Rocks that Move

35. RED BEARD (1965)
directed by Akira Kurosawa
starring Toshiro Mifune (of course), Yuzo Kayama

This movie is an epic; coming in at over three hours long. One of the great testaments to a film like this, especially if it is not an action film, is the fact that you don't realize how long it is when you're watching it. At least, I didn't. I was fascinated from start to finish. The plot is pretty basic. A young, arrogant doctor comes to work at a charity hospital. Here he is mentored through some very difficult cases by the enigmatic and eccentric old doctor, Red Beard. Through their experiences, the young man learns about human suffering, compassion, hope, and what it really is to be a good doctor.

It is kind of like the old television version of M.A.S.H., or a more serious version of "Scrubs," only completely different. As an American, you are exposed to a variety of unique, cultural situations that are unfamiliar. That is what I like about a foreign film. I like being exposed to ideas, images, and events that are unique to my experience. The plot is basic, but the cultural context makes this film exciting and new. That is what is fascinating. Yet, despite the different culture, the concepts are universal. Compassion for the poor. Hope amongst the needy. Hard work, discipline, and dedication. It is foreign... and yet it is familiar and easy to relate to.

Akira Kurosawa, one of my favorite directors, is a master of imagery as well. There is one scene in particular that I would love a framed photograph of, or a painting made. Obviously a written description cannot do it justice, but I'll try to set it up. The young doctor is curious about the mysterious woman that is locked in the small house in back of the hospital. Why is Red Beard holding her hostage? Curiosity finally gets the best of him, as well as pride. He wants to catch the old doctor in the act of committing a crime. He breaks the lock on the door and enters, and here is the shot: He is standing on the right side of the screen. The woman, looking almost like a geisha, is sitting on her knees on the right side. A single candle is between them. You'll have to watch the film to find out what happens.

34. THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
directed by Frank Darabont
starring Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, James Whitmore

Probably the best theme you can play with in a movie is that of "hope." Hope drives the plot of many a film, and you can manipulate it in so many ways. It can be used to inspire us, or to pull our emotions out from under us. You can build it up and dash it. You can build it up and release the hearts of the audience. In many ways, "The Shawshank Redemption" does all of these things.

Most people know the basic story of how this film came to be so famous. It is based on a short story by "Stephen King," but it was a box office mediocrity (not a bomb, though, as some people have overstated). Through word of mouth its popularity exploded as a video/dvd rental, and it ended up with seven Oscar nominations. It is rated on IMDB now as tied with "The Godfather" as the greatest movie of all time, with 50,000 more votes than its co-first movie. It was also voted as best picture of all time by Empire magazine, and many other surveys, especially in Britain. That is quite an accomplishment, especially for a prison drama.

What draws me toward this film is the relationship between Andy Dufresne (Robbins) and Red (Freeman). They develop a bond that is difficult to understand fully, but easy to relate to. They are a white man and a black man. They are a murderer and an innocent man. They are an extrovert and an introvert. Yet, they are like brothers. I love when they first meet. Andy asks Red why he is called "Red." He smiles, "Maybe 'cause I'm Irish." In the original story, Red IS Irish. In the movie, it become a joke, one of film's great, little accidents. The relationship of the two characters develops throughout the film, and it is this friendship that ignites the theme of hope that develops and drives this film. Add the Morgan Freeman narrative (he's one of the best), and you've got a nearly perfect film.

33. THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY (1966)
directed by Sergio Leone
starring Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef

There are two kinds of movies, my friend: those that are westerns, and those that are not.

This is the only western on my list. It is not that I don't like westerns, though they definitely are not my favorite. There are so many of them that it is difficult to pick out a couple of standout ones. I considered a few, including "High Noon," "Tombstone," and "Unforgiven." There are also a couple of movies on here that were inspired by westerns. According to IMDB, "Last of the Mohicans" is a western. The historian in me does not quite accept that view, though you can make a couple of decent arguments that it is.

"The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" is definitely a western, though, and it is the most unique western I've ever seen. It takes that ol' "revenge" plot and twists it into such a complex pretzel that you hardly realize that is what you are watching. Many of the cuts and shots in this film are unique, and have been copied again and again in other films. The ending is particularly classic. And unlike most films on my list, there is not a lot of dialogue. No romance, either. None. But just like the old "Prego" commercials, everything else you can imagine.. "it's in there." It is the ultimate Sergio Leone spaghetti western, complete with that fantastic Ennio Morricone score. How do you spell that hyena-laugh sound the music makes? "Aye-ee-aye-ee-aye.... mwah, mwah, mwah?"

