Youth Without Youth

Let me start by saying that I adore Francis Ford Coppola; the man is a visionary and iconic filmmaker that will make prolific films until he decides to stop and his career will be remembered for years after it ends. That being said, there are times I question Coppola’s filmmaking decisions…while I can’t say that I question why he made Youth Without Youth, I really can’t say that I understand the movie at all.

In the early stages of Hitler’s Germany Dominic is a 70 year old professor who is tired of life, and goes away on a trip where he is immediately struck by lightning. Dominic should be dead, but instead after weeks of medical care he heals and reveals that he now has an approximately 40 year old body; he allows himself to be studied by the doctor that oversaw him until Hitler’s scientists discover his existence and try to take him into custody. Dominic then lives the life of a fugitive as he continues his research on the origin of language.

This is a strange film, not a bad one, but a strange one. Along his journey Dominic discovers that he is gaining “super powers” including the ability to absorb information from objects, manipulate objects, and he uncovers that the lightning strike has created multiple personalities within him. Dominic does not age but if he spends too long around a loved one they age at a rapid rate. The film is a study of language, history and the possibility of past lives, but does not settle on one topic for very long as it studies the life that Dominic now leads.

One of my favorite things about Coppola is that he is not afraid to take risks. One of my favorite visual hints in Youth Without Youth is Coppola’s use of the upside down image; I won’t say what Coppola is indicating by using this but the images that he chooses to invert are striking and aid in his ultimate goal which is to make the audience think about what they are watching and why.

Youth Without Youth shares some of the same ideas as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; the ideas of love, youth, life and experience. However, while I cannot say I am a huge fan of Benjamin Button or Youth Without Youth I do have to say that I enjoyed the journey a bit more in the case of Youth Without Youth.

Director & Writer: Francis Ford Coppola
Dominic: Tim Roth
Veronica/Laura: Alexandra Maria Lara

El Mariachi

This weekend I watched a pivotal independent film for the first time - El Mariachi. This is the film that put Robert Rodriguez on the map, that she shot across the border on money he raised from being the test subject in medical experiments, and shot with luck, friends, and no crew.

Knowing just the pieces, and the basic back story (Rodriguez was a 23 year old film student when he made this film) any sane human being would have believed that what Rodriguez was going was a giant waste of time and money instead of the industry revolution that it was. Rodriguez used real people, not actors. He wasn’t able to record synchronous sound, but recorded most of it later. He didn’t have the time, money or resources to pad his squibs so when his actors were “shot” the pain on their faces was real. Anyone would have told Rodriguez (and did tell him) that this project was doomed to failure, but Rodriguez managed to prove everyone wrong.

For those of you that haven’t seen the film here’s the concept.

A young Mariachi comes to a small Mexican town looking to find work as a Mariachi and follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, he goes door to door from café to restaurant looking for work with his guitar case in hand. The problem is that this small town is home to Moco, a drug dealer & criminal who is being hunted down by Azul, his former partner who he ratted on and got sent to prison – and tried to kill. Azul is out for revenge on Moco and has just landed in this small town; he too goes place to place exterminating Moco’s men.

The only one that has ever seen Azul is Moco and he describes him as wearing all black, and carrying a guitar case loaded with weapons. Unfortunately, this is the same description for our Mariachi only his guitar case carries a guitar. A case of mistake identity ensues that leads our mild mannered Mariachi into a world of criminals and corruption and takes his guitar playing dreams from him.

The concept his pretty far out, but just grounded enough by performance, location and action that it works. This movie is very real, which is probably attributed to the fact that most of the scenes were shot in one, maybe two takes, giving the actors little chance to over analyze and rethink they’re reactions. And it’s original enough to attract attention. Everything that is Robert Rodriguez is present in El Mariachi.

I had the privilege of hearing Tarantino and Rodriguez speak prior to the release of Grindhouse. One of the things Tarantino said is that Rodriguez has succeeded at creating what was Francis Ford Coppola’s original vision for his company American Zoetrope; Rodriguez has managed to form a filmmaking system separate from Hollywood where the artist reigns supreme and creativity is not diminished. This all started with a little ambition, $7,000 and El Mariachi.

Director, Writer, DP, Editor & Producer: Robert Rodriguez
Mariachi: Carlos Gallardo
Domino: Consuelo Gomez
Moco: Peter Marquardt
Azul: Reinol Martinez