Tag: film

A Most Wanted Man. Could be anywhere in a time of paranoia

SAN FRANCISCO

Liz and Lee Heidhues 7.24.2025

Several nights ago we walked down to the neighborhood cinema and watched one of the most chilling and impactful films of the 21st century. “A Most Wanted Man.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Most_Wanted_Man_(film)

The adaptation of John Le Carre’s 2008 novel brought into sharp focus the post 9/11 political internecine warfare between the American and German intelligence agencies.

A mosque scene in “A Most Wanted Man”

It was very frustrating that only 21 viewers came to watch this important piece of political film making. It depressed us when we walked by the Balboa Cinema three days earlier when the line was backed up into the street to see the film “Godzilla.” That speaks volumes about the American mindset when it comes to the salient political issues of the day.

Liz stands by the Balboa Cinema marquee featuring the Philip Seymour Hoffman retrospective – July 21st, 2025
“Hamburg is one of the great ports of the world. For centuries it opened its arms to every foreigner who washed up on its shores.“

The story takes place in Hamburg, Germany. A city we have traveled to. Early in the film Philip Seymour Hoffman who portrays a German anti-terror specialist Gunther Bachmann aptly describes present day Hamburg. Sadly, it was Hoffman’s last film. He died at the age of 46 in February 2014 shortly after the film was completed. It is dedicated to his memory.

Issa Karpov (a Russian/Chechen asylum seeker portrayed by Grigorly Dobrygin)

“Hamburg is one of the great ports of the world. For centuries it opened its arms to every foreigner who washed up on its shores. Now, since 9.11, the eyes of every dark skinned man – we see someone who wants to kill us. The problem is, some of them do. The question is whether Issa Karpov (a Russian/Chechen asylum seeker portrayed by Grigorly Dobrygin) is one of them.”

Dieter Mohr, the German intelligence operative, portrayed by Rainer Bock, and nemesis of Gunther Bachmann
Gunther Bachmann (Philip Seymour Hoffman) with his ‘insider’ Jamal Abdullah portrayed by Mehdi Dehbi
Gunther Bachmann tells the banker Tommy Brue, “You’re gonna help me, Tommy.”
“Lawyer. Social worker for terrorists.” Human rights lawyer Annabel Richter has a face to face meeting with Gunther Bachmann in the Hamburg interrogation center
Rachel McAdams portrays the human rights attorney Annabel Richter. She gets around Hamburg, Germany utilizing the common form of transportation
Gunther Bachmann and his crew try futilely to capture Issa Karpov and human rights lawyer Annabel Richter in a tense pursuit on the SBahn, the crowded streets and a music blasting techno nightclub in Hamburg.

A story of treachery, betrayal and double dealing amongst the German and American surveillance States during the so called War on Terror which began in the aftermath of the 9.11 attacks on the the United States.

Willem Dafoe portraying banker Tommy Brue and Rachel McAdams portraying a human rights attorney are two of the pivotal characters

The most telling dialogue in the film takes place between Gunther Bachmann, a German anti-terror expert (Philip Seymour Hoffman), and Martha Sullivan, a CIA operative stationed in Berlin (Robin Wright).

Robin Wright, attired totally in black, portrays the murky CIA operative Martha Sullivan. She parleys with Gunther Bachmann at 20 Up on the 20th floor of the Empire Riverside Hotel with a panoramic view of Hamburg’s harbor and the Elbe River.

Gunther Bachmann. “And all that damage we leave behind. All those lies. All those empty rooms. What were they in vain for? You have asked yourself that question? Why do what we do?”

Martha Sullivan. “Mmm hmm. Sometimes. But I always come up with the same answer.”

Gunther Bachmann. “And what is it?”

Martha Sullivan. “To make the world a safer place. Isn’t that enough?”

Nina Hoss, an accomplished German actress, is Gunther Bachmann’s fellow operative Nina Frey.
Dr. Faisal Abdullah, portrayed by Homayoun Ershadi, meets with Tommy Brue, the banker, portrayed by WIllem Dafoe.
The brutal betrayal scene engineered by the CIA at the end of A Most Wanted Man
The incredible meltdown by Gunther Bachmann following the betrayal by the CIA

Top photo: Philip Seymour Hoffman lets go with one of the all time screams in cinema.

