SpringWidgets Fandango.com Boxoffice Top 10 Fandango?s Top 10 Box Office Movies!
SpringWidgets Spiritual Insight in Movies All other considerations aside, how spiritual is a movie? The scale rates from profoundly spiritual (5) to not at all spiritual (1). Courtesy of HollywoodJesus.com.
Rejas
is an outsider because he won't go along with the corrupt system.
Whereas the terrorists want to bring down the corrupt system by
their corrupt violence, Rejas wants to try to just do the right
thing in spite of the system.
THE DANCER UPSTAIRS
Pasos de baile
(2002) This page was created on May 9, 2003
This page was last updated on
May 17, 2005
Directed
by John Malkovich
Novel by Nicholas Shakespeare
Screenplay by Nicholas Shakespeare
Javier Bardem .... Rejas
Laura Morante .... Yolanda
Juan Diego Botto .... Sucre
Elvira Mínguez .... Llosa
Alexandra Lencastre .... Sylvina
Oliver Cotton .... Gen. Merino
Luis Miguel Cintra .... Calderon
Javier Manrique .... Clorindo
Abel Folk .... Ezequiel Durán
Marie-Anne Verganza .... Laura
Lucas Rodríguez .... Sgt. Gómez
Xabier Elorriaga .... Pascual
Natalia Dicenta .... Marina
Wolframio Sinué .... Santiago
Produced
by
Yousaf Bokhari .... line producer
Andrés Vicente Gómez .... producer
Lianne Halfon .... executive producer
John Malkovich .... producer
Russell Smith .... executive producer
Original Music by Alberto Iglesias and Pedro Malgheas
Cinematography by José Luis Alcaine
Film Editing by Mario Battistel
MPAA: Rated R for strong violence,
and for language.
Runtime: Spain:133 min / Spain:135 min / USA:124 min
For rating reasons, go to FILMRATINGS.COM,
and MPAA.ORG.
Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG
The
Dancer Upstairs
by Nicholas Shakespeare
Striding purposefully out into vintage Graham Greene and John le Carré
territory, British novelist Nicholas Shakespeare tells a haunting,
violent story about a military policeman from a country very much
like Peru and his lifelong mission to track down an infamous rebel
leader very much like the head of the Shining Path terrorist group.
The tension builds slowly but beautifully, as a journalist in search
of a story becomes instead an important player in the history of an
embattled country.
AVAILABILITY
ON VIDEO AND DVD
CHECK
AVAILABILITY AND PRICING OF THIS MOVIE ON VIDEO OR DVD. Just type in movie title and click go.
SYNOPSIS
An honest man caught in a world of intrigue,
power and passion.
As
a Latin American nation nears collapse under a highly organized terrorist
movement, idealistic policeman Agustin Rejas (Bardem) faces the greatest
challenge of his career: to catch the mysterious guerilla leader Ezequiel.
The brains behind the bloody revolution that threatens to bring the
government and entire country down, Ezequiel is as elusive as Rejas’
superiors are corrupt - an irony not lost on Rejas, who left a career
as a lawyer to try to find “a more honorable way of practicing
the law.” The military’s response to the brutal tactics
of Ezequiel’s followers is equally ferocious, creating an atmosphere
of mass panic. In the midst of the chaos, Rejas finds respite in Yolanda
(Morante), his daughter’s soulfully beautiful ballet teacher.
As Rejas draws nearer to the man who considers himself to be the ‘Fourth
Flame of Communism,’ he and the dancer he loves will be forced
to choose between love, country and self.
Review by DARREL MANSON BLOG Pastor,
Artesia Christian Church, Artesia, CA http://netministries.org/see/churches/ch01198 Darrel
has an incredible love and interest in the cinematic arts.
His reviews usually include independent and significantly important
film.
Rejas
is an honest man trying to do what is right in a corrupt society.
The society is an unnamed South American nation (but it is patterned
after Peru and the terrorist tactics of the Shining Path guerrillas.)
Rejas is a police officer, and one of the few who isn't corrupt. You
can tell he's honest and not corrupt because he can't even afford
to pay for his daughter's ballet lessons.
He is an outsider because he won't go along with the corrupt system.
Whereas the terrorists (led by a man with the nom de guerre, Ezequiel)
want to bring down the corrupt system by their corrupt violence, Rejas
wants to try to just do the right thing in spite of the system.
This
good honest man is charged with finding and arresting Ezequiel and
ending the terrorism. With this set up, I was hoping for a film on
the order of Costa-Gavras political thrillers. Perhaps that is a high
bar to set for the first film by director John Malkovich and screenwriter
Nicholas Shakespeare. That high bar may be why I was disappointed
in the film. It's not that Costa-Gavras isn't in the mind of the film
makers; they include a section of his film State of Siege. Unfortunately,
they never really develop the conflict of an honest man amid the corruption.
He just goes on trying to do what is right; the others go on being
corrupt.
The
plot also includes his attraction to his daughter's dance teacher.
While it's fairly easy to understand, given her beauty and that his
wife is a twit, how is it that this man who is so concerned with doing
right be so easily lured away from his family -- so much so that he
is willing to give up a bright future in which he could make a real
difference?
Also, one would think that a man as honest as Rejas would be anxious
to find a terrorist, but his real motive seems to be not so much to
save society from Ezequiel, but to save them from the army that wants
to kill Ezequiel.
I wonder, as I contemplate this film, if this honest man -- this man
trying to do good -- really is honest and good. Perhaps that goodness
is really just his way of deluding himself into thinking he cares.
Because we see little passion in Rejas for anything that matters.
Your
Private Comments. I will not post these comments.
What are your personal thoughts? I also welcome your spiritual
concerns and prayer needs. I will correspond with you, usually
within two weeks.
Click here
