R = recommended
With his Tarzan physique, Dutch-boy haircut, and cucumber crotch, model and gay erotica legend Peter Berlin set a standard for masculinity in the 70s. Jim Tushinski’s video documentary reveals how the German-born Berlin cultivated his iconic image by photographing himself for magazine layouts and directing two Warholian porn features before abruptly retiring from filmmaking. Now in his 60s and living in relative seclusion in San Francisco, the proudly narcissistic star of That Boy reflects on his career in interviews that are intercut with vintage footage and the reflections of people such as Armistead Maupin and John Waters. Despite Berlin’s frankness about his personal love life and his preference for being watched when he’s not having sex, the Garbo of gay porn remains elusive, largely because Tushinski doesn’t seem to see the ironies and contradictions in his subject’s life. He’s much better when exploring Berlin’s aesthetic and working methods. 80 min. (JH) Digital projection. a River East, 5 PM
Mongolian Pingpong
R Kief Davidson and Richard Ladkani’s documentary is a powerful indictment of the horrendous treatment of children who toil in hellish Bolivian silver mines. The filmmakers are better at fashioning haunting images than offering hard-nosed analysis, yet they never sentimentalize their young protagonists’ plight. At the center of their story is 12-year-old Basilio Vargas, who endures both a suffocating mine and the taunts of more prosperous classmates at school; his daily struggles are emblematic of the lives of hundreds of children with little hope of escaping either an accidental death or the slower agonies of silicosis. Davidson and Ladkani wisely refuse to inject any sort of moral lift into their grim tale–Basilio is never unaware of the looming presence of the “Tio,” the merciless devil of the mines who offers only death and privation. In Spanish with subtitles. 82 min. (RMP) a River East, 7 PM
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
Following the death of his father, a black history professor (Steve Harris) returns to his rural Georgia hometown to run the family’s general store, only to find himself enmeshed in his neighbors’ problems and facing the fallout from a traumatic childhood incident. Lisa France wrote and directed this well-meaning drama, which tries too hard to accomplish too many things: one minute it’s a drama about long-standing prejudices, then it’s a road picture involving a mentally impaired blind man (though it’s hard to tell if his mental problems are intentional or the consequence of Phillip Bloch’s ludicrously over-the-top performance), then it’s a romantic drama with dollops of heartwarming southern charm. With Gale Harold, Catherine Dent, and Judah Friedlander. 99 min. (RP) a River East, 9:15 PM
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
R Though based on a short story by Joseph Conrad, Patrice Chereau’s Gabrielle brings to mind the plays of Strindberg and Albee. Chereau was of course a man of the theater before becoming a film director, and this highly stylized portrait of a loveless marriage at the beginning of the 20th century merges a claustrophobic theatricality with dazzlingly cinematic wide-screen compositions (the sumptuous cinematography is by Eric Gautier). The narrative is propelled by the decision of Gabrielle (a superb performance by Isabelle Huppert) to return to her befuddled husband, Jean (Pascal Greggory), after a passionate dalliance with another man. By the time she declares near the end of the film that she’s repelled by the very idea of her husband’s sperm inside her, their bourgeois household has become a minefield. In French with subtitles. 90 min. (RMP) a Landmark, 9:15 PM
