If you ever thought you had absorbed all there was to learn and see about Germany during Hitler's rule, think again. This ain't no Ken Burns documentary. If you love film, photography, and history, you must watch Third Reich: The Rise & Fall.
A 2010 two part miniseries directed by Nicole Rittenmeyer and Seth Skundrick, Third Reich uses propaganda films, historical documentation, and most importantly, home movies and smuggled footage that has never been viewed in America, or that is still banned in Germany. Rittenmeyer and Skundrick also directed my favorite 911 documentary, 102 Minutes That Changed America,
a documentary entirely using the personal footage and rare news footage of
the Twin Tower attacks, composed in real time, starting moments before the
first plane hit, and ending as the last tower fell. Much in the style of revered nuclear bomb documentary, Atomic Cafe,
there is no narrative, except the voices behind the cameras. If you are a fan of either Atomic Cafe or102 Minutes, Third Reich has a similar use of found film, though unlike the other two, there is a narrator and voice-overs of diary entries and letters.
It is also exciting to see so much color footage in this WWII documentary. Color film did exist in the 1930s, though expensive and rare, seeing the people and destruction in living color brings it to a reality that I have yet to become jaded over. Black and white causes a separation; today it is a stylistic choice and an understood limitation of the past, so there is an undertone of stoicism in every image. Color images taken during time periods we most associate with black and white are the most compelling and relatable.
The home movie footage adds a soul to the German people, that is not often seen in WWII documentaries. It is easy to get used to documentaries that rely on interviews and re-use footage and images whenever possible. Third Reich breaks all the expectations. Aside from the expected images of death, scenes like the home movie footage of a soldier's autobiographical puppet show/pyro fantasy are particularly disturbing. Ranging from endearing family moments to shockingly grizzly scenes of death, Third Reich is so intimate and candid, you are constantly left amazed at what you behold.
I'm going to show you a list, and I want you to guess what it represents.
41. High Fidelity (2000)
36. Boogie Nights (1997)
32. Being John Malkovich (1999)
30. Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005)
28. Henry and June (1990)
27. Boys Don't Cry (1999)
23. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
14. Team America: World Police (2004)
13. Y Tu Mamá También (2001)
3. Mulholland Dr. (2001)
2. A History of Violence (2005)
These are the 11 movies I've seen out of the 50 listed in IFC.com's 50 Greatest Sex Scenes in Cinema. It's a fun list to read, but to my disappointment I had only seen eleven out of the fifty movies. Therefore, I knew this would make me less than qualified to argue over this list. I only have one legitimate issue about the compilation, so hear me out.
Recently exposed to Alfonso Cuarón's 2001 film, Y Tu Mamá También, I was eager to find where it ranked on IFC's list. With five love scenes (six if you include a self-love scene) there was no way it couldn't have made it on the list. It did rank at lucky number 13, but this daring and poetic film should have at least made the top ten. It got the shaft. Pun intended!
I'm not normally the kind of girl to swoon over actors, or be a
super-fan who makes godawful juvenile YouTube sildeshows that completely miss the
mark, but I really do want to advocate Y Tu Mamá También as the sexiest movie I have ever seen.
If you want to know how qualified this film is for a higher spot
on the list, just hit play on the video above. The first frames, let
alone the first five minutes are filled with a love scene that sets the
tone for the whole movie.
Y Tu Mamá También is a sensual film featuring the debut of Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal, who you can see together once again this May in the comedy Casa De Mi Padre, and Maribel Verdú, who you may know from Pan's Labyrinth. Set on a road trip in Mexico, this fearless film tells of life's common tribulations of love, sex, friendship, and politics, with a heavy backdrop of mortality. It's basically about the transience of life. You are left questioning which issues are actually worth focusing on. I could go on and on about the deeper meanings of the film to prove to you that I'm not a total horn-ball, but let's just get to the point.
The film creates a collision of teenage and adult concepts of love, presented in gut-wrenching realism. The love scenes are raw and unflinching, without cuts, and are shot in real time - so to speak. There's no pretending that these teen boys can handle such activity; they only last about a minute.
As for the specific scene IFC mentions as number 13 on their list, it was certainly a tremendous surprise ending and appropriate conclusion (don't read the description on their list if you want to watch the full film without spoilers). However, that particular scene is cut way too short. The best scene is when Luna and Verdú's character's finally get it on, mixing Verdú's almost motherly guidance with Luna's teenage eagerness, that begins with child-like shyness and crescendos to him impulsively and strategically kicking away a secondary motel bed in a surprising act of bravado.
It is not only the quantity, but the quality of the love scenes that should bring Y Tu Mamá También to the top of the list. Quality, not being defined by duration, but realism, which makes it relatable and therefore drawing you into the moment.
And that's just fundamentally what makes for an excellent film.
