300 Words on "Overlord" (2018)

In today’s media market which is more competitive than ever, the role of movies has changed. We are still living in the age of the blockbuster, when pure escapism reigns supreme at the box office. In many respects, this pervading trend feels like an extension of the days of the Hollywood B-movie. Overlord is the perfect example.

From its black-and-white opening and vintage graphics, Overlord knows precisely what kind of film it is. The potent result of the unholy concoction of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Saving Private Ryan, Overlord is a loud, brassy, and confident exploitation film which has no pretentions to be anything other than what it is. The film revels in its brightly-colored violence of the kind most often supplied in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez. In fact, Overlord recalls those directors’ collaborative effort, From Dusk till Dawn, in more ways than one.

Interestingly, Overlord manages to be surprisingly reverent to its dark subject matter. Its opening paratrooper sequence is made of powerful stuff and sets the stage for the rawness which is to follow close behind.

Despite this, Overlord is ultimately a silly movie. Its characters for all pretty flat (despite half-hearted efforts to build them up as people), the story is built on clichés, and there are passages which are liable to drag as we wait for the next scare. However, Overlord knows these things and has no issue with them. If Overlord had sneaked into a gritty Grindhouse theater in 1974, we would already be calling it a cult classic and film fans the world over would be singing its praises. And, to be prophetic for a moment, I see Overlord attaining cult status in time. Its unpretentious blend of action, horror, and thrills is absolutely entertaining from start to end.

Thoughts on "The Other Side of the Wind"

To a modern viewer, the making of The Other Side of the Wind may be more interesting than the film itself.

Directed by Orson Welles, star of the silver screen and director of such undisputed classics as Citizen Kane (routinely called the greatest film ever made) and Touch of Evil, The Other Side of the Wind was Welles’ final motion picture. As was his prerogative during the latter part of his life, Welles produced the film independently, and shot it over the span of five years; filming as much as he could at a time with his assembled cast and crew and then breaking for an even longer period of time in order to finance its completion.

Welles successfully produced a handful of movies in this unorthodox but ultimately effective manner. 

The Other Side of the Wind was not one of them.

Running into financial and legal challenges before the film could be edited and distributed, Welles lost the rights to his own movie and was forced to abandon the project. The film that was to be his final masterpiece went unseen for generations.

That is until now.

Reassembled after more than 40 years, film buffs the world over can finally view Orson Welles’ mythic final project on Netflix.

The Other Side of the Wind tells the story of Jake Hannaford (John Huston), an aging, boundary-pushing film director (obviously modeled on Welles himself) who is in the midst of completing his experimental opus. Screening what footage he has shot for friends and industry professionals at his 70th birthday party, Hannaford quickly begins to make more enemies than allies, and it appears as if he will never finish the film.

The biggest question which goes annoying unanswered in the film is: what is this movie about? It appears that in his lifetime, even Welles was uncertain. Some have suggested that Welles’ vision metamorphosized time and time again in the five years that he was working on the project. And this is certainly reflected in the film. The Other Side of the Wind comes off as scatterbrained and incoherent in places with plot threads being picked up and dropped at random.

Yet, through all of this, The Other Side of the Wind manages to hold a hypnotic quality over its audience. Even if one does not fully comprehend what the meaning is behind the images playing out on screen, the pictures which Welles and his longtime cinematographer, Gary Graver, have painted with the camera are fascinating and haunting nevertheless.

In many respects, The Other Side of the Wind can be regarded as a primary document, providing a unique perspective into the changing cultural landscape of 1970s Hollywood. The days of the big studios and even bigger movie stars had faded quickly and Welles – who had returned to America from self-imposed exile in Europe to complete the movie – must have felt lost. That changing tide is reflected beautifully in the film, and Welles satirizes the key players of this cultural revolution within the film.

Just as Huston’s Hannaford is a stand-in for Welles, Peter Bogdanovich – who in 1975 was a young, up-and-coming director and close friend of Welles’ – plays Brooks Otterlake, a young, up-and-coming director and close friend of Hannaford’s.

What else is the film about? Welles manages to comment on toxic masculinity, points out the futility of the muse in an artist’s life, critiques new-wave experimentalism, and still finds time for a shoot-out and brawl which makes The Other Side of the Wind a densely-packed two hours.

Orson Welles was always on the cutting edge of moviemaking, and his last film reinforces that sentiment, showcasing techniques which would not become standard for several more decades. The Other Side of the Wind is no Citizen Kane but it is a strange, haunting film which even after 40 years is not ready to give up all its secrets. 

Thoughts on "Bohemian Rhapsody" (2018)

I liked Queen a lot before Bohemian Rhapsody but I like them even more now.

The biopic of Freddie Mercury and the band which catapulted him to international superstardom is a moving, powerful portrayal of their collaboration but also the story behind their music.

What makes Bohemian Rhapsody both a good film and important one?

Perhaps it’s summed up best in the words of Queen themselves – they’re a band of misfits playing for a band of misfits. A former baggage handler at Heathrow Airport, a dentist, an astrophysicist and an electrical engineer join forces to create some of the most eccentric – but wildly popular – music of the 1970s and ‘80s.

Bohemian Rhapsody in essence proves that (as cliché as it may sound) anything is possible.

At the heart of the film, just as he was at the heart of the band, is Freddie Mercury played to pitch-perfect perfection by Rami Malek. Malek simply disappeared into his role, and supplied with recordings of Mercury’s voice to lip sync along with, often it was difficult to find the point at which Malek ended and Mercury began.

Though Mercury’s story was the beating heart of the narrative, Bohemian Rhapsody never overlooked the other members of the band or their important contributions to their legacy. Gwilym Lee’s guitarist Brian May, Ben Hardy’s drummer Roger Taylor and Joseph Mazzello’s bassist John Deacon are all given moments to shine just as much as Malek’s Oscar-worthy turn as the Queen front man.

Behind the camera is director Bryan Singer who was infamously fired from the film during production.

Singer throws every visual storytelling technique at the film, employing split-screen, flying colorful text and montage after montage to name but a few. The result can be dizzying and distracting at times, however they remain exciting and engaging visuals nonetheless which liven the film even in its darkest moments.

It is clear that the creative team behind the film are ardent Queen fans as so much attention to detail was taken in their recreation. Music videos and live performances are restaged with an incredible eye for detail right down to the costumes the members wore.

And truly nothing can top the emotional, climatic performance at Wembley Stadium as part of the 1985 Live Aid concert which was presented in such remarkable detail that one is likely to feel as if he or she is there among the more than 70,000 people seeing Queen perform live.

Bohemian Rhapsody is a powerful and poignant film which gives voice to the marginalized and overlooked – a band of misfits.

In doing so, the film not only reaffirmed my love for Queen but for all artists who dare to tell their stories through music.