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Artvoice Weekly Edition » Issue v5n5 (02/02/2006) » v5n5: Suing the Governor (2/2/06)

The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things –

Director Asia Argento’s excruciating adaptation of J. T. LeRoy’s semi-autobiographical short stories is recommended only for the most jaded audiences. Argento casts herself as the ultimate white trash mother, periodically resurfacing in the life of her young son to drag him away from whatever hellish foster situation he is in and out on the road with her. Imagine a Mommie Dearest–type biography of Courtney Love written by Hubert Selby and starring Juliette Lewis. Argento is a spirited filmmaker who can push this material right to the edge, though it’s still likely to be too much for many people to handle. Still, with a cast that includes supporting turns by Peter Fonda, Ornella Mutti, Winona Ryder, Jeremy Sisto, Ben Foster, Hasil Adkins, Lydia Lunch and Marilyn Manson, it will undeniably appeal to viewers who like to watch movies on a dare. (Available as a British import only.)

Our Man in Havana–

The 1960s saw a number of forgettable spy-spoofing movies, but the unacknowledged pioneer of this dubious genre, and one of the very few good ones, was Carol Reed’s Our Man in Havana in 1960. Adapted by Graham Greene from one of his lighter novels, the movie is set in pre-Castro Havana. (The sense of place is compelling.) Alec Guinness is a financially-pressed vacuum cleaner-company rep who reluctantly agrees to spy for England. Since he’s clueless about what’s required, he does the only thing he can: He makes his intelligence reports up. (Does a contemporary-events buzzer sound?) The movie isn’t just spoofy; its humor changes to darker ironies and it becomes a thriller. Reed handles this transition much more gracefully than one might expect, but before it happens there are some expertly witty moments (including two scenes of very misunderstood spy-recruitment efforts). With Ralph Richardson, Maureen O’Hara, Noel Coward and Ernie Kovacs. (Available as a British import only.)

Hawaii, Oslo –

Perhaps due to my limited attention span, I’ve always enjoyed that unnamed Altmanesque genre of film that follows a number of tangentially related characters. (Crash is a recent American example.) The Norwegian Hawaii, Oslo interweaves five stories set on the hottest day of the year in the city of Oslo. A young couple who are trying to overcome their past dissolute habits try to cope with bad news about their newborn child; an institutionalized man looks forward to a date he made ten years ago with a woman who doesn’t know about his condition; his brother breaks out of prison to visit him on his birthday; two boys in a housing development search for their missing mother. Connecting all of these events is a hospital intern haunted by premonitions of the incidents that will tie them all together. Director Erik Poppe’s film is tightly structured and well-acted. A little comedy, a little romance, a little drama, a little sex—what more could you ask from a movie? The DVD also includes a delightful short film, “Harold the Amazing Contortionist Pig,” from England.

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