THE PHENOMENON OF FILM NOIR CAN BE READ AS THE CINEMATIC EXPRESSION OF POSTWAR MASCULINE DISPLACEMENT. RETURNING VETERANS, REINSERTED INTO A RAPIDLY SHIFTING ECONOMIC AND GENDER ORDER, CONFRONTED A WORLD THAT NO LONGER GUARANTEED PATRIARCHAL STABILITY. CLASSICAL NOIR EXTERNALIZES THIS ANXIETY THROUGH THE CONSTRUCTED FIGURE OF THE FEMME FATALE--HER EROTIC POWER MIRRORING MALE INSECURITY, HER SEDUCTION CULMINATING IN THE PROTAGONIST’S MORAL OR MATERIAL RUIN.

IN THE BLUE GARDENIA (WARNER BROS, 1953), DIRECTED BY FRITZ LANG, THAT STRUCTURE IS QUIETLY INVERTED. THE FILM RELOCATES NOIR’S PARANOIA FROM MALE GRIEVANCE TO FEMALE PRECARITY. THE PROTAGONIST IS NOT A MAN UNDONE BY A WOMAN'S GUILE, BUT A WOMAN ENSNARED BY MALE ENTITLEMENT AND INSTITUTIONAL INDIFFERENCE. THE RESULT IS NOT A CELEBRATION OF FEMALE AGENCY BUT AN EXAMINATION OF ITS FRAGILITY.

NORAH LARKIN [ANNE BAXTER], A MODEST SWITCHBOARD OPERATOR, RECEIVES A LETTER FROM HER SOLDIER BOYFRIEND STATIONED IN KOREA INFORMING HER THAT HE HAS FALLEN IN LOVE WITH ANOTHER WOMAN IN JAPAN. EMOTIONALLY SHATTERED, SHE ACCEPTS THE DINNER INVITATION OF ONE HARRY PREBBLE [RAYMOND BURR], A COMMERCIAL ARTIST WHO TAKES HER TO DINNER, INTOXICATES HER, AND ATTEMPTS TO SEXUALLY ASSAULT HER IN HIS APARTMENT. SHE ESCAPES, BUT AWAKENS THE NEXT MORNING WITH NO MEMORY OF THE STRUGGLE AND DISCOVERS PREBBLE DEAD.

FROM THIS POINT FORWARD, THE FILM SHIFTS FROM PRIVATE VIOLENCE TO PUBLIC CONSTRUCTION. THE CENTRAL QUESTION IS NOT SIMPLY WHO KILLED PREBBLE, BUT HOW A WOMAN IS RAPIDLY NARRATIVIZED INTO A MONSTER. LAW ENFORCEMENT SEEKS EXPEDIENT CLOSURE RATHER THAN TRUTH. THE PRESS, PERSONIFIED BY COLUMNIST CASEY MAYO [RICHARD CONTE], TRANSFORMS THE CASE INTO SERIALIZED SPECTACLE. HOUSEWIVES CONSUME AND PARTICIPATE IN THE DRAMA AS IF IT WERE PULP ENTERTAINMENT. SEXUAL VULNERABILITY BECOMES COMMUNAL SPORT.

WHAT EMERGES IS A PORTRAIT OF STRUCTURAL MISOGYNY. A WOMAN WHO DRINKS WITH A MAN AT NIGHT IS ALREADY HALFWAY CONDEMNED. THE ASSAULT ITSELF IS ALMOST SECONDARY TO THE SPEED WITH WHICH SOCIAL MECHANISMS MOVE TO CONTAIN AND DEFINE HER. NOIR’S TRADITIONAL FOCUS ON MALE ENTANGLEMENT IS HERE REPLACED BY A STUDY OF HOW EASILY MFEALE SUBJECTIVITY CAN BE ERASED.

THE FILM'S RESOLUTION IS PARTICULARLY UNSETTLING. NORAH IS EXONERATED AT THE LAST MOMENT WHEN MAYO UNCOVERS THE TRUTH. JUSTICE, HOWEVER, FEELS ACCIDENTAL. THE POLICE REMAIN PROCEDURALLY INDIFFERENT. THE PRESS REMAINS PREDATORY. THE PUBLIC REMAINS VOYEURISTIC. THE SYSTEM IS UNCHANGED.

MOST DISQUIETING IS NORAH’S OPENNESS TO MAYO’S ROMANTIC OVERTURES. THIS IS NOT A CASE OF TRAUMA-BONDED ATTACHMENT; MAYO IS NOT HER ASSAILANT. RATHER, THE ENDING SUGGESTS THE GRAVITATIONAL PULL OF NORMATIVE ROMANTIC RESTORATION. AFTER NEARLY BEING DESTROYED BY MALE VIOLENCE AND INSTITUTIONAL BIAS, SHE IS QUIETLY REABSORBED INTO THE PROMISE OF HETEROSEXUAL COUPLING. THE NARRATIVE RESOLVES THROUGH ASSIMILATION.

IF CLASSICAL NOIR TYPICALLY CONCLUDES WITH MALE RUIN, THE BLUE GARDENIA CONCLUDES WITH FEMALE ADJUSTMENT. THAT ADJUSTMENT--THE WILLINGNESS TO RETURN TO THE VERY STRUCTURE THAT NEARLY ERASED HER--CONSTITUTES THE FILM'S TRUE TRAGEDY. THE VIOLENCE IS NOT MERELY PHYSICAL; IT IS IDEOLOGICAL. AGENCY IS SOFTLY EXTINGUISHED IN FAVOR OF SOCIAL CONTINUITY.
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EVEN THE SILKEN NIGHTCLUB PERFORMANCE BY NAT KING COLE, CROONING THE TITLE SONG, INTENSIFIES THE IRONY. THE MELODY PROMISES ROMANTIC EASE; THE NARRATIVE EXPOSES STRUCTURAL PRECARITY. THE MUSIC RESOLVES. THE SYSTEM DOES NOT.

THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT THAT CREEPING PLOD TOWARD ADULTHOOD AND ITS ATTENDANT RESPONSIBILITIES AND PITFALLS THAT INSPIRES A UNIQUE FORM OF EXISTENTIAL DREAD.  THE MUCH CELEBRATED FILM THE GRADUATE (UNITED ARTISTS, 1967), DIRECTED BY MIKE NICHOLS, IS VERY MUCH AN EXTENDED MEDITATION ON THAT EXACT FEELING, WHERE THE TRANSITION FROM CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE IS MET WITH EXTERNAL EXPECTATIONS AND THE SENSE THAT CHOICES ARE NOW SUBJECT TO PERMANENT CONSEQUENCES. THE WEIGHT OF SUCH OFTEN LEAVES ONE EITHER PARALYZED BY THE OPTIONS AVAILABLE OR WILLING TO DELUDE THEMSELVES INTO SOME SORRY VERSION OF AN EXTENDED ADOLESCENCE.
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BENJAMIN BRADDOCK [DUSTIN HOFFMAN] IS A RECENT COLLEGE GRADUATE UNSURE OF HIS NEXT STEP AND UNEASY ABOUT HIS IMMERSION INTO THE ADULT WORLD OF COMMERCE, FAMILY AND RELATIONSHIPS. IT IS NOT THAT HE HAS NO OPTIONS--HE WAS AN AWARD-WINNING SCHOLAR DURING HIS UNDERGRAD YEARS--IT IS JUST THAT HE DOES NOT SEEM TO HAVE ANY CLEAR ASPIRATIONS. COMPOUNDING THIS LACK OF AMBITION IS THE FACT THAT HE FEELS BOUND BY THE EXPECTATIONS OF HIS PARENTS, THEIR FRIENDS AND THEIR PEERS. SUCH IS PROBABLY WHY HE ALLOWS HIMSELF TO BECOME SEDUCED BY MRS. ROBINSON [ANNE BANCROFT]. IN FACT, DESPITE HIS NEED TO CONSTANTLY PRY AND ASK QUESTIONS, BRADDOCK EXCELS AT ALLOWING THOSE IN SUPPOSED POSITIONS OF POWER TO MANIPULATE HIM.

