Z/Web

Author: Roman Polanski (screenplay), Ira Levin (novel)

Director: Roman Polanski

Really well-done thriller without a single special effect! An ordinary young couple move into a new apartment and set about having a family. Gradually the woman comes to believe that her friendly neighbors are witches who want to steal her child. Terrific exercise in paranoia, suspicion, and doubt. Roman cleverly leaves things ambiguous so we wonder if the woman imagined everything or if she really gave birth to Satan’s child. Fascinating example of how to put together a gripping, tension-filled film without any action or graphic effects. Holds up very well over the years.

Hilarious comedy from the masters of the absurd, this film purports to explain the meaning of existence through a series of sketches. We explore topics such as birth, sex education, middle age, and death. Occasional profundity shows its head (such as the scene where a couple go to a restaurant to order a conversation, not a meal), but occasionally the humor is the more obvious puerile kind. Like most sketch movies, the quality varies. Best of all is the opening short, “The Crimson Assurance,” a terrific Brazil-like film by Terry Gilliam. It opens with a ship of slaves being whipped to work harder, then morphs that into the same old men working at desks as accountants. From there, the men overthrow the suits and put a pirate flag and set forth on the “accountancy” (emphasis on the final syllable). Hilarious and yet quite deep on many levels.

Author: Frank Darabont (screenplay), Steven King (novel)

Director: Frank Darabont

An even better film than I expected. It was its stereotypicalness that turned me off of it initially (that an Tom Hank’s out-of-placeness as the prison guard), but despite certain predictable plot points, it invites thinking.

Author: Brian Moore

Director: Bruce Beresford

Authentic tale of French missionaries in 1634 attempting to convert Native Americans to Christianity. Clearly shows the difference in cultures and lifestyles. For instance, the Indians don’t like the Christian concept of Heaven which is without hunting and killing and sexual relations, and thus conversions are difficult. The missionaries are determined, however, risking and frequently losing their own lives for the cause. The film is violent and savage in places, with majestic and vivid photography. Unfortunately, there isn’t as much story as I desired: the obvious conflicts of human desires versus Godly plan is hinted at but rarely confronted. In the end, we are left with a film with no interpretation or purpose: it means everything and thus means nothing.