Boxoffice-September.1997

'
FEST REVIEWS
FESTIVITIES
BOXOFFICE brings you
critical coverage from
across the seas
KARLOVY VARY
^thitgoing European correspondent MELISSA MORRISON
reports on the Karlovy Vary festfrom Prague.
CHRISTMAS
ORATORIO icir
Starring Johan Widerberg
and Lena Endre. Directed by
Kjell-Ake Andersson. Written
by Kjell Sundstedt and Kjell-
Ake Andersson. Produced by
Katinka Farago and Anita
Hallgren. A Sandrews Film
production; no stateside distributor
set. Drama. Swedishlanguage;
English subtitles.
Not yet rated. Running time:
124 min. Won best actress
prize (Lena Endre).
"Christmas Oratorio"
("Juloratoriet") takes some odd
twists, most of them unconvincing,
in its tale of a young family
surviving the death of its
mother. The title, for example,
refers to the demanding Bach
composition that Solveig (Julie
Christie lookalike Lena Endre),
a radiant mother and music
lover, persuades her village
choir to attempt. Solveig dies in
a horrible accident before she
can see the piece performed. Although
the introduction of the
"Christmas Oratorio" heralds a
major metaphor if ever there
was one, it isn't really touched
upon again until the movie's
final scene, when Solveig's
grandson, now an eminent conductor,
realizes her dream.
Instead, most of the film is
devoted to the separate torments
of Solveig's husband (Peter
Haber), who strikes up an unlikely
pen-pal romance with a
New Zealand farm girl and who
sees the ghost of his now mocking
wife everywhere; and of her
teenaged son, Sidner (Johan
Widerberg), who is set upon by
the town's silly middle-age seductress
(Viveka Seldahl), who
bears his love-child and drives
Sidner to an asylum and... well,
the plot gets even more convoluted,
so it's probably best to
leave it at that. The rest of the
story—suicide, reconciliation,
long journeys—sails along with
the audience left scratching
their heads back on the dock.
An improbable conclusion is
particularly stilted and odd.
The film has a chilly elegance
as well as a deliberate "this is a
drama" tone that make it hard to
warm to, despite the beauty of
its Swedish setting and the
plaintiveness of actor Widerberg.
It does, however, feature
in a completely unironic role a
legless man as a character who
formerly worked as a human
cannonball (Tomas von Bromssen),
which gives the film a kind
of distinction, though what exactly
is hard to specify.
EAST SIDE
STORY •••i/z
Directed by Dana Ranga.
Written by Andrew Horn and
Dana Ranga. Produced by Andrew
Horn. A Kino Intl. release.
Documentary. English,
Russian and other languages;
English subtitles. Unrated.
Running time: 77 min.
Chorines in overalls, wheatsheaving
choreography, and
lyrics like "Harvest, harvest!
Our quota has been obtained!":
Who'd have thought socialist
culture could be so cheesy.
And so entertaining. With
this Anda Films production,
writer/producer Andrew Horn
and co-writer/director Dana
Ranga have unearthed some
gems from the musical archives
of the former Soviet Union, the
former East Germany, the former
Czechoslovakia and other
,
a
A LIFE IN REVIEW
Jesse Shlyen, Whose Work at BOXOFFICE
Always Merited Five Stars, Passes Away
BOXOFFICE MAGAZINE lost a piece of its history with
the recent passing of Jesse Stilyen at age 87. Jesse—
who with our founder, his older brother Ben Shlyen, and
our advertising consultant Morrie Schlozman formed the indispensable
troika that built
BOXOFFICE into the journalistic
institution it is today—spent
his entire working life with the
magazine, rising up the ranks
all the way to the Managing
Editor's slot.
"Jessie Shlyen was not only a
close friend,' Morrie says. "We
were like brothers. Jessie and I
were teenage buddies, doing the
town in my 1 927 Essex. In 1 93 1
during the Great Depression,
when the company where I was
working folded, it was Jessie who
introduced me to Ben.
HATS OFF: Jesse Shhen.
"Jessie was a loyal, kind
friend, a great editor and writer, and a powerful force in the
success ofBOXOFFICE," Morrie says. "I shall never forget him."
Jesse's involvement with BOXOFFICE began with the very
first issue, published more than 77 years ago when he was just
11 years old. The magazine was called The Reel Journal back
then; it would be 1 3 more years before Ben Shlyen assembled
the elements to take BOXOFFICE national, and the rechristening
took place at that time. Jesse helped get the word out from
day one; when Ben needed assistance delivering the premiere
issue of his original exhibitor newsletter to the colorful inhabitants
of Kansas City's film exchange (known as Film Row),
Jesse hopped on his bike and delivered copies by hand.
The Shlyen family were exhibitors themselves, and Jesse
learned about exhibition at their family-owned Maple Theater,
where during his teenage years Jesse would serve variously as
cashier, ticket taker, biff poster, popcorn vendor and publicist.
The whole time, Jesse also held down regular duties at The Reel
Journal, first as a print-shop worker and later as a staff writer
From 1929 to 1932, Jesse was editor of The Reel Journal
and contributed news from the Kansas City market. Brother Ben
was off about the business of building a publication empire
through the acquisition of various regional exhibitor newsletters,
which were united under the BOXOFFICE name with the
publication of our first national edition on May 4, 1933. By
that point, Jesse had moved into the circulation department—
post later passed to Morrie Schlozman who, like Jesse, would
wear many hats at the magazine. During Jesse's and Morrie's
watch, BOXOFFICE rose to a position ofpre-eminence, becoming
the magazine with the largest verified circulation of any
publication for exhibitors—a title it holds to this day.
Jesse's unprecedented run as managing editor began in
1 936 and lasted more than four decades, right up until his
retirement. It was interrupted only by two years of military
service during World War II. His contributions to BOXOFFICE
just cannot be calculated; his last appearance in our pages
occurred in 1 995, when he was a profile subject for an issue
dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the first issue of The Reel
journal that Jesse had helped hand deliver.
It's fitting, then, that we pay tribute to Jesse in our 1997
Buyers' directory—the 59th annual edition of an industry classic
that Jesse himself toiled to launch. Along with Ben and
Morrie, Jesse helped light, tend and feed the fbme of the torch
that has been passed to those of us who work here today.
What we hope it illuminates is that which Jesse was instrumental
in bequeathing to us: the best, most timely, most entertaining
and above all most informative publication for exhibition professionals
available anywhere, at any price.
Sleep well, Jesse. Sleep well.—Roy Greene
Jesse Shlyen is survived by sons Sanford and Stephen,
daughter Nancy Dorfman, sister Estaire Nelson, and grandson
Brian Dorfman. Jesse's wife of 40 years. Bertha, died in 1 980.
J