SUCH IS WHY, UPON MEETING MRS. ROBINSON'S DAUGHTER ELAINE [KATHARINE ROSS], HIS FIRST INSTINCT IS TO TRAUMATIZE HER BY BRINGING HER TO A BEATNIK STRIP CLUB BEFORE APOLOGIZING AND COMING CLEAN ABOUT HIS INABILITY TO ESTABLISH NORMAL RELATIONSHIPS. IN ELAINE HE SEES A COMPASSIONATE, INTELLIGENT PARTNER AND THE POTENTIAL TO REDEEM HIMSELF FROM HIS RECENT MORAL FAILINGS WITH HER MOTHER.

IT IS AN ODD FILM BECAUSE SO MUCH OF BRADDOCK'S BEHAVIOR WOULD NOW BE DEEMED RATHER SUSPICIOUS AND MANIPULATIVE, WHETHER IT BE STALKING ELAINE ON CAMPUS OR SMOTHERING HER WITH CONSTANT ATTENTION. THE FILM ITSELF SEEMS TO JUSTIFY SUCH AS PART AND PARCEL OF THE LENGTHS HE WOULD GO TO WIN HER OVER, BUT IT IS DIFFICULT NOT TO VIEW THOSE MOMENTS DIFFERENTLY THROUGH A CONTEMPORARY LENS. CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE FILM HAVE AGED UNEVENLY OVER THE PAST HALF-CENTURY, EVEN IF ITS EMOTIONAL CORE REMAINS STRIKINGLY RESONANT.

ULTIMATELY BENJAMIN BLOCKS ELAINE'S MARRIAGE AND THE TWO RUN OFF TOGETHER IN ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS AND BEGUILING ENDINGS IN CINEMATIC HISTORY. YET WHAT MAKES THAT FINAL SEQUENCE SO POWERFUL IS THAT IT REFUSES TO PROVIDE TRUE CATHARSIS. BOTH ELAINE AND BRADDOCK SIMPLY STARE BLANKLY INTO SPACE, UNSURE OF THEMSELVES OR THE FUTURE THEY HAVE TEMPORARILY CHOSEN TO PURSUE TOGETHER. IT IS NOT AN OPTIMISTIC ENDING SO MUCH AS ONE FILLED WITH UNEASE, CONFUSION AND EXISTENTIAL DREAD, VERY MUCH IN KEEPING WITH THE REST OF THE FILM.

NO DOUBT THE MUSIC OF SIMON & GARFUNKEL--PARTICULARLY THE SONGS "THE SOUND OF SILENCE," "SCARBOROUGH FAIR/CANTICLE" AND "MRS. ROBINSON"--DOES AN IMMENSE AMOUNT OF WORK IN ESTABLISHING A CONTINUOUS MOOD OF DISCOMFORT, ALIENATION AND GENUINE MALAISE. THE SOUNDTRACK FUNCTIONS LESS AS MUSICAL ACCOMPANIMENT THAN AS AN EXTENSION OF BRADDOCK'S INNER MONOLOGUE, DRIFTING THROUGH THE FILM LIKE A QUIET FUNERAL MARCH FOR YOUTH ITSELF.

WHAT I ALWAYS FIND SO MOVING ABOUT THE FILM IS THAT IT SUBTLY UNDERSTANDS HOW SOMEONE CAN BE INTELLECTUALLY GIFTED YET COMPLETELY NAIVE IN THE WAYS OF THE WORLD. BRADDOCK POSSESSES SCHOOL SMARTS, BUT HE LACKS ANY REAL UNDERSTANDING OF HIMSELF, OTHER PEOPLE OR WHAT CONSTITUTES A MEANINGFUL LIFE. THAT PARTICULAR KIND OF NAIVETE OR INNOCENCE ONLY HAPPENS ONCE. ONCE THAT THRESHOLD HAS PASSED, PART OF THE MAGIC OF LIFE SEEMS TO DEPART WITH IT, REPLACED BY THE DRUDGERY OF AGING, CAREERISM, TAXES AND THE SLOW RECOGNITION OF ONE'S OWN MORTALITY.

IN A SENSE, MRS. ROBINSON IS ALREADY THERE. SHE REPRESENTS THE HOLLOWED-OUT ENDPOINT OF ADULTHOOD, SOMEONE WHO LONG AGO SUBMITTED TO DISILLUSIONMENT AND NOW DRIFTS THROUGH LIFE WITH A MIXTURE OF BITTERNESS, REGRET AND RESENTMENT. HER ATTEMPTS TO DRAW VITALITY OUT OF BRADDOCK FEEL LESS LIKE ACTS OF PASSION OR CONNECTION THAN DESPERATE ATTEMPTS TO RECAPTURE SOMETHING THAT HAS ALREADY VANISHED. I WATCH THIS FILM AND CANNOT HELP BUT THINK OF MY OWN MORTALITY AND THE SAD REALIZATION THAT ADULTHOOD IS MOSTLY A PROCESS OF LOSING ILLUSIONS.

IN THE UPPER ECHELONS OF PRESTIGIOUS CORPORATE LAW FIRMS, ONE OF THE MOST VALUABLE--AND LEAST PUBLICLY ACKNOWLEDGED--ROLES IS THAT OF THE FIXER. NOT A LITIGATOR OR DEALMAKER, BUT A CRISIS MANAGER OPERATING OUTSIDE THE FORMAL BOUNDARIES OF PROCESS AND DISCLOSURE, TASKED WITH DELIVERING IMMEDIATE RESULTS FOR CLIENTS WHO EXPECT NOTHING LESS AND PAY HANDSOMELY TO ENSURE IT.
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IN MICHAEL CLAYTON (WARNER BROS, 2007), MICHAEL CLAYTON [GEORGE CLOONEY] EMBODIES THIS FUNCTION WITH CLINICAL PRECISION. TRAINED AS BOTH A LAWYER AND A FORMER POLICEMAN, HE OPERATES IN A GRAY ZONE WHERE LEGAL PROTOCOL AND STREET-LEVEL PRAGMATISM OVERLAP--AN UNDOCUMENTED WORLD GOVERNED LESS BY PROCEDURE THAN BY RELATIONSHIPS, DISCRETION, AND IMPLIED THREATS. HE IS A LIAISON IN THE TRUEST SENSE, ABLE TO NAVIGATE INSTITUTIONAL POWER AND INFORMAL COERCION WITH EQUAL FLUENCY, MANIPULATING BOTH TO SERVE HIS CLIENT’S END.

BUT THIS POSITION COMES AT A COST. THE VERY NATURE OF HIS WORK--EPHEMERAL, OFF-THE-BOOKS, AND DESIGNED TO LEAVE NO TRACE--PRECLUDES THE ACCUMULATION OF LASTING EQUITY. YEARS SPENT SOLVING OTHER PEOPLE’S PROBLEMS HAVE LEFT CLAYTON WITH LITTLE TO SHOW FOR IT BEYOND A SALARY AND A REPUTATION BUILT ON SILENCE AND DISCRETION. THAT IMBALANCE IS MADE CONCRETE THROUGH A FAILED RESTAURANT INVESTMENT AND A GROUP OF IMPATIENT CREDITORS, SITUATING HIM AT THE FILM’S OUTSET AS A MAN DEEPLY ENTANGLED IN FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS HE CAN NO LONGER EASILY MANAGE.

