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New Millennium...........

November, 2005

On the Boards:

At last the theatre season is pounding on in. Both Broadway and off-Broadway offer plenty of enticements to get couch potatoes out of the house.

By now you've probably heard about the unique new production of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, which continues to be called a musical, although the term "musical drama" might be more accurate. Be that as it may, this production has a large share of both supporters and detractors, depending, I suppose, on how traditional the particular viewer is.

Sweeney, a man dealt a hard hand in life, seeks to exact revenge on those guilty of having hurt him, and on some who did not. The ten performers play musical instruments as well as the characters. Patti LuPone (Mrs. Lovett) is on tuba; Michael Cerveris (Sweeney) the guitar. Acquitting himself particularly well is Marc Jacoby as both Judge Turpin and trumpet player.

One commendable choice by director/designer John Doyle is the use of levels in the set. Why use only a flat stage when one can build up activities onto a higher plane, even though the higher plane is in some instances a black coffin taking center stage?

I liked Doyle's dark concept; however, the instrumental activities often detracted from the dramatic effect. Acting-wise, all were good; none outstanding, to my mind, although Patti LuPone was very vivid. In spite of the audience's standing ovation-becoming all too common these days-there wasn't much to move this spectator. Efficient, clever, but emotionally a bit dry. But-there's Sondheim's music; one cannot fault that.

Off-Broadway the Blue Heron Theatre recently presented a theatrical gem: R. L. Lane's adaptation of Herman Melville's novella Bartleby, the Scrivener. Into a mid-nineteenth century Wall Street lawyer's office comes a pale wisp of a young man, Bartleby (Marco Quaglia), to upset the entire staff, especially attorney Standard (Gerry Bamman in a thoughtful, complex performance).

A "catch" of a hire at first, Bartleby soon prefers "not to" do much of anything, and becomes a millstone around Standard's neck and a nuisance to everyone.

But Bartleby's genuine melancholy suggests deep sorrows. Standard, and the audience, begin to ask questions. "Am I my brother's keeper?" might be one. What is the responsibility of people to their associates? The play ends poignantly, with Standard addressing the audience: "Oh, Humanity!"

Director Alessandro Fabrizi's astute direction has resulted in delightful and idiosyncratic characterizations: Sterling Coyne's Turkey, Brian Linden's Nippers, Hunter Gilmore's charming Ginger Nut, to name the major members of the lawyer's staff.

Dennis Ballard's delicious costume designs, featuring myriad combinations of black and white which illustrate and enhance the characters, aids and abets the thoroughly satisfying production.

At the Public, Michael John LaChiusa's See What I Wanna See is an intriguing, provocative opera, two operas actually, "suggested" by the short stories of Ryunosuke Akutagawa, notably the story that became the film Rashomon. Displayed are several versions of the same tale: Who killed whom, did the wife kill her husband, did the lover kill him, did the husband kill his wife? It is tantalizingly left up to the audience, who meanwhile is treated to elegant production values in terms of set-a long, long red curtain (by Thomas Lynch)-marvelous Japanese-type costumes (by Elizabeth Caitlin Ward), and sensual performances by Idina Menzel (formerly of Wicked), the very masculine and powerful Marc Kudisch and deliberately slimy Aaron Lohr as the Thief/seducer, with Mary Testa in a stand-out performance as the Medium.

The second opera, Gloryday, deals with life in today's New York, as a religious man tries to make sense out of a miracle, as others turn against him. A strong central performance by Henry Stram.

With fine-tuned direction by Ted Sperling highlighting LaChiusa's words and music, here is a notable evening in the theatre.

At long last, a musical worthy of the name: The Color Purple, featuring Pulitzer Prize-winner Marsha Norman's libretto, with music and lyrics by Grammy-winning composers/lyricists Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray, melding gospel, jazz pop and the blues. Choreography by Donald Byrd is over the top. Director Gary Griffin ties it all together.

Based on Alice Walker's novel (Pulitzer Prize) and Steven Spielberg's film, the story follows a young, deprived black woman living in Georgia in the early 1900s, Celie, who overcomes terrible odds to ultimately achieve fulfillment and satisfaction through dint of effort and love. Giving warmth and variety to the role is the excellent LaChanze, aided by the terrific support supplied by Renee Elise Goldsberry, as Celie's sister Nettie, Felicia P. Fields as sister-in-law Sofia, and sexy Elisabeth Withers-Mendes as Shug Avery, a rather loose woman who embraces Celie in a very close relationship.

Fine voices soar. A dance piece taking place in Celie's imagination gives vent to choreographer Byrd to hit the heights of his imagination. Space precludes mention of all the great performers. But this is a don't-miss show, with excitement, heart, and meaning-food for the eyes, ears, and soul.

Off-Broadway at the Acorn Theatre on 42nd Street, noted filmmaker Mike Leigh's play, Abigail's Party, written in 1977, deals with a small group of suburban middle-class English folks at a cocktail party. It has a touch of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf in it. The hostess of the occasion is the stridently effective Beverly (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who in her aggressive efforts to make her four guests comfortable succeeds in driving one or two of them up the wall. Beverly's real-estate salesman husband Laurence (Max Baker) is too often off on business but when he is around the couple often quarrel.

The other couple are the somewhat surly Tony (Darren Goldstein) and his wife Angela (Elizabeth Jasicki), a ditzy registered nurse. The odd woman out is the somber Susan (Lisa Emery), who has been invited because her daughter Abigail is throwing her own party in mom Susan's apartment and Susan must make herself scarce. Abigail is never seen but loud music almost constantly emanates from the direction of Susan's apartment.

Drinking and loud conversation take their toll, as the party escalates to chaos. Laurence escapes into demonstrating his cultural attainments by showing he knows Shakespeare and important painters. Beverly becomes more strident, Tony more sullen, Susan retains her quiet demeanor, and Angela gets to play nurse in a bizarre twist.

Scott Elliott's direction is on the money and performances are terrific. Whether the play is adjudged as "silly," as was the comment by my guest that evening, or whether Abigail's Party is a profound satire is up to the individual viewer. It is generally agreed, however, that Mike Leigh is no lightweight, and has racked up some great films to prove it: Secrets & Lies, Topsy-Turvy, and Vera Drake were all Oscar nominated.

In any case, Abigail's Party makes for a rollicking evening in the theatre.

An intriguing and unsettling experience awaits the viewer at Hilda, off-Broadway at 59 East 59 Theatre. Written by a young Sengalese/French playwright, Marie Indiaye, the play has excited interest in Paris, where it was initially presented, in San Francisco at the American Conservatory Theater and in Washington, D.C. at the Studio Theatre.
The minimalist set (by Donald Eastman), sets the stage, so to speak: a stark stairway, with no banister and no apparent top-of-stairway ending. In an unnamed provincial town in France, an upper-class woman insists on hiring Hilda, and only Hilda, to be her maid-to care for her home and her children. On the surface it is a plea by Mrs. Lemarchard-Ellen Karas in a tour-de-force, virtual monologue-to Hilda's husband Frank (Michael Earle), a handyman, to allow Hilda to work for her. But the subtext has a darker tone: the sophisticated woman can offer more than enough money to force agreement of the struggling working couple. Thus Hilda must give up the care of her own children.

