090 - Dogs of War

Synopsis: Mercenaries overthrow West African dictator

Director: John Irvin

Actors: Christopher Walken, Tom Berenger, Jobeth Williams, Colin Blakely

Date: 1980

How viewed: Lovefilm

Rating: 3/5

David Meyer says:
An intelligent, hard-boiled, unapologetic war movie, based on an unapologetic best-seller [by Frederick Forsyth]

I say:

Well, this is certainly better than I expected it to be. Despite an all-action first 5 minutes, with the gang of mercenaries forcing their way onto the last plane out of some war zone, the film follows Christopher Walken apparently settling back into life in San Fransisco. However, he's soon tracked down by a guy who wants to invest in some West African state, but needs the current dictator out of the way. Walker initially goes on a reconnaissance mission (the best bit of the film), and then is persuaded (for a bucket load of money) to reform his gang of mercenaries, go back, and take out the dictator - which they do, of course, in the final 15 minutes. So, there's actually not much violence, rather there a lot about getting the necessary weapons, getting them across borders, and planning the attack. Interestingly there's no subtitles - so when people speak French, or Italian or Fanti (??) there's a real sense of not quite knowing whats going on. What else to report?  Walken looks proper scary all the way through the film, but that's a given! Slightly bizarre to see Kenny Ireland and Jim Broadbent in very minor roles (as cameraman/soundman) trying to make a documentary about the goings on in the West African state! 

089 - Out of the Past

Synopsis: Classic 1940's film noir

Director: Jacques Tourneur

Actors: Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas, Jane Greer, Rhonda Fleming

Date: 1947

How viewed: Lovefilm

Rating: 4/5

David Meyer says: 
Director Tourneur's sense of hopelessness and existential dread find expression in a desolate compendium of noir characteristics: violence, sexual obsession, alienation, betrayal, and (justified) paranoia, all presented in eerie, shadow-laden lighting, and dreamlike camera work.

I say:

Blimey, this is such a convoluted story - it starts out OK (in flashback) private detective (Mitchum) hired (by Douglas) to track down missing girlfriend (Greer), finds her, falls for her, they run off together, but are found and she disappears. Years later the guy who hired him contacts him again. His girl has returned to him, and he wants Mitchum to retrieve some documents that show he (Douglas) has been avoiding tax. it's a set-up of course (to revenge the fact that Mitchum and Greer ran off together), but from then on everyone is betraying everyone and eventually everyone gets their comeuppance (i guess). Some of the reviews reckon that this is THE classic noir film with the classic femme fatale (Greer), and that the confused storyline doesn't matter (and is par for the course for noir), and maybe I just haven't seen enough of the genre to judge, but it certainly is enjoyable. Interesting to see a relatively early Robert Mitchum film - one sort of thinks of him as old and grizzled - but here he's younger (30) but you can already see the classic traits. Jane Greer is extraordinary as well - wildly switching from innocent girl to cold blooded killer. And there's some great dialogue - Mitchum saying 'If I'm going to die, I want to be the last'. A couple of points about the review in Robert Meyer's book (the first time I've noticed glitches) - he calls Mitchum's character a hoodlum (no, he's a private detective), and also lists Jack Elam as one of the starts (but he's not in the film at all), sadly, because Jack Elam is one of my all time favourite actors - and here's a photo, just to make up (or compound!) for the error.