Friday, August 12 2011
‘French Cinema’ Is a Tangled, Rumpled Jumble of a History
French Cinema is a popular history that makes its own eccentric claims on what that history should be.
Tuesday, June 26 2007
Angel-A (2005)
Angela is as brilliant and selfless, vulnerable and exciting as any of Luc Besson's other perfect girls.
Monday, August 4 2003
La Femme Nikita (1990)
If Nikita's appetites are boundless, so is her distrust.
Sunday, January 1 1995
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)
Early on in the very long Luc Besson film, The Messenger, John Malkovich (playing Charles, Dauphin of France) wishes he could be someone else. It was the one and only time that I identified with anything in the film - I wished I could watch him be someone else! Like himself in Being John Malkovich. The Messenger is an unbelievably dull movie, which is a startling achievement given that the legend of Joan of Arc lends itself pretty well to storytelling of any type.
