Win IP5, from the Jean-Jacques Beineix Collection

THE JEAN-JACQUES BEINEIX COLLECTION GIVEAWAY

In conjunction with our lengthy interview with the French auteur, we are also offering our readers a chance to win a free DVD from The Jean-Jacques Beineix Collection. Last time we gave away free copies of Roselyne and the Lions to two lucky readers, Marc-David from Portland, Oregon and Roger from Los Angeles, California!

This time we are giving away two copies of IP5 – released in France in 1992 and never released before in the US – thanks to Cinema Libre Studio! Sign up here by 8/10/2009 to win! http://cinemalibrestudio.com/icontact_images/beineixDVD2.html

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Jean-Jacques Beineix: The Hollywood Interview

French filmmaker Jean-Jacques Beineix.

JEAN-JACQUES BEINEIX:
Divas and Lions and Moons, Oh My!
By Alex Simon

The Noveulle Vague, or “French New Wave” was launched by a group of film critics and cinefiles who began France’s legendary Cahiers du Cinéma magazine in the 1950s. With Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless in 1959, the movement was launched, emphasizing behavior over aesthetics, content over form, and pastiche of other film genres (particularly those born in the U.S., with a healthy dollop of Italian neorealism) over the more traditional narratives of French films from years past. Francois Truffaut, Jacques Demy, Agnes Varda (see our interview with her below) Eric Rohmer, Claude Chabrol, and Jacques Rivette all fell under the spell of magazine co-founder and theorist Andre Bazin, laying the groundwork for a series of articles, monographs and critiques that formed the so-called “auteur theory,” (or more specifically “"La politique des auteurs" ("The policy of authors,” maintaining that the director is the true author of a film). Cahiers du Cinéma writers attacked the classic "literary" style of French Cinema, and forged a style uniquely their own, which would go on to influence several generations of filmmakers on both sides of the pond.

Then came the 1980s.



1981 marked the beginning of a “new” New Wave in France, with the opening of neophyte director Jean-Jacques Beineix’s romantic thriller Diva, a startling exploration of aesthetics over behavior, style over heavy plotting, and sheer visual panache using gaudy urban landscapes (neon, concrete, wet streets) that would not only go on to influence other French filmmakers like Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita, The Fifth Element), but American filmmakers like Michael Mann, whose Miami Vice aesthetic can be traced back to the groundbreaking visuals Beineix established with Diva, not to mention most of the music videos produced in the U.S. during the 1980s.

Born in Paris October 8, 1946, Jean-Jacques Beineix was a movie-crazed kid who initially took the more pragmatic route of attending medical school, but then gave into his passion of filmmaking, spending the next decade working as assistant director to some of the biggest names in French cinema: Claude Berri, René Clément, Claude Zidi and even Jerry Lewis. After Diva became a surprise international hit in ’81 (French critics initially wrote it off, but it went on to win four Cesar awards), Beineix faced the sophomore curse with his next feature, Moon in the Gutter (1983), a big-budget film noir starring Gerard Depardieu and Nastassia Kinksi which was excoriated by critics and ignored by audiences. Betty Blue (1986), detailing the doomed romance between a sweet-natured drifter (Jean-Hughes Anglade) and an mentally-unstable sexpot (Beatrice Dalle) restored Beineix’s reputation as a director to be reckoned with, earning a Best Foreign Film Oscar nod, as well as nine Cesar nominations, becoming a cult smash worldwide.

Turning toward more socially-conscious subjects in the ‘90s, Beineix made IP5: The Island of the Pachyderms, starring a young Olivier Martinez and acting legend Yves Montand, in his final film. In addition, Beineix has been a prolific documentary filmmaker, with the films Locked-In Syndrome, detailing the story of French Elle Editor Jean-Dominique Bauby’s excruciating struggle to come back from a massive stroke (dramatized a decade later in Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), as well as Otaku, a study of Japanese youth obsessed with the culture of toys, action figures and video games.



Betty Blue: The Director's Cut screened in New York and Los Angeles in June and July, respectively, followed by runs in Minneapolis July 24, Seattle August 7, Denver August 21, Boston, September 11, and Washington D.C. October 2. The Jean-Jacques Beineix Retrospective was held at The American Cinematheque in Los Angeles from July 2-July 8 to sold-out audiences.

All these titles (save for Diva, available on DVD from Lionsgate) arrive in separate releases from Cinema-Libre Studio between now and December 1st:
1. Locked-In Syndrome; Otaku; M. Michel's Dog, June 23
2. Roselyne and the Lions, July 14
3. IP5, August 18
4. Mortal Transfer, September 22
5. Moon in the Gutter, October 20
6. Betty Blue: The Director's Cut, November 17
7. The Jean-Jacques Beineix Collection Box Set, December 1
Enter to win all these titles here at The Hollywood Interview by clicking this link: http://cinemalibrestudio.com/icontact_images/beineixDVD.html

Jean-Jacques Beineix sat down with us at a seaside hotel recently to discuss his remarkable career as France’s most reluctant auteur. Here’s what followed:

Even though it’s not in the collection, why don’t we begin by talking about Diva, your first film? Looking back on it now, it strikes me as the first “’80s” film, in terms of the look and sensibility that you gave it. And this was before Michael Mann and other people infused their films with that look: a lot of neon, emphasis on the color palate, wet streets…Where does your visual sensibility come from?
Jean-Jacques Beineix: I think it came from surroundings, the times we were living in. I was surprised many times when I didn’t see that in films. The New Wave was more interested in the relationships between people, and not so much looking at the cities. I thought the cities reflected our landscape, so filming the landscape was also filming the people living in it. Our world was changing at that time. It started to move faster, due to mass travel, commodities, and means of communication, which were, by the way, very, very archaic compared with what we have nowadays. Nevertheless, in Diva, the story dealt with that, which is artist, fans, artistic integrity regarding the production, endless reproduction, piracy, and technologies. In fact, there’s a phrase in the film which triggered a lot of problems with the producers, who wanted me to cut the line, which goes “It is up to industry to adapt to art, and not art to adapt to industry.” It was naïve, maybe, but I still stick to that.


Trailer for the 2008 re-release of Diva.

Your documentary Otaku deals with some of these themes, as well, right?
Yes. I’d been going to Japan for many, many years. It struck me that this phenomenon was years ahead of its time regarding video games, individuals, networks, and consumerisation of action figures. It wasn’t just some “strange Japanese” cultural phenomenon. It was just they these young men set the pace, so to speak, for generations of young people in other cultures, including the United States and Europe. Japan has often been ahead of the game when it comes to popular culture. In Diva, Jules is collecting recordings and pirating recordings in his collection, just like all the kids now.

A lot of the subjects and themes in your films have been prescient, and people weren’t ready for them when the films were originally released.
That’s a bit of my problem. When you’re ahead, you’re not on time. (laughs)

There’s a great quote from the Bible, and I’m not a Christian…
But the Bible is a good book…

I’m not saying it’s not a good book; I was just prefacing my point by emphasizing the fact that I don’t believe and/or agree with everything the book has to say.
Okay, I see. Me too. (laughs)

The quote says, essentially, that a prophet is never recognized in his own time. Don’t you think it’s the job of an artist to be prophetic, to piss off the right people, and see things that others don’t, then you’re doing your job?
Yes, I agree. It’s true.

The cut of Betty Blue that’s included in this box set is an hour longer than the theatrical version. Why were you forced to make those cuts originally?
I was not forced, actually. I forced myself. To understand this, you have to be aware of the mentality at the time I made the film. As you said, I was always a bit ahead of things. When I did Diva, it was not an original work and I didn’t find the book that it was based on. I was hired by the producers to direct it. They wanted me to take it in one direction, a detective story, and I took in completely different direction. They wanted me to take out all the romantic scenes in Paris, they threatened me that if I didn’t take the title Diva off, they’d sue. They wanted the film to be called The Moppet, or My Boyfriend Jules. These are the kinds of things I escaped from. (laughs) They were very tough producers, Irene and Serge Silberman. They were not kids. He had the money, and she was smart. They dreamt of being producers in America, and had done half of the journey, coming from Poland and escaping the Nazis during the war. So he was powerful and tough, but I was very mean and tough myself at that time, and resisted the pressures. So when Diva was first released, it was a flop. Critically, it was destroyed. Nobody knows this. Specifically, the critics of the New Wave, were very tough on it. France is the worst place to be, for a French director.

I can see that, because it went against everything that the Nouvelle Vague was about, right?
No, not at all. What were the principals of the New Wave, if not to express yourself honestly? So I thought they would like it. Sometimes the films of the New Wave, or people like Antonioni, were extremely involved in aesthetics, colors, research. Those were the films I grew up with and learned from. Early Alain Resnais, like Last Year at Marienbad, were very beautiful and very strange. So anyway, it took a full year for Diva to escape from this situation of total oblivion, and it was in America that it was discovered. I had to fight the producer to bring the film to Toronto. I had wanted to bring the film to America first, but the two phrases I kept hearing were “How can we sell this in America?” and “Will this please an American audience?” The answer came from the audience in Toronto: they gave it a standing ovation! I had just landed, totally jet-lagged, and I walk into the theater and everyone is standing up and clapping. I thought I was in a dream, or in a nightmare.

Or in the wrong theater.
(laughs) Yes, exactly.

Gerard Depardieu in Moon in the Gutter.

