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Slave
Labor THE MAGDALENE SISTERS: Written and directed by Peter Mullan. Inspired by the television documentary, "Sex in a Cold Climate," by Steve Humphries. Produced by Frances Higson, Alan J. (Willy) Wands. Executive producers Ed Guiney and Paul Trijbits. Cinematography, Nigel Willoughby. Production design, Mark Leese. Editor, Colin Monie. Music, Craig Armstrong. Costumes, Trisha Biggar. Starring Geraldine McEwan, Nora-Jane Noone, Anne-Marie Duff, Dorothy Duffy, Eileen Walsh, Mary Murray and Daniel Costello. Miramax Films, 2003. NR. 119 minutes. Winner of Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival.
I like the result of Peter Mullan's cold fury. He begins the film by taking the viewer, briefly, into the life of each of four semi-fictional girls: Margaret (Anne-Marie Duff), Rose/Patricia (Dorothy Duffy), Bernadette (Nora-Jane Noone), and Crispina (Eileen Walsh). It's very helpful, because once the girls are forced to wear the convent Magdalene Laundries and Asylum's really ugly brown uniforms, they all look rather alike. At the convent, they suffer under conditions of servitude with the blessing of the Catholic Church in Ireland, 1964-1969. You'll remember Margaret, raped by her cousin at a family wedding party, and Rose, holding her newborn son and trying to interest her uptight mother in at least looking at her grandchild. Bernadette is an orphan, who's never been with a boy. But she's suspect because the boys like her so much — reason enough to banish the dark-haired beauty to a life of hard labor. Crispina we learn about during the course of the film when her child comes to the asylum gates to wave at the mother he's never known. Based on a shameful secret in 20th century church history, the asylums and money-making laundries were prisons to some 30.000 women who were forced to pass through their gates. Like their real-life counterparts, Crispina, Rose, Margaret and Bernadette are subjected to a number of harsh treatments. The nuns beat them, insult them, humiliate them, call them names, deprive them of their dignity and hope. They are forced to stand, wet and naked from the showers, while their bodies are coldly and cruelly compared. They are not paid for their work in the sweatshop conditions of the laundry, and they are ridiculed by the authorities who are supposed to set examples for them. The sisters are driven by a holy war against the flesh, and these young women are punished for having desirable bodies. Young women were accused of such "moral crimes" as becoming pregnant, acting sexy or naming a rapist. The nuns worked hard to make the girls hate themselves and believe themselves wicked and sinful, deserving of punishment. The last asylum closed its doors only in 1996. The head nun, Sister Bridget (Geraldine McEwan) is not only a sadist but also a sentimental fanatic with a heart of stone. When this one gets fired up, she takes the scissors to the transgressor's hair and whacks it off. Sister Bridget has the inner fire to be a good Nazi. McEwan's performance is blindingly artful. Likewise, the incandescent anger Nora-Jane Noone gives Bernadette is a rare gift. She smolders with banked fires and expresses her rage at every opportunity. Noone has presence. Margaret's flare-up with her rescuer is like a breath of fresh air in stuffy room, infused by Anne-Marie Duff's restrained focus. Eileen Walsh's Crispina is a fragile flower whose abilities are limited, but who loves simply and totally. When Crispina blows off steam, a great tension is released. Very fine work. Mullan says that women who were actually in a Magdalene institution when young tell him they like the film, but it was actually a lot worse where they were. While it is a heartbreaker, Mullan's film does not sentimentalize what happens to these women, nor does it make them into romantic heroines. They are simply young women doing whatever they can to survive. And when two of them choose to fight back and get out of there, it's no stretch to believe their lives will be better. The Magdalene Sisters opens Friday at the Bijou. A must-see film, it gets my highest recommendations.
