Abel Gance remakes his own melodramatic silent epic about World War I, which focuses on a menage a trois. Two Frenchmen in love with the same woman wind up in the same battalion and agree to let the woman choose between them, but the war makes mincemeat of their lives before she can decide. I can’t vouch for this 1937 version, but the original is wild, eclectic, and inventive like all the best work of Gance, a precursor of Samuel Fuller in more ways than one. In French with subtitles. 119 min. (JR) Read more
William Hurt plays a flip, insensitive, successful surgeon who gets a strong dose of reality when he discovers that he has cancer and has to submit to insensitive treatment himself. At least that’s the story; I found Robert Caswell’s insufferable scriptbased on Ed Rosenbaum’s book A Taste of My Own Medicineso phony, and Hurt’s self-ingratiated preening so unvarying, that the surgeon’s supposed character changes proved wholly unconvincing. Even the cant-proof Christine Lahti, who plays his long-suffering wife, nearly gets thrown for a loop by the falsity of the proceedings, though as usual she manages to emerge relatively unscathed. Somewhat less lucky is Elizabeth Perkins as another cancer patient, who’s assigned plaintive lines and attitudes that perhaps no actress could fully transcend. With Mandy Patinkin, Adam Arkin, and Charlie Korsmo; Randa Haines (Children of a Lesser God) directed (1991). (JR) Read more
A fascinating silent relic by King Kong’s Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, filmed in the jungle of northeast Siam. The putative plot concerns the struggle of a family and its animals against the ravages of jungle beasts (mainly leopards, tigers, and elephants). Clearly fabricated for the camera, with frequent recourse to the deceptive resources of editing (including animal point-of-view shots), and buttressed with quaint intertitles that assign lines of dialogue to many of the animals, this colonialist action romp was the most commercially successful American film of 1927 and was nominated for an Oscar for artistic quality of production; it’s still quite entertaining, though a far cry from anything resembling serious documentary or ethnography. 67 min. (JR) Read more
Riccardo Freda, working under the pseudonym Robert Hampton, directed this 1959 black-and-white Italian SF feature in a Mexican setting (filmed in Spain) about a radioactive glob discovered in a subterranean pool near Mayan ruins. Mario Bava (also under a pseudonym) shot the film; the stars include John Merivale, Dioi Perego, and Giacomo Rossi-Stuart. (JR) Read more
This 1991 first feature by writer-director John Singleton, then 23, about growing up black in South Central LA, shows some genuine talent in handling character and action, and equal amounts of confusion and attitude when it comes to matters of gender and ghetto politics. (Black women seem to bear the brunt of his anger about problems in the ghetto, and the white power structure is accorded a relatively free and guiltless ride.) With Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnut, and Larry Fishburne. Stanley Clarke composed the score. Could the widespread popularity of this movie among whites be partially connected to the implicit acceptance of ghettos as an unchangeable fact of life? R, 107 min. (JR) Read more
When a repressed criminal psychologist (Jeff Fahey) loses his right arm in a car accident and it’s replaced by the arm of a mass murderer, he discovers to his horror that his new limb seems to have a will and personality of its own. This provocative and effective thriller, directed by Eric Red (who coscripted and coproduced Near Dark), loses some steam, focus, and coherence in its final reels because of what appears to be clumsy studio recutting, but it’s full of directorial savvy and sharp performances. (The always-interesting Brad Dourif is especially good as a painter who winds up with the mass murderer’s left arm, and the fact that Fahey’s hero is more creepy than charismatic at the outset makes for some interesting ambiguities throughout that aren’t lost on the filmmakers.) Based on the novel Choice Cuts by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac, the same writing team that provided the source novels for Vertigo and Diabolique, and for the most part intelligently written by Red, Norman Snider, Patricia Herskovic, and Joyce Taylor. With Lindsay Duncan, Kim Delaney, Zakes Mokae, and Paul Benvictor. (JR) Read more
Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder as a con man and a pathological liar who become unwitting and then witting scam partners after Wilder gets mistaken for a missing billionaire. Peter Bogdanovich started the direction of this comedy and was replaced by Maurice Phillips; apparently all of Bogdanovich’s footage was discarded, and what remains is so disassembled and unfunny that if this has any auteurist continuity at all it is with Phillips’s equally disassembled and unfunny Riders on the Storm. Pryor’s ailing physical condition makes much of this a painful experienceno doubt for him as well as for the audience. Ziggy Steinberg wrote and produced. With Mercedes Ruehl, Stephen Lang, and Vanessa Williams. (JR) Read more
Jane Campion’s stirring follow-up to Sweetie adapts the autobiographical trilogy of New Zealand writer Janet Frame into a 163-minute feature, originally made for New Zealand TV–clearly a labor of love by a masterful talent responding to a soulmate. The poetic empathy, the beautiful, offbeat framing and unexpected transitions, and the magnificent handling of actors are all pure Campion. (Her work is especially impressive with the three who play Frame at different ages–Alexia Keogh, Karen Fergusson, and Kerry Fox–whose suggestions of fragility, painful shyness, and passionate inner life effortlessly dovetail into one another.) On the other hand, the form–a miniseries about the formation of a writer–is a lot more conventional and straightforward than that of Sweetie, as are the script (by High Tide’s Laura Jones) and cinematography (by Stuart Dryburgh). Basically composed of short, elliptical scenes, this work’s three parts were intended to be seen separately, which a theatrical presentation regrettably makes impractical. (In a better world, PBS would have snapped this up, but perhaps it would have been too glaring a contrast to the pallidness of its other dramatic offerings.) Charting Frame’s life through the hell of being different (misdiagnosed as schizophrenic during her teens, she was forced to submit to hundreds of shock treatments) toward some adult fulfillment, Campion makes this a genuinely inspirational story without a breath of sentimentality. Read more
