STN Entertainment

'Broken English'

'Brassed Off'

COURTESY OF SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

Rated R

Aleksandra Vujcic in Broken English.

E

n spite of much publicized

racial and ethnic discord,
Americans like to think of the
United States as a great melt-
g pot.
And, while this description is
true, this country does not have
exclusive claim to the classifica-
tion. Many other nations have

Richard Halprin enjoys a good pot

of coffee.

served as haven for ethnic arrangement and, because the
refugees in flight. New marriage is one of convenience
Zealand, home to immi- only, no one seems to mind — un-
grant Chinese, exiled til Ivan gets wind of things. Since
Croatians and Maori is no man is good enough for his
one such country; and it is Nina, Ivan is determined to
the setting for director shield her from the rest of the
Gregor Nichola's film Bro- world, regardless of the conse-
ken English.
quences. Eddie, meanwhile, is
ARomeo and Juliet sto- equally determined to keep her.
ry of sorts, Broken English
Both a political statement and
tells the tale of sultry, a love story, Broken English
headstrong Nina (Alek- comes together like a good pot of
sandra Vujcic), a young coffee, delicately blended and
Croatian woman living brewed slowly, one drip at a time.
with her family in Auck- Scene by scene, the. aroma
land under the do-
emerges, giving rise to
minion of her
heightened expecta-
volatile father, Ivan
M OVIES
tions. The ultimate fla-
(Rade Serbedija) —
vor is both familiar and
a brooding tyrant who exotic.
runs his household with
Yes, the story has been told be-
the same tenderness with fore, but not in this locale and not
which the Croatians run under these circumstances. Vuj-
their country.
cic is an intriguing beauty, capa-
Fiercely independent, ble of conveying strength and
Nina is most at ease with tenderness simultaneously.
friends, working in a Chi- Serbedzija, a celebrated actor in
nese restaurant, where she is ap- Yugoslavia, rages quietly, be-
proached by a Chinese family to speaking the tyranny that those
marry a young relative so that he in power may be prone to,
can gain New Zealand citizen- whether in the personal or polit-
ship. Enticed by the easy money, ical realms.
she agrees, while simultaneous-
By maintaining its focus on an
ly embarking on a passionate af- intimate level, Broken English
fair with one of the restaurant's speaks in a language that is uni-
cooks, a Maori boy named Eddie versal.
(Once Were Warriors's Julian
Arahanga).
All parties are aware of the
—Richard Halprin

'El There Was You'

PHOTO BY FI ROOZ ZAHEDI

Rated PG-13

Lynne Konstantin is our Out & About columnist.

Jeanne Tripplehom and Dylan McDermott in

'Ti! There Was You.

E

xtraneous: the key word to de-
scribe the "thirtysomething"-es-
que 'Til There Was You.
What could have been a smart
twist on the run-of-the-mill roman-
tic comedy just tries too hard to be too
many things.
The film traces from childhood the
constantly crossing paths of Gwen and
Nick, played by Jeanne Tripplehorn
(The Firm) and Dylan McDermott
(Home for the Holidays, "The Prac-
tice"). Though the two grew up in the
same neighborhood, know the same
people, habituate the same hangouts
-- they have never met.
More than simply a comedy of er-
rors, 'Til There Was You emphasizes
the idea that the two just are not ready
to meet, that there is a series of ex-

What do
ijmoullit
4
you get
when
you mix
an intelligent
script with in-
volving charac-
ters, subtle
acting, a sense
of humor and an
unobtrusive po-
litical agenda?
You get a
very good movie Ewan McGregor, Tara Fitzgerald and Pete Postlethwaite in
called Brassed Mark Herman's Brassed Off.
Off
In the coal mining town of thing you can do is laugh and try
Grimley, Margaret Thatcher's to face life with dignity.
Although the entire cast is
Tory government is getting ready
to close down another mine. All solidly good, including Trainspot-
that the town's residents can do ting's Ewan McGregor, Lost
is wait and hope everyone votes World's Pete Postlethwaite as
to keep the mine open and their Danny and Stephen Tomkinson
as his downtrodden son are the
town alive.
ones who really shine. Tomkin-
In the midst of a growing
paranoia and dread, the mem- son creates a vivid portrait of a
bers of the Grimley Colliery man whose life sinks unstop-
Brass Band keep themselves pably from bad to worse as he's
busy playing and practicing, in- torn between his loyalty to his
spired to go on by a beautiful friends, his family and his dying
young newcomer named Gloria, father.
Brassed Of is unabashedly po-
who plays her horn "like an an-
gel," in the words of bandleader litical and virulently anti-Tory,
Danny. As more government of- but the politics never get in the
ficials stream into town, howev- way of the characters, or story—
er, some begin to wonder whose and there's only one preachy mo-
ment. It makes its point force-
side Gloria is really on.
Deep down, Brassed Off is fully but treads the line carefully
about being trapped — by a job, between propaganda and good
by poverty, by family expecta- storytelling.
Brassed Off is full of great
tions, even by the inevitability of
a coal miner's death — and yet characters, ridiculous moments,
learning how to maintain self-re- terrific acting and even some
spect and humanity in the face catchy brass-band tunes: It's a
wonderful movie.
of events beyond one's control.
Brassed Off doesn't wallow in
the misery; it's affecting and fim-
ny, not maudlin. Sometimes
things get so bad, the movie
seems to be telling us, the only
—Liz Lent
Liz Lent is an avid moviegoer.

periences the two must go through indi-
vidually until they are ready to actually
come together.
Here, things get muddy. Nick's girlfriend
(Sarah Jessica Parker) moves in with him;
Gwen's parents get divorced; Gwen be-
comes active in saving the historic housing
complex she lives in; Gwen and her best
friend ("Friends' " Jennifer Aniston) are
drifting.
In an attempt to create rich, full and real
-characters, the filmmakers achieve a sto-
ry with characters who are pointed in too
many directions — and the viewer doeSn't
know which' way to look.
Director Scott Winant and writer Win-
nie Holzman are both "thirtysomething"
alumni (along with bit-part player Ken
Olin); 'Til There Was You marks the fea-
ture film debut for both. Presumably, both

--

/HI

are more accustomed to the luxury of pack-
ing in lots of information throughout a se-
ries of television episodes. Here, the pair
have too many ideas they just couldn't bear
to leave out. Half an hour could have eas-
ily been cut from their film.
(Another minor complaint: The dangling
remote mike makes more than a few scene-
stealing appearances. If Gary Sinise's legs
could be chopped off in Forrest Gump, why
can't a three-inch bit of foam disappear?)
Although the film's inherent potential
and freshness come through — especially
in Tripplehorn's character — with a few
more trips to the editing room, ml There
Was You could have been a seamless dip
into less than perfect real-life romance.

— Lynne Konstantin