WHAT IS MOST REVEALING, HOWEVER, IS NOT THAT SUCH A ROLE EXISTS, BUT THAT POWERFUL CORPORATIONS CONTINUE TO RELY ON IT DESPITE POSSESSING VAST INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS TO SHAPE OUTCOMES THROUGH LEGAL, REGULATORY, AND PUBLIC CHANNELS. THE FIXER IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR THESE TOOLS, BUT A SUPPLEMENT--DEPLOYED WHEN TIME IS COMPRESSED, EXPOSURE RISK IS EXISTENTIAL, AND CONVENTIONAL METHODS PROVE INSUFFICIENT. THEIR NECESSITY DOES NOT SIGNAL STRENGTH, BUT STRUCTURAL VULNERABILITY.
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THIS TENSION IS PERSONIFIED BY AGROCHEMICAL EXECUTIVE KAREN CROWDER [TILDA SWINTON], WHO FINDS HERSELF CONFRONTED WITH A CRISIS THAT CANNOT BE CONTAINED THROUGH STANDARD MEANS. HER TOP LITIGATOR, ARTHUR EDEN [TOM WILKINSON], HAS GONE ROGUE--SEEKING TO EXPOSE THE COMPANY’S KNOWING COVER-UP OF A PRODUCT LINKED TO DEADLY TOXIC EXPOSURE AMONG FARMERS. FOR THE LAW FIRM, LED BY MARTY BACH [SYDNEY POLLACK], THE TIMING COULD NOT BE WORSE: A PENDING MERGER HANGS IN THE BALANCE, ITS MARKET VALUE DIRECTLY THREATENED BY THE REVELATION OF LIABILITY ON THIS SCALE.

EDEN, HOWEVER, IS NOT AN EASILY MANAGED VARIABLE. HE IS DANGEROUS NOT BECAUSE HE IS UNSTABLE, BUT BECAUSE HE IS LUCID AND MORALLY RESOLVED. A BRILLIANT TRIAL LAWYER WHO UNDERSTANDS THE SYSTEM INTIMATELY, HE HAS CHOSEN TO REJECT IT--MAKING ANY ATTEMPT TO DISCREDIT OR CONTAIN HIM INHERENTLY UNRELIABLE. EVEN HIS PUBLIC BREAKDOWN--STRIPPING NAKED DURING A VIDEOTAPED DEPOSITION--FAILS TO UNDERMINE HIS CREDIBILITY IN ANY MEANINGFUL WAY. HE REMAINS, AT HIS CORE, A FORMIDABLE ADVERSARY AND A PROFOUND THREAT.

WHAT MICHAEL CLAYTON ULTIMATELY ILLUMINATES IS THE UNSUSTAINABLE LOGIC OF MAINTAINING A COMPROMISED SYSTEM. ONCE A BUSINESS IS BUILT UPON A FOUNDATION OF MORAL AND LEGAL LIABILITY, IT REQUIRES INCREASING LEVELS OF INTELLIGENCE, COORDINATION AND ETHICAL COMPROMISE SIMPLY TO PRESERVE THE STATUS QUO. THE EXPERTISE REQUIRED TO CONTAIN THE DAMAGE--TO MANAGE PERCEPTION, SILENCE DISSENT, AND DELAY CONSEQUENCE--BEGINS TO OUTWEIGH THE VALUE OF THE ENTERPRISE ITSELF.

AND YET, HISTORY SUGGESTS THAT SUCH SYSTEMS RARELY CHOOSE REINVENTION OVER MAINTENANCE. THE INCENTIVES--FINANCIAL, LEGAL AND STRUCTURAL--FAVOR CONTINUITY, EVEN WHEN THE UNDERLYING PRODUCT OR PRACTICE HAS BECOME A LIABILITY. THE RESULT IS A SELF-PERPETUATING CYCLE IN WHICH RISK IS NOT ELIMINATED, BUT MANAGED--DEFERRED, REDISTRIBUTED, AND, WHEN NECESSARY, BURIED.

IN THAT CONTEXT, THE FIXER IS NOT AN ABERRATION, BUT AN INEVITABILITY.

ACTION FILMS HAVE ALWAYS APPEALED TO ME BECAUSE THEY DEAL IN BIG REACTIONS TO BIG EMOTIONS. IN THE PROCESS, THEY REVEAL MUCH ABOUT THE FRAGILITY OF MODERN MASCULINITY AND THE NEED TO PERFORM ASSERTIVENESS--OFTEN TO THE POINT OF AGGRESSION--IN ORDER TO BE PERCEIVED AS LEGITIMATE OR MASCULINE. NEVER MIND THAT THE REAL ENEMY IS USUALLY STRUCTURAL: SYSTEMS CONSCIOUSLY DESIGNED TO ENFORCE A HIERARCHY, ESPECIALLY AGAINST WORKING AND LOWER-CLASS PARTICIPANTS WHOSE ONLY PRESUMED RECOURSE IS SUBVERSION OR VIOLENCE. EVEN THEN, SUCH RESISTANCE IS A WEAK HAND TO PLAY WHEN THE OPPOSITION HAS THE BANKING, POLITICAL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT APPARATUS IN ITS POCKET.

IF ANYTHING, MODERN-DAY CAPITALISM RUNS DELIBERATELY ON EXPLOITING THESE INEQUALITIES. THE REAL TRICK IS HOW IT FOOLS THE MAJORITY INTO BELIEVING THEY HAVE A SAY. WITHIN ACTION FILMS, SUCH FOOLERY IS OFTEN PROPELLED BY HYPERMASCULINE ARCHETYPES OF QUICK, DECISIVE ACTION: ONE MAN UNLEASHING RAPID, BLITZKRIEG-LEVEL VIOLENCE AGAINST MULTIPLE LAYERS OF POWER. THIS IS THE MYTHOS EMBODIED BY ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, CHUCK NORRIS, JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMME, SYLVESTER STALLONE, DOLPH LUNDGREN, BRUCE WILLIS AND KEANU REEVES.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THE LLYA NAISHULLER-DIRECTED NOBODY (UNIVERSAL, 2021) IS THAT IT POSITS THAT THE CLEAN-UP MAN FOR THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT--THE END-ALL, BE-ALL STATE ASSASSIN CALLED UPON FOR THE MOST BRUTAL MISSION--IS A SEEMINGLY ORDINARY, MIDDLE-AGED SUBURBAN FAMILY MAN NAMED HUTCH MANSELL [BOB ODENKIRK], A MAN WITH A MEDIOCRE JOB AND A MIDDLE-CLASS LIFE DEVOID OF ULTRA-VIOLENCE AND CONTRACT HITS. ALL IT TAKES IS AN AMATEUR HOME INVASION BY A COUPLE OF DESPERATE YOUNG ADULTS TRYING TO FIND SOMETHING, ANYTHING, TO HELP PAY MEDICAL COSTS FOR THEIR SICK DAUGHTER TO TRIGGER HIS RETURN AS A ROGUE ASSET.

EN ROUTE TO LEARNING THAT HIS ORIGINAL TARGET IS NOT WORTH THE EFFORT, DUE TO HIS OWN COMPASSION, MANSELL COMES ACROSS A GROUP OF DRUNK RUSSIANS HARASSING A YOUNG WOMAN ON A PUBLIC BUS AND PROCEEDS TO PUT THEM ALL IN THE HOSPITAL. THIS DRAWS THE ATTENTION OF THE RUSSIAN MAFIA, WHO COME AFTER HIM AT HIS SUBURBAN HOME, RESULTING IN AN ALL-OUT BLOODBATH. YET HIS COMPASSION--HIS INSTINCT TO SEEK VENGEANCE AGAINST THOSE WHO DESERVE IT WHILE SPARING THOSE WHO ARE VICTIMS THEMSELVES--IS THE MORAL HALLMARK OF THE FILM. MANSELL ACTIVELY TRIES NOT TO WIDEN THE FIELD OF VIOLENCE TO INCLUDE THE INNOCENT. HE IS NOT UNNECESSARILY CARELESS WITH HIS BODY COUNT, OFTEN SCARING AWAY BYSTANDERS OR THOSE SMART ENOUGH TO TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET OUT.

