Movies in 2026 145

 

Anatomy of Hell (Catherine Breillat, 2004)

It does seem like I'm re-watching several films (although I've also watched a lot of new ones, obviously), and one of them is Catherine Breillat's 2004 film Anatomy of Hell. I watched it for the first time a couple years ago and didn't like it, and decided to give it another watch and confirmed my initial opinion (although I think I liked it more this time). That said, I don't think it's a film that is meant to be liked, but rather a film that is meant to be experienced, and which is meant to make you uncomfortable. Amira Casar (in a very great and brave performance) plays a woman who tries to slit her wrists in a gay nightclub. She's saved by a gay man, which leads to the first words in the film: Man: "Why did you do that?" Woman: "Because I'm a woman." So, yeah, you know you're in for a bumpy night. The woman hires the gay man (played by Rocco Siffredi, an actual famous porn actor) to watch her for four nights and tell her what he sees. It's very graphic, which I guess explains why Breillat hired an actual porn actor for the role. Actually, I was less put off by the graphic nature of the scenes than by much of the pretty leaden dialogue, especially from the character of the man. Sort of like Belle de Jour, at the end you're not quite certain of what happens, that is, does the man commit an act or imagine that he'd like to commit an act. I can't recommend it, although I've also watched it twice, so clearly I see something there. I think I like the idea of Catherine Breillat making films more than her actual films, to which she'd no doubt say, quite rightly, "who cares?" Maybe I'll check back here later when I inevitably watch it again in three years.

Movies in 2026 144

 

Belle de Jour (Luis Bunuel, 1967)

My latest Luis Bunuel film is one I've actually seen several times: his 1967 masterpiece Belle de Jour. As I've stated previously, I go back and forth on Bunuel, but Belle de Jour is a film I've always liked, and tend to like more upon every new viewing. Catherine Deneuve plays Severine, a bored and sexually frustrated or frigid wealthy woman, who has elaborate sadomasochistic fantasies. At times it's difficult to tell what's reality and what are her fantasies, especially at the end, which can be read different ways. She grows bored and begins working at a brothel in the afternoon, which opens her up sexually, but also leads to disaster (if that's not simply another fantasy). This time the scene that jumped out at me was her killing time in between tricks. Another prostitute is working on a crossword puzzle, and asks, "Carries his father, six letters?" The well-educated Severine replies, "Aeneas, A-E-N-E-A-S." The other woman replies that it makes sense, since the third letter is an N, causing Severine to have a pained expression at the ignorance of her friend, although they are both working at a brothel. It instantly found its way into my book on the Epics. Recommended - that is, Belle de Jour, and not by book, although it would be nice if you bought it if it's ever published.

Sono In Pensione

 Recently I signed up for an online Italian class, because, well, it's time to get serious about beginning to learn Italian.  It's time partially because we'll (if the Italian government and court system play nice, which is probably a big if) be in Italy in a few months, but also because I'm now retired and am more in control of my time from now on (although I have lots of projects lined up, although I guess they're more my personal projects, and I will doubtless prove to be a more harsh tyrant than Champlain). I've tinkered with Duolingo, but I don't think it's really a system that's going to effectively teach you a foreign language, but it's OK for those stretches of five or ten minutes when you have some free time and you want to do something other than doom scroll. Over the last year or so I've also paid for Pimsleur, which I like and don't like. I certainly get more out of it than Duolingo, which may only partially relate to the fact that I'm paying for it, and it has less video game content. What I don't like about it is that you have to listen to a half-hour discussion all the another language before you can begin to get text. I understand that it's just a different way to approach learning a foreign language, but it just doesn't seem to fit with how I learn. Essentially, I need to see the text earlier, which relates to simply not being very good at foreign languages, but also because I'm increasingly hard of hearing. So, if I just listen to it the first time without having access to the text, I simply don't pick up the words. I'm going to keep it, at least through the end of the current term, because it might be useful to hear a different approach, especially during down times in my Italian course. My first course in the online class starts on Monday, and I need to get used to the idea of sitting in a chatroom, and this fills me with dread. It's exactly what I need to do, but I know I'm going to hate it at the beginning because it's going to inspire a ton of embarrassment. That said, I'm not going to survive in Italy by just reading text, I need to be able to chat, so I'll just have to plow ahead. I was watching a video today and how to prepare for our first chatroom discussion, and one of the first important phrases was "sono in pensione" or "I'm retired."

