Intimate Obsession

Starring:Jodie Fisher, James Quattrochi, Richard Abbott (II), Kristi Ducati, Heather McTague, Michael Thompson, Jared McVay, Walter Weaver, Phyllis Lanoff, Lawrence Lanoff, Scott Kelman, Kedric Wolfe, Valerie Hartman, Mary Saunders, Deborah Karpeles, Claire Elder, Alison Brookes, Benjamin Gates Jr., Daniel Tisman
Director: Lawrence Unger
Studio: Platinum Disc
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Chickens
I Know This Mudge Is True
Not as promising as I thought
Emotional/Social Isolation meets Child Abuse: result is disturbing interaction
A sensitive story well told

The Mudge Boy
Starring: Emile Hirsch , Tom Guiry , Richard Jenkins , Pablo Schreiber , and Zachary Knighton
Director: Michael Burke (IV)
Manufacturer: Strand Releasing
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000EGEKRO
Release Date: 2006-05-09

Customer Reviews:

Chickens.......2007-06-19

Plot of the Mudge Boy- Duncan lives on a farm.. the kid loses his mom when she falls off a bike one day. He loves chickens and raises chickens on a farm. He makes his chicken his best friend and carries him around everywhere he goes. He meets a group of friends and this one guy who he develops a crush on. The guy has interest in him too but continually denies it and acts like he hates ''gays'' but then tries to do something to Duncan 'the mudge boy' and succeeds. Soon hes after Duncan and they confront him outside their truck and he bites the head off his beloved pet chicken and everyone is shocked - THE END.

Thats basically it. It had atmosphere, it was decent to watch but very odd and the ending leaves you like, what?

I Know This Mudge Is True.......2007-04-08

In viewing the difficult-to-stomach "Mudge Boy", I was reminded of one of acclaimed author Kurt Vonnegut's Rules for Writing Fiction: "Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them." Well, writer/director Michael Burke must have had that rule etched into the arm of his director's chair, since this movie's adorable and engaging main character has a most difficult time of it, to say the least. (And I'm not even talking about the Duncan Mudge character, by the way - I'm talking about the chicken!)

But the guileless and grief-stricken Duncan doesn't have it too easy either; struggling with the recent loss of his mother in a rugged and rural environment that seemingly has no place for him, and a reticent father who just wishes the boy would "grieve like a normal person" (i.e. start bonding more with the local kids instead of with mom's pet chickens, and stay out of her fur coats and wedding dresses while you're at it, Dunc).

"People do weird stuff sometimes," says Duncan to his only friend (and possible love interest) Perry, and this line could work very well as a thesis statement for many of its characters actions. 'Cause even though Duncan (played with striking bravery and purity by Emile Hirsh) is known as the local weirdo, the randy farmhand Perry (played with much swagger and bravado by Tommy Guiry, who up till this film had taken more docile and sensitive roles, so really is impressive with the level of latent menace he brings to the role) doesn't exactly keep to the straight and narrow himself.

Early on in the film, in providing two chickens for father Edgar's helper friend, Duncan says to him (about the chickens): "These are good layers." Which also struck me as being a good comment about the film itself, since this mood piece of pain and redemption is all about layers - and not only the chicken kind.

There are the competing layers of guilt and lust in the lonely rural young men who are so desperate to connect that they flirt dangerously with the lines of taboo within their machismo posturing (or expectations thereof). There are the layers of love and scorn in the brilliant Richard Jenkins as Edgar, not approving of his sons choices but not withholding love just because he holds back his approval. There are the layers of connection and betrayal, especially in the brutal and infamous Mudge packing scene, where Perry defiles both Duncan's sacred place and his physical space as well.

Then there are the visual layers, the spectacular cinematography with its carefully composed shots consisting of frames within frames - shots through doors and windows, and wide, layered shots with natural motion, all nestled comfortably beneath a plaintive and spare mostly-acoustic soundtrack.

There is almost a pugilistic poignancy to the "Mudge Boy" - a poetry without words that hits you hard in the heart and in the gut. And even though there's so much malice in the film, there is at least the attempt at a tender - if not completely happy - ending. But, for this viewer, that attempted uplift came just a little too late (and after a few too many shocking moments) to be truly soothing - it's kind of like a band-aid applied to a gushing wound.

Still, there is at least some degree of catharsis and understanding amidst the bloodletting. In the director's commentary track, he spells out what the game plan was for himself and his DP: "Let's be bold in our choices. Let's just go for it. Let's not go halfway. Let's make strong decisions and take risks and stand behind them." And to that I feel they succeeded and remained very true to their vision. And in "The Mudge Boy," we get an uncomfortable up close look at how American rural men sometimes have to subvert their sensitive side in order to thrive, and how those who cannot manage this subversion must somehow struggle to survive.

Not recommended for those who like feelgood films, lots of plot, and snappy dialog. Highly recommended to those who enjoy long, visually meditational and lyrical scenes of life at its most harrowing, where freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose.

Not as promising as I thought.......2007-03-09

The story of a young farm boy who recently lost his mom basically falls for a friend of his who's another farm boy in the same location. It showed promise in the beginning but it honestly failed way short of a decent movie. The relationship between the main charachter and his friend should have been able to deepen a bit more especially after what his friend did to him toward the latter part of the movie. But by the time the relationship finally came to abroad, the movie was over and you were left wondering what was to come. As a TV show, this would have been a good show to watch since you'd be tailhooked into watching what was to happen next week. As a movie however, it was definately not worth it.

Emotional/Social Isolation meets Child Abuse: result is disturbing interaction.......2007-02-17

There have been some very good reviews written giving the synopsis so I won't re-hash that. This is a very disquieting movie - social isolation in rural isolation, and themes of not fitting in. No emotional attachment/connections are apparent until the 2 main characters meet. It is interesting how the relationship develops - being to referred to as a friend by Perry (even as a throw-away line) starts the "relationship".
The wedding dress/barn scene is truly disturbing. And yet the reaction of Duncan is not what you expect (was he into it or not?) - unless you have had anything to do with abondoned youth that are desperately seeking a connection in any form. Perry is a sad one and yet he reacts to the gentleness and innocence in Duncan as one would expect from a victim of child abuse (who react to positive attention and adoration and recognise those that are not a threat)...he has compassion in the scene with the chicken, returning it to Duncan. However, WARNING, if you don't like sad endings or disturbing ones DON'T GO BEYOND THE RETURNING OF THE CHICKEN. It was hinted at in other reviews but I didn't realise that the giving back of the chicken was not the end of it for the chicken.
I saw hope of acceptance of self and others in the scene at night in the truck with the kiss. Watching Perry give the boy what he thought he wanted even though he was angry that he did want to give it to the boy - and the gentleness and courage of the boy to change it into what he wanted causing a momentary softening in Perry. The outcome of that brief softening was that of a door slamming on possibilites (and a fist slamming from an abusive father), to be opened near the end (before the chicken scene) showing Perry could be saved from his wretched spiral given the right stimuli. There are some issues with the movie but I am not one of those techno-buffs that pick holes in production, or a critic of writing or acting - I just love movies that express love in its various forms. Do I wish I hadn't bought this? No. Am I recommeding it? Yes, however the chicken scene needs to be rated as disturbing - but then I love happy endings and I didn't get one.

