by MATTHEW HAYS, MARIE MARKO and MARK SLUTSKY

The Omen

John Moore’s remake of The Omen, the landmark 1976 horror film, is the latest in a spate of scary retreads. The original was very hair-raising indeed: Gregory Peck played the U.S. ambassador to Britain, Lee Remick his wife. Little did this unsuspecting couple know, but their son was the anti-Christ! Honestly, this film still gives me the serious creeps.

Moore adequately updates the film, with obligatory references to 9/11, and more of the snap-crackle-pop that a digital generation of filmgoers might demand, including a few highly effective dream sequences. But alas, there are a few things missing here: the actor playing Damien himself (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick) just isn’t that spooky. Harvey Stephens, the actor in the original, really had something perfectly dreadful going on (Stephens is given a cameo here as a tabloid reporter). As well, Marco Beltrami’s musical score (a crucial part of so many horror movies) is quite bland, suffering particularly badly in comparison to Jerry Goldsmith’s exquisite from the original.

Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles suffer well together as the besieged parents, but there’s a bit of stunt casting that doesn’t quite cut it: Mia Farrow is the new Mrs. Baylock, the evil nanny who is sent in by Beelzebub himself. It’s fun, given that Farrow famously gave birth to Satan’s spawn in the landmark Rosemary’s Baby in 1968. But Farrow’s persona is a soft and gentle one, and our knowledge of her off-screen life running a UNICEF orphanage makes her entirely unbelievable in this role. Final verdict: mildly fun, but will mainly make you want to rent the original again. (MH)

U-Carmen eKhayelitsha

British director Mark Dornford-May’s ambitious adaptation of George Bizet’s tragic opera Carmen is certainly not going to be everyone’s bag. Sure, there are some fine performances here, and overall it’s a relatively accomplished effort. But, simply put, if you’ve no taste for opera, it’s unlikely you’ll have much taste for this film.

Set in the South African township of Khayelitsha and sung entirely in Xhosa, one of South Africa’s 11 languages, U-Carmen eKhayelitsha is the story of Carmen (Pauline Malefane), a fiery but sullen woman who makes cigarettes for the Gypsy company. Jongikhaya (Andile Tshoni) is the police sergeant who becomes obsessed with her, which results in a tempestuous and doomed love affair between the two.

Impressive in its aim—U-Carmen won the prestigious Golden Bear award at the Berlin film festival in 2005—the film’s primary weakness (assuming you can get around the opera stuff without wanting to bolt) is a lack of cohesion. If you’re not already familiar with Bizet’s original work, you’ll likely find yourself somewhat confused as to what’s going on here.

Nevertheless, the stunning cinematography and poignant depiction of life in a small, poor South African township redeems this muddled opera from being little more than an exercise in sonic torture. (AMM)

Khaneh Ma: These Places We Call Home

This is a documentary by young Montreal filmmaker Anna Fahr, who in 2004 travelled to Iran to see her family there for the first time in 10 years. We meet her relatives, vicariously take part in family functions, get a look at the town where they live and get a general glimpse of Iranian life.

Fahr has a good eye and the film is full of memorable images, like a memorial procession of self-flagellating men, and sweetly candid moments, like a grandpa hand-crushing dried herbs at the dinner table for his daughter to bring home. Through interviews with relatives we get a sense of what life is like for both those who live in Iran and others, who emigrated to Canada or Germany.

But the relationships between some of the characters aren’t well-defined and the movie suffers from its lack of an overarching narrative. Nothing really happens, and there are some moments where Khaneh Ma feels more like home movies of somebody’s vacation—especially a few really over-long scenes full of hugs in airports.

Still, as counter-programming to the type of imagery typically associated with Iran in the media these days, the movie does have value. There’s something to be said for putting a human face to the country, especially in a time when George Bush and the National Post are gearing up to sell us another war. (MS)

The Omen is now playing. U-Carmen eKhayelitsha opens Friday, June 9. Khaneh Ma: These Places We Call Home screens at the NFB June 13–18

>> Movie Listings