Sister My Sister (Nancy Meckler, 1994)

At the very beginning of Sister My Sister, the two titular sisters, reunited after a long time apart, meet at the door of the older sister's employer. They embrace ecstatically, allowing themselves a moment of unguarded, pure joy before remembering their employer's daughter is watching them through the window. Then they remember they are maids, and regain composure. This is the kind of brilliant, class-minded moment that shines through the entire movie and makes it a thought-inducing puzzle. The story sounds sensationalistic: the two sisters, Christine and Lea, are reunited as Lea begins to work in the house of Madame Danzard and her daughter Isabelle's house where Christine has been working as a maid. Christine and Lea, unnaturally close (as visualized by a continuous scar they have on their left arms), become closer and closer until something disastrous happens. The all-female production (all the actors are women - and there are really only four - as are the writer and director) could linger on the plight of being a woman in 1930s France, or on the scandalous relationship between the sisters, but instead, class consciousness and the deep nature of family are at the forefront. Christine and Lea are mistaken for twins; in fact, they could be two halves of the same person. On the other hand, Madame Danzard and Isabelle's relationship could not be more dissimilar; the mother tries to force her love of music and society on her homely, boring daughter, who could obviously not care less. Isabelle clearly wants nothing more to escape from her uber-controlling mother, while Christine and Lea (the child of their relationship) want nothing other than to be with one another at all times. The unescapable bourgeoisie nature of the Danzards suffocates everyone in contact with them. Based on a play, the film is claustrophobic and takes place almost entirely in the Danzards' huge, empty house. There is an enormity of space, but so little life in the Danzards to take it up. The class divide between the Danzards and the sisters starts out enormous and becomes irreparable and leads to tragedy. The way Lea screams when she thinks she breaks an expensive vase is blood-curdling, and reminds you of the way a murder victim might scream. A telling moment in the film comes early, when, in cleverly parallel scenes, Madame Danzard tells Isabelle that she loves her maid, because they never say anything, and Christine tells Lea she loves working for the Danzards because they "know their place" and stay out of her way, especially in the kitchen. This divergence of values is the key to understanding the way the two pairs relate to one another, although when Isabelle and Lea both try to break their molds by relating to one another on a different level, their respective "partners" lash out at them. Refreshingly not sensationalistic, but reasonably shocking in its conclusion, Sister My Sister is a criminally (heh) slept on movie that explores class, sexuality, and family ties in ways few films have, or have even tried to do. Some of Meckler's shots (particularly the sisters clutching each other near the end of the film) are incredibly striking, especially since I do not see nearly enough films by woman directors. This distinctly, particularly female production is well worth the rental. 8/10

Stumble It!

Exotica (Atom Egoyan, 1994)

Before Exotica, I had only seen the somewhat disappointing Where the Truth Lies from Egoyan before, but knowing much of his reputation and having seen a few impressive interviews with him (This Film is Not Yet Rated the latest example), I was more than willing to give this movie a shot. Am I ever glad that I did. A kind of interweaving-tales movie before those became so ridiculously en vogue (although I am a sucker for them, almost always), Exotica is the story of Christina, a dancer at the Exotica club; Eric, her ex who is still obsessed with her; Francis, Christina's best client who is dealing with a personal tragedy; and Thomas, a neurotic, gay Jew who runs an exotic pet store and a successful egg-smuggling business. The lives of these people, and those with whom they come in contact, weave in and out of one another's. Egoyan leaves large blanks in the viewer's understanding of these characters, which was admittedly frustrating during the first hour of the film. I wasn't sure how much I liked it, because at times, I had no idea what was going on, or what events people were referring to. This is, obviously, Egoyan's plan, and as pieces of the puzzle fall into place in the film's second half, it becomes a masterpiece of the kinds of lives we lead, versus the kinds of lives we'd like to lead. Every character in this film is in pieces, in one way or another having lost something very important, and it makes you wonder who is "normal," and whether these people have very dark secrets hidden behind their own curtains, as well. Along with the beautifully flawed nature of human existence, Egoyan brings to the center a topic I love discussing (having been a Women's Studies concentrator in college), but haven't had much to think about lately: sexuality and the flesh, and how they can be used in multiple ways, even all at once. The Exotica club is a home and a jail for these characters, and Christina, the main (although not only) source of sexuality in the film, is botha therapist and "jailbait," a sinner and a saint all at once through the same actions. Zoe, the club's owner, is pregnant (and, through IMDB research, Arsinne Khanjian, the actress who plays Zoe, is Egoyan's wife and was actually very pregnant at the time), and seeing a pregnant woman in her underwear or walking through a strip club in extravagant costumes is a beautiful visual paradox. The performances, while great (especially Bruce Greenwood as the tragic Francis), especially in the beautiful and devastating final scene, where it all comes together, cannot possibly stand up to Egoyan's brilliant script and directing. If any film other than Pulp Fiction had won the Palme d'Or in 1994, I would cry unfair! This made me an instant Egoyan acolyte, and I will be watching all his films asap (in fact, The Sweet Hereafter is on the agenda for the holiday weekend). 9/10 RIYL: Amores Perros (similar structure, same themes of obsession/love and family)

Stumble It!

