Leon Morin, Priest (1961)
A communist rabble-rouser (Emmanuelle Riva) goes to confession to pick a fight with a priest (Jean-Paul Belmondo); they develop a friendship and meet regularly to discuss issues of faith.
Like the philosophical movies of Carl Th. Dreyer or Louis Malle’s My Dinner with Andre (1981), this film by Jean-Pierre Melville is basically a two-hour discussion of the nature of God and faith.
I really liked it, but I love philosophical movies which prod self-discovery.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCapprio), a minor player on Wall Street, forms his own firm, Stratton Oakmont, with friend Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill). Their new firm is an elaborate scam and highly profitable. They take advantage of their new wealth in a lifestyle of privileged debauchery. Eventually, the FBI investigates and imprisons them.
Leo’s performance comes across as Frank Abagnale from Catch Me if You Can (2002), if Abagnale had been exposed to cocaine at a young age.
I thought I’d be annoyed by Hill’s Donnie Azoff, but I found his character pretty convincing.
Matthew McConaughey continues his miracle year (winning an Oscar for Dallas Buyers Club and starring in HBO’s True Detective) as chest-thumping Wall Street trader, Mark Hanna.
Goodfellas (1990) was Scorsese’s spiritual sequel to The Godfather (1972); this raunchy, drug-filled movie is his spiritual successor to Wall Street (1987) and exposes the ugly side capitalism, but it’s impact is mitigated by the ending.
Belfort goes to prison, but it’s minimum security, and after his release, he immediately begins teaching others how to do what he did. There’s no epiphany, he remains unapologetic, and the movie portrays him as a hero. Only once is he seen in a truly unflattering light, during his attempt to kidnap his daughter, Skylar. In this five-minute scene, he looks every bit the villain he is: he punches his wife, screams obscenities, and desperately looks for drugs like a pathetic junkie. However, when the scene ends, he’s back in hero mode.
The movie would have been better served if Belfort had been more loathsome like Pesci’s Tommy DeVito, but perhaps Scorsese is trying to make us uncomfortably aware we’re rooting for the villain because capitalism has made us all morally corrupt.