The 1998 Montral Film Festival

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Many of these movies are currently available on video. I especially recommend Heaven, which I have viewed several times since and it never ceases to thrill.

1) Call me hopelessly conventional, but my number one pick of the festival was One True Thing. Carl Franklin brought all of the directorial brilliance he demonstrated in his 1992 indie debut film, One False Move to this project. Superbly cast, Franklin elicited emotional subtlety from the formerly static newcomer Rene Zellwegger, he worked with William Hurt to perfection, and Meryl Streep's performance proved that she may just be one of the greatest actresses in cinematic history. She moved me to tears...huge, sobbing, almost hysterical tears, as she touched on two themes -- the deep and complex bond, so frequently fraught with tension and anger, but always filled with unshakeable love -- between mother and daughter, and the terminal illness of a loved one (this needn't be applicable just to people who have had deaths in their families, but to friends of AIDS patients as well.) I disagree with Stephen Holden in his New York Times review re. his complaint that the story structure was contrived (Renee Z. tells her story in flashbacks to the District Attorney); in fact, I thought that without the distraction and distance the interview structure provided, the movie would be almost unbearably emotionally devastating. The cinematography, costumes, music were all excellent. The highlight of the movie: When an excruciatingly haggard Meryl Streep says to her driven, perfectionistic, angry daughter, "If I only knew that you were going to live a happy life, I could die peacefully today", it became perhaps the most eloquent evidence ever encapsulated in celluloid of the only true thing that exists in the universe -- the certainty of maternal love.

2) Heaven. This upcoming Miramax movie, written and directed by New Zealander Scott Reynolds, was another four-star production. The concept of the movie -- a Black transvestite stripper with psychic powers ultimately saves the life, finances and marriage of a depressed, compulsive gambling architect -- was so intricably and self-assuredly constructed that it seemed entirely plausible...and the story itself was absolutely fascinating. Had the film aired more, I would have seen it three more times, the writing and execution was so powerful, so unpredictable, so original and so downright hip. Martin Donovan played a remarkably different role than he did in The Opposite of Sex, and I have previously reviewed his co-star, a Joanna Going in her film Eden, and written that she is a "luminous actress from whom we can expect great things". The actor/actress who played the character of Heaven was equally awe-inspiring.

3) My third favorite was Seul Contre Tous the prize-winning independent film from l'enfant terrible French filmmaker Gaspar Noe. It was such a pleasure to finally see a movie that wasn't set in Beverly Hills, or in a huge mansion, or a castle, but instead, took place in the grimy motel room - -and mostly in the head -- of a misanthropic, obsessive, sociopathic, down-on-his-luck unemployed butcher. It was truly one of the most original films I have ever seen in my life. Noe took a lot of risks, and pulled them off with audacity. For example, when the protagonist is going through a crisis, and his narrated thoughts come so fast and furiously that the audience can barely keep up with them...when he actually stops the movie and says: "What happens in the next 5 minutes may be too extreme for some of you...you have 10 seconds to leave now..." and he begins counting down the seconds...(I may not be remembering this verbatim) would seem extremely pretentious in another director's hands, but Noe actually made it humorous. When the disgusted and disgusting butcher succumbs to his latent tenderness...and Noe actually plays...of all inappropriate pieces of music to match the movie's tone... Pachelbel's Canon, the effect is riotously funny...and exceptionally startling. A four star effort and a new turn in cinematic history.

4) The Miramax film, Next Stop, Wonderland has been totally over-rated by critics. Poorly cast, poorly directed, with an extremely flawed script that often defies simple logic and wasn't remotely funny, although it tried very, very laboriously to be so, and with extremely unappealing leading characters...I give it one star.

5) Lulu on the Bridge. I had high expectations for this film starring Willem Dafoe and Harvey Keitel, but I came to the conclusion that both of these brilliant actors are simply too promiscuous when it comes to accepting roles. A difficult-to-believe, fantastical but flawed story, it left the viewer feeling merely disoriented.

6) Affliction. It is probable that the only people who would find this unremittingly depressing film (but lacking the subtle humor and irony of Seul Contre Tous) interesting would be people like myself, who are fascinated by anything that is written by Paul Schrader, whom I consider to be America's premiere screenwriter (Taxi Driver, Blue Collar, The Last Temptation of Christ, Mean Streets, Light Sleeper, etc.)

7) The Canadian film You Can Thank Me Later, starring Ellen Burstyn and Amanda Plummer, was so mis-cast, cliched, and poorly-written, and it was so traumatic to watch the flawless Ellen Burstyn humiliate herself in a wretched role, that we left after half an hour's viewing.

8) Monument Avenue. Having been a big fan of director Ted Demme's (cousin of Ted) last film, Beautiful Girls, I had high expectations for this independent movie about low-level Boston gangsters. Unfortunately, Demme's Mean Streets imitation was thoroughly unoriginal, and comedian Denis Leary should stick to his riotously funny stand-up comedy routines. Plumbing deep emotions on the big screen is not his forte.

9) The Quarry, from South Africa was an interesting but somewhat tedious film, with insufficently developed characterizations. It's moral ending was laudable, but the pace of the movie was too slow for me to recommend it strongly.

10) The Stranger from Strasbourg was so pathetic in every possible respect that I am amazed it was considered an entry in the Official Competition. It had a ludicrous, impossible-to-follow plot, abysmal acting, numerous incontinuities, and no redeeming aesthetic qualities. I was disappointed that Ornella Muti would be involved in a project I rate Zero Stars.

11) Daybreak was an odious, offensive Nazi propaganda film, poorly acted and written, that should never have been allowed into the Festival. Again, as a fan of Bruno Ganz, I was disappointed. The film's message was: "Nazis were people, too, and the Americans who fought against them were equally evil." WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

12) With Friends Like These was a pleasant, witty, easily-forgettable piece of Hollywood fluff. The casting was excellent, it was extremely well-written...but like marzipan, after you've eaten it, you forget about it. Still, it had a lot of strong qualities. Three Stars.

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