Part 1 was the overrated. Part 2 was the rated. And Part 3 was the underrated acting performances. Part 4 is the best of the best: the movies that completely hold up, and deserve all the accolades praised upon them at the time, or in this case, at any time. Filmstruck allowed me to see them; I hope some other platform will allow you to get a chance to see them too.
| Seventh Seal (1957) |
| Rating: |
| What is it about?: A squire in the Middle Ages searches for religious meaning after the Crusades. |
| What makes the movie special?: This is the 2nd Ingmar Bergman film I have reviewed thanks to Filmstruck. While Persona was more artistic endeavor that really goes for it with some of its scenes, Seventh Seal is more grounded in its ambition, making it easier to connect to. A medieval quest is a great way to get people invested early, and tying the story to the Book of Revelation gives Seventh Seal biblical stakes for Mad Von Sydow’s knight. Along the way, we get several fascinating characters who get dragged into the quest, making us further invested in the squire’s ultimate victory over Death. Bergman and cintematographer Gunnar Fisher’s eye for locations gives the movie this epic scope that all great stories generate, culminating in one of the great final shots in movie history. Maybe most importantly, this movie introduces Death as a character in the story, and the knight is trying to best him in chess. Playing chess with the Devil/Death would be used/parodied for decades thanks to Seventh Seal. |
| The Player (1992) |
| Rating: |
| What is it about?: A movie studio executive finds himself in deep water when he accidentally kills a screenwriter he’s rejected several scripts from. |
| What makes the movie special?: I’ve never seen Robert Altman‘s Nashville, but if it’s anywhere close to being as good as The Player is, I’m very excited (Nashville is considered Altman’s masterpiece). The player opens with this stellar tracking shot through the Hollywood Studio, where we witness people pitching movies to a studio Executive (Tim Robbins) and what life is like as a Hollywood executive. Altman sucks you in immediately, and then the twisty plot unravels slowly, but with an acid potency. The satire of how shallow but powerful the executives are builds and builds to an ending that’s nihilistic and somehow hopeful, at the same time. It’s not quite Sunset Boulevard, but The Player gets really close to that level of perfection, a testament to Altman and Tim Robbins’s talents. |
| The Three Colors Trilogy (1993-1994) |
| Ratings: Three Colors: Blue: Three Colors: White: Three Colors: Red: |
| What is it about?: Three interconnected stories set in France about a woman coping with the loss of her family (Blue), a Polish man recently divorced from his wife (White), and a young model recovering the lost dog of an older man (Red). |
| What makes the movie(s) special? : These France-set movies are from a Polish director named Krzysztof Kieslowski, who mostly retired after making these three films over 2 years. The interconnected stories paint a beautiful portrait of what it is like to live in France by their motto: Liberty. Egality. Fraternity, The Blue, White and Red. Blue is the most artistic film; a deep character study of a woman (the amazing Juliette Binoche) trying to live without any attachment of any kind, seeing if that is even remotely possible. White is the one that needed a little something more, but goes in surprising directions about a relationship seeking balance. But Three Colors: Red is the masterpiece of the 3. Not only does it successfully stitch together the connecting tissue between the 3 films, and not only does it create an amazing platonic relationship between Irene Jacob and Jean-Louis Trintignant, but it also has the best plot propulsion of the three films, carrying a foreboding and surreal atmosphere the entire time you watch it. Along with the Decalouge, this is Kieslowski’s masterpiece. |