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Reviews
Kirikou et la sorcière (1998)
A wonderful little movie
I saw this at a Museum of Modern Art screening in Manhattan and, completely unexpectedly, Michel Ocelot appeared to take questions from the audience. He said several things of interest to IMDb readers: first, that he grew up in French Guinea, and that much of the flavor of the film is based on his childhood memories. Second, though this movie played all over Europe, the wonderful African-accented dub in English (and also in French) is not echoed in other languages because it wouldn't be authentic. Third, the movie was applauded everywhere it played in Europe, but England and America "have a problem with breasts." In the US it had to be released (a very limited release) without a rating, because it would inevitably be rated R (for breasts) and thus children wouldn't be able to see it. Fourth, it was loved in Africa where it played. Screening conditions were less than ideal, but Ocelot & co. made an effort to take the movie to the bush.
Eros (2004)
Erotic? Not Very.
I back up other viewers, but give a lower overall rating because sitting through them all was such a chore. "The Hand" has real poignancy, beauty, and was by far the most finished of the movie-lets, but it was sooooo slooooow. It had to go first, audiences would have rebelled later on. The Soderburg picked up the pace, and Arkin was a low-brow treat, though the piece had a "Sat. Night Live" sketch quality. The Antonioni was perfectly ridiculous in the way that Playmate videos are ridiculous. but made even less sense than they do--I have to agree with the "horny old man" jeers. Aren't he and Hef about the same age? One good thing was the paintings used in the credits of each movie; these had some beauty and class of their own. Didn't catch the name of the painter.
The Little Drummer Girl (1984)
simply miscast
It's been years since I've seen this movie (or read the book, which I did also), and I'm prompted to say something only because I'm reading a new novel, set in Sarajevo, on roughly the same subject, which brings it all to mind. Quite simply, Diane Keaton (whom I like, sometimes) was abysmally miscast, and since the movie turned around her it hadn't a chance. She was too old, too personally quirky, too American. Charlie is a character whose complexity is that of youthful dumbness mixed with superficial knowingness. There are lot of actresses who could have done it (Natasha Richardson might have been one of them, which would certainly have been interesting), but Keaton wasn't one of them.
Yin shi nan nu (1994)
An Austen movie
When I finally got around to seeing this on TV a few nights ago, I had completely forgotten that Ang Lee had been the somewhat unusual (it was thought at the time) choice to direct a well-reviewed remake of Jane Austen's "Sense & Sensibility." But as I watched, it struck me quite forcefully that EDMW was an updated version of an Austen movie, and a very clever one. The marriageable daughters are there, the beleaguered father, the talkative woman--in this case the neighbor with designs on Mr. Chu, and I felt that her somewhat over-the top performance was the most Austenesque of the lot. The treatment throughout is delicate, sophisticated and affectionate, and some of the twists--the religious daughter who has lied about her "past" to make herself seem less pathetic--truly original. Lovely performances, pretty young actresses and a good script. I wish I'd seen it earlier, but I'm grateful to a no-commercial station for putting it on now.