Mini-Reviews from the 1991 SIFF
Film reviews by Bruce Atherton
Copyright 1991 Bruce Atherton
I've been going through serious withdrawal from lack of seeing a film festival (Vancouver's is in August). I could have gone to Melbourne for the film festival there, but I opted to drive the three hours to Seattle instead, and I spent the weekend seeing seven movies.
Here is what I caught. A rating based on four stars follows each micro-review.
HERMAN (Norway) - D:Erik Gustavson. Anders Danielsen Lie, Elisabeth Sand, Bjorn Floberg, Linn Aronsen, Jarle Kulle. This is a movie about a young 11-year-old boy who is going bald, and how he deals with it. It reminded me a lot of MY LIFE AS A DOG, but this character is much more interesting. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this movie. ***1/2.
TWENTY-ONE (Great Britain) - D:Don Boyd. Patsy Kensit, Jack Shepherd, Patrick Ryecart, Rufus Sewell, Sophie Thompson. Katie is 21 years old in New York. Addressing the camera, she explains the events which took place in England that caused her to leave. This reminded me a little of SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT. Patsy Kensit is marvelous in the lead, straightforward and humorous. ***.
(World Premiere) CROOKED HEARTS (U.S.A.) - D:Michael Bortman. Vincent D'Onofrio, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Peter Coyote, Peter Berg, Cindy Pickett. A movie about members of a family that are all a bit too dependent on one another. I love Peter Coyote as an actor but here his character is very flat so there is not much he can do with it. Of the others, only the narcoleptic daughter was very interesting. I think the lead (Peter Berg) was terribly miscast. His voice-over put me in mind of BLADERUNNER (yes, that bad). *1/2.
THE BORROWER (U.S.A.) - D:John McNaughton. Rae Dawn Chong, Tom Towles, Don Gordon, Antonio Fargas. I love campy humour, so I was looking forward to a movie about an alien criminal sentenced to Earth who has to steal the heads from people and wear them in order to survive. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of camp here, just lots of blood and guts and gore and veins in the teeth. If you find blood funny, maybe you'll like this movie. I didn't. 1/2.
BLOOD OATH (PRISONERS OF THE SUN) (Australia) - D:Stephen Wallace. Bryan Brown, George Takei, Terry O'Quinn, John Bach. The credits said BLOOD OATH, the programme said PRISONERS OF THE SUN. Whichever title this movie is released under, go see it. It is a very moving drama about prosecuting Japanese for war crimes on a little island called Ambon just after WWII. Out of 1100 Australian prisoners, only 300 survived over a two-year period. A fascinating look at justice and how little there is in a war, this was nominated for nine Australian Film Institute Awards. ****.
(World Premiere) RUBIN AND ED (U.S.A.) - D:Trent Harris. Crispin Glover, Howard Hesseman, Karen Black, Michael Greene. This was my favorite movie of the weekend, but then I like some pretty strange things. This movie is one of the stranger ones. Rubin (Crispin Glover) loves his cool mod-striped bell-bottoms, his enormous platform shoes, and his dead cat that he keeps in his refrigerator until he can find the perfect place to bury it. His mother (whom he lives with) doesn't think he is social enough, so she takes away his privileges until he brings home a friend for supper.
Ed (Howard Hesseman) is a loser trying to make good in a Zig Zeigler-type self-help program. He has to bring in someone to a seminar to prove his worthiness. If ever two characters were destined to meet, it's these two. I won't mention what comes next except to say that if you like bizarre, you'll love this movie like I did. Crispin Glover spoke afterward and he seems every bit as weird in person as on screen. ****.
(World Premiere) STAN AND GEORGE'S NEW LIFE (Australia) - D:Brian McKenzie. Paul Chubb, John Bluthal, Julie Forsyth, Margaret Ford. This is a light, sweet, funny, and harmless movie. It is about a 40-year-old barber who decides he needs a new career and joins the Weather Bureau. He hopes to meet a girl so that he can get married and move out of his parent's home, and sure enough he meets a woman named George, a kindred spirit. The characters are all interesting and the movie has some good laughs. It manages to be touching without being sloppily sentimental. **1/2.
That's what I've seen so far. I may be going again next weekend, I enjoyed it so much. -- atherton@unixg.ubc.ca Bruce_Atherton@mindlink.bc.ca
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