THE WEEKLY RECAP: June 11-17

The Children Are Watching Us (1944)

Directed by Vittorio de Sica

* * ½

Prico (Luciano De Ambrosis) is the son of Nina (Isa Pola) and Andrea (Emilio Cigoli). They live a pretty comfortable middle class life, but everything changes when Nina is inexplicably nowhere to be found one day. As events unfold, it is revealed that she has run off with a man she has been having an affair with, but she returns a few days later for her son’s sake. As time goes by, Nina and Andrea make an effort to rekindle, but things just can’t be quite the same, and as they try to pick up the pieces, they seem to forget that they have a child that needs tending to.

This is only my third experience with the seminal Vittorio de Sica, following my viewings of the excellent Umberto D. and Bicycle Thieves, the latter of which fully deserves its reputation as one of the greatest films of all time, but I must say that The Children Are Watching Us disappointed me somewhat. I have mentioned this a while back; I was fairly young when my parents divorced, and for De Sica to make a film about bearing witness to parental strife from the child’s perspective is a bold move (especially in 1944), but the film spends a bit too much time with the parents to the point that it feels jagged.

While the performances aren’t anything spectacular, they carried the film along just fine. It also moves along at a good pace, not to mention it never overstays its welcome, clocking in at a little over 80 minutes. If anything, there is an absolutely incredible nightmare sequence that bridges the first and second acts that made the film worth it. The Children Are Watching Us is not a bad film by any means, and it certainly has elements that make it worth watching, but the ultimate result is somewhat mediocre – after all, this is made by the man who would direct Bicycle Thieves just a few years later.

Fresh (1994)

Directed by Boaz Yakin

* * * ½

Fresh (Sean Nelson) may be only 12 years old, but he’s one tough kid. Living in inner-city Brooklyn, he makes good money as a drug courier for local dealers Esteban (Giancarlo Esposito) and Corky (Ron Brice). His intelligence and honesty have earned him great respect across the board, but Fresh’s ambitions don’t lie with a future in crime (if I’m not mistaken, his very first line in the film is “I gotta’ get to school”). His relationship with Esteban reaches levels of enraging complexity, though, when he begins fooling around with Fresh’s crack-addicted sister (N’Bushe Wright).

Though Fresh is a plot-driven narrative, the true driving force behind the film is its observance (and subsequent insinuations) of its characters and situations. Fresh takes its time introducing us into its world with meticulous detail into these characters’ lives. Take, for instance, a scene where Fresh sells drugs on the street. Instead of it being a simple transaction, we take Fresh’s POV and glances at various colleagues (hidden in plain sight) for their approval to do the deal – we don’t just watch their lives, we experience them. We become so involved that the film sometimes gut-punches us, leaving our mouths completely agape.

Of course, at the core of everything is Sean Nelson’s performance, and this kid carries the entire weight of this film like it was a feather. The supporting cast is also terrific, especially the criminally underrated Giancarlo Esposito, who I didn’t realize was so versatile until watching Fresh. Granted, there are a couple of things that prevent this from being a perfect 4 – Samuel L. Jackson plays Fresh’s estranged father. They meet every so often (in secrecy) to play chess together, where chess almost serves as life lessons for Fresh. The film clearly wants Jackson’s character to be important, but has nowhere near enough screen time to possess the presence the character requires. Additionally, the music is unbelievably stock. I know it’s superficial, but it was almost laughable in just how generic it was. I must say that I do question the plausibility of Fresh’s plot in the film’s final act, but I’ll let it slide. On the whole, Fresh is riveting urban cinema.

Klute (1971)

Directed by Alan J. Pakula

* *

Private Investigator John Klute (Donald Sutherland) has been hired to track down the disappearance of Tom Gruneman (Robert Milli). The stepping stone to the case: an obscene letter addressed to a New York City prostitute named Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda). Klute tracks Bree down, wire taps her phone, and keeps a close eye on her activities. Soon, he begins asking her questions. She declines to cooperate, but eventually begins warming up to Klute. Before too long, Bree becomes an accomplice of sorts to Klute as he presses forward with his investigation into the disturbingly seedy underground of New York lifestyles.

I once heard comedian Jacqueline Frances (who uses her experience as an exotic dancer as the basis for her comedy) call Klute one of the most accurate portrayals of sex work ever committed to film. Frances’s statement caught my attention, and additional research has led me to various opinions that the movie should have been called Bree instead of Klute. I wish I could agree with this notion. Though Bree is certainly the most interesting character in the film (her conversations with her therapist, as brief as they are, are absolutely fascinating), there’s still not enough material with her to make the film worth watching for anybody wanting a solid thriller or an interesting portrait of prostitution.

It’s still funny that they name the movie after Klute, because he is the most boring character in the movie. There’s always been a sort of unsettling enigma to Donald Sutherland’s minimal approach to acting that I usually really like, but his character is just a blank slate. In turn, the chemistry that the duo of Klute and Bree requires is completely non-existent. Even then, though, I didn’t find the mystery all that interesting to begin with. Top it off with a rushed climax (though I’ll admit that there’s a moment where Bree gets a phone call to hear a tape recording of herself – that was very effective) and this was just an overall unsatisfying movie.