Today Maurice LaMarche is 60, and Céline Dion is 50. Today is also the birthday of Warren Beatty, Eric Clapton, John Astin, Paul Reiser, Robbie Coltrane, Kenneth Welsh, Peter Marshall, Katy Mixon, Ian Ziering, Juliet Landau, M.C. Hammer, Norah Jones, Tracy Chapman, Michael Lehmann, Mark Consuelos, Bill Corbett, Piers Morgan, and the late Vincent van Gogh, Francisco Goya, Herbert Anderson, Richard Dysart, Anna Q. Nilsson, Anna Sewell, Sydney Chaplin, Jean-Claude Brialy, Shirley Stoler, and Ray McAnally. James Cagney died 32 years ago in 1986 at age 86. Michael Jeter died 15 years ago in 2003 at age 50.
Category: All posts in order
Review- The Young Karl Marx (2017)
The Young Karl Marx (2017)
4/5 stars
Directed by Raoul Peck. Starring August Diehl, Stefan Konarske, Vicky Krieps, Olivier Gourmet, and Hannah Steele.
Raoul Peck, director of the 2016 documentary I Am Not Your Negro about James Baldwin, has made another film about a monumental political writer who altered the way people thought about their time and society, this new one in the form of a bio-pic, set a century earlier, and all across Europe. The Young Karl Marx is a richly crafted period piece about the revolutionary German economic and political thinker Karl Marx, which Peck wisely mounted as an intimate historical drama and character study about the man and his friends, family, and detractors and their radical ideas and convictions that have been debated ever since they were written.
The film begins in the 1840s with, as the film promises, the young Karl Marx (August Diehl), befriending a fellow writer, Friedrich Engels (Stefan Konarske), a man who was stuck between two opposing worlds that helped shape his worldview and politics. His father was a fierce factory owner and businessman who is shown early in the film worrying about what his young factory workers’ losing fingers will do to his bottom line. While Engels comes from a wealthy background, he writes about the plights and struggles of those very workers, especially the downtrodden foreigners like his Irish wife Mary Burns (Hannah Steele). He wants to understand the working and lower class citizens and how they live, or how they barely do. Although he dresses as dapper as a man of the time can and comes from upon high, he goes down the alleyways and into the backrooms of Germany to see what makes his father’s factory and society function. From the beginning of the film Marx is portrayed as a man of principle and strong political ideals, which puts him at odds with the bourgeois society surrounding him and makes him and Engels allies right away. Marx’s mind is over flowing with ideas, which also made it hard for him to finish a paper or book, putting emotional and financial stress on his family. His wife, Jenny, played by Vicky Krieps, who was so transcendent as Daniel Day-Lewis’s muse in Phantom Thread, is a loving and supportive wife but a strong woman who does not linger in the shadows of history.
The women and the relationship between the male leads are what make the film as compelling and human as it is. Peck makes the costumes and sets feel lived-in and real, not stuffy PBS recreations of history. The film certainly deals with the political turmoil of the time, but the human interactions are what sell the characters and situations. Because the famous people are indeed young, part of the charm of the film is seeing stuffy black-and-white historical figures dusted off and trotted across bustling mid-19th century Europe. Like most people throughout history and up to the modern day, they were thinner in their twenties. Karl does not have the massive grey bush of hair sprouting from his face and head. When Karl and Jenny make love, it is tactile and sensual and in the moment, but there is a childish desire to point out that this is Karl Marx boning. He runs away from the police (in a humorous chase that is oddly reminiscent of Raising Arizona). He even vomits! These characters are human beings, not wax figures barely animated. The film’s production design and costumes are exquisite, but the real test of the craft is that while watching the film it does not feel like a posh recreation. The sweat on the brow and the dirt on the roads are palpable. The actors add a great deal to that illusion. Like with the best Shakespeare adaptations or any literature from years ago, the actors have to make the setting and dialogue immediate and real. The funny beards and tall hats and antiquated buildings have to drift away enough for the drama to spark. Those period elements are vital, but they have to aid the performances, not entomb the actors in the past.
