Boxoffice-Febuary.1998

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February. 1998 (11-9) 51
TELLURIDE REVIEWS
AFFLICTION
•••1/2
Starring Nick Nolle, Sissy Spacek,
James Coburn and Willem Dafoe. Directed
and written by Paul Schrader. Produced
by Linda Reisman. Drama. A Largo
release. Rated R for violence and language.
Running Time: 114 min.
"Affliction" is writer/director Paul
Schrader' s engrossing adaptation of the
novel by Russell Banks ("The Sweet Hereafter").
Wade Whitehouse (Nick Nolte) is
the sole policeman in a small economicallydepressed
town in New Hampshire. He is
reduced to being a school crossing guard
and doing odd jobs for a rich businessman.
The emptiness of Wade's life is reflected in
the film's desolate and snowy landscapes.
When a man is killed while hunting.
Wade believes the man was murdered. Like
Sylvester Stallone's character in "Cop-
Land," Wade hopes that solving the murder
will redeem his wasted life.
Nolte, in peak form in one of the best
performances of his career, is supported by a
top cast. Schrader' s screenplay creates a complex
web of relationships, and his direction
maintains an acute tension as Wade struggles
to prevent his resentment at life from
exploding into the family cycle of violence.
"Affliction" is a gripping story that puts a new
spin on familiar Schrader themes of mascuhnity,
fate and retribution. Ed Scheid
MEN WITH GUNS ^^^1/2
Starring Frederico Luppi. Directed and
written by John Sayles. Produced by R. Paul
Miller and Maggie RenzL A Sony Classics
release. Drama. Spanish-language/dialects;
subtitled. Rated R for language and some
violent images. Running time: 128 min.
Like "Lone Star" and "City of Hope,"
writer/director John Sayles' latest film uses a
variety of characters to explore different sides
of a conflict. "Men with Guns" takes place in
the violent disorder of Central Amenca Dr.
Fuentes (Frederico Luppi, "Cronos") is nearing
retirement from a comfortable practice in
the city. He considers his greatest "legacy" to
be the students he trained to be doctors in the
remote and poor areas of his country. He is
naive about the reality of the poUtical situation
in his country and unaware of the danger into
which he has sent his students. He has not
heard from them so he decides to visit them.
Instead of his soidents, he finds poverty, brutality
and death. People are being murdered
by "men with guns," both the military and
guerrillas. Fuentes is joined on his journey by
an abandoned boy (Dan Rivera Gonzalez), an
army deserter (Damian Delgado), a priest
(Damian Alcazar) trying to run away from his
past, and a woman (Tania Cruz) who has not
spoken since she was raped three years before.
Luppi and the supporting cast give very
affecting performances. After some repetitious
sequences at the beginning of the
doctor's trip, the film builds to some extremely
moving scenes showing the destruction
of the native people from all sides.
In the characters the doctor meets along the
way, Sayles' screenplay effectively shows the
range of people affected by the violent turmoil
in Latin America. Ed Scheid
LOVE AND DEATH ON LONG
ISLAND •^^
Starring John Hurt and Jason Priestly.
Directed and written by Richard Kwietniowski.
Produced by Steve Clark-Hall
and Christopher Zimmer. A CFP release.
Comedy. Rated PG-13for briefstrong language,
thematic elements and some sexual
content. Running time: 91 min.
Giles Death (John Hurt) is a stuffy British
writer who thinks he's going to the latest
screen adaptation of E. M. Forster, but enters
the wrong theater, which is showing the
American teenage comedy "Hot Pants College
II." Horrified, he gets up to leave, but
is transfixed when he sees the face of one
of the actors, Ronnie (Jason Priestly). He
stays for the rest of the movie and becomes
infatuated with the young actor. He begins
keeping a scrapbook from teen magazines
on Ronnie, and rents any and all videos
featuring the actor, the clips from which are
enjoyably overdone. When Giles seeks
Ronnie out in Long Island, his quest has
unexpected consequences for both men.
It's a tribute to Hurt's immense acting
talent that he can make Giles both sympathetic
and ridiculous. Priestly is also enjoyable
as he amusingly spoofs his own teen
idol image. — Ed Scheid
LEA **••
Starring Lenka Vlasakova, Christian
Redl and Hanna Schygulla. Directed and
written by Ivan Fila. Produced by Ivan
Fila and Herbert Rimbach. Drama.
