#201. Max von Sydow

Not all actors come from North America. Hollywood has an irresistible pull that brings in many actors from all parts of the globe, thus Americanizing them and exposing them to American audiences. Some actors will spend some time working on their craft in their home countries. If they are successful in doing so, it is likely they won’t stay there long. Everyone desires to be famous, so when Hollywood comes knocking, most will answer that call as fast as they can. However, there are a select few who resist the pull of Hollywood and instead make a mark on their native film landscape. This sort of national pride is somewhat rare, but one of the actors who has epitomized this trait is Max von Sydow. While he did eventually come to America, he made sure to leave a lasting impression on his native land. This week’s two films look at Sydow’s work in the U.S. and Sweden.

                                      Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Year: 2011
Rating: PG-13
Length: 129 minutes / 2.15 hours

1965 marked the arrival of Max von Sydow in American films with The Greatest Story Ever Told, wherein he portrayed Jesus Christ. Because he didn’t yet have partnerships with directors like he did in Sweden, his work was quite diverse. From the protagonist of The Exorcist (1973) to a Bond villain in Never Say Never Again (1983) to Liet-Kynes in Dune (1984) to PreCrime’s Director in Minority Report (2002), Sydow has managed to age gracefully through his numerous roles. His latest role in this winter’s Star Wars: Episode VII (2015) will expose him to a fandom who idolizes many of its key actors. Of course, his acting skill has been nominated for an Oscar twice: first for his performance in Pelle the Conqueror (1987), and second, 24 years later, for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011).

A year after losing his father in the September 11^th attacks on the World Trade Center, Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn) finds that an old man (Max von Sydow) has moved in with his grandmother (Zoe Caldwell). The man does not speak but instead has the words “Yes” and “No” tattooed on his palms (a la The Night of the Hunter (1955)). Oskar starts bringing the old man along on the scavenger hunt his late father gave him, conquering several fears along the way. When he realizes the old man is probably his grandfather, Oskar plays the answering machine messages of his dead father, which causes the man to become emotional. This incident causes the old man to move out and tell Oskar to quit the scavenger hunt. Once it is revealed that the search was set up by Oskar’s mother, Linda Schell (Sandra Bullock), the grandfather eventually returns to live with Oskar’s grandmother.

The Seventh Seal
Year: 1957
Rating: Not Rated
Length: 96 minutes / 1.6 hours

Sydow’s early career started in 1949, but it wasn’t until 1957 that his acting really flourished. This was due to his partnership with director Ingmar Bergman. In total, Bergman directed 11 films with Max in the cast. Films like Wild Strawberries (1957), The Brink of Life (1958), The Virgin Spring (1960), and Through a Glass Darkly (1961) gave Sydow the chance to show Scandinavian audiences his acting skills. There’s no doubt that Hollywood took notice, but he managed to resist its pull, taking full advantage of the partnership with Bergman. Of course, most of these films pale in comparison to the first collaboration these two masterminds created: The Seventh Seal (1957). The scenes of Death playing chess are some of the most recognized scenes in all of European cinema, if not in the entire world.

Antonius Block (Max von Sydow) is a knight who just returned to Sweden following his service in the Crusades. Finding his home country is now plague-ridden, Block encounters Death (Bengt Ekerot) and challenges him to a chess match to delay his inevitable demise. As the knight heads back to his castle, he and his squire, Jöns (Gunnar Björnstrand), run across some actors. Heading into a church, Block gives his confession that he wants to perform “one meaningful deed” to a priest who turns out to be Death. After enjoying a picnic lunch with the actors he met earlier, Block invites them to his castle. Along the way, Block encounters Death in a few more forms, eventually finishing their chess game. As a last-ditch effort, Block swipes the pieces off the board, which gives the actors just enough time to escape Death’s grasp, the final checkmate sealing the knight’s fate.

2 sum it up: 2 films, 2 spectacular Sydow performances

Bacon #: 2 (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close / Tom Hanks -> Apollo 13 / Kevin Bacon)

#200. September 11th

While the 20^th Century might have officially ended on January 1^st, 2000, I think that, culturally, it actually ended on September 11^th, 2001. The tragic events that took place across America that day truly thrust us into a new world and a new age of caution and terror. While many of the children today weren’t even born when the 9/11 attacks happened, the history books will inform them of the day’s importance. Of course, it was only going to be a matter of time before films would be made about September 11^th. The challenge then becomes: how do we approach this with tact and sensitivity? A lot of people lost their lives during that fateful day, so their tragedy should not be seen in any sort of humorous or irreverent light. This week’s two films look at the horrors and effects of September 11^th, both at home and abroad.

Zero Dark Thirty
Year: 2012
Rating: R
Length: 157 minutes / 2.61 hours

After the dust had settled, then-President George W. Bush proclaimed a “war on terror” in Iraq and Afghanistan to track down the terrorists responsible for the devastating attacks on United States soil. Many films have been made about this war resulting from 9/11, all to varying forms of success. From some comedies that loosely use the war as a setting (including The A-Team (2010) and The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)) to serious dramas that have won major awards (like The Hurt Locker (2008)), the Iraq War has been used as a backdrop similar to many films that came before it using the wars of their time. However, the most important battles on the war on terror were not necessarily fought by soldiers, but by analysts. Films like Fair Game (2010) tried to convey this, but none have been able to match Zero Dark Thirty (2012).

