elihu-2 Reviews

Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995)

Terribly Tarantino-esque

[24 May 2000]

There's a new adjective in the English language: Tarantino-esque.

Ever since the impact of RESERVOIR DOGS, the dearest trend in moviedom is to manufacture bullet-ridden tales of crimes gone awry, full of wisecracking mobsters and hitmen, and the occasional plot hole, created by taking a copy of a screenplay, setting the food processor on "puree" and putting it in, going for ultra-hip non-linear storytelling. Even Tarantino is capable of re-patenting his own formula, as in PULP FICTION.

Let's add to the heap, shall we?

THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU'RE DEAD is certainly a catchy title. The fact that is set in Denver isn't particularly distinguishable. It bears the same problem as myriads of other films where the setting is both identified and the film is actually lensed there: not enough of the city is actually shown to give one the sense of place. It may as well be set in Cincinnati. This may seem nitpicky, but it points out greater liabilities in the film, in terms of its lack of atmosphere and serious character development.

Jimmy the Saint (Andy Garcia) is a smooth-talking clotheshorse who used to be a front man for the sinister mobster The Man With The Plan (Christopher Walken; how many more sinister mobster roles can I play?) Jimmy is now trying to go straight, but the boss calls him out for one last job. It's nothing drastic, it just entails scaring the rival suitor of the mobster's son's lady love.

Jimmy chooses his crew, a band of ex-cons and misfits, including the porno projectionist Pieces (Christopher Lloyd), the scruffy trailer park denizen Franchise (William Forsythe), the seasoned homeboy Easy Wind (Bill Nunn), and the wiliest and funniest of the bunch, 'Critical' Bill Dooley, played to a T by Treat Williams.

This motley bunch seems capable, but they botch the job and end up killing both the rival suitor, and the girl. This of course incurs the wrath of the Man, and he sends Mr. Shhh (Steve Buscemi), the 'most lethal contract killer west of the Mississippi' to do them all in. The rest of the film explores the efforts of the various characters to survive.

In particular, Jimmy has become infatuated with the stunning, unsuspecting Dagney, and has a hard time leaving town. Through it all, Joe Heff (Jack Warden) frequents a cafZ and narrates the story, which is a hackneyed device recalling bad theater productions where the most intelligible parts of the plot are written in the program notes. A talented screenwriter wouldn't need such a cheap prop to propel the story.

There's nothing new here, even the hip dialogue has a forced feeling about it. It has good visuals, and moves along quite nicely, but it's disappointing and depressingly average, copping out in all of the expected places.

Most of the characters don't make much of an impression at all, because almost every one of them is underdeveloped, the filmmakers relying almost solely on physical type to convey their personalities. They're all old stand-bys, with Garcia as a total dead space where there should be a strong lead.

The exception to the norm is Critical Bill, pugilistic undertaker and the kind of snake-eating survivalist who would do well in the Special Forces. Bill will do anything to live, and his jury-rigged Rube Goldberg-esque device to snare the hitman proves it. He is the most well-rounded character in the whole charade, and Treat Williams hilariously depraved portrayal of him steals the show, though in this case, it's petty thievery.

Priest (1994)

Sensitive? Not!

[24 May 2000]

One of the most crude and obscene impulses collaborators on a film can experience is the urge to incite controversy.

It seems to plague filmmakers particularly lacking in talent and anything truly meaningful to say.

The film gets done, carted off to several festivals, where allegedly it receives 5-minute standing ovations and audience awards.

The P.C. parrots squawk and the callow sheep bleat as the snowball of invalid acclaim rolls down the hill, getting bigger and bigger.

The above phrases are very mostly apt when describing PRIEST, a rabble-rousing, offensive new feature film by British television director Antonia Bird. Sickeningly smarmy, with unappealing, unconvincing characters and situations, the film is almost a textbook case of the forsaking of craft, aesthetic sense, and love for humanity in favor of an imperceptive, sensationalistic, vulgar, divisive exercise in liberal politics and unnecessary trouncing on a religion which is still real for many people in the world. It's a wonder that this film can elicit the above comments from me, someone who isn't even Catholic, or even religious!

An aging, washed up, cynical priest goes berserk and uses a large crucifix to bust down the door of the presbytery in a drab, working class parish in Liverpool. Idealistic and somewhat uptight, Father Greg Pilkington (Linus Roache) is assigned as his replacement. Arriving at the presbytery, the handsome young cleric is greeted by a cadre of women who are sprucing up the edifice for his arrival.

Everything seems like it will be pleasant at the outset, but immediately conflicts start to crop up. Father Matthew Thomas (Tom Wilkinson), fellow priest and seasoned transgressor, gets into a few arguments with him over interpretations of church laws and the use of political endorsements in homilies. Their strained relationship is further aggravated when Pilkington discovers that Thomas is having an illicit affair with Maria Kerrigan, the housekeeper (Cathy Tyson, most well-known for her role as Simone in Neil Jordan's MONA LISA.)

Their rapport becomes slightly better as Thomas breaks some of Pilkington's idealistic notions, such as home visits, by showing him the ropes around the tough, unforgiving neighborhood.

Pilkington stumbles upon a rather volatile dilemma: while hearing confessions one day, a frightened teenage girl named Lisa (Christine Tremarco) admits to him that her father is sexually abusing her. Burdened with this information, Pilkington is faced with either going to the authorities for help and breaking the seal of the confessional, or remaining silent, and trying to find some other way to stop Lisa's degraded father (Robert Pugh) from raping her.

He vacillates between the two difficult decisions until Lisa's mother (Lesley Sharp, of Mike Leigh's Naked ) discovers the horrid deeds of her husband herself. How unbelievably spineless and stupid! She then totally shuns Pilkington, screaming at him, "What kind of a man are you?!?"

Parallel to all of this, Pilkington has to deal with a more personal impasse, that of being gay. He deals with it by donning civilian clothes, going to a club, picking up a guy, and going back to his place for some action, and then ditching him. Apparently, this one night stand is not enough for his partner, Graham (Robert Carlyle), who obsessively tracks him down. Most likely because of his precarious situation as a member of the clergy, Pilkington rejects him repeatedly, then finally relents, only to be discovered snogging in the car with him, and having plastered all over the morning tabloids.