A sensitive story well told.......2007-01-19

This well judged and unusual tale remains engaging right to the end. The directing is spot on being sypathetic to the characters while Emile Hirsch and Tom Guiry are both excellent in their roles. They flesh out the hidden agendas and nuances in a totally believable manner.
The film is great to look at and accomplishes atmospheric scenes with excellent photography. This is an easy four stars for me.

Average customer rating:

interesting but limited
Loved it!
Examines a very small slice of the lifestyle it purports to document
Not for the faint of heart... A beautiful look back at what happened
Five people in a room talking about sex

Gay Sex in the 70s
Starring: Larry Kramer , Roger McFarlane , Scott Bromley , Alvin Baltrop , and Barton Benes
Director: Joseph Lovett
Manufacturer: Wolfe Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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That Man: Peter Berlin
Another Gay Movie
Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema
Adam & Steve (2005)
Dante's Cove

ASIN: B000F0UUMS
Release Date: 2006-06-06

Amazon.com

A fun romp through the explicitly sexual world of New York's Christopher St. during the gay rights era, director Joseph Lovett's documentary, Gay Sex in the '70s, consists of still photos of old haunts interspersed with interviews with the men who inhabited them, such as Roger McFarlane, Barton Benes, Tom Bianchi, Alvin Batrop, and Arnie Kantrowitz. Covering June 1969 to June 1981, Gay Sex in the '70s traces the history of pre-AIDS public sex through Stonewall, to the rise of gay culture as we know it today. Incorporating politics with debauched anecdotes of men cruising the piers, fornicating in the backs of trucks, and attending discos, bathhouses, and S&M clubs, the film is entertaining and educational. Some footage of legendary dance clubs, such as Les Mouches, Flamingo, Paradise Garage, and Studio 54, make this a good movie to watch even for straight disco aficionados. In fact, this film could have benefited from more historical live footage, as it relies too heavily on its interviewees. As a result, Gay Sex in the '70s at times suffers from sentimentality. But its friendly exploration into what one man called "the golden age of brotherhood and liberty" leaves a comforting feeling, as if listening to reminiscences from granddad. --Trinie Dalton

Description

The end of an era. The beginning of a movement. Hailed by critics and audiences alike, GAY SEX IN THE 70s director Joseph Lovett focuses his story on New York City between 1969 and 1981, using remarkable present-day interviews and stunning archival footage to take viewers back to days just after Stonewall. Lovett takes us back to the piers, the trucks, the Central Park rambles, the back rooms, and the baths. It was a time where repression and fear were replaced by a sexual explosion, where shame became joy. In recreating the gay story of the 70s, Lovett shows that AIDS was not the only legacy of this period.

Customer Reviews:

interesting but limited.......2007-06-08

*Gay Sex in the 70s* was an interesting documentary of sex among the gays from the Stonewall Riot (1969) to the emergence of AIDS (1980), or rather what they had initially coined it as the gay cancer. However, this is gay sex in New York City. I was somewhat disappointed of its limited scope. I would've liked to see what gay life/sex was like in San Francisco, Key West and other places. However, NYC did have a lot to offer on the history of gay sex in the 70s: the meat district, Christopher St., the piers, Fire Island, the Pines, Studio 54, bars, baths and other places.

This was like the utopia/apex of gay sex. Men could have it anywhere and anytime, without a care who was looking at them. Despite the celebration of "free love", it wasn't all carefree. Gays still have to be careful where they ventured or else they could end up dead. Plus, there were STD's (then called V.D.) around.

This film would have been more delightful if more people were interviewed rather than just the notables, such as Larry Kramer and Tom Bianchi. I mean, it was great to include them but how about the regular guys?

Nonetheless, this is an important film for anyone queer or anyone studying queer history.

Loved it!.......2007-05-05

As a young gay man this documentary is a very important relic in the gay history archives. As GLBT people in the new millenium we have this generation to thank for our liberation from the proverbial closet. These guys celebrated who they were and never apologized to anyone. They were the first truly liberated generation of gay men. Without them issues such as gay marraige and equality for GLBT's wouldn't even be on most political referendums.

With that said "Gay Sex in the 70's" was an eye opener! These men took free love and pride to it's apex. I often wonder, as someone who has never known a world without HIV/AIDS, would I have reveled in the hedonism and decadence of the 1970's? I won't lie, I would have had it off with a few. However, many of these guys, had they lived now, would be diagnosed as sexual addicts. It seemed like sex was the penultimate reason for existence as a gay man back then. While the celebration of sexual freedom and each other was a beautiful thing the blatant disregard for one's own health and well being was dumbfounding. The subject of "The trucks" disturbed me. They were willing to go anywhere, with anyone, just to have a moment of pleasure.

While gay men involved themselves in every sexual excess you can fathom they were innocent babes in the woods, for the most part. That is what really struck me. Rampant drug use, orgies, and public sex were just the norm in the community, and no one gave it a second thought. The sexual freedom and self love was wonderful, but there was still a degree of self loathing that came with a high price that their's and subsequent generations are paying for. The pendulum definitely shifted and that generation paid dearly for it's excesses.

Overall, I was really impressed by the documentary. My only critiques are as follows...

1.)What were the gay scenes in: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Chicago, Dallas, and various other metropolises like? We only got the view of New York City.

2.)What were gay men of color(black,non black latinoes, and Asians)up to?

To me this film showcased a small microcosm of gay life in those days. Gay Sex in the 70's, I feel, would have been better served had we been made privy to ALL facets of gay life not just the elite white gay activists in NYC. Perhaps this could have been done as a series. In my opinion it was a bit too comprehensive. I wanted to know more. And I particularly wanted to know more about the toll HIV/AIDS took on the community.

However, I am glad this film was made. Inspite of it's shortcomings it was insightful. I recommend it.

As for the person who suggested that AIDS not be cured in order to ensure no more sexual revolutions you are sick. The repulsive puritanical attitude that some people have towards sex and sexuality is mind boggling.

Examines a very small slice of the lifestyle it purports to document.......2007-04-20

The title of this documentary is misleading--it should be called Gay Sex in New York City in the 70's. If it were titled properly, I could give it a higher rating, given that the bulk of the material comes from a half dozen subjects who lived in NYC in the 1970's. The film purports to describes the gay male lifestyle during the pivotal period between the 1969 Stonewall riots and the first reported cases of AIDS in 1981. In truth, it is a self-celebratory trip down nostalgia lane for a group of gay men who were active during that glittery, liberated, and risky time. Their stories are interesting individually, but do not provide enough substance (or alternate viewpoints) for an entire documentary. There is much more to the history of gay males, and to the decade of the seventies, than the slice that this documentary focuses on. Anyone who doesn't have a personal frame of reference for the memories is likely to be bored by the sheer length of the film, despite the fact that there is great source material.