BUT THE BIGGEST DRAW IS THAT MANSELL DOES NOT FIT THE ARCHETYPE OF THE ACTION STAR AS A TORTURED ADONIS OR PINNACLE OF MASCULINE BEAUTY. HE IS A NORMAL DUDE PLAYED BY AN AGING SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (NBC, 1975-2026) COMEDY WRITING LEGEND AND FORMER MR. SHOW (HBO, 1995-1) CO-HOST, BOB ODENKIRK. DESPITE BEING A VERITABLE COMEDY La, ODENKIRK HAS TAKEN AN UNEXPECTED DRAMATIC TURN IN THE YEARS SINCE BREAKING BAD (HBO, 2008-2013) AND BETTER CALL SAUL (AMC, 2015-2022). TO BE A GREAT COMEDIAN, ONE MUST POSSESS A FINELY ATTUNED ABILITY TO READ SITUATIONS AND THE NUANCES OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR, A CAPACITY THAT PAYS DIVIDENDS HERE IN HIS ROLE AS AN UNTRADITIONAL ACTION STAR WITH A STRONG MORAL COMPASS.

MANSELL’S DESIRED GOAL IS NOT GLORY, DOMINANCE OR REVENGE FOR ITS OWN SAKE, BUT THE MAINTENANCE OF A BORING LIFE WITH HIS YOUNG FAMILY, WHO DO NOT THINK OF HIM AS A BADASS BUT RATHER AS A COWARD. THIS IS BECAUSE HE REFUSED TO KILL THE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED HOME INVADERS, SENSING THEIR TIMIDITY, INEXPERIENCE AND THE FACT THAT THEIR PISTOL HAD NO BULLETS. THEY WERE NOT A REAL THREAT. BUT SUCH NUANCE IS IMPOSSIBLE TO CONVEY TO HIS TEENAGE SON, LEAVING MANSELL CAUGHT IN A MOMENT OF PURE VULNERABILITY.

THAT IS A MOMENT I DOUBT STEVEN SEAGAL WOULD EVER ALLOW HIMSELF TO BE SEEN IN UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, WHICH IS PRECISELY WHY NOBODY IS SO COMPELLING--AND WHY SEAGAL REMAINS A LAME ACTOR, LAME BLUES GUITARIST, LAME COSPLAYING LOUISIANA LAWMAN AND, ONE WOULD PRESUME, AN EVEN LAMER NATURALIZED RUSSIAN.

I GOT INTO CYPRESS HILL AROUND 1996 THROUGH A CLASSMATE. THE IRONY IS THAT THIS HAPPENED NOT IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA--WHERE THE GROUP ORIGINATED--BUT IN NIGERIA, WHERE MY FAMILY HAD RELOCATED AFTER I SPENT MY ENTIRE LIFE IN NEARBY ORANGE COUNTY. IT TOOK THAT DISPLACEMENT--AND THE EXTREME CONDITIONS OF LIVING UNDER THE MILITARY DICTATORSHIP OF SANI ABACHA--FOR THEIR STREET-LEVEL, PSYCHEDELIC SOUND TO FULLY REGISTER. IN A PLACE WHERE LIFE AND DEATH WERE ON CONSTANT, INDIFFERENT DISPLAY, THEIR MUSIC BECAME MORE THAN ENTERTAINMENT; IT WAS A WAY OF MAKING SENSE OF THE WORLD AROUND ME.
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GROWING UP IN THE CULTURALLY INSULATED ENVIRONMENT OF ORANGE COUNTY OFFERED NO SUCH CONTEXT. MINORITIES WERE EFFECTIVELY REDLINED INTO DESIGNATED AREAS--MY OWN NEIGHBORHOOD INCLUDED--AND THAT SEPARATION BLUNTED ANY REAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE EXPERIENCES BEING EXPRESSED IN THE MUSIC. IN NIGERIA, HOWEVER, THOSE THEMES WERE NO LONGER ABSTRACT. DISCOVERING CYPRESS HILL BECAME AN EDUCATION, PROVIDING A FRAMEWORK THROUGH WHICH I COULD PROCESS THE DEPRAVITY AND INHUMANITY I WAS WITNESSING DURING A VOLATILE PERIOD IN THE COUNTRY’S HISTORY. FROM THERE, THE CONNECTION TO LOCAL, LIKE-MINDED ARTISTS CAME NATURALLY--PARTICULARLY FELA KUTI, WHOSE WORK OPERATED WITH A SIMILARLY DEFIANT, POLITICIZED SPIRIT.

MUCH OF HIP HOP HAS BECOME ASSOCIATED WITH MATERIAL AMBITION AND PERFORMATIVE DISPLAYS OF POWER. THE DOCUMENTARY CYPRESS HILL: INSANE IN THE BRAIN (MASS APPEAL, 2022) MAKES CLEAR THAT CYPRESS HILL’S IDENTITY HAS ALWAYS BEEN ROOTED IN COMMUNITY. WHETHER A PRODUCT OF THE DIVERSE SOUTH GATE, CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENT THEY CAME FROM OR A CONSCIOUS ETHOS, THE GROUP HAS CONSISTENTLY PRIORITIZED REPRESENTING THEIR PEOPLE WITH HONESTY OVER-INDULGING IN SHALLOW SYMBOLS OF EXCESS.

IN THAT SENSE, THEY ALIGN WITH THE SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS TRADITION OF HIP HOP--PUBLIC ENEMY, X-CLAN, A TRIBE CALLED QUEST, BOOGIE DOWN PRODUCTIONS--LATER ECHOED BY BLACK STAR, RUN THE JEWELS, THE COUP, AND DEAD PREZ--RATHER THAN THE MORE COMMERCIALLY FIXATED WING OF THE GENRE. THEIR INTERNAL DYNAMICS REFLECT THIS AS WELL: A FAMILY STRUCTURE THAT ALLOWS FOR INDIVIDUAL STRUGGLE AND SPACE, AS SEEN IN SEN DOG’S EXTENDED HIATUSES TO FOCUS ON HIS MENTAL HEALTH.

THEIR CULTURAL IMPACT EXTENDS BEYOND SOUND. AS A PREDOMINANTLY LATINO GROUP (WITH DJ MUGGS AS THE EXCEPTION), THEIR USE OF SPANISH--INCLUDING FULL PROJECTS--PLAYED A MEANINGFUL ROLE IN EXPANDING HIP HOP’S REACH INTO CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA. THIS WAS NOT A CALCULATED MARKET MOVE BUT AN AUTHENTIC EXPRESSION OF IDENTITY. THE SAME HOLDS TRUE FOR THEIR LONG-STANDING ADVOCACY FOR CANNABIS LEGALIZATION, WHICH DATES BACK TO THE EARLY 1990s, LONG BEFORE THE ISSUE ENTERED MAINSTREAM ACCEPTANCE.

IF ANYTHING, THEIR MUSIC HELPED NORMALIZE THAT CONVERSATION, CONTRIBUTING--HOWEVER INDIRECTLY--TO THE BROADER CULTURAL SHIFT THAT MADE MEASURES LIKE CALIFORNIA PROPOSITION 64 POSSIBLE. MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT REINFORCES THE IDEA THAT CYPRESS HILL HAS ALWAYS OPERATED ON ITS OWN TERMS, GUIDED BY LIVED EXPERIENCE RATHER THAN TRENDS.

THIS FILM IS A CELEBRATION OF THAT REVOLUTIONARY ETHOS--OF COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, AND LONG-TERM AUTHENTICITY--MAKING IT WELL WORTH SEEKING OUT.

