The French make the best convoluted suspense dramas out there for the simple reason that they develop characters before they develop story. This Claude Miller directed film is about a woman (Sandrine Kiberlain) who replaces a kidnapped son of a prostitute for the one she lost. Using multiple narrative strands the film goes in many directions but all comes together beautifully.
Bowling for Columbine
Michael Moore has done it again. He takes half truths, blows them up and makes them into entertainment - or is it infotainment? The doc is a success simply because it brings up so many debatable points; the most significant being why are Americans more violent than other western countries? Moore goes all around the country and interviews a wide variety; from kids in Michigan to rocker Marlyn Manson to Charleton Heston. The whole premise is diffuse like a shotgun blast.
Children of the Century
This mediocre costume drama by Diane Kruys stars Julliette Binoche as George Sand and Benoit Magimel as Alfred de Musset. It's like a French 19th century Sid & Nancy with neither bite nor bile.
Derrida
One good thing comes out of this turgid documentary and it's when Derrida (a major philosopher who helped define deconstructionism) looks at the camera and says something like: "this isn't me on camera, this is not the way I live my life.." He points out how much documentaries are really just another form of fiction. The rest of the film combines a voice-over of his writings (by a woman) and Derrida talking about everything from love to death.
Merci Pour le Chocolat
Excellent film by Claude Chabrol in which Isabelle Huppert (again) plays a less than savory newly wed to a concert pianist (the heavy lidded Jacques Dutronc) and begins to slowly kill him and everyone else (or does she?) with warm drug-laden milk. The whole film has very subtle suspense with a psychological twist.
Real Women Have Curves
This first full length feature by Patrica Cordosa rises above its formulaic trappings with a very good cast and some frequently funny scenes. It's basically an ugly ducking story crossed with a culture clash drama. The film has some lapses in dramatic logic including a scene where a bunch of women in a sweat shop take off their clothers and compare their wide hips. It works because we laugh.
Secretary
I had to try to explain this film to a Middle Easterner and it wasn't easy so I'll just say that Maggie Gyllenhaal gives a fine performance as a sad sack secretary who is so in need of a controlling father figure and a lover that she lets her boss - played by James Spader - spank her and masterbate on her posterior (rump) as a form of punishment for typing errors she has made on his legal briefs.
Sex and Lucia
I still can't figure out why this is called 'Sex and Lucia' when it could just as easily be called, 'Sex, The Tortured Writer and The Phallic Tower.' Anyway, Lucia plays a small part in this tale of sex, confusion, birth, death and sandy beaches. Directed by Julio Medem this is a festival film par excellence.
Trials of Henry Kissinger
Is Henry Kissinger a war criminal? This is the simple question that this documentary (based in part on Christopher Hitchen's book) asks. And the short answer is, "Yes!" From Vietnam to East Timor to Chile he was involved in many underhanded political moves. But will he every really go to trial? Probably not. Stay tuned.
