Immigrants from India to the United States, according to census statistics, have the highest incomes of all ethnic groups, including Caucasians. But economic success does not mean that they are without cultural, family, and personal problems. Leela, directed by Somnath Sen, focuses on why the conflicts arise and how they are handled within Indian culture. […]
When The Last Supper, directed by Fereydoun Jeyrani, begins, Afagh (played by Sorayya Ghasemi) is in a police station, providing an explanation of the death of someone. The story centers on Mihan Mashreghi (played by Katayun Riahi), a professor of architecture. Afagh is her longtime servant. Mihan’s husband Mohsen (played by Atila Pesiani), a bank manager,
Grace Dalrymple Elliott’s friendship with the Duc d’Orleans forms the basis for the French film The Lady and the Duke (L’Anglaise et le duc), directed by Eric Rohmer, which highlights the events of the French Revolution from the viewpoint of the aristocracy. When the film begins, in 1790, not long after the storming of the Bastille,
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To enjoy a long-term loving relationship is a goal sought by most mature people. Why, then, is the goal so elusive for gay men? Lan Yu, directed by openly gay Hongkongian Stanley Kwan, explores that question. Although the film directs our attention to the title role (played by Liu Ye), the person whose character is most
If the traditional way in which relationships emerge is that parents select partners who marry, have children, and stay together is the uncomplicated paradigm, what is the paradigm for success in complex twenty-first century America, where relationships are formed by individual entrepreneurs who do not have to fit into stereotypic roles? In Kissing Jessica Stein, directed
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“Shakespeare’s Richard the Third in 21st Century Los Angeles” is the tagline of King Rikki, directed by James Gavin Bedford. Rikki Ortega (played by John Seda) was born in Los Angeles, but his povertystriken mother gave him away to relatives in Fresno. When Rikki reached the age of twelve, he returned home for revenge, gradually learning
Why is Spain’s Queen Juana known as Juana the Mad? Juana La Loca (retitled in the United States as Mad Love) seeks to answer the question. The film begins with a short scene of Queen Juana (played by Pilar López de Ayala), who in the year 1555 feels sorry for herself, as she has been imprisoned in a
The Intruder is an Iranian film about a movie actor, Dagdar, who gets mysteriously phone calls from someone who identifies herself as “The Intruder.” When The Intruder calls Dagdar’s wife, however, the phone is silent. When Dagdar answers the phone, a threat is announced–exposure of his past. Rather than calling the police, who might leak the
At the age of ninety-three Manoel de Oliveira continues prodigiously to write and direct films, but his I’m Going Home appears to speak with a different voice. When the film begins, aging Gilbert Valence (played by Michel Piccoli) is offering yet another acclaimed performance on stage, the role of the king in Ionesco’s Exit the King. After
“There are two types of people in Alaska: those born here and those escaping from something.” So says the woman who runs the lodge where LAPD detectives Will Dorner (played by Al Pacino) and Hap Eckhart (played by Martin Donovan) have booked rooms upon their arrival in Nightmute, a halibut fishing town in Alaska near