The film is an amusement, and yet it asks provocative questions about love, deception, and justice—and it makes accessible a form of culture (the play by Marivaux) that might otherwise seem distant to us—and it provides us the opportunity to imagine other ways of being in the world, and, not least, the chance to laugh.
Category: Film Reviews
Immature Vision: The Dying Gaul, a film by Craig Lucas
Peter Sarsgaard as the writer, Campbell Scott as the producer, and Patricia Clarkson as the wife give performances that are etched with believable emotion—whether concern, desire, grief, or anger; and the people in the film seem civilized in manner—articulate, intelligent, informed by culture, while acting in duplicitous ways; and this is a uniquely vicious film—indicating a dishonest, immature, malicious, and narcissistic sensibility.
Be Caring, Be Honest: Jim Jarmusch’s Down by Law
It’s funny: I had been thinking of Jim Jarmusch and Hal Hartley shortly before seeing Down by Law, wondering if they were giving us stories that were more true than that of many other film directors; wondering if their work was more important than we would be led to believe by the celebration of other directors.
Accidental Intimacies, Genuine Need: Pineapple Express, starring Seth Rogen and James Franco
It was interesting to see that what is made into satire now are things that used to be subtext but that we all know to look for—the no longer buried male need for other men (the homoemotional/homoerotic); and in the film, as some commentators have pointed out, that can occur in certain slippages of language, certain “accidental” incidents of physical closeness, etc.
Sweet Friendship: the film Rock My World, featuring Alicia Silverstone
What is fascinating is that, thanks to the rehearsals we see and hear, rehearsals in which the young woman musician’s improvisations add something good to the music, the film is a musical, one that emerges naturally.
Allegory, Film, and Criticism: Athol Fugard’s Boesman and Lena, starring Angela Bassett and Danny Glover
I did not find Boesman and Lena too wordy, or distractingly allegorical—but then I expect intelligence and meaning, and even imagination, in conversation and in art. I thought Boesman and Lena was a film for which Angela Bassett should have received the highest commendations; and I admired Danny Glover’s performance.
The Burnt Remains of War: Jarhead, a film directed by Sam Mendes
I wouldn’t say that Jamie Foxx is bad in Jarhead, nor that he was bad in Stealth: only that these characters do not allow him the careful performance he gave in the biographical film Ray; and in Jarhead he’s a dedicated military man—committed, forceful, and loud, but decent.
Black Knight, Black Foolishness: Black Knight, starring Martin Lawrence, directed by Gil Junger
It seems an indulgence to read such a film for political insight or to critique it for lack of relevance: but because of the ongoing issues involving black identity and social participation, almost anything can become fodder for such concerns. The fact is that Martin Lawrence’s Jamal is a very recognizable character: his sense of fun and his irresponsibility can be seen on American streets on any given day.
A review of Broken Blossoms
David Wark Griffith’s Broken Blossoms, or the Yellow Man and the Girl (1919) is about a girl abused by her father, a girl who knows little joy until she meets a Chinese shopkeeper who befriends her; and the film’s themes, which encompass the differences between east and west, spirituality and materialism, and compassion and brutality, remain interesting; and the film’s narrative movement gains in complexity; and the film’s compositions—dynamic frames featuring expressive actors in settings full of detail—make compelling viewing.
Everyone is a Stranger to Someone: the film Babel, and the International Scene
Babel has good photography, suitable pacing—as quick and as slow as it needs to be, and believable situations and settings, with movement from one narrative to another being very effective: and, consequently, the influence of one set of factors on another has a logic that does not strike me as far-fetched or unlikely.