Not for the faint of heart... A beautiful look back at what happened.......2007-04-08

The 70's were an amazing convergence of socialogical factors. Joyful Gay men, for the first time, found they could practice their desires without undo police brutality. The Stonewall Riots had cemented the arrival of Out as a verb. It was literally a time of great happiness and fun.

This document, which includes much archival footage well as current rememberances by folks who were there, gives a guided tour of what could only be called Babylon.

Narrowing its focus to NYC, and The Pines, it gives an up-close and personal look at men who lusted for other men and what a wonderland a world of 'Yes' could create. The tone shifts, because even though the name of the documentary is Gay Sex in the 70's, it takes you through the '80's and the advent of the AIDS pandemic.

It helps explain the mindset of those men trapped in the opening wave of deaths. AIDS had literally infected (and in effect killed) a huge percentage of the gay men in NYC before the first syptom appeared.

It also discusses some of the hollowness of that age; the rampant drug abuse and mind-boggling disregard for personal safety that accompanied so much of 'the love that dare not speak its name' once it was shouting at the top of its lungs. I am actually old enough to have participated in this, and knew many men who did. They are all gone. I am not, primarily because I was hiding from who and what I was.

I literally hid until after AIDS hit, and by then, I was too careful to ever put myself in harms way. This movie tries to help the modern viewer see that these were intelligent, albiet driven, men. They thought, as many folks do today, that medical science would cure whatever ailed them. They were wrong, and those who see AIDS as nothing more than an inconvenience are just as wrong.

Required viewing for all men on 'the down low' or anyone young enough not to recall this time.

Five people in a room talking about sex.......2007-02-16

This documentary celebrates a 12-year period between the Stonewall riots in 1969 and the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in 1981, a decade of gay sexual liberation. Unfortunately, the film is very limited to the New York gay scene, and to the experiences of five or six men who giddily recount their youthful days of irresponsible and hedonistic, drug-fueled lust. After its first 10 minutes of showing these men revel in their experience of finding anonymous sexual partners, and the frequency of these encounters, the documentary quickly grew tiresome and repetitive, and purveyed a somewhat sad and empty soullessness about their experience. At least the film doesn't preach about how more medical research money needs to be dedicated to curing AIDS so that the lifestyle of bathhouse orgies and rampant drug use can be restored for a younger generation of gay men.

Average customer rating:

Should be part of sex ed
A Really Good Movie!

Sex, Lies and Obsession
Starring: Harry Hamlin , Rebecca Jenkins , Lisa Rinna , Kevin Zegers , and Karl Pruner
Director: Douglas Barr
Manufacturer: Allumination
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000KP62FW
Release Date: 2006-11-16

Customer Reviews:

Should be part of sex ed.......2007-06-18

It's an absolute must for all adolescent males.

A Really Good Movie!.......2007-04-03

I highly recommend this movie you'll
watch it over and over that's how good it is
harry hamlin and lisa rina are just excellent together!

Average customer rating:

This should have been a 5 star movie, everything was there.
Nice plot, good acting and a sudden twist towards the end..
MUCH ADO ABOUT....well, what exactly?
Good movie... Really bad billing
Asylum is a morbid, unsettling, and erotic film that you'll probably like.

Asylum
Starring: Natasha Richardson , Hugh Bonneville , Gus Lewis , Ian McKellen , and Joss Ackland
Director: David Mackenzie
Manufacturer: Paramount
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ASIN: B000BNX4MW
Release Date: 2006-01-17

Amazon.com

Asylum stars Natasha Richardson in an unsettling psychological thriller about the repressed, 1950s wife of a psychiatrist (Hugh Bonneville) and her affair with a convicted killer (Marton Csokas). Stella (Richardson), Max (Bonneville), and their son Charlie (Gus Lewis, who played the young Bruce Wayne in Batman Beyond) move to a high-security psychiatric hospital, where the priggish Max joins the staff and hopes to ascend, in time, to the top spot, replacing the soon-to-retire hospital director (Joss Ackland). Standing in Max's way is another doctor, Cleave (Ian McKellen), who takes a quiet yet somehow sinister interest in unhappy Stella's apparent attraction to Edgar (Csokas), a connection that will lead to more than one sorrowful end. Based on a novel by Patrick McGrath (who adapted his own Spider into the screenplay for David Cronenberg's 2002 film), Asylum is directed by David Mackenzie (Young Adam) with a subtle but growing apprehension of manipulated destiny in Cleave's hands. (It's hard not to think of Cleave as a villainous puppetmaster in Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse universe.) There are times when one might be tempted to dismiss Asylum as too opaque in its explanation for why Stella does the often wretched things she does. But patience is well rewarded: It takes full running time of the movie for the story's complete design to become clear. --Tom Keogh

Product Description

Natasha Richardson (THE COMFORT OF STRANGERS) is Stella, the beautiful, neglected wife of Max Raphael (Hugh Bonneville), the newly appointed Deputy Superintendent of a maximum-security psychiatric hospital outside of London. Soon after her arrival, Stella develops a curious attraction to Edgar Stark (Marton Csokas), an artist confined for the gruesome murder of his wife in a jealous rage. Secretly observed by the cunning Dr. Peter Cleave (Golden Globe winner Ian McKellen), Stella and Edgar begin a torrid affair. But as passions are ignited, so are suspicions, rage and jealousies, plunging the characters into a thrilling game of cat and mouse that builds to a shocking, fever-pitched conclusion. Brilliantly acted and fraught with sexual tension, ASYLUM is a "powerful, haunting and beautifully crafted"* story of passion, manipulation and erotic obsession.
-Rex Reed, THE NEW YORK OBSERVER

Customer Reviews:

This should have been a 5 star movie, everything was there........2007-06-04

Wonderful cast with the terrific Ian McKellen, mental hospital, repressed 1050's atmosphere. Somehow it missed the mark. Marton Csokas, could be Mel Gibson's younger brother, the resemblance is uncannny. The "sex scenes" where hot but too short. The whole movie dragged somehow, when it should have been engrossing, why did the Marton character kill his wife? How sick was he? Why did wifey bang the mental patient so willingly, without even a thought to what it might do to her cushy life, provided by her loyal husband and devoted little boy? The story seemed to hint that she had done this before that's why the husband had to leave and get a new position at the asylum. So she had mental problems, too.

Nice plot, good acting and a sudden twist towards the end.........2007-02-05

I had bought this movie with a lot of apprehension. But it turned out to be a very nice one. The relationship between the wife and her husband on one hand and the wife and her (dangerous) lover on the other was nice nicely potrayed and acted. The sex scenes were not graphic and left a lot to imagination...that by itself had its own eroticism. Also, the sudden twist towards the end brought about by Dr. Peter's desire for Stella was quite unexpected. Was he manipulating relationships throughout the movie to get her? Take a look and guess...

