Of all the films experienced during the past ten days the most recent, Ask the Dust, proved the most enjoyable. Those who know me or at least my writings will say of course a film about a writer struggling to write his first successful novel is bound to appeal. In fact when I watched part of the film sometime before I switched off because of a lack of sympathy towards the writer played by the excellent Colin Farrell as Arturo Bandini. The film proved that much enjoyable because this time I was interested enough to concentrate and see it through to completion.
The story is set during the American Depression in the 1930’s in Los Angeles where Arturo rents a Bunker Hill room in a house which has window access to the front space and roadway so he can avoid the landlady played by Eileen Atkins. He spends his last coin on a cup of coffee where he is attracted to the waitress played by the gorgeous Sabna Hayek who has a resemblance to Penelope Cruz. She is a passionate fiery Mexican who locks horns with both finding fault despite the evident attraction. When the ice is broken he then cannot cope with the knowledge that she has an unspecified relationship with the coffee shop counterman who leaves to go to live in the desert to recover from TB and write his own great novel.
Meanwhile Arturo he becomes solvent with the publication of a short piece about his failure to write the great novel and starving for his art. He then finds himself the interest of an older woman who has become besotted after overhearing him talk about his writing. She was rejected by her husband after becoming disfigured in her lower body which she reveals to him and they develop a relationship because of mutual interests in novels and the arts. She works as a housekeeper and eventually they become lovers only for her to be one of the hundred victims of the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake. He survived through going out for an early walk on the promenade.
He writes a short story about her life and death where the editor of the magazine suggests that he expands into a novel. The editor has previously given him good advice about the balance which the writer has to strike between the process of the writing which detaches from experiencing life and being unable to write convincingly from the lack of life experiencing.
It is at this point Camilla re-enters his life and they become lovers after taking her to live in an idyllic beach house existence with the advance while he completes his work. They row over getting married and she walks out going to live with the counter manager in the desert. He contacts Arturo when the girl becomes seriously ill with what appears to be TB but despite getting her medical help she does not survive. He leaves a dedicated copy of the successfully published novel in the desert,
During his stay at the lodging house he is befriended by Donald Sutherland another house member who shares what becomes left of his incomes which mainly goes on drink.
The original novel written by John Fante and published in 1939 was part of a quartet of autobiographical works spread between the 1930’s and 1985 although that in 1985 was the first written. The novel concentrates more on the poverty of the time and on his Catholic guilt while the film is more about racism his experience as an Italian American as a child and that of her as the then new immigrants from Mexico in the 1930’s. She is emotionally and psychologically unstable something barely hinted at in the film. She comes to his room having escaped from a mental hospital which is why he takes her to the breach house as an escape. She disappears when he returns to collect his belonging from Bunker Hill having decided to remain at the Beach House. He tracks her down to having lived with the counter man in the desert but he has thrown her out and Arturo cannot find her which is why he throws the novel dedicated to her into the desert dust. The book is regarded as an important work from this period and became a best seller for the second time in 1980’s when his final works was created followed by the publication of the first part. It is not a great film or likely to be memorable but a worthwhile experience.
I also enjoyed Bad Girls which a serious romp about a group of Wild West Prostitutes who are run out of town after a local Big Wig is shot when refusing to stop beating up one of the team. The madam has kept her saving in the bank of another town which she tries to collect with a view to joining a member of the team who has inherited a land claim from her dead husband. The girls are pursued by Pinkerton Detective Agency men hired by the widow of the Big Wig. Unfortunately the girls encounter a raid on the bank at the same time of the visit carried out by the local outlaw gang the head of who once raped and carried off the madam who was also forced to have a relationship with his son whop is ambitious to lead the gang from his father. He takes their stake money which she attempts to retrieve narrowly escaping with her life.