Movies in 2026 143

 

I Am Not a Witch (Rungano Nyoni, 2017)

One of the corners on the Criterion Channel website (which, again, offers me more films than I can ever watch) is the section on Films Leaving This Month. I don't want to be that idiot who had the chance to watch a classic film and somehow missed the opportunity because I didn't get around to it. It also foregrounds films or directors that may have gotten lost in the shuffle, and also puts me on the clock. And I'm glad the Criterion Channel put me on the clock, because this morning I watched one of the best films I've seen in years: Rungano Nyoni's 2017 film I Am Not a Witch. It's a Zambian film that focuses on a nine year old girl who is accused of being a witch, but it's really much more broadly about misogyny and corruption in Africa. Shula(Maggie Mulubwa) ends up accused of being a witch, and ends up being sent to a camp for witches, which is one part tourist trap of one part source for slave labor. Mr. Banda (Henry B.J. Phiri) plays the government official is charged with looking after Shula, but in the end exploits her. The film gets its point across, but it's never clumsy or preachy, and it's both funny and also heartbreaking. I suppose all the time I've spent in Africa, including far too briefly in Zambia, help me appreciate some of the more subtle points, but I think anyone would love this film. Highly, highly recommended.

Movies in 2026 142

 

Viridiana (Luis Bunuel, 1961)

As I work my way through the Luis Bunuel collection - or at least the Bunuel films available on the Criterion Channel - I recently re-watched his 1961 film Viridiana. This is a film that routinely makes Best Of lists, not only of best Bunuel films but more generally of all films, but it's also one that I've never warmed to. It has fine performances (including Silvia Pinal in the title role) and some classic Bunuel moments, but it's also a film that seems almost determined to crowd the screen with as many unlikeable characters as possible. Viridiana is set to take her vows as a nun, but she's ordered by the mother superior to go home to visit her allegedly dying uncle. She gives in, even though she feels nothing towards him and wants to stay in the nunnery. Her uncle Jaime is utterly depraved, and his son Jorge, who eventually arrives with his girlfriend, is just about as bad.  Viridiana decides not to return to the nunnery, but instead brings in as many local beggars as possible in an attempt to do a good deed. While Viridiana and Jorge are away from the house the beggars break into the main house, embark on a drunken orgy, and then almost kill Jorge and rape Viridiana when they return. At the end of the film it is made to appear that Viridiana has given up on her loftier ambitions, and seems to have agreed to a threesome with Jorge and the servant Ramona (how the censors let that one get through is beyond me, which is especially amazing considering that it was the revised ending after the censors balked at the original ending). It's as if the message is that life is simply horrible and irredeemable and it's not worth the effort of trying to fix it. I appreciate the criticism of societal hypocrisy, including another classic Bunuel shot at the church, but, like I said, I've simply never warmed to it. Maybe it's because in the end I do think it's worth the effort to try and make the world a better place, or my lack of sophistication caused by growing up in Indiana leaves me too much of a dope to appreciate the film. No matter what, you should definitely check it out, and feel free to reach out to me and explain my ignorance. It is recognized as a classic film, and, if for no other reason, it's worth a viewing.

A Child's Doll

"No empire justifies breaking a child's doll. No ideal is worth the sacrifice of a toy train."

Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet, text 454

I think these lines jumped out at me because of the Vermont Public Philosophy Week talk that I gave a couple weeks ago, but also because of the Trumpian horror story that we're living through. My talk focused on Thucydides, especially his Melian Dialogue and how power and empire negatively impacted the Athenians. Many Greeks at the time thought that the Athenian slaughter of the Melians cursed them, but Thucydides wasn't willing to go that far. However, he did make it clear that endless war and aggression and ambition would corrupt human nature. I keep watching these news reports which complain that Trump's unlawful war on Iran was driving up gas prices and how this aggravated people. Somehow, the price at the pump is more important than bombing a girls' school and killing over a hundred children. This is exactly what Thucydides was warning us against. I'm now sixty-six, and it seems like that for my entire life the US has been at war, almost universally punching down at weaker countries. It has so corrupted our soul that we can no longer feel, let alone realize that we have become the bad guys.

Movies in 2026 141

 

Simon of the Desert (Luis Bunuel, 1965)

And, as promised, I'm more deliberately tackling the Luis Bunuel filmography. With that in mind, this morning I watched his 1965 film Simon of the Desert. It very imaginatively and audaciously tells the story of the 5th century Syrian saint Simeon Stylites, who spent over thirty years sitting on top of a series of pillars as part of his devotion to God. Amazingly, he drew followers. I can remember how in my early days of teaching more traditional history classes my students were amazed/appalled by his story. Bunuel does an interesting job both celebrating and parodying him, or at least his parodying his often hypocritical followers. In a classic Bunuel moment the film ends up with Simon (Claudio Brook)  and Satan (Silvia Pinal) in a New York City discotheque. Recommended.