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Reviews
Hatuna Meuheret (2001)
Fascinating and disturbing
I went to see this movie having being told it was a comedy, and it is - until it takes an inevitable and disturbing turn. It's tragi-comedy in the purest, old-Greek sense, where the humour and the dread fuel each other. The star of the film is Lior Ashkenazi, a handsome, charismatic actor who plays Zaza as a complex character - in turn sexy and easy to root for, then weak and pitiable. The sex scene the film is famed for isn't particularly sexy, it is, instead horribly intimate - it's like a scene from your own bed, and the familiarity of it is shocking in a great way. Plus, the lack of fuss concerning nudity is marvellous - perhaps we do live in a civilized, modern world after all? The ending of the film is also disturbing, and in the end the movie isn't easy to take. I wouldn't want it any other way, but it makes repeat viewings difficult.
Chopper (2000)
Explicit and Disturbingly Funny
I'm normally squeamish, but it was my roommate, a big guy who prides himself on being unflappable, who was squirming while watching "Chopper". Maybe it was the Australian accents saying unexpectedly nasty things (Aussies, contrary to Qantas and Outback Steakhouse advertising, are not all nice!), maybe it was the graphic violence with realistic, slowly bleeding consequences - whatever it was, he could barely watch, while I was fascinated. The clever cinematography, and the sly stylization of the film really enhanced the content. It's rare that a film based on books can get that weird, idiosyncrasy that comes with autobiographical writing, but I think that's what was so entrancing about the film. It was scary because it felt like Chopper, rather than just being about him. It's well worth seeing; however, if you can deal with movie violence, but not depictions that try to get at the sickening, banal evil of the real thing, this won't be for you. Oh, and get ready to be disturbed by how funny you find it.
Women and Men: Stories of Seduction (1990)
3 short stories are both adored and mauled on film...
For a start, this work is wildly mistitled. "Women and Men, Tales of Seduction" lures unwitting viewers to three literary short stories reenvisioned as short films. If you like short stories, this isn't a problem - but anyone who has done English 101 would recognize that these stories are not actually about seduction at all. Still, if three stories of equal weight had been chosen, there would have been more chance for a satisfying whole. Unfortunately Hemingway's oft taught "Hills Like White Elephants" is a major work that comes after two minor ones (although I must admit my love for anything Dorothy Parker). Who chose THESE stories to film? Worse still, the Hemingway story (a classic of the form) is mauled by none other than Joan Didion. What was she thinking? Revered for its spare use of descriptive narrative in favor of minimalist but revealing dialogue, here "White Elephants" has been stretched and puttied with endless dialogue as well as an odd interpretation which seems to miss the point of the story. How did that happen? There are bright points, however; Elizabeth McGovern is wonderful in a truly depressing story which simultaneously questions gender roles and unwittingly chastises women for breaking out of them. Peter Weller reminds us that his sex appeal exists in a purely auto-erotic manner, thus making the second story almost impossible to comprehend. (In the original version, a cad manages to manipulate his young lover into staying "just one more time" through sheer masculinity and charm. Peter Weller? Uh uh.) Although the story is ruined, his own peculiar appeal still makes it worth watching and possibly in a manner that the perverse Ms. Parker, herself, would have enjoyed... Unfortunately Molly Ringwald's shrieking and lack of any appeal whatsoever rends the piece useless. Still, watch it for the scene where Weller lies splayed-legged on a bed...a truly unusual scene, and the closest the whole film ever comes to a literary moment. After watching all three parts I'm still confused as to who gave the film the go ahead. Someone obviously loves these stories, but not enough to take care of them, or to make us love them as well.