The film implies the two of them are experiencing romance using a variety of clichZ byronic shots by the ocean, kissing, with a whirling camera a la A MAN AND A WOMAN. This is particularly ignoble and hard to swallow, since they only just met, and really don't know each other from Adam. Granted, it may be 'love at fist sight', but then for their relationship to be convincing, it requires much more development than is provided in the film.

Then the personality conflict between Pilkington and Thomas is somehow conveniently resolved, and Thomas proceeds to be oh so tolerant of Pilkington's sexual orientation given that he has broken the rules himself. Pilkington is shown to be a total hypocrite, and by this point in the film, one loses whatever speck of respect one had for him at the outset of the film. When the church administration and Pilkington's flock discover his homosexuality, there is the predictable furor and whole host of negative reactions, and he is prepared to be thrown out of the church. The film ends with a ridiculously sentimental redemption scene in the church.

Pilkington is too asinine to be real. If he already knew he was gay, and needed to act upon it, why remain in the priesthood? There's even a scene in the film which explores this question, but doesn't answer it. Why even go into the priesthood? Sounds like a case of mental masochism, but it's just plain stupid. And his surrender to the conformity of the confessional in the face of saving Lisa from abuse doesn't jibe with his unabashed reveling in breaking the celibacy rule.

It can be said that Roman Catholicism has certain very real, outmoded, often crudely repressive moral restraints, but the positive aspects of the religion still hold significance for many people in the world, and this film disavows this and incites pointless controversy.

The makers of this film are no more refined than the denouncers and condemning judges of the Inquisition. Because of their lofty, imbecilically seditious, fanatically P.C. approach, they miss out on certain essential qualities which make a believable, persuasive film, and create a vicious gob of spit which has a calculated trajectory, straight into the face of Catholicism.

Even perceptive non-Christians, agnostics, and atheists might find it offensive! The fact that film is fairly technically accomplished and that a couple of the performances are earnest (like that of Wilkinson and Tyson, but definitely not Roache's) doesn't amount to much in the face of its lack of humanistic value. At its core, it's rotten. It compartmentalizes people on the basis of their beliefs, which is totally reprehensible.

Nebo v almazakh (1999)

For Shame!

[23 May 2000]

It had to happen sooner or later: a Russian film populated by popular entertainment icons. Something so seemingly easy to swallow is actually quite a bitter pill.

Director Vasily Pichul, known for the seminal LITTLE VERA, which threw open the doors to a new sexual and linguistic frankness in Russian cinema, has undermined himself with a flashy new picture which is all money, and thoroughly devoid of substance.

It makes the phrase 'New Russian Cinema' a sarcastic double-entendre, as it seems to pander almost exclusively to gum-chewing, cell-phone toting flatheads.

Pichul's new film, THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS opened in St. Petersburg at the chronically mis-managed Aurora cinema in October of 1999. It stars popular (and unappealing, obnoxious) TV and radio personality Nikolai Fomenko as a foundling dubbed Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, who grew up to be a criminal and would-be writer who escapes from prison, only to get involved in a fresh series of lawless misadventures.

In the film's opening scene he forces a publisher to read his science-fiction romance manuscript at gunpoint. His nemesis is a gruff, aging police investigator played by perennial favorite Valentin Gaft, who probably took his money and ran after seeing this film. His character captures Chekhov and throws him in prison. While in the slammer, he is visited by a pretty female harpist (the pouting and preening pop star Angelika Varum) who is a fan of his book.

After escaping, he comes back and kills his publisher, whose office is now stacked full of surplus copies of his novel. After robbing a Western Union branch, he winds up taking his wounded buddy and accomplice (in a turn of seemingly arbitrary casting, played by the disagreeable musician Garik Sukachov) to the hospital. The buddy dies, and his attention is caught by a man who is howling in pain as he suffers from a stomach ulcer. This leads to him retrieving a suitcase full of diamonds that the man was supposed to deliver, which various interested parties are after.

One of these includes a female gangster (Alla Sigalova), the harpist's dragon lady sister, who, later on in the film, turns out to be a hood with heart.

Thankfully, not all of the women are furniture in the film, although there is enough in that department to make one cringe. Wispy-voiced pop star Varum is all candy-ass elegance, and portrays an inspired musician in name only. Anna Mikhalkova, Nikita MikhalkovÕs daughter, plays the investigator's rubenesque assistant who is also his and the Chekhov characterÕs sex toy. What a disgraceful, thankless role, especially after her somewhat dignified turn in her fatherÕs film THE BARBER OF SIBERIA.

The one bright spot in the film is Sigalova, who brings veritable venom to her role, but somehow manages to come off as intelligent and appealing at the same time. She steals the show, though in this case it's petty larceny.

The plot is contrived from start to finish, and fleshed out with an oversimplification which would make even Hollywood execs squirm. While the red and blue lighting and flamboyant camerawork give it some gloss, it's like a rococo box with nothing in it, which about perfectly describes the tastelessness it exemplifies. It is a mix tawdry, cliched, typically grandiose new Russian values, such as sappy sentimentality, living in a garishly ornate mansion, driving around in a black Mercedes, overusing the cell-phone, aiming for literary recognition, pursuing the Nobel Prize, etc.

Fomenko's two-bit character set out on his hijinks with the misguided perception that he is a great writer. The makers of this film suffer from the same affliction. It's absolutely morally bankrupt, and isn't even satire, if that was the intent. One can only hope that this shameful pap will not be shown much in the West.

Nostradamus (1994)

Disappointing

[23 May 2000]

Tcheky Karyo, most familiar to American audiences as Bob, the enigmatic secret agent by way of Pygmalion in Luc Besson's NIKITA, has his first English-language lead role as the 16th-century physician and prophet Michel de Nostradame, who predicted various events occurring hundreds of years into the future.

Filmed in Romania, the film is a grim, grubby depiction of the renaissance era, but seldom reaches any moments of true insight into Nostradamus' life. Instead of taking a scholarly approach required of the subject, and concentrating on the man's vision, director Roger Christian (whose claim to fame is being the art director on Ridley ScottÕs ALIEN and directing the pretty much forgetable horror flick THE SENDER) panders to the lowest common denominator by focusing on his love life, and his run-ins with pugnacious Inquisitors.

When he is shown having his prophetic visions, most of the sequences are stilted and hokey. Only one prediction sequence has any power, the vision of the Black Rain, filmed in Copsa Mica, which the National Geographic Society once branded as the most polluted city in Europe.