“North by Northwest” in the northwest corner of San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO – OUTER RICHMOND DISTRICT – BALBOA THEATER

Liz and Lee Heidhues 5.25.2025

Movies are forever. When I was 12 years old my parents took me to see “North by Northwest.” It was quite racy fare for a pre-teen and remains one of my favorite films of all time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_by_Northwest

As part of a Memorial Day weekend special the soon to be 100 year old Balboa Theater is holding an Alfred Hitchcock retrospective. Last night Liz and I went to this neighborhood theater in our corner of San Francisco where we have lived nearly 50 years.

We walked into a packed theater which included people of all ages and found comfortable seats in the next to the last row. It had been mysteriously roped off and was waiting for us. It goes to show that good movies are timeless.

The ‘A-List’ cast including Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason and Leo J. Carroll is stellar. I was duly impressed when I look up Eva Marie Saint and learned she will be 101 years old on the Fourth of July. One of the most entertaining performers in the film is Jessie Royce Landis who gives a bravura portrayal playing Cary Grant’s mother. It’s classic stuff.

Jessie Royce Landis in the brown overcoat gives a bravura portrayal playing Cary Grant’s “mother.” It’s classic stuff.
Liz’ review says it all

No trip to the movie house is complete without popcorn. Kitchen master Liz dug out our 40 year old West Bend popcorn maker. Found a recipe for caramel corn and went to work. Producing a tasty treat which Liz dumped into a double paper sack and munched away as she sat transfixed during “North by Northwest.“

Blogger Lee beams as he admires the caramel popcorn. photo-Liz Heidhues
The iconic crop duster scene. It’s worth watching all nine minutes.

Palestine-Israel film chronicling “ethnic cleansing” wins Academy Award

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 3.2.2025

On a glitzy night in Hollywood when a kow towing cinema industry shamefully bowed down to the Nazi Felon President Trump there was a notable exception.

The Palestinian Israeli produced film “No Other Land” which chronicles the destruction of a Palestinian village, in an act which the director described as “ethnic cleansing”, by the Israel military won the Academy Award for Best Documentary.

Despite the fact this gripping documentary received rave reviews and awards including best documentary at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival in 2024 no American large scale distributor has picked up the film.

For fear of offending the powerful Israeli lobby in America, the Israeli government and the current regime in Washington “No Other Land” cannot be readily seen in Trump’s America.

That should now change.

No Other Land is a 2024 documentary film directed by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor in their directorial debut. The film was made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective of four activists in what they describe as an act of resistance on the path to justice during the ongoing conflict in the region. – excerpted from Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Other_Land

Excerpted from The Guardian 3.2.2025

The West Bank-based film No Other Land has won this year’s best documentary feature Oscar.

Despite acclaim, the film could not find distribution in the US and was self-distributed instead. The Guardian’s Adrian Horton called it “straightforward, un-sensationalized and completely infuriating” in a five-star review.

The film, which is made by a Palestinian–Israeli collective, won out against competition from Black Box Diaries, Porcelain War and Sugarcane.

No Other Land premiered at the Berlin film festival last year where it won the Berlinale documentary award. The film was made between 2019 and 2023 and focuses on the steady forced displacement of Palestinians from their homes in Masafer Yatta, a region in the occupied West Bank targeted by Israeli forces.

Speaking to a standing ovation, the film-makers thanked the Academy before co-director Basel Adra said he had recently become a father and hoped his daughter’s life would not be like his – “always fearing certain violence, home demolitions and forced displacement”.

He continued by saying his film reflected “the harsh reality” that his fellow Palestinians had endured for many years, “as we call on the world to take serious action to stop the injustice and stop the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people”.

Co-director Yuval Abraham then took to the stage to say that Palestinians and Israelis had made the film together “because together our voices are stronger. We see each other the atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people must end.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/mar/03/no-other-land-wins-best-documentary-feature-oscar

Excerpted from The New York Times 3.3.2025 – Marc Tracy

Most Political Speech

It was not surprising that “No Other Land” took home the Oscar for best documentary feature. Nor was it surprising that, upon accepting the award, the filmmakers would discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the demolition of homes in the West Bank.