MUCH ADO ABOUT....well, what exactly?.......2006-11-12

A thriller that offers obvious leads to obvious ends with occasional punches direcltly to a woman's face.
The themes of the film (passion, obsession, jealousy, insanity vs sanity) would have been much better served if at least SOME of the situations or characters in this film were a BIT more sympathetic. (WARNING - there are spoilers ahead!)

Csokas' character Cleave is so one dimensional, so uninteresting, and so wooden you wonder what richarson's Stella ever sees in him. OK - there is an underlying Russell Crowe/Brendon Frazier primal urgency that may have interested her at first. But the man is a bore. Worse, he's an obvious true lunatic who is said to have murdered his wife, decapitated her, scalped her, then hacked at her face like the clay he feebly molds as a failed artist. Even if Stella had volcanic orgasms with this guy, wouldn't she have been a bit more apprehensive about continuing, and renewing, this relationship over and over and over again?

Ian McKellen remains a joy to watch. His well contained performance is all in his eyes. A performance that begs us to question the line between neurosis and true insanity.

Ultimately the film is unsatisfying. Stella is so wretched - ultimately spacing out while watching her son drown leading to his death - viewers can only feel relief when she falls to her ultimate Hitchcockian vertiginous doom. Even here, we're reminded of what the master director knew; there is more to fear in what is unseen, rather than what is actually seen.

Though we get to watch Edgar pummel her, at least we're spared the indignity of watching him hack her to pieces.

Worth the 3.50 it's selling for on Amazon. But not with the added costs of shipping.

Good movie... Really bad billing.......2006-08-06

This movie is billed as a psychological thriller. Not so!
A psychological drama.... Yes.
It is amazing how movie companies try to attach names of other famous people (like Hitchcock in this case) to help a movie sell instead of letting it run on it's own merit.
This movie is intriguing to say the least. The time it takes place, the 50's, was still full of repression. And so the husband of Natassja Richardson's character. Hence her restlessness and attraction to her Waterloo.
I won't go into a lot of detail but to say the performances by Richardson and McKellan are superb! The plot is rich with character and twists and turns.
However.... it is NOT a thriller by any sense of the word.
So... if you're seeking a movie with the thrills that a good Hitchcock or DePalma movie may hold, do not get this one.
However, if what you want is a good psychological drama along the lines of 'Snows Falling on Cedars' or 'Far From The Madding Crowd', then this is your movie.
The three stars are for improperly billing and misleading the public.

Asylum is a morbid, unsettling, and erotic film that you'll probably like........2006-07-08

This film was recommended to me from Amazon because I'm also a fan of these types of movies. From "Basic Instinct" to "The Lover", these movies really intrigue me.This movie was directed by David Mackenize who also directed the overrated "Young Adam" which was cold and boring. "Asylum" on the other hand is a better achievement by the director. One of the factors that can add to the excitement and tension of the adulterous affair is the danger of being caught. Add to that, the fierce and idiosyncratic passion often attributed to artists. Then make the artist a raving psychopath and you have a pretty heady mix.

So finds the story of Asylum, your place into a world of sexual obsession, violence and madness. Stella (Natasha Richardson) is wearily married to Max (Hugh Bonneville), a psychiatrist working in a 1950s hospital for the criminally insane. He is overbearing to the point of being monstrous (by modern standards), joking to her about her being his 'pet patient' whilst expecting her to be a no-brainer wife who says the right things when introduced socially. In the initial build up, Mackenzie let's us see the smouldering lust in the face of inmate Edgar, who's incarcerated for murdering and decapitating his wife in a jealous rage. Just as he did with his previous movie, "Young Adam," Mackenzie excels at portraying barely sublimated animal sensuality, which soon bursts across the screen in a way that is at once base and beautiful. Helen knows how insane Edgar is, and her feelings for him, but she is gradually drawn into his web of madness, together with her son.

"Asylum" is visually appealing with it's dank, grey tones This film has it's explosions of repressed sexuality that is frightening in its force and surprising in its ending. Scenes of violence and sexuality make "Asylum" a film not for everyone. The R rating is not to be taken lightly, but it is a do not miss for anyone interested in a powerfully intense film that plumbs the depths of the human psyche. Natasha Richardson is fantastic as an ignored woman with a desire to be desired that wreaks destruction.

Average customer rating:

a very bad screenplay
SUZHOU WILL GOING ONTO MY 100-BEST LIST
a visually compelling film
Wierd movie.
Haunting

Suzhou River
Starring: Xun Zhou , Hongshen Jia , Zhongkai Hua , Anlian Yao , and An Nai
Director: Ye Lou
Manufacturer: Strand Releasing
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So Close to Paradise
Purple Butterfly
The Blue Kite
Beijing Bicycle
Springtime In a Small Town

ASIN: B00005KCB5
Release Date: 2001-10-16

Customer Reviews:

a very bad screenplay .......2007-04-12

on a elementary school level. the narrator did even a worse job. shaky camera, bad storyline, boring scripted dialogs, terrible performance. trying very hard to be deep but turned out just too flat to get viewer like me connected.
maybe good for high school leveled students who'd fall more easily for such a deadbeat romance. a big yawn from a dirty river in china.

SUZHOU WILL GOING ONTO MY 100-BEST LIST.......2006-08-13

Other reviews say mostly what I'd say. I'll just say everything is miles above what I expected. The complexity of the characters and the many-layered script constantly surprised and drew me in and on. It's a complex, sophisticated film while still accessible and fascinating.

As a rabid movie collector I recommend this fine, amazing movie.
It could become a cult classic given enough exposure.

a visually compelling film.......2006-05-20

First, some geography. Suzhou River runs from the city of Suzhou (which I have visited several times) down through Shanghai (which I have also visited several times), where it forms the north border of the city's old commercial hub, the Bund. The opening sequence of the film is a strikingly accurate montage of Shanghai river life: filty water, lined with decaying old buildings in places, and peopled by poor boat and barge operators who live in small quarters on their rivercraft. This is the China not of glossy chic stores but of the gritty realities of industrialization and large-scale poverty.

Stylistically, the film employs "new cinema" techniques such as hand-held cameras and saturated reds and greens reminiscient of Wong Kar-Wai's use of color and composition. The movie is categorized, for lack of a better label, as "noir," as the grittiness, sleazy night life and depiction of low-life criminals harkens back to the film noir popular in the 1950s.

The core of the movie, however, is a well-used plot gimmick most famously explored by the Hitchcock classic "Vertigo": a question of identity. This is not to say that such derivative plots are bad--it's just that the treatment has to be fresh or we end up feeling that we've seen the film before. On top of this basic plot--is this beautiful young woman the girl who the bike messenger betrayed years before?--is layered another cinematic technique: the POV (point of view), in which the film is narrated by a low-end video producer. Indeed, we never see him, as the camera angle is POV throughout, e.g. we see what he sees, as if his eyes were the camera.

