Phantom Lady

Phantom Lady is one of Siodmak's earlier noir titles. It's not out on DVD yet, so we can only hope it's in one of Universal's next Noir batches. I love Siodmak's version of Ernest Hemingway's The Killers, so it's great to check out some of his other stuff. It's hard to imagine anything living up to the noir masterpiece that is The Killers, but even with that knowledge, Phantom Lady is slightly disappointing.

In Phantom Lady, a man is out on the town for a night and meets a young woman in a strange hat. He persuades her to accompany him to the theater, but she never tells him anything about herself. Arriving home, he finds his wife has been murdered and he's the prime suspect. Nobody seems to remember the woman in the strange hat, who is the one person who can prove his alibi, so he's sent to jail, leaving his plucky secretary (man, I could use one of those noir staples) to unravel the mystery.

The story is definitely very interesting, without a doubt. It's easy to confuse it with Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes, but it really stands on its own. It's an engaging thriller, and the plot only faults in a couple of moments throughout the film. However, it definitely does feel contrived at plenty of times, which can take away from it a bit. The lighting, of course, is great. There are a few choice moments that really stood out, where somebody's shadow follows them along, or where a menacing silhouette literally engulfs a lesser character, signifying his or her demise.

Phantom Lady was very good, definitely worth checking out. Despite faltering, it's a very entertaining thriller. The plot, of course, is wrapped up a tad too neatly for my tastes, but that's just Hollywood, I 'spose.

The Piano

I was intrigued when I saw Criterion was to release Jane Campion's An Angel at My Table, because it sounded good and it's rare to see a female director in the collection. I'd wanted to check out The Piano for a while, mostly because of Holly Hunter. So, to see the movie and check out Campion's style, I'd kill two birds with one stone.

The Piano is about a young woman mute woman, Ada, who expresses herself through sign language and playing her beloved piano. She enters an arranged marriage with a man whom she doesn't feel anything for, and worse, decides not to transport her piano to their home. His friend George decides to buy the piano, and has Ada give him lessons, in order to 'buy' back her piano. Of course, he starts to force her to let him kiss her and lie down with her to expedite the 'payment' and I'm sure you can tell where it goes from there.

The Piano is a poetic film, often very lyrical. There's strong symbolic ties to music, naturally, as well. The characters are pretty intriguing, especially the choices made involving George. It would be extremely easy for the filmmakers to paint him essentially perfect, romantic and attractive, but he's not. He's very brutish, lacks patience, and is anything but intelligent, at least in the way that Ada is. Seeing somebody who's not perfect, who isn't what you'd think, is far more interesting than somebody who is.

I'm definitely checking out Campion's other films when they hit. Hey, a female director I like. Who would've thought?

Etc.

For the few of my loyal readers, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve for the next few days. Of course, they'll be under wraps until they got posted, but I think it'll make for some fascinating reading.