Review of Maurice (1987) by Jerry W — 11 Jul 2005

[b]Short Eyes[/b] - A "short eyes" in prison parlance is a child molestor and even among the social pariahs, child molestors are persona non grata. One of these short eyes arrives at the New York prison where this allegorical screen-adapted play is set. This film is proud of its stage heritage, as it includes a couple of impromtu songs and a number of speech-like dialogue. Such stage conventions can seem clumsy in a film, but director Robert Young and his collaborative team do a good job to add a level of lyricism to the film. When taking on a subject as grim as this, one can see why. The film's insight is in the microcosm of the larger society that it creates in the prison, where race and sex relations are dominated by power struggles. The ultimate conflict in the film is to what extent the characters are willing to give up their humanity in prison. The movie suggests that this may not be all that much of a conflict given the similarities of prison life to the larger world.

[b]Husbands and Wives[/b] - Woody Allen. Need I say more? Woody plays Woody Allen in a story about relationships all brought to life through witty dialogue that is cynical, ironic, and touching; acted by a capable ensemble. The details hardly matter.

[b]Caresses[/b] - I'm a sucker for foreign movies. This one's Spanish, I think, and offers vignettes of half a dozen coincidentally related couples whose relationships take all forms (heterosexual, homosexual, father/son, brother/sister, etc). It's not exceptional, but it's always interesting.

[b]Maurice[/b] - Wonderful film, this. Director James Ivory adapts this E.M. Forster novel of an early 19th Century man's struggle with his sexual identity. The script lays out the story of a middle class Londoner's (James Wimby) coming of age in Cambridge and falling into love with a upperclass contemporary, played by Hugh Grant. The movie is touching, well written, beautifully shot, and well acted.

[b]The Last Picture Show[/b] - One of the best films that I've ever seen. I need to find room for this on my Top Ten list. Peter Bogdanovich's film about the sexual mores in a small Texas town is hauntingly bittersweet. The impressive ensemble cast, including Ellen Burstyn, Cybill Shepard and Jeff Bridges, become their characters. And what characters!!! They inhabit a slow town, where sexual deviance lies barely hidden below the surface. Bogdanovich's main achievement is aesthetic: the black and white enhances the starkness of the dry landscape and the silence (there's no score) only adds to that.