Imaging the Unimaginable…

There are many striking elements to George Stevens’ The Diary of Anne Frank. William C. Mellor’s stunning cinematography consistently captures the claustrophobia and mental/emotional degeneration of two and a half years in an attic. Unfortunately, Mellor does not employ his skills to shed light on the horrors of the Holocaust. Cynthia Ozick’s focus on Otto Frank’s submersion of some of the more disturbing or scandalous elements of the diary finds cinematic parallels in George Stevens’ film version. With Peter Novick’s chapter, “Not in the Best Interests of Jewry,” from The Holocaust in American Life close at hand, we might re-title Stevens’ film The Amnesia of Anne Frank. [Read more]

Bing and Bergman: Faith Vs. Works

During his speech at St. Mary’s graduation service, Father O’Malley (Bing Crosby) tells the assembled, “St. Mary’s is founded on faith, hope, and charity.” He might as well have added lies to this list of building blocks. Throughout the course of the film, the major characters lie to one another and others they encounter. Father O’Malley lies to Sister Benedict (Ingrid Bergman) about his knowledge of Patricia’s background. Father O’Malley and Sister Benedict constantly lie to (or hoodwink) Mr. Bogardus about obtaining his newly constructed building. Furthermore, as O’Malley gives the graduation speech, he lies concerning Mr. Bogardus’ generosity. Of course, we laugh at these half-truths as the filmmakers no doubt intended us to do. However, years of secularization and scandal have tarnished the glow of O’Malley’s luminous halo of a hat (it is doubtful the same could ever be done to Bergman’s Sister Benedict), and audiences are not so enamored of the devoted pastor/priest. Yet The Bells of St. Mary’s endures as a beloved classic despite ecclesial troubles and its characters’ less than honest personalities. Perhaps, in these half-truths, we find the key to its popularity, then and now. [Read more]

The Meaning of Life…

Having been a fan of Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man, I have always wanted to read John Krakauer’s Into the Wild, and I want to do so even more now that I have seen Sean Penn’s cinematic adaptation of it. Chris McCandless’ enigmatic existence makes for an epic film full of important questions concerning society, life, love, and relationships. Never in my film-watching have I wanted so badly to connect with a character and never has it been quite so difficult. Here is a music video for “Hard Sun,” one of Eddie Vedder’s many songs composed for the film. Read on for my review of what is truly a captivating film.

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A Cinematic Change…

Thanks to Alex Carpenter for pointing out this video.

Jeff Skoll made his fortune ($2 billion) as the first president of eBay. Now he’s spending it at the movies. His company, Participant Productions, makes entertaining, issues-driven films that inspire real change — Murderball, Syriana, An Inconvenient Truth … Here, he talks about the people who’ve inspired him to do good, and about some upcoming films that will open your eyes.

As if they couldn’t get any better…

The Colorado Rockies have certainly provided some exciting moments for this year’s MLB playoffs and continue to be the team to watch, leaving Philadelphia last night with a 2-0 lead over the Phillies. If their play on the field has been praiseworthy thus far, their off the field behavior is certainly the stuff of champions.

Rockies to Share Post-season Payout

And for something completely different…

Manohla Dargis, a film critic for the New York Times, has a review of an upcoming documentary about abortion called Lake of Fire. I have not seen the film yet, but her review is certainly compelling. The article also contains segments of an interview with the director, Tony Kaye. I appreciate both of their comments and Kaye’s desire to, despite filming in black and white, take a “gray” approach to the issue. Links to both the article and the interview are below.

Abortion as a Front Line in the Culture Wars

Interview with Tony Kaye

On a Lighter Note…