The Red Dwarf

Altitudinally-challenged legal clerk Lucien (Jean-Yves Thual) has been charged by his firm with the task of forging abusive letters to be used as false evidence in their divorce cases. In the course of this distasteful work, Lucien manages to win (at least temporarily) the affections and sexual favors of an aging opera star, the Countess Paola Bendoni (Anita Ekberg), whom the firm is representing. When the Countess breaks off her affair with Lucien, drops her divorce case and returns to her husband, Lucien snaps, undergoing an emotional and career meltdown. Lucien eventually ends up joining the circus, hoping to find solace in his friendship with a young girl--a pure-hearted trapeze artist named Isis--who befriended him in the past. When a studio's own marketing department calls a release "complex," you can rest assured it's a tale not meant for everyone. While there may be a few fence sitters on this one, I suspect that audiences will either call The Red Dwarf a masterpiece or dismiss it completely. As for me, I'm afraid I must side with the latter camp. This grotesque, Fellini-esque tale is visually striking and undeniably unique, but in the end it's as pointless and unpleasant as Lucien's own sordid existence. Not recommended. (S. C. Sickles)