Bliss. There are movies and there are films, then there is the unholy wallop of dreamlike madness and ecstasy in the rare, unified gem like the long-unseen Alberto Cavalcanti’s “Went The Day Well?” Based on a Graham Greene story, this 1942 suspense thriller was made as wartime propaganda and purports to be about lasting British virtues. Not only is it funny, it’s surreal, violent, lovingly imagined in images and sound, and ultimately, a tantalizing hallucination of unease and oddity. The British stiff upper lip is as swift and forceful as a bayonet. Starting as comedy and turning very black, Cavalcanti’s masterpiece (a word that falls readily into place here) depicts violence and its terrible results with rare vividness. It’s an Ealing Comedy, but certainly that accomplished studio’s most shocking. This 35mm reissue is from the invaluable Rialto Pictures, whose most recent releases include Roeg’s “The Man Who Fell To Earth” and Bresson’s “Diary of a Country Priest.” Fine company: and deserved. With Basil Sydney, Leslie Banks, Muriel George. 92m. (Ray Pride)
Ray Pride is Newcity’s Senior Editor and Film Critic. He is a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine.
Ray’s history of Chicago Ghost Signs is planned for publication next year. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram. More photography on Instagram.
Process The Day: Kelly Reichardt On Sculpting Showing Up "Showing Up" is the inspired title of Kelly Reichardt's sneaky, funny little masterpiece, beautifully measured, tender-yet-irritable telling of the daily life and low-level strife of a mid-career working artist, played by a formidably distracted Michelle Williams. The result is exquisite.
Talking Screens, September 2-8, 2022: $3 Movies, For A Day | 10 Remarkable Films | Ozon Makes Fassbinder Lite National Cinema Day. In Chicago: "The Creepshow: A Stephen King Film Festival"; ten remarkable films in "The Story of Film: A New Generation—A Film Series"; Chicago Film Society presents "Foolish Wives"; and a five-picture run for Pier Paolo Pasolini begins with "Mamma Roma." Plus, a pair of female-led Mexican wrestling movies. New films this week: "Peter Von Kant," "The Good…
RECOMMENDED
