Nitrate Stock @ NYFF53, Days Three, Four and Five: Visconti's ROCCO, Hu's ZEN, and Ford's LONG VOYAGE!

Whassap Stockahz?!? I'm back with a trifecta recap of my last few days at the New York Film Fest. Circumstances kwpt me from posting on a day by day basis, so hopefully this catches yaz all up on my viewings and doings. So let's get to it!

Sunday October 4th - ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS

I think it was Sidney Lumet that I first caught this bit of schooling from; drama is when the plot drives the characters, melodrama is when the characters drive the plot. That's the best definition I've ever heard, in any event, and according to that standard Visconti's 3-hr magnum opus is one of the geatest melodramas in the history of the cinema. A bold undertaking, an employing of neo-realist trappings matched by funds that would've made the neorealists blush, ROCCO tells a sprawling tale of a family's migrate from an unsutainable existence in the Italian countryside to a far faster, keener and more corruptible postwar Milan. It is at once a simple morality tale and a deeper indictment of a nation with, ostensibly, no moral compass. Although the film is conclusively divided into 5 chapters, all bearing the names of the fraternal sibs, the film is not quite as cleanly organized, the brothers' arcs intertwining with each other much as in real life. The two warring factions thematically seem to be gigiloism vs. boxing, and the temptation to sell out is strongly criticized in comparison to the willingnes to fight, even though that will proves impotent against the larger forces of the world at times.

Gorgeously shot by regular Visconti DP Giuseppe Rotunno, who also shot several Fellini classics as well as Bob Fosse's ALL THAT JAZZ and Terry Giliam's THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN, the film's been given new life courtesy the Cineteca Bologna at L'Imagine Ritrovato. It's coming to the Film Forum this weekend and staying for at least 3 weeks. Miss this and lose yer Cinegeek cred.

Monday October 5th - A TOUCH OF ZEN

I'd seen only a couple of films from the legendary King Hu before attending this restoration of what many consider his masterpiece; COME DRINK WITH ME and DRAGON INN. I'd also sorta not realized exactly what his contrib to the genre known as wuxia was, admittedly accepting the entirety of the Hong Kong and Taiwan film industry as mostly a bundle. I'm not smart, what can I say? But I'm getting there.

I'm grateful that I went into this screening knowing very little, especially as regards its running time. There is a certain point, spoiler not forthcoming, that I felt the film had found its natural conclusion. It didn't, and thank Buddah Hu knew there was at least 40 more minutes of story to tell. What's most remarkable about these films, ZEN in particular, even beyond his groundbreaking integration of Peking Opera technique with standard Hong Kong action motifs, something that would define the genre for decades to come, is Hu's attention to character, perhaps never exploring the boundaries beyond 2 dimensions but loading those dimensions with a lotta info. He crafted modern mythology in this manner, a balletic cinematic language that is still being mimicked to this day. ZEN begins humbly, and ends 180 minutes later with no less an image than a repping of Buddha himself. It's simply cinematic magic, and will never cease to be. Talk about reincarnation...

Wednesday October 7th - THE LONG VOYAGE HOME

Cobbled together from 4 Eugene O'Neill one-acts and crafted on the cusp of America's entry into the 2nd World War, John Ford's maritime masterpiece usually finds itself the forgotten middle sister during the period when he churned out STAGECOACH, DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK, YOUNG MR. LINCOLN, THE GRAPES OF WRATH and HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY. Imposing larger siblings all. Yet VOYAGE is a rich sojourn, a multi-character piece that largely employs a single set piece, the merchant marine ship's deck, and utilizes it as stage, as flooded film set, as canvass to spread his stars upon. The spectre of war looms large over the proceedings, the transport of a munitions cargo the central plot. However, the moment-to-moment grunt life of a merchant seaman is the film's main concern, and Ford loved to explore, even connect, with the plight of a hardscrabble worker.

Of perhaps greatest interest is the collboration between director Ford and legendary DP Greg Toland, the deep-focus king, who helmed Ford's GRAPES OF WRATH that same year and was a year away from the film that would cement his legendary status: Orson Welles' CITIZEN KANE. The cinematography in VOYAGE is of course exceptional, even groundbreaking. Ford straddled the line between expressionistic Murnau and populist Walsh and Dwan for the entirety of his career, ultimately eschewing the stylist tendencies of the Weimar boys in favor of slightly more utilitarian technique. He goes the full UFA here. It's well worth your time.

And that's the summary of my last 3 trips to Lincoln Center. It's been exceptional once again, great programming, great guests, most appreciated accomodations. My next and last visit will be for the screening of Hou Hsiao-hsien's THE BOYS FROM FENGKEUI, the film generally credited with kicking of the Taiwan New Wave of the 80's. I'll be there tomorrow at 6pm, and look foreward to hearing Hou Hsiao-hsien himself expound upon his masterwork. Full disclosure: never seen a Hsiao-hsien flick. Fuller disclosure: never heard the name Hou Hsiao-hsien until Museu of the Moving Image unfurled their complete trib last year. So hopefully I'll watch and learn. Either way, the great thing about any art form is that you're better off once you've experienced it, whether you like it or not. So here I go.

The 53rd Annual New York Film Fest is coming to a close. If you've been on the fence about purchasing tix, fall off the fence already! On the purchase side! My thanks once more to Austin Kennedy, publicist par excellence, and George Nicholis and Stephanie Friedman at the publicity firm of PMK-BNC . I can't express my gratitude enough. See ya Friday Stockahz!

- Joe Walsh