a modern composer).

This taster of Diary of a Lost Girl persuades me to go find and watch soon. Who is Hannah?

 

[Lucifer Sam]

Capote (2005). I was expecting to like this, having already seen Infamous, the other film about Truman Capote's intimate research of In Cold Blood, and even though I enjoyed that one I found Sandra Bullock to be a sore spot. I don't know what it is about Sandra Bullock, but something about her annoys me. It's just "one of those things." I think there was a capsule review of Gravity that said "George Clooney chooses to drift off into outer space rather than spend another minute with Sandra Bullock." That was funny.

Capote has Catherine Keener in the Harper Lee role. Morrissey liked Capote, or at least, the best thing about it, which is Philip Seymour Hoffman's performance. But otherwise it is oppressively boring. Long stretches of silence, minimalist piano music, so-serious acting, and shot through with bleakness and funereal gloom. This is the writing of the seminal true-crime-Americana thriller, but someone decided it should be as heavy and ponderous as Tarkovsky. It doesn't have the rich flavor of Capote's own prose, or the engrossing quality of the book itself—the living opposite of boring, poised precisely on the line between compelling and salacious. I rate Infamous the better film, and while Philip Seymour Hoffman overcame the handicap of his bulk and height, his movie's dull atmosphere turned a great performance into a tedious impersonation, and I rate Toby Jones the better Capote.

 

[Lucifer Sam]

that sounds so good! i wish i could watch it!

I think you would like it. I'm sure you already know it's based on a Henry James novel. There was an adaptation in the 90s with Jennifer Jason Leigh, but I never saw that one. Hopefully you'll get a new computer so you can watch movies again. Have you considered a smart TV?

 

[j*e*t]

This taster of Diary of a Lost Girl persuades me to go find and watch soon. Who is Hannah?

Hannah Martin is a punk rock-looking jewellery designer from London who was at Morrissey's intimate birthday party in Los Angeles in 2022. She recently identified Jesse Tobias as a client of hers. She was photographed at the Garbage concert in Mexico City backstage or at an after party with Morrissey earlier this month. A recent article in The New York Times gives more details:-

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/07/fashion/jewelry-piercings-hannah-martin-london.html

 

[nicky wire's legs]

I think you would like it. I'm sure you already know it's based on a Henry James novel. There was an adaptation in the 90s with Jennifer Jason Leigh, but I never saw that one. Hopefully you'll get a new computer so you can watch movies again. Have you considered a smart TV?

No, I don't know anything about smart tvs but getting one sounds like a nuisance. I'm not really committed to where I am enough to consider getting something like that, I think. But I defo need a new computer because even youtube videos are being a bitch now and I HAVE to have youtube for nicccckkkkyyyyyyy and neiiiiillllll. And right wing podcaasssssttts.

I didn't know it was based on a henry James novel! How serendipitous! Where did you find to watch it??