KEA Productions: DVD Movie Reviews

from the archives of NuReel.com, The Berkeley Daily Planet, and Alameda Sun- written by Kamala Appel
ratings: Plus (highest)-Neutral (okay)-Negatives (pass & omitted from archive)
G: Gladiator
H: High Fidelity, Himalaya

GLADIATOR (plus/neutral)

Oscar winner best picture, best actor (Russell Crowe), nominee supporting actor (Joaquin Phoenix was riveting). Post modern visuals. Surprisingly not gruesome. A big screen must see. Entertaining and epic, but don't believe the hype.

HIGH FIDELITY (NEUTRAL)

An emotional drifter laments love lost as he listens to his  favorite music. John Cusack co-writes and stars along with a  big cast including Catherine Zeta-Jones and Lily Taylor who  probably would have been more compelling leading ladies than one selected. Very strong character development and acting.   A bit talky and slow-paced, but meaningful story makes this  film worth viewing.

 Himalaya (neutral)


2000 seems to be the year of films with visuals that blind audiences to the lack of a
compelling story or sympathetic characters. "Himalaya" hosts shot after        
breathtaking shot; some are so remarkable that it is difficult to believe that the crew
was able to film without  falling off a cliff or freezing in the snow (see our        
production stills in the Highlights area).  Capturing the landscape is a special honor
since most of the Dolpo region of Nepal is difficult to access and forbidden to those
who have not obtained permission from the Nepalese government.  Unfortunately,
the story and characters are not as inspired  as the cinematography.

"Himalaya" follows a caravan of salt traders as they make a trek from their northern
region to the southern region of  Tibet to trade for grains. They battle the weather,
the terrain, and each other, as the clan fights to maintain  tradition.

Eric Valli, the film's director, has spent most of his professional life as a
photographer and author for some of  the nation's top magazines like National
Geographic, The New York Times Magazine, Smithsonian, and Life.  Although        
"Himalaya" is the first Nepalese production to receive an  Oscar nomination (Best
Foreign Language Film 2000), Valli  received an Oscar nomination for "Shadow Hunters" in
1992.  Valli took a documentarian approach to making "Himalaya".  He explains
that he "had to be as transparent as possible and let the force and richness of their
own lives come  forward. [I] He was telling their story and history." (press
notes Kino International)  Valli does succeed in letting the characters speak for
themselves;   however he fails to give them anything interesting to say.

Most of the actors are not professional actors and the fact that they lived lives
similar to those they portrayed,  gives the film a neorealistic quality seen in the
Italian  films of the 1940s.  Karma Tenzing Nyima Lama who plays Norbou, the
chief's monk son, is a painter in real life and passed through Dolpo when he fled
India.  Gurgon Kyap who plays Karma, the chief's adversary and possible predecessor,  
 is an actual "yakpa" (cowboy) from the eastern region of  Tibet;  and, like Nyima
Lama, he too fled India.  Lhapka Tsamchoe ("Seven Years in Tibet") grew up in the South
of  India with her parents who were merchants and owned yaks,  similar to the
characters she portrayed in the film.

Unfortunately, I did not find any of the characters very  sympathetic or interesting. At
times, I found some of the  actors styles of screaming to be melodramatic and annoying,
 especially the chief, Tinle and his grandson, Passang.  However, the amazing
cinematography by Directors of   Photography Eric Guichard and Jean-Paul Meurisse and the
 eerie, dramatic music composed by Bruno Coulais almost makes up for the film's
tortuously slow pace.

If you are interested in Nepalese and Tibetan landscapes and cultures, then you will
find this film educational.    However, do not go to the film expecting a compelling    
 narrative.  This film could have been a slide show and it  would preserve the same
merits, in my opinion.  "Himalaya" will have a platform release in the U.S. starting
March 30th.