The narrator tells his own tale of meeting and falling into a relationship with the gorgeous young woman (Xun Zhou) who performs as a mermaid in a neon-lit bar for a living, and then introduces the story of the motorbike messenger and his doomed relationship with a teenaged girl who has a crush on him. For reasons which are left murky (shall we just call it slapdash?), the messenger gets involved in a kidnap/ransom scheme in which he kidnaps the girl. Once freed, she jumps into the Suzhou River and promptly disappears.

At this point, he turns the narration over to Mardar, the messenger, and retreats until the final reel in which he has Mardar beaten up as a rival for the affection of the beautiful young woman. Confused yet? The problem with the film isn't the complicated narrative and POV--it's that we don't believe the characters are real. They are players in a noir fairy tale of sorts, perhaps, but not real people with emotions we can grasp. Indeed, the lead actors and actress are expressionless.

Why did Mardar betray the girl who loved him? Did he have no other choice? It seems he had plenty of other options: escape with her, betray the crooks, etc. So having betrayed her, he seeks redemption through finding her again. But then when he apparently does find her, the couple is found dead in the Suzhou River: accident or suicide, we have no clue, but again it seems like a contrivance rather than something integral to the characters.

Equally improbably, we're told the beautiful woman leaves the narrator for days on end without explanation, and though this "drives him crazy," he never asks her about it, follows her, etc. The characters are strangely detached from real-life motivations, desires, and emotions. As a result, we are left with a certain dissatisfaction with characters whose internal traits and experiences do not seem consistent or "real." Contrast this with the characters in "Blue," who are at a minimum consistent with what we've been shown, and consistent with emotions and reactions we can understand.

Though "Suzhou River" is a visually compelling movie, with first-rate cinematography and technique, a noir assembly does not a character or film make.

Wierd movie........2005-09-08

I purchased this movie because it was directed by the same man who directed one of my favorite movies called Purple Butterfly. This movie, Suzhou River, was not near as good as Purple Butterfly but I like it. You can tell that it's the same director with it's rough editing and home movie style camera work. This movie would seem to be Ye Lou's first effort, being done on a very low budget. You can feel the heart put into this movie but it is far from a masterpiece. However, seeing where Ye Lou's films have gone from this point make me respect him even more, and in a strange way gives me a deep appreciation for this bizarre movie. I look forward to more films from this brilliant, and underappreciated, director.

Haunting .......2005-03-31

This movie also reminds me of Wong Kar Wai's work but it is more gritty, more quirky, and darker. Like Wong Kar Wai's films it manages to touch a place somewhere in between reality and fantasy that probably most of us have visited at some time but find difficult to express. Some of the shots and sequences while appearing rough, spontaneous and improvised are genuinely striking and even often beautiful. The cameos of life on the river and oblique suggestiveness of the mermaid sightings are brilliantly done. The film sucks you into a story where reality and fantasy intertwine with a sense of ultimate futility, helped by the alternately gamine and broody Zhu Xun. I have seen it twice and will probably see it several more times. It is difficult to forget a film like this.

Average customer rating:

A Film Well Worth Re-Visiting
beautiful portrait of a land, a nation and a family
One of my all-time favorites
Forget the Kleenex, get a towel
Vor aka Bop aka The Thief

The Thief
Starring: Vladimir Mashkov , Yekaterina Rednikova , Misha Philipchuk , Amaliya Mordvinova , and Lidiya Savchenko
Director: Pavel Chukhraj
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
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Burnt by the Sun
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ASIN: 0767831411
Release Date: 1999-04-27

Amazon.com

If you were a widow with a young boy in 1952 Russia, you might take up with a handsome army captain you met on a train. You both would need protection from this post-war world in disarray. And what more solid figure than this officer whose chest proudly displays a tattoo of Stalin? Only the officer is a charismatic but often cruel and despotic thief in disguise named Tolyan (Vladimir Mashkov). And the mother Katia (Ekaterina Rednikova), in love despite herself, and the 6-year-old Sanya (Misha Philipchuk), in wide-eyed adoration and fear, are stuck with a nomadic life that demands they relocate whenever their thief-protector's safety becomes chancy. This is the story as you experience it, told in voiceover years later by the boy, a romantic tale of challenged innocence as revisited by experience. And each frame, hazy and tinted with the erosion of memory, seems permeated with the distance between these two Sanyas.

That's the experiential story. But there's another one that holds up Tolyan as Stalin and the boy as the New Russia that must rid itself of the tyrant, and that story is so pat it seems dispensable. Luckily, director Pavel Chukhraj has an interesting enough visual imagination, and a keen ability to either discover or tease out engaging performances, that you can quietly shut out the easy political allegory. As played by Vladimir Mashkov, Tolyan amply translates to the audience the fascination he holds for young Sanya and his mother. In fact, all three performances hold the eye and the mind, belying any programmatic elements embodied by the allegorical plot. The Thief was a 1998 Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language film. --Jim Gay

Customer Reviews:

A Film Well Worth Re-Visiting.......2005-08-28

Pavel Chukhraj's award winning film THE THIEF is one of those special films that should be owned and revisited - like a favorite novel or poem or symphony. Chukhraj both wrote and directed this tale/fable set in Stalinist Russia, a story which encompasses the impact on a child of loss of a father in the war, the appalling living standards in the communes during the 1950s where multiple families and comrades shared space and survived the lack of privacy, and the extents to which people will go to survive what fate has dealt them and the sad sequelae that follow.

The story opens on the cold steppes of Russia where Katya (Yekaterina Rednikova) gives birth to a son Sanya (Misha Philipchuk) in the mud of a country in disrepair in 1946. Narrated by the adult Sanya we next see Katya and Sanya on board a train where they encounter a handsome soldier Tolyan (Vladimir Mashkov), a seemingly gentle man who immediately bonds with the two 'refugees'. The remainder of the story deals with the fact that Tolyan is a thief and causes disruptive moves of his 'family' as he plunges them deeper into the hole of his crimes. At times he is harsh with Sanja, at time he is protective and instructive as a surrogate father, teaching Sanya the cruel rules of survival. He is finally imprisoned, Katya dies from an infection following an abortion, and Sanya grows into his teen years in orphanages, dreaming of his real father, wondering about Tolyan. They two make a final surprise encounter that leads to the ending of the story.

The actors are exceptional, the supporting cast is particularly fine, and the cinematography and set designs are something beyond description. The eyes of Sanya (those of Misha Philipchuk) will haunt you and beckon return to this most impressive and touching film. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, August 05

beautiful portrait of a land, a nation and a family.......2004-07-18

The Thief is a story of a young boy who learns his lessons in manhood from a tough stepfather with a Stalin tatoo, a supposed military man who is really a thief.

The three principal characters, the mother, stepfather, and son, are very convincingly played.

