As a lunchtime teaser, I am going to give you my favourite films corresponding to each letter of the alphabet, it's both fun and excruciating, so have a go yourself!
(Excluding 'the' from the beginning of each title)
A: (The) Apartment: Best dramedy ever made, with a never better Jack Lemmon. A review of this film can be seen on the 'Seven Best Billy Wilder Films' below.
B: (The) Breakfast Club: Teenage angst locked in detention.. let's see what fun can be had.
C: Chinatown: Citizen Kane is the greatest film ever made, but Chinatown is my favourite C movie. 'Seven Best Scripts' is an upcoming list; Chinatown might be mentioned...
D: Die Hard: It topped my list 'The Seven Best Films of the 80's' and is in pole position here.
E: (The) Exorcist: Arguably the most frightening film ever made, and in my opinion William Friedkin's greatest achievement.
F: Freaks: Oh Freaks is a helluva horror shocker, with an ending that delivers deformity, due to an overdose of karma.
G: Goodfellas: First place in my 'Seven Best De Niro/Scorsese Collaborations' and my favourite movie. Just don't call Tommy DeVito a funny guy...
H: Hud: Paul Newman is cooler than anyone you'll ever meet. Watch Hud and The Hustler back to back and you'll understand why.
I: It Happened One Night: The Capra touch worked on any genre; screwball, drama, thriller, war. It Happened One Night happens to shine brightest on a remarkable filmography.
J: Jaws: The first official blockbuster, this film has a lot of teeth.
K: King of Comedy: Rupert Pumpkin will go to any length to show he's funny.
L: (The) Lord of the Rings: I really could have chosen Lawrence of Arabia, but as a twenty-one year old man, one trilogy in particular has defined my childhood. I amalgamated the three epics into a 'super-film'; there's no better way to waste a day.
M: Magnolia: When 'Inherent Vice' comes out in a few months, I can finally do a 'Seven Best Paul Thomas Anderson Films' list. Magnolia would probably top that list.
N: North by Northwest: Hitchcock never pervaded more flair into a film than with North by Northwest. Essentially The Thirty Nine Steps in America; this feature can be seen on my very first list, 'The Seven Best Hitchcock Films'.
O: On The Waterfront: Brando, along with James Dean, kicked off the method generation. His character Terry Malloy is brooding and inarticulate, soaked in aggressive energy. Brando at his best basically.
P: Pather Panchali: I believe this is the most personal film ever made, beautifully simplistic with an affecting ending.
Q: (The) Queen: I really got stuck on Q...
R: Rear Window: This too features on my 'Seven Best Hithcock Films' list. Voyeurism is one of the most engaging themes in cinema, and it is looked in on with great skill here.
S: (The) Straight Story: The Straight Story topped my 'Seven Best David Lynch Films' list. Like Pather Panchali; beautifully simplistic and affecting.
T: (The) Third Man: With a memorable zither score and Orson Welles classing up Vienna in a famous cameo (and mocking Switzerland in the process), The Third Man is a perennial feature on every critic's greatest British films of all time.
U: Unforgiven: Eastwood on dynamite form, with Freeman, Harris and Hackman supporting him. A darn fine Western!
V: Vertigo: Easily the best film beginning with 'v'. Hitchcock's masterpiece!
W: (The) Wicker Man (1973): Antithetic to most horror films though terrifying nonetheless, it is part of my 'Seven Best Horror Films' list. Just steer clear from the remake (actually if you want a laugh, seek it out).
X: X2: This film may well appear in my next list, 'The Seven Best Films with Marvel Characters'. It is certainly the best X-Men movie, involving more mutants with relevance, freezing and burning through an intensified narrative. Oh, and Nightcrawler's opening assault on the White House is magnificent!
Y: Y Tu Mama Tambien: A Mexican road trip where two teenage boys learn a lot with an attractive older woman.
Z: Zoolander: The sequel is on its way, but surely it wont succeed its predecessor in superiority. After all, Zoolander is still hot!
The Seven Best Films with Marvel Characters is coming to you soon! Look out for it!
And as we are approaching the end of the year (sort of) the Seven Best and Worst Films of 2014 will be drawn up come December. Will Godzilla smash its way to the top? Was X-Men Days of Future Past really that good? And will The Lego Movie build its way into contention? Just wait and see!
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Friday 26 September 2014
Monday 1 September 2014
The Seven Best Billy Wilder Films
7: Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Starring: Tyrone Power, Charles Laughton and Marlene Dietrich
In Seven Words: Leanard Vole murders(?) Emily French, a trial ensues...
