The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 67

MOVIES E8 CALENDAR LOSANGELESTIMES By Kenneth Turan Times Staff Writer The time is August1946, a year after the liberation of France, and a small group of Parisian Jews are livinglives the title of this quietly impressive film tells us, are succeeds as a delicately moving memory piece about a subject not often put on process of moving on into ordinary life after surviving the Holocaust. No one would choose to live out his days in the shadow of catastrophe, but surviving the unthinkable is better than not having survived at all. At least that is the attitude the workers at the small tailoring establishment set up in the apartment of Albert (Simon Abkarian) and (Zabou Breitman) strive to have. They are trying to make do, trying to reclaim some kind of normal life, but despite best efforts in that direction their wartime experiencescannot be so easily shaken off. Albert, for instance, spent the war hiding in an attic, using language for passwords, but now he and his wife are focused on giving their small children as full lives as possible.

on the presser (Vincent Elbaz) and his wife, Jacqueline (Lubna Azabal), are enlarging their familyand are proud of having circumcised their first son during wartime eventhough it put him at risk: his life was insists, least be On less secure ground is Charles (Denis He survived the camps, but his wife and children have not returned, and he hopes they will but fears they Similarly (Julie Gayet), the only non-Jew in the shop, is troubled by a sister ostracized for wartime collaboration. Into this tight group comesa pair of brothers. Maurice (Stanislas Merhar) has the dark humor to introduce himself with the last name he finds a relationship with a prostitute named Simone (Clotilde Courau) is all he can handle emotionally. Meanwhile his brother Joseph (Malik Zidi) has trouble finding his place at all. is based on a celebrated memoir by Robert Bober, who served as assistant on and the Piano Bober resisted having his piece made into a film for many years, but relented because of the passion of filmmaker Michel Deville.

Aveteran French director whose 29 films (including date to 1960, Deville was considering retirement when this book caught his attention. Bober changed his mind about an adaptation be- cause of interest, and it proved a wise decision. Perhaps because of all his experience, Deville (working from a script by Rosalinde Deville) brings a gentle touch to the keeps the strong emotional subject matter from being overdone in ways that material connected to the Holocaust frequently is. And as attractions and frustrations de- velopthat are unavoidable when people work together in a small space, allows them to pique our interest. Despite fits and starts, the characters in find theirdrive toward life as inevitable as the one plants have toward the sun.

With the ac- ensemble work helping to keep these stories honest, lets us watch people who have been wrenched from their old identities take thefirst tentative steps toward who they might become. REVIEW Emerging from horror to live again After the Holocaust, French Jews pick up the pieces in the moving Empire Pictures ENSEMBLE: Malik Zidi, seated on floor; Zabou Breitman, Lubna Azabaland Julie Gayet, far right, in By Kenneth Turan Times Staff Writer If ever a film seemed to come with the kind of expiration date you find on dairy products, Upriver: The Long War of John would appear to be it. But many of the things that look obvious about this new documentary turn out to be anything but. Directed by George Butler, a friend of the subject for 40 years, sounds as if it would be of interest only in its treatment of the recentbrou- haha surrounding what happened in John F. Swift boat during the Vietnam Waror, at the very most, only until the race for the White House be- tweenDemocratic challenger Kerry President Bush is decided in little more than a month.

And because the movie, written by Joseph Dorman and based on Douglas book of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam was put together by Kerry loyalists, been confused in some quarters with a Kerry campaign film. All these suppositions, it turns out, are somedistance from the truth. There are minor elements to that do have that campaign-film feeling. The opening section interviews with friends, family and Yale classmates about what a great young person Kerry was are pleasant but uninspired, as is a photomontage accompanying the closing credits that brings the image up to date with astring of photographs taken by Butler over the decades. But the advantage has is that most of it focuses on a very brief period in life: his time in Vietnam in 1968-69 and his association with Vietnam Veterans Against the War, which culminated in a mass action by that group in Washington, D.C.,in April 1971.

