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Caught
Between
Heaven and Hell.
BY LOIS WADSWORTH
ROAD TO PERDITION:
Directed by Sam Mendes. Written by David Self, based upon the graphic
novel written by Max Allan Collins and illustrated by Richard Piers
Rayner. Produced by Richard D. Zanuck, Dean Zanuck and Sam Mendes.
Executive producers, Walter F. Parkes, Joan Bradshaw. Cinematography,
Conrad Hall. Editor, Jill Bilcock. Production design, Dennis Gassner.
Costumes, Albert Wolsky. Starring Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Tyler Hoechlin,
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jude Law, Daniel Craig, Stanley Tucci, Ciarán
Hinds and Liam Aiken. DreamWork Pictures and 20th Century Fox, 2002.
R. 119 minutes.
 |
|
FATHER
AND SON: MICHAEL (TOM HANKS) AND MIKE (TYLER HOECHLIN) SHARE
A MEAL ON THE ROAD.
|
Reflecting on Road to Perdition, I thought
about the still, chiseled beauty of the film's images — rain:
streaming from the sky, across window panes and windshields, day and
night; men's concealing clothing: suits, long overcoats, gray fedoras,
black umbrellas; the boxy black Fords the gangsters drive; the weeping
auras around city streetlights in the rain; the amber warmth of interior
lamps on faces; the primal green of a field; the chill of blue-white
snow.
And I realized that much of what I love about the
film is its look, which comes from the shared visions of producer/director
Sam Mendes, cinematographer Conrad Hall, production designer Dennis
Gassner and costume designer Albert Wolsky. Composer Thomas Newman's
(American Beauty, "Six Feet Under") unassuming score adds to
the film's pleasure.
Second, I love the nearly flawless work by film newcomer
Tyler Hoechlin, who plays Mike Sullivan Jr., a curious 12-year-old
who follows his dad (Tom Hanks) to work one night, bringing tragic,
irrevocable change to his own and his family's life. Hoechlin's naturalistic
but nuanced performance is without frills, and his youthful enthusiasm
provides the counterpoint to the darker, more deadly business of the
adult men.
Third, I enjoy the fruits of director Sam Mendes'
work with the film's accomplished actors. The other essential father-son
pair is John Rooney (Paul Newman), a small-city godfather who never
gets his own hands dirty, and Connor Rooney (Daniel Craig, Elizabeth),
his twisted son whose impulsive behavior sabotages all attempts to
win his father's respect. Michael (Hank) kills for Rooney, who is
like a father to him. Michael is married to Annie (Jennifer Jason
Leigh), and they have two sons, Mike (Hoechlin) and Peter (Liam Aiken).
Finn McGovern (Ciarán Hinds) plays a pivotal role in the film,
as does the Chicago gangster, Frank Nitti (Stanley Tucci). And in
a particularly chilling performance, Jude Law plays Maguire, a photographer
and killer for hire in a terrific follow-up to his amazing performance
as Gigolo Joe in A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
These are the film's strengths. David Self's screenplay
for Road to Perdition is true to its origin as a graphic novel,
and its language is sparse but not ridden with gangster clichés.
But the picture's weakness lies in the very style that makes its images
so resonant. Set pieces result in making us feel distant from the
events taking place, not immediately involved. Frequently, we see
the action from young Mike's point of view, and Mike's process is
appropriately one of discovery. So we observe things happening through
a crack in a door, the lid of a box or a doorway seen from a distance.
This framing device, a staple of cartoon drama, robs the motion picture
of its vitality. The emotional truth of the moment is held, then dissolved
before interaction takes place.
The film has stayed with me, playing with my feelings
and giving me new insights into its characters and multi-layered stories.
It may be a little too perfectly put together to generate much onscreen
spontaneity, but I like the way the film handles the occasional violence
that erupts. Being a little removed from the bloodshed isn't such
a bad thing. Highly recommended, Road to Perdition is now playing
at Cinema World.
Back to Top
Wonder
and Grace
The
exotic beauty of Chiapas.
BY
LOIS WADSWORTH
CHAC: THE RAIN GOD (1974):
Directed, produced and written by Rolando Klein. Cinematography, Alex
Phillips Jr. and William Kaplan Jr. Starring Pablo Canché Balam,
Alonzo Méndez Ton, Sebastián Santis, Pedro Tiez and Antonio
Castellanos. In Tzeltal and Mayan dialects with English subtitles.
DVD letterbox. Milestone Films & Video release, 2002. 95 minutes.
