The War Lover

Starring:Steve McQueen, Robert Wagner, Shirley Anne Field, Gary Cockrell, Michael Crawford, Tom Busby, Burt Kwouk, Jerry Stovin, Arthur Hewlett, Neil McCallum, Frederick Jaeger, Bill Edwards (IX), Hilda Fenemore, Richard Leech, Arthur White (II), Sean Kelly, George Sperdakos, Al Waxman, Bernard Braden, Ed Bishop
Director: Philip Leacock
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

The lone pairing of Joan Crawford and John Wayne is reason enough for being curious about Reunion in France, a flagrantly preposterous World War II melodrama with a surprisingly distinguished roster of contributors--from producer Joseph L. Mankiewicz, co-screenwriter Marc Connelly, and director Jules Dassin to such stalwart character actors as Philip Dorn, John Carradine, Reginald Owen, Henry Daniell, Albert Bassermann, Howard Da Silva, and unbilled bit player Ava Gardner. It's a Crawford vehicle all the way (her next-to-last at MGM), with her as a heedless French fashionista in love with ultra-swank, wealthy industrial designer Dorn. While on a trip, Crawford finds herself under German bombs and, after suffering in the company of other, much less stylishly costumed refugees, makes her way back to Paris. There she's shocked to discover Dorn still enjoying his upper-crust lifestyle: he's lent his skills and factories to the Nazi war machine, and Crawford--appalled and suddenly penniless--seeks gainful employment and moral rearmament with her favorite modiste.

Wayne enters the picture a couple of reels in, an American flyboy who signed on with the RAF, crashed in France, and made his way to Paris. Inveigling himself into Crawford's arms under the eyes of a Gestapo agent, he enjoys her reluctant protection for a good deal longer than credibility can bear. People who know such things have recorded that, in reality, Crawford made any number of heavy passes at her costar, but there was no chemistry between them offscreen or on. The one scene in the film with any sting features veteran German actor Ernst Deutsch (the future Baron Kurtz of The Third Man, billed as Ernest Dorian in his Hollywood years) as a Nazi officer tormented by the knowledge that he is loathed by the people whose nation he occupies. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

A Frenchwoman believes that her fiance is a Nazi collaborator.

Customer Reviews:

Reunion In France.......2007-05-31

Reunion in France
The Movie
Basically it's the occupation of France with John Wayne in it. It on par with his B pictures it's not very well paced nor is it very interesting to watch. I personally think this may have been and attempt to squash the dukes guilt at not being able to serve in WWII. He is the only bright spot on this horrible movie.

The Video
In need of a restoration, it has some grain issues and focus problems. It is in black and white full frame and shows its age.

The Audio
1.0 mono no extra treatment here

The Extras
We Do It Because
A look at the customs of manners and there origins they came from. This feature is actually better than the movie.

War Dogs
Here a cartoon about dogs in boot camp and there training just a propaganda film for our side I had not seen this one before but did enjoy it.

Joan Crawford was ashamed of this film.......2007-04-17

There are so many good Crawford titles yet to be released on DVD that you have to wonder why they are releasing this trash which Crawford herself hated. She said that if she was ever to suffer for her past sins, this is the movie that would be shown to her over and over again. She also found John Wayne to be miscast.

Also to be released on DVD around the same time as "Reunion in France" is another of Crawford's worst films "Trog". Seriously, who decides these releases? What fans want most of all are the unreleased Crawford classics such as "Story of Esther Costello", "A Woman's Face', "Strange Cargo" and "Susan and God". Besides the DVD releases of "Baby Jane", "Grand Hotel" and "Mildred Pierce" some years back, the DVD releases for Crawford so far have been dismal and look set to continue.

Warner Bros and MGM take note: please release the better films from Crawford's catalogue and stop wasting time with films like "Reunion in France" and "Trog".

Glossy but insubstantial Crawford vehicle.......2007-03-14

Women's-magazine-style romantic melodrama was the first major production for director Jules Dassin -- who was promptly demoted back to the MGM "B" department when the picture tanked at the box office.
Joan Crawford stars as Frenchwoman Michele de la Becque, who comes to believe that her fiancé, wealthy munitions manufacturer Robert Cortot (Philip Dorn) is a Nazi collaborator. When her suspicions are apparently corroborated, Michelle falls in love with Pat Talbot (John Wayne), a downed American aviator stranded in occupied Paris. Only then does Michelle discover that she's been all wrong about Cortot -- but what to do about Talbot, who has been marked for death by the Gestapo? Ava Gardner has a tiny role as a Parisian shopgirl.

