In the past half-century, film has grown beyond mere entertainment to become one of the most influential sources of culture. Commensurate with such influence comes responsibility -- and that's where this site comes in.
It is my goal to encourage consideration of what appears in film and what effects films have. Reviewed below are an assembly of contemporary films selected, by necessity, on subjective terms but with an eye toward their reflection of our society and their effect on our culture.
Societies get the culture they deserve -- so we should all participate in creating that environment, even if the participation is as little as speaking one's mind. Please use the reviews below as a springboard for your own contemplation of the cinema.
This entertaining parable of female independence is underappreciated despite having won awards and critical praise. Made back when feminism was briefly popular, the film presents Judy Davis as a woman struggling in a sexist world to retain her freedom from social oppression. Despite its political message, the film is lighthearted and even joyous. Davis's character is so appealing and full of life that one roots for her in her frequent clashes with procrustean conformists. Her pained decision to put off marrying Sam Neill and, instead, pursue her writing career is the pinnacle of the film: you understand it as the right choice while appreciating its emotional cost. This movie deserves to be brought back for new audiences every decade.
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This slick package of "American values" trades on contemporary culture at its worst. No wonder Bob Dole liked it. Men are heroic, women are loyal, foreigners are hostile, military force is an appropriate response, science will save us, the struggle for dominance is primary, and male drunks are charming. This film makes me want to gag. Its cynical pandering is untempered by irony and is simply a laser-guided missile aimed at America's wallet. See this thing only if you are an anthropologist from the third world.
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This sweet film evokes the best of folk tales -- poetic in spirit, gentle in approach, and intriguing in its narrative. The best part of the film is its perspective -- a view of the world from a young girl's heart. Fiona is looking to reunite her family and achieves her goal after a charming journey through the enchantments of Irish folk culture. The mood is hypnotic, the acting convincing, and the scenery idyllic. This film works like poetry -- you want to see it over and over again.
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This gripping drama took me by surprise. Expecting little, I was instantly mesmerized by its total command of the things that make great cinema -- dimensional characters, psychological conflict, and no distractions. Only great actors can work at this level and the principals, Kathy Bates and Jennifer Jason Leigh, are up to the task. Moreover, the script is so skillful in its plotting and execution that the film passes very quickly. It's the cinematic equivalent of the novel you can't put down. Substantively, the film excels by probing dangerous areas with insight and integrity. The oppression of women in the home is a subject both common and important. When that oppression reaches extremes, people react in unflattering ways but true to their nature. This film captures those reactions and accurately portrays the main characters without any effort to pretty them up -- a remarkable feat given the movie's sympathies. The audience is initially unclear on where those sympathies lie and the point-of-view gradually moves as the story unfolds. This exceptional movie must be seen even if the non-descript title doesn't attract your notice.
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This film teaches several important lessons about human society, starting with how our alienation from each other is culturally-based and not natural. We are naturally -- and even physically -- connected to one another and to everything in the universe. Our problems stem from a sense of separateness created by human culture, and the loneliness ensuing from that anxiety is dealt with by a range of mental and behavioral disorders. Recognition of how connected we actually are can transform our understanding of ourselves and our societal actions. This film tries to stimulate such understanding. It depicts, with insight, the consequences of our failure to know ourselves, such as fear, hatred, shame and confusion about death. Moreover, the film engages the emotions as fully as the intellect, including a deathbed scene as moving as any I have seen.
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This obscure film is one of my all-time favorites for it addresses universal human qualities in a context where you expect none. Set in the future, a bleak post-apocalyptic landscape having a small oasis of wealth surrounded by poverty and misery far beyond our normal dreams, the film tracks the fate of a team of sports players who travel from place to place and challenge local teams in a crude, violent game similar to football. What makes this film memorable are the characters who endure severe hardships without complaint and play sport for the intrinsic joy it provides. Especially appealing are the vivid character portrayals by Rutger Hauer, an outcast League player exiled from the oasis for overstepping his class bounds, and Joan Chen, an unusually feisty female player who can wrestle with the best of the men and win. See this film -- it's far better than you expect.
