Red Tent, The (1969) aka Krasnaya palatka

Back from the dead!

A product of odd circumstances certainly, The Red Tent features Peter Finch, Sean Connery, and Claudia Cardinale in an enormous, impressive film directed by the Soviet director Kalatozov and co-produced by the Italians. In an attempt to settle his guilty conscience, the restless General Umberto Nobile conjures up the ghosts of his past to try him for his actions during a disastrous dirigible expedition he led to the North Pole forty years ago. The film flits between the discussion/trial and the retelling of the expedition. Connery (who should have been in OHMSS) has a lengthy cameo as Roald Amundsen, the famous North Pole explorer. The film runs 158 minutes and aside from a few odd romance scenes between Claudia Cardinale and Eduard Martsevich, never drags. Worthy of note is the spectacular Arctic photography by Leonid Kalashnikov and the incredible production values considering the location and production circumstances--on top of the Arctic snow and ice, they managed to throw a blimp (presumably a real one or a large model) around in heavy gusts and then convincingly crash it. The story strikes the right level of adventure and terror, and Finch, Connery, and Martsevich's performances are all delivered with a level of conviction that makes it easy to believe in the sense of honor and hubris, selflessness and sacrifice that they bought into to go on these dangerous, seemingly heroic missions. Highly recommended, if not a bit hard to find.

9/10

A note on the different versions: The most readily available version is the 120-minute International Cut featuring the original English dialogue for the (mostly) English cast, and dubbed-into-English dialogue for the International cast members. It also features an excellent score by Ennio Morricone. Despite all this, I must recommend the original 158-minute Soviet cut as it is the fuller, deeper, and more thoughtful version of the film. The Italians' International Cut doesn't appear to excise any of the crucial elements, but it lacks the subtlety and elegance of the Soviet cut. The Soviet score by Aleksandr Zatsepin, while not as good as the Morricone score, is no slouch and could easily be mistaken for minor Morricone.

The International Cut is available on DVD in the United States. The Soviet Cut is not. If you're dying to watch the Soviet cut, message me and I'll try to help you.

One final technical note about the film: The film was originally shot in Sovscope 70, Soviet Russia's 70mm process at the time. Neither available home video version reflects this as the Italians cropped to 1.66:1 for its release in the 60s and for some bizarre reason, the Russian DVD is in what appears to be an open matte 4:3. I can't even begin to imagine how incredible this film would have looked in 70mm back in 1969 on its release in Russia, and think that this film deserves a careful restoration from the original elements. Criterion?

Diamonds are Forever (1971)

Sean Connery's sixth outing as Bond is a shift from his first five. Instead of colorful, exotic locales, Bond's mission leads him to a rather cheap-looking Las Vegas where he uncovers a plot for global domination. Diamonds are Forever is packed with terrible dialogue, goofy scenes (the moon buggy chase scene through the desert), annoying henchmen (Mr Wint and Mr Kidd), and, well, general campiness. Tiffany Case (Jill St John) has always rubbed me the wrong way, but lucky for us, Diamonds are Forever also gave us Plenty O'Toole (Lana Wood). Despite Lana's inability to act, she's still one of the best looking girls in a Bond film. Charles Gray's Blofeld is a goofy mess, which I guess is something you could say of the film as a whole. Except for the music. John Barry's score (including Bassey's "Diamonds are Forever") is top-notch, containing brilliant orchestral arrangements, bombastic brass, and that lick of electric guitar characteristic of Bond in the 60s. Definitely a fun film, just not a great one.

6/10

Zardoz (1974)

Zardoz, had it been done properly, could have been entertaining and maybe even thought-provoking. As it stands, it's a failed attempt at high-concept plagued by self-indulgence, camp, and sloppiness. Sean Connery stars as Zed, an exterminator that discovers he has a purpose among the seemingly foreign "Eternals" who are forever youthful psychics. But despite their utopia, there's trouble bubbling in their society. Connery spends most of his time gallivanting around in a bright orange speedo, acting as the Eternals' experiment and slave. In terms of style, other than the miniature of Zardoz, the film seems to go the route of low budget, lo-fi "effects" which causes some laughable moments. There was a certain sloppiness to the whole thing. I thought the underlying foundation of the plot/setting was fascinating and creative, but the execution was very poor. Zardoz is a film that unfortunately hangs between quality and camp. Not good enough to be good, but not bad enough enough to be funny.

3/10