Then the success of Diva allowed you to do Moon in the Gutter, which was excoriated by critics and audiences everywhere. I imagine that must’ve been quite a blow.
Yes, that was tough. I had wanted to go much farther with that film in terms of stylistics and playing with the medium. It was based on a novel by an American writer, David Goodis, who wrote film noir-type stories like Dark Passage and Truffaut’s Shoot the Piano Player. I thought I was doing something great. I filmed on a huge stage in Cinecitta between the sets of Sergio Leone, doing Once Upon a Time in America, and Fellini, who was shooting And the Ship Sails On. Now, it’s gotten a bit of recognition, which is better late than never, I suppose. But I went from feeling like a failure for an entire year with Diva, my first film, thinking it would be my last. Suddenly, it’s a success in America, and I’m a major director. Then I do Moon in the Gutter, I have money, ambitions, and stars. I shoot it in the most magical studio in the world. All of this is very heavy and was like this wonderful dream, where I was flying on the wings of victory, you know? And then, bang, bang, bang: I’m shot down. It was very scary.

Then you did Betty Blue. How did that come to you?
I was sent this novel by Philippe Dijan, still in galley proofs. It hadn’t yet been published. I read the book and loved it. I immediately optioned it, and made the movie, which was the easiest movie I’ve ever made. I adapted it along, in the south of France. But again, in the beginning, troubles, because I almost got caught in an endless series of lawsuits. The first producer I had was a Swiss guy who was very disloyal, so I tried to break away from him, and he tried to sue me using an old contract we had. It was treacherous, terrible. Finally, I won, but we had to give him a lot of money. Then once the film started filming, it was a straightforward march toward success, all over the world. It was nominated for ten Cesars (but only won for Best Poster), an Oscar, a Golden Globe. So when I started Betty Blue, I was hounded by failure, but wound up enjoying some success. But back to your question, about the film’s original length. My rough cut of Betty Blue was four hours long. I had been so traumatized by the experience of doing Moon in the Gutter, which I’d recut, and recut, I just decided to play it safe and cut it down to a “reasonable” length, which would serve the action, that would make the distributors happy and allow them to have one or two extra showings per day. It’s interesting, after I did the director’s cut of Betty Blue, I approached Gaumont and said that I’d like to do the same thing with Moon in the Gutter, because I thought I could improve the movie. They said no, because they’d destroyed everything: all the doubles, the negatives, all the footage that was excised from the final cut, is now gone. That was the worst thing in my career that has happened. It enrages me sometimes when I think about it, then it goes away, then it comes back. But I’m very happy with the three-hour cut of Betty Blue that you’ll see on DVD. I think it’s much better.

Beatrice Dalle and Jean-Hughes Anglade in Betty Blue.

Betty Blue was your first road picture, which you’ve now made several of. What is it about that genre that fascinates you?
Well, it all started with Easy Rider. When I saw that film, I fell in love with the idea of the road picture and it was something that I’ve continued to explore.

What were some other films or filmmakers who have influenced you?
Oh, there are many. The New Wave. Kubrick I have total admiration for. I think he was one of the greatest masters of cinema. He succeeded in having an extraordinary vision of directing actors, using color, music, almost like a choreographer. In the meantime, his films are brilliant metaphors that do not age. But there are many others: French films like Children of Paradise, lots of films.

Sekkou Sall and Olivier Martinez in IP 5.

You came of age in France during the perfect time for film buffs because cinema in the late ‘60s, like everything else in France, just exploded, and allowed you to explore film on a much deeper level.
You know, I appreciate hearing that because so often I hear the contrary, especially from French critics.

But is it possible for the French critics to have objectivity about their own filmmakers? There are Americas who are revered in France, and despised here.
Yes, absolutely. Peter Greenaway is revered in France, but you talk about him in London, and you get mud in the face.

Jerry Lewis, on the set of his notorious, unseen film, The Day the Clown Cried.

Since we’re on the subject, we have to talk about Jerry Lewis. You worked as 2nd AD on his notorious, unseen film, The Day the Clown Cried, a purported comedy about a clown entertaining Jewish children in a WW II concentration camp. What was that like?
Yes, and I never saw the film. I was just the second assistant and it was an incredible fairy tale for me, to work with Jerry Lewis. Jerry Lewis, along with Louis de Funes—who, by the way, had a very similar career to Jerry Lewis. He was a huge comic in France, but never, ever until now, 20 years after his death, recognized as a great actor. But they both made me laugh as a child. Jerry Lewis did everything: he did stand-up. He could act. He could sing and dance. He’s a photographer. He’s a director. And his films, when you look at them, are extremely daring and inventive. So he was someone that I wanted to emulate, in a way. The cinematographer of the film, Edmond Richard, who had shot a film I worked on directed by Rene Clement, called Hope to Die, with Jean-Louis Trintignant, Aldo Ray and Robert Ryan—and let me tell you, meeting Aldo Ray and Robert Ryan was something!

Two of my favorite actors. What were they like?
Tough guys. Aldo was drinking, playing poker, and Robert Ryan was like in his films. He was huge, tough, built like iron and a face that looked like it was carved out of granite. Nice guy. He was quite ill at the time, in the final stages of the cancer that killed him, one or two years later. But he never complained, and was very professional.

Actor Robert Ryan, circa 1950s.

I still think the film Ryan did with Robert Wise, The Set-Up, is the best boxing picture ever made—and I don’t view Raging Bull as a boxing picture, by the way—largely because Ryan himself was a boxing champ. He won the championship of Dartmouth College.
Yes, and he was a Marine in WW II. They don’t really make actors like him anymore. He built his muscles through his life, not at the gym, you know what I’m saying? Slim and mean.

Lee Marvin is another actor like that. Are you a fan of Point Blank?
Oh yes, I love Lee Marvin and that is one of my favorite films. It deals with one of my great passions in life—cars. I try to have a different great car in every one of my films. Even if there are no cars, then there is a motorcycle. (laughs) It’s kind of an homage to a disappearing civilization.

Back to Jerry Lewis.
Yes, it was like I had been invited to the court of Queen Elizabeth. It felt like a real achievement. I tried to work as hard as possible, and be very speedy. Like the weather, you don’t wait for somebody to ask. The moment the director says “I would like to have a…” you know what needs and get it for him. The greatest moment on that set for me was, one day Jerry Lewis got really upset with his crew, and went off on them, saying “You’re all too lazy. You don’t work hard enough. There’s only one guy who understands!” And he pointed to me. I only worked on the film for 15 days, at the circus in Paris. I never heard a thing about it after. I knew it was bogged down in lawsuits after it was finished, but it was an important moment in my professional life. I worked with a lot of amazing people before I directed my first film. I was an assistant director for twelve years. It was a great training ground, watching those masters work. I have many great memories. I started making films very late, you know.

I know you originally went to medical school. When did you know you were a filmmaker?
Oh, very early. I’d always thought about it. I had my first camera at the age of 14 and was taking lots of pictures. Then I got a movie camera and was always filming, and it was usually very bad, because I didn’t know what to film, and still don’t. So now I take pictures with my IPhone every day. I have over a thousand pictures in this phone. Sometimes it provides me with my fix. It’s sort of like my dope, my pain killer. I take pictures. I know that the picture is the beginning of a film.

Let’s talk about IP 5, which is being released in this DVD set for the first time in the U.S. It was also Yves Montand’s last film.
I really love that film. It’s probably my favorite film. It didn’t get released in the States. I had the chance to have two films that were regarded as two of the best foreign films released in the last thirty years—Diva and Betty Blue. IP 5 had the chance to be released in the States by New Line, I think. The man in charge of buying the film was a guy called Ira Deutchman and he was the guy who picked up Diva for the U.S. But I think at that time, he got fired from New Line, and the distribution went with him. That was it. Even Mortal Transfer got a very good reception at The Seattle Film Festival. I thought it was going to be like Diva, and the audience loved it. But it never got a release here. I just don’t understand it.

Helene de Fougerolles in Mortal Transfer.

I love that film. I thought it was an homage to both Hitchcock and Brian De Palma.
Yes, you got it! I tried to sell it like that in France, but (the critics) were like “Oh no, come on…” So who knows, maybe it’s another one that people will decide they like in ten years. (laughs)

Let’s get back to IP 5. Tell us about Yves Montand.
Yves Montand was the easiest actor I ever worked with, and this was after I had the experience of working with Gerard Depardieu, who was the most difficult. But let’s be clear: Depardieu was difficult because he was drinking at the time. Otherwise, he’s a charming man and a great actor. He knows the camera like no other actor working today. I operate my own camera, so I know when an actor is at ease with the camera and understands it. Gerard is unbelievable. I didn’t find this again until I worked with Yves Montand. Yves Montand was, for me, like Jerry Lewis in the sense that he was part of my childhood. But I felt an even greater connection with him. Yves was a Communist, as were my grandparents. They were Communists until they reached the problem of faith, because they were Catholic. Montand was also a figure of the Resistance during the war. Plus he was a singer, an actor, a renaissance man, truly one of the greats. So, having him be in my film was a thrill. It was a way of joining my childhood and the present time. I initially didn’t think of Yves for the part. I thought of Jean-Pierre Marielle, who is a very interesting actor. He was not available and I knew that Yves Montand was in a stage of his career where he was looking to take risks. Few stars are capable of that. This was a man who epitomized the glamorous French lover in his heyday, and this was, for the most part, such a deglamorized part, except when he wore that tuxedo during the wedding scene, he was the Montand we know.

Yves Montand and Sekkou Sall in IP 5.

In many ways he was sort of like the French Robert Ryan, because he graduated to playing tough guys in the ‘60s and ‘70s in films by people like Jean-Pierre Melville. Yes, like The Red Circle, of course, and he also came from musical. So he was extremely consistent, professional and had an aptitude for the camera. Here is a funny story: when we started, we did so with the kids for the first week. He arrived the second week, dressed all in white, like the Yves Montand from the south (of France). He spent the time feeling things out: are the kids any good? Am I any good? Is this director any good? But he did so in such a charming way. He charmed everybody. Yves was the most charming man I’ve ever met. He would’ve charmed this chair, the cup, anything. Then we start the first scene with him, and he sees me on the camera, which few directors do, and many actors are not used to that. There is this famous triangular relation with actor, cameraman, and director. The director is seated behind his monitor and yells “action!” and “cut!” There was no monitor on my films, until now, because the cinematographer begged me on Mortal Transfer, so I had a small one. But anyway, once we started shooting, he relaxed into it, and it was the most delightful experience. I’ve never had an actor work harder for me than Yves did, and he was 72 years-old at the time we shot the film.