Escape
to Italy UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN: Written and directed by Audrey Wells, based on the memoir by Frances Mayes. Produced by Tom Sternberg and Audrey Wells. Executive producers Laura Fattori, Sandy Kroopf, Mark Gill. Cinematography, Geoffrey Simpson. Production design, Stephen McCabe. Editors, Andrew Marcus, Arthur Coburn./ Costumes, Nicoletta Ercole. Music, Christophe Beck. Starring Diane Lane, with Sandra Oh, Lindsay Duncan, Raoul Bova, Vincent Riotta, Pawel Szajda, Giullia Steigerwalt. Touchstone Pictures, 2003. PG-13. 115 minutes.
Good reasons for seeing Under the Tuscan Sun include Diane Lane, whose personal radiance brings life even to a somewhat depressed character, and the Tuscan countryside and towns of Cortona, Siena, Montepulciano and Positano. Lane has become one of my favorite artists, because her acting style is so unpretentious. She's not like a movie star. Her feelings are available to her, and she invites the viewer to share her character's experiences. I'm willing to be enchanted by the artifice. The film is part Tuscany travelogue and part "This Old House." Based on Frances Mayes' memoir about renovating a 300-year old house she bought in Tuscany, the film includes an entire story that is not in the book. In Audrey Wells' hands, a dramatic, narrative life unfolds for Frances (Lane) that begins with a surprise divorce and ends with romantic possibility. I loved seeing this film with an audience overwhelmingly comprised of women who liked it a lot. Women need a vacation from real life as much as men, who seek adventure action films for their non-reality fling. Films made for young men bore me to death. There's rarely a character I care about, the action is mindless, and sometimes the whole movie is driven by special effects. In Tuscan Sun, no one will be murdered, stalked, chased or tortured. No adrenaline rush. It's a fantasy, but who among us has not imagined a vacation to Italy, with its delicious comfort food, incredible wines, lovely people, exquisite buildings and landscapes? The film does not disappoint. Italians know how to enjoy life, an art rapidly being lost in our society. We're always in a hurry to get to the next place, finish the next task, catch the next show, make the next dollar. We don't stop often enough to appreciate a leisurely meal with friends, real conversation and hearty, healing laughter. Frances does not lack resources. She buys an Italian villa and pays laborers to renovate it; that takes big bucks. She's a writer, but we don't see her writing. We don't know where she gets her money. Maybe Frances's financial status is handled more clearly in the book, but it's probably best if you don't imagine taking off for Tuscany on your own with just your Visa card and having such a fine time. The challenge of finding a way to reclaim your life after a major cataclysm is more daunting for women with fewer resources than it is for Frances. Sandra Oh plays Patti, Frances's good friend from San Francisco. Patti gives Frances the ticket to Tuscany to begin with, and Frances makes pregnant Patti welcome when she comes to the villa. I've only seen Oh previously in 1999's Last Night,, an end-of-the-world film by Don McKellar, in which she was terrific. Like Lane, Oh works from an inner fire that comes out through her characters. She's very good. Martini (Vincent Riotta) is the realtor who handles the sale of the house for Frances. One of the best scenes in the film is when he politely but with emotion tells Frances how he feels about her. Sweet. This is Wells' second feature film. Although she wrote the original screen play for Guinivere (1999), starring Stephen Rea and Sarah Polley, which she also directed, we in Eugene are seeing her work theatrically for the first time. Under the Tuscan Sun will not appear on my top ten list for 2003, but it is an enjoyable film. If you need a little break from life's pace, relax and spend a couple of hours in Italy with Diane Lane. Recommended, it's now playing at Cinemark.
