Re: Billy Wilder
Posted: January 27th, 2010, 9:24 am
While I agree with you as to length, and that many of his comedies are hit or miss, most of the ones I like are very tightly directed - The Major and the Minor (my daughter was captivated watching it last night), The Apartment, and Love in the Afternoon, which I find to be charming. I also like Some Like it Hot. With the exception of the last, his directing is speedy and clear cut.
Wilder seems to me, at least in his earlier films to be able to self edit extremely well, in fact, his editing is one of the things I like most about him. A simple and judicious cut can mean everything in one of his films, for instance when, in Love in the Afternoon, Gary Cooper is romancing John McGiver's wife - instead of showing torrid lovemaking, he cuts to outside the door of the suite as the musicians hurriedly leave and quietly shut the door behind them. In this, he seems to have learned a lesson from Lubitsch.
That queasy feeling you speak of when talking about The Seven Year itch is also present in several other Wilder comedies - some of the same themes that work so well in his dramas make his comedies uncomfortable. His insistence in the sixties on writing about sex in the most cynical ways leaves me feeling a little disgusted, but I could deal with that if the movies were sharpened up. As I said, The Apartment is one of my favorites, and it is as cynical about sex as anything in this world. Why does it work? I don't see anything particularly wrong in the direction of Some Like It Hot, Seven Year Itch, The Fortune Cookie, and Irma La Douce aside from a little self- indulgence in two of them, letting that tight framework meander a bit. Frankly, I have never been able to get through Kiss Me, Stupid, because it seems to be going nowhere, flopping around from this scene to that, with no real meaning attached. I think the self-indulgence that he seemed prone to in his later films is most apparent in his choice of more adult themes. To my way of thinking, the ones that work best all seem to have a fable or fairy tale quality, no matter how cynical the trip is, the outcome is lovely, and perfectly done.
I would like to mention music in the Wilder films.... I realize after last night's watching of The Major and the Minor, that the swaying waltz from the ball scene is still stuck in my head. Music is so very important in Wilder's films - think of Norma Desmond slowly weaving her way down the stairs at the end of Sunset Boulevard - can you hear the tango playing in your mind? I bet you can. The lushly romantic orchestrations of certain films are in direct contrast to the cynicism we have been talking about. They betray that supposed cynical side of Wilder. When I think of Love in the Afternoon, I think immediately of the charming way music is integrated into the film by way of the tiny gypsy orchestra (the Viennese coming out in Wilder) - and the song "Fascination" starts to play in my head. When I remember Sabrina, "Lover" pops into my head, unbidden. The music in many of Wilder's films serves several purposes. First, to set the stage and rhythm of the film, like the edgy twenties inspired jazz at he beginning of Some Like it Hot, or the playing of By the Sea at the opening of the beach scene. Secondly, it can be a joke in itself, as in the tango scene. Thirdly, and most importantly, it can express what the characters are thinking or feeling, like Marilyn's "I'm Through with Love" number and that song's continued presence throughout the rest of the film. I am using Some Like it Hot as an example, because it has the most broad and easy to recognize cues - actual musical numbers. But my favorite Wilder films all have these same cues in varying degrees of subtlety. Sometimes, the music serves all the purposes at once, and this is when I think Wilder is a genius - In Sunset Boulevard, the tango at the end suggests the rhythm of the scene, replays the conflict for us, and is the expression of Norma's madness... it is the culmination of her romance with herself...
Wilder seems to me, at least in his earlier films to be able to self edit extremely well, in fact, his editing is one of the things I like most about him. A simple and judicious cut can mean everything in one of his films, for instance when, in Love in the Afternoon, Gary Cooper is romancing John McGiver's wife - instead of showing torrid lovemaking, he cuts to outside the door of the suite as the musicians hurriedly leave and quietly shut the door behind them. In this, he seems to have learned a lesson from Lubitsch.
That queasy feeling you speak of when talking about The Seven Year itch is also present in several other Wilder comedies - some of the same themes that work so well in his dramas make his comedies uncomfortable. His insistence in the sixties on writing about sex in the most cynical ways leaves me feeling a little disgusted, but I could deal with that if the movies were sharpened up. As I said, The Apartment is one of my favorites, and it is as cynical about sex as anything in this world. Why does it work? I don't see anything particularly wrong in the direction of Some Like It Hot, Seven Year Itch, The Fortune Cookie, and Irma La Douce aside from a little self- indulgence in two of them, letting that tight framework meander a bit. Frankly, I have never been able to get through Kiss Me, Stupid, because it seems to be going nowhere, flopping around from this scene to that, with no real meaning attached. I think the self-indulgence that he seemed prone to in his later films is most apparent in his choice of more adult themes. To my way of thinking, the ones that work best all seem to have a fable or fairy tale quality, no matter how cynical the trip is, the outcome is lovely, and perfectly done.
I would like to mention music in the Wilder films.... I realize after last night's watching of The Major and the Minor, that the swaying waltz from the ball scene is still stuck in my head. Music is so very important in Wilder's films - think of Norma Desmond slowly weaving her way down the stairs at the end of Sunset Boulevard - can you hear the tango playing in your mind? I bet you can. The lushly romantic orchestrations of certain films are in direct contrast to the cynicism we have been talking about. They betray that supposed cynical side of Wilder. When I think of Love in the Afternoon, I think immediately of the charming way music is integrated into the film by way of the tiny gypsy orchestra (the Viennese coming out in Wilder) - and the song "Fascination" starts to play in my head. When I remember Sabrina, "Lover" pops into my head, unbidden. The music in many of Wilder's films serves several purposes. First, to set the stage and rhythm of the film, like the edgy twenties inspired jazz at he beginning of Some Like it Hot, or the playing of By the Sea at the opening of the beach scene. Secondly, it can be a joke in itself, as in the tango scene. Thirdly, and most importantly, it can express what the characters are thinking or feeling, like Marilyn's "I'm Through with Love" number and that song's continued presence throughout the rest of the film. I am using Some Like it Hot as an example, because it has the most broad and easy to recognize cues - actual musical numbers. But my favorite Wilder films all have these same cues in varying degrees of subtlety. Sometimes, the music serves all the purposes at once, and this is when I think Wilder is a genius - In Sunset Boulevard, the tango at the end suggests the rhythm of the scene, replays the conflict for us, and is the expression of Norma's madness... it is the culmination of her romance with herself...