Sunday 31 January 2010

CASE 39 : Menangani Kasus Supernatural Bocah Perempuan Bermasalah

Tagline:
Some cases should never be opened.

Storyline:
Pekerja sosial yang khusus menangani anak-anak, Emily Jenkins telah menangani 38 buah kasus yang kesemuanya berhubungan dengan kekerasan dalam keluarga yang merugikan putra/putri mereka. Tibalah file terbaru yang disodorkan bosnya Wayne yaitu Lilith, seorang bocah perempuan 10 tahun yang mengalami rencana pembunuhan oleh kedua orangtuanya, Edward dan Margaret. Merasa kasihan dan dihantui trauma masa kecilnya, Emily nekad mengadopsi Lilith di rumahnya. Perlahan-lahan, kejadian demi kejadian yang sulit dijelaskan terjadi dan bencana mulai menimpa orang-orang di sekeliling Emily termasuk kekasihnya, Doug. Siapa sesungguhnya Lilith dan apa kekuatan yang menguasainya?

Nice-to-know:
Diproduksi oleh Paramount Pictures. Saat syuting adegan terbakar, spesial efek yang digunakan di luar kendali dan benar-benar membakar set film yang sudah dibangun termasuk peralatannya. Untungnya tidak ada yang terluka dan syuting dilanjutkan keesokan harinya dengan peralatan yang baru yang dikumpulkan dari berbagai penjuru.

Cast:
Renee Zellweger memulai karir akting secara resmi dalam 8 Seconds (1994) dalam artian namanya tercantum di credit title. Kali ini ia berperan sebagai Emily Jenkins, pekerja sosial simpatik yang cerdas dalam menangani kasus-kasusnya.
Lebih banyak tampil di serial televisi, bintang cilik berusia 16 tahun bernama Jodelle Ferland ini tampil sebagai bocah misterius 10 tahun, Lilith Sullivan.
Terakhir mendukung The Hangover di tahun yang sama, Bradley Cooper bermain sebagai kekasih Emily, Douglas J. Ames.

Director:
Pria kelahiran Jerman bernama Christian Alvart ini menyutradarai film ketiga dan keempatnya di tahun 2009. Selain Case 39 adalah Pandorum yang juga thriller supernatural.

Comment:
Melihat trailernya, saya masih belum menentukan apakah ini thriller psikologis atau horor murni. Nyatanya film ini berjalan di tengah-tengah, sesuatu yang menurut saya unik walau mungkin terkesan tanggung. Plot ceritanya sederhana yang sangat umum, anak adopsi yang bermasalah pada akhirnya. Sepintas mengingatkan kita pada The Orphan yang sangat menggemaskan itu. Beruntung film ini memiliki Zellweger sebagai salah satu castnya. Seperti biasa dia tampil original dan karakternya sangat humanis selayaknya bisa dialami siapa saja dengan reaksi yang juga sangat wajar. Ferland bukanlah Fuhrman yang tampil kuat tetapi cukup memberikan kesan menakutkan dengan tubuh kurus, kulit pucat dan mata besarnya. Alur cerita bergerak sangat lamban terutama di awal film, saya yakin banyak penonton yang menginginkan percepatan di tengah sampai akhir film. Namun sayangnya hal itu tidak terjadi karena adegan-adegannya memang didesain dengan tempo sedemikian rupa untuk menampilkan kejutan demi kejutan yang berusaha disimpan hingga akhir. Pada akhirnya CASE 39 tidaklah berusaha memuaskan pecinta horor karena tampilan wajah iblis hanya muncul beberapa kali tetapi setia dengan pakem thriller psikologis yang selambat kura-kura!

Durasi:
95 menit

Overall:
7 out of 10

Movie-meter:
Art can’t be below 6
6-poor
6.5-poor but still watchable
7-average
7.5-average n enjoyable
8-good
8.5-very good
9-excellent
No such perfect 9.5 or 10!

Saturday 30 January 2010

LEGION : Pertempuran Akhir Peradaban Malaikat dan Manusia

Quotes:
Michael-I knew He'd send you, Gabriel. You were always so eager to please Him.
Gabriel-Unlike you... the rebellious son.

Storyline:
Sebuah resto sekaligus bengkel di tengah perjalanan panjang menyusuri pinggir kota Amerika bernama Paradise Falls tiba-tiba menjadi tempat persinggahan terakhir sekelompok umat manusia yang bertahan hidup. Saat Tuhan kehilangan kepercayaan terhadap umatnya, Ia mengirim sejumlah 'malaikat' berwujud manusia untuk menciptakan kiamat di muka bumi. Saat itulah seorang malaikat bernama Michael membangkang dan memilih untuk menyelamatkan seorang gadis yang tengah mengandung, Charlie beserta kawanannya sebelum benar-benar dimusnahkan kehidupannya.

Nice-to-know:
Diproduksi oleh Bold Films dan bersyuting di New Mexico, USA termaasuk Galisteo dan Garson Studios, College of Santa Fe.

Cast:
Pernah tampil mengesankan sebagai antagonis Silas dalam The Da Vinci Code (2006), Paul Bettany disini berperan sebagai Michael, malaikat pembangkang yang lebih memilih berada di sisi manusia.
Lucas Black dan Adrianne Palicki bermain sebagai Jeep Hanson dan Charlie, pasangan manusia terakhir yang mungkin ada di muka bumi jika perjuangan mereka berhasil.
Selain itu juga didukung oleh Dennis Quaid sebagai ayah Jeep dan juga Tyrese Gibson sebagai Kyle Williams.

Director:
Selama ini Scott Stewart boleh dibilang lebih berpengalaman di bidang visual efek film-film besar seperti Iron Man dan salah satu franchise Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Die Hard dan Superman.

Comment:
Menyaksikan Legion sedikit mengingatkan kita pada beberapa referensi film seperti The Mist, Dawn Of The Dead, 28 Days Later, End Of Days dsb bahkan Terminator! Familiar dengan judul-judul tersebut? Tema kehancuran dunia yang dikombinasikan dengan unsur agama juga proses bertahan hidup sekelompok manusia dari segala serangan monster-monster haus nyawa. Lantas apa lagi yang coba ditawarkan? Dari segi cast, Paul Bettany jarang sekali mengecewakan dalam film-filmnya. Disini ia masih menunjukkan kharismanya walau sedikit tidak konsisten. Quaid seperti biasa tampil cukup maksimal. Selebihnya sedang-sedang saja. Dari segi sutradara, Stewart boleh dibilang mampu memaksimalkan "penampilan" filmnya walaupun dari segi eksekusi, masih perlu banyak peningkatan. 30 menit pertama film bisa dibilang menjanjikan, karena kita belum tahu apa yang akan disuguhkan. Tetapi setelah kemunculan iblis berwujud nenek dan tukang es krim, thriller ini menjadi sedikit lebih mudah ditebak. Beruntung adegan aksi dan pertarungannya dimaksimalkan sehingga ketegangan dan empati penonton mampu dijaga sampai akhir. Sayangnya endingnya terkesan digampangkan dan cenderung tidak masuk akal di beberapa sisi, takut dianggap propaganda agama sehingga cenderung kontroversial?

Durasi:
90 menit

U.S. Box Office:
$17,501,625 in opening week Jan 2010

Overall:
7 out of 10

Movie-meter:
Art can’t be below 6
6-poor
6.5-poor but still watchable
7-average
7.5-average n enjoyable
8-good
8.5-very good
9-excellent
No such perfect 9.5 or 10!

Friday 29 January 2010

18+ : Dinamika Muda Mudi Mempertahankan Cinta

Tagline:
True love never dies

Storyline:
Dua sobat karib, Raka dan Topan memiliki problemanya masing-masing. Topan mencintai Chanisa walau tahu kekasihnya itu mengidap kanker paru-paru yang kronis. Hal tersebut dilakukannya juga sebagai pelarian dari orangtuanya yang sering bertengkar di rumah. Belum lagi gangguan mantan pacarnya, Nayla yang rapuh jiwanya. Sedangkan Raka mengejar Helen sejak perjumpaan pertama walau Helen awalnya menolak akhirnya mereka jadian. Biaya pengobatan yang tinggi mau tidak mau membuat Topan dan Raka memutar otak mencari uang termasuk dari rentenir. Sayangnya keputusan itu malah menyeret keempatnya dalam kronik yang semakin dalam dan sulit terselesaikan.

