Risselada Blog

Under discussion:

Cape Fear  (1962)

Cape Fear  (1991)

This blog entry is part of my “movie year countdown”.  To read more about that check out my first Spout filmblog entry.

Cape Fear

This movie certainly deserves the adjective "Hitchcockian."  You can tell the filmmakers had him in mind during every step of the process.  The music was even done by Bernard Herrmann!  They did it right though, as this film rivals almost any authentic Hitchcock film I've seen.

Robert Mitchum plays one of cinema's great creep performances.  I know when putting the movie together they tried two give the two lead male roles equal time, but Mitchum just steals it all in every scene he's in.  Gregory Peck knew this too, but as one of the producers (I think) he just let Mitchum go at it because he knew what the movie needed.

I haven't seen Scorsese's version of Cape Fear yet, but I can totally picture DeNiro in the role as well.  Although it's difficult to imagine if it can come close to the original.  I'll seek it out eventually.

Rating: 9/10

Under discussion:

Tulitikkutehtaan Tytto  (1989)

Tulitikkutehtaan tyttö (The Match Factory Girl)

From what I've seen most of Aki Kaurismäki's films are gloomy and laconic, but this one really pushes it further than most.  However there is also usually plenty of dark humor.  The Match Factory girl certainly has that humor but it's a bit less prevalent and actually even darker than usual.

It's rather short for a feature, but I've heard from many film fans that it's their favorite Kaurismäki film.  I would not agree.  It's a great film, but almost just a bit too gloomy to be one of my absolute favorites.

Rating: 9/10