Page 8 The Behrend Beacon Women's International Film Series Agenda makes Chaos' an unbearble mess review by Daniel J. Stasiewski managing editor " Chaos" was almost over when I re alized the film was supposed to be a com edy, and that revelation explained a lot about the ridiculous crime fighting tech niques and ludicrous overacting. Think ing of the film as a comedy also lightens up mean-spirited male bashing that is rather heavy-handed when juxtaposed with three pimps beating up a prostitute. That's where the film begins, with Helene (Catherine Frot) and her hus band, Paul (Vincent Lindon), witnessing a brutal attack on a prostitute in a Paris street. The attackers smash the prostitute's (Rachida Brakni) head on the couple's windshield, while techno mu sic plays over the scene. Paul's reaction is to ignore the incident and get the car washed, leaving the sensitive Helene without the chance to help the woman. The beating literally haunts Helene in her sleep, so she leaves her job, her chau vinist husband and her womanizing son in order to ensure the prostitute's safety. 'Chaos" isn't all bad: a second opinion "Chaos" delivers strong action pace along with the sentimental feelings of a drama. It can attract three different types of moviegoers: action, drama and comedy. This film presents commentary that only a woman could have told about the shocking events of a defenseless woman being beaten by thugs. Imagine your in a car, and there's a woman limping down the street, with a group of thugs beating her, she gets slashed over your cars window, your husband wants to leave the scene, but you want to help her. The woman in the car (Malika), visit's the woman in the hospital, vqhp.rqakes it through, but unfortunately is in a coma. The films title ,"Chaos" was a perfect fit, since this film is full of it. She befriends the victim and is put into a challenge of confronting one of the assaulters who may put the patient in more danger. The patient has a world of controversy and brings Malika into it, by abandon ing her husband and son, to help the patient, who was a prostitute. Malika takes the woman to a hideout once she felt better, moving from France to Algeria, fearing danger. The commentary speaks on issues evolving from sexist and racism. It teaches a great deal of values, morals and about different cul tures. It is different from American films, by bringing more culture to view ers. As the plot unfolds, the suspense darkly deepens but settles in time for comedy. The Center for Service Leadership Recognizes and Thanks Multi-Cultural Council For outstanding community service MCC members hosted a campus tour for 45 students from the Perseus They met with an admissions counselor to see an admissions presentation, then attended an ice Multi-Cultural Council She foils a number of attempts on the young woman's life, until the prostitute is finally strong enough to run away. They bail to the house of Paul's mother, where the lonely old woman spends her time gardening and thinking about her ungrateful son. We learn a lot about the prostitute once she's able to talk. Her name is Noemie. She ran away from home when she was 16 to avoid being sold into in dentured servitude to a husband in Algiers. She didn't intend to become a prostitute, but a man kidnapped her, got her hooked on heroine and forced her onto the streets. Noemie's father is a tra ditional Muslim who believes that his runaway daughter shamed the family and Islam. Unable to go home, Noemie is forced to come up with a convoluted plot to save her sister from the same fate. On the back cover of the DVD, the film is described in part as a "pulse pounding melodrama" combined with a "loopy battle-of-the-sexes comedy," but the film is neither sincere enough to be a drama nor is it funny enough to be a coin- review by Olivia Page Charter School. cream social. Thank You Behrend Pride! Friday, April 2, 2004 edy. The film combines the farthest reaches of both, the gritty urban tragedy of "Midnight Cowboy" and the slapstick humor of "Some Like it Hot," making the film hard to digest either way. Beyond the disastrous combination of hefty melodrama and campy comedy, the film has a dark side. "Chaos" insulted me. As a male and self-described femi nist, it's hard for me to digest director Coline Serreau portraying every man as heartless monsters and a sexual preda tors. The idea that insensitivity is a uni versal male characteristic is as ludicrous as saying all women are true feminists (Ann Coulter, anyone?). Noemie's male family members need to be portrayed as insensitive brutes; there's a valid critique of Islam in her story. Paul and the pimps, of course, are also sketched as misogynists to move the narrative along. When minor characters, like the bartender who ignores Helene when she asks for a phone, are portrayed as apathetic towards a women's plight, the cogent arguments become diluted and the film, pointless. The Ladykillers' barely slays Tom Hanks leads a gang of nitwits in "The Ladykillers." review by Brad Stewart Not your normal heist movie, "The Ladykillers" falls somewhere between an "Ocean's Eleven" and "Home Alone" type flick. Directed by the Coen brothers, who were the masterminds behind "Fargo" and "The Big Lebowski," the film offers the classic Coen humor with a side of greed and magical realism. Like "Ocean's Eleven," "The Ladykillers" is the re make of an older film. The original was a 1955 com edy in which a gang of criminals rents a house in Lon don thinking they can easily kill the innocent land lady —this time the setting is New Orleans, but much of the initial story remains the same. Tom Hanks leads the 2004 version as Goldthwait Higginson Dorr 111, Ph.D., a professor turned criminal who assembles a crack team of unlikely confederates to relieve a riverboat casino of its money. His delin quent crew is comprised of four members: Gawain Mac Sam (Marlon Wayans), the inside man; Garth Pan cake (J.K. Simmons), demolitions; The General (Tzi Ma), tunneling expert; and Lump Hudson (Ryan Hurst), blunt tool The rofessor establishes his base of operations in In the end, the cultural critique isn't well thought out enough to be taken se riously and the film plays out like a sec ond-rate Hollywood thriller. Helene's story of an unloved married woman looking to find something to hold on to is the main source of the film's most in teresting moments. Of course, those moments have to occur outside the pres ence of a male character to forget the staff writer The LEI punts Comedian Saturday at 9 p.m. Eric Nieves Ilimim's• Daniel J. Stasiewski, A&E Editor film's blatant agenda and maintain a minor level of intrigue. *in the Women's In ternational Film Series on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Reed 117. the home of Marva Munson (Irma P. Hall), presenting himself as a homeless musician. The extremely reli gious Marva rents him the room under the impression that he is the leader of a band that performs "church music." From the root cellar of Ms. Munson's home, Dorr's crew tunnels to steal the casino's loot and en counters a variety of unforeseen difficulties. "The Ladykillers" is an amusing film—littered with typical Coen dialogue and quirky characters that keep the viewer entertained. But don't get too excited be fore seeing this film, because it will not exceed your expectations. The development of the story is slow and lacking in tension. The interesting characters relieve some of the viewer anxiety—as always, Tom Hanks brings a certain quality to the screen, but he alone could not save this movie. The action increases towards the end, and the main conflict (from which the title of the movie originates) arises into full view. The ending is a mystical twist of fate, or luck, which leaves the viewer questioning whether it was a satisfying ending or not. "The Ladykillers," directed by the Coen brothers and starring Tom Hanks, is now showing at Tinseltown. behrcolls@aol.com "Chaos, - di rected by Coline Serreau, will he out of 4 stars shown (is port of
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