A fascinating and intelligent Canadian documentary by John Walker about the life and career of the great American photographer Paul Strand that includes interviews with Georgia O’Keeffe, Milton Brown, Fred Zinnemann, Leo Hurwitz, and Virginia Stevens, as well as tantalizing clips from Strand’s films (including Manhatta, arguably the first American experimental film, The Wave, Heart of Spain, and Native Land). The film does a good job with both the work and the enigmatic personality of Strand, and for people like me whose acquaintance with Strand’s work is limited, this makes an ideal introduction (1989). (Film Center, Art Institute, Columbus Drive at Jackson, Tuesday, June 18, 6:00, 443-3737) Read more
This lively and enjoyable Indonesian feature (1982) in ‘Scope, directed by Gautana Sisworo Putra from a screenplay by Ignatius Sukardjasman, is based on an ancient Sunda legend with oedipal overtones; the hero accidentally kills his father (although sometime after the latter has been turned into a dog) and almost marries his mother. It’s full of enchantment, alternately campy and exhilarating in its employment of fantasy and magic (with some beautifully choreographed martial arts that include Superman-like flights), but unfortunately it’s been censored somewhat for stateside consumption. (Facets Multimedia Center, 1517 W. Fullerton, Monday, June 10, 7:00, 281-4114) Read more
Spike Lee’s high-powered, all-over-the-place movie about interracial romance (Wesley Snipes and Annabella Sciorra), crack addiction (a remarkable turn by Samuel L. Jackson), breaking away from one’s family (a theme that crops up in at least five households, with Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Anthony Quinn, and Frank Vincent among the parents), and corporate advancement for blacks (Snipes again), chiefly set in two New York neighborhoods (Harlem and Bensonhurst). The disparate themes never quite come together, but with strong and inventive direction, juicy dialogue, and many fine performances–John Turturro, as Sciorra’s ex-boyfriend, is especially impressive, Lonette McKee is good as Snipes’s aggrieved wife, and Lee is also around briefly as Snipes’s best friend–you won’t be bored for a minute. There’s also a richly upholstered score featuring Stevie Wonder, a huge orchestra, and the Boys Choir of Harlem, along with recordings by Mahalia Jackson, Frank Sinatra, and others. The overall effect is that of a kind of living newspaper, with stories and subplots crowding one another for front-page space, and so many voices heard that you may feel at times like you’re swimming through a maelstrom; but thanks to Lee, it’s a maelstrom that’s superbly orchestrated. (Broadway, Burnham Plaza, Chestnut Station, Golf Glen, Plaza, Evanston, Hyde Park, Norridge, Harlem-Cermak, Double Drive-In, Bel-Air Drive-In) Read more
A fascinating and intelligent Canadian documentary by John Walker about the life and career of the great American photographer Paul Strand that includes interviews with Georgia O’Keeffe, Milton Brown, Fred Zinnemann, Leo Hurwitz, and Virginia Stevens, as well as tantalizing clips from Strand’s films (including Manhatta, arguably the first American experimental film, The Wave, Heart of Spain, and Native Land). The film does a good job with both the work and the enigmatic personality of Strand, and for people like me whose acquaintance with Strand’s work is limited, this makes an ideal introduction (1989). (JR) Read more
This straight-from-the-gut message film from the Brooklyn ghetto (1991) by writer-director-producer-actor Matty Rich (who was only 19 at the time) is raw and unfinished in terms of craftbut it’s certainly heartfelt, and it lacks the usual exploitation frills. Seething with rage about the racism that has made him a professional failure (he works at a filling station), a man living in a Red Hook housing project (George T. Odom) regularly gets drunk, smashes dishes, and mercilessly beats his wife. His daughter is appalled that her mother accepts these beatings, and his son, bent on saving his family and escaping from Brooklyn, plans to rob a drug dealer with his two best friends (Mark Malone and Rich), over the objections of his girlfriend. Winner of a special jury prize at Sundance, this movie’s urgency very nearly makes up for what it lacks in polish; Rich may not have mastered certain skills, but he has so much to say about his subject that some irreducible street wisdom still gets across. R, 79 min. (JR) Read more
The underrated (albeit uneven) Bryan Forbes directed this 1964 British thriller cum melodrama about a fake medium (Kim Stanley) who gets her husband (Richard Attenborough) to kidnap a child so she can demonstrate her psychic powers finding it. Adapted by Forbes from Mark McShane’s novel; with Nanette Newman and Patrick Magee. 115 min. (JR) Read more
A fascinating relic from 1942, codirected, cowritten, and partially shot by the great still photographer Paul Strand in collaboration with Leo Hurwitz. Narrated by Paul Robeson and with a score by Marc Blitzstein, this documentary feature uses newsreel footage, still photographs, and extended reenactments to dramatize the findings of the U.S. Senate’s La Follette Committee regarding union busting and corporate labor spying; more generally, it’s concerned with everyday violations of the Bill of Rights that most citizens knew (and know) nothing about, including those fostered in the south by the Ku Klux Klan. Made over a three-year period, this is the most ambitious work of Strand’s Frontier Films collective, but because it was released shortly after Pearl Harbor, its impact was severely blunted, which discouraged Strand from doing further work in film. If you subscribe, as I do, to the notion that the most dated films are often the ones that have the most to teach us about their respective periods, you shouldn’t miss this singular work. 88 min. (JR) Read more
