11.8.09 -- The Director of Doors
Well ladies and gentlemen, it's been about a near month now since classes have commenced for me here in Melbourne, Australia - man time flies, huh? Perhaps when one's having a good time. Yeah, I do occasionally wish I had someone to talk to when I'm in the apartment room but hey, at least I still have friends in the online world and in reality (here in Melbourne). Some of whom crave the company almost as much (actually, maybe more) than I do. But anyway, loneliness is not to be the topic of today's post. Let's refer back to the post title now shall we?
*casts gaze at mentioned piece* By the way, if you haven't guessed by now, I am blogging to get my freaking mind off my readings for a little while - a brain can only take in so much info.
So, 'The Director of Doors', as is the title I remember my lecturer associating with the one and only, Ernst Lubitsch. Why is he called so? Well, for starters you'd have to watch a couple of his films, and then take notice of his use of (you guessed it) doors. I suppose it does go deeper than that really but I haven't the will or determination to elaborate on it today, what with my having to write an essay on it which happens to be due this Friday - yes yes, shall get down to that soon.
Adding on, odds are unless you were alive in the early 1900s you'd probably have never heard of this guy, let alone seen any of his films. Apparently Lubitsch's reigning era was that of when sound-cinema was newly brought into wide-spread use (should lead to your imagination of how long ago that was now, right?). Oh and yes, this does mean colorless visuals. Still, I'm direly encouraging anyone who hasn't seen even one of his films to give it a go.
Starting things off, I wasn't expecting very much when I sat down in that cosy (mind you, the movie theaters on campus are charming) little red chair two Mondays ago, reading off my 'screening list' to find the movie of said week up for discussion was Ernst Lubitsch's 'One Hour With You'. Clearly, knowing the guy lived a near decade ago I was more than half expecting to be bored to death by some cliche love story - which has probably been redone like a trillion times. Oh, but how the great director proved me wrong.
If it's anything I've noticed about Lubitsch's films (now that I've watched several few) is that he really knows how to keep the audience interested in the story and what's on the screen. From beginning to end, there was not a moment when I wanted to peel my eyes away from that giant screen for fear that I'd miss an explicitly fun scene. Sure it was a love story, sure it was a musical with no real dancing, a rather small cast, the lead male having this way-too-thick french accent that was near impossible to understand and the female lead's stiletto-high operatic way of singing would have probably broken glass if the sound quality was much better...yeah, but fact is that the film was really (seriously) really good!
Heck, it was great!! Brilliant even!!! I'd definitely give it a standing 'O' any day.
It was just so much fun to see a love story twisted the way it was in 'One Hour With You'. Besides the unconventional aspects, the comedy was well executed, lines were witty, the songs weren't bad for their time at all, characters were memorable, transitions were smooth and the story was very understandable. It was just really superb. Thus, I have found another director to place on a high-end pedestal for worship. It is only sad to know that Ernst Lubitsch left this world too long ago.
Below is a link to the first portion to one of his films (the one on screening last week), 'The Merry Widow'. I think it's just as brilliant as 'One Hour With You', or maybe even more so. One is encouraged to give it a go. And if you don't laugh at certain points, you must be crazy.
The film stars Maurice Chevalier (Danilo) and Jeanette MacDonald (Sonia) as the leads. It takes prime place in this imaginary country of Marshovia with some scenes in Paris (if I remember right). Maurice is captain of the guards in the film and Jeanette is (obviously) a widow. I'll leave figuring out the rest to those of you bright enough to watch it.
Over and out! XD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKcPbgCnNp0
The rest is still unwritten...
