Chile Pages
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA The Stratford HD series, in which live stage productions of Shakespeare plays from Ontario’s Stratford Festival are filmed with the techniques of movie directors, has so far proved top-drawer in broadcasts of King Lear and King John. Now a queen comes to the fore in Antony and Cleopatra, in which the monarch of Egypt is courted by a co-ruler of Rome, Mark Antony. Marital complications, political turmoil, and much passion ensue before both the lovers meet their ends — Mark Antony falling on his sword on being falsely informed of Cleopatra’s death, Cleopatra committing suicide-by-snakebite rather than submit to Roman imprisonment. Shakespeare was at the top of his poetic form in this play, which here is captured in a production featuring Stratford Festival regulars Yanna McIntosh and Geraint Wyn Davies. Some critics expressed reservations about director Gary Griffin’s stage production, but its cinematization (overseen by Barry Avrich) may actually prove salutary for this fleetly flowing play. 11:15 a.m. Sunday, May 24, only. Not rated. 170 minutes. The Screen, Santa Fe. ( James M. Keller) FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD Rated PG-13. 119 minutes. Violet Crown, Santa Fe. See review, Page 46.
FÉLIX AND MEIRA This tender, sensitive, and chaste romance about a young Hasidic wife and mother drawn into a relationship with an aimless middle-aged outcast member of a wealthy Jewish family heaves sighs of longing but never rises much above the breathing level. Stuck in what feels like an arranged marriage to a decent but uninspiring scholar, Meira (the Ingrid Bergman-esque Hadas Yaron) resists the advances of Félix (Martin Dubreuil), but not for long. Canadian director Maxime Giroux isn’t directly critical of the Hasidic life, but he shows how tempting some pop music, a pair of jeans, and a soulful, clean-shaven man with a bit of money can be. Rated R. 105 minutes. In French, English, and Yiddish with subtitles. The Screen, Santa Fe. ( Jonathan Richards)
GOOD KILL Rated R. 103 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe. (Jonathan Richards) See review, Page 48.
THE GREAT MUSEUM Not rated. 94 minutes. In English and German with subtitles. The Screen, Santa Fe. See review, Page 42. IN THE NAME OF MY DAUGHTER Staged on the French Riviera in the 1970s, this thriller, based on true events, centers on the clash between the rebellious Agnès Le Roux (Adèle Haenel) and her well-established mother (Catherine Deneuve) over the fate of the family’s casino. A death and a 30-year fight for an investigation follow. Rated R. 116 minutes. In French with subtitles. Regal DeVargas, Santa Fe. (Not reviewed)
LAMBERT & STAMP Here’s a multifaceted portrait of The Who and its dynamic managers, Chris Stamp and Kit Lambert, who discovered the misfit band as it was “struggling to find an image and find our feet,” as band member Pete Townshend relates. Despite their very different backgrounds and the facts that they had no money, knew nothing about rock ’n’ roll, and had no connections, Stamp and Lambert brought The Who to the world. James D. Cooper’s film boasts a marvelous kaleidoscope of images from the time: young people on the street, dancing with abandon in dark clubs, and challenging the camera. Rated R. 117 minutes. Regal DeVargas, Santa Fe. (Paul Weideman)
POLTERGEIST The horror movie that mentally scarred a generation of children when it came out in 1982 is remade to scar the children of today. Sam Rockwell now plays the dad, whose daughter is kidnapped by spirits in his house — this time communicating not through TV static but through plasma pixels. The Spielberg-produced creep of the original film is replaced by characters being jerked around to loud noises, in line with modern movie horror trends. Rated PG-13. 93 minutes. Screens in 3-D and 2-D at Regal Stadium 14, Santa Fe. Screens in 2-D only at DreamCatcher, Española. (Not reviewed)
SLOW WEST Rated R. 84 minutes. Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe; Violet Crown, Santa Fe. See review, Page 44.
STARS IN THE DARK: ÉMIGRÉS, EXILES & FILM NOIR The Santa Fe Jewish Film Festival honors members of the brilliant Jewish film community who fled from Germany and other European countries after Hitler’s rise to power. The weeklong program is built around the émigré influx into Hollywood and its impact on the American genre that became known as film noir. The festival presents a slate of five great émigré-directed noirs and Fritz Lang’s 1931 German classic M. The journey of these displaced Jewish filmmakers is the subject of another film on the “program, the riveting documentary Cinema’s Exiles:
From Hitler to Hollywood. There will be salon gatherings, Skyped-in experts, live presentations, German pastries, and even dinner under the stars accompanied
by the screening of a classic noir. Singer Adrienne Haan kicks off the festival at The Lodge with cabaret entertainment modeled on the Berlin club scene of the ’20s. Sunday, May 24, to Sunday, May 31. Various venues (screenings take place at the Center for Contemporary Arts) and running times. For information and tickets, visit www.santafejff.org. ( Jonathan Richards) See story, Page 38.
TOMORROWLAND Recalling Disney classics like Escape From Witch Mountain, this flashy feature from co-writer-director Brad Bird (The Incredibles) is the perfect can-do sci-fi movie for tween girls across America; their parents, not so much, unless mom or dad will be satisfied with a bucket of popcorn and George Clooney. Casey Newton (Britt Robertson) is a sneaky whiz kid living in Florida. Athena, a robot who looks like a little girl (Raffey Cassidy, perfect), slips her a lapel pin that, when touched, offers a glimpse of a futuristic city known as Tomorrowland. Athena takes Casey to meet the reclusive Frank Walker (Clooney), a former Tomorrowlandian who is monitoring Earth’s fastapproaching demise. With evil androids in pursuit, the three make their way to Tomorrowland, where they plan to confront the tyrannical Governor Nix (Hugh Laurie) and save the Earth. The film has its fun moments, and its style is flashy and cool, but it’s short on action, the script gets preachy, and it lacks a clear narrative. Rather than soaring toward the future,
Tomorrowland stumbles along in the present. Rated PG. 130 minutes. Regal Stadium 14, Santa Fe; Violet Crown, Santa Fe; DreamCatcher, Española. (Laurel Gladden)