Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Judgement at Nuremberg (1961)


Directed by Stanley Kramer

Written by Abby Mann

Starring: Spencer Tracy; Burt Lancaster; Richard Widmark; Marlene Dietrich; Maximillian Schell; Judy Garland; Montgomery Clift; William Shatner

One of the event movies of the early 1960s, Judgement at Nuremberg dramatized the trial of Nazi civil servants before an Allied tribunal. One of the first major Hollywood productions to show graphic imagery from the Holocaust, the film also raised questions about American racism, Germany's complex geopolitical role in the Cold War, and whether an entire society is to be condemned for having knowledge of the crimes against humanity being perpetuated by its government. 

With an all-star cast led by Spencer Tracy, who plays Chief Judge Dan Haywood, few actors could evoke moral authority better than Tracy. Maximillian Schell turned in an Oscar winning performance as defense counsel Hans Rolfe, defending his clients on the grounds it was unfair to hold them responsible for Nazi atrocities when the entire world enabled the Third Reich. In his opening statement he pointed out American jurists like Oliver Wendell Holmes defended Eugenics programs, while not explicably stated the ingrained racism of American institutions. 

The year 1961 marked a high point in the Civil Rights Movement with Freedom Summer and the integration of the University of Mississippi. On the international front the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Israel brought the mentality and extent of Nazi atrocities, popularizing the term coined by Hannah Arendt. The world was just starting to come to terms with the Second World War, and the film situates itself in the era of rising public consciousness on these issues.  

Directed by Stanley Kramer who was known for making "message" movies like The Defiant Ones, Inherit the Wind, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, all serving as a barometer of mainstream liberalism. Judgement at Nuremberg may be his best film for the quality of the acting, writing, and weight of the history being presented. For millions of people, it would be the first time they would view raw footage from the death camps. In addition to archival footage, Kramer used rapid camera movements and compelling close ups, one of the most cinematic trial films.

Abby Martin's script was originally written for Playhouse 90 which aired in 1959 (with censorship required by the TV network), and indeed the high points of the movie are the monologues. Burt Lancaster is memorable as legal scholar Ernst Janning who was on trial, delivering a speech attempting to defend his actions, including forced sterilizations and handing out death sentences, because of Germany's diminished condition before Hitler. Haywood delivers his own eloquent speeches defending the idea of justice. Montgomery Clift appeared as a man who underwent forced sterilization and Judy Garland as a woman who transgressed racial laws are also both effective.

The issues raised in Judgment at Nuremberg remain consequential over sixty years later. To what extent should a nation's people be held accountable for atrocities committed by its government? With authoritarianism once again fueling politics across the globe, have we learned anything from the Second World War and the Holocaust? Now Western nations struggling with their own pasts of colonialism, slavery, and racism, issues which fuel contemporary political discourse on the left and right, what does reconciliation of past injustices look like?

On the Unclear and Present Danger podcast John Ganz observed that Hitler wounded so badly that many of today's issues can be traced back to him. From the persistence of Nazi iconography utilized by white supremacists to the ongoing war in Gaza, the past remains present. There's been countless studies of why societies turn on each other and give in to their basest instincts. The common argument is that Germany's economic distress and humiliation following the First World War set the stage for Hitler, but also a failure of the entire nation-state system. 

Despite being didactic at times with a hint of post-war American triumphalism, if you've not seen Judgement at Nuremberg, it remains an essential film.

(Currently streaming for free on Tubi and Amazon Prime)




Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Maestro **1/2


Directed by Bradley Cooper

Written by Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer

Starring: Bradley Cooper (Leonard Bernstein); Carey Mulligan (Felicia Bernstein); Maya Hawke (Jamie Bernstein)

Legendary conductor, composer, and educator Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) led a fascinating life. As a champion of the arts, he left an indelible mark on 20th Century culture. Bradley Cooper's biopic is mostly focused on Bernstein's marriage to Felicia and his daughter Jamie. While the period flavor is well executed, especially in the first 45 minutes which were shot in crisp B&W, the muddled second half (in glossy color) loses direction. 

Before watching Maestro, I watched the 1998 PBS American Masters documentary Leonard Bernstein: Reaching for the Note, which focused more on his artistic accomplishments, while not ignoring his complicated personal life. The documentary also explored his commitment to Israel and his Jewish identity, featuring interviews with his family and collaborators. 