French actor Yves Montand, circa 1950s.

And then his death, shortly after he completed filming his part, overshadowed the film’s release, right?
He died two days after we did some reshoots, of the scene where he dies, ironically. The press made a connection between his death and the film, almost implying that the film killed him, so it had bad press literally almost before it was finished. Yves wasn’t there to defend me, or the film, so it was very tough. It’s important to know the difference between reality and fiction, however. When the two get confused, then you have a problem. One final story about Yves: most people referred to him as “Montand,” that’s how they addressed him. I called him “Yves” from the beginning right to the end of the shoot. I don’t know why he allowed me to do this, but I always felt sort of honored by it.

The last film we should talk about is The Locked-In Syndrome, your documentary on Jean-Dominique Bauby, which was dramatized in Julian Schnabel’s film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, a decade later.
I had all but given up on cinema at that point and I really view that film as a sort of, what would you say, a restart button for me?

Reset button?
Reset button, yes. I was so frustrated by all the disappointments I’d had, plus I lost my mother and best friend to cancer and then was very badly hurt in a motorcycle accident. So it was not a happy period in my life, but when Jean-Dominique contacted me I knew this was something I had to do. I told him I was thinking about turning to writing and painting full-time, but he said I should use what he called my “extreme artistic sense for making films.” It was my first film in five years, since IP 5, and after my accident, when I was in my own way paralyzed and handicapped, I really identified with Bauby.

Jean-Dominique Bauby in the documentary Locked-In Syndrome.

How long did you spend with him?
Four months, and I had to discard over 40 hours of footage to make it into a 26 minute documentary.

What was the effect of spending all that time with him?
I stopped taking myself quite so seriously, that’s for sure. (laughs) He sent me a fax the night the film premiered on television. I waited by the machine in this state of total anxiety, waiting for his criticism. Bauby was a tough guy, and quite frankly, not the nicest guy before (his stroke). So I braced myself for the worst. I knew that it was the first time Jean-Dominique would see himself as others saw him, and that was bound to be a shock. But he was very complimentary, and quite kind in his commentary on the film.

Why didn’t you do the feature version a decade later?
What would be the point, to make the same film twice? They approached me, but I said no. And then they went ahead and (dramatized) a great deal of what was in my film anyway.

Over the years, many French films, and other films from foreign countries, have been remade here in the States. What are your thoughts on remakes and have you ever been approached to do an “Americanized” version of any of your films?
Look, it’s all about fashion. First it was remaking French films, then Australian, then Chinese. I was approached about doing an American version of Betty Blue, and even wrote the script for it. But I would only sell the rights for an outrageous amount of money, and that will never happen. The whole system is decadent and it stopped being about creativity long ago, and became about productivity. They look at the world market and they want product they can sell worldwide, period. Forget the story. Look at what’s happened to the automobile business here in the States. It looked healthy on the outside for so long, then it collapsed because it was completely wounded, in reality. It’s the same with Hollywood. Why is this industry, with the billions of dollars they have behind it, incapable of writing scripts? It’s proof that the whole system is corrupt; they need us filmmakers to generate product, but they don’t want the films we want to make to be shown. I go back to the line I mentioned from Diva: “It is up to industry to adapt to art, and not art to adapt to industry.” Will this ever happen? We’ll see.

Read more!

Win the Jean-Jacques Beineix Collection!

THE JEAN-JACQUES BEINEIX COLLECTION GIVEAWAY

In conjunction with our lengthy interview of the French auteur, to be posted Tuesday, we are also offering our readers that chance to win a free copy of Roselyne and the Lions - filmed in 1989 and never released before in the US – thanks to Cinema Libre Studio!

Sign up here by 7/21/2009 to win! http://cinemalibrestudio.com/icontact_images/beineixDVD.html

Read more!

Raging Bulls and Rolling Stones

SHINE A LIGHT: THE LONG HAUL OF MARTY, MICK & "KEEF"
An essay by Jon Zelazny

This article first appeared at EightMillionStories.com on April 18, 2008.

Martin Scorsese appears on-camera in the pre-concert scenes of Shine a Light, his only obvious personal touch to a concert film that’s generally indistinguishable from your average HBO special. Scorsese has made some wonderful documentaries over the years, and at this stage in his career, I look forward to his pet projects more than his Hollywood features, but when measured against gems like ItalianAmerican and The Last Waltz, or even the tutorial My Voyage to Italy, Shine a Light is easily the least impressive work of Scorsese’s non-fiction career… which isn’t to say it’s a boring movie, or somehow not worth the price of even an IMAX ticket, because The Rolling Stones are indisputably world-class entertainers, and don’t require any cinematic genius to help them hold an audience in the palms of their well-weathered hands. Scorsese’s presence, then, is essentially a vanity: “We’re the greatest living band of our generation; why shouldn’t we hire the coolest director of our generation to coordinate the filming of our special concert?” That’s all Scorsese is allowed to do: coordinate the physical elements of production, like any decent local TV director could just as well manage, and any artistic vision in the film remains squarely under the thumbs of Jagger & Richards.

This is a tad unfair to sophisticated moviegoers because Martin Scorsese directing leads one to expect more than just a damn good TV special. It implies these respective masters of their mediums might sit down together and compare their personal experiences of endless worldwide fame and adulation, because, let’s face it, the Stones don’t have too many contemporaries on the face of the Earth, and Martin Scorsese is about as simpatico to their whole groove as Hollywood will ever get.


Does anyone currently under the age of forty have actual firsthand memories of The Band? The name means nothing to kids, and I can’t remember the last time I heard “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” on Classic Rock radio, or “The Weight” on some Oldies station, but any open-hearted youngster can plug in a DVD of Scorsese’s The Last Waltz (1978), and come away from it feeling like they not only know all five members of The Band as individuals, but can attest they were pretty decent and likable guys, and that their unique on-stage chemistry allowed them to make some truly beautiful and timeless music. There’s no archival footage; Scorsese shot their farewell concert, and intercut some low-key, intimate interviews he shot in the immediately surrounding weeks. The audience comes away with a sense of The Band’s history only because Scorsese gently coaxes some anecdotal odds and ends out of five weary, close-mouthed men: sometimes humorous and sometimes wistful wisps of pride or shame that add up to a patch quilt band biography. Their stories are specific, but resonate universally: The Last Waltz is an oral history of every WWII-born male who fell in love with rock ‘n roll as a youngster, took a stab at the Big Time, and endured the seismic ups and downs of The Business… just as Scorsese’s living room conversation with his parents in ItalianAmerican (1974) becomes the story of all American immigrant communities of the early 20th century.

Scorsese appears on-camera throughout both of those films as well, but mostly you just see him listening. In the non-concert footage of Shine a Light, there’s little sense of anyone listening to anybody, probably because no one says anything really worth hearing. Over the phone, Mick objects to a crane camera; Marty says one would be nice. There is no further mention of this difference of opinion; the crane is there when the concert commences, so apparently the issue wasn’t a deal-breaker. In another scene, Mick bluntly tells his stage designers that he doesn’t like anything they’ve done. They look surprised, and understandably concerned. What happens next? Scorsese cuts away, and never comes back to it. There is much filmed fuss over Scorsese not getting a set list prior to the show, as though this represents quite a vexing problem. C’mon, Marty; it’s a rock band; they’re going to come out on stage and play their songs. An artistic master is supposed to make the difficult appear easy; Scorsese apparently wants us to think it’s the other way around.


I was actually hoping for more Scorsese on-camera, because he’s aged into such a neat guy. In the 1970’s, elfin and bearded, he exuded a palpable NYC nervousness, and his astonishing appearance in Taxi Driver probably cemented the public’s impression of him as some kind of creep. You don’t have to look far to find the roots of his current persona: watch ItalianAmerican and you’ll be amazed how completely Marty the senior citizen has inherited all the best traits of his late mother, Catherine. He’d always had her love of storytelling, of course, but now he has that same ease she had with herself, her openness and twinkly maternal warmth—right down to that little lilt of her head when she was particularly enjoying something.

The topic of aging in Shine a Light of course brings us to the Stones themselves. I’m thoroughly sick of the journalistic angle of “Wow! Can you believe how old The Rolling Stones are—and they’re still at it!” …which has pretty much been the bemused undertone of the coverage of everything they’ve done at least as far back as their 1981 world tour. Isn’t the answer always the same? They get along professionally, they still enjoy writing, recording, and performing, and they continue to be stratospherically successful; why the fuck wouldn’t they keep at it? The black American bluesmen who inspired them as lads all continue(d) to perform well into their seventies and eighties; does anyone really think Mick, Keith, or Ronnie Wood will ever let anything other than severe health problems keep them away from a stage?

More than anything, the fascinatingly gaunt and craggy faces of these three icons should be required IMAX viewing for every American teenager who thinks smoking is cool. I know it’s not just cigarettes; the Stones spent decades drinking, drugging, and tanning as well, but it really is the damn cancer sticks that ultimately most ravage your looks. Shine a Light was filmed when Jagger and Richards were 63 and Ron Wood was 59, but all three look like they’re pushing 70. Bill Clinton, then 60, easily looks ten years younger than the Rolling Stones, as does Buddy Guy, who actually was 70… and these are men who didn’t exactly lead shy, retiring lives either. Live in concert, the Stones are tiny figures seen distantly in a stadium; in IMAX, I simply couldn’t stop marveling at the freaky dichotomy between their teenager bodies and old men’s faces.


