The Snow Queen

  And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Snow Queen!

Original image located here. Accessed 28th March 2025

I have thrown plenty of curveballs on this blog but this must be the biggest one yet: A Soviet animated feature from 1957. An odd choice certainly but this film is noteworthy as it famously inspired Japanese anime titan Hayao Miyazaki and remains one of his favourite films.

At first glance one would think this was Frozen's dour Russian cousin but it isn't. Instead it follows the source material very closely.
But really the main selling point of this movie would be the visuals. The art direction is pretty good by itself and the animation quality still holds up decades later. But it is the various animation tricks and techniques that really sell this movie. 
Granted this is more an art movie than a Disney flick but that's what makes it so unique.

The Bridge on the River Kwai

And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Bridge on the River Kwai!

Original image located here. Accessed 19th April 2024

Best Picture Oscar winner no.: 30 (1957)

I've been wanting to see this movie for years but I never got around to it. I recall years ago I was discouraged through my father describing it as 'silly'. But not this time around....

So what makes this movie special? Well it is a unique entity in the war movie genre in that it seems less concerned with getting a commentary on warfare across and more interested in being a character driven piece. The characters are indeed complex, helped considerably by the cast playing them with standouts being Alec Guinness and Sessue Hayakawa. The scale is staggering - as befitting a David Lean film - and it's impressive to know that the crew built the bridge for real. Furthermore, the final twenty minutes are astonishing. If this was attempt to show what the big screen could do, as opposed to the small screen of TV sets, then mission well an truly accomplished. 

Finally, was it as 'silly' as it was described to me? Well there were a few moments that did seem difficult to swallow but there rest of the movie is so strong that it makes such instances easier to forgive. 

A classic without a doubt

Throne of Blood

And this week's Friday Night movie has been... Throne of Blood!

Original image located here. Accessed 5th May 2023

Last year I watched Ran - Akira Kurosawa's take on the Shakespeare play King Lear. This year I watch Throne of Blood - Akira Kurosawa's take on the Shakespeare play Macbeth ("Aahhhhh! Hot potato, orchestra stalls, Puck will make amends!").

Part of the thrill of watching this play is seeing a play i am very familiar with being shown in a different context - after all that is the challenge of doing Shakespeare: presenting something that has been done countless times before in a different light. So whilst this play may not follow the text to the letter, there are still some recognisable scenes and the plot progresses the same.
But what this film really understands about the source material is that the play has a sense of mystery and dread about it. And the film certainly runs with it, what with having a lot of fog, paranoia, ominous moments and a tiny number of locations. Indeed the triumph of this movie is that does a lot with what little it has.
Throw in some compelling performances from the two leads (Toshiro Mifune and Isuzu Yamada) and a death scene that has to seen to be believed and we have a movie that has lasted very well against the march of time.
Damn Kurosawa sure knew how to make a movie, eh?

12 Angry Men

 And this weeks Friday night movie has been....12 Angry Men!

Original image located here. Accessed 9th January 2015

Boy is this a product of a bygone era: It's based on a stage play, features a single setting, and relies solely on the actor's ability to make the dialogue work. One can imagine someone to make something similar today will be laughed out of the room.

But there is no need: This movie still works some 58 years later and is still, compelling as ever - truly deserving of the title 'timeless'.