bkamberger Reviews

Careful, He Might Hear You (1983)

Magical coming-of-age saga

[10/10 · 5 May 2000]

Surely one of the best modern films about childhood, this swept the Australian Academy Awards and remains a thrilling film experience. When a young boy is left orphaned, his two aunts wage a bitter custody war over him. We see the adults' actions from the boy's point of view, with all the wonder, confusion, and naive wisdom such an outlook would provide. The events have a wry edge even in tragedy and remain gripping even in happiness. Stay tuned through the final credits for one of the best epilogues in film history.

Wendy Hughes plays the dark side of Auntie Mame, and she is both entrancing and repulsive, ludicrous and heartbreaking. The late John Hargreaves delivers a shattering cameo, and young Nicholas Gledhill deserves to be named in the company of Jean-Pierre Leaud, Anton Glanzelius, and Haley Joel Osment. The child's-eye direction is never less than astonishing, while the cinematography and music are gorgeous enough to take your breath away. If you thought the squabble over Elian Gonzalez was great drama, wait till you see this!

Life Upside Down (1964)

It Will Turn Your Life Upside Down

[10/10 · 12 April 2000]

Jessua has never achieved the fame of Truffaut and Resnais, but he was at least their equal in talent. In this, his finest film, he explores a young man's withdrawal from Parisian bourgeois life into a world of his own. Is the man going insane? By conventional standards, yes, but it's clear that the life he's fleeing is madder still. Moreover, since we hear and see the events from his point of view, and since that point of view is unfailingly witty and astute about the underlying if not the literal truth, we even come to accept his delusions as more "real" than reality. The writing finds humor in the bleakest situations, while the direction reveals a Zen spirituality in the most banal images. Denner's performance is enough to give "psychotic charm" a good name, and he manages to be heartbreaking without ever resorting to obvious pathos. In short, a masterpiece.

The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947)

A Forgotten Gem in the Preston Sturges Treasure Trove

[8/10 · 12 April 2000]

A delight! What happened to Harold Lloyd's "Freshman" after the big game? This movie tells you, and the answer is both honest and uplifting. Lloyd proves that he should have been as big a star in the sound era as he was in the silent age. His performance is beautifully subtle and touching as well as hilarious. Rudy Vallee, Lionel Stander, and a host of others offer first-rate support. The first half of Sturges' script is on a par with his best, permeated with a daffy sweetness, and his direction turns farce into ballet. The second half is less inspired, and the leading lady struggles with the rhythm, but these are minor flaws. I've read that the studio hated this film, crassly cutting it after its initial release, and that its box office failure spelled the end of Sturges' career. That's their sin, but we needn't suffer for it. Watch this movie, and see how enjoyable art can be!