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with holiday movies still going strong in theatres and no new films opening this week, moviegoers may be looking for a cinema fix. It’s therefore the perfect time to offer a menu of double bill suggestions. These are films on video that go nicely with current box-office hits. Some are thematic matches, while the tone of others complements their big-screen counterparts.O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?/SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS (1941, dir. Preston Sturges).
In Sullivan’s Travels, the well-heeled comedic director Sullivan (Joel McCrea) becomes a hobo to experience the pain of life. Why? Because he wants to make the tragedy Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? The Coen Brothers not only remake Homer’s Odyssey in their O Brother (with George Clooney), but also pay homage to Sturges’s genius. As Sullivan, that director’s alter ego, says, “There’s a lot to be said for making people laugh.”
In Sullivan’s Travels, the well-heeled comedic director Sullivan (Joel McCrea) becomes a hobo to experience the pain of life. Why? Because he wants to make the tragedy Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? The Coen Brothers not only remake Homer’s Odyssey in their O Brother (with George Clooney), but also pay homage to Sturges’s genius. As Sullivan, that director’s alter ego, says, “There’s a lot to be said for making people laugh.”
BILLY ELLIOT/MA VIE EN ROSE (1997, dir. Alain Berliner). Billy Elliot is a boy who wants to be a dancer, and in Ma Vie En Rose, Ludo is a boy who wants to be a girl. Both films are about a child’s passion to be himself, family disapproval and gender politics. However, where Billy Elliot is a somewhat manipulative crowd-pleaser, Ma Vie En Rose is a wonderfully original and daring film about courage.
BILLY ELLIOT/MA VIE EN ROSE (1997, dir. Alain Berliner). Billy Elliot is a boy who wants to be a dancer, and in Ma Vie En Rose, Ludo is a boy who wants to be a girl. Both films are about a child’s passion to be himself, family disapproval and gender politics. However, where Billy Elliot is a somewhat manipulative crowd-pleaser, Ma Vie En Rose is a wonderfully original and daring film about courage.
THIRTEEN DAYS/FAIL-SAFE (1964, dir. Sidney Lumet). Thirty-six years ago, Lumet made Fail-Safe, a frighteningly powerful anti-nuclear film concerning a squadron of American planes that’s mistakenly sent to drop H-bombs on Moscow. Henry Fonda stars as the American president conferring with his staff to stop the destruction. If you admire the straight-ahead, tension-filled dramatics in Thirteen Days, you’ll flip over Fail-Safe.
THIRTEEN DAYS/FAIL-SAFE (1964, dir. Sidney Lumet). Thirty-six years ago, Lumet made Fail-Safe, a frighteningly powerful anti-nuclear film concerning a squadron of American planes that’s mistakenly sent to drop H-bombs on Moscow. Henry Fonda stars as the American president conferring with his staff to stop the destruction. If you admire the straight-ahead, tension-filled dramatics in Thirteen Days, you’ll flip over Fail-Safe.
CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON/SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (1995, dir. Ang Lee). There are literally hundreds of Hong Kong martial arts films that contain snippets of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’s genius, but the perfect match for Lee’s latest film is his fourth film, the exquisite Sense And Sensibility. Both deal with tender love stories: Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun-Fat’s platonic yearnings are mirrored by Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman, while Zhang Ziyi’s and Chang Chen’s impetuous passion is found in Sense’s Kate Winslet and Greg Wise.
CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON/SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (1995, dir. Ang Lee). There are literally hundreds of Hong Kong martial arts films that contain snippets of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’s genius, but the perfect match for Lee’s latest film is his fourth film, the exquisite Sense And Sensibility. Both deal with tender love stories: Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun-Fat’s platonic yearnings are mirrored by Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman, while Zhang Ziyi’s and Chang Chen’s impetuous passion is found in Sense’s Kate Winslet and Greg Wise.
CAST AWAY/THE NAKED PREY (1966, dir. Cornel Wilde). Tom Hanks spends most of his time on a deserted island in Cast Away either silent or talking to a volleyball. In Naked Prey, director and star Wilde is almost entirely mute, playing a safari guide pursued by African warriors. Naked Prey fails today’s politically correct standards * white man outsmarting black natives * but it’s a marvel of silent filmmaking and isn’t afraid to show brutality.
CAST AWAY/THE NAKED PREY (1966, dir. Cornel Wilde). Tom Hanks spends most of his time on a deserted island in Cast Away either silent or talking to a volleyball. In Naked Prey, director and star Wilde is almost entirely mute, playing a safari guide pursued by African warriors. Naked Prey fails today’s politically correct standards * white man outsmarting black natives * but it’s a marvel of silent filmmaking and isn’t afraid to show brutality.
WHAT WOMEN WANT/SWITCH (1991, dir. Blake Edwards). What Women Want is a lame attempt to show a man (Mel Gibson) learning to understand women when he starts to read their minds. But in Switch, a dead man is put into the body of a gorgeous woman (Ellen Barkin) and gets an insider’s point of view. Switch doesn’t always work, but it’s a lot gutsier and rawer than Gibson’s commercial effort, and Barkin’s physical comedy is a revelation.
WHAT WOMEN WANT/SWITCH (1991, dir. Blake Edwards). What Women Want is a lame attempt to show a man (Mel Gibson) learning to understand women when he starts to read their minds. But in Switch, a dead man is put into the body of a gorgeous woman (Ellen Barkin) and gets an insider’s point of view. Switch doesn’t always work, but it’s a lot gutsier and rawer than Gibson’s commercial effort, and Barkin’s physical comedy is a revelation.
PROOF OF LIFE/CASABLANCA (1941, dir. Michael Curtiz). Proof Of Life finds taciturn kidnap rescuer Russell Crowe hoping to save Meg Ryan’s nabbed husband. Sound familiar? In Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart, the taciturn freedom-fighter-turned-nightclub-owner, saves the husband of the woman he loves (Ingrid Bergman). Proof Of Life works as an action film but fizzles away its loves story, which is exactly what makes Casablanca so-o-o-o good. Like Lawrence Of Arabia, The Wizard Of Oz and Citizen Kane, Casablanca should be seen at least once a year.
PROOF OF LIFE/CASABLANCA (1941, dir. Michael Curtiz). Proof Of Life finds taciturn kidnap rescuer Russell Crowe hoping to save Meg Ryan’s nabbed husband. Sound familiar? In Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart, the taciturn freedom-fighter-turned-nightclub-owner, saves the husband of the woman he loves (Ingrid Bergman). Proof Of Life works as an action film but fizzles away its loves story, which is exactly what makes Casablanca so-o-o-o good. Like Lawrence Of Arabia, The Wizard Of Oz and Citizen Kane, Casablanca should be seen at least once a year.
ingridr@nowtoronto.com
