LIVES OF OTHERS. This German film takes place in 1984 East Berlin, when the Secret Police (the Stasi) and their informants are spying on nearly all of their citizens. Georg, a successful playwright, isn't being spied on when the movie opens, but the Cultural Commissar has a crush on Georg's actress girlfriend Christa, and would like to see Georg out of the way. So, a Stasi Captain gets the job of eavesdropping on Georg and Christa, and it is expected that he will be able to find something that will put Georg on a sort of enemies-of-the-people list. Georg really tries to be apolitical and inoffensive, so it won't be easy to get "the goods" on him, but events change him, and he does become more political. At first the Stasi Captain is a true believer in what he is doing, a real drone for the government, with no life of his own, but the longer he eavesdrops on the couple, the more it has an affect on him. In an odd way, it makes him lonely when he realizes what deep relationships other people can have. And he begins to have qualms about what he will do to Georg and Christa if he informs on them. The movie is not just a political thriller, where you wonder whether Georg and Christa can evade the State's hooks, but also a look at how absolutely intimidating and soul-deadening it is to live in that kind of society. Quite good. Just won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language movie (although I would have voted for Pan's Labyrinth).
BREACH. Chris Cooper plays Robert Hanssen, an FBI agent who spies for the Soviets for years and years. When the movie opens, the FBI is on to him, and trying to catch him in the act of making a drop. One of the many tactics they employ is to assign young FBI staffer Eric O'Neill (Ryan Philippe) to be his clerk, and report on his every move. At first Eric doesn't see the point, and in fact begins to admire Hanssen, because Hanssen is brilliant man, and seems very devout in his love for God and country. But eventually Eric will see Hanssen for the egomaniac that he is, which makes it more and more difficult for Eric to maintain his cover. This isn't an edge-of-your-seat thriller, because the movie opens with John Ashcroft announcing in 2001 that they have arrested Hanssen, but it is still interesting to see the lengths the FBI had to go to to catch the guy.
VENUS. Peter O'Toole stars as Maurice, an aging actor, not going gently into that good night. His days are filled with playing minor roles (i.e., dying guys) and hanging out with his old friends. One of those friends has his great-niece come to be his caretaker, but the guy doesn't like her and complains mightily to his friends about her. Maurice, the the other hand, becomes besotted by her, calling her Venus. I found his lust for her rather icky, being that she's maybe twenty and he's 80 or so. It was unpleasant watching him try to cop a feel (this isn't a comedy) when she's drunk. I get that he's trying to cling to youth, but still.... And she's actually quite unpleasant herself, ignorant, mean, and manipulative. So the first hour of the movie I didn't care for at all. But the movie takes at turn in a different direction in the last third, and I did quite like that part. So it was a weird experience.
MUSIC AND LYRICS. I like well-done romantic comedies (not that there are that many). And both Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant have made good ones. In this one, Hugh is the former member of a 80's pop band (think Wham) who is reduced to playing places like Knott's Berry Farm. Drew is a wannabe writer. Hugh gets a chance to write a song for a Brittany-like (pre-bald) pop princess, but he doesn't write lyrics. And Drew comes along, and she has a gift for lyrics. Etc etc etc. It didn't really work for me. It's not truly awful, but has too few laughs, and they don't really have any chemistry together, so I wouldn't actually even watch it again for free on TV.
No comments:
Post a Comment