Yes, this does indeed seem like a very Finnish movie already.

Very Finnish!

And animal friendly.

It’s a kinda digital looking movie? That is, they seem to be dropping in CGI and compositing here and there…

People are standing very close to each other in this movie.

Yeah, it’s worrying!

It’s like… I mean, I like this movie in general, but it’s like it’s referencing things that are better, and that backfires sometimes. Like the sound design sometimes reminds you of David Lynch, but not as good, and then you’re sitting here thinking “I should watch Lost Highway”. The family drama is kinda sorta Ibsenish? So you’re thinking “wow, it’s been a while since I watched The Master Builder”…

Weeeell… The cinematography is wonderful, even with the digital flourishes. And this is apparently director’s Pirjo Honkasalo final movie? I see that she had a long career before this:

The plot seems a bit unmotivated? Unless it’s all “well, that kid was skeebee deebee from the get go”, the tragedy doesn’t quite work? I mean, it almost does? But the pivotal scene where he beats the crap out of that creep… I was going YAY, but apparently that wasn’t what you were supposed to say?

And also, I’m a bit Judy-Garland-on-Mia-Zetterling’s-Night-Games here… was all that stuff at the start necessary?

OK, I’m trying to talk it down to a ⚃, but it looks great, and the performances are totally amazing, and even the soundtrack is really on point, so I’m going with:

Concrete Night. Pirjo Honkasalo. 2013. ⚄

OK, I’m starting watching the massive Alan Clarke box set again: Dissent & Disruption. These are all movies done for the BBC, and I quite like that genre. Sort of… earnest 70s things? But I’ve been a bit disappointed by these Clarke movies — some of them have been mortifying.

But now we’re in 1970, so perhaps things are going to pick up a bit.

I’m not quite sure what’s happening here… It seems like these people are joining the army? But they seem to be too old for that? So are these people who are already soldiers joining an elite company? The “Sovereign’s Company”?

No, now he’s teaching them to polish their boots, so I suppose these people are supposed to be 18?

He’s giving Rik Mayall in The Young Ones, I guess.

So they are supposed to be old soldiers!?

*gasp* Could he be… that way!?

These seem rather too dressed-up to be recruits, don’t they? But… one guy flew in from India to be in this squad, and another came up from London, so they weren’t already in the military?

This is extremely confusing.

I don’t think any of the black characters have any lines?

But again, they seem to have very formal uniforms for recruits, so er uhm. I’m guessing things weren’t as confusing for a typical British BBC viewer in 1970.

They sure have a lot of er uniforms.

Now that’s how professionals fight!

This is an odd movie.

I kinda like the general approach of this movie… we’re presented with a situation, and then we get a “shocking” ending that shows how corrupt The System is… But it’s not exactly firing on all cylinders, now is it?

Sovereign’s Company. Alan Clarke. 1970. ⚂

Huh. The names attached to this movie… Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lorre, Humphrey Bogart, John Huston, Truman Capote… And I don’t remember hearing about this movie before? Is this one of those late-career white elephant kind of movies?

The cinematography is very post-Vittorio de Sica.

I’m not quite sure whether this is supposed to be a broad comedy or, like, a serious drama/heist movie?

I mean…

But I think perhaps Huston is going for a British comedy kind of thing? That is, “satire”, i.e., “not actually funny”?

I wonder what “colorist Sheri Eisenberg” did on this restoration, though.

John Huston has directed so many classics that it’s hard to grasp that the movie you’re watching might be a total dud.

I’m starting to think that this is.

Yeah, but that’s what a satire is… But it’s true — there’s no jokes here (that land).

This is starting to get excruciating.

The cinematographer is amusing himself, at least.

Ah, now it makes more sense:

“Beat the Devil” went straight from box office flop to cult classic and has been called the first camp movie, although Bogart, who sank his own money into it, said, “Only phonies like it.” It’s a movie that was made up on the spot; Huston tore up the original screenplay on the first day of filming, flew the young Truman Capote to Ravallo, Italy, to crank out new scenes against a daily deadline and allowed his supporting stars, especially Robert Morley and Peter Lorre, to create dialogue for their own characters.

But the cinematographer didn’t always choose the right lens for the scene.

At first, I thought this was a ⚂ movie… and then I was so bored that I was going to go with ⚁… but it’s bad. It’s really bad.

Beat the Devil. John Huston. 1953. ⚀