OK, technically these are "art" films - but don't let that chase you away. "Vanya on 42nd Street," at the Tower, and at the Broadway Centre, "Shallow Grave," are disparate works, but both are eccentric, deal with very serious issues and are both quite funny in their own way.
- "VANYA ON 42ND STREET" is essentially a workshop theater production on film, and it is certainly a labor of love for the actors and filmmakers.Reuniting the "My Dinner With Andre" team - director Louis Malle and actors Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory - "Vanya on 42nd Street" is a remarkable adaptation of Anton Chekhov's play "Uncle Vanya," directed for the stage by Gregory and adapted by playwright/screenwriter David Mamet ("The Untouchables," "Things Change").
The film opens with the participants walking New York streets, headed for the New Amsterdam Theater, which is off Times Square. The play never actually opened a commercial engagement, but the actors would gather together for director Gregory (over the course of several years) in a theater that was unsafe and condemned, performing on a makeshift stage in the orchestra pit. (All of this is shown in the opening moments of the film).
As the cast members greet each other, and Gregory offers some basic explanations to a couple of visitors to prepare them for this "run-through," the play just naturally begins. In fact, it starts in such a seamless manner that the film audience may not even recognize the transition from casual conversation to the beginning of the play itself.
And despite the fact that the actors never change from their street clothes, and that while they use the Russian names of Chekhov's characters, none try to affect accents - or use any other devices aside from acting skills and a few props - the show is utterly entrancing.
Shawn has the title role, as mousy, complaining, ever-dissatisfied but always witty and articulate Uncle Vanya, who is in love with his brother's younger and stunningly beautiful wife, Yelena (Julianne Moore).
Vanya's brother is Prof. Serybryakov (George Gaynes), the owner of the estate where they live, a pompous, arrogant man who drives everyone crazy. And as they sit around pontificating about the state of things, we see that pseudo-sophisticates have nothing to do, and all complain of boredom.
Enter Dr. Astrov (Larry Pine), a drunken idealist who is also falling in love with Yelena, which will prove disruptive to the family because Serybryakov's daughter Sonya (Brooke Smith) is in love with the good doctor.
Needless to say, things get complicated - and as Chekhov fans know, are capped off by a wonderful monologue from Sonya at the end of the play, a monologue that Smith delivers superbly.
Somehow, "Vanya on 42nd Street" manages to be both a delightful adaptation of the play and a satisfying celebration of theater. The performances here are all knockouts, with a perfect ensemble cast (which also includes Lynn Cohen, Pheoebe Brand and Jerry Mayer), and Malle, using subtle moviemaking technique, keeps things moving so that we hardly realize we are stagebound for nearly two hours.
"Vanya on 42nd Street" is rated PG for a moment of gunplay.
- "SHALLOW GRAVE" is very dark British satire with a great setup - three arrogant yuppie roommates in a Scottish apartment take in a fourth boarder, and when he kills himself with a drug overdose, they find themselves in dilemma. Do they call the police, or do they dispose of the body themselves so they can keep a suitcase full of money?
It's a plot worthy of Hitchcock, and there are elements that seem to be paying homage to the Master of Suspense . . . perhaps crossed with Quentin Tarantino ("Pulp Fiction"). But "Shallow Grave" is also quite eccentric - and disturbing in places - which would seem to limit its appreciative audience.
As you can easily guess, they decide to keep the money, which leads to myriad complications - not the least of which are the police who link them to the death of their roommate and the vicious drug-dealers who want their money back.
As the film progresses, two of the platonic roomies (Kerry Fox and Ewan McGregor) get careless and begin spending too much. And the third (Christopher Eccleston) goes nuts, sequestering himself in the attic with Rambo delusions.
Stylish, wacky and a bit shocking in places, "Shallow Grave" is entertaining on a certain level, but be prepared for graphic violence, some of it rather gleefully portrayed.
"Shallow Grave" is rated R for violence, gore, profanity and nudity.