National Post from Toronto, Ontario, Canada • 25

urn i nr 1 bi sf x'r iwr NATIONAL POST, FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2000 Arts Sports Author Anita Rau Badami escorts us on an engaging walk in India. Page B4 The latest injury to Eric Lindros might cause a bout of Phantom pain. Page B15 Everything old is new again as Hollywood returns to a long-neglected genre, the ancient Rome epic Maximus blockbusterus FILM REVIEW The Gladiator 1. ry By Stephen Cole "Win the crowd and you will win your freedom," a ring promoter tells his prize gladiator shortly before the fighter faces tigers and a coliseum brimming with thrill-thirsty tourists in Ridley Scott's high-tech, retro-film adventure, The Gladiator. The same proposition goes for action-film directors brave enough to enter the movie coliseums of the world with a $100-million update of a genre the sword-and-sandal epic that last turned a profit with The Fall of the Roman Empire, in 1964.

At its best, which would be the opening 100 minutes and first two acts of Scott's two-and-a-half-hour tale of betrayal, martyrdom, and revenge, The Gladiator more than satisfies our basest film-going desires. This summer's first blockbuster gets off the block spectacularly, with a smashing fight sequence pitting the armies of Rome's most celebrated general, Maximus (Russell Crowe) against an unruly, mop-haired horde from Germa-nia. See GLADIATOR on Page BU wllr a III i MOVIE INDEX Br cvv If This week's releases, rated out of four stars: Filth and the Fury Julien Temple revisits the Sex Pistols. In Toronto only; opening wider in late May. PageB2 Gladiator Ridley Scott directs Russell Crowe in a Roman empire thriller.

Opens wide. Reviewed on this page. I Dreamed of Africa Kim Basingerinthe true tale of a European woman who finds a more sip life in Africa. Opens wide. Page B3 Journey of Man Cirque de Soleil take a special journey into a magical world.

Opens in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal; wider release to come. 1 PageB2 i Not One Less A teenage Chinese villager is asked to take charge of her school. In Toronto only; opens in Vancouver and Ottawa in mid-May. PageB2 Virgin Suicides Sofia Coppola's directoral debut about five Michigan girls who kill themselves. In Toronto and Vancouver only; opens wider in mid-May.

PageB3 Up at the Villa Kristin Scott JF- fit Thomas, Scan Penn and James Fox in W. Somerset Maugham pe riod piece set in fascist Italy. In most major Canadian cities; will open wider in late May. Page B3 Unflinching: Russell Crowe's carefully measured performance gives the film a sense of gravity and purpose. id i in aw 3Hl i i AND THE IMPRESSIONIST LANDSCAPE 1 At.

xXlt -f't NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA, OTTAWA 2 JUNE 27 AUGUST 2000 Tickets, call 1-888-541-8888 or (613) 998-8888 For city packages, call 1-800-465-1867, operator 99 This exhibition has been organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in collaboration with the Nagoya Boston Museum ol Fine Arts in Nagoya, Japan ij Group- 0 National Gallery Mmea dai beaux-arta Eh CBC Radio-Canada Canada if Canada 389 Sussex Drive, Ottawa 1 800 319 ARTS national.gallery.ca if,.