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The crash of the art world has caused David Salle ("Search And Destroy") and Julian Schnabel ("Basquiat") to venture beyond painting and into film -- for the wrong reason. Both are addicted to fame and both are trying to re-create in the cinema what they had in fine art -- celebrity. Not surprisingly, their films reflect their personalities, pretentious and self-referential. Salle's film-making is like his painting: bright, colorful and entertaining but ultimately devoid of true meaning. There are, of course, self-conscious strokes of pseudo-significance but they fail to persuade and, in film, serve only to confuse the audience about what is going on. Salle also carries forth his pornographic view of women which is as offensive on the screen as it is on canvas. The only noteworthy characteristic of these two films is the exceptional acting talent Salle and Schnabel could attract, but even such actors cannot save these ships from sinking under the weight of their creators' egos.
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Boys and men are so cruel but why? Is it innate or learned behavior? This film touches on the subject in an insightful way, showing that callous male conduct is not determined and can be rejected by men of conscience. In short, people choose to behave good or bad and must be held accountable for their choice. Our society, culpable for encouraging boys to misbehave, needs more stories like this one to combat its conventional education for boys.
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Looking for emotion in men is like trying to find a pearl in the ocean. This film locates the heart of a man and sees in it his conflicted feelings toward his father, now deceased. That alone would be reason enough to see this film but there's more -- a moving enactment of pagan spiritualism that crosses temporal and cultural boundaries. What a welcome surprise in a Hollywood picture!
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Like all Mamet's work, this film is calculating but unlike most of his work, this time the approach succeeds. An educated woman gets tangled up with street-smart con men and the question of who is in control hovers with the answer changing constantly. The result is a very entertaining movie whose twists keep you guessing. Of course, it lacks any emotional depth -- as all Mamet's work does -- but that omission does not distract from this particular story. Convincing performances from Lindsay Crouse and Joseph Mantegna are additional reason to see this film.
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Comic genius on the most sustained level I have ever seen in a film. It always surprises people when I tell them that the craftsmanship in this film is among the best I have ever seen, especially those who know the extent of my study of the cinema. I'm not even French but can't help singing praise for this flick. I've seen it more times than any other movie (somewhere around 15 by now) and pick up new technical tips every time -- not to mention sheer enjoyment! When viewing the film in the context of its creators' careers, one has to conclude that its success was the collaboration between Tim Burton's directorial prowess and Pee-Wee's fearless infantilism. This film ranks as a true classic.
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Many movies have been made about prison life, usually with sensationalistic treatment of physical violence or absurd plot developments. This film is different. It is quiet, measured and it accurately portrays prison life without resorting to gimmicks. The real message of the film transcends its subject -- man's ability to hope beyond his predicament. Although the film contains the standard elements (casual violence, small and large acts of corruption), they are presented not for their shock value but as means to describe an environment from which a person would want to escape, either in his head or with his body. The key to the movie's success lies in the gentleness of the character of the narrator (Morgan Freeman), a lifer who philosophizes without realizing it. His friendship with an innocent man (Tim Robbins) forms the basis of the film and draws you into caring for the both of them.
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Art films are often hard to grasp and have as many layers as an artichoke. In good films, peeling back layers of meaning and symbolism is fun; in bad films, it's a tiresome chore. This film succeeds. It's two main characters are absorbing, the surface narrative is comprehensible, and each underlying layer brings new enjoyment. Irene Jacobs, an ordinary girl working as a model, accidentally befriends a strange ex-judge who has taken to eavesdropping on his neighbors. The normal conventions of movie plot have no place here so everything you expect doesn't happen and odd things appear without warning. This film is best enjoyed as a dessert, eaten after a full course of film education.
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The definitive film on American politics has not been made yet and, sadly, this one could have been it. The quality of the acting is here -- Al Pacino as the Mayor of New York City, John Cusack as his young assistant, Danny Aiello as Brooklyn's political boss, and Martin Landau as a corrupt judge. The quality of the dialogue is there -- in fact, it's too good for film as its depth cannot be absorbed and fully appreciated as it speeds by. Never before have I seen a film catch the language of politics so well -- e.g., the use of ethnic expressions as codes for describing conduct; the adoption of those expressions by political operatives of different ethnicity (such as, Italian-Americans using Yiddish phrases). Ultimately, however, the film bogs down and disappoints by being confused about its identity and by losing the verisimilitude that creates its initial appeal. Starting admirably as an intellectual dissection of politics, the film later devolves into a cheap crime drama and its plot loses all credibility. Too bad, because it had such potential.
