Boxoffice-June.1995

REVIEWS
WIGSTOCK: THE MOVIE
•••
Stfiniiig RiiPfiiil, Ilic Ladij Biiiiiiij,
Lijpsiiika and Dccc.-Litc.
Directed by Bmiy Shils. Produced by
Dean Sih'ers and lilarlin Hecht.
A Goldwyn release. Vnrated. Documentary.
Running time: 92 min.
This campy, entertaining film features
selected performances from the 10th annual
iteration of New York City's (in)famous
Wigstock festival, touted as "the
Super Bowl of Drag." A transvestite takeoff
on Woodstock— but "without all the
bad hair"— Wigstock has (along with wigs
of every hue and style) enough sequins,
rhinestones, feathers, eyelashes and high
heels to accouter all of Las Vegas. Piecing
together interviews of the colorful participants
with footage of them rehearsing
and performing, documentarian Barry
Shils provides a voyeur's paradise of
cross-dressers decked out to the nines.
Besides the visual excitement provided
by the costumes of some of the country's
top female/male impersonators, there's
an abundance oftalent being showcased.
RuPaul, self-proclaimed "Supermodel
of the World," and the dance group Deeelite
are among the top acts. Additional
performances come from the
event's
emcee. The Lady Bunny, and from the
likes of Mistress Formika, Lypsinka,
Alexis Arquette, Jackie Beat and Crystal
Waters. Joey Arias is particularly compelling
as Billie Holliday, belting out vocals
that bring to life that soulful jazz
singer. Other highpoints: Mistress
Formika's bawdy rap number, "You've
Got to Fight forVour Right to Be Gay,"
spinning off the Beastie Boys hit; and the
hilarious Dueling Bankheads singing
"Born to the Wild." A few of the acts,
however, are comparatively unsuccessful,
and the film's production values are
a little rough in places.
Filmed at two Manhattan locations
(Thompson Square Park and the Christopher
Street piersj, "Wigstock: The Movie"
isn't for all audiences. But for many viewers
this musical celebration of "life, love
and lipstick" will prove to be an eyeopening
experience. —Pflf Kramer
THE POSTMAN ic-k-k-k
Starring Massimo Troisi, I'hilippc
Noiret and Maria Graza Cucinotta.
Directed by Micliacl Radford. Written
by An}ia Pavigfiano, Micliael Radford,
Furio Scarpelli, Giacomo ScarpcUi and
Massimo Troisi. Produced by Mario &
Vittorio Gecchi Gori and Gactano Dauiele.
A Miramax release. Drama. In Italian
with subtitles. Not yet rated. Running
time: 115 min.
A charmingly Iragranl houiiuet that
slowly warms you like a Hask of fine
wine, "II Postino" marks the final performance
of Massimo Troisi. The Italian
star literally gave his life to get this adaptation
of Antonio Skarmcta's novel
"Burning Patienc:e" onscreen; Troisi died
the morning after filming ended.
The story follows exiled Chilean
poet/diplomat Pablo Neruda (Philippe
Noiret), who in 1952 takes refuge in an
Italian village with wife Matilde (Anna
Bonaiuto). A layabout named Mario
(Massimo Troisi) who doesn't want to
follow in his family's fisherman tradition
becomes Neruda's personal mailman. A
friendship grows between the two as
Mario becomes interested in the complexities
of poetry, particularly as a
means to wooing the village's prettiest
young woman, Beatrice (Linda Moretti).
In Cyrano-like fashion, Mario uses
Neruda's verses and then the man himself
to capture the woman of his dreams.
A British director making an Italian
film seems oxymoronic, but the instinctive
rapport of Michael Radford ("White
Mischief) with his material and actors
transcends country and culture to create
a winning romance of opposites attracting:
the poet and the postman, the postman
and the beauty. Using generous
spoken stretches of Neruda's more sensual
works, the actors and montage imagery
show how metaphoric language
can transform the lives of even the least
educated. Not only the directing and acting,
but also the gently witty dialogue and
snatches of a lilting harmonica score by
Luis Enrique Bacalov create an involving
rhythm to match the human poetry.
