Reviews

To hear the scenario of "House of Fools" one might think of other movies that deal with mental institutions ("One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", "Girl Interrupted", etc), but these comparisons would be too easy. Far closer to the actual style and mood of the picture would be comparisons to fantasies like "The Purple Rose of Cairo" or "Pan's Labrynth" where characters are able to escape from the pain of World Crisis through the aid of imagination. As the character Janna disappears from the chaos around her, from the conditions of the asylum to the threat of death from the Czech army, we see a woman who is far from lucid and weaving in and out of independence. She is at times conscious of what goes on around her, while playing into her craziness as a means of escaping the pain of life. The movie is bold to portray this beautiful woman as someone who is not altogether sane. The style of the movie changes with the state of Janna's mind. Some scenes are shot with incredible depth of field camera work, such as the helicopter crashing behind Janna in a shot that was no doubt inspired by the silent comedians. Other scenes are filmed with glossy, soft lighting, such as the train scenes with Bryan Adams, to create a wonderful dream feeling. When the movie does come crashing back into reality, the grim nature of it all is very painful, so we the audience, like Janna, long for the next accordion solo.

I have seen the impact that the American Western had on the Italians ("The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly") and now I have seen its influence of the Russians. This "Ostern" tackles the subject matter of civil war, bigamy, and death with a wonderful lack of pretense that is expected from a John Wayne movie; all that has changed are the ideologies. With a little more in common with "Lawrence of Arabia" than just sand the movie focuses on an unextraordinary man forced to rise to the occasion of being a hero. The lead is extremely engaging as a man who never looses his laid-back attitude even as soldiers pour oil around him and the many wives. His fidelity to his farm wife provides for the movie's highlight. He imagines his wife surrounded by the entire harem performing chores around the field. The clashing of East and... well, further East provides for many comical situations. The way the harem acts around the men in the museum is countered by the men lusting after them.

If you are going to make a movie endorsing the actions of one of history's greatest villains, in this case Stalin, at least make it fun to watch! "Tsirk" is a funny, melodramatic, accessible movie that features several entertaining acts, such as the impromptu Lion Tamer, the dance on the cannon, and the communal ending. It is heartwarming to see an entire country represented as they sing a child to sleep, until you realize that the Yiddish Representatives were executed after the production. The running theme of confusion, over translation and ideologies, provided the movie with several humorous moments of error, and provided the movie with an honest subtext.

Also, worth pointing out, is the movie's fearless attitude towards racism. Hollywood would hint at the problem, but rarely delve into it as much as "Tsirk" has.

While it is hard to dispute her win for "Two Women", even if I would have voted for Natalie Wood, it seems odd that her superior performance in this movie was not the film that she won for. Throughout the movie she is funny, heartbreaking, meek, authoritative, and incredibly sexy. I would say that there was much more of a character arc here than her pathos and tear performance in "Two Women". Oddly enough she lost the award for "Marriage Italian Style" to Julie Andrews for of all things "Mary Poppins". It was a good performance, but Mary Poppins???

The soundtrack is a tad over done at time and my DVD did not have subtitles which had watching this movie difficult.