The Reckoning

The latest from director Paul McGuigan is fairly absorbing but probably of interest mainly to fans of medieval mysteries.   The story takes place in England in 1380 (about 50 years after the events recounted in “The Name of the Rose”, with which it shares themes of transgression, the nature of God, and church/state power) and involves a runaway priest with a secret who joins a traveling acting troupe.   In the course of their travels they arrive at a hamlet where a deaf/mute woman has been wrongly convicted of murdering a young boy.   One shortcoming of the film is that the identity of the real killer is practically telegraphed.   The cinematography is especially of note, incorporating chiaroscuro and capturing lovely landscapes.   With Paul Bettany, Willem Dafoe and Vincent Cassel.

- Mar 17, 2004

The Passion of the Christ

This isn’t nearly as interesting a film on the central Christian idea that God came to earth in human form as ‘Last Temptation of Christ’.   Scorsese’s film had Christ feeling human doubts, urges, and temptations whereas Gibson focuses relentlessly on the pain of his body.   You could argue that’s because this film is exclusively about the passion, but I think it’s that Scorsese is an infinitely more thoughtful filmmaker than Gibson.   “The Passion” is occasionally moving but did not make me, as a non-religious person, consider the implications of Christ’s humanity/divinity to the extent that ‘Last Temptation’ did.   There are two things I admire about it: its use of original languages and its uncompromising extremism (it’s one of the most extreme films I’ve ever seen).   At the screening I attended, the scourging sequence had people heading for the exits; one woman, after several loud exclamations, positively bolted, presumably towards the restroom to throw up.

- Mar 9, 2004

Osama

I believe this is the first film from Afghanistan that I’ve seen.   It takes place during the reign of the Taliban at a time when many women had been widowed by war.   Since the Taliban did not allow them to work (or to even venture outside without a male chaperone), many women and girls were starving.   The film concerns a young girl who disguises herself as a boy so that she can find work to support her mother and grandmother.   This is no phony feel-good entertainment.   Filmmaker Siddiq Barmak cites the influence of Tarkovsky, Kiarostami, and Makhmalbaf, and if you like their work, you’ll probably like this.

- Mar 1, 2004 

My Architect: A Son’s Journey

This is a documentary about renowned architect Louis Kahn, whose best-known buildings include the Salk Institute and the capital building of Bangladesh, and who died penniless in Penn Station under somewhat mysterious circumstances.   The man led more than one secret life: aside from his wife and “legitimate” daughter, he had children by two other women.   This documentary is by his "illegitimate" son Nathaniel, who sets out to understand his father by visiting the work and by interviewing peers of his father such as Frank Gehry and I.M. Pei.   Very moving.   This one is up for the Oscar for best documentary.

 - Feb 25, 2004

The Dreamers

Bertolucci returns!   If, like me, the French New Wave is one of your all-time favorite movements in the history of film then you’ll probably enjoy this.   A young American in Paris in ’68 befriends a perversely symbiotic brother and sister.   With revolution in the air, the three film-loving young people hole up in their apartment and enact various games/scenarios/debates having to do with film and politics (as well as the activities that earned the picture its NC-17 rating!).   Great use of music as well as clips from the likes of “Breathless” and “A Band Apart”.   60s nostalgia of the sort Bertolucci gets into here doesn’t offend me too much, because all indications seem to be that France in the 60s really was an incomparable time and place for film.

- Feb 18, 2004