There's the old saying that "desperate times call for desperate measures", and in the 1953 film The Wages Of Fear, it's a desperate time full of men willing to go to desperate measures to get what they believe they should have. Under the right circumstances, greed can corrupt a man beyond imagination. But, perhaps, men were never truly that good to begin with. From the opening scene, it's clear the type of world The Wages Of Fear exists in is a cruel one. In the film's first scene, cockroaches are tortured by a village boy until an ice-cream vendor passes by. The boy approaches him, regardless of him not being able to actually pay for anything the man has. When the boy eventually returns to his bugs, the spot has been taken by a vulture. In the first few seconds, a main theme explored in the film is set up. To quote the Criterion article The Wages Of Fear: No Exit, "Men are wanderers. Adrenaline junkies". In the eyes of the director, Henri-Georges Clouzot, a man's mind will quickly go from one thing to another. They seek thrills. They seek the unattainable. When they realize something that they already have, it might be too late to go back. Greed can play an integral role in this belief. This "need" for money is what draws the attention of our four main characters. Sure, they're essentially going to have bombs strapped to their backs and the slightest incorrect move will bring them to kingdom come, but what do they care? They want that money. They want to get away from the lives that they have now. And when you truly want something, you'll be willing to do a lot to get it. This can, and for our main characters, does lead to an eventual downfall and a tragic truth. They are not good people. In The Wages Of Fear, good people don't exist. And even if there's the off chance that there is, they won't get much better treatment. That last point is main evident from the characters of Bimba and especially Luigi. While Jo and Mario have the pleasure of being the most fleshed-out and having their deaths on screen, the other two don't get that luxury. The tragedy of Bimba is that he was able survive years of agonizing labor at the hands on the Nazis, but dies a brutal death at the hands of what it essentially just a bump in the road. Luigi's story is somehow even more tragic. Even if he did survive the trip and made it back home safely, he still would've died within the year from the cement built up in his lungs. What I believe the film is trying to say about this is put nicely in the article The Wages Of Fear And The Existential Thriller by Nick Yarborough on his self-entitled website. As he puts it "there is no difference between a good and a bad man in a world where fate makes no distinction". All things considered, Mario is probably the worst person out of the four. His actions eventually lead to the death of Jo and its his own stupidity and recklessness driving back that ends up killing himself. Part of this reaction could be in part due to Mario not sure with what to do with himself. In the end, he wins. He attains the unattainable. Now what? His friends are dead. His sanity is likely shattered. And even then, he would've likely eventually found some other situation to get himself stuck in to make more money. More people would die. More of his humanity would be lost. A cruel world can only create cruel men. Cruel men receive cruel punishments. And sometimes, even the ones that aren't so cruel pay anyways. Works Cited:
Lehane, Dennis. “The Wages of Fear: No Exit.” The Criterion Collection, The Criterion Collection, 21 Apr. 2009, www.criterion.com/current/posts/392-the-wages-of-fear-no-exit. Yarborough, Nick. “The Wages of Fear and The Existential Thriller.” Nick Yarborough, Nick Yarborough, 23 Sept. 2015, nickyarborough.com/the-wages-of-fear-and-the-existential-thriller/. Images: https://i0.wp.com/media2.slashfilm.com/slashfilm/wp/wp-content/images/wages-of-fear-remake.jpg https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cr0-khkM4Zo/V19clIuE4GI/AAAAAAAAEM4/CfIy-eW1e8I5M3fOwm0CO660VOV9r7HswCLcB/s1600/Las%2BPiedras%2B01.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYWE5ODE4Y2UtZDMwYi00ZTc2LTk2ZWYtMWFiOGVmY2RiMTJjL2ltYWdlL2ltYWdlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMzI4Nzk0NjY@._V1_SY1000_CR0,0,1333,1000_AL_.jpg https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/41/176441-004-F189BC1D.jpg https://68.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lrf2sjbErm1qe24a7.jpg https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Film/Pix/pictures/2010/10/18/1287398756812/Yves-Montand-in-The-Wages-006.jpg?w=620&q=20&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&dpr=2&s=5fd8d60b5dcd20d5adced0aab7ae1be6 https://s3.amazonaws.com/criterion-production/stills/129825-79c64f221071cf65feb46fed0d01a176/Film_36w_WagesFear_original.jpg
