Trow.pa@XEROX.ARPA (09/21/84)
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From: lcliffor@bbncca.ARPA (Laura Frank Clifford)
Subject: Toronto International Film Festival
Date: Mon, 17-Sep-84 11:35:08 PDT
Having just seen 15 films in 9 days while attending the "Festival of
Festivals" in Toronto, I though I'd give a quick encapsulization of them.
Filmgoers at the festival had a chance to rate films from 1-7 for the
Labatt's Most Popular Film award, so I'll include my ratings (1=very bad,
7=excellent).
1. Stranger Than Paradise **7**
Dir. Jim Jarmutsch
Starring John Lurie (formerly of the N.Y. Lounge Lizards)
This film won the Cannes award for best first feature. It was a
sheer delight! The story is basically about Willie, a Hungarian who has
tried to become totally American and erase any ties with his family,
and his reaction to his Hungarian female cousin who he is forced to
put up in his one room New York apartment on her arrival. This
film is obviously very low budget, so don't expect a slick looking
movie - just a lot of talent, imagination and wit! A charming look
at the seedier parts of the U.S.
2. All of Me **6**
Dir. Carl Reiner
Starring Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin
Steve Martin wins me back after a couple of less than great movies in
his new comedy about a rich heiress who has a swami at hand to transport
her soul into a new body at her death. Of course, a mistake occurs and
guess whose body she ends up cohabitting! The initial scene where
Martin realizes he's not alone is an instant comedy classic!
3. The Hit **6**
Dir. ?? (can't remember)
Starring John Hurt, Terence Stamp, John Roth, Laura del Sol
I hope this one gets a good distribution! The story of a former mob guy
(T. Stamp) who put his boss and cronies into jail. Ten years later a hit man
(J. Hurt) is sent to Spain to retrieve him. Great performances by the
whole cast - new twists on an old theme.
4. The Brother From Another Planet **6**
Dir. John Sayles
Starring John Morton, John Sayles
A black alien lands in Harlem. Need I say more? An absolute wonder
for a film budgetted at $320,000 (looks multi-million).
5. Stop Making Sense **6**
Dir. Jonathon Demme
Starring The Talking Heads
The best concert film I have ever seen (and the Talking Heads watched it
again a few rows in front of me!).
6. Metropolis (I didn't think it fair to rate this as new)
Dir. Fritz Lang, jazzed up by Georgio Moroder
Finally have seen Metropolis. I'd give just the film ***1/2. The tinting
didn't detract from the film, and the soundtrack didn't bother me at all
(it was rather good in parts). Could've done without the vocals though.
All in all, not as obnoxious as I had been led to believe by reviews.
7. The Bay Boy **6**
Dir. Dan Petrie
Starring Kiefer Sutherland (Don's kid) and Liv Ullman
A delightful movie set in Nova Scotia about a young boy who has to deal with a
sickly brother, the depression, Catholism, a local murder, and girls. Kiefer
Sutherland was quite good in his first time out. Liv Ullman was marvelous as the
mother. Well directed. This was a Canadian production.
8. Where the Green Ants Dream **6**
Dir. Werner Herzog
Starring "the guy who rode the helicopter in Road Warrier"
Absolutely fantastic photography in this one! A sad film about a group of
Aborigines fighting yet again for land which will be lost to them.
A bit slow, but I gave it a 6 anyway because I really love Herzog (call
it loyalty).
9. Places in the Heart **5**
Dir. Robert Benton
Starring Sally Field
Very warm film about a sheriff's wife in Texas who is widowed and must
cope with saving her home and keeping her family together. Sally Field
is excellent in the lead role. The two supporting characters, a black
drifter who helps Field's character grow cotton and a blind veteran
thrust upon her as a boarder by the bank, are also excellent. The
film is flawed, however, mainly by a stupid subplot about Field's sister's
husband's extra-marital affair with the town's schoolteacher. Ed Harris
is less than enthralling in this role. Terrific ending, though!
10. Full Moon in Paris **4**
Dir. Erich Rohmer
A cute film about a love triangle. Nothing special.
11. Los Santos Innocentes **5**
An incessantly hopeless film about a family of Spanish peasants being
exploited by the aristocracy. Although this is a well-crafted film with
several good characterizations, it was so completely depressing I didn't
know how to feel about it. If you get emotional over a film's content,
you'll want to stay in bed for a week after this.
12. Love Streams **4**
Dir. John Cassevettes
Starring John Cassevettes and Gena Rowlands
Good character studies of a confused writer and his crazy sister.
Couldn't figure out exactly what Cassevettes' point was though.