There are two nice men involved. One appears to be following the girls, which he reveals is what he is doing in the hope the Madam will led him to the outlaw gang with whom he has own account to settle. The other is a dirt rancher with small piece of land who when in town is told by the Sheriff to guard one of the girls held in cells while and the posse track down the others with the help of the Pinkerton men. He is instrumental in allowing her to escape and the girls together with the man following them hold out with the rancher for a time.
The girl with the land title is told it is no longer valid as was in the name of the husband and is lost with his untimely death. She hits off with the rancher and they decide to marry and settle down together. The follower is killed during the battle with the father, son and core outlaws. The three girls ride off with their money plus more gained from the outlaws into to the sunset fortunately going in the opposite direction to the Pinkertons and the Posse. The girls are played by Madeline Stowe, Mary Stuart Masterson Andi MacDowell and Drew Barrymore. James Russo is the only name known to me.
The best and most interesting film of the group was Black Snake Moan with tremendous performances by Samuel L Jackson, Christina Ricci and Justin Timberlake. Christina Ricci plays Rae the young town bike which everyone individually and together appears to have ridden when given the opportunity usually when the girl is high on drug and drink and out of her skull the cause of which is only revealed towards the end of the film.
She is in the midst of a hot sex and emotionally satisfying relationship with emotionally unstable bouts of panic Ronnie, played by Timberlake until he is required to leave her for the Tennessee National Guard. She cannot cope with his absence or him from her, during which time she has an orgy of everything until approached by Ronnie’s best friend who she rejects and ridicules and he attacks her leaving her for dead in a countryside road
It is here she is found by blues singer and guitarist Jackson (as Lazarus) who is in a rage because his wife has run off with his brother and no amount of Christian advice from is friend the Preacher will calm. Jackson finds out about the girl without disclosing she is with him. He obtains medication from his medical friend at the Pharmacy for “a niece” and nurses her wounds and fever deciding he will chain her up until he is able to convince her to change her life style. While he is away in town getting suitable clothing, a young black friend no more than sixteen years to make it legal arrives and finding the girl she sets upon him and he has sex for the first time. Eventually the master subject captive syndrome relationship works and Jackson and the girl become friends.
Her young man is discharged as medically unfit from the National Guard and the best friend afraid what will be said learning that the girl survived the attack persuades Ronnie to believe that she has continued to whore and with him while she and Ronnie were together. Ronnie does not know where she is and Rae that he is back until she accompanies Jackson into town to hear him perform at a local road house.
Ronnie then arrives at Jackson’s home with a weapon which Jackson talks him out of using and gets him to realise that his best friend lied to protect himself from the attack on Rae. He involves the Preacher and the outcome is that two get married with Pharmacy woman also helping to organise the wedding with Jackson giving the girl away and his young black friend being the best man.
The language is coarse, the music is great and the story is a contemporary reality fairy tale. The girl was abused by her mother’s boyfriend who in turn had been made pregnant as a school child herself. She is able to accuse her mother of failing to protect when a child.
Donkey Punch is a cautionary tale about sex sea sand and drink and drugs on the Costa. Three girls jet off for girls together holiday in Majorca after one of them has had a bad affair and broken with the boyfriend. She appears a genuine one relationship at a time girl while the other two are self described hard core and readily take up the offer of a visit to the luxury yacht which the three attractive young men crew. On board there is a fourth. Two of the men eventually have sex with one of the girls, while another pair off leaving the “regular” and the nice lad to talk and keep each other company in a friendly way. One of the four is leader of the group in terms of deciding to talk the boat out to sea to avoid being reported by other captains they are stayed and used the boat during the crew change over period.
He provides various levels of drugs and mentions an act which can occur during sex from behind when a hard strike to the back of the neck will kill someone. He goads the youngest of the group into giving the Donkey punch killing the older and more experienced of the three girls. Two of the four men kill each other while the original murders attempts to kill the second who has a tape of his killing act. She manages to kill him and then commits suicide. This leaves two; the girl manages to kill the remaining man while she dies from wounds received in various struggles. The four men and three girls all die. The wages of sin methinks in this contemporary parable. Just the film likely to persuade the weekend cinema crowd from jetting off to Majorca, drinking taking dugs and having sex with strangers? No.
