‘Tom & Viv’ Examines Emotional Makeup Of Writers And The People That They Love
Movies about writers face an obvious obstacle: How do you translate a literal medium to one that’s primarily visual?
One way to do that is by showing them at their writing desk, glowering as they concentrate, ripping offending sheets from their typewriters but then glowing when they think of just the right phrase.
Think of Wim Wenders’ “Hammett” (1983). “Julia” (1977), too, stands out in this regard. I can still see Jane Fonda, a too-attractive alternative to Lillian Hellman, sitting in her lonely beach house, pounding out the play (“The Children’s Hour”) that would earn her first fame.
Another is to show them talking about their obsessions for words. “Henry & June” (1990) features Fred Ward and Maria de Medeiros as Henry Miller and Anais Nin, scribbling their impressions of 1930s Paris. In “Dorothy Parker and the Vicious Circle” (1994), Jennifer Jason Leigh, Campbell Scott and the rest of the cast actually spend more time talking about writing then actually doing the deed.
Then you have a movie such as “Tom & Viv,” which takes another route entirely. It concentrates on the emotional makeup of a writer - and of those whom the writer loves.
Most people know Thomas Stearns “T.S.” Eliot as a Nobel Prize-winning poet whose masterpiece, “The Waste Land,” helped change the face of poetry. But few know of his personal life, particularly of his first marriage to Vivian Haigh-Wood.
Yet as portrayed by Oscar-nominated Miranda Richardson, it’s easy to see why Eliot was so close-mouthed about their two-decade relationship.
In the end, though, this film portrays Eliot (Willem Dafoe) as a complex man who, though claiming to write from a position of non-emotion, may have feared the very emotions that his tempestuous wife aroused in him. *** 1/2 Rated PG-13.
Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh
*
The initial episode in what, unfortunately, has become a series featured too much violence and not enough story sense . But it did have its creepy moments.
This time, the imagination-figment-come-alive (Tony Todd) has returned to the scene of his earthly demise, New Orleans, and is plaguing a distinguished family for reasons that are at once obvious and inherently racist. Lots of vivisection action aside, this mess is a sure cure for insomnia. Rated R.
Short takes
“The Mangler” answers that nagging question, “Whatever happened to Tobe Hooper?” Hooper, horror fans will recall, was the man responsible for one of the all-time scary films, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
While less bloody, nearly antiseptic, by today’s horror standards, “Chainsaw” proved that suspense and fear have more to do with the idea of dismemberment than with dismemberment itself.
His other films, including “Funhouse” (1981), “Lifeforce” (1985), the original “Poltergeist” (1982) and the remake of “Invaders From Mars” (1986), have been less consistent in quality (and some reports have producer Steven Spielberg taking over the reins of “Poltergeist”).
“The Mangler,” based on a Stephen King short story, involves a factory whose central feature is a machine that seems to have a killing soul. It stars Robert Englund of “Nightmare on Elm Street” fame. It is rated R.
, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WHAT’S NEW TO VIEW Available this weekend: “Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh” (Polygram), “American Cop” (A-Pix), “Tom & Viv” (Miramax), “The Mangler” (Turner). Available on Tuesday: “Freddie the Frog” (MCA/Universal), “Hideaway” (Columbia TriStar), “The Hunted” (MCA).