The Company of Wolves
Credit:
ITC Entertainment
Director Neil Jordan’s lavish Gothic fantasy horror presents a chilling reimagining of “Little Red Riding Hood,” adapted from a short story by Angela Carter found in her collection of fairy-tale reinterpretations, The Bloody Chamber. The main story revolves around a young girl named Rosaleen (Sarah Patterson) who dons a knitted red cloak and encounters a roguish huntsman/werewolf (Micha Bergese) while journeying through the woods to her grandmother’s (Angela Lansbury) residence. Additionally, there are several embedded fairy tales centered around wolves, with two narrated by Rosaleen and two by her grandmother.
Jordan has characterized this framework as “a story comprising very different movements,” all variations on the primary theme, culminating in the fairy tale that everyone recognizes. The artistic design and beautifully evocative cinematography—all accomplished with a modest $2 million budget—further amplify the surreal ambiance. The Company of Wolves, akin to the fairy tale that it draws from, serves as an unabashedly Freudian metaphor for Rosaleen’s romantic and sexual awakening, where she realizes her own strength, a revelation that both terrifies and intrigues her. It is uncommon to discover such a deeply layered film, rich with symbolism and shadowy imagery.
Desperately Seeking Susan
Credit:
Orion Pictures
In this archetypal 1980s screwball farce about mistaken identity, Roberta (Rosanna Arquette) is an unfulfilled upper-middle-class housewife from New Jersey who becomes intrigued by the local tabloid personal advertisements, particularly the communications between two free-spirited romantic partners, Susan (Madonna) and Jim (Robert Joy). One day, she follows Susan and is struck on the head when a mob tough guy confuses her for Susan, who had pilfered a pair of priceless earrings from a different lover, who in turn had taken them from a mobster. Roberta awakens with amnesia and, convinced she is Susan, is taken under the wing of Jim’s close friend, Dez (Aidan Quinn).
Desperately Seeking Susan is filmmaker Susan Seidelman’s homage to the (albeit sanitized) 1980s alternative culture of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, adorned with cameo appearances by performance artists, musicians, comedians, actors, painters, and others from that era. The screenplay is filled with clever one-liners and boasts a remarkable supporting cast, including John Turturro as the proprietor of a shabby Magic Club, Laurie Metcalf as Roberta’s sister-in-law Leslie, and a deadpan Steven Wright as Leslie’s dentist romantic interest. It’s light-hearted, infectious, and delightful fun, and arguably Madonna’s finest acting performance, likely due to her mostly playing a version of herself.
