While I forgot to mention this one in the Obit's threads, Silvia Legrand died recently. Silvia was the less famous twin sister of Mirtha Legrand, the undisputed number one female star of classic Argentinian cinema. In 1968 she retired and became the hostess of a lunch TV talk show called Lunch with Mirtha Legrand which has now lasted over 52 seasons (yes, Mirtha is Highlander-level immortal and was still hosting it last year) in which she became more (in)famous for casually pushing right wing political agenda forward. The show and her standing as a conservative cultural icon sometimes make people forget that she was a wonderful actress who starred in genuine movie classics, often (like in this case) directed by her husband Daniel Tinayre. We recently had a short talk about melodramas with baby doll and boy, is Under the Same Face a perfect example or what? Mirtha plays Inés, a model for a clothes department store who has two confidants in life - her false friend and co-worker Susana and her twin sister Sor Elizabeth who is a nun. Susana introduces her to a man called Jorge who charms her and they begin a relationship. Jorge appears to have some difficulty getting a job and so begins to rely on his girlfriend's paycheck. We can all guess where this is headed - Jorge is a pimp (and his pimp nickname is "Bob") and a gigolo and eventually pushes Inés into high end prostitution, and of course Susana is another of his victims. In true noir fashion, the movie begins with the body of Inés being discovered and the police entering the church to interrogate Sor Elisabeth and we get told the story in flashbacks. Inés eventually meets a Spanish soldier on leave who is a good man and wants to take care of her, and so in the final twist of this convoluted tale...
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Overall this is a really enjoyable "time artifact" movie. Both Legrands are competent actresses and the movie has a pleasant "ripped from the headlines" vibe, shot on location, which is wonderful as we get to see what life in Buenos Aires really looked and felt like in 1962.
I had already watched all of Denise Cronenberg's collaborations with her brother, but the 2004 Dawn of the Dead... escaped my radar? I think it's more accurate to say that I was a film snob from a very young age and flat out refused to watch the remake of the 1978 George Romero classic. Which is stupid, because both films are as similar as they are different. While having roughly the same plotline, Zach Snyder's feature film debut aims to entertain and thrill, having none of the rich social and political subtext of Romero. In the original, the characters are stuck in the shopping mall and slowly begin to live an empty life which is supposed to mirror a regular, non-apocalypse consumerist lifestyle. There's no time for even this level of subtlety in Snyder's remake which moves from one set piece to the next. Its greatest ally is James Gunn's strong screenplay, which despite a few clichéd moments (I had to laugh every time the tough cop played by Ving Rhames reacted emotionally when someone brought up the concept of family) handles a rather large cast of characters deftly, providing each one with a solid dramatic arc in the relatively small screen time devoted to these things. The best three things about this remake? The opening, nerve-wracking 15 minutes, the zombie baby and the soundtrack. The worst part? It's shallow as fuck when compared to the original, but then again, it doesn't try to be a classic. I know Watchmen has its well deserved fan base, but this is still Snyder's greatest achievement.
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