From Spoiled Mistress To Heroine of the Resistance.......2005-09-27

The conventional wisdom about this movie (and its followup, ABOVE SUSPICION, which pairs Crawford in Europe with Fred McMurray) is that they were deliberately bad features planned by the moguls to force Crawford out of pictures. But neither film deserves its bad reputation. Indeed in hindsight I find them fully as interesting as any other of Crawford's MGM vehicles, and by no means do they seem cheap or ill-thought-out.

Well, it's kind of silly having Crawford playing the richest girl in France, in a movie when everyone else is playing up the French accent so much so that at times you can't understand what they're saying, and meanwhile she, Joan, doesn't even try. Why should she? She's Joan Crawford. The only time she tries to go French is when she carefully pronounces the name of her fiance: "Row-bear." Outside of that, she uses her regular, broad American accent with its weird dips and slurs, the voice we know from a hundred movies. When the picture begins she's sitting, bored silly, on the dias during some kind of fundraiser honoring those who made the Maginot Line possible in May 1940--the night it broke. She rushes home to dismiss the modistes who have been waiting for her for two and a half hours, for she is off to Biarritz for a holiday. Well, by the time she crawls back, having been bombed and brutalized, Paris has fallen to the Nazis and it's a new day of deprivation for the glamorous Michelle de la Beck, and "Row-bear" her boyfriend (Philip Dorn) is looking strangely like a collaborator.

Michelle's million franc mansion has been commandeered by Vichy forces, and she is told to sleep in this crummy little concierge studio, a room with a door on the street that doesn't lock. It's filthy, grim, and dangerous, for any Nazi could come in at any time. She takes a job at the couturiere she used to patronize--sort of a left-wing Coco Chanel, very chic but no threat to Joan in the looks department. German women are buying up all the gowns in the shop, big heavy Walkure style creatures who look like pigs suckling at a trough. Then John Wayne (as "Pat") escapes from a POW camp and stumbles, sick, nearly hallucinating, into Joan's arms and she has to shield him the Gestapo. John Wayne looks hot in this movie! He could put his boots under my divan any old time. She moves him right into her apartment with only a cursory thought to propriety, it's sort of refreshing. People in World War II, even Hollywood people, must have thought that they had entered into a new world which would be totally given over to the fight against Fascism, and that all other considerations were secondary to this mission. Jules Dassin, the director, embodies this pulpy material with real conviction and some wise-ass camera setups--real wit, real grit, and two fantastic, out of this world stars.

Charming and glamourous, fun and cozy.......2004-09-28

Those nasty Nazis will never triumph because they have no fashion sense, no sense of humour and are utterly mystified by the workings of the female mind. Oh, I love this film and so does everyone to whom I've lent it.

Joan Crawford represents the spoiled darling that was France, now ready to join the Resistance and fight for freedom. (Don't worry, those oblivious Nazis actually FETCH HER ENTIRE COUTURE WARDROBE to the modest digs she occupies when they have taken over the lion's share of her house.)

The two who take away the film, though, are Henry Daniell and John Carradine, both playing Nazi officers. The former, who has been wounded by the bite of an enemy dog, is in charge of Joan's house when it is commandeered. He is captivated by Joan, who lets him back her up against the wall and KISS HER ON THE LIPS so that John Wayne can make his getaway. John Carradine is the head of the Gestapo in Paris, and he is so sinister, sombre and sexless that you may find yourself fretting that Joan might have a little trouble with him. Don't. She will triumph at the end.

My favourite scene is in a nightclub. There is an African-American jazz band playing and the singer is belting out "I'll be glad when you're dead, you rascals, you! I'll be glad when you're dead, and Adolf, too!" The smiling, finger-tapping Nazi couples just lap it up. They don't know English, I suppose. (What makes this even weirder is that the whole movie is in nothing BUT English. But don't worry about it.)

A joy from start to finish. Please watch and enjoy. This is right up there with _Adventures of Tartu_ with Robert Donat!

