Harri

Lon Chaney and Harrison Ford in a Thoughtful and Heartwarming Christian Story

A great part of the thematic content of Shadows, at least at the outset, appears much too Victorian for the film to be exceptionally good as a 1922 feature, let alone survive more than viewable into 21st century. What makes the film longevous, in the end, is its sufficiently profound ethical crux. Good performances help.

This time chameleon Lon Chaney portrays a wise and humble Chinaman (I will argue that the character is indeed not "Chinese" but a flesh-and-blood Chinaman) Yen Sin, or "the heathen", yet to be convert by an eager and idealistic minister John Malden (Harrison Ford), who is himself blackmailed by his wife's ex-husband, who is though dead. The content revolves around Malden's moral worries about himself, his wife and his congregation. In addition, converting a morally upright heathen proves a difficult task in which any progress appears frustrated.

The content suffers from Oriental stereotypes in Yen Sin's character, without which, however, the story could not function the way it does. Yen must be an essentially moral being possessing a reserve of non-Occident wisdom that will be crucial in reaching the conclusive solution of the film's major problem. Chaney's exaggerative manners accentuate the character's categorical distance from the village society and the Western Christian culture.

Final scenes are heart-warming and the film ends in a touching allegory that redeems the heavy-handed melodrama. A nice Jungian reading seems to be available, besides the more evident Christian faith-promoting surface story. The essential and personal question Shadows presents us, in Platonic terms, is this: is our morality based on mere shadows or is it concerned with truer things behind them? The straightforwardly Christian reading is nevertheless somewhat challenged by the need of exterior input in the form of oriental wisdom, even though ultimately the prevailing ideology is deemed superior - a move that serves to emphasize the core of the faith.

Shadows is a beautiful, inspiring and pleasantly thoughtful, albeit slightly dated, Christian drama - an interesting morality play worth watching even disregarding Chaney's yet again outstanding performance.

Introduction to Civilization with a Pinch of Healthy Counterculture

One insightful critic described Koyaanisqatsi as "an alien travel documentary on the Earth". This is a very profound statement, illustrating the genius of the film in expressing substantial content with minimal language. It is actually a good approach to the film to start with the question: what should be communicated of our modern culture and how to communicate it? Koyaanisqatsi can feel like a journey through foreign territory because its cinematography is constructed in a way to make the viewer feel they are watching strange and mystical things, even though the concrete subject matter revolves around modernity, technology and nature.

The fact that Reggio succeeds in creating such a powerful effect of alienation is eye-opening, to say the least. However, this does not mean that Koyaanisqatsi imposes a message for anti-technological counterculture, even though it seems to suggest a somewhat sceptical view of the Western project of progress. "Life Out of Balance" does clearly imply disharmony with nature and transience of civilization, but on the other hand, cinematographic presentation does not really distinguish between natural life and civilized life. Rather, it finds similar harmony and symmetry in both. In other words, even though civilization appears transient and unstable, it can still be regarded as belonging to the natural world and embodying ample beauty that parallels that of uncultivated nature.

Music by Philip Glass is crucial to the whole. The way Glass connects simplistic structures to create almost hypnotic ambience is brilliant. "Minimalist" features add to the provocative nature of the paralinguistic narration. Of course, no traditional narration is given, which leaves a lot of significance to the title of the movie and the few words in the end. It also encourages the viewer to pay closer attention to juxtaposition of images and to the rhythm both in thematic presentation of imagery and changing musical themes.

So what is Koyaanisqatsi about, in the end? Having observed the reactions caused by this movie, not excluding personal experiences, I have noticed that it works rather well as a mirror, telling the viewer more about themselves than about anything else. Put in to a larger perspective, the fact that the film has no plot serves as acute commentary to the meaning of human civilization. There is abundance of similar provocative substance hidden behind the beautiful flow of images and music.

I did not rate Koyaanisqatsi so favourably due to philosophic consideration or aesthetic theories. Most importantly, I simply enjoy this film immensely every time I watch it or even when I catch short clips here and there. Intellectual stimulation provides a welcome bonus and makes the experience even more memorable and meaningful. Koyaanisqatsi is a beautiful and enlightening establishment - clearly one of the cinematic monuments of the 20th century.

Are We There Yet?

What really perfects good endings is making the viewer not wait for them. Imagine watching one of the best films ever, one that's moving along so well you don't wish it to end. But as the film inevitably comes to its conclusion, you find the end so good as to make it hard for you to decide whether it was better for the film to end of not. This conflict makes the film even more memorable and longevous. What's happening in M. Night Shyamalan's newest attempt is the exact opposite.

From the very first minute, viewers begin to wait for the film to end - not because they are anticipating some kind of ultimately incredible plot twist, but rather because they are simply not entertained. I certainly did not expect The Happening to atone itself during the last minutes either by some plot twist, some kind brilliantly profound conclusion or even a punch line. I just wanted it to end.

As the film rolls, this feeling intensifies. Deaths become more and more macabre, characters even less likable and dialogue - well, at least the quality of dialogue is consistently bad throughout. The film enthusiast starts to become quite interested, wondering to whether what he's currently watching might be charting yet unexplored realms of bad cinema. In the end, I think The Happening does actually present new ways of making viewers annoyed and unentertained by moving pictures, thus bringing something genuinly novel to the medium. True, most of it is borrowed from b-grade sci-fi/horror flicks; yet I think bringing those low standards of (partly intentionally) expressionless acting and extensive recycling to 21st century film-making earns Shyamalan dishonorable mention.

What one does not find in The Happening is over-acting. In fact, acting is so weak that I couldn't help thinking that perhaps it was all done by having actors vocally memorize their lines in front of cameras and using those shots in the final cut. And it doesn't help that the characters are not given much personality. One can draw no other conclusion than that making viewers sympathize with any of the characters was just not included in the producers' priorities. Some sort of Brechtian methodology of eliminating any suspension of disbelief may have been affecting in the background, or then, alternatively, most aspects of the production simply failed. I still ponder which scenario is more likely.

Of course, the premises are not too promising to begin with. Millenarian terror needs more and more substance in order to be able reach to 21st century audiences, after having witnessed scores of cinematic representations of comprehensive world destruction scenarios around the turn of the century. And as the backbone theme about the relationship between science and mystery in nature turns out unconvincing and surprisingly unintelligent, it should be no wonder that the production appears both incomplete and half-hearted.

Yes, it is that bad. Watch it for sheer curiosity, if you have to.