Three Recent Films: Polish, French, American

The last film of my festival choices for June was called Blind Chance, a Polish film by the director of the recently seen Camera Buff.  From 1981, director Kieslowski presents a young man (Witek) who seems to fall from one extreme to the other.  At first he is a medical student, but drops out in fourth year.  He ends up working for the communist party in Poland, until a girlfriend from the past drops into his life.  She works for the underground, but thanks to Witek's loose mouth, she and her band are arrested for printing and distributing political leaflets against the current regime.  He chucks the party and moves back to medicine, falling in love with a woman he knew from med school.  The film gives a good idea of what life was like in Poland when the Russians marched in, and Solidarity was trying to organize strikes.  Many people today are clueless as to these happenings, but I do remember them well.  I don't consider this a great film, and Witek's repeated running to catch a departing train soon wearies me.  I get the symbolism, but it still wearies me.  The ending is very cheap, and not to be taken seriously.  Good grief.  We have several more films to come by this director.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

Next came Deb's two choices.  It was our second viewing of Amelie, a film from 2001 by Jean-Pierre Jeunet.  We liked it as much or better than the first time around, noting the striking resemblance to the films of Wes Anderson this time around.  This film, however, is much better than any film by Anderson I have ever seen.  Where Anderson has cold and calculating characters, Jeunet has warm ones.  The characters here have both hearts and souls, something Anderson seems to know very little about.  The character of Amelie is a little devil mixed with a little angel.  She holds the picture together, but is assisted by many terrific performances from minor characters, including the glass man, the people at the cafe (employees and customers), and the best one of all, the simple young man who works at the neighbourhood fruit and veg stand.  Needlessly and cruelly mocked by his boss, Amelie effectively takes matters into her own hands.  You will never pass another photo booth without thinking of this film.  A winner from start to finish!

Leaving Criterion July 31st. 

 

Fremont is a film by Babak Jalali from 2023.  A young woman who was a translator for the US military in Afghanistan now lives in Fremont California, working in a small family fortune cookie factory.  When the woman who writes the little blurbs for the cookies dies suddenly, she is given the job of writing.  She can't sleep at night, and goes to a therapist for help.  She eats alone in an Afghan restaurant at night.  When she finally sets out to meet a stranger (based on a note and phone number she left to be placed in a cookie), she gets more than she bargained for.  The deadpan acting by Anaita Wali Zada as the young woman is perfect in so many ways.  Highly recommended.

 

In local news I broke a piece off of a right molar yesterday.  Got it repaired today by our dentist of many years, and it feels a whole lot better.  Thank you Dr. Gregory Hanaka! 

 

And we are still playing and enjoying Riven.  Finally found the submarine!  It's more user friendly now, too.

 

Mapman Mike

 

The New Version of Riven

We have been playing for a few days now, and are finally getting used to all of the changes in the 2024 version of Riven.  It would be a total blast to play the VR version.  Someday, perhaps!  So far we have explored Temple Island, where one first arrives.  There are many changes, though the landscape and transport systems remain largely intact.  Some of the puzzles are virtually the same, while others have changed drastically.  Those mysterious spinning fire marbles are even more mysterious now.  Pathways have been changed, most noticeable within the largest dome on the island.  Gehn's chair, where he can seem to appear to worshippers in the temple, is in an entirely new location now, though the temple itself remains unchanged.

 

The main difference is now those revolving fire marbles.  In the old game they would open and.... in the new version they open and can be entered, descending into the starry abyss via catwalks and ladders.  Gehn's idea to escape Riven was to create a linking book using the large central dome as the focus of power from the 5 spinning marbles.  Once the five smaller spinning marbles have been mastered, it is very easy to hop from one island to another.  We took our first trip.

 

We have also been to Jungle Island, likewise finding many changes there, too.  Lots of mysterious religious figures, and lo and behold there is an inventory system now.  While we always carried the special linking book, and a notebook given to us by Atrus at the beginning, there are now a few other things to carry, important to new aspects of the plot.  Over on Boiler Island, there is a new and somewhat easier way to get into Gehn's laboratory, where we are now puzzling over the new puzzles.  Moving in 360 degrees is fun, though the sky never changes, like it does in the revised Myst.  All the water moves, though, and there are mysterious cracks in the ocean.  We know that Gehn has not built a solid world, and there is much more evidence of that now.  The original soundtrack is there, but there is some new material, too.  Though players can turn in any direction, they are still mostly confined to the paths laid out in the original game, plus several new paths never seen before.  Some amazing rendering work has been done here, and each day we look forward to playing some more.  A final review will be posted here when we have finished the game.

 

 

It's strange to think that a masterpiece game like Riven can be improved.  It's a bit like the Vivaldi Four Seasons, and what Max Richter has done with them.  Bold, but very refreshing.

