Breathless (1960)

For me, Godard is kind of hit or...not-hit. First of his I saw, and one of my first foreign films I ever saw, was Alphaville, which I loved then and still do. Then, I blind-bought Band of Outsiders and thought it was pretty good, but kind of empty. After that, I saw a Woman is a Woman and didn't really like it, it seemed more like style over substance. Contempt I liked, but once again, it seemed kind of hollow. So, Breathless is supposed to be Godard's masterpiece and, along with Truffaut's 400 Blows, the work that ushered in the French New Wave. I can now say that Breathless is my favorite Godard film yet.

It's hard, really, to explain why Breathless is so good. In the grand scheme of it, it really changed movies afterwards. But, that doesn't necessarily make it an enjoyable film to watch. Nonetheless, it is. It's a loose mixture of pulp, pop culture and romance. It's made with such ingenuity and enthusiasm, it's hard not to get sucked into it. The pace and the style of the film are far more engrossing than the plot itself.

Oddly enough, for how illogical they acted and how little motivation they seemed to have, they're surprisingly relatable. They're just so charming, so fun, so interesting that you can't help but like them and feel like, oddly enough, you know them.

I can't quite put my finger on why, but I loved Breathless.

Naked Lunch (1991)

So, I love Cronenberg's work. I consider Videodrome, The Fly and Dead Ringers to all be masterpieces. The Brood is great, but the rest I've seen are dragged down by schlocky effects, low-budget material and uncreative scripts. But, I can toss Naked Lunch into that upper pantheon of masterpieces, because it's just...wow.

I know nothing of Burroughs, so I can't say how great a job was done adapting his work and life to the screen, but from what I've read, an incredibly unique, creative and wholly effective job was done. I really liked the way that it's kind of a making-of-Naked Lunch, than the plot of the book itself. You begin to wonder "Damn, is this what Burroughs was like when he wrote the book?"

The entire film is a wonder of hallucinatory experiences. It seems like it'd be great to study, just to unravel all the layers upon layers of reality, hallucination, dreams, etc. It seems to be full of typical Cronenberg-isms, like hallucinations, frequent drug use, and extreme perversion. But, look a little closer and you'll seen that it's actually a deep rumination on drug addiction, grief, and the craft of writing itself.

I really liked Weller's performance in the film. He handles it all with a Bogart-like calmness, like he was ready for all this to happen. In many other ways, the film resembles a noir, as it has some of the trappings. For instance, the way that Bill's typewriter kept giving him these 'jobs' to do, where he has to go into the underworld. And especially at the end when Benway sheds his skin and reveals his master plan to Bill, full of typical double-crosses.

Cronenberg has done a great job in bringing Naked Lunch to the screen, I'd say. Definitely a film that stays with the viewer a long time afterwards. I can't wait to grab my own copy and watch it again, heh.