Academy Award Winner F. Murray Abraham (AMADEUS), called in to save the acting day, does serviceable work as Scalinger, Nostradamus' sometime mentor, and Rutger Hauer is weird and funny as the Mystic Monk. Do I hear laughs? His turn is actually quite enjoyable, with his candle-lit hat and his demolition of the loathsome flagellates.

Karyo consorts with a bevy of bold European actresses, including Julia Ormond, Maia Morgenstern (THE OAK), and Assumpta Serna (MATADOR, THE FENCING MASTER.) He makes a noble effort with his calm, cultivated, at times endearing performance but he can't carry the whole film.

The movie eventually dissipates in the scarcity of its low budget, borrowing footage (ironically enough) from ALIENS for its final sequence which depicts space travel.

Hedd Wyn (1992)

The valiant preservation of Welsh language and culture

[22 May 2000]

The Welsh have been valiantly preserving and promoting their beleaguered language and culture. In recent years, the Welsh film industry blossomed, with such inventive slices-of-life as LEAVING LENIN (1993), which was filmed in St. Petersburg, shown at international film festivals and garnered considerable interest and accolades. It showed to the world that the Welsh language is very much alive.

HEDD WYN is another example, as it depicts the life and death of one of Wales' greatest poets. Ellis Evans (Huw Garmon), under the pen name ÒHedd WynÓ writes thoughtful, spare verse which wins kudos from his countrymen. The son of a farmer, he isn't as educated as some bards, but his kind and genuine nature fuels his talent.

The film evinces his pastoral existence in his native village, his richly nuanced relationships with three different women, his reluctant transformation into a soldier, and his eventual sacrifice in World War I. More a biopic than an exploration of poetic inspiration, the film nonetheless has its lyrical moments, and was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)

Great Black Humor

[18 May 2000]

Jim Jarmusch is a quirky, idiosyncratic American independent filmmaker with strong ties to Europe. His films, such as DOWN BY LAW and NIGHT ON EARTH feature European actors in key roles. JarmuschÕs popular following on this side of the Atlantic seems to be larger than in North America, where he is mostly regarded as a cult figure.

JarmuschÕs newest film GHOST DOG: THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI, featured at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival, is an intriguing variation on the well-worn crime drama genre. It is stylishly filmed, moody, existential, and punctuated with howlingly funny moments of gallows humor.

The hitman-samurai association is not all that tangential. In feudal Japan, samurais sometimes carried out assassinations at the behest of their masters. The association was not lost on French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Melville when he created the film LE SAMOURAI, in which Alain Delon played a lone hitman betrayed by his employers and fighting for survival. JarmuschÕs film was certainly influenced by it. Something GHOST DOG shares with MelvilleÕs film is the captured essence of the loneliness of the hired assassin, someone marginalized by working in a dirty, unenviable profession and incapable of forming normal, full-bodied relationships with people.

Forest WhitakerÕs Ghost Dog is a poignant, tragic figure - a lone, introverted, doomed young man. Saved from death at the hands of armed white assailants by Louie (John Tormey), a low-level mafia figure, Ghost Dog figures that he owes Louie his life, and so becomes an executioner, carrying out mob hits as per LouieÕs commands, and remaining almost perfectly untraceable as he communicates by carrier pigeons, which he breeds. His eyelids droop over eyes that are hopelessly Òsanpaku,Ó or with pupils raised so one can see the white beneath them - the Japanese believe this signifies a potentially self-destructive spiritual imbalance.

He finds validity in his way of life through following the Hagakure, or the Way of the Samurai, which he reads passages from throughout the film, excerpts which are given as intertitles between scenes. This spiritually rich philosophy, which has many points of intersection with Existentialism, contrasts well with the relative hollowness of Ghost DogÕs life.

One day, he completes a hit in the presence of Louise, the pampered daughter of a stone-faced mob boss Vargo (Henry Silva). Even though he let Louise live, his employers, who up till then have remained anonymous to him, turn against him and seek to rub him out.

His only ÒfriendÓ is Raymond, a lively Haitian ice cream man who speaks and understands only French, played by Isaach de BankolZ, who played the Paris taxi driver in JarmuschÕs NIGHT ON EARTH. Ghost Dog starts to form a new friendship with Pearline (Camille Winbush), a curious little girl who approaches him in the park. They talk about books, and he gives her a copy of ÒRashomon,Ó which he took from Louise. Their rapport, and especially PearlineÕs behavior at the end of the film recall Luc BessonÕs THE PROFESSIONAL a.k.a. LEON. Indeed, there are quite a few film quotes, but then being an avid movie buff is a Jarmusch trademark.

As with JarmuschÕs previous feature DEAD MAN, there is some oblique social commentary on race relations in GHOST DOG, and indeed Jarmusch takes to demolishing a couple of racial stereotypes, but this takes a back seat to the character study and the moments of truly hilarious off-beat black humor which pepper the film. The stylistic elements are sound: the somber cinematography is by master cameraman Robby MYller and the refreshingly low-key, understated hip-hop score is by RZA, one of the members of Wu-Tang Clan.

The humor is the filmÕs most valuable commodity, and apart from the its transcendence of the gangster genre, is the best reason to go and see it. It enriches the film and makes it entirely satisfying by providing a counterpoint to its darker concerns.

Anchoress (1993)

Mostly Uninsightful and Boring

[17 May 2000]

Exquisitely spare cinematography and striking visuals which ape Andrei Tarkovsky's ANDREI RUBLEV cannot save this medieval tale from being a disappointment. English director Chris Newby's first feature is a dismally muddled array of images of life in a remote 14th-century village.

Talented young thespian Natalie Morse (of Peter GreenawayÕs DROWNING BY NUMBERS) nevertheless succeeds in her tricky role as Christine Carpenter, a girl touched by transcendent grace, who succumbs to the misguided religious authority of the times and becomes an anchoress, a virgin who is walled up in a chamber in the church, to serve as a moral beacon for the villagers.

This makes the snickering local priest (Christopher Eccleston) overjoyed, as he takes her away from the Reeve (Eugene Bervoets, of the original French-Dutch production of THE VANISHING), the local military power monger. She is periodically visited by her surly pagan mother (English new-wave personality Toyah Wilcox) and pretty much ignored by her father, who is played by Pete Postlethwaite.