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The Wild West. The 1940's. Two times in our history where if you wanted to be known, to be appeciated, you truly had to go out of your way to show how different you could be from the norm. If you wanted this, and on top of it, you were a woman? God help you. So, seeing characters like Hildy and Vienna from 1940's His Girl Friday and 1954's Johnny Guitar respectively is not only a breath of fresh air, but absolutely compelling to see from a era of time when sexism was still rampant, and some who claim not much has changed. Let's begin with an examination of Hildy. Now, picture american society in the 1940's. World War II is one year in. In the next year, the US will join that war. With the country's youngest and most able men off fighting the Nazis and the Japanese, who's going to need to pick up some of the slack? Women. They've only had the right to vote for twenty years now, and here they come prove "they can do it" just like Rosie The Riveter told them. At the beginning of the film, what's clear from the first shot is that the other workers for the newspaper really look up to her and appreciate all the hard work she's put into the company. It's a little shocking to see this at a time like this. The other reporters, Walter included, call her a "newspaperman" instead of a "newspaperwoman". It seems as though Hildy embraces this masculine image as well. All it takes is a glance to see her suit, a very fancy one of at that. The suit of someone that knows they are the best and aren't afraid to show it. Throughout the film, Hildy claims that she wants to settle down and build a family with Bruce, seemingly embracing the feminine stereotypes she's rebelling against. As put in The Cine-Files article Gender And Ideology In His Girl Friday, "The film defines what it means to be male in opposition to what it means to be female". As the film further progresses, it becomes clear that Hildy really wants to keep doing what she's doing. Because of two reasons. She's really good at what she does and this is simply who she really is. She can't change the way she is. She's naturally masculine. She had to don a masculine appearance to make her way up in the business, of course, but over time, it simply became her. You can change many things about yourself, but it's mostly impossible to change the person you are deep down. Now that doesn't have to be a bad thing. Hildy is a powerful woman. She compels everyone around her and is very good at reporting. Why should she have to change? Now, let's take a look at Vienna. She owns a saloon. She perches over a balcony like a queen. She has a gun and you bet your ass she can use it. She's probably one of the "manliest" women in cinema. This is the life she wanted and now it's the life she has. She had to work for it of course. She says it took many years. That every floorboard and piece of wood had a price she had to pay. But she made it. This is her life, and she'll be damned if anyone wants to take it from her. As put in the IndieWire article Critic's Notebook: Why Johnny Guitar, Now On Blu-Ray, Deserves A Second Look, Vienna "is a garish embodiment of unapologetic, unsentimental, and potentially lethal feminine self-reliance". She didn't have help and she didn't necessarily want it. Vienna only trusts Vienna and it was better that way. As the events of the film progress, she of course gets help from Johnny Guitar/Logan. But, all things considered, who is it that shoots Emma at the end of the film? Who is it that gets to ride off into the sunset with their love and start a new life after her old one is tragically taken away? That's Vienna. For a western, this is certainly unique. Audiences are so used to seeing John Wayne or another random chiseled jaw be the hero. And while this change could be played for parody in a spaghetti-western style, this is all meant to be taken at face value and is better for it. Vienna is one woman you don't want to mess with. A woman who's seemingly more "man" than most of the guys around her. That's because to earn this life, she had to be the outsider. She's earned her respect more than anyone around her and deserves everything she has been given. Sounds a little familiar, right? These are women that certainly act like men, but that doesn't make them any less of a woman. There's nothing wrong with being the outsider. If anything, there aren't enough outsiders in this world. Both Hildy and Vienna can serve as great role models for twenty-first century and in general characters for modern screenwriters to take a few notes on. His Girl Friday and Johnny Guitar, despite coming from noticeably different eras both in setting and time serve as a great example and offer a good lesson for one thing. Put yourself out there. Be unique. Be the outsider. People will notice. Once you're noticed, the stage is yours. Works Cited:
