These two films comprise the second set of releases in "The Gabriel Garcia Marquez" collection of feature films based on stories and screenplays from the Nobel-prize winning author (the first releases were Letters From the Park and Miracle in Rome). The Fable of the Beautiful Pigeon Fancier, from director Ruy Guerra (Erendira), is a fleshed-out screenplay from a two-page scene in Marquez's novel Love in the Time of Cholera. Set in Brazil, at the turn of the century, the film tells the story of Don Orestes (Ney Latorraca), a wealthy, dilettantish rum-producer, who falls madly in love with the much younger Fulvia (Claudia Ohana), a married woman who raises pigeons. Initially spurned, Don Orestes finally wins over the beautiful pigeon fancier with ultimately tragic results. Director Guerra has fashioned a lusciously styled film, with an excellent use of music to convey comedy--Don Orestes' (wonderfully portrayed by Latorraca) absurdly anal-retentive daily rituals are often accompanied by slightly off-key horn passages. Love amongst the aristocratic ruins, a favorite theme in Garcia Marquez's writing, is given grand expression in this wonderful little film. The Summer of Miss Forbes, on the other hand, offers precious little comedy. Hired to watch a couple of young hellions while their parents go on vacation, Miss Forbes (Hanna Schygulla), a German governess, tackles her task with gusto: in a matter of days the two boys, who formerly enjoyed such diversions as drawing a male member on their sleeping father's forehead, are as meek and docile as lambs. By night, however, the boys discover that Miss Forbes has another side: waltzing around in her nightie, drinking vodka by the bottle, and declaiming whole speeches of something in German (I'll return to Miss Forbes' speeches in a moment). Relatively isolated, the boys have one close companion, a young diving instructor named Achilles, who looks very much like a Latin American god. Miss Forbes is unquestionably stricken with the youth's beauty and does everything in her power to seduce him--a mission which leads to a shocking end to the summer. Schygulla is absolutely haunting as Miss Forbes, and The Summer of Miss Forbes is perhaps the best film about female sexual repression since The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne. The problem--and it's a maddening one--is that not one word of Miss Forbes' impassioned German speeches is translated. This oversight very nearly kills an otherwise excellent film. The Fable of the Beautiful Pigeon Fancier is highly recommended. The Summer of Miss Forbes is also highly recommended, with the abovementioned very big reservation (some will feel frustrated, yet still greatly appreciate being able to see the film). (R. Pitman)
The Fable of the Beautiful Pigeon Fancier; The Summer of Miss Forbes
(1988) 73 min. In Spanish w/English subtitles. $79.95. Fox Lorber Home Video. Library Journal
The Fable of the Beautiful Pigeon Fancier; The Summer of Miss Forbes
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