Reviews: DVD

Bonnie and Clyde

Directed by Arthur Penn, starring Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway (pictured)

The original Natural Born Killers, albeit with a folk hero bent and impotency issues. This is a story set in America's Deep South during the Depression Era, when the only chance for a two-bit hood and his waitress gal to gain prominence was through infamy. The 1920s setting aside, Bonnie and Clyde's underlying themes of the media's fascination with violence and the immoral seduction of fame apply to the here and now and perhaps even more so to the future.

And this is why the cast must have been sweating bullets during production. In 1967, this was so visceral, so unflinching and so energised that viewers were either emboldened or outraged. Bullets cut people apart whereas in earlier gangster movies, shooting victims would miraculously not bleed a drop. Added to this are the shrieks and moans of victims who wheeze and splutter in pain as they pass away. Here, murder is messy work especially when its practitioners are brash amateurs.

At the time of release this was daring for portraying violence as entertainment, even if the subtext chartered deeper waters. We can now see this as a prototype of sorts, even if many of the films it helped shape did not inherit its ambitions for social analysis.

Ben Davey

The Polar Express

Directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Tom Hanks

Makers of animated films should study this closely. This is a prime example of a cutting edge cartoon that's a soulless imitation of life, resembling a robot's sketch of what its masters look like. Think C3PO painting a portrait of Tom Hanks and you may start to get the picture. The result is a children's feature with an artificial cuteness that is creepy.

The story revolves around a skeptical young boy's fantasy of a train that takes him and a bunch of other plucky youngsters to the North Pole. As he boards, he meets the Conductor (Hanks) who imparts Silly Season pearls of wisdom to his passengers. Meanwhile, the magical train roars along like a clumsy roller coaster neglectful of its precious cargo until it finally reaches Santa's City.

Thing is, Santa's City resembles a Dickensian sweatshop inhabited by automaton dwarves. And we're supposed to believe that kids needing a shot of Christmas cheer are going to be reinvigorated by a place smeared with the thumbprint of the Industrial Revolution? Bah Humbug indeed. Featuring computer-generated humans that are less human than Shrek, this is a frigid addition to a rapidly expanding genre. BD

A Streetcar Named Desire

Directed by Elia Kazan, starring Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh

It doubles as a persuasive advertising campaign for T-shirts. There stands a buff Marlon Brando, sweating through a torn tee at the foot of a stairwell screaming for his wife, Stella. And these are not loose fitting shirts either they barely contain Brando's bulging torso. You can imagine director Elia Kazan cheekily argue to the censorship board: "Obscene? But they're all fully clothed!"

In the year of its release, this adaptation of Tennessee Williams's Pulitzer winning play saw hot and bothered censors order a few minutes of footage to be sliced. The extended director's cut is hardly Basic Instinct but it does depict Stanley (Brando) as more animalistic, Stella (Kim Hunter) less aloof and Blanche (Vivien Leigh) more sexually charged.

Brando's performance helped shape modern film acting, and that's putting it mildly. He embodies the misogynistic but hypnotic Stanley Kowalski, a man capable of both tenderness and cruelty. Leigh is all rolling eyes and capriciousness in the lead role but at times she allows herself a touch too much slack in a part that invites overacting. BD

(China Daily 03/16/2007 page20)