Reviews

Mel's personal life may be rather dicey at times but one must admit that he is in complete control when he takes the director's seat. He has managed with Apocalytpo to again successfully introduce us to his vision of another time and place while projecting values that he holds as indispensable to humanity for all time --- namely courage, loyalty and self-reliance.

The action takes place in MezoAmerica at about the time of the arrival of the Spaniards. The imminent decline of Mayan civilization is causing turmoil throughout the region. Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood)is witness to the destruction of his village (and his entire world) as he is thrown into slavery. The last half of the movie chronicles his attempt to get back to his pregnant wife and son.

Be forewarned that there is considerable blood and lingering scenes of torture - these things have a place also in Gibson's vision -but who is to say that they are overdone? The actual reality was probably as bad or worse.

Say what you want about Mel but he is bound to be heard -- one way or the other. Based on comments that he has made about the movie and also a quote from Will Durant shown at the beginning of the film.... regarding the collapse of civilizations coming from within.....It seems Gibson is intent is delivering a very effective, cautionary fable related to the current state of Western society.

I just got off of the IMDb message board for Green Acres where there is an ongoing debate about which state Hooterville is supposed to be located in. All kinds of hints were apparently spun out during the show --- from Sam Drucker mentioning that the state capital was Springfield to the number of connecting flights from Hooterville to Chicago to pointing to series creator Paul Hennings' Ozark roots and the presumed locale of Petticoat Junction. Some think then that Hooterville must be somewhere in the Illinois or Missouri sticks. Others back their way through what they suppose to be the origins of the Beverly Hillbillies and think it must be somewhere in Tennessee and even a few others point out that some of the place names used on the show can be found in central California -- which would explain the 81 degree Christmas temperatures experienced one year in Hooterville. Some of the posters on the board who harbor more sensitive, philosophical tendencies are eager to persuade that Hooterville isn't in any state in the U.S.-but is only a state of mind. One especially keen minded poster even carries this metaphysical exercise to the extreme by pointing out that Hooterville exists only on a Hollywood sound stage and no where else. I just can't buy that though.

I spent a lot of time as a kid in the late sixties and early seventies in Southern Illinois and Missouri. Everything I see on Green Acres whether placed there by the producers by accident or by design -- from the opening credits aerial shots -- to the Douglas homeplace with its rusting farm machinery in the yard remind me of that part of the country.

Rod Serling once introduced an episode of the Twilight Zone (The Last Rites Of Jeff Myrtlebank) by describing the setting as "the Midwest...... the southern most part of the Midwest." It's a very intelligent distinction to be made. Once you cross I-70 in Southern Illinois you have crossed a border of sorts. You are still in the Midwest to be sure, but in this region the accents stretch out just a bit. When you hear Tom Lester's (Eb) Missisippi accent or Pat Buttram's (Mr Haney)twangy patter on the show you are hearing a voice not that far off from what you would find in any small town off the road in Southern Illinois or Missouri. But it's still the Midwest and not the "real" South. Make no mistake about that.

Green Acres, as I remember it, was a big hit among my Southern Illinois relatives back in the late sixties. They loved the show--but the question is why? My Uncle Richard and Aunt Rosalie were not great connoisseurs of absurdist, self referential humour. If you pointed out to them that this was one of the first shows on TV to "break down the 4th wall" they would have slapped themselves silly trying to figure out what you were talking about. They loved this show simply because the it bore some resemblance to the world that they lived in. Nothing else on TV then or even up till now offers such a view of that part of rural America.

Look --I like to Christian bash just as much as the next fellow. And as far as mocking pretentious southern Republicans -- the kind who inhabit Seccession Drive in the movie .....well I am usually as game as I can be. Same goes with showing up drunken frat boys. I have built up a great deal of eager animosity against all of these groups. But watching Borat skewer these same people somehow caused me a bit of discomfort. Sure, it was an uneasiness punctuated by laughter --- but still the whole process left me a little queasy.

It has been said that this movie is holding a mirror up to America --but I think that the makers of the movie (Cohen, Charles et al) really say a lot more about themselves than about the U.S. ---- The same goes for those who have posted review after review on IMDb (and other places) that herald this as as the "funniest movie ever made." There are a lot of laughs to be found here --- but they are easy laughs - the moral equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel. Where does the comedy stop and the ugliness begin?

The inspired comedic moments in this film are there but they are few and far between. Borat addressing the crowd before the Rodeo and then mangling the National Anthem. The highlight of this sequence is a cowgirl bearing the stars and stripes taking a tumble - a fortuitous accident that greatly benefited the filmmakers. Then we have the infamous nude wrestling sequence involving Borat and his morbidly obese producer (Azamat). It's funny the first time you see it--but I would bet heavy money that subsequent viewings are rather less hilarious.

