Denouement Renouement

Tag: 4 stars

  • Theme!: Disaster Movies — The Towering Inferno (1974)

    By C. Ramsay

    Taking its sweet time to situate the audience, even occasionally going so far as to lull us into distraction with the lighter, spoken character dramas the film begins with, The Towering Inferno is two hours and forty-five minutes of slow, creeping tension capable of being set off at any moment. Standing at a total of 138 stories, a short circuit causes a fire on the 81st floor of the tower during the evening of its dedication ceremony, trapping dozens of guests celebrating on the 135th floor and leaving the building’s architect, Doug Roberts (Paul Newman), and San Francisco Fire Department Chief O’Hallorhan (Steve McQueen) as the individuals best equipped to navigate the situation.

    From the opening sequence of a helicopter traversing San Francisco to eventually deposit a well-dressed and nonchalant Roberts onto the roof of his creation, the level of chicness and style in the film is palpable, conveyed as much through how scenes are pieced together as through the set design and costuming. There are many background details used as a means to better inform the viewer about the time period and the primary class of people involved in the story, and different areas and aspects of the tower have different colour schemes to help orient the audience while the film moves around its central setting. Burnt orange is most often shown in association with the architectural offices of the building, marking a convergence of industry and artistry. Sage green is regularly used in guest-facing areas, particularly acting as the backdrop for the opulence of the Promenade Room where the guests are celebrating. Pastel yellows or neutral whites are typically used in liminal areas like hallways or stairwells. Candy red is used to mark interactive technical components throughout the building, such as buttons, knobs, and handles, whereas pale blue tends to mark the paneling behind which the broader mechanical and electrical layouts exist. Newman’s character is also notably clothed in a burnt orange dress shirt and pale blue suit, relegating his authority to only stand within the sections of the building viewed as being of lower status by those in charge. Despite his expertise and persistence, his social sway is also weakened until it’s too late.

    (more…)

  • Childhood Classics: Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)

    By C. Ramsay

    An adaptation of the children’s book written by Chris Van Allsburg, the author also behind Jumanji, Zathura is the space counterpart to the jungle-based story. Both utilize the same style, prioritizing being creative and fun, but with stakes that always feel real. With Jon Favreau’s direction, Zathura is full of rich visuals and world-building, exemplified immediately through a gorgeously colourful and textured mixed media title sequence that introduces how the game board functions and teases some of its contents.

    There is a clear love by Favreau for the prioritization of practical effects, including some extremely detailed puppetry, something that he has continued to prioritize throughout his vast career. An equal amount of care is also put into the sets that create the foundation for the film’s atmosphere, both in miniature form and to scale. The interior sets of the house are extensive and well-utilized. The opening act makes sure to move throughout the entire floor plan via different interactions between the family members we’re situated with in order to provide characterization while simultaneously familiarizing the audience with the layout, making the space feel lived in and the characters lived with. No part of the set feels off-limits or unusable.

    (more…)

  • Hooptober 12: Mandy (2018)

    Film #29 — 3/3 Cult or Conspiracy Films

    By C. Ramsay

    A hallucinatory phantasmagorical nightmare of a film that cycles through the stages of grief and their inciting incident in its 2-hour runtime, Mandy is mean-spirited but not without sympathy. There is not enough praise that can be given to its stylization—it’s hard to find fault in how the cinematography, soundtrack, score, costumes and makeup, and even the title and chapter cards come together to make something as uniquely metal as this. 

    Though much of the film features a strong degree of absurdity and outlandishness, the weight of the circumstances is always felt. There is a process to how things work, and a flow in how they’re affected and what they influence in turn, that grounds the story progression in comprehensibility. We see just enough of the mechanics of this microcosm to accept it for what it is and follow along for the ride.

    (more…)

  • Hooptober 12: Das deutsche Kettensägenmassaker (The German Chainsaw Massacre) (1990)

    Film #25 — 1/1 Extra Credit Film

    By C. Ramsay

    Built around a runtime of only 63 minutes, The German Chainsaw Massacre makes every single one of them count. The choice to open with the reunification of Germany helps to define the rest of the film, deepening characterization without needing excessive verbal or visual exposition, and providing a contextual backdrop for the minimalistic plot as it washes over the viewer. Relying entirely on pairing its absurdist comedic style with its social and legislative circumstances, this is a film that seems like it should be evidently taken as satirical of both its subgenre and its political features, though instead appears to be more often than not painfully misunderstood as plotless and aiming solely for misguided shock value.