Jellerson, Donald, and Nathan Anderson. “Gender and Ideology in His Girl Friday.” The CineFiles, 2009, www.thecine-files.com/gender-and-ideology/. Bennett, Bruce. “Critic’s Notebook: Why ‘Johnny Guitar,’ Now On Blu-Ray, Deserves a Second Look.” IndieWire, Penske Business Media, 3 Aug. 2012, www.indiewire.com/2012/08/critics-notebook-why-johnny-guitar-now-on-blu-ray-deserves-a-second-look-45806/. Images: https://moviesovermatter.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/rosalind-russell-his-girl-friday-2.jpg http://filmforum.org/do-not-enter-or-modify-or-erase/client-uploads/films/JOHNNY-GUITAR-2-img-lighter.jpg https://moviesovermatter.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/rosalind-russell-his-girl-friday.jpg http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/johnny-guitar-Jaime-October-2013.jpg https://68.media.tumblr.com/413806e461e03641ee8ac6bf236e7e8c/tumblr_nqtiavUSKD1tolkh0o1_400.gif http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gn5uNWDgb4c/VV2BwEwIQMI/AAAAAAAAOEw/_BfzFGcNJsk/s320/joan%2Bstaircase%2Bgun.gif https://fourthandsycamore.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/his-girl-friday-poster.jpg https://www.movieposter.com/posters/archive/main/175/MPW-87578 Hector Babenco's Kiss Of The Spider Woman is an interesting film to try to take apart. It's one of those films that once you unravel one part, many other parts become apparent. One of the more obvious ones but probably the most prevalent is the literal and metaphorical use of "webs". Our two main characters, Molina (William Hurt) and Valentin (Raul Julia), find themselves caught in either their own webs or those created by others. First, let's examine Luis Molina. He's caught in three webs. The first is his sexuality. Early in the film, Molina is continuously barraged by Valentin, frequently calling him a "faggot" whenever he gets angry at him. Throughout all of the pressure, Molina does not crack. He sees himself as a woman trapped inside a man's body. He "takes it like a woman. Always.". It's this that leads him to be trapped in the second web, being his love for Valentin. While he's supposed to be getting information from him for the warden, Molina can't help falling in love with his cellmate. Early in the film Molina says that he is looking for a "real man" to be with, and as put in the Cinema Queer article for Kiss Of The Spider Woman, "Valentin is masculinity personified. He is rugged, his face is bearded, he shows the scars of his interrogations.". It's this increasing love and admiration for Valentin that leads Molina to his final web, the one that ultimately brings him to his demise. Both the web of society and especially the web of politics. Once Molina is released from prison, he is fully free to go back to living his normal life, watching TV with his mother and talking to his waiter friend. However, because of his love for Valentin, he finds himself compelled to help his cause, something he would probably never of done had he not fell in love with Valentin. He calls the number Valentin wants him to and is eventually shot and killed, then having his body literally being dumped in the trash, a visual representation of the idea of homosexuality at that time. A man that is no better than trash. Whether you share his beliefs or not, Molina is a definite tragic character. Now, let's examine Valentin Arregui. The first noticeable web is his beliefs. He is a political prisoner and early on treats himself as such. He eats as little as he can and shouts at the guards when they escort other political prisoners to their cells. His built-up anger towards his government is sometimes thrown at Molina. That is, until Molina helps nurture and care for Valentin when he's poisoned from the prison food. Once this begins, Valentin now finds himself caught in Molina's web, just as Molina is caught in Valentin's. While it's up in the air whether Valentin really does come to love Molina, there is still enough admiration and respect for him that he ends up having sex with Molina, if not out of love then at least as a "thank you" for Molina helping him when he was at his lowest point. If that is not a web of love, then Valentin at least is stuck in one that definitely is. A web involving Marta (Sonia Braga). Unlike all of the other webs mentioned earlier, this is the only one that ends up having a positive outcome. It's the thought of Marta that allows Valentin to survive his first round of torture from the guards and at the very end of the film allows him to briefly escape from another grueling beating. That leads to another big topic featured in the film. Escapism. Despite the fact that both of them are imprisoned, Molina and eventually Valentin find a way to, if at least briefly, escape from the terrors of prison. Stories. Molina tells the story of the Nazi romance to Valentin, then eventually the story of the Spider Woman. It doesn't take to keen of an eye to notice that the story beats of the Nazi film subplot are almost verbatim repeated in the main