At the
Movies Bored wide shut
By JOSEPH CUNNEEN
There was no way that Eyes Wide
Shut (Warner Bros.) could have lived up to its buildup. Unfortunately,
instead of being the dazzling climax of the late Stanley Kubricks justly
celebrated career (2001, Dr. Strangelove, Paths
of Glory), it turns out to be a pretentious bore.
Alice (Nicole Kidman) is married to Bill Harford (Tom Cruise), a
successful society doctor; they live in an opulent New York apartment with more
art on its walls than in most small museums. In the movies first extended
sequence they go to a party at a Manhattan mansion where Alice dances
languorously with a Hungarian would-be seducer, to the accompaniment of
dialogue one might charitably describe as camp. Though the effect is to make
Alice seem like a silly schoolgirl, she apparently notices two other young
women at the party competing for her husbands attentions, motivating a
nasty late-night exchange. Alice taunts her husbands complacency by
revealing her passion for a naval officer she had seen the previous summer.
Its fair enough to defend Kubrick against accusations of
pornography -- those who attend because of what theyve heard of the brief
sex scene between Cruise and Kidman (husband and wife in real life) should ask
for their money back. The problem is rather that Kubricks insistence on
total control distances us from the action, leaving us indifferent as to
whether Bills subsequent night on the town will destroy his marriage.
Meanwhile Kidman practically drops out of the movie, except for brief,
unconvincing scenes with her daughter.
The orgy of Eyes Wide Shut makes such an experience seem
fearsome and pleasureless; when Bill is told that those attending are the top
members of the power elite its hard to suppress a snicker. The masques
are fine, and there is chanting and organ music, but its an embarrassing
giveaway that only the women are naked.
Though Kubrick was a genuine artist, the reduction of Eyes Wide
Shut to the deliberate control of camera movements and shadings of color
reminded me of the pathetic director I worked with in a university theater who
never cared what plays were chosen for production; he believed he could put his
personal stamp on the audiences experience by using some piece of stage
furniture to express its symbolism. Though the ads describe Eyes Wide
Shut as mesmerizing, dont try to worry out some deep
meaning: It isnt really about anything.
Instead of a sad example of
directorial genius wasted on an ill-chosen source, The Blair Witch
Project (Artisan Entertainment) shows that success can be achieved despite
-- in part, because of -- extreme amateurishness. The most successful horror
film in years, thousands have responded to Witch as a genuine
documentary, found footage left behind in the Maryland woods by three young
film-makers (Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams and Joshua Leonard) who
disappear while researching the legend of the Blair witch.
Spectators who would comfortably remind themselves its
only a movie when seeing a studio horror film have no protection against
Witch; its very artlessness is proof of its authenticity. As director
Eduardo Sanchez says, Horror is something that works in the viewers
mind, not really on screen.
Donahue, the projects leader, keeps saying she knows where
she is going, and insists on keeping camera and recording equipment rolling as
the group becomes more and more frightened. The actors are basically put
through an eight-day survival game and forced to improvise most of the
dialogue. Those taken in by the mockumentary become alarmed at the
fragmented bits of action and are prey to suggestion when the screen goes
black. Others will rightly suspect that Sanchez and co-director Daniel Myrick
created creepy sounds and visual effects while the actors were shivering in
their tent.
You dont go to Witch for acting: Donahue, Williams,
and Leonard yell a lot and look scared, but thats it. Unlike most horror
movies, it doesnt have sex -- unless you count the thousands of times the
actors used the obligatory four-letter word. You dont even get to see a
monster. My instinct is to root for any film that was made for $35,000 but
discussion of this one belongs on the business page or in an article on
marketing via cable and cyberspace.
The Dinner Game (Gaumont) may
only be a French farce, but its a refreshing movie-going alternative.
Directed with a sure hand by Francis Veber (La Cage aux Folles), its
title refers to a mean-spirited game in which young sophisticates vie with each
other to bring the biggest idiot to their group dinner. Smug Pierre Brochant
(Thierry Lhermitte) learns about a hopeless monomaniac, Francois Pignon
(Jacques Villeret), who builds elaborate architectural marvels out of
matchsticks, and invites him as his guest. On the appointed night
Brochants wife leaves in protest, but when Pignon arrives and learns that
his host has hurt his back and cant go out, hes so intent on being
useful he refuses to leave. In helping Brochant to a chair, of course, Pignon
proceeds to fall on top of him.
This sets the pattern for a series of comic reversals in which the
supposed fool consistently makes the condition of his would-be tormentor worse.
The confusion deepens as, in an effort to locate the hideout where his wife may
be staying, Pignon enlists the help of his fellow tax-inspector, Just LeBlanc
(Francis Huster), who happens to be handling the case of the suspected
lover.
A list of such flip-flops cant convey the delight of The
Dinner Game, which is a product of Vebers expert pacing and the
perfect timing of veteran clowns like Villeret and Huster. The movie ends with
a final comic twist.
In a dreary season, its
encouraging to add a bit of good news. Eric Rohmers Perceval, a
delightful presentational retelling of Chretien de Troyes Grail story
that concludes in a deeply religious spirit, is finally available on video. If
its not at your favorite store, rent it from Facets, 1517 W. Fullerton
Ave., Chicago IL 60614 (312-281-9075).
Joseph Cunneen is NCRs regular movie
critic.
National Catholic Reporter, September 3,
1999
|