Thursday Movie Picks: Revenge
1) Kill Bill vol 1
The Bride is the queen of revenge in Tarantino's bloody masterpiece. I love so much about this movie.
2) I Saw The Devil
Putting a tracker in your fiance's murderer so you can find him and routinely beat the shit out of him is a pretty good example of revenge in this South Korean thriller.
3) The Godfather Part II
There's something quite satisfying when we first see the young Vito Corleone, whom his mother calls "slow" swear he won't seek revenge against the man who murdered his father. Sure enough, 20 years later, there is he, killing the dude.
Kill Bill is such a good choice! I Saw the Devil is definitely next on my list whenever I look to expand my viewing of South Korean revenge movies.
ReplyDeleteIt's intense...be prepared lol
DeleteNice choices.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of I Saw the Devil but not beyond the title.
Kill Bill vol. It was madly stylized and intense but I can't honestly say I liked it. Never saw the second part. It fits very well though.
The Godfather films are so focused on revenge I can't believe they didn't occur to me! The first two are such great films too bad the third is such a dud.
Unlike the last few weeks this theme provided a wealth of choices so I went to film noir where revenge is part of the fabric of the genre.
No Way Out (1950)-Shot during a robbery lowlife criminal Ray Biddle (Richard Widmark) and his brother Johnny are cared for by young black doctor Luther Brooks (Sidney Poitier) at the local hospital. Ray, a virulent bigot, protests loudly and when Johnny dies on the operating table (from an undiagnosed brain tumor) Ray becomes convinced it was murder and swears revenge. In frustration Luther and his mentor Dr. Wharton (Stephen McNally) turn to Johnny’s ex-wife Edie (Linda Darnell) to try and convince Ray of the truth. But despite being jailed Ray sends messages via another brother, the mute George (Harry Bellaver), to his gang and manages to incite the denizens of his ghetto-Beaver Canal-to attack the neighboring black community. Escaping Ray hunts Luther down leading to a nail biting face-off. Poitier’s first film, he’s good if a bit tentative, and overshadowed by Widmark and Linda Darnell both of whom give award level performances. Director Joseph Mankiewicz lead up to All About Eve is a brutal unfortunately still timely film about racial tensions.
Act of Violence (1949)-Frank Enley (Van Heflin) is regarded as a war hero in his small California town where he lives with his wife Edith (Janet Leigh) and young daughter but one day Joe Parkson (Robert Ryan) appears hell-bent on revenge and Frank’s life starts to spiral out of control. The truth is that Frank aided the Nazis during his interment leading to a thwarting of Joe’s escape and a crippling injury as well as the death of several others. Now Joe plans a deadly vindication. Tough, bleak noir.
Marked Woman (1937) - Mary Dwight (Bette Davis) and her four compatriots-Gabby, Estelle, Florrie and Emmy Lou-work as “hostesses” in a Manhattan nightclub that’s just been converted into a clip joint run by mob boss Johnny Vanning (Eduardo Ciannelli). Shortly afterwards they are pulled in by the crusading DA (Humphrey Bogart) and Mary takes the fall with assurances from Vanning that he will take care of her. But things go wrong and Mary’s innocent sister Betty is pulled into the web and ends up dead. When Vanning tries to weasel out of responsibility Mary tells him that she’ll get her revenge “Even if I have to crawl back from my grave to do it!” In response his thugs disfigure her which only strengthens her resolve to even the score.
I actually didn't care for Kill Bill vol 2 which is weird because I love vol 1. I haven't seen any of your picks this week.
DeleteI have the DVD's of Kill Bill and still have not seen them. I plan to rectify this matter. I have not seen your second pick but great pick for the Godfather which works well here
ReplyDeleteI love volume one but I don't care much for volume 2, it's one of my least favorite Tarantinos.
DeleteI need to see I saw the Devil, that's a fun description :)
ReplyDeleteIt's Gory and disturbing AF but that is the long and short of it. lol
DeleteI also picked Kill Bill, but I went with Vol. 2 as it's my favourite.
ReplyDeleteKill Bill fits so perfectly this week.
DeleteKill Bill would have fit my theme too but I want to see the second one now.. adding it to my forever growing list.
ReplyDeleteI'm not crazy about vol 2 but I definitely recommend seeing it to get the full picture.
DeleteThe only film in that list I haven't seen is I Saw the Devil but we do a share a pick in Kill Bill Vol. 1 though I really went with both films as I did a theme within a theme.
ReplyDeleteI think you'd like I Saw The Devil.
DeleteThe only one of these that I've seen is Kill Bill, which I also chose because I love that film something awful. Uma was robbed of an Oscar nomination.
ReplyDeleteYes! And production design, and costumes. Really, so many things in that film should've been nominated.
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ReplyDeleteI haven't seen the Korean film, although it sounds intriguing. But those bookends are perfect choices!
ReplyDeleteIt's a tough watch but certainly worth it.
DeleteKill Bill is one those big movies i have still yet to see. I have seen your other two, but not for years.
ReplyDeleteYou should check out Kill Bill!
DeleteI love all three of these choices. I'm so happy I Saw the Devil got some love this week. It's amazing and brutal.
ReplyDeleteIt is. I went into it totally blind which was a blessing because I think the subject matter would've scared me off since they get dangerously close to me being too uncomfortable.
DeleteI haven't seen your first two picks. The third I think I've seen, but it was a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteKill Bill is soooooooooooooo good!
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