North by Northwest. Alfred Hitchcock. 1959.

I must have seen this several times before, but not in 2K. The only thing I remember is Cary Grant running in a field? of corn? with a plane trying to kill him?

But I remember it in black and white, so I may be getting my wires crossed, because this has colour.

So much colour. I think they may have over-saturated this a bit during the transfer.

This is a masterpiece of nightmarish gaslighting and spiralling conspiracy. I don’t usually enjoy these things that much because I just instinctually go AAAAAAAAAAAA!!! but it’s tempered by Cary Grant’s perfectly balanced acting: He’s in a horrible situation, but he’s Cary Grant, you know?

Without Grant this movie would have been ridiculous, but he makes everything make sense. We can believe that Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint) would have this reaction to a wanted killer instead of the sensible one.

At 136 minutes, I think this is one of Hitchcock’s longest movies? But it’s so obvious why: It’s not because this has the best plot ever (it’s rather incoherent), but every scene is just a joy to watch. It’s tense and it’s funny.

Gentleman’s Agreement. Elia Kazan. 1947.

Elia Kazan is a name that’s always been there, but isn’t somebody who’s movies I’ve searched out. I’ve always thought of him as a tough-guy left-wing New Jersey director, which probably isn’t completely accurate.

But I watched A Tree Grows in Brooklyn last year, and it was awesome, so I bought a 2K box set.

This is the first movie on the set, and it’s about a journalist (Gregory Peck) struggling to write an article about anti-semitism.

I admire the filmmakers for making this movie, and especially in 1947. It’s well made, transparently filmed, unannoyingly put together (i.e., not with an irritating score). It won all the Oscars.

(Can you hear the “but” coming?)

But.

I feel that Peck just doesn’t do the role very convincingly, and so much here depends on his journey. He’s better when he can grand-stand in a slightly more stylised setting. Perhaps somebody like Cary Grant would have given this a lighter touch… The other characters deliver one speech after another… which can totally work, but since the setting is so pedestrian it just feels incongruous.

Oh:

The role of Phillip Green was first offered to Cary Grant, but he turned it down. Peck decided to accept the role, although his agent advised him to refuse, believing Peck would be endangering his career.

Peck is absolutely amazing in the denouement of the hotel check-in scene, though.

Tinta Roja. Francisco J. Lombardi. 2000.

Oh, right; this was the Peruvian movie that was recommended to me some years ago. Hey, things take time.

This is the story about a young, naive guy starting work as an intern at a newspaper. He gets taken under the wings of an old, wise guy, I mean, an old wiseguy, and then character development happens.

There are scenes in here I like, and glimpses into er culture? that I’m not sure have been made especially for this movie or is really a thing. Like this dance thing where the guy tries to light the napkin the women have tied to their asses:

Yes, that’s odd, and this is an odd movie. It’s rather bewildering what the point of view of the movie is: Are we supposed to admire these journalists, or be repulsed by them, or just go “ah, journalists”?

I liked the structural touch of bringing things full circle, but then they made absolutely everything come full circle plot-wise, too, which is a bit *rolls eye oops too much fell out*