July 10: #27, Fear and Desire
“Well,
we have nothing to lose but our futures.”
Fear
and Desire
isn't a good film, although we should be thankful that it allowed
Stanley Kubrick to go from photographer to director and get some
rookie mistakes out of the way with a script that wasn't going to be
exceptional no matter what he had done with it.
With
a simple “soldiers behind enemy lines” story, the setup isn't
bad. However, the same can't be said about the characters, who are
largely either completely dull (Kenneth Harp's Lt. Corby) or
absolutely ridiculous (Pvt. Sidney).
Sidney
in particular goes from a little frazzled to batshit crazy in 0.3
seconds, deciding to act out as a dumbass weirdo rapist the moment
he's left to babysit a random captive girl that the group finds. The
best character among the group is Frank Silvera's Sgt. Mac, who
showcases a lone island of personality in a sea of completely flat
dialogue.
A
lot of the directorial choices are real head-scratchers. There are
some really bad voice-overs during an early montage of the soldiers
walking, some extremely awkward and unnecessary quick cuts as the
soldiers discuss their predicament in the beginning of the film and
even flashbacks at one point to stuff we literally saw five minutes
before.
However,
Kubrick shows off his potential in one particular scene where the
soldiers ambush a stew shack staffed by a few enemy soldiers. As the
men dispatch their enemies, Kubrick gives us close-ups of hands
gripping at food and then slowly relaxing, as well as silent faces in
the aftermath of the skirmish. It's a cleverly filmed sequence in a
movie that otherwise can't really be recommended, except for its
historical importance as Kubrick's first film.
Grade: D+
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