I sometimes have trouble coming up with much to say about classic films that I see in theatres. It's not that I don't have an opinion--I usually do, and, if the word "classic" has been applied appropriately, that opinion is usually positive. It's just that when a film is well known and has been out for a long time (since 1954 in the case of "On the Waterfront"), there's not much left that can be added to the conversation. If the film were bad, I'd have something interesting to say as I attempted to refute the reasons it's held in such high esteem.
"On the Waterfront", of course, is not bad. It is a very good film, and is deservedly a classic. Marlon Brando's performance is incredible. While the film may feel a little slow during the beginning, this is not a bad thing. It allows the audience a chance to get to know the characters, and allows the film's tension and pace to build throughout. If this were a new release, I would be spending a lot of time talking about everything that was great about it, but others have beaten me to that.
The second foreign film I have seen in theatres this year, "Highway" is from India. I still experience a bit of trepidation before going into most foreign films. I have no problem with reading subtitles, and I don't really think I'm going to be bored, but there's a bit of fear that if I am bored, I'm going to be really bored. Fortunately, "Highway" managed to keep me engaged for most of its runtime. It dragged a bit near the end, but not horribly so.
The plot generally worked. The film might as well have been called "Stockholm Syndrome: The Movie", as it primarily concerns a rich girl and her kidnapper falling in love. To its credit, the film takes this central relationship seriously and it works for the most part, but does feel a bit contrived in some places. We get a sense from the beginning that the girl is not completely happy with the life that she's been living with her family, and further revelations from her feel organic. Partway through the film, however, when the kidnapper hints at traumatic events from his own past, it feels a bit convenient. If some hints had been thrown in earlier, the films machinations to let the two damaged people find happiness with each other would have been less transparent.
There are several instances where songs start to play on the soundtrack, and the film is edited almost like a music video. In one such instance, a character even starts singing along. These moments would have pulled me out of most typical American films, but there's something about this being a foreign film that helps it get away with these scenes. I can accept them as a stylistic flourish that I'm simply not used to seeing, and they actually piqued my interest and were somewhat fascinating in their own right. Overall, the film combined elements and cinematic techniques that are both familiar and unfamiliar to me. It was quite good.
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