It’s hard to be indifferent to the films of Brian De Palma.
De Palma’s movies, from Scarface and The Untouchables to Carrie and The Black Dahlia, are stylish, fast-moving and hard-hitting.
Once he has you in his grip, you cannot let go.
The Toronto International Film Festival is presenting 25 of his films at a retrospective scheduled to run for much of the summer. Split/Screen: The Cinema of Brian De Palma will unfold from June 18 to September 3 at the TIFF Bell Lightbox (King Street West).
A preview:
When Casualties of War (June 18 at 7 p.m.) was released in 1989, the war in Vietnam had been over for 14 years, but its unpopularity in the United States still resonated. This strong and emotional film reflects the deep divisions it opened and the gnawing misgivings of its critics.
Rather than being a conventional war film, it’s a morality tale about right versus wrong. De Palma is not a detached observer. We know perfectly well where he stands.
Based on a true incident in 1969, when the war was probably at its height in terms of its ferocity, it focuses on a small American combat patrol sent into the jungle to flush out the Viet Cong, the North Vietnamese-supported guerrilla force that fought the U.S. army in South Vietnam.
The patrol, comprised of five men, comes under fire. Its leader, Tony Meserve (Sean Penn), saves Max Eriksson ( Michael Fox) after he partially falls into a Viet Cong tunnel. The soldiers regroup in a nearby village, but come under attack again as an officer is mortally wounded. His death brings out a torrent of anger, racism and vengeance directed at all Vietnamese.
The soldiers are dispatched on yet another patrol. Their mission is to find tunnels. Before they set off, Meserve “requisitions” a young Vietnamese women who will be their sex slave. Eriksson objects to the abduction. “This is nuts,” he says. “We’re supposed to be here to help these people.”
Meserve ignores his qualms, claiming she’s a Viet Cong prostitute. Unconvinced by his flimsy rationale, Eriksson helps the women as best he can under the circumstances.
Undeterred by Eriksson’s objection, Meserve insists he must be one of the boys and participate in the imminent gang rape. “Everybody is up for this,” he says incorrectly. When he holds fast to his beliefs, Meserve accuses Eriksson of being a faggot and a Viet Cong sympathizer.
Despite Eriksson’s most valiant efforts, the poor woman is doomed. When they return to base, Eriksson is advised to “relax” and “forget” the incident. He pays them no heed, and his decency and integrity lead to dire consequences.
Casualties of War, filmed in the lush countryside of Asia, is surely one of the finest movies ever made about America’s misadventure in Vietnam. David Rabe’s screenplay is excellent and Penn and Fox are spellbinding.
De Palma’s murder mystery/police procedural, Dressed to Kill, which hit theaters in 1980, is set in New York City.
The first scene grabs your attention immediately.
As her husband shaves, Kate Miller (Angie Dickenson) has a shower. As the water courses over her lithe body, she caresses her nipples and pubic hair, her mouth agape. In the next scene, she moans with pleasure as a man has intercourse with her.
Call it soft porn, if you will.
Miller, a beautiful mature woman, has sex on her mind. When she visits her psychiatrist, Robert Elliott (Michael Caine), she invites him to sleep with her. He’s tempted, but fears that a bout of infidelity will ruin his marriage.
In an art gallery, a stranger lays a gloved hand on Miller’s shoulder. He and Miller share a cab, where they engage in sex without so much as uttering a word. It’s all so impersonal and mechanical. She accompanies him to his apartment and stays the night.
As she leaves the building, she’s viciously attacked in the elevator. A high-class call girl (Nancy Allen) has the misfortune of witnessing the tail end of the murder. Miller’s son, a science whiz, tries to solve the case as Marino, a hard-boiled NYPD detective (Dennis Franz), tracks down leads. Eventually, the prostitute becomes involved as well.
The film, which will be screened on June 19 at 5:45 p.m, revolves around a sexual identity problem. It’s taut and riveting, replete with twists and turns, and the cast is fine.
These two films demonstrate De Palma’s mastery of the medium. He’s a magician who can turn a good script into living, breathing thing.