Nice-to-know:
Diproduksi oleh PT. Kharisma Starvision Plus dan dilakukan gala premiere di Planet Hollywood

Cast:
Samuel Zyglwyn sebagai Raka
Adipati sebagai Topan
Stevanie Nepa sebagai Chanisa
Leylarey Lesesne sebagai Helen
Arumi Bachsin sebagai Nayla

Director:
Terakhir membesut Putih Abu-Abu dan Sepatu Kets, Nayato Fio Nuala kembali dengan genre serupa yaitu drama remaja yang kelam.

Comment:
Skrip yang ditulis oleh trio Ery Sofid, Eka D Sitorus dan Viva Westi ini sebetulnya cukup solid dari segi tema cerita, hanya saja saya yakin banyak campur tangan dari sang sutradara. Terbukti apa yang disuguhkan pada akhirnya tidak jauh beda dengan karya-karya Nayato sebelumnya termasuk alur lambat, tone warna lembut, lanskap yang sunyi hingga musik hingar bingar (dan kali ini adalah Koil yang dipilih sebagai bintang tamu sekaligus pengisi soundtracknya). Sedikit perbedaan adalah Nayato bermain di sisi maskulinitas kali ini, tidak dari segi feminis sebagaimana biasanya. Kerasnya hidup Raka dan Topan menjadi sorotan utama, dan ditutup dengan ending yang memilukan sekaligus tragis bagi keduanya. Perbaikan? Mungkin, tetapi belum secara keseluruhan. Karakter wanitanya tidak terlalu dominan walau turut memberikan kontribusi. Remaja-remaja tersebut bermain standar dalam artian tidak buruk dan juga tidak bagus-bagus amat. Sayangnya masih banyak pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang dibiarkan mengambang tanpa penjelasan yang logis. Ah memang rasanya judul dan poster yang provokatif itu saja cukup memancing calon penonton untuk datang menyaksikannya.

Durasi:
95 menit

Overall:
6.5 out of 10

Movie-meter:
Art can’t be below 6
6-poor
6.5-poor but still watchable
7-average
7.5-average n enjoyable
8-good
8.5-very good
9-excellent
No such perfect 9.5 or 10!

Thursday 28 January 2010

PEMBURU HANTU THE MOVIE : Rumah Berhantu dan Bumbu-Bumbu Umum Sinetron

Tagline:
Dakwah, Doa & Dawa

Storyline:
Dua gadis Bandung, Donna dan Vika yang terobsesi mengembangkan diri sepakat hijrah ke Jakarta dan menempati rumah saudara mereka, Ibu Ranty yang sudah bertahun-tahun dikosongkan. Rumah batu tersebut hanya dijaga oleh Pak Budi dan putranya, Ikhsan. Tanpa diduga, Vika selalu melihat penampakan jin, kuntilanak dsb. Bahkan Ibu Ranty dan Donna seringkali kerasukan dan tidak sadarkan diri pada akhirnya. Lewat rujukan, mereka sepakat memanggil Tim Pemburu Hantu untuk menyelesaikan segala kejadian supernatural tersebut. Apa yang sesungguhnya tersimpan pada masa lalu rumah tersebut?


Nice-to-know:
Diproduksi oleh Citra Baru dan adegan awal dibuka dengan tampilan depan Paris Van Java, Bandung yang ternama itu.


Cast:
Poppy Bunga sebagai Vika
Putri Arifanti sebagai Donna
Farah Hatim sebagai Ibu Ranty
Jenny Cortez sebagai Diana
Tenno Ali
Reza Fahlevi
Randy Tanaya

Director:
Namanya masih terdengar asing karena Pemburu Hantu The Movie ini merupakan debut pertama Alamsyah.

Comment:
Diangkat dari serial televisi ke layar lebar, apa yang bisa dilakukan film ini? Di posternya bahkan mencomot logo Ghostbusters, serial televisi yang tenar di awal 1990an itu. Hm, kita kupas satu persatu. Sejam pertama film ini selayaknya sinetron, cerita klise tentang cinta segitiga. Belum lagi dipadu dengan banyolan-banyolan garing pembantu rumah. Kurang? Penampakan hantu wanita bermake-up tebal dan pucat ditambah dengan suasana remang-remang. Plus ornamen-ornamen yang selayaknya muncul dalam film horor seperti darah dari shower, medium kaca, lintah dsb. Semua dibaur menjadi satu! Sangat simpel dan tidak berarti apa-apa, apalagi jajaran cast yang standar kualitas dan aktingnya. Sutradarapun rasanya belum tau perbedaan film layar lebar dengan layar kaca. Oh ya, ada lagi yang lebih parah, tema pemburu hantu yang harusnya menjadi inti cerita ternyata baru dihadirkan di 10-15 menit terakhir film dengan efek-efek sinar yang biasa diperlihatkan di film silat lokal, bahkan tanpa pertarungan langsung dengan hantu-hantu yang seharusnya mereka tumpas. Haiz. Cukup sudah rasanya jika ingin menyiksa diri anda selama kurang dari satu setengah jam di bangku bioskop.

Durasi:
80 menit

Overall:
6 out of 10

Movie-meter:
Art can’t be below 6
6-poor
6.5-poor but still watchable
7-average
7.5-average n enjoyable
8-good
8.5-very good
9-excellent
No such perfect 9.5 or 10!

Meanwhile, Back at the Blog

Here are a few posts from fellow film bloggers in recent weeks I hope you enjoy:

Moira Finnie’s vignettes at TCM's Movie Morelocks on what the celebratory end of the year is like at various periods in Hollywood, along with several terrific clips of old movie outtakes.

A penetrating commentary of “Triumph of the Will” at The Sun is Not Yellow.

Charles Lane appears in a series of episodes on early TV on Classic Television Showbiz. Any blog with Charles Lane in it has got to be good.

Wednesday 27 January 2010

SEAMSTRESS : Teror Arwah Penasaran dan Pembunuh Misterius

Tagline:
A million ways to die......this is the worst.

Storyline:
Allie bersama kelima temannya, Jason, Albert, Dina, Lizzie, Paul berlibur ke sebuah pulau terpencil untuk sekaligus mencari ayahnya yang hilang. Tanpa mereka ketahui, di pulau tersebut pernah terjadi penyiksaan dan pembantaian sekelompok orang di Rumah Sakit terbengkalai oleh beberapa oknum. Sejak awal Allie menyadari mereka tidak sendiri, sang pembunuh masih berkeliaran disertai dengan sesosok arwah perempuan yang pernah meninggal disitu dan menuntut balas. Allie pun harus mencari cara untuk meminimalisir korban berjatuhan selain menghentikan teror tersebut.

Nice-to-know:
Keseluruhan syuting dilakukan di British Columbia, Kanada termasuk Roberts Creek sebagai setting pulau terpencil.

Cast:
Lance Henriksen sebagai Sheriff Virgil Logan
Kailin See sebagai Allie Platt
David Kopp sebagai Jason
James Kirk sebagai Albert
Lara Gilchrist sebagai Dina
Sarah Mutch sebagai Lizzie
Richard Stroh sebagai Paul

Director:
Jesse James Miller sebelumnya menggarap 5 episode 4Real di berbagai negara di tahun 2007.

