Anton Dolin. Cinema-1: what and where to watch

Cinema-1: what and where to watch
Anton Dolin

Publication date: August 21, 2000

This column does not talk about all new or box-office films, but exclusively about those that, in the opinion of the column’s author, should be seen. In other words, only good or at least interesting films are annotated here.

SUNDAY 22.08 - 28.08

NEW FILMS:

"Taboo" . The latest, received with delight at Cannes, is the film of the patriarch of Japanese cinema, the elderly brawler Nagisa Oshima. A homosexual "cruel romance" from the life of samurai in the middle of the last century. The film is made sparingly, but extremely beautifully: many frames are worthy of being printed on a high-quality printer and framed as Japanese prints. The plot (as it turns out in the middle - a detective story) is very confusing, the dialogues are specific; in general, this is more of a Japanese film for the Japanese than an export product. Excellent music by Sakamoto and a great main character - the young sex symbol Ryuhei Matsuda, the son of the actress who played the same Oshima in "Empire of the Senses". Also a common favorite is Takeshi Kitano as a samurai investigator.

"35 мм" :
22.08 - 01:00, 23:00;
23.08 - 01:00, 13:00, 23:00.

Blood" " Just Debut film of the Coen brothers, 1984. Reworked by the authors taking into account the changed context. At first glance, the film is a pure cut of quotes. Only later do you begin to understand that the quotes are from films taken much later. The cradle of Jarmusch, Lynch, Van Sant, Hartley and others.

"35 мм" :
23.08 - 01:00, 09:00, 11:00, 15:00, 17:00, 19:00, 21:00;
24.08, 25.08, 28.08 - 01:00, 13:00, 15:00, 17:00, 19:00, 21:00, 23:00;
26.08, 27.08 - 01:00, 15:00, 17:00, 19:00, 21:00, 23:00.

"Radiowave" . A new American mystical thriller - a horror film or something like that. Recently, the genre has become extremely popular in Hollywood, which is good news - another departure from the newly established canon of large-scale dramas based on historical or apocalyptic subjects. Here everything is simple: the guy came across his own father on the radio, who died many years ago. And I decided to change history. In vain...

"Horizon" :
23.08-28.08 - 01:30, 21:00, 23:30.
"American House of Cinema" :
24.08 - 18:00, 20:15;
25.08 - 16:00, 18:30, 23:00;
26.08 - 14:00, 18:30, 23:00;
27.08 - 14:00, 18:30;
28.08 - 21:15.
"Arrow" :
25.08-28.08 - 00:30, 02:30, 17:00, 19:30, 22:00.
"Prague" :
24.08-28.08 - 00:00, 14:00, 16:30, 19:00, 21:30.

NOT VERY NEW MOVIES

"All About My Mother" by Pedro Almodóvar. The best of melodramas. Funny, but not parody; touching, but not sentimental. A film for those who are not shy about their emotions. In addition, the masterly performance of the favorite actresses of the best Spanish director (Penelope Cruz, Marisa Paredes, Cecilia Roth) and the extremely strong visual side - color and light. The music is great too.

"Cinema Centre" :
22.08 - 12:50, 19:00;
23.08, 26.08 - 18:55;
24.08, 28.08 - 19:00;
25.08 - 18:45;
27.08 - 16:40.

"American Beauty" . The most unexpected Oscar in recent years. That is, expected, since this is the best of all the nominated films, but the appearance on the official Hollywood stage of typologically European cinema, created taking into account theatrical production techniques, is both surprising and pleasing. A film about freedom, internal and external. Starring the amazing and unforgettable Kevin Spacey; Best role since The Usual Suspects.

"Cinema Centre" :
22.08, 24.08, 28.08 - 16:50;
23.08 - 12:35, 16:45;
25.08 - 16:35;
26.08 - 16:45;
27.08 - 18:30.

"Magnolia " "Golden Berlin Bear" Deserved. Abnormal avant-garde tempo and rhythm, virtuosic editing and the best soundtrack of the year (song, not instrumental). The idea is simple and has been used in dozens of films before and since: several intertwined stories from the lives of very unhappy people (see the film "Happiness", the main character of which plays a very good role in "Magnolia"). The best role in the acting biography of Tom Cruise. Very good translation - subtitles. The plot is about life around television (not outside, but inside - many of the film’s characters lead the life of TV stars) and show business in general. The only negative (maybe a plus?) is more than three hours of running time. Sometimes it loads too much.

"Cinema Centre" :
22.08, 24.08, 28.08 - 20:50.

"The Rat House" by Francois Ozon. Fashionable French cinema. The debut of a young funny guy and dude, famous for his brilliant (they say) short films. Nothing particularly mysterious: the normal destruction of a bourgeois family with the help of a strange catalyst - a white laboratory rat. Young and old members of the middle class are turning into homosexuals, sadomasochists, necrophiles... A witty and clearly structured satirical essay. For fans of "The Phantom of Freedom" and "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie."

"Cinema Centre" :
23.08, 25.08, 27.08 - 22:45.

"Criminal Lovers" by Francois Ozon. A very good movie. They say immoral. In my opinion, no less than "Wild at Heart" or "Lost Highway". After all, we have all already seen unmotivated murders, forced homosexuality and the eating of corpses on screen. But never such a mysterious and magical remake of the Brothers Grimm. A fairy tale about a scary forester and two children lost in a dark forest. There is no happy ending.

"Cinema Centre" :
28.08 - 22:45.

"Sleepy Hollow" . This isn't just for fans of Hollywood's #1 stylist Tim Burton. This is for everyone who loves American romanticism, Edgar Allan Poe and Washington Irving, on whose basis the film was based. Finally, everyone will understand that the headless horseman was not invented by Mine Reed. The film is extremely straightforward and very bright. The work of the artist and decorators is beyond all possible praise. Christina Ricci and Johnny Depp are funny too. A grotesque horror tale. Only preschoolers are scared. But they also really like it.

"Cinema Centre" :
25.08 - 12:40.

"Matrix" . Cool movie. Dull, like all American box office blockbusters, but bright and fashionable. Deliberately, although not forced. Keanu Reeves doesn't play anything special, moves his beautiful skull and flies through the air. When the mochilovo begins (in the finale), you immediately forget about the intellectual background. It's for the better.

"Cinema Centre" :
26.08 - 12:25.

NOSTALGIA

"The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover" . There is a strong consensus that this is the best film by Peter Greenaway, the British postmodern patriarch. This may not be true, but I won’t argue. "Cook, Thief..." is one of the most striking events in the cinema of the 80s. The purest, most transparent script, devoid of superficial absurdities and false pathos, is simply the story of a love triangle (although in Greenway’s interpretation, as the name implies, it turns into a quadrangle). Very beautiful. Very poignant. Michael Nyman's music is the most famous theme. Tears well up in my eyes.

"Cinema Centre" :
25.08 - 20:35.

"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" . The main creation of Milos Forman, for which he received the generally false title of an intellectual director. Meanwhile, the film is extremely simple. Each image is remembered immediately and forever (this applies to both interiors and characters, both main and secondary). Lots of great acting, starting with Jack Nicholson. The most convincing mental hospital in world cinema, without snot and without disgust. After watching, “doctors” begin to appear everywhere - you inevitably feel like a patient.

"Illusion" :
25.08 - 17:00, 19:00;
26.08 - 17:15, 19:30.