Besides making the well-known figures human, Peck makes the film work as entertainment by striking the right balance of making the politics and theories understandable for a receptive audience but not dumbing them down or lecturing. A dilemma in making films with complex historical facts or political content is to summarize and dramatize the information in a way that does not leave the audience confused while also not having the characters deliver pat and condescending dialogue that they would never say in reality. Because the film is focused on a few years early in their lives, the relationships and ideas are in their early stages. This is Muppet Babies for the fathers of Communism. Many scenes consist of men standing in a room debating the tenets of the movement, but it remains gripping because of the personal details and relationships built throughout the film. Peck also does something that absorbing art based on true events does: he takes issues or events that the viewer may have little or no interest in or knowledge of and makes it riveting. What they are talking about may be uninteresting to some, but their passion and dedication are so compelling that it engages the casual viewer. It does not matter if one cares about the subject; one cares because of how much the characters care.
A few times it feels like a “Big Important Moment” is happening in history rather than the real life delicately rendered throughout the film. Every time they discuss what the title of their new work should be, one almost mouths, “The Communist Manifesto” in anticipation. The film also opens with an attack on some poor people “stealing” wood in a forest, hitting the audience over the head, stating too emphatically that this is not just an intellectual debate…this is people’s lives. Peck should be applauded for maintaining a reasonable approach through most of the film. One does not have to agree with Karl Marx or his beliefs to find the film worthy, just like with Steven Soderbergh’s Che Guevara bio-pic Che. It is a political film that always remains human and intelligent without being ponderous or dull.
On this date- March 29
Today Eric Idle and Vangelis are 75, Bud Cort is 70, Victor Salva is 60, and Lucy Lawless is 50. Today is also the birthday of Brendan Gleeson, Amy Sedaris, Marina Sirtis, Michael Winterbottom, Michel Hazanavicius, Annabella Sciorra, Christopher Lambert, Scott Wilson, Godfrey Reggio, and the late Pearl Bailey and Sam Walton, who would both be 100, Arthur O’Connell, Jackie Vernon, Dennis O’Keefe, Warner Baxter, Bobby ‘Wheezer’ Hutchins, Onslow Stevens, John McLaughlin, and John Tyler. Harry Ritz from the Ritz Brothers died 31 years ago in 1986 at age 78. Paul Henreid died 26 years ago in 1992 at age 84. Mitch Hedberg died 13 years ago in 2005 at age 37. Patty Duke died two years ago in 2016 at age 69.
Living Directors Whose Films I Would Definitely See or Most Likely See in Theaters
Directors whose new film I would see no matter what
Woody Allen
Pedro Almodóvar
Paul Thomas Anderson
Wes Anderson
Dario Argento
Darren Aronofsky
Sean Baker
Noah Baumbach
Kathryn Bigelow
Joon-ho Bong
Catherine Breillat
Albert Brooks
Mel Brooks
Charles Burnett
Jane Campion
Leos Carax
John Carpenter
Nuri Bilge Ceylan
The Coen Brothers (Ethan and Joel)
Francis Ford Coppola
Sofia Coppola
David Cronenberg
Alfonso Cuarón
The Dardenne Brothers (Jean-Pierre and Luc)
Brian De Palma
Guillermo del Toro
Claire Denis
Clint Eastwood
David Fincher
Terry Gilliam
Jonathan Glazer
Christopher Guest
Michael Haneke
Todd Haynes
Werner Herzog
Nicole Holofcener
Hsiao-hsien Hou
Jim Jarmusch
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Charlie Kaufman
Harmony Korine
Chang-dong Lee
Spike Lee
Mike Leigh
Richard Linklater
Terrence Malick
Michael Mann
Elaine May
George Miller
Hayao Miyazaki
Errol Morris
Gaspar Noé
Christopher Nolan
Jafar Panahi
Chan-wook Park
Alexander Payne
Roman Polanski
Lynne Ramsay
Nicolas Winding Refn
Kelly Reichardt
David O. Russell
Hong Sang-soo
Paul Schrader
Martin Scorsese
Ridley Scott
Steven Soderbergh
Todd Solondz
Steven Spielberg
Whit Stillman
Oliver Stone
Quentin Tarantino
Béla Tarr
Ming-liang Tsai
Paul Verhoeven
Lars von Trier
John Waters
Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Wim Wenders
Frederick Wiseman
Kar Wai Wong
John Woo
S. Craig Zahler
Andrey Zvyagintsev
Directors whose new film I would almost certainly see because I usually like their films and/or they almost always make good films, but if they made a film that got horrible reviews, I might not see it.