Comment:
Tidak perlu lagi bersusah payah membahas plot cerita horor thriller dewasa ini. Semuanya satu paket dengan pembunuhan misterius terhadap sekelompok muda-mudi di suatu tempat terpencil. Sedikit perbedaan disini adalah adanya latar belakang penyiksaan yang dilakukan dengan sadis. Prolog film dibuka dengan cukup meyakinkan, sedikit mengingatkan pada Saw yang legendaris itu. Tetapi sayang cuma berhenti sampai disitu. Selebihnya audiens hanya disuguhkan kegelapan dan kesepian yang melanda pulau yang menjadi setting tersebut. Dan mulailah perburuan maut terhadap para protagonisnya. Lupa untuk mengatakan disini ada dua kategori antagonis yaitu satu yang hidup dan satu yang telah mati. Kolaborasi menciptakan teror? Bisa jadi!
Jesse Miller terasa kurang berpengalaman dalam memposisikan dirinya sebagai sutradara film layar lebar. Apalagi proses editing yang dilakukannya membuat film ini terasa tercerai-berai seperti potongan adegan puzzle yang hancur. Proses flashback juga tidak membantu pemahaman cerita aamasekali dan bahkan menimbulkan lebih banyak pertanyaan. Dari jajaran casting sebetulnya tampil cukup natural, di luar faktor Henriksen yang sudah semakin uzur dan tidak diakui lagi eksistensinya di hadapan kamera.
The Seamstress rasanya tidak terlalu pantas disebut film layar lebar, lebih mirip salah satu episode serial televisi Supernatural yang mungkin saja lebih baik dalam bercerita dan menyimpan misteri yang masuk akal.

Durasi:
80 menit

U.S. Box Office:
N/A dengan estimasi bujet $1,500,000.

Overall:
6 out of 10

Movie-meter:
Art can’t be below 6
6-poor
6.5-poor but still watchable
7-average
7.5-average n enjoyable
8-good
8.5-very good
9-excellent

Tuesday 26 January 2010

THE ECHO : Suara Misterius Apartemen Sebelah

Tagline:
Open the door... I know you're in there.

Storyline:
Dibebaskan dari masa tahanan dengan status percobaan, Bobby Reynolds menempati apartemen tua bekas ibunya yang meninggal disana beberapa waktu yang lalu. Bekerja sambilan sebagai mekanik di bengkel Houston Auto Repair yang dimiliki Hector Rodriguez, Bobby berusaha memperbaiki hidupnya. Termasuk berdamai dengan mantan pacarnya, Alyssa Foldes yang bekerja sebagai pelayan dan juga mahasiswa design. Lambat laun, Bobby mendengar suara-suara aneh di apartemen sebelahnya termasuk argumen antara petugas polisi yang senang menyiksa istri dan putrinya sendiri. Apakah yang didengarnya itu nyata? Peristiwa apa yang sesungguhnya terjadi?

Nice-to-know:
Merupakan remake dari horor Filipina berjudul "Sigaw".

Cast:
Terakhir tampil gemilang dalam Flags Of Our Father, Jesse Bradford kini memegang peran utama sebagai Bobby Reynolds, mantan napi yang berusaha menata hidupnya kembali.
Kekasihnya Alyssa dimainkan oleh Amelia Warner yang asli Inggris.

Director:
Merupakan debut Hollywood perdana bagi sutradara kelahiran Mindanao bernama Yam Laranas ini.

Comment:
Merupakan perpaduan genre horor dan drama psikologis tanpa banyak kucuran darah, film ini cukup kaya dalam memvisualisasikan ruang sempit sehingga gambar-gambar yang dihasilkan lumayan artistik apalagi didukung dengan atmosfir yang agak menyeramkan. Ceritanya sebetulnya simpel dan tidak banyak eksplorasi. Hal itulah yang menjadikan film ini wajar. Bradford bermain sesuai kapasitasnya, kepala plontos bekas napi serta perangainya yang keras pemberani membuktikan hal itu. Meskipun proyek remake dari karyanya sendiri 4 tahun silam, Laranas tidak gentar dengan aroma Hollywood. Momen horornya dapat dikatakan lumayan walaupun butuh waktu yang cukup panjang untuk membangun suasana tersebut. Jika anda belum pernah menyaksikan versi aslinya "Sigaw", The Echo yang juga memperhatikan konstruksi penceritaannya rasanya akan cukup menarik bagi anda terutama dikarenakan ada twist di endingnya bahwa hantu memang ada di sekitar kita.

Durasi:
90 menit

Asian Box Office:
PHP 2,741,718 (Philippines) till end of Oct 2009

Overall:
7 out of 10

Movie-meter:
Art can’t be below 6
6-poor
6.5-poor but still watchable
7-average
7.5-average n enjoyable
8-good
8.5-very good
9-excellent
No such perfect 9.5 or 10!

Monday 25 January 2010

NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU : Antologi Romansa Berbagai Sudut Kota New York

Tagline:
Every moment another story begins
.

Storyline:
New York yang dikenal sebagai kota penuh cinta di Amerika Serikat. Atas dasar itulah beberapa kisah cinta dibahas disini dengan berbagai variasi yang belum pernah dibayangkan anda sebelumnya. Perasaan spontan, mengejutkan, menggetarkan menggambarkan hubungan antar manusia yang juga memicu detak jantung kota yang berlangitkan Manhattan yang indah.


Nice-to-know:

Sutradara peraih Oscar, Anthony Minghella meninggal dunia sebelum menyelesaikan segmennya yang akhirnya digantikan oleh Shekhar Kapur. Total syuting adalah 36 hari dan sempat dipertunjukkan secara singkat pada Toronto Film Festival bulan September 2008.

Cast:
Sebagian besar diisi oleh aktor-aktris Hollywood.
Bradley Cooper sebagai Gus (segment "Allen Hughes")
Natalie Portman sebagai Rifka (segment "Mira Nair")
Blake Lively sebagai Girlfriend (segment "Brett Ratner")
Shia LaBeouf sebagai Jacob (segment "Shekhar Kapur")
Ethan Hawke sebagai Writer (segment "Yvan Attal")
Rachel Bilson sebagai Molly (segment "Jiang Wen")
Justin Bartha sebagai Sarah's Boyfriend (Transitions)
Orlando Bloom sebagai David (segment "Shunji Iwai")
Anton Yelchin sebagai Boy in the Park (segment "Brett Ratner")
Hayden Christensen sebagai Ben (segment "Jiang Wen")
Christina Ricci sebagai Camille (segment "Shunji Iwai")
Robin Wright Penn sebagai Anna (segment "Yvan Attal")
John Hurt sebagai Waiter (segment "Shekhar Kapur")
James Caan sebagai Mr. Riccoli (segment "Brett Ratner")
Maggie Q sebagai Call Girl (segment "Yvan Attal")
Andy Garcia sebagai Garry (segment "Jiang Wen")
Chris Cooper sebagai Alex (segment "Yvan Attal")
Julie Christie sebagai Isabelle (segment "Shekhar Kapur")
Shu Qi sebagai Chinese herbalist

Director:
Beberapa sutradara ternama dari berbagai benua seperti Eropa, Asia, Amerika dll turut ambil bagian lewat segmennya masing-masing.
Fatih Akin
Yvan Attal
Allen Hughes
Shunji Iwai
Jiang Wen
Joshua Marston
Mira Nair
Brett Ratner
Randall Balsmeyer
Shekhar Kapur
Natalie Portman

Comment:
Seharusnya bisa lebih variatif dan menjangkau seluruh jenis masyarakat New York yang tengah haru-biru karena problematika cinta tetapi nyatanya tidak. Dari jajaran sutradara sebetulnya menjanjikan, keanekaragaman warna bisa jadi andalan utama. Namun yang ditawarkan sedikit kosong, seperti kertas putih yang belum selesai digambar secara sempurna. Profesionalitas masing-masing sutradara yang sudah banyak makan asam garam terlihat belum mampu membesut secara maksimal termasuk sederetan cast yang mumpuni tetapi seakan mubazir. Hanya Christensen, Bilson, Hawke dan Maggie Q yang cukup "berjiwa" dalam peranannya. Kesalahan utama di durasi filmkah? Kita semua tahu membuat gabungan beberapa film pendek menjadi satu tontonan yang utuh tidaklah mudah. Nyatanya kelemahan skrip dan cerita juga patut dicermati disini. Urutan penyajian cerita juga harusnya mendapat perhatian sehingga jeda antar segmen bisa lebih dimaksimalkan penonton untuk mencerna apa yang baru saja mereka saksikan. Perbedaannya dengan film sejenis yaitu Paris Jet'aime adalah konsep yang tidak lebih abstrak dan style yang lebih berani walau terkesan berantakan. Meskipun kritik yang cukup pedas saya berikan, semoga tidak menghalangi anda menyaksikan New York I Love You. Yang penting jangan berekspektasi terlalu tinggi, siapa tahu anda punya pendapat yang berbeda!

