THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 20, 1995 TAG: 9501190058
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BRENT A. BOWLES, TEENOLOGY MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
A RARITY IS the drama that doesn't care about pacing, length or other confines of cinematic storytelling, and instead takes all the time it needs to tell a story, without overstated action or flair.
``Legends of the Fall'' is a magnificent generational epic that details a family's survival throughout war, peace and love, in such a way. The plot is fairly predictable but takes a fabulous turn for the unexpected in the last 15 of its 131 minutes. It is one of the year's best pictures.
At the center of this story is a character who leaves his family only to find they are his sole redemption. Tristan Ludlow is played by Brad Pitt, who finally stops moping around the screen, as he did in ``Interview with the Vampire.'' Pitt delivers a strong but not overly forceful performance and manages to inject great emotion in his stoicity.
Tristan's younger brother, Samuel, played by Henry Thomas, is engaged to the ravishing Julia Ormond as Susannah, who herself secretly loves Tristan. Once Samuel is killed in World War I, Ormond runs the gamut of emotions and hardly ever stops crying.
Aidan Quinn, seen briefly in Kenneth Branaugh's ``Mary Shelley's Frankenstein,'' has a tough time with some of Alfred's mundane dialogue, and never really establishes a strong screen presence until the last 10 minutes.
And the stunningly gorgeous Karina Lombard drops in as Isabel Two, an Indian girl who eventually wins the heart of Tristan.
The film's best performance comes from Sir Anthony Hopkins, a consistently powerful actor who plays the patriarch, an embittered ex-soldier who resents the establishment that once commanded him.
Director Edward Zwick, who helmed the superb 1989 Civil War drama ``Glory,'' guides ``Legends of the Fall'' with a firm hand, never setting up emotion-laden crescendos. He lets the story unfold at its own pace. As the story develops, we begin to see how important time is to a multigeneration story like this. There always seems to be something missing during the film's first hour, and as family grows and generations evolve, it is precisely the passage of time that lessens the earlier emotional distance from the characters.
Cinematographer John Toll, with his exquisite, deeply shadowed photography, has created one of the most fabulous film battle sequences. Both in image and style, there is an air of melancholy consistent with the tragic family history throughout the film.
Without composer James Horner's soaring music, all of the dramatic grandeur would be lost. A Grammy winner for ``Glory,'' Horner's soundtrack never dominates the action or overblows the drama.
While ``Legends of the Fall'' is predictable, Zwick manages to grab the family drama, giving us scenes of great power and beauty culminating in a knockout finale. This is an example of how good storytelling can defy the material conventions of Hollywood. MEMO: ``Legends of the Fall'' is rated R, those under 17 not admitted without
parent or guardian. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Princess Anne grad Brent Bowles attends JMU.
by CNB