Lies, lies. Two films have that word in their title. "Brilliant Lies,"
by Australian director Richard Franklin, deals with sexual harrassment.
The usual type: boss (Anthony La Paglia) vs. secretary (Gia Carides). A
couple of twists, though: Fleshy Carides is openly a flirt, and he's a womanizer.
Therein lies the interest of this film: Neither character is more likeable
at the end than then were at the beginning, but the harassment case still
stands. "Brilliant Lies" tackles the matter head on -- with a
similar subject, however, David Mamet's "Oleanna" is far more
textured.
Peter Kitwit's "Silent Lies" also deals with abuse, this time
between father and daughter, and its impact on a pre-prom teenager.
"La Promesse" (The Promise) is undeniably a foreign film. Directed
by Belgian helmers (and brothers) Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, it is a
stark, albeit occasionally funny, look on the money to be made on illegal
immigrants. An activity you can't be too young to start in -- the main character
is barely fifteen. There is "no happy end", no "redemption",
the one time the kid does something nice, problems abound. Life is tough,
the film says, but you have to live it and some flowers do grow amidst the
rubble.
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"Bubbles Galore" holds some sort of a record: the action takes
place in the porno-movie industry, yet it's the first soft-porn flick you
don't need to take your gabardine coat to. So we didn't and went to the
Alliance Entertainment party.
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Nice restaurant, the Fouquet's in Montreal. Not as haute-snack as the Paris
one, but more informal. Obviously, for the last three days, the guests had
been dying to party, and party they did. Laura Dern was there, recovering
from a day's worth of back to back interviews, so were "A Toute Vitesse"
's Gael Morel and Stephane Rideau. The introductions were a delight: Kids
from the hood meet the daughter of Hollywood royalty.
Minutes later, the Kids considered they'd done their official duty and dashed
to the Montreal Village where life starts after midnight. I caved in at
3.
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