Though trimming of the last half-hour
would lend the climax an even greater
emotional punch, the shock of the tragic
finale still gives the movie as a whole a
bittersweet overlay. — Michael Lightcap
PANTHER ••1/2
Staning Kadccm Hanison, Courtney
Vance and Marcus Chong.
Directed by Mario Van Peebles. Written
by Melvin Van Peebles. Produced
by Melvin & Mario Van Peebles.
A Gramcrcy release. Drama. Rated R
for stjong violence and language. Running
time: 124 min.
For those viewers who know the history
of the Black Panther Movement—
which began in Oakland, Calif in 1966 in
response to the harassment and violence
suffered by the black community at the
hands of local police— and its leaders,
"Panther" will undoubtedly strike a deep
chord. For those with scant knowledge
who want to learn about that period, the
film will prove disappointing,
A (fictional) rank-and-file member of
the organization, Judge (well played by
Kadeem Harrison) is a college-educated
Vietnam veteran whose initial skepticism
about joining is overcome by Panther
founders Huey Newton (Marcus
Chong) and Bobby Scale (Courtney
Vance). At Newton's request, Judge becomes
an informant for the police. (FBI
head J. Edgar Hoover lab('ts the group
Public Enemy #1.) As a double; agent,
.ludge's life is endangered not only by the
police but by Panth(;r members who suspect
he's in league with the autlioritics.
The film hits highlights of Panther
chronology but doesn't offer sufficient exposition
for the uninitiated. The introduction
of school-lunch programs and
sickle-cell anemia testing, the rift wth
Eldridge Cleaver, Newton's arrest and
Hoover's obsession with neutralizing the
group all pass by with giddying speed.
Though the film appropriately emphasizes
the movement as a whole, it fails to
fully develop its characters. To succeed
on its terms, a film like "Panther" should
not preach to the converted; it should
show the uninformed a different world
and sensibility.— /e«M Oppenheimei-
THE ENGLISHMAN WHO
WENT UP A HILL BUT CAME
DOWN A MOUNTAIN ki^icir
Staning Hugh Grant, Tara Fitzgerald
and Colm Meancy.
Directed and written by Christopher
Monger. Produced by Sarah C'lutjs.
A Miramax release. Comedy. Not yet
rated. Running time: 98 min.
Bearing all the marks of a fairy tale—
though presented as (embellished) fact—
this film strikes a mannered pose while
acting blase about serious, even dire, elements
just beneath the surface, in the
same way that Hansel and Gretel matterof-factly
wedge the witch into the oven
without further comment. Based on a
story told to writer/director Christopher
Monger by his grandfather, the movie
opens in war-weary 1917 with the arrival
of two Englishmen (Hugh Grant and Ian
McNeice) in a quiet Welsh village. It's
immediately apparent that there are cultural
differences afoot, leaving the villagers
free throughout to make entertaining
jokes at the expense of the newcomers.
The purpose of the interlopers is to measure
the (for them) unpronounceable elevation
hard by the village: If it's taller
than 1,000 feet, it will win official designation
as a mountain, but if it's under it
will be unceremoniously downgraded to
a hill. The ever-precise English find it 16
feet short of 1,000, prompting the outraged
but wily villagers to hatch a
scheme to keep the limeys in town long
enough for the height to be raised and
remeasured. The title says the rest.
It's a nice twist on a proven formula,
and all the reliable stock characters are
represented: the lascivious but wellmeaning
innkeeper (Colm Meaney), the
irascible elderly minister (the outstanding
Kenneth Griffith, last seen harassing
Hugh Grant in "Four W(!ddings and a
Funeral"), the good-hearted local tart
(Tara Fitzgerald), along with assorted eccentrics.
If the film belongs to anyone,
though, it's Grant (who's always a pleasure
to watch) and c:inematographer Vernon
Layton, whose top-shelf work
manages to hint at the surnnniding darkness
of wartime with compositions that
deftly combine the comic and the ominous
elements of Mong(M''s well-layered
screenplay. — Esfc/; \'agy
R-48 BOXOFFLCK