In the late 1970s I saw this remarkable
film at Steve Bové's Cinema 7 movie house in the Atrium, and
specific images from it have remained with me all this time. It is
an intensely visual film set in a small Tzeltal village in Chiapas,
southern Mexico, where the people speak a Mayan dialect. Based on
ritual and legend from the Popul Vuh, the sacred book of the Mayans,
the film is both fictional and ethnographic.
 |
|
Sebastián
Santis
|
It is the work of UCLA film school-educated Chilean
filmmaker Rolando Klein, who moved with his family to San Cristobel
de Las Casas in Chiapas for two years. Klein got to know the people
living in the village of Tenejapa, learned their legends and built
a relationship with them. He set the film in a drought-blasted Chiapan
village and used non-professional actors from among the villagers.
The lead actors do an amazing job with their roles, but many other
villagers also participate in the film.
The details of everyday life are fascinating. An old
shaman drinks homebrew to induce a vision, later falls asleep on a
trail with a giant tortoise for a pillow. Two women converse at a
dry well. The council of elders meets and tells the village chief
(the Cacique, played by Alonzo Méndez Ton) to take 12 men, go
into the mountains and bring back the shaman (the Diviner, played
by Pablo Canché Balam) to perform a ritual to Chac, the Mayan
Rain God.
As the men set out, a youth (played by Sebastián
Santis) follows them on the arduous trek to the hermit's house. This
boy always understands what's going on. Very observant but mute, he
is probably destined to become a shaman himself.
When the group reaches the hut in the forest, the
Diviner seems to be expecting them. Immediately after lunch, he leads
them higher up the mountain to the sacred sites where they collect
what's needed for the rain ritual. They must follow in his steps as
he crosses a river at a waterfall. Because it appears as if the medicine
man is walking on top of the water, some of the men fall back in fear.
One of them is the Cacique, whose fear of witches infects the others.
Klein has created a mythic tale of struggle, doubt
and redemption among a contemporary people with strongly held beliefs
in the gods of their ancestors and only a tenuous connection to the
technology that runs today's world. Despite what must have been a
technically challenging shoot, Klein and cinematographers Alex Phillips
and William Kaplan found pristine, lush locations in the forests above
the village.
The tale unfolds slowly, and the deliberate pacing
exerts an almost hypnotic appeal that enhances our experience of the
film's beauty. Not all of the scenes are strictly natural. It's like
stepping into a timeless place that is both ancient, familiar and
surreal. Some of the most astonishing images I've ever seen come from
this movie, which I can also say about a few other films of the 1970s,
although Chac's charms are unique. Alejandro Jodorowsky's 1970
El Topo is both more violent and more surrealistic. Nicolas
Roeg's 1971 Walkabout looks at magical rituals of the old time
but not entirely among native people. The cruelty of Werner Herzog's
1972 film, Aguirre, The Wrath of God, is absent from Chac,
although it is strongly suggested.
The film played a few festivals in 2000 and appeared
in VHS, but Milestone Films (www.milestonefilms.com)released
this outstanding DVD letterbox version in late April 2002. Struck
from the original 35-mm negative, this version has a haunting beauty
and emotional resonance that is linked, ultimately, to the simple
life of the people it depicts. Highly recommended.
Back to Top
OPENING
OR RETURNING:
Films open the Friday following date of EW publication
unless otherwise noted. See archived reviews at www.eugeneweekly.com.
Eight Legged Freaks: Stars David Arquette,
Scarlett Johansson and others in this campy sci-fi movie about really
big, poisonous, mutating spiders. "Let the squashing begin!" PG-13.
Cinema World Cinemark. Opened mid-week.
Enough: Jennifer Lopez tries to get away from
her abusive husband, played by Billy Campbell ("Once and Again"),
in Michael Apted's drama. Also, Juliette Lewis, Noah Wyle. PG-13.
Movies 12.
K-19: The Widowmaker: Based on a true story
about a Cold War Russian nuclear submarine that has a near-meltdown,
the film shows the courage of the sailors and their officers to stave
off what would have been an international nuclear disaster. Stars
Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson and Peter Sarsgaard. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema
World.
Kung Fu Teenage Bigfoot – The Trailer:
Screening a trailer is a creative ploy to gain interested investors.
From indie filmmakers David Austin and Doug Silver, this film event
runs one minute and 44 seconds; it stars underground actor, Corn Mo.
At 2:05 pm on 7/21 at Da Vinci Days Film Festival.
Life in Vine: This half-hour documentary looks
at Oregon winemakers and growers during the natural cycle that arcs
from winter through spring and summer to the harvest of 1999. Independently
produced by Matt Giraud; no wine industry sponsorship. At 10:30 pm
on 7/22 on Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Panama Deception: 1992 Academy Award winner
for best documentary feature, this film by director Barbara Trent
and writer David Kasper, looks at the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama
goes beyond the managed-media shots to show mass graves and other
human rights abuses and atrocities. Banned in Panama. At 9:15 pm on
7/21 at Cosmic Pizza. Free.
Stuart Little 2: Stuart goes to school now,
and he has big brother George and baby sister Martha to play with.
