WORDS AND PICTURES

Seeing "WORDS AND PICTURES" is like glancing backward to established Eastern prep schools where male students wore those crested jackets and the female students dressed tastefully. Those were schools where teachers often challenged students with harsh language and challenging assignments. Are prep schools like those still existing? It all seems like the bygone days. For the sake of students I hope there are places like Croyden in Maine yet in play.

This film shows what erupts when you get some English Honors Class head, who's primed to drill into the ears of kids: noble poetry and novel writing to stir their minds. He's afraid they are brain-dead from the resources they nosh on in swift computers that won't stimulate them to fresh thinking, themselves. In his mind, WORDS-- we create-are civilization's mark.

Ah... but hang on! Into this school newly arrives a known painter who is crippled from arthritis and has had to forego an active role in the public art world. She has come to Croyden-principally-- to endow joy and passion for PICTURES to the Art Honors Class. She challenges them to truly experience that rush we all get from PICTURES.. Her stern outlook on the world is that PICTURES show us truth; whereas WORDS convey lies.

Soon at Croyden a war breaks out between his faith in WORDS and her love of PICTURES. Each teacher must ensure the best creation from class shall be shown to the student body, who'll vote WORDS? or PICTURES? I sensed deep down each of these teachers and each class suspects that there will not really be a winner, but the challenge will produce the best that WORDS and PICTURES can boast.

Dina Delsanto-played by Juliette Binoche- is the painter, and Jack Marcus- played by Clive Owen-is the English teacher. Each of these teachers lives with baggage- some good and some bad: Jack has a drinking problem, which is slowly eroding his ability to show his creative writing-- though, certainly in his recent past he has shown himself to be a poet with public acclaim. Ms. Delsanto has been sadly inured by crippling arthritis- requiring her to get around with a right shoulder crutch. Unable to use her hands, arms, back and body to execute the kind of mammoth-sized PICTURES she paints, she has been unable to significantly work-even find heart to work. The film connects Dina and Jack negatively to each other... so the battle they're waging between their two classes impinges on the war waged with each other.

Fred Schepisi is the director of this film; and I thought his sequencing and episodic events kept things interesting. Jack has a son, Tony (played by Christian Schneider), who is terribly concerned with his dad's drinking--which surely lends credence to the horror that Jack's own life must hold. Ms. Delsanto has a pupil-- Emily (portrayed byValerie Tian)-whom she urges to strive much harder to force her own star-like talent more to the fore. Her deep passion might predict that Delsanto will soon be driven to serve her own creative muse at the right time.

The screenplay of this film-by Gerald Di Pego- is good enough-- though just maybe a tad artificial. He obviously feels wisely about both of the arts and shows us how students with the right atmosphere can be taught to flourish from and love the encouragement they can get from teachers. I couldn't help but think that much of this film was like a primer for young people: to believe in themselves by their ingesting successful creations of the past.

This is also a love story between Jack and Dina that has to pass through a number of toll booths-- which neither cares much about paying, until the very end.

A minor pang that I did sense was how the contest turned into something far from the way it was first ballyhooed. Yet, It did give me a feel-good acceptance of the student scene (with faculty): experiencing the WORDS presented-as well as the PICTURES by Emily and Delsanto's PICTURES. In truth, Binoche is by all reports an accomplished painter; and the pieces shown in the film-- with her executing them-- are in fact the real thing that she did without any faking.

The problem I had with the film- and it's really no big deal except just for me- is that the film really did try to touch on serious education matters and never dared go very deep. On the other end of the film spectrum, it is light comedy-- worth enjoying. My wife, who has seldom joined me on my film dates, came along this time and loved it. So somewhere between her love and my enjoyment may lie the truth. It's a SEVEN.

What My Grade Grants

8.) "About as good as it could get."

7.) "Lacking that bit of excellence."

6.) "Somehow it just didn't work well."

5.) "I have to feel bad about it."

4.) "All that work and nothing to show."

Creator of "The Wizard's Outrageous Scheme For Stopping Smoking", Humbler Acts reports one film every week as relaxation from his speaking and writing on stopping smoking through dream use and Seven Forces. He's American, English-educated, residing in St. Louis, MO (USA). He can be reached: humbleracts@aol.com or telephone: 314-574-7681.

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