Looking in depth at such a pivotal period in recent American history creates an interest that goes well beyond who gets into the White House. Although Kerry was not interviewed for the film, he supplied Butler with Super-8 footage that he took in Vietnam and, in 1970, talked with him about the war on audiotape. This gives us an unusually specific and involving idea of what combat was like for one individual. When Kerry talks about a particularly searing memory of a dead Viet Cong in a blue shirt, we get to see it on film. And, for those who are still twisting in the wind about the Swift boat incident, interviews with the people whose lives Kerry saved leave much doubt that something valiant was done.

If it for Kerry, mate Fred Short says tartly, be on a wall More compelling still is the footage of involvement in the antiwar veterans group, which Butler recorded because he saw political promise in future. He went with him to Detroit for where Vietnam veterans for the first time told powerful stories of their agonizing experiences. And his film makes the point, which may yet prove true, that Kerry put his fu- ture political career at risk by taking an antiwar stance because he believed it to be correct. It is in the dealingswith the Washington, D.C., event, recorded in detail by Butler and supplemented by recent interviews with veterans in attendance, that is most involving. We gain a greater understanding of who participated, why they were there and what they did, and we see so much that we almost feel as ifwe were on-site ourselves.

a rare opportunity to perceive more fully the roiling emotions behind such still-controversial events as the return of medals. Kerry was one of the key organizers of the event, and the one tapped by then-Sen. J. William Fulbright to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His speech, still galvanizing today, was the event that made him anational figure.

But it is one of the paradoxes of that it does not fill you with partisan zeal. puts you in a reflective, even melancholy mood, triggering the consideration of broader questions of where our society has gone and where it still might be going. hard to hear President Johnson say of Vietnam, this little country goes down the drain, going to happen to all the other little without thinking of Iraq. hard not to witness what a superhuman effort it took to get the U.S. out of Vietnam without worrying if we will ever be able to extricate ourselves from Iraq, no matter who is president.

hard not to witness the humanity of Walter Cronkite shedding an involuntary tear at the assassination of President Kennedy without wondering how we ended up with the hooligans who polarize the current-events business today. And this is the biggest surprise of all hard to watch without wondering, frankly, what became of the young John Kerry, who comes off so exceptionally well in this film. The clarity of moral purpose he displayed during that week in Washington, the unambiguous focus of his remarks on such forums as Dick Cavett seem to have been undone and dissipated by decades spent in the wheedling, conniving world of Washington insider politics. What does it say about the political process we are so in love with that it allows, even encourages, a change like that? If Kerry could recover that sterling, clear-eyed personality we see onscreen and bring it into play on the national stage one more time, make the coming month more interesting. REVIEW A pivotal period in the life of John F.

Kerry Although parts feel like a campaign film, is best when it looks at his Vietnam and antiwar activities. George Butler THINKFilm ANTIWAR PROTEST: John F. Kerry, right, talks with a friend, David Thorne, during a 1971 demonstration in fight breaks out between Jack and Lenny (Robert Patrick), the resident company jerk, Mike barges in, overturns some furniture and bellows, in my Barrett is convincing as the long-suffering, but supportive, wife, although the model is strictly cinematic. wil- lowyand tenderand get too mad when Jack comes home drunk. No wonder Jack remains dewy-eyed throughout.

But between often prosaic dialogue, its ploddingly episodic plot, and a symphonic score that works so hard to express emotion that you might as well give your synapses the night off, more likely wind up suffering from compassion fatigue than be drawn in to the story. Unless, of course, still dreaming of growing up to be a fireman. By Carina Chocano Times Staff Writer set in present-day Baltimore, marshals the talents of Joaquin Phoenix, John Travolta and a series of exploding fireballs to tell the story of Jack Morrison, a dedicated firefighter and family man who, upon getting trapped in a flaming warehouse, uses the downtime until rescue to celebrate the moments of his life. As a loving tribute to the courage and sacrifice of firefighters, first-class. As a movie, a TV show.

