July 8, 2005

It's Clean Up The Desk Friday!!!! (Yay!)

The Constant Gardener - I don't want to write about this film in depth until I get a chance to see it again, but we now have proof that City of God was no fluke and that Fernando Meirelles is one of the finest directors on the planet.

Meirelles has, after just a couple of films, a distinct but flexible vision. He uses the camera like a paintbrush. The images often flow in a non-linear way, but Meirelles is not just showing off. As the connections, which already stand up simply as beautiful, powerful images, start to come into the focus of the audience's consciousness, we are drawn into that vision.

Meirelles is clearly interested in the planet. More so than any other filmmaker has - including Phillip Noyce who did a nice job with Graham Greene's Vietnam in The Quiet American - he takes a novelist's (John Le Carre here) blend of exotic cultures and complex, but traditional, storytelling and gives it the platform that only film could offer, completely different, but strongly connected to the literary work.

Meirelles' work here, with Jeffrey Caine's solid effort on screenplay, Ralph Fiennes finally asked to do as little as his face was built to do with as much emotion as those eyes can muster, Rachel Weisz in a perfect role, a pretty woman whose earthy sexuality makes her into a walking goddess of righteous power, and excellent support from actors known and not so known, transcends in a way that I can not yet intellectualize… but I can feel it.

In so many ways, this is the work to which Soderbergh has been aspiring and may actually get to with his version of the Che' story. There are moments that bring to mind the deeply felt passions of Solaris that were so lost for audiences distracted by the science fiction. Meirelles paints in some ways like Terry Malick, though Malick integrates words and music with the image in a very different way.

It struck me that if Team Bourne is interesting in taking the next Bourne film to another director, that might be the perfect vehicle for Meirelles to do his first really big movie. It would be closer to Liman's version than Greengrass'.

Anyway, enough for now. The Constant Gardner is, with virtually no competition in English, the first truly great non-doc of 2005.

On Broadway - In New York last weekend, I caught a triple feature of Spamalot, The Light in the Piazza and The Pillowman.

Spamalot is an inescapable delight. Eric Idle and Mike Nichols have created a true English music hall show with structure provided by Monty Python & The Holy Grail… but just barely. Mostly, it is a romp in which every performer is given a special moment and the five leads are given a lot more. And as wonderful as everyone in this production is (Tim Curry, David Hyde Pierce, Christopher Sieber, Alan Tudyk, and Tony-winner Sara Ramirez), everyone could switch roles and still have enormous fun. And indeed, everyone could be replaced. This is a show where the show is truly the star and the joy of being a part of the show is palpable.

If you have a chance to see the show, the best way to do it will be to go with as little knowledge about the show as possible. Some would say that you 'd want to rent the movie and watch it again, but oddly, the few moments in the show that are scrupulously recreated from the film are the weakest moments of the evening. Everyone screams when the Knights Who Say "Ni" arrive… but they aren't that great. And the Knight who only has a flesh wound… one of the funniest scenes ever put on film… and just not theater. No, the magic here is The Lady In The Lake and God's cameo and all sorts of unexpected twists and turns in this raucous evening of theatrical bliss.

That said, the best show I saw last weekend was The Light In the Piazza. It was recommended by a friend weeks before it got to the Tony's. And he could not have been more right.

The show is shockingly traditional, slightly more like an operetta than pure musical at times, but very much of the Rodgers & Hammerstein oeuvre, with a dollop of older Sondheim on the side. Craig Lucas (book) and Adam Guettel (words & music) really risked it all, fearless about being accused of being too old fashioned. The direction by Bartlett Sher is both original and letter perfect as the set seems to float into position as the endlessly repetitive, yet unique streets and plazas of Italy.

The story is classic melodrama. A woman brings her 20-something daughter to Italy, recreating the route of her long-ago honeymoon. The blossoming blonde, full of enthusiasm and ready for life, quickly draws roving Italian eyes. But one boy is more than a little struck. But the woman is more than normally apprehensive… her daughter has a brain injury that has left her unusually childlike, even in her mature young womanly body.

But love is more important than all else. And as the mother and daughter become more entangled with the Italian family to which they suddenly find themselves tied, they are forced to face the tough questions a cushy life has allowed them to avoid. And the mother, in particular, has to reflect on the choices she has made in her life… and on the importance of safety versus the hopefulness of a life lived fully.

Light in the Piazza doesn't have the memorable songs that Rogers & Hammerstein shows invariably had. But every moment seemed filled with music and words that somehow surprised and delighted me.

The Tony winning performance of veteran, but not star (until now), Victoria Clark grows and grows and grows. It is not a showy effort. But it is a magnificent turn, as she takes us from the steady arrogance of an aging American to the careful step of a woman who knows she has to think about all of it all over again.

The ingénues have magnificent voices but, God, it would be magical if they had personalities to match. Mark Harelick, who you'd recognize from some Seinfeld appearances, is very strong and not overwhelming, which I quite liked. The best barely-enough-time-to-shine role is Michael Berresse as the cheating Italian brother.

A beautiful show that brought to mind one of my favorite Broadway experiences of all time, the RSC Derek Jacobi version of Cyrano de Bergerac. A lot of heart.

The Pillowman is the hot drama on Broadway (along with Doubt), though the hook of the show is as much the comedy as the drama. I wish I could say I got it.

Playwright Martin McDonagh is an impressive craftsman indeed. There are not many dramas about torture and murder that have audiences laughing loud and hard from beginning to end. He plays the room like a piano. But what is the point?

I got it… I got it… I got it……. I don't got it.

Have a great weekend.

READER OF THE DAY: JJJJJJ writes: "After yesterday's little Hot Blog guessing game, I zipped on over to IMBD to check early reviews for The Fantastic Four, and loaded right up front were at least 20-25 GLOWING reviews for the film. Some even 10 star with long detailed descriptions. Then when you look at past reviews by the same posters (or posers?), two interesting things come up:

1. Most are first time reviews to the site.
2. The others all RAVED about Electra (another Marvel/Fox fiasco)

Looks like the Fox Ringers are putting in a little OT in prep for the big dump."

And this from THE GREAT SAMMY FIBS: "I had a moment of revlation this week. I went to the Grove and the show we wanted to see was sold out. My friend went into sticker shock at the price of weekend evening shows - $12.50. It was then that I realized that I will be just as content to make the effort to wait a few weeks on most movies and drive out to the Valley Plaza theatre and pay $3 to see Bewitched. That's a $9.50 savings right there. Hell, I'll pay for my date even at $3 and treat 'em to the $1 hot dog!!! I'll bet my Sat night date would still be less than the $14 for one of us at the Arclight - oh and the Valley Plaza doesn't charge for parking either!!!"

E-ME. Will you be spending any time at the 'plex this weekend?