Enter the Dragon

Enter the Dragon

1973

Director: Robert Clouse

Starring: Bruce Lee and that’s all you need

Y’know, I am really glad that the list I am working off of is called “1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die,” and not “The 1001 Best Movies Ever Made.”  There’s a big distinction between something that’s deemed “good” or “quality filmmaking” by critics, and films that have some sort of cultural import.  Sometimes, for this reason, we get a few stinkers (like Flaming Creatures), but sometimes, we get the crazy, silly, stupid fun of Enter the Dragon.  It might not be Oscar bait, but one’s entire diet cannot consist of steak alone.

Lee (Lee) is a talented martial artist who is recruited to spy on evil druglord-slash-martial arts enthusiast Han.  Han runs a prestigious martial arts tournament every three years as a cover to recruit new talent to his opium operation.  This tournament takes place on his reclusive Evil Island of Evil, where guns are strictly forbidden in order to keep the authorities at bay.  Lee meets the other competitors, including gambling addict Roper and fro-tastic Williams, played by martial arts expert Jim Kelly.  There is spying and fighting; there are drug rings and secret passageways; there are girls, girls, and a helping or three of gratuitous nudity (oh, the seventies), but at the end of the day, Lee triumphs over Evil and a good time is had by all.

Enter the Dragon is a bit of a “James Bond as martial artist” film.  The influence is clear, from the electric bass soundtrack, to the labyrinthine Evil Fortress of Evil that Han runs, to Lee’s meeting with upper crust British official Braithwaite at the beginning informing him of his mission.  The ladies are all decked out in classic Bond girl attire, and the women on Han’s island could have come straight from any Bond flick from the seventies.  This is a definite reason why Enter the Dragon is a great deal of fun; Bond films tend to have that “forget about reality, we’re going to take you for a glamorous if not ridiculous ride!” feeling, and Enter the Dragon is definitely shopping at the same store. 

Ultimately, however, despite the dressings of Bond and the spy thriller scaffold for the plot, Enter the Dragon is NOT James Bond, and that’s because it’s Bruce Lee.  This was his final completed film before his untimely death, and from the (admittedly) little I’ve seen of other martial arts films, Enter the Dragon is a fully realized vision, a successful martial arts crossover movie made for America.  Although never pretending to be more than sheer entertainment, it has a clear premise and plot progression and it never once feels confusing or lost, unlike other films of the genre.  Lee, for his part, plays to his strengths.  Not the most gifted actor (a “stern look” he gives to a guard at one point looks more like a zombie stare), he is mostly silent and thoughtful until he lets loose in fight sequences, which suits him just fine.  And about those fight sequences – there aren’t as many here as you would think.  Don’t get me wrong, if you came here for some awesome martial arts, I doubt you’ll be disappointed.  But the well choreographed sequences are spaced out, as if Lee knew to avoid overdosing his audience.  This is not a film where the fighting starts with the opening credits and doesn’t let up until the end, and thank goodness.  Lee and director Clouse did a good job of translating traditional Hong Kong martial arts stories into something an American audience would appreciate, while never abandoning its roots.  In a very fitting manner, Enter the Dragon feels like both a Hollywood movie and a Hong Kong movie.

  

Additionally, one of the last things I expect in a martial arts film is decent cinematography, but Enter the Dragon is a rather pretty movie.  I know, I wouldn’t think so either, but it’s true.  The legions of Han’s men all practicing in white uniform on the island is impressive, as is the climactic battle in a hall of mirrors.  The colors are rich and the sets sumptuous in that gilded seventies way, but it works.  More than I expected (which was, admittedly, zero), I found myself impressed with a particular shot.

Oh, the one liners.  Williams and Roper are full of nonstop quips, as befits the comic side characters.  “Here’s another mess you got me into,” Roper says to himself, and really, try not giggling when Williams picks out his evening, um, treat.  Even Lee himself manages to be the source of a few laughs, most notably when he sits with a bored look on his face, waiting for the guards to finish freaking out about a snake he just loosed on them.  These lines and attitudes make the film feel a bit tongue in cheek, which might be the filmmakers’ way of telling you not to take anything too seriously.  Sit back, have a few laughs, and enjoy the ride. 

