Marie Noëlle's bio-pic, MARIE CURIE: THE COURAGE OF KNOWLEDGE, explores the famous scientist's personal & professional life

Most mainstream audiences today, if they know much of anything about Marie Curie, will probably be somewhat familiar with her pioneering research on radioactivity. (She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, as well as the first person and only woman to win it twice.) The new Polish/German/ French co-production,
MARIE CURIE: The Courage of Knowledge,  should add to our own knowledge considerably -- even if this addition covers as much about Marie's personal and romantic life as about her scientific work.

Both, as it turns out, are interesting enough. As co-written (with Andrea Stoll) and directed by Marie Noëlle (shown at right), the movie proves consistently intelligent and entertaining, very well acted and, thanks to some excellent cinematography (Michal Englert) and editing (by Ms Noëlle and three others), especially pleasurable to view.

The filmmaker uses a bevy of medium shots, which manage to give us a combination of dialog and emotion, yet enough distance so that we don't feel that our nose is being rubbed into things too heavily. This also works well with the rather impressionistic focus Noëlle offers, which also has a somewhat distancing effect, even as the beauty of many of the visual moments takes hold.

In the title role, Polish actress Karolina Kruszka (above and below) does a marvelous job of bringing to life Marie Curie as both a hugely intelligent woman of science and, as the film moves along, an emotional being finally giving in to her needs and desires. There's a grand scene midway along in which, all of a sudden and with near-shocking simultaneity, Marie gives in to repressed feelings, sex, food, drink and lots more.

That splendid French actor Charles Berling (below, in foreground), whom I don't see on screen nearly enough, plays the love of Marie's life: her husband and co-worker, Pierre Curie. With not so much screen time but his unshowy but enormous arsenal of talents, Berling demonstrates exactly why this fine man was such a vital partner to his wife.

As the other male of increasing importance to Marie, once Pierre has departed, Arieh Worthalter (below, left) is smart, sexy and just slightly sleazy enough to not quite pass muster. While his and Curie's relationship brings Marie back to life -- and then some -- the filmmaker and her star make certain that we see Marie as the great scientist and fully cognizant, capable and life-embracing woman she no doubt was.

We view this woman as scientist, wife, mother, lover and feminist (how and why the French Academy of Sciences treated Curie as it did is a blemish that sexist organization will probably never live down). Along the way we're treated to a scene or two featuring Albert Einstein (Piotr Glowacki, above, center), who evidently was a big fan of Curie's work, as well as a dose of the anti-Semitism harbored by the French.

By the time we reach the lovely finale of the film, which returns us to the impressionistic style of its beginning, there is a superb moment as mother and daughter walk away from the camera, and the daughter turns to look back. Marie Curie, however, simply keeps walking, eyes and mind forever on the work and goals that lie ahead.

From Big World Pictures and running a sleek 100 minutes, Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge, after a very limited theatrical release last year, arrives on DVD this coming Tuesday, December 11--for purchase or rental.

WOMEN OF THE WEST: new Anthology Film Archives series features 18 westerns with female protagonists

The usual suspects are all gathered here: Joan Crawford in Nick Ray's Johnny Guitar, Jean Arthur in Wesley Ruggles' Arizona, and especially Barbara Stanwyck (above), who stars in in three films in this series: Anthony Mann's The Furies, Sam Fuller's Forty Guns and Allan Dwan's Cattle Queen of Montana. These are all from the glory days of the American western, the 1940s and 50s. But among the surprise delights of this new series -- WOMEN OF THE WEST, presented by Anthology Film Archives in New York City and beginning this Friday, August 31, through Sunday, September 16 -- are some unexpected near-gems.

Look for Gordon Parks, Jr.'s Thomasine & Bushrod (above: a sort-of Blacksploitation western from 1974), Maggie Greenwald's The Ballad of Little Joe (a cross-dressing surprise from 1993) and a must for any Lina Wertmuller "completists" out there, The Belle Starr Story, a Spaghetti western from 1968 that Wertmuller co-wrote, co-directed (under the pseudonym of Nathan Wich) and then took over, once her co-writer/director Piero Cristofani left the film.

All these and more are part of the series which TrustMovies imagines will be catnip for feminists, western fans and just about anybody who appreciates oddball movies -- some of them very good indeed.

