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9<br />
Schrader and comedy—that<br />
ExplOitips:<br />
seems an unlikely pair. But the fact that the<br />
filmmaker was able to assemble such an intriguing<br />
actor corps suggests an equally intriguing<br />
project. Certain similarities to two<br />
earlier Travolta titles ("Phenomenon" and<br />
"Michael") could dilute audience interest in<br />
another paranormal project, but savvy exhibitors<br />
can counterbalance this via bookstore<br />
tie-ins to highlight the Leonard connection.<br />
The Designated Mourner<br />
Told in direct address to the camera, this<br />
drama examines the lives of three characters<br />
whose lives are intimately intertwined.<br />
Jack (David de Keyser), an average student,<br />
suddenly discovers himself considered one<br />
of the cultural elite after he marries Judy<br />
("Kansas City's" Miranda Richardson),<br />
whose father (Mike Nichols) is a poet revered<br />
by the intelligentsia but held in disfavor<br />
by an increasingly repressive regime.<br />
As the political and military situation deteriorates<br />
and violence spreads through his<br />
country's society. Jack realizes their ivorytower<br />
life is a prison. David Hare ("Skylight")<br />
directs, as he did the stage version<br />
by scripter Wallace Shawn ("My Dinner<br />
With Andre"); Donna Cray and David Hare<br />
produce. (First Look, late Feb.)<br />
Exploitips: Among the literary/stage crowd,<br />
"The Designated Mourner" will be a presold<br />
item, thanks to a successful run at London's<br />
National Theatre. For more mainstream audiences<br />
willing to sample specialized fare,<br />
Shawn's "My Dinner With Andre" credit will<br />
tune them into these proceedings.<br />
Broken English<br />
A young Croatian immigrant, Nina (AleksandraVujcic),<br />
lives with her refugeefamily<br />
in a poor Auckland migrant enclave. Her<br />
relationship with her domineering and racist<br />
father ("Before the Rain's" Rade Serbedzija)<br />
deteriorates when she begins an affair with a<br />
local Maori named Eddie (Julian Arahanga).<br />
A crisis ensues when Nina becomes pregnant.<br />
Cregor Nicholas directs, and Nicholas scripts<br />
with Johanna Pigott and Jim Salter; Robin<br />
Scholes produces for CommunicadoA'illage<br />
Roadshow. (Sony Classics, Feb. undated)<br />
Exploitips: Sony Classics debuted "Broken<br />
English" for exhibitors at Showeast, showing<br />
an appropriate level of confidence by the<br />
distributor. As we suggested in our Showeast<br />
coverage, "Broken English's" logline could<br />
be "Once Were Warriors" meets "Before the<br />
Rain, " as it merges New Zealand and Serbian/Croat<br />
elements. Still, exhibitors might<br />
best highlight the romantic entanglement<br />
over that of the film's politics to expand the<br />
film's audience draw.<br />
Screwed<br />
This Alexander Crawford ("Hated") documentary<br />
takes a look at the world of sex<br />
mogul Al Goldstein, who made his fame/infamy<br />
as the many-times-arrested publisher<br />
of Screw Magazine and producer of the<br />
cable-access show "Midnight Blue." (Cinema<br />
Village Features, February widening<br />
after January NY/LA opening)<br />
Exploitips: A suggested catchline: "For<br />
those who found 'The People Vs. Larry<br />
Flynt' too tame." New specialized distributor<br />
Cinema Village is run by Ed Arentz,<br />
who runs New York's art house of the same<br />
name and is following in the hallowed<br />
exhibitor-to-distributor tradition of Brattle/Janus,<br />
New Yorker, Strand and Roxie.<br />
Salut Cousin!<br />
Alilo (Gad Elmaleh) arrives in Paris from<br />
Algiers to retrieve a suitcase he must deliver<br />
back home. While staying with his worldly<br />
cousin Mok (Mess Hattou), Alilo is amazed at<br />
and attracted by the West's freedoms, so different<br />
from his repressive homeland. Meanwhile,<br />
his cousin continually schemes to<br />
escape the poverty of his immigrant life.<br />
Merzak Allouache directs, and co-scripts with<br />
Caroline Thivel; Jacques Bidou produces.<br />
(Seventh Art, Feb. undated)<br />
Exploitips: Our reviewer (see Dec. '96)<br />
cites Elmaleh as an engaging performer and<br />
hiattou as an effective character contrast, and<br />
also notes that filmmaker Allouache, in exile<br />
from Morocco since he made "Bab el-Oued<br />
City" (1994), allows his experiences to "give<br />
a complexity" to "Salut Cousin!"<br />
Response No.<br />
January, 1997 29
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