#236. Lengthy Running Times

In a world that is having an increasingly difficult time sitting still for an extended amount of time, any movie longer than 90 minutes can be a struggle to watch. Especially with the ubiquitous nature of smartphones shortening our attention spans, many of us won’t even bother watching a video that’s longer than seven seconds. Part of the solution many movies have resorted to in recent years has been to split films into two parts, so they are easier to watch, instead of sitting through a four-hour film. Other solutions have been to keep the pace of the plot set so fast as to keep the audience enthralled all the way to the end credits. This latter option often includes plenty of flashy and disorienting action to sustain the excitement level at a point where viewers won’t glance at their watches. This week’s two films have lengthy running times but are worth the watch if you can pay attention long enough.

Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
Year: 1975
Rating: Not Rated
Length: 201 minutes / 3.35 hours

Movies with running times above three hours have been around since nearly the beginning of cinema itself. Many of these films were merely adapting to the tenets of the theatre. With its plays and musicals, many theatre productions included overtures and intermissions. These plays and musicals were quite long, easily spanning several hours. This is why many long films also followed suit by including overtures and intermissions for audiences to get up and stretch. While the latest notable film to have an intermission was made in 2001 (Pearl Harbor), quite a few films from the 1960s and 1970s had intermissions, even if they were cut out in home media. That being said, Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) does not have an intermission, or fast-paced plot, or any exciting action. It merely has the life of a homemaker, revealed in near real-time.

Life as a single mother can be a regular series of events, repeated ad nauseam. For each of the three hours of this film’s running time, we get a glimpse into three days of Jeanne Dielman’s (Delphine Seyrig) life. There is cleaning to do, dinner to cook, and a bedroom “job” to perform to keep her and her son living comfortably. However, when the small details start to go awry, we see Jeanne slowly succumb to the stress she hides right beneath her stoic surface. Whether it’s the countless hours spent alone in the house or the exceptional standards of homemaking that she holds herself to, the subsequent days definitely show she is almost at her breaking point. Finally, on the third day, Jeanne has a sudden release with one of her “clients.” Perhaps, as a result, she cuts her session short in a sudden outburst of violence.

The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Year: 2003
Rating: PG-13
Length: 201 minutes / 3.35 hours

If there’s one thing the Academy Awards like, it’s a long movie. Often, the nominees for Best Picture are regularly over two-and-a-half hours long, and will sometimes even break the three-hour mark. Additionally, some films of a particular series might have different release dates but are considered as one, complete film when placed back-to-back. In these cases, franchises like Star Wars, Harry Potter, and The Lord of the Rings could all be considered singular films with running times at or over 12 hours long! In regards to the last series of the aforementioned list, which won Best Picture in 2003, the fact that it was shot all at once with the same actors gives credence to the thought that all three films are actually a single film split into three parts. With the “extended editions” of these films considered to be the true film adaptation of the Lord of the Rings story, get ready for a half-day movie marathon.

The third installment in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King (2003) follows Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) as they complete the final push into Mordor to destroy Sauron’s ring of power. Meanwhile, the remaining members of the Fellowship (established in the first film, The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)) bolster their forces to take on Sauron’s army. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) gains alliances of kings, both living and dead, and battles his way to Sauron’s front door. Having traveled an incredible distance and endured numerous obstacles and struggles, Frodo and Sam wearily make their way into Mount Doom, the source of (and therefore the only way to destroy) the ring of power. As the battle heats up between good and evil, Gollum (Andy Serkis) sees his last chance to obtain the ring for himself. Will Sauron win in the end, or will Frodo be able to rid Middle Earth of the ring once and for all?

2 sum it up: 2 films, 2 movie marathons

#203. Priestly Step-fathers

One of the most overused clichés in fairy tales is that of the step-family. How often have you heard the story of the evil step-mother? The nasty step-sisters? Often, the birth parents have both died, which eventually leads to this less-than-desired situation. First, the mother dies (probably through childbirth), which leads to the father re-marrying. Once the father dies, the step-mother’s true nature is finally revealed, and the antagonist is enforced. Unfortunately, this cliché is not just relegated to the realm of fairy tales, or to the matriarch of the mixed family. Step-fathers can also be quite nasty, especially since they are the ones in charge of the new family, regardless of the mother’s authority. To add insult to injury, some step-fathers are part of the church, just adding to their antagonist rap sheet. This week’s two films focus on priestly step-fathers as villains.

Fanny and Alexander
Year: 1982
Rating: R
Length: 188 minutes / 3.13 hours

While priests are often thought of as celibate singles who dedicate their lives to the church, some sects do allow them to marry. However, the rigors of obeying the multitude of religious laws and regulations often cause these men to develop rigorous child-rearing techniques. Behaviors that question or belittle their authority are quickly and severely corrected with severe disciplinary actions. Children in these types of households are often stifled and required to act like adults, even at a young age. There is no love, only rules. Considering the main teachings of Jesus, this is quite ironic, but it highlights just how distorted religion has made the gospel about sin management instead of its original message of grace and forgiveness. Add to this the different set of rules from a previous marriage, and suddenly the kids are up in arms against their priestly step-father.

Edvard Vergérus (Jan Malmsjö) is a widower and bishop in the small Swedish town of Uppsala. Living with his family (which includes his mother, sister, and aunt), Edvard is the only male in the house. That was until he married recently widowed Emilie (Ewa Fröling), who brought two young children into his home. Now the eponymous Fanny (Pernilla Allwin) and Alexander (Bertil Guve) are finding their new step-father to be rather strict, even despite their mother’s attempts at livening up their new home. Unfortunately, Alexander, the new male in the house, is always at odds with Edvard, himself being a strict disciplinarian. Even though Emilie now finds herself pregnant with the bishop’s child, she manages to escape with her two children from the oppressive household. She is not allowed to divorce Edvard, so the only option for their freedom is his death.