Roy Andersson
Andrea Arnold
Olivier Assayas
Ari Aster
Bertrand Bonello
Danny Boyle
Tim Burton
Louis C.K.
James Cameron
Damien Chazelle
Pedro Costa
Brandon Cronenberg
Andrew Dominik
Bruno Dumont
Robert Eggers
Asghar Farhadi
Abel Ferrara
Todd Field
Alex Garland
Costa-Gavras
Ricky Gervais
Greta Gerwig
Debra Granik
James Gray
Paul Greengrass
Luca Guadagnino
Andrew Haigh
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Mia Hansen-Løve
Walter Hill
Eliza Hittman
Joanna Hogg
James Ivory
Barry Jenkins
Kirsten Johnson
Spike Jonze
Radu Jude
Aki Kaurismäki
Hirokazu Koreeda
Yorgos Lanthimos
Ang Lee
Ken Loach
Kenneth Lonergan
David Lowery
Guy Maddin
David Mamet
Martin McDonagh
Steve McQueen
Bennett Miller
Michael Moore
Cristian Mungiu
Jeff Nichols
Alex Ross Perry
Christian Petzold
Sam Raimi
Dee Rees
Benny and Josh Safdie
John Sayles
Ulrich Seidl
Paolo Sorrentino
Joachim Trier
Gus Van Sant
Denis Villeneuve
Lana and Lilly Wachowski
Edgar Wright
Jia Zhangke
Terry Zwigoff
Every film released in the US in 2009 that I’ve seen
In theaters
(500) Days of Summer
2012
Adventureland
Antichrist
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Avatar
Away We Go
The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call- New Orleans
The Blind Side
The Brothers Bloom
Bruno
Capitalism: A Love Story
Cold Souls
The Collector
Coraline
The Damned United
District 9
Drag Me To Hell
Duplicity
An Education
Extract
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Final Destination
Food, Inc.
Friday the 13th
Funny People
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
The Girlfriend Experience
Gomorra
Good Hair
The Hangover
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
I Love You, Man
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Informant!
Inglourious Basterds
The International
The Invention of Lying
Invictus
Julie & Julia
The Last House on the Left
Lorna’s Silence
The Men Who Stare at Goats
The Messenger
My Bloody Valentine 3D
Ninja Assassin
Observe and Report
Obsessed
Orphan
Paranormal Activity
A Perfect Getaway
Pirate Radio
Ponyo
Precious
The Princess and the Frog
Public Enemies
Red Cliff
The Road
A Serious Man
Sherlock Holmes
Sin Nombre
A Single Man
Star Trek
State of Play
Summer Hours
Sunshine Cleaning
Taken
Tokyo!
Tulpan
Two Lovers
Up
Up in the Air
Watchmen
Whatever Works
Where the Wild Things Are
The Young Victoria
Zombieland
At home
35 Shots of Rum
Goodbye Solo
Me and Orson Welles
Medicine for Melancholy
Three Monkeys
Every film released in the US in 2010 that I’ve seen
In theaters
127 Hours
Alice in Wonderland
The American
Another Year
Barney’s Version
Best Worst Movie
Blue Valentine
Buried
Casino Jack and the United States of Money
Chloe
Countdown to Zero
Cop Out
The Crazies
Cyrus
Date Night
Daybreakers
Despicable Me
Dinner for Schmucks
Easy A
Enter the Void
Exit Through the Gift Shop
The Expendables
Fair Game
The Fighter
A Film Unfinished
Four Lions
George A. Romero’s Survival of the Dead
Get Him to the Greek
Get Low
The Ghost Writer
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Green Zone
Greenberg
Harry Brown
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part I
Hereafter
How to Train Your Dragon
The Human Centipede (First Sequence)
I Am Love
I Love You Phillip Morris
The Illusionist
Inception
Inside Job
Iron Man 2
Jackass 3D
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
Kick-Ass
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
The Last Exorcism
Let Me In
MacGruber
Made in Dagenham
Megamind
Micmacs
Mother
Mother and Child
My Soul to Take
Nowhere Boy
Ondine
The Other Guys
Piranha 3D
Please Give
Predators
A Prophet
Rabbit Hole
Ramona and Beezus
Robin Hood
The Runaways
Salt
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
The Secret in Their Eyes
Shutter Island
The Social Network
Solitary Man
Somewhere
Splice
Tangled
The Town
Toy Story 3
Trash Humpers
True Grit
Waiting for ‘Superman’
The Way Back
White Material
Winnebago Man
Winter’s Bone
The Wolfman
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
Youth in Revolt
At home
Bluebeard
Every film released in the US in 2011 that I’ve seen
In theaters
50/50
13 Assassins
Albert Nobbs
The Artist
Arthur Christmas
Attack the Block
Beginners
Bellflower
Bill Cunningham New York
Bridesmaids
Cars 2
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Certified Copy
City of Life and Death
Contagion
Coriolanus
Crazy, Stupid, Love.
