Martin Lee Movies
- 1995
This documentary offers a sweeping look at China's recent past and its future as the great country prepares to enter the 21st century. The filmmaker Peter Kauffman explains that the reason he made the film was due to an excited phone call from Xiozhen Jiang, his longtime friend and daughter of renowned Chinese screen actress Bai Yang. During the call she told Kauffman that China had turned into "the wildest place on Earth." Intrigued, Kaufman and his father, distinguished filmmaker Philip Kaufman, journeyed to China and made this film, which is divided into titled segments. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A young boy comes to fear that his blind mother may become the next victim of a serial killer in this complex psychological thriller. Unfolding at first as a traditional suspense tale, the film follows the terrified boy's attempts to determine the killer's identity, a task his policeman father has failed to achieve. Things take a more provocative and puzzling turn when the boy's penchant for fantasy is revealed, forcing the audience to question whether what has been shown has been real or merely a product of the boy's imagination. As a result, much of the anxiety in Afraid of the Dark emerges not from the violent shocks, but from the uncertain reality and the tantalizing, disturbing hints of the child's psychology. This purposeful ambiguity may strike some viewers as confusing and alienating, despite the film's assured performances and striking imagery. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Keyworth, James Fox, (more)
- 198z
In this actioner, ninjas fight over a bank account in Switzerland. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
