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"The End of the Affair",
from Tuna
Tuna's commentary:
It was hard to sort out
my feelings about this film. One of the reviewers
at IMDB said it was probably the best film that
could be made from the novel. I probably agree
with that. The settings and costumes were very
appropriate for the period and location (WW II
England), and soft focus and subdued lighting
were used for atmosphere. The technique was
effective, but not much help for capping.
Warning: Spoiler
Ahead
The story is a simple
one. Julianne Moore is married to a Govt.
official, but it is a sexless arrangement. She
has an affair with a friend/neighbor who is
researching her husband for material for a book.
When he is caught in a bomb blast and seems dead,
she begs God to save him, and promises to end the
affair in return. God keeps up his end, and she
tries for two years to keep up hers. Meanwhile,
the author feels it was his jealousy that drove
her away and becomes very bitter. They meet
again, and the author hires a Private Eye to find
out who she is cheating with now. He discovers
the truth, and falls in love with her all over
again. Unfortunately, she is terminally ill with
some un-named coughing disease.
End spoiler
Several things detracted
from the enjoyment of this film for me. First,
the sexual interludes were scattered throughout
in a series of flashbacks, which kept them from
developing any sort of sexual energy. Second,
neither the author nor the husband were very
likable. Third, the "miracle" at the
end (she kisses the Private Eye's son on a
strawberry birthmark that completely covers one
side of his face, and it goes away after her
death) was a little over the top for me, and not
necessary to the story. Last, there was a serious
continuity problem. She was baptized Catholic by
her mother who was Catholic, but was not raised
in the church because her father was Jewish.
After her death, the priest she had been seeing
said that she could have been given a Catholic
burial because "the church recognizes
baptism of desire." For those who are not
familiar with Catholic Doctrine, here is a brief
explanation:
1) You become a Catholic
by being baptized. 2) There are three kinds of
baptism; water, blood and desire. 3) Water
involves pouring, sprinkling or submersion, and
someone saying the proper words: "I baptize
you in the name of the Father, the Son and the
Holy Ghost." 4) Blood covers those martyrs
who gave their life for the church before they
could be baptized. 5) Desire is the catch-all
that makes every sincere person a Catholic. If
you admit the existence of God, and desire to do
everything necessary for salvation, you have a
baptism of desire and are a Catholic. Given that
she had seen the priest several times, and that
she would have been asked by him about baptism in
the first meeting, the priest would never have
mentioned baptism of desire, as she already had
the baptism of water.
All in all, I would say
that it is a well-made film (other than the
continuity error above), and I enjoyed what was
achieved technically, but I didn't relate to the
story or the characters.
Scoop's comments. I like
Julianne Moore. She's beautiful, talented, and
sexy. I just wanted to make that my preface
before I comment that she must now easily be the
most pretentious American actress. She's leaving
Winona in the dust with all these dreary movies
with accents and coughing diseases and drawing
rooms, where she calls everyone
"dahling", while Winona is actually
playing real people..
thumbnails Julianne Moore (1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8)
"Vagabond",
from Tuna
Tuna's commentary:
Finally, a new release with nudity. Although
Sandrine didn't get naked for this one, Macha
Meril did. Vagabond is the story of how a young
girl female hippie/drifter comes to be found
frozen to death in a ditch. It is a long watch,
but well-made, and beautifully photographed. The
imagery will be with you long after the film
ends.
thumbnails
Macha Meril (1,
2,
3)
Sandrine Bonnaire (1,
2)
Unknown (1, 2)
"Watermelon
Woman", from Johnny Web
A low-budget indy film
by a rookie, a real black lesbian filmmaker named
Cheryl Dunye about the attempt of a black lesbian
filmmaker named Cheryl Dunye to make a film about
a 1930's stereotyped black actress named The
Watermelon Woman. It turns out that the
Watermelon Woman had a life which intertwines in
many ways with Fictional Cheryl's own, and
probably with Real Cheryl's as well. Watermelon
had a long-term relationship with a white lesbian
filmmaker, and Fictional Cheryl has just entered
her own relationship with a white woman.
I have to admit they had
me going with the fiction/reality thing. I
actually looked up the Watermelon Woman (whose
real name they gave in the film), to see if she
was real, because I wasn't sure where the real
Cheryl ended and the fictional Cheryl began. The
filmmaker shows some promise, but I got bored
with the flimsy premise, and I'm not going to
review the film any further. I think you already
know whether you'd like it or not. Joey on
Friends would like it, if you know what I mean.
Cheryl Dunye (who is
playing the part of Cheryl Dunye) (1,
2,
3)
Guinevere Turner (1,
2)
Two period
pieces, from GR
Minnie
Driver in "The Governess" Romane
Bohringer in "Total Eclipse"
"Scream",
from Johnny Web
Sorry, just a throwaway
image of Rose McGowan. This Wes Craven movie
started the best new horror franchise of the
1990's, and poked fun at the genre, but it's no
breakthrough. Underneath the cynical smirk and
the slick production values, it's just another
Nightmare/Halloween/Friday pic. It's a very good
one, and I didn't FF too often, but just another
one of the same old same old. Rosie
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