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Most people are either for or against capital punishment, based on whether their sympathies lie with crime victims or with criminals. This film sympathizes with both groups and stakes the tricky position of being neither for nor against execution. The way it does this is to work from the point of view of a Catholic nun whose compassion extends to all involved in a brutal crime and whose efforts appear pure and free of politics. Implicitly, however, the film does argue that causing death is wrong, no matter who does it, outlaws or the state. This argument places the film in the anti-capital punishment camp but without the blind insensitivity to victims usually found there.
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This puff piece on Isaac Mizrahi is a mock documentary. No vanity production could be more self-centered, uncritical, staged and indulgent. This film confirms everything bad one suspects about men who design clothes for women, culminating in Mizrahi's attempt to persuade his runway models to change clothes (and appear unclothed in the process) in view of his audience. Anyone less blindly egotistical than Mizrahi would be ashamed to be the subject of this film.
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This film shows what a strong woman can do -- take the tired western genre, twist the normal pathology of violence, and create a drama of absorbing intensity with psychological depth. The key here is Sharon Stone's emotional need to revenge, or at least personally resolve, her family's harm at the hands of an evil man. Gene Hackman has never acted finer and he is one of our greatest actors. While entertaining on several levels, this film succeeds best at its symbolism which requires some reflection to understand but the effort is worth it.
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Nobody can create a mood like Peter Weir and this film is haunting. One can describe what happens but that fails to convey the primary thrill of this film -- its atmosphere, created by beautiful visual images and unsettling events. Richard Chamberlain plays a tax lawyer in Australia whose culture is European. He has had premonitory dreams his whole life and, suddenly, he feels compelled to defend a group of tribal Aborigines from murder charges. Chamberlain gets drawn into the Aboriginal world where dreams are an alternate reality. David Gulpilil escorts Chamberlain into this different world after trying to keep him away. The most disturbing part of the film to me was Charlie, the old shaman who turns into an owl and visits Chamberlain's family at their home. Weir is a master at using cinematic tools and this film is his best.
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The conundrum of Richard Nixon is important not only for itself but for his huge impact on America. This film recognizes the point and tries to place Nixon in context, showing the times in which he struggled, the "wild beast" of government with whom he danced, and the visceral dislike many people had of him ("They look at Kennedy and see who they want to be; they look at me and see who they are"). This approach is far more enlightening than a standard personal biography. Using Kissinger's words, Nixon's life rose to "biblical" proportion because of where our society was during that time. In a quieter period, Nixon could have passed by relatively unnoticed but during the turmoil of the 1960s, his flaws were perceived as if by King Lear. During this time of controversy and social upheaval, Nixon's presence and acts were so keenly felt that lingering emotion still exists and colored even the media coverage of this 1995 movie. In the end, one need not be a fan of Oliver Stone (and I'm not) to recognize that we need more inquiries into the operations and abuses of government. This film is a step in the right direction.
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This lyrical film is full of beautiful images and limns with unabashed artistry. You could watch this with the sound off and experience a museum-like tour of fine art. Turn on the sound, though, to hear the endearing voice of narrator Linda Manz, a young girl with an uneducated accent that opens your heart. The story is an old one, from biblical times, and the performances by Sam Shepard, Brooke Adams and -- surprise! -- Richard Gere carry you into a dream. See this movie on the big screen or you will miss the best part.
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"The African Queen" is one of the most romantic movies ever made. A drinking slob, to please a woman with high standards, starts to clean himself up and become a person worthy of her respect. She, in turn, learns to loosen up a bit. Together, they fall in love, endure hardship, and manage to win the war by sinking a German battleship. You can't beat the acting -- Humphrey Bogart at his finest (he won an Oscar for this role) and Katherine Hepburn avoiding the overacting she was prone to. Finally, how can you fail to laugh at such a great line as said by the German boat captain after granting Humphrey's last request -- "I now pronounce you husband and wife. Proceed with the execution!!"
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Poor writing and inept direction prevent this film from being a good addition to modern cinema. That's too bad because the theme is promising -- a young woman looking for direction in her life and finding it in the least-expected place -- and the acting of lead Parker Posey is exceptional. Posey carries the film and supplies it with the power it has. If only the rest of the collaborative group were as talented, this film might have been a cultural milestone.
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Send to fhu@usa.pipeline.com
© 1996 Ralph A. Hummel
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