In a Lonely Place

In a Lonely Place, Nicholas Ray 1950

Short-fused screen writer Dixon Steele (Humphrey Bogart) is resolute about only adapting good novels to the big screen, but in need of work he begrudgingly agrees to adapt a trashy bestselling novel although he won't read the book himself - instead paying a cloakroom girl to accompany him home to relay the narrative in her own words. The following morning the woman is found brutally murdered, with Steele seen as the prime suspect, but his new neighbour Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame) is able to supply the police with an alibi.
The pair quickly develop a passionate love affair but gradually Laurel suspects that her hot-tempered boyfriend subject to fits of rage was actually capable of committing the murder.

Bogart and Art Smith

Frank Lovejoy

Gloria Grahame and Humphrey Bogart

Apart from the fantastic performances from Bogart and Gloria Grahame; the tumultuous suspense-laced love story; cutting dialogue and the bleak insight into the film industry; the set design notably helped heighten the narrative's emotional resonance, I think they were beautifully done.

On a side note, who knew that director Nicholas Ray (well-known for Rebel Without a Cause) studied architecture under Frank Lloyd Wright before moving on to work in Hollywood. I think his background is evident in the way he executes his mise en scene.

"I was born when she kissed me, I died when she left me, I lived a few weeks while she loved me."

"What does it matter what I think? I'm the guy who tried to talk Selznick out of doing 'Gone With the Wind'."

Dixon Steele was undoubtedly Bogart's darkest role, and he gives a great performance

Ray shines a light on Steele's eyes to highlight his seething anger

Very well written, with three-dimensional characters featuring a dark yet vulnerable Humphrey Bogart in (I think) his best performance, this film addresses the faults of the Hollywood industry. There is a seething cynicism to Bogart's character that keeps building with suspense, and it's just so wonderfully written and played by all actors. It's good to see great actors taking on the gritty roles.

Rolla's.

Enjoying these images from Melbourne denim label Rolla's collections.
Selections from both the Summer 2012 and Winter 2013 ranges.

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The perfect Hitchcock film if you.........like spying on your neighbours and the sound of summer rain

The perfect Hitchcock film if you............like spying on your neighbours and the sound of summer rain:

Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock 1954

Peeping James

Rear Window. The voyeuristic film for voyeuristic film-watchers who pretend that they're not really voyeurs.
Not only is it an incredibly entertaining film which addresses voyeuristic morals (or what Lisa Fremont describes as "rear window ethics") and the relationships of communities, it's also the go-to film for teaching fundamental filmmaking at schools and universities the world over.
Hitchcock tightly controls the camera and fluidly tells a narrative filmed solely in one room without bringing on any feelings of claustrophobia. Utilising the shot-reverse-shot method, sequences are able to depict narrative development with very little dialogue. A mid-shot of the main character looking off at a distance; another shot shows the subject of their gaze; then we see the main character's reaction. It shifts from the subject, to the object, back to the subject's reaction. Simple, fundamental filmmaking, yet Hitchcock makes it so much more.

Photojournalist L. B. Jefferies (James Stewart) sits in a wheelchair in his apartment for 6 weeks after breaking his leg on an assignment. Bored by his physical confinement and unable to escape the heat of a New York summer, Jefferies spends much of his days and nights with his window blinds open, watching the goings-on of his colourful neighbours in the apartments on his block. When he believes he has witnessed a neighbour murder his wife, he and his girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly) try to gather evidence to help the investigation.

Grace Kelly makes a stunning entrance

Hitchcock enlisted the art department to create a huge set which contained several surrounding apartments to Jefferies', which was able to depict 5 differently-lit times of day. The cast members who inhabited the surrounding apartments wore earpieces to hear directorial instructions, due to the scale of the set.
For me, I think the film depicts a humid, balmy summer perfectly and the restlessness that it stirs. The mise-en-scene is without fault, and probably the most detailed piece of set design in film history, and every time I view the film I notice something new that goes on amidst this bustling living block.

Long, balmy summer days filled with the sounds of the city, the occasional nighttime rain shower and jazz floating over the rooftops. Bliss.

Thelma Ritter and James Stewart

Thelma Ritter, as Nurse Stella, is fantastic as in all the roles I've seen her in. I find myself celebrating every time she enters a scene as her charisma and comedic timing is always well-delivered. Pity she was always cast in supporting roles.

Hunger

Hunger, Steve McQueen 2008

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"I have my belief. And in all its simplicity, that is a most powerful thing."

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Harrowing. Absolutely harrowing, yet also a beautiful, powerful, sincere and ridiculously good debut feature film by Steve McQueen. As this man tellingly describes it, "Hunger occupies the rare class of very good films that nobody in their right mind would subject themselves to more than once".

The first shot above is from a brilliant, dialogue-rich scene which contains a single 17-minute shot of a conversation between Michael Fassbender and Liam Cunningham.