I was lucky enough to score a preview disc of Brighton Rock (1947), the Boulting brothers’ noirish adaptation of Graham Greene’s novel, when Gene Siskel Film Center revived it not long ago. Unfortunately, it isn’t available on commercial DVD, so if you want to see it, you may have to get hold of the VHS copy from Facets Multimedia. I’d certainly recommend it over the new version opening today, which is the subject of this week’s long review.
Also this week, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky recommends Rebels of the Neon God (1992), the debut film by Taiwanese dreamer Tsai Ming-liang (Goodbye, Dragon Inn), and we have a sidebar for the last week of the Black Harvest International Festival of Film and Video, both at Film Center. Among the movies screening in Black Harvest this week are Preacher, the latest from local documentary maker Daniel Kraus (Sheriff, Musician, Professor), and The Upsetter: The Life and Music of Lee Scratch Perry, whose Saturday show includes a discussion with gallery owner John Corbett and longtime Reader scribe Peter Margasak.