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Reviews
The Photographer (2000)
Terrific! See It!
Occasionally, surfing through the late night flicks, you run across a gemstone that grabs you by the pajama lapels and shakes you awake until you've finished reading the credits: such was my reaction to The Photographer a few nights ago. Jeremy Stein made an absolutely enchanting film: ignore comments here to the contrary.
The theme is that one can never anticipate how unexpected turns in our lives will contribute to our personal growth. In this case, Max overcomes a form of creative paralysis and re-discovers himself and his art through chance encounters with complete strangers. Shot in New York City's seedy back streets (lower East Side?) the collective odyssey of Max and his new-found pals (the supporting cast are very good) laces in bar scenes that, for me at least, are archetypal moments when we have chance encounters with people who turn out to have so much in common with us in hidden ways that it makes us reflect on who we really are most comfortable with, why we made the choices we've made, and what the hell we're doing with our lives.
There's a kind of magic in this film (the search for Violet) that isn't overplayed but that's important to tying everything up into a neat little package. Terrific score (Andrew Hollander) and beautiful cinematography (Vanja Cernjul) sustain the mood throughout. If you don't come away feeling better about life after seeing this film, you've missed it.
Jeremy Stein, who wrote and directed, is very talented indeed, and I hope this one is available on DVD: it's one you want in the library.
Enemy at the Gates (2001)
Rattenkrieg: See It!
There are, in fact, ample historical accounts of the actual existence of Vassili Zaitsev, Heinz Thorvald (Ed Harris' Major Koenig in this film) and a female sniper companion to Zaitsev, Tania Chernova, notwithstanding a previous reviewer's criticism. See Beevor, Chuikov, Werth, there are others, including an account from Zaitsev himself ("Za Volgoi zemli dlia nas ne bylo": translated, 'For us, there was no land beyond the Volga'). As for "Enemy At the Gates", this is a smashing film (pardon the adjective). Substantially accurate, it not only tells the story of the individual contributions of reluctant heroes, but also more broadly depicts an epic battle that concluded by demonstrating to the world that the German Wehrmacht was not invincible, that the Red Army and its civilians not only had absorbed Hitler's best punch but countered it with one of their own, culminating in Generalfeldmarshall Friedrich von Paulus' surrender of the German Sixth Army and, two years later, the defeat of the Third Reich itself.
The setting for this film takes place during a time when the German Wehrmacht had suffered no significant defeats whatsoever. When von Paulus surrendered his Sixth Army at the end of January, 1943, the price of victory for the Russians, after five months of what the Germans referred to as der kessel, the cauldron, was 750,000 killed. For the Germans? Four hundred thousand killed not including another 300,000 of their allies, the Italians, Hungarians and Rumanians. The civilian population of Stalingrad was reduced from a prewar half million men, women and children to 1500 civilians.
The shift of pace and mood between the train ride to the disembarkation site on the east side of the Volga and, following that, the panic of replacements being ferried across the Volga to the charred remains of the city, is comparable to the scenes of the LSTs approaching and landing on Omaha Beach in "Saving Private Ryan". The haplessness of new recruits being cast into the fray, only half of them with rifles, to die either by being cut to pieces by the Germans or, if they fled, cut to pieces by Red Army troops in the rear positions at the direction of the political commissars, sets the mood of dispair and terror difficult to imagine without the sophistication of modern film making. In this sense, special effects are used very effectively to enhance and drive home the chaos and continuous terror of urban warfare.
Naturally, the principle point of interest is the "High Noon" contest between Major Koenig (Ed Harris) and Zaitsev (Jude Law) and their dance to terminate one another. This tension, broken only by the love affair between Zaitsev and Tania (Rachel Weisz), should keep anyone who isn't insensate gripped by the developing events leading to Zaitsev's ultimate triumph-that delivered, ultimately, by his "promoter" and rival for Tania's affections, Danilov.
Minor beef: The unaccented English throughout was welcome-though, the dialog coaches needed to decide if "Vassily" was "VA-ssily or Va-SSI-ly-First or second syllable stress: "Shto Eta?" (Russian pronunciation favors second stress)
The German foot soldiers, by the way, privately responded to Hitler's "Fortress Stalingrad" designation of the Sixth Army's encirclement at Stalingrad with a label of their own: "Rattenkrieg"-"War of the Rats"-a more fitting picture of their lice infested, starving existences . The Russians, of course, faired no better.
I enjoyed this film very much, though it is violent and disturbing. It offers those of us who lived close to those WWII years a poignant reminder that it was a time never so good to us as the times we live in now. And a wakeup call for the rest of us who think that our comfortable lives are forever a normal feature of a peaceful existence.
Gladiator (2000)
Sorry, Roger, Wrong On This One!
OK, Commodus ruled 12 years after the (natural) death of father Marcus Aurelius, and not for the year (or whatever) depicted in Gladiator. And, Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix ) may have been a more daunting foe for Maximus (Russell Crowe) in the ring, judging from what we know of his athletic prowess, even without the "advantage" of his having "insured" himself of victory (no spoiler). (In fact, a powerful wrestler strangled Commodus to death at the behest of Commodus' trusted advisors in 192). Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. The opening scenes of Gladiator alone are worth the price of admission. How WERE the Romans able to conquer and control almost a quarter of the world's population? Take in the first 30 minutes of this film. Then you'll know. Ridley Scott has a genius for film making (which always begins with the visual). Reminds me of Kubrick. He knows how it must have been, or could be, or should be. So, you rearrange history a bit to create a first class story. So what? The script, the performances, the mood and tempo of action can't disappoint, unless you're so oriented to plots laced with video game inspired characters and disaster scenes that only a third century vintage Freddie Visits Mission Impossible will stir your senses. Sorry Roger, two point five? (I thought I'd never say this) you are dead wrong. This is a terrific two plus hours of first class entertainment.
American Beauty (1999)
American Beauty is a screen-play Oscar winner.
American Beauty works so well not only ("not only", he says!), because of the performances and flawless interaction among characters, (they're superb, with Kevin Spacey's character a kind of tragic figure who breaks his bonds, then dies for his trouble) but-- pay attention now-it works because of da script, boss, da script'!. If Alan Ball is solely responsible, he reminds us of the old fashion and sometimes forgotten notion that good writing drives good film-making every time. From scene to scene, American Beauty hangs together--- no phony sequences, no dead moments-action occurs in profoundly simple context -pace, dialogue, tension, sexy moments; imagery floats in your consciousness as you take in American Beauty rose petals (what else?) and wind-blown plastic debris framed against a ganzfeld brick wall. Where "A Simple Plan" hangs on raw honesty and portentousness, American Beauty adds humor, charm, sexy 18 year olds, and an intergenerational mind-meld that sucks you into the action. Yeah. See it.
Wayne E. Page