****
The following films were not featured by the festival:
Buckaroo Banzai
Can't figure out what all the fuss is about this one. John Lithgow
as Dr. Emilio Lizardo should be given the Oscar for best supporting actor,
however. Without his fantastically funny performance, this would have
been a dud (and yes, I read the book first).
Under the Volcano
Albert Finney is truly extraordinary. He must be the greatest actor
of our time. The story was told a little too simply for my tastes (I had
just finished the book which is a ****!). Not as muddled as I had been
expecting though. I'd still have to give it somewhere between **1/2 and ***.
The Fourth Man
What fun - I love symbolism in films and it's just piled on here (it
jumps out at you)! An evil film with tongue in check - great use of
color. ***
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From: reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP
Subject: "A Soldier's Story"
Date: Thu, 20-Sep-84 00:13:36 PDT
School is coming back into session, the leaves are beginning to turn colors,
the weather is getting cooler (well, not in LA, but most everywhere else),
and the football season has started. Now comes the final sign of the approach
of autumn and the recession of summer: serious Hollywood movies. Hollywood
release patterns have a certain bizarre sense to them. According to the
studios' wisdom, people want slambang action in the summer, more of the same
at Christmas, they won't see anything, no matter what, in winter, and their
minds turn to serious things in fall. Well, I guess it works, but it sure
sounds strange to me. At any rate, here's the season's first serious film,
with a capital S: "A Soldier's Story".
"A Soldier's Story" is a real Hollywood rarity: a film about blacks. Moreover,
it is a serious film and tries to deal with important issues of prejudice.
The story is set in 1944, at an Army training post in the deep south. This
post is reserved for training the army's black soldiers, segregated into
separate units, lead by white officers and black NCOs. The most senior of
those black NCOs is Sgt. Waters. Waters is a career army man who has developed
a deep hatred for the type of black man he sees as a shame to his race. This
translates to most blacks from the deep south. Early in the film, Waters is
murdered. The officer Washington sends to investigate is Capt. Davenport,
one of the army's very few black officers. His appointment is seen by the
white officers as a dangerous choice, as the superficial evidence points to
the Ku Klux Klan, and the more hidden clues suggest some of those white
officers.
Davenport isn't willing to settle for easy answers. He wants nothing less
than the truth. His investigations uncover just what a damaged man Waters
was, and the harm he did to others. Eventually, the truth is revealed. The
black units finally are sent off to fight Hitler, as they all lust to do, to
prove their worth. (The stage play from which this film was adapted chillingly
undercut their eagerness with the revelation that the company we follow will
be wiped out to the last man. The film abandons that twist, and ends on a
cheery gungho note that seems incongruous for this day and age.)
The film's most important point is that the pernicious activities of racism
are not carried out just by the oppressors. The oppressed can catch the
infection and be just as cruel and destructive towards members of their
own race, in an attempt to please, or impress, or rebut, those who malign them.
This is an fresh and important idea, but cloaking it in a not terribly
interesting murder mystery was a mistake. The story would be better told
linearly than in flashback, particularly because Davenport, the framing
character, is severely underwritten. We learn too little about him, so
he remains an enigma, rather than serving as the unifying device, as was
probably intended. We are missing the scenes that tell us what his convictions
are, leaving him with little but a vague nobleness.
Howard E. Rollins, Jr., who was excellent in "Ragtime", does what he can with
Davenport, but the picture belongs to Adolph Caesar as Sgt. Waters. This
is one of the finest performances of the year. Caesar gradually peels back
the layers of Waters' character, revealing how he became what he was, and
what it has cost him. His triumph is making us pity a man whose actions
are too frequently calculated to destroy others. The supporting actors,
mostly black, are all quite good.
Norman Jewison, the film's director, shares the blame with Charles Fuller,
the screenwriter (and original playwright) for what fails to click in
"A Soldier's Story". Jewison has a long history of tackling socially
relevant subjects, going back to "In the Heat of the Night" in the 60s.
Unfortunately, Jewison almost always winds up capitalizing all his points.
When he gets hold of a subject he really cares about, subtlety is tossed
madly out the window. He is to be praised for his persistence in getting
the film made, and his desire to make a film on an important subject, and
for giving a lot of talented and underutilized black actors some
exposure. Unfortunately, what he actually did behind the camera is
steadfastly average.
"A Soldier's Story" is worth seeing, if only for Caesar's performance.
It has other virtues, particularly its subject matter. As far as
execution goes, though, it is unremarkable. Not bad at all, but not
special. Most films which fit into this category never had an
opportunity to be much better, so the artistic failures of "A Soldier's
Story" are particularly disappointing, as it could have been one of the
best films of the year.
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiher
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