The White Sheik is a rather plain film about two subjects which Italian film seems to have an obsession with - Infidelity and Catholicism. It is saved by the fact that it is an early film by Fellini, and has moments of near divine inspiration.

One moment, to be specific. The man has given up looking for his wife (who was taken away on a whirlwind adventure), and he is sitting on the edge of a fountain in a town square in Rome, bemoaning the sad fate of his week old marriage. Up walks two prostitutes. They don't look like normal prostitutes, they look like normal women, but they are quite defiantly prostitutes. One (who is talking really fast) sees him and wants to find out whats wrong with him, she runs over to him, and her and her friend manage to get the entire story about his lost love. The fast talking one has a somewhat playful sympathy for him, while the other a more honest sympathy for him. Then an old man shows up who the girls know, the fast talking one runs to him, talks about how he is, and convinces him to do his fire breathing trick.

The old man is breathing fire like a carnival man performing for a little girl, while the other prostitute says she is taking the man to her place.

The image is beautiful. The contrast of the two virginal characters who hobnob with the elite (the girl of which is missing), and the two innocent prostitutes who play with street hobos drives home, not a point, but a feeling for the complexity of what it means to be fulfilled (innocent is an ugly word, but its probably the word Fellini would have used).

More than anything its a beautiful shot.

Though there are a lot of reasons to watch La Jetée, (it's a good movie), this is one of the few times where it can legitimately be said that the film is worth watching for the sake of a single shot.

The shot is simple. It is a shot of a woman who is lying in bed, she is lying still, and only lightly breathing. What makes the shot stand out, is that it is the only shot in the entire movie that is moving; besides this shot La Jetée is composed entirely of still photographs, and when you come to this shot the movement is barely visible. You have to strain to tell whether the woman is actually moving or you just imagined it.

The point of La Jetée is in this one shot. The sterility of the future world, the impending death of the main character, and the idea of falling in love with a living world. This one image, more then any other cinematic image I have ever seen, leaves you with the overwhelming impression of life.

I wanted to make a post on Before Sunset today, as a follow up to yesterday's post. I don't know if I really have anything to add to yesterday's post though.

I think Before Sunset suffered from the exact same problems as Before Sunrise (the entire film was made up of tacky dialog), and had the same advantages (actually a bit more, since Julie Delpy is quite a bit better looking in this one). What really made this film stand out though, besides the better camera work, is the last 10 seconds of the film. I honestly think that the end of this movie made both mediocre films worth watching.

Of course I don't want to add any spoilers....... but I'll leave it to be said that there is something to being with someone and not saying anything that is rather important. The right combination of the light on someone you find beautiful, and the right words, or lack of, or that meaningless chatter that is supposed to hide something else. Time passes relentlessly, and destroys everything worthwhile. Even though cinema can wither away over time, it can arrest the beauty of light for a few years, in order to remind future generations that something good happened in the past.

My girlfriend is sleeping in the bed next to my desk. I should end this post.

Buy Before Sunset here