DesertTalkies Film Reviews!

  Funny Face [1957] Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire, Kay Thompson Direction by Stanley Donen Language: English Why I watched this movie, you ask? I'm a Gilmore Girls addict. I sound super uncultured saying that, but I found out about this musical from the couple of times it was mentioned on the show. I know that as someone who loves watching film, finding out about a successful film starring Audrey Hepburn through a television show is blasphemous. But if it is any consolation, I did really enjoy this.  Firstly, how could anybody say that Audrey Hepburn has a 'funny face': calling her 'plain'. That, to me, is the real blasphemous thing. Everything about Hepburn in this is incredible. From her makeup and hairstyling, to her wardrobe (which was, by the way, astounding). From her general suitability to the role (her ability to oscillate between being humourous and jolly to being stiff and mannered), to her ability to carry out all the long, awkward dance sequence...

 Here is something a little bit different: because of my exams, I have not been able to watch any movies, and so I thought that a different type of post would be good to do.  Today, I'll be sharing some of my favourite Bollywood film posters. Bollywood films in the 1950s to the 1980s were advertised through print media; handcrafted posters painstakingly drawn, coloured, and replicated on a wide scale to provide an insight into the movies they were advertising. Bollywood films rely on strong visuals to be appealing, and that has not changed during the several decades that Bollywood cinema has been such a large industry.  The posters that strike me are the ones that focus solely on women, or have women as the dominant entity in the frame. The one on the right is Bandini, a movie from the 1960s that was known to be one of the first feminist movies in the Hindi-language film industry, and industry otherwise so bogged down by antiquated gender stereotypes. Adding to this, the ...

  CAIRO STATION [1958] Starring: Hind Rostom, Youssef Chahine, Farid Shawqi Direction by Youssef Chahine Language: Arabic  I live in an Arabic speaking country, and so I am surrounded by Arabic media: Arabic television, film, and music. It seems to be a lot of the same: romance interspersed with family drama (much like the Bollywood of the 1980s-2000s). I was looking through Netflix only to find poorly made Arabic horrors/thrillers, and what seemed like an infinite amount of Romantic comedies. However, when I saw Cairo station and read the description, I was hooked. Black-and-white, 1950s, murder, mental deterioration, obsessive romance? Count me in! (I realise now that I sound slightly strange saying that on here). It only took a little bit of further research to back up my assumption that this movie was miles different to any other Arabic Egyptian film of the time. I guess that this movie had the same effect that Darr had on Bollywood cinema in the 90s.  Setting the mov...

  A Star is Born [1954] Starring: Judy Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson, Tommy Noonan, Lucy Marlow Direction by George Cukor Language: English 'The night is bitter, the stars have lost their glitter. The winds grow colder, suddenly you're older. And all because of the man that got away! No more his eager call, the writing's on the wall, the dreams you've dreamed have all gone astray.' 'Ever since this world began, there is nothing sadder than…a one man woman, looking for the man that got away.' 'I'll get by as long as I have you, though there'll be rain and darkness too, I'll not complain, I'll see it through.' In the past, I was a staunch believer in the fact that Bollywood Hindi songs were always better than English Hollywood ones. Anyone who told me otherwise purely didn't understand the beauty of Bollywood, and I would dismiss their opinion straight away. However, I have realised the errors of my ways after this movie right h...

  LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON [1957] Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Gary Cooper, Maurice Chevalier Direction by Billy Wilder, Story adapted from ‘ Ariane, jeune fille russe’ by Claude Anet Language: English We all have comfort movies that we watch on long flights. Unfortunately, the airline that I was flying on did not have that movie onboard. So, to pass the time, I put ‘Love in the Afternoon’ on. I have never been so impressed by a movie which I saw for the first time on a plane. Having never seen an Audrey Hepburn film before, I was always confused as to why people held the actress in such high regard. Now I know why! She truly is a timeless star.  I can only wish that love stories could be so interesting and pure nowadays, but alas they were a luxury reserved to Hepburn’s era. The movie was just so romantic, from the setting in the city of love to the music. As I grow older, I have started to notice how love in modern cinema has degenerated to such a low standard: it makes me yearn f...

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE [1951] Starring: Vivian Leigh, Marlon Brando & Kim Hunter Original Story by Tennessee Williams Language: English After studying the play as a text at A Levels and watching some absolutely awful modern interpretations of the play (I wanted to gauge my own eyes out), I decided to give the original screenplay a chance. Wow! I was absolutely blown away. I don’t usually enjoy black and white films, but I can safely say that this was an exception. The original version, though several decades older than its modern counterparts, far outpaces any subsequent play versions that have been released since 1951.  I was pleasantly surprised to realise that the film stayed true to the original play, which is very often overlooked when modern productions interpret this play. Tennessee Williams was a visionary at the time, and all of the details of his play, the subtle deterioration of Blanche’s mental faculties to the red silk pajamas that Stanley wears in the infamous r...