Queen Margot (Patrice Chereau, 1994)

Queen Margot is one of the lushest, most sensual, most beautiful movies I've ever seen. Isabelle Adjani is absolutely radiant, playing a gorgeous, torn French queen during one of the bloodiest periods of French history. Unfortunately, I really had no idea what was going on until about 90 minutes into the movie. Again, I don't think I'm particularly dense at movies, but without a deep understanding of the bloody French Catholic versus Protestant struggles of the late 1500s, the plot of this movie is incredibly convoluted, with little explanation until things fall into place after an hour and a half. While the script is a little lacking in those not schooled in French history, the visuals and Isabelle Adjani's performance as the sexy yet incredibly strong Margot, sister of the king and forced into a marriage to a Protestant to foster peace, are both worth the watch. Adjani makes the film her own, as a woman with nowhere really to turn, and not only is she a great actress, she is ridiculously beautiful for a woman of 40 (she doesn't look a day past 20, literally). Margot forges an alliance with her husband Henri, but they are both in constant danger after the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. There are attemped escapes, anonymous sex by the queen, a near-fatal hunting trip, tons of murders, along with the queen taking a lover and the king's death by poisoning (sweating blood is a grotesque, surreal effect of arsenic poisoning) all make this movie intriguing, if not quite a bit confusing. Vincent Perez is downright sexy as Margot's lover, La Mole, and even Asia Argento has an interesting little part as doomed Charlotte of Sauve, who has a great death scene. Great performances all around, just make sure to read up on the film a little bit if you don't want to be lost for as long as I was. 6.5/10 RIYL: period pieces, Werner Herzog's Nosferatu (another lovely Adjani performance)

Stumble It!

I Can't Sleep (Claire Denis, 1994)

Claire Denis' quite, contemplative film investigates what it means to be an outsider, and what it, in fact, takes to become a part of the dominant culture you are outside of. The three main characters are Daiga, a Lithuanian actress who came to Paris on the promise of a theater role that never materializes, Theo, a Martinique immigrant who takes care of his son and has has a tempestuous relationship with the child's mother, and Camille, Theo's brother, a gay/transvestite cabaret singer. Alongside the day-to-day struggles of these three outsiders, there is a mystery of who is behind a rash of old-lady murders around the city. Denis takes an outside approach to these characters, not giving them any real backstory or other facts for the audience to relate to. This is interesting in the character study sort of way, but I have a problem sometimes with movies that don't let the viewer in enough. While I really felt for each of the characters in a specific way, the ending leaves a little too much open-endedness. The murderer is caught, but we never get a feel for the motives, other than pure greed. It's a beautiful meditation on alienation and violence in the modern city, but a little too removed for me to love it. 7/10

Stumble It!

Spanking the Monkey (David O Russell, 1994)

I had Spanking the Monkey at home from netflix about two weeks before I watched it this weekend, which is never a good sign. Although I apparently wasn't pumped to watch it, it was an alright, interesting, experience. When it was over, my brother said to me, "That wasn't really a comedy," and I said, "Yeah, but it wasn't really a drama, either." To me, that is the central dilemma, and selling point, of this movie; it is very unclassifiable. While I found myself laughing a few times, I was uncomfortable and nervous even more times, but it wasn't very dramatic. Spanking the Monkey deals with Ray, a college student who's obtained a prestigious summer internship, but, as luck would have it, his mother has broken her leg and needs him to stay home to take care of her. The mother and son's proximity and necessary intimacy (Ray has to help his mother stand up in the shower, etc) leads to some, ahem, uncomfortable situations for the audience. I don't want to give up much more than that plotwise. Jeremy Davies as Ray is a very solid performance. Ray isn't the kind of character you like, no one in this movie is, but he's very realistic and relatable in his angst. He's at the age where he's both an independent adult and still his parents' son, and there is necessary conflict being in that position. Jeremy and his mother deal with it in ways that most families never even consider, but it doesn't seem unlikely in the way that Russell has written it. On the other hand, the characters are all so unlikeable that at points, I didn't care what happened to them. The realism goes both ways, I guess. The story, while shocking, wasn't particularly compelling at times, and the subplot with Carla Gallo as Ray's teenage "girlfriend" was good, until Gallo's character was turned into a whiny child. A good debut for a now-accomplished director, but I wouldn't recommend it without reservations. 6/10

Stumble It!