This movie holds a special memory for me. It is the first movie I remember my dad letting me stay up late to watch. I must have been 9 or 10, and it was the beginning of a lot of late nights watching some of the most violent films in history (further evidence that violent television does not cause violent youths). That's what my dad liked. It came on tv really late, so it is one of the first times I remember staying up past one in the morning. I loved the film. I wanted to play "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" the next day, but no one I knew had ever seen it. Had they, I would have been Tuco; only a little nine-year-old bandito version. Eli Wallach is awesome in this film; one of the all-time best supporting roles... if you can even call it "supporting." He is hilarious, as well as conniving. What makes him such a great character is that he's bad (errr, rather ugly), but that spark in his eye tells you... it's not just greed. It's survival.

32. ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)
directed by Elia Kazan
starring Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rob Steiger

This is a movie that is fantastic, but even moreso if you understand where it came from. You see, during the big Red scare of the 1950s, director Elia Kazan talked. He ratted out some people in the entertainment business. A lot of people hated him for this (ironically Marlon Brando was one of them) and this movie was, in part, an attempt to explain himself. I don't know if what Kazan did was right or wrong, but either way the result was the soul-searching kind of film that only comes along once in a blue moon.

Of course, Kazan explains himself in a moral tale, and uses Marlon Brando in a role that is really a completely different situation. In "On the Waterfront," right from wrong is simpler to decipher... but it doesn't make it any easier. Do you rat on your friends; your own brother? Do you betray those that have taken care of you all your life, even if they are clearly in the wrong? The answer develops slowly throughout the film, and Marlon Brando does a stellar job of building up his character from chump to champ. In the end the question is answered clearly: are your friends not betraying YOU if they lead you down the wrong path?

Kazan and Brando build up a lot of tension in a movie that is very easy to relate to. This is not a film about rich people arguing over oil wells. It is not about star athletes battling for the championship. The characters in this film are working-class people, just trying to get by. Factor this into the scenario above: what if betrayal of the bad guys was going to cause good people to suffer? Will those good people back you up? Or will you be standing up on your own?

Most movies do not ask such big questions. The few that do rarely answer them so boldly. This is a film about doing the right thing, no matter what the consequences. Again, I am not so sure how the movie truly reflects on Kazan's own decision. When he passed away a few years ago, even after 50 years had passed since his betrayal, there were still people who refused to applaud for him when he was honored at the Oscars. I doubt anybody in the Academy would refuse to applaud this film. All the performaces are A+ performances, and the most famous scene is so imbedded into our culture that it seems comical now. It is one of the great American masterpieces of art.

31. IMMORTAL BELOVED (1994)
directed by Bernard Rose
starring Gary Oldman, Jeroen Krabbe, Isabella Rossellini, Valeria Golina

There are two kinds of actors, generally speaking. There are those that have the ability (and it IS a skill) to be themselves, but make any role become a part of them so that they always seem to fit. Then there are those actors who have the ability to change themselves to fit any role. Gary Oldman is one of the latter. He can be a master of disguise; a man of many faces. He does different accents and speaking voices in almost every movie he does. Often you hardly recognize him. He practically "becomes" the character he has chosen to play, rather than the character becoming him. I put "becomes" in quotes, however, because Oldman is too smart to pretend it is anything more than acting. "Any actor who tells you that they have become the people they play," he has said, "unless they're clearly diagnosed as a schizophrenic, is bullshitting you."

In "Immortal Beloved," of course, the character that Oldman doesn't become but does is Ludwig van Beethoven. It is a brilliant performance. Like most historically based films, it is purely a work of fiction, though the director allegedly claimed at the time to be solving a great mystery of history. It is based on a real life love letter that still exists, written by Beethoven around 1812. Who the letter was intended for is the great mystery, and this film pretends to know the answer. We are left with a romantic detective story that is used to tell the story of Beethoven, and as a work of historical fiction, it is brilliant.

Everybody (at least, everybody that actually watched television with their family) has that handful of movies that they associate with being home with their folks and/or siblings. "Star Wars" is usually one of them, though not necessarily. "Immortal Beloved" is one of mine. I watched it with my sisters, and it was one of our collective favorite movies. I do think the movie is fabulous, but I am sure that this association is what makes this movie rank so high on my favorite movies list.