July 7, 2001
Quo Vadis (2001) **
Conventional adaptation of Henryk Sienkiewicz's Nobel Prize-winning novel about the persecution of Christians under Nero. Jerzy Kawalerowicz's last film.
The Piano Teacher (2001) **
Disturbing and unpleasant film about a masochistic pianist (Isabelle Huppert).
Sex And Lucia (2001) ***
Before landing a leading role in a big Hollywood movie (James L. Brook's "Spanglish"), beautiful Paz Vega appeared in this sexy Spanish movie, directed by Julio Medem. The plot is quite confusing and the film is far from being a masterpiece, but Paz Vega gets naked a lot, and I mean A LOT. Similar in many respects to ''Jamon Jamon'' and "Huevos de Oro", "Sex and Lucia" is probably the best of the many "Spanish-girls-get-naked-to-arouse-Hollywood's-big-shots" films and Paz Vega follows in the footsteps of Penelope Cruz as the next sex bomb from Spain. Besides Paz Vega , the film also stars beautiful Elena Anaya, while sexy Diana Suarez makes a brief, but memorable appearance as Anaya's mother, sunbathing and arousing herself with a water hose while her fully dressed daughter talks on the phone. Diana Suarez was also Paz Vega's body double during the more sexually explicit scenes.
Dog Days (2001) ***
This is a truly strange Austrian film. Actually most of Austrian films are strange (Götz Spielmann's ''Antares'' and Michael Haneke's ''The Piano Teacher'' also come to mind). Directed by Ulrich Seidl, ''Dog Days'' is set in a middle-class suburb of Vienna during two of the hottest days of the year. There is no plot, only a series of anecdotes illustrating such happy themes as sexual aggression, loneliness, as well as lack of integrity and violation of intimacy.
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