Average customer rating:

One man's war
An Overlooked Gem
Three B-17s were flown to England...
My favorite B-17 movie
War Lover

The War Lover
Starring: Steve McQueen , Robert Wagner , Shirley Anne Field , Gary Cockrell , and Michael Crawford
Director: Philip Leacock
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00008R9M6
Release Date: 2003-05-13

Description

Buzz Rickson, (Steve McQueen) is a dare-devil World War II bomber pilot with a death wish. Failing at everything not involving flying, Rickson lives for the most dangerous missions.

Customer Reviews:

One man's war.......2006-05-04

For those war film buffs who can't get enough of "12 O'Clock High," this is the next best B-17 film, WWII, in the books. In fact, you would think it was just a sequel, another chapter,from that other film. The cast is nearly as impressive: Steve McQueen, Robert Wagner, even the gawky, future Phantom Of The Opera and Shirley Anne Field. Adapted from the John Hersey novel, this is authentic to the details. On-location footage in England, stock air-to-air combat realism, interior footage make this real in every way. Every war had its off-beat hero, probably every platoon, a guy who takes every death-defying mission, even to spare some greenhorn, yet does his glorious best. The camaraderie, class elitism on base is accurate to the letter. Custer had it coming, and he went anyway. This is the way it was, catch a ride.

An Overlooked Gem.......2004-12-29

McQueen's portrayal of a hotshot B-17 pilot is brilliant. This is a guy who loves the war because in it, he's somebody. Without the war he is a nobody-- a misfit without a purpose. The character development of Rickson is superb; his cruel streak gradually becomes visible to his crew and his drive to "win" overrides his loyalty to his co-pilot.
The look and feel of this film reeks of authenticity-- how many other war movies show a planes machine guns being test-fired on the way to a bombing mission. At the end, the B-17 is almost impossible to control and you can almost feel the plane bucking and vibrating as it gradually disintegrates. This story could not have ended any other way.

Three B-17s were flown to England..........2004-07-25

Three B-17s were flown to England in 1963 for this production, which was a project in itself. The flight was chronicled in a book by Martin Caidin, who flew as one of the pilots, engineers, and firemen. Yes, they encountered a number of emergencies, suspicious characters, and thus the book makes for a memorable read, and the movie spectacular for use of actual flying aircraft rather than a cockpit section mounted on a mattress frame (as in the TV series of 12 O'Clock High). The acting isn't bad either...

My favorite B-17 movie.......2004-06-18

This has always been my favorite B-17 movie because of one scene, when McQueen buzzes the CO's office with his bomber because he's angry about being sent out on a leaflet drop mission. The rest of the movie is also great but the B-17 scenes are awesome, rivalling that other B-17 classic "12 O'Clock High". If you liked that one, you'll like this one.

There is romance in "The War Lover" but it isn't over done, the movie is still great despite it.

War Lover.......2002-10-04

Simply stated, this is more than just another McQueen movie. The War Lover offer dynamics that are frequently missing in so-called war/action movies. This movie is ideal for men who love action and the believable drama of the airwar over Europe - in this case the role of the pilot of your father's B17 Flying Fortress. Hollywood would be wise to create a rerun of this great flick.

Amazon.com

Alain Resnais's 1963 memory film Muriel is a fascinating study of the relationship between the way things are remembered--a blend of fact, dream, and falsification--and the way things really are, with cinema itself the crucial bridge. A woman (Delphine Seyrig), haunted by the memory of her first love, meets up with him again and finds he's a long way from being the man she recalls. Meanwhile, her stepson (Jean-Baptiste Thierrée) is preoccupied with a torture death he witnessed in Algeria. In the case of the former, the present-day truths about Seyrig's old flame are mitigated and complicated by recollections of his old self, and what develops is a timeless portrait of the character more alive than his current actuality. In the latter, the young man's refusal to loosen the atrocity's grip on his life becomes increasingly fruitless as the tragedy only exists on film--and the world has moved on despite the injustice. A challenging work by Resnais in which perspective rapidly changes, the film nevertheless has a subtle, haunting quality in which the richness of the past and the bluntness of the present obscure one another and must be reconciled on celluloid. --Tom Keogh

Description

Delphine Seyrig gives an award-winning performance in Alain Resnais hauntingly brilliant masterpiece. Helene (Seyrig) is a widow who sells antiques from the apartment she shares with her eccentric filmmaker stepson, Bernard. Bernard is a veteran of the Algerian War and is haunted by his participation in the torture and murder of a young woman named Muriel.