WITH THE INHERENT VOLATILITY THAT ACCOMPANIED LIFE ALONG THE AMERICAN FRONTIER — PHYSICALLY REMOVED FROM THE STABILIZING STRUCTURES OF CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY — CAME AN INEVITABLE TENDENCY TOWARD MYTH-MAKING. THIS WAS ESPECIALLY TRUE OF OUTLAWS, WHO WERE NOT ONLY GEOGRAPHICALLY APART FROM COMMUNITY LIFE BUT MORALLY ESTRANGED FROM IT. AGAINST THE DRUDGERY AND THANKLESS LABOR THAT DEFINED DAILY EXISTENCE IN THE OLD WEST — AGRICULTURAL TOIL, LEGAL DISPUTES, FINANCIAL PRECARITY, HOSPITALITY WORK, LAW ENFORCEMENT — THE OUTLAW BECAME AN ESCAPIST FANTASY: A FIGURE UNBOUND BY LAND, DEBT, FAMILY, OR CIVIC OBLIGATION, FREE TO ROAM AT WILL. FROM THIS TENSION EMERGED THE ENDURING FOLKLORE OF THE FRONTIER OUTLAW IN AMERICAN CULTURE.

YET THE LIVED REALITY OF SUCH FREEDOM WAS FAR LESS ROMANTIC. THE GUNFIGHTER (TWENTIETH CENTURY-FOX, 1950), DIRECTED BY HENRY KING, DISMANTLES THAT FANTASY FROM WITHIN. THE FILM IS LESS A CONVENTIONAL WESTERN THAN A STUDY OF REPUTATION — AND OF HOW, ALONG THE FRONTIER, A MAN’S NAME BECOMES HIS DESTINY.

JIMMY RINGO [GREGORY PECK] IS A LEGENDARY FRONTIER GUNFIGHTER OFTEN COMPARED TO FIGURES LIKE WYATT EARP OR JESSE JAMES. BUT UNLIKE THOSE MEN, WHOSE LEGENDS WERE FOREVER SEALED BY DEATH AND ABSORBED INTO FOLKLORE, RINGO MUST ENDURE HIS MYTH WHILE STILL ALIVE. HIS NOTORIETY PRECEDES HIM INTO EVERY SALOON, FUNCTIONING LIKE AN INVISIBLE BOUNTY ON HIS BACK.

DESPITE HIS MODEST, ALMOST PASSIVE DEMEANOR, ASPIRING GUNSLINGERS MANUFACTURE CONFRONTATIONS IN HOPES OF CONVERTING HIS FAME INTO THEIR OWN FRONTIER IMMORTALITY. EACH CHALLENGE IS LESS PERSONAL GRIEVANCE THAN AN OPPORTUNISTIC CAREER MOVE. RINGO CANNOT OUTRUN HIS NAME; IT ARRIVES BEFORE HE DOES.

THE SALOON SCENES CRYSTALLIZE THIS ECONOMY OF FAME. MAC [KARL MALDEN], THE BARKEEP, SEES COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITY — SPECTACLE MEANS PROFIT. HUNT BROMLEY [SKIP HOMEIER] SEES ADVANCEMENT. TO HIM, RINGO IS NOT A MAN BUT A STEPPING STONE. EVEN THE TOWNSPEOPLE REGARD HIM WITH AWE TINGED BY VOYEURISM. IN SUCH AN ENVIRONMENT, IDENTITY BECOMES TRANSACTIONAL.

THE FILM'S MOST AFFECTING EXCHANGE OCCURS NOT WITH AN ADVERSARY BUT WITH A STRANGER: TOMMY [KIM SPALDING], A YOUNG HOMESTEADER UNAWARE OF RINGO’S REPUTATION. TOMMY SPEAKS WARMLY OF HIS WIFE, HIS CATTLE, AND THE DIGNITY OF BUILDING A LIFE THROUGH STEADY, HONEST LABOR. THE MOMENT IS DEVASTATING BECAUSE IT IS ANONYMOUS. STRIPPED OF MYTH, RINGO REVEALS WARMTH, HUMILITY, AND LONGING. FOR A BRIEF INSTANT, THE LEGEND DISSOLVES AND THE MAN EMERGES. THE SCENE EXPOSES AN UNTAKEN PATH — ONE NOW PERMANENTLY CLOSED.

RINGO’S RETURN TO CAYENNE TO SEE PEGGY WALSH [HELEN WESTCOTT] AND THE SON HE HAS NEVER MET REINFORCES THIS YEARNING FOR ROOTEDNESS. HIS DREAM IS MODEST: TO BECOME AN ORDINARY FAMILY MAN SOMEWHERE HIS NAME CARRIES NO WEIGHT — PERHAPS CALIFORNIA, THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST, EVEN SOUTH AMERICA. YET GEOGRAPHY OFFERS NO ESCAPE. REPUTATION TRAVELS BY RUMOR AND MEMORY, ALWAYS OUTPACING REINVENTION.

MARSHALL MARK STRETT [MILLARD MITCHELL], ONCE PART OF RINGO’S OUTLAW CIRCLE, REPRESENTS THE COUNTERFACTUAL. HE SUCCESSFULLY TRANSITIONED INTO CIVIC LEGITIMACY, TRADING NOTORIETY FOR STABILITY. REINTEGRATION, THE FILM SUGGESTS, REQUIRES SURRENDERING THE MYTH. RINGO CANNOT.

HIS DEATH — SHOT IN THE BACK BY BROMLEY IN AN ALLEY — IS CRUELLY FITTING. EVEN IN HIS FINAL MOMENTS, RINGO MUST CURATE HIS LEGEND, CLAIMING HE RAISED HIS ARM FIRST SO THAT HIS SON INHERITS NOT DISGRACE BUT A PRESERVED CODE OF HONOR. HIS LAST ACT IS REPUTATIONAL MANAGEMENT.

THE GUNFIGHTER ARGUES THAT, ON THE FRONTIER, A NAME IS CURRENCY. IN A VOLATILE LANDSCAPE WITH LIMITED INSTITUTIONAL DEPTH, REPUTATION SUBSTITUTES FOR PAPERWORK, CONTRACTS, AND EVEN DUE PROCESS. A MAN’S NAME BECOMES SHORTHAND FOR MORAL PREDICTABILITY. BUT ONCE FIXED, IT RESISTS REVISION. RINGO’S TEMPERAMENT HAS EVOLVED; THE MYTH HAS NOT.
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THE FILM'S LOGIC FEELS UNCANNILY MODERN. THE FRONTIER WAS A DECENTRALIZED, RUMOR-DRIVEN ECOSYSTEM WHERE NARRATIVES TRAVELED QUICKLY AND CONTEXT ERODED. TODAY’S DIGITAL LANDSCAPE OPERATES SIMILARLY — ONLY FASTER, MORE PERMANENT, AND ALGORITHMICALLY AMPLIFIED. REPUTATION SPREADS NOT BY DIME NOVEL BUT BY FEEDS AND TIMELINES. BOTH ENVIRONMENTS REWARD SPECTACLE AND FLATTEN NUANCE. BOTH ALLOW NARRATIVE TO DETACH FROM THE LIVING INDIVIDUAL BEHIND IT.

IF THE OUTLAW MYTH PROMISED FREEDOM, THE GUNFIGHTER REVEALS THE COST OF VISIBILITY: PERPETUAL EXPOSURE AND ISOLATION. RINGO IS NOT A SYMBOL OF LIBERATION BUT A CAUTIONARY FIGURE. IN BOTH THE FRONTIER TOWN AND THE DIGITAL TOWN SQUARE, A NAME TRAVELS FASTER THAN CHARACTER. AND ONCE A STORY ATTACHES ITSELF TO YOU, RECLAIMING AUTHORSHIP IS THE HARDEST GUNFIGHT OF ALL.

