Always a good experience when you start a movie with the intention of only watching a few minutes, are mesmerized by those ensuing minutes, and wind up watching the whole damn thing. Happened twice recently with two movies I hadn't seen before, while fucking around on Filmstruck. Last week it was The Soft Skin, swindling me out of a sunny afternoon with its transfixing story of seduction, bearing Truffaut's stamp in every sense. After about 10 minutes, not finishing it was out of the question. It's a movie where the mood is enough to captivate you, eager to experience the tumultuous emotions, the beautiful B&W, the graceful camerawork, especially those long lonely tracking shots following Jean Desailly down long hotel corridors. Not one of Truffaut's best, but an original little ditty anyways that deserves to be on his resume.
Same thing happened with The Marriage of Maria Braun, that war-torn matrimonial opening was plenty of incentive to lock ass in seat. Haven't seen much Fassbinder, damn shame considering the tizzy this beauty got me into. There's a strong authenticity in the way peacetime Germany is depicted, the uninhabitable ruined buildings, rubble in piles on every street corner, hunger and pain in everyone's eyes. Maria is a great character, her rise to power a viewing to remember. Added to these two flicks I had to see Secret & Lies finally, and fucking loved it. No matter how hard you fight the melodrama, those tears start welling one way or another. Those long takes between Brenda Blethyn and the daughter she gave up for adoption are performance showcases to a T. Everything about this movie is just so good.