'The World Of Sholom Aleichem'

'The Fifth Element'

Rated PG-13

as Cornelius the priest is an er-
satz Ben Kenobi, more misfit
f Vogue and the Sci-Fi Chan- than mystic. New York's loom-
nel ever produced an offspring, ing skyscrapers have become
it would look a lot like The more than slightly reminiscent
Fifth Element. All style and of Fritz Lang's Metropolis. And
very little substance, the film is I can't be sure, but I think the
especially disappointing because, cat from Alien also makes a
with just a few more snips and guest appearance.
tucks, it might have been ex-
With the help of artists Moe-
ceptionally good.
bius, Jean-Claude Mezieres and

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Joseph Haynes and Jaye Cooper play Hannah and Aaron Katz, parents who will sacrifice anything to get their son into the
"right" school in JET's The World of Shalom Aleichem, running through June 1.

rnold Perl adapted the ma- don on the used-car salesman
terial of Sholom Aleichem bait-and-switch told in a shtetl
and I.L. Peretz into the style.
The second piece in Act I,
clever confection called The
World of Sholom Aleichem. Ale- "Bontche Schweig," is classic
ichem's stories about shtetl life folktale. Bontche, the Silent, suf-
were the basis for Fiddler on the fers privations, inequities and
hardships all his life. When he
Roof
Perl has taken three stories gets to Heaven and the defense
and placed two — "A Tale of angel representing him tells of
Chelm" and "Bontche Schweig" his hard life, there is no contest.
— back-to-back in Part 1. After He can have whatever he wish-
an intermission, the serious com- es for.
I won't tip Bontche's hand; I
edy "The High School" takes up
the entire second act in the Jew- will be silent, only saying that if
ish Ensemble Theatre produc- there is an opposite to the warn-
tion. In the introduction to "A ing "Be careful what you wish
for," this is it.
Tale of Chelm," the Angel
These two playlets
Rochele tells us that of €11ZIO
have some energy and
the two bags of souls she
verve thanks to the capa-
carries with her to popu-
late the Earth, the foolish ones ble cast. There is an investment
were more heavily seeded in in the mood of each piece; though
Chelm. She admits this sheep- one would have welcomed some
ishly, apologizing for a tree and overacting, such as big shoulder
its sharp branches which caught raises, arm spreading and other
her unaware. We are smack-dab, gentle reminders of the extrav-
or miten drinen if you prefer, in agance which still characterizes
Yiddish communication.
Yiddish folktale land.
Are directors Evelyn Orbach
"Chelm," a tale of a shmen-
drick who cannot get a female and Rivi Yaron holding the ac-
goat back home to his wife, is in- tors back, I wonder? A few seem
nocently charming. It is a varia- to have that ripe style. And
Mendele, the bookseller, as the
master of ceremonies who intro-
Michael Margolin writes about
. duces each segment in a plum-
the arts.

A

my voice is not so much played
as inhabited by Sol Frieder. The
lovely clarinet accompaniments
are by Mack Pitt.
But the final moment — the
punch line as it .were — of
"Bontche Schweig" falls flat.
That flatness seems to defeat
"The High School," a sad, sub-
versive playlet about a Jewish
student trying to get into gentile
schools, as well.
Jaye Cooper's energy as -the
presiding angel in "Bontche
Schweig" from Act 1 doesn't hold
up. She should be fierce, not a
nag, as the determined mother
Hannah Katz. Joseph Haynes as
her husband Aaron Katz acts
from the neck up; it would be bet-
ter if he felt and acted from the
gut. What the piece needs is
physical energy. Adam Rochkind
— so vibrant in Unexpected Ten-
derness
is almost bland as
their son.
These are threetharming and
intelligently written pieces which
come fitfully to life in this JET
production. But as the DJ said
to the rock group: "Pump up the
volume." Ditto JET.

—

— Michael H. Margolin

Bruce Willis is a New York City cab driver in the futuristic fantasy The Fifth Element.

Written and directed by fashion guru Jean-Paul Gaulti-
French filmmaker Luc Besson er, Besson has crafted his some-
(The Professional, La Femme what derivative mish-mash into
Nikita), The Fifth Element fea- a visually arresting film, one
tures a bored-looking Bruce which unfortunately suffers
Willis as taxi driving hero Kor- from a severe case of self-love.
ben Dallas who helps stop a de- The Fifth Element is in dire need
cidedly vague evil force from of editing. Over-indulgent
destroying the universe. To do scenes, such as one featuring an
so, he must protect the fifth ele- embarrassingly aggravating disc
ment — the positive life
jockey trying to inter-
force emitted by all liv-
view Willis' character,
MOVIES
ing things and embodied,
should have been ex-
to lonely Dallas' delight, by
cised. An entire subplot
the nubile Milla Jovovich. Not involving an evil arms dealer
that plot really seems to matter (Gary Oldman) in cahoots with
in this movie; it meanders from the dark, destructive force, goes
scene to scene with a frustrating nowhere and adds little to the
nonchalance that effectively story.
eliminates any semblance of sus-
With a quickening of the pace
pense. But it sure looks pretty. and more attention to plot and
Besson's vision of the world in character, Besson might have
2259 is a cartoony hodge-podge created a truly exciting and
of vibrant color, high fashion and stunning movie. Instead, despite
elements of nearly every major its visual intensity, it pales in
science fiction movie of the past comparison to the films it tries
70 years. Whole scenes and at so hard to outdo.
least one character — Jovovich's
Leeloo — seem to have been lift-
ed from Blade Runner. Ian Holm
40t

Liz Lent is a frequent moviegoer.

— Liz Lent