But a mysterious bird named Margalo involves everyone in an adventure.
Voices of Michael J. Fox, Melanie Griffith, Nathan Lane, Geena Davis
and more. PG. Cinema World. Cinemark.
CONTINUING:
About a Boy: Nick Hornby's popular British novel
about a rich London rake (Hugh Grant) who invents an imaginary son
to meet women who are single parents. But instead he finds a troubled
boy (Nicholas Hoult), who teaches him to grow up. Directed by Chris
and Paul Weltz, it also stars Toni Collette, Rachel Weisz. Highest
recommendations. PG-13. Movies 12. Online archives.
Bourne Identity, The: Matt Damon, Franka Potente,
Chris Cooper, Clive Owen and Brian Cox star in Doug Liman's character-based
spy thriller based on Robert Ludlum's best seller. A man with amnesia
(Matt Damon) sets out to discover who he is and why everyone wants
to kill him, and along the way he discovers love (Franka Potente).
A subtle skewing of the genre, it's highly recommended. PG-13. Cinemark
17. Online archives.
Changing Lanes: Starring Ben Affleck and Samuel
L. Jackson as, two men who meet in a minor car accident and set out
to destroy each other's lives. Directed by Roger Mitchell and produced
by Scott Rudin. R. Movies 12.
Crocodile Hunter, Collision Course: In this
comedy of errors, undercover CIA agents suspect Steve and Terri Irwin
of information theft and go to Australia to prove it. PG. Cinemark.
Cinema World.
Halloween Resurrection: For the seventh time already,
this sucker still isn't really dead. At age 50, he can still terrorize
Busta Rhymes, Jamie Lee Curtis and lots of screaming teens. R. Cinema
World. Cinemark.
Ice Age: Chris Wedge directs the voices of
Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, and Goran Vizjnic in this
digitally animated story of prehistoric creatures trying to save a
human child. G. Movies 12.
Importance of Being Earnest, The: Romantic
farce by Oscar Wilde brought to the screen by Oliver Parker stars
Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon, Judi Dench, Frances
O'Connor, Tom Wilkinson and Anna Massey. Gorgeous and very funny.
Recommended for your summertime pleasure. PG. Bijou. Online archives.
Like Mike: Lil Bow Wow plays an orphan who
dreams of playing pro basketball. When he finds a pair of magic sneakers,
he makes the team. Also stars Morris Chestnut, Jonathan Lipnicki,
Crispin Glover and Eugene Levy. PG. Cinemark. Cinema World.
Lilo and Stitch: Animated Disney comedy about
Lilo, a lonely Hawaiian girl, and her small, ugly dog named Stitch.
The dog is an alien experiment that's crashed to earth. Six by Elvis
on the soundtrack. PG. Cinema World. Cinemark.
Lord of the Rings, The: The Fellowship of the Ring:
The first book in J. R. R. Tolkien's literary trilogy, directed by
Peter Jackson stars Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Liv
Tyler, Sean Astin, Christopher Lee. Academy Award winner for cinematography,
makeup, and visual effects. Highest recommendations. PG-13. Movies
12. Online archives.
Men in Black 2: Jay (Will Smith) drags a reluctant
Kay (Tommy Lee Jones) back into the agency with the mission of "Protecting
the earth from the scum of the universe." Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld,
it also stars Lara Flynn Boyle as Serleena, an alien masquerading
as a Victoria's Secret model. With Rosario Dawson, Johnny Knoxville,
Tony Shalhoub and Rip Torn. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. Online
archives.
Minority Report: Steven Spielberg directs Tom
Cruise in this sci-fi where killers are arrested and convicted before
they commit murder. In 2054, Cruise heads the Pre-Crime unit until
he's accused of the murder of a man he hasn't yet met. Based on a
short story by the genre's master, Philip K. Dick. One of Spielberg
and Cruise's best. Highest recommendations. PG-13. Cinemark. Online
archives.
Mr. Deeds: Adam Sandler plays an ordinary guy
who inherits $40 billion in this remake of Frank Capra's 1936 comedy,
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. Also stars Winona Ryder, Peter Gallagher,
Steve Buscemi, Jared Harris and John Turturro. PG-13. Cinemark.
Murder by Numbers: Sandra Bullock stars in
this detective thriller which pits her against two clever teens (Ryan
Gosling and Michael Pitt). Produced by Bullock herself, and directed
by Barbet Schroeder. R. Movies 12.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding: Based on Nia Vardalos's
one-woman stage show, it's about the 30-year old, unmarried daughter
(Vardalos) in an engaging, passionate but demanding Greek family in
New York. She meets the man she wants to marry (John Corbett), and
he isn't Greek. Yikes! Another humorous reminder that weddings are
also a family and community affair, this sweet romantic comedy entertains.
Recommended. PG. Bijou. Online archives.
