The Film Society at Lincoln Center is presenting Man of Steel: Burt Lancaster at 100 May 17-23. I saw two magnificent films. From Here to Eternity, by Fred Zinnemann, USA, 1953, won the Oscar as Best Picture and Frank Sinatra and Donna Reed won Supporting Actor Oscars. All were well deserved. It is one of the finest films about army life; in this case, the peacetime army in Hawaii just before the attack on Pearl Harbor, which provides the film with its stunning climax. The acting is superb and the film leaves a deep impression. Sweet Smell of Success, by Alexander MacKendrick, USA, 1957, is another impressive film about a powerful gossip columnist (Burt Lancaster) and a hustling press agent (Tony Curtis). The immoral behavior portrayed by most of the characters in the film is remarkable, and the realistic dialogue adds to the creation of a dangerous atmosphere of a gritty New York. This was an age when a newspaper columnist had unbelievable power to help or hurt a celebrity. They had millions of readers, who read and believed what they wrote. The acting is splendid and the plot is absorbing. I enjoyed every minute of these two films.

 

MoMA presented The Cousins, by Claude Chabrol, France, 1959, was one of the first New Wave films, that had an influential effect on filmmaking. Charles (Gerard Blain), as a young law student from the provinces and Paul (Jean-Claude Brialy), as a decadent law student, are two cousins, who live together in Paul's apartment in Paris. Charles falls for one of Paul's girlfriends with tragic consequences. It was quite shocking at the time for its depiction of drunken, immoral behavior of the young students, the realistic sexual language and partial nudity. More than fifty years later, it is still an impressive achievement.

 

Hannah Arendt, by Margarethe von Totta, Germany, 2012, is a film about the bright, intelligent German Jewish philosophy professor in the title role (interpreted brilliantly by Barbara Sukowa), who is sent to Jerusalem to cover the Adolf Eichmann trial for the New Yorker. Her articles and her book Eichmann In Jerusalem : A Report on the Banality of Evil cause a controversy among the Jewish leaders in the USA and Israel. It is a well acted film, showing the arrogance of this remarkable woman in face of the attacks from former friends. It is the true story that deserves to be seen by all thoughtful people.

 

Opera in Cinema from Emerging Pictures presented Nabucco, by Verdi, from the Royal Opera, which was captured live on April 29, 2013. The major interest in this modern dress and minimal staging was the presence of Placido Domingo, singing the baritone title role for the first time. Placido is a treasure to the opera world. What he has accomplished is phenomenal. As always, he delivered a professional performance. The entire cast and chorus sang well, and included Liudmyla Monastyrska, Marianna Pizzolato, Andrea Care and Vitalij Kowaljow. Nicola Luisotti conducted the orchestra