    A key interest of the film is in the response of the average person to the reunification of a country having experienced prolonged enforced division, and in the increasing polarization that developed from it over the course of decades. The desires of the individual are constantly held against the assumptions and stereotypes developed and trickled from the top down of those occupying the space of the alternate perspective. What becomes tacitly highlighted is the hypocrisy behind generalizing a demographic forced into formation but refusing to accept that those same generalizations are not one-sided and can be equally self-reflective. Where the film is most curious is in its exploration of the societal rifts caused by the separation of East and West Germany, and more specifically in the exploitative and parasitic consumption of certain types of people as a means to foster the growth of others.

    (more…)

  • Hooptober 12: Def by Temptation (1990)

    Film #20 — 1/1 Film From a Black Director With a Black Lead; 7/9 Decades

    By C. Ramsay

    Distributed by Troma Entertainment and directed, produced, and written by James Bond III, who also stars, Def by Temptation is a small-scale production about a succubus who takes the form of a Black woman to seduce and kill Black men in New York City.

    For an independent project this size, every component is well put together. Featuring an overall killer soundtrack, as well as gorgeously moody lighting and cinematography by Ernest Dickerson, frequent collaborator with Spike Lee, the atmosphere is pristine. The script is vibrant, with Bond’s writing creating a well-paced comedic tone that’s effortlessly carried through the film thanks to the acting done by himself, Kadeem Hardison, and Bill Nun. The viewer is able to learn a lot about each character after only a few lines of dialogue each, and anyone who isn’t simply a background actor therefore feels well-rounded and either relatable or identifiable in personality.

    (more…)

  • Hooptober 12: The Blob (1988)

    Film #17 — 1/1 Film I Hadn’t Seen from Cinemonster’s Favourite Horror Movie List

    By C. Ramsay

    Far more disgustingly claustrophobic than it first appears given the level of humour involved, The Blob truly savours the uniqueness of each kill. Benefitting from some of the visual effects crew from Cronenberg’s The Fly, the body horror is immaculate and never feels hindered in some scenes as a means to spotlight the set pieces in others. Every single sequence is as exciting and new as the last. Often stylized to look like people’s internal organs are rapidly flooding from their bodies once it’s finished with them, the titular entity is most vivid in its filth, slinking through and around any obstacle in nearly all types of terrain. It is entirely unhindered by most physical barriers and thrives in its perpetual desire to consume, enlarging itself at an exponential rate with every feed.

    A wide-ranging group of characters are given ample screen time, and all, from the protagonists to the people only in a single scene, are fleshed out enough to feel three-dimensional. Brian Flagg in particular, the local juvenile delinquent, works exceptionally well as a character in a survival setting that spans the extent of a city because he’s got nothing to lose, no respect for authority, and strong survival instincts, all of which drive him to move through set pieces in ways no other character would think to. Each scene is memorable for its own reasons, and just as the characters are given enough definition to remain interesting no matter how well the audience actually knows them, the action of the film takes place in so many different areas of the city that the entire place feels familiar by the end, from the woods to its residential neighbourhoods, and from its staple businesses and amenities to its sewers.

    (more…)

  • Hooptober 12: Veneno para las hadas (Poison for the Fairies) (1986)

    Film #16 — 1/1 Film from a Mexican or Central American Director; 4/6 Countries (Mexico)

    Also filed under: A-One

    By C. Ramsay

    The short, introductory scene that kicks this film off is a perfect encapsulation of the atmosphere the rest of the film carries. Being unclear about the larger context, the audience is met with a child wandering the darkness of a home with a single candle, her intentions unknown but undeniably fixed. She walks slowly but resolutely, her steps at pace with the score, which is already swelling. Unwaveringly, she slices the throat of an adult who is surprised by her entrance into their room, their blood lavishly red against the backdrop of an otherwise black and white scene. The girl grins as the blood begins to pool, and the opening credits are queued into rolling. The colour grading for the remainder of the film is rich and vibrant.