What develops is an intense power play, with Mrs. Lemarchard using all her wiles: pleading, a sexual come-on to Frank (actress Karas has gorgeous legs, which she displays provocatively), subtle and not so subtle threats. Hilda's sister Corinne (Brandy Burre) later appears to complicate matters. The play escalates into extreme emotional territory

Hilda is anxiety- and thought-provoking. Performances, under Carey Perloff's astute direction, are taut and accurate. Producer Laura Pels is to be congratulated for bringing this unusual theatrical experience to the attention of the American public, as part of the current Act French project.

Through the Lens:

This issue's lens report treats of a different kind of lens than the movie camera. I'm dealing here with a terrific photography show at the International Center of Photography, four shows simultaneously, actually, running December 9th through February 26 at ICM's headquarters, located at 1133 Avenue of the Americas (43rd Street).
Home to frequent publicly available shows, now on display is The Body at Risk: Photography of Disorder, Illness, and Healing, which features by Eugene Richards some quite disturbing shots of patients being treated in an emergency room setting, as part of his seven-year study of a Denver trauma center. W. Eugene Smith has documented one nurse's efforts to treat, virtually single-handed, 10,000 of South Carolina's poorest citizens. Lewis Hines has photographed child laborers and Gideon Mendel presents his coverage of AIDS in Africa. All mentioned are intense and compelling.

Che! Revolution and Commerce brings together photography, posters, film, audio, clothing and artifacts regarding the famed Che Guevara, with Alberto Korda's noted portrait of Guevara serving as the jumping-off point for the exhibit.

Ken and Melanie Light's stark photo exhibit entitled Coal Hollow portrays citizens of West Virginia's small towns, wracked with poverty after the closing of the once-remunerative coal mines there.

African American Vernacular Photography: Selections from the Daniel Cowin Collection presents a unique group of images of African Americans in a variety of genres and poses: formal studio shots, casual snapshots, children, soldiers, etc. Dating from 1860 to 1960, the exhibit provides a unique window into a century of African American life.

Exhibition catalogues are also available. Information: 212-857-0000.

Re: other exhibits, don't miss the marvelous Sarah Bernhardt show now on at the Jewish Museum on upper Fifth Avenue. More on this in the next issue.

October, 2005

Writer/Ed: Diana Barth_______
Through the Lens:

This wrap-up of the 43rd New York Film Festival indicates a number of excellent films, from all over the world. From the U.S., director George Clooney, who shared screenwriting credits with Grant Heslov, brought us the memorable Good Night, and Good Luck., which outlined the famous confrontation between newscaster Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy.
The intense black and white photography by Robert Elswit pulls the viewer in and gives the film the feel of a documentary. It captures the paranoia of the time, the blacklisting era of the 50s. (Which spoke to me on a personal basis, inasmuch as my then-husband, an actor, was blacklisted merely by virtue of his liberal views. Speaking from experience, I can say that the emotional as well as financial losses were tremendous.)
Clooney has done a service by reminding us all of that horrendous period, particularly in view of the political tenor and events of the current times.
Performances are truly magnificent, starting with David Straitharn's uncannily accurate characterization of Murrow. Straitharn has captured the vocal cadence, the stern intellectuality and uncompromising integrity, and the body language of the late, great newscaster. Top support is given by Frank Langella as CBS boss William Paley, Clooney as Fred Friendly, the producer who worked closely with Murrow, Jeff Daniels as Sig Mickelson, and Patricia Clarkson and Robert Dowey, Jr., as Shirley and Joe Wershba.
Particularly fine is Ray Wise as Don Hollenbeck, the newscaster who buckled under the McCarthy abuse and committed suicide.
By now it is generally known that Senator McCarthy played himself, in several actual clips from the period, and no one could have done it better, or more nastily.
My favorite from the festival, and arguably that of many others, is Noah Baumbach's tender The Squid and the Whale. A coming-of-age story (loosely or not-so-loosely based on Baumbach's own history), set against the backdrop of soon-to-be-divorced parents, the husband, a college professor, is played intensely and individualistically by Jeff Daniels-in a wonderful, complex performance-matched by Laura Linney as the wife, who is an author. Set in brownstone Brooklyn some years back, the film conveys warmth and humor even as the heartbreaking incidents pile up. The couple's two teen-aged sons protect themselves emotionally in their own fashion, one favoring his father, the other his mother.
This film should attract anyone who is part of a family-a large audience.
Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, who served as one of the film's executive producers, Capote, written by Dan Futterman and directed by Bennett Miller, packs a hard punch. It's by now well known that author Truman Capote's best-seller, In Cold Blood, was based on his investigation of the horrific murder of four family members in a small town in Kansas.
The film, Capote, is based on author Gerald Clarke's biography of the same name, which Clarke based on numerous interviews.
In the film, Capote convinces his bosses at The New Yorker magazine to assign him to write an article on the murders. Okayed for the assignment, the writer discovers that his detailed interviews with the killers will make an entire book, in fact, the first major work of what has come to be known as the non-fiction novel.
Accompanied by his friend, writer Harper Lee (Catherine Keener), who will later achieve fame on her own for To Kill a Mockingbird, Capote is at first distrusted by the locals, who find him peculiar, with his odd mannerisms and manner of dressing. However, he later wins their trust, particularly that of Alvin Dewey (Chris Cooper), the Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent leading the hunt for the killers.
When murderers Perry Smith (Clifton Collins, Jr.) and Dick Hickock (Mark Pellegrino) are finally caught and sentenced to die, Capote interviews them in jail, garnering enough information to ultimately result in his best-seller.
What the film skillfully brings out is Capote's self-interest behind the façade of journalistic interest, his ultimately uncaring attitude toward these two pathetic but vicious men as they face the gallows.
With Philip Seymour Hoffman strongly inhabiting the leading character, and consistent excellent support, Capote is sure to be a winner.
From Romania, another outstanding film with a documentary quality: Director Cristi Puiu's The Death of Mr. Lazarescu takes an unlikely hero of the same name (Ion Fiscuteanu) through the travails of the Bucharest hospital system, as he, a hard drinker, but suffering unusually severe pain, finally gets an ambulance after repeated requests. What follows makes one wish he'd stayed at home, for the result would probably have been the same. Shunted about from one medical facility to another, he is received with varying degrees of interest-or distinterest, sometimes verging on the cruel. The seemingly impersonal camera work, by Oleg Mutu, makes the effect upon the viewer that much more powerful.

Gabrielle, filmmaker Patrice Chereau's vividly stylized adaptation of Joseph Conrad's short story "The Return," packs a powerful emotional punch, as from a gentle start, depicting a bourgeois 19th century couple who appear to be on fine footing in their marriage, the tale builds relentlessly to demonstrate the opposite.