But the acceptance speeches by two of the film’s four credited directors, the Palestinian activist Basel Adra and the Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, notably did not hold back from a kind of rhetoric not ordinarily heard in mainstream American discourse. Adra called on the world to “stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people.”

Abraham condemned “the atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people” (he also characterized Israeli hostages in Gaza as victims of “the crime of Oct. 7” who were “brutally taken”). The remarks were delivered eloquently by filmmakers who have lived, seen and documented some of the events they sought to describe. They also entered a political maelstrom, with a presidential administration that has sought to transfer Gaza’s Palestinian population and a film industry rived by charges that its pro-Palestinian voices have been insensitive to Israeli suffering and antisemitism generally.

No Other Land. “I don’t wan them to take our home.”

RIP Gene Hackman. “The Conversation” a cinema gem

“The Conversation” and its dark look at the perils of personal surveillance

SAN FRANCISCO – SITE OF GENE HACKMAN CINEMATIC GEM “THE CONVERSATION”

Lee Heidhues 2.27.2025

I am truly saddened to read about the passing of Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa. The cause of their deaths is raising many questions which may eventually be answered.

One thing which will never be in doubt is Hackman’s greatness as a performer. Five years ago I published a blog post about this incredible film and am reprising it to commemorate Gene Hackman. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Hackman

In my mind his most compelling role was that of private investigator Harry Caul. The Francis Ford Coppola psychological mind bender filmed in San Francisco and released in 1974. The Conversation won the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film, the highest honor at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival. The film was also nominated for three Academy Awards for 1974,but lost to Francis Ford Coppola’s own The Godfather Part II. It won the National Board of Review Award for Best Film. – excerpted from Wikipedia.

Francis Ford Coppola and Gene Hackman during filming of The Conversation in San Francisco

Considered one of the best San Francisco movies of all time, “The Conversation” featured Hackman as Harry Caul, a surveillance expert and a loner who has been hired to record the conversation of a couple as they walk through Union Square. Retired San Francisco Chronicle film critic Mick LaSalle 2.27.2025

The opening scene in San Francisco’s old Union Square is unforgettable.

Hackman appeared in another film which portrayed the perils of surveillance. The 1998 Tony Scott directed “Enemy of the State.” In its Appreciation of Gene Hackman the Wall Street Journal wrote, “Mr. Hackman would essentially reprise his character for a flashier thriller, the 1998 Will Smith man-on-the-run tale “Enemy of the State,” which was prescient about the potential for technology to keep tabs on us all.”

Enemy of the State is a 1998 American political action thriller film directed by Tony Scott, written by David Marconi, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and starring Will Smith and Gene Hackman with an ensemble supporting cast consisting of Jon Voight, Regina King, Loren Dean, Jake Busey, Barry Pepper and Gabriel Byrne. In the film, a lawyer is targeted by a group of corrupt National Security Agency (NSA) agents after he unknowingly receives a tape of the agents murdering a congressman. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enemy_of_the_State_(film)

Will Smith and Gene Hackman in Enemy of the State

Excerpted from Santa Fe New Mexican 2.27.2025

Two-time Oscar winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, were found dead Wednesday afternoon in their home northeast of the city.

Although investigators do not suspect foul play in the deaths of the longtime Santa Fe residents, who over more than 30 years here became known for their involvement in the local cultural and business scenes, the circumstances of their deaths were “suspicious enough” to warrant a thorough search and investigation, according to law enforcement.

A search warrant affidavit filed by Santa Fe County sheriff’s deputies offers scant answers to the question of what happened to the couple, who were both found dead along with one of their dogs inside their house just outside Santa Fe city limits Wednesday afternoon. 