I’m not a kung fu freak like Jennifer Aniston in Office Space.  But fun movies are fun movies, and Enter the Dragon is a fun movie.  Is it ridiculous?  Heck yes, but ridiculous in a palatable way.  Would I ever choose to watch it on my own?  No, probably not, as martial arts films are very much not my bag, but I enjoyed my time with Enter the Dragon.  I even popped a bowl of popcorn, did it up right. 

Arbitrary Rating: 7/10

The Sting

The Sting

1973

Director: George Roy Hill

Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw

A movie like The Sting provides me another great reason to be a part of Squish’s 1001 Movies Blog Club.  Technically I had seen The Sting before.  But I say “technically” because I’m pretty sure my previous viewing was over 15 years ago, and this was the sum total of my memory of it: 1) it’s about con men, 2) there’s a scene on a train, and 3) Paul Newman and Robert Redford wear tuxedos.  Yep, that’s all I had.  I do believe I owed the film another viewing.

Johnny Hooker (Redford) is a con artist working the streets of 1930s Joliet, Illinois.  When he and his partner Luther hit upon a huge payday, they can’t believe their luck.  Problem is, they just unwittingly stole from mean as nails gangster Doyle Lonnegan (Shaw) who will stop at nothing for revenge.  When Luther is killed, Hooker goes on the run and teams up with con man extraordinaire Henry Gondorff (Newman).  The two must delicately work a long con in order to get Lonnegan off their backs – and simultaneously take him for everything he’s got.

The Sting is a lot of fun.  That’s its greatest hook.  It’s not world-changing, it’s not an expose, it doesn’t attempt to bring horrible issues to your awareness.  Nope, it’s just pure entertainment.  Goodness knows we all need that in a film every now and then.  Dark intense dramas are all well and good, and certainly some of my favorites, but every now and then I want to turn my brain off.  I’d categorize The Sting as an extremely well-crafted “turn your brain off” movie.  It’s a fun romp, and really, nothing more.

Where is the fun?  Mostly Newman and Redford.  The director had paired them up previously in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and it’s not hard to understand why he wanted to pair them up again.  Once more, younger rough and tumble Redford is there to learn from older, more world-weary Newman.  Those two have fantastic screen chemistry.  I want to believe that they were best friends in real life because they seem like they’re having so much fun together onscreen.  This feeling of camaraderie translates to the overall film.

  

Where else?  Much of the film is about the long con that Hooker and Gondorff pull on Lonnegan, and it’s definitely amusing watching them set up the con, recruit players, build sets, and work their magic.  A basement dump is transformed into a slick bookie’s office that has to be convincing enough to trick skeptical mobsters. 

The music is fun too.  The credits open with Scott Joplin’s famous “The Entertainer,” and much of the scored is adapted from Joplin’s other rags, which helps contribute to the film’s old-timey feel good vibe.  Granted, Joplin’s music wasn’t written in the 1930s (more like the 1900s), but it works.

I enjoyed the costumes a great deal as well.  When Hooker opens the film by unexpectedly stealing thousands of dollars, he goes right out and buys the most lurid zoot suit he can possibly find.  Watching Redford strut his stuff in a very loud brown suit with bright blue pinstripes was pretty damn funny; this is contrasted with the greater sophistication of Newman’s Gondorff, even though that character makes his entrance in a wife-beater and overalls.  Lonnegan’s wardrobe is fantastic, full of the extremes of thirties clothing; the plus fours he wears while practicing putting at his club are great.  There aren’t as many female roles in the film, so the focus on men’s fashion is actually refreshing.

 

Additionally, I liked the setting of the movie.  Most movies set in the Great Depression either completely ignore the tough times (The Thin Man, Top Hat), or are completely about the tough times (Grapes of Wrath, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town).  The Sting does neither.  It is not about the tough times, but it doesn’t ignore them either.  Hooker is chased by a cop through a ramshackle camp of homeless people.  There are many people out on the streets, and times certainly seem tough.  We see the reality without being bogged down by it.