The Night of the Hunter
Year: 1955
Rating: Approved
Length: 92 minutes / 1.53 hours

Taking the cliché of the priestly step-father a step further, we often find criminals posing as men of the cloth to avoid suspicion from the authorities. These wolves in sheep’s clothing have realized the reputation of a priest often precedes them, even if it is an erroneous assumption. In this way, they can continue to commit crimes without being suspected of any wrongdoing. After all, if the man who teaches that we should not sin ends up sinning himself, his credibility would come under intense scrutiny. Because of this, these pretend priests still need to be careful to conduct their crimes in secrecy, lest the word gets out about who they really are. If they can successfully do so, they are usually the last person the police would suspect and thus will get away with the crime with no repercussions.

Reverend Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) is a literal ladykiller, in both senses of the word. With his cover as a self-proclaimed priest firmly in place, he is unable to be touched by the law, which never suspects the switchblade-wielding man of the cloth. His latest target is Willa Harper (Shelley Winters), a recent widow whose former husband revealed the secret of a stolen fortune to their two kids, John (Billy Chapin) and Pearl (Sally Jane Bruce). Willa is oblivious to Powell’s intentions and allows him to get close to the family to find the ill-gotten gains. This ignorance leads to her death, and now John and Pearl are forced to flee the serial killer. Fortunately, they come across Rachel Cooper (Lillian Gish), a tough woman who has a penchant for looking after lost children. Now all they have to do is wait for the police to realize Powell’s true nature and come to arrest him.

2 sum it up: 2 films, 2 paternal priests

#202. Ingmar Bergman

In a market saturated with American films, we often forget there are many excellent, prolific, and award-winning directors outside the borders of North America. This is probably due to the entirety of foreign cinema being contained in a single Oscar category: Best Foreign Film. Because these films are simplified to the equivalent of a “Best Picture” category, their directors are often unrecognized for their efforts, especially after many years of multiple wins. After 1956, when the Best Foreign Film category finally became more than an honorary award, few directors have had multiple wins. Second only to Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman has had the most Best Foreign Film wins in the Academy’s history (again, not considering the honorary awards before 1956). This week’s two films highlight some of the best of Bergman’s work.

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

Even though it was not accepted as one of the nominees for Best Foreign Film, The Seventh Seal (1957) was Sweden’s second unsuccessful submission for the award. A mere three years later, Bergman’s film, The Virgin Spring (1960), would go on to win the first of Sweden’s three Oscars. The next year, Bergman was able to recreate the feat with Through a Glass Darkly (1961). And while Sweden has been nominated for the prestigious award many times, only Bergman’s films have managed to claim that gold statue for his country. However, even if The Seventh Seal didn’t win any awards, it is considered by most to be Bergman’s best-known and most influential work. The iconic chess match between a knight of the Crusades and Death personified has reappeared in many forms since it hit the screen in the late 1950s.

As was the case with many of Bergman’s other films, The Seventh Seal focuses on death, and not just the personified incarnation portrayed by Bengt Ekerot. The death that had come to Sweden was that of severe illness: the black plague. Many in the country had started to falter in their faith, especially Antonius Block (Max von Sydow), a knight who had just returned home from the Crusades. In his new, bleak view of the world, Block’s visions of Death make him seem insane to the casual observer, but his goal is to stay the inevitable grip of Death for just a while longer, hoping to save someone in the process. Fortunately, their game of chess draws out long enough that a few traveling actors can survive the “danse macabre” that Death takes most of them on, leading to their irreversible demise.

Fanny and Alexander
Year: 1982
Rating: R
Length: 188 minutes / 3.13 hours

The third Best Foreign Film Oscar Bergman earned for Sweden came more than two decades later with Fanny and Alexander (1982). A decade before this win, Bergman’s Cries and Whispers (1974) managed to transcend its “Foreign” status and became his first film to be nominated for the top award: Best Picture. Even if these films are occasionally nominated for the highest award, they have yet to win this penultimate designation. This film also marked Bergman’s first nomination for Best Director. Three years later, he would be nominated again for Face to Face (1977).  His final nomination for Best Director would come with his third “Best Foreign Film,” the aforementioned Fanny and Alexander. This was also the last in a string of Best Original Screenplay nominations Bergman had received through his illustrious career.

Fanny (Pernilla Allwin) and Alexander (Bertil Guve) are the titular characters in this turn-of-the-century family drama. When their father dies from a stroke, their now-widowed mother, Emilie (Ewa Fröling), sets out to re-marry. Finding a partner in the widower bishop, Edvard (Jan Malmsjö), the two get married, and she moves her family into his strict and disciplined home. Finding that she cannot enliven the stuffy bishop’s house, Emilie can do nothing but watch as her children’s new stepfather hands out harsh discipline. In particular, Alexander and Edvard are constantly clashing, the latter punishing the former for creating false stories about him. Unable to obtain a divorce, Emilie is eventually able to run away with her two children, and the one she is expecting. Finally free from the bishop, the family can start over again, a new daughter now part of its makeup.

2 sum it up: 2 films, 2 incredible Ingmar Bergman films

Bacon #: 3 (En passion / Max von Sydow -> Minority Report / Tom Cruise -> A Few Good Men / Kevin Bacon)