Recently released on Blu-ray and DVD: In Between (Bar Bahar), Seven, Blaze and The Half-Breed.
In Between (Bar Bahar)
In lesser hands, a film about three very different Palestinian-Israeli women sharing a Tel Aviv flat could be dull social drama. Instead, filmmaker Maysaloun Hamoud keeps the rhythm snappy and the story entertaining—even when it turns brutal or poignant. Two of the women are cosmopolitan clubgoers dancing to Arab techno. The other is studious and from a conservative Islamic background. All three face casual prejudice in a society where they are seen as outsiders.
Seven
Let’s see: a dramatic cop-show jazz soundtrack, squealing tires on the streets of “Hawaii Five-0” Honolulu, gobs of bright local color, tropical drinks and a well-oiled murder spree—all of this before the end of the opening credits. Even more retro: Those credits are typed out on an IBM Selectric. Seven (1979) features plenty of bikini-clad vixens and lots of wooden acting in a plot about criminals hired by the feds to kill other criminals.
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Blaze
Decades before U.S. politics became a freak show, Louisiana led the way for absurdity. Blaze (1989) is a comedy about erratic Gov. Earl Long (Paul Newman) and his exotic dancer girlfriend Blaze Starr (Lolita Davidovich). It’s funny but the funny thing is that it’s not far from the truth. Confined to the state mental hospital, Long fired the director and appointed a man who released him. Newman endows Long with pathos as well as humor.
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The Half-Breed
D.W. Griffith directed the egregiously racist The Birth of a Nation, but is credited with “production supervision” on this pro-Native American picture. The Half-Breed (1916) stars Douglas Fairbanks as the son of a Cherokee woman and a corrupt sheriff facing hatred and obstacles at every turn. White “superiority” is mocked and WASP pretensions are skewered in this well-made film, shot in natural settings and demonstrating the rapid progress of the craft of cinema in the 1910s.