Slovak and German-language; subtitled.
No distributor set. Running time: 100 min.
A remarkable first feature from writer/director
Ivan Fila, "Lea" is about a young
woman (Lenka Vlasakova) in rural
Slovakia who stopped speaking when she
was a young girl, when her mother was
killed by her abusive father. A further demonstration
of her trauma is the daily letters
and poems she writes to her dead mother.
Lea is purchased for an arranged marriage
by Herbert (Christian Redl), a much older
man, because she resembles his dead wife.
Her new husband has some disturbing simi
larities to her father, causing Lea to become
even more withdrawn. But after a woman
(Hanna Schygulla) translates some of Lea's
writings for Herbert, their relationship begins
to change. The two leads give performances
showing a wide range of emotions.
Vlasakova is exceptional, especially when
Lea struggles to force words through her
long-silent mouth. Ed Scheid
PERFECT CIRCLE iriri^ir
Starring Mustafa Nadarevic. Directed
by Ademir Kenovic. Written by Ademir
Kenovic, Abdulah Sidran and Pjer Zalica.
Produced by Sylvain Bursztejn, Dana
Rotberg and Peter van Vogelpoel. Drama.
Serbo-Croatian-language; subtitled. No
distributor set. Running time: 109 min.
"Perfect Circle" was shot in Sarajevo
during the Bosnian war, giving the film an
extremely powerful realism in its depiction
of the details of life in the ravaged city.
Hamza (Mustafa Nadarevic) remains in
Sarajevo after his wife and daughter have
left. He finds two orphaned boys and takes
care of them, calling them "my new family."
Naderic and the two young actors create
touching characterizations through their
natural performances. Director Kenovic has
shot several highly suspenseful scenes as
the characters dodge sniper bullets and risk
death from outside bombardments. "Perfect
Circle" is a memorable film about the struggle
to survive amid constant danger. Ed Scheid
SIMOOM: A PASSION IN THE
DESERT iKi^ir
Starring Ben Daniels. Directed by Lavinia
Currier. Written by Lavinia Currier
and Martin Edmunds. Produced by Lavinia
Currier. A Fine Line release. Drama.
Not yet rated. Running Time: 92 min.
Set in Egypt in 1798, this screenplay
(co-written by director/producer Lavinia
Currier) is based on a novella by Honore de
Balzac and tells the story of a unique relationship.
Augustin Robert (Ben Daniels,
"Beautiful Thing"), a captain in Napoleon's
Egyptian campaign, is separated from his
regiment by a sandstorm, and finds himself
alone in the desert. In the darkness of a cave,
Augustin sees a pair of eyes and is horrified
to reaUze they belong to a leopard—who later
leads him to water and shares her kill. Soon,
Augustin and the leopard become close
companions. Daniels brings a strong physicality
to his part as Augustin, as he begins
to adapt his posture and movements to that
of the leopard, which he has named Simoom
("breath of the desert"). Daniels also
conveys the soldier's growing emotional
attachment to the leopard. The simple plot
sustains interest as the unusual relationship
takes some surprising turns. Ed Scheid
UNMADE BEDS iririrV2
Starring Brenda Monte, Michael De
Stefano and Aimee Copp. Directed and
written by Nicholas Barker. Produced by
Steve Wax. Comedy. No distributor set.
Not yet rated. Running time: 97 min.
Writer/director Nicholas Barker prepared
for his bigscreen directorial debut by
viewing videotaped interviews of several
New York City singles. Barker chose four
leads from the tapes and based his script on
their comments and unfolding events in
their lives, blurring documentary and fiction
into an entertaining hybrid. Brenda
(Brenda Monte) is looking for a rich man to
her mounting debts. Michael (Michael
Eay
•e Stefano), short and 40, desperately
wants to get married. Aimee (Aimee Copp) is
28, overweight and has just been "dumf)ed by
a submissive." At 54, Mikey (Michael
Russo) has lost his touch with women. The
four "characters" talk to friends and directly
to the camera about their experiences being
single. Their candid comments are often
quite funny. Michael and Aimee are unex-
Cectedly poignant as the two people ever
opeful of eventually finding a mate.
Brenda is hilarious—her cynical wit reveals
her to be the ultimate survivor. Ed Scheid