The Coen brothers’ lush gangster melodrama (1990, 115 min.), set in an unnamed eastern city in 1929. Self-conscious and show-offy, with more portent than soul, the film shows some progress over the Coens’ earlier effortsif only because of the allure and energy of the cast. Yet it never fully convinces in terms of either period or plot. Gabriel Byrne plays an Irish gangster and pal of Irish city boss Albert Finney, and the two of them split over a Jewish moll (Marcia Gay Harden) whose brother (John Turturro) is set to be bumped off; Byrne then goes to work for the Italian kingpin in town (Jon Polito) who has taken over control of the mayor and chief of police from Finney. The novels of Dashiell Hammett were reportedly the main inspiration here, but if much of what’s best about Hammett came from personal acquaintance with his gangster milieu, the Coens’ only acquaintance is with Hammett’s novels. The film’s idea of sophistication is to play Danny Boy while the tommy guns splutter, pile on the gore, light the interiors like kitsch Rembrandts, and punctuate the action with significant fade-outs; the double crosses are so intricate and the cynicism so enveloping that it becomes increasingly difficult to care about the characters, although the actors (who also include the sinister J.E. Read more
A 1989 film by Mohsen Makhmalbaf (The Peddler) about the upsetting discoveries made by a shell-shocked veteran of the Iran-Iraq war after he returns to his job as a photojournalist in Tehran and to his fiancee, the daughter of a wealthy merchant. As in The Peddler, Makhmalbaf shows considerable talent and passion for dealing with the contradictions of contemporary Iranian life, and the restless and eclectic style of his direction makes this one of his most penetrating and disturbing works. In Farsi with subtitles. 75 min. (JR) Read more
Based on the true-life story of German investigative journalist Gunter Wallraff (Jurgen Prochnow), who got hired incognito as a right-wing reporter for Germany’s leading newspaper in order to uncover its corrupt practices, this is a rather lackluster thriller that loses plausibility the minute that the overblown editor-villain (Dieter Laser) makes his first appearance, cackling like the meanie in a Flash Gordon serial. It’s a pity, because the subject is a vital one, but writer-director Bobby Roth is clearly out of his element. With Nathalie Baye and Peter Coyote, the latter clearly uncomfortable with his German accent. (JR) Read more
A wild, lively effort by Chinese American filmmaker Wayne Wang (Chan Is Missing, Dim Sum, Slamdance) that might have been called Two or Three Things I Know About Hong Kong. Like Godard’s films in the late 60s, this beautifully shot essayistic poemputatively a thriller and full of scatological gags and conceits as well as macabre violence and humorevokes a contemporary city in all its contradictions and paradoxes with a great deal of eclecticism. (The film’s full title perfectly captures its jaundiced socioeconomic view and its stylistic irreverence.) The Hong Kong presented here is not only the city we know from films made there (with plenty of in-jokes and guest-star appearances, including Allen Fong as a cabdriver), but also the city that looks forward to joining the Chinese mainland in 1997. A satiric semidocumentary in which the locals periodically address the camera, Wang’s shocker also includes one of the longest (and surely the most dizzying) chase sequences ever filmed. Originally saddled with an X rating, this is a grown-up movie without the power of the Hollywood industry behind it, which suggests a freedom that Wang takes full advantage of (1989). (JR) Read more
The notorious Kray twins, gangsters who ruled London’s East End in the 50s and 60s, are legendary figures in England, and screenwriter Philip Ridley boasts that his account of their lives is blatantly unfactual, unsullied by a scrap of research. His ambitious script blames everything on the permissive matriarchy that reared the brothers, though it isn’t quite as simpleminded as it sounds. With Martin and Gary Kemp (from the pop group Spandau Ballet) as the twinsthe former straight, the latter gayand the remarkable Billie Whitelaw as their mother, this movie has a certain depth and class. But the macabre violencedished out strategically and qualitatively (with sabers) rather than quantitativelyis extremely unpleasant. Peter Medak (The Ruling Class) directed with some sweep and force, but the thoughtful dimensions of this English picture don’t entirely overcome or justify the general coldness and nastiness. With Tom Bell, Kate Hardie, and Susan Fleetwood (1990). (JR) Read more