The only real power in the film is in the scenes with Christine alone, discovering her sensuality. The rest of the film is a mess, partly due to the confusing, overly obscure script, which hardly lets the audience know what's going on without benefit of reading a plot synopsis beforehand. It purports to observe the female condition through the ages, but ends up being mostly uninsightful and boring.

Mission to Mars (2000)

Mission to Mars Misses the Mark

[13 May 2000]

WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!

Seeing this movie dubbed into Russian probably helped, judging from some of the other reviews, which mention inane and/or insipid English dialogue. Russian translations of American films for the most part tend to sound somewhat more intelligent.

When the Cydonian face thing attacks with the sand storm, I saw one big movie quote - THE MUMMY!

Really, there are too many quotes. Later on, I suppose this film might be enjoyed as the hokey piece of fluff that it is - a very minor camp classic.

I mean, I'm one of those people who thinks that appallingly bad sci-fi can occasionally be appreciated as comedy. I loved CREATURE a.k.a. TITAN FIND (a film with similar space suit helmets as this turkey and 2001), but the difference there was CREATURE has one or two genuinely humorous moments, and Klaus Kinski knew he was in a bad movie and just had fun, which is more than I can say for the cast of MISSION TO MARS.

Personally, I would have much preferred seeing Tim RobbinsÕ head explode (like the heads exposed to zero atmosphere in OUTLAND) rather than freeze when he takes his helmet off in space. That would have made the movie for me! I mean, it would have been more spectacular.

Other than this one point, the sequence in question - the approach to Mars - was pretty good. It's perhaps the only decent scene in an very flawed movie.

Really, can anybody tell me what ACTUALLY happens to a human body when it is exposed to vacuum?

The alien was a bit much. I mean, was it really I.L.M. doing these effects? TheyÕre kinda cheap-looking! The tear falling from its eye was an example of the worst kind of sentimentality - the computer generated kind! The whole last sequence in fact is insulting to the intelligence of the audience. The film lets its audience down in the worst way imaginable - it trounces on their suspension of disbelief.

Remember Bry ol' pal - You're only as good as your last picture!

Mission to Mars (2000)

Mission to Mars Misses the Mark

[13 May 2000]

WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!

Seeing this movie dubbed into Russian probably helped, judging from some of the other reviews, which mention inane and/or insipid English dialogue. Russian translations of American films for the most part tend to sound somewhat more intelligent.

When the Cydonian face thing attacks with the sand storm, I saw one big movie quote - THE MUMMY!

Really, there are too many quotes. Later on, I suppose this film might be enjoyed as the hokey piece of fluff that it is - a very minor camp classic.

I mean, I'm one of those people who thinks that appallingly bad sci-fi can occasionally be appreciated as comedy. I loved CREATURE a.k.a. TITAN FIND (a film with similar space suit helmets as this turkey and 2001), but the difference there was CREATURE has one or two genuinely humorous moments, and Klaus Kinski knew he was in a bad movie and just had fun, which is more than I can say for the cast of MISSION TO MARS.

Personally, I would have much preferred seeing Tim RobbinsÕ head explode (like the heads exposed to zero atmosphere in OUTLAND) rather than freeze when he takes his helmet off in space. That would have made the movie for me! I mean, it would have been more spectacular.

Other than this one point, the sequence in question - the approach to Mars was pretty good. It's perhaps the only decent scene in an very flawed movie.

Really, can anybody tell me what ACTUALLY happens to a human body when it is exposed to vacuum?

The alien was a bit much. I mean, was it really I.L.M. doing these effects? TheyÕre kinda cheap-looking! The tear falling from its eye was an example of the worst kind of sentimentality - the computer generated kind! The whole last sequence in fact is insulting to the intelligence of the audience. The film lets its audience down in the worst way imaginable - it trounces on their suspension of disbelief.

Remember Bry ol' pal - You're only as good as your last picture!

Safe (1995)

SAFE is Sound

[13 May 2000]

As modern society grows more complex, the array of breakdowns in once stable structures becomes more diverse, nowhere more apparent than in the sphere of health. An endless cycle of "cures" is replaced by newer, mutated, more harmful physical and psychological maladies. One disease gaining attention as of late is "Twentieth Century Sickness" or environmental illness, frightening consequences of which are explored in director Todd Haynes' narrative film SAFE.

Haynes, creator of such controversial films as SUPERSTAR: THE KAREN CARPENTER STORY (told with Barbie dolls) and POISON comments on his latest choice of subject: "For me, living in New York City in the 90's has meant witnessing on a daily basis the disintegration of the American 20th century. Poverty, homelessness, and the AIDS crisis have all contributed to a climate in which the notions of safety, immunity, and survival have taken on a new meaning. And the more I learned about environmental illness, the more I was struck by its many parallels to AIDS. The difference is that environmental illness has a known origin -- chemicals. It is a disease that is embedded in the very fabric of our material existence."

Environmental disease results from an extreme adverse reaction to any of the 60,000 or so chemicals which are a part of everyday life. These cause the breakdown of immune and enzyme systems which results in a plethora of different symptoms. Initially dismissed by the medical establishment as an unproven correlation, the malady is becoming more investigated as it becomes more widespread. Haynes came upon environmental disease in a television program about a group of housewives developing extreme reactions to everyday chemicals.

"They called it '20th century sickness'," says Haynes, "because its sufferers seemed incapable of tolerating the very substances that pervade modern life. Ultimately they were forced to move into climate-controlled trailer homes and live the rest of their lives like the boy in the plastic bubble. What can I say? I was hooked."

SAFE is the result of this intense interest. Filmed on location in Califronia's San Fernando Valley, it explores the emotionally sterile world of Carol White, a rich suburban housewife played by Julianne Moore. From the first scene, in which she is shown in a dull, almost mechanical tryst with her husband, it is obvious that Carol derives little satisfaction from her life.

Her husband is a stern, thin man devoid of affection. She has no children, and seems to have no emotional connection to her stepson, who lives with them. She carries on a superficial rapport with her best friend, trying out new fad diets with her. Her social milieu is solely of her peers, who seem even worse than her with their affected fawning and falseness, punctuated by high-pitched voices.

One day she has extreme trouble breathing. The next, she goes into convulsions at a baby shower. Horrified, she goes to the doctor, but every time, he finds absolutely nothing wrong with her. Finally, she collapses at a trip to the dry cleanerÕs and his hospitalized. When she emerges, she makes contact with a group of others like herself, and becomes educated about her affliction, eventually traveling to a secluded commune for those with '20th century sickness.' Through her agonizing, uncanny psychological experiences there, she finds herself awakening to the realities of her life, and coming to grips with who she really is.