Have any of their public personas changed? Try weighing the group in Shine a Light against their much younger version in the Maysles Brothers’ landmark 1970 documentary Gimme Shelter:

Mick is still Mick. Judging by the sixties clips Scorsese includes, Mick has always been Mick. Mick is a superbly talented and highly intelligent performer, songwriter, franchise creator, and businessman. Mick is also so firmly in control of himself at every moment in his public appearances as to be utterly unfathomable. He “expresses” himself on stage, delivering songs with engaging simulations of various human emotions; what he actually thinks or feels about anything at all is decidedly not part of his act. Mick is perhaps the premier narcissist of his generation, and he clearly learned early on that revealing nothing to outsiders is a brilliant trick to make people intrigued, and keep them intrigued. The more aloof you are as a public figure, the more flattered are the little people who orbit you; your assistants, side musicians, accountants, lawyers, and lovers come to feel they’re incredibly lucky and privileged to be inside your trusted outer or inner circle; to know, for instance, what you like for breakfast, or what you really thought of Elton John’s last charity event. These traits have only noticeably sabotaged Mick’s ambitions in one area: to become a movie star. But what did he expect? Good movie acting is about letting people into your heart; allowing the audience to feel they’re experiencing an emotional journey via your physical presence. Mick’s off-stage vibe is, and always has been, remarkably clear: “Nice to see you. Now please get the fuck away from me.” (Which is why he was perfect as a self-absorbed, narcissistic, reclusive rock star in Donald Cammel and Nic Roeg’s Performance, and so forgettable in everything else.)

No, if you’re looking for personal evolution in the Rolling Stones, the only notable case is Keith Richards. I’ve seen a lot of footage of him from the sixties, and he never looked particularly “Happy.” In Gimme Shelter, on stage and off, his blankness and utter disconnection from anything except his guitar is almost unnerving. And he’s got a lot of company: Bill Wyman is equally blank, Charlie Watts is the definition of subdued, and it’s hard to remember Mick Taylor anywhere except on the Altamont stage. (Poor director Albert Maysles: if you know his work, you know Al really just loves people—interesting, funny, expressive people—and here he’s stuck making a movie about an ice-cold control freak and his four robots. Which is probably why, aside from the on-stage Mick, the most engaging “character” in the movie is the showboating San Francisco attorney Melvin Belli.)

The difference between the 1969 "Keef" and his 2006 self is startling. Somewhere along the line, this deeply troubled, deeply introverted man found some peace, joy, and, uh, satisfaction… and brought it all right into the main spotlight to share with the world. I’m thinking it began in the 1980’s when he first put together a side band and started touring as a front man: he’d always been content to be a great musician; now he needed to become a great entertainer as well. What Richards lacks as a stage athlete, he makes up for with gruff ‘n grin charm. He crouches close beside the audience, makes frequent hand and eye contact, and self-deprecating quips like, “It’s good to see you! It’s good to see anybody!” (Which is pretty amazing: you’d sure as hell never hear Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, or even Iggy Pop wryly chuckling onstage by alluding to, among other things, the heroin addictions that damn near killed them).

Richards’ look has come a long way too, from the druggy, occultist youth to today’s almost cuddly British zillionare grandpa eccentric. I used to think of his flowing long coats, headbands, eyeliner, and bangles as gypsy-esque; now, thanks to Johnny Depp, coming generations will most likely think of him as “that old pirate rocker.”

Watching Shine a Light is to appreciate that while Mick will forever be the head (and the dick) of this band, and Charlie Watts the spine, it’s Keith Richards who’s really the beating heart of The Rolling Stones today; his presence providing a true warmth and genuine invitation to community that they never really offered in, oh, their first three decades or so. Jagger of course always saw an “anti-Beatle” image as the path to success, but the Beatles are so long, long gone now, and no band has ever definitively assumed their cultural mantle, so why shouldn’t The Rolling Stones let a few rays of pop idol sunshine into their sordid world of Some Girls, Midnight Ramblers, and Champagne & Reefer? Jagger embraces the New Way just as strongly; in his proud rendition of the McCartney-ish “As Tears Go By,” and the comedy monologues of “Faraway Eyes.”

As a matter of fact, I enjoyed The Rolling Stones in Shine a Light more than at any other point in their history; it’s the first time I wished I was up there on stage with them (and IMAX is undoubtedly as close to that experience as we’ll likely ever come.) So hail, hail, rock and roll… and this extraordinary band of brothers, as they offer you a drink from their loving cup.

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Mike Wallace interviews Rod Serling: 1959

Fascinating time capsule from 1959: Mike Wallace interviews Rod Serling, arguably the greatest television writer in history.

Several things come to mind: the eloquence of both men's speech; The ever-present cigarettes in their hands.;The stripped-down style which has been adapted by Charlie Rose, but forgotten by the rest of TV journalists. The topics of conversation: censorship, rascism (Serling's use of the word "Negro," as opposed to "Black" or "African-American"), and the still-young medium of television and where it was heading, particularly when discussing Serling's "new" program, The Twilight Zone, which remains a touchstone as one of television's finest hours.

Serling died at the tender age of 50 in 1975. Mike Wallace is still going strong at age 91. God bless 'em--magnificent originals, both.

--Alex Simon

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DVD Playhouse--July 2009

DVD PLAYHOUSE—JULY 2009
By
Allen Gardner

DO THE RIGHT THING: 20th ANNIVERSARY EDITION (Universal) Spike Lee’s groundbreaking fable about race relations in an ethnically mixed Brooklyn neighborhood during a sweltering New York summer remains as potent, timely and prescient as it was in 1989. Lee is among the cast, which also includes John Turturro, Danny Aiello, Samuel L. Jackson, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, and Rosie Perez (to name a few), that provide the tableaux-like framework for this stunning work. Criminally ignored by Oscar (it wasn't even nominated for Best Picture, but did garner nods for Supporting Actor Danny Aiello and Lee’s screenplay), it endures as a timeless classic. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Commentary by Lee, Ernest Dickerson, Wynn Thomas, Joie Lee; Documentary; Deleted and extended scenes; Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround.
CORALINE (Universal) A young girl moves into an old Victorian house with her parents and finds a hidden door that reveals a portal to an alternate universe. Initially, this brave new world seems to offer her everything she lacks in reality: attentive parents, a comfortable lifestyle and complete freedom. Then, darker elements are revealed beneath the surface. Eye-popping computer animation and design courtesy of Tim Burton protégé Henry Selick (The Nightmare before Christmas), as well as a thoroughly engaging, magical and surreal story—worthy of Lewis Carroll at his most drug-addled! Note: it’s quite disturbing in parts, and not for small children. Fine voice work by Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, and Ian McShane. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: 2-D and 3-D versions of the film; 3-D glasses; Commentary by Selick and composer Bruno Coulais; Deleted scenes; Documentary; Featurettes. Blu-ray bonuses include: picture-in-picture; Tours and voice sessions; D-Box motion enabled. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround.
TWO LOVERS (Magnolia) Jaoquin Phoenix stars as Leonard, a troubled young man fighting to put the pieces of his broken life back together following an unsuccessful suicide attempt. When he meets sweet, stable Sandra (Vinessa Shaw), the daughter of his father’s business associate, it looks as though he may have found the salvation he so desperately is seeking. But when glamorous new neighbor Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow) draws Leonard into her fast-lane world of after-hours clubs, drugs and promiscuity, Leonard finds himself drawn into her web of self-destruction. Fifth feature film from co-writer/director James Gray is the filmmaker’s first real success on every level: fine, nuanced performances from his cast; a tight script and most of all, an absence of the self-consciousness (not to mention self-indulgence) that sank his previous films. Well done, James. It’s about time. Bonuses: Commentary by Gray; Featurettes; Deleted scenes; Photo gallery. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
THE SEVENTH SEAL (Criterion) Max Von Sydow plays a weary knight returning from The Crusades who finds himself confronted by Death Himself on a desolate beach. As the two engage in the most talked-about chess game in cinematic history, one of the most talked-about, imitated and sublime movie metaphors unfolds. Two disc set bonuses include: Introduction by Bergman, from 2003; Commentary by Bergman scholar Peter Cowie; Audio interview with Von Sydow; 1989 tribute to Bergman by Woody Allen; Trailer; Bergman Island, an 83-minute documentary (also available separately as a single disc) on Bergman; Bergman 101, a selected video filmography of Bergman’s career. Full screen. Dolby 1.0 mono.