When the wife, as played by Isabelle Huppert, indicates she wants to leave her husband (Pascal Greggory) the film digs into deep emotional territory, indicating the differing views each holds regarding love and marriage. It is a powerful journey beautifully enacted by the two leading actors, reminiscent of Ingmar Bergman's work, yet distinctly Chereau's own.

Dating back to 1976, Michelangelo Antonioni's The Passenger continues to dazzle the viewer. Starring the young Jack Nicholson, muted emotionally and very slender physically, the film is full of pleasures and surprises, as Nicholson takes on the identity of a dead reporter, wanting to see where the path will lead. Along the way he meets a mysterious woman (Maria Schneider) who appears to aid him, but is she really a help? The road proves to be more dangerous than had been thought. The film is both a thriller and an investigation into one man's psyche. Played against the backdrops of the North African desert and the architectural delights of Gaudi's Barcelona, the film never fails to interest.

Space precludes mention of all entrants, but needless to say, it was an intriguing mélange of East and West.
Midtown at MoMA, a variety of films is being offered: some Masterworks of Japanese Cinema, a broad display of Isabel Huppert films, which will continue into November, and more.

Of course, MoMA, being one of the great art museums of the world, in addition to its marvelous permanent collections, is currently presenting two excellent exhibits: Contemporary painter Elizabeth Murray specializes in convases which are actually constructions, with material spilling out, warped and twisted, from the canvas. French artist Odilon Redon, most often seen via innocent vases of flowers, here is represented by dark visions and strange fantasies-floating heads, smiling spiders, monstrous human, plant and animal fusions. Both exhibits are fascinating.

On the Boards:

The theatre season is only just beginning. For starters, there is the moving and funny off-Broadway play In the Continuum, by Danai Gurira and Nikkole Salter, who are also the sole actors. The play dramatizes the terrible problem of AIDS among African and African-American women, only recently beginning to be recognized as the scourge it is. Salter, portraying a variety of young women in South Central L.A., and Gurira, playing numerous Africans living in Zimbabwe, show the incidents and relationships, primarily with men, that indicate the women's powerlessness and their frequent inability to protect and defend themselves.

Although there's been some journalistic coverage of the above, theatre takes one's understanding several notches higher. The play is both entertaining and an eye-opener to the tragedy. Happily, the play, directed by Robert O'Hara, after a sold-out run uptown is moving in November to the Perry Street Theatre in the Village.
Music-making:
A very special treat was in store for those who could get to Carnegie Hall last weekend, for the final visit, featuring three evenings, under conductor Daniel Barenboim's direction, of the noted Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

I was particularly fortunate to witness the second of these performances, which featured Mozart's Flute Concerto No. 1 in G Major, Elliott Carter's Soundings (2005) and Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 9 in C Major, known as the "Great" symphony.

The Mozart featured as soloist Mathieu Dufour, principal flute of the CSO. Mr. Dufour's elegant playing captured the nuance and delicacy of the piece, with easy-seeming but impeccable virtuosity.

With its limited scoring for strings, oboes and horns, this concerto is a work in miniature. Given the piece's grace and lovely melodic lines it is difficult to accept that Mozart claimed that he disliked the flute. In this performance, it was apparent that Mr. Barenboim both respected and enjoyed the music and the playing, particularly that of the young Mr. Dufour.

Soundings was a marvel on any level, for this vital, vibrant 12-minute piece was written just this year by the 96-year-old Elliott Carter, especially for Daniel Barenboim and the CSO.

The work is so youthful! It is dissonant, it is lively, it is quirky-the percussion section included xylophone, bongos, cowbell, snare drums, and more. But most interesting--for it was Mr. Carter's goal to compose for Mr. Barenboim as pianist as well as conductor-there are brief piano solos interspersed throughout. Beginning with the notes D and B-flat (the performer's initials in German notation), the piece ends with a resounding and vivacious B-flat, for Barenboim, which he played with gusto.

The playing of the last work of the evening, Schubert's Ninth Symphony, was splendid--altogether passionate, and worthy of the composer's great gift. Mr. Barenboim and his ensemble did it full justice.

Arguably as moving as the music-playing was Mr. Barenboim's embrace of both the young and the old, as he demonstrated his appreciation both of Mathieu Dufour as well as the nonagenarian Elliott Carter, whom he brought up onstage and promenaded before the audience. It was truly a memorable evening in the concert hall.
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July/Aug, 2005

On the Boards:
Catching up with EST Marathon's final series, C: In Craig Lucas's Your Call Is Important, the sole character, Dolores, prefers to stay in Putnam County with her dying mother, although her lover/fiancé is in New York, a place she detests. Country folk are nicer than city people, she feels, until an incident frightens her: A man follows her; she climbs a hill to escape him, then dumps rocks on him. The play's tone changes markedly, becoming rife with terror. The monologue is carefully built, layer upon layer, with Tony award-winning playwright Lucas offering plenty of surprises. Betsy Aidem's performance is wonderful, under Billy Carden's fine direction.

Kate Long's play Gryzk (pronounced Grie-Zik) begins innocuously enough. The sophisticated Meredith (Kristin Griffith) lounges in a beach chair, awaiting the arrival of her son, Kevin, who is late. As she sips "Mother's lemonade" she remarks that she began giving this laced beverage to him when he was 7, to keep him quiet. Mr. Gryzk (Bill Cwikowski) arrives; he has bought the house where the woman used to live. Oddly, Gryzk is actually dead.

Gryzyk expresses his fears of Kevin, who repeatedly harasses his wife and himself. Meredith pooh-poohs him, insisting that Kevin is a typical, charming 16-year-old. Even Gryzk's wife Hannah (Polly Adams) appears, dressed as a bride, insisting Kevin loves her. She wants to protect him.

The play is filled with mystery and surprises, some pretty horrific. Performances, including that of a neighbor, played by Debbie Lee Jones, are excellent, under Evan Bergman's astute direction.

As Horton Foote's The One-Armed Man begins, an arrogant factory boss, C. H. Rowe (Matt Mulhern) is lording it over an underling, underpaid bookkeeper Pinkey (Frank Girardeau). Soon Pinkey announces the arrival of a former employee, Ned (Tim Guinee), who insists on seeing the boss. Ned has only one arm, the missing one having been mashed by a factory machine. He wants his arm back; nothing less will do. C. H. offers him a small weekly sum as compensation, but Ned is relentless in his demand. Finally, the desperate Ned sends a shocking message of personal justice. Performances are fine, with Tim Guinee's one-armed man particularly impressive. Harris Yulin directed.
The Unwritten Song by Romulus Linney, from the book by the same name-consisting of early traditional songs of the world, collected and translated by Willard R. Trask, is a departure for Linney, who often writes of Appalachian folk. But then, the prolific Linney is so versatile, nothing he does should surprise one. This piece is a lyrical, poetic acting/dance piece that deals with universal yearnings: love, lust, childbirth, flirting, motherhood. I sensed elements of Federico Garcia Lorca, famed Spanish poet/playwright in it. As the text, fused with intrinsic movement, is danced to a large extent, the work of the choreographer is of prime importance. Here the production is greatly enhanced by choreographer Lori Russo, who captures the ambience of Linney's words and gives them a tangible reality. It is a lovely, strong piece, featuring only two men: William Jackson Harper and Paco Tolson, and one woman, Angel Desai, the latter supplying a particularly lovely quality and a fine talent as both actress and dancer. Carlos Armesto has directed.