The film is eerie, darkly ironic, and moody. Exquisitely lensed on a low budget, it has a sense of documentary realism, and it depicts the modern affluent suburban American lifestyle as outwardly harmless, but inherently brutal and deleterious. One thing which is subconsciously intimated throughout, is that environmental disease may be mostly a psychological pathology. A sickness that results from wretched emotional pain, buried deep and not allowed to surface, amid lack of identity and a life based not on ones' own will, but on expectations of others in a surface-level quagmire.

Julianne Moore magnificently emotes this plain Jane, whose humanity erupts to the surface in rejection of the emptiness and banality of her life.

She pensively articulates, "I really hope that this film causes audiences to walk away thinking about their lives. It's so easy to be trapped by the way we live and, in Carol's case, she is trapped voluntarily. She has such a strong desire to be safe but she denies everything she is and could be."

The Puppet Masters (1994)

Better Than Expected

[13 May 2000]

One science-fiction film that turns out to be less disappointing than expected is this loose adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein's novel.

Donald (give me another part in an alien pod movie) Sutherland interprets the role of Adam "The Old Man" Nivens, head of a secret government protection agency that has its hands full trying to stop an alien invasion by slug-like mental parasites which tap into people's brains, controlling them toward their own ends.

Eric Thal (of A STRANGER AMONG US) draws a blank where a strong character should be in the role of Sam, son of the Old Man, and fellow agent. Julie Warner (from DOC HOLLYWOOD) fares a little better as Mary, a NASA xenobiologist along for the roller coaster ride.

The opening scenes do justice to the setting and atmosphere of the book, and the skeleton of the original plot is unpredictable and thrilling, but eventually, the compromises in adaptation give rise to Hollywood-style sci-fi conventions such as alien hives.

Several realistic, key elements are thrown out, along with almost all of the sharp dialogue which made the book a hit.

However, the special effects are convincing, and the cinematography and editing are streamlined and tight. Far from being definitive, this version of the tale is nonetheless sufficiently satisfying and worth a look.

The Making of '...and God Spoke' (1993)

This is NOT Spinal Tap!

[13 May 2000]

A B-movie producer-director team decides to do a biblical epic when the studio gives them their first big break. What a premise for a comedy! Immediately one thinks of a multitude of possibilities for humor, none of which are fully realized in this brittle excuse for a comedy directed by Arthur Borman.

In a "mockumentary" format, Borman explores the tribulations of a pair of movie hacks, director Clive Walton (Michael Riley) and producer Marvin Handleman (Stephen Rappaport), as they try to deliver the goods on their project AND GOD SPOKE, yet another multi-million dollar adaptation of the bible.

Having flubbed from the very start, they are forced to make compromise after ridiculous compromise, as they go behind schedule, over-budget, and lose their studio backing. Hiring Soupy Sales (of 60's and 70's television fame) to play Moses, Eve Plumb of THE BRADY BUNCH for Mrs. Noah (a prominent character!), and Lou Ferrigno (THE HULK) to interpret Cain, they barrel on ahead, amidst such production problems as bad acting, an incompetent director of photography, failing special effects, the actress who plays Eve having full-length body tattoo, an Ark too big for the soundstage, mis-numbered Apostles, absent-minded production assistants, etc.

None of these problems are particularly funny, and some of the go-for-broke attempts at humor are downright pathetic and asinine.

ItÕs touted as being "perfect for fans of SPINAL TAP." Not nearly. This whisper thin pic has very little going for it apart from its marginally interesting foray into the behind-the-scenes of the Hollywood filmmaking process. For instance, some of the producer's hustling is shown, as well as the director's take (excuse the pun) on things. As well, we are finally introduced to what a Grip and a Foley Walker do. For those of us interested in filmmaking, this exposition isn't particularly insightful nor funny.

A strange brew, this one. It's basically a one joke movie, and not a very good joke at that. There are few fairly decent laughs near the beginning, such as Jay EdwardsÕ talented turn as the British production designer Peter Carbone, but that is soon forgotten in the porridge of everything else. Reading the Book of Revelation can be more fun!

Before the Rain (1994)

From Macedonia With Love

[1 February 2000]

The wars in former Yugoslavia have resounded in every corner of that region, and have ignited all manner of subsequent ethnic and religious conflicts within the newly-formed republics. Focusing world attention upon the region through the media has occasionally had the positive effect of raising awareness of the conflicts through art. The work of artists from former Yugoslavia has found an appreciation that has never really existed before, partly due to the fact that they are the most fit to interpret the events there. The republic of Macedonia is certainly experiencing its share of strife.

Nestled in between the countries of Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Albania, it is surrounded by strained relations on all sides, countries that have refused to recognize its autonomy for a long time. A significant Albanian Moslem minority feuds with the dominant Orthodox Christian Slav population. Hardly a week passes without a new arms network running from Alabania to Macedonia being discovered. Despite the presence of U.N. peacekeeping forces, armed skirmishes ravage the countryside.

Milcho Manchevski left his native Macedonia to pursue a college education in the U.S. He studied film at Southern Illinois University. Upon graduating, he moved to New York and began working on commercial, experimental films, and music videos. BEFORE THE RAIN is his first full-length feature, for which he returned to his native country to make. He was able to secure British and French financing with his creative, authoritative and topical screenplay. An inspiring tale about the senselessness of war and the fragility of humans and their loves, the film is, despite some minute flaws, one of the most passionate and sublime cinematic statements of the '90s.

It has an intriguing, if not wholly original non-linear narrative structure. Through three episodes titled, "Words," "Faces," and "Pictures," respectively, the viewer is introduced to three characters whose lives interconnect from minute to strongly significant ways.

Kiril (Gregoire Collin, of OLIVIER, OLIVIER) is a young novice in an Orthodox monastery who cannot help but hide Zamira (Labina Mitevska), a fugitive Albanian girl, from the villagers who want to execute her for murdering a shepherd. He does it out of the goodness of his heart, but perhaps also out of the beginnings of a lustful affection for her. They flee north in an attempt to find Kiril's uncle in Skopje, and meet with dire hardship and tragedy.

