Movies Worth Watching #3
Happy Wednesday. I hope you’re enjoying whatever it is you’re doing and the week isn’t tiring you out too badly. I find Wednesdays to be the most tiresome since it’s slabbed into the middle of the week with two tedious days before it and two ahead of it. I suppose I’m in the minority in that sense since most find Mondays the most repulsive.
Enough of my ramblings, it doesn’t matter either way! In this Movies Worth Watching, I have a few films from three iconic American directors and two French films, most of which I experienced for the first time this year. As always, I won’t spoil any major plots, so if you have any interest in the films discussed, don’t worry.
1. The Fire Within (1963)
Genre - Drama
Director - Louis Malle
Writers - Pierre Drieu La Rochelle, Louis Malle
Starring - Maurice Ronet, Léna Skerla, Yvonne Clech
About - Depressed Alain Leroy leaves the clinic, where he was detoxified. He meets friends, trying to find a reason to continue living. Will this help him?
Why You Should Watch
I first added The Fire Within to my watchlist after viewing Joachim Trier’s 2011 film Oslo, August 31st, which is loosely based on Pierre Drieu La Rochelle's novel Will O' the Wisp (1931) and The Fire Within. Similar to Oslo, August 31st, The Fire Within is a lamentable story of a depressed man, named Alain (Maurice Ronet), who is desperately searching for a reason to live. Though four months sober, Alain’s wife left him, is in debt, jobless, and has a slew of other problems that plague his day-to-day life.
I appreciate the film’s ability to tell a naturally upsetting story without romanticizing depression. We feel Alain’s pain, are aware of his situation and have an idea of how he ended up where he is in the real world and mentally. It doesn’t walk away from the mental anguish Alain deals with and lets us, as the audience, experience the story unfold from Alain’s perspective.
2. Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
Genre - Drama/Thriller
Director - Martin Scorsese
Writers - Joe Connelly, Paul Schrader
Starring - Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette, John Goodman
About - Haunted by the patients he failed to save, a monumentally burned-out Manhattan ambulance paramedic fights to maintain his sanity over three increasingly turbulent nights.
Why You Should Watch
Bringing Out the Dead is one of the most underrated or unheard-of movies from Martin Scorsese. Though there are plenty of earlier works from Scorsese that the average moviegoer isn’t aware of, Bringing Out the Dead is unusually not talked about enough despite coming out when everyone knew who Scorsese was already. It’s not like Who's That Knocking at My Door (1967) or Boxcar Bertha (1972)—his first two films—but came out between two of Scorsese’s most iconic films, Casino (1995) and Gangs of New York (2002).
Regardless, Bringing Out the Dead is a quirky film, and though it’s far from perfect, there’s a lot to appreciate about it, specifically the dreariness of its New York City setting, and Nicolas Cage’s performance as Frank Pierce, a paramedic who suffers from depression, insomnia, and guilt from not saving any patients in months after mishandling the resuscitation of a homeless teen. While you’d expect Cage to give his usual Cage-rage or over-the-top acting we know and love, he’s fairly reserved in it and only has those Cage moments in a couple of scenes. The movie is a fun dark ride, give it a spin.
3. 3 Women (1977)
Genre - Thriller
Director - Robert Altman
Writers - Robert Altman, Patricia Resnick
Starring - Shelley Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Janice Rule
About - Two roommates/physical therapists, one a vain woman and the other an awkward teenager, share an increasingly bizarre relationship.
Why You Should Watch
One of my friends recommended 3 Women to me, and I went into it completely blind. The film more-or-less follows a timid young woman nicknamed Pinky (Sissy Spacek) who grows a strange obsession with a conceited woman known as Millie (Shelley Duvall). The two eventually move in together, and the story takes an even more unusual journey from there.
It’s a trip, to say the least, and though it’s initially meditative in its pacing, it has a huge payoff by the end—sort of in the realm of 2001: A Space Odyssey with its unpredictability. Stylistically, the score sets the unsettling nature of the film from the start, while the dialogue has an odd deadpan dry humor to it—reminiscent of contemporary films from Yorgos Lanthimos. It’s also beautifully shot, and everything about it from a technical standpoint is done so well.
4. Beau Travail (1999)
Genre - Drama/War
Director - Claire Denis
Writers - Claire Denis, Jean-Pol Fargeau, Herman Melville
Starring - Denis Lavant, Michel Subor, Grégoire Colin
About - This film focuses on an ex-Foreign Legion officer as he recalls his once-glorious life, leading troops in Djibouti.
Why You Should Watch
Beau Travail is one of those films that, although I initially enjoyed it, I appreciate and love it the more I think about it. The story opens and progresses like a reflective narrative with images to help tell the story. Most of it is done through a brilliant voice-over from Denis Lavant, who plays Adjudant-Chef Galoup, a French Foreign Legion officer. Galoup is reflecting on his time in Djibouti and the events that led to where he is now.
Although war is attached to the genre description, understand it’s not a traditional war film. There aren’t any battle scenes, and although tensions rise and there’s conflict between characters, much of the story has a sluggish pace and is accompanied by stunning imagery and an ending that’ll leave you in a state of confusion if it’s truer meaning isn’t picked up right away. Some may not have the patience for it and feel it's monotonous, but if you can get through it, you’ll discover profound themes of identity, introspection, and regret.
5. Bottle Rocket (1996)
Genre - Comedy/Crime/Drama
Director - Wes Anderson
Writers - Owen Wilson, Wes Anderson
Starring - Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Ned Dowd
About - Three friends plan to pull off a simple robbery and go on the run.
Why You Should Watch
Bottle Rocket is the debut from iconic filmmaker Wes Anderson. While Bottle Rocket doesn’t have the usual style or Wes Anderson pizzazz attached to it, it excels in being a great film, and a promising start for Anderson’s career. At this point, pretty much everyone loves Wes Anderson.
The film is hilarious and while it doesn’t break anything story-wise—following the story trope of idiots performing a heist—its dialogue and the likability of the characters make it a personal favorite of mine from Anderson. Owen and Luke Wilson are great in the film and are very entertaining as we watch these characters deal with their existential loose ends instead of going with an easier route. There’s a lot to love and appreciate from Bottle Rocket.