Three film recommendations for the weekend 28 July

These are my final three films recommendations after my two months at RTL Today. Recommending these films every week has been the most enjoyable thing I've done here. This week's movies are The 400 Blows, Ponyo, and  Chungking Expess. The 400 Blows is an all time favorite of mine. First-time actor Jean-Pierre Léaud empathically portrays his character's struggles with his family and his youth. Ponyo is a Studio Ghibli film that captures the beauty and the strangeness of the ocean. And my final film is Chungking Express, a movie that feels as if it drifts from memory to memory.  As always, I spoke about these films on The Sam Steen Show on Today Radio.

The 400 Blows (Truffaut, 1959, France)

Think back to when you were a kid. No matter how good your childhood was, there were moments you felt unheard and misunderstood by the adults in your life. You felt helpless and small and you didn't know why the grown-ups around you didn't get it, or couldn't help you. That feeling of childhood frustration and being let-down is what The 400 Blows taps into.

Antoine (Jean-Pierre Léaud) runs away from home and school because he feels unloved. He becomes a petty criminal and gets himself into some trouble. The 400 Blows is a very sweet and sort of sad coming-of-age story about burgeoning adolescence that is often read as a semi-autobiographical telling of Truffaut's own turbulent childhood. Despite all of Antoine's confidence and trouble-making, the film constantly reinforces his youth and reminds you its all an act.

It is available here, on Amazon Prime.

New trailer for The 400 Blows - in cinemas from 7 January 2022 | BFI

Ponyo (Miyazaki, 2009, Japan)

One more Studio Ghibli film. For the road.

Ponyo follows a young boy, Kôichi, after he saves a goldfish princess, Ponyo. When Ponyo is saved, she falls in love with Kôichi and desperately wants to be human so the two of them can be together.

What more can I say about this studio and its productions that I haven't already said? The animation is hyper-detailed and the care used in depicting nature comes from a place of deep love and respect for the environment. Studio Ghibli films are the complete cinema. There are very few movies made with as much love and care as they are. Everyone, adults and children alike, will find joy in these films.

It's available, here, on Netflix.

Ponyo - Official Trailer

Chungking Express (Wong Kar-Wai, Hong Kong, 1991)

Chungking Express is split into two parts. The first part follows a cop (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and his love interest, a woman caught up in the criminal underworld (Brigitte Lin). The other story follows a different cop (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) and a woman (Faye Wong) working at a late night snack bar. One story is abruptly cut off while the other changes and develops over many years, bringing the couple together and driving them apart.

Wong Kar-Wai is a master of haze. The film drifts in and out of time and place, slipping through your fingers as soon as you feel you've got a grasp on it. Chungking Express is intangible, as if you're watching someone else's memory or listening to them recount a true event.

With the genius of auteur Wong Kar-Wai it is not something you want to miss.

It is available to rent on Apple TV+ here.

CHUNGKING EXPRESS 4K | Official Trailer (English)

Listen to my conversation with Sam Steen here, or listen via the player below.