Review: I'm guilty. It was eight words, not seven. Though, is Leanard Vole guilty of murdering the ageing, rich widow, Emily French? A potentially convoluted story (expect nothing less from an Agatha Christie novella) is unravelled for screen. What works well is that the "whodunit" components commensurate with Russell Harlan's stoic framing of courtroom theatricality. This particular mise-en-scene fits with any courtroom, because it is applicable as live theatre (see '12 Angry Men' as a keen example of this). The triumph of the film though lies with Charles Laughton, one of the great actors of stage and screen, who's ailing barrister, named Sir Wilfrid Roberts, acts as the defendant for Leanard Vole (Power). His conflicting views match with the conflicting narrative, though Wilder, unlike Alfred Hitchcock, is certain to show both sides, drip feeding the viewer with sustainable evidence. Laughton recalls his 'Hunchback of Notre Dame' role, as this vulnerable, albeit sincere Sir Wilfrid. I should also mention Marlene Dietrich, who defies her 55 years, by summoning her 'femme fatale' specialities that rock the films dénouement. Sneaking in above 'Sabrina', 'Witness for the Prosecution' acts as an exciting document, showcasing the steady skills of an uncompromising director.
6: Double Indemnity (1944)
Starring: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G Robinson
In Seven Words: Insurance is the slightly ironic murder weapon...
Review: Double Indemnity is unquestionably a fine film, though by no means an outstanding achievement. Fred MacMurray is insurance salesman Walter Neff. He's done something terrible, and begins to leave a message for his colleague Walter Keyes (Robinson) through a Dictaphone, explaining a shady commitment to a cardinal sin. The pervading presence of flashback is without a doubt the films strongest asset, due to it representing MacMurray's own retrospective guilt of predetermined murder. Barbara Stanwyck, as Phyllis Dietrichson, is his motive. Her husband is the victim. For her wish is to claim his accident policy in the event of any grisly demise he might have. MacMurray's routine house call acts as the inciting incident and, although initially against Dietrichson's palpable plan of "accidental death", her adhesive occupancy of his psyche changes his mind. With more flirting, the plan drives forward... Double Indemnity isn't my favourite Wilder film for one reason: Fred MacMurray. Undoubtedly Stanwyck is glorious, as is the black and white cinematography, and the train track set piece of murder, superb. Though, MacMurray grows tiresome, he lacks the sustainability of a leading man. I realise he represents the every day salesman, however Bogart or Grant would have enhanced Neff, given him more gravitas and, above all else, would have composed a better suited protagonist.
5: Ace in the Hole (1951)
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling and Robert Arthur
In Seven Words: 'Good news is no news' Charles Tatum...
Review: Ace in the Hole recently showed up in Bill Hader's '200 Comedy Films You Must Watch' list. Is it a comedy? For its biting cynicism and acerbic wit, Hader has a point. Personally, I would define it as a body of film noir with comedic legs. It runs on its screwball plot structure, with Charles Tatum (Kirk Douglas), as a narcissistic, wisecracking reporter laying claim to the story of a man he meets, Leo Minosa, who is trapped in a mineshaft when searching for Indian artefacts. Tatum milks the story for all it's worth, hoping to regain his superior job at the New Yorker, which is a better fit than the Albuquerque Sun-Bulletin. This exploitation reaches the knowledge of New Mexico's finest, along with a corrupt sheriff (hard boiled irony) and mining experts. Tatum's sardonic and brash defence, along with an intimidating demeanour gifts him many get-out-of-jail-free cards. Yet, with the understanding that the real Minosa can be rescued relatively easily, as well as forcing Minosa's cash register raiding wife Lorraine into his crazy scheme, the newspaperman might be on the verge of being found out. The Simpsons adapted Ace in the Hole for an early 90's episode, 'Radio Bart', and one can see why. The material, whilst being, in the best sense of the word, ridiculous, is an attack on American media, something that The Simpsons writers would have been enthused to poke fun at. But I digress. This is one of Wilder's great films, because it amalgamates two opposing genres of the period that shouldn't work, film noir and screwball comedy, but just like a Heston Blumenthal dish, it does work. Bitter and sweet, in the best way possible.
4: Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Starring: Gloria Swanson, William Holden and Erich Von Stroheim
In Seven Words: Silent screen star Swanson has her swansong...