The scenes of life in Russia in the 1950s, from the communual apartments to the bleak landscapes, are magnificent. And the story of this boy's life is compelling.

It's tragic in the classic Russian tradition, but a mesmerizing story and a nice example of quality modern Russian filmmaking.

One of my all-time favorites.......2004-02-14

This movie is one of my all-time favorites. However, I must say that the last very important scene was deleted in this version of the movie compared to the original Russian version. It is unfortunate since that scene changes the whole moral of the story.

Forget the Kleenex, get a towel.......2003-12-22

The allegory in this film of a Stalin/USSR that the child Sanja must defeat went right over my head. So if you're looking for a deep analysis of the directors' subliminal intentions, I can't help you there. But I can tell you that "The Thief" struck me as the most poignant human drama I've seen since "Gallipolli".

Briefly, a soldier's widow with a young son is won over by Tolya, a striking figure in a Red Army uniform which indeed does gaurd a tattoo of Stalin. Once the widow has learned of Tolya's habitual theft, along with his lack of remorse and empathy for others, she is already caught in his romantic spell. And Sanja, at first terrified of this new man in the family, gradually trusts him more and more. Especially for the innocent child, portrayed in awestruck wonder by Misha Philipchuk, this set-up bodes heartbreak.

And the film does not disappoint in that expectation. This is well visualized when an older Sanja, alone and desperate to find Tolya, stares in disbelief as the latter, finally found, doesn't recognize him and ridicules his salutation of "Daddy"...the very nickname the con-artist had insisted on during their days together.

The most innocent and trusting in this film are prey to those whose only desire is to please themselves....and to use the innocents for that purpose. But except for the child, the "innocent" are not blameless in the scenarios that ensue. Sanja's mother,Katje, sees many signs throughout first scenes of Tolya's true character, in his gruffness and cruelty to others, but she stays with him nonetheless, even to the point of jeapordizing her own life.

The device of using a child's eyes as a window to this tragedy works well in this film, emphasizing the difference between the imagined, idolized Tolyan and the real one: not only in his eyes, but in everyone's. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, although I did use a lot of Kleenex.

DVD Extras: trailer for film, subtitles in French, English & Spanish, scene breakdown.

Vor aka Bop aka The Thief.......2003-10-12

What gets me about this film is that most assume it`s about the Russian peoples relationship with Stalin. Yes, but that is just scratching the surface. It`s too easy an explanation and it`s wrong to assume that this movie is all about that because it does not explain the message of the movie entirely. More importantly, it is a movie of role models and how they affect us throughout our lives. For me, many people are lost today, they do not know who they are or what they are doing with their lives because their identity of who they are was never formed while growing up. One of the worst forms of child abuse, if not the worst, is to strip that identity or the chance to form that identity from a child. When it is not seen to fruition, everything else goes with it. Your soul, your will, is non-existent. When he shoots the thief he is in fact showing that. The fact that the thief was a bad man is irrelevant, all that matters is that he made an impression on the boy, showed him love and respect, and when he finds later on that the thief rejects him, the other end of the spectrum, which is symbolic of abuse growing up, he feels lost and feels he is 'nothing..nothing'. It`s all about love and how we cannot form into full human beings without being shown the path of love whether that path is bad or good. It`s like being told there is a treasure to be found and some are given a map and some maps are stolen from those who have them. It`s why kids are into ghetto rap despite the drug and gang focus. The message is not important, the identity is, so much so that they don`t care if they get killed. The id is more important as love and acceptance are important above all else.

Average customer rating:

Not So O Fantastic
Disappointing
'Two drifters, off to see the world' from "Moon River"
Psychosis and Sex

Two Drifters
Starring: Joao Pedro Rodrigues , Ana Cristina de Oliveira , and Nuno Gil
Manufacturer: Strand Releasing
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Broken Sky
Vacationland
A Love to Hide
Poster Boy
Shortbus (Unrated Edition)

ASIN: B000HOMSQI
Release Date: 2006-10-17

Product Description

Two lonely people careen through life following their individual experiences of loss: Rui, a handsome yound romantic, loses his lover Pedro on the day of their anniversary; Odete, as fetching as she is unstable, is abruptly dumped by her boyfriend after she broaches the subject of starting a family. Their lives collide when Odete becomes obsessed with Pedro, a man she never knew. Odete eventually loses all sense of self and Rui's reaction to her bizarre behavior leads to a truly transgressive climax, presided over by Pedro's ghost.

Customer Reviews:

Not So O Fantastic.......2007-05-16

The story of the girl who dumps the guy for not hunkering down is as old as the sun, but the way in which this girl, Odete (Ana Cristina de Oliveira), fills the void is strange and fresh. She is a supermarket rollergirl (does this job actually exist in Portugal?) who wants more from life, a better career, a wedding, and most importantly a baby. He's not interested so they split. From there Odete shows up at a funeral parlor with nothing but nefarious things on her mind and leaves deeply in love with the dearly departed Pedro. Soon after she begins to experience symptoms of pregnancy; morning sickness, enlarged belly, etc., and she is convinced that Pedro impregnated her from the grave. The pregnancy test says she isn't pregnant at all, but who has time for such small details? The other titular drifter, Rui, is not as much a focus of the film (The original Portuguese title is "Odete"). He truly was Pedro's lover as we see in the very first scene, before we know anything about these characters we know Rui and Pedro are in love. Those pronouncements of love, however, are followed by the deadly car wreck that sets the rest of the film in motion.

This film was a fairly ugly miss in my book. The plot doesn't make a whole lot of sense (although it doesn't feel like a puzzler) and the characters are horrible people and horribly sick. I'm sure director Joao Pedro Rodrigues was going for a meditation on loss but he actually came up with a nonsensical mind bender with some gay porn thrown in for whoever might be interested. She goes shopping and he goes cruising and I'm sure it is all very therapeutic for these characters but I'm just not sure what I'm supposed to get out of it. There is a lot of Christian symbolism hanging about, from crosses to immaculate conceptions to bloody palms but to what end? I obviously don't want everything spelled out for me, but whatever message was trying to be sent did not arrive here.

This is not to say that all is lost either. The opaque nature of the film is a positive in a lot of ways. If a character makes a face or a gesture it isn't dwelled upon or underlined, even if they aren't sitting in the center of the shot. Music doesn't just arrive to prod your emotions along either. Rodrigues has an eye for catching attention grabbing shots and the patience to hold them for longer than 3 seconds. There is also a strong performance by Oliveira as Odete. Her character is mostly a tragic one, but at times the pathetic nature of her is so overwhelming that the performance slides over into the comic territory. This is a woman, after all, who rejected her very real boyfriend and replaced him with an imaginary baby conceived by a man who she has never met and is now dead. That is her prerogative I suppose, but you will agree that it is a little strange. So while there are ideas here I just wish they would have been made a little louder and a little clearer. **

Disappointing.......2006-11-26

After seeing O FANTASMA, the first feature of Joao Pedro Rodrigues, I had high expectations for TWO DRIFTERS. Unfortunately, it did not deliver. There were numerous problems, an implausible storyline and frustrating characters chief among them. It meandered far too much and ultimately ended on a ridiculous note. I recall reading favorable reviews of this film and was anxious to buy the DVD. I doubt it will remain in my library - it just wasn't terribly engaging and suggests Joao Pedro Rodrigues took far too formulaic a path in constructing this work both substantively and dramatically. I also feel the development and rather dark transformations of his two leads seemed to follow the same trajectory as his lead character in O FANTASMA. It just didn't resonate with me.

