MI VIDA LOCA (1994) takes an anthology look at barrio life in Echo Park, Ca., variously focusing on two young women who almost come to blows over a man, a young woman who sees a way out but can’t take it and the various men in their life. Familiar stuff — Echo Park doesn’t come off that different from DC Comics’ Suicide Slum — but a good drama nonetheless. Logical double bills might be Echo Park or the musical In The Heights (for showing a Latino neighborhood where there’s more going on than gang life). “You don’t ever throw down with your home girl over a guy — they’re not worth it.”
Ingmar Berman’s SHAME (1968) stars Max von Sydow and Liv Ulman as married concert musicians holed up uneasily in their home during a civil war, dealing with the fractures in their marriage while periodically one side or the other accuses them of collaborating with the enemy (we know both sides have some sort of ideology but we’ve no idea what it is). I can’t help thinking the European audience would have a different feel for it than me (lots of them would have lived through WW II when war swept across the land much like this) but it still works for me. It’s almost a noirish view of war where regardless of the protagonists’ personal views or actions, they’re going to get it in the neck. “They let me go once I started screaming — almost as if they were embarrassed.”
The French noir drama ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS (1958) has the male lead pull of the perfect murder, realize his one mistake, try to fix it … and get caught in the elevator when the janitor turns off the power overnight. His lover (Jean Marais) is freaking out, then a couple of joyriding teens steal his car, leading to consequences none of the cast expect. I certainly didn’t expect the twists and developments either; an excellent film, directed by Louis Malle. “Your elevator story will never convince a jury.”
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