Having already seen most of the films included here, I'll concentrate on the Wertmuller, which was spanking new to me and is not very good at all. Nor is the print I viewed via DVD screener, said to be provided by The Swedish Film Institute, which is utterly bleached of color and looks like it was transferred from a much-copied VHS tape back in the day.

From the outset almost everything about this silly movie seems rudimentary, as though everyone involved -- from those in front to the camera to those behind it -- were  thinking, "God, let's just get this over with!"

Consequently, it is difficult to determine or even imagine what drew Ms Wertmuller (shown at right) to the project, other than the opportunity to simply be able to direct a movie. Any movie. And, as this occurred very early in her career, it must have provided some important on-the-job training.

What the movie does have is a couple of Italian
"stars" of some note from the 1960s, especially the beautiful, slightly-freckle-faced Elsa Martinelli (shown below) in the leading role as that American woman outlaw icon known as Belle Starr.

Also onboard is the darkly handsome hunk, George Eastman (below), as another outlaw named Larry Blackie, who proves especially good at undressing, rolling his eyes and laughing a lot. The two of them prove to be one of those on again/off again romances in which the lovers keep vying for control over each other, with neither willing to give in (this would become a kind of hallmark of much of Wertmuller's work).

With a screenplay that's as obvious, silly, clunky and pseudo-poetic as it gets, the movie gives us Belle's back story and history -- which includes a lecherous and evil uncle, an Indian maiden rescued from lynching, and a friend-and-maybe-eventual lover (played by Robert Woods, below),

all finally leading up to the major diamond heist that provides the movie's most compelling section -- it's final half hour in which things heat up and get a little interesting for a change.

We get a bit of safe-cracking, the robbery itself, and then -- via a Pinkerton agent (Bruno Corazzari, below) who proves both the movie's major villain, as well as a bizarre bit of actual conscience at film's end -- a nasty, sexy torture scene complete with homoerotic overtones between said agent and our semi-hero Blackie (above).

The Belle Starr Story will take you back to a time when men were men, women women, and those Italian spaghetti westerns were already getting way too long in the tooth. And it'll make you eager to view again some of Ms Wertmuller's later films, while offering the chance to see an example of how this talented director, movie-wise at least, first cut her own teeth.

Her film will play during AFA's Women of the West series on Monday, September 10, at 6:45pm; on Wednesday, September 12, at 9pm and on Friday, September 14 at 9pm.  To view the entire AFA series schedule, simply click here.          

DVDebut for one of the year's best films: Maysaloun Hamoud's IN BETWEEN

Below is TrustMovies' original review of a film 

that arrives on DVD this coming week. 

If you didn't catch it in theaters, 

now's your chance. It's a winner.

A terrific melodrama all about the evolving place of women in the Muslim world -- particularly that special Muslim world that exists within the state of Israel -- IN BETWEEN, the first full-length film from Budapest-born Maysaloun Hamoud -- is an impressive piece of work in several ways. It offers a look at three very different Muslim young women, each coming to grips with her own needs and desires that conflict with those of her parents, religion, and "tradition." Yet in Israel, for all the other problems that state presents for Muslims, these women are allowed to dress as they wish, become successful in careers usually reserved for men, and choose their significant other out of love, lust or just plain compatibility, rather than the more traditional, "arranged" manner.

Ms Hamoud, shown at left, wrote and directed her movie, and she succeeds equally well in both endeavors. Her dialog is smart and on-target while visually, she and her attractive, talented performers, in addition to the well-chosen locations, camera-work and editing, keep us not merely engrossed but pretty much swept along in all of the growing and mostly fraught goings-on. The filmmaker not only brings to fruition her story and characters, she also leaves them (and us) at an almost perfect moment of ironic, double-edged success: "in between," indeed. The movie's final frame is as memorable as any I've seen in a long while.

The leading characters here are Leila (Mouna Hawa (above), a successful, high-powered lawyer who'd like to meet the right man; Salma (Sana Jammelieh, below), an artist supporting herself as best she can, with an arranged marriage in store, even though her sexual preference is otherwise;

and Noor (Shaden Kanboura, below), a chubby, sweet, and highly traditional young woman about to marry an even more traditional jerk. When Noor moves to Tel Aviv in order to be closer to her school where she studies, and then in with the other two women, change begins to occur.