Cooper plays Bernstein as an artistic dynamo, charming everyone with his enthusiasm and brilliance. Infused with jazz and big band music of the era, his music brimmed with post-war confidence. His marriage to Felicia brought some stability, but his many affairs with men and women, he was openly bisexual within his social circle, made for a tumultuous private life. Much of the second half deals with Felicia's struggle with cancer, in a major tonal shift from the chipper first half. Mulligan is often reduced to playing the put upon wife with an undeserved tragic ending. 

Maestro ends on a disappointing note, leaving the viewer uncertain as to why Bernstein, who was such a towering figure, was so highly celebrated.  Barely any time is given to his collaborations on West Side Story and Candide, nor his involvement in politics. Bernstein's popular TV series Concerts for Young People, which brought music appreciation to a new generation, is also ignored. The famous evening when the Bernstein's hosted the Black Panthers at their luxury apartment, leading to backlash from the New York media and the famous hit piece "Radical Chic" written by Tom Wolfe who skewered the event for New York Magazine. Nor is the harassment he endured from the FBI ever explored. 

Cooper's script seemed more interested in telling more of an old-fashioned Hollywood tearjerker (with modern twists) similar to his 2018 remake of A Star is Born. Bernstein led a fascinating life and unfortunately Maestro left way too much out. 


Monday, January 22, 2024

I.S.S. ***


Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite

Written by Nick Shafir

Starring: Ariana Debose (Dr. Kira Foster); Chris Messina (Gordon Barrett); Joh Gallagher Jr. (Christian Campbell); Maria Mashkova (Weronica Vetrov); Costa Ronin (Nicholai Pulov); Pilou Asbaek (Alexy Pulov)

The Space Race began as an existential competition between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. but evolved into a means of cooperation between both countries. The Apollo-Soyuz Mission in 1975 symbolized détente, as a mutual respect developed between the competing Space Programs. Space serving as a means to take the edge of the Cold War would also be reflected in films like Marooned and 2010: The Year We Made Contact.

I.S.S. flips the premise in an ominous story reflecting the current international situation of the 2020s. The story begins with Dr. Kira Foster joining the Russian and American crews on the International Space Station.  As the newest crew member, she's introduced to the cramped quarters and strenuous living conditions by the American commander played by Chris Messina, who informs her learning how to sleep in zero gravity "sucks." 

In time Kira adjusts to the social dynamics between the crew which are comradery with occasional tensions, such as when a joke is taken the wrong way by the Russians. They also decide to never discuss politics to avoid arguments, especially regarding the War in Ukraine. Then without warning, they begin to witness a catastrophe playing out on the surface of the Earth that leads to the central conflict of the film.

I.S.S. is a warning of how conflicts can imperil personal relationships, leading people to abandon their humanity (or maybe find their humanity). Although the grim premise of the film detracts from the narrative going on at the space station, it does speak to the fraught state of world politics.

The cast and direction were both excellent, achieving an intimate realism that achieves the illusion of being aboard the space station. There are suspenseful sequences that recall Gravity, and even some resonant symbolic moments. A somber Sci-Fi movie to open the year, it certainly the reflects the mood going into 2024.



Thursday, December 7, 2023

Napoleon ***1/2 (2023)


Ridley Scott's Napoleon brings to the big screen one of history's most controversial figures, the Corsican Napoleon Bonaparte. Played with a pouty gusto by Joaquin Phoenix, Napoleon is more of a suggestive historical epic than a precise one. Impressive battle sequences and political intrigue are matched by scenes with the one figure who could level the emperor - the Empress Josephine played by Vanessa Kirby. 

Filmmakers have struggled to bring Napoleon's life to the big screen. Abel Gance's 1927 silent epic is considered the best by film scholars. Stanley Kubrick struggled for years to get his Napoleon project off the ground, but it was never meant to be. Earlier this year Steven Spielberg alluded to adapting Kubrick's Napoleon for as a limited series with himself as producer. Whether Ridley Scott's film will help or hinder the TV project remains to be seen (Scott's film will stream as an expanded 4-hour version on Apple TV). 