Round two film review follows
The story is set during the American Depression in the 1930’s in Los Angeles where Arturo rents a Bunker Hill room in a house which has window access to the front space and roadway so he can avoid the landlady played by Eileen Atkins. He spends his last coin on a cup of coffee where he is attracted to the waitress played by the gorgeous Sabna Hayek who has a resemblance to Penelope Cruz. She is a passionate fiery Mexican who locks horns with both finding fault despite the evident attraction. When the ice is broken he then cannot cope with the knowledge that she has an unspecified relationship with the coffee shop counterman who leaves to go to live in the desert to recover from TB and write his own great novel.
Meanwhile Arturo he becomes solvent with the publication of a short piece about his failure to write the great novel and starving for his art. He then finds himself the interest of an older woman who has become besotted after overhearing him talk about his writing. She was rejected by her husband after becoming disfigured in her lower body which she reveals to him and they develop a relationship because of mutual interests in novels and the arts. She works as a housekeeper and eventually they become lovers only for her to be one of the hundred victims of the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake. He survived through going out for an early walk on the promenade.
He writes a short story about her life and death where the editor of the magazine suggests that he expands into a novel. The editor has previously given him good advice about the balance which the writer has to strike between the process of the writing which detaches from experiencing life and being unable to write convincingly from the lack of life experiencing.
It is at this point Camilla re-enters his life and they become lovers after taking her to live in an idyllic beach house existence with the advance while he completes his work. They row over getting married and she walks out going to live with the counter manager in the desert. He contacts Arturo when the girl becomes seriously ill with what appears to be TB but despite getting her medical help she does not survive. He leaves a dedicated copy of the successfully published novel in the desert,
During his stay at the lodging house he is befriended by Donald Sutherland another house member who shares what becomes left of his incomes which mainly goes on drink.
The original novel written by John Fante and published in 1939 was part of a quartet of autobiographical works spread between the 1930’s and 1985 although that in 1985 was the first written. The novel concentrates more on the poverty of the time and on his Catholic guilt while the film is more about racism his experience as an Italian American as a child and that of her as the then new immigrants from Mexico in the 1930’s. She is emotionally and psychologically unstable something barely hinted at in the film. She comes to his room having escaped from a mental hospital which is why he takes her to the breach house as an escape. She disappears when he returns to collect his belonging from Bunker Hill having decided to remain at the Beach House. He tracks her down to having lived with the counter man in the desert but he has thrown her out and Arturo cannot find her which is why he throws the novel dedicated to her into the desert dust. The book is regarded as an important work from this period and became a best seller for the second time in 1980’s when his final works was created followed by the publication of the first part. It is not a great film or likely to be memorable but a worthwhile experience.
I also enjoyed Bad Girls which a serious romp about a group of Wild West Prostitutes who are run out of town after a local Big Wig is shot when refusing to stop beating up one of the team. The madam has kept her saving in the bank of another town which she tries to collect with a view to joining a member of the team who has inherited a land claim from her dead husband. The girls are pursued by Pinkerton Detective Agency men hired by the widow of the Big Wig. Unfortunately the girls encounter a raid on the bank at the same time of the visit carried out by the local outlaw gang the head of who once raped and carried off the madam who was also forced to have a relationship with his son whop is ambitious to lead the gang from his father. He takes their stake money which she attempts to retrieve narrowly escaping with her life.
There are two nice men involved. One appears to be following the girls, which he reveals is what he is doing in the hope the Madam will led him to the outlaw gang with whom he has own account to settle. The other is a dirt rancher with small piece of land who when in town is told by the Sheriff to guard one of the girls held in cells while and the posse track down the others with the help of the Pinkerton men. He is instrumental in allowing her to escape and the girls together with the man following them hold out with the rancher for a time.
