Mostra Internazionale d Arte Cinematografica Venice

George Clooney has outdone himself with a superb satire of middle America suburbia in 1959.  But there are resonances of relevance to the America of today as well.. Matt Damon all but unrecognizable except for the nose disappears into the skin of a pudgy middle class middle American psychopath on a murderous death insurance scam in cahoots with sister-in-law Julianne Moore, as true to life as ever. Best scene of many good ones cleverly linked together is the unwelcome visit of scumbag insurance  claim adjuster Isaac Oscar (star of The Promise) sniffing out improprieties in the claim on deceased sister who was  actually murdered before the film began.  Extremely clever and realistic dialogue marks  this lengthy quivering bravura scene between Oscar and Moore. Absolute winner all around takes Mr. Clooney to the next level of savvy film direction.

Bravo.

Non c'è pace tra gli ulivi (No peace under the olive trees)

Restored Italian classic Under the Olive trees, from 1949 directed by Giuseppe De Santis.(Of Bitter Ruce fane)  stars Raf Vallone and Lucia Bose, both top stars of the time. Set in a rural mountains region of sheepherders, this long film was originally  divided  into two parts with an intermission.   Vallone is a handsome sheepherder whose flock was stolen when he was away in captivity  during the war. Pic centers on his efforts to reclaim his flock, his trial for theft, betrayal by gal who loves him in court, and then his escape from jail, flight and trail of vengeance to get the ugly villain who robbed him, forcd his sister into marriage and is the richest man and most hared landowner in the district. A little shaggy dog but holds attention throughout. .Location  is the same as in the later Two Women fiom starring Sophia Loren.

A treat for fans of postwar Italian Neorealismo.

Sabuni Shin and Kogure Michiyo in "Ochazuke no Aji"

The 3rd film of the day: A digitally restored print of Ozu's "Ochazuke no Aji"  with magnificent Kogure MIchiyo.  Awashima Chikage is the old girlfriend who smokes heavily and is Kogure's gadfly advising  her to stop being such a bitch to her quietly adoring husband, Saburi Shin  who is a simple guy at heart, and loves her despite her high handed ways..  Setsuko is the niece who refuses to get sucked into an Omiai arranged marriage and ends up with a very young bushy haired Tsurura Koji  long before he became a top Yakuza Eiga star. Also featured in an unusual minor role is Ryu Chishu as rhe behatted owner of a new fangled (for the time)  Pachinko Parlor.

We also see part of a baseball game at Korakuen stadium. The four girlfriends are baseball fans.  The film starts  out with street scenes of Ginza with trolley cars and a long cab ride past the moats of the Imperial Palace in Otemachi giving us a feel for the new Japanese postwar prosoeruty after the Anerican occupation came to an end.

Kovure's  epiphany when Shin has ro leave for a quick business trip to Uruguay but  comes home the same night because the plan had engine trouble shortly after takeoff, is somethimg to see. After a marital spat she ran off herself with no explanation for threes days and was not there to see Shin off at the airport. The long takes on her face as she rides the train To Kobe and is thinking things over are a master class of acting in sikence with facial expression alone. She was a truly great actress in an unsavory role up to the end when realizing that she loves her husband whom she had been referring to as Bonehead (don-tan) to her girlfriends all along, has a tremendous change of heart,  realizes what an unmitigated bitch she has been and expresses her revelation by helping husband make his  favorite simple dish, Green tea over rice in a scene that is so touching it brought tears to my eyes. Earlier in a key scene she had berated  him mercilessly for  his to her  sloppy way of eating the same dish!

This is typical Ozu with no camera movement but many lingering shots of hallways and alcoves that are themselves artful compositions.

A most interesting intro to the film was made by composer Ryuichi Sakamoto in a blue suit and white hair speaking flawless English. Sakamoto is here to promote a documentary film about his own life. He tood how he was engaged by Shochiku to redo the music for the film but after listening to it carefully he decided that it was meant to be simple by Ozu and fits the feeling of the film perfectly as is. What an experience to see this film again after more than thirty years! -- and that incredible Kogore --my favorite female role in all of Ozu, and that is really saying something.

Famed Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto introducing  "The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice"