Comrade Genghis

I love Hawthorne's novel. And this miniseries is VERY faithful to the novel. But if what you're looking for is a faithful rendition of the book, don't waste your time with this...JUST READ THE BOOK. This film is pointless: it brings absolutely nothing new to the tale, and it's not at all interesting to watch. The actors evidently have no idea what to do with the script; perhaps they have trouble expressing feeling with archaic dialogue, or perhaps it was because of incompetent direction. The director plods through most of the film with basic camera shots (there's nothing wrong with that, of course, so long as what you're watching is interesting [which in this case it is not]); at a few scattered points, however, he makes an attempt to do something artsy - like when Dimmesdale whips himself and when Hester is standing on the scaffold in the nocturnal scene - but these shots not only look out-of-place with the rest of the film but one gets the impression that they were put there just to show off rather than to really say something. Perhaps they (and the rest of the film) would have come off better if the production values had been more than nil, which I can only assume they must have been.

While this film lacks real solid direction, the script is smart enough to make up for it. It's got more daring gags, pointed zingers, and comedic twists than your average comedy script. What really makes this one sparkle, though, is Shirley MacLaine's HILARIOUS performance in the lead. Her tour-de-force puts many of her big-name male co-stars to shame, but they're good enough to at least keep you laughing.

Modern America as dystopia.

AMERICAN BEAUTY is quite painful to watch, because it is so brutally honest, and there is not much effort made to make the characters likeable. Several of the characters are intentionally empty, generic; they speak blankly and in cliches. And they are all selfish. Selfish, self-important, perpetually insatiable, and unhappy. It is "me-centred" living that makes them so. Only when characters really begin to care about others, and when others care about them, do they begin to feel happiness again. The message is presented well, not at all in a schmaltzy manner...all this and they even managed to include a pseudo-happy ending without destroying the point made elsewhere in the movie.

Painful to watch, yes, and yet still one cannot help realising that what he is watching is brilliance. Brilliant writing and a very interesting directorial interpretation and style. To witness it is worth the pain, at least once. Would I watch it again? Well, not if I were in a very giddy mood, and not if I were in a very depressed mood; this is not a good choice to watch if you are very emotionally charged. Perhaps if I were in one of those rare, very calm, eye-of-the-storm moods, I would enjoy watching it again. Regardless, however, this is one film that will stay with me for a long time.