Bitter Moon (Roman Polanski, 1992)

For Roman Polanski apparently being a well-respected director (he is, isn't he?), I don't think I've ever seen a film of his that I've really liked. Bitter Moon was not to be that film, either. The story of an incredibly stereotypical upper-crust British couple Nigel and Fiona (Hugh Grant and Kristin Scott-Thomas) who are taking a cruise to India to save their marriage (apparently?) and meet wheelchair-bound Oscar (Peter Coyote) and his young, sexy wife Mimi (Emmanuelle Segnier). Oscar notices that Nigel really wants to screw Mimi, and begins telling the couple's long, sordid tale. Oscar apparently is a "writer," but one who was never published or accomplished anything, so he revels in telling this staid, polite man the at times disgusting tale of how he and Mimi arrived on this ship. In short: on a Parisian bus, Oscar passes Mimi a ticket when she doesn't have one, and gets kicked off the bus. He puts it in one of his trite novels, as getting a piece of heaven and then losing it immediately. After searching for her, they find each other and fall madly in lust. They fuck. A lot. Eventually, they get tired of each others' bodies and start doing increasingly extreme things, starting with BDSM, up to golden showers and an incredibly weird, uncomfortable scene where Oscar pretends to be a pig. Yep. Even after all that, Oscar gets tired of Mimi, and tries to dump her; she, being a young girl who is blindly in love for some God knows reason, begs him to stay, so he lets her, but also decides to make her life as miserable as possible in order to make her leave. The scenes where Oscar is deliberately torturing Mimi, making fun of her in front of their friends, to the ultimate test he puts her through, made me incredibly uncomfortable to watch. And not the good kind of "My boundaries are being tested" uncomfortable, but more like the "Ohmygod this is so misogynistic and disgusting" uncomfortable. Even when Mimi reenters his life and exacts revenge, I never once felt the same disgust for her that I had for Oscar, nor did I ever have an ounce of pity for him (although he is pitiful). Not to say that Coyote and Segnier don't deliver good performances, because they do, especially Segnier (Polanski's lover at the time), who, although she isn't given much to do other than be sexy, really commands your attention every time she is onscreen. For a film that is apparently supposed to push boundaries and be about (sexual) ethics and fidelity, it really is a bore. No characters are really anything more than easily predictable stereotypes, especially Nigel and Fiona, for whom I found nothing to care about. And then there's the ending (spoiler ahead, in case you want to tackle this beast); Mimi and Fiona find themselves, obviously, making love with one another. Because, according to Polanski, that's what unfulfilled wives will do, lesbian out with one another! It's a disgusting ending to a male gaze-filled film that was just Polanski's wet dream about his lover put to celluloid. Even the poster above is filled with men looking at Mimi; she might as well not be a woman, just a pair of legs and a vagina. This movie never should have been made, at least in this sloppy form. It's pseudo-intellectual, incredibly sexist crap that wasn't worth almost three hours of my life. 3.5/10

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Husbands & Wives (Woody Allen, 1992)

I often end up watching movies in two parts, because my usual viewing time is before bed, but as I age, I can't stay up late every night anymore. The joys of having a real job. So last night, I watched the first half of Husbands & Wives and really wasn't enjoying it. I used to consider Woody Allen one of my favorite filmmakers (Manhattan still remains in my top 20 of all time, probably), but he hasn't made a good film in years (Match Point was about the time I gave up on him, and the fact that he's made the no-talent Scarlett Johansson his current muse isn't helping). As I watched the beginning of this film about upper-class married couples, I was completely turned off. Maybe a few years ago, I would have liked it a lot, but I've become less interested in the thinly veiled autobiographical whinings of a rich white man since then. Today, I gave the second half a chance, though, because I do still have a soft spot for Allen. The second half isn't nearly as irritating as the first, but it's still not one of his better films. Allen and Mia Farrow and Sydney Pollack and Judy Davis play married couples who are good friends. Pollack and Davis decide to split up and begin dating younger people, something that effects both couples, and people around them, in myriad and profound ways. Well, sort of. It mostly effects them in the disenchanted rich people ways, which can certainly be entertaining to watch. Farrow in particular, as the passive-aggressive, seemingly nice Judy, is a pleasure to watch, although it's almost uncomfortable at times, knowing now that Farrow and Allen's relationship would go so sour so soon after, and that Judy is probably based on Farrow herself. How can an actor play a character written by someone they're close to, that's obviously based on themselves? That's a challenge all in itself. But if you like Allen movies, with their snappy dialogue and hot young women (in this case, Juliette Lewis) throwing themselves at Allen, this movie is for you. It is certainly more grown-up in some ways than his 70s masterpieces -- divorce and infidelity are both here -- but in many ways, it's exactly the same. Not particularly great, but not a waste like I was afraid. 6/10

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Hyenas (Djibril Diop Mambety, 1992)

Hyenas is one of the bitterest, most pessimistic films I've ever seen about human nature. Director Djibril Diop Mambety adapted a French play, The Visit, and transposed its events to his homeland of Senegal. A woman, banished for adultery 30 years earlier, returns to find the town in dire straits. Everyone in the town is dirt poor, and the mayor has even had to sell the furniture out of the courthouse in order not to go bankrupt. Linguere Ramatou, the scorned woman, has become a millionaire - although we never find out how, and if it was all a ruse in the end. The mayor, seeing an opportunity, sends the town's most well-liked personality, Draman Drameh, who knew Linguere well 30 years ago, to sweet talk her into giving the town money. Linguere does decide to give the town money, lots of money, but only if they offer her the body of the man who accused her of adultery so many years ago - everyone's favorite, Draman Drameh. At first, the town is outraged; the mayor even voices what I was thinking when he says something about how they would never become like Americans and give up someone they care about for mere material goods. Here lies the great divide between American culture and "non-Western" (for lack of a better term) ones: I have no doubt that if you asked a group of almost any Americans, we would have killed Draman with little or no doubt that we were doing the right thing. It's the power of a mob mentality, which does eventually take over this village as well. Linguere, from this time on, sits on the sidelines and waits for the town to kill Draman, no matter how much they say they will never do it. She turns the town into hyenas, vicious scavengers who would kill one of their own for a little material gain. So it's not Draman's murder that is Linguere's ultimate revenge, but her pulling back of the curtain to reveal what these people are, what she's known for 30 years. The film is pretty stylistically bare, but plenty of beautiful shots of the Senegalese wildlife and deserts. The film leaves a bitter taste in your mouth because of the vile core of human nature these villagers reveal. It's the perfect film for the pessimists among us. 7/10

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