Customer Reviews:

muriel,an early movie of Alain Resnais.......2007-07-03

It is a kind of movie you have to watch very carefully.The characters are difficult to personalize. Delphine Seyrig trying to come back to a past far away, but not forgotten,a lover, who at the end is only a cheat, a son who returned from Algiers with too many problems, friends who are not related to her real life and a lot of memories which have to be recycled, in order to have a sense. All this stuff is masterly managed by Resnais,although is not easy to follow in the movie. The grade I consider deserves the movie, turns out from a climate present along the movie which is the main asset of the film.

Muriel.......2007-06-28

Made in the wake of his masterful "Last Year at Marienbad"(sadly not yet on DVD), Resnais's cinematic puzzle concerns memory, regret, self-identity, and the psychological effects of war. In a complicated but wholly fascinating plotline, no one appears to be exactly what they say they are, and Resnais exploits the tensions with cunning effectiveness, especially when he introduces Alphonse's mysterious "friend," de Smoke (Claude Sainval). Perhaps the film's most radical departure from convention is the director's unconventional editing method, which creates jarring disunities in time and space, thus reinforcing the emotional turbulence on-screen. One of the first films in France to deal squarely with the Algerian War--for which it was censored--"Muriel" is a captivating story about people trying to reclaim the past in order to reshape their present.

a meditation on the past and how it influences our lives.........2007-05-23

Alain Renais, often considered an outsider of sorts, crafts his movies like a poet crafts his poems.. He seems to like to play with the notion of time and its meaning.. I noticed this in 'Hiroshima mon amor' and now again in 'muriel'.. it is a beautiful approach to making movies... i was so taken aback by the fluidity of the cuts from one place to another one moment to another it feels modern and yet it challenges us in a very basic way.. The characters in this movie appear to be struggling with continuing their lives in the face of past traumas - yet this message is one we can all take to heart (aren't we all in a similar boat?).. My favorite aspects of this movie are the camera shots.. often evoking modern photography.. and the seemless pacing and editing - which make this one of the most powerful movie experiences that i have seen... Now i hope that 'last year at marienbad' will be released on dvd...

Reality vs Memory of It.......2007-04-14

"Muriel" (1963) directed by Alain Resnais is a drama about the persistence of memory (aren't all Resnains' films? Incidentally, I named my review of "Hiroshima Mon Amour" that I saw about two years ago, "Persistence of Memory".)

Muriel of the title is dead by the time the movie begins, the victim of torture by the French soldiers during the occupation of Algeria. One of the soldiers, Bernard, is back in France living with his step-mother, Helene (Delphine Seyrig) in the province city Boulogne and hunted by the memories of war and Muriel. Helen deals with her own past and memories of Alphonse (Jean-Pierre Kérien), an ex-lover who comes from Paris to visit her in the company of his new 20-years-old girlfriend, Françoise (Nita Klein)

The story which Resnais tells is simple and the trailer for the movie gives a viewer a very good idea of what they are about to see: The Past. The present. The future - is it possible? Uncertainty. Suspicions. Lies. Four main characters, Helene, Alphonse, Bertrand, and Françoise are in search of what they are. There will be secrets and confessions. Is that time to love? The main theme of the film is reality vs. memory of it. Can we always trust ourselves with what we remember? Does our memory reflect the events the way they really happened or our vision of them is altered as time passes and new realities inevitably enter our lives?

What makes "Muriel" unique after all these years is the way the director presents the journey into the past of his characters, how they see it, and how it affects their present lives and the possibility (or rather impossibility) of love and happiness. Alain Resnains uses quick flashes of memory in the form of almost hypnotizing jump cuts of his genius cinematographer Sacha Vierny (Resnains and Vierny had made 10 films together). Vierny provided beautiful melancholic visual palette of washed out colors that created the atmosphere of unbearable sadness, loss, and hopelessness. Vierny who always underlined his preference for atmosphere over formal perfection, had said, "My satisfaction is that the photography is not remarked on too much for itself". The visual originality and innovation are accompanied by unusual unnerving soundtrack, eerie and haunting that adds to the understanding of guilt and remorse the film characters live with.

"Muriel" is a puzzling and multi-layered film that is easy to admire and meditate on. It is not entertaining or heart-warming and it is hard to identify with its heroes (or anti-heroes) but is always fascinating and rewarding and it may reveal its secrets after multiple viewings.

