alanj@ibmpcug.co.uk (Alan Jay) (11/28/90)
London Film Festival
Film reviews by Alan Jay
Copyright 1990 Alan Jay
Below are a number of short reviews/comments of movies I have seen
in the first week of the London Film Festival. I have no idea what the
distribution of any of these films is likely to be -- last year I saw
Icicle Thief in the festival and it has just appeared both in the US and
UK. I have tried to give a rating on the -4 to +4 scale as used
elsewhere. Anyway here goes in the order I saw them last week:
TEXASVILLE
Dir: Peter Bogdanovich
The sequel to THE LAST PICTURE SHOW opened the London Film Festival.
The movie picks up 30 years on and shows the state that the characters
have got themselves into. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and thought
that the small town farce that was played out was exquisite. (+3)
EL ANONIMO
Dir: Alfonso Arandia
This is the first feature by Alfonso Arandia and is the story of a
failed exam and a not-so-anonymous letter, stolen mail boxes (like the
large red ones we have in London but yellow), and an underworld
sub-plot. An enjoyable if rather silly movie that reminds me of my
youth -- though I never lugged a letter box up 5 flights of stairs!
(+1)
ALL THE VERMEERS IN NY
Dir: Jon Jost
A fascinating and beautifully crafted film that intertwines the lust for
money and the serenity of the Vermeers in the Met. The movie is
remarkably well-paced especially considering that Jon Jost told us after
the screening that the entire film was improvised -- though well
rehearsed. This is Jon's fist film in 35mm and looks excellent it shows
what can be done filming entirely on location with no additional lights.
(+2.5).
JU DOU (SECRET LOVE, HIDDEN FACES)
Dir: Zhang Yi-Mou and Yeng Feng-Liang
Chinese-Japanese collaboration that is set in China in the 1920s around a
dye factory and its owner, wife and nephew. The young wife falls for
the nephew and we are taken through his seduction and the consequences
over 10 years. Beautifully shot and very colourful. (+1.5)
TIALAI (THE LAW)
Dir: Idrissa Ouedraogo
The poignant tale of a young man returning to his village, after two
years away, to discover that his promised bride is married to his
father. The ensuing problems with their love and its fulfillment make
enjoyable watching even if the culture that we are seeing is completely
alien to the western view of things. (+1.5)
DON'T MOVE DIE AND RESUSCITATE
Dir: Vitali Kaneveski
This Russian tale of two youngsters growing up in a remote mining town
near Vladivostock in 1947 was an unexpected delight. As such the tale
doesn't sound promising but the resulting movie is a touching and
beautiful tale of young innocence in a harsh world. (+3)
SHOOTING GALLERY
Dir: Arpad Sopsits
This true Hungarian tale about a young boy who shoots his father while
his mother is in hospital and continues life as before. The story of
this true incident is well told and cinematically very interestingly
portrayed with a variety of B&W film qualities used to signify different
time frames. Unfortunately it comes across as someone trying very hard
to tell a story in visual terms and not quite succeeding. (0)
NASTY GIRL
Dir: Michael Verhoeven
This brilliant movie tells a fictionalised account of a your German girl
in Bavaria who tries to write an essay on "My home town during the third
Reich." The story is well told combining pseudo documentary style;
recreations of the past and stylized scenes from the story. The film is
based on a true story and is fascinating to realise the level of
cover-up that took place after the last war and realise that we should
never forget what happened. Usually movies portray people larger than
life in this case and the real "Nasty Girl," who was at the screening,
came across as even larger than the fictional character portrayed in the
movie. (+3.5)
HENRY & JUNE
Dir: Philip Kaufman
Well, this has been reviewed to extinction on the net so my very short
comment would be that I enjoyed the film but can understand why it might
be thought a pretentious load of drivel it is not main stream cinema in
many ways and its tarring with the NC-17 certificate has given Universal
a chance to hype the film into something it isn't (a sexually charged,
erotic movie). (+2)
A TERRA COTTA WARRIOR
Dir: Ching Sui-Tung
This Hong Kong movie takes a splash of Indiana Jones and mixes with a
dash of Chinese history and creates a delightful movie with some very
nice touches. Without giving too much away the movie tells a delightful
love story through the turmoil of the plot and some spectacular sword
fights (that make the, should have been, legendary sword fight from
Raiders seem tame [well I can't imagine Harrison Ford doing the balletic
dancing technique that the Chinese go in for]) (+2)
I THE WORST OF ALL
Dir: Maria Luisa Bemberg
Based on the life of Juana Ines de la Cruz (a 17th Century Nun in
Mexico) this film tells of her persecution by the church and her
friendship with the Viceroy of Mexico and his wife. A marvelously
constructed world is created in the movie through a limited selection of
sets that a reworked but highly minimal. This movie is quite hard work
and relatively slow but I now want to know more about Juana Ines de la
Cruz (now considered one of the great Spanish poets of the 17th century)
so the evening was not wasted. (+0.5)
CYRANO DE BERGERAC
Dir: Jean-Paul Rappeneau
This excellent adaptation of Rostand's classic play is completely
enchanting. Gerard Depardieu was born to play Cyrano and he is
brilliant in the part and yet still believable in the more romantic
moments. Anne Brochet, Roxanne, is also excellent and the whole
production is well worth seeing. The French dialogue is said without
sounding too silly and the English translation has been done by Antony
Burgess. All together excellent. (+3.5)
If anyone would like more information on any of the movies listed
then I email me and I will see what I can do. More films next week.
Alan Jay
Email: alanj@ibmpcug.CO.UK Path: ..!ukc!ibmpcug!alanj