Durasi:
95 menit

U.S. Box Office:
$1,585,859 till Dec 09

Overall:
6.5 out of 10

Movie-meter:
Art can’t be below 6
6-poor
6.5-poor but still watchable
7-average
7.5-average n enjoyable
8-good
8.5-very good
9-excellent
No such perfect 9.5 or 10!

Kreativ Blogger Award


Thanks to J.C. Loophole of "The Shelf" for bestowing upon me the Kreativ Blogger Award. I’m honored by his passing this virtual pat on the back over to me, and now I’m duly responsible for giving recognition to seven other blogs.

And, I am required to list seven things about myself that people might find interesting. This is a bit of a chore. I am not interesting. I make a habit of it. But, I will however list some facts about me which you may at least read, if perhaps not find very interesting.

1. I invented the VCR. When I was a very small child, watching an old movie on TV, I was overcome by that sensation (no longer suffered by younger old movie buffs) of deep loss and almost overwhelming sorrow when the movie ended and I knew I might never see it again. Or at least, not see it for a few years. (In truth, decades have passed since I have seen some movies.) I imagined an invention that would allow me to see any movie I wanted anytime I wanted to watch it. I believe I even drew plans in crayon. It was to be a box, not a box that you would put on a shelf of your chipboard home entertainment center, but a cardboard box such as the kind I would sometimes crawl into and play inside. The viewer would sit inside this box and there would be a TV screen mounted on one wall. There would be two buttons. Push one button, and any movie you wanted would start playing on the screen. Push the other button, and candy would fall out of a slot underneath the screen. Snickers, Milky Way, a handful of Canada Mints (the pink kind), or what have you.

As an adult, I was disappointed that someone beat me to the patent office. I was also disappointed that the modern video recording devices do not have a slot where candy comes out. A basic design flaw.

2. I have a twin brother. No, we are not identical. He is male; I am female. (You have no idea how many times we have been asked that stupid question.)

3. I think Post-It notes are the greatest invention since the wheel.

4. Whenever I am watching a movie with written narrative on the screen, I read it out loud.

5. I really don’t mind when squirrels eat at my birdfeeder.

6. I have sung “The Trolley” song from “Meet Me in St. Louis” while riding on a trolley, and nobody else joined in. Life is not like the old movies.

7. Sometimes when phone solicitors begin a conversation with “How Are You Today?” I tell them I have a brain tumor, or that my gunshot wound to the chest is healing nicely, thank you. Then I hang up.

All right, that’s done. Now the seven bloggers I nominate for this nifty badge are:

1. Tony of “In the Valley”, whose photo essays are stunning, particularly his wildlife photos.

2. Mattenylou from “On Larch Lane”, who, like Tony above, chronicles everyday adventures in Western Massachusetts with evocative photos, and in prose with the soul of a poet.

3. Kate of “Silents and Talkies”, who punctuates her observations on old movies with exquisitely detailed original artwork.

4. To “Carole & Company”, for taking on the life and career of Carole Lombard with such magnificent expertise and faithfulness.

5. To Mark of "Where Danger Lives", for his interesting posts on film noir accompanied by swell posters.

6. To "Sidewalk Crossings", for intriguing analysis of classic TV shows as well as film.

7. To Richard of "Riku Writes" for his acerbic commentary on films old and new.

For those of you intrepid winners of this prestigious award (Black tie dinner to follow at the Elks Club), here are the rules should you wish to participate:

Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

Link to the person who nominated you for this award.

Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.

Nominate 7 other bloggers, and post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

Thank you again, J.C., and congratulations to all those fine blogs listed here. Please go and read them.

Sunday 24 January 2010

NINE : Obsesi Sutradara Cari Inspirasi Hidup

Quotes:
Luisa Contini-Thank you. Guido Contini-What for? Luisa Contini-Thank you for reminding me I'm not special. You don't even see what you do to me. Even the moments I think are ours, it's just... you working to get what you want.

Storyline:
Sutradara film yang arogan dan berego tinggi, Guido Contini kesulitan mencari visi dan skrip yang pas untuk film terbarunya yang berjudul Italia. Karya ke-9 nya itu direncanakan akan megah dengan menghebohkan sesuai janjinya pada saat konferensi pers. Seminggu sebelum syuting dimulai, Guido mencoba mencari jawaban dan inspirasi dari wanita-wanita dalam hidupnya termasuk ibu, istr, simpanan, pengasuh dsb. Dan selagi profesinya perlahan-lahan mulai menghancurkan kehidupan pribadinya sendiri, Guido harus menemukan keseimbangan antara menciptakan seni yang baik dan bertahan dari kemauan-kemauan obsesif terdalamnya.

Nice-to-know:
Awalnya peran Guido diberikan untuk Javier Bardem yang juga memenangkan Oscar Aktor Pendukung Terbaik di tahun yang sama dengan Day-Lewis yang menang Aktor Utama tetapi mengundurkan diri di tengah-tengah karena merasa terlalu lelah bermain film. Selain itu, sejumlah aktris cantik tenar seperti Catherine Zeta-Jones, Amy Adams, Anne Hathaway, Sienna Miller, Katie Holmes, Renee Zellweger sempat dikabarkan akan mengisi jajaran cast walau akhirnya batal.

Cast:
Pria kelahiran Inggris 52 tahun yang lalu bernama Daniel Day-Lewis ini adalah satu aktor berkualitas terbukti dengan 2 piala Oscar yang berhasil digenggamnya terakhir dari There Will Be Blood (2007). Kali ini ia bermain sebagai Guido Contini, sutradara sekaligus produser ambisius yang tengah menyiapkan proyek film terbarunya.
Sederetan aktris top berkualitas Oscar juga turut menghiasi film ini mulai dari Marion Cotillard (Luisa Contini), Penélope Cruz (Carla), Nicole Kidman (Claudia), Judi Dench (Lilli), Kate Hudson (Stephanie), Stacy Ferguson (Saraghina) dan Sophia Loren (Mamma).

Director:
Rob Marshall pernah mendapat nominasi sutradara terbaik pada ajang Oscar 2003 lewat Chicago (2002). Kali ini 8 tahun berlalu dengan genre serupa, ia kembali dengan bintang-bintang yang lebih variatif.

Comment:
Dapat dikatakan proyek yang ambisius melihat usaha Rob Marshall dalam mengulangi magis yang sama saat menggarap Chicago. Sayangnya Marshall yang terlalu perfeksionis justru terkesan tidak fokus pada penggarapan ceritanya. Gaya teaterikal yang diusungnya memang efektif menampilkan aksi panggung yang sangat menarik termasuk kostum, make-up, lighting, koreografer dll. Lagu-lagunya tidak terlalu outstanding ataupun berlirik tajam, sebagian justru terbantu dengan musik Latin yang dinamis. Dari segi cast jangan ditanya. Day-Lewis menunjukkan improvisasi yang brilian dengan aksen Italia nya. Dari penampil aktris-aktris cantik tersebut, menurut saya Fergie yang paling outstanding dengan bermain pasir dalam tariannya. Sedangkan Cruz teramat seksi, mungkin sepanjang karirnya bermain film. Lain halnya dengan Cotillard yang memiliki penjiwaan dalam sebagai istri yang tersingkirkan. Durasi yang terlalu panjang juga agak mengganggu karena terasa membosankan bagi penonton, terbukti sebagian besar seringkali mengecek jam tangannya atau melongok ponselnya. Alhasil Nine adalah pertunjukan solo para aktrisnya yang sepintas memukau tetapi tidak berdampak apapun pada kualitas film secara keseluruhan yang masih terkesan tercerai-berai. Meskipun demikian film ini dikonstruksikan dengan sangat baik terutama dari segi sinematografi, hanya saja tidak berisi apapun yang bermakna. Kita lihat saja di ajang Oscar beberapa pekan mendatang apakah bisa mengulangi sukses Chicago?