Meanwhile, in England, Anne (Katrin Kartlidge, most familiar as the lisping goth girl from Mike Leigh's film NAKED), a photo editor is in the midst of a personal crisis. She is becoming more and more disaffected with her husband Nick (Jay Villiers) while experiencing a difficult, confused relationship with her lover, Aleksandar (Rade Serbedzija), an award-winning native Macedonian photographer. Unsure of what to do, she distances herself from both men, but cannot stem the tide of the turbulent events all around her. The story dispenses with her husband in somewhat contrived way, and she ends up trying to find Aleksandar, who has since left for Macedonia.

Aleksandar returns to his native village, only to find that the overall climate has radically changed, and the simple life he tries to rediscover has since been made more complex by the feuds with the Albanians. His return is met with mixed reactions from warm welcomes from his close friends, to cold-shouldering by the newly-armed local anti-Albanian faction, to outright hatred from some of the Albanians. When his childhood love from a neighboring village seeks his aid to help protect her daughter, Aleksandar is thrust into the heart of the conflict, and his refusal to takes sides has tragic repercussions.

Serbedzija interprets the role with a noble, morally centered sense of confidence. One of former Yugoslavia's most well known and respected actors Serbedzija found his role to be a way of protesting the conflicts in his region-"As an artist, as someone well-known, I had to speak out against nationalism and war. As Aleksandar was presumed to take sides, so was I. It's my story. What ends up happening to Aleksandar, when cousins take arms against cousins, has happened to many in former Yugoslavia and it could happen to me."

With its non-linear structure, the time-line of the film is somewhat incoherent, and there are some plot developments in the middle segment, occurring in England, which are a bit too pat. These are balanced by the striking, somewhat exotic visuals and original, exhilarating neo-ethnic music by a group called Anastasia, fine acting (especially by Collin and Serbedzija), and an overall poignant sense of the waste of war, even a war in its beginnings.

Manchevski illuminates his use of the film's title-"There was this sense of something heavy beginning to happen, something looming in the air. At the same time life was continuing as before. This story doesn't deal with the political aspects of how wars start. It's about human passion and how it can lead one in different, unexpected directions. It's about how a war somewhere in the world might get started and how that can affect your life regardless of where you are. Ultimately, it's about taking sides."

Before the Rain (1994)

From Macedonia With Love

[25 January 2000]

The wars in former Yugoslavia has resounded in every corner of that region, and have ignited all manner of subsequent ethnic and religious conflicts within the newly-formed republics. Focusing world attention upon the region through the media has occasionally had the positive effect of raising awareness of the conflicts through art. The work of artists from former Yugoslavia has found an appreciation that has never really existed before, partly due to the fact that they are the most fit to interpret the events there.

The republic of Macedonia is certainly experiencing its share of strife. Nestled in between the countries of Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Albania, it is surrounded by strained relations on all sides, countries that have refused to recognize its autonomy for a long time. A significant Albanian Moslem minority feuds with the dominant Orthodox Christian Slav population. Hardly a week passes without a new arms network running from Alabania to Macedonia being discovered. Despite the presence of U.N. peacekeeping forces, armed skirmishes ravage the countryside.

Milcho Manchevski left his native Macedonia to pursue a college education in the U.S. He studied film at Southern Illinois University. Upon graduating, he moved to New York and began working on commercial, experimental films, and music videos. BEFORE THE RAIN is his first full-length feature, for which he returned to his native country to make. He was able to secure British and French financing with his creative, authoritative and topical screenplay. An inspiring tale about the senselessness of war and the fragility of humans and their loves, the film is, despite some minute flaws, one of the most passionate and sublime cinematic statements of the '90s.

It has an intriguing, if not wholly original non-linear narrative structure. Through three episodes titled, "Words," "Faces," and "Pictures," respectively, the viewer is introduced to three characters whose lives interconnect from minute to strongly significant ways. Kiril (Gregoire Collin, of OLIVIER, OLIVIER) is a young novice in an Orthodox monastery who cannot help but hide Zamira (Labina Mitevska), a fugitive Albanian girl, from the villagers who want to execute her for murdering a shepherd. He does it out of the goodness of his heart, but perhaps also out of the beginnings of a lustful affection for her. They flee north in an attempt to find Kiril's uncle in Skopje, and meet with dire hardship and tragedy.

Meanwhile, in England, Anne (Katrin Kartlidge, most familiar as the lisping goth girl from Mike Leigh's film NAKED), a photo editor is in the midst of a personal crisis. She is becoming more and more disaffected with her husband Nick (Jay Villiers) while experiencing a difficult, confused relationship with her lover, Aleksandar (Rade Serbedzija), an award-winning native Macedonian photographer. Unsure of what to do, she distances herself from both men, but cannot stem the tide of the turbulent events all around her. The story dispenses with her husband in somewhat contrived way, and she ends up trying to find Aleksandar, who has since left for Macedonia.

Aleksandar returns to his native village, only to find that the overall climate has radically changed, and the simple life he tries to rediscover has since been made more complex by the feuds with the Albanians. His return is met with mixed reactions from warm welcomes from his close friends, to cold-shouldering by the newly-armed local anti-Albanian faction, to outright hatred from some of the Albanians. When his childhood love from a neighboring village seeks his aid to help protect her daughter, Aleksandar is thrust into the heart of the conflict, and his refusal to takes sides has tragic repercussions.

Serbedzija interprets the role with a noble, morally centered sense of confidence. One of former Yugoslavia's most well known and respected actors, Serbedzija found his role to be a way of protesting the conflicts in his region-"As an artist, as someone well-known, I had to speak out against nationalism and war. As Aleksandar was presumed to take sides, so was I. It's my story. What ends up happening to Aleksandar, when cousins take arms against cousins, has happened to many in former Yugoslavia and it could happen to me."

With its non-linear structure, the time-line of the film is somewhat incoherent, and there are some plot developments in the middle segment, occurring in England, which are a bit too pat. These are balanced by the striking, somewhat exotic visuals and original, exhilarating neo-ethnic music by a group called Anastasia, fine acting (especially by Collin and Serbedzija), and an overall poignant sense of the waste of war, even a war in its beginnings.

Manchevski illuminates his use of the film's title - "There was this sense of something heavy beginning to happen, something looming in the air. At the same time life was continuing as before. This story doesn't deal with the political aspects of how wars start. It's about human passion and how it can lead one in different, unexpected directions. It's about how a war somewhere in the world might get started and how that can affect your life regardless of where you are. Ultimately, it's about taking sides."

