"The Quatermass Xperiment" (1955)

    

• Directed by: Val Guest
• Written by: Richard Landau & Val Guest
• Starring: Brian Donlevy, Jack Warner, Richard Wordsworth, Margia Dean

     When it comes to movies and television (but especially television), it seems that the British have always seemed to have had their fingers on the pulse of society a lot more than America, as far as entertainment goes. When our movies were just black and white glimmers of unreality and happiness, full of censorship and infantile storylines (not that Americans haven't made some great films), the British were attacking much more challenging, thought-provoking issues in their films. In fact, the British were the first to make a film that explicitly discussed homosexuality in the 1961 film "Victim", years before Americans would even think about such a subject.
     Even in the realm of science-fiction the Brits were much farther ahead (and some might say they still are). The forefather of modern TV sci-fi is the late Nigel Kneale, a Manx writer who wrote tons of TV shows and teleplays for networks like the BBC and ITV from the 50s to the 70s. His work often mixed pulpy science-fiction storylines with other genres like mystery and even horror. He was also well-known for writing such prescient TV plays as "The Year of the Sex Olympics", about a society that has grown bored due to having no rules and no inhibitions and instead resort to watching a reality type tv show for entertainment. However, his most famous creation is undoubtedly the character of Bernard Quatermass.
     Quatermass was a shrewd but intelligent British scientist that appeared in three serials back in the 1950s: "The Quatermass Experiment", "Quatermass II", and "Quatermass and the Pit". The serials were revered in their day for being some of the first televised science fiction that was written specifically for an adult audience, and featured very emotional, human storylines balanced with grisly sci-fi action. In 1955, the fledgling movie studio known as Hammer Films became interested in making a film version of the first serial, "The Quatermass Experiment", and set out to create an adult, X-rated science fiction film. This fact was actually advertised in the title itself, in which the serial was renamed to "The Quatermass Xperiment", and this leads us to our review.
     Bernard Quatermass (Brian Donlevy) has worked with a team of scientists to design and launch the first manned rocket sent into space. The rocket returns to Earth safely, but two of the three men inside have mysteriously died, with the remaining member, Victor Caroon (Richard Wordsworth), now catatonic. Quatermass sets out to find out what happened on the flight that killed the other two men. Meanwhile, Caroon begins to undergo some strange changes, mutating into a sickening alien creature.
     At first glance you could be forgiven for thinking that this is just another sci-fi B-movie, but upon further inspection it appears to be something more than that. The film is directed in a very gung-ho style, almost like a documentary or a newsreel, with lots of handheld camerawork and long tracking shots. It makes the audience feel that they are right there in the action. This, combined with the dark black and white cinematography, infuses the film with a gritty realism that is rare in science fiction from this era.
    The plot itself is a deft blend of mystery and sci-fi, with about 75% of the film devoted to the investigation of the astronauts. Scenes are intercut with Quatermass and others investigating what happened to the astronauts with constant updates on what is happening to Caroon, and as Caroon mutates further and we find out more about the astronauts themselves, the film becomes very taut and suspenseful, despite it's lack of directorial tricks. We come to worry about what's going to happen organically, rather than relying on the cinematography and the music to guide our feelings.
     It's a very engrossing mystery, and the explanation behind the astronaut's disappearance and Caroon's condition, while not entirely original, is creative and well-presented. This all leads up to a very harrowing and exciting confrontation inside of Westminster Abbey.The film was made for a very miniscule budget (about 66,000 dollars), but it is used very economically, due to the airtight direction and cinematography, and you'd never realize that the film was made for so little. The special effects of course leave something to be desired (especially in the climax) but, considering the low budget, they do their job well, and they're used sparingly, so they don't detract from the film at all.
     I also found myself surprised at how dark and adult the film was for 1955. It makes American films of the period look like a bunch of kittens and rainbows. Of course, to a modern audience the film shows nothing very shocking, but as I mentioned earlier, it did receive an "X" rating originally, and for good reason.
     The alien that Caroon morphs into takes energy and grows by literally sucking out the nutrients of the people and creatures that it touches. Therefore, when Caroon commits his first murder, we get a nice shot of the victim's face with it's flesh missing, bone exposed, and it's body emaciated. Granted, it's only for a moment but it's a surprisingly violent moment for such an old film.
     Later on, while the coroner is examining him, he mentions that "the bone has been reduced to powder". Just the thought makes me sick. There is also a brief mention of child molestation as well. This dark, violent, even slightly angry tone is really surprising for such an old film, but it's also very refreshing after growing up with nothing but the tired old American stuff.
     Unfortunately, it's far from perfect. One of the main things that brings the film down is it's horrid acting from Brian Donlevy as Quatermass. He's American, for one thing, so he really sticks out among all of the Brits in the cast, and he stares at everyone in a fierce way, spitting out all of his lines in a slightly apathetic growl. It gives the impression that Donlevy really didn't care too much about the character, which would make sense because at the time he was a raging alcoholic and probably just wanted to get the thing done. There is also some nearly comatose acting from Margia Dean as Caroon's wife, Judith. What could have been an emotional and heartwrenching role as the wife is forced to watch her husband metamorphose before her eyes is relegated to a blank, unemotional performance from Dean, who seems unsurprised by absolutely everything and uses the absolute minimum of effort with her lines.
     While the lackluster acting really puts a damper on the film, the biggest mistake is the ending itself. I will say that I haven't seen the original serial, but I have to admit that the downplayed, intellectual ending of the serial sounds much more satisfying and thought-provoking then the predictably violent and explosive climax of the film. While the alien creature could have drawn sympathy from the audience, instead our primal thirst for violence is slaked, which is exciting at first but ultimately feels really unsatisfying after previously enjoying the film's dark, subtle atmosphere. The two parts don't connect. Nigel Kneale himself was also upset about this change.
     Luckily, these things do not ruin the film, but merely keep it from becoming the classic that it should have been. However, this is still a very strong, intriguing, and adult science fiction film from an era when movie theaters were inundated with bland, lackuster, cheesy efforts. It's shot and directed beautifully, and the mixing of the science fiction and mystery genres prove to be a huge precedent for future productions, such as "The X-Files". Very good, and very influential, if you like science fiction this is highly recommended.