'Two drifters, off to see the world' from "Moon River".......2006-10-30

Director João Pedro Rodrigues and writer Paulo Rebelo ('O Fantasma') collaborate again on this fascinating (if a bit frustrating) Portuguese film ODETE ('Two Drifters'). Together they have their own brand of surrealism and exploration of fantasies that seems to be developing into a smart new look for cinema. The very controversial 'O Fantasma' was dark and brooding, tearing open psyches like feral dogs along the slums of Portugal, whereas 'Two Drifters' is a work in the daylight that moves the concentration from men only to men and women - but the extremes of behavior are still in sharp focus.

The film opens with a very tender moment between handsome student Pedro (João Carreira) and his working boyfriend Rui (Nuno Gil): it is their anniversary but their individual obligations prevent them from spending more than a hasty goodbye, exchanging rings, and off goes Pedro in his car only to be killed in a crash. Devastated, Rui attends to Pedro and then to the horror of sitting by his casket during the wake before the funeral.

Flash into storyline two: the beautiful store skater Odete (Ana Cristina De Oliveira) lives with her lover Alberto (the hunky Carloto Cotta) but when she announces she would like to have a child, Alberto flees and Odete is left in depression over her plight. She just happens to be a neighbor of the recently dead Pedro and in her loneliness she attends Pedro's wake, follows the casket through the funeral and to the grave where she begins to obsess over the dead Pedro. She spends her time draped across his grave, fantasizes that she is pregnant by him and confronts Pedro's mother with the concept. She truly has pseudocyesis (false imagined hysterical pregnancy) and when it is an exposed condition she alters her appearance, cutting her hair and wearing Pedro's clothes and even convincing Pedro's mother to let her sleep in his bed. Ultimately Odete, now inhabiting the persona of Pedro, rejects Albert's return to her graces and instead enters into a bizarre arrangement with Rui.

The actors are all physically beautiful people, superbly cast to fit the models of the personalities of the story, and they manage to make this rather incredible tale credible. The film is rich in symbolism and metaphors, among them the title of the English version 'Two Drifters' - a phrase taken form the favorite fantasy song 'Moon River' that is the theme of Pedro's and Rui's relationship. There are some distorted sexual scenes and innuendoes that may be off-putting to some, but the inclusion works for the story. It is a tough little film but dazzling in its brave little way of taking chances, making us eager to see what João Pedro Rodrigues will do next! Grady Harp, October 06

Psychosis and Sex.......2006-10-19

Yet another gay-themed flick from the talented Portuguese director João Pedro Rodrigues. But whereas his previous effort (O FANTASMA, 2000) was dark, sexy (even pornographic, according to some), and creepily atmospheric, TWO DRIFTERS is bland, lacking in thematic coherence, and ultimately disappointing.

Because Rodrigues deals so much with dreams and sexual/psychotic fantasies in his work, one could potentially argue that the looseness of this particular film's narrative reflects its hidden themes and metaphors. But those themes and metaphors were already explored by Rodrigues in O FANTASMA, and better, so why bother with them again?

Without revealing too much of the plot, it should suffice to say that in TWO DRIFTERS, we see/follow the same basic premise as in O FANTASMA: a desperate human being (this time a woman) falls in love with a distant young man (this time he's distant because he's dead, not because he's unresponsive) and begins to exhibit the entire gamut of signs that any normal person out there will have no trouble diagnosing as sexual hysteria/obsession. She sleeps on top of the young man's grave, thinks she's pregnant with his baby, stalks his boyfriend (a guy with enough problems of his own), and, by the end, is almost entirely consumed by the dead young man's personality (she gets a haircut just like his; she starts wearing his old clothes; she fools his mother into letting her sleep in his bed, etc., etc., you get the idea).

Cinematically speaking, there is nothing breath-taking about this movie. Most scenes are long and repetitive; there is almost no nudity (which in the earlier film was a definite plus!); the acting is solid but not outstanding; the ending is annoyingly obscure (does she grow a male reproductive organ or something???); the juxtaposition of scenes is totally chaotic; the characters' behavior is totally unexplainable (one moment, they're getting laid, the other- they're slitting their wrists); the themes and metaphors (if there are any) are totally invisible (at least to this viewer), etc., etc.

If you want to satisfy your curiosity, rent it, but don't buy it: your money would be better spent on O FANTASMA.

Average customer rating:

Intimate Obsession
Jodie Fisher in a leading role

Intimate Obsession
Starring: Jodie Fisher , James Quattrochi , Richard Abbott (II) , Kristi Ducati , and Heather McTague
Director: Lawrence Unger
Manufacturer: Platinum Disc
ProductGroup: DVD
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Intimate Nights
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ASIN: B0000UHCLK
Release Date: 2002-12-03

Customer Reviews:

Intimate Obsession.......2007-05-07

Follows similar films of this nature, was a little dissoppointed with this film but I will have a better look the second time around.

Jodie Fisher in a leading role.......2003-06-11

I'm not sure anyone who wants to buy this movie is seriously looking for a well written script, but in case you want to know more of the "web of deceit and betrayal" as advertised on the back cover of the video tape, here's the plot. Rachel Taylor, played by Jodie Fisher, is the beautiful and neglected wife of a lawyer whose successful career is getting on a fast track. As Tom Taylor's busy schedule leaves Rachel so bored, she begins a torrid affair with Rick Simms, a boxing-contender-turned-sexy-bartender, while Tom is also having an affair with a buxom blondie named Laura (played by Kristi Scott of the "Bikini Carwash Company" series). Before long, Rachel discovers that Tom hired Rick to seduce her so he could get grounds for a divorce, so she sets out to turn the tables on him...

Customer Reviews:

I won't be Whole until I lose a limb........2007-04-05

Filmmaker Melody Gilbert's documentary about people who feel an obsessive desire to be an amputee. In most cases in this documentary, it is the left leg these people from all over the world wish they could cut off, or get rid of through surgery. One physician in Scotland actually performed two of these unprecedented surgeries. Runs about an hour.