Three Colors: Red (1994)

A Sublime Shade of Red

[3 January 2000]

The last film in the Three Colors trilogy, RED, is deceptively simple, yet it rounds out everything that came before in an enlightening way. It slightly resembles THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE in its theme of fraternity, and in its casting of Irene Jacob, who manages to exude a sense of curious innocence and integrity. She interprets the role of Valentine, a young Swiss model and student living in Geneva and experiencing a kind of emotional limbo as she awaits her boyfriend's return from England. Through a seemingly trivial twist of fate, she encounters a cynical retired judge (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who leads a lonely, world weary existence and eavesdrops on his neighbors' telephone conversations. Initially she finds his detached indifference appalling, and wants to report him, but her compassionate nature enables her to comprehend the greater plight of the man, one of leading a fruitless, lovelorn life. They form a touching friendship, and this sets the stage for another turn of events. Auguste (Jean-Pierre Lorit) is young judge who is in many ways a mirror image of Trintignant's character. He lives near Valentine, but through possible lack of synchronicity, they never meet. Upheavals in his life are accordingly similar to the old judge's, but this time, due to the presence of the noble Valentine, an old adversity can be turned on its side, bringing fulfillment for everyone.

With Red, there is a real sense of culmination unlike any other. Wistful, melancholy, yet life-affirming, the film offers hope in world full of supposed mistaken paths. Tritignant remarked on Kieslowski's talents in augmenting the emotions of the actors through his technique: "I'm very pleased with my work on this film - and I don't think it had a lot to do with me. For example, at the end of the film when my character goes to the window, looks outside, and starts to cry - I couldn't do it, I couldn't summon the tears. I tried to make myself cry but couldn't manage it. Krzysztof called the make-up lady who shot menthol into my eyes. We shot the scene and Krzysztof said 'It's good, next shot.' Recently I saw the finished film. I waited anxiously for this scene. And I cried when I saw myself."

Tritignant's nuanced portrayal is augmented by equally good work from Jacob who bears insight into her role as well: "Something really great about RED are the 'non-encounters' between Auguste and Valentine. They pass each other without ever meeting. They might be great for each other but they never meet. It reminds me of THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE where the two identical Veroniques are face to face but don't see each other. In RED this idea is reflected by the way Valentine can't face up to her life, her love, her sorrows. How can Auguste see her, or she him? How can they both release themselves from this blindness?"

The uplifting aura of this film shines even brighter given the pettiness with which the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences brushed it off. Due to the fact that is a multinational co-production, with a Polish director, mixed Swiss and French cast and crew, Red was not allowed to compete for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar as a film from Switzerland. Indeed, the trilogy itself is without a country as it transcends borders and even culture in its solemn inquiry into human nature and that is a prize in itself.

Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey (1993)

An Excellent Musical Documentary

[3 January 2000]

This is a superlative documentary on the life and achievements of Leon Theremin, a Russian scientist and musician who invented the world's first electronic musical instrument. It follows his life, career, and contributions from 1928, through his kidnapping by Stalinist agents in 1938, years of exile and service to the Soviet state (he also invented the surveillance bug, for which he received highest commendations and relative freedom), to his triumphant and happy return to America at the spry age of 95. Equal time is given to explore his personal and professional life with warmly candid interviews of those closest to him, his colleagues, and such electronic music luminaries such as Robert Moog. The film endearingly arouses interest in its subject, and shows just how prevalent Theremin's influence was in classical music, Hollywood movie soundtracks, and Rock'n'Roll. The interview sequence with wacked-out, wired Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys is real hoot and is worth the price of admission (or video rental) alone. Don't miss this one.

Café au lait (1993)

Kassovitz Scores!

[3 January 2000]

Literally and figuratively, one of the freshest, most original French releases of the Ô90s, this liberated and intriguing cultural comedy scores on every front. Felix (Mathieu Kassovitz) is a surly, hapless Jewish bicycle courier. Jamal (Hubert Koundi) is a rich, pampered black Muslim studying at the university. Both young men are involved with Indian beauty Lola (Julie Mauduech) who turns up pregnant. She wants to have the baby, and decides to indefinitely postpone choosing between the two men. When the two find out about each other, they initially clash, but later realize they must cooperate in order to nurse Lola through her pregnancy. They all shack up together, and await the baby. Mathieu Kassovitz has been called the Jewish Spike Lee because of his vibrant, kinetic visual style, and indeed the film seems to owe a bit to SHEÕS GOTTA HAVE IT, but Kassovitz has enough of his own creativity to carry things through in a unique way. He fashions a quirky, realistic, strikingly filmed story, underscored by some undeniably ballsy French hip-hop music. A real winner.

A Man in Uniform (1993)

A Disturbing Tale of Psychological Breakdown

[3 January 2000]

Slick and stylish, Canadian director Wellington's first feature is a tight, mostly unpredictable tale of urban degeneration and psychological breakdown, with a realistic, ominous atmosphere of foreboding throughout. Creating an incredibly human anti-hero, lead actor Tom MacCamus gives an appropriately nervy portrayal of Henry Adler, a fledgling method actor (and bank employee) who lands his first big role as a policeman on a tabloid-TV cop show, only to gradually go off the deep end. He starts mistaking his role with reality when a series of shattering events of urban violence and personal frustrations lead him to the edge of sanity. In the opening scenes, he witnesses a real cop get shot through the stomach on a downtown Toronto street corner in broad daylight. A brutal bank robbery occurs in the branch where he is vault manager. Initially attracted to him, his co-star on the show, Charlie (Brigitte Bako) shuns him when she senses his confused obsessiveness and moral perplexity. His cold and callous father (David Hemblen) dies of a stroke. All of these happenings conspire to make him don his cop outfit, and walk the streets, soaking up the urgent power the uniform provides him. He is so convincing, everyone takes him for a bona fide fuzz. He takes the law into his own hands and encounters the corrupt realist cop Frank (noted Seattle character actor Kevin Tighe) who speeds Henry's descent into a personal hell by showing him the seamy, amoral side of police work, on a tension-filled night journey. Chilling and mordant, the film has few false notes, and is tragedy in the best Aristotelian traditions.

