DON'T LOOK NOW (Nicolas Roeg, 1973)

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(**** / *****): Had this one on the Criterion list for too long and avoided it mostly because, while I love Donald Sutherland, my mother's penchant for claiming that my asshole stepfather looked like him (he didn't) made me avoid almost all Donald Sutherland films for the last 30 years and I couldn’t bring myself to click on the cover still of Sutherland here. But they're dead - my mother and stepfather, not Sutherland, thankfully - now and here I am, having overcome my avoidance tics and watched: Great film, but in that “wow what an amazing achievement Great” manner, not in the "spoke to me deeply on an emotional level Great.” Excellent performances across the board, amazing editing, beautiful cinematography (DON'T LOOK NOW is to Venice as THE THIRD MAN is to Vienna?) – but destined to be filed in my "respect (and I do, deeply) more than love and have no interest in seeing again" shelf. But hey, exposure therapy FTW.

HIGH AND LOW (Akira Kurosawa, 1963)

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(Directed by Akira Kurosawa from a script by Ryūzō Kikushima, Hideo Oguni, Elijiro Hisaita, and Akira Kurosawa; starring Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Kyōko Kagawa, Tatsuya Mihashi, Tsutomo Yamazaki, and Yutaka Sada. Released 01 March 1963; watched 2023w51 via Criterion Channel)

Had to restart because I was too exhausted to appreciate it on first viewing, but once I did, it handily became my favorite Kurosawa film: tight, taut, and at the same time, free-flowing – especially in the second half (similar structure to IKIRU) –, unafraid to take lengthy divergencies into the intricacies and frustrations of police work (reminded me of Jules Dassin's THE NAKED CITY in its procedural aspects – the briefing / report sequence was riveting – and its eye for locational verisimilitude). Mifune is, unsurprisingly, electrifying – never have I been as inspired to consider shoes so passionately – as is Tsutomo Yamazaki as the desperate, deadly, and ultimately broken kidnapper (how inspired, I wonder, was Frank Miller by the shot pictured above when he designed Kevin in the first SIN CITY yarn?). One of the essential crime films - and perhaps one of my favorite films: if it's not on the list, it's certainly nearing it. Will be adding to the collection post haste.