Durasi:
110 menit

U.S. Box Office:
$18,291,164 till mid Jan 2010

Overall:
7 out of 10

Movie-meter:
Art can’t be below 6
6-poor
6.5-poor but still watchable
7-average
7.5-average n enjoyable
8-good
8.5-very good
9-excellent
No such perfect 9.5 or 10!

Saturday 23 January 2010

THE BOX : Tombol Satu Juta Dollar Berkonsekuensi Mengerikan

Quotes:
Norma Lewis-You sure do ask a lot of questions.

Walter Lewis-And now you're avoiding them.


Storyline:
Pasangan suami-istri Norma dan Arthur Lewis yang tinggal di pinggir kota bersama putra mereka Walter tiba-tiba menerima hadiah kotak kayu dari seseorang misterius bernama Arlington Steward. Pesannya hanya satu yaitu menerima sejuta dollar apabila dalam waktu 24 jam mau menekan tombol dalam kotak tersebut. Bukannya tanpa konsekuensi, karena aksi tersebut dapat menyebabkan kematian seseorang di suatu tempat di muka bumi yang tidak mereka kenal. Dilema dalam membuat keputusan atas kotak mereka sendiri, Arthur dan Norma harus mempertahankan moral dan kewarasan yang bisa jadi kunci tepat dari semua misteri yang ada.

Nice-to-know:
Film yang mengacu pada referensi angka 13 setidaknya empat kali dalam durasinya ini melakukan keseluruhan syuting di Massachusetts, USA.

Cast:
Tampil serius dalam 2 filmnya di tahun 2009 termasuk My Sister's Keeper, Cameron Diaz disini bermain sebagai Norma Lewis, seorang istri yang mengalami cacat kakinya.
Angkat nama lewat beberapa serial televisi tahun 1990an termasuk The Nanny, James Marsden kebagian karakter Arthur Lewis, salah satu jenius pekerja NASA.
Baru saja dinominasikan sebagai Aktor Pendukung Terbaik di ajang Oscar lewat Frost/Nixon (2008), Frank Langella memerankan tokoh antagonis misterius, Arlington Steward.

Director:
Sutradara muda usia 34 tahun bernama Richard Kelly ini mengawali karirnya sekaligus penulis cerita The Goodbye Place (1996). The Box adalah film kelimanya.

Comment:
Kata yang paling pas mewakili film ini adalah MEMBINGUNGKAN! Menit-menit awal kita diajak mengenal pasangan Lewis dan kondisi kehidupan lingkungan sekitar mereka yang bisa dikatakan janggal. Gaya yang sama yang dipakai sang sutradara selayaknya Donnie Darko dan Southland Tales sehingga tidak heran jika sebelum satu jam, beberapa penonton sudah angkat kaki. Sisanya yang bertahan hanya termangu di kursi dan tidak menyadari samasekali apa yang baru saja mereka saksikan selama hampir dua jam duduk di dalam bioskop! Saya hanya menangkap sekitar 35% dari inti cerita yang ditawarkan, itupun hanya berupa interpretasi yang tidak pasti. Berterima kasihlah pada kinerja Langella yang menciptakan karakter mengerikan dan juga Marsden yang tertekan dengan semua fakta yang mungkin saling terkait. Diaz nanti dulu, sulit menyaksikannya bermain serius. Kelly selaku pengeksekusi cukup berani mengambil resiko dengan tampil beda menggunakan visi kreatif dalam menerjemahkan cerita yang juga unik. Jika anda hanya mencari hiburan semata, jauhi film ini yang jelas-jelas mengutamakan elemen-elemen film yang dalam, kaya, kompleks dan mampu memprovokasi hal-hal spiritualisme, ekstensialisme dan fenomena alam. Pesan saya, berdiskusilah dengan teman nonton anda setelahnya! Jangan lupakan kata-kata Tuan Steward sebagai berikut: "Your house is a box which you live in. The car that you drove to work is a box, on wheels. When you return home from work you sit in front of a box with moving images. You watch until the mind and soul rots and the box that is your body deteriorates, when finally you are placed into the ultimate box... to rest under the soil and earth."

Durasi:
105 menit

U.S. Box Office:
$14,961,931 till Dec 2009

Overall:
6.5 out of 10

Movie-meter:
Art can’t be below 6
6-poor
6.5-poor but still watchable
7-average
7.5-average n enjoyable
8-good
8.5-very good
9-excellent
No such perfect 9.5 or 10!

Jean Simmons - In Memoriam

One of those post-war beauties with the bright eyes and rose petal skin, with that voice.  I miss that voice that ingenues of the cultured variety used to have, that delicate touching of all the consonants like expert fingers tickling all the right piano keys.  I miss the lilt in the cadence, and the slower delivery as if she were thinking about what she was saying before she said it.  People rarely do that now, especially in the media.  They just gush words, any words, whether or not they are meaningful, just to fill up air space.

She wasn't the only one who spoke like that or looked like that.  There were a distinct, select graduating class of them back then in the late 1940s and early 1950s, whose mannerisms and speech perhaps might have been studied, but always appeared genuine.

I like to remember her most as Ophelia in "Hamlet", her screen debut in which she played one of the oldest, most classic of troubled females and brought her down to human size just be being -- what was it?  Eighteen years old herself at the time?  Contrasting this, I like to remember her in "Guys and Dolls", singing with the gusto of her own natural voice and swinging on a lampost, being drunkenly kittenish with an unusually reserved Marlon Brando.  She put on American girl bravado like she put on her Salvation Army-style costume, neither natural to her, but the playfulness, like the rest, seemed genuine.

Jean Simmons had many fans, and will continue to have many fans. 

Friday 22 January 2010

JEJAK DARAH : Pengguguran Kandungan Malpraktek Kosmetik

Storyline:
Mischa dan Jessica bersahabat sejak SMA. Masalah mulai muncul saat Mischa merahasiakan kehamilannya akibat perbuatan pacarnya Reno dan meminta Jessica mengantarnya ke suatu klinik dan tidak kembali lagi. Beberapa waktu kemudian, Mischa ditemukan tewas di kamar kosnya. Lima tahun setelah kejadian itu, Jessica mulai mengalami kejadian supernatural dimana arwah seorang gadis cilik terus menguntitnya mulai dari rumah sampai kantor. Dalam kepanikannya, Jessica bertemu kembali dengan Reno yang sudah bekerja sebagai fotografer pernikahan. Berdua mereka mengenang masa lalu dan mulai mengumpulkan petunjuk demi petunjuk atas apa yang terjadi pada Mischa dahulu. Siapakah arwah gadis kecil tersebut dan apa tujuannya?

Nice-to-know:
Diangkat dari novel best seller karangan Chris X alias Chris Santosa.

Cast:
Debut layar lebar pertama bagi Mentari langsung mendapat peran utama sebagai Jessica, gadis paranoid yang diganggu penampakan setelah kematian sahabat dekatnya beberapa tahun lalu.
Setelah beberapa kali terakhir bermain komedi, Dimas Aditya terjun ke horor kembali sebagai Reno yang berusaha tegar setelah kematian misterius mantan pacar yang dicintainya.
Pernah mendukung Lawang Sewu (2008), Thalita Latief tampil sekilas di awal film sebagai Mischa.
Tokoh antagonis diperankan oleh aktor kawakan Robby Tumewu sebagai dokter malpraktek.

Director:
Namanya masih terdengar asing karena Jejak Darah merupakan debut pertama Nur Hidayat.

