From: plragde@maytag.uwaterloo.ca (Prabhakar Ragde)
Subject: September Princess reviews
Originator: plragde@maytag.uwaterloo.ca
Organization: University of Waterloo
Distribution: kw
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 15:57:03 GMT

Here are my recommendations for the September programme at the Princess. I
will continue to do this monthly unless someone objects.
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Films not previously reviewed:

Hair: The quintessential '60's rock musical, made into a movie... in
1979, by a Czech expatriate director, Milos Forman. It's wonderful.
Really. Much better than anyone would have expected.

Masala: A talented young East-Indian-Canadian wrote, directed, and
starred in this film about alienation among first-generation
immigrants. A little undisciplined at times, but inventive and
striking. A must-see for expats, and well worth it for descendants of
United Empire Loyalists.

Manhattan: One of Woody Allen's best and fullest films, though you
will now have to boo when he first appears on screen...

Persona: Great Bergman film focussing on the tortured relationship
between two women. Warning: the screen is nearly white for the last
fifteen minutes and you may not be able to read some crucial
subtitles. Fortunately, the screenplay is available in the Arts
Library.

Incident at Oglala: Apted directed the fictional Thunderheart; here's
the real story, how the FBI declared war on the American Indian
Movement and framed one of its leaders for murder; he was extradited
from Canada on the strength of fake affadavits and remains a political
prisoner. See the film and then read Peter Mathiessen's excellent "In
The Shadow of Crazy Horse", which provides the background to the whole
story and for the people interviewed in the film.

The Party: Peter Sellers runs his East Indian accent into the ground
in this hilarious Blake Edwards film. High art it ain't.

Edward Scissorhands: A fable set in modern suburbia, with Johnny Depp
and Winona Ryder as lovers from different worlds. Interesting vision;
not a bad try, but still too treacly for my taste.

Tommy: Ken Russell pulls out all the stops, as usual; a great,
sprawling mess of a movie. Wait for Quadrophenia.

Prospero's Books: By deciding to stick to parts of Shakespeare's text
for The Tempest, Peter Greenaway has reined in the more grotesque and
excessive parts of his artistic psyche. But there's plenty of
gratuitous weirdness, made palatable by some high-tech video wizardry.
A visual treat, and an aural treat, as John Gielgud speaks most of the
lines. Still too long by half.

South of Wawa: Another low-budget Canadian movie with Northern soul.
Think of it as American Graffiti written by PeeWee Herman and set in
Northern Ontario. Worthwhile.

Quadrophenia: One of the highlights of the Who's career, turned into a
fine film by Franc Roddam. Recommended.

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Reviewed earlier:

Howard's End: Howard's End: Impeccable pedigree -- novel by E.M.
Forster, production by Ismail Merchant, direction by James Ivory,
screenplay by Ruth Praver Jhabvala, great performances by Emma
Thompson, Helena Bonham Carter, and Vanessa Redgrave. But I found
myself curiously uninvolved by this story of class frictions in
Victorian England, and I'd be willing to bet some crucial nuances have
been lost in the translation to film. Still recommended.

Raise the Red Lantern: The third film by Zhang Yimou, director of Red
Sorghum and Ju Dou. Zhang's control over colour, composition, and
pacing is impressive; he avoids the excesses and imbalances of his
earlier films (which were still wonderful) and gives us a near-perfect
film. One quarter of the world cannot see this film, so exercise your
privilege! Highly recommended.

Europa: NOW magazine's John Harkness writes, "Europa shows that it is
still possible to be mouth-gapingly amazed by the power of cinema,"
and gives it five out of five; the Globe and Mail gave it four out of
four. This is my choice for best film of 1991 (of the fifty-odd films
I saw). Set in an alternate postwar Germany, this film features strong
performances and stunning cinematic technique. A must for all lovers
of cinema; a recent second viewing confirmed my initial impression.

Highway 61: Roadkill with a bigger budget: a shaggy dog story. This
reinforces my view that Bruce MacDonald would be nothing without Don
Kellar. I hope it's just a sophomore jinx.

Toto Le Heros: Not to be missed. Great structure, entertaining, very
solid. This is a fairly conservative film, nothing too inaccessible.
If this were in English and from Hollywood it would have been a smash
hit here.

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Not seen, but positively reviewed elsewhere:

The Waterdance

35 Up (Apted continues the remarkable exploration of the lives of his
British subjects at seven year intervals; 28 Up was great.)

Monster In A Box

Titicut Follies

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Not seen, but negatively reviewed elsewhere:

Far and Away

Basic Instinct

-- 
Prabhakar Ragde                             plragde@maytag.waterloo.edu
Associate Professor, Computer Science            DC 2119, (519)888-4660
University of Waterloo                 Waterloo, Ontario CANADA N2L 3G1

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