By Keith Uhlich
I'd hoped to mention the below scene from Munich in my Kingdom of the Crystal Skull review, but couldn't find an entry point. An addendum, then, as slightly remixed photo essay (click images to enlarge). A sequence from a work prior that I recall in reflection on Spielberg's latest. A key, perhaps, to the labyrinth.
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Keith Uhlich is Editor of The House Next Door and a contributor to various print and online publications.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Keith's Korner: Confessions from the Editor (#4)
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5 comments:
Last time I watched _Munich_ it bothered me that the translator is face up when Cirian Hinds enters to clean up the shells but it occurred to me here that perhaps his assassins turned him over and took off his hat, which makes the killing that much more unsettling and curious. I really want _Munich_ to be tighter, and a little slimmer (or its opposite: grander, more obsessive), but as is it's got a lot going for it, and a lot of Steve's best "later" work outside the first hour of _War of the Worlds_ and the breezy charm (though complicated significance) of _Catch Me If You Can_.
Some other thoughts, tenuously related:
--I commented on how delicious a Spielberg film looks but it isn't that his compositions (while impeccable and stylish) are what stimulate me so (the most): it's the way his camera moves. I don't know if I conveyed that well enough over on that thread. His movement is as crucial to his cinema as Costa's stillness defines his in turn. (What I find to always be a problem, though, are those inescapable moments of sentimentality; which, in turn, is why that sex scene in _Munich_ stands out: it's so fucking confused. But that's the right move. Avner is a g-d'mn wreck.)
--Back to _Crystal Skull_: that careening in the jungle chase (both between the cars and in the vines) move so well it made me squeal on the inside.
--For all its treasures, and for all the times I've seen it, _Jurassic Park_ just doesn't have the same kind of movement; its signature moments are pictorial and editorial not elegant -- indeed effortless -- images of movement. But, still, it's there as much as it's in any of his pictures: that odd push-pull between the classical framing and the wickedly modern movement.
--And all those close-ups on eyes. I wish they meant a little more... altho the idea of the witness certainly plays a part in his cinema, too...
Also, really cool image essay.
You are my hero for posting all those high res stills from Munich!
Anyway, it surprises me very much how many people had and continue to have a tepid reaction to Munich. Actually, I take that back, upon their release it seems the reception for Spielberg's films are tepid at best, so it shouldn't surprise me, but it is a film of such power and importance I am astounded that it isn't considered by many to be a modern day cinematic landmark. Or maybe I just love it too irrationally....I don't know. Point is, it strikes me that Spielberg may be the worlds most underrated God of film making.
I am going to see Crystal Skull again this weekend, and I'm going to keep your enthusiasm for it in mind, as well as the film's other staunch defenders. I'm not huge on it, but I still think it's important work and it needs (and deserves) a fresh viewing experience. Also, I saw it at midnight at the Ziegfeld, and I never want to be within a 100 feet of another cheering Indiana Jones fanboy ever again (or any fanboy, for that matter). And one of my friends that I saw it with was very visibly angry by the end of it, and it did nothing to make my girlfriend any less of a Spielberg detractor. Now that I'm past that it isn't his greatest work I think I can appreciate it on its own merits.
One final note, and forgive me for being thick, but I am very much curious what individual moment (if any) in Crystal Skull brought that scene from Munich to mind. Can't say it's a connection I would have imagined!
Hey Ryan-
No individual moment, merely the idea expressed by the translator in "Munich" about narrative, which to me seems a way of examining and calling attention to the profound possibilities of genre.
Spielberg often works in genres that I think a good number of people consider frivolous, and which lead them (and him) to demand more "serious", reputable work. But it's my belief that Spielberg's always been a serious filmmaker, even when he's doing an ostensible crowd pleaser. There's depths to be plumbed in both Scheherazade and Saucer Men from Mars stories. So it crossed my mind that this, one of my favorite scene in "Munich", was applicable to "Crystal Skull" on those terms, and many more besides.
Hope that explains.
Fascinating, but I can't say I expected any less. And I think you're dead on about Spielberg being a 'serious' filmmaker, even if he does make what so many write off as mere entertainment (a totally fallacious attitude that needs to be completely thrown out). I think Armond White put it about as well as anyone (forgive me, but he's one of those people that I think is absolutely dead on about Spielberg) when he said in some interview that even though certain works of Spielberg have been embraced, more for their subject matter or place in the pop lexicon than for their artistry, that Spielberg as an artist is still not embraced, certainly not the way he should be. I think there is as much raw emotional honesty in E.T. or A.I. or even Raiders of the Lost Ark, arguably even more so than in Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan (which, annoyingly, seem to be the go-to 'serious' Spielberg films, when personally I think Munich is leaps and bounds ahead of them, not that they're not astounding in their own way). And that's the great thing about his work, he respects his audience enough to not make a distinction between entertainment and art. Now that I understand exactly what it is you're getting at (and thanks for clearing it up), I think you touch on something vital here when it comes to appreciating Spielberg and his work (and the world certainly needs MORE of that!)
And major congratulations on the relocation of The House. At last I won't have to google (and misspell) 'Matt Zoller Seitz' every time I want to visit here, now.
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