Drama, 2003
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Cast: Michael Pitt, Eva Green, Louis Garrel
Score: *****

The voiceover at the beginning of The Dreamers—“…only the French would house a cinematheque in a palace” heard as pouting blonde American teen Michael Pitt crosses a bridge over the Seine in Paris, a copy of “Cahiers Du Cinema in his jacket pocket—is enough to make the eyes of any film buff swell with tears of nostalgia.  Director Bernardo Bertolucci (best known for The Last Emperor) returns to the city of lovers decades after Last Tango in Paris again to film, or more appropriate create another moving piece of art.

The year is 1968.  Understanding the political events taking place in Paris is crucial in appreciating the point Bertolucci is trying to put across.  The Cinematheque Francaise (founded to screen classics and masterpieces otherwise unavailable to the public) founder, Henri Langlois has just then been removed by the government and his followers are taking to the streets in rebellion catalyzing other riotous demonstrations by the public.  Scriptwriter Scots Gilbert Adair, adapting his own book, was there at the time as is evident from the clarity of the incidents that occur in the development of the story.  Matthew, played by Michael Pitt (perhaps a younger version of Adair) is in Paris to learn French but the cineaste gets a French education in sexual mind games when he crosses paths with twins Isabelle (Eva Green) and Theo (Louis Garrel).  But it is the changes in idealism, morality and lifestyle of the three dreamers that Bernardo and Adair are more captivated with and it is the interaction of these values with Matthew’s loss innocence that eventually propels the story to its final and arguably destructive conclusion.

It is good to see Bertolucci in complete control of his material.  Those who love the cinema can understand what it means when some of these powerful images appear on screen like the film buff sitting in the first row of the Cinematheque or watching the end credits, the three protagonists imitating their heroes on film and the public fighting for their right to enjoy the freedom of film.  Film lovers can share in the games played – the tossing of a coin can be related to George Raft to tossing one in Scarface or the tribal dance connected to the number performed by Marlene Dietrich in a gorilla suit in Blonde Venus.  The stark figure of Isabelle’s ‘Venus de Milo’ photographed by Fabio Cianchetti, as she plays her last game also demands mention.

The erotica (carefully built up - from the initial scene of Pitt, sitting in his underwear by the telephone slowly dropping his saliva-wet fingers to his genitals to the nude three-some scene) earns the film its restricted rating.  Even the scene of Isabble holding Matthew’s erect penis is left intact.

The Dreamers is the film for movie buffs and critics.  Scenes like the black and white 1968 newsreel footage of Jean Pierre Leaud juxtaposed with the now older Leaud rallying the crowds and the three leads racing across the halls of Louvre to beat the record set by the characters in Jean Luc Godard’s Band a Part will definitely delight those in the know.  When Bertolucci asked Nouveau Vague (New Wave) director Godard (who was himself involved with the 1968 Cinematheque riots) for permission to use clips from Band a Part and A Bout de Souffle, Godard, dispensing with paperwork and legal red tape, replied “You do what you want.  There are no rights of the auteur, only duties!” Though The Dreamers is no masterpiece nor is it the best of his work (The Spider’s Stratagem and The Conformist get my votes), Bernardo Bertolucci has performed this duty well, not only educating, entertaining and captivating his audience but ultimately blowing them away!

Korea, 2002
Director: Ahn Byeong-Gi
Cast: Ha Ji-Won, Kim Yu-Mi, Choi Wu-Je

In the Korean thriller Phone, a girl is threatened and finally killed by events involved with telephone messages from a stranger of an unknown source. After the girl’s sudden death, her good friend Ji-won who is a magazine reporter investigates the case by using her mobile as a clue. He manages to find out the number of the person who sent out the calls, but to his surprise it is no longer in use…

This is the Korean answer to Hideo Nakata’s legendary Ringu. I truly enjoyed it from the beginning to the end. The difference between these two is that in Phone, the cell phone is just an element in the film instead of being the main focus of the film. The film revolves around characters and their motivations for things they did or do and the plot doesn’t focus that much on the cell phone. Of course you will find out what is behind it and its pain and motivation. And it is very interesting how all the elements (the cell phone, characters, and so on) tie together.

Ahn Byeong-Gi did splendid in conducting this film. In a way, it is directed like The Exorcist. It flows like classical music. Even though there were still some slow moments, no scene was totally unnecessary. And overall everyone’s performance is fantastic. Sometimes it feels like the girl is over the top, but she did a phenomenon job playing the possessed character.

If you like good horror movies and are a fan of Ringu or Dark Water, this one is for you. Make sure you watch it late at night when it’s very quiet and dark. It brings the experience to next level.

Shogo is an award-award winning filmmaker currently hard at work on a new project. Asian Fever is his weekly column devoted to Asian cinema and related topics.

2003, DVD
Cast: Paris Hilton, Nicole Ritchie, the Leding family

Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie are two obnoxious brats who seem to have no awareness of the outside world whatsoever. They are thrown into the middle of a small town in Arkansas, U.S. There, they are forced to get a job, and must coexist gracefully with their host family of eight, the Ladings.

