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IN A week when Hollywood's top ten at the box office sported two remakes, two television-to-film adaptations and two lightly veiled reworkings, the independent scene could not stop congratulating itself on the novelty of its number-two hit, “The Blair Witch Project”. It may lack originality, but its eagerness and spontaneity stand out in a particularly cynical summer. 

Made on a $35,000 budget, “Blair Witch” purports to be the “found footage” of three documentary film makers in pursuit of a legendary witch haunting the outskirts of Burkittsville, Maryland. With shaky hand-held cameras and improvised dialogue, the film achieves a look of inspired amateurishness that recalls such horror hits of the late 1960s and 1970s as “Night of the Living Dead” and “Shivers”. The “Blair Witch” directors cleverly celebrate what later purveyors of high-tech horror had forgotten: true horror draws its strength from a sense of innocence and naivety, building on the childhood conviction that ghouls and bogeymen are still out there. Further proof can be found in “The Sixth Sense”, a supernatural thriller that has held its position as America's top film for four straight weeks. Its success is attributed to its eerie poster and to word of mouth. 

“American Pie” also harks back to the adolescent exuberance of an old genre—early 1980s teen flicks such as “Porky's” and “Fast Times At Ridgemont High”. Like its predecessors, the 1990s version gleefully homes in on that perennial symbol of innocence, the virgin. The film has all the essential ingredients: an ensemble of unknown nubilia, raunchy sex, cheap laughs, and heavy hype directed at the MTV generation, with tongue-in-cheek advertisements and rumours of an NC-17 rating. 

Another victor over the dreaded NC-17, “South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut”, conveys the same spirited childishness, joyously depicting youth outing the hypocrisies of small-town America. With its simple cut-out cartoon characters and infantile humour, the film revolves around a parent-led effort to wage war against Canada in retaliation for its obscene film exports. “South Park's” successful satire stems from the fact that the heroes embody childhood innocence, despite their obscene jokes, while the adults are at once pious and violent.

If the playful exuberance of these films makes up for their lack of originality, the calculated cynicism of the rest of the summer's output does them in. In sharp contrast to “South Park” is “Tarzan”, the 48th cinematic rendition of the tale, born of Disney's conviction—after “The Jungle Book” and “The Lion King”—that animals and Africa mean money. With the usual coterie of charming creatures and lush animation, “Tarzan” has done reasonably well, but the Jungle Boy has proved no Simba. 

Like every summer, this one has had its tired remakes. “The Haunting”, directed by Jan de Bont (of “Speed” and “Speed 2”), adds nothing but ludicrous special effects and starlet-du-jour Catherine Zeta-Jones to Shirley Jackson's ghost story, “The Haunting of Hill House”, and the subsequent 1963 film by Robert Wise. “Deep Blue Sea” falsely assumes that the “Jaws” formula can be revived by a loud soundtrack. Pierce Brosnan and Renee Russo labour to jazz up a remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair”, the stylish 1968 caper starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. Fine art, couture clothing and slick interior design drape the film. But its only claim to boldness is a much-hyped nude scene with the 40-something Ms Russo.

Hollywood's younger female stars are peddled in predictable places. Having landed safely back in familiar territory with this spring's romantic comedy, “Notting Hill”, Julia Roberts faces summer audiences in “Runaway Bride”, directed by Garry Marshall (of “Pretty Woman”) and also starring Richard Gere (also of “Pretty Woman”). After labouring to reassemble this successful team, the film's producers apparently found it unnecessary to concoct a passable script. The result is a smug tale about a commitment-shy small-town bride and the world-weary newspaperman who falls in love with her. Claire Danes, teenage star of 1996's “Romeo and Juliet” remake, is also charged with reworking old material. In “Brokedown Palace”, with the “Midnight Express” scenario of a drug-bust that turns into a prison nightmare, Ms Danes struggles to find purpose in a version that substitutes Thailand for Turkey and female duo for single white male. 

Granted, not much could be expected from a summer in which the biggest “event movies” were prequels and sequels—“Star Wars” and “Austin Powers”—and the “sure thing” the execrable “Wild Wild West”. Still, the season seems remarkably short on pleasant surprises. “Eyes Wide Shut”, which faded quickly after its promising opening weekend, failed to reap the success expected from the combination of Stanley Kubrick's artistry and Cruise-Kidman appeal.

While it is sure to play only to small audiences, Jean Renoir's 1937 first world war classic, “La Grande Illusion”, has been brilliantly restored and re-released with new subtitles. Also on display are scenes from many of Italy's best, captured in Anna Maria Tato's documentary about her longtime companion, “Marcello Mastroianni: I Remember”. Sometimes a bit of déjà vu is a welcome sight.

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Horrors

Moreover September 4th 1999

From the September 4th 1999 edition

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