Lembre Meu Nome

Geraldine Chaplin was so believable. It made such an impact on me that I can still remember it. Especially wonderful for me was the background music and singing of Alberta Hunter. It was not a movie of violent revenge. It was sweet revenge. Sure, it would be called stalking today, but she was just checking out that ratty ex-husband.

An interesting and well-acted psychological drama about an unhappily married man (Perkins) who finds himself stalked by his first wife (Chaplin), a mentally unbalanced woman who spent the last 12 years in prison for murder. You've seen this kind of insane-female-admirer plot before, but here it's handled more intelligently and tastefully than usual. It remains refreshingly unpredictable all the way through.

Chaplin is particularly impressive, managing to exude fragility, menace, and just plain craziness all at once. It's a solid performance if you're willing to overlook her ever-changing accent (is her character supposed to be American or English?). The film also features an overbearing blues soundtrack that, while decent enough in itself, sounds like it belongs in another film. Still, it's a good movie, probably worth viewing more than once.

This movie is about sweet revenge for a betrayal.

Chaplin's character was once a trusting innocent and was used; now she gives him his fair due. Perkins and Chaplin and Gunn are all so right in their characters (though Chaplin's accent is "off," as it was again in "Nashville"), but they each gave real humanity to their characters. And the haunting music is for me the best part of the show. This film introduced me to Alberta Hunter, and in the years following this film I searched out five more albums by her. Bravo! And when shall we EVER get a DVD publication of the full film? Evidently Ms. Hunter died before signing a release for a commercial VHS (or DVD), so it's legal wrangling that prevents us from having our own copies of this powerful character study.

Frequently the maker of intriguing films (The Moderns, Equinox, Trouble In Mind) and protégé of the great Robert Altman (who produces here), writer-director Alan Rudolph's 1978 film also fits this mould. Here, we have showcased a stunning central performance by Geraldine Chaplin (the actress also a regular Altman collaborator) as the enigmatic, volatile Emily, seemingly returning from we know not where (prison?) and set on disrupting the life of Anthony Perkins' construction worker, Neil Curry, and his wife Berry Berenson's Barbara. Rudolph sets up his film as an effective mystery/thriller - albeit in his customary offbeat style - keeping us guessing as to the stalking Emily's intents, motives and history, creating a mood and unsettling presence, at times reminiscent of something like Michael Haneke's Hidden. The personal malaise obviously being suffered by Emily is also broadened out to encompass feelings of greater societal paranoia (post-Vietnam and Watergate?), alluded to via the film's running TV commentary, referencing (of all things) a Budapest earthquake.

Rudolph's cast is consistently impressive, Perkins attempting to maintain calm in the face of Emily's increasingly prominent and disruptive presence, Berenson convincing as the wife asking the increasingly urgent questions, whilst Moses Gunn is probably the most sympathetic character here with his well-meaning landlord to Emily, Pike, who has genuine concern for Emily's state of mind. It is this state of mind on which Rudolph focuses our attention, with Chaplin quite superb, whether flirting romantically to Alan Autry's fellow worker, Rusty, creeping silently deadpan and undetected around the Curry household, or exacting (sometimes violent) retribution against (a young, lanky) Jeff Goldblum's store manager, Mr Nudd, or Alfre Woodward's shop worker, Rita. As is often the case with Rudolph I've found, the payoff may not fully justify the impressive, here slow, scene setting and build-up. This rather proves (again) to be the case with Remember My Name - the journey is worth catching, nevertheless.

In Director Alan Rudolph's REMEMBER MY NAME, Neil and Barbara Curry (Anthony Perkins and Berry Berenson) find themselves haunted by a bizarre woman (Geraldine Chaplin) who simply appears in their town one day. As the story unfolds, the woman becomes increasingly unhinged and more of a danger.

We eventually learn that Neil has a past connection with this woman, and that there's far more to the story than what we initially thought.

Mr. Rudolph keeps the tone of his film somber, with a definite hint of creepiness. Mr. Perkins uses his powers of twitchiness to help add to the overall oddness. Ms. Berenson -real-life wife of Mr. Perkins- plays her role with just the right amount of sane incredulity.

Special mention must go to Ms. Chaplin, whose portrayal of seemingly unfettered psychopathy is a wonder to behold! Some of her character's escapades are uncomfortably jaw-dropping and squirm-inducing!

Watch for Jeff Goldblum in a small early role as a store owner.

A strange thriller full of unexpected events...