Review: Hollywood has been scrutinized in plenty of pictures: Mulholland Dr., The Player, Barton Fink, A Star is Born.. these films propagate the adversities of success or the attempt of being successful. In Sunset Boulevard, the whirring machine of Hollywood has devoured the exiled star Norma Desmond (Swanson), who, once queen of the silent era, is now neglected by the silver screen, a recluse inhabiting the past. The film factory itself is also cynically surveyed, as the opening sequence sees the body of Joe Gillis (Holden) floating in a swimming pool, accompanied with Gillis's own voice-over: 'A murder has been reported from one of those great big houses in the ten thousand block. You'll read about it in the late editions I'm sure'... And the flashback commences, where we see this talented yet expendable writer Gillis, acquaint with an ageing actress wrapped in her own embittered grandeur. Though Swanson's grandiose, theatrical performance rides on the waves of absurdity, it is harnessed by her loyal butler, discoverer and ex-husband, Max (Von Stroheim). Max is the accepted reality, Norma is living under illusion by her own choice, to evade her depression from lack of fame. Max is her carer, her director if you will. This counterfeit reality induces the sorry ending of Norma, Joe and ultimately Max, who lost his actress to delusion. Widely cynical, Sunset Boulevard is the greatest film about Hollywood ever made.
3: Some Like it Hot (1959)
Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis.
In Seven Words: The year before Psycho made drag dark...
Review: My reviews are lengthier than normal, I realise that. But it is because Wilder is such an exciting director to discuss, his films are an infusion of substance borrowed from Capra and Hitchcock, and even Luis Bunuel, who's avant-garde cynicism must have been an influence. With Some Like It Hot, the flippancy is more light-hearted, on the verge of screwball. Wilder and I.A.L Diamond (co-writer) cater us with a romp about two jazz players Joe and Jerry (Lemon and Curtis) who witness the Saint Valentines Day Massacre of 1929, and to escape the gangsters who spot them, they join an all-female band en route to Miami. This is where Monroe surfaces, as the ditzy (Marilyn was anything but) yet charming Sugar Kane, the band's vocalist and ukulele player. Her appearance is met with enamour by both gentleman, and they compete for her affection whilst under wig and dress, maintaining their feminine guise. Featuring the iconic last line 'Nobody's perfect', said by a potential suitor in response to Jerry revealing himself to be a man, Some Like it Hot is often hilarious, magnificently structured in plot, and as I said earlier, bordering on screwball. Certain scenes involving Sugar and Joe (or Josephine) reminisce and even surpass the very best moments of It Happened One Night and Bringing up Baby. Wilder with his most buoyant picture, and very nearly his greatest comedy film.
2: The Apartment (1960)
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley Maclaine and Fred MacMurray
In Seven Words: Corporate climber falls for an elevator girl...
Review: What is Wilder's obsession with insurance? Exploited in Double Indemnity and Ace in the Hole, the equitable transfer policy is utilized once more for The Apartment; it is where our protagonist, C.C. Baxter (Lemmon) earns his living, in a high rise building in New York. The film ironically succeeds as an antidote to depression. Even though the black and white mise-en-scene centres around a lonely guy in an office (without family and a girlfriend), his self-deprecation and treatment evokes satire, and this draws delight. Baxter starts off as a pushover, allowing his company's executives to stay at his apartment, whilst entertaining their girlfriends. He hopes this will inspire a promotion, gifting him with an office of his own. Despite Baxter being taken advantage of, he elicits some old school courage, and asks out an elevator girl, Miss Kubelik (Maclaine). Unbeknownst to Baxter, Kubelik is herself being cajoled by the personnel director, Jeff D. Sheldrake (MacMurray). As Baxter is promoted by Sheldrake (with a catch for exclusive rights to his apartment) his affection for Miss Kubelik grows stronger, as do hers for him, but with the obstacle of the company boss standing in their way, there is little they can do. They are company captives, and this is where the more dramatic elements of the film derive from. The Apartment was Billy Wilder's ode to Brief Encounter, another film where two lovers find it difficult to be together. It is perhaps a paradox that Wilder's picture is more brittle than David Lean's masterpiece. A film that is essentially a comedy has managed to escape the confines of its genre, and branched off into dramatic junctures that swing abrupt emotional punches at its audience. The culmination of a gun shot noise outside Baxter's apartment pre-empts the audience, as well as Kubelik, into believing that he has attempted suicide. We have forgotten that we are watching a comedy, though when she bursts in and sees he is just holding an overflowing bottle of champaign, that realisation of what The Apartment is kicks in. The share of delight from Baxter and Kubelik, knowing they can be together at last, pronounces The Apartment as something quite wonderful: it is a cold film that gives you a warm hug.
