The best movies you've never heard of

This is the first in a series of Friday mini movie reviews, called "The best movies you've never heard of." It enables movie fans all over Tufts to briefly bring their favorite obscure film into the spotlight and explain why it deserves a rental or two.



>The End of Violence

1996

Director: Wim Wenders. Starring: Bill Pullman, Gabriel Byrne and Andie MacDowell. Rated R.



The End of Violence is a strange, intricate film that you might consider incomplete. It has all the ingredients for a potboiler thriller: conspiracy, murder, cover-up, paranoia and confusion. It even has a camera system that covers every inch of LA, ala' Enemy of the State. And yet it couldn't be more be less of a popcorn movie if it tried.

Whether or not this is a good thing is up to the viewer. Popcorn movies have their time and place _ I maintain Armageddon was and still is a superior piece of summer entertainment _ but there is also a time and place for movies that require lots of thought and study. And I'm not talking about dramas that bring up a big 'issue' and then beat it to death for the next hour and a half (like 8mm- where we learn that all of the dark things in the human psyche are because of Nicholas Cage.)

The plot in its broadest outlines: film producer Max (Bill Pullman) is given an FBI file that details a camera system, which is maintained by Ray (Gabriel Byrne). At the same time, Max receives the file, his wife (Andie Mcdowell) tells him, via cell phone that she's leaving him. As Max tries to figure everything out, two goons suddenly kidnap him, with Ray watching from his perch; all seeing but powerless. As the hired goons argue over what to do with Max, they are suddenly murdered.

After that, the story fractures in a thousand different directions, all of them a small piece of the puzzle. Some pieces are fairly obvious, and some appear to be downright pointless. This movie will probably confuse and frustrate many people, especially during the first viewing. That was my reaction, at least, as you keep thinking, why these choices? Why so many plot threads? Why doesn't the conspiracy mean more? Why were the plans sent to Max, exactly? Why doesn't it add up?

But after watching it a second and even third time, ideas start to stick in your head. Big ideals and big events are not the goal here. The relationship between a father and son is more important than a conspiracy. A character freeing himself from his own trappings is more important than who is behind the cameras. The hill of beans means more than the crazy world.

And the details! So many bizarre little things that are only there for the patient viewer to find. The way Max makes his secretary wait on tele-conference just so he can watch her. The man hiding on the street, just in case a camera is watching him (and it is). The oblique way Ray's father tells him he loves him. The scene with the doomed thugs debating whether to kill Max is a small masterpiece in itself.

The camerawork and music fill in most of the storytelling gaps, and Ry Cooder does an excellent scoring job, and the use of light and color evokes Los Angeles in all its' complex angles

The film is far from perfect. Director Wim Wenders is trying to do a little too much, and there's about three characters too many to keep up with. On top of that, his message of nonviolence doesn't exactly mesh with the story. A single gunshot is more devastating than all his commentary on society, and the final standoff on the pier carries more emotional weight than the problem of violence in Hollywood. Then again, most of the time when Hollywood tries to think, they call Nicholas Cage.

This movie isn't for everyone. If it sounds boring to you, it probably will be. If it sounds intriguing and a little off the beaten path (in a good way), I highly advise you to check it out.



If you've got a favorite movie that no one has ever heard of, let us know at arts@tuftsdaily.com. Animated, silly, bizarre, obscure, artsy, whatever: this is your chance to make everyone hear about your favorite French film.

@s:Twisting plot lines make great story second time throug