The Mint Theater Company adds another splendid production to its list of noteworthy older plays, with its current presentation of John Galsworthy's The Skin Game, a depiction of what happens when a parvenu tries to impose his ambitious schemes on a traditional family of landed gentry. This nouveau riche, Hornblower (James Gale), would build a profit-producing factory where tenants presently have lived in simple cottages for many years, thereby displacing them. The Hillcrist family will have none of this but are hard put to stop Hornblower's schemes, until a bit of unpleasant history surrounding Hornblower's daughter-in-law comes to light. The Hillcrists can seize upon this and stop Hornblower in his tracks.

Elegantly detailed direction by Eleanor Reissa and solid performances make this production a very worthwhile evening in the theatre. Particularly notable are James Gale, whose complex Hornblower elicits not only scorn but sympathy, and Monique Fowler as Hillcrist's wife, who melds elegance, integrity, and ruthlessness, a not easy task. Some other fine contributions come from John C. Vennema as Hillcrist, Nicole Lowrance as his daughter Jill, Stephen Rowe as Hillcrist's agent, Dawker, Diana LaMar as Hornblower's daughter-in-law, and Pat Nesbit in the dual roles of the tenant's wife and the Hillcrist maid-a well-concealed double.

The set by Vicki R. Davis makes excellent use of a small stage.

Ballet:
With new theatre activity pretty much simmering down during this period, I was fortunate to be able to view some of the best that the world of dance has to offer.

Among New York City Ballet's several offerings this season, A Midsummer Night's Dream, utilizing the late great George Balanchine's choreography, was a feast for the eyes and ears. Shakespeare's play, one of his best-loved comedies, with its mixture of crossed loves, foolish quarrels, chases through the forest, mistaken identity, and the like, makes for fertile soil for a dance piece.

This elegant presentation more than exceeded one's wishes. Various events set lovers askew: Titania, the lovely Kyra Nichols, and her Oberon, portrayed by Tom Gold. There are Helena (Janie Taylor), in love with Demetrius (Jason Fowler); Hermia (Jennifer Tinsley), in love with Lysander (Andrew Veyette). Then Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, played by Ellen Bar, and volatile Theseus, played by Ask la Cour.

As you know, things get muddier with the appearance of Bottom (Henry Seth) who becomes an ass, and with whom Titania briefly falls in love.

But this synopsis hardly expresses the visual splendors laid before the spectator. There are a myriad number of butterflies, there are fairies, there are Hippolyta's hounds. A group of dancing children is on display. It seems as if the entire company is onstage for this tantalizing offering, taking place in a forest, then in the Court of Theseus.
Simultaneously, washing over one's ears is the exquisite music of Felix Mendelssohn, and other composers. In fact, the score for this ballet uses all of the music composed for the Shakespeare play, plus other music.

The vivid scenery by David Hays, elegant costumes by Karinska, Ronald Bates's original lighting and additional lighting by Mark Stanley, enhance and complete a marvelously danced and exquisite visual production.
American Ballet Theatre's Swan Lake was a stunner. This world-favorite classic was presented in all its glorious splendor, with an exciting young dancer, Michele Wiles, in the dual role of Odette-Odile. In addition to lyrical grace, Wiles appears to have extraordinarily long arms, which enable her to effectively portray the winged creature. Carlos Acosta was powerful and masculine as Prince Siegfried, who rescues Odette from the spell of the sorcerer von Rothbart (Eric Underwood and David Hallberg), and enables her to rejoin her group of swans.

Particularly delightful were the Act III solos by the various princesses, the Hungarian (Zhong-Jing Fang), the Spanish (Erica Cornejo), Italian (Anne Milewski, and the Polich (Sarawanee Tanatanit.)

Choreography was by Kevin McKenzie after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, and the glorious score, of course, by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky. Elegant sets and costumes by Zack Brown and lighting by Duane Schuler completed a picture-perfect production.

During the famed Bolshoi Ballet's brief season. I saw Spartacus, a very physical ballet on a grand scale that shows off the company's strength and power. The story details the uprising of Spartacus, the gladiator/slave, against Crassus, leader of the Roman army, Spartacus's initial victory, followed ultimately by his defeat and death at the hands of the Romans.
Noted choreographer Yuri Grigorovich's definitive version, set to the expansive music by Aram Khachaturian, gives the company, particularly its male dancers, the opportunity to shine with great bravura. Particularly impressive were Alexander Volchkov, as Crassus, whose clean, handsomely centered turns and leaps brought to mind the young Baryshnikov, and Yury Klevtsov as Spartacus, who brought tremendous masculine power to his dancing. Klevtsov was also an adept partner to the character of Phrygia, in the person of the delicate Anna Antonicheva. Their pas-de-deux, with numerous, heart-stopping lifts, were very moving. Also very impressive was Maria Allah, as the courtesan Aegina, who demonstrated both strength and feminity.

All told, the production offered a fine example of the power and breadth of this world-class company.
Through the Lens:

The Walter Reade Theater presents more of the wonderful Louis Malle series. Just a few remaining include Pretty Baby, with the then-12-year-old Brooke Shields, the unusual Crackers, an adaptation of the classic Italian heist film Big Deal on Madonna Street, and the moving Au Revoir Les Enfants, set in a Catholic boys school during the Nazi occupation of France.

A retrospective of Bing Crosby films includes Going My Way, with the crooner portraying a priest, along with Barry Fitzgerald (who won a supporting actor Oscar). Also High Society with Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Louis Armstrong (some cast!), The Country Girl, based on Clifford Odets's play, with Crosby winning an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of an alcoholic stage star. Many more.

"Scanners" is the title for the 2005 New York Video Festival, and in August we'll be treated to a two-week assortment of cartoon musicals: "I Love to Singa, " as well as to a week of Milestone Films, including Piccadilly and Winter Soldier, a documentary delving into war crimes committed by American forces in Vietnam.
MOMA is presenting a summer-long, 33-film series called "Anime!"--the Japanese version of filmed animation, showcasing films from the last 40 years. Also films by Gus Van Sant and Gregory La Cava-featuring stellar contributions by performers as varied as Katherine Hepburn and W.C. Fields.

Downtown's Film Forum is featuring an open run of Ingmar Bergman's latest film, Saraband, reviewed in these pages last month, as well as a series entitled "Paramount Before the Code, " featuring films from the studio's less-censored heyday in the thirties.

