Heathers

Genre: comedy drama (in a very dark vein)

With: Winona Ryder (Veronica Sawyer), Christian Slater (J.D.), Shannen Doherty (Heather Duke), Lisanne Falk (Heather McNamara), Kim Walker (Heather Chandler), Penelope Milford (Pauline Fleming)

Director: Michael Lehmann

Release: 1988

Studio: New World Pictures, Cinemarque Entertainment

Rating: 14A

MBiS score: 8.0/10

It’s Always Hell When You Bargain With The Devil

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Story-line: young Veronica would dearly love to be friends with the Heathers, those three girls who dress for success and rule over school… but she’ll have to be a bitch if she wants to strike it rich.   

Pluses: a conquering Winona Ryder as the spunky, manic and sharply dressed Veronica, Christian Slater’s spooky turn recalling Jack Nicholson’s darker roles, dynamic direction, Daniel Waters’ biting screenplay, an effective use of music and one jaw-dropping scene involving cows (!).

Minuses: although the screenplay remains true to its logic, certain scenes are excessive, implausible and calculated for shock value (the boiler room sequence). Some viewers may be offended by graphic and even insulting dialogues.

Comments: be warned that this subversive movie has little in common with the Afterschool Specials ABC used to broadcast for younger audiences. HEATHERS is a funny, freewheeling comedy about everyday meanness in our schools but also a chilling illustration of teen cruelty gone haywire. For this reason and because of the film’s very topical content (that prefigured the Columbine tragedy), parental guidance is required. I will add that HEATHERS ultimately delivers a positive message about respect and what’s important in life… but it sure is rough getting there!

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Zabriskie Point

Genre: psychological drama (or maybe an ‟apocalyptic adventure film”)

With: Mark Frechette (Mark), Daria Halprin (Daria), Rod Taylor (Lee Allen), Paul Fix (the café owner), G.D. Spradlin (Allen's associate), Bill Garaway (Morty), Harrison Ford (an arrested student)

Director: Michelangelo Antonioni

Screenplay: Michelangelo Antonioni, Franco Rossetti, Sam Shepard, Tonino Guerra and Clare Peploe

Release: 1970

Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Trianon Productions

Rating: PA

MBiS score: 8.8/10

Dreaming Up a Revolution

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Story-line: a student protester and a young woman recently hired by a real estate executive share time in the Mojave Desert.  

Pluses: mordant dialogues tempered with occasional humour, an elliptical screenplay that captures the tumultuous mood of the times, solid performances by seldom seen actors, an intriguing soundtrack featuring Pink Floyd, Jerry Garcia and one very topical song by Roy Orbison, masterful direction and an exceptionally strong production team (Alfio Contini [photography], Franco Arcalli and Michelangelo Antonioni [editing], Dean Tavoularis [production design], George Nelson [set decoration] and Ray Summers [costume design]).

Minuses: there is product placement everywhere in this movie… but it’s not the kind corporate advertisers would relish.

Comments: when I first saw this mythical film back in the 70s, I thought it was aesthetically pleasing but rather empty; seeing it again in our new era of global uproar has radically changed my view. ZABRISKIE POINT is daring in its relentless, frame-by-frame opposition between young idealists and an uncaring world choking on commercialism, pollution, urban sprawl and social excess. You will be bowled over by its powerful make-believe ending reminiscent of IF..., another subversive movie of that time. If you’re looking for a refuge from the rat race, ZABRISKIE POINT might just be the place. 

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