A Pure Formality

"Cinema Paradiso" is directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. It's probably my favourite film about film, the love of film. It came out in 1988 when I was eighteen. I never bothered to follow Tornatore's career or seek out his other work. I'm not sure why. Peter Thompson, owner and operator of my favourite video store Movies 'N Stuff recently told me I needed to watch, "A Pure Formality." Directed by Tonatore, it stars Gérard Depardieu and Roman Polanski. Depardieu plays a writer, lost in the rain in the French countryside, running away from what exactly, we don't know; a mystery. Polanski is a detective trying to solve a fresh homicide. This is a clever game of cat and mouse. It's a visual treat, a Hitchcockian thriller. For me, to watch a relatively young, Gérard Depardieu was also such a great joy. He was an actor who was a regular staple of my cinema watching (like Michael Caine or Gene Hackman) growing up. He is an unconventional leading man because of his hulking stature - it has always endeared me to him even more. Anyway, "A Pure Formality" is a cinephile's wet dream. The ending may be controversial - go see Peter at his store after you have watched it to talk about the ending. And you can thank me later. For rent at Movies 'N Stuff.