Comment:
Novelnya yang cukup terdengar di kalangan pembaca karena dicetak ulang berkali-kali mungkin satu-satunya daya tarik film ini. Jajaran cast sebetulnya cukup bisa diandalkan. Namun pemasangan nama Mentari sebagai tokoh utama bisa dibilang cukup berjudi. Penjiwaannya dengan ekspresi ketakutan masih terlalu datar dan kurang meyakinkan. Tapi itu tidak sepenuhnya kesalahan dia karena skrip pun tidak mendukung. Konseptual cerita yang sebetulnya menarik menjadi tidak spesial sama sekali saat diformat dalam film layar lebar. Alur ceritanya berjalan lambat dengan pengadeganan yang sangat monoton sehingga penonton akan merasa cepat bosan. Hal ini mungkin juga disebabkan faktor sutradara yang kurang berpengalaman dalam memaksimalkan segala potensi yang ada. Isu penggunaan janin/plasenta bayu untuk bahan dasar produk kosmetik memang sudah didengungkan bertahun-tahun silam, sayangnya Jejak Darah kurang tepat mengetengahkannya. Apalagi tanpa promosi yang memadai dan kemunculan tiba-tiba di tengah slot film lokal yang berbagai macam rasanya tidak heran jika film ini akan flop di pasaran.

Durasi:
90 menit

Overall:
6 out of 10

Movie-meter:
Art can’t be below 6
6-poor
6.5-poor but still watchable
7-average
7.5-average n enjoyable
8-good
8.5-very good
9-excellent
No such perfect 9.5 or 10!

Thursday 21 January 2010

RUMAH DARA : Pembantaian Sadis Sekeluarga Psikopat

Tagline:
Horor menemukan seorang ibu

Storyline:
Sambil menantikan kelahiran anak pertamanya, pasangan suami istri muda, Adjie dan Astrid sepakat pergi ke Bandung bersama tiga temannya, Alam, Jimi dan Eko sekaligus usaha Adjie untuk mencoba berdamai dengan adik kandungnya, Ladya selepas kematian kedua orangtua mereka. Pertemuan terakhir sebelum Adjie berangkat ke Sydney tersebut mulai terganggu saat mobil yang mereka tumpangi dihadang oleh seorang gadis yang tengah labil paska dirampok bernama Maya. Mencoba berbaik hati, Adjie dkk mengantarkan Maya ke rumahnya dimana mereka bertemu dengan ibu Maya yang misterius, Dara dan juga saudara kandungnya, Adam. Perjamuan makan malam berbuntut ketidaksadaran masing-masing pun bisa jadi mimpi buruk terakhir mereka di dunia.

Nice-to-know:
Diproduksi oleh Merah Production yang bekerjasama dengan beberapa perusahaan film asing kecil sehingga terwujudlah versi panjang Rumah Dara yang sudah ditunggu-tunggu ini.

Cast:
Shareefa Danish berhasil memenangkan predikat Aktris Terbaik dalam Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival 2009 lewat peran ibu muda bernama Dara yang sadis misterius ini.
Julie Estelle yang beken lewat trilogi Kuntilanak kali ini didapuk sebagai Ladya, gadis muda yang berusaha bangkit dari trauma kematian orangtuanya.
Arifin Putra dan Imelda Therinne bermain cukup meyakinkan sebagai Adam dan Maya, kakak beradik psikopat.
Ario Bayu dan Sigi Wimala kebagian karakter suami istri Adjie dan Astrid yang tengah hamil tua.
Jangan lupakan penampilan VJ Mike Lucock, Daniel Mananta dan komedian Aming.

Director:
The Mo Brothers yang terdiri dari Timo Tjahjanto dan Kimo Stamboel sebelumnya dipuji saat mengarahkan dua film pendek yang bergenre thriller yakni Sendiri (2003) dan Dara (2007).

Comment:
Beberapa tahun lalu, sebuah film pendek berjudul Dara yang diputar di iNafff sempat menghebohkan penikmat film nasional dan sempat menjadi bagian penutup film antologi keroyokan, Takut (The Faces of Fear). Tuntutan untuk dikembangkan menjadi film panjang pun terus bermunculan hingga akhirnya duet muda kreatif The Mo Brothers sepakat menggarap skenarionya dengan matang. Hasilnya? Selama 95 menit anda akan dicekam oleh kengerian dan ketegangan sekaligus. Dari segi cast, semuanya merupakan nama-nama tenar di perfilman tanah air dan tampil cukup baik terutama Shareefa yang outstanding dimana bahasa tubuh, ekspresi dan intonasinya sangat meyakinkan sebagai seorang psikopat yang terganggu jiwanya. Inilah slasher thriller lokal sejati karena menggunakan darah yang melimpah dan penuh dengan adegan sadis lewat beberapa instrumen seperti pisau lipat, pisau dapur, pedang, senapan hingga gergaji listrik! Tak bisa dipungkiri, film ini banyak mendapat inspirasi dari genre sejenis asal Thailand ataupun Hollywood, tetapi tidak apa sejauh Dara direncanakan dengan penuh perhitungan. Dengan intensitas tinggi yang terus memuncak sampai endingnya, alhasil anda mungkin akan gemas dan deg-degan sekaligus di bangku bioskop seperti halnya yang dialami sebagian besar penonton saat saya menyaksikannya. Thumbs up!

Durasi:
95 menit

Overall:
8 out of 10

Movie-meter:
Art can’t be below 6
6-poor
6.5-poor but still watchable
7-average
7.5-average n enjoyable
8-good
8.5-very good
9-excellent
No such perfect 9.5 or 10!

The 1950s Princess - Part 3


“Anastasia” (1956) is our third and final film for this three-post series about the 1950s princess, and both film and post could be subtitled “Return of the Exile.”

This movie is a fictionalized account of a real-life woman who was rumored to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia, the only one of the five children of Czar Nicholas II to have supposedly escaped death when the royal family was murdered during the Russian Revolution. Wandering about Europe under assumed names, this starving princess on the run lives a life in exile.

Anastasia, or Anna Anderson as she is also known, is not the only exile returning from self-imposed banishment. This movie marked the return to films of Helen Hayes, who had not made a movie in about 20 years, and had curtailed her theater and television performances somewhat in the aftermath of the deaths of her daughter from polio (mentioned in this previous post on polio depicted in films), and of her husband, writer Charles MacArthur.

But by far, the most conspicuous exile of the group is Ingrid Bergman. This film was considered her return to Hollywood after seven years in Europe when she caused a scandal by leaving her husband and daughter for her lover director Roberto Rossellini in Italy, and having a child out of wedlock by him. She was denounced from pulpits and in Congress, which may seem like something out of “The Scarlet Letter” today, but one must consider how famous, and how beloved a star Miss Bergman was in the United States in the 1940s. (Teenager Grace Kelly listed Bergman as her favorite actress.) In that conservative era, she was regarded as a betrayer of American morals. 

In “Anastasia”, Ingrid plays the starving street person who opportunist Yul Brynner, a former general in the former czar’s former army, scoops up to feed, and nurse back to health, and train to impersonate the Czar’s daughter Anastasia, who miraculously escaped execution in Russia. There’s a fortune in the Bank of England for anyone who can prove to be the missing Romanov, and he wants some of it.


The plot, though based on the fact that there was such a woman who was rumored to be Anastasia, is fabricated. The characters played by Yul Brynner and his henchman did not exist. As we discussed in our two previous posts, fantasy and reality mix it up a bit in princess stories, and in this case, the truth loses.

The story is essentially not a documentary, but a romance, and not the kind between winsome princess and handsome commoner as in our two previously discussed films, “Roman Holiday” and “The Swan”, but a love for a country that has vanished, for the past that can never be reclaimed, and for life itself, which many Russian nobility discovered in exile after the Revolution. Both Yul Brynner and Ingrid Bergman have this passion for survival which makes them grasp at crumbs, hopes, and opportunities, and perhaps eventually, for each other.

