"Adolescent Anarchy"
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What You Need To Know:
Although masterfully directed by Michael Winterbottom, this hedonistic, rebellious movie portrays fornication, adultery, orgies, violence, and drug use in a light, sweet tone that takes the edge off the poisonous messages that it sends to the audience.
** A Star Is Torn **
ESTHER KAHN
Quality: * * Acceptability: -4
WARNING CODES:
Language: LL
Violence: VVV
Sex: SSS
Nudity: NNN
RATING: Not Rated
RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2002
TIME: 140 minutes
STARRiNG: Summer Phoenix, Ian Holm. Fabrice Desplechin, Frances Barber, and Ian Bartholemew
DIRECTOR: Arnaud Desplechin
PRODUCERS: Chris Curling and Main Sarde
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Pascal Caucheteux
WRITERS: Emmanuel Bourelieu and Arnaud Desplechin
BASED ON THE SHORT STORY BY: Arthur Symons
DISTRIBUTOR: Empire Pictures
CONTENT: (HH, RoRo, Ho, Ab, LL, VVV, SSS, NNN, A, M) Strong humanist and romantic worldviews depicted via self-realization and artistic fame through pain, sexual intercourse, romantic betrayal, selfishness, and loneliness; strong focus in dialogue and actions on fornication as a measurement of maturity and a prerequisite for the necessary career breaks and the needed emotions to succeed as an actor (in one instance a homosexual liaison is suggested as an option); the central character references God’s abandonment of her; 13 obscenities and one profanity (though the heavy English accents may have disguised more); graphic violence depicted through self-mutilation by eating glass during an episode of stage fright, violent physical self-abuse following a romantic betrayal; graphic promiscuity, two instances of implied fornication and one instance of implied female masturbation; full female nudity; alcohol use; and, strong verbal and emotional abuse from a mother toward a daughter and strong emotional and verbal responses from the daughter to the mother.
GENRE: Drama
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Adults
REVIEWER: Mark H. Maxwell
ESTHER KAHN is the story of a Jewish migrant girl in late 19th century London who is bound by her impoverished life in the family sweatshop and her own emotional disconnection from others. Esther’s childhood isolation is partly due to her semi-autistic behavior, but it is compounded by the verbal abuse she suffers at the hands of her mother. Esther (Summer Phoenix) finally begins to crack out of her shell as she discovers the joy of theater and acting. Esther experiences some minor acting success (much to her mother’s and the filmgoer’s surprise) and moves out to her own apartment in London’s theater district.
Esther engages fellow actor Nathan Quellan (LORD OF THE RINGS’ Ian HoIm) as her coach and mentor. Quellan attempts to breathe passion into her lifeless and stilted stage performance. Somehow, Esther makes small strides with various secondary roles, but Quellan believes something greater lies within Esther – a freedom that might be birthed through the loss of her virginity to a man (or woman) and a sexual relationship.
Esther single-mindedly follows his advice and gives herself physically several times to drama critic, Phillipe Haygard (Fabrice Desplechin), in the cold, emotionless hope of becoming a better actor. She eventually develops feelings for Haygard, and he reciprocates the affection by pulling some strings to help her land a lead role in a new pay. On the cusp of the performance’s opening night, Haygard flippantly dashes Esther’s heart through sexual betrayal.
Esther collapses emotionally. She beats her face violently and suffers stage fright so severe that she chews a wine glass in an effort to avoid her debut and her impending stage view of Haygard and his new vixen in his balcony box. Esther is forced to perform anyway, and through her emotional upheaval supposedly gives her breakthrough performance. Esther becomes a star AND revenge is hers!
Ian Holm’s performance is solid and the movie’s art direction and cinematography is spectacular. Phoenix brilliantly captures the tormented side of Esther Kahn, but Esther’s stage performance is flat and unbelievable. Throughout the movie, Esther’s progress as an actress is practically undetectable. At the movie’s climax, Esther is supposedly giving the performance of a lifetime, but the filmgoer can only scratch his/her head at the ridiculousness of what viewers are asked to feel and believe.
However, the greatest problem with this movie lies in its theme and worldview centered on the self-actualization and creative flourishing that comes from sin, pain and isolation from God. ESTHER KAHN sustains the faulty premise mythologized by a long line of real-life performance artists from Judy Garland to Kurt Cobain whose patterns of self-destruction and addiction are considered inherent to their creative genius and charismatic performance ability. Regretfully, ESTHER KAHN continues this tradition wrought by the media-painted epics of our idolized artists by failing to appropriately acknowledge an artist’s God-given talents and His blessings and the severity of the ultimate undoing that comes from such selfishness and sin.
ESTHER KHAN is a sham in more ways than one.
