Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 15, 1993 TAG: 9404210009
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The theme of the festival held in Charlottesville Oct. 27-31 is ``Film Noir: Through a Lens Darkly.'' All the usual suspects are well-represented - those dark, atmospheric stories from the 1940s and '50s - but the organizers always try to mix new titles with the old, and this year is no exception.
Perhaps the most intriguing new film is ``The War Room,'' a documentary by D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus. It's an inside look at the workings of the 1992 Clinton presidential campaign, focusing on the roles played by George Stephanopoulos and James Carville. Stephanopoulos is scheduled to discuss the film after its screening at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 31.
Also making regional premieres are Gus Van Sant's adaptation of Tom Robbins' novel, ``Even Cowgirls Get the Blues'' starring Uma Thurman (as the specially gifted hitchhiker), John Hurt, Angie Dickinson, Lorraine Bracco, Crispin Glover, Buck Henry, Carol Kane, Keanu Reeves and Sean Young; two noir comedies, Carl Reiner's parody of ``killer blonde'' movies, ``Fatal Instinct,'' with Armand Assante, Sherilyn Fenn and Sean Young (again), and Peter Medak's ``Romeo Is Bleeding'' with Gary Oldman, Lena Olin, Annabelle Sciorra, Juliet Lewis and Roy Scheider. ``Top of the World'' is a drama about a group of friends spending Thanksgiving together at a mountain ranch, and ``Short Cuts'' is Robert Altman's three-hour adaptation of several Raymond Carver short stories with a cast of dozens.
This year's guests will be talking about their work. For actors Robert Mitchum and Richard Widmark there are ``Out of the Past'' and ``Pick-up On South Street.'' Writer Donald Westlake will discuss his screenplay for ``The Grifters,'' and Richard Price will read from his novel ``Clockers.''
But the real focus of the weekend is on film noir.
Many films are familiar to even the most casual moviegoer: Billy Wilder's ``Sunset Boulevard'' and ``Double Indemnity,'' John Huston's ``The Maltese Falcon'' and ``The Asphalt Jungle,'' Howard Hawks' ``The Big Sleep,'' Roman Polanski's ``Chinatown,'' Martin Scorsese's ``Taxi Driver,'' the Coen Brothers' ``Blood Simple'' and Lawrence Kasdan's ``Body Heat.''
The schedule also includes two unusual, but appropriate entries in noir science-fiction, Don Siegel's ``Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' and Ridley Scott's ``Blade Runner.''
Among the titles that might not be so familiar are Billy Wilder's bleak and prophetic ``Ace in the Hole''; Robert Altman's ``Thieves Like Us'' and Nicholas Ray's 1949 version of the same story, ``They Live By Night''; Stanley Kubrick's ``The Killing''; Otto Preminger's ``Angel Face''; Nicholas Ray's ``In a Lonely Place''; and Edgar G. Ulmer's ``Detour.''
Then there are those famous scenes, the ones that have been shown in so many anthologies, appreciations and TV specials. Even if you haven't seen ``Kiss of Death,'' you probably know about Richard Widmark and the wheelchair. Rita Hayworth's musical number is the great showstopper in ``Gilda,'' and who is it that throws the coffee in ``The Big Heat''?
If those weren't enough, there are more than a dozen time slots yet to be announced, so there certainly will be more happy surprises for those with noirish proclivities and inclinations.
by CNB