Reviews
DRAMA
THE GRAPES OF WRATH
(PG) 129min
(20th Century Fox DVD retail) 0...
The quintessential saga of the American Depression, .John Ford's 19-10 adaptation of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath is still immensely moving and powerful. Henry Fonda is outstanding as Tom Joad. the hot headed ex- conwct who is paroled from prison iust in time to accompany his dispossessed family of farmers on a hellish )Ourney from the
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Oklahoma dustbowl to the promised land of California on a road paved with tragedy and disaster. While the film eschews certain of Steinbeck's more brutal episodes and some of the rousing speeches seem terribly stilted. Ford's adaptation remains fairly faithful to its source material. Most impressive is cameraman Gregg Toland's plain. stripped down black and white photograr'my, which gives the film a realistic. documentary feel. highlighted in memorable set pieces such as the bulldO/ing of an Okie farm. And there are charismatic supporting performances from .John Carradine as the preacher, Casy, and .Jane Dam/ell as Ma .Joad. Minimal extras.
(Allan Radcliffe)
CRIME ll lRll l FR LADY IN CEMENT (15) 90min
(20th Century l ox DVD retail) 00
Ol' Blue Eyes is past it and charmless as a seen it—all private eye in this rather dreary sequel to the equally missable Tony
Rome. Rome's murder investigation was presumably intended as a groovy (30s answer to those labyrinthine Raymond Chandler thrillers such as The Big Sleep, with Raquel Welch in the role of the rich fernme fatale amidst a fruity supporting cast of hoods and weirdos. Boredom rather than intrigi ie pervades while the prurient attitude towards sex and violence as ‘.'.'ell as the relentless ntac'nismo and
homopl i;,l,ia are simply pathetic. Minimal extras. (Allan Radcliffe)
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THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT (PG) 101 min
(Anchor Bay UK DVD retail) 0.
Based on the ‘true‘ story of a US Navy ship that disappeared in 19-13 during tests to make vessels ltl‘.’lSll)l(3 to radar. this follows the misfortunes of David (Michael Pare) and Jim rBobby Di Ciccol. two sailors thrown forward into the year 1984. Once there they canack and kidnap Nancy Rohocop Allen. who puts them on their search for the truth. Sadly, the garish special effects make disco adventure lllO‘JIO Hawk the Slayer look restrained, and the woeful acting Wlll leave you wondering why any
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of the principals were ever let near a camera again.
Any attempts at genuine, thoughtful filmmaking are destroyed by the frequent and iarnng action scenes. and a couple of niggling anachronisms.
With minimal extras. this is likely to appeal only to conspiracy theorists from the Davul Icke school of extremism.
(Dave Martin)
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TRIPLE AGENT (U) 115min
(Artificial Eye DVD retail) 0..
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lliis latest moxie from French filmntaker Eric Rehmer is typically assured and intelligent. but is lacking somewhat in forward momentum, the political ideology and exposition of ideas tending to hamstring any emotional empathy vath the characters. Set in Paris Just before the World War ll. Trip/e Agent is based on a real life incident in ‘.'.’l)|(3ll a \A.’lt:te Russian general in exile got embroiled in the ever- changing political situation throughout Europe. from the Spanish Cl‘-.'ll War to frictions between Soviet Russia. Na/i Germany and the complex internal politics of France itself. The performances are all solul enough, and Rohmer's direction is intimate and unflashy in an attempt to give the rather oyer complicated and heaw handed script room to breathe. Fxtras include an informative but rather dr‘, documentary which discusses the so called Miller Skobline case. the real life story on which Trip/e Agent is based. and which was never resolyed.
(Doug .lohnstone)
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DIVIDE AND CONOUER As four of his films are released in a DVD box set, Swedish filmmaker LUKAS MOODYSSON (pictured) talks about the art in his madness.
‘At a press conference once when everyone was asking me to explain and analyse one of my films I spontaneously said: “I have cooked you a beautiful meal but don’t ask me to chew it for you.” It has become my motto, but I think it is true - people expect things to be easy to digest. If they don’t understand it, then they think there is something wrong with it. It feels like I send something out, and then they want me to send something new out. It’s a bizarre situation. ‘l’m not very interested in uniting the audience, but more interested in dividing the audience and polarising them; putting conflicts into light, rather than trying to heal them. That is not something I think about when I’m making a film. With Show Me Love and Together, I hoped for people to get together through the films. With A Hole in My Heart I was very happy with the different reactions the film got. I see my approach to the audience in Show Me Love and Together as opposite to that of Lilya 4-Ever and A Hole in My Heart. But I don’t see the films themselves as opposite. After Lilya, people asked me about the change, I said, “You should try to not see Lilya 4-Ever in the light of Together, but rather the other way around. See Together in the light of this one. Go back
and try to see Show Me Love in the light of this one.
‘My son has also told me that I’m starting to get embarrassing because I’m always talking about politics. He says I should move into a commune with
homeless vegetarians!
‘I have also promised distributors around the world that if they lose money on my films, I will one day give them an enormous success but my films are all made with secrecy so who will know?
‘I like it when people react and when they walk out of the theatre. More people should leave theatres! Not just my films but also with Spider Man or something. It’s good to take a stand. I don’t want to unite audiences. I want to
divide them.’
I The ‘1 Films by l r/kas ltloogiysson DVD box set is (2‘.'(’1I/(1D.'r} no.2 char.
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HORROR TOOLBOX MURDERS
(18) 98min
(Anchor Bay DVD Retail) .0.
After ten years of making tele‘Jision progran‘imes. Texas Chainsaw Massacre director lobe
l looper returns with a remake of Dennis Donnelly's 1978 yideo nasty.
Nell and Steven Rarrow rent an apartment in the l usrnan Building. a historic Hollywood hotel that houses a supernatural evil. Someone or something that knows every secret of the place is picking off
the residents one by one. As Nell hears strange sounds. she starts to suspect that terrible things are happening in the rooms around her.
Despite a fine perfoin‘a'tce fron‘ Auge’a
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THE LIST 51