Set in Paris, 1928, some ten years after the Romanov dynasty ended by abdication, and then execution, in Russia, this chaotic world is the aftermath of the staid world of Grace Kelly and Alec Guinness in “The Swan”, before World War I when middle European royalty were all pretty much related and maintaining the status quo was the object at hand, before the masses got ugly and demanded independence and revolution.

“Anastasia” has rather more in common with the post-World War II environment of Audrey Hepburn in “Roman Holiday”, when what monarchies remained after the conflagration were upheld by ancient families sometimes ill equipped to guide their nations into the modern era. At least Audrey Hepburn had a country. Ingrid Bergman, in “Anastasia” has lost hers for good.


This world is established for us pretty quickly when we see a cab driver, a former nobleman, in the community of Russian exiles in Paris, being addressed as “Excellency” and haggling over a fare. Yul Brynner runs a nightclub. Here, the nobility survives by learning how the other half lives, unless of course they managed to escape Russia with their fortunes intact, as in the case of the Dowager Empress, played by Helen Hayes.

The story is told partly with the romance of a fairy tale, and party with the skepticism of the modern age. On the one hand, we first see Ingrid Bergman attending the Russian Orthodox Church at the Orthodox Easter services, which plants a seed of her authenticity for us. But, Yul Brynner’s mercenary attitude toward her, coaching her in facts about her own life, and her obvious ignorance of many facts lead us to believe she is a fake. At other times, she knows things about Anastasia only Anastasia could know. We are never allowed to be certain about this woman. Later, Brynner will also become uncertain, and even Ingrid will not really know the truth. It will become a movie not about what she is, but what she wants to be.


Yul Brynner is fascinating in this movie, commanding, sexy, striding about with his military bearing, even when he bends to kiss a lady’s hand. When he does this, it is never with cloying obeisance, but as with the stiff drop of his head to indicate a bow to a gentleman, Brynner is a case for those who would show proper courtesy not to humble himself, but as a manner of maintaining his own prodigious dignity. It is beneath him not to display courtesy.

Like Gregory Peck in “Roman Holiday”, he is both part fairy godfather and part prince, though Anastasia will have another prince to deal with as well. Brynner also, like Peck, intends to exploit his princess, but Brynner is ten times more mercenary. He is ruthless, and knows much more about survival. He twists convention for his own means, and is more successful at this than either Gregory Peck and Louis Jourdan, perhaps because he is more ruthless.


Ingrid Bergman was about 40-ish when she made this film, playing a woman meant to be at least 10 years younger, but she conveys this well, especially since her character, while troubled and beaten, is not fey or innocent like our other princesses. Her maturity, even in her bone weariness or in her most tormented expressions, is beautiful. She is sensual, in part because of her knowledge of life, just as Brynner seems more virile in his passion for survival.


When she first grasps Brynner’s scheme to turn her into Her Imperial Highness, the Grand Duchess Anastasia, she breaks down in hysterical sobs the first time she says her name. Names, it seems, are very important to princesses. They usually have so many titles, that a single name of significance might be a treasure. Grace Kelly implores Louis Jourdan to call her by her first name, wants to hear him say it. Audrey Hepburn wants to be called her nickname, Anya, by Gregory Peck, to hide her real identity.

When Ingrid is prepped and ready for a test, Brynner puts her on display to gain the official endorsement of the Russian community in exile, a part of establishing her legitimacy to the inheritance. A few accept her, with tears, as their monarch, but not enough. So, Brynner rolls the dice and opts for a big risk, to take her to see the matriarch of the Romanov family, now living in exile in her castle in Copenhagen. This woman is the Dowager Empress Maria, who is Anastasia’s paternal grandmother, played by Helen Hayes.

Some filming was done in Copenhagen and this, like filming in Rome during “Roman Holiday” adds to the realism of the setting and the story, but curiously, with a toy soldier-like royal guard marching in the streets, it seems storybook-ish again.

Brynner has dressed Bergman mostly in high-necked blouses and long skirts, pre-war style, which makes her stand out as an anachronism among other ladies in their late 1920s fashions, but then she is meant to be an illusion.

The illusion will get to be more than either Brynner or Bergman can bear the closer they get to reaching their goal of Grandmother’s acceptance. Their relationship takes erratic turns. After a nightmare, Ingrid receives no comforting like Audrey Hepburn’s overwrought princess. Brynner orders her to bed, like a strict father. In order to gain admission to Grandmother Helen Hayes’ inner circle, Brynner works his charm on Prince Paul, the old lady’s nephew who is financially dependent on her. Brynner expects Ingrid to work her charm on him, too, and practically prostitutes her to get playboy Prince Paul’s interest.

When the Prince takes the bait as Ingrid performs a champagne-inspired tipsy femme fatale act (where she ruminates on the realities of Cinderella), Brynner suddenly loses his enthusiasm for this whole charade. We suspect, though he never confesses it, that he might be jealous.

Through their relationship, Ingrid has relied on him, and as she grows stronger physically and emotionally, she begins to challenge him and stand up to him, making him question not only who she really is, but how he really feels about her. After a fight between them, and she agrees with resignation to attempt to court the favor of Helen Hayes.

Brynner kisses her hand, as he has done with so many of his victims, but this time it is a real gesture of comfort and tribute to her as a lady and what she has been through, whether or not she is actually a Grand Duchess.


Martita Hunt pulls out all the stops playing the fluttery Baroness von Livenbaum, lady in waiting to Helen Hayes, and the gatekeeper to the old lady’s privacy. She gets some of the best lines and delivers them with aplomb.

“Russia!” she indulges in homesickness, “I am all of Chekhov’s three sisters rolled into one! I shall never get back there!”

When Brynner asks if her life here in exile with the Dowager Empress is happy, she retorts that with Helen Hayes, “Life is one eternal glass of milk!” (Shades of Audrey in “Roman Holiday” and her dreaded nightly glass of milk, “Everything we do is so wholesome.”)

Later, when difficulties arise the Baroness repeats her exile’s mantra, “Well, I survived the Revolution, I suppose I can survive this.”

She helps him set up a “chance encounter” with Prince Paul and the Dowager Empress at the Royal Theatre. The scenes filmed here are opulent and grand, and evocative of the life they must have known in Russia. Brynner, along with his white tie and tails, wears his now defunct Imperial Russian Army decorations. They are all playacting.

All but one.


“I have lost everything I have loved,” Miss Hayes declares, “my husband, my family, my position, my country. I have nothing but memories. I want to be left alone with them.” She refers to Bergman as an imposter, but sneaks a look at her through her opera glasses.

Helen Hayes decides at last to meet this woman calling herself Anastasia. It’s a great scene between her and Bergman, two serious actresses with a knack for playing off each other. Hayes was actually only about 55 or 56 when she made this film, only about 15 years older than Bergman, but she is as effective playing her grandmother as Ingrid is in playing younger.

Bergman seems more truly desperate to be believed than she did in earlier scenes when Brynner put her on public display for committees of exiles in Paris, and pleads with this woman she calls Grandmamma to accept her.


“We are most of us lonely,” Helen Hayes dismisses her, “and it is mostly of our own making.” It is a drawing room showdown, like in the “The Swan”, with verbal tactics because this film, like “The Swan” was derived from a stage play, and so what happens in confined places is far more intense than any obligatory outdoor scene.

Hayes’ transformation from skeptic to believer is skillfully arrived at and happens only by turns. Bergman’s piteous pleas for love, for acceptance, wears the old lady down. Grandmamma wants to remain resolute before this clever impostor, but the fear nags her, grows in her, that what if this is really Anastasia?

Miss Hayes finally embraces her and Ingrid sobs, hopeless and heartbreakingly as she did when she first said her own name, which is now official because Grandma says so.

“You’re safe, Anastasia,” Miss Hayes comforts her, herself in tears, “You’re with me, you’re home!” But then, the codicil to the inheritance of her heart, “But, oh, please, if it should not be you…don’t ever tell me.”

It is another reminder, a late-breaking bulletin that we are living in a more skeptical age.

But Prince Paul is only too happy to believe with no reservations, and he intends to marry her. Her inheritance will mean he can finally be independent of the old lady.

