FFWD Weekly
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| VIDEO This week, the latest picture from director Mike Leigh, Career Girls, hits the video stores. Annie and Hannah, who became friends in university, meet up for a visit years later. The film moves back and forth between dingy shots of their college life and the bright and polished present day. Billed as a comedy, there is very little to laugh at, especially when it comes to the flashbacks. The writing may be fantastic and true to Annie and Hannah's relationship, however, the actors over-exaggerate the gestures of the insecure, fidgety and unbalanced students they were. Ponette explores a few days in the life of a four-year-old girl whose mother recently died in a car accident. As she interacts with her father, school friends and relatives, she is confronted by several different theories of death and God, and must resolve them for herself. If it sounds like complex work for actress Victoire Thivisol, who really is four, it is - however, she was awarded the prize for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival in 1996, the year of the film's original release. Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book starring Vivian Wiu and Ewan McGregor is a wonderful story that complements the director's renowned use of wonderful visuals. Nagiko keeps a diary for herself, which she calls her "pillow book" after a historical book of the same name. The story evolves, however, so that Nagiko uses the bodies of her lovers for her writing, with the final pillow book being the most cherished and most disturbing. Greenaway's use of multiple images, moving text, color and calligraphy is stunning alongside the exquisite performances from Wiu and McGregor. Also released this week: G.I. Jane, Excess Baggage and Floating Life |