A foriegn film and a documentary

I just watched two films today.

One was; "Tintin and I". It's a PBS P.O.V. program. It's about Herge, the cartoonist responsible for the "clear line style" that most European comics take as their major influence. Much like Kirby in the USA, Herge was read by everyone who wanted to be a cartoonist and seeing what european comics look like today, the influence is plain to see.

I enjoyed the film, though there were some stylistic flourishes, common in documetaries now with their fear that the information alone will not be enough to engross the audience. In spite of that, it was very informative. I wasn't aware of Herge's career in as much detail as the documentary provided. I would recommend it to anyone interested in cartooning or comics but without that interest the viability of the film lessens. Lets say 3 stars.



The other was; "The Passenger". A film by Michelangelo Antonioni. Some background... I've seen a few Antonioni pictures. L'Aventura, La Notte, Zabriske Point, and Red Desert. I like two of the four and hated Red Desert. I had to watch Red Desert for an editing class in college and write about it. I found this difficult. I was unable to get into the film. It was inaccessable and I didn't do the paper. I spoke with the professor, Ms. Mertens, about this, trying to crack the code as it were. To no avail... Zabriske Point I found equally inaccessable but it contained some interesting and potent imagrey.

As a result I am hesitant to watch Antonioni's films for fear that I will get one of the polarizing experiences I've had before.


The Passenger was no different. I liked it. Four stars on Netflix (I'm already tired and embarassed by the rating system I'm using... I'm stuck though). The tension was constant and some powerful observations on human nature and identity were hung onto and plot that drove the characters to the conclusion in an atypical, for Antonioni, manner. I remember the other films as being more gossamer in their structure. This one is more akin to L'Aventura, my favorite, and the performance of Jack Nicholson helps a great deal. Nicholson's career is littered with appearances in films that have great, or famous, directors. How smart is he? That's why he has so many Oscars in spite of his "hamming it up" during the later half of his career.

I recommend this film to anyone with a little patience. Give it a shot.