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FASTER. PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL!
THE BOURNE IDENTITY (PG-13) Ever since William
Fnedkin elevated car chases to an art form with
197 l's The French Connection, filmmakers have
looked to that film as some sort of heavyweight
titleholder to he dethroned. John Franken helmet's
Ronm had such ambition in 1998. 2000's Gone In
Sixty Seconds was custom-made for car chases.
Now, The Bourne Identity, a modern espionage
thnller about a young man found floating in the
Mediterranean who has super human capabilities.
an enormous Swiss bank account and not the
slightest idea who he is, boasts in its television
advertisements that it has a car chase rivaling
that of The French Connection. Whether it does or
doesn't is probably unimportant to those seeing
the ads because most of them have probably
never even heard of The French Connection.
Nonetheless, it does point out that in 30 years
time, car chases have yet to really raise the bar.
(Ed. Note: Not to mention Buihtt (1968).]
It is interesting how the original car chase in
The French Connection was filmed from the point
of view of the chaser, the mam character being a
cop. Since then, the big
car chases have been
filmed almost exclu
sively from the
escapees point of view,
the main characters
being fugitives. How
public demand shifted
from the victory of cap
ture to the thnll of
escape is any sociolo
gist's guess.
A car chase is a
classic scene of urban
mayhem with ruined
sports cars, overturned
tankers, spewing hre
hydrants and hundreds
of scattering pedes
tnans. These splendid
images work as a
metaphor for the social
chaos that can be created by some single act of
free will—mainly the act of escape Curiously
though, m many films, the most damage is gener
ated not by the fleeing outlaws who cruise the
streets at excessive speeds, but the authority fig
ures who try to catch them Matt Damon’s Jason
Bourne slaloms through the oncoming traffic as if
playing some video game that requires only one
tnck. Not a single lamppost is scratched. The pur
suant cops, however, hit every obstacle as if that
were the object of the game It's almost as if to
say that cops are the real destroyers for refusing
to let a caged bird fly.
Car chases do have their thrills though The
most thrilling thing a car chase can provide is the
liberation of going where cars are not supposed to
go Painting sidewalks, alleys and stairways with
heated rubber grants a freedom similar to coloring
outside the lines In The Bourne Identity, director
Doug liman (SwmgmJ gives us a few such thntls
complimenting the tiny, unflattering Austin Mini
as the car of choice as it skids down the narrow
stairways of the 11th Arrondissement. Liman's
fast-paced renegade visual style keeping up with
the action quite well, the chase is thrilling in its
moment, but does little for the sake of history.
Sadly, in the movie that surrounds the car
chase, there's no real story for the audience to
chase. Everything we learn about the plot and the
character of Jason Bourne we've determined
within the first 30 minutes of the movie, or per
haps even just from the
trailer. The only
response we have as an
audience for each sup
posed revelation is a
disinterested “And... "
The film, like the
1988 TV thriller by the
same name, is based on
the onginal novel by
Robert Ludlum, who
died shortly after
filming was completed.
Perhaps the onginal
story had more to offer.
The premise itself has
potential way beyond
the easy thrills of espi
onage amongst the
architecturally nch European cityscapes. There is
much to be explored in Jason Bourne's moment
by-moment journey of Self-discovery. The existen
tial dilemma to contemplate is one in which a
human being can function with complete capa
bility but without any real sense of being.
Matt Damon's style as an action star is of the
George Clooney school, where the most important
lines are the ones least emotional and most
matter of fact. Depending on your predisposed
attitude toward the young actor, he either comes
across as smart or as a smartass. His dialogue is of
such an economy that it has a certain Tarzan
quality to it. A line such as "Drop your gun” is
replaced by "Gun down," but it somehow sounds
intelligent when he says it.
franka Potente, who gained fame m Run, Loto.
Run. plays "the girt" who inadvertently becomes
Bourne's only fnend. Potente is a promising new
leading lady. Every time her frustrations surmount,
she lets out a loogy-laden “Scheisse" that could
melt even the most unforgiving xenophobe. Along
with her arrested adolescent post-punk charm and
gift for subtlety, she has enough American savvy
to launch her distinctly German countenance to
international stardom, but she may find her
biggest welcome as some sort of underground cult
hero m the Parker Posey sense
All in alt, the story of the invincible amnesiac
is pretty forgettable It's another example of a film
with everything m place except the soul of the
matter much like Jason Bourne himretf
Patrick franklin
THURSDAY
6/20
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Thursdays
Ladies' Night
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DURING “FRIENDS” EPISODE
50C Champagne
"When Bryan is around
every night is ladies night'
Special Screening
"A Skm Too Few - the Days of Nick Drake
Thursday. June 27 & Saturday June 29
8 00 PM The Holly Theater
Director Jeroen Borkvent succeeds tn
brr'l .'!<? tt‘» ti'-'tJi f- ,'li s • ,;*f Pack to
hfv recreating Drake's w<v»d of tvt cnsi
and changing seasons Roiling Stone
JUNE 19. 2002 • FLAGPOLE COM
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