 

In film news, my festival choices are nearly complete.  We are now on the final film.  Before that we watched Daphne, a 2007 dramatization of the life of Daphne du Maurier.  It's a fairly pedestrian look at her leanings towards lesbianism.  When she sees the woman she will obsess over for many years (and who will reject her advances) she says she feels like an 18 year old boy.  She prefers wearing trousers, and has a torrid affair with an older woman, an actress from her play.  It's a pretty slim story, and I'm not sure that du Maurier fans will be too impressed.  Read her works instead.

 

Showing on Prime. 

 

Next came the 2nd film in Obayashi's anti-war trilogy.  Seven Weeks is from 2014, and tells the story, in its own unique way, of a 92 year old man who has died.  As the family comes together for the funeral rituals (which last for seven weeks) viewers learn about his life, especially his wartime memories.  There is a lot of fast talking in the film, putting subtitle readers at a disadvantage for enjoying the beautiful shots of local scenery, or even noting what is happening away from the centre of the screen.  It is a complicated story, and often told in a complicated manner.  The first film, Casting Blossoms To The Sky, though often avant garde in its storytelling, seemed more approachable and easier to sit back and enjoy.  I enjoyed the present film a lot, but I feel that one viewing was not enough to make total sense of what the director was doing.  I think perhaps a less experimental approach to the story would have been much better, leaving people with a better idea of what is going on.

Now showing on Criterion. 

A few weeks ago we watched The Third Murder, a great film directed by Hirokazu Koreeda.  This time it was the director's family drama After The Storm, from 2016.  A man, divorced from his wife, gets to see his son once every month.  He is behind on child support, and being threatened with the visits being stopped.  He wrote a best selling novel years ago but has no responsible sense with money.  He gambles at the track (bicycle races) and is working as a sleazy private detective.  The storm in question is Typhoon #34.  He, his former wife, and young son are forced to stay over at his mother's apartment during the storm.  He is a loser, through and through, and we are happy that his wife managed to get away.  It is the character of his mother that really steals the film away.  What a great role for an elderly Asian woman to get!  The actress is totally amazing, and we soon long for scenes that have her in them.  Another interesting aspect of the film is the discussion the estranged husband and wife have during the storm, where he finally realizes that he and she are not meant to be together anymore.  There is no shouting or screaming, as one would find in American breakup movies, and he doesn't get a gun and shoot her, his son, and then himself.  This is a distinctly Japanese view of resolving problems, and is quite refreshing, especially when the man finally accepts his fate.  Highly recommended.  We are on the lookout for his other films.

 

After The Storm, showing on Mubi. 

 

Mapman Mike

 

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Replaying Myst

It's taken a few years, but I have managed to replay all 8 of the Myst games in order, including the three Uru ones!  This time I used a walk thru guide in order to properly follow the story, though most of the puzzles I still worked out on my own.  Many times I was stalled for a very long time.  However, I now have a better sense of what it is all about.  The three novels need to be read in their proper place, too, to make everything work out.  The original Myst game is now out in many different versions. The original slide slow version is still playable and remarkably good.  Next came a Masterpiece edition, with better graphics.  Then came RealMyst, with the ability to move anywhere.  In addition, there was a continuous day/night cycle in the main island, as well as in the Mechanical Age and Channelwood.  Some of the sunsets and moon rises are breathtaking, especially from different vantage points.  My favourite places to be during these times is on one of the tiny islands that surround the fortress in the Mechanical Age, as well as being high in the treetops in Channelwood on a moonlit night. There is now an even newer version, with eye-popping graphics.  I am waiting for the price to come down a bit first.  Then I might restart the entire sequence of games and books again.  It's kind of like a Lord of the Rings thing with me (not the movies--the books!)

The second game in the series is Riven, and at the time there was simply nothing like it.  It still ranks as one of the best adventure games ever created.  In these games it's all about the environments, at least for me, and Riven has acres of it.  The puzzles are sometimes fun, but often frustrating.  Walking around as a tourist is more fun.  The final puzzle of the game is almost unsolvable, and since it resets and changes each time you play, a walk thru solution doesn't work.  I've played Riven three times so far, and only managed to finish it once.  The jungle setting, with its original music, has yet to be beaten by any other computer game so far in my experience.  It's mysterious and spooky, and fun to visit.  My other favourite area to visit is Volcano Island.  No other version of Riven ever came out.  I would love to see a day/night cycle incorporated into this game.

Screenshot from Riven. 

 

Myst III Exile tried to put some story into the proceedings, a very basic one of revenge.  Again, I really couldn't care less.  But walking around the environments available was a very welcome way to spend time.  The puzzles again are often quite fun, but here the payoff for solving them was grand!  In Riven, the player got to ride some fabulous transportation devices, and Myst III upped the game for that aspect.  My favourite puzzle reward is the one with the rolling ball, where, once the puzzle is solved, the player gets the ride of a lifetime through a midway roller coaster construction.  Again there is no day/night cycle here, but several of the environments have different times of day, including a stormy twilight.  And another jungle appears, dark and dense.  Myst 3 is quite a good game, if not on par with Riven. I will replay it gladly yet again.

