Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 26, 1994 TAG: 9403260049
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Mike Mayo
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The short review of "M Butterfly" is "The Crying Game" in China, but that's not really fair.
"The Crying Game" is a thriller. Though the two films share many elements - sexual role reversals, political intrigue, betrayal - "M Butterfly" is an opera. Its sense of reality is less important than its sweeping passions. Like any opera, it's challenging, larger than life and something of an acquired taste.
In Beijing, 1964, Rene Gallimard (Jeremy Irons) is an accountant at the French embassy. He's a dry, tidy, unimaginative fellow until the night he hears Song Liling (John Lone) singing arias from "Madam Butterfly." Not knowing that in Chinese opera women's roles are portrayed by men, Rene believes Song is a woman.
Offstage, she dresses and acts as a woman, and Rene becomes obsessed with her. They embark on a relationship that defies description. And even though the film is based on a true story, it also defies credibility at times. Without going into unsavory details, Rene doesn't figure out what's going on, and even believes that he is the father of Song's child.
But, this is cinematic opera. Individual details - even those central to the story - don't mean as much as the overall effect of the piece. And from the animated opening credits to the violent conclusion, director David Cronenberg maintains his reputation as one of today's most unorthodox filmmakers. He and Irons create the same dense atmosphere that made "Dead Ringers" so creepy and hard to define. Lone fits in perfectly. Though his role, unlike Jaye Davidson's, does not depend on audience deception, he makes Song a believable character.
"M Butterfly" certainly isn't for everyone - particularly not kids - but like all of Cronenberg's work, it's so striking that anyone who's intrigued by the subject should give it a look when it shows up in video stores next Wednesday.
"Bound and Gagged: A Love Story" is, as the box copy promises, "not your average insane road movie." Instead, it's a romantic comedy about attempted suicide, spouse abuse, lesbianism and kidnapping. All right, that may not sound like funny stuff, but here it is.
Leslie (Ginger Lynn Allen) is pretty much fed up with her loutish husband Steve (Chris Mulkey). She has become involved in a relationship with Elizabeth (Elizabeth Saltarrelli), a free spirit with a short fuse. Elizabeth thinks that she knows what's best for everyone, including her friend Cliff (Chris Denton), who's so tormented by memories of his own unfaithful wife (May Ella Ross) that he has barely survived an unsuccessful suicide.
When Steve finds out about his wife's affair, Elizabeth is forced to take extreme measures. Without giving away the game, she winds up heading west from Minneapolis in an aging Chrysler with a mute Cliff riding shotgun, Leslie, bound and gagged, in the back and Steve in hot pursuit.
Writer/director Daniel Appleby isn't always as funny as he's trying to be, but that's a small flaw. For the most part, this one has the natural performances and spontaneous, unexpected quality that you're looking for in a good road movie. It also has a strong feel for the landscape. In that respect it's right up there with "Powwow Highway," maybe the best road movie of recent years.
Appleby has won several prizes from such august bodies as the American Film Institute and the National Endowment for the Arts, but don't let that put you off. "Bound and Gagged" is a first-rate little sleeper.
"Operation Petticoat" has just been re-released on video in honor of its 35th anniversary. It's still one of the best and most polished service comedies that Hollywood produced in the 1960s. The reason could not be more simple: Cary Grant is at his best. That's enough for any movie, and he gets solid support from Tony Curtis. At times this story of a wounded submarine with a complement of refugee nurses threatens to overdose on pure charm.
But director Blake Edwards was at his most blatantly sexist here. By today's standards, the treatment of women in the movie is extreme. In fact, it's not hard to imagine Betty Friedan, jaw clenched in anger, walking out of a theater in 1959 and heading home to work on an early draft of "The Feminine Mystique." But it would be unfair to make too much of that part of the film. It simply reflects its times, and the stuff about Seaman Hornsby is still terrific.
Next week: Ancient Mysteries!
New releases this week:
The Joy Luck Club: *** 1/2
Starring Kieu Chinh, Ming-Na Wen, Tsai Chin, Tamlyn Tomita, France Nuyen, Lauren Tom, Lisa Lu, Rosalind Chow. Directed by Wayne Wang. Buena Vista. 140 min. Rated R for creative profanity, violence, subject matter.
This is a "woman's movie" in the best and fullest sense of the term. It's told from the perspective of several female characters; its main concerns are the lives of women and relationships between mothers and daughters. The story, told by an ensemble cast, is ambitious, spanning generations and continents, and there's a lot happening on screen - wars, murders, infidelity, passion. Fans of Amy Tan's bestseller won't be disappointed.
A Home of Our Own: ***
Starring Kathy Bates, Edward Furlong. Directed by Tony Bill. Polygram. 103 min. Rated PG for domestic violence, strong language.
Like most of producer/director Tony Bill's work, this is an offbeat film that works through interesting, believable characters, not a high-powered plot. It's a simple story of real family values about a single mother and her attempt to raise six kids in Idaho, 1962. Recommended.
The Essentials:
M Butterfly ** 1/2 Warner. 101 min. Rated R for subject matter, sexual content, brief nudity, violence.
Bound and Gagged: A Love Story *** Triboro. 96 min. Rated R for subject matter, nudity, sexual material, strong language.
Operation Petticoat *** 1/2 Republic. 122 min. Unrated, contains no offensive material but considerable sexist posturing.
by CNB