Resnais Resnais, fantastic Resnais.......2000-09-21

"Muriel" is one of the greatest films ever made. It is Alan Resnais' ultimate masterstroke. It is better than both "Hiroshima Mon Amour" and "Last Year At Marienbad;" However, it ABSOLUTELY DEMANDS MULTIPLE VIEWINGS. It is a difficult but ultimately magnificent and supremely satisfying film experience.

The first time I saw "Muriel" (it was, for years, extremely hard to find on video and only one video store carried it even in movie mecca L.A.) I was completely confounded by it. The radical presentation of the ordinary characters in the context of their transcendent thoughts and memories seemed to be uninteresting and bland (probably because I hadn't thought of its connections to the universal). I didn't think it warranted any closer attention. But I knew there was something there I was uncomfortable with, a deeper aspect I wasn't picking up. I knew that great films sometimes take a while before they reveal themselves and that I had to come back sometime and reassess it.

After reading a deeply insightful old article from "Cahiers du Cinema" called "The Misfortunes of Muriel" in which Jacques Rivette and a group of other French critics praise this film to the skies and also Truffaut's little piece about it in his book "The Films in My Life," I decided to give it another try.

To say that I'm glad I took the time to make that reassessment is an understatment because this is such an amazingly satisfying film, that once all the pieces of the puzzle come togeher in your head in all their subtle details, THERE IS NOTHING ELSE TO COMPARE. You almost feel like you've just seen the birth of cinema. It is nearly flawless in conception and execution and has to be one of the supreme works of art this century. It works on more levels than any other film I can think of, even "Pierrot Le Fou" and "8-1/2." The difference is, almost all of these levels are hidden at first sight. You definitely have to pay UNDIVIDED ATTENTION and CONCENTRATE to start with, especially if you're reading the subtitles in English. Every word is there for a purpose and every shot counts. I'd suggest that you watch it at the bare minimum 4 times before you even presume to make a judgment.

Here are ONLY A FEW of the things I like about "Muriel:" It uses a thriller form with many comic elements that ultimately becomes a sublime tragedy of modern existence. It has superb realism in acting (Marienbad's Delphine Seyrig in her greatest performance plays the lead) to beautifully contrast with what it's really about: the transcendent aspects of life such as memory and the way it and they (the other aspects) affect the present. Sascha Vierny's beautiful faded-tone, color cinematography seems almost calculated for psychological effect (similar to Antonioni's "Red Desert" which it probably influenced) and just indescribably poetic. The eerie, haunting modern music(Henze) used on the soundtrack adds an almost science fiction feel to the atmosphere (similar to "Hiroshima" but more grating and full of nervous tension). The virtuoso, quick cutting in the middle section is completely chronological in nature but elegantly provides multiple perspectives without distorting things with unnecessary length (since all these things are going on pretty much at the same time). The quick cutting, more than anything else, is what throws most viewers off, but after a few viewings you realize that this quick cutting is precisely one of the supreme sources of beauty in the film's overall design.

Customer Reviews:

DO NOT PAY MONEY TO SEE THIS........2007-03-29

Ron Perlman, your best bet would be to "Alan Smithee" your name in the credits and deny any involvement with this for the rest of your life. This movie was SO INCREDIBLY BAD, it just defies explanation. And it's not "funny bad", like Plan Nine From Outer Space or Santa Claus Conquers The Martians. No. It is "seriously bad", as in "I just found out my grandmother died in a car wreck" bad. The horrendous acting by the "leading" man (and all the actors - sorry, Ron, you weren't convincing at all), the terrible "plot", the imbecilic love story aspect, the unbelievable gaffs in continuity - I could go on. DO NOT PAY MONEY TO SEE THIS. And if some else has rented this and invited you to watch, believe me: You can find a million better things to do with your time. Like, maybe, watching the grass grow, or finding some paint to watch while it dries.

Everyone wants NIcky Raus.......2006-06-04

It's the middle of World War II. Nicky Raus doesn't appear to be interested. We open seeing him working a huge mathematical proof. Looks like he's been at it for a while.

He's just about to figure it out--the secret to a weapon with potential for mass destruction that the world has not seen before.

The Germans want him back in their country.

The Russians want him, too. They seem to be the front-runners, having planted a spy in his midst-the lovely Olga, a Russian actress, who is only working for the KGB in hopes that they'll release her father, who's been a political prisoner for a number of years.