How this change happens and our characters evolve is particularly believable -- well conceived and executed, via the work of Hamoud and her actresses. Each of the women's stories is brought to fine life, and how they are interwoven is exemplary.

We see and empathize with the interplay of the desire for greater freedom, the needs of family, the demands of the workplace, and the place of men -- lovers (that's the very sexy Mahmud Shalaby, above), fiances, and fathers -- in all this.

The look we get at Arab night life in Israel may surprise you, but I don't doubt that's it's relatively authentic. Ditto the family scenes with both Salma and Noor. (There's a scene near the finale involving Noor, her father and her fiance that is quite surprising and moving.)

By the time we get to that final, wonderful moment of what is perhaps -- no, absolutely -- a victory, I wouldn't go so far as to call it Pyrrhic, but Ms Hamoud makes it clear that this is anything but complete. In Between is must-see for film-goers interested in the changing roles of women, particularly those in the Middle East.

From Film Movement, running 103 minutes and in Hebrew and Arabic with English subtitles, the movie opened theatrically in the USA in early January and hits the street on DVD this coming Tuesday, May 1 -- for purchase and/or rental.

Maysaloun Hamoud's IN BETWEEN explores Muslim women and what change has wrought

A terrific melodrama all about the evolving place of women in the Muslim world -- particularly that special Muslim world that exists within the state of Israel -- IN BETWEEN, the first full-length film from Budapest-born Maysaloun Hamoud -- is an impressive piece of work in several ways. It offers a look at three very different Muslim young women, each coming to grips with her own needs and desires that conflict with those of her parents, religion, and "tradition." Yet in Israel, for all the other problems that state presents for Muslims, these women are allowed to dress as they wish, become successful in careers usually reserved for men, and choose their significant other out of love, lust or just plain compatibility, rather than the more traditional, "arranged" manner.

Ms Hamoud, shown at left, wrote and directed her movie, and she succeeds equally well in both endeavors. Her dialog is smart and on-target while visually, she and her attractive, talented performers, in addition to the well-chosen locations, camera-work and editing, keep us not merely engrossed but pretty much swept along in all of the growing and mostly fraught goings-on. The filmmaker not only brings to fruition her story and characters, she also leaves them (and us) at an almost perfect moment of ironic, double-edged success: "in between," indeed. The movie's final frame is as memorable as any I've seen in a long while.

The leading characters here are Leila (Mouna Hawa (above), a successful, high-powered lawyer who'd like to meet the right man; Salma (Sana Jammelieh, below), an artist supporting herself as best she can, with an arranged marriage in store, even though her sexual preference is otherwise;

and Noor (Shaden Kanboura, below), a chubby, sweet, and highly traditional young woman about to marry an even more traditional jerk. When Noor moves to Tel Aviv in order to be closer to her school where she studies, and then in with the other two women, change begins to occur.

How this change happens and our characters evolve is particularly believable -- well conceived and executed, via the work of Hamoud and her actresses. Each of the women's stories is brought to fine life, and how they are interwoven is exemplary.

We see and empathize with the interplay of the desire for greater freedom, the needs of family, the demands of the workplace, and the place of men -- lovers (that's the very sexy Mahmud Shalaby, above), fiances, and fathers -- in all this.

The look we get at Arab night life in Israel may surprise you, but I don't doubt that's it's relatively authentic. Ditto the family scenes with both Salma and Noor. (There's a scene near the finale involving Noor, her father and her fiance that is quite surprising and moving.)

By the time we get to that final, wonderful moment of what is perhaps -- no, absolutely -- a victory, I wouldn't go so far as to call it Pyrrhic, but Ms Hamoud makes it clear that this is anything but complete. In Between is must-see for film-goers interested in the changing roles of women, particularly those in the middle east.

From Film Movement, running 103 minutes and in Hebrew and Arabic with English subtitles, the movie opens tomorrow, Friday, January 5, in New York City at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema. It has already played practically the entire rest of the country either at festivals or theatrically. To view all past -- along with a couple of future -- screening dates, simply click here and scroll down.

Pablo Berger's latest delight (and follow up to Snow White), ABRACADABRA, opens in Miami

Spanish writer/director Pablo Berger has made three wonderful but utterly disparate movies: Torremolinos 73, Blancanieves, and now his latest, ABRACADABRA.

