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The Last Mistress Directed by Catherine Breillat 69 out of 100
To realize this is a film by Catherine Breillat is much the same as realizing The Age of Innocence was a film by Martin Scorsese. Just as Scorsese "tamed" his bloody wild side with the rather staid but still quite alluringly luscious period piece adaptation of Edith Wharton, Breillat seems to subside her own rather feral filmmaking style in order to take on the dreaded period costume drama. Yet, just as one could look beneath the layers of The Age of Innocence and see the depth of character and spot Scorsese being Scorsese, one can look under the covers here and find a rather bawdy - though our jaded modern sensibilities may not see it that way - bedroom sex farce-cum-desolation story. And the one thing under those covers that makes us all sit up and take notice is the quite feral herself Asia Argento.
Creature du jour of modern cinema, Argento's Vellini, a woman of quite rabid disrepute in 19th Century Parisian society, is as sexually vibrant as any character the actress has played - and she has played quite a few sexual characters. Making love (if it can be called something as tame as all that) with the aural audacity of a libidinous cantatrice while lasciviously drinking the blood of her lover as if some sort of savage carnal praying mantis going in for the post-coital kill, only to eventually succumb to the pain of loss and degredation, Argento plays her role like she plays every other role, as if it were the last part she will ever get to play. Argento acts as if the world will end when the screen goes dark and this works perfectly with the bang-bang shock cinema of Breillat, even when it is set in a world of drawing rooms and high society. The stunning hubris of Fat Girl, Romance and/or Anatomy of Hell (for better or for worse?) may not be readily seen in the lush padded parlours of The Last Mistress, but thanks to the wanton bestial sexuality of Asia Argento, one feels as if it is there after all. [06/27/08] Kevyn Knox Film Critic, Essayist + Historian |
| FilmSpeak.com’s FilmNewz for Thursday, October 2, 2008 Local Feature Information … Playing at the Midtown Cinema (909-6566 or
www.midtowncinema.com) from Friday, October 3 through Thursday, October 9, 2008: “TRANSSIBERIAN” (1 hr. 51 min.,
Rated R). Transsiberian is a thriller set on the legendary train that links the
Far East and Europe, running from China and Mongolia to Russia. Following a
stay in Beijing, Roy and Jessie, a couple who are going through a rocky patch,
decide to give their relationship one last go and have another adventure
together, traveling on the Transsiberian from China to Moscow through exotic,
wild and snow-laden places. On the train, Roy and Jessie discover that the days
of the Transsiberian's glorious luxury have faded since the fall of the
U.S.S.R. The famous train's former glamour has disappeared, leaving cold steel
carriages and taciturn fellow passengers, reputed to include drug traffickers.
They take refuge in the company of a fellow western couple who arrive in their
shared compartment, Carlos and Abby, who travel throughout the world giving
language classes and re-selling handcraft, such as, on this occasion, Russian
Matryoshka dolls. Everything is going well until the four decide to get off the
train at one stop. Stars Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer, and Ben Kingsley. DAILY SHOWTIMES: 3:30, 6:30, 9:00
(9:00 show on Fri and Sat Only) “RELIGULOUS”(1 hr. 41 min., Rated
R). Bill Maher travels around the globe interviewing people about God and
religion. Known for his astute analytical skills, irreverent wit and commitment
to never pulling a punch, Maher brings his characteristic honesty to an unusual
spiritual journey. Directed by Larry Charles (“Borat”). DAILY SHOWTIMES: 3:00, 6:45, 9:10
(9:10 show on Fri and Sat Only) “FROZEN RIVER” (1 hr. 36 min.,
Rated R). Ray Eddy, an upstate New York trailer mom, is lured into the world of
illegal immigrant smuggling when she meets a Mohawk girl who lives on a
reservation that straddles the US-Canadian border. Broke after her husband
takes off with the down payment for their new doublewide, Ray reluctantly teams
up with Lila, a smuggler, and the two begin making runs across the frozen St.
Lawrence River carrying illegal Chinese and Pakistani immigrants in the trunk
of Ray's Dodge Spirit. DAILY SHOWTIMES: 3:15, 7:00, 9:15
(9:15 show on Fri and Sat Only) COMING SOON – THE DUCHESS, SECRET
LIFE OF BEES Enjoy, TODD J. SHILL, ESQ.
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