There's obviously more than enough on view to get the interested film buff out of the heat and into a nice air-conditioned movie house. And looking forward to the forthcoming Film Festival at the Walter Reade Theater in the fall.
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April, 2005 Writer/Editor: Diana Barth Layout: Ben Alexander
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The Great Northwest:
A very special trip recently-to Eugene, Oregon-- leads me to this very special issue: I can report that both the performing arts and visual arts are alive and well in this gem of a town in the expansive Northwest's Lane County.
At the hub of Eugene's performing arts, right in the center of town, is the vital presence of the Hult Center, pictured left. The Center's peaked roof represents the nearby, famed Three Sisters mountains. Inside the lobby and at other places in the hall are sculptures, tiles, and other artworks created by Oregon artists. In fact, a percentage of Eugene's civic budget is set aside for artworks created by local artists. One can see such works not only in the Hult, but placed at various sites around town.

The Hult Center for the Performing Arts boasts two elegant theatres onsite: the expansive 2,500-seat Silva Concert Hall, which hosts large-scale events, such as the Eugene Opera, which this past season presented fine productions of Johann Strauss, Jr.'s Die Fledermaus and Verdi's Rigoletto, and the Eugene Ballet Company, which includes Scheherezade and The Nutcracker in its repertory.

The current season features such varied attractions as the humorous and imaginative dance company Pilobolus, an evening with the irreverent humorist Bill Maher, Opera Verdi Europa's production of Aida, and Gregory Popovich's Comedy Pet Theatre.

The extraordinarily versatile, mid-sized, 500-seat Soreng Theater can be used as a concert platform, a proscenium stage, or a thrust stage.

The Soreng is home to the Willamette Repertory Theatre, which last season presented AlwaysPatsy Cline, and this season You Can't Take It With You. The Hult is deservedly proud of its list of resident companies, which includes, in addition to those already mentioned, Dance Theatre of Oregon, Eugene Concert Choir, with upcoming performances of Beethoven's choral masterwork, Missa Solemnis, Eugene Symphony Orchestra, Oregon Festival of American Music (OFAM), presenting in May a performance by Tony-award winning singer/actress Audra McDonald. There are also the Oregon Mozart Players, and the famed Oregon Bach Festival, led annually by cofounder Helmuth Rilling, which attracts audiences nationwide.

Some of last season's touring presentations, giving Northwest audiences the opportunity to enjoy performances seen elsewhere in the country, include Tommy Tune and the Manhattan Rhythm Kings, Chicago City Limits, The National Acrobats of Taiwan, and clarinetist David Krakauer and his Klezmer Madness.

The Hult Center also operates the Cuthbert Amphitheater, a 4,000-seat capacity outdoor concert site in Eugene's largest natural park. Here one can enjoy simultaneously big name entertainers and fresh air and stunning sunsets.
Another lesser known but very useful venue is the Hult's Studio 1. Although used primarily for rehearsals it can seat up to 200 people, for lectures, or informal presentations. This season the Willamette Repertory Theatre will utilize Studio 1 for public readings of Clifford Odets's The Big Knife and Nilo Cruz's Bicycle Country.

The Hult has its own art gallery onsite. It is the Jacobs Gallery, which offers works by regional and local artists. I saw an impressive selection of drawings there on my recent visit. Admission is free, with donations welcomed, inasmuch as the gallery is supported by donations and is operated as a managed community venture in a public facility.

In fact, the Hult Center for the Performing Arts is owned by the city of Eugene. Felicitously, many small arts groups offer events free of charge both to the community at large, and especially to children, giving youngsters exposure to the arts early on. One example is a new play by David Barr III, My Soul Is a Witness, which retells the stories of major civil rights heroes, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks.

But Eugene has more theatre offerings: I thoroughly enjoyed a production of the musical, Beauty and the Beast, directed by Joe Zingo and produced by musical director Jim Roberts. This took place at Actors Cabaret of Eugene, celebrating its 26th season. Effectively staged in its small space, meals and drinks are also on offer.
The very active University of Oregon Robinson Theatre, not far from the center of town, recently presented Arthur Miller's An American Classic.

The Shedd Institute for the Arts, located in a converted church, offers four performance venues, plus rehearsal and classroom facilities. Its 750-seat concert hall accommodates the majority of OFAM offerings (Oregon Festival of American Music), including performance artist Laurie Anderson, the Dave Holland Big Band, and Cape Breton fiddler/step dancer/bagpipes player, Natalie MacMaster, who insists that the audience get up and dance at least once during her concerts, and the noted The Chieftains, who take over Cuthbert Amphitheater for their Irish romp.
Twenty minutes south of Eugene, the charming community of Cottage Grove presents some excellent productions in its theatre, very impressive for a town of only 8,000 people.

Oregon boasts a slew of art galleries in its downtown area (near the Hult). DIVA (Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts) recently offered a fine exhibit: Artists Who Teach: Lane Community College Show. One saw a pleasing mix of paintings, photos and sculpture. Of particular note is the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art on campus at the University of Oregon. Its most recent exhibit featured Andy Warhol's works. (In conjunction with this retrospective, DIVA screened several films about Warhol.) In addition, the Jordan Schnitzer Museum is also home to extensive collections of American, European, Asian and Northwest Art. Also on campus is the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History, exploring the archaeology and fossil history of Oregon.

I must express my thanks at this point to two women who helped me in my research for this piece: Billie Rathbun-Moser, marketing and public relations manager of the Hult Center, who graciously gave me a private tour of the facilities (and who informed me that there are about 800 presentations annually at the Hult Center). We were accompanied by Debbie Williamson-Smith, tourism public relations manager of CVALCO (Convention & Visitors Association of Lane County). Debbie gave me materials, an overall view of the arts in the area, and, very importantly, made it possible for me to enjoy a comfortable stay at Eugene's Hilton Hotel, conveniently located next door to the Hult Center.

Postscript: If one tires of all the art in Eugene, save some time and energy for the Saturday Market, the country's oldest outdoor crafts festival. Between April and Thanksgiving, over 300 vendors display their handmade or homegrown products. The grounds are also alive with musical and performance art. And to slake one's thirst and appetite one can find international food booths.

Back at Gotham: I've seen some excellent Broadway and off-Broadway shows recently. Most notable are John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer Prize-winning Doubt, telling of a stern principal of a Catholic school, played by Cherry Jones, and a priest who arouses her moral suspicions, played by Brian F. O'Byrne. Both performances are compelling. This production was transferred from off-Broadway, under Doug Hughes's perceptive direction.

Pillowman, by Martin McDonagh of The Beauty Queen of Leenane fame, is gory, suspenseful and thoughtful. Consummate performances by Billy Crudup, Jeff Goldblum, Zeliko Ivanek and Michael Stuhlbarg, under John Crowley's intensely paced direction.
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By now the word is all over town that the current revival of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is a stunner. To my mind, the most effective and accurate of the terrific cast is Bill Irwin, whose college history professor, George, could not be bettered. Both cynical and gentle, and totally understanding of his wife Martha's foibles, Irwin is a marvel. Kathleen Turner's vivid portrayal of Martha certainly takes stage. Turner perhaps more than most Marthas makes a point of being her daddy's little girl, pouty and self-indulgent. My only quibble is that, for a college president's daughter, she is perhaps a bit too blowsy. Of course Martha is drunk most of the time but should she not occasionally retain a trace of that New England breeding? Mireille Enos's Honey is a gem, and David Harbour is fine as Nick. Anthony Page's direction brings out every nuance of Albee's masterpiece of one example of American domesticity.