ITS BEEN A MOMENT SINCE I REWATCHED THE SHINING (WARNER BROS, 1980), AT THE VERY LEAST SINCE MY TEENAGE YEARS WHEN I FIRST CAME ACROSS IT. AT THE TIME I WASNT USED TO FILMS WITH SUCH AMBITIOUS, IF NOT CONFOUNDING, STORYLINES AND SUCH EXTENSIVE SOPHISTICATED USE OF MOOD, SYMBOLISM AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORIENTATION. I JUST REMEMBER BEING COMPLETELY CONFUSED BY WHAT HAPPENED AND HOW THE FILM GRADUALLY SHIFTED FROM QUIET ANXIETY INTO FULL-BORE PSYCHOTIC COLLAPSE. REWATCHING IT NOW, I CAN SEE THAT AS MUCH AS THE HORROR ELEMENTS DEFINE THE ICONOGRAPHY OF THIS SEMINAL FILM, THE TRUE HEART OF IT IS AN UNEASY RELATIONSHIP WITH A FATHER ADDICTED TO ALCOHOL, ARTISTIC AMBITION AND HIS OWN EGO. IN THE REAL WORLD, WELL OUTSIDE OF ROOM 237, SUCH UNBRIDLED NARCISSISM AND THE RAGE THAT FOLLOWS WHEN FAILURE INEVITABLY REARS ITS UGLY HEAD LEADS TO DOMESTIC ABUSE AND GENERATIONAL TRAUMA, ARGUABLY MUCH MORE DEVASTATING HORRORS.

THE FILM FAMOUSLY FOLLOWS A YOUNG FAMILY AS THEY AGREE TO SERVE AS CARETAKERS FOR THE SCENIC AND REMOTE OVERLOOK HOTEL DURING THE OFFSEASON WINTER MONTHS. FOR FORMER SCHOOL TEACHER AND ASPIRING WRITER JACK TORRANCE [JACK NICHOLSON], SUCH ISOLATION REPRESENTS A PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO FOCUS EXCLUSIVELY ON HIS WRITING. HIS WIFE WENDY [SHELLEY DUVALL] AND SON DANNY [DANNY LLOYD] SEEM NOTICEABLY LESS ENTHUSED, BUT GO ALONG WITH IT AS AN ACT OF SUPPORT FOR JACK AND HIS LITERARY ASPIRATIONS. WHAT FOLLOWS IS A SLOW PSYCHOLOGICAL DECAY MASQUERADING AS A GHOST STORY, WITH THE OVERLOOK HOTEL ITSELF OPERATING AS A CENTRAL CHARACTER IN THE MORAL AND PSYCHIC DEGRADATION OF JACK AS HE DESCENDS INTO A FULL PSYCHOTIC STATE.

THE MECHANICS OF THAT TRANSFORMATION ARE DELIBERATELY OBSCURED AND NEVER FULLY ELABORATED UPON, BUT WHAT IS ESTABLISHED IS THAT DANNY POSSESSES A FORM OF TELEPATHY NOT JUST WITH OTHER PEOPLE, SUCH AS HOTEL CHEF DICK HALLORANN [SCATMAN CROTHERS], BUT CURIOUSLY WITH THE BUILDING ITSELF AND ITS FORMER INHABITANTS, INCLUDING THOSE VIOLENTLY MURDERED ON ITS PREMISES. THE TRUE HORROR LIES IN WITNESSING FIRSTHAND AN INNOCENT CHILD BECOME SO PSYCHOLOGICALLY OVERWHELMED BY INHERITED VIOLENCE THAT HE CREATES AND SUCCUMBS TO AN ALTERNATE PERSONA SIMPLY TO SURVIVE IT. HIS IMAGINARY FRIEND “TONY” FUNCTIONS LESS AS A SUPERNATURAL ENTITY THAN AS A DEFENSIVE MECHANISM AGAINST TRAUMA TOO IMMEASURABLE FOR A CHILD'S PSYCHE TO PROCESS DIRECTLY.

WHILE DANNY INTERNALIZES AND JACK EXTERNALIZES, WENDY MAINTAINS HER FOCUS ON PROTECTING HER SON, ESPECIALLY FROM JACK WHOM SHE SUSPECTS HAS GIVEN DANNY THE STRANGLE MARKS ON HIS NECK. THE FILM NEVER CONCLUSIVELY REVEALS THE SOURCE OF THOSE INJURIES, AND THE FILM'S PSYCHOLOGICAL AMBIGUITY LEAVES THE AUDIENCE OPEN TO SUPERNATURAL EXPLANATIONS DESPITE A LACK OF DEFINITIVE EVIDENCE. WHAT MAKES THE FILM SO UNNERVING IS HOW ITS MANY LONG PAUSES FEEL PREGNANT WITH THE INEVITABILITY OF VIOLENCE. AS AN AUDIENCE WE BECOME ENTRANCED BY THE SPELL OF THE OVERLOOK HOTEL, ITS IMPOSSIBLE ARCHITECTURE, ITS ENDLESS CORRIDORS AND ITS MULTITUDE OF SECRETS.
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BUT ULTIMATELY THE CENTRAL HORROR OF THE FILM IS NOT THE GHOSTS, THE BLOOD-SOAKED HALLWAYS OR THE AMBIGUOUS SUPERNATURAL PHENOMENA THAT HAVE COME TO DEFINE IT IN THE WIDER CULTURAL CONSCIOUSNESS. THE SHINING ARGUES THAT THE TRUE HORROR IS DOMESTIC: A CHILD TRAPPED IN PROXIMITY TO A PARENT INCAPABLE OF REGULATING HIS OWN RAGE. SUCH VOLATILITY PLACES AN IMMENSE PSYCHOLOGICAL BURDEN ON A YOUNG MIND STILL IN THE MIDST OF ITS DEVELOPMENT. THAT FEAR IS FAR MORE INTIMATE, EMOTIONALLY DEVASTATING AND RECOGNIZABLE THAN ANY GHOST STORY OR AXE-WIELDING MANIAC.

ONE OF THE FOUNDATIONAL AMBITIONS OF ADOLF HITLER AND HIS CULT OF NAZISM WAS THE COMPLETE TRANSFORMATION OF EUROPEAN CULTURE. A STRIDENT TRADITIONALIST WHO DESPISED MODERNISM, HITLER ENVISIONED A RETURN TO STATE-SANCTIONED ART BUILT AROUND MILITARY PAGEANTRY, IDEALIZED PORTRAITS AND NATIONAL MYTHOLOGY RATHER THAN THE DISTORTIONS AND AVANTE-GARDE EXPERIMENTS THAT DOMINATED MUCH OF CONTEMPORARY EUROPEAN PAINTING. SO IT CAME AS NO SURPRISE THAT WHEN OVERTHROWING GOVERNMENTS DURING THEIR BLITZKRIEG MILITARY CAMPAIGN, ESPECIALLY IN FRANCE, THE NAZIS LIKEWISE PILFERED MUSEUMS FOR CHOICE WORKS BY THE LIKES OF MANET, CEZANNE, MATISSE, PICASSO, TOULOUSE-LAUTREC, RENOIR, MONET AND GAUGUIN THAT WOULD ULTIMATELY BE ADDED TO THE BROADER AMBITION OF A NEW NATIONAL MUSEUM CALLED THE FUHRERMUSEUM IN HIS HOMETOWN OF LINZ, AUSTRIA, WHERE THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIETY ITSELF WOULD BE ON FULL DISPLAY, INCLUDING SO-CALLED “DEGENERATE ART.”