The House of Mirth (neutral)


"The House of Mirth" hosts a long list of familiar faces, cast in slightly unfamiliar roles. The cast includes Gillian  Anderson as Lily Bart, the heroine who finds herself forced   to decide between emotional and economic survival. Eric  Stolz plays one of her many suitors, Lawrence Seldon, who is   the one breath of fresh air in an otherwise stifling cloud  of social elitists. Some of the other cast members include:  Dan Aykroyd, as the conniving Gus Trenor; Terry Kinney  (THIRTYSOMETHING) as George Dorset, the emasculated husband  of Laura Linney ("The Truman Show"); Anthony LaPaglia  (MURDER ONE and "Sweet and Lowdown") as the tycoon Sim   Rosedale; and Elizabeth McGovern ("Ordinary People" and  "Ragtime") as one of the few loyal friends Lily has, Carry  Fisher.

Suffocated by her family and so-called friends, Lily attempts to escape. Yet despite all of her best efforts,   fortune never seems to smile upon her. Instead, she becomes  a magnet for one misfortune after another. Unfortunately for the audience, the series of misadventures and encounters with one corrupt character after another, becomes somewhat  boring. I realize that writer/director Terence Davies ("The Long Day Closes" and "The Neon Bible") wanted to stay as true to the novel as possible when he adapted the   screenplay; however, the film drags. Davies claims that "The story is contemporary, a savage satire. It's about what you look like, how much money you have, and venality- what could  be truer of modern day society?" (Sony Picture Classics Production Notes). Even though I agree that materialism and superficiality are in the forefront of American culture, I   do not think that audiences will make the connection between  turn of the century elite and the nouveau riche that the media glamorizes today. The characters in "The House of  Mirth" do not work and in fact, they look down upon those who are employed; whereas today work is everything and those  who are unemployed are viewed as lazy and despicable. Lily  feels that she must marry to survive; today most women would  be foolish is they thought marriage was the answer for  economic freedom (which is not to say that there are not  those who hold such beliefs, but for the most part, modern  gold diggers are mocked and despised).

Although I think Gillian Anderson is a fine actress, I  did not find her believable as naive but strong, young  woman. I think she was miscast. Davies was unfamiliar with   Anderson's work on THE X-FILES when he cast her as Lily Bart. He made a great mistake when he ignored baggage that  comes with an actor or actress's success. I find it  difficult to believe that a woman in her mid to late  thirties would be so naive and allowed to be unmarried by such an elitist family, during a time when unmarried women over twenty-five were considered spinsters. I also do not  think that she and Stolz have the kind of on-screen  chemistry that the characters were suppose to have in the book.

In addition to the talent in front of the camera, Davies          attracted a lot of talent behind the camera. Producers          include Olivia Stewart, a long time collaborator with          Davies, Bob Last ("Entrapment", "Little Voice", and          "Orlando"), and Pippa Cross ("My Left Foot", and "Jack and          Sarah"). Remi Adefarasin is the Director of Photography and          has received an Oscar nomination and won the BAFTA for          "Elizabeth" and also worked on "The English Patient" and          "Truly Madly Deeply". Costume Designer, Monica Howe, who has          worked with Davies before on "The Neon Bible" and "The Long          Day Closes", created some elegant gowns that were truly          tasteful.


Despite all the talent, and even though there are some redeeming factors like the acting, production design, and costumes; the film is much longer than it needs to be. I  think Davies made a mistake by trying to be so true to the  novel, that he did not take into consideration that very few films will maintain an audience's attention for two hours or  more, with scenes that do not provide new information or  character development. He could have shortened some of the scenes and preserved the integrity of Wharton's novel.
 

"The House of Mirth" will appeal to those who enjoy the visual settings and clothing featured in period pieces. Fans  of the novel by Edith Wharton may also enjoy the film.  However, I do not think fans of the various stars should  attend simply for the cast, for although they all give fine  performances, they do not play parts that made them popular.  "The House of Mirth" will have a platform release starting  December 2000. This film would be equally enjoyable on video and maybe more so, due to the duration.

MEMENTO (PLUS)
A distraught widower is determined to track down his wife's  murderer despite his mental handicap. Strong performance by Guy Pierce and the supporting cast. Fascinating presentation  of time and unfolding of events that enable to audience to empathize with the protagonist's memory deficiency (Pierce).  Narrative experimentation that works.

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