Change Your Image
hhllrpx
Reviews
Blank Generation (1980)
Blank Generation rocks!
Or shall I say it "punks" instead? This is a super cool rockin' and rolling and punkin' love triangle set in the big apple in 1978 and exuding the life and times of Andy Warhol's hit factory. Written and directed by German cult cinema veteran Ulli Lommel (check out his other gem "Cocaine Cowboys", also co-starring Andy Warhol, with Jack Palance as manager of a cocaine smuggling rock band). Packed with cool punk rock songs by the Voidoids, a late 70s punk elite from Lower Manhattan and shot at the famous rock venue CBGB's, where Blondie and the Ramones and Pattie Smith rocked along side the Voidoids, it is every bit a rock'n roll classic. And Carole Bouquet, that intriguing French beauty in the lead, what a treat, man, this girl is so sexy and cool she virtually smashes the screen. Shot in a classic camera style, this timeless movie will give you pleasure and make your DVD or cinema going experience 100% worth the while. A total stunner!
Adolf und Marlene (1977)
Homage to Lubitsch
This extraordinary film feels like an homage to Ernst Lubitsch, great German director who immigrated to the United States to escape Nazi Germany. Lubitsch made the unforgettable TO BE OR NOT TO BE, also a dark rendition on the Nazi theme and Adolf Hitler. In ADOLF AND MARLENE, the superb Kurt Raab plays Hitler (without a mustache!). Just last week I saw Kurt Raab in another Ulli Lommel film, TENDERNESS OF THE WOLVES, also a real treat. Both movies were produced by the late genius Rainer Werner Fassbinder, a guarantor for top quality and a mentor of Lommel, who worked with Fassbinder on over twenty productions in Germany during the 60s and 70s. ADOLF AND MARLENE is fairly unknown, but looks like one of the best films ever dealing with such a dark and disturbing subject matter. The camera work is astonishing (Michael Ballhaus, also a Fassbinder collaborator who went to Hollywood and made a huge career) if not brilliant. The screenplay by Lommel is hilarious and highly subversive and funny as hell. A clear ten!