UNIVERSAL BACKLOT SERIES Universal releases some of its most important, and obscure, titles from its vaults for the first time on DVD. Kirk Douglas has named LONELY ARE THE BRAVE (1962) as his favorite film, and it certainly ranks with the best of his impressive oeuvre, with Douglas scoring big as a modern-day cowboy at odds with the 20th century and all its trappings. Gena Rowlands scores in an early turn as his love interest, as do Walter Matthau, George Kennedy, and Carroll O’Connor. Screenplay by Dalton Trumbo. Bonuses: Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby 2.0 mono. ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES (1944) is an early Technicolor classic, featuring the legend of the Arabian Nights about a young man (Jon Hall) out to avenge the murder of his father, the king, and reclaim his throne. Great fun. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono. THE TRAIL OF THE LONESOME PINE (1936) stars Henry Fonda, Fred MacMurray and Sylvia Sidney in Henry Hathaway’s two-fisted Technicolor melodrama, one of the earliest films to be shot on location, about family and romantic rivalries in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono. BEAU GESTE (1939) is the classic adventure of three brothers who join the French Foreign Legion to escape trouble at home, only to find themselves trapped under the thumb of a martinet sergeant in the middle of the scorching Sahara! Terrific film still holds up wonderfully. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono.
MY DINNER WITH ANDRE (Criterion) Louis Malle’s ode to the art of conversation starring Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory as (ostensibly) themselves, chatting over dinner about love, death, money, and all that lies in between in the course of human nature. A testament to Malle’s gift as a filmmaker that he managed to make a film of such stillness so cinematic. 2 disc set bonuses include: Interviews with Shawn and Gregory by filmmaker Noah Baumbach; Vintage interview with Malle by Shawn. Widescreen. Dolby 1.0 mono.
LOOKIN' TO GET OUT (EXTENDED VERSION) (Warner Bros.) Jon Voight (who co-wrote the screenplay) and Burt Young play two desperate con men who hatch a plot to win big at blackjack in Vegas' (then) iconic MGM Grand Hotel. Shot in 1980, but not released until '82, this notorious turkey sadly marked the decline of the late Hal Ashby, one of the key directors of the 1970s. This is Ashby's"director's cut," which the filmmaker donated to UCLA shortly before his death in 1988. Beautifully shot by master cinematographer Haskell Wexler, the film remains a bizarre, sometimes curious, but mostly dull misfire. Ann-Margret adds spice as Voight's love interest, and Bert Remsen is a hoot as a grizzled veteran gambler. Look fast for the screen debut of "Angelina Jolie Voight" as Margret's daughter. Bonuses: New interview with Voight and co-writer Al Schwartz; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby 1.0 mono.
LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD (Criterion) Alain Resnais’ cinematic puzzle is viewed as either the pinnacle or the nadir of the Nouvelle Vague (it won the Golden Lion at the 1960 Venice Film Festival, and years later was named as one of the 50 worst films of all time). Even today, this ambiguous tale of a man (Giorgio Albertazzi) and a woman (Delphine Seyrig), who may or may not have met the previous year at Marienbad, continues to polarize audiences. Decide for yourself. Two disc set bonuses include: Trailer; Audio interview with Resnais; New documentary; New interview with film scholar Ginette Vincendeau; Two short documentaries by Resnais. Widescreen. Dolby 1.0 mono.
TWO BY MARCO FERRERI Koch-Lorber releases two titles from Italy’s “King of the bizarre.” BYE-BYE MONKEY (1977) starring Gerard Depardieu and Marcello Mastroianni as two foreign eccentrics living in New York City. When they discover the corpse of King Kong while walking along the Hudson River, they also find a baby chimp nearby, and raise it as their own. DON’T TOUCH THE WHITE WOMAN (1974) stars Catherine Deneuve and the cast of Ferreri’s notorious La Grande Bouffe (Michel Piccoli, Mastroianni, Phillippe Noiret, and Ugo Tognazzi) in this comedic take on Custer’s Last Stand, transplanting the battle site to a demolished Paris mall, challenging the audience to sympathize with the Indians. Widescreen. Dolby 2.0 mono.
MENAGE (EVENING DRESS) (Koch-Lorber) Bertrand Blier’s comedy about a bisexual thief (Gerard Depardieu) and the couple (Michel Blanc and Miou-Miou) whom he entices to join him as he robs Paris’ wealthiest homes. An unusual ménage a tois if there ever was one, and a very funny film. Widescreen. Dolby 2.0 mono.
REC (Sony) Heart-pounding thriller from Spain about a young television reporter (Manuela Velasco) whose seemingly-routine ride-along with a local fire brigade turns into a nightmare as they’re trapped in an apartment building that is infested with something quite deadly. Ingenious use of first-person camera is reminiscent of (and done much better than) The Blair Witch Project. Remade (poorly) as Quarantine in the U.S. Bonuses: Featurette. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
ECOUTE LE TEMPS (FISSURES) (Life Size Entertainment) A lonely sound engineer (Emilie Dequenne) travels to the rural home where her mother was just murdered. After becoming frustrated by the lackadaisical police investigation, she decides to launch her own, quickly realizing that, while recording sound in her mother’s house, she can her noises from the past through her headphones! Smart, scary French thriller is reminiscent of the best of Hitchcock. Bonuses: Deleted scenes; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
FOR ALL MANKIND (Criterion) Al Reinert’s magnificent documentary about the space race and the 24 men who traveled to the moon, told in their words, their voices, using the images of their experiences. Produced in 1989, it remains the most radical, visually-dazzling work of cinema yet made about this earthshaking event. Bonuses: New high-def digital transfer; Commentary by Reinart and Apollo 17 Commander Eugene Cernan; Documentary on the film’s production; Featurettes; Interviews with the astronauts; NASA audio highlights and liftoff footage. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 stereo.



REPULSION (Criterion) Roman Polanski’s haunting, surrealistic look at a young woman (Catherine Deneuve, never better) slowly descending into madness remains a touchstone of the psychological thriller and one of the most important films of the 1960s. The scenes in Deneuve’s flat remain some of the most claustrophobic, potent sequences ever filmed. Not to be missed, and not for the faint-of-heart. Bonuses: Commentary by Polanski and Deneuve; Documentary on the film’s production; 1964 French TV documentary; Trailers. Widescreen. Dolby 1.0 mono.
EL CAMINO (Life Size Entertainment) Engaging road picture follows a young woman (Elizabeth Moss, excellent as always) and two friends (Chris Denham, Leo Fitzpatrick) who travel cross-country with their recently-departed friend’s ashes in tow. Painfully honest and beautifully shot, film will stay with you long after its final fade out. Bonuses: Trailer; Deleted scenes; Short film. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
THE PINK PANTHER 2 (MGM/Fox) Steve Martin returns (and does his best to fill Peter Sellers’ shoes) as inept French police detective Clouseau, this time on the trail of the priceless Pink Panther diamond, which has been stolen along with a host of other rare treasures around the world. Some clever slapstick and family-friendly, to be sure, but by now we all know that Steve Martin is no Peter Sellers, and that Peter Sellers was no Steve Martin. The difference being, Sellers never tried to be. Martin is one of our most gifted comics, writers and satirists. Just be yourself, Steve. Don’t you have enough money by now? Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Gag reel; Featurettes; Trivia game; 27 classic Pink Panther cartoons; Digital copy of the film. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround.
EXPLICIT ILLS (Phase 4 Films) Compelling story told in the tableaux-like style of John Dos Passos (or Robert Altman) about intersecting lives in a North Philadelphia neighborhood. Terrific cast of up-and-comers (Rosario Dawson, Paul Dano, Lou Taylor Pucci) brings the vivid characters to life in this touching tale of survival, family and heartbreak. Bonuses: Trailer; Featurette. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
JUNCTION (Celebrity Video) A troubled young woman (April Wade) discovers some dark family secrets from her incarcerated father and must wrestle with the decision of whether to expose, and eventually destroy them, or let sleeping dogs lie. Wade delivers a double-barreled performance as the unstable Michaela, and also wrote the screenplay with co-star Lira Kellerman (also excellent) and James Ryan. Assured direction by Neal Fradsham. Bonuses: Commentary by Wade and Kellerman; Photo gallery; Trailers. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC (Touchstone) Becky Bloomwood (Isla Fisher) lands her dream job at a famous fashion magazine in New York, and even falls for her handsome, overworked boss (Hugh Dancy). Little does her hubby-to-be know that Becky has a shopping addiction that borders on the psychotic. Slight film from the (almost) equally-slight best-seller has a few bright moments and a terrific supporting cast (John Lithgow, Joan Cusack, John Goodman, Kristen Scott Thomas), but has all the substance of Cool Whip. Maybe it’s a “chick flick” that this dude just didn’t get. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Featurettes; Music videos; Bloopers and deleted scenes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround.


12 (Sony) Russian auteur Nikita Mikhalkov’s take on 12 Angry Men resets the drama in present-day Russia, with the accused being a Chechen youth on trial for the murder of his stepfather, and each of the twelve jurors an archetype for the societal makeup of 21st century Russia. Mikhalkov (who, as always, co-stars) wisely rethinks Reginald Rose’s play and screenplay instead of doing a literal remake, resulting in a rich film that deservedly was nominated for an Academy Award. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
COMBAT SHOCK (Troma Retro) A Vietnam vet (Rick Giovinazzo) returns home from the hellish jungles of Southeast Asia to the hellish streets of an urban nightmare in this low-budget, very exploitative take on Taxi Driver, with a blood-soaked climax to rival Scrosese’s masterpiece. Features both the original version and the uncensored director’s cut, Troma’s single venture into serious filmmaking isn’t bad, but at the end of the day, is still just a drive-in movie dressed up in auteur’s clothes. Two disc set bonuses include: Theatrical cut and director’s cut; Commentary by writer/director Buddy Giovinazzo; Documentary on the film’s production; Short films and videos from Giovinazzo; Interview with Giovinazzo, cast and crew; Featurettes; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby 2.0 mono.
THE JEAN-JACQUES BEINEIX COLLECTION (Cine Libre Studios) Two documentaries and a short from the controversial French director who had international hits with Diva and Betty Blue. Locked-in Syndrome takes a look at Jean-Dominique Bauby, Editor of French Elle, who had a massive stroke at age 43, and was left only with the use of one of his eyes. Later the subject of Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, this uncompromising, very real look at Bauby’s struggle strips away any romanticism about the subject or his plight. Harrowing stuff. OTAKU takes a look at a Japanese subculture of young men who immerse themselves in a virtual world of movies, video games and action figures, and the repercussions it has on Japanese society. MR. MICHEL’S DOG is the award-winning1977 short film that first got Beineix noticed, telling the darkly humorous story of a lonely man and his make-believe “dog,” who begins to question his sanity when his neighbors start to complain about the dog’s “barking.” All are full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono.
TWO BY GODARD Criterion releases two Jean-Luc Godard classics: MADE IN U.S.A. (1966) stars Anna Karina as a private investigator searching for a former lover who may have been assassinated. A gorgeous pastiche of pop art, film noir and mid-60s sensibilities, one critic aptly described this film as “A Looney Tunes rendition of The Big Sleep gone New Wave.” Bonuses: Interviews with Karina and Laszlo Szabo; Featurette; Video essay; Trailers. 2 OR 3 THINGS I KNOW ABOUT HER (1967) features Godard as narrator, following the daily life of Juliette Janson (Marina Vlady) a housewife from the Parisian suburbs who works as a prostitute to make some money on the side. More provocative philosophical tangents from Godard, shot again in beautiful widescreen Technicolor. Bonuses: Commentary by film scholar Adrian Martin; Archival television interviews with Godard and Vlady; Visual essay cataloging the film’s references; Trailer. Both are Widescreen. Dolby 1.0 mono.



