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Five million people or so went to see The Rock this past weekend, a number which let news anchors announce that The Scorpion King was the nation's #1 movie. #1 in what, though? Satisfied customers? Critical acclaim? Of course not. It's simply a matter of which movie made the most money.

I find it interesting that box office figures have become the primary criterion of how we judge a film's success. It's natural that Hollywood execs look at it that way, but they're trying to run a business of making money and so can be somewhat excused. But why does the American public follow Hollywood's lead? Why should *we* possibly care which movie made more money? More importantly, why should those of us who enjoy watching (and writing about) movies use that factor as a guide to what's worth discussing? The marketing campaigns for The Scorpion King and Murder By Numbers (this weekend's other "big" movie) told us all we need to know about those flicks. Any review would be redundant. So let me tilt at a couple windmills and write about two movies you may not have heard of but which are significantly more thought-provoking.

Time Out won the grand prize at the Venice Film Festival last fall (a much better gauge of success, in my not so humble opinion). It stars Aurelien Recoing as Vincent, a man who sleeps in his car and yet appears to be a successful businessman. "Appears" is the operative word. Though he calls his wife to let her know that his meeting is running long, Vincent in fact has no meeting to attend. Instead, he spends his day reading the paper, sneaking into office buildings where he pretends to be someone important, and spending a great deal of time driving down French highways. 

You see, Vincent was fired from his job a few weeks before, but he can't bring himself to tell his wife and three children. So he invents a story, a story that becomes progressively more complicated, until he's reduced to bilking his friends and family out of their life savings to cover up his deceit. On the surface, Vincent is a despicable character, but director and writer Laurent Cantet (Human Resources) treats him with tenderness, exploring why a man would resort to such an outlandish and ultimately fruitless lie. 

It's significant that Vincent's lie begins with him telling his overbearing father that he's quit his job so as to take a prestigious job with the United Nations in Geneva. And not just any U.N. post, but one working on development issues in Africa. It's a position that impresses both his father and others, and one that feels like it's doing some good. Vincent is so taken with the lie that he begins to research the role of non-governmental organizations and their impact on African economies. For a man dissatisfied with the pointlessness of the 9-to-5 world, this fantasy is worth holding on to. Later on, however, when his scam spirals out of control, Vincent takes up with an illegal importer who's exploiting the workers of the former Eastern bloc. This provocative contrast forces the audience to contemplate the nature of the global economy and the role of work/vocation in its expansion. What is meaningful work? What are our responsibilities?

On the other side of the world, and in a very different time, Behind the Sun, the new movie from director Walter Salles (Central Station), also ponders a social phenomenon by investigating the personal. Two families in the Brazilian desert are locked in an ancient family feud. One son is killed, and the aggrieved family must take revenge, and that killing leads to another killing, and so on and so on. The only respite comes in the month-long mourning process. But once the blood on the murdered son's shirt has turned 
yellow, the next round in the feud must begin.

It is in those few weeks that Behind the Sun takes place, as we get to know Tonio (the charismatic Rodrigo Santoro), who knows that the family honor depends on him taking up a rifle in a matter of days. But for now he's fallen in love, and he can't imagine life ending so soon (the retribution is inevitable). He also can't accept that his young brother Pacu will eventually fall victim to the same fate. But is it possible to break the cycle? Can he just walk away?

The film is breathtakingly photographed by cinematographer Walter Carvalho, with stunning night shots and beautiful landscapes. The cinematography adds to the grandeur of the story and creates a provocative tension. Though the film relies on a rather simple premise (will Tonio run away for love or return for family?), its larger exploration of the nature of revenge is compelling, particularly in light of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, which more and more takes on the character of an intractable blood-feud. What is the place of retribution in society? How does peace come when all trust has been destroyed? 

By the standards of Entertainment Tonight and Variety, Time Out and Behind the Sun are colossal failures (each sold a small fraction of what the mighty Rock grossed). But by a different measure--the ability to provoke thought and challenge its audience--they were much more successful.  

J. Robert Parks 4/30/2002

Time Out,  

Behind the Sun,