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Toby Dammit (1968) & La Jetée (1963) film notes by Tova Gannana for the Lynwood Theatre
Toby Dammit (1968) feels like a hangover, a warning. In the future there will be fog machines, an airport filled with forgotten passengers, film producers as the only reliable adults, an awards show with fake sentiment, alcohol and barbiturates, a devil who wants to play catch with a white ball,... Continue reading
Posted Dec 27, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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A Night at the Opera (1935) film notes by Tova Gannana for CSA Hitchcock
A film is like a soil sample. It tells you about the time it was made through its sets and dialogue, through who is acting and who didn’t get the part. Films remain in their time and thought of in our time as classics or trash, dated or modern, relevant... Continue reading
Posted Dec 21, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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Gimme Shelter (1970) film notes by Tova Gannana for the Lynwood Theatre
1969, The Rolling Stones were young, their audience was younger, the decade was almost over. The light on Mick Jagger on stage is red. He is impossibly thin-hipped, chiseled, with a long haired sensuality. Look too long and you’ll start to fall under some kind of spell. Since the 1950’s... Continue reading
Posted Dec 21, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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Eyes Without A Face (1960) by Tova Gannana for the Lynwood Theatre
In Andre Bazin’s 1952 essay on Italian Neorealism we read,“Indeed, art aims to go beyond reality, not to reproduce it. And this is even truer of film because of its technical realism, its ability to reproduce reality so easily.” Stories taken from real life are rendered as fiction; they are... Continue reading
Posted Dec 21, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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La Strada (1954) film notes by Tova Gannana for the Lynwood Theatre
Water represents life and death, hardship and fortune. La Strada (1954) begins at the beach. A young woman, Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina), carries kindling on her back. She wears a cape. The wind blows it open as she walks alone with the sound of the waves. Running to meet her, Gelsomina’s... Continue reading
Posted Dec 20, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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Smooth Talk (1985) film notes by Tova Gannana for the Lynwood Theatre
Smooth Talk (1985) begins in nature. Water lapping at the shore is the first sound. Three girls lie on a blanket at the beach. The sun is setting. They’ve fallen asleep. The boom box by their side is silent. Above them gulls call and screech. They realize they are late.... Continue reading
Posted Dec 4, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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Gold Diggers Of 1933 (1933) film notes by Tova Gannana for CSA Hitchcock
The choreographer of Gold Diggers Of 1933 (1933) Busby Berkeley, drank martinis while taking his daily bath, married six times, went to court for vehicular homicide, died of natural causes at the age of 80, and released five musical films in 1933. About dance in film, the critic Arlene Croce... Continue reading
Posted Nov 22, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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Paris Blues (1961) film notes by Tova Gannana for CSA Hitchcock
In a basement club a jazz band plays each night as the stars come out. Candles in wine bottles drip on the tables. Men and women sit and sip. Some dance, some lean with their back to the bar. All are listening to Ram Bowen (Paul Newman) on trombone, Eddie... Continue reading
Posted Nov 11, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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The Olympics In Mexico (1969) film notes by Tova Gannana for CSA Hitchcock
The 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico was the first Olympics held in Latin America, was the first to be televised in Technicolor and watched by 600 million across the globe, was announced by the narrator of the film The Olympics In Mexico (1969) as “the largest peaceful gathering of youth... Continue reading
Posted Nov 4, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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Bay Of Angels (1963) film notes by Tova Gannana for CSA Hitchcock
In a casino there is always both kinds of luck. There is picking a number, noting a sign like sitting next to a blonde, a man in a hat, a woman in a pretty dress. There is the roll of the dice, turning over the cards, holding one's breath. There... Continue reading
Posted Oct 27, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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Tampopo (1985) film notes by Tova Gannana for CSA Hitchcock
Ramen is broth and noodles, an expression, a gesture, like chili and hummus, it’s a popular dish, it’s street food, it’s what you crave when you are hungry. To eat ramen is to make noise. You slurp your noodles. You suck down the broth. Like ambition, great ramen is messy,... Continue reading
Posted Oct 18, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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Clue (1985) film notes by Tova Gannana for CSA Hitchcock
In Clue (1985) the servants, not the guests, get killed by a rope, a wrench, a lead pipe, gunfire, and a knife. More than just their uniforms, the servants are accomplices to blackmail. They are the ones who have been digging up the dirt and dishing it out to Wadsworth... Continue reading