A Dangerous Method
The Descendants
The Double Hour
Drive
Everything Must Go
Final Destination 5
The Guard
Hanna
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II
Higher Ground
Hobo with a Shotgun
Hugo
The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence)
I Saw the Devil
The Ides of March
In a Better World
In the Family
Incendies
Into the Abyss
J. Edgar
Jane Eyre
Like Crazy
Margin Call
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Meek’s Cutoff
Melancholia
Midnight in Paris
The Mill and the Cross
Moneyball
The Muppets
My Week with Marilyn
Of Gods and Men
Pariah
Pina
Poetry
Potiche
The Princess of Montpensier
Project Nim
Rampart
Rango
Red State
Restless
Rubber
A Separation
Scream 4
Shame
Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure
The Skin I Live In
Source Code
Super
Super 8
Tabloid
Take Shelter
The Tree of Life
TrollHunter
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
War Horse
Weekend
Win Win
Winnie the Pooh
Winter in Wartime
X-Men: First Class
In a theater after its original release
Happy Feet Two
At home
Heartbeats
Puss in Boots
Putty Hill
The Sleeping Beauty
Tales from the Golden Age
Every film released in the US in 2012 that I’ve seen
In theaters
Amour
Anna Karenina
Argo
Barbara
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Being Flynn
Bernie
Brave
Bully
The Cabin in the Woods
The Campaign
Casa de mi Padre
Chicken with Plums
Chico & Rita
Chronicle
Cloud Atlas
Compliance
Cosmopolis
Damsels in Distress
Dark Horse
The Dark Knight Rises
Dark Shadows
Darling Companion
The Deep Blue Sea
Detachment
Django Unchained
Easy Money
Elena
End of Watch
Farewell, My Queen
The Five-Year Engagement
Flight
Footnote
Frankenweenie
God Bless America
Hara Kiri: Death of a Samurai
Haywire
Headhunters
Hitchcock
Holy Motors
Hope Springs
The Hunter
Hyde Park on Hudson
The Impossible
In Darkness
Jeff Who Lives at Home
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Keep the Lights On
The Kid with a Bike
Kill List
Killer Joe
Killing Them Softly
A Late Quartet
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Looper
Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted
Magic Mike
Marley
The Master
Monsieur Lazhar
Moonrise Kingdom
Neil Young Journeys
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
Oslo, August 31st
ParaNorman
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Prometheus
Promised Land
The Queen of Versailles
The Raid: Redemption
Red Hook Summer
The Road
A Royal Affair
Ruby Sparks
Rust and Bone
Safety Not Guaranteed
Savages
Searching for Sugar Man
The Secret World of Arrietty
The Sessions
Seven Psychopaths
Silent House
Silver Linings Playbook
Skyfall
Sleepwalk with Me
Smashed
Sound of My Voice
Thin Ice
This is 40
This is Not a Film
The Three Stooges
To Rome with Love
We Have a Pope
The Well Digger’s Daughter
Your Sister’s Sister
Zero Dark Thirty
At home
How to Survive a Plague
Premium Rush
Side by Side
Wreck-It Ralph
Every film released in the US in 2013 that I’ve seen
In theaters
12 Years a Slave
20 Feet from Stardom
The Act of Killing
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints
American Hustle
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
August: Osage County
Before Midnight
Beyond the Hills
Blackfish
Blancanieves
The Bling Ring
Blue Is the Warmest Color
Blue Jasmine
Bullet to the Head
Captain Phillips
Carrie
Computer Chess
The Conjuring
The Counselor
Cutie and the Boxer
Dallas Buyers Club
Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay
Dirty Wars
Disconnect
Don Jon
The East
Enough Said
Evil Dead
The Family
Faust
Fill the Void
Frances Ha
Free Birds
From Up on Poppy Hill
Frozen
Fruitvale Station
The Gatekeepers
Getaway
Ginger & Rosa
The Grandmaster
Gravity
The Great Beauty
The Heat
Her
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The Hunt
The Iceman
I’m So Excited
In a World…
In the House
Inside Llewyn Davis
Insidious: Chapter 2
Instructions Not Included
The Invisible Woman
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
Kill Your Darlings
The Last Stand
Last Vegas
Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Like Someone in Love
Lone Survivor
The Lords of Salem
Lore
Love is All You Need
Lovelace
Machete Kills
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Monsters University
Much Ado About Nothing
Mud
Museum Hours
Nebraska
No
Oldboy
One Direction: This Is Us
Only God Forgives
Outrage Beyond
Oz: The Great and Powerful
Pacific Rim
Passion
Philomena
Pieta
The Place Beyond the Pines
Prisoners
Quartet
R.I.P.D.