Still, always hard to criticize a film that wraps itself in the woolly blanket of real heroism.It’s meant to be ahomage, and it plays like one. Medals are awarded; speeches are given. But the whole thing goes on a little too long and devolves into an evening spent with somebody scrapbook. kicks off, like an episode of amid wailing sirens, hovering choppers and the kind of rousing music that often leads to teeth-grinding. Jack and his engine company rush into a blazing warehouse to rescue a trapped worker.

The man is saved, but Jack gets stuck inside. Upon hearing this, his mentor, Capt.Mike Kennedy (Travolta), lets a flicker pass through his steely-eyed squint, then sends in the team. Lying on what appears to be a large pile of concrete briquettes, Jack replays the highlights of his years as a hero, family man and all-around great guy. Luckily, the memories line up in chronological order so the rest of us can follow. Scenes from the blazing warehouse punctuate the good times, and memories are sparked by some very literal transitions.

(A flashback to his christening, for instance, is sparked by water dripping on forehead.) We see Jack joining the force, getting teased by his colleagues, putting out his first fire, meeting the girl of his dreams, getting married, every second underscored with mood-appropriate music. first day on the job? Irish jig! Building on fire? Military march!) This is not to say that has nothing to offer; the rescue scenes are suitably tense and harrowing, with convincing special effects, and the performances are uniformly strong. Phoenixis particularly fine as the salt-of-the-earth Jack. The actor has a smallish head, athick neck and greenish eyes like lily pads, which suggest depth, serenity and a certain type of chunky solidity. His marred prettiness only adds to his appeal.

Jack is shy, confident, simple, strong, reliable and impish. everything women, children and terrified businessmen on ledges love in a man. And it never even goes to his head. As Mike, Travolta, as ever, is Travolting a good way. He exudes an oily charm at once irresistible and disturbing.

hard not to note that the amaranthine hotness of wife, Linda (Jacinda Barrett) the movie transpires over 10 years and two children with nary a wrinkle, pooch or gray hair would not be lost on the great, slab-like Mike. But have to squelch those thoughts. Not only does Mike possess unassailable moral fiber, even brushed with messianic overtones. After a Ron Phillips Touchstone Pictures HEROES: Capt. Mike Kennedy (John Travolta, right) guides rookie firefighter Jack Morrison (Joaquin Phoenix) in REVIEW It sends subtlety up in smoke, but the homage to firefighters has strong acting.

MPAA rating: PG-13 for disturbing images of war, including some dialogue Times guidelines: Adult subject matter A Palisades Pictures Entertainment Group production, released by THINKFilm. Director George Butler. Producers George Butler, Mark Hopkins. Executive producers William Samuels, Vincent Roberti, Marc Abrams, Michael R. Klein.

Screenplay Joseph Dorman, based on the book of by Douglas Brinkley. Cinematographers Sandi Sissel, Jules Labarthe. Editors Timothy Squyres, Melody London, Jean Tsien, Kenneth Wachtel. Music Philip Glass. Running time: 1 hour, 32 minutes.

In limited release. Upriver: The Long War of John MPAA rating: None Times guidelines: Some nudity and sexuality. Mature themes. Released by Empire Pictures. Director Michel Deville.

Producer Rosalinde Deville. Screenplay Rosalind Deville, based on the book by Robert Bober. Cinematographer Editor Andrea Sedlackova. Costumes Madeleine Fontaine. Music Giovanni Bottesini.

Art director Arnaudde Moleron. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes In limited release MPAA rating: PG-13 for intense fire and rescue situations, and for language Times guidelines: Fire and rescue scenes could be scary for young children. Jack Morrison Phoenix Capt.Mike Kennedy Travolta Linda Morrison Barrett Lenny Richter Patrick Tommy Drake Chestnut Touchstone Pictures and Beacon Pictures present a Casey Silver production, released by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. Director Jay Russell. Written by Lewis Colick.

Producer Casey Silver. Executive producersArmyanBernstein, Marty P. Ewing. Director of photography James L. Carter.

Editors Bud S. Smith, M. Scott Smith. Production designer Tony Burrough. Costume designer Ehrlich Kalfus.

Visual effects supervisor Peter Donen. Running time: 1 hour, 55 minutes. In general release. Their blaze of glory.