My Week in Film: October 2 to October 8

Here is what I watched last week:

Le Notti Bianche (dir. Luchino Visconti, 1957)

White Nights is one of those sweet movie romances that stays with long after the credits end. And for right now, this is all you need to know about it.

50/50 (dir. Jonathan Levine, 2011)

Despite great performances from JGL, Anna Kendrick, and Anjelica Huston, I was not as excited by this movie as some. (My review of 50/50.)

Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (dir. John Huston, 1957)

Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum star as a nun and an American marine, respectively. (Though it would be funny if it were the other way around.) They are trapped on a Pacific island in the middle of World War II and Mitchum’s Marine falls for Kerr’s pious nun. I was unimpressed by Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, a film that could have been more if it weren’t for those pesky censors. [My post on Heaven Knows, Mr Allison.]

Fire (dir. Deepa Mehta, 1996)

Fire is the first film in Mehta’s Elements trilogy and it is wrongly labeled as just a “lesbian film”. Sister-in-laws Radha (Shabana Azmi) and Sita (Nandita Das) develop a physical relationship after realizing that their loveless marriages are unsatisfying. Fire does simplify lesbianism into something women do because they are unsatisfied by men but Mehta’s film is still worth watching. Fire challenges audiences in a way many films about lesbian relationships do not. (Related post: My review of Water (2005), the third film in Mehta’s Elements trilogy.)

La Vie En Rose (dir. Olivier Dahan, 2007)

I hadn’t seen La Vie En Rose since it was in theaters. It is a rather traditional, unremarkable biopic but Marion Cotillard’s performance as Edith Piaf is still amazing and haunting.