1: Lost Weekend (1945)
Starring: Ray Milland, Jane Wyman and Phillip Terry
In Seven Words: 'I'm not a drinker! I'm a drunk!'
Review: A statement from writer Don Birnam (Milland) and a statement of intent from Wilder: The Lost Weekend is hard hitting, trenchant realism about the effects of alcohol abuse. Don Birnam is an alcoholic, and The Lost Weekend follows his escalation from falling off the wagon to being stationed at deaths door. Milland gives an Oscar winning performance as Birnam, who's distant and cold persona brings him little sympathy from most. One can identify these traits in most of Wilder's protagonists, Walter Neff, Charles Tatum, Jeff Sheldrake, etc. The internal feelings of the audience do not lie with Birnam though, they lie with what he is doing to himself. He is unpleasant, though we stick with him, as does his girlfriend Helen (Wyman), due to the sadness of the situation. His unwillingness to extricate himself from drinking denies him the desire to write, which is his true passion. The drink is superficial, though his devotion to it is not, and that devotion must be relinquished. Yet, as the film goes on, the comprehension is that the only person that can help Birnam is himself, and that deep-rooted battle is what we empathise with most of all. His drop into deceit through his love affair with booze provokes a hallucinatory climax, where his alcoholism grips him whilst he shakes and screams. This does not trigger a bitter ending however, with the arrival of Helen and the image of Birnam dropping his cigarette into a glass of whiskey establishing him as cured. This is Wilder's masterpiece; his quintessential sub-textual themes of cynicism, satire and a socio-political problem injected into the central character(s) are embedded into every word that is said and every shot that is shown. The opening of the film, by panning the city-scape and zooming in on the ajar window of Birnam, plays out in reverse for the ending of the film, with a close-up on Birnam writing his retrospective novel, and then the camera withdrawing to the wide angle of the metropolis. This is a bold comment by Wilder, because he is proclaiming that the issue explored in The Lost Weekend has plagued many people, and will continue to do so, but it can be quelled. That sense of catharsis is relevant for any era, and it is acquired from Wilder's greatest motion picture.
My Next Article Will Be.... The Seven Best Films with Marvel Characters
Starring: Tyrone Power, Charles Laughton and Marlene Dietrich
In Seven Words: Leanard Vole murders(?) Emily French, a trial ensues...
Review: I'm guilty. It was eight words, not seven. Though, is Leanard Vole guilty of murdering the ageing, rich widow, Emily French? A potentially convoluted story (expect nothing less from an Agatha Christie novella) is unravelled for screen. What works well is that the "whodunit" components commensurate with Russell Harlan's stoic framing of courtroom theatricality. This particular mise-en-scene fits with any courtroom, because it is applicable as live theatre (see '12 Angry Men' as a keen example of this). The triumph of the film though lies with Charles Laughton, one of the great actors of stage and screen, who's ailing barrister, named Sir Wilfrid Roberts, acts as the defendant for Leanard Vole (Power). His conflicting views match with the conflicting narrative, though Wilder, unlike Alfred Hitchcock, is certain to show both sides, drip feeding the viewer with sustainable evidence. Laughton recalls his 'Hunchback of Notre Dame' role, as this vulnerable, albeit sincere Sir Wilfrid. I should also mention Marlene Dietrich, who defies her 55 years, by summoning her 'femme fatale' specialities that rock the films dénouement. Sneaking in above 'Sabrina', 'Witness for the Prosecution' acts as an exciting document, showcasing the steady skills of an uncompromising director.
6: Double Indemnity (1944)
Starring: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G Robinson
In Seven Words: Insurance is the slightly ironic murder weapon...
Review: Double Indemnity is unquestionably a fine film, though by no means an outstanding achievement. Fred MacMurray is insurance salesman Walter Neff. He's done something terrible, and begins to leave a message for his colleague Walter Keyes (Robinson) through a Dictaphone, explaining a shady commitment to a cardinal sin. The pervading presence of flashback is without a doubt the films strongest asset, due to it representing MacMurray's own retrospective guilt of predetermined murder. Barbara Stanwyck, as Phyllis Dietrichson, is his motive. Her husband is the victim. For her wish is to claim his accident policy in the event of any grisly demise he might have. MacMurray's routine house call acts as the inciting incident and, although initially against Dietrichson's palpable plan of "accidental death", her adhesive occupancy of his psyche changes his mind. With more flirting, the plan drives forward... Double Indemnity isn't my favourite Wilder film for one reason: Fred MacMurray. Undoubtedly Stanwyck is glorious, as is the black and white cinematography, and the train track set piece of murder, superb. Though, MacMurray grows tiresome, he lacks the sustainability of a leading man. I realise he represents the every day salesman, however Bogart or Grant would have enhanced Neff, given him more gravitas and, above all else, would have composed a better suited protagonist.
