Barbouzes

I just saw the film in my phenomenally quirky local art house theater. It was presented by the film museum curator who said Ennio Morricone (who signed the music for the film- an early Ennio Morricone experiment) liked the movie and its director a lot, so was very surprised that the movie was not a commercial success on its release. After being exposed to the 2 hours this odd film unfolds in -at least, it feels like 2 hours- with an insane plot around insanity (no problem with the filming itself: it is well done and Vanessa Regrave is lovely to look at, but the "natural" music by Ennio and his team becomes quickly hard to listen to. To be exact: it is a cliche of the worst experimental music of the era), my boyfriend turned to me and commented with this classic line from Casablanca "I am shocked -shocked!- that this movie was not a commercial success." He is very funny, my darling boyfriend!

We have watched 2 seasons now of Resident Alien. Season 1 was fresh and fun: great actors I never know about, hilarious lines and a funny -though ridiculous- premise. Season 2: the writers of season 1 might have been replaced, because the first episodes of season 2 feels initially trite or incoherent, and hilarious moments are less frequent. My guess is the show's production stopped for a few years because of COVID and the writers' strike? It is clear the kids actors are a bit older, and little Sam in particular feels a bit out of sort -not his mischievous self of season 1. However, things pick up after episode 4, and I will say this: the show then takes off in a grand operatic way . They are still some very funny lines (and the actors delivering them are all excellent) but suddenly the plot flies in many different directions, most of them unexpected for a show of that nature, and these directions are relevant to our times all the while contained within the snarky, cynical, sweet package of the show's premise. I am enjoying these asides a lot. Hubby and I are happy we we stuck to the screen beyond season 1.

Unusual angle for a WW2 story with a specific refugee situation I have never seen evoked in a WW2 movie. The Polish young man at the center of this story is a difficult "hero" to like in spite of his obvious plight, because of his brutally hard shell and the death wish at time that seems to motivate his acts against his survival skills. But his moral evolution can be understood well enough, and the unknowns in his trajectory can be easily imagined. Meanwhile life in the Stuttgart hotel where he works in 1943 as a presumed French waiter is a microcosm of what happens to Germany as despair, decay, food scarcity, army defeats and survival needs vs morality sketch the end in sight for the crumbling nazi empire. I liked how the movie mixed German, Polish, French, Italian and (maybe?) yiddish dialogues seamlessly. Subtitles in my eyes are not a problem but an enhancement to a story like that. It is a story of survival in a foreign land under brutal circumstances: varied languages are a necessary part of the hostile landscape. The actor who plays the main role is perfect in his ability to charm and scare at the same time.