While Brynner, the man who pulled the rabbit out of the hat, is thoroughly sick of the whole business and just wants out. It’s like the old saying, “be careful what you wish for because you may get it.”


He is a bit jealous of her relationship with Prince Paul and angry at her, now that she is going to be presented to society and to the world as the Grand Duchess.

“They don’t care about you,” he barks, “They don’t care who is Anastasia so long as they can get some money and position in a world that is dead and buried, and should be!”

So far, he is the only exile from Imperial Russia who accepts the collapse of the Romanov Dynasty, and it seems to be his disgust over losing Ingrid that has convinced him he does not really want her to be Anastasia. Ingrid is having doubts of her own, now that she understands that even though she is certain of who she is, she will never be certain if she is loved for herself, or for her money and title.


When next we see her, she is dressed in her long formal white gown with her decorative sash, and a tiara to indicate she is royalty. She looks rather like Audrey Hepburn in the opening ball sequence of “Roman Holiday”, and we realize this is where we came in. The 1950s princess, an illusion of the romantic past, on the precipice of an uncertain future.

The comic lady in waiting Baroness von Livenbaum adds her own indictment to the post-war era, making an observation that travel, among other things, is not as elegant as it once was.

“They don’t know how to make baggage nowadays,” she gestures to her opulent formal gown, “Imagine trying to fit this into a nasty little modern suitcase. The times aren’t made for elegance.”

The 1950s American suburban princesses might agree. In the next decade, their long, wide skirts with petticoats, their tiaras will disappear for a sleeker, more modern look. In another generation, their daughters will abandon hats and gloves. Their granddaughters will dress, and speak, and act so casually that the line between casual and formal will be forever blurred, and the formal will largely become unknown and irrelevant. And, as Baroness von Livenbaum comically mourns, but could never predict, the luggage will diminish to a carry on plastic baggie.


As Helen Hayes advises Ingrid Bergman, “The world moves on…and we must move on with it or be left to molder with the past. I am the past. I like it. It’s sweet and familiar, and the present is cold and foreign. And the future? Fortunately, I don’t need to concern myself with that. But you do. It’s yours.”

What she is doing is saying goodbye, though Ingrid doesn’t realize it yet, and giving her permission not to be Anastasia anymore if she doesn’t want this. Here, we have the great twist on the princess stories. In our first two films, “Roman Holiday” and the “The Swan”, the two sad princesses give up their romances with commoners to attend to their duties to their families and their countries. But Ingrid has no country, and it’s easier to do whatever you want when no one else is affected.

She has the luxury to do what Audrey and Grace do not; so she takes the opportunity and makes like a princess: she runs away. We mentioned in the two past previous posts how running away seems to be a princess thing. We are meant to assume she has run off with Yul Brynner, and hang the inheritance and the title.


Helen Hayes, asked how she will explain this to everybody waiting in the ballroom below, in their uniforms, and flowing gowns and tiaras. Miss Hayes, the no-nonsense Dowager Empress Grandma, responds,

“Say? I will say, ‘the play is over. Go home.’” It is a fantastic ending line, and though I have not seen the stage play performed, I’ve always wondered if the actress “broke the fourth wall” and addressed the line directly to the audience.

The contrasting of reality and fantasy, after all, is part and parcel to examining the 1950s princess.

Reality, as well as a gesture to the romantic images of the past, plays a part in the real-life aftermath of the mystery of Anastasia. Many examinations were made of the woman known as Anna Anderson who claimed to be her, books written about her, and compelling arguments made pro and con for decades as to whether she was really Anastasia. She bore similar physical characteristics, her handwriting was supposedly very similar, but in a world without modern forensics, mystery and legend rule the day.


Grand Duchess Anastasia in her teens.

Until the day comes, of course, when modern forensic science steps in. This happened in the 1990s, when, after the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics crumbled into independent states including a reborn Russia, uncertain of its present or future, but seemingly more willing to deal with its past. The remains of the murdered Czar Nicholas II, his wife and three of his children were found in 1991, and through DNA testing something infinitely more useful but less romantic than the propagation of legend was revealed, that one of them was Anastasia. The woman known as Anna Anderson was indeed an imposter.

Two children were still missing, and their remains were found in 2007, 16 years later, in another location, and positively identified in 2008 as Anastasia’s sister Maria and her brother Alexei. It takes some stories a very long time to unravel and get to the ending. Their being separated from the other bodies may have been the genesis of the rumors of an escaping Romanov child, Anastasia or one of her siblings (there were various rumors), but we know with certainty now that none of the royal family escaped assassination.


Czar Nicholas II and his family.  Anastasia is far left.

That is the efficient reality to the legend, but there occurred as well an official, even romantic gesture to the past. The first group of remains of the royal family were taken for reburial at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in St. Petersburg, where all the Russian emperors are buried, the new Russian government seemingly willing to bypass several decades of Communist condemnation of Russia’s imperial past.

Even the remains of the Dowager Empress, the Grandmamma, who died in 1928, the year chosen for the setting of the movie “Anastasia”, were exhumed in Denmark in 2006 and re-interned with her husband, Czar Alexander III in the Cathedral in St. Petersburg as well. This most resilient exile at last came home.

Ingrid Bergman, the exile in disgrace who made her reappearance in American film with this performance in “Anastasia” didn’t actually return to the U.S. quite yet. The film was made in Europe. She won her second Oscar for it, and her pal Cary Grant accepted it for her. It wasn’t until Miss Bergman appeared at the Academy Award ceremony in 1958 as a presenter that she made her first public return to Hollywood. She was given a standing ovation. All returning exiles should be so fortunate.

At the end of her life, Ingrid Bergman suffered from cancer (though bravely continued working), and died in August 1982, followed only a few weeks later by the death of Princess Grace. We are always saddened when we lose film favorites. For those who are too young to remember, that August and September was a bit of a shock for film buffs, and pretty tough for Cary Grant, who worked with and was close to both these actresses.


Princess Grace visits the idol of her teen years, Ingrid Bergman, during Miss Bergman's stage appearance in "Captain Brassbound's Conversion" 1971 or '72?  Photo credit unknown at this time.

Both Bergman and Kelly were famous protégés of Alfred Hitchcock. The director had turned to Grace Kelly to be his new representative “cool blonde” when Bergman fled in her self-imposed exile from Hollywood. “Anastasia” was made the year Grace Kelly, in turn, fled Hollywood for life as a real princess, but Hitchcock evidently did not look back to Ingrid Bergman for inspiration. She was after all, in her early 40s now, and perhaps the great master of suspense found no sexiness in that.

We have a drastically different view of aging and sexiness today. I half expect to read in People magazine one of these days that 40 is the new 16.



All three actresses, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, and Ingrid Bergman, were iconic figures of their era, and played their melancholy princess roles with degrees of innocence lost, sadness swallowed, and futures faced with resolute purpose. How much of a prototype they represent for all the American suburban princesses watching them, and copying them in style whenever they could, is debatable.


In the case of Audrey and Grace at least, their images leaped from just movie magazines onward to fashion magazines, women’s general interest magazines and Life and Look. As idolized as Hollywood stars have ever been, even since the silent film days, few have made that leap to mainstream icon, making any kind of Hollywood endorsement irrelevant.


The reality behind the illusion.

The ladies who would eventually trade tulle dresses with “skirts that whirl forever” as the New York Times ad referred to in Part 1 of this series put it, to simple sleeveless sheath dresses in the next decade perhaps also, like these movie princesses, found themselves facing unimaginable futures with resolute purpose. A generation later, their restless daughters would take their own futures and chances for happiness in their own hands, sans gloves, changing society a great deal in the process. Perhaps even a revolution.

We end this series on the 1950s princess with the interesting remark, applicable to these each of three film princesses, Ann, Alexandra, and Anastasia, made by one of Grace Kelly’s biographers, Robert Lacey, in Grace (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, NY, 1994) who surmised that one of the questions most wanted to be asked over the years by journalists of Princess Grace was,

“Are you happy?”