Tuesday, November 25, 1997
Screen scene
"Never Met Picasso"
Directed by Stephen Kijak
Starring Margot Kidder and Alexis Arquette
The feeling one gets when watching "Never Met Picasso" is that
it could be a very polished made-for-TV-movie. There is nothing
extraordinary or compelling about the film, but like movies made
for television, it has a strong narrative form that never
bores.
Funny thing, because the film was born out of a script that
Kijak wrote for the Lifetime cable network. The script was sent
back to the director/writer/producer by the cable network saying
that it was "too cinematic for television. The realized script is a
cross breed between cable drama and film, something one might be
reluctant to pay $7 for at the theater, but love to watch on
TV.
The story has been dealt with often, in one strain or another. A
young male artist, Andrew Magnus (Alexis Arquette) has a creative
block. All around him are friends and family artists who are
leading intertwined lives full of love, craziness and growing
pains.
Some might argue that the fact that the majority of the
characters are gay, lesbian or bisexual is a reason the film could
be thought of as atypical. But the film sets itself apart from gay
films whose storylines always need to be centered around "gayness"
by likening itself to standard drama fare. It ends up more like a
light comedy/drama whose characters just happen to be gay.
In fact, the film does reach a mild level of triteness seen in
light drama in the message it sends across: "Look at these artists.
Look at the artsy lives they lead full of wine, culture and
norm-threatening sex." The film does try to make a point on the way
gay artists have not been included in history. This lends a
superficial twist to the mediocrity of the storyline.
But the simplicity and easiness of the script can be easily
overlooked by the strong narrative, which is simply entertaining
and enjoyable.
The film’s strength lies in the acting and character
interaction. The relationship between the tortured Magnus and his
older, gay uncle Alfred (Alvin Epstein) who is a painter himself,
are sweet, sad and full of kicks. Alfred’s mother (Margot Kidder)
is brash, limelight-loving and gets involved with Andrew’s lesbian
friend, Lucy. That’s only part of the complicated
relationships.
At times, the film seems too conscious of its desire to show
these art people living in their non-mainstream world. However,
"Never Met Picasso" makes for a simply amusing film with colorful
characters.
Michelle Nguyen
Grade: B
"Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil"
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Starring Kevin Spacey and John Cusack
When Hollywood decides to make a movie based on a beloved
best-selling book, devoted fans of the novel are often disappointed
by the film translation. Characters are changed and important plot
twists are eliminated to fit a several hundred-page book into a
two-hour movie.
The makers of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" must
have been aware of this when translating John Berendt’s
phenomenally popular novel into a film. The two-and-a-half hour
film (which feels like 100 hours) consequently takes on a very slow
pace, often wasting precious screen time to show off the lazy
Southern hospitality of Savannah, the celebrated city where the
movie is set.
And while the acting is excellent, the premise is intriguing and
the characters are suitably colorful, the film is flawed with long,
unnecessary scenes that drag a once interesting story into a
blandly appealing tale that could have been told in half the
time.
Journalist John Kelso (Cusack) arrives in Georgia to cover an
elite Christmas party hosted by society gentleman Jim Williams
(Spacey). From his first day, John quickly realizes that there is
something disturbingly quirky about this genteel town: a man walks
an imaginary dog in the park; another man walks around with fruit
flies tied to him; a voodoo priestess hangs out in the cemetery at
midnight to conduct "business."
When, at the end of the party, Williams is arrested for
murdering his lover (Jude Law), John suspects that these events
could provide great material for a new book. Befriending Williams,
who confidently claims that the murder was in self-defense, John
begins to interview and investigate the town, whose odd citizens
prove to be much more unusual and eerie than he originally
thought.
While the movie does have some dramatic and comic highlights,
these scenes are often interspersed with incredibly dull and slow
ones. For every hilarious moment with John and his flirtatious
transvestite source (The Lady Chablis, portraying herself), there’s
a boring scene with John and his bland love interest (Alison
Eastwood. Hmm, how’d she get that job?).
"Midnight," however, is saved by the excellent acting by several
of its cast members. Spacey is electrifying as the rich and
charming millionaire who still oozes Southern charm even in his
prison clothes. Jack Thompson delivers an impressive performance as
Williams’ lawyer whose mood depends on the winning streak of the
University of Georgia’s football team. Because of these exuberant
performances and director Eastwood’s lovingly elaborate images of
the beautiful Savannah landscape, the movie can almost be forgiven
for some of its drawn out scenes. Almost.
Aimee Phan
Grade: B+
"My Mother’s Courage"
Directed by Michael Verhoeven
Starring Pauline Collins
If the title’s simplicity is any indication – and it must be, or
else how can we forgive such a drippy title – surely "My Mother’s
Courage" could have been that tenderly observed homage it wanted to
be, if only director Verhoeven had given some basic form to an
obviously basic story.
As it stands, the movie is a muddled hodgepodge of documentary,
production notes, public service announcement, play-acting fantasia
and (almost incidentally) narrative cinema, all of which create a
stylistic fuss that would better serve a rock opera, not a sweet
biography of an old woman.
Adapted from a play by George Tabori, the film recollects one
miraculous day in the life of Tabori’s mother, Elsa (Pauline
Collins), a Hungarian Jew who escapes deportation to Auschwitz
simply by walking out the doors of her confines. Her strides toward
freedom last for about 10 minutes, and yet the scene is apparently
the namesake of the entire movie.
The scene has power, no doubt, but in its emergence we come to
realize how dispensable the rest of the movie is. Sure, the
filmmakers are adamant about the uniqueness of their project; the
movie examines Jewish deportation as seen in Hungary, not in
Germany or Poland. But a change in geography means nothing unless
there is a change in dramatic discourse. And "My Mother’s Courage"
is too recognizable in its intentions to be compelling along these
lines.
Verhoeven opens the movie with real documentary footage of an
Nazi officer denying atrocities and ends the movie with the
inevitable body count of the dead. By choosing these strategic
bookends, Verhoeven directly takes on the Holocaust as a subject
matter.
The problem is, the movie’s tone is flippant at the same time:
we see the real George Tabori meeting the actors of the movie,
stopping action to explain a scene and narrating whenever
convenient. These gimmicks sever all ties to what is real, and the
foremost obligation of any film tackling the Holocaust is to say
"this is real."
Verhoeven could have easily stayed on the periphery of the
Holocaust (as Agnieszka Holland did with her wonderful "Europa
Europa") by refraining from stylistic commentary and concentrating
on the personal narrative in front of him. But Verhoeven wants it
both ways, and consequently his film runs off in every which way,
when all we want to do is follow this one woman who becomes
remarkable – not necessarily because of her courage – but simply
because she has a son who remembers her.
Tommy Nguyen
Grade: C+