The Old Lady Who Walked in the Sea (1991)

A wrecked Jeanne Moreau vehicle

[3 January 2000]

This culturally embarrassing vehicle for ubiquitous French film star Moreau (JULES & JIM, GOING PLACES) is a cheap, unfunny, unappealing, unconvincing yarn. While in Guadeloupe, an old seductress and con artist, Lady M. (played by Moreau), enlists the aid of the young beach bum Lambert (Thuiller) to help her with some blackmail and theft. Her fellow grifter and long-time lover Pompilius (Serrault) objects, and he and the Lady hurl colorful insults at one another. Meanwhile, the audience falls asleep. Serrault, who is most well-known to American audiences as the feminine half of the gay couple in the original LA CAGE AUX FOLLES elicits a couple of chuckles, but his presence barely graces a poorly conceived and executed film. It should have been called LA VIEILLE QUI MARCHAIT DANS LA MERDE.

La Bohème (1988)

One of the Best Opera Films Ever!

[3 January 2000]

Extremely edifying, awe-inspiring, and passionate cinematic interpretation of Puccini's opera about a tragic love between the good natured and friendly poet Rodolfo (played by Luca Canonici, and sung by Jose Carreras) and the lonely, consumptive flower girl Mimi (Barbara Hendricks) in the heart of Paris in the late 1800's. Ardent, soulful singing, robust yet sublime performances, seamless production design, exquisite cinematography, and an overall, unparalled sense of craft make this one a winner. Even people who are not fans of opera are bound to be moved.

City on Fire (1987)

Tarantino visits the City On Fire

[3 January 2000]

With all the attention Hong Kong cinema is getting, it becomes almost necessary to describe just how much of an underlying influence it has had on the climate of American film production. John Woo's films, and his subsequent transplant to Hollywood is probably the most publicized outcome of the phenomenon, but there are other, more obscure directors and films that have guided some of today's action film success stories.

Ringo Lam is a contemporary of John Woo, and it seems that his 1987 film CITY ON FIRE was an inspiration, if not out-and-out rip-off source material for Quentin Tarantino's RESERVOIR DOGS. Tarantino certainly borrowed heavily from the film, lifting several key plot points and even action sequences. It seems that Tarantino's talent lies not in originality, but in his ability to tell a story in a non-linear fashion, as evidenced by his re-working of various elements into a tale told in flashback and implication. Chow Yun Fat, the ubiquitous star of the John Woo films A BETTER TOMORROW, THE KILLER, and HARD BOILED, plays Ko Chow, a layabout petty criminal railroaded into service as an undercover agent for the Hong Kong police by the aging, almost washed up Inspector Kwong (Sun Yueh). A ring of jewelry thieves had perpetrated a brutal, well-planned robbery of a prestigious store in a Kowloon high-rise. Under pressure from his superiors, and in the middle of a professional rivalry with a younger inspector, Kwong resorts to using Chow as a creative final option. Equipping him with all the trappings of an arms salesman, he lets Chow loose to find out the identity of the robbers through his underworld connections. After surviving a gangland initiation of sorts, Chow gains the trust of the robbers, and is even befriended by the most brutal of them, Brother Fu (Lee Sau Yin). The gang invites him on its next project, robbing a gold shop in the downtown jewelry district. Meanwhile, when he's on his own, he works out female trouble with his sometime girlfriend, and dodges teams of police sent by the younger inspector who is unaware of his undercover status and suspects him of arms trafficking.

The robbery goes down as planned, except the store alarm is pressed, and police who were already staking out the jewelry district rush to the scene. Fu slays police in their squad cars with far more brutal relish than Harvey Keitel. Temporarily eluding the police, the robbers and Chow rush to their hideout, an abandoned warehouse. There they argue about how to split the spoils, and who among them might be a police informant. All of this culminates in a hail of bullets as the location of the robbers' den is found out, and they are surrounded by a virtual army of police.

Lam has crafted a somber, realistic actioner which would be slightly above average by American standards. It has a little less style than a John Woo film, and is certainly less violent (almost anything is less violent!) but covers essentially the same territory. One can readily pick out what Tarantino culled from this film, and it has a way of clarifying his creative process in that it is possible to see how he molded it into RESERVOIR DOGS using his own sensibilities.

Gate of Flesh (1964)

Renegade Filmmaking

[3 January 2000]

Born on May 24, 1923, Seijun Suzuki was a trade school drop-out and a soldier before studying film at Kamakura academy. After graduating in 1948, he was employed at Ofuna Studio as an assistant director. He began his full-fledged directing career at Nikkatsu in 1954, where he subsequently made 40 films. Most of these were quickie crime thrillers which were akin to Hollywood B-movies. Within the constricting confines of the mercenary studio system, Suzuki was nonetheless able to find his own unique creative sensibility.

His earliest films bear a renegade, sensual flair and a vibrant visual style unsurpassed by more recent work in both the West and Asia. Working in Cinemascope, he used the widescreen frame to full effect, composing intricate shots which seem almost three dimensional, due to somewhat elaborate staging and the novel device of using dissolves to show characters and action on the opposite side of the room or space to which the main camera is pointing.

GATE OF FLESH (1964) exemplifies this. One of Suzuki's most atypical films, it tells the tale of a pimp-less group of hellcat prostitutes trying to survive in the chaotic, crime-ridden arena of post-war Tokyo. Living by a strict code, any of their number can be severely physically punished for sleeping with a man for free. Puffy-cheeked Suzuki regular Jo Shishido plays Shintaro Ibuki, a macho renegade former soldier who deals on the black market and comes to lord it over the band of women. Captivating each of them, he causes a rift among them in which the young novice hooker Maya suffers the most, as she is totally enamored of him. The film is intensely visceral, outrageous, and risque, even today. It must have been positively explosive in 1964, with its sweating, erotically-driven characters, fairly explicit depictions of sex, and savage scenes in which naked women are tied up and whipped by other women. The aggressive sensuality is further enhanced by the Fujicolor processing, which accentuates the reds and greens.

Due to his interpid nonconformism, Suzuki was fired from Nikkatsu in 1968. Amid shake-ups and financial problems at the studio, the suits decided to jettison him for making "incomprehensible" films. This prompted a massive movement on his behalf organized by his fans of time, who were mostly college students. With their support, as well as that of the Director's Guild of Japan, Suzuki filed a court case for wrongful dismissal. He won the case, but the resulting furor got him blacklisted out of the studio system, and Suzuki was only able to resume making feature films in 1977, albeit independently.