Unfortunately for The Sting, however, its biggest draw was also its biggest weakness.  The main appeal of The Sting is the novelty of “the con” and just how amusing that is.  However, I am well aware of con story tricks.  Ocean’s 11, the new one, is one of my favorite fun films.  I really like the television show Leverage.  White Collar, all about a con artist, is one of my favorite new shows.  When you watch enough of these things, you start to realize how all con stories play out.  This really hurt my recent viewing of The Sting.  Despite the fact that I couldn’t remember how it ended, I could tell what was going to happen about 45 minutes out from the end of the film.  What makes con movies so great is that it is you, the audience, who is really conned.  The movie tricks you into thinking one thing, when really, something else entirely is going on.  That surprise is what gives you most of the fun.  Given that I knew this from my experience with other con stories, I just plain was not tricked by The Sting.  Audiences back in the seventies must have loved this trick that was pulled on them, and I can totally understand why they ate this movie up.  Back then, the concept of pulling the long con was fresh and new, something fairly novel to audiences.  But now, with the set of movies and TV shows I’ve already seen, if I want to watch a good con, I’d rather see something a bit more slick and modern.  Props to The Sting for originating – or at least, popularizing – the idea in such an awesome, fun way, but I feel no compunction to see it over and over again.

This is one of my parents’ favorite films, and I understand why.  It’s charming and diverting and fun.  Moreover, I like that this won Best Picture at the Oscars – rarely do we have such a crowd-pleasing flick win that particular prize.  However, it doesn’t really do all that much for me.  It’s nice, it’s fun, it’s a frothy little romp, and Redford and Newman are terrific.  But it stirs no grand passion for me. 

Arbitrary rating: 7/10

The Exorcist

The Exorcist
1973
Director: William Friedkin
Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair, Jason Miller

About a year ago, my husband and my sister accompanied me to a screening of The Exorcist. Neither of them had seen it before, and I hadn’t seen it in over 10 years, and even then, it was under less than ideal circumstances. Essentially, all three of us were seeing it for the first time, knowing little about it other than the classic sequences of Linda Blair’s head turning all the way around and the spewing of the pea soup. After the film ended, the three of us stood in the lobby and just looked at one another blankly.

After a few minutes, we finally got up the nerve to speak.

“Wow.”
“Yeah.”
“That was… um… intense.”
“Uh, YEAH.”
“Oh my god, that was so good.”
“TOTALLY.”

All right, so our critiques weren’t exactly eloquent, but The Exorcist had temporarily removed our ability to link thoughts with words. It’s that good a film.

The Wicker Man

The Wicker Man
1973
Director: Robin Hardy
Starring: Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento

Horror is a very personal genre. What scares one person doesn’t affect someone else in the slightest. Like comedy, it’s impossible to make a scary movie that can get under everyone’s skin. While The Wicker Man is not a horror movie through and through, it certainly has certain classic horror elements, and although tame by today’s bloodbath torture porn, it still has the ability to be creepy. I can see why some would find it ridiculous, but personally, I find The Wicker Man disturbing.

More a mystery, perhaps, than a horror film, the story focuses on Scottish cop Sergeant Howie (Woodward) who goes to the island of Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of the young girl Rowan Morrison. When he gets there, though, all the locals deny ever knowing Rowan, let alone being able to help him in his investigation. Moreover, the longer he’s on the island, the more he’s exposed to, and offended by, the free love pagan rituals that start to show up. Howie, a devoted Christian, clashes with Lord Summerisle (Lee) and the local schoolteacher (Cilento) over “proper practices” for worship and education.

American Graffiti

American Graffiti
1973
Director: George Lucas
Starring: Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Cindy Williams, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith

It’s the night before Steve (Howard) and Curt (Dreyfuss) are leaving for college. They are determined to have one last night hanging out with friends John (Le Mat) and Terry the Toad (Smith), getting into teenage mischief. Curt is plagued by doubts about whether he should take the big leap and leave the nest of their small town, and Steve is finding it difficult to leave his long-term girlfriend Laurie (Williams).

This is the sort of movie that my father absolutely loves. Lucas lovingly paints a portrait of a certain time and place in American history. It’s a good portrait, but almost too good. Why? Because it is forever linked to its particular time. Will it age well? I’m going with “no” because already, the movie is showing its wrinkles. While certain facets about the film, most notably the pain and trauma of leaving home, friends, and family for the first time to go off to college, are still fresh and still affecting, many others – cruising the strip, spending Friday night at the sock hop, wanting to join a petty gang called “The Pharaohs” – haven’t been a part of American culture for, well, decades.