Hey folks, Harry here, this time with a pair of films that... deal with violence. So beware, perhaps even reading about them might drive you to.... see them... and then God knows what you may do..... Sheesh. I've yet to see THREE SEASONS, but I am dying to. As for ARLINGTON ROAD, I believe I reviewed that a long long time ago... And I believe I heard that it was going to be pushed due to the... societal problems we are now bombarded with. But I'm still checking on that. For now... here's a look
ARLINGTON ROAD and THREE SEASONS:
Hello, I wasn't going to write in regarding these two films I have been lucky enough to get a peek at the past couple Mondays. However, considering the recent blitz regarding media violence and its societal influence, I decided that a brief peak at these two films would not hurt in adding to the collective unconscious. Here you go:
ARLINGTON ROAD
I am most often disappointed by mainstream cinema. The Matrix, 8mm, The Mummy--these '99 films have been huge letdowns, that is, in my eyes. Nonetheless, there was something very mystique about ARLINGTON ROAD which caught my attention.
I'm going to try to keep this spoiler free: As you might have guessed from the trailers, the film is a paranoia thriller about a man (Jeff Bridges) who suspects his neighbors (Joan Cusack and Tim Robbins) of being involved in some type of llegal terrorist activites. The film makes an account of Jeff Bridges' search to discover the truth regarding his neighbors and in turn prevent any future terrorist activities. Of course, this synopsis appears rather silly; but mind you without cashing in on spoilers, I can do no justice in summarizing the film.
Hence, I will just ramble off some comments...
The director (I believe his last name was Pellington--other works include GOING ALL THE WAY and Pearl Jam's JEREMY video, to name a few), has a very tight grip on his style. It is a sort of cross between MTV/Scorsese/DePalma--and he pulls off some mighty fine action sequences and gritty dialogue retort scenes between Robbins and Bridges. While watching the film, I couldn't help think of Scorsese's CAPE FEAR and how he was able to create a tongue-in-cheek type thriller--a very pastiche atmosphere. ARLINGTON ROAD has a lot of that feel, for example, a lot of people "popping up out of nowhere" with eccentric pastel lightings, strobes, and really contrasty colors ala MTV meets Storario in TANGO. Interesting, however, this quasi-irony approach takes away from the serious tone the film attempts to set early on. For instance, it is difficult to take the terrorists seriously when they are shown in a sooped up THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE type thriller environment. The film could have taken a more Fincher approach as in SE7EN--keep it dark. However, I was amused and impressed by the ingenious plot twist in the finale which makes you want to go back and watch the whole film over to pick up on foreshadowed nuances.
Ultimately, though, it is a film that gets lost in its duality of tone and innability to escape the action/thriller genre. Morever, it is that latter innability which makes for an interesting ride. Joan Cusack was good wicked fun in her turn as a house wife playing a house wife, and a subtle yet sly performance by Robert Gossett nicely adds to the tension and paranoia (oh, and of course, Bridges and Robbins were excellent). Best thing of all, though, is that the script more or less avoided most action cliches, which is a rarity these days (read: unlike Mummy or Matrix). It will be a decent matinee or even full price come this July. Yes, July, which brings me to the fact that the film has been pushed back from its May 14th release date to an undetermined July date. Why? Well, it isn't the fault of SWE1TPM, but instead because of the graphic violence in the film (especially dealing with children), I suppose someone at Lakeshore, Polygram, or Sony decided to push the film back en leiu of the recent events in Colorado. Of course, in a sense, the film cannot justify a lot of its violence--and in the beginning it seems very much that they are using violence too overt and in a shocking manner to find any appeal. But in the end, I feel there are too many good qualities about this film to overlook it, thus I recommend with reservations.
FUNCTION: ** (Two stars out of four)
THREE SEASONS
Three Seasons is, more or less, the antithesis of Arlington Road. This film is very serious, and also a very pacifist film. It has an admirable pacing of its own; a pacing which American cinema (if there is a such a thing) completely lacks. The film follows four different stories: a cyclo-driver and a prostitute, a young child who sells a an array of items out of a suitcase, a Veteran (Harvey Keitel) in search of his daughter, and a young girl who comes of age while picking lotuses. First off, I will say that my only qualm with this film is that it attacks too many story lines and leaves the viewer with a sense that they have been shortchanged. THis can be justified in that considering that Three SEasons is the really the only "true" look Americans have had at Vietnam possibly ever, thus using a multi-faceted plot allows for a broader (though limited) perspective. Despite my qualms with the content, though, I will say that the film is the most beautiful film I have seen so far this year. Tony Bui sees the streets of Saigon and the Lotus fields similar to how Terrence Malick sees the fields of Texas: meandering brilliance. I know it has been said before, but you could get drunk on his imagery. Anyway, to keep this brief, the acting is solid, but Keitel is amazing, particularly though in one scene taking place at a dinner table ( I won't elaborate, but I cannot break his image from my memory). This is a very admirable first effort by Bui, though I'm not sure it was deserving of such high praise at Sundance. Notwithstanding, he has taken a step forward from his last short (the 30 or so minute YELLOW LOTUS, which I was lucky enough to view back at Loyola Marymount Univ.), and I am excited to see what is to come from this young filmmaker with an evident PURPOSE.
FUNCTION: **1/2 (Two and 1/2 stars out of four)
thanks for your time,
call me Stig Helmer