The two and a half hour running time of the current theatrical version certainly feels like pieces are missing. Much of the first hour is devoted to Napoleon's rise in revolutionary France, the middle on his military campaigns, and the final section on his downfall. The script weaves between epic battle scenes and melodrama, providing an odd duality with Napoleon as the master of politics and warfare, while being dominated emotionally by Josephine at home. 

As a tapestry, small moments of Napoleon's quirks punctuate the narrative. He screams at the English ambassador, "You think you're so great because you have BOATS!" Or when he toys with the Russian Tsar Alexander or sadly wanders around an empty Moscow, the film is savvy to his unique charisma. Recreations of Napoleonic warfare are especially effective, the Battle of Austerlitz is visually stunning. Achievements outside of military glory are glossed over, like his creating the modern legal code in France or the inspiration he brought to the intelligentsia of Europe who viewed him as the embodiment of Enlightenment ideals.

As one of cinema' most skillful commercial filmmakers, Scott realizes he's making a mass entertainment. One can pick apart the structure or the historical accuracy, yet the world building is high- level. Scott communicates with confidence the vastness of the historical scope his story is built upon, without getting bogged down in minutia. The final result is imperfect, but highly entertaining. 

Monday, November 27, 2023

The Holdovers ***1/2


Set over the holiday season of 1970, Alexander Payne's The Holdovers stays in keeping with his fondness for 70s-character studies rooted in the Hal Ashby tradition. The wintry Boston setting recalls The Last Detail, while its irreverent and sensitive portraits resembles Harold and Maude. 


Dominic Sessa stars as Angus, a rebellious student left with no choice but to remain under the supervision of his cranky history teacher Mr. Hunham played by Paul Giamatti, in one of his finest roles in years. Da'Vine Joy Randolph completes the trio as Mary Lamb, head cook at the school grieving the loss of her son in Vietnam. 


Payne develops his characters well as we get to know them, shaping the story as a dramedy punctuated with moments of character growth. Angus is a classic underachiever whose caustic wit often gets him in trouble. As the story unfolds, we gradually learn his humor is covering up a loneliness. Hunham relishes his reputation as the teacher students fear, hiding away from his own insecurities. Mary must serve as a mother figure for both, while seeking her own way forward.


Those familiar with the rebellious student and stuffy teacher making connection will recognize the story beats. The humor ranges from broad to cerebral to heartfelt. For instance, in a sojourn to a bowling alley, Hunham can't help himself in being the cliché blowhard know it all in explaining the origins of Santa Claus to two working class Joes, who stare at him blank face as he pontificates. It's a tried and true setup for a gag we've seen many times, but it works because it's keeping in character and Giamatti's seamless timing.


It's been said the mark of a good story is if you can imagine the characters living a life beyond the ending. In that case, The Holdovers is a success. There's a richness in the details, from the scruffiness of '70s Boston to the austere Prep School.  Payne often sidesteps melodrama in favor of letting the vibrant setting and small moments all serve the film well.

Sunday, August 6, 2023

Oppenheimer (2023)


Christopher Nolan loves his puzzles. With Oppenheimer he turns his cinematic focus to one the most enigmatic figures of the 20th Century. Nolan ups the stakes with each of his films, pushing his circular narratives further outward. Perhaps Tenet, which I liked a lot, took the Memento approach to as far as it could go. Nolan broadens his canvas with Oppenheimer, posing relevant questions about technology and the nature of humanity, a tale rooted in myth just as much as the past.

Oppenheimer is not the first film about the Manhattan Project, but it's the first to give the story an epic treatment with a big budget. Cillian Murphy starts as J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967), the physicist who led the project and became the public face as the man who built the bomb. We see him as the 20th Century man, the scientific prodigy studying Picasso paintings, enthralled with quantum physics, exuding both eccentric and heroic qualities. 

While he was a Professor at Berkeley during the 1930s, Oppenheimer was involved in leftist politics as many were during the Great Depression. He had an impassioned affair with Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh), a young woman active in the communist party. The affair continued after his marriage to Kitty (Emily Blunt), the film only hints at the dynamics of their relationship. While Oppenheimer never became a "card carrying" member of the party, his loyalty would come under question years later. It's suggested part of the reason he was chosen to lead the project was to set him up to fail, the hinge on which the script turns.