THE TRAIN (UNITED ARTISTS, 1964) IS A JOHN FRANKENHEIMER-DIRECTED WAR FILM ABOUT THE LATE WORLD WAR II EFFORT TO PREVENT THE NAZIS FROM SUCCESSFULLY REMOVING THESE PRICELESS PAINTINGS FROM FRANCE. SPECIAL ATTENTION IS GIVEN TO THE COVERT ACTIONS OF THE FRENCH RESISTANCE, WHO ARE SEEN COORDINATING UNDER EXTREME PRESSURE AND COLLECTIVELY RISKING EVERYTHING ON BEHALF OF THEIR COUNTRY’S ARTISTIC HERITAGE. LIKE MANY WESTERN WAR FILMS OF ITS ERA, THE FILM LARGELY IGNORES SIMILAR CONFISCATIONS UNDERTAKEN ELSEWHERE BY THE SOVIETS DURING AND AFTER THE WAR. THE CORE QUESTION ASKED AGAIN AND AGAIN THROUGHOUT THE FILM IS WHETHER ART IS WORTH DYING FOR WHEN HUMAN LIFE ITSELF HAS ALREADY BEEN DEVALUED BY WAR. THE CHARACTERS REFER TO THE COLLECTION AS “THE PRIDE OF FRANCE,” BUT IN REALITY THEY ARE SPEAKING OF A TREASURY OF CULTURAL MEMORY THAT BELONGS TO FUTURE GENERATIONS IN PERPETUITY. TO BE CALLED UPON AS A GENERATION TO SAFEGUARD SUCH A LEGACY AND BIRTHRIGHT IS PRESENTED AS A POINT OF EXTREME VALOR AND SOLEMN DUTY, AS HUMANITY ITSELF FUNCTIONS ONLY AS TEMPORARY STEWARDS OF THAT LEGACY.

FRENCH RESISTANCE MEMBER AND FRENCH NATIONAL RAILWAYS AREA INSPECTOR PAUL LABICHE [BURT LANCASTER] HAS LOST MORE THAN A DOZEN MEN BY THE TIME HE IS TASKED WITH ASSISTING IN THE SABOTAGE OF A TRAIN HEADED FOR GERMANY FILLED WITH PRICELESS ARTIFACTS PILFERED FROM FRENCH MUSEUMS. UNDERSTANDABLY HE WANTS NOTHING TO DO WITH SUCH A MISSION, AS HE IS FAR MORE CONCERNED WITH SAVING ACTUAL LIVES IN THE MOMENT. LABICHE’S RELUCTANCE IS WHAT GIVES THE FILM ITS MORAL GRAVITY. HE DOES NOT VIEW PAINTINGS AS MORE IMPORTANT THAN HUMAN LIFE, ESPECIALLY AFTER WATCHING HIS MEN DIE THROUGHOUT THE OCCUPATION. YET THE FILM SLOWLY FORCES HIM TO RECOGNIZE THAT CULTURE ITSELF IS PART OF WHAT WAR DESTROYS. ULTIMATELY HE FOLLOWS THROUGH AS HIS MEN, INCLUDING PAPA BOULE [MICHEL SIMON], DIDONT [ALBERT REMY], SPINET [PAUL BONIFAS] AND PESQUET [CHARLES MILLOT], HAVE COME TO VIEW THE MISSION AS WORTHWHILE DESPITE THEIR RELATIVE IGNORANCE OF THE ART WORLD. OF THE BUNCH, ONLY LABICHE SURVIVES. THEY ARE OPPOSED BY THE NAZI FORCES OF COLONEL FRANZ VON WALDHEIM [PAUL SCOFIELD], WHO SEEKS TO TRANSPORT THE ARTWORK TO GERMANY IN ORDER TO USE IT AS A BARGAINING CHIP TO HELP FINANCE THE COLLAPSING WAR EFFORT.

TRAINS ARE, BY THEIR VERY NATURE, COMMUNITIES OF HIGHLY NETWORKED INDIVIDUALS WHO RELY ON ONE ANOTHER FOR THE ENTIRE SYSTEM TO FUNCTION. ORGANIZING A SABOTAGE CAMPAIGN WITHIN SUCH AN ENVIRONMENT REQUIRES BOTH TECHNICAL KNOW-HOW AND ABSOLUTE TRUST, AS EVEN THE SMALLEST MISTAKE CAN EXPOSE AN ENTIRE NETWORK OF CO-CONSPIRATORS. WHAT IS PARTICULARLY INTRIGUING ABOUT THE FILM IS THAT THE FRENCH RESISTANCE COMMUNITY IS EXPANDED TO INCLUDE ORDINARY CIVILIANS AND SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS, SUCH AS THE LOCAL BOARDING HOUSE OPERATOR CHRISTINE [JEANNE MOREAU], WHO HAS ALREADY BEEN WIDOWED BY THE WAR AS WELL AS FORCED TO WITNESS THE SAME FATE BEFALL A CLOSE FRIEND. THE IMPLICATION BEING THAT THE FRENCH WERE ANYTHING BUT PASSIVE DURING THE OCCUPATION. SUCH EVENTS HAVE OFTEN BEEN SIMPLIFIED IN THE POPULAR IMAGINATION OF AMERICAN AND BRITISH WAR NARRATIVES, EACH WITH THEIR OWN NATIONAL INTERESTS IN SHAPING THAT PERCEPTION. THE TRUTH, AS THE FILM ARGUES, IS FAR MORE COMPLICATED.

ULTIMATELY THE FILM ARGUES THAT RESISTANCE IS NOT ALWAYS EXPRESSED THROUGH GRAND MILITARY VICTORIES, BUT THROUGH ORDINARY PEOPLE ACCEPTING RESPONSIBILITY FOR PRESERVING THE CULTURAL MEMORY AND INHERITANCE OF FUTURE GENERATIONS. THE PAINTINGS THEMSELVES MAY BE INANIMATE OBJECTS, BUT WHAT THEY REPRESENT IS CIVILIZATION ITSELF.

FILMS THAT PROVIDE META-COMMENTARIES ON THE OFTEN INTERNECINE PROCESS OF ARTISTIC COLLABORATION REPRESENT A UNIQUE SUB-GENRE AND FEW ARE AS COMPELLING AS THE BAND WAGON (MGM, 1953). IT GETS AT THE VERY HEART OF WHAT MAKES PRODUCING ORIGINAL THEATER SO DIFFICULT YET SO REWARDING, AND CENTRAL TO THAT EQUATION IS THE EVER-PRESENT RISK OF FAILURE.
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IN THE BAND WAGON MUSICAL AN AGING HOLLYWOOD FILM STAR IN TONY HUNTER [FRED ASTAIRE] IS COURTED BY A NEW YORK CITY WRITING COUPLE IN LILY [NANETTE FABRAY] AND LESTER MARTIN [OSCAR LEVANT] ABOUT THEIR LATEST OPUS, WHICH HAS GARNERED THE ATTENTION OF THE SERIOUS BROADWAY IT-DIRECTOR JEFFREY CORDOVA [JACK BUCHANAN]. EACH HAS A DISCERNIBLE IDEA OF WHAT THEY WANT THE PRODUCTION TO BECOME, BUT NONE COMMUNICATE THEIR EXPECTATIONS WITH ONE ANOTHER. HUNTER SEEKS A CROWD-PLEASING SONG-AND-DANCE VEHICLE THAT WILL REMIND AUDIENCES WHY THEY FELL IN LOVE WITH HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE, THE MARTINS DESIRE A STRUCTURALLY COHERENT MUSICAL NARRATIVE, WHILE CORDOVA ENVISIONS AN ABSTRACT AND HIGHLY ALLEGORICAL FAUSTIAN MORALITY PLAY. CAUGHT BETWEEN THESE COMPETING VISIONS IS THE HIGHLY SOUGHT-AFTER BALLERINA GABRIELLE GERARD [CYD CHARISSE], WHO FINDS HERSELF TRAPPED IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INCREASINGLY FRACTURED CREATIVE PROCESS.

WHAT ENSUES IS LESS COMEDY THAN OUTRIGHT CHAOS AS CORDOVA ASSERTS CONTROL OVER THE PRODUCTION. HIS LEADERSHIP IS NOT ROOTED IN SPIRIT OF PARTNERSHIP OR COLLABORATION, BUT IN A TOP-DOWN DICTATORIAL APPROACH THAT QUICKLY ALIENATES THOSE AROUND HIM. IT COMES AS NO SURPRISE THAT EARLY FEEDBACK FROM PREPARATORY OUT-OF-TOWN PERFORMANCES IS ABSOLUTELY DISMAL. THE RESULTING PRODUCTION IS UNFORTUNATELY OVERWROUGHT, JOYLESS, SELF-SERIOUS AND FUNDAMENTALLY AT ODDS WITH THE ESCAPIST JUBILATION AUDIENCES ASSOCIATE WITH MUSICAL THEATER, WHICH IN ITS OWN WAY MAKES CORDOVA AN IDIOSYNCRATIC INNOVATOR.

