Mubi Monday: Chinese Roulette (1976)

You generally know what you're in for with a film from the superb Rainer Werner Fassbinder. His films, although densely-packed and generally not exactly overflowing with rainbows and happy joy joy, always tend to explore sexuality, freedoms and repression (self-imposed or from society), and people able to twist a knife in one another. Chinese Roulette is no exception.

Things begin with a husband and wife, Gerhard (Alexander Allerson) and Ariane (Margit Carstensen), preparing to spend a weekend apart, both having different tasks they have to attend to. It turns out that both of them are lying. Gerhard is aiming to spend a weekend with his mistress, Irene (Anna Karina), at the family's second home. Ariane is also aiming to spend a weekend with a lover (Kolbe, played by Ulli Lommel), and is also wanting to make use of the family's second home. When the two couples encounter one another, there's a surprising lack of any fiery arguments or embarrassment. Everyone is civil, to the great relief of the house staff (Kast, played by Brigitte Mira, and her son, Gabriel, played by Volker Spengler), and the weekend is far from ruined. This isn't what Angela (Andrea Schober) wanted. Angela is the daughter of Gerhard and Ariane, and she turns up, accompanied by her mute governess (Traunitz, played by Macha Méril), to ensure that calm and contentment shall not prevail.

I have said it before, and I'll say it again (and it's not a unique opinion to express), Fassbinder created an astonishing body of work before his premature death, in terms of both quantity and quality. I never look at his films and think of them as being hampered by low budgets or limited resources. Part of that is due to the fact that they tend to always look so gorgeous, but another part of that is down to his writing. You are drawn towards the main characters, whether rooting for them or curious to find out how much they might be aiming to misbehave, and you can be attracted and repulsed by them in equal measure.

The cast here are all on a par with the usual ensemble assembled by Fassbinder, and most viewers should be unsurprised to see people here who collaborated a number of times with the writer-director. Allerson, Carstensen, Karina, and Lommel are generally focusing on maintaining their civility and grace, and they excel at showing how difficult that can be as the situation becomes more exasperating, while Schober gets to revel in an opportunity to blow apart their carefully-constructed facades, blowing down their straw houses as if she's the big, bad, wolf disguised as a disabled teenage girl. Mira and Allerson portray two "outsiders" who are both complicit, although they seem to have differing reasons for wanting the status quo to remain as it is. Méril may be playing someone mute, but she still gets to make as strong an impression as any of the speaking performers by the time the third act plays out.

Some might find this a bit too overly melodramatic and contrived, especially as the finale feels very much like some kind of "dark and stormy night" whodunnit, but I thought it was very enjoyable. It's not up there with the very best of Fassbinder, which is a high bar indeed, but it's yet another film from him that should please anyone familiar with his incisive style

7/10

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Just follow the Arrow

Despite a recent foray in to the US market, after a successful fundraising campaign, Arrow Films have really been known as one of the best suppliers of shiny discs for home entertainment enthusiasts here in the UK for the past few years.

There HAVE been mistakes along the way (a few seconds missing from Zombie Flesh Eaters caused by the branching options, I believe, and the sepia prologue of The Beyond being black and white are two of the most notable examples, although fans are still eagerly awaiting news on the seconds that were snipped from their recent, otherwise excellent, release of Shivers).

But the rest of their output more than makes up for these mistakes. And, to be fair, the company is very good at communicating with customers and arranging replacement discs when bad things happen. They also set their RRP with a nice balance of pre-order value and the ability to supply other sellers with copies (unlike, for example, 88 Films and their American Ninja debacle, which I have yet to forgive them for - long story short, the release date was mucked around, the pricing was set incorrectly, with them denying that they were responsible for, ummmm, the pricing of their own product, and their were people very unhappy when the price was slashed not long after release).

Having always been there for the horror fans, with particular attention paid to the likes of Lucio Fulci, Dario Argento, and George A. Romero, to name a few, Arrow have now managed to surpass even those earlier releases with some recent output that will take your breath away. Or, to be fair, Arrow may have always offered such a range of quality and variety without me noticing, due to me having my head all too often buried in the horror section anyway.

You might struggle to find it at a decent price now but The Scarlet Box Hellraiser Bluray set is just about the best thing I've ever seen. Mind you, that's another horror release. As was their recent boxset of two very different movies based on The Black Cat. And their gothic Vincent Price set. And much more.

The REAL draw lately comes from their increasingly interesting journeys into releases that aren't such an easy sell. Next year will see a release of a Rainer Werner Fassbinder collection, perfect both for newcomers like me and fans who want the films displayed as beautifully as possible. There's also the Nikkatsu Diamnond Guys set (Vol 1), some more blaxploitation (Sheba, Baby is coming), the apparent beauty of the Battles Without Honour and Humanity set, and a little something entitled Kiju Yoshida: Love + Anarchism.

Are Arrow Films the only people looking after cinephiles in such a good way? No. Some fans may like to also check out the aforementioned 88 Films (I have also enjoyed Blastfighter and Night Train Murders from them) and there are some real gems being released by Eureka! And let's not forget the BFI range.

Any why am I writing all this? Well, I've been overwhelmed by awesome releases lately. That's one reason. I wanted to celebrate their greatness. The second reason, I haven't written anything here for a while. Third, and perhaps most important, is the fact that more and more people should be encouraged to use these guys and order direct from them. Arrow Films, in particular, offer both rewards points and also send orders out earlier, whenever possible, to those who have ordered from their site.

Oh, and as Christmas is coming up, you may also want to know where to get the best sweaters and tshirts. It's right here - darkbunnytees.