Frida Kahlo: A Ribbon Around a Bomb
Frida Kahlo: A Ribbon Around a Bomb 1992. Directed by Ken Mandel, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Cora Cardona, Quigley Provost. Not strictly a documentary, this film combines the interviews with photos, historical footage, paintings, poetry, Mexican folk songs and excerpts of a play. The play, The Diary of Frida Kahlo, is an…
Meeting Venus
Meeting Venus 1991. Directed by Istvan Szabo, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Glenn Close, Niels Arestrup, Marian Labuda, Maite Nahyr. The films of Szabo (Mephisto, Colonel Redl, Hanussen) come few and far between, but so far the wait has always been well rewarded. In the case of Meeting Venus Szabo also gives us…
Shining Through
Shining Through 1992. Directed by David Seltzer, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Michael Douglas, Melanie Griffith, John Gielgud, Liam Neeson, Joely Richardson. Set in the early years of World War II, Shining Through is a Nineties-style stab at making one of those great old Hollywood romantic adventures, with mixed results. The film is,…
Exposure
Exposure 1991, R, 99 min. Directed by Walter Salles, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Peter Coyote, Tcheky Karyo, Amanda Pays, Raul Cortez, Guilia Gam. Most of this you’ve seen before and seen done better. Coyote stars as photographer Peter Mandrake (subtle name, eh?) who’s working in Rio de Janeiro taking shots of the…
Young Soul Rebels
Young Soul Rebels 1991, R, 105 min. Directed by Isaac Julien, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Valentine Nonyela, Mo Sesay, Dorian Healy, Frances Barber, Sophie Okonedo. It’s the summer of 1977, the week of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, a high point of pre-Thatcher British nationalist fervor. In the poor East End of London,…
Love Crimes
Love Crimes 1992, R, 90 min. Directed by Lizzie Borden, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Sean Young, Patrick Bergin, Arnetia Walker, James Read, Ron Orbach. There’s maybe one-third of a stupendous movie here, another one-third that’s just plain dumb and another one-third that’s simply abominable. The first half-hour delivers a setup that’s smart,…