Please address your comments to:
Empire Pictures
350 5th Avenue, Suite 7801
New York, NY 10118
Phone: 212-629-3535
Email: info@empirepicturesusa.com
SUMMARY: ESTHER KAHN is the story of a Jewish migrant gin in late 19th century London who is bound by her impoverished life in the family sweatshop and her own emotional disconnection from others, who breaks free from her chains through the joy of theater and acting. Regretfully, the movie’s theme is centered on Ester’s self-actualization and creative flourishing through her pain, physical self-abuse, and isolation from God, and sexual sin.
ESTHER KAHN is the story of a Jewish migrant girl in late 19th century London who is bound by her impoverished life in the family sweatshop and her own emotional disconnection from others. Esther’s childhood isolation is partly due to her semi-autistic behavior, but compounded by the verbal abuse she suffers at the hands of her mother. Esther (Summer Phoenix) finally begins to crack out of her shell as she discovers the joy of theater and acting.
She engages fellow-actor, Nathan Quellan (LORD OF THE RINGS’ Ian Holm) as her coach and mentor.
Holm’s performance is solid and the film’s art direction and cinematography is spectacular. Phoenix brilliantly captures the tormented side of Esther, but Esther’s stage performance is flat and unbelievable. The movie also sustains the faulty premise mythologized by a long line of real-life performance artists whose patterns of self-destruction and addiction are considered inherent to their creative genius and charismatic performance ability. ESTHER KAHN’s greatest problem lies in its theme and worldview centered on the self-actualization and creative flourishing that comes from sin, pain and isolation from God. The movie also contains scenes of violent self abuse, female nudity and implied fornication.
** Envy Ends in Hatred and Death **
GANGSTER NO. 1
Quality: * * Acceptability: -4
WARNING CODES:
Language: LLL
Violence: VVV
Sex: S
Nudity: N
RATING: R
RELEASE: June 14, 2002 in New York City
TIME: 103 minutes
STARRING: Malcolm McDowell, Paul Bettany, David Thewlis, and Saffron Burrows
DIRECTOR: Paul McGuigan
PRODUCERS: Norma Heyman and Jonathan Cavendish
WRITER: Johnny Ferguson
BASED ON THE PLAY BY: Louis Mellis and David Scinto
DISTRIBUTOR: IFC Films
CONTENT: (B, HHH, PaPaPa, LLL, VVV, S, N, AA, DD, MMM) Morality play about the corruption of envy and jealousy but filled with strong nihilistic, humanistic, paganistic behavior by psychopathic protagonist; 186 obscenities, mostly “f” words; extreme blood shown as psychopathic gangster hacks up, stabs and beats a couple victims and as other gangsters shoot one gangster and slit the throat of his fiancée, plus shots of boxing matches, man slams glass against other man’s head and other brief miscellaneous violence; brief references to oral sex and couple lives together before and during engagement; female cleavage and man in underwear and without shirt; alcohol use and drunkenness; smoking and talk about selling drugs and using drugs; and, strong miscellaneous immorality such as stealing, envy, lying, betrayal, gangsterism.
GENRE: Drama/Gangster Movie
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Adults
REVIEWER: Dr. Tom Snyder
The gangster movie genre is often a problematic genre, morally and aesthetically, especially if the movie portrays a gangster who has little or no redeeming character traits. Morally speaking, if the gangster protagonist has little or no redeeming traits, then the moral lessons that the audience may or may not take from the movie are diluted. Aesthetically, if the gangster protagonist has little or no redeeming traits, then there’s little or no reason for viewers to care about his or her fall from grace.
This is what has happened to GANGSTER NO. 1, a very violent gangster movie from England, about a psychopathic gangster with little or no redeeming traits. The movie wants to be a modern Greek tragedy or a modern Elizabethan tragedy, but, despite the movie’s obvious moral lessons, there’s not much here to interest anyone, except at the very end.
GANGSTER NO. 1 stars an elderly Malcolm McDowell of CLOCKWORK ORANGE and Paul Bettany of A KNIGHT’S TALE as a psychopathic gangster envious of the power, prestige, good looks, and taste of his boss, Freddie Mays, played by David Thewlis. The unnamed gangster is also jealous of Freddie’s pretty girlfriend, Karen, played by Saffron Burrows, so he betrays them both. Freddie gets sent to prison for murder, and Karen gets her throat cut. Years later, Freddie gets out of prison and reunites with Karen. McDowell’s character finally appears to have some remorse, so he goads Freddie into killing him, but Freddie may not be the same man who went into prison. Can he be goaded into killing this psychopath, or will he only be moved to contempt for this pitiful figure of a man who thinks he’s Gangster No. 1?