Average customer rating:

A weak beginning for a good director.
TUFF LOV!
Companion To Eraserhead
beauty is skin deep... ugly goes all the way through

Boy Meets Girl
Starring: Denis Lavant , Mireille Perrier , Carroll Brooks , Elie Poicard , and Maïté Nahyr
Director: Leos Carax
Manufacturer: Fox Lorber
ProductGroup: DVD
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Mauvais Sang
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ASIN: B000059XTO
Release Date: 2001-04-10

Description

Leos Carax's (Pola X, Lovers on the Bridge) brilliant feature debut follows the relationship of an aspiring filmmaker (Denis Lavant), who has just been left by his lover and a suicidal young woman (Mireille Perrier), who is also reeling from a failed romance.

Customer Reviews:

A weak beginning for a good director........2006-01-14

I admire Leos Carax. How could one not admire a man so fixated on his grandiose ideas that he once bankrupted three producers and built a life-size replica of part of central Paris? At the same time, I confess that I don't so much like Boy Meets Girl, his first film. It leaves me with a feeling of dissatisfaction.

The protagonist, who looks exactly like Nick Cave, is an unemployed young man of ambiguous origins. He lives by himself in a small room somewhere in one of the shadier parts of Paris. When he gets tired of hearing the bickering of the couple next door, he skulks about the streets with his portable cassette player and glowers darkly. By chance, he comes across a depressed young woman named Mireille, and follows her to a party somewhere. He makes her acquaintance, they talk about their woes, and then he gets her to bring him home with her. Finally, disaster strikes and their romance is tragically cut short.

Mireille is also disturbed. She lives with a man who hates her and whom she despises. This situation is painful to her, and has presumably gone on for a long time. However, she shows no desire to change it, and continues to live in idleness, although her boyfriend is not so rich or successful as to be able to provide her with a luxurious existence. She is not married to him, and they have no children. It appears that she has never loved him at any point in time.

The film presents these facts without explaining or analyzing them. So, we learn that the protagonist wants to be a film-maker, although he has never actually made a film, and he does not really want to go through the process of making one. Similarly, we are told that Mireille wanted to be a model, but failed for some reason. We do not learn how they came to accept the lifestyles that they now lead, or even what they think about them. They make no attempts to justify themselves. Consequently, they come across as total ciphers.

Worse yet, both of them are incapable of empathy with each other, or with anyone else. When the main character has a chance to talk to the heroine, he talks about his suffering, argues that the woman should love him because she will eventually grow old and lose her good looks, and suggests that she could participate in a polyamorous relationship with him and his ex-girlfriend. Earlier, we learn that he has mistreated his ex-girlfriend, lied to her and even hit her, and that she has left him. He does not wonder whether she might have had good reason to do so. Mireille's troubles do not interest him either. But he does not even attempt to analyze his own feelings. It is impossible to understand what thoughts, objects and activities comprise his world. His apartment is totally bare. The only object in it is a typewriter that he doesn't use.

Mireille, likewise, is devoid of compassion for anyone other than herself. In depicting her, the film does not show her ever having a single kind thought. Her self-obsession, however, is lacking in self-awareness. She wallows in endless self-pity without really thinking about her life, or even acknowledging events and people around her. She is unwilling to do so. The film gives no plausible explanation for what might have driven her to such a state. Because of this, it is difficult to take her angst seriously.

And, since the film revolves exclusively around the angst of the protagonists, that means that there is nothing else to engage the viewer's own empathy. The viewer is left to wonder, uncharitably, whether the main characters are not merely engaging in such strange behaviour to be fashionable, there being no apparent cause for it in their lives. As the tagline of the film is "love without regrets," this was probably not the director's intention.

In addition, the dialogue is badly written. Carax's later film Lovers On The Bridge is much stronger and more believable in this regard. Here, the characters talk into space, not to each other. With each thing they say, the film becomes progressively more detached from reality. The plot device used to separate the main characters in preparation for the tragedy is especially silly. When Mireille leaves the party and takes the protagonist along, he has to stop somewhere to use the restroom, and then becomes engrossed in an arcade game for no apparent reason, so Mireille gets tired and leaves without him. Carax dwells on the arcade game for longer than necessary. He's not alone there, though. Such acclaimed directors as Wim Wenders and Chris Marker were also unduly fascinated by eighties technology.

To top it all off, the film isn't particularly visually interesting. Certainly it pales in comparison to Carax's own later films. The blurb on the cover says something about "night scenes in Paris," but there are almost no such scenes. Most of the film takes place indoors, in generic-looking apartments and kitchens. Despite Carax's love of the French New Wave, his camera here is boring and static. There are just a couple of Godard-style jump cuts, awkwardly placed. But it's not that he doesn't have a voice of his own. He just hadn't found it yet by this point.

The one scene here that works perfectly is the one where the protagonist overhears his ex-girlfriend talking in bed with her new boyfriend. Not only is it realistic, in contrast with the overwrought monologues that comprise most of the script, but it suddenly makes the protagonist's angst more comprehensible. Surely any man who overheard a woman he loved saying such things would feel just about the same way. Still, I think that the film is weak on the whole, and that Carax's next two films are far superior in both style and content.

TUFF LOV!.......2002-06-18

This bizarre, graphic and ultimately very moving journey through love's little foibles is brilliantly realized by auteur LEOS CARAX. In some ways a 'throwback' to the glorious days of Alain Resnais - superbly photographed and deliberately paced to draw the viewer [voyeur?] into the lives of our loving couple. Carax later works disappoint slightly, but let's face it he never is quite as boring as the other 'would be's"!

If you yearn for a good moody art movie - get this one!

Then explore the beginnings of this movement!

Companion To Eraserhead.......2001-09-10

I have finally found a film to view alongside David Lynch's Eraserhead! This film shot in Black and White has the same grotesque abnormalities of Eraserhead, as well as the deadpan humor. The characters are shape much the same way, lonely but lovable in that they deal with life's uncertainties and love that has failed or been lost.

Bountiful with all the Lynchian eccentricities that, either you'll find yourself understanding them or you just won't! The film, is playful in much the same way as early French New Wave but thought provoking and with a sense of muted charisma. This film will definitely take more that a one-time viewing to really get any thing out of it due to emotions flying high and low throughout. The shots of Paris at night are truly remarkable in that the warmth of the wet streets can almost be touched ,walked, and perhaps even a slight aroma can be imagined. The "you are there" surroundings seem like a heated dream you are about ready to wake up from. A surreal moment in modern french cinema or rather a filmed performance piece with textures abound. Watch with the intent of being a fly on the wall and you may experience certain particles of your life appear before your very eyes. ...

beauty is skin deep... ugly goes all the way through.......2001-05-22

On the surface, Boy Meets Girl is a beautifully shot film... sort of a classic film noir meets French new wave. But scratch off the artistic cosmetics and this is one ugly boring waste of time. Lots of pretentious babble and angst. Unlikable characters and a plot so uninteresting, I just wanted to hit the fast-forward button. Leos Carax has some talent and smarts (check out Pola X and Les Amants du Pont Neuf) but this ranks up there as a throw-away.

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

Best of the Web (Vol. 2)

Dragnet

Talk to Her [2002] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: Straw Dogs - Criterion Collection

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