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Reviews
The Doctor (1991)
Doctor's lost humanity...
This film truly caught my attention, I just watched on TV, and was really impressed. Why? well, we could say that there probably are a lot of these films (almost a sub-genre within drama movies) when regarding to the tone, characters, existential conflicts and ideal-moral messages but I think this one stands aside.
The story is very simple, the acting is great but realistic, the film is shot in a very classical style, the conflicts are there, my point is that despite we (as an audience) have all the elements at the surface, this film runs more deep and has more layers than it seems at first sight. The true power or engine here is the script, which hides beneath the great cast and wonderful directing, it allows us to think a predictable-known story in a symbolic (and political) way, opening a lot of cognitive doors that can take us apart from the plain meaning to different new levels of thinking these very same elements.
For instance, we have a "doctor" who is actually tortured by the burocratics politics of the very same hospital he works for, and finds himself becoming, first a patient, afterwards something less than human (although not like Kafka's Gregor) because of the medical protocol doctors tend to follow. Also, he meets a woman who was sentenced to die by her medical insurance company (another Kafka theme, the destiny or conviction taken upon ourselves). So he ends up discovering the truth of his reality and himself, waking from his dream-death (as an institutionalized being) reforging his identity and humanity. It's interesting to find here two important's elements such as the mythological way of understanding living as a dream and death as life, like a new state of mind only perceived after dying; and second, the battle the hero in modern days fights for, his self-independency.
This is obviously a political allegory against the powers that rules our lives and fates, and can-must be thought in any other line of work, but got to admit that gains another dimension by being themselves DOCTORS, and not caring at all about us, just only money motivated like a sales man would.
The Doctor is much more complex and I hope people would give this film a chance, it's the exact opposite and in my opinion a future reference to what any medical(TV or film) story should aim for.
p.s.: Mike Nichol's Regarding Henry it's in a similar level than this one.
Taxi Driver (1976)
Taxi drives insane
Taxi driver it's an unsettling portrait of society from the point of view of a solitary man who's mind-world is about to take the form of a true nightmare.
The film opens with the street, with a kinda dreamy slow motion shot where a taxi appears from nowhere and then we get Travis Brickle's eyes, giving us the three elements-clues that will echo within the entire film creating multiple meanings and not to forget Travis own leitmotiv (B. Herrman's music)which builds the perfect tension reflecting his very own twisted psychology.
After watching the film, we realize that Travis isn't a man whose words we can take for granted. Was he really on Vietnam? That's a key question we have to ask ourselves, because it changes everything but what's even more important is that he actually believes he was. And he certainly has his insomnia issue which works as a perfect excuse for having him wandering around in the night taking us to places where most drivers wouldn't even bother to go. This describes him as someone who willingly wants to be drawn into, what he refers as to, hell. Now, another question pops-up into our heads, was he aware of this? Did he un-consciously get this job to be near that world? Kind of encouraging himself to take a drastic action (there lies the true importance of Foster's character).
I've always have myself thinking in Travis as a contemporary cowboy (not only because he's called like that a couple of times, also cop or killer, but he's got...believes he has a moral standard as a Sheriff would)and can't help recalling Gary Cooper in High Noon. Although Travis would be an obscure, drogued, neurotic, psychotic reflection of that image (the mirror scene and his own self destruction are a perfect example of his mind).
He feels not only lonely, but misunderstood as well, he doesn't fit on either worlds (being always on the edge). Couldn't make his relationship with Betsy work (Cybill Shepherd), losing his last chance for hope, and falling into his inevitable self-transformation (revealing his true self) of pure destruction. This probably motivated by his constant feeling of helplessness, his racism and delusions of grandeur. But what enlarges the depth of this character is his capacity for being both a hero-assassin(critic to war), he chose to kill the politic candidate and failing his attempt (in broad daylight) he resort onto a killing spree starting with (jodie foster) Iris' pimp, Sport (Harvey Keitel)in plain night. This two-sides hero-assassin, plays two different parts, first, it deals with the narrative psychological part of the Storytelling showing us how his plans are frustrated and afterwards in this night-marish-realm how he achieves (his redemption)saving Iris (his princess) from the pimps (dragons) and exorcising his very own personal demons.
After this surreal, violent, and cathartic episode, the followed resolution it's presented in such an ambiguous way that it leaves us questioning everything we just witnessed...Is he dead? Did he actually survive? Is everything back to "normal" or just starting once again? Is he even out there? One of the greatest films of all times, and Scorsese's best with Raging Bull and Goodfellas.
Prince of Darkness (1987)
take a look at the Monster
This is a delightful B movie from John Carpenter, it contains both thematically and narrative interests seen on previous films of his own. It provides a great cheesy and entertaining suspense since the beginning, but sadly one cannot relate with the main characters, being themselves portrayed in a very cliché kinda way. Leaving the audience without any care for what will happen to them.
On the other hand, the plot grabs us with the promess of not letting us go until we leave our reality. As a truly great director, Carpenter knows best, and he give us a hell of a climax but not without giving us an unsettling question towards ourselves. The monster is alive, it's waiting on the other side but no matter what we do, we'll see it every time we take a look at the mirror.