Posted Oct 15, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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In Heaven There Is No Beer? (1984) film notes by Tova Gannana for CSA Hitchcock
Dancing is unlike walking or running or standing. When you dance you travel. You take a turn around the room, you change partners. Like a meal, dancing is communal. With dancing comes everything that is good and worth doing. You eat, drink; see old friends, make new ones. To dance... Continue reading
Posted Oct 15, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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A Summer’s Tale (1996) for SAM Films
Bobby Kennedy wrote in his 1967 book, To Seek a Newer World, “In far too many places-in pleasant suburbs as well as city streets-the home is a place to sleep and eat and watch television; but where it is located is not a community. We live in too many places... Continue reading
Posted Mar 12, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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Boyfriends and Girlfriends (1987) film notes for SAM Films
Twenty-somethings, Blanche (Emmanuelle Chaulet), Léa (Sophie Renoir), Alexandre (François-Eric Gendron) and Fabien (Eric Viellard) live outside of Paris in the newly constructed city Cergy-Pontoise. They say they value friendship and the rules of friendship. One doesn’t date a friend’s boyfriend or girlfriend. The sentiment “my friends’ friends are my friends”... Continue reading
Posted Feb 27, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle (1987) for SAM Films
Eric Rohmer never owned a car. He thought they were immoral. Wherever he went he walked. It is written that Rohmer never told his mother his true profession. She went to her grave never having seen his films. Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle (1987) questions the effect our words... Continue reading
Posted Feb 20, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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The Green Ray (1986) film notes for SAM Films
The Green Ray (1986) opens in an office with the shades drawn. The phone rings for Delphine (Marie Rivière) with the news that her friend won’t be going with her on vacation. Delphine is distraught. The other secretaries pay little attention. Delphine wants to get out of Paris but doesn’t... Continue reading
Posted Feb 13, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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Love in the Afternoon (1972) film notes for SAM Films
Love in the Afternoon (1972) opens with a man taking his leave. In his overcoat, he collects his things, shushes his daughter in her cradle, and kisses his wife as she dries herself from her shower. “You’ll get wet,” Hélène (Françoise Verley) tells him. “It’s OK. I have my raincoat... Continue reading
Posted Feb 6, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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I’m in love with you Humphrey Bogart
These days who isn't. I’m aware of the complications. You having long ago left this globe spinning. Saying I’ll take the girl in the sloppy Joe sweater. You’re not Powell or Gable. You seem to smell of wood and smoke. You seem to know of fire. What does Bacall have... Continue reading
Posted Feb 3, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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Claire’s Knee (1970) film notes for SAM Films
Eric Rohmer’s young women have minds of their own. Hearty and a bit world weary, they can feel they are being observed and yet they do what they want. In Rohmer’s films the young women are not made to feel ashamed, not blamed for what they wear or for what... Continue reading
Posted Jan 30, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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My Night at Maud’s (1969) film notes for SAM Films
The wintry weather brings people together in My Night At Maud’s (1969). They huddle in cafes, invite one another to ski while stomping their snowy boots, attend a concert hoping pretty girls might show up in their woolens to listen to Leonid Kogan play Mozart. They enjoy December. Jean-Louis (Jean-Louis... Continue reading
Posted Jan 23, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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La Collectionneuse (1967) film notes for SAM Films
How good and pleasant it is to spend time in the country in a villa with terra cotta tiles, rooms with books stacked on surfaces, one black phone, and a terrace that overlooks a wild rambling field. The port city is far enough away that when you go to it... Continue reading
Posted Jan 16, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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Pauline At The Beach (1983) film notes for SAM Films
There are no cloudy days in the countryside, the weather always pleasant. Pauline (Amanda Langlet) is looking forward to the beach everyday having just spent two months with her parents in Spain. She complains, “I’ve always made friends on vacation except this year.” Her cousin Marion (Arielle Dombasle) a divorcée... Continue reading
Posted Jan 9, 2020 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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Mulholland Drive (2001) film notes for SAM Films
Adam Kesher (Justin Theroux) pours pink house paint into his wife’s jewelery box when he finds her in bed with another man. The three of them get in a fight. Adam’s black clothing is stained with pink hand prints. At a party Adam spins it for laughs, “So, I got... Continue reading
Posted Dec 5, 2019 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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The Naked Kiss (1964) film notes for SAM Films
Posted Nov 14, 2019 at The Dark Lady Of American Letters
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