Finding Nemo: Pixar's computer-animated fantasy of two Clownfish, Marlin and his son Nemo, who get separated in the Great Barrier Reef. Written and directed by Andrew Stanton (A Bug's Life), with voices by Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Willem Dafoe, Geoffrey Rush, Allison Janney. Very highly recommended. G. Movies 12.. Online archives. Lady with the Dog, The: (Russia, 1959): Directed by Josef Heifitz, based on a Chekov story about two unhappily married people on vacation in Yalta who start a secret love affait that lasts years. At 9:15 pm in 115 Pacific. In Russian with English subtitles. Lost in Translation: Directed by Sofia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides), this highly acclaimed film was shot entirely on location in Japan. It stars Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson as lonely Americans who become friends. With Giovanni Ribisi. R. Cinema World. Cinemark. Magdalene Sisters, The: Four young Irish women are sent to the Magdalene Laundries and Asylums for "moral crimes" such as a pregnancy outside of marriage, reporting a rape or just being too pretty. Actual institution operated the whole of the 20th century, in the open, with the full authority and blessing of the church. A must-see film with amazing performances. Courageous direction by Peter Mullan. NR. Bijou. See review this issue. Medallion: Jackie Chan action comedy co-stars Lee Evans and Claire Forlani. A mysterious medallion turns police detective Chan into a superhero, but the bad guys want it back. Gordon Chan directs. PG-13. Movies 12. Out of Time: Directed by Carl Franklin, stars Denzel Washington as a Florida small-town police chief where a double-homicide is discovered. He must solve the killings before he is suspected of the crimes himself. Also stars Eva Mendes, Sanaa Lathan and Dean Cain. PG-13. Cinema World. Cinemark. School of Rock: Faking it as a substitute teacher, wild guitarist Jack Black turns elementary musical prodigies into a high-voltage rock band. Directed by Richard Linklater, it also stars Joan Cusack, Mike White and Sarah Silverman. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. Twenty-eight Days Later: Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) directs scary horror film set in a post-cataclysmic future, where a deadly virus sweeps through earth's population, leaving people in a chronic state of killer rage. Stars Christopher Eccleston, Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Megan Burns and Brendan Gleeson. New possible ending. R. LateNite Bijou.
CONTINUING: American Wedding: Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) are getting married. Now if their friends and family will just stay on their best behavior. Right. American Pie's crude humor lives on. Also stars January Jones, Fred Willard, Eugene Levy, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Seann William Scott and Eddie Kaye Thomas. R. Movies 12. Bad Boys II: Martin Lawrence and Will Smith reunite with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay. Smith and Lawrence play Miami narcotics detectives assigned to stem the flood of designer ecstasy into Miami. R. Movies 12. Bruce Almighty: Jim Carrey, Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Aniston star in this tale of a at TV reporter, who has a really bad day, rages against God and receives more than he expected. PG-13. Movies 12. Cabin Fever: Four college friends vacation at a remote cabin, but one of them gets very sick, and the others struggle with life and death decisions as their terror rises. Directed by Eli Roth; stars Jordan Ladd, Rider Strong, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent, Joey Kern, Arie Verveen. R. Cinemark. Cold Creek Manor: Sharon Stone and Dennis Quaid star in Mike Figgis' horror flick about city folk who find a repossessed mansion in the country that the owner (Stephen Dorff) really wants back. Also stars Juliette Lewis and Christopher Plummer. R. Cinemark. Daddy Day Care: Eddie Murphy and Jeff Garlin lose their jobs and can't afford day care for their sons, so they open their own facility. Comedy directed by Steve Carr also stars Anjelica Huston, Steve Zahn and Regina King. PG. Movies 12. Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star: Sam Weisman directs David Spade in his role as a 35-year old out of work actor who hires a family so he can relive his childhood and finally grow up. With Mary McCormack, Jon Lovitz, Craig Berko, Rob Reiner. PG-13. Cinemark. Duplex: Drew Barrymore and Ben Stiller find their Manhattan dream flat but inherit a batty old woman who lives upstairs and drives them nuts. Directed by Danny DeVito, cast also includes Swoosie Kurtz and Harvey Fierstein. PG-13. Cinemark. Fighting Temptations, The: Cuba Gooding Jr. plays an ad exec who inherits money only if he conducts a rural gospel choir. Co-stars Beyoncé Knowles. Musical comedy directed by Jonathan Lynn. PG-13. Cinemark. Freaky Friday: Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan play a quarreling mother and daughter who accidentally switch bodies. Ooops! Mark Harmon plays the mom's fiancé. Directed by Mark Waters, based on Mary Rodgers' book. PG. Cinemark. Online archives. Freddy vs. Jason: The ultimate celebrity death match: Freddy Kruger (Robert Englund) takes on Jason "The Face Mask" Voorhees (Ken Kerzinger), in this film directed by Ronny Yu. R. Movies 12. Italian Job, The: Back in town again. Mark Wahlberg leads a heist that's double-crossed by one of his crew. Charlize Theron plays a safecracker in this cool revenge movie. Also stars Edward Norton, Mos Def and Donald Sutherland. Highly recommended for its pure entertainment value. PG-13. Movies 12. Online archives. Jeepers Creepers 2: High school basketball players, cheerleaders and coaches are stranded on notorious highway, and they have to struggle against a winged nightmare. Directed by Victor Salva, stars Ray Wise, Jonathan Breck and more. Horror, violence and language. R. Movies 12. Luther: TV-movie director Eric Till brings Martin Luther to the screen. with Joseph Fiennes as Luther. Supporting cast: Alfred Molina, Jonathan Firth, Claire Cox, Bruno Ganz and Peter Ustinov. PG-13. Cinema World. Matchstick Men: Ridley Scott directs this tale of a couple of grifters working small-time cons, until personal issues arise. Stars Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, with Alison Lohman and Bruce McGill. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. Online archives. Matrix Reloaded: Second chapter brings Neo (Keanu Reeve), Trinity (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) closer to solving the enigma but also puts them in greater danger. Written and directed by Andy and Larry Wachowski, it also stars Hugo Weaving, Jada Pinkett Smith and Gloria Foster. R. Movies 12. Online archives. Once Upon a Time in Mexico: Directed by Robert Rodriguez. Antonio Banderas as El Mariarchi, now involved in international espionage. Costars Salma Hayek, Johnny Depp and Mickey Rourke. R. Cinema World. Cinemark. Open Range: Kevin Costner directs and stars with Robert Duvall in traditional Western about a corrupt cattle baron (Michael Gambon) who forces them to fight. Annette Bening's performance is warm and real. With Abraham Benrubi, Diego Luna. Recommended. Cinemark Online archives. Pirates of the Caribbean: Non-stop adventure directed by Gore Verbinski stars Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. Depp sashays, Rush dissembles, Bloom fences and Knightley swashbuckles. Depp and Rush's over the top performances are great. Recommended. PG-13. Cinemark. Online archives. Rundown, The: Peter Berg directs Seann William Scott, The Rock, Rosario Dawson and Christopher Walken in this adventure about a kingpin's son who disappears in the Amazon in search of a valuable artifact. PG-13. Cinemark. Cinema World. Seabiscuit: A has-been racehorse becomes America's Depression-era success story, along with jockey Tobey Maguire, trainer Chris Cooper, and owner Jeff Bridges. Written, directed by Gary Ross based on Laura Hillenbrand's best-selling non-fiction book, also stars Elizabeth Banks, William H. Macy. Highest recommendations. PG-13. Cinemark. Online archives. Secondhand Lions: Haley Joe Osment is sent to his great uncles' rural Texas farm, where the city boy has much to learn. Robert Duvall and Michael Caine may have been bank robbers. Written and directed by Tim McCanlies (writer, The Iron Giant). PG. Cinemark. Cinema World. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas: DreamWorks animated pirate adventure tale stars the voice of Brad Pitt as Sinbad, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Marina, and Michelle Pfieffer as the goddess of chaos. Joe Fiennes plays Proteus, a rival pirate. Directed by Tim Johnson and Patrick Gilmore. PG. Movies 12. Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines: Jonathan Mostow directs, and Arnold Schwarzenegger comes back to save the world from annihilation once again. John Connor (Nick Stahl), is 18 now, and he's fighting off a female killer cyborg from the future, (Kristanna Loken). R. Cinemark. Online archives. Thirteen: Two 7th grade girls, played by Evan Rachel Wood and Nikki Reed, become entangled in a fast world where media images dominate dress, behavior, values and attitude. Holly Hunter plays the mom who tries to save them. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke. Searing, honest representation of what it's like to be a teenager today. Highly recommended. R. Bijou. Online archives. Under the Tuscan Sun: Diane Lane plays writer Frances Mayes in this screen adaptation of her best selling book about buying a run-down villa in Italy and creating a new life. PG-13. Cinemark. See review this issue. Underworld: Set in a world where vampires are a clan of aristocratic moderns, and lycans (werewolves) are a gang of street thugs, Len Wiseman's film stars Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman. When they fall in love, they trigger an ancient feud. R. Cinemark. Uptown Girls: Brittany Murphy stars as the freewheeling daughter of a late rock legend, but when her inheritance is stolen, she's forced to get a job as a nanny to precocious Ray Schleine (Dakota Fanning), an "eight-year-old going on forty." In a comedic battle of wills, each discovers in the other a true friend. Directed by Boas Yakin. Also stars Heather Locklear. PG-13. Movies 12. Winged Migration: Documentary directed by Jacques Perrin shows many bird species making round trip migrations of up to 10,000 miles up close. Ingenious ultralight aircraft let movie's 13 cinematographers fly right next to, in front of or below the birds they were filming. A moving film. Highest recommendations. G. Bijou. Online archives.
MOVIE
THEATERS Bijou
Art Cinemas Regal
Cinemas Cinemark
Theaters
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.comBlink: Madeleine Stowe is a young blind musician who gains sight after a corneal transplant, only to witness a murder. Aidan Quinn is the detective on the case who falls for her. Directed by Michael Apted. Weird, but good film. R. Down With Love: Peyton Reed re-invents the look and feel of a 1962-era Doris Day, Rock Hudson musical with Renee Zellwegger and Ewan McGregor. The NY Times praises their "thoroughly charming immunity to embarrassment." Also stars David Hyde Pierce, Tony Randall and Sarah Paulson. PG-13. Online archives. Heaven's Prisoners: Phil Joanou directs film adaptation of James Lee Burke's adventures of New Orleans former cop, Dave Robicheaux (Alec Baldwin). He saves a young girl from a submerged, crashed plane but gets caught up in intrigue between DEA and childhood friend turned thug (Eric Roberts) and his sultry wife (Teri Hatcher). With Kelly Lynch, Mary Stuart Masterson. Highly recommended. Never opened theatrically in Eugene. R. Hollywood Homicide: Fast-paced action comedy directed by Ron Shelton stars Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett as cops, with Isaiah Washington, Lena Olin, Bruce Greenwood, Master P., Lolita Davidovich, Dwight Yoakum, Keith David and Martin Landau. PG-13. Online archives. Italian Job (1969):Collectors Edition starring Michael Caine and Noel Coward. Lots of extras. Music by Quincy Jones. G. Italian Job, The: Mark Wahlberg leads a heist that's double-crossed by one of his crew. Charlize Theron plays a safecracker in this cool revenge movie. Also stars Edward Norton, Mos Def and Donald Sutherland. Highly recommended for pure entertainment value. PG-13. Online archives. Man Without a Past (2003, Finland): Directed by the great Aki Kaurismaki, this offbeat minimalist comedy about an amnesiac and the life he makes for himself among other "lonely hearts with empty pockets," as the director puts it, is a brilliant addition to Kaurismaki's body of work. Won both Grand Jury Prize and Best Actress for Kati Outinen, who runs the soup kitchen. Cannes 2002. Should have opened in Eugene, but didn't. Stars Markku Peltola, Outinen, Juhan Niemela and singer Annikki Tahti. Highest recommendations. NR. Next week: Angie (1994), Black Sunday (1977), The Browning Version (1994), Christmas with the Simpsons, Cracker, DOA (1998), the Matrix Reloaded, Owning Mahoney, Schizopolis and Tokyo Story (1953). |
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