BLU-RAY TITLES Sony releases Alan Parker’s classic MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, starring Brad Davis in the true story of an American jailed in Turkey in the early 1970s for Hashish possession. Tough, unrelenting and unforgettable. Fine support from John Hurt, Randy Quaid, Mike Kellin. Oliver Stone’s screenplay won him his first Oscar. Bonuses: Commentary by Parker; Featurettes; Photo gallery. Widescreen. Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround. I STILL KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER offers more nubile teens (played by actors like Freddie Prinze, Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt, et al, who are well into their 20s) getting hacked up by the angry fisherman with the deadly hook. Where’s Jason with his hockey mask when you need him? Blu-ray really brings out those reds in the gore effects! Bonuses: Featurette; Music video; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround. THE DEEP is a fun ‘70s programmer, written by a post-Jaws Peter Benchley, starring Nick Nolte, Jacqueline Bisset and the great Robert Shaw in a story of sunken treasure and drug runners in Bermuda. Lou Gossett offer up a slimy villain, and Eli Wallach is great as a crusty old salt. Bonuses: Making-of documentary; Scenes from the 3-hour cut. Widescreen. Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround. STRIKING DISTANCE stars Bruce Willis as a Pittsburgh cop who must regain his reputation after being demoted when he suggest a serial killer may be a fellow officer. Sarah Jessica Parker is as sexy as she is miscast as his new partner in this confused, but fun policier. Widescreen. Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround. NO WAY BACK is an early (1996) Russell Crowe vehicle, casting him as a rogue FBI agent battling the mob and the Japanese Yakuza. Crowe rises above the material, the sign of a good actor. Widescreen. Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround. Disney releases MIRACLE, starring Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks, the coach of the 1980 Olympic hockey team that beat the odds and defeated the top-seated Russian squad, at the height of the cold war. One of the best “feel good sports movies” ever made, courtesy director Gavin O’Connor’s steady hand. Bonuses: Featurettes; ESPN roundtable; Commentary by O’Connor and crew; Outtakes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround. THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED should have been a better movie with a title like that, but instead is a well-made movie-of-the-week in disguise. Shia LaBeouf stars in the true story of amateur golfer Francis Ouimet who achieves his dream of playing his idol, Harry Vardon, in the 1913 U.S. Open. Actor Bill Paxton takes the director’s reins solidly, with a good eye for period detail. Bonuses: Featurettes; Commentary by Paxton, screenwriter/producer and author Mark Frost. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround. MORNING LIGHT is an exciting documentary about fifteen rookie sailors on board the eponymous high-tech sloop that race in the world’s most revered sailing competition: the Transpac Yacht Race, all 2225 miles of it. Beautifully shot and made, stunning on Blu-ray. Bonuses: Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround. THE JONAS BROTHERS 3D CONCERT EXPERIENCE/DELUXE EXTENDED MOVIE (yes, you read the title correctly) gives the viewer a backstage, all-access pass to the Jonas’ world tour, including special appearances by Taylor Swift and Demi Lovato. Obviously for die-hard fans only, others beware! 3 disc set bonuses include: Extended movie featuring bonus songs not seen in theaters; Documentary; Digital copy of film; 3-D glasses. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 7.1 and 5.1 surround. Universal releases the Jim Carrey vehicle BRUCE ALMIGHTY, with Jim granted the omnipotent powers of God (Morgan Freeman, who else?) by the big man himself, to see if Bruce can do a better job. With that idea, and all this talent (Jennifer Aniston, Philip Baker Hall, et al) this just plain should have been funnier. Bonuses: Over 35 minutes of deleted scenes and outtakes; Feauturette on Carrey; Commentary by director Tom Shadyac. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround. I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY is a one-note affair (pun intended) starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James as very straight New York City firemen who are forced to pose as “domestic partners,” so James’ kids will get his pension. Might have made a great sketch on SNL, but doesn’t cut it as a feature film. Bonuses: Commentary by James, Sandler, director Dennis Dugan; Blu-ray features. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround. 20th Century Fox releases season 7 of 24 on a six-disc set, featuring more adventures of covert op Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) and his struggle to keep American soil safe. Bonuses: Commentary by cast and crew on selected episodes; Deleted scenes; Featurettes. Widescreen. DTS 5.1 surround. George Stevens’ THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK: 50th ANNIVERSARY EDITION is a masterpiece of biographical cinema, telling the true story of teenage Anne (Millie Perkins), a Dutch Jew who hid with her family in an Amsterdam attic from the Nazis. Shelley Winters took home a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for 1959. Bonuses: Commentary by George Stevens, Jr. and Perkins; Featurettes; Documentaries; Press conference with Stevens; Perkins’ screen test; Movietone News clips; Trailers; Pressbooks; Photo gallery. Widescreen. DTS 5.1 surround, Dolby 4.0 surround. Mel Brooks’ SPACEBALLS is a fun, albeit late-to-the game, Star Wars spoof (it was released a decade after the original film) starring Bill Pullman, John Candy and Daphne Zuniga. Brooks appears as the sage Yogurt. You get the idea. Oddly lavish DVD presentation offers two discs worth of bonuses, including: Commentary by Brooks, and tracks in Mawgese and Dinkese; Documentary; Interviews with cast and crew: Featurettes; Outtakes; Photo galleries; Trailers; One Blu-ray disc, and one standard definition disc. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround. PREDATOR 2 is a solid follow-up to the first thriller, with Danny Glover ably filling Schwarzenegger’s shoes as an LAPD veteran whose battle against drug lords and gangs is interrupted by the Predator, who finishes off the bad guys, then turns on the cops! Slam-bang action courtesy director Stephen Hopkins. All good fun, but what the f*** is Morton Downey, Jr. doing here? Bonuses: Commentary by screenwriters Jim and John Thomas, Hopkins; Featurettes; Photo gallery; TV spots and trailers. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround. THE SEIGE is director Ed Zwick’s eerily prescient tale (filmed in 1998) of a terrorist attack on New York City and a standoff between a level-headed FBI agent (Denzel Washington) and a U.S. Army general (Bruce Willis) who wants to create a police state. Annette Bening delivers as a wily intelligence agent. Plays much better now than it did in ’98. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround. HOME is an eye-popping documentary that studies a variety of the Earth’s landscapes and its vulnerability to change. Narrated by Glenn Close, this is a startling, thought-provoking work, produced by Luc Besson. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround. Blue Underground releases BAD BOY BUBBY, a disturbing and funny black comedy of horrors about a deranged man-child (Nicholas Hope) who is released into society after being kept locked in a squalid apartment by his mother his entire life. One critic aptly described it as “Being There directed by David Lynch.” Truly one of the oddest, and most memorable, cult films in recent years. Bonuses: Interview with director Rolf de Heer; Interview with Hope; Short film with Hope; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround. CIRCLE OF IRON is a strange, yet highly entertaining, martial arts adventure written by Sterling Silliphant (with story credit given to Bruce Lee and James Coburn!) starring the late David Carradine, Christopher Lee, Roddy McDowell and Eli Wallach (yep, it just keeps getting weirder). A true cinematic oddity. Bonuses: Commentary by director Richard Moore; Interviews with Carradine, producer Paul Maslansky; Martial arts coordinator Joe Lewis, Silliphant; Trailers and TV spots. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 and DTS 7.1 surround. Universal Music releases IRON MAIDEN: FLIGHT 666 THE FILM, documenting 45 days on the road with heavy metal’s most dangerous band as they played 23 concerts on five continents in just 45 days! Terrific concert footage features the band playing their biggest hits, still looking and sounding better than ever. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround. Finally, HBO releases their seminal miniseries JOHN ADAMS, starring Paul Giamatti as the United States’ second President and Laura Linney his loyal wife, Abigail. Stunning achievement deservedly swept the 2008 Emmy Awards. Bonuses: Onscreen historical guide; Character biographies; Documentary on author David McCullough; Featurette. GENERATION KILL offers a cinema-verite look at the Iraq war through the eyes of a raw bunch of Marines and one embedded reporter from Rolling Stone. Intense battle sequences are sometimes undone by perfunctory dialogue and interchangeable characters. Close, but no Bronze Stars for this platoon. Bonuses: Interactive Blu-ray features include military glossary, chain of command chart, mission maps; Featurette; Deleted scenes; Audio commentary by cast and crew. Both are widescreen, Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround.



