downwest Blog

I think Eastwood has perfectly captured America during a time when it was desperate for someone to call a hero. I also think it was noble in capturing the character of our World War II veterans. In a way I can see how some might consider this film dull, but the direction quality is still masterful nonetheless. This is the American story of Iwo Jima as it should have been told from the very beginning. In time I think this film will age well, and become much more appreciated in the next fifty years or so.

A brilliantly disturbing work of art about human decadence and one night-shift taxi driver who just couldn't take it any longer. The message this film carries is one that every young man will have to hear at some point in his life. That Martin Scorsese created such a mature, raw, and powerful work so early in his career is truly remarkable. Watch for his cameo, by the way. It took me by surprise when I first noticed it. But yes, it was really quite something to see a few familiar faces when they were so, so young. Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, and Harvey Keitel really delivered in their respective roles, as some of the imagery, dialogue, and plot elements really challenged me as a human being. It ranged from disgusting to earie to unsettling and disturbing. De Niro shines as a man being consumed by his own loneliness and inner madness just waiting to explode.

When I think of Michelangelo, I think of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, or the statue of David. I think of J.S. Bach and I think of Toccata and Fugue in D Minor of Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring. Now, when I think of Akira Kurosawa, I think of Seven Samurai, a timeless classic that will maintain its value in artwork for the rest of human history.

The lengths that Kurosawa went to to complete this film were immense. It took over a year in production alone, so that says something to us today when we see films shot in a period of three months or so. The man was clearly a genius, and kept pressing for the vision he wanted, and he got it. Everything from waiting for the wind to blow, so the shadows of a tree would dance on a peasant's skull (to capture the excitement of a scene) to getting a river to flow upwards for a different effect, Kurosawa went for it all. Indeed, Kurosawa was a master of subtlety in composition. One of if not the greatest work of film of the 20th century.