DrBikeShorts is Now Watching

I’ve had a busy weekend of watching films. I’ll provide longer write-ups during the week, but for now here’s a quick summary.

First up was Jean-Pierre Melville’s ultra-cool Le Cercle Rouge. Not many men can pull off a 70s porn moustache without the hint of irony. Alain Delon can. Joining Delon in the red circle is Gian Maria Volonté and Yves Montand, teaming up for an outstanding jewel heist that dominates the second act. Outstanding film.

Lindsay Anderson’s if…. is a film I’ve always wanted to catch up with and that’s just what I did on Sunday afternoon. Malcolm McDowell’s feature debut was every bit as great as I was hoping. My appreciation of McDowell has always been a post-Clockwork Orange context, so it was great to finally see the film that obviously inspired Kubrick to cast him. Anderson’s melange of realism and fantasy and switching between colour and black and white film stock is casual and confident.

I finished the weekend with Jean Vigo’s A Propos de Nice, which I haven’t seen since my university days. I watched it late at night, so not really sure what to say here, except it’s lovely and I’d love to go back to Nice.