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     Foreign Film Review: 
     
    
   
   
    
     BY DAVID MACDONALD 
     
    
   
   
    
     Belle De Jour,made in 1967, is one Luis Bunuel’s films, 
     
     a director who specialized in surrealism. The plot is supposed 
     
     to be about a woman, who is unaffectionate toward her 
     
     husband, and who decides to work at a brothel during the day. 
     
    

    
     We get a glimpse of some rather bizarre dreams of the 
     
     main character, Severine (played by Catherine Deneuve, 
     
     who was also in last week’s film, The Umbrellas of 
     
     Cherbourg). At the beginning, she dreams that she is in a 
     
     carriage with her husband, and after having rejected his 
     
     passionate plea, the husband orders the carriage to be 
     
     stopped, and for the riders to tie her up and whip her ina sort 
     
     of spontaneous S&M act. It is a rather unsettling moment to 
     
     witness for the first time, because of the casual attitude of the 
     
     director. For one thing, it’s a lengthy scene, two or three 
     
     minutes of it being taken up with quiet shots of the carriage 
     
     moving through the French countrysideas the credits silently 
     
     flash on the screen. And there is nothing in the scene to 
     
     suggest that this is even a dream until the next shot when she 
     
     talks to her husband in bed that she just happened to have had 
     
     a dream in which the carriage was involved. 
     
    

    
     The fact that she is willing to deal with such unpredict- 
     
     able characters from her dreams in her real life later on in the 
     
     brothel is a sign that Severine can only enjoy sex if there is 
     
     some threat of danger involved. But then we get some other 
     
     strange moments, dreams and otherwise, that seem to exist 
     
     only so the director can exercise his talent of blasphemy 
     
     toward all aspects of society, from the church and state to the 
     
     upper-class, which is of course what he is famous for, the 
     
     most amusing one in this film being the moment where one of 
     
     the customers gets off on pretending to be an inept servant 
     
     to the queen and who needs to be punished. And the final 
     
     portion of the film certainly will not make things any easier for 
     
     a person who demands a somewhat sane and easily explain- 
     
     able ending. : 
     
    

    
     I actually read in the notice board for Showcase 
     
     Television that Luis Bunuel’s films are like Monty Python. I 
     
     somehow doubt that to be the case, since Python is attempt- 
     
     ing to get many laughs from their surreal sketches. Bunuel 
     
     doesn’t even attempt to force a laugh out of the audience. 
     
     Everything is played utterly straight, and the viewer will have 
     
     to decide whether it’s funny or just insane. But the utter 
     
     confidence of the director in pulling off this odd concoction is 
     
     certainly a reason to see this film. Pai ‘ 
     
    
   
   
    
     Rating: ***1/2 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     The Cadre + 24March 1998 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Object of my affection 
     
     20th Century Fox 
     
    
   
   
    
     George Hanson is at a dinner party when he learns from a total stranger that he’s about 
     
     to be dumped. Fortunately, Nina Borowski is sympathetic, even offering him the spare room in 
     
     her Brooklyn apartment. So when his handsome boyfriend, a college professor named Dr. Joley 
     
     histantly admits that their relationship is over, George accepts Nina’s invitation. 
     
    

    
     In the months that follow, Nina and George will become the best of friends -- family-- a 
     
     fact which is mildly unsettling to her boyfriend Vince. But what disturbs him even more is Nina’s 
     
     announcement that she is pregnant, and she wants to raise the baby with her gay roommate 
     
     instead of him. 
     
    

    
     “The The Object of my Affection is an unconventional romantic comedy that pushes the 
     
     tender lines between love, sex, and friendship,” says the producer. 
     
    

    
     This motion picture is produced by Nicolas Hytner (The Madness of King George), and 
     
     is coproduced by Diana Pokorny. Nina is portrayed by Jennifer Aniston (Friends) and George 
     
     by Paul Rudd (Clueless). 
     
    

    
     Looks like another one of those cute, All-American, nothing-to-do-on-a- Saturday-night 
     
     movie: the kind that doesn't take much brainpower. It has the perfect recipe for those predictable 
     
     yet "heart-warming" date flicks: stale sitcom actors, a social minority, wine, anda baby on the 
     
     way. Oh! The hijinx just keep a-comin'! Hollywood still thinks the average movie-goer is stupid 
     
     enough to spend full price on bland pap, but this doesn't look even worthy ofa cheap night viewing 
     
     with Mom (love ya, Mom). 
     
    

    
     The Object of my Affection is due 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     out in theatres on April 27th. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Rommates Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd enjoy their dinner together.