While each is in a very different genre, each also manages to jump genres, meld them, bend them or maybe just mash them up. In any case, once seen, a Berger film is something you will not easily forget. Even if you don't care for it all that much, it will very probably imprint itself upon your memory.

Señor Berger, shown at left, is mashing those genres with particular ferocity and agility in his new film -- which butts the Spanish male's machismo up against feminine perseverance and endurance, adds a bit of hypnotism, body swapping, the spirit world, matricide and multiple murders, a lot of humor (some of it rather dark), budding romance, and one absolute gem of a dance number. Among a lot else. Yet, as bizarre and sometimes baffling as all this grows, it is simultaneously so oddly enjoyable that I suspect you'll hang on for the ride, which lasts 96 minutes.

The movie stars two of Spains finest actors, Maribel Verdú and Antonio de la Torre (above and below), and both are more than up to snuff, with de la Torre particularly fine in what amounts to a dual role. (The pair's dance scene together is worth the price of admission and then some.)

In the juicy supporting cast are two standouts: José Mota (below, right) and Josep Maria Pou (at bottom), the former as our heroine's oddball cousin, the latter as that cousin's mentor in hypnosis.

I wish I had more time to expand on the delights of this film, but I must cut this one short. If you're a fan of Berger, you'll want to see it; if you don't know his work, it's as good an entry as any.

From Sony Pictures International, Abracadabra opened in Miami on Wednesday, November 22, at MDC's Tower Theater. Will it play elsewhere? Let's hope so.

Nepal's culture, history and current politics blend in Deepak Rauniyar's moving WHITE SUN

So what do you know about the country of Nepal? The adult son of a good friend of mine (who produced an Oscar-nominated short some years back) has spent a lot of time there and loves the place, yet other than realizing that Nepal borders on India to the south and the now-China-conquered state of Tibet to the north, TrustMovies knew little else, except that its capital is Kathmandu and the world's highest mountain -- Everest -- is located therein. After viewing the new film WHITE SUN, I suspect that you will, as did I, want to know more about this fascinating and, from the looks of it, quite beautiful Himalayan country.

As written and directed by Nepalese filmmaker Deepak Rauniyar (shown at left), this gentle, humorous and finally surprisingly moving film explores family life and current politics, even as it surveys both tradition and the changes that have now come to this little country. While these changes have resulted in war, death and families seemingly as divided as were some of ours here in the USA during the Civil War, the movie itself -- because it takes place post-war, as divisions are being healed and accommodations made to politics and modernity -- proves much quieter and concerned more with healing than with that earlier fracturing.

The tale told here is beautifully conceived and executed by Mr. Rauniyar to both encompass and lay bare his theme of monarchy vs Maoist, tradition vs change. Further, the details he offers enable us to follow and appreciate most of the story, even if some of the ironies and subtleties are undoubtedly lost on us in the process.

The sudden death of the father of a family reunites those long separated by politics and familial divisions, even as this event offers a terrifically cogent means to bring the idea of progress and what this means to the forefront. The filmmaker does not, so far as I could tell, come down hard on either side of the debate. Rather he finds the irony and humor under the surface, allowing these to bubble up in ways quite charming and surprising.

In addition to its main theme, the film also delivers nods to paternity -- real, imagined and desired -- and feminism along the way. Rauniyar has corralled a fine cast that delivers excellent performances throughout. Granted there is occasional overplayed exposition, as when a villager in the funeral procession explains to his friends (but really to us) things about his family that those villagers would clearly already know. But this is minor when compared to this writer/director's accomplishments in demonstrating both the pros and cons embedded in warring ideologies.

Many of the adults here may be overly set in their ways, but it is the children, finally, who command the filmmaker's (and our own) respect and caring, and White Sun's finale seems both unexpected yet exactly right and wonderfully just.  The movie will be this year's submission from Nepal for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. I should think that our Academy will take note and perhaps shortlist the movie, if not nominate it outright.

From KimStim Films, the movie, which opened in New York City earlier this month to very good reviews, hits Los Angeles this Friday, September 29, opening at Laemmle's Music Hall 3. Click here and then scroll down and click on PLAY DATES to view all past and future cities and theaters at which the film will screen. (I would think we'll also have an eventual VOD/DVD release.)