Betsy Arakawa and Gene Hackman at the Academy Awards – 2003

The bodies of Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 65, were each found lying on the floor in separate rooms of their Hyde Park-area home, the affidavit says, and one of their three dogs was found dead in a kennel or crate in the closet, Sheriff Adan Mendoza told CBS. The door to the home was ajar. 

https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/report-offers-questions-but-few-answers-on-hackmans-and-wifes-deaths-at-santa-fe-home/article_86bf333e-f525-11ef-b63e-cf71c4c042f4.html

Top photo: Gene Hackman with a young Harrison Ford in The Conversation.

David Lynch RIP “You are the Perfect Drug” for Cineastas

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 1.16.2025

David Lynch, Missoula, Montana native and filmmaker extraordinaire died January 15th at age 78.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lynch. He was born on January 20, 1946 and, perhaps, fittingly passed away before Donald Trump’s inaugural on January 20, 2025.

Even David Lynch couldn’t fathom and did not want to witness this fascist bully’s return to power.

While I only saw a couple of his films, ‘Lost Highway’ and ‘Mulholland Drive’ one song from ‘Lost Highway’ best encapsulates Lynch is wild, crazy, mind bending style.

‘You are the Perfect Drug’ written and performed by Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails specifically for ‘Lost Highway’.

Lost Highway is a 1997 surrealist neo-noir film directed by David Lynch, and co-written by Lynch and Barry Gifford. It stars Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, and Robert Blake in his final film role. The film follows a musician (Pullman) who begins receiving mysterious VHS tapes of him and his wife (Arquette) in their home. He is suddenly convicted of murder, after which he inexplicably disappears and is replaced by a young mechanic (Getty) leading a different life.
The Balboa Cinema in our outer Richmond District neighborhood weeks ago had David Lynch’s masterpiece “Blue Velvet” on its schedule for January 16th and 17th, 2025. Predictably, following David Lynch’s passing the two screenings sold out. Blue Velvet is a 1986 American neo-noir mystery thriller film written and directed by David Lynch. Blending psychological horror[4][5] with film noir, the film stars Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Dennis Hopper, and Laura Dern, and is named after the 1951 song of the same name. The film concerns a young college student who, returning home to visit his ill father, discovers a severed human ear in a field. The ear then leads him to uncover a vast criminal conspiracy and enter into a romantic relationship with a troubled lounge singer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Velvet_(film)

‘A Complete Unknown’ Dylan flik rocks the iconic Balboa Cinema

SAN FRANCISCO OUTER RICHMOND DISTRICT – BALBOA THEATER

Lee Heidhues 1.10.2025

The historic 99 year old Balboa Theater in the San Francisco outer Richmond district is the perfect venue to watch the biopic ‘A Complete Unknown’ chronicling the rise, circa early-mid 1960’s, of cultural icon 83 years young Bob Dylan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Complete_Unknown

Sitting in the old theater on a January late afternoon with a group of mostly folks who survived the 1960’s was a magical mystery tour in the cultural way back machine.

There’s a lot of plot and music to unpack in this two hour-twenty minute extravaganza and it’s more than the continuous pulsating music. The old school Balboa Cinema does justice to the soundtrack with its hi-octane speaker system.

The iconic cover of 1963 ‘The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan’ with Dylan and Suze Rotolo walking through New York City arm in arm

Just as impressive is the plot. It goes deep into Dylan’s romantic and professional life with women in his life; including Sylvie Russo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suze_Rotolo and Joan Baez https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Baez

Dylan’s professional and personal relationships with a number of people who influenced his career is explored; Pete Seeger, Woodie Guthrie, Johnny Cash, Albert Grossman to name several.

In all this is a fast paced film which is an illustrative and entertaining high volume look at the people, politics, culture and music of a long gone era.

A collection of Dylan music in The House of Heidhues put together by Liz

Bob Dylan’s portrayal by Timothy Chalamet is almost too real. His impersonation of Dylan is realistic in the extreme. Timothy sings numerous Dylan classics and plays acoustic, electric guitars, harmonicas and more. Including a Kazoo in the great song “Highway 61 Revisited.”

Top photo. Liz stands in front of the Balboa Cinema marquee for ‘A Complete Unknown’ after the movie. Liz helpfully directed two patrons to the nearby bus stop. They had traveled from a distant part of San Francisco to see the film at this neighborhood theater