story-line. And in the Spider Woman story, the man is literally played by Raul Julia. This culminates in the final escape story being one in Valentin's head, involving him and Marta running off to the island featured in the Spider Woman story, It's no coincidence that Sonia Braga plays the french spy, Marta, and the Spider Woman throughout the film. As the film progresses, these side stories continue to more encompass our main characters. When Molina is gone, Valentin learns from him that even though his real "freedom" has been taken away from him, something they can never take away are the stories Molina has given him and the ones he will come to create himself. When all hope is lost, you can just close your eyes and let your imagination take you away. Works Cited:
Klemm, Michael. “Kiss Of The Spider Woman.” Cinema Queer, Michael Klemm, Jan. 2009, www.cinemaqueer.com/review%20pages%202/kissofthespiderwoman.html. Pictures: https://media.baselineresearch.com/images/296568/296568_full.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IALp6oOv-iA/UxC8ckGvSfI/AAAAAAAAB9U/cx5_ToGVtpU/s1600/HurtinKiss.jpg http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/wnpr/files/styles/x_large/public/201410/Raul_Julia_Kiss_of_the_Spider_Woman.jpg https://cache.moviestillsdb.com/sm/5dc8408af245a5b31a0440c85defac3e/kiss-of-the-spider-woman.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNmMwODRlYjgtMmU5Yy00ZTNhLWJjNGEtMGE5YTY2MmRjNTM1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMzQ4ODY2NjA@._V1_.jpg http://www.cinemaqueer.com/movie%20images2/kissbig.jpg Picture some of the greatest leads from the western genre. You probably thought about people like Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, and Franco Nero. One that most likely didn't pop up was Joan Crawford. Two main parts that make Johnny Guitar a great film is both its inversion of the hyper-masculinity of westerns as well as keeping a major part of colored westerns, the colors themselves. In the article for Johnny Guitar by TCM.com, it's mentioned how "Crawford demanded major changes to the screenplay - favoring her - and had them approved since she was the star of the film. The major revision was an issue over gender. Instead of Johnny Guitar and the Dancin' Kid as the central focus, Vienna and Emma would take center stage". This is incredibly evident in both how the film is written and framed. As seen in the frame above, whenever Vienna (Joan Crawford) or Emma (Mercedes McCambridge) are on screen, they command everything and everyone around them. Throughout the entire film, it's Emma that leads the witch-hunt against Vienna and The Kid, with the men behind her seemingly having no interest in Vienna. And, it's Vienna that rules over her saloon and those in it, whether they work there or not. The first time we ever see Vienna, she's atop a balcony, almost as if she's royalty. (As seen in the frame below.) The toying with gender roles brings something unique to Johnny Guitar. The character archetypes for the protagonist and antagonist are the same as any other western. Vienna is clearly the hero and Emma is clearly the villain. But it's interesting to see that in this western, especially one made in 1954, these characters are women. In a conversation Vienna has with Johnny, she talks about how "A man can lie, steal... and even kill. But as long as he hangs on to his pride, he's still a man. All a woman has to do is slip - once. And she's a "tramp"! Must be a great comfort to you to be a man." This, and a clip that's linked below shows that Vienna has needed to become assertive in order to live the life she wanted to. She couldn't be the damsel in distress. And at the end of the film, she does end up becoming the complete opposite. The hero. The one who gets to ride off into the sunset with their girl. (Or, in this case, boy.) One more staple in the western genre that shows up in Johnny Guitar, this time completely faithfully, is the use of color. In many westerns, at some point in the film, the hero wears white and the villain wears black, showing contrast and visually telling the audience who is right and who is wrong. (Think of The Lone Ranger with both his white hat and his white steed, Silver.) In this pivotal scene, Emma and her posse burst into Vienna's saloon to learn of the whereabouts of The Dancing Kid and his gang. Notice how Emma is wearing almost all black and Vienna is wearing all white. In the specific context of the scene, not only does this show sides, but also attitude and what each character is trying to convey to the other. Emma's black is a showcase of her meaning business and wanting the death of both Vienna and The Dancing Kid. Vienna, in what for is an intentionally abnormally feminine dress, is trying to convey to the men behind Emma that she is completely harmless and as innocent as can be. In conclusion, Johnny Guitar offers a unique take on the normally repetitious nature of the western by toying around with some conventions, such as gender and the portrayal of masculinity in women, as well as keeping other conventions mostly untouched, such as the usage of color. Now, please enjoy this intentionally colorful poster of the film. Works Cited:
