Of course, if I was I would have posted about this ages ago rather than waiting until the first day of the series to write anything. But, you know, whatever. Anyways, The Lagoon is showing something like 4 movies by a ton of really great directors. Like, seriously, these guys are good. Well, at least I think they are. Not quite sure but I’m pretty sure guys like Lucas, Preminger, Coppola, maybe that other Coppola, Altman, Spielberg and Danny Huston. Or maybe none of them. Who the fuck cares anyways?
Oh right, some of the people in these movies do. Possibly obsessively so.
Fitzcarraldo, March 7th
(1982, Directed by Werner Herzog, 158 mins. Rated PG)
Playing at 7pm and 10pm
Werner Herzog based Fitzcarraldo on a true story of a rubber baron seeking to establish an opera house in the jungle. In shooting it, He went to extreme lengths to truly do what was seen on film. To accomplish this, he went so far as to drag a 340 ton boat up and over a mountain, and sent it down very dangerous rapids, resulting in injuries to himself and cinematographer. Klaus Kinski, who rivaled Herzog in eccentricity and was infamously difficult, brought to the character the sense of insane obsession. The two of them battled throughout the production of the film. Their tumultuous relationship is now legendary. At one point, Kinski claims that he threatened to leave the set and Herzog responded by pulling a gun on him and forcing him to perform at gun point. Similar to the other films in this series, Fitzcarraldo is about the depths of the human will. It is an uncompromising masterpiece.
Treasure of the Sierra Madre, March 14
(1948, Directed by John Huston, 126 mins. Not Rated)
Playing at 7pm and 9:45pm
John Huston is often considered one of the greatest directors to come out of Hollywood. He was nominated for five Oscars and three of his films are in AFI’s top 100 films of all time. Like Huston’s other films, “Treasure” has a moral anchor of fate. Greed is repaid with betrayal, vice with failure. Here, he also explores the idea of success. As Walter Huston states, “as long as there’s no find, the noble brotherhood will last but when the piles of gold begin to grow… that’s when the trouble starts.” When the film was released, in 1948, America had just won the Second World War, and American industry created millionaires overnight. Huston’s warning could not have been more timely
Close Encounters of the Third Kind, March 21
(1977, Directed by Steven Spielberg, 132 mins. Rated PG)
Playing at 7pm and 10pm
Steven Spielberg is the master of summer blockbusters. His giant films started the trend. Jaws, E.T., and Raiders of the Lost Arc are some of the most beloved films ever made. And, although these films played off pulp novels of the 1940s and b movies the likes of Roger Corman, they were expertly directed and beautifully photographed. With Close Encounters, Spielberg went so far as to have eleven cinematographers work on the film. Stunning images of space and Devil’s Tower were shot on 70mm film. Spielberg mixed the popcorn fare of a blockbuster and infused both existential philosophy and his personal obsession with space. In the end, Spielberg’s optimistic view of the human existence makes the film a wonderful plea for adults to stop fearing the unknown and remember what it’s like to see the universe with the eyes of a child.
Apocalypse Now, March 28
(1979, Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, 153 mins. Rated R)
Playing at 7pm and 10pm
Francis Ford Coppola’s hallucinogenic journey into the heart of darkness is legendary both for Coppola’s obsessive genius and for its disastrous production. Coppola wanted to go into the Philippines and capture the truth of the Vietnam War. His possessed behavior behind the camera can be seen in every performance. The result is one of the most disturbing and engrossing films of all time. Shooting lasted a grueling sixteen months, 200 hours of footage were shot, Coppola threatened suicide several times and Martin Sheen ended up having a heart attack. It took over three years for Coppola to finish post-production. The final product is a winding, surreal, and horrific view of a mission without purpose and coming to terms with the horror inside oneself.