DOCUMENTARY TITLES Elan Entertainment releases ANITA O’DAY: THE LIFE OF A JAZZ SINGER, a heartfelt look at the groundbreaking vocalist whose mastery of the musical form was nearly undone by personal demons and battles with drugs and alcohol. Winner of numerous international awards, one of the most honest, intimate portraits of an artist in recent memory. Bonuses: Bonus performance footage and interviews. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 stereo. After Midnight releases PORN STARS OF THE 80s and PORN STARS OF THE 90s takes a look at the busiest actresses in the cinematic skin trade, featuring new interviews, as well as archival footage. Not pornography itself, these short documentaries are, as one critic aptly put it, “Essential time capsules of sleaze.” Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono. MVD releases three titles by director Wolfgang Buld that take in-depth looks at alternative music in the ‘70s and ‘80s in the UK: PUNK IN LONDON and PUNK IN ENGALND uses archival footage and contemporary interviews with bands like The Clash, X-Ray Specs, The Jam, The Adverts, and others to paint an honest portrait of a revolutionary musical and social phenomenon. Terrific concert footage is a major highlight. REGGAE IN A BABYLON takes a look at the birth of British Reggae music, brought over by Jamaican immigrants, and how it defined young blacks in 1970s, Thatcherite England. Bonuses: Extra concert footage; Bonus interviews; Documentary on women in rock. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono.



DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL! More TV titles arrive on DVD this month. To name but a few…Acorn Media releases a host titles from the other side of The Pond, including THE HELEN WEST CASEBOOK, three suspenseful dramas about a driven prosecutor (Amanda Burton) who tries to stay at the top of her game whilst juggling a messy personal life. Smart, provocative adult drama. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 stereo. THE DIARY OF A NOBODY stars Hugh Bonneville in this adaptation of the best-selling 19th century novel about a small town city clerk who details the daily minutia of his life in his diary. Funny, engaging satire. Widescreen. Dolby 2.0 stereo. DOC MARTIN: SERIES TWO stars Martin Clunes as a hard-charging London surgeon forced to give up his practice after a breakdown, and relocate to a small fishing village, where his lack of bedside manner is overtly apparent. Echoes of House abound in this sharp comedy about a man who delights in the phrase “It’s good to be loathsome.” Bonuses: Photo gallery; Filmographies. Widescreen. Dolby 2.0 stereo. ARMCHAIR THRILLER: SET ONE is a riveting anthology series from 1978, featuring four tales of mystery and suspense. Look for a young Ian McKellen in one of the episodes. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono. AGATHA CHRISTIE’S MARPLE: SERIES 4, starts Julia McKenzie as the venerable Miss Marple, solving mysteries in post WW II England. Four episodes, featuring stellar support from names like Joan Collins, Brian Cox, Warren Clarke, and many more. Bonuses: Biographies and filmographies; Photo gallery. Widescreen. Dolby 2.0 stereo. Warner Bros. releases ER: THE COMPLETE ELEVENTH SEASON, featuring more high-octane emergency room drama, led by Noah Wyle and his crack team of TV docs. Bonuses: Outtakes and unaired scenes. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround. HBO releases EASTBOUND AND DOWN: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON, starring Danny McBride as a washed-up major league pitcher who, down on his luck, moves in with his brother and teaches gym at the very middle school he once attended in rural North Carolina. Funny, observant social satire. Bonuses: Audio commentary by cast and crew; Featurettes; Deleted scenes and outtakes. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround. ENTOURAGE: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON, features more high-jinks from E, Turtle, Johnny Drama and Vincent Chase as they move up and down the Hollywood power list. Still one of the sharpest comedies ever made about show biz. Bonuses: Three audio commentaries by cast and crew; Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround. A&E releases AGATHA CHRISTIE: POIROT & MARPLE, 21 Poirot (David Suchet) and Marple (Joan Hickson) mysteries, all beautifully produced for British television and presented in a magnificent box set. Bonuses: Biographies; Indexes of all Poirot and Marple stories. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 stereo. NOSTRADAMUS: 2012 takes a look at the famous soothsayer’s prediction that the year 2012 will mark a major turning point in man’s evolution, for better or for worse. Thought-provoking and (if you let it be) a bit scary. Bonuses: Additional footage. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 stereo. THE UNIVERSE: THE COMPLETE SEASON TWO, takes a fascinating look at life outside of our solar system in 18 episodes that deftly blend science, speculation and special effects. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Featurette. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 stereo. THE MAFIA is a grim, thorough look at how organized crime has shaped the United States from the early 20th century to today. Over ten hours of superb documentary on four DVDs. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 stereo. Universal releases MONK: SEASON SEVEN, starring Tony Shalhoub as a brilliant, and obsessive/compulsive, detective whose (mis)adventures form the gist of this very clever program. Great support from Ted Levine. Bonuses: Video commentaries; Featurette. Widescreen. Dolby 2.0 mono. PSYCH: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON, tells the tale of a phony psychic detective (James Roday) and his best friend and partner (Dule Hill) who take on unusual cases that the “normal” detectives can’t handle, and solve them through a combination of luck, b.s. and pure chutzpa. Four disc set. Bonuses: Deleted scenes: Gag reel; Audio commentary; Podcast commentary. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround. MGM/Fox release STARGATE ATLANTIS: SEASON FIVE, which has Woolsey becoming the new leader of the Atlantis team, while McKay faces some personal demons. 5 disc set bonuses include: Commentary by cast and crew; Featurettes; Deleted scenes; Photo and design galleries. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround. REBA: THE COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON, stars country singer Reba McEntire as the first mother of down-home dysfunction in this popular sitcom. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 surround. PRISON BREAK 4: THE FINAL SEASON, offers a slam-bang finale to the hit series, in which Michael (Wentworth Miller) and his brother Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) must elude a deadly assassin and uncover the secret behind the mysterious Scylla device. 6-disc set features all 22 episodes. Bonuses: Commentary by cast and crew; Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround. FAMILY GUY, VOL. 7 features 13 more episodes of the animated hit in a 3-disc set. Bonuses: Commentary by creator Seth MacFarlane, cast and crew; 3 animatic episodes with optional commentary; Deleted scenes; Featurettes. Full screen. Dolby 5.1 surround. BURN NOTICE: SEASON TWO features more covert thrills and adventures as former CIA agent Michael Westen battles bad guys and saves the world. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Commentary by cast and crew; Deleted scenes; Featurette; Gag reel. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround. SAVING GRACE: SEASON TWO stars Holly Hunter as tough police detective Grace Hanadarko who literally has an angel on her shoulder, guiding her through life. Funny, dark, and inventive. Hunter rocks! Bonuses: Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround. Paramount releases MATLOCK: THE THIRD SEASON, starring Andy Griffith as a small town Southern lawyer who outsmarts the bad guys and the city slickers both in the court and out. 5 disc set. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono. PETTICOAT JUNCTION: SEASON TWO features more high-jinks from the folks in Hooterville, following hotel owner Kate Bradley (Bea Benaderet) and her three gorgeous daughters (Jeannine Riley, Pat Woodell, and Linda Kaye). 5 disc set features all the episodes from the 1964-65 season. Bonuses: Introductions by Woodell and Kaye; Interviews with Woodell and Kaye; Photo gallery. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono. LEVERAGE: THE 1st SEASON, stars Timothy Hutton as the leader of a specialized team of thieves who right corporate and governmental injustices. Fascinating study of a civic-minded crook! Bonuses: Featurettes; Deleted scenes. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround. THE STATE: THE COMPLETE SERIES, offers up one of the funniest, unheralded and edgy sketch comedy shows of the 1990s. Originating on MTV, the multi-talented cast of eleven actors take on everything from politics to religion to popular culture, always pushing the envelope. Great stuff. Bonuses: Commentary by the cast; Interviews; Outtakes; Bonus disc featuring the pilot episode, over 90 minutes of unaired sketches, promos, and outtakes. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono. ARTHUR HAILEY’S HOTEL: THE FIRST SEASON is high-gloss, high-1980s cheese, starring James Brolin as the manager of San Francisco’s swanky St. Gregory Hotel. Soapy fun ensues with all the guest’s coming and goings supplying the drama. 6-disc set features all 22 episodes of the first season, 1983-84. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono. THIS AMERICAN LIFE: SEASON TWO features more wicked social commentary and satire from Ira Glass and company, as they hit the road, collecting amazing stories from everyday people. Bonuses: Commentary by the cast; Extended episode; Live theater presentation. Widescreen. Dolby 2.0 mono. THE LUCY SHOW: THE OFFICIAL FIRST SEASON, marked Lucille Ball’s return to TV, this time playing a widowed mother to two children. I Love Lucy vet Vivian Vance returns as Lucy’s best friend. 4-disc set features all 30 episodes from the 1962-63 season. Bonuses: Interviews with Lucie Arnaz and Jimmy Garrett; Vintage clips; Featurettes; Outtakes; Photo gallery; Production notes. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono. RENO 911! THE COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON (UNCENSORED), features more outrageous antics from the men and women of the Reno, NV. P.D. Broad, but very funny, with its raunchy gags, many of which fell to the censor’s scissors, now presented intact. Bonuses: Outtakes; Featurettes; Commentary by cast members. Widescreen. Dolby 2.0 mono.

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Errol Morris: Come Along On My Death Trip

ERROL MORRIS: COME ALONG ON MY DEATH TRIP
by Jon Zelazny

The acclaimed documentary filmmaker Errol Morris once devoted an episode of his cable TV series First Person to a criminal behaviorist named Michael Stone, a pleasant, slightly nebbish intellectual of about sixty who analyzes and classifies “evil” behavior, from the mildly exasperating to the most disturbing outer reaches of violent insanity. Morris seems to take an odd delight in having this gentle man run through a true-crime litany of torture, murder, and unthinkable depravity, then at the end of the program, asks Stone how he developed an interest in such gruesome activities. Stone seems puzzled by the question. He thinks for a moment, and describes how he endured some bullying as a schoolboy: nothing too terrible; he was just picked on and pushed around a bit. Morris then asks something like, “Do you think there’s something mysterious inside you, that you’re drawn to such horror?” Again, Stone seems surprised. “No,” he says simply, then thinks for another moment, and concedes, “Well… maybe a little.”

