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Reviews
Oleanna (1994)
One of the scariest movies I've seen....
David Mamet's "Oleanna" is a harrowing, horrifying, gut-wrenching portrayal of two human beings who have entered into - as John, the professor played by William H. Macy declares - an agreement as to certain forms and institutions - and the institution of grading is, though the catalyst for what follows, the least of concerns here.... "Oleanna" is set squarely in the midst of contemporary academia, but the issues it addresses are more far-reaching than those pertaining solely to classrooms and the offices of intellectuals. That said, many may have difficulty relating to the characters and to the specifics of the situation in which they find themselves - the drama is more often than not a drama of words, ideas - "discourses." But these are, ultimately, only the incidentals - or better, the particular manifestations - of what is at root as "simple" as a basic communication breakdown: "I don't understand" is a phrase uttered countless times by both of the protagonists/antagonists. And ultimately, this is what "Oleanna" is really "about": the difficulty - the impossibility?, as it is suggested - for two people to understand each other on the most fundamental level.... The "plot," such as it is, is rather simple: a private meeting between professor and student yields two wildly divergent ideas of what actually took place, and why. Carol, an intense and troubled young student, is concerned with her apparently miserable grade in a course taught by John, and goes to meet him in his office to discuss it. Initially, the audience's sympathies are squarely with Carol - especially in light of the brusque, brutal, even cruel manner with which John initially dismisses her. But slowly, John softens - he begins to see himself in the young girl, and soon he allows his guard to slip - he "dissolves the boundaries between teacher and student" and undertakes to help Carol as a fellow, sympathetic human being.... The equilibrium - if in fact there ever is any at all - is not, however, to last for long; the encounter results in a savage power-struggle in which each participant fails to connect with the other and, ultimately self-absorbed, fails to understand the other's position and motives. "Oleanna" is really about the consequences, it seems, of abstraction - and Mamet and his actors do a wonderful job of demonstrating the disjunction between the real, human core of individuals and the superficial personae that are variously self-adopted and assigned by the other. There are several moments where entente seems on the very verge of realization, in which "feelings" emerge to bridge the gaps separating the middle-aged, middle-class, white male teacher and the young, lower-class, white female student - but the moments are always interrupted by one or the other of the two participants, through, basically, self-absorbed self-indulgence of immediate concerns - be they material or psychological. And each immediately falls back into the traditional, comfortable role s/he has been playing. This film troubled me a great deal - both at the time I watched it, and later. There are, in fact, no easy answers, and the tagline "whichever side you choose, you're wrong" has come to seem to me much truer than I at first thought. The film really is a Foucault-informed meditation on power and discourse - both consciously exercised and unconsciously-assumed. But ultimately, I think, the film indicates that no solutions can be discovered in the very foundation of the problem - the modern tendency to abstract identity from socio-political and intellectual discourses. John seems much closer to the truth than Carol - but he is no less wrong for it - for he fails to "practice what he preaches," whether or not he knows it. These issues are "universal" in today's post-modern Western world - but perhaps nowhere are they better exemplified, or more serious, than in academia, where words are the foundation of life itself. As a chosen academic myself, and as both student and teacher, I found this film woefully plausible (in many respects - the fact that even a second, let alone a third and fourth meeting ever took place is admittedly rather incredulous) and relevant; quite frankly, it terrified me. I can honestly say - even considering my guilty addiction to cheap horror flicks - that "Oleanna" is the scariest movie I have seen in years....
Anything Else (2003)
One of Allen's best - really
I saw Anything Else more out of obligation than `anything else' - as a devoted Woody Allen fan - and truthfully wasn't expecting too much. But I was pleasantly floored: this is probably Allen's best movie since 1988's Crimes and Misdemeanors (though the tone is rather different), and a strong throwback to the kind of film that Allen does best - the vaguely bittersweet, wistful, oddly hopeful, gorgeously shot dramatic comedy a la Annie Hall and (arguably Allen's very best film) Manhattan. Allen has been, of course, one of America's leading cinematic talents for the past several decades - perhaps America's only legitimate auteur - but he remains either an `acquired taste' (though I know many people who simply cannot acquire it) or simply a marginalized figure for mass audiences (despite taking three Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Picture in 1977 for Annie Hall). Given this, Anything Else isn't be for everyone - there are no explosions, no martial arts showdowns, no superfluous breast-barings, no scenes of bestiality or pastry-loving. Perhaps not so strangely, in fact, the studio virtually hid Allen's roles in the film from audiences in previews, so that when it hit theaters and I suggested to friends that we go see `the new Woody Allen' movie, they knew nothing about it - though they had heard of the new Jason Biggs/Christina Ricci movie.. But for those who appreciate Woody Allen and intelligent, even thought-provoking comedy, Anything Else is a gem. The classic Woody Allen staples are, of course, present: the neurotic, troubled protagonist, the fickle and maddening girlfriend, New York.. In fact, many of the lines are, if not exactly self-plagiarized, very, very familiar to Allen fans. Yet somehow, Allen - without resorting to gimmicks -brings to the same tried-and-true material a freshness that has been lacking. The dialogue is still snappy and incredulously witty, the acting is still anchored in `what, me?' gestures and stuttering monologues, the cinematography is still lush and beautiful, the music is still old (but then these are the things we love, aren't they?) - but there are some new twists on some old themes. Allen's character, for instance, is almost a revelation - though obsessed with the anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, as all good `Woody characters' are, he departs from the typical `Woody' persona in some striking ways - his disdain for psychoanalysis, coming not from over-familiarity but from conviction; his ability to drive a car and to drive it well enough that at no point is driving a joke in the film; his desire to leave New York (!).. Some have seen in Anything Else a symbolic `passing of the torch' from Allen to Biggs, whose character is much more the traditional `Woody' type than Allen's own here - but these are the same people who see such gestures everywhere. There certainly was no torch passed to Kenneth Branagh, who played the `Woody' character in Celebrity and who nailed the mannerisms but not the manner. The truth is that nobody can take Allen's place, and this film only proves it. Aside from demonstrating that he's still `got it,' it also reminds me how sorely missed he will one day be - but not for a while yet. Meanwhile, I have more excitement than usual at the prospect of a new Woody Allen film, coming soon..