5: Ace in the Hole (1951)
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling and Robert Arthur
In Seven Words: 'Good news is no news' Charles Tatum...
Review: Ace in the Hole recently showed up in Bill Hader's '200 Comedy Films You Must Watch' list. Is it a comedy? For its biting cynicism and acerbic wit, Hader has a point. Personally, I would define it as a body of film noir with comedic legs. It runs on its screwball plot structure, with Charles Tatum (Kirk Douglas), as a narcissistic, wisecracking reporter laying claim to the story of a man he meets, Leo Minosa, who is trapped in a mineshaft when searching for Indian artefacts. Tatum milks the story for all it's worth, hoping to regain his superior job at the New Yorker, which is a better fit than the Albuquerque Sun-Bulletin. This exploitation reaches the knowledge of New Mexico's finest, along with a corrupt sheriff (hard boiled irony) and mining experts. Tatum's sardonic and brash defence, along with an intimidating demeanour gifts him many get-out-of-jail-free cards. Yet, with the understanding that the real Minosa can be rescued relatively easily, as well as forcing Minosa's cash register raiding wife Lorraine into his crazy scheme, the newspaperman might be on the verge of being found out. The Simpsons adapted Ace in the Hole for an early 90's episode, 'Radio Bart', and one can see why. The material, whilst being, in the best sense of the word, ridiculous, is an attack on American media, something that The Simpsons writers would have been enthused to poke fun at. But I digress. This is one of Wilder's great films, because it amalgamates two opposing genres of the period that shouldn't work, film noir and screwball comedy, but just like a Heston Blumenthal dish, it does work. Bitter and sweet, in the best way possible.
4: Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Starring: Gloria Swanson, William Holden and Erich Von Stroheim
In Seven Words: Silent screen star Swanson has her swansong...
Review: Hollywood has been scrutinized in plenty of pictures: Mulholland Dr., The Player, Barton Fink, A Star is Born.. these films propagate the adversities of success or the attempt of being successful. In Sunset Boulevard, the whirring machine of Hollywood has devoured the exiled star Norma Desmond (Swanson), who, once queen of the silent era, is now neglected by the silver screen, a recluse inhabiting the past. The film factory itself is also cynically surveyed, as the opening sequence sees the body of Joe Gillis (Holden) floating in a swimming pool, accompanied with Gillis's own voice-over: 'A murder has been reported from one of those great big houses in the ten thousand block. You'll read about it in the late editions I'm sure'... And the flashback commences, where we see this talented yet expendable writer Gillis, acquaint with an ageing actress wrapped in her own embittered grandeur. Though Swanson's grandiose, theatrical performance rides on the waves of absurdity, it is harnessed by her loyal butler, discoverer and ex-husband, Max (Von Stroheim). Max is the accepted reality, Norma is living under illusion by her own choice, to evade her depression from lack of fame. Max is her carer, her director if you will. This counterfeit reality induces the sorry ending of Norma, Joe and ultimately Max, who lost his actress to delusion. Widely cynical, Sunset Boulevard is the greatest film about Hollywood ever made.
3: Some Like it Hot (1959)
Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis.
In Seven Words: The year before Psycho made drag dark...
Review: My reviews are lengthier than normal, I realise that. But it is because Wilder is such an exciting director to discuss, his films are an infusion of substance borrowed from Capra and Hitchcock, and even Luis Bunuel, who's avant-garde cynicism must have been an influence. With Some Like It Hot, the flippancy is more light-hearted, on the verge of screwball. Wilder and I.A.L Diamond (co-writer) cater us with a romp about two jazz players Joe and Jerry (Lemon and Curtis) who witness the Saint Valentines Day Massacre of 1929, and to escape the gangsters who spot them, they join an all-female band en route to Miami. This is where Monroe surfaces, as the ditzy (Marilyn was anything but) yet charming Sugar Kane, the band's vocalist and ukulele player. Her appearance is met with enamour by both gentleman, and they compete for her affection whilst under wig and dress, maintaining their feminine guise. Featuring the iconic last line 'Nobody's perfect', said by a potential suitor in response to Jerry revealing himself to be a man, Some Like it Hot is often hilarious, magnificently structured in plot, and as I said earlier, bordering on screwball. Certain scenes involving Sugar and Joe (or Josephine) reminisce and even surpass the very best moments of It Happened One Night and Bringing up Baby. Wilder with his most buoyant picture, and very nearly his greatest comedy film.
