š¬ #183 The Age of Obsession.
You might summarise both this weekās films under one word - obsession, something Iām apparently deeply interested in as I think about the films I enjoy recommending the most. And to be fair, every act of art, no matter how āsuccessfulā it is or not is an act of obsession. Something that draws us out of the everyday, demands all of ourselves and places a focus on our lives - or at least a time in our lives. Itās a means to get beyond the menial.
Happy choosing, happy viewing,
Bry
FILM ONE: THE THIRD MAN
1949 Dir Carol Reed
1 hr 44 mins
Some films are inseparable from their setting, and The Third Man is one of them. Shot in the ruins of post-war Vienna, itās a noir that looks as if the city itself has been dutched - tilted off balance. Staircases slant, shadows stretch, even distort, and cobblestones glint in the light. Joseph Cotten plays Holly Martins, an American writer adrift in a world of spies and black-market deals, while Orson Welles makes perhaps the most iconic late entrance in cinema as Harry Lime.
What makes the film endure is not just its mystery, but its tone. The famous zither score undercuts the darkness of mood, with something almost playful. The moral world is as murky as an inky street puddle, but the film never stops being fun to watch. If youāve only seen American noir, this is the European cousin - stylish, sardonic, and unforgettable.
*Available for a small rental fee on Apple and Amazon in the US and UK.
Fact: This film has a place in Akira Kurosawaās top 10 - and Martin Scorsese wrote a dissertation on it in film school.
FILM TWO: THE RED SHOES
1948 Dir Powell & Pressburger
2 hrs 15 mins
On the opposite end of the spectrum sits The Red Shoes, Powell and Pressburgerās fever dream of art, ambition, and sacrifice. Itās tells the story of a young ballerina caught between love and the stage, in an almost psychedelic, expressionistic way. But to call it a āballet filmā doesnāt do the filmmakers justice. The famous 17-minute dance sequence throws out any sense of realism - there are dissolving sets, surreal backdrops, and vivid Technicolor that still looks sumptuous decades later.
What makes the film timeless is its obsession with the cost of creation, a meta theme if you were to look back across all Video Shop posts. To surrender yourself completely to art means losing something else entirely. Powell and Pressburger stage that conflict as spectacular tragedy. Scorsese called it one of his great inspirations, and you can see echoes of it everywhere from Black Swan to La La Land.
*Available for a small rental fee on Apple and Amazon in the US and UK.
Fact: Scorcese owns a lot of memorabilia related to the film including the original signed screenplay as well as a signed pair of the red shoes themselves.