The upshot of all of this is that the stars danced just right in the sky for Borat to be the huge success that it has been -- but don't tell me that there is anything truly groundbreaking here -- and certainly not anything socially relevant. Borat is just not in that class. And the mass of humanoids will probably figure that out sooner rather than later. I have to believe that the number of people who buy the DVD for Borat and whip it out once a year (like I do with Dr. Strangelove) to get a few laughs -will, in the end be, quite disappointed. It's going be like eating a stale sandwich. In that respect, Borat is easily the "Titanic" of the comedy genre.

THE PEAS

Words given by William Shakespeare

Another masterful adaptation of Shakespeare to film given by Kenneth Branagh

The beautiful light of sunny Tuscany - Watching this film's location shots can summon up images of summer even on a dark and dreary winter's day

Branagh's use of mainline American actors such as Denzel Washington as Don Pedro, Keanu Reeves as Don John and Michael Keaton as Dogberry provides an interesting contrast with accomplished Shakespearian actors such as Briers (Lenato) and Blessed (Antonio). A great deal of pleasant suspense is added to the equation as the viewer eagerly hangs on every word - in every scene - anticipating flubs as the Hollywood acolytes attempt Shakespeare. At the same time we have the sturdy declamations made by the British pro's who are accustomed to projecting the Bard through on up and to the last row with a ceaseless and stagy confidence

Watch carefully as Washington (Don Pedro) engages Beatrice (Emma Thompson) in talk of getting a husband:

------------Beatrice: Good Lord for alliance! Thus goes everyone to the world but I, and I am sunburnt; I may sit in a corner and cry 'heigh-ho!' for a husband.

Don Pedro: Lady Beatrice, I will get you one.

Beatrice: I would rather have one of your father's getting. Hath your grace not a brother like you? Your father got excellent husbands, if a maid could come by them.

Don Pedro: Will you have me, lady?

Beatrice: No, my lord, unless I might have another for working-days. Your Grace is too costly to wear everyday. But I beseech your Grace to pardon me; for I was born to speak all mirth and no matter.

Don Pedro: Your silence most offends me, and to be merry best becomes you; for, out of question, you were born in a merry hour.

Beatrice: No, sure, my lord, my mother cried; but then there was a star danced, and under that was I born... (Beatrice exits)

Don Pedro: By my troth, a pleasant-spirited lady. --------------

Robert Sean Leonard and Kate Beckinsdale make a pretty pair as the young lovers, Claudio and Hero. Kate Beckinsdale comes across as being particularly well scrubbed

Branagh and his then wife Thompson were more than up to playing the roles of Benedick and Beatrice, the once assiduous enemies brought to the altar by a curious subterfuge of emotion foisted on them by their friends

Branagh (Benedick) slamming Leonard (Claudio) up against the wall to deliver a threat of mortal retribution for the wrongs done to Hero.

Emma Thompson's voice heard as her words flash over the still blacked out screen at the beginning of the movie and the song at the end are both memorable and provide this movie-play with an effective entrance and exit

THE SEAS

One shot--and it's a short one--shown at the beginning of the film of Don Pedro's men offering a cheer as they exult in their full galloped charge towards Messina. The whole company of soldiers is flashed on a wide front on the whole screen in much the same manner as the opening to Bonanza. I kept looking for Hoss and Little Joe to show themselves amongst the merry company

A shirtless Keanu Reeves (Don John) gets what must qualify as the oiliest massage in the history of film from one of his henchman -- Branagh trying to offer up a little beefcake to any of Reeves' fans who might have accidentally stumbled into the theater.

Leonardo and Beckinsdale (Claudio and Hero) cavort like young foals around Beatrice and Benedick's contrempts too quickly after Hero's revealed resurrection.

It's interesting to consider that Branagh and Thompson were a bit more than halfway through their short marriage at the time that they played Benedick and Beatrice. They both excel in their roles --however, Branagh seems to outdo Thompson in the shift of emotion that takes place that turns these sworn, twin haters of marriage into lovebirds. Thompson seems to lose just a little in this transition. Watch for a bit of a hitch in the scene where she bids Benedick to go and kill Claudio. Benedick resists at first but then agrees as a concession to his new love for Beatrice. Thompson trudges away from Branagh just an instant of a second too soon in this exchange --and doesn't seem able to return any of the decisive governance of passion that Branagh exhibits. Makes you wonder what may have been going on (or going off) off-camera.

