October 5–12, 2000

movies

Screen Picks

The Saragossa Manuscript

by Sam Adams

Get Carter

($24.98 DVD)

It’s not much of a surprise that the Sylvester Stallone-starring remake which opens this weekend isn’t being screened for critics — it’s had stinker written all over it from day one. But at least it’s provided the excuse for the re-release of this hard-edged 1971 noir. Directed by Mike Hodges, whose Croupier has gotten just a wee bit of attention of late, Carter is exceptionally brutal in tone. There’s no Reservoir Dogs-style quipping here; Michael Caine’s Carter is a professional killer who goes about avenging the murder of his brother with calculating efficiency. Of late, it’s hard to find a gangster who isn’t an enviable badass or an angel of vengeance, and it’s shocking to see a character whose viciousness is emphasized, not lacquered over. At times, that means Carter is merely ugly, and the film’s treatment of women is little short of appalling. (Carter fucks all and kills most.) But Caine’s cold-blooded performance is among his finest, and the industrial grime of Newcastle provides the perfect backdrop.

Home of the Brave/Save Chinatown

(Tue, Oct. 10, 8 p.m. & midnight, DUTV-54)

Struggles in Chinatown past and present are the subject of these two documentaries, which between them offer a historical perspective on the conflict between heritage and urban development. Centered around the controversy surrounding the city’s stadium-building plans, Home of the Brave has copious footage of people protesting in the street, but never gets past the sloganeering stage; it’s not surprising when you get to the closing credits and find a special "No thanks to Mayor Street and his henchmen." Save Chinatown is a different matter, filmed in the 1970s, when Chinatown’s biggest concern was the construction of the Vine Street Expressway. Including a scene of residents petitioning the governor and testimonials from Catholic nuns whose church would be destroyed by a proposed on-ramp, it’s far more successful at presenting a portrait of a community (and not just a few self-proclaimed representatives) in crisis. It also has the added effect of bolstering what sounds in Home of the Brave like an overblown charge — that the city’s attempts to "develop" Chinatown are part of a pattern, and partly founded in disrespect for the Chinese community.

David Cronenberg Night

(Fri., Oct. 6, 11 p.m., Hoyt’s Cinemas, Rt. 38 & Rt. 70, Pennsauken, 856-910-2340 or www.exhumedfilms.com)

Friday the 13th is next week, and Halloween nearly a month away, but you can’t blame the anxious folks at Exhumed Films for getting a head start, at least not when they’re showing both Scanners and The Fly. If not exactly Cronenberg’s best they’re certainly two of his most disgusting movies, and that’s almost as good.

The Saragossa Manuscript

(Thu., Oct 5 at 7:30 p.m., Sat., Oct 7 at 6 & 9:15 p.m., Sun., Oct. 8 at 6:30 p.m., Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut St. 215-569-9700)

Probably the first movie to have Jerry Garcia’s and Martin Scorsese’s names attached to it since Woodstock, this three-hour 1965 Polish film is reputed to have been Garcia’s favorite, and Scorsese (along with Francis Ford Coppola) is "presenting" its re-release. Something like Arabian Nights meets The Seventh Seal, the black-and-white film is both phantasmagoric and philosophical. It’s a monster, and at times it boils over with absurd pretensions and florid dialogue, but I’m sure that’s just how Jerry would have wanted it.

Rosemary’s Baby

($29.99 DVD)

The disappointment of The Exorcist’ re-release only makes the virtues of Roman Polanski’s 1968 chiller stand out all the more. Unlike William Friedkin’s ponderousness, Roman Polanski’s languorous pacing has a purpose. It’s doubtful anyone (in the audience) doesn’t know that Rosemary’s nosy neighbors are Satanists, or that her husband (John Cassavetes) has made a deal with the devil, but waiting for the penny to drop is actually pleasurable; every few minutes, another tiny clue falls into our lap, and Polanski has his finger so squarely on the audience’s pulse that he knows just how long he can make us wait until the next one. Ruth Gordon won an Oscar for her performance as Rosemary’s devil-worshipping neighbor, and it’s almost astonishing to realize how little her character changes once we realize that she’s in league with the Antichrist; rather than throwing off a cloak and baring her teeth, she still looks like the pain-in-the-ass woman next door, even when she’s yelling "Hail Satan!" It’s a masterful choice, and one you can hardly imagine an actor making (or being allowed to make) today.