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TIP OF THE WEEK
Lamerica

Ray Pride

Gianni Amelio's used his career to reinvent the neorealist genre, with movies such as "Open Doors" and "Stolen Children," and "Lamerica" may be his best. The story sounds like the glummest of tales, but Amelio's work shines on even the simplest level, as travelogue, with its jaw-dropping glimpses of Albania, a country sealed off from the West for decades. Shot in fluent widescreen, and taking in a landscape blasted by years of dictatorial neglect, the extraordinarily compelling texture of Amelio's filmmaking enriches the story of a young man who reluctantly acquires a father figure. Two Italians venture into Albania to create a shell company and exploit the country's cheap labor to make shoes. To pull off the scam, they hire a doddering old man to be the chairman. The man was a political prisoner since before World War II, and he doesn't realize the decades have passed. After the shill bolts, the younger of the two Italians takes off after him. Their journey by bus and foot and boat toward a life that no longer exists embodies all the exoduses of the century, filled with despair, hope, and ultimately, a boatload of irony. 116m. 35mm. Technovision widescreen.

"Lamerica" plays July 5, 7 and 10 at the Film Center. See Film listings for details.

(2002-07-04)

Also by Ray Pride

TIP OF THE WEEK
I'm usually offended only by movies that are truly awful and misguided. Then there's the rare case where a film that truly makes my skin crawl has hit me in such a personal way that takes me a few months or even years to understand why. Bernard Rose's "ivansxtc.," which I first saw as projected video at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2000, was one of those movies.
(2002-06-27)

SNOW MOTION
The convergence of video and cinema is something you keep hearing about, but now you can see it in "The Fast Runner," the kind of grand, majestic, soaring masterpiece, drawn from centuries-old myth, that should make most filmmakers shiver with respect and awe.
(2002-06-27)

DOUBLE DEUTSCH
Thanking Boeing for the financial aid to run both shows, the Art Institute's James Wood tells the company rep and the assembled scriveners, "We are natural partners, but you are the essential lubricant that brought us together."
(2002-06-27)

TIP OF THE WEEK
Like a one-man "Gremlins," little blue Stitch snarls, garbles, spits, coos, and generally enforces havoc on Lilo's peaceful village until the sentimental power of a small girl's love turns him cute as well as still a little naughty.
(2002-06-20)

FUTURE TENSE
(2002-06-20)

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HAPPINESS REDUX
(2002-06-13)

TIP OF THE WEEK
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SHUT THE HELL UP!
(2002-06-06)

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MORAL FEAR
(2002-05-30)

MOVIE LOVE
(2002-05-30)



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