The violence depicted in GANGSTER NO. 1 is despicable, but that’s the point of the movie. The movie is also filled with a nearly constant stream of “f” words, more than 175 obscenities. Hence, there are only a few redeeming qualities to this flick, one of which includes Malcolm McDowell’s scary portrait of a psychopath consumed with envy and hatred. In fact, the movie suggests that envy not only leads to hatred of other people, but also to hatred of one’s own self. The result, of course, is eternal destruction. Only the Way of Christ leads to eternal life.
Please address your comments to:
Joshua Sapan, President/CEO
IFC Films/IFC Entertainment
Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc.
(Independent Movie Channel/IFC Films/Bravo Networks)
200 Jericho Quadrangle
Jericho, NY 11753
Phone: (516) 803-3000
Fax: (516) 803-4616
Website: www.ifctv.com
SUMMARY: GANGSTER NO. 1 is a very violent, foul-mouthed gangster movie from England about a psychopathic gangster consumed with envy, hatred and self-loathing. There are only a few redeeming qualities to this movie.
GANGSTER NO. 1 is a very violent gangster movie from England. It stars an elderly Malcolm McDowell of CLOCKWORK ORANGE and Paul Bettany of A KNIGHT’S TALE as a psychopathic gangster envious of the power, prestige, good looks, and taste of his boss, Freddie Mays, played by David Thewlis. The unnamed gangster is also jealous of Freddie’s pretty girlfriend, Karen, played by Saffron Burrows, so he betrays them both. Freddie gets sent to prison for murder, and Karen gets her throat cut. Years later, Freddie gets out of prison and reunites with Karen. McDowell’s character finally appears to have some remorse, so he goads Freddie into killing him, but Freddie may not be the same man who went into prison. Can he be goaded into killing this psychopath, or will he only be moved to contempt for this pitiful figure of a man who thinks he’s Gangster No. 1?
The violence depicted in GANGSTER NO. 1 is despicable, but that’s the point of the movie. The film is also filled with a nearly constant stream of “f” words, more than 175 obscenities. Hence, there are only a few redeeming qualities to this movie.
Content:
(B, HHH, PaPaPa, LLL, VVV, S, N, AA, DD, MMM) Morality play about the corruption of envy and jealousy but filled with strong nihilistic, humanistic, paganistic behavior by psychopathic protagonist; 186 obscenities, mostly “f” words; extreme blood shown as psychopathic gangster hacks up, stabs and beats a couple victims and as other gangsters shoot one gangster and slit the throat of his fiancée, plus shots of boxing matches, man slams glass against other man’s head and other brief miscellaneous violence; brief references to oral sex and couple lives together before and during engagement; female cleavage and man in underwear and without shirt; alcohol use and drunkenness; smoking and talk about selling drugs and using drugs; and, strong miscellaneous immorality such as stealing, envy, lying, betrayal, gangsterism.
More Detail:
24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE is a faux documentary, or mockumentary, about the rise and fall of punk rock and its derivatives through the eyes of one of its promoters, Tony Wilson, a TV host who becomes a punk rock manager, record producer and club owner. Although the punk scene purports to be a radical, revolutionary, anarchist movement, through the eyes of Tony it seems more like adolescent hedonism searching for sex, drugs and rock and roll. Tony is the spokesperson and snake oil salesman who defines the punk scene and promotes it on his Grenada TV program. His educated musings (he keeps reminding everyone that he went to Cambridge University) give meaning to little known bands who rise to stardom based on his hype according to this mockumentary.
The movie opens in Manchester in 1976, with Grenada TV Host Tony Wilson, preparing to hang glide off some small hills in England. He tells the audience that you are supposed to train for three days before trying this, but he has only a few minutes. Up in the air, he says that it is a “legal” high and better than sex. When he crash lands, he tells the movie audience that this experience works on two levels; the event itself, and as a metaphor for the arc of the movie. He tells the audience to think of the story as Icarus, and if they don’t know what he means, they should read more. (Icarus is the Greek mythological figure who tried to fly to heaven, but fell to earth when the wax that held the feathers together of his homemade wings melted.)
Next, Tony is visiting a Sex Pistols gig with about 40 people in the tiny club. He is totally inspired by what he calls a pivotal moment in music history, and so he sets up a record label, Factory Records, to sign and record a number of punk and grunge bands who are destined to be some of the most influential artists of their time. First, Joy Division, who go on to become New Order, then become the Happy Mondays.
Tony tells a major producer from London: “Factory Records is not actually a company. We are an experiment in human nature. You’re laboring under the misapprehension that we actually have a deal with, er, with our, our bands. That we have any kind of a contract, er, at all, and I’m afraid we, er, we don’t because that’s, er, that’s the sum total of the paperwork to do with Factory Records, deal with, er, their various bands.”
The producer reads the contract Tony wrote in blood with his bands: “The artists own all their own work. The label owns nothing. Our bands have the freedom.”