John Patrick Shanley's Doubt, which made the move from off-Broadway to Broadway, and picked up the Pulitzer Prize along the way, continues to project its intense portrayal of doings in a Bronx Catholic school in the 60s, as the powerful Cherry Jones and understated Brian F. O'Byrne shine as adversarial school principal and teacher/priest, with the able assistance of Heather Goldenhersh as young Sister James and Adriane Lenox as the mother of a troubled student. Doug Hughes has directed with verve and sensitivity. (See my full review in Irish Voice, April 13.)

Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman is a weird and interesting blend of comedy and, in my opinion, melodrama rather than true drama. In a totalitarian state, a young writer is being interrogated because the content of his stories matches the modus operandi of actual murders. His mentally challenged brother may be the actual culprit, but the clever McDonagh keeps us guessing, and shivering, for quite a while. Terrific performances by Billy Crudup, Jeff Goldblum, Zeljko Ivanek and Michael Stuhlbarg under John Crowley's direction. (See my full review in Irish Voice, April 20.)

Of those mentioned above, the following have recently been Tony-nominated: Best Play: Doubt and Pillowman. Best Play Revival: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Actor in a Play: Billy Crudup (The Pillowman), Bill Irwin (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf), Brian F. O'Byrne (Doubt). Actress in a Play: Cherry Jones (Doubt), Kathleen Turner (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf). Featured Actor in a Play: Michael Stuhlbarg (The Pillowman), David Harbour (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf). Featured Actress in a Play: Adriane Lenox (Doubt), Mireille Enos (Who's Afraid of'Virginia Woolf), Heather Goldenhersh (Doubt). Direction of a Play: Doug Hughes (Doubt), John Crowley (The Pillowman). There are others in categories such as lighting.

Christina Applegate has done herself proud, landing a Tony nomination as Actress in a Musical for her starring stint in Sweet Charity; the show is also up for best Musical Revival.

Catching up on worthy off-Broadway presentations:

The late heiress Peggy Guggenheim assembled one of the finest modern art collections ever. Her legacy has been set to words by playwright Lanie Robertson in the one-woman show Woman Before a Glass, in the person of actress Mercedes Ruehl. Ruehl takes center stage and never lets down in her powerful hour-and-a-half portrayal, directed by Casey Childs.

The eccentric Guggenheim began collecting art as a hobby and, with uncanny taste, ended up with powerhouse names in the art world: Paul Klee, Jackson Pollock, Max Ernst, Miro, Kandinsky, De Kooning, Man Ray, and Alexander Calder, to name but a few. More important, she helped these formerly struggling artists establish the world-class reputations they have today.

Ruehl, in this tour-de-force, runs the gamut, from wheedling, to insisting, to briefly falling apart emotionally on hearing of her daughter's suicide. Her life appears to be a triumph of will. Of course money helped, but how many wealthy people do little or nothing of a positive nature with their funds?

The play, which mostly deals with Guggenheim's efforts to bequeath her extraordinary collection to a major museum, ends with her best decision: She decides to create a museum in her beloved Venice, Italy, where she has spent most of her life. The collection still resides there, to be enjoyed by visitors from all over the world.

*

An elegant two-character play by Lee Blessing, presented by Primary Stages, Going to St. Ives featured L. Scott Caldwell in the role of African empress May N'Kame, and Viviene Benesch as Dr. Cora Gage, an eye surgeon.

Set in Dr. Gage's cottage near Cambridge, England, May has come to seek Dr. Gage's services, to perform crucial surgery on her eye. The two have never met and both are overly cautious in their manner of speaking to one another. Gradually the two warm up to each other, but then the bombshell drops.

May is the mother of the emperor of a small, unnamed central African nation. He is a vicious tyrant. May, both a mother and a highly ethical and moral person, has decided to do the unthinkable. Further, she needs the assistance of a doctor to help her do it.

Without giving too much away, the conversation covers the gamut of soul-searching as regards politics, ethical concerns, motherhood, and basic responsibilities of humane people.

In Act Two, set in May's home in Africa, the two women discuss what course of action May will take, now that her extraordinary act must lead to an extraordinary end.

Directed with unerring sensitivity by Maria Mileaf, Mr. Blessing's play is a rare contribution to the New York theatre scene. It is a play that makes the viewer think, and think hard.

As for performances, it is a real treat to see two actresses, poles apart in appearance and acting style-Ms. Caldwell being powerful and somewhat broad, Ms. Benesch delicate and highly detailed-merge to create a strongly meaningful whole. Fine, accurate sets by Neil Patel and costumes by Ann Hould-Ward complete the consummate effect.

A one-person show, Belfast Blues has made a strong impact this season. The piece, by actor/writer Geraldine Hughes, is an autobiographical, theatricalized version of elements of her own life story. Set in war-torn Belfast, Ireland, in the 1970s and 80s, Hughes personally depicts some of the many remarkable and unremarkable people who inhabited her life. There are more than twenty-her parents, neighbors, etc. She talks of war, religion, and Hollywood. She tells of her early longings to leave Belfast, to find something more for herself. And she has. A vibrant performer, Hughes has been assisted in this venture by Contributing Director Carol Kane.

Up at the Walter Reade Theater, a fine Swedish series presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center ushers in the month of April. The featured filmmaker is Lukas Moodysson, who burst on the international scene in 1998 and has remained high on the list ever since. Some other new Swedish directors shown include Maria Blom, Peter Dalle, and Kristina Humie.

A marvelous series of world-class violinists entitled "Pulling Strings: Violinists on Film" presents such virtuosos as Jascha Heifetz, Yehudi Menuhin, David Oistrakh, Nathan Milstein, and others-a virtual feast for the ears, in nine programs.

Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan, billed as "The Biggest Film Star in the World!" holds forth in a well-rounded series.

"Michael Powell: Beauty Unending" offers an overview of some of this great filmmaker's finest films: The Red Shoes, The Tales of Hoffman, A Matter of Life and Death, Black Narcissus, to name but a few. It is an extraordinary series by this artist, who this year would have celebrated his 100th birthday.

The 32nd New Directors/New Films offers an international mix, from the quietly effective to the downright dazzling. Filmmaker Todd Graff's Camp (USA) depicts a summer theater camp for kids age six to sixteen, as they
prepare for end-of-season performances. One girl has had her jaw wired shut by her parents to prevent her overeating; a drag queen has sexual orientation problems. There are some conventional summer romances, and a
major Broadway luminary unexpectedly makes a guest appearance. Finally, these young kids offer some knockout musical performances. An engaging, fun-filled gambit.