So do the English.

His mentor, Albert Einstein and Oppenheimer, are begging him to come to Los Alamos, New Mexico to work on the "Manhattan Project." America has sent their own agent to claim Raus and bring him to the US.

And every single one of these countries has orders to kill Raus if they can't get him.

"Second Front" is a fascinating chase based on the true-life story of Raus. The film moves fast asd is subtitled often in both Russian and German. This is very authentic, but can be confusing--but is also very worth the viewing.

Story of a Prostitute (Criterion Collection)

Average customer rating:

a contoversial and ground breaking love story
A Visually Complex Tale of a Woman's Role in a Patriarchal World...
We Could Leave Together

Story of a Prostitute (Criterion Collection)
Starring: Yumiko Nogawa , Tamio Kawaji , Shigeyoshi Fujioka , Sokoto Kasai , and Hideaki Esumi
Director: Seijun Suzuki
Manufacturer: Criterion
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0009HLCW4
Release Date: 2005-07-26

Amazon.com

Best known for his pop-art gangster epics like Tokyo Drifter and Pistol Opera, Japanese director Seijun Suzuki previously applied his startling camera angles, jolting editing, and hypnotic compositions to this military melodrama. Harumi (Yumiko Nogawa, who also starred in Suzuki's Gate of Flesh) is a ferociously independent prostitute who becomes a "comfort woman" for soldiers at the front of the Japan-China war in 1937. A brutal officer named Narita (Isao Tamagawa, later to appear in Suzuki's Branded to Kill) claims her for his use, but she falls in love with his passive, conflicted orderly Mikami (Tamio Kawaji, who also acted in Suzuki's Youth of the Beast--clearly, Suzuki liked his stars!). In this world, love is a few moments of ecstasy in an ocean of torment, and Suzuki cranks up both: During sex, Harumi curls her full, sensual lips into a violent grimace of pleasure; when Mikami kicks her away in his early attempts to resist her, Harumi's convulsions go into slow-motion while her crazed shrieks reverberate at regular speed on the soundtrack, lifting her agony to mythological heights. You know their affair will end badly, but Suzuki's feverish pitch compels you all the way down, and his emotional commitment gives Story of a Prostitute a very different feel from his more aloof and experimental gangster movies. The extras for this Criterion disk are few, but interviews with Suzuki, his production designer Takeo Kimura, and film critic Tadao Sato provide some valuable historical context and insight into Suzuki's directorial methods. --Bret Fetzer

Description

Volunteering as a "comfort woman" on the Manchurian front, where she is expected to service hundreds of soldiers, Harumi (Yumiko Nogawa) is commandeered by the brutal Lieutenant Narita (Isao Tamagawa) but falls for the sensitive Mikami (Tamio Kawachi), Narita's direct subordinate. In this tragic love story, director Seijun Suzuki delivers a rule-bending take on the popular Taijiro Tamura novel, challenging military and fraternal codes of honor, as seen through Harumi's eyes.

Customer Reviews:

a contoversial and ground breaking love story.......2005-12-20

This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

"Story of a Prostitute" known in japan as "Shunpu den" is about a comfort woman serving Japanese soldiers in Manchuria. She eventually falls in love with one of her clients. The film is known for its criticism of the way soldiers work and was popular.

The special features on the DVD are a theatrical trailer and interviews with the Director Seijun Suzuki, production designer Takeo Kimura, and Japanese film critic Tadao Sato.

This film is recommended for any fan of Japanese cinema

A Visually Complex Tale of a Woman's Role in a Patriarchal World..........2005-09-16

Historically, women have had to find a way to live in the patriarchal societies throughout the world, as their destinies most often involved marriage. Marriage offered safety, social acceptance, and the basic needs for a woman, as the man was the breadwinner. On occasion, some women sought anew destiny, less accepted and much more dangerous, as they had to find a way to make a living by themselves. However, in a world governed by men the women discovered the difficulty of solitude away from the men who did not want to pay for a woman's labor. Thus, many of these adventures women ended up in the world's oldest profession - prostitution. This was a profession frowned upon by married women who perceived these professional women as a threat to their very existence while the men continued to disrespect these women. Seijun Suzuki tells his version of a woman choosing her own path in Story of A Prostitute where the female protagonist, Harumi (Yumiko Nogawa), escapes criminal conviction to a remote province occupied by the Japanese.

