Page 102 – Establishing Shot

A Tribute to the Peerless Ms. Doris Day

Posted on May 15, 2019 by Michaela Owens

“I love to laugh. It’s the only way to live. Enjoy each day — it’s not coming back again!” — Doris Day

May 13, 2019 became the day I had been dreading for years when, after 97 years of sharing her impossibly bright light with the world, Doris Day passed away. All I wanted to do that Monday was read any and every piece dedicated to her, a practice that only reaffirmed something I already knew: after some 600 recordings, 39 films, and one TV show, people still struggle to understand her legacy. Words like “wholesome,” “chaste,” and “virginal” were used over and over, as if they were the only adjectives that could possibly make sense when describing Day. I’ll admit I bought into this when I first discovered her. Her name had become synonymous with this idea of “the eternal virgin,” an insulting mismatch that has never gone away.

But the more I saw of her, the more confused I felt. This was, to borrow her own phrase, Miss Chastity Belt? This confident, ambitious, take-charge woman, with her throaty laugh and sparkling eyes? As I fell in love with Day’s work, it became obvious that somewhere along the way, her sunny personality and strong sense of integrity somehow got translated into a persona that didn’t truly exist. The motivations of her characters were twisted to fit this narrative — instead of the independent careerwoman, she would be the girl who was afraid of sex. For women, the policing of our sexuality is a concept we know well; for Day, it’s a concept that seemed to erase any feminist agenda her characters suggested. (more…)

Ray of Light: Film Adaptations of Tolstoy Works

Posted on May 13, 2019 by Jesse Pasternack

“Stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.” – Leo Tolstoy

The writings of Leo Tolstoy are brilliant and varied. He was able to expertly write traditional novels (Anna Karenina) as well as shorter works that took harrowing looks at crime and death such as The Forged Coupon and The Death of Ivan Ilyich. Some of his best writing across these works of varying genres concerned the theme of ephemeral epiphanies — how they can feel brilliant and life-changing in the moment you experience them, and how if they come true at all, they only do so after a long time. (more…)

The Agony and the Ecstasy of Random Harvest

Posted on May 6, 2019 by Michaela Owens

Greer Garson and Ronald Colman in Random Harvest — Greer Garson and Ronald Colman in *Random Harvest*

In 1918, an amnesiac soldier named Smith is still recovering at an English asylum after months of dealing with shell shock. No family has claimed him; in one agonizing scene, an elderly couple are shown Smith to see if he’s their son, both sides horribly disappointed that he isn’t. Taking a walk in the foggy night, Smith notices that the front gates aren’t being guarded and he slips out. The village is bustling with people as they celebrate the end of World War I, no one paying attention to the frail soldier. He enters a tobacco shop where he encounters the gorgeous, lively entertainer Paula. She surmises that he escaped from the asylum, but she sees something in Smith, or Smithy as she affectionately calls him, and befriends him. (more…)

Between Neo-Realism and Formalism: Agnès Varda’s La Pointe Courte

Posted on May 2, 2019 by Laura Ivins

screenshot from La Pointe Courte — *La Pointe Courte* (1955)

La Pointe Courte (1955), Agnès Varda’s first film, is often considered one of the major precursors for the French New Wave, a movement that would begin a few years later with (depending on who you ask) either Claude Chabrol’s Le Beau Serge (1958) or François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows (1959). Varda has been branded the “Mother of the New Wave,” but her origins as a filmmaker differ from her contemporaries. She was not a cinephile, and did not begin as a critic or through film industry apprenticeships. Rather, she began her aesthetic life as a photographer and student of art history, and I would argue her films tend to be more humanistic, more outward-looking than several of the more prominent New Wave directors. (more…)

Monthly Movie Round-Up: April

Posted on April 29, 2019 by Establishing Shot

Every month, A Place for Film brings you a selection of films from our group of regular bloggers. Even though these films aren’t currently being screened at the IU Cinema, this series reflects the varied programming that can be found at the Cinema and demonstrates the eclectic tastes of the bloggers. Each contributor has picked one film that they saw this month that they couldn’t wait to share with others. Keep reading to find out what discoveries these cinephiles have made, as well as some of the old friends they’ve revisited.
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Crime Films From Around the World

Posted on April 25, 2019 by Jesse Pasternack

The Godfather (1972) is a classic American crime film. — *The Godfather* (1972), a classic American crime film

There have been many film genres that the United States of America has either made famous or perfected. One of these genres is the crime film. From The Public Enemy (1931) to The Godfather (1972) and GoodFellas (1990), some of the most popular and memorable American movies have been about criminals. These films are classics, but there is more to this genre than American movies. If you’re a true crime film fanatic, you’re missing out on some excellent films if you don’t check out movies from other countries.

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