2: The Apartment (1960)
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley Maclaine and Fred MacMurray
In Seven Words: Corporate climber falls for an elevator girl...
Review: What is Wilder's obsession with insurance? Exploited in Double Indemnity and Ace in the Hole, the equitable transfer policy is utilized once more for The Apartment; it is where our protagonist, C.C. Baxter (Lemmon) earns his living, in a high rise building in New York. The film ironically succeeds as an antidote to depression. Even though the black and white mise-en-scene centres around a lonely guy in an office (without family and a girlfriend), his self-deprecation and treatment evokes satire, and this draws delight. Baxter starts off as a pushover, allowing his company's executives to stay at his apartment, whilst entertaining their girlfriends. He hopes this will inspire a promotion, gifting him with an office of his own. Despite Baxter being taken advantage of, he elicits some old school courage, and asks out an elevator girl, Miss Kubelik (Maclaine). Unbeknownst to Baxter, Kubelik is herself being cajoled by the personnel director, Jeff D. Sheldrake (MacMurray). As Baxter is promoted by Sheldrake (with a catch for exclusive rights to his apartment) his affection for Miss Kubelik grows stronger, as do hers for him, but with the obstacle of the company boss standing in their way, there is little they can do. They are company captives, and this is where the more dramatic elements of the film derive from. The Apartment was Billy Wilder's ode to Brief Encounter, another film where two lovers find it difficult to be together. It is perhaps a paradox that Wilder's picture is more brittle than David Lean's masterpiece. A film that is essentially a comedy has managed to escape the confines of its genre, and branched off into dramatic junctures that swing abrupt emotional punches at its audience. The culmination of a gun shot noise outside Baxter's apartment pre-empts the audience, as well as Kubelik, into believing that he has attempted suicide. We have forgotten that we are watching a comedy, though when she bursts in and sees he is just holding an overflowing bottle of champaign, that realisation of what The Apartment is kicks in. The share of delight from Baxter and Kubelik, knowing they can be together at last, pronounces The Apartment as something quite wonderful: it is a cold film that gives you a warm hug.
1: Lost Weekend (1945)
Starring: Ray Milland, Jane Wyman and Phillip Terry
In Seven Words: 'I'm not a drinker! I'm a drunk!'
Review: A statement from writer Don Birnam (Milland) and a statement of intent from Wilder: The Lost Weekend is hard hitting, trenchant realism about the effects of alcohol abuse. Don Birnam is an alcoholic, and The Lost Weekend follows his escalation from falling off the wagon to being stationed at deaths door. Milland gives an Oscar winning performance as Birnam, who's distant and cold persona brings him little sympathy from most. One can identify these traits in most of Wilder's protagonists, Walter Neff, Charles Tatum, Jeff Sheldrake, etc. The internal feelings of the audience do not lie with Birnam though, they lie with what he is doing to himself. He is unpleasant, though we stick with him, as does his girlfriend Helen (Wyman), due to the sadness of the situation. His unwillingness to extricate himself from drinking denies him the desire to write, which is his true passion. The drink is superficial, though his devotion to it is not, and that devotion must be relinquished. Yet, as the film goes on, the comprehension is that the only person that can help Birnam is himself, and that deep-rooted battle is what we empathise with most of all. His drop into deceit through his love affair with booze provokes a hallucinatory climax, where his alcoholism grips him whilst he shakes and screams. This does not trigger a bitter ending however, with the arrival of Helen and the image of Birnam dropping his cigarette into a glass of whiskey establishing him as cured. This is Wilder's masterpiece; his quintessential sub-textual themes of cynicism, satire and a socio-political problem injected into the central character(s) are embedded into every word that is said and every shot that is shown. The opening of the film, by panning the city-scape and zooming in on the ajar window of Birnam, plays out in reverse for the ending of the film, with a close-up on Birnam writing his retrospective novel, and then the camera withdrawing to the wide angle of the metropolis. This is a bold comment by Wilder, because he is proclaiming that the issue explored in The Lost Weekend has plagued many people, and will continue to do so, but it can be quelled. That sense of catharsis is relevant for any era, and it is acquired from Wilder's greatest motion picture.
My Next Article Will Be.... The Seven Best Films with Marvel Characters
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