What ensues is a black comic tale of music, sex, drugs, larger-than-life characters, and the birth of one of the most famous dance clubs in the world, The Hacienda. Tony seals the deal for his first club, by joining the owner with some prostitutes for oral sex. His wife catches him and proceeds to fornicate in a bathroom stall with a producer. Then the abundance of drugs kick into his life, including a long sequence of snorting the train, which is a long trail of cocaine which produces a strange fantasy. When one band member’s meth container breaks on the ground, he kneels down and licks it off the floor.
All the while, Tony is interpreting what the audience is watching. He calls the band anarchists, but they seem more like hedonistic adolescents seeking pleasure through rebellion against morality. When a reporter confronts Tony with the concern that “Joy Division” is a bad name for a band, since that was the name the National Socialist SS gave to its division that sought to breed the most beautiful German women, Tony dismisses the reporter with “haven’t you ever heard of semiotics? Does post-modernism mean nothing to you?”
Meanwhile, Tony continues to host a Granada TV program, bringing the audience the duck that herds sheep, the town crier who belts out the news of the suicide of Ian Curtis, Joy Division’s lead singer, with a look of blank incomprehension, and of course the old geezer who used to work on Manchester ship canal in the days of Queen Victoria but can’t remember anything about it.
In the end, Factory Records, the Hacienda Club and the whole Wilson empire is built on hot air, and inevitably falls to earth like Icarus, leaving nothing behind but some bad hangovers and even worse debts.
Although the real Tony Wilson makes an appearance in the movie, the movie Tony Wilson is played by the British comedian Steve Coogan, whose previous movie efforts have failed. However, this performance is superb and should make him a star. Coogan plays Wilson as absurd, pretentious, annoying, frivolous, and lovable all at the same time.
The other performances are just as notable, saying a great deal about the directing ability of Michael Winterbottom. Michael Winterbottom directs the movie with just enough of Wilson’s vaunted post-modern detachment to lend a sense of irony while avoiding annoyance.
In fact, Frank Cottrell Boyce (who adapted the script from the book by the real Tony Wilson) and Michael Winterbottom deserve special commendation for making a compelling, entertaining movie, while violating many of the cardinal rules of story structure. Sometimes the exception works, and it does here. Regrettably, because this weird approach works so well, there will be many copycats who will fail trying to make the exception the rule.
Followers of the British music scene will enjoy spotting dozens of guest appearances. The soundtrack from Factory Records’ back catalogue is very entertaining and mild.
Interestingly, Wilson keeps reference Jesus Christ and Christianity throughout the movie. When confronted by the small crowds at the gigs, he constantly references the fact that Jesus only had twelve disciples. Similar references are scattered throughout the movie, and, the movie closes with Wilson signing off with a “God bless you.” Even so, there is an irreverent “Monty Python” moment where a totally stoned Tony talks with “god” who looks just like him, and “god” tells him that everything that he has done is good.
The reason for this “god talk” according to the real Tony Wilson, whom I interviewed at the Cannes Film Festival, was the fact that he and the writer grew up in Roman Catholic schools and were real Catholics even though they were atheists and did not believe in God. This one statement by Mr. Wilson says volumes about the state of the church for the last hundred years when liberalism drained religious education from any meaning and any faith in the one true God who created the universe. Whether the church in the West will survive this practical religious atheism is debatable.
Moreover, Tony reminds the audience that this is a revolutionary movement, although it does not have a clearly developed political agenda except for the old Satanist dictum, “Do what thou wilt.” The connections between, anarchism, communism and National Socialism, and even skinheads and the KKK, are made in the movie, verbally and visually. Perhaps, the intelligentsia will dismiss these connections, but Wilson understands them in his hip socio-cultural analysis.
The movie has a whopping 140 obscenities, almost all of which are the “f” word, and a meager nine light profanities. Though the violence is grainy and dark, it ranges from hang gliding accidents, suicide (where all that is seen is the swinging feet in front of the TV), slicing one’s finger for a blood oath, and gang and drug related shootings, some by very young boys on bicycles. The movie portrays adultery, oral sex, orgies and fornication with prostitutes with full female nudity and brief full male nudity as innocent. Discussions and use of drugs is extreme, and includes ecstasy, cocaine, heroine, methadone, hash, and marijuana.
Thus, this is a very hedonistic, rebellious movie produced in a light, sweet tone that takes the edge off the poisonous messages. Young teenagers who see this will more than likely think that this is pretty fun stuff, where everyone gets away without serious injury, except for the suicide (which was not explicitly shown). Some may even consider replicating the same scene, but there is a dark side, which is never honestly explored. In fact, 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE is an entertaining movie which will more than likely poison some susceptible youth.
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