Change Your Image
power_writer_61
Reviews
Monkeys in the Attic (1974)
I have a few ideas about this film---none may be relevant.
This is an unusual film. That will be my first of many understatements about Monkeys in The Attic. I know that this is a Canadian film about two dysfunctional couples who live, love, and trip (not in the travel sense) together. Their interaction with each other is only interrupted when the pizza delivery man pays a call. That is where my understanding of the plot stops. I have a few theories about the meaning of this movie; I think all are equally valid. Theory number 1: This is an obvious attempt to shed light on aimless bourgeoisie awash in the morass of modern decadent Western capitalistic society. Theory number 2: This is a treatise on the subtle differences between appearance and reality, soberness and drunkenness, sanity and insanity, male and female, body and soul. Theory number 3: This is a visual essay on the physical and emotional impotence of the male in the modern world, in light of the feminist movement. Theory number 4: This is one long public service message about the need to "Just say no." Theory number 5: This is a paradigm of what happens when a bunch of Canadians get together to get naked, drop a lot of acid, smoke a lot of doobies, and get "turned on." The actors in this little drama do what they can with what they are given---which is not much. Victor Garber--who later went on to play the kind-hearted Thomas Andrews in the blockbuster Titanic--and Jackie Burroughs are the most interesting to watch. They must explore the greater range of emotions. Jess Walton--of The Young and the Restless fame--and Louis Del Grande, on the other hand, just seem to be in a bad mood. Comic relief is provided by Jim Henshaw, who plays the hapless pizza delivery boy.
Despite the playful title, this an adult film with some disturbing scenes of drug abuse, and sexual and domestic violence. It is not for the close-minded or the easily offended. To fully appreciate this film (if that is possible), you have to remember the times in which it was made: it is 70s mentality and morality. Many today will find it politically incorrect, but will watch anyway...like glancing back at a bad car crash.
Godspell: A Musical Based on the Gospel According to St. Matthew (1973)
For the here and now
I was not allowed to see this movie when it had it's theatrical release. My parents thought it sacrilegious. When I did eventually sneak a peek a few years later, I realized that they had missed the point. Yes, it was initially disconcerting to see Jesus in a Superman t-shirt and wild hair dancing and singing with some "hippies" from New York, but I soon settled in and began to appreciate what the film had to say: Jesus' message is just as relevent today as when He first walked in Jerusalem two thousand years ago-- and it is for old or young, black or white, male or female.It turned "yea,thou" into "yes, you". And that such a weighty message should be delivered in such an amusing and entertaining fashion is an added bonus for the audience. The songs are catchy, the dance numbers are engaging, and the slapstick brings a smile if not always a guffaw. But always there was the overriding message of "love thy neighbor", spoken during some of the most bitter moments of the Viet Nam War. It touched me then and now touches my son with whom I share this film.
Kleptomania (1993)
Poor hubby!
While watching this movie, I knew that I was being asked to feel empathy for the heroine, played by Amy Irving, but I couldn't help feeling more for the character of the husband, played solidly by Victor Garber. Irving's character of the stereotypical rich-and-bored housewife just didn't touch me at all. I kept thinking, "Send some of that misery my way!" Victor Garber's character is neglectful of his wife's needs to some degree, but it was obvious that many times she asked for more than maybe he was able to give. At any rate, his is the most well-rounded character...he gains an insight about himself that none of the others (especially, the shrill, annoying character that Patsy Kinset plays) seem to. While other characters remain static, Garber's character holds a mirror to his "sins" and gains new depth. The sub-plot of Irving's obsessions is rather predictable. The best way to enjoy this movie is to concentrate on the conflicts that exist in this couple that, on the surface, seem to have it all.