New Guy, The: DJ Qualls plays high school senior
who has a chance to wipe the slate clean and reinvent himself. Comedy
directed by Ed Decter also stars Eliza Dushku, Zooey Deschanel, Lyle
Lovett and Eddie Griffin. PG-13. Movies 12.
Panic Room: David Fincher directs Jodie Foster,
Forrest Whitaker and Dwight Yoakam in this creepy thriller about a
woman and her child, who are stuck in a room in their own home. R.
Movies 12.
Reign of Fire: After a slumbering fire-breathing
critter wakes up, all hell breaks loose, and the world descends into
Medieval times. Matthew McConaughey comes as savior, Christian Bale
is fire chief. Rob Bowman directs. Violent. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema
World.
Road to Perdition: Sam Mendes (American Beauty)
directs this fathers-and-sons drama set in Chicago during the Depression.
It stars Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Tyler Hoechlin, with Jude Law, Daniel
Craig, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Stanley Tucci and Liam Aiken. R. Cinema
World. See review this issue.
Rookie, The: Dennis Quaid stars as baseball
coach who makes a deal with his team and ends up trying out for a
minor league contract. Also with Rachel Griffiths. Received good reviews.
G. Movies 12.
Scooby Doo: TV's 1969 Great Dane, Scooby, returns
as a computer-generated detective dog in this comedy starring Freddie
Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Matthew Lillard. PG. Cinemark.
Scorpion King, The: Inspired by The Mummy
Returns, this thriller stars WWF's The Rock and is directed by
WWF's The Mask, aka Eraser Chuck Russell. The Rock plays a hired assassin
trying to stop the evil ruler of the city of Gomorra. Our bets are
on him. PG 13. Movies 12.
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones: George Lucas'
second of three Star Wars' prequels comes to the screen with
Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor, Ian McDiarmid
and Samuel Jackson doing all the heavy lifting. PG. Cinemark. Online
archives.
Sum of All Fears: Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman are
Central Intelligence agents trying to prevent terrorists from getting
weapons of mass destruction. Also stars James Crowmell, Liev Schreiber,
Alan Bates and Philip Baker Hall. Based on Tom Clancy's bestseller.
PG-13. Cinemark. Online archives.
Undercover Brother: Action comedy directed
by Malcolm D. Lee and written by John Ridley stars Eddie Griffin,
who adopts the garb of blaxploitation era private detectives to go
undercover. PG-13. Movies 12.
Windtalkers: Nicolas Cage and Adam Beach star in director
John Woo's WWII drama about a US Marine ordered to protect a Navajo
code talker during the Battle of Saipan in the Pacific against Japan.
Also stars Noah Emmerich, Mark Ruffalo, Christian and Peter Stormare.
R. Movies 12.
MOVIE
THEATERS
Use the links provided below for specific show times.
Bijou
Art Cinemas
Bijou Theater 686-2458
| 492 E. 13th
Regal
Cinemas
Cinema World 342-6536
| Valley River Center
Springfield Quad 726-9073
|
Cinemark
Theaters
Movies 12 741-1231
| Gateway Mall
Movies before 12:30 are Sat. Sun. only. $1.50 all shows all days.
Cinemark 17 741-1231 |
Gateway Mall
NEW
RELEASES ON VIDEO:
Releases subject to change. Available the Tuesday following
date of EW publication, sometimes sooner. See archived movie
reviews at www.eugeneweekly.com
Chac: The Rain God: New print of Rolando Klein's
famous 1974 classic film set among Mayan people in a Chiapas village
in southern Mexico was released in April. Struck from the original
film negative, the DVD letterbox version from Milestone Film and Video
includes a commentary by Klein. Compelling, haunting and visually
outstanding film. Not rated. See review this issue.
Comic Book Confidential: 1998 documentary about
comic books' history directed by Ron Man, it features interviews with
Lynda Barry, Robert Crumb, Stan Lee and others. NR.
Crossroads: Britney Spears and two childhood
friends hit the road together and learn a lot about life. PG 13.
Kung Pow: Steve Oedekerk acquired a 1976 Hong
Kong Karate film, placed himself digitally into it, redubbed the other
characters and shot new scenes. Here it is. PG-13.
Tarzan and Jane: Following Disney's Tarzan,
this animated singing video never had theatrical distribution. G.
Time Machine: Guy Pearce (Memento) stars in
this remake of H.G. Welles sci-fi novel, directed by Simon Wells (The
Prince of Egypt). Creator of time machine is hurled 800,000 years
into the future, where he finds there are only hunters and the hunted.
PG-13.
Twist: Documentary on dance craze of the 1960s
with liner notes from Village Voice music columnist Gary Giddins.
Directed by Ron Man. NR.
Next week: Collateral Damage, Contract Killer,
Dinotopia and Resident Evil.
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