Reviews

"It's what you've seen, and when you saw it." I'm quoting myself there - to do with the significance of a film review. Well, I've seen a lot -ever since 1947- and I've come to believe that my own morality is not indestructible. Yes, fool, you too are vulnerable. Why did Sono-san in the CD bonus feature begin by saying he shouldn't have made "Love Exposure"? Is he putting us on? Admitting failure? Or apologizing for having corrupted us? I'm Not Joking!..Depending on your state of sexual health this film may be damaging. OK, it's more open about it's own fetishes than most. It's inventive, charmingly rebellious, funny, grotesquely romantic and provocative, depressing, degrading, way over-long, and in the end it's nothing more than than a passionate manipulation. OK, the actors are fresh young talents, the production technique appeals and the whole thing presents itself as a delirious cross-cultural lark. But the iconoclasm is too much in evidence and there's nothing of love to back it up.

Tenderness is contagious. Looking for love and ways to give it? Are movies more to you than entertainment? Without dreams, ambition and inspiration, life is harder than it has to be. Who says only the very young are hungry for knowledge. This good movie has taught me something about foreign relations, love and families, crime and punishment, truth, imagination, diligence, experience...the list goes on. And the commentary by Minghella -a bonus offered in the DVD features- is simply a joy. See the movie, enjoy the collaborative efforts of several true artists and then learn a bit about what it all meant to this successful writer/director. Or just see it because it's entertaining.

I'm not surprised to read here at IMDb that Romy called this her best work. She leads a cast of irresistible losers (Dutronc, Kinski, Testi) in the wholly believable debauchery that is so truly the amoral dilemma of the profession Maugham has called "THE show business". The physical electricity of these performers is such that I came away from it thirty years ago thinking that Miss Schneider was Brando's doppelganger. Or perhaps she WAS Brando! After all, they were never seen together, were they? If acting may be defined as the truthful response to fictional stimuli, then this film, which, by the way, must be screening daily in both Heaven and Hell, was perhaps shot in one cosmic take. These actors display - seamlessly - their bodies, their appetites, their loves, egos, ids and superegos. Never mind the sadness, life is for learning.

"Tales From The Darkside: Ring Around the Redhead" is the godchild of "The Twilight Zone" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". Lovers of wronged-men suspensers, sci-fi fantasies, and ethereal beauties simply can't go wrong with this one. It features the incandescent personalities of John Heard and the brand-newcomer Penelope Ann Miller...and an ending to die for. The traditional mixed genres that came out of radio and grew into unforgettable post-war television series continue to serve the imagination of millions everywhere. Stories like this one attract both child and adult alike. And as is often the case in American TV, there is the added charm of the two stars' unique talents...