'Michael Collins'
'Surviving Picasso'
Rated R
Rated R
S
omewhere early in child- veals little about the man him-
hood, the notion is instilled self.
that good-tasting food can't
Outwardly, the man shows ob-
be good for you and vice vious courage and passion.
versa. For many, the same Unfortunately, insufficient in-
idea is formulated with regard formation is provided about his
to movies concerning his-
internal motivations and
torical events or figures,
thoughts, resulting in a
MOVIES
for there is a widely
somewhat detached
held belief that such
feeling that pervades the
films can either educate or en- film.
tertain but not both. Writer/
Reliably, Collins will spout
Director Neil Jordan's new catchy lines that show wit or de-
film, Michael Collins, attempts termination. Infrequently does
to enlighten and engage, and, al- he say anything that makes him
though his dual ambitions are seem accessible or human.
moderately successful, each suc- Michael Collins, the movie,
ceeds to the detriment of the oth- would have benefited by further
er.
developing Michael Collins, the
Liam Neeson (Schiruiler's List) man.
stars as Michael Collins, the Irish
vV
terrorist, patriot and diplomat
whose unswerving devotion to
his people led to an independent
—Richard Halprin
Irish republic and a fracturing of
that same republic into the fac-
tions that are still warring today.
The film documents his trans-
formation from political prison-
er to guerilla warrior to politico
peacemonger.
Alan Rickman (Die Hard,
Robin Hood) co-stars as Eamon
De Valera, Collins' one-time
mentor and leader of the Irish na-
tionalists. Aidan Quinn and Ju-
lia Roberts share supporting
roles as rival and love interest,
respectively.
Aside from Irish citizens and
select students, few people are
aware of who Michael Collins
was and what impact he had on
20th-century history. This movie
provides insight into how the fac-
tions were created in Ireland and
explains the forces that led to the
formation of the IRA, but it re-
exterior settings, to surfaces and
textures, to rich combinations of
patterns and fabrics. The visit
paid by Picasso and Francoise to
Matisse's studio offers a spectac-
ular mix of art, furniture and
wonderful objects.
Picasso created new work un-
til the very end of his long life.
What made him push his work
ever further? Instead of helping
us understand some of the mys-
tery of creativity, Surviving Pi-
casso gives us scenes of the artist
at the easel, a cinematic cliche
that's best avoided. What is miss-
ing from the movie is any explo-
ration of the genius that drove
Picasso, a serious look behind the
lush surfaces.
1/2
— Lynne Avadenka
Lynne Avadenka is a Huntington
Woods artist.
'Sleepers'
Rated R
ew York's Hell's Kitchen dis-
trict in the 1960s was a
neighborhood notorious for
its mob influences and its
sometimes violent dislike of out-
siders. For four of its young men,
sexually and emotionally abused
as boys at a nearby reform school,
this neighborhood becomes a tool
of revenge against their school's
brutal guards.
Based on a true story, Sleepers
brings together some very promis-
ing elements: director and screen-
writer Barry Levinson (Rain Man,
Diner, The Natural), hordes of tal-
ented and popular actors (Brad
Pitt, Robert De Niro, Kevin Ba-
con, Minnie Driver), and a screen-
Jeffrey Hermann is former editor
of Film Threat, an L.A. -based
film magazine.
play based on a best-selling book
The screenplay also falls apart
by Lorenzo Carcaterra. Unfortu- at this point, with the personal
nately, all of these ingredients stories of these men having to face
don't add up to much more than a horrifying past sacrificed for a
a very bland telling of what is silly and long-winded courtroom
probably, it its book form, an in- drama. Further convoluting
credible story.
things is Dustin Hoffman, who
Described by its narrator as a turns up late in the movie to play
"story about friendship that runs the unnecessarily meaty role of
deeper than blood," the movie is a washed-up attorney turned un-
held together pretty well in
witting puppet for the
its first half by four relative
mob. Most disappoint-
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newcomers who play the
ing of all is Barry Levin-
adolescent versions of this
son, who has made some
close-knit group of boys. Most of truly great movies in the past, but
the drama is lost, however, when with Sleepers has let a good story
Brad Pitt, Jason Patric, Ron El- become lost in a mess of distrac-
dard and Billy Crudup take over tions.
in the last hour and turn the four
street-seasoned friends into male
supermodels who look more than
0 1/2 .
a little uncomfortable (or phony)
in their gritty surroundings.
— Jeffrey Hermann
PHOTO BY SETH RUBIN
Kitty Kiernan (Julia Roberts), Michael Collins (Liam Neeson) and Harry Boland
(Aidan Quinn) star in Michael Collins, the story of the man behind the birth of the
Irish republic.
ablo Picasso bequeathed a seduction to which Francoise will-
dual legacy to 20th-century ingly succumbs. She moves in
culture. The first part of that with him, against the wishes of
legacy is a prodigious body of her adoring and supportive
work that offered the modern grandmother, and begins a new
world a new way of seeing,
life totally attuned to the
an artistic vision that
needs of Picasso.
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continues to influence us,
The movie is a chrono-
artists and non-artists
logical narrative of their
alike. The second part of the lega- relationship, with flashbacks
cy is a tumultuous life that gave highlighting Picasso's other sig-
rise to the myth of artist as a self- nificant liaisons with Dora Maar,
ish, egocentric womanizer given Marie-Therese and Olga, his wife.
to grand passion, charm, cruelty Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of Pi-
and whimsy.
casso helps us understand why
Surviving Picasso, the film by these intelligent and talented
Ismail Merchant, James Ivory women were so willing to give up
and Ruth Prawer-Jhabvala, fo- their own lives and ambitions to
cuses on the second part of Pi- be subservient to Picasso. He is
casso's legacy. The movie is told mercurial — one moment cruel
from the viewpoint of Francoise and selfish, the next moment ten-
Gilot (who annoyingly is given no der and charming.
last name throughout the movie),
As usual in a Merchant-Ivory
an artist in her own right who effort, the movie is a visual treat.
was involved with Picasso for 10 Attention is paid to interior and
years.
In occupied Paris in 1943,
Anthony Hopkins stars as
Francoise (convincingly portrayed
Pablo Picasso and
Natascha McElhone
by the beautiful Natascha McEl-
portrays Francoise Gilot in
hone) is invited to Picasso's stu-
the Merchant-Ivory
dio to see his work. Picasso first
production Surviving
seduces Francoise's intellect, then
Picasso.
quickly follows with a complete