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A look at ARLINGTON ROAD and THREE SEASONS
Hey folks, Harry here, this time with a pair of films that... deal with violence. So beware, perhaps even reading about them might drive you to.... see them... and then God knows what you may do..... Sheesh. I've yet to see THREE SEASONS, but I am dying to. As for ARLINGTON ROAD, I believe I reviewed that a long long time ago... And I believe I heard that it was going to be pushed due to the... societal problems we are now bombarded with. But I'm still checking on that. For now... here's a look
ARLINGTON ROAD and THREE SEASONS:
Hello, I wasn't going to write in regarding these two films I have been
lucky enough to get a peek at the past couple Mondays. However,
considering the recent blitz regarding media violence and its societal
influence, I decided that a brief peak at these two films would not hurt in
adding to the collective unconscious. Here you go:
ARLINGTON ROAD
I am most often disappointed by mainstream cinema. The Matrix, 8mm, The
Mummy--these '99 films have been huge letdowns, that is, in my eyes.
Nonetheless, there was something very mystique about ARLINGTON ROAD which
caught my attention.
I'm going to try to keep this spoiler free: As you might have guessed from
the trailers, the film is a paranoia thriller about a man (Jeff Bridges)
who suspects his neighbors (Joan Cusack and Tim Robbins) of being involved
in some type of llegal terrorist activites. The film makes an account of
Jeff Bridges' search to discover the truth regarding his neighbors and in
turn prevent any future terrorist activities. Of course, this synopsis
appears rather silly; but mind you without cashing in on spoilers, I can do
no justice in summarizing the film.
Hence, I will just ramble off some comments...
The director (I believe his last name was Pellington--other works include
GOING ALL THE WAY and Pearl Jam's JEREMY video, to name a few), has a very
tight grip on his style. It is a sort of cross between
MTV/Scorsese/DePalma--and he pulls off some mighty fine action sequences
and gritty dialogue retort scenes between Robbins and Bridges. While
watching the film, I couldn't help think of Scorsese's CAPE FEAR and how he
was able to create a tongue-in-cheek type thriller--a very pastiche
atmosphere. ARLINGTON ROAD has a lot of that feel, for example, a lot of
people "popping up out of nowhere" with eccentric pastel lightings,
strobes, and really contrasty colors ala MTV meets Storario in TANGO.
Interesting, however, this quasi-irony approach takes away from the serious
tone the film attempts to set early on. For instance, it is difficult to
take the terrorists seriously when they are shown in a sooped up THE HAND
THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE type thriller environment. The film could have taken
a more Fincher approach as in SE7EN--keep it dark. However, I was amused
and impressed by the ingenious plot twist in the finale which makes you
want to go back and watch the whole film over to pick up on foreshadowed
nuances.
Ultimately, though, it is a film that gets lost in its duality of tone and
innability to escape the action/thriller genre. Morever, it is that latter
innability which makes for an interesting ride. Joan Cusack was good
wicked fun in her turn as a house wife playing a house wife, and a subtle
yet sly performance by Robert Gossett nicely adds to the tension and
paranoia (oh, and of course, Bridges and Robbins were excellent). Best
thing of all, though, is that the script more or less avoided most action
cliches, which is a rarity these days (read: unlike Mummy or Matrix). It
will be a decent matinee or even full price come this July. Yes, July,
which brings me to the fact that the film has been pushed back from its May
14th release date to an undetermined July date. Why? Well, it isn't the
fault of SWE1TPM, but instead because of the graphic violence in the film
(especially dealing with children), I suppose someone at Lakeshore,
Polygram, or Sony decided to push the film back en leiu of the recent
events in Colorado. Of course, in a sense, the film cannot justify a lot
of its violence--and in the beginning it seems very much that they are
using violence too overt and in a shocking manner to find any appeal. But
in the end, I feel there are too many good qualities about this film to
overlook it, thus I recommend with reservations.
FUNCTION: ** (Two stars out of four)
THREE SEASONS
Three Seasons is, more or less, the antithesis of Arlington Road. This
film is very serious, and also a very pacifist film. It has an admirable
pacing of its own; a pacing which American cinema (if there is a such a
thing) completely lacks. The film follows four different stories: a
cyclo-driver and a prostitute, a young child who sells a an array of items
out of a suitcase, a Veteran (Harvey Keitel) in search of his daughter, and
a young girl who comes of age while picking lotuses. First off, I will say
that my only qualm with this film is that it attacks too many story lines
and leaves the viewer with a sense that they have been shortchanged. THis
can be justified in that considering that Three SEasons is the really the
only "true" look Americans have had at Vietnam possibly ever, thus using a
multi-faceted plot allows for a broader (though limited) perspective.
Despite my qualms with the content, though, I will say that the film is the
most beautiful film I have seen so far this year. Tony Bui sees the
streets of Saigon and the Lotus fields similar to how Terrence Malick sees
the fields of Texas: meandering brilliance. I know it has been said
before, but you could get drunk on his imagery. Anyway, to keep this
brief, the acting is solid, but Keitel is amazing, particularly though in
one scene taking place at a dinner table ( I won't elaborate, but I cannot
break his image from my memory). This is a very admirable first effort by
Bui, though I'm not sure it was deserving of such high praise at Sundance.
Notwithstanding, he has taken a step forward from his last short (the 30 or
so minute YELLOW LOTUS, which I was lucky enough to view back at Loyola
Marymount Univ.), and I am excited to see what is to come from this young
filmmaker with an evident PURPOSE.
FUNCTION: **1/2 (Two and 1/2 stars out of four)
thanks for your time,
call me Stig Helmer
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+ Expand All
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I was thinking of Arlington Road a lot last week when I heard about the Denver shootings. I was thinking how fucked everything seems to be in the world at this moment. We should be looking deep into ourselves for answers. It's just that I get the feeling no-one really wants to know... Why the fuck should ordinary people want to carry guns around anyway?
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I'm surprised- a reference to the Danish Director Lars Von Trier, who by the way is currently making a movie to be released after Cannes next Year. Uhh I almost forgot- it's about Tap dancing!!!!!!
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I saw Arlington Rd. a few weeks ago since it's been released here in a few european countries. It's definetely the best film I've seen so far this year. And I think this would be a good time to release it in the US. Although there are no characters in it to identify with (both the Tim Robbins and Jeff Bridges characters are wrong in there very own ways) you can learn something from it. Plus, it's a very clever, thrilling film with Jeff Bridges at his best. After The Big Lebowski and now this I think he's one of the best actors of his generation. Some for Robbins. He's so creepy in this film it's not even funny.
Release it now I say! -
I pretty much agree with the Arlington Road guff above. Flawed but the final ending (not the twist bit, but the final bit)really makes up for it. Its great, for once in a while, to actually have a few movies open in the UK before the States. Makes a change. And if you want some more reviews of films which have just opened in the UK try:
http://www.soasunion.org/PUMPKIN/STATE.HTM
(They've either been out for years in the states, or are English I suppose - but its got Arlington Road, Plunkett & Macleane and others).
L8rs -
Arlington Road is really GREAT !!
Such a good lesson in terrorism.
Suddenly the viewer, as well as Jeff Bridges realises it was a set up from the start but too late:
HE GETS BLOWN UP !!! The bad guy
Tim Robbins WINS !!! No hollywood (they live happily ever after) ending. The good guy dies and gets the blame for the whole deal, because the explosives were in his car. Oops, did I say too much ? Well, just go see......
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