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Andrea Chenier

Although Domingo was younger and Banackova looked more like the sweet and innocent young Madalena than the one played by Tomowa-Sintow in the ROH production, this production was not as good. It was not as tight and neat. The tempo set was far too slow for the time-period of the story. The stage setting was distracting. The lighting was too dark. Except Domingo, a natural actor who was always into his role and sings and acts with passion, none of the other performers came up with a convincing portrayal of the role he/she played.

Andrea Chenier

7.5 1981
Terminal City

Terminal City records the demolition of the Devonshire Hotel in Vancouver; through extreme show motion (200 frames per second) and symmetrical diagonal framing, Gallagher underscores the passage from order to chaos within the event. The sparseness of this centering and he patience required of the viewer heightens the literally explosive climaxes of the film, and transforms the everyday violence of the events into moments of convulsive beauty. – Jim Shedden, Michael Zryd, The Independent Eye

Terminal City

NR 1982
Dead Heart

The Australians call the endless deserts in the interior of the continent the "dead heart". Here lies the town of Birdsville, 23 houses and a bar with a liquor license. The long-awaited telephone connection arrived in 1979, 90 years after it had been applied for. For one weekend, this place at the end of the world turns into a cauldron when 5,000 Australians, tired of civilization, invade for the annual horse race, the "Birdsville Cup". They come in buses, off-road vehicles, motorcycles and sports planes and have become a veritable plague. Because here, everyone can do what they've always wanted to do: for example, get drunk until they drop and never get up again. The collective mass drinking reaches its peak on Saturday night. By Monday morning, the fun is over. What remains is a village with 23 houses, a bar and a street littered with 80,000 empty beer cans.

Dead Heart

9.0 1986
Harder Than It Looks

A penetrating look at how difficult it is for the northern countries--Canada, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark--to remain neutral, caught as they are between the two superpowers. All but Canada were neutral before World War II. Today, only Sweden has not joined a military alliance, but with American and Soviet military forces in the northern seas, even its lone neutrality is at risk. Archival footage from the two world wars, animated maps, and interviews illuminate the historical shaping of each country's stance on neutrality and approach to its own defense, and how these positions work for and against the countries. The film's thesis is that a non-aligned north is the key to separating the superpowers and attaining world peace.

Harder Than It Looks

9.0 1986
Ciné-Verité

"Ciné-Verité" is a self-reflexive movie that questions the underlying forces behind television reporting and, in a broader sense, films of different genres. The main character is a young television employee making her first attempts at reporting. She interviews ordinary people in an attempt to obtain authentic life stories (some of the footage that director Laurențiu Damian includes in the fictional fabric is real), but the idealistic reporter's work is repeatedly rejected by her boss, which eventually leads her to resort to the conventional solution of using a commentary that explains the footage in wooden language.

Ciné-Verité

NR 1980
Aux Quatre Coin-Coins Du Canard

Since 1915, the French satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné has maintained and even strengthened its position in the press, without losing any of its wit or bite. This multi-part documentary recounts the history (53 min.) of the newspaper, when Maurice Maréchal decided to fight against the propaganda of the mainstream press, beholden to lobbies and the powerful. It features portraits (45 min.) of some of the newspaper's journalists and cartoonists. Its traditions (34 min.) are deeply rooted and faithfully upheld in the spirit of irreverence, insolence, and freedom in the face of all forms of power. The documentary also delves into the scandals (40 min.): if "Le Canard" was able to launch investigative journalism in France, it is because it has remained "free, independent, and clean," as its founder intended, thus retaining the trust of its readers.

Aux Quatre Coin-Coins Du Canard

10.0 1987
Used Innocence

Using experimental narrative structure as his vehicle, Benning recreates the sensationalized and controversial circumstances surrounding Lorencia Bembenek, aka "Bambi", former "Playboy bunny" turned cop, turned accused and convicted killer who disappeared after a daring escape from prison. The film shows the evolution of Benning's and Bembenek's relationship presented through their actual letters read in voice over which depict the filmmaker's curiosity with the subject as it evolves from intrigue to a love obsession.

Used Innocence

6.0 1989
Firewords

A documentary that offers an intimate glimpse of three respected yet controversial Québec writers. Now recognized at home and abroad, Louky Bersianik, Jovette Marchessault and Nicole Brossard have contributed greatly to the creation of a distinctive women's literature. Confirming that fresh approaches to literature are still possible, they have helped to heighten the awareness of the politics of language. Excerpts from their works vividly convey each woman's style, concerns and rhythms. They examine personal and global issues from a feminist perspective: human relationships, work, justice, poverty, loneliness, women's spirituality, and the future.

Firewords

NR 1986