Breathless (1960) / A Bout De Souffle - film response

Whilst Breathless didn't appeal to me very much in terms of the plot or style of the film, I could really appreciate some of its aspects...

The unusual editing in the film really interested me and was definitely one of the features that kept me pulled in. It felt quite refreshing to see slightly surreal continuity and editing in such an old film and it helped to revamp it a little.
The main characters were both rather unlikeable, in my opinion, but they both also contributed a great deal to the film in terms of style and a certain smoothness and suaveness. Their calm looks, sunglasses and cigarettes all helped to create their flawless and composed characters.

 There was definitely a strong undercurrent of issues around America and France and the strong differences/controversy between them. Many of the film's lines talked about the difference between American girls and French girls and comparisons between the cultures were frequent.

Breathless (or A Bout De Souffle) was definitely an interesting and worthwhile watch but I can't say that I would rush to watch it again any time soon.

Begin Again

I went to see Begin Again with a few people from the film studies class. It was very empty in the screen and the cinema and the cinema experience was generally nice, except the lights came on during the end of the film rather than after it finished (but oh well).
The film felt perfect in length, and actually a little short compared to the last few films I've watched in the cinema.

Begin Again was very sweet - with a few moments of comedy and drama, it was just a happy film. I thought the idea of recording their own album in various places around New York City was lovely and the characters all had such interesting depth to them. I was concerned there would be too much focus and plot dependency on the ex-boyfriend-turned-pop-legend, but I was pleasantly surprised. The focus was instead put into the character of Violet, the daughter of Dan who I had no idea would be a character in the film.
All the musicians felt very authentic and friendly and the film, although not one of my favourites, was very enjoyable and just nice to watch.
This hasn't been a very coherent response but the film was a real gem and had some absolutely beautiful moments so it is well worth watching it (and Keira Knightley can sing pretty well).

Boyhood (spoilers)

Boyhood was an absolutely incredible film: a fantastic script, amazing cinematography, lovely soundtrack - the whole works.

People often say that they're "transported" into a film and I've never felt so completely involved in the lives of a set of characters. When I watch a film, particularly in a cinema, I tend to get a little distracted and reflect on my life. This barely happened when I watched Boyhood (which is a good thing).

There were some very interesting themes being discussed in the movie, such as domestic violence, alcohol addiction, as well as just the process of growing up.
I also thought that the "everyday" content of the script was great - the comedy all came from everyday situations rather than it being planned out and forced.

The shifts in time were so subtle and it was great to see how these individuals changed over the years, mainly in their appearance but also in the way they behaved.
I liked how the jump between the years would leave the audience to fill in the gaps. Whilst the film was almost 3 hours long, it felt like a great length. In fact, I was a little bit disappointed when it ended - not because I wanted to know what happened next, but because I had been in the middle of the characters' lives for 2 hours and 40 minutes and then suddenly I wasn't.
I kept wondering how they were going to end the film, and I was relieved to find that they didn't seize any of the opportunities to end it softly after cliche scene. Instead, the ending was very reflective (yet humorous) but so abrupt and perfect ... plus, the credits featured one of my favourite songs by Arcade Fire.
I knew Arcade Fire's track (Deep Blue) would be in the film after reading an article about the soundtrack, and I thought the lyrics suited the idea of the film well. I was pleasantly surprised to find that another Arcade Fire song was featured in the middle of the film.

I think my favourite scene had to be the one where Mason travels to his university and stops off along the way to put petrol in his car and take photos of some of the amazing surroundings, all to the music of Hero by Family Of The Year.

Psycho

My family have had an interest in Hitchcock's films for a long time now that started when we all watched The Lady Vanishes on TV. After loving The Lady Vanishes, we went on to buy Rear Window, Strangers On A Train, North By Northwest etc and, later, a Hitchcock boxset.

For Christmas, my parents bought me a boxset of Psycho and The Birds as we have both on VHS but none of us have actually got round to watching them.
I've been putting off watching them as I feel like you need to be in the mood for Hitchcock's films, but after not being able to find the other discs from our My So-Called Life boxset, I watched Psycho.
It was very different to the image I had created from seeing the shower scene many times, but it was also a lot better than I thought it was going to be... although, it was much less scary but much more weird than I had anticipated.

I felt that Anthony Perkins, who plays the "psychotic" Norman Bates, played the part incredibly well - capturing that nice, yet uneasy feel to his character.

I found it interesting that, at the start, I wanted Marion to succeed in her running away; when she was dead, I wanted Norman to succeed in covering everything up; when Sam and her sister arrive, I wanted them to succeed in discovering Norman's secret. I wasn't rooting for one person throughout, it changed as the film progressed.

The last scene, with Norman's mother's voice, and his creepy grin at the camera was quite unsettling.

All in all, Psycho was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be, but a lot more perturbing.

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

I appreciated how Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown had many chaotic and crazy things going on within the plot, but kept it unique and avoided making it into a cliche Mr-Bean-everything-going-wrong type of film.
There was a focus on the relationships between all the characters in the film and it didn't have a heavier focus on the relationship between Pepa and Ivan. This made the film, for me at least, a lot more interesting to watch than had it been entirely focused on the main character's relationships.
The style of the film and the mise-en-scene was very reflective of the time, with a slightly surreal edge at times (like the view from the apartment). The style and colour reminded me of the very stylised, rather odd comedy, I'm So Excited (which I just Googled, and, coincidentally, the two films were both directed by Pedro Almodovar).

Both films feature quirky characters and fit within the comedy genre whilst dealing with the character's anxieties or drama in a humorous way. I'm So Excited also featured Antonio Banderas in a cameo role, and in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, I didn't actually realise that the character of Carlos was played by Banderas.
Whilst Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown had the opportunity to be quite slow, or have scenes that would lose the audience's interest, I found that I wasn't drifting away from the film. Almodovar has created an interesting, quirky film that I did quite enjoy (but I think I preferred the modern "throwback" style and lighter feel of I'm So Excited).

The Young And Prodigious T.S. Spivet

(IMDB)

T.S. Spivet had a very small cast and Kyle Catlett (playing T.S. Spivet) had a certain Macaulay Culkin air about him.
I thought the film was sweet and very stylised with the perspective being from 10 year old Spivet's point of view. This was clear when my family were criticising the film for being so unrealistic and too sweet - my argument was that, when following a story with a 10 year old kid, you're not likely to get a brutal, realistic narrative (and I thought the sweet story worked perfectly with the style and feel of the film).

I loved the cinematography and mise-en-scene, and there had clearly been a lot of though put into the style of the film and into making it work brilliantly in 3D (which I usually hate).
The diegetic sounds in the film were amazing - specifically the scenes when Spivet is on the freight train.

Whilst members of my family weren't keen on the 'dead brother' plotline, I found no problem with it and thought the film was good fun to watch (and with a slight Wes Anderson feel).

In The Mood For Love - response

I thought In The Mood For Love was a really interesting film that didn't fall into the trap of typical Hollywood cliches and perfection.
I really loved the use of slow motion and music in some scenes - for instance, in this scene:

The slow motion and the reoccurring music starts and ends quite abruptly during some scenes within the film and it emphasises the romance and the time taken for the romance to blossom.
Subtle wardrobe changes helped to move along the timeline in a way that kept the flow of the film which was great.

I thought the darker, grittier style worked perfectly with the film and, again, helped to stay away from the Hollywood blockbuster look. The film felt quiet and realistic.

Overall, although it wasn't my favourite film ever, I really enjoyed watching In The Mood For Love.