What makes the film unique is that Powell uses the confusion and blackout conditions as a tool for his characters to move around in...Clearly the reason the library has it is just because of the famous director.
The director is again the reaon for having Joseph Losey's lousy Eva (Eve; 1962). We watched the DVD with the original uncut version (poorer quality and with Finnish subtitles), which could have had almost the whole first hour cut. It's nearly unwatchable.
The Lathe of Heaven (the 1980 TV version). Like most science fiction has a good idea that doesn't go much of anywhere. And the plot had an enormous hole in it; if the dreamer could change the world, including the doctor's memory of it, how could the doctor ever figure that out? OK, he witnesses the change once, but after that he apparently remembers what he shouldn't be able to. Still it's interested to see Bruce Davison in something other than the creepy roles I'm used to seeing him in, like The Practice.
We found Ride with the Devil (1999) watchable, even though some critics disliked it because it did not take a stand against slavery. Roger Ebert similarly can't figure out why a former slave would fight on the southern side, even though the film makes clear it's out of personal loyalty. It seems to me as if both he and J. Hoberman didn't much like the movie because they couldn't find any symbolism or irony to make themselves look clever. Or one could say that the movie wasn't deep enough for them. The language I found overly quaint; it makes you wonder if Ang Lee has a tin ear. And then I kept expecting Tobey Maguire to turn into Spidey.
Speaking of other roles, it's a good thing I didn't watch The X Files much, because Gillian Anderson plays the lead role in The House of Mirth (2000). It's a good movie, but I can't help but feel that Anderson's Lily Bart brought it on herself by gambling.
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