The wind is pulling Harumi's hair while she stares into her uncertain future. Aimlessly she begins to wander downhill of a remote desert mountain. Emptiness and loneliness are the first two things that strike the audience when observing Harumi walking straight into the desert. The eerie score enhances the despair and desperate feelings that Harumi must experience. This symbolical opening presents the idea of her isolation within the society and the hopelessness of her situation. However, halfway down the mountain she trips, stands up, and as if she has been reborn, she turns around and walks back into the civilization. Before she returns to civilization, she glances back into her past to what brought her to this point in her life, as the audience will discover that the man she loved is marrying another woman. Vindictively she injured the man and now she must escape the possibility of prison and seek a new opportunity, as a pleasure girl on the Manchurian front.

Regardless of the dangers and lurking death that corner the path of being a prostitute serving the Japanese occupation forces, Harumi walks fearlessly into the mouth of the dragon. Her courage might stem from knowing that she does not have many other choices in life and must make the most of this situation, or maybe, it is the recent heartache that sets off her recklessness. Whatever the reason, Harumi understands that she cannot return to her previous life, as it would most likely end her life the way she knows it. Thus, she enters a war zone where a highly motivated resistance force does anything to defy the Japanese military.

The soldiers quickly discover Harumi's arrival in the provincial village where the military has its headquarters. It obvious that the brothel in which she is to work serves the function of a sanitarium that helps to heal broken minds and spirits for yearning soldiers. Being a newcomer to the brothel serves like a fresh wind in a hot and humid summer day, when a simple breeze delivers a refreshing moment. The men are many while there are only a few women present to provide a quick moment of emotional relief. The women are the only source for a brief moment of humanity while the merciless Japanese war machine indoctrinates inhumanity to the soldiers. Like dogs, the soldiers obey their superiors, as fear controls the lot of them. However, there are a few outsiders who question the leadership's philosophy while a handful obedient serve their masters. Harumi serves no one, but herself. However, she discovers that she cannot escape the long arm of males even in this desolate village in the far Manchuria.

The soldiers lives becomes an analogy for a woman's existence, as the officers command the soldiers the way men tend to command the women. Through Lieutenant Narita (Isao Tamagawa) the oppression becomes very real, as he breaks whatever resistance he might encounter with his utter control and overwhelming brutality. Harumi finds herself being in the path of Narita who in their first encounter begins to command her existence after having legally raped her. The sadistic Narita cleary seeks to destroy her spirit and make her his own finger-puppet. Harumi's hatred for him begins to simmer to boiling point, but helplessly she discovers that she cannot touch Narita without harming herself.

In time of desperation, Harumi meets Private Mikami (Tamio Kawachi) who turns into her knight in shining armor. First, it seems like she attempts to plot a deceitful plan where Mikami would turn on Lieutenant Narita. However, it is a fruitless plan, as Mikami honorably does anything to regain his lost position within the officers. In the process, Harumi finds herself falling in love with Mikami who desires nothing else than fit into the Japanese military machine. Like a lapdog, Mikami, obeys every move and word of Narita, as he is put to the most demeaning tasks. Soon the audience realizes that the relationship between Harumi and Mikami is doomed from the first moment. A quagmire of emotional and social predicaments worsens the situation, but still Harumi tries to convince him to escape elsewhere for a new beginning.

The socioeconomic, political, and emotional complexity within the film stirs a heavy dose of visual artistry into the cinematic blend. Cinematographer Kazue Nagatsuka's keen eye for visual symbolism enhances the scenes together with Seijun Suzuki's brilliant direction. Not to forget, the editing of Story of a Prostitute is nothing short of perfection, as Akira Suzuki applies his final touch of cinematic magic that will help deliver an amazing tale of a woman's struggle. The social issues intelligently weave together into a personal and communal narrative that slowly generates a life of their own. This is a life that provides a powerful awakening, as it nourishes introspective contemplation and a profound examination of the patriarchal society. The intricacies between man and woman emerge, as the state forcefully oppresses its barriers on those who resist. The oppression within the story leaves the viewer with an unforgettable cinematic experience in an economical, political, historical, social, and psychological perspective.