Teenagers are also the concern of Peter Sollett's Raising Victor Vargas (USA), as 16- year-old Victor (Victor Rasuk) pursues lovely, hard-to-get "Juicy Judy" (Judy Marte), in the Loisaida section of Brooklyn. Other young couples do their dance, and Victor's firm grandmother (Altagracia Guzman) often lays down the law in this funny but sweet coming-of-age film.

Set on an island near western Sicily, Emanuele Crialese's Respiro (Italy) begins mildly, then darkens in tone as the lovely Grazia (a wonderful performance by Valeria Golino) first is criticized, then persecuted by her neighbors, who cannot understand nor tolerate her unconventional and free-spirited ways. Even her loving husband and sons cannot protect her. Respiro effectively melds violence and lyricism.

Another Italian entrant, Roberta Torre's Angela, almost steams up the screen in this beautifully realized sex triangle. Set in Palermo, Sicily, organized crime provides the backdrop for Angela (intense Donatella Finochiarro), married to the older Saro (Mario Pupella), to meet young, sexually vibrant Masino (Andrea di Stefano), who joins Saro's drug-dealing operation. The code of the Mafia permeates everyone's actions, in this truly unique portrayal of a woman's frustrations and passions, told from her point of view.

Autumn Spring by filmmaker Vladimir Michalek (Czech Republic) is a gentle but poignant depiction of a couple who must come to grips with increasing limitations and deprivations as they enter old age. The husband, Fanda (Vlastimil Brodsky), fights the need to make serious decisions regarding the couple's future, and spends his days seeking adventure and playing practical jokes. When his loyal but exasperated wife Emilie (Stella Zazvorkova) seeks a divorce after forty-four years of marriage, Fanda must finally face harsh reality.

Jim Simpson's The Guys (USA) is a moving and sometimes humorous depiction, based on reality, of a fire captain (richly portrayed by Anthony LaPaglia) who calls upon a New York journalist (Sigourney Weaver) to help him prepare eulogies he must deliver at funerals of several of his colleagues who died at the World Trade Center on 9/11. Strangers at the outset, as the two work together they gradually open up to each other. The fire captain is enabled to more deeply reveal his pain-and courage.

Fernando Leon de Aranoa's Mondays in the Sun (Spain) is a quiet film with an undercurrent of pain, as a group of men in a city on the northern coast of Spain, suffering from long unemployment or underemployment (one man even babysits to make ends meet), must find ways to pass the time and keep themselves afloat emotionally, while life, as it ought to be lived, seems to pass them by. Javier Bardem stars in an intense, underplayed performance.

Miwa Nishikawa's Wild Berries (Japan) deals with a dysfunctional family: The father pretends to go to work every day, although he has actually been fired. The son tries, in his odd fashion, to help with the family's
financial difficulties, while the mother often expresses her dissatisfaction. Only the daughter seems capable of keeping things on a somewhat even keel. The film has moments of tenderness, alternating with tension and friction.

The above is just a sample of the entire series, many of which have won prizes in major film festivals worldwide, and a majority of which have achieved general release in New York and elsewhere. Look for them if you haven't made it to the festival itself.

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Through the Lens:

The 40th New York Film Festival has presented its usual assortment of offerings from around the world. I'll pick out what for me were the high points. Arguably, one of the strongest impacts was made by an American film, Alexander Payne's About Schmidt, with an Oscar-contending star turn by Jack Nicholson. Portraying an aging insurance man from Nebraska who has lost in quick succession-wife, job, his daughter (via marriage to a fool), Schmidt embarks on a journey of self-discovery, meeting along the way a number of Middle-Americans, including the bare-busted Kathy Bates. The film, alternating comedy and poignancy, leaves a strong mark.

Two entries from Ireland, dealing with social and political issues, make a vivid impression. Paul Greengrass's Bloody Sunday, a dramatized version of the tragic events of January 1972 in Derry, Northern Ireland, pulls no punches in showing the brutality of the British attacks, resulting in a massacre of innocent Irish civilians. James Nesbitt plays Ivan Cooper, a Catholic activist, who first confidently leads the protestors then recoils in horror at ensuing events. This film won the grand prize at this year's Berlin Film Festival.

Peter Mullan's The Magdalene Sisters (Scotland/Ireland), displays one of the profit-making laundries run by Sisters of the Magdalene Order, which used (until recent years) as virtual slave labor wayward Irish girls (i.e., unmarried mothers), who lacked societal supports, and were thus powerless to escape. The film is consistently harrowing and fascinating, with excellent performances from the four young women at its center, and a tour-de-force by Geraldine McEwan as the smilingly vicious head Sister.

Bertrand Tavernier's Safe Conduct (France) dealing with French filmmaking during the German Occupation, specifically follows two filmmakers who quietly opposed the Nazis in the course of their work. Based on real events in the lives of screenwriter Jean Aurenche and assistant director Jean Devaivre, the long (170 minutes) film never flags, mixing sex, politics and adventure.

The popular Pedro Almodovar blends black comedy and drama in Talk to Her, a story of two men in love: Benigno, a male nurse caring for a coma victim, and Marco, a writer involved with a female bullfighter who has been gored in the ring. Though not in my opinion the Spanish filmmaker's greatest film, as it has been touted, nevertheless Almodovar is always unique and interesting, featuring here a film-within-a-film with performances by noted dancer Pina Bausch and singer Caetano Veloso and an effective cameo by Geraldine Chaplin.

Alexander Sokurov's Russian Ark is both a technical tour-de-force and an elegant picturing of the majestic paces of The Hermitage in St. Petersburg, filled with real and imagined characters from Russian and European history. Required were months of rehearsal with almost 900 actors and three orchestras. The final ball sequences are breathtakingly beautiful and compelling.


Chihwaseon by Korean director Im Kwon-Taek recounts the life of one of Korea's foremost painters, Jang Seung-Ub, known as Ohwon. Born into poverty, he ultimately achieves great fame while simultaneously indulging
his passions for women and alcohol. A bawdy and vivid film shot in particularly beautiful color.

This year's offerings include some impressive documentaries. Nicolas Philibert's To Be and To Have quietly but sensitively recounts a year in the experiences of a one-room schoolhouse in northern France. There is
remarkable interaction between students, of different ages, and their gentle teacher, as the latter guides them to growing maturity. The teacher is a find, for he arguably has enabled the filmmaker to create a work of such glowing uplift. When, at the end, the teacher announces he is leaving this assignment, it is a remarkably poignant moment that stays with the viewer--as tearing a parting as one might witness anywhere.

Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary by Andre Heller and Othmar Schmiderer is an odd but fascinating study of Traudi Junge, who was Hitler's secretary, selected from several who "auditioned" for Hitler in 1942. She worked for
him until his suicide in his bunker, transcribing his last will and testament. The filmmakers persuaded the 81-year-old Junge to break her silence of fifty years and record on camera just months before she died
her memories of this man whom she saw as a "pleasant boss and fatherly friend." What strikes one as odd, however, is that Junge appears to have remembered, half a century after their occurrence, the most minute
details of daily life with the Fuehrer.

