Ivanovo detstvo (1962)

	Also Known As: Ivan's childhood, L'enfance d'Ivan
	Year of first release: 1962
	Director: Andrei Tarkowskiy
	Actors: Nikolay Burlayev, Valentin Zubkov, Valentina Malyavina
	Country: SU
	Genre: War
	Conditions of visioning: 23.08.2014, DVD, Russian version with English subtitles
Synopsis: Ivan (Burlayev) lost mother and father during the World war II. Sincethen he found his place in the Red armyto fight against the Nazis. He goes across the front and gain information on the Nazi side. Some officers as Kholin (Zubkov) like him and take Ivan under their wing.
Review: Fascinated by the Solaris of Tarkowski and knowing a good source for his movies, I continue watching his movies. This first movie by Tarkowski won the Golden Lion in Venice.  The movie is in a beautiful black and white, thinking about the shadows as a colour for the picture composition, as a tool generating volume, typical of Eisenstein (Battleship Potemkin), but actually mostly as a tool to focus on an actor's face. The story of Ivan is actually good and the way to switch from the flash backs during dreams and the reality is beautiful, also when both converge. This scene reminded me Apocalypse now when Martin Sheen seems to sense the forest. The look of Ivan and the look of Martin Sheen. But many scenes of the movie do not have anything to do with the main story and do not build an interesting story, the affair of Kholin with a nurse (Malyavina). Or at least I did not understood the connection. Otherwise it would be a very good movie. The actors Malyavina and Zubkov are good in these scenes, for the both naive and lascive looks.
Rating: 6 /10 I collected below some interesting posters of the movie, showing how different the movie has been affecting the different countries.

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1962
	Director: David Lean (Doctor Zhivago, The Bridge on the River Kwai)
	Actors: Peter O'Toole (Caligula, Troy), Alec Guinness (Star Wars IV, The Bridge on the River Kwai), Anthony Quinn (The Guns of Navarone), Omar Sharif (Doctor Zhivago, The 13th Warrior), Anthony Quayle (The Guns of Navarone)
	Country: GB, USA
	Genre: Epic
	Conditions of visioning: 15.06.2014, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: During the first World War, T. E. Lawrence (O'Toole) is a slightly excentric British soldier, not really at ease with his position in Cairo. He will be sent to meet the initiator of the Arab rebellion against the Turks: Prince Feisal (Guiness), and will become himself part of the rebellion.
Review: I placed this Blu-ray on my wish list after watching a few scenes of it in Prometheus, and learning that Michael Fassbender has tried to copy Peter O'Toole for his acting. It took me some time to watch it because it does last almost four hours. As some other long movies from that period (Cleopatra, Doctor Zhivago, Ben Hur...), it starts with 5-10 minutes of symphonic music on a dark screen and includes an intermission at the middle of the movie with music again (wonderfully composed by Maurice Jarre in that case). This is nice and forces you to slowly get into the movie before it even starts. It also divides the movie in two parts of the story. In the case of Lawrence of Arabia, I loved the first part: the involving story, the majesty of the landscapes that cannot be emphasized enough, the quality of the cinematography (the scenes are perfectly framed and all of their points are perfectly in focus), the acting by O'toole, Guiness, Quinn ad others, and the pristine quality of the Blu-ray edition. This last point is of the utmost importance when for example you see a man mounting a camel arriving from the horizon towards the viewer, mixed with a mirage, and being at the beginning no more than one dark pixel against the white and blue background. Such detail must be completely lost on a lower resolution image, and the viewer that doesn't see the black pixel will wonder why we spend so much time showing the horizon! I liked the second part less, when Lawrence's character changes. Moreover, although the rebellion comes to a high point, I found that the stakes were less involving than in the first part. This is why the movie didn't get a 10/10. Also maybe because it feels strange that Arabs lords are played by the British and American actors Guiness and Quinn, although their make-up is extremely well done and I didn't recognize them at first, and their great acting makes up for the odd choice. By the way Alec Guiness with a beard and wearing robes, involved in a rebellion in the desert has a certain feel of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Clearly one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen, and absolutely deserving its seven Academy Awards.
Rating: 9 /10

La Jetée (1962)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1962
	Director: Chris Marker (Sans Soleil)
	Actors: Étienne Becker, Jean Négroni, Hélène Chatelain
	Country: F
	Genre: Drama, SF
	Conditions of visioning: 23.02.2013, DVD, Home cinema, English narration
Synopsis: After a nuclear World War 3, survivors in the Paris underground send human guinea pigs back and forth in time.
Review: What is this film?? It is the first question you can ask when seing it, and also the one asked in the short documentary on the DVD. The best fitting answer to me is: a piece of Art. Chris Marker was indeed a photographer and artist. The short film is composed for 99.5% of still black and white photographs plus the blink of an eye, accompanied by a narrator's voice and some sound effects. Within less than 30 minutes, this experimentation is unique and can make you think for a while. No wonder it inspired Terry Gilliam for his Twelve Monkeys. Other movies that may have been inspired by it: Deja Vu and Source Code. But it is diffcult to get involved in it like you are in a movie. I think it requires several viewings and my rating (difficult thing to do on this film) might evolve with time. The available DVD copy I have only had English narration, the images were shaking and the sound could have been better especially when there are some very faint voices speaking German... Let's hope for a future proper edition.  I will probably soon watch the second movie by Chris Marker on this DVD double pack: Sans Soleil.
Rating: 7 /10