I suspect Michael Stone is as close as Errol Morris has come to finding his soul mate, and that Morris has posed these same questions to his own bathroom mirror. I only saw him once, at a screening at the L.A. County Museum in 1999, where he struck me as a similarly smart, decent, well-adjusted, modest, middle-class guy… who just happens be an immensely talented filmmaker with a boundless curiosity regarding man’s capacity to inflict suffering upon his fellow man.

This wasn’t my original impression of him. Back in the mid-80’s, I placed him squarely in the Mark Twain-through-Charles Kuralt tradition of American folk journalism; with the deadpan “oh, just look at these endearingly nutty people!” tone of both Gates of Heaven (1978) and Vernon, Florida (1982), Morris seemed well on track to becoming a kind of cinematic Garrison Keillor. Then, in his breakout film, The Thin Blue Line (1988), he audaciously redefined himself as both Visual Poet and Gritty Social Muckraker—in the same film, no less. When the film’s dual miracles (getting a murderer’s conviction overturned and making boatloads of money) firmly enshrined Morris in the very tiny pantheon of documentary wunderkinds, he tried his hand at a narrative feature for Robert Redford, and when it didn’t work out, he returned to his trademark “quirky people” theme for A Brief History of Time (1991) and Fast, Cheap, & Out of Control (1997).

In the past decade, however, things in Morrisland have turned very, very dark. His latest documentary feature, Standard Operating Procedure (2008), an examination of the abuses at Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison, completes an arguable trilogy that began with Mr. Death (1999), and continued in his Oscar-winning The Fog of War (2003). You’d be hard pressed to think of the people in this trio as “quirky;” they’re more icky, albeit in that uniquely American “Hey, I was just doing my job” kind of way.



One of the final images in S.O.P. is the gallows where Saddam Hussein was hanged, completing a narrative loop back to the opening sequences of Mr. Death, where Holocaust Denier darling Fred Leuchter, Jr. discusses his early career as a gallows designer, dropping classic technocratic assertions like, “The last thing you want in an execution is for somebody to get hurt.” (The trollish Leuchter didn’t actually deny The Holocaust, he just examined the ruins of gas chambers at Nazi death camps, and didn’t think people had been gassed in them. He put his opinions in an official report, and didn’t mind a bit when neo-Nazis the world over loudly trumpeted his “scientific” findings as proof that The Holocaust was a myth.) Leuchter clearly relishes being interviewed by Morris, and so calmly restates and reframes the context of the controversy he created, there’s a chance you might even end up half-believing his enormous pile of horseshit.

Which is in fact what first occurred. When he initially screened some raw Leuchter interview footage at Harvard, Morris explained at LACMA in ’99, he was shocked by the response: only about a third of the student audience understood that Morris was exposing a dangerously misguided fool. Another third believed Leuchter was nuts, but thought Morris believed Leuchter, and was showing the film to promote his theories, and even more distressing was that roughly a third of this highly educated audience found Leuchter and his arguments somewhat convincing, or at least worthy of further examination.



That Harvard screening motivated Morris to turn the interviews into a feature film, but also impressed upon him the necessity of including plenty of experts to counterpoint Leuchter’s every utterance, because it would be morally unconscionable to allow this fascinating little monster’s ramblings to go unchallenged. If Morris felt he’d covered his bases, he was mistaken: during the Q & A following our screening, a tiny old woman rose from her seat, trembling with fury, and castigated Morris for making “this movie that makes fun of The Holocaust.” The audience collectively winced at her incomprehension, and Morris looked like he wanted to sink through the floor, but patiently re-explained his intention of allowing Leuchter to reveal his own particular blend of arrogance, delusion, and amorality. The woman sat down, clearly unsatisfied. I doubt she was a reader of Nietzche, but she probably would have agreed with his famous admonition, “If you gaze for long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.”

Undaunted, Morris has continued staring into the deepest, darkest abysses he can find. It wasn’t much of a physical jump from Fred Leuchter to Robert McNamara: the former architect of the Vietnam War is another well-mannered, bookish, older middle-American man with short dark hair and glasses; he and Leuchter could easily pass as first cousins.

Unlike Leuchter, McNamara is neither an idiot, nor a snake oil salesman, he just happens to have made decisions in World War II and the Vietnam War that killed hundreds of thousands of people; in his most startling admission, he muses that if the Allies had lost WW II, he would likely have been tried as a war criminal for his role in the massive firebombing campaign against Japanese civilians. McNamara refuses to divulge much rectitude on the decisions he made during Vietnam, though it seems clear he regarded Lyndon Johnson’s escalation as a mistake. What then seems to me the most obvious follow-up question—“Why didn’t you quit your job rather than wage a war you felt was wrong?”—Morris strangely avoids. Why doesn’t he pick at McNamara’s psyche the same way he pressed Michael Stone? Where are the counterpoint experts Morris felt Fred Leuchter deserved? Instead, Morris generously allows McNamara a major block of screen time to discuss his role in the Cuban missile crisis, a situation McNamara is convinced almost destroyed half of America and obliterated Cuba. If anything, it’s this sequence that finally, if obliquely, illuminates the mechanics of McNamara’s soul: he sleeps well at night because he believes that any mistakes he made that cost lives were balanced out by the decisions he made that saved lives.

The scumbags convicted of abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib seem to sleeping pretty well too. After all, someone in authority told them to “soften up” those prisoners for interrogation, and they were in the middle of a war zone, so why wouldn’t you force “the bad guys” to jerk off in a line, or strip them naked and stack them in human pyramids? As one guard succinctly puts it, “We weren’t torturing them. That’s what was going on in the interrogation rooms after we handed them off.”

The Abu Ghraib scandal seems tailor-made for Morris’s abiding interest in how and why ordinary people commit shockingly depraved acts, but as in Fog of War, his focus again seems both too grand and too narrow… because the spectacle of under-trained and under-supervised redneck assholes running amok is only the most visibly grotesque symptom of a catastrophic system-wide failure of American command and control. I was surprised when disgraced US Army prison commander Janis Karpinski explains that she wasn’t just running Abu Ghraib, she was responsible for overseeing some dozen prisons all over Iraq. Clearly then, she wasn’t the day-to-day commandant we’ve been led to believe. So who was in charge? Morris never asks. And he loves to shoot inserts; why can’t he put up a damn flow chart of Abu Ghraib’s chain of command? And once those names are up on the screen, why doesn’t he find those people, and grill them as to what in the name of God they were thinking? You always hear how government bureaucrats are supposed to be so territorial; wasn’t there even one Army commander who said, “Hey, I don’t work for the CIA; they want to torture my prisoners, they can formally assume custody of them. What’s happening in my prison violates the Uniform Code of Military Justice, is directly undermining our national strategic objectives in Iraq, and is immoral, unethical, and illegal. I don’t give a shit about any bogus “authorizations” written by some crooked lawyer in the Bush Justice Department, and I don’t even care if my own superior officer rationalizes it—I’m not doing this!” (This isn’t some liberal fantasy. I was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the US Army in 1990, and we were explicitly trained to reject any order we believed to be illegal or immoral. The Army instituted this “safety valve” in hopes of preventing another My Lai massacre. Where were these people in Iraq? And if they exist, why aren’t they in Errol Morris’s movie?)

All of which reinforces my impression that Morris either can’t see the forest for the trees here, or simply doesn’t think the Big Picture would make a very interesting movie: Lynndie England’s surly “I done it ‘cuz my boyfriend said to” is compelling drama; a policy debate is not. The most cinematic aspects of S.O.P. support the story of Army CID Special Agent Brent Pack, who catalogued and studied the thousands of souvenir photos taken by the abusive guards. Morris’s artful depiction of this detective’s quest to divine criminal acts from a series of random photos echoes David Hemmings’ similar process in Antonioni’s Blow-Up, which then leads Morris to ponder why some wrongdoers feel compelled to document their own crimes. Which is a fascinating question to be sure, but when the context is detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib, who really gives a crap?

In The Thin Blue Line, the mystery of who killed Officer Wood is the entire defining issue of the film. One could claim the film also offers insight into larger social issues, but Morris doesn’t go wandering off to explore them. Here was a story nobody was covering: Morris found it, and told it, brilliantly. But not only did he not find Abu Ghraib, he only chose to rehash the most obvious and well-tread aspects of it. And without that sense of a truly fresh discovery as part of his narrative foundation, Morris’s trademark recreation artistry comes off here as dilatory, gimmicky, and self-indulgent.

Thus it seems safe to conclude that Morris’s films are stronger and more resonant when they’re free of the attendant baggage of historical significance. Gates of Heaven, The Thin Blue Line, Fast Cheap & Out of Control, Mr. Death, and his First Person shows stand as fully contained works; you come away feeling that a talented storyteller has shown you something you would never have heard of otherwise. Morris enlarges your understanding of the world in these films, and does so in a uniquely beautiful, entertaining, and often funny way, while in Fog of War and S.O.P., he aims big, then takes comparatively tiny bites out of some of the biggest American sandwiches of the past seventy years, and ends up with decidedly less than a full meal.



Like most films thus far concerning the U.S. occupation of Iraq, S.O.P. sadly attracted scant interest upon release, and even less business. As has been the case in the past, I’m hoping the disappointment pushes Morris back to the kind of subjects that allow him to be his best, and whether he next veers toward the quirky or the grotesque is fine by me. Is there something mysterious inside me, that I’m so drawn to the films of Errol Morris?

Well, maybe a little.

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