Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015), Auteurism and Genre Determinism

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (Christopher McQuarrie, 2015)
If Jack Reacher was Christopher McQuarrie's resumé for getting the next Mission: Impossible gig, I say that he was clearly the perfect hire. While the Colin Trevorrows of the world are busy making cynical, redundant self-parodies of beloved franchises and the J.J. Abrams of the world are making hundred million dollar Rorschach tests, Christopher McQuarrie is legitimately building upon the legacy of someone like Raoul Walsh or John McTiernan with clever action set pieces and off-handed character humor while still delivering the "impossibly stacked-odds" thrills common to the M:I franchise. It is the perfect popcorn movie in that sense, but, like McTiernan, if you're willing to look closer, you may find even more.

It is neat to see several spy thrillers of the mid-2010s deal with the legitimacy and utility of espionage in the 21st century (I'm thinking also of Skyfall), and that is exactly where Rogue Nation begins. Immediately pitting a top secret conspiratorial shadow government against a top secret conspiratorial shadow agency is a clever bit of plotting in itself but as the movie progresses and the who-can-you-trust/who's-playing-whom dynamics are working themselves out in ever more labyrinthine twists and double-crosses, I began to realize that this is the true legacy of espionage. It could be cynical if we didn't have an investment in seeing Hunt succeed. But this sort of identification is what paints the "good guys" of espionage decidedly behind a nationalistic brush. How do we know who the good guys are? They work for us and are there to keep us safe. In an age that ironically has become increasingly dependent on government involvement, it has also come to despise blatant nationalism. When nationalism suffers, the spy movie suffers along with it. Fittingly then, the bad guy to be stopped is the one who is establishing a "rogue nation" outside of the proper order of things and beyond the accountability (such as it is) of any government or agency. 

But it begs the question: what keeps Hunt – a spy no longer recognized by his home government who is conducting a secret mission without the aid or approval of any other agency – from just walking away from it all? Is it determination or determinism? 

Alex in Wonderland (1970) and the New Hollywood Paradox

Alex in Wonderland (Paul Mazursky, 1970)
Coming to audiences near the beginning of the New Hollywood era (1967-1979), Alex in Wonderland is both an appreciation of the artistic freedom afforded to directors by producers/studios during that time and a unique representation of the paradoxes and paralysis facing the New Hollywood filmmaker in light of that freedom.  It is bold and audacious and brilliant, written and directed by Paul Mazursky, one of the forgotten dual talents of that era.

Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)

Two-Lane Blacktop (Monte Hellman, 1971)
Does this film really exist?
Where is the pride, the pretense, the artificiality?
First dialogue is 6 minutes in.
The success is two-fold: silence and ellipses.
The silence comprises a major part of the film.
Action or non-action -- the background is usually moving.
Dialogue is sparse yet conversational.  Not overly stylized.

There is an openness, a willingness to let action and decisions take place off-screen.  
Conversely, thoughts and indecision happen on-screen.

When the Girl arrives, she simply gets in the car.
No scene is made because the characters honestly do not care.  
They will take her along.  Sure.  Why not?
When she leaves, she simply up and leaves.  
Independent.  Unbounded.  The open road.

Warren Oates embodies a real person we see in parts.
A lying iceberg who must talk continually.
If he stops talking, he dies.
Sweaters.  Gloves.  Lilted smile.
Show me a better character in American cinema.

The allowance is for the audience.  Watch and listen.
Play along.  Follow the lines.  Embrace the characters.

This land is our land, every corner of it.
The widescreen mirrors the landscape.  
We see the whole thing.

film journal entry: 07.09.2012