These days, I am luxuriating in a wealth of possible online entertainment. What I have discovered is the ability to re-visit some of the memorable movies I saw as a child. When I say "memorable,"I really mean it. My parents would take my sister and me all the way from Altadena to a Los Angeles art house cinema, the Nuart, which was 38 miles away. And we saw a film, which we then discussed, because we went out to dinner at Kowloon's afterwards, and relived our artful experience with a Stinger (Mom), an Old Fashioned (Dad), and Shirley Temples (my sister and me). How special!
The very first real art film I remember is The Seventh Seal, Ingmar Bergman 1957, but I'm sure we saw it a few years later. Mom and Dad explained the meaning and symbolism of Max von Sydow's character challenging Death to a chess game, which made me feel like the most superior under-ten atheist intellectual of everyone we knew. See the chess match here.
We saw Spartacus, Stanley Kubrick 1960, which wasn't really an "art film" because it wasn't European, but could qualify because Saul Bass designed the brilliant main titles. Saul Bass was a friend of the family. Sort of. Anyway, here they are.
My mother adored the joyous Never on Sunday, Jules Dassin 1960. The inimitable score immediately filled our house, but the film itself was considered scandalous at the time, and most definitely never for children. My sister and I weren't allowed to go, but it was talked about endlessly: a beautiful Greek prostitute, played by Melina Mercouri, goes to meet a boat of incoming sailors, and the fun begins. I was nine, and there was no censorship in our house! See the original trailer, and then see the film NOW.
Giving cause for fascinated discussion was Irene Papas in Electra, Mihalis Cacoyannis 1962. Electra and her brother Orestes avenge their father's murder by thrusting a sword into the throat of their mother Clytemnestra. At age eleven, I had a personal understanding with Euripides: we related. The only link I found to this film contains ultra-short scenes, with a rather nice song accompanying them. However, the horror begins at 1:57 on the clip, so enjoy.
Can you believe parents taking their impressionable young children to see Tom Jones? Tony Richardson 1963. In the extreme low lighting of Kowloon's, we had a discussion of what could possibly have been going on in the "dinner scene." See for yourself.
Another artsy film, just right for a 15-year-old, was Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf , Mike Nichols 1966. The events of the film were more dramatic than what happened at our house, so therefore impressive. I can't remember the Kowloon discussion very clearly, but I think it had to do with how bad it was to drink and argue. There are many choice scenes to choose from, but this is as vitriolic as any.
How great to be taken at a tender age to see these totally inappropriate films! The urge to continue this highbrow movie-going tradition is in me still. Great movies are so accessible now---may I recommend the 994 films from the Criterion Collection, available from a cheap subscription to Hulu? How wealthy I feel!
1 comment:
A LOVELY post. But, ah, how different memories record! I recall seeing all those movies, but in Pasadena, at the Esquire. I remember going to Kowloon after visits to the county art museum, or to family friends and relatives on the Westside. At Kowloon, I remember the ice cream with creme de menthe poured over it--the one way children could be served alcohol. Also, the aquariums. I don't remember going to the Nuart until I moved back to Pasadena after grad school.
Who is right? We'll never know.
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