By far, the best of the three films by Aleksei Gherman (or Guerman, or German) that I have now seen is the earliest: Proverka na dorogakh, which is based on his father Yuri’s experiences. Steeped in wintry snow, it is a ravishing vision of German-occupied Russia in 1942 during the Second World War. As sardonic […]
Monthly Archives: April 2012
Made for West German television, Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 3½-hour Welt am Draht is based on American novelist Daniel F. Galouye’s 1964 Simulacron-3. Resembling Edward Albee’s astounding play Tiny Alice, which was first produced the same year as Galouye’s novel was published, Fassbinder’s legendary science-fiction masterpiece revolves around Fred Stiller (Klaus Löwitsch, convincing and compelling), technical […]
A strange Hamlet with a postmodern twist, Strange Illusion presumes that Paul, a pre-law student whose father, California’s former lieutenant governor, recently mysteriously died, is all too familiar with Shakespeare’s most brilliant tragedy. Indeed, the play, which is nowhere mentioned, is the “elephant in the room” in every room of the film. As with Prince […]
This elephantine, star-studded production, based on Joan Littlewood’s theatrical series of satirical antiwar sketches, was actor Richard Attenborough’s official directorial debut. Despite its best film Golden Globe, Oh! What a Lovely War is sufficiently shallow and obtuse that Littlewood had her name removed from the credits. It is a soulless, insufferable, bloated thing. A lavish, […]
“She saw everything, even with closed eyes.” I wish I had seen Pina in 3-D, Wim Wenders’ use of which has been described by critic Noel Murray as “visionary.” Regardless, this magnificent work by Wenders eulogizing German dancer-choreographer Pina Bausch dazzles, moves and wistfully haunts. Wenders had hoped to be collaborating with Bausch on a […]
Dennis Grunes 