My 45th – 47th Favorite Motion Pictures

47. 13 Conversations About One Thing (2001)
Hey, look! A film directed by a woman!
“Faith is the antithesis of proof” is just one of dozens of great lines in this motion picture featuring many (13?) diverse storylines that eventually overlap and merge. The movie is very unstylized: there are no special effects in the usual sense. Still, the different storylines are very well played out. Each and every storyline could have been a full movie in and of itself, but it’s the interweaving of all the story lines that make it one of my favorites. The symbolism of red ink/blood in each storyline is a classic example of symbolism used to enhance the characters’ feelings.
Why not rate this film higher? Did I mention it’s not stylized? While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, this film has a daytime-TV drama feel about it.

46. Suspicion (1941)
Hey, look! Another Hitchcock film!
Is Johnnie trying to murder his wife, or isn’t he? No one could make answering this question as fun as Hitchcock. Cary Grant plays “Johnnie” so well, I couldn’t decide if he was innocent or guilty up until the very end. So many things keep the viewer from figuring out the answer. For example, Johnnie seems like a nice enough gu, but why would he be purchasing poisonous powder? And what’s with his late father – did Johnnie kill him? Hmm…
There are some great camera shots in this film, notably the tracking shot when Johnnie brings a glass of milk up a long, spiral staircase to his wife. His wife, by the way, is played by Joan Fontaine – who also starred in “Rebecca” – and was the only person to ever win an Oscar for acting in a Hitchcock film.
Why not rate this film higher? It took a while to grow on me. I didn’t think it was that special the first time I watched it, notably because the first half of the film is s o s l o w.

45. Festen (The Celebration) (1998)
Hey, look! A foreign language film!
I don’t speak Dutch, but I still loved this film. I was first introduced to this film in a film studies class, in which we watched a portion of it as a Dogme 95 film. What’s a Dogme 95 film? …you may ask. Essentially, it’s a film that subscribes to certain rules about film making; rules that attempt to create a very realistic film. For example, no fake lighting can be used: the film can only contain sunlight or lights that are actually in the film itself. The same thing goes for music: only diegetic music – music that can be heard by the characters – may be used. Thus, it is okay to show a character playing a CD, but it would be wrong to dub in music while editing. Also, the camera must be handheld at all time.
Not only does this film succeed in it’s attempt to be a Dogme ’95, it does it very well. While watching the entire film, I couldn’t help but think that the Dogme rules made the film even better. The raw, realistic style of shooting the film fit in perfectly with the raw, realistic sotry featuring a family reunion.
Oh yeah, the story itself totally rocks, too. It’s the patriarch’s 60th birthday party, but his children have not grown up in the way he had hoped. And one of his kids has some very dirty secrets to reveal during dinner.
Why not rate this film higher? Like “Suspicion”, this film is in no hurry to get moving. It takes a while to draw you in, and the first half of the film shows us unnecessarily long scenes of the different family members getting ready for the party. Some of thes scenes are interesting, as they pertain to the main story that develops later, but some of these little forays into storytelling seem totally irrelevant.