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This is my pick for Easter. Almost all the objections and criticisms to this film can be waved away with the not so simple explanation that it is, after all, only a Hollywood studio (1953) adaptation of a Lloyd C. Douglas novel. So forgive the clichés and the big set piece sword-fight and the chase scene and the goofy ending where the hero and his girl literally walk up to heaven to the yodeling of a choir of angels. Instead be thankful for wonderful sets --the very fine musical score--the interesting characterizations and the solid photography and direction. (This was the first Cinemascope movie released).

Marcellus Gallio (Richard Burton) is a swaggering, slightly debauched Roman Tribune from a good family who is exiled out to provincial garrison duty after insulting the future Emperor Caligula (Jay Robinson). He lands in the "sinkhole" of Jerusalem for what turns out to be a very short stay. But, before being recalled to Rome he is given orders from Pontius Pilate to carry out the execution of Jesus. Marcellus "loses his reason" after taking part in the crucifixion. The movie then follows his travails as he seeks to regain his sanity by finding and destroying Christ's robe - A relic that he feels is at the root of his affliction.

Richard Burton received an Oscar nomination for this role -though this is clearly not his best work. I like Burton -however he seems to have trouble in this picture in doing much more than projecting a rather sullen-if sometimes eloquent petulance. He doesn't stray very far from this grim pose whether he is the playboy in Rome or the slack and dissolute officer in Palestine or the tortured madman being interviewed by Emperor Tiberius (Ernest Theisger) in Capri. Even his later "rebirth" as a convert to Christianity doesn't serve to "perk" him up very much. Maybe the real problem with his performance is that he often has little to say ..... the best dialogue in the movie is given to some of the fine actors around him.

If you enjoy looking at beautiful young women who personify grace, dignity and intelligence---then watch Jean Simmons as the love interest (Diana). She has several nice speeches throughout the movie -my personal favorite being her sentiments of loyalty for the mad Marcellus as expressed to Tiberius ("When you won a battle Sire -you could expect to receive the admiration of your men...but when you lost...what would you have given then to have the eagles raised in your honor and your name on every man's lips?"). It's disappointing that she gets "preachy" at the end of the film and makes a clumsy conversion to Christianity that yields her only instant martyrdom.

Victor Mature is good as Marcellus' Greek slave (Demetrius). A single wordless glance from Jesus in an encounter on Palm Sunday is enough to set him on the path to Christianity. He attempts to warn Jesus of his impending arrest (stumbling on to the suicidal Judas in the effort) and even begs Marcellus to intercede for the condemned man. He later heaps justifiable abuse on his master and on all that Rome represents. He is afterwards rescued by the "reborn" Marcellus and lives to appear in the uninspired sequel to this movie.

Jeff Morrow (Paulus) is unheralded but great as the grizzled and cynical veteran officer subordinate to Marcellus. Morrow is often allowed expository observations about the passing scenes in Jerusalem -while all Burton can do is listen and frown. Paulus offers Marcellus some practical advice before they go to carry out the execution order against Jesus. He encourages Marcellus to drink his wine and when he hesitates Paulus chides him with "This is your first execution isn't it?--What? Never driven nails into a man's flesh before?" Paulus clashes with Marcellus much later - after the latter has converted --and they engage in a sword fight --but not before Paulus taunts his former superior with: "Make me obey Tribune --you outrank me but I earned my rank- every step of the way in Gaul, Iberia and Africa against the enemies of Rome--Make me obey Tribune. If you're fool enough to try. Oh! You are a fool! I've split more men from head to foot than you see in this square." Needless to say....our lusty Tribune does make him obey.

Thesiger as Tiberius and Robinson as Caligula are excellent. Thesiger dominates the screen with impressive theatrical flair and Robinson projects just the right amount of arrogance, instability and menace as Caligula. I have seen some reviewers complain that Robinson goes "over the top" as Caligula—but let's face it....Caligula did have some "issues" and you would have to scale Everest to go "over the top" on him.

A decent attempt is made in this movie to highlight the virtues of honesty and charity exhibited by the early Christians -- Betta St John is featured as the crippled Miriam- she sings a song of the resurrection.

One thing that I find interesting is the perspective that "The Robe" offers into the political atmosphere of 1950's America. This film was made right at the time of McCarthy. The Cold War was raging. You will notice that while few punches are pulled as to the corruption and brutality of Rome –great care is taken not to turn the hero of the movie (Marcellus) into a direct enemy of the state itself. In fact -he denies the charges of treason against him at the end of the picture and even agrees to renew his allegiance to the monster, Caligula. He is only defiant when ordered to renounce Christ ---otherwise he would –apparently –be satisfied to submit. I believe that this presents to us a glimpse of the paranoia abroad in the land in the early Fifties--- when anything seen to undermined any established order of things--smacked of commie subversion and probably made the studio just a tad nervous.