Thom Mount
Occupation
Filmmaker
Frantic Review
Excellent
It's a common nightmare. A simple mistake -- a mixed-up bag at the airport -- lands you in a world of shit far away from familiar surroundings. In this case, Harrison Ford plays an American in Paris whose wife goes missing while he's in the shower at their hotel. Soon he's mixed up in a drug ring and a smuggling gig, with a sexy vixen (Emmanuelle Seigner, wife of director Roman Polanski) along for the ride. Polanski paces the film very deliberately, with Ford in almost every scene, proving he's an exceptional actor. It's surprisingly taut, quite realistic, and worth watching. It isn't Polanski's greatest work, but it's a great success.
Death And The Maiden Review
Extraordinary
Sigourney Weaver and Ben Kingsley are together in Roman Polanski's new film, Death and the Maiden, a haunting and powerful work of genius. Based on the acclaimed stage play, the story goes that Weaver is the wife of rich South American lawyer/politician Gerardo Escobar (played by Stuart Wilson), and they live alone in the wilderness of this unnamed country. One day, Dr. Miranda (Kingsley) shows up at the house after helping Escobar with a flat tire, and he comes in for a drink.Paulina (Weaver) begins to inexplicably break down after his arrival, going so far as to sneak out of the house and destroy Miranda's car. Only when she returns do we discover the shocking reason for this insanity. Paulina suspects Miranda was the doctor who tortured and raped her 15 years earlier: the doctor, she says, who played the Schubert composition "Death and the Maiden" while he applied his evil ministrations. Paulina then turns the tables, tying Miranda up, beating him, and holding an impromptu trial to get his confession to the deeds.
Continue reading: Death And The Maiden Review