"Perfect Blue" (1997)

• Directed by: Satoshi Kon
• Written by: Sadayuki Marai & Satoshi Kon
• Starring: Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Masaaki Okura

     The news of renowned director Satoshi Kon's passing is a shocking and unexpected piece of news. Kon's death has not only saddened anime fans, but it has saddened film fans as well, myself included. Kon's films had a universal appeal that broke through the usual trappings of their medium, so rather than being appreciated merely as good anime films, they are widely appreciated as great films in their own right.
     My own experiences with Satoshi Kon have been memorable and rewarding. I first became aware of his work in middle school, when his hallucinogenic fever dream, "Paranoia Agent", was running through the airwaves. I found it very surreal and a bit hard to understand, but it was incredibly creative and a visual treat, as well as giving the viewer a lot to think about and offering no easy answers as to who or what "Little Slugger" was.
     The first feature film of his that I saw was "Paprika", during Freshman year. I identified very highly with the surreal story of exploring dreams, and found myself sucked in my it's "whodunit" style storyline and it's colorful images and characters. Once again, Satoshi Kon had floored me.
     However, I haven't seen all of his work, and so, in honor of his passing, I've decided to review his first proper feature film, an 80 minute psychological thriller entitled "Perfect Blue".
     Mima Kirigoe (Junko Iwao), a famous pop-star, decides to abandon her musical duties as part of the girl group named CHAM!, and instead decides to focus on becoming an actress. She has trouble finding a part at first due to her previous fame as a pop star, but soon she lands a role on a very controversial, violent cop show. This sudden change from her clean pop-starlet image causes many of her most ardent fans to react in anger, and soon Mima begins receiving strange letters and faxes from a stalker who refers to himself as "Me-Mania" (Masaaki Okura). However, after performing a scene in the show where she is traumatically raped, Mima begins to slowly lose her grip on reality, and members of the cast and crew begin to be grotesquely murdered, arousing questions as to whether or not the killer is Me-Mania, Mima herself, or someone else entirely.
     The first thing that struck me about the film is how much it strays from the traditional anime narrative. Of course, that's something that I've always liked about Satoshi Kon's works, they don't fall into the traditional trappings of the medium, but this film is surprisingly disjointed and experimental in the way it tells it's story. There are layers of unreality in the film, dreams within dreams that increase in frequency until we're not sure if what we're seeing is a hallucination or if it's actually reality. This style perfectly sets us up for the film's constant red herrings and psychological twists. As the surreal tone of the film increases and becomes more prominent, it feels as if we are seeing these events through Mima's eyes, which greatly helps us feel for her and leaves us just as confused as she is, which makes the film much more effective than it would have been if it was just a straightforward story.
     The tone of the film in general is fantastic. It relies mainly on it's atmosphere and it's characters to tell the story, with very little expository dialogue, and it's very subtle and well-implemented, which is incredibly rare in modern film and even rarer in anime, where every character must go on a monologue to explain their backstory and what they are going to do. In fact, the look, tone, and pacing of the film are very much like a late 70s Italian giallo film. There are lots of quiet, suspenseful sequences, and when the death scenes come they're very violent and bloody, but depicted in such a way that they're almost artistic.
     It's also a surprisingly surreal film. As I said before, there are lots of nightmare sequences and reality begins to blur, but it's a subdued, intriguing type of surreality, that wraps around you and draws you into the film. There's a great scene where a photographer who took nude pictures of Mima is being murdered by Me-Mania, and while he is being stabbed the murderer's body is silhouetted against the big-screen TV in the background, which shows a large, grainy image of Mima (this is the scene depicted on the poster). It's strange and disturbing, and it, like the rest of the film, is hypnotic and fascinating.
     Yes, there is a twist ending, but in the case of this film the twist is unexpected, subtly implemented, and surprising. I'll tell you right now that if you watch this film, the murderer is not who you think it is. However, it's not a twist that feels tacked on or out of place. When looking back at the film it fits perfectly, it's just unexpected and surprising, as I said before. The film also explores the theme of identity and the notion of fame. If a celebrity builds their entire life on their persona, is that persona who they are? What if that persona became detached from the person and became something all of it's own?
     It's these complex questions and the creepy, surreal atmosphere that rises this film up above a generic anime thriller and into the grounds of great film. Even if you don't like anime, I'd seek this one out. So far Satoshi Kon is (or was) on a roll, and I'm very impressed with his output. It only makes it that much more heartbreaking that he won't be able to bring us any more strange, surreal, thoughtful work like this, but at least we have his previous efforts to look up to and admire. Satoshi Kon, you'll be missed.