We Could Leave Together.......2005-09-05

After her lover abandons her, the prostitute Harumi heads north from Tianjin to offer her services to the Imperial Japanese Army. One of thirteen women serving an entire battalion, With the soldiers literally lined up outside the door, Harumi services common soldiers, noncommissioned officers, and officers with the first coming at one, the second at four, and the third at eight. As soon as one man finishes another one is there to take his place. One prostitute estimated that there were some one hundred soldiers for every woman. However, this is what Harumi desires. She wants to sleep with as many men as possible in order to forget her former lover.

Yet, after she becomes the unwilling mistress of Lt. Narita, Harumi desires to escape not so much from the life of a prostitute, but from the violently possessive officer. It is with this desire in mind that she pursues Cpl. Mikami a quiet man who does all in his power to be the epitome of a good Japanese soldier while serving Lt. Narita, but receives only torment from his superior. Unwilling at first, Mikami eventually begins a clandestine affair with Harumi, however, he feels guilty because he believes that he has betrayed his commanding officer. Harumi on the other hand feels that she has found the man who might rescue her from Lt. Narita, but can she truly depend on a man who willingly allows himself to be beaten and humiliated because of military decorum?

Although I enjoyed some of Suzuki's other films more than Story of a Prostitute, such as Gate of Flesh and Fighting Elegy, this film should be viewed by individuals who want to see the day to day life of the prostitutes who served the Japanese Army. The number of men they had to service each day is staggering. However, although they have to bend before the will of the army, the women are depicted as strong individuals who sometimes refuse to have intercourse with certain soldiers. Therefore the story of the prostitutes is not so much tragic but more as a tale of strength. A pretty good film by Suzuki, but if you get the chance, watch Gate of Flesh instead.

Average customer rating:

Enemy of Women
Starring: Paul Andor , Robert H. Barrat , Lester Dorr , Claudia Drake , and Byron Foulger
Director: Alfred Zeisler
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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Release Date: 2005-06-28

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Asi Es Mi Tierra
Starring: Antonio Frausto , Manuel Medel , Mercedes Soler , Cantinflas , and Mario "Cantinflas" Moreno
Manufacturer: Laguna Films
ProductGroup: DVD
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Average customer rating:

Lovely Loch Lomond
legend of loch lomond
See it for the Music!
Unattractive Cast....Sketchy Plot......
IMAX at its best

Legend of Loch Lomond (Large Format)
Starring: Kirsty Mitchell , John Bett , Paul Blair , Stewart Preston , and Fiona Bell
Director: Mike Slee
Manufacturer: Sling Shot
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Customer Reviews:

Lovely Loch Lomond.......2005-09-13

I loved this short movie. There was only one thing I found strange: The band members of Shindig--from London--all had Scottish accents. I'd have liked to have seen the tale made into a full length feature, but for what it was, it's most definitely worth purchasing.

legend of loch lomond.......2005-07-08

i first saw this in i-max at loch lomand shores & found it most enjoyable, because of the ntsc format i am yet to use dvd.

See it for the Music!.......2005-01-16

I was an usher in an Imax theater, and saw this feature several times on the big screen. While the story is pretty boring, the music absolutely enchanted me! Often I would find myself in the near emtpy theater singing along. I also particularly like the bag pipe song in the pub. If I could find the soundtrack for this movie I would buy it in a second instead of the DVD, but this will do until then.

Unattractive Cast....Sketchy Plot.............2004-08-06

I rented this DVD and I'm glad I did. It is some sort of video docu-drama, featuring the most unattractive cast known to man. The hero looks like he's about 60 lbs over weight and the heroine is not comely either. The story is contrived and uninteresting and very short! Under 60 minutes. This might've been a good film if I could stand looking at the actors.... 1 star- and that is for the beautiful scenery!

IMAX at its best.......2003-04-21

This film is much different than the other IMAX documentaries available. It is more of a docu-drama. The story is interesting and the acting is very good. The scenes of Scottland are breathtaking. If you are looking for a IMAX film that dares to be different...this is DVD for you. Take the high road and purchase The Legend of Loch Lomond.

The Steve McQueen Box Set (Baby, the Rain Must Fall/The War Lover)

Average customer rating:

The Steve McQueen Box Set (Baby, the Rain Must Fall/The War Lover)
Starring: Lee Remick , Steve McQueen , Don Murray , Paul Fix , and Josephine Hutchinson
Director: Robert Mulligan , and Philip Leacock
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
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Release Date: 2005-11-01

Average customer rating:

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