The other main plot thread deals with the consequences of building the bomb and what it meant for the future of the world. Nolan, with the finesse of Brian De Palma, creates a sense of excitement and dread as time draws near to testing the weapon and the uncertainty of what would happen. By that point, Oppenheimer was more of a politician than a scientist, managing all the clashing egos. Edward Teller (Benny Safdie), the brilliant (but cold) Hungarian who pioneered the hydrogen bomb, is presented as an antagonist. Matt Damon especially stands out as General Leslie Groves who led the military side of the project and formed a complex partnership with Oppenheimer.

Oliver Stone's fever dream histories also appear to have influenced Nolan, specifically the dizzying editing style of JFK (and lots of shifting from color to black and white). Stone has fallen out of fashion in recent years, but his hypnotic approach to representing the past feels especially suited to this current time moment. Nolan's movies are all about the struggle between order and chaos, always in search of an answer to the puzzle that differentiates him from Stone (who revels in the uncertainty). 

The search for order may attest to the strained last section of the film. Nolan shifts gears into procedural mode, trapping us the audience in a room with Oppenheimer and his inquisitors. In a battle of wills with head of the Atomic Energy Commission Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.) over the future of atomic power, Oppenheimer favored an international commission to regulate its use, which opened him up to questions about his loyalty. His credibility came under further strain when it was discovered there was a Soviet mole inside the Manhattan Project. He lost his security clearance and never regained his reputation.

At the heart of the film is not just the tragic nature of Oppenheimer - but of humanity itself. Unlocking the power of the atom presented unlimited possibilities for the future, but also the weaponization of the technology threatens that very future. We've all heard the arguments: if America hadn't built the bomb the Germans would've first. The use of atomic weapons against the Japanese people also remains divisive - as it should. Perhaps the most chilling scene is when Oppenheimer meets President Truman in the White House, the plain-spoken Missourian's casual attitude about bombing Japan borders on banal comic book villainy (matched by an earlier scene when an official vetoes bombing Kyoto because he visited the city during his honeymoon). 

We later see Oppenheimer wincing when he views photos of the devastation from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The implication is that he unconsciously decided to carry the burden of the suffering his creation wrought. A scene with Albert Einstein (Tom Conti) further reinforces the theme of responsibility, a fictional conversation in which Einstein blames Oppenheimer for dooming humanity. It's tempting to place martyrdom as a recurring motif in Nolan's filmography, but here we have the ultimate example.

A three-hour historical epic that's not a franchise movie becoming a smash hit in 2023 is surprised me. I doubt modern filmgoers go to movies for the director, yet well told stories still carry weight. Even though Oppenheimer is set in the past, it often looks and feels like a Sci-Fi film. There are many stories to be told about 20th Century science, politics, and technology and Oppenheimer sets up a template of a new type of blockbuster. 

****

Friday, July 7, 2023

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)


First of all, a big improvement over The Crystal Skull. James Mangold and the screenwriters took the best elements of the first three and remixed them into a rousing final adventure. 

Ford left it all on the field with this one, nothing phoned it at all in a performance that's all heart and soul as aging Indy. Phoebe Waller-Bridge also held her own as Indy's "Godchild" Helena Shaw who leads him on this adventure. She reminded me of Marion and a younger version of Indy, a daughter of sorts. Mads Mikkelsen was a tad perfunctory as the Nazi scientist villain. Other supporting characters were hit and miss, unfortunately Short Round was not included in the story.

The film opens with a de-aged Ford in the waning days of WWII, eluding capture from the Nazis. His mission was to retrieve stolen art and along the way stumbled upon a relic constructed by Archimedes that contains unique properties. In 1969, Indy is divorced and living alone, still teaching but trudging along with little purpose. Helena Shaw arrives and informs him escaped Nazis are after the clock.

The action set pieces are well constructed and in the tradition of the old serials. Action moves from New York, Tangiers, Athens, and eventually Sicily. Yes, the final section involves time travel, but I thought it was handled in a surprisingly subdued and even wondrous way. 

Not everything works in the film. The story gets unwieldy at times and maybe there were too many action sequences. 

Still, with the John Williams music and its themes of finding meaning in changing times. fighting the Nazis, and a refreshing sense of adventure and discovery won me over. Mangold really channeled Spielberg's style, but also made a film in line with his previous efforts Logan and Ford v Ferrari

All in all, a meaningful and well made final chapter in this saga.

***1/2