HALLELUJAH THE HILLS (director/writer/editor: Adolfas Mekas; cinematographer: Ed Emshwiller; cast: Peter H. Beard (Jack), Sheila Finn (Jack's Vera in Winter), Martin Greenbaum (Leo), Peggy Steffans (Leo's Vera in Summer), Jerome Raphel (Father), Blanche Dee (Mother), Jerome Hill (Convict), Taylor Mead (Convict), Ed Emshwiller (Gideon); Runtime: 88; 1962)
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
The cinematographer Ed Emshwiller, once known as Emsh, used a hand-held 135-pound sound camera for some scenes, often composing superimpositions in the camera. The director Adolfas Mekasis is the brother of noted Greenwich Village underground director and film historian Jonas, who is credited with assisting his brother during the shooting. Adolfas has come up with an offbeat, lighthearted romantic/comedy spoof, that gently mocks France's New Wave cinema, which was the vogue among intellectuals at the time. This is a film geared to film buffs and indie lovers who are interested in some of the early 1960s works coming out of the underground cinema movement in the States. There is no political message or drug visualizations here, as the film tends to rely on the energy conveyed by the characters and the fun they seemed to be having with this unpredictable material they had to work with. If you're into sight-gags and strange visual images, then you should be pleased with the enthusiastic direction of this film. I enjoyed it as a look back at a more innocent time in cinema and a chance to watch it poke fun at other arty styles of cinema. The comedy part of the film had the feel of those Buster Keaton silent ones.
The story is about two city boys who take to the woods to find the girl they both love, Vera, and find out which of them she will marry. When her father gleefully tells them, almost jumping for joy to see their expressions sadden, that she married Gideon two months ago because she was tired of waiting for them to ask, the boys take to the woods in the winter climate, trying to recall in their flashbacks the reasons for their obsessive attraction to her.
As an homage to the 'New Wave,' Vera is played by a different actress in the courting scenes with Jack and Leo, which take place during different seasons. I guess they both had different impressions of her, so it does make sense that they see her differently, therefore why not have a different actress play her for each.
The bizarre visuals gave this film its slapstick look, as there was one scene of the boys dancing a Hebrew dance by a campfire in the woods, in another Chinese subtitles appear to the side of a landscape scene, in another the boys frolic in a frozen lake, in one scene there are people instead of birds on the branches of a tree. It was goofy fun. My favorite scene was of the two escaped convicts dressed in their striped prison uniforms, fighting a duel, which brought a fit conclusion to the two lovers and their search for answers.
REVIEWED ON 11/21/2000 GRADE: C
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
ozus@sover.net
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