THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 12, 1995 TAG: 9501120048
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Craig Shapiro
LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
MARTIN LUTHER KING Jr., a passionate, eloquent voice for tolerance and equality - recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize - is gunned down in Memphis. The tragedy is one of the sad ironies of our time.
Even before that April night nearly 27 years ago, violence and hatred were part of the great man's life, even though his message was the opposite. The measure of his commitment is that he recognized the risk.
While the mountaintop is still a ways off, there is no question that King, who would have been 66 on Sunday, achieved much for all races in his brief lifetime. With his birthday and Monday's national holiday approaching, it's a good time to reflect.
A lot of videos, both factual and fictional, echo and embrace the themes that defined King's work. Here are 10 for starters:
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974). Cicely Tyson gives the performance of a lifetime as a 110-year-old former slave whose story recounts the black experience in the South. The lauded production won nine Emmys.
Boyz N the Hood (1991). Set in bleak South Central L.A., John Singleton's debut delivers a decidedly pro-family, nonviolent message. Strong performances by Laurence Fishburne and Cuba Gooding Jr.
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). Think about it. Michael Rennie is Klaatu, a gentle, articulate alien who comes to Earth with a message of peace. He is embraced by the masses, but brought down by those in power.
The Defiant Ones (1958). Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier escape a chain gang in the rural South. Handcuffed together, they are forced to confront their hatred and bigotry. Stanley Kramer directed this thoughtful study of racism.
Gandhi (1982). Another man of peace whose life, philosophy and assassination eerily parallel those of King. An epic in every sense, it won eight Oscars.
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). Poitier is the young doctor who comes home to meet the parents of his white fiancee. Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy play Mom and Dad in a film that looks at tolerance from a different vantage.
In the Heat of the Night (1967). Racial prejudice is the theme, with powerful performances from Poitier and Rod Steiger as a big-city homicide expert and the chief of police investigating the murder of a businessman in a Mississippi town.
The Long Walk Home (1989). Montgomery, Ala., in the 1950s is the place and time. Blacks are supporting the bus boycott led by King. Sissy Spacek comes to the aid of her maid, played by Whoopi Goldberg, who is walking the 9 miles to work.
Times of Harvey Milk (1983). If anyone ever represented the hopes of a movement, it was Milk, the gay activist who in 1977 won election as San Francisco city supervisor. This moving documentary traces his life and career, ending with his assassination in 1978.
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). Gregory Peck has said his favorite role was that of Atticus Finch, the Southern lawyer who defends a black man accused of raping a white woman in this compelling drama.
TOP TAPES (in Billboard):
Sales: ``Speed,'' ``Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,'' ``Jurassic Park,'' ``The Nightmare Before Christmas,'' ``The Flintstones''
Rentals: ``Speed,'' ``Maverick,'' ``When a Man Loves a Woman,'' ``Blown Away,'' ``Guarding Tess''
The Couch Report
``True Lies'' (1994, FoxVideo). Can't deny it: Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Cameron have the action formula down pat. Thing is, the eye-popping stunts and FX hinge on a clever story. Arnold pretends he's a computer salesman, so his family has no clue about his secret life: He's a top top-secret spy. While he's showing more range, the big laughs go to Tom Arnold as his assistant and Bill Paxton as a shifty used-car salesman.
(CAST: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Tia Carrere, Bill Paxton. RATED: R for language, violence)
``Ciao, Professore!'' (1994, Miramax). The idea is familiar - a teacher and his students learn from each other - but Lina Wertmuller gives her comedy such a strong social conscience that it is by turns touching and topical. A bureaucratic bungle sends Paolo Villaggio to a rundown village near Naples. His earnestness is believable; Wertmuller's real coup, though, is the wonderful performances she gets from the class of third-graders. They blow away anything made in America. (Italian with English subtitles)
(CAST: Paolo Villaggio, Gigio Morra, Sergio Lolli. RATED: R for language)
``White'' (1994, Miramax). ``Blue,'' Chapter 1 in Krzysztof Kieslowski's French-flag trilogy, addressed liberty. Equality is the theme of this ingenious tale of love and revenge. A hairdresser, left destitute after his French wife divorces him, is smuggled back into his native Poland, where he reconnects - and plots. Add Kieslowski's superb use of close-ups and a hint of political intrigue, and you're hooked. (Polish and French with English subtitles)
(CAST: Julie Delpy, Zbigniew Zamachowski, Janusz Gazos. RATED: R for themes, language)
Also: ``Doomsday Gun,'' with Frank Langella bent on building the baddest weapon ever (not rated); ``All About Erica,'' a profile of soap queen Susan Lucci (not rated), and three erotic thrillers: ``Dark Side of Genius'' (R) with Finola Hughes, ``Bitter Vengeance'' (not rated) with Virginia Madsen and ``Seduced By Evil'' (not rated) with Suzanne Somers - for real.
Tuesday: ``Wolf,'' ``The Shadow,'' ``Trial by Jury,'' ``Police Academy: Mission to Moscow,'' ``Next Door''
Jan. 19: ``The Mask'' by CNB