Force of Evil

Force of Evil, Abraham  Polonsky's  1948 debut, is as brave and uncompromising as Polonsky himself.  After making this film,  Polonsky directed another film after 20 more years.

Force of Evil tells the story of Joe Morse (John Garfield), a lawyer whose main client is Joe Tucker (Roy Roberts), the boss of a numbers racket.  Tucker wants to control the number rackets in New york.  This means taking control of many smaller rackets ,one of which is run by Morse's older brother  Leo Morse (Thomas Gomez).  Joe wants to save Leo's small business ,to pay him back for putting him through college.  Leo doesn't take it lightly.  He calls Joe  a gangster.  Joe feels bad but still he attempts to save his brother.  Eventually Joe forces Leo in on the scheme .

John Garfield did brilliant job in lead role. According to Martin Scorsese nobody portrayed guilt on the American screen better than John Garfield in Abraham Polonsky's hard-hitting Force of Evil (1948).  Marie Windsor even with her limited screen-presence, delivered a powerful performance.

 Force of Evil is one of those rare film masterpieces in which the story, script, casting, acting, direction, photography,  and sound design work in perfect unison to create a tense and deeply enjoyable story. Above all, it is a beautiful film ,expertly directed with tremendous black and white imagery.   It may be the noir that most perfectly captures the societal anxieties of America in the late 40's.

The Wild Child

 One summer day in 1798, a naked boy of eleven of twelve years age is found in a forrest in rural district of southern France.  The boy is captured and brought to Paris and was placed in a school for deaf-mutes. The boy lived his life like a wild animal and was unable to speak or understand. He didn't have communication skills.  Dr Itard (Truffaut) observes the boy and believes that he is neither deaf, nor "idiot".   Doctor thinks that the boy's behaviour is result of living in a deprived atmosphere but he can be educated.

 There is question at the root of "Wild Child". The question is whether civilization is good for men or if he'd be happier in natural state? The Wild Child is very pure,ascetic Truffaut.  It focuses tightly on the minute details of Victor's education as if to avoid announcing the fact that it's about larger matters.
Truffaut never quite let us become sentimental about Victor's triumphs- his first tears,the day he invents a chalk holder etc.  One of the best film by him.

How I Ended This Summer

  Graduate Pavel and Meteorologist Sergei work together on a polar station in a desolate part of the arctic. The place is located at the extreme north-eastern tip of Russia. Sergei has a wife and a young son on the mainland whom  he rarely sees. He transmits short messages to them through Headquarters.

 Sergei takes his job very seriously. College grad Pavel plays video games and listens to music to avoid Sergei's imposing presence.Tension appears between them.

This film works hard on the subtleties and isolation of the main characters.In such a situation and such a place,humans can react very differently.  The plot is here very simple but the main aspects of the film is powerful visual story-telling with very less dialogues. This film  is also a psychological thriller in which their mutual distrust deteriorates into a potentially deadly game of cat and mouse.