A scientist (Grant Williams) exposed to radiation grows smaller and smaller in this faithful 1957 adaptation of a bad Richard Matheson novel; it’s a lot more interesting than its source, thanks to the special effects and Jack Arnold’s taut, no-nonsense direction. The surreal intensity of outsize objects that loom as the hero shrinks is handled effectively, and the mystical happy ending is a better payoff than one would expect of the genre. 81 min. (JR) Read more
This 1975 melodrama by Rainer Werner Fassbinder is one of his better middle-period films. A fairgrounds worker (Fassbinder) who wins a small fortune in a state lottery is exploited and eventually destroyed by his effete bourgeois lover (Karlheinz Boehm) and the lover’s stuck-up friends. Very sharp about class and milieu, the film is limited only by Fassbinder’s characteristic enjoyment of the hero-victim’s pain. At one point the camera is even stationed on a floor a moment before the hapless hero slips and falls, in sadistic anticipation of his mishap. As with much of Fassbinder’s work, his cruelty complicates rather than negates his mordant, on-target social analysis. With Peter Chatel, Harry Bar, Ulla Jacobsson, and Kurt Raab. In German with subtitles. 123 min. (JR) Read more
Opening during Ireland’s post-World War I independence struggle, this English feature directed by Pat O’Connor (Cal) and written by Michael Hirst focuses on the tragedy that ensues when the employee of a wealthy Irish Protestant family is killed by Irish Republicans for suspected spying, and the British Black and Tans retaliate. The only child in the family who escapes the massacre (Iain Glen) grows up with his alcoholic and embittered mother (Julie Christie), and eventually forsakes the love of a good woman (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) to seek revenge. Unfortunately, the charm of the settings and cast can’t make up for the lugubrious pacing and the gooey ending, and the specter of quality TVthe film was partially produced by England’s Channel Fouris never far away; but cinematographer Jerzy Zielinski does memorable things with the Irish countryside. (JR) Read more
A petty altercation between two men (Rene Auberjonois and Ron McLarty) in a small-town hardware store sets off a protracted squabble after the store accidentally burns down; the Romeo and Juliet involvement of two teenagers from their families adds to the complications. There are a few minor virtues in this low-budget first feature by Bill D’Elia, which he scripted with Robert Uricolamost of them having to do with the 50s small-town setting and (one suspects) the Thomas Berger novel the movie is adapted frombut a feel for comedy, alas, is not one of them. With Joe Grifasi, Scott Allegrucci, Gale Mayron, and David Strathairn. (JR) Read more
A Swedish documentary about the making of the great Soviet filmmaker’s last feature, The Sacrifice, by Michal Leszczykowski, the film’s editor. This mixture of footage and interviews with actors and technicians (including cinematographer Sven Nykvist) produces a fascinating and intelligent portrait. Of particular interest is a detailed account of the production difficulties attending the remarkable ten-minute take that served as The Sacrifice’s penultimate shot, during which an entire house was burned to the ground. Technical problems sabotaged the first take, and the house had to be reconstructed so it could be burned down a second time. Tarkovsky’s dark mysticism and moodiness are respected by this documentary rather than intruded upon, but the overall insights into his working methods remain pertinent (1988). (JR) Read more
Steve Martin plays a gumshoe encountering such noir types as Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, and Alan Ladd (through adroit matching footage) in a 1982 black-and-white Carl Reiner comedy whose technical execution (Michael Chapman’s cinematography is masterful) is better than its script. With Rachel Ward and Reni Santoni. 89 min. (JR) Read more
A somewhat-better-than-average British SF disaster picture (1961) about the earth being tilted off its axis by H-bomb tests, with a Daily Express reporter (Edward Judd) as hero. Val Guest, the director, collaborated on the intelligent script with Wolf Mankowitz; Janet Munro and Leo McKern costar. 98 min. (JR) Read more
Bruno Bozzetto’s parody and spin-off of Disney’s Fantasia is a collection of animated sketches accompanying classical music pieces (by Debussy, Dvorak, Ravel, Sibelius, Stravinsky, and Vivaldi), with live-action slapstick sequences featuring cowriter Maurizio Nichetti (The Icicle Thief). It’s not only a hilarious send-up of Disney’s excesses but a splendid cartoon feature in its own rightfunny and imaginative and lively. The restored version of this 1976 Italian picture includes more Nichetti footage and a stereo sound track. (JR) Read more