FROM THE ASHES A REBIRTH OF PURPOSE AND COLLABORATION EMERGES AS HUNTER TAKES OVER AND RECONFIGURES THE SHOW INTO A REVUE FORMAT MUCH MORE IN LINE WITH THE MARTINS' ORIGINAL SCRIPT. THE RESULT IS AN OVERWHELMING SUCCESS. THE FILM'S THEMES OF CREATIVE PARALYSIS, EGO AND INTERPERSONAL FRICTION FEEL FUNDAMENTALLY INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE VERY IDEA OF MUSICAL THEATER ITSELF. YET IN THE CAPABLE, DEFT HANDS OF VINCENTE MINNELLI IT ALL WORKS BEAUTIFULLY. THE GENIUS OF THE FILM IS THAT IT CONSCIOUSLY WITHHOLDS THE LIGHTHEARTED ESCAPISM ASSOCIATED WITH THE MUSICAL FORM UNTIL ITS CHARACTERS LEARN HOW TO FUNCTION AS A CREATIVE UNIT. AS A RESULT, THE ELABORATE MUSICAL SET PIECES HIT WITH FAR GREATER FORCE ONCE THEY FINALLY ARRIVE.

THE DYNAMIC ANTICIPATES LATER DARKER FILM MUSICAL ADAPTATIONS LIKE TIM BURTON'S SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (DREAMWORKS, 2007) OR LARS VON TRIER'S DANCER IN THE DARK (FINE LINE, 2000) THAT SIMILARLY UTILIZE SONG, PERFORMANCE AND FANTASY AS EXPRESSIONS OF EMOTIONAL REALITY RATHER THAN PURE ESCAPISM. THAT ABILITY TO TRANSFORM CREATIVE FRICTION AND EMOTIONAL TURMOIL INTO ELABORATE CINEMATIC SPECTACLE IS PRECISELY WHAT MAKES VINCENTE MINNELLI SUCH A DISTINCTIVE FILMMAKER.

PART OF WHAT MAKES THE WORLD OF JOHN WICK SO COMPELLING IS HOW IT FRAMES AN ULTRA-VIOLENT, SEEMINGLY CHAOTIC UNDERWORLD THROUGH A RIGID, STANDARDIZED CODE GOVERNED BY A SELF-DIRECTED GLOBAL GUILD OF PROFESSIONAL ASSASSINS. WHAT AT FIRST GLANCE APPEARS TO BE PURE DISORDER IS, IN FACT, HIGHLY STRUCTURED--AN ECOSYSTEM HELD TOGETHER BY MUTUAL OBLIGATION AND THE THREAT OF ABSOLUTE RETRIBUTION.
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THIS SYSTEM IS REMINISCENT OF THE MORAL CODE OF OMERTÀ THAT DEFINED THE SICILIAN COSA NOSTRA--A FRAMEWORK DESIGNED NOT TO ELIMINATE VIOLENCE, BUT TO CONTAIN AND REGULATE IT. ITS PURPOSE IS INTERNAL STABILITY: RESPECT FOR BOUNDARIES, PROHIBITIONS AGAINST INTERNAL THEFT, AND ABOVE ALL, A TOTAL BAN ON COOPERATION WITH OUTSIDE AUTHORITY. IN BOTH WORLDS, SURVIVAL DEPENDS NOT ON MORALITY, BUT ON ADHERENCE TO THE CODE.

IN THE WORLD OF JOHN WICK, THIS SYSTEM IS DISTILLED INTO TWO PRIMARY RULES: NO BUSINESS (i.e. CONTRACT KILLINGS) MAY BE CONDUCTED ON CONTINENTAL HOTEL GROUNDS, AND ALL MARKERS MUST BE HONORED.

VIOLATION OF EITHER IS PUNISHABLE BY DEATH.

WHILE THE FIRST FILM FUNCTIONS AS AN INTRODUCTION TO THIS SYSTEM--ONE THAT WICK IS DESPERATELY, AND ULTIMATELY FUTILELY, TRYING TO ESCAPE--JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 (LIONSGATE, 2017) IS ABOUT ITS ENFORCEMENT, AND THE COST OF SUBMITTING TO IT. HERE, THE CENTRAL CONFLICT IS NOT WHETHER ONE CAN LEAVE THE LIFE, BUT WHETHER ONE CAN EVER BE FREE OF THE OBLIGATIONS INCURRED WITHIN IT.

THE FILM LITERALIZES THIS IDEA THROUGH METAL MARKERS--PHYSICAL TOKENS THAT BIND INDIVIDUALS IN BLOOD OATHS OF RECOMPENSE. THIS PRACTICE ECHOES LONGSTANDING TRADITIONS FOUND IN ORGANIZED CRIME NETWORKS IN NORTHERN ALBANIA AND SOUTHERN ITALY, WHERE DEBT IS NOT NEGOTIABLE, AND REPAYMENT IS NOT OPTIONAL. ONCE CLAIMED, A MARKERS REMOVES ALL CHOICE FROM THE EQUATION.

IN THIS SYSTEM, THE ASSASSIN HAS NO REAL AGENCY--HE IS NOT A DECISION-MAKER, BUT AN INSTRUMENT. HIS ROLE IS NOT TO QUESTION THE TASK, BUT TO EXECUTE IT AS CLEANLY AS POSSIBLE, MINIMIZING COLLATERAL DAMAGE AND AVOIDING THE CREATION OF NEW ENEMIES.

FOR WICK, THIS PROVES IMPOSSIBLE.  BY CARRYING OUT AN ORDERED HIT OF AN ASCENDANT ITALIAN CRIME FIGURE IN ROME, HE INSERTS HIMSELF INTO A FRACTURED FAMILY POWER STRUGGLE, DISRUPTING A LONG-PLANNED SUCCESSION. IN A WORLD GOVERNED BY RETALIATION AND HONOR, SUCH AN ACT CANNOT EXIST IN ISOLATION--IT INEVITABLY GENERATES BLOWBACK, AND THAT BLOWBACK MUST BE ABSORBED BY THE ONE WHO PULLED THE TRIGGER.

WICK’S RESPONSE IS NOT TO ESCAPE THE SYSTEM, BUT TO CONFRONT IT DIRECTLY. HAVING BEEN MANIPULATED INTO ACCEPTING THE MARKER, HE RETALIATES BY DELIBERATELY VIOLATING THE ONE RULE THAT CANNOT BE BROKEN--KILLING HIS BENEFACTOR WITHIN THE SACRED CONFIDES OF THE CONTINENTAL HOTEL IN NEW YORK CITY.

FOR THIS TRANSGRESSION, HE IS NOT IMMEDIATELY EXECUTED, BUT DECLARED “EXCOMMUNICADO”--SEVERED FROM THE NETWORK OF TAILORS, ARMS DEALERS, HOTELS, AND PROTECTIONS THAT SUSTAIN THE ASSASSIN CLASS. HE IS CUT OFF NOT JUST FROM RESOURCES, BUT FROM THE STRUCTURE THAT GIVES HIS WORLD COHERENCE.

HE EMERGES FROM THE FILM MORE ISOLATED THAN EVER. AND YET, IN LIGHT OF THE LOSSES THAT SET HIM ON THIS PATH--THE DEATH OF HIS WIFE, AND THE ERASURE OF HIS LAST CONNECTION TO A LIFE OUTSIDE THIS SYSTEM--THIS EXILE FEELS LESS LIKE A PUNISHMENT THAN A NATURAL EXTENSION OF A WORLD IN WHICH ALL CONNECTIONS ARE TRANSACTIONAL, AND ALL DEBTS MUST EVENTUALLY BE PAID.