Stafford, Jeff. “Johnny Guitar (1954).” Turner Classic Movies, Time Warner Company, www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/79838/Johnny-Guitar/articles.html. valentinoluigi. “Johnny Guitar ‘Lie to Me’ Scene.” YouTube, YouTube, 7 Aug. 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk88i4UplVQ. BestFilmsFP. “Johnny Guitar - Best Scene Piano.” YouTube, YouTube, 4 July 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=92lwym9QL2g. Pictures: https://media.timeout.com/images/102959935/image.jpg http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/johnnyguitar_4.jpg http://images3.static-bluray.com/reviews/6279_1.jpg https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5MFtV9f_uXY/V_G_SKgVPzI/AAAAAAAA9T0/PQ_xcNVKbJ4kAZyTZr9KFPqR_fKJJkWbQCLcB/s1600/JohnnyGuitarPoster3.jpg Preston Sturges' 1941 film The Lady Eve might be Hollywood's first successful sex comedy. Which is a little odd, concerning there isn't any actual sex in it. The word is never even said. This shouldn't be too surprising. The year is 1941. As put in the Dissolve article "The scorching sensuality and style of The Lady Eve", "sex apparently ceased to exist". So how do you go about making one at a time like this? Well, first, you have to be Preston Sturges, one of the few director/writers of the time. Second, you make it all about imagery and inferences. There are many that could be mentioned. There's the train blowing smoke while traveling through a tunnel when Eve/Jean (Barbara Stanwyck) is telling Charles (Henry Fonda) about her numerous previous partners near the end of the film. There's the paddling and splashing outside in the back of the boat when things are getting steamy in Jean's room near the beginning of the film. But there's one specifically constant image that holds major significance. Let's talk about "snakes". From the opening title of the snake going through the o in Preston's name to it resting in-between two apples at the end credits card, it's made relatively obvious what the snakes really are. It's made clear early on that Charles has had an obsession for snakes for the past two years of his expedition. It's mentioned how he's been away from society, and specifically women, for that long. However, it doesn't take a sharp eye to see a tribewoman giving Muggsy some flowers as a farewell gift. It's not that he's been away from women. He just didn't care about them at that moment. That's until "Eve" drops the apple. Most everyone knows the story of Adam and Eve. They're told by God not to eat from the tree of knowledge. The devil in the form of a snake convinces Eve to take a bite of the apple. She does and then convinces Adam to take a bite as well. As odd as it may sound, The Lady Eve could possibly be a mixed-and-matched re-telling of the biblical tale. We of course already have the imagery of "snakes". Apples are featured in the opening sequence. In the first scene we're introduced to Jean, she eats an apple and wonders if she can drop said apple on Charles' head. She does immediately after saying it. In this version, Adam (Charles) doesn't even have a choice. He's seemingly forced into "knowledge". It doesn't take much to see that Charles is a bit of a klutz. (Just see the clip up above as well as all of the tuxedos ruined by the end of the dinner sequence.) He's not an idiot per se. He's just unbelievably naive. He's not sure whether or not he wants to take a "bite". Everything seems to get in his way, from Muggsy attempting to convince him of who Eve really is to even a horse trying to butt in when Charles proposes to Eve. But in the end, it's temptation and lengthy pressure from Jean/Eve that makes him give in. First comes the apple. Then Eve. Then the snake. It should all sound familiar. (Nothing works like phallic imagery.)
Works Cited: Murray, Noel, et al. “The Scorching Sensuality and Style of The Lady Eve.” The Dissolve, Pitchfork Media, 11 Sept. 2014, thedissolve.com/features/movie-of-the-week/746-the-scorching-sensuality-and-style-of-the-lady-eve/. movieclips. “The Lady Eve (8/10) Movie CLIP - Not Over a Sofa! (1941).” YouTube, YouTube, 27 May 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8ilwspLbDM. Pictures: https://assets.mubi.com/images/film/639/image-w1280.jpg?1481118604 http://vintagepowderroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/1941_TheLadyEve_Danish.jpg http://www.californiaherps.com/films/filmimages/ladyeve.jpg http://www.godandscience.org/images/adam_and_eve.jpg http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/Lady-Eve-end-500-395x300.jpg |
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