I didn’t understand this whole Reality TV thing. I still don’t. Watching people humiliate themselves shamelessly didn’t appeal much to me. But when I saw a TV spot for The Simple Life, these two girl’s immaturity, ignorance, cluelessness and stupidity gave me immediate affection for it. And they didn’t disappoint me at all. The greatest thing about them is that they seem to believe the world revolves around them. Of course they knew before hand that the show was going to be televised. So most of their actions aren’t really there to shock or provoke. But when you see them attempting to get down with any cute country boy they see, getting fired from jobs because of their stupidity or ignorance or going ballistic in public practically for no reason, it is hard not to laugh at them. It doesn’t illuminate anything about two cultural differences. It isn’t social commentary (if you want that, watch Dogville).

But seriously, what could be more fun than watching Paris’ pants slide down slowly to show her butt crack almost every episode? You would think they would learn some sort of lesson along the way. The truth is that they don’t. In the end, they still think of nothing but themselves.

It is simply a fun show that is absolutely enjoyable because Paris and Nicole are so completely clueless it is impossible to imagine that anyone could possibly be that stupid (I was told Jessica Simpson could top them).

Shogo is an award-award winning filmmaker currently hard at work on a new project. Asian Fever is his weekly column devoted to Asian cinema and related topics.

Buy it at Amazon.com!

Rent DVDs Online from Netflix - Try it for FREE!

Comedy, USA, 2004
Director: Robert Luketic
Cast: Kate Bosworth, Topher Grace, Josh Duhamel
Score: *

Every few weeks or so, the major Hollywood studios dump a low-budget teen flick on the market with the high hopes that it will make a quick buck.  Dreamworks was quick enough to distribute Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!—already listed as a 2004 film in the end credits. 

Rosalee Futch (Kate Bosworth), a teen-aged grocery clerk living in rural West Virginia wins a date with screen idol, hunk Tad Hamilton (Josh Duhamel from the soap All my Children).  Surprise!  Surprise!  Her jealous best friend, Pete (Topher Grace), also her store manager, is in love with her but doesn’t dare divulge his feelings.  Must the rest of the plot be revealed? 

Obviously there is no need to say more as any pubescent reaching the age of a teen can guess the predictable ending, less all the events occurring prior. Scriptwriter Victor Levin adds a bit of a twist to the story by having Tad fall for her but that’s it as far as originality goes.  The lines are unfunny, the set-ups uninventive and the characters wooden.  Duhamel might have the body to turn heads, but once he opens his mouth or starts acting, the attraction vanishes.  Grace is irritating with his one-liners and lip-synching.  Nathan Lane has a small role as Tad’s agent, but the funniest moment is reduced to him falling into some shrubbery!  The only pleasure comes from unknown actress Kathryn Hahn, playing the role of an amiable bartender who makes even her terribly written lines sound originally funny.  But that is not enough to save this pathetic excuse of a movie.

GILBERT SEAH was born in Singapore and moved to Toronto in 1982. He is an engineer by profession, with a passion for the cinema. Since the age of 10, he has been to the movies almost daily. Having been brought up in the Asian, British and Canadian cultures, he is able to bring a distinct perspective to film.    

Drama, Rated R.
Director: Patty Jenkins. 
Writer: Patty Jenkins. 
Cast: Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci, Bruce Dern.

Monster is based on the real-life criminal exploits of Aileen Wuornos, a Florida prostitute who became a serial killer, and brutally murdered seven men during the ‘80s.  Aileen blamed most of her problems on her childhood upbringing, claiming that not only was she poor, but she was constantly beaten and raped as a young girl.  With delusions of becoming a Hollywood superstar, Aileen left home only to eventually end up homeless, with no money, no education, and nowhere to go except into the arms of strangers.  Aileen continued to work as a hooker for years, taking her lumps from angry men that treated her like street trash, until one night when she fell in love.  But to Aileen’s utter surprise the one who won her heart wasn’t a man.  It was a woman.

No one was more shocked by this romantic turn of events than street-tough Aileen, Charlize Theron (“The Italian Job”), because she always considered herself to be straight.  But after a chance meeting in a bar, Aileen was suddenly infatuated and engulfed by the gentleness of a young woman named Selby, Christina Ricci (“The Laramie Project”).  The two impulsively shack up in a seedy hotel, but the honeymoon is shortly over when Selby discovers that Aileen killed a man one night while hooking because he was beating her to death.  Praying it was a onetime occurrence Aileen reluctantly goes back to work, but the trauma resurfaces during her next encounter, creating paranoia and delusions so great, that she kills that man, too.  Afterwards, Aileen realizes she would rather be a serial killer, than a prostitute, and that’s exactly what she becomes.

Writer and first-time Director Patty Jenkins deliveries an ambitious project that succeeds on certain levels and fails on others.  Monster is an intimate story in that there are very few supporting characters.  And, yet, somehow Jenkins doesn’t provide a lot of information about the two main characters making the movie’s overall depth very shallow.  And Jenkins chose to make Monster more of a love story, than a drama, and left a lot of questions unanswered.  On the other hand, Monster seems like it’s supposed to be nothing more than a glorified showcase for Charlize Theron (who also served as one of the producers).  The normally gorgeous Theron literally buries herself into the flesh and spirit of Wuornos and the transformation is almost flawless.  Theron gets down and ugly like she’s never done before in a performance that’s sure to change her acting path.

As a whole, Monster is far from perfect and it will not entice everyone.  But most people will watch this film out of curiosity to witness Theron’s character study of the white-trash serial killer.  And those people will not be disappointed. 

Bottom line. Should you see “Monster”?  Yes.

Review by Chad Goldich