The girl with the land title is told it is no longer valid as was in the name of the husband and is lost with his untimely death. She hits off with the rancher and they decide to marry and settle down together. The follower is killed during the battle with the father, son and core outlaws. The three girls ride off with their money plus more gained from the outlaws into to the sunset fortunately going in the opposite direction to the Pinkertons and the Posse. The girls are played by Madeline Stowe, Mary Stuart Masterson Andi MacDowell and Drew Barrymore. James Russo is the only name known to me.
The best and most interesting film of the group was Black Snake Moan with tremendous performances by Samuel L Jackson, Christina Ricci and Justin Timberlake. Christina Ricci plays Rae the young town bike which everyone individually and together appears to have ridden when given the opportunity usually when the girl is high on drug and drink and out of her skull the cause of which is only revealed towards the end of the film.
She is in the midst of a hot sex and emotionally satisfying relationship with emotionally unstable bouts of panic Ronnie, played by Timberlake until he is required to leave her for the Tennessee National Guard. She cannot cope with his absence or him from her, during which time she has an orgy of everything until approached by Ronnie’s best friend who she rejects and ridicules and he attacks her leaving her for dead in a countryside road
It is here she is found by blues singer and guitarist Jackson (as Lazarus) who is in a rage because his wife has run off with his brother and no amount of Christian advice from is friend the Preacher will calm. Jackson finds out about the girl without disclosing she is with him. He obtains medication from his medical friend at the Pharmacy for “a niece” and nurses her wounds and fever deciding he will chain her up until he is able to convince her to change her life style. While he is away in town getting suitable clothing, a young black friend no more than sixteen years to make it legal arrives and finding the girl she sets upon him and he has sex for the first time. Eventually the master subject captive syndrome relationship works and Jackson and the girl become friends.
Her young man is discharged as medically unfit from the National Guard and the best friend afraid what will be said learning that the girl survived the attack persuades Ronnie to believe that she has continued to whore and with him while she and Ronnie were together. Ronnie does not know where she is and Rae that he is back until she accompanies Jackson into town to hear him perform at a local road house.
Ronnie then arrives at Jackson’s home with a weapon which Jackson talks him out of using and gets him to realise that his best friend lied to protect himself from the attack on Rae. He involves the Preacher and the outcome is that two get married with Pharmacy woman also helping to organise the wedding with Jackson giving the girl away and his young black friend being the best man.
The language is coarse, the music is great and the story is a contemporary reality fairy tale. The girl was abused by her mother’s boyfriend who in turn had been made pregnant as a school child herself. She is able to accuse her mother of failing to protect when a child.
Donkey Punch is a cautionary tale about sex sea sand and drink and drugs on the Costa. Three girls jet off for girls together holiday in Majorca after one of them has had a bad affair and broken with the boyfriend. She appears a genuine one relationship at a time girl while the other two are self described hard core and readily take up the offer of a visit to the luxury yacht which the three attractive young men crew. On board there is a fourth. Two of the men eventually have sex with one of the girls, while another pair off leaving the “regular” and the nice lad to talk and keep each other company in a friendly way. One of the four is leader of the group in terms of deciding to talk the boat out to sea to avoid being reported by other captains they are stayed and used the boat during the crew change over period.
He provides various levels of drugs and mentions an act which can occur during sex from behind when a hard strike to the back of the neck will kill someone. He goads the youngest of the group into giving the Donkey punch killing the older and more experienced of the three girls. Two of the four men kill each other while the original murders attempts to kill the second who has a tape of his killing act. She manages to kill him and then commits suicide. This leaves two; the girl manages to kill the remaining man while she dies from wounds received in various struggles. The four men and three girls all die. The wages of sin methinks in this contemporary parable. Just the film likely to persuade the weekend cinema crowd from jetting off to Majorca, drinking taking dugs and having sex with strangers? No.
Round two film review follows
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