Room 237
Rush
Saving Mr. Banks
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Short Term 12
Side Effects
Something in the Air
The Spectacular Now
Spring Breakers
Star Trek Into Darkness
Stoker
Stories We Tell
This Is the End
To the Wonder
Trance
The Ultimate Life
Wadjda
War Witch
We’re the Millers
The Wolf of Wall Street
The World’s End
You’re Next
At home
Camille Claudel 1915
Exit Elena
I Am Divine
Laurence Anyways
Leviathan
Paradise: Love
The We and the I
Every film released in the US in 2014 that I’ve seen
In theaters
American Sniper
As It Is in Heaven
The Babadook
Bad Words
Begin Again
Beyond the Lights
Big Bad Wolves
Big Eyes
Big Hero 6
Birdman
The Blue Room
Boyhood
Calvary
Chef
Citizenfour
A Coffee in Berlin
The Dance of Reality
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Dear White People
Diplomacy
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them
The Drop
Dumb and Dumber To
Edge of Tomorrow
Enemy
Ernest and Celestine
Exodus: Gods and Kings
Fading Gigolo
The Fault in Our Stars
Force Majeure
Foxcatcher
Fury
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Gloria
God’s Pocket
Godzilla
Gone Girl
Goodbye to Language 3D
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Guest
The Homesman
Honeymoon
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1
Ida
The Imitation Game
The Immigrant
Inherent Vice
Interstellar
Into the Woods
Jersey Boys
Jimi: All Is by My Side
Jodorowsky’s Dune
John Wick
Kill the Messenger
Land Ho!
Last Days in Vietnam
Le Week-End
The Lego Movie
Leviathan
Life Itself
Life of Riley
Like Father, Like Son
Listen Up Philip
Locke
Love Is Strange
Lucy
The Lunchbox
Magic in the Moonlight
Maleficent
Men, Women & Children
Mommy
Mood Indigo
A Most Violent Year
A Most Wanted Man
The Monuments Men
Mr. Turner
Muppets Most Wanted
National Gallery
Neighbors
Nightcrawler
Noah
Non-Stop
Nymphomaniac: Vol. I
Nymphomaniac: Vol. II
Obvious Child
Oculus
Omar
The One I Love
Only Lovers Left Alive
Palo Alto
Particle Fever
Pride
The Pyramid
The Raid 2
RoboCop
Rosewater
Selma
The Skeleton Twins
Snowpiercer
Song of the Sea
St. Vincent
Still Alice
Stranger By the Lake
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
The Theory of Everything
They Came Together
To Be Takei
Top Five
The Trip to Italy
Tusk
Two Days, One Night
The Two Faces of January
Tyler Perry’s The Single Moms Club
Unbroken
Under the Skin
Venus in Fur
A Walk Among the Tombstones
We Are the Best!
Wetlands
Whiplash
Wild
The Wind Rises
Winter Sleep
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Young & Beautiful
The Zero Theorem
At home
Abuse of Weakness
Ape
Blue Ruin
A Field in England
Housebound
It Felt Like Love
Joe
Night Moves
Starred Up
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