A Special Retrospective Program simultaneous with the Festival was a presentation of several films of the beautiful and gifted Indian actress Shabana Azmi: The Actor as Activist. The daughter of a poet and actress,
Azmi has achieved deserved fame for her versatile and finely wrought portrayals as well as for her advocacy for the rights of women.

Through the Lens

MoMAís Department of Film and Media, newly located at the Gramercy Theatre at 127 East 23 Street pending completion of its home on 53rd Street, is kicking off its inaugural season with two intriguing series: To Save and Project: The MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation, to run from October 11 to November 7, and a retrospective of the films of noted French actress Delphine Seyrig, entitled Variations on an Enigma: The Billy Rose Tribute to Delphine Seyrig, running October 18 to November 21, 2002.

To Save and Project includes 67 fiction and documentary features, shorts, commercials and home movies spanning more than a century of cinema history. The selections, preserved by more than 25 archives worldwide, range worldwide. Included are the U.S., Greece, Japan, Sweden, Vietnam and even the Vatican. The opening night screening of Nicholas Rayís In a Lonely Place, features a vivid, gutsy performance by Humprey Bogart at his best, supported by sultry Gloria Grahame. Sidney Lumetís Fail-Safe, starring Henry Fonda and Walter Matthau, deals with the ultimate Cold War nightmare as U.S. bombers race to drop a nuclear payload on Moscow while U.S. authorities wrestle over whether to recall the planes.

D i s t r i b u t o r K i n o I n t e r n a t i o n a l i s on e o f t h o s e w i t h f i n e t a s t e c o m m i t t e d t o t h e v a n g u a r d o f a r t h o u s e d i s t r i b u t i o n . T h e F i l m S o c i e t y o f L i n c o l n C e n t e r i s h e l p i n g K i n o c e l e b r a t e i t s 2 5 t h b i r t h d a y b y p r e s e n t i n g a g e n e r o u s s e l e c t i o n o f t h e i r t i t l e s , i n c l u d i n g w o r k b y J e a n R e n o i r , F r i t z L a n g , S h o h e i I m a m u r a , B e r t r a n d T a v e r n i e r , F e l l i n i , S o u l e y m a n e C i s s e , a n d m a n y m o r e .

S o m e e x a m p l e s : A k i K a u r i s m a k i ( F i n l a n d ) o f f e r s T h e M a t c h F a c t o r y G i r l ; t h e r e i s t h e 1 9 1 9 T h e C a b i n e t o f D r . C a l i g a r i ; I m a m u r a ' s T h e B a l l a d o f N a r a y a m a ( n a m e d B e s t F i l m a t t h e l 9 8 3 C a n n e s F i l m F e s t i v a l ) . F i l m m a k e r V o l k e r S c h l o n d o r f f ( W e s t G e r m a n y ) h a s m a d e a n o t a b l e v e r s i o n o f G u n t e r G r a s s ' s n o v e l T i n D r u m , w i t h a s t u n n i n g p e r f o r m a n c e b y y o u n g D a v i d B e n n e n t . T h e f i l m , m e r g i n g h u m o r a n d t r a g e d y , w o n a n A c a d e m y A w a r d f o r B e s t F o r e i g n F i l m a n d t h e P a l m e d 'O r a t C a n n e s i n l 9 7 9 .

M a r c e l P r o u s t ' s m a s t e r w o r k R e m e m b r a n c e o f T h i n g s P a s t i s b r o u g h t t o l i f e o n t h e s c r e e n b y R a u l R u i z ' s a d a p t a t i o n , w o r k i n g w i t h s c r e e n w r i t e r G i l l e s T a u r a n d . T h e s p l e n d i d c a s t i n c l u d e s C a t h e r i n e D e n e u v e , J o h n M a l k o v i c h , E m m a n u e l l e B e a r t a n d V i n c e n t P e r e z .

T h e l i s t g o e s o n ; a n e x t r a o r d i n a r y s e l e c t i o n o f w o r l d - c l a s s f i l m s t o b e s h o w n t h r o u g h A u g u s t 1 5 .

A l s o o n t h e a g e n d a a t L i n c o l n C e n t e r a r e M o t h e r I n d i a b y M e h b o o b K h a n , T h e F a l l o f O t r a r b y A r d a k A m i r k u l o v o f K a z a k h s t a n , a n d t h e s e r i e s : W h i s p e r s i n a D i s t a n t C o r r i d o r : T h e C i n e m a o f J a c q u e s T o u r n e u r . T h e s e n o t e d h o r r o r f i l m s : C a t P e o p l e , C u r s e o f t h e D e m o n , e t c . , r u n i n t o S e p t e m b e r .

On the Boards

Mid-August afforded me a mini-vacation in my old haunt, Woodstock, New York, where I couldnít resist a theaterpersonís holiday by attending a show. It was Agatha Christieís The Mousetrap (just closed), presented at the refurbished Woodstock Playhouse. (The Playhouse, damaged by a fire some years back, has been put into spanking, sparkling shape.) I spoke briefly with energetic young producer/artistic director Elli Michaels, who heads Bird-on-a-Cliff Theatre Company. Together with her husband, David Aston-Reese, who directed Mousetrap, they have another show presently on the boards: Shakespeareís Comedy of Errors, playing on the Comeau property, ìacross from the fire house,î Elli informs me. Look into this; the Shakespeare is outdoors, so you can still enjoy the beauties of Woodstockís countryside as you hear the Old Bardís words.

Through The Lens

Through The Lens

Never mind that summer will soon be upon us and we will supposedly sink into the doldrums; there will be plenty to see at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center. Open Roads: New Italian Cinema, features a new generation of filmmakers with over a dozen offerings. Three are works by Neapolitan directors Antonio Capuano (Luna Rossa), Pappi Corsicato (Chimera), and Paolo Sorrentino ís One Man Up. A special event will be Ermanno Olmiís The Profession. Olmi, the subject of a Walter Reade retrospective last year, is noted as a major influence on the current generation of Italian filmmakers.

Also this month: The 2002 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, co- presented by the Film Society, is offering a provocative, meaningful assortment of films from all over the world. Amen, by noted filmmaker Costa Gavras, examines the complicity of the Vatican during the Holocaust. It contains condemnation for those who knew and kept silent, and praise for those courageous enough to take a stand. Others: Afghanistan Year 1380 by Fabrizio Lazzaretti and Alberto Vendemmiati, following their success with last year is entrant Jung: In the Land of the Mujhaheddin; Jon Osman and Jonathan Stackís hard-hitting Justifiable Homicide, a documentary based on the killings by two NYPD detectives of two Puerto Rican cousins in the Bronx. 500 Duman on the Moon by filmmaker Rachel Leah Jones is a video documentary on Ayn Hawd, a Palestinian village captured by Israeli forces in the l948 war. And many more.

An extensive series of great French star Jean Gabinís films runs through July 18. Just a few: Grand Illusion, Port of Shadows, Pepe le Moko, and The Human Beast (La Begte humane), going from his early days to his later, more mature roles.