Littoral

Rating: Null/10 (16 November 2008)

Every once in a while, I go back to watch films that were celebrated in their time. These have to be films I saw when they were newly nested in their warm buzz, and which were conveyed as if they were a privilege. This is such a film, one that can perhaps serve even as the exemplar.
It was touted as (at last) a serious film by Spielberg, chapter two of his "real" film which marketed the holocaust. It had Hanks, who it should be recalled was more uniquely respected then than now. It dealt with a sort of real history with direct pulls on patriotism and something called valor, in a way that would make Sinatra and Wayne blush (or at least hiccup).
And its first 20 minutes was chocked full of effects that worked and conveyed a meaning of confused dread. It moved us all  how could it not?  and allowed the filmmaker to lazily move through an ordinary story, staged as if it had a different production crew.
Seeing this again in my own context and with the objectiveness of distance, I am amazed at how effective that opening section is, and how typically bad Steven the rest is. That first part is tense, tight and close. It is horrible without forcing us so close that we recoil.
You know, one of the biggest challenges in film-making is to introduce the audience to the world they will live in for perhaps a few hours  the film and the long tail of recalled experience afterward. Usually the filmmaker has only a few minutes. Some  especially when a strict genre film is coming  can even do it during the title sequence. We are prepared for this entry voyage; it is part of the contract we make when allowing a filmmaker to transport us. I cannot recall a film that took this much time to prepare us. Perhaps "Pan's Labyrinth," but that setup was disjointed.
So I have to admire Spielberg's craft in putting together a session that has impact, though it is all tone and no narrative. And I have to admire his ability to understand and exploit that twilight area where we are primed for such a thing. And then 20 minutes in, we start to ask why, why engage us? Why open us to be ready for something that matters and serve us bread?
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.