    Full of gothic melodramatic flair, the film centres around two young girls and their developing friendship: Veronica, an orphan with a penchant for witchcraft living with her nanny and sick grandmother, and Flavia, a wealthy atheist who comes from a loving home but joins the school mid-semester and is too shy to make friends aside from Veronica. In an effort to impress Flavia, Veronica begins trying to convince her that she’s a witch who wields great power, which both interests and scares the new girl. Though some of the spats between the kids seem comedic and overly juvenile, the film frames any tension between them not as a punchline, but out of understanding that from the girls’ perspectives the intensity is justified, even if it’s also humorous.

    (more…)

  • Hooptober 12: Night of the Living Dead (1968)

    Film #9 — 1/5 Zombie Films

    Also filed under: Video Nasties Project #1

    By C. Ramsay

    It’s easy to see why Night of the Living Dead has been so influential since its release, with its inventive storytelling, low-budget creativity, and drastic subversion of expectations. Within the first few minutes, one of the protagonists is subjected to an extended sequence of pure exhibition of her terror, culminating in her arrival at the farmhouse that remains the only setting over the course of a single night.

    The undead are given frequent screen time, their clothing or lack of revealing how quickly the epidemic has spread. The scenes we get with them are jarring enough as they are: we see them eating flesh with a revolting texture, they have surprisingly quick reflexes that allow them to jump out of the way of fire, and they have enough cognitive capability to occasionally use tools. However, what’s most unsettling about the zombies, or ghouls as they’re repeatedly referred to, are the descriptions people give of them and what goes unseen. We don’t need to see them actually running, we just need glances of their quick reflexes to know they’re capable of faster movement. When we’re shown a human running a great distance to escape a ghoul only to suddenly see it show up in the same spot shortly after, the implication that they could be moving faster at any moment is terrifying. 

    (more…)

  • Hooptober 12: La frusta e il corpo (The Whip and the Body) (1963)

    Film #6 — 1/1 Film Written by Ernesto Gastaldi

    By C. Ramsay

    A gothic, psychosexual melodrama that uses the story of a disowned nobleman suddenly returning to his family estate after years away as a backdrop to deeper explorations of the self. Bava seems to tie the inner workings of his characters, how they are moulded and what inspires their wants, to being inseparable from the physical environment as an influence. Using some truly stunning locations, the environment and how it moves in the frame is treated with equal interest to the characters present, showing a respect for the agency of the elements in impressing those wading through them. Gorgeous mood lighting is prominent and is also used in many ways as its own character, completely free of the constraints of natural lumination, often imposing rather than enlightening. Imposition is then laced through the film’s composition, with angular or tilted shots periodically breaking up the flow of a sequence. In these, both three-dimensional objects and their two-dimensional shadows end up blending to the point where it’s not always noticeable at first glance which is which, leading to a degree of unsettling abstractness to scenes which are otherwise understandable. Nature, lighting, and shadows all act as components of influence that aren’t always recognizable, notably when they aren’t physical, yet they function as complementary to, or extensions of, the supernatural elements persistent throughout the film.

    (more…)

  • Hooptober 12: Cat People (1942)

    Film #4 — 1/1 Most Popular Film from the 1940s I Hadn’t Seen; 3/9 Decades

    By C. Ramsay

    Although the pacing is a little slow during the first half, the characters are so endearing that it’s worthwhile spending time with them. Irena, originally from Serbia and still mostly askew in New York, is especially sympathetic as a protagonist experiencing isolation from her country, culture, friends, and family, as well as through the gendered expectations placed on her. She spends most of her time desperately trying to fit into a box that was never sized for her, fearing the consequences of not being able to do so, and performing for the satisfaction of the people around her to her own detriment. 

    Irena’s arc is resonant for the same reasons as Medea’s in the play of the same name—a woman capable and established in her own right is seen as different in an unfamiliar society and is betrayed by a husband she thought she could trust, leading to a compulsion to commit acts of violence as her only means of escape. The caged panther that Irena regularly visits reveals her fundamental misunderstanding of the creature she projects herself onto, even if she means well, which is paralleled by how the people in her life treat her and her reactions in turn. Neither she nor the panther are innately evil, but when pressured and lacking alternatives both will escalate in accordance with what is assumed of them by the masses, fitting in only in how they were expected not to. “I love silence, I love loneliness,” is uttered by Irena in despair at the eventual realization that she cannot pretend herself into someone she isn’t for people who claim to care about her but never really change their own behaviours in meaningful ways. Isolation at least provides the opportunity for a less challenged understanding of oneself.

    (more…)