 

Myst 111, the opening landscape area. 

 

Myst IV Revelation again has visuals and atmosphere beyond the beyond, but by now the puzzles are getting really weird.  My favourite part of the game is just wandering around the various pods that are the home and laboratory and study of Atrus, Catherine, and Yeesha.  If there was ever a perfect paradise on Earth, these people are living there.  The story directly concerns the two sons from the original Myst (there were indirectly involved with Myst 3), and their young sister Yeesha.  There is another jungle in this game, but it's a far cry from the one in Riven.  Overall, this is quite a good game, and offers enough scenery to make it worth the time and effort to complete.

The kitchen and living area pod from Myst 4.

 

 The home of Atrus and family.  At one point in the game when the player returns here, it is night.  This is a beautiful area to explore, and worth the price of the game. 

 

The next three games are called Uru, and take place in D'Ni.  Uru Ages Beyond Myst is one of the most graphically amazing games I have ever seen!  it is a vast game, very much in the tradition of Myst.  Only now, explorers and restorers from the land above have discovered D'Ni, and are trying to make it safe for visitors.  While much remains of the city, some of is damaged and unsafe, likely due to Earthquakes.  However, the game begins in the bright desert sunshine of New Mexico, and near the famous cleft from the novels.  Getting from the bright sunshine of the desert into the cool, dark cleft is also a game highlight.  That cleft is really amazing to visit!  From there, it's down, down, and down to D'Ni, where the amazing sights and sounds never stop.  Though there are shortcut links to help get around the vast city, it's much more fun to simply walk around at leisure, enjoying the city all by oneself.

 

Uru has two additional add-ons that make the game even larger--it really is a small universe for the explorer to wander in.  Terrific graphics, and endless walking and exploring are available. There are annoying things about the game, but at least one cannot die.  Having said that, at times the player might have to make several attempts to get somewhere safely, and replaying can take some time.  Oh well.  Like I said; a walk thru guide is handy, but it won't always save you from grief.  The two add ons are called To D'Ni, and Path of the Shell.  This makes for nearly ten different environments to explore, after the game they are all accessible to the player.  This game goes where no other Myst games have gone, playing with reality in a major way.

 

Uru was supposed to be a multi player on-line game, but that never worked out.  I am so glad! I would much rather wander around these special worlds myself.  I rate Uru very highly, again not so much as a game, but as an environment worth visiting time and again.

 

Screenshot from Uru.

 

Screenshot from the expansion To D'Ni.  The entire city of D'Ni is awaiting the explorer.

 

Screenshot from the expansion path of the Shell.  This game really messes with the player's mind!

 

Myst V End of Ages is just that.  This is the final Myst game of the series.  Sadly, it's not very good.  The areas to explore are mostly small islands, though there is a chilly winter environment that proves a challenge to escape from.  On the good side, there are some nice day to night sequences, and a story, as well as a very fine astronomical setting.  But for the most part it's quite a mess, and I doubt if I will ever play it a third time.  After the Uru games, it's a major disappointment.

 

One of the effective night scenes in Myst V. 

 

In movie news, there are two to report, both being my choices.  First came The Mole Man, a 2017 documentary about an autistic man in rural Pennsylvania.  In his 60s, he lives with his mother.  He lives in a deprived area with many abandoned homes, and collects things from the homes; doors, windows, wood, furniture, toys, just about anything still usable (he has a very large collection of clocks and toilet plungers).  He has built an interconnected dwelling of 50 rooms, many of them underground, with electricity, lighting, and heat.  The film follows Ron around as he collects and adds to his buildings.  It also deals with the problem his brothers and sister are having trying to guide him to a different future.  His mother is 92, and won't live forever.  What then?  This is a really excellent film, looking closely at a man with certain gifts, who seems to belong nowhere except at home, doing what he does.  A fascinating story.

Exterior of Ron's creation.  The interiors are much more appealing.

 

Ron with some of his clocks. 

 

Leaving Criterion on August 31st is Midnight Run, a fun romp from 1988 directed by Martin Brest (Beverly Hills Cop) and starring Robert De Niro.  Along the lines of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, this film came out a year after that one.  De Niro is a bail bondsman, and must get his man from New York to LA in five days.  But the mob is trying to kill his man, and the FBI are also after him.  There's probably never been a film with more smoking and cussing, but it's fun from start to finish.  Somehow, much of the violence also seems to be quite funny.  This would make a good pairing with the earlier film, starring John Candy and Steve Martin.

Leaving Criterion August 31st. 

 

Mapman Mike