The true end to the war on terror occurred nearly ten years after the September 11^th attacks. While subsequent wars on terror may have emerged, the assassination of Osama bin Laden by Seal Team Six on May 2, 2011, marked the end of the pursuit of the terrorist leader responsible for 9/11. Of course, the only reason why Navy Seals were able to find bin Laden was due to the relentless efforts of Maya (Jessica Chastain), a young CIA intelligence analyst who started working to find Osama in 2003. After many years of little to no progress, with many lives and careers ruined, Maya finally hits pay dirt. A series of connections leads her to find where bin Laden is hiding, which prompts her leadership to organize a raid on the complex. Highly trained soldiers with advanced equipment descend on the humble abode to finally end the decade-long pursuit.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Year: 2011
Rating: PG-13
Length: 129 minutes / 2.15 hours

Even though closure on the September 11^th attacks wouldn’t come for many more years, there have been many films made about that day. From movies about the people on the planes (United 93 (2006)) to the people on the ground in New York (World Trade Center (2006)), there have been few films that have dealt with the families of those who died during the attacks. Since everything happened so suddenly, many struggled to cope with the loss. Those who perhaps had the hardest time dealing with the death of a loved one were the children whose parents were in the World Trade Center when it fell. Fortunately, as we’ve seen time and again in tragedy after tragedy, the community steps up to lift itself past the hurt and forward toward healing. Released on the same year as the final scenes of Zero Dark Thirty, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011) reminds us of the strength of a community.

Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn) is a socially-awkward boy of nine years old who is coaxed out of his shell by his father, Thomas (Tom Hanks). To do so, Thomas sets up scavenger hunts throughout New York City which require his son to interact with many, diverse people. Unfortunately, Thomas is killed when the World Trade Center falls on September 11^th. A year later, Oskar meets a silent old man (Max von Sydow) who does not talk due to a similar trauma during World War II when his parents died. After having found a mysterious key in his father’s closet days before, Oskar and the old man set out to discover what the key goes to. As Oskar conquers some of his fears, he starts to realize the old man is his grandfather and plays back Thomas’ final answering machine messages. Finally, Oskar finds what the key goes to, and is somewhat disappointed until he learns of his mother’s (Sandra Bullock) involvement in setting up the search.

2 sum it up: 2 films, 2 sides of September 11^th

#033. Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks is one of those actors who seems to be involved with a lot of great movies. He’s had a lot of memorable roles, including the voice of Woody in Toy Story (1995), a boy who gets the chance to grow up in Big (1988), a soldier in Saving Private Ryan (1998), and the lovably slow Forrest Gump (1994) (among many others). Each of his roles are powerful and well done, but without being too serious. He tends to play some of the most relatable characters, which could just be the types of roles he’s assigned, or it could be that he brings them down to a level that the audience can grasp. At any rate, Tom Hanks is perhaps one of the most enjoyable actors to watch, no matter what movie he ends up being in. This week’s two films highlight some high points in his acting career.

Philadelphia
Year: 1993
Rating: PG-13
Length: 125 minutes / 2.08 hours

Philadelphia (1993) was Tom Hanks’ arrival as an actor. With only one nomination before this film (Best Actor in Big), Philadelphia started a streak of winning the Best Actor Oscar that ended the next year with Forrest Gump. Of course, the Academy does tend to enjoy awarding actors who take the more difficult roles. In Forrest Gump, Tom Hanks played a mentally-challenged man who really never let that get the best of him. In Philadelphia, he portrayed a man dying of AIDS, who was fighting not only for his life but against discrimination. Both roles have their own challenges, but Tom Hanks managed to humanize both of them, which is probably why he ended up winning the Oscar both times.

In Philadelphia, Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) has just been fired from his law firm because he failed to come through on a big case. When the situation is dissected, it is revealed that the reason that Andrew might have dropped the ball was that his homosexual lifestyle has given him AIDS. Suddenly, a simple firing becomes a discrimination suit against the law firm, for which Andrew enlists the assistance of Joe Miller (Denzel Washington). As the trial progresses and Andrew’s AIDS gets worse, the audience learns that a lot of misunderstanding can lead to a lot of bad decisions . . . as well as some good chances to learn something new.

Apollo 13
Year: 1995
Rating: PG
Length: 140 minutes / 2.33 hours

Apollo 13 (1995) was probably the first film I remember seeing Tom Hanks in. I really didn’t realize until years later that he was the same person to do the voice of Woody in Toy Story, which was released the same year. The part of the film that really cemented him in my mind as a great actor was that, even in the face of insurmountable odds against them safely returning to Earth, his character kept cool and kept on the task of returning home. Remaining calm in the face of intense adversity is a trademark of many of the characters he plays (even his most recent role in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011)), so I suppose he’s been somewhat typecast, in a sense.

On NASA’s 13th Apollo mission, astronaut Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks) is ready to get to the moon. Along with Fred Haise (Bill Paxton) and Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon), Jim prepares to go into space on top of the iconic Saturn V rocket. However, once outside of Earth’s atmosphere, something goes wrong. After Jim delivers his famous line, “Houston, we have a problem,” everyone on the ground and in the space capsule rush to figure out how they can get the three astronauts back home safely. Tensions rise as the problem compounds, finally leading to one of the tensest moments in cinema: the radio silence linked to re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. Will NASA have a triumph or a tragedy?

2 sum it up: 2 films, 2 Tom Hanks triumphs

Bacon #: 1 (Apollo 13 / Kevin Bacon)