FITZCARRALDO

The thoroughly absorbing Werner Herzog jungle epic Fitzcarraldo is playing at the IFC Center, perhaps only through Thursday.

Showing in a good-looking albeit uneven new 35mm print featuring some gorgeous cinematography, Fitzcarraldo follows the exploits of the titular opera fanatic (well-played by the otherwordly Klaus Kinski after Jason Robards became unavailable) as he desperately strives to bring an opera house to an outpost on the Amazon about a century ago. Like Herzog's Rescue Dawn, this is a movie about a fanatically obsessive modern man plunged into a raw environment, but whereas the protagonist of Rescue Dawn can find a path to freedom in the workings of a tiny lock, Kinski's Fitzcarraldo is macrocosmic, barely able to see trees for the forest. And forget about him considering topography when using a map. He is the type of opera fan who would surely have little or no patience for anything on the puny scale of chamber music—unless, perhaps, it involved a great such his idol Caruso. Fitzcarraldo's adventure involves some fascinating engineering work that arguably lends a new meaning to the cinematic term "tracking shot." See it.



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MY BROTHER'S WEDDING

What a great year it's turning out to be for director Charles Burnett and filmgoers who appreciate his work. First came the long-running revival of Killer of Sheep, and now his previously unreleased My Brother's Wedding is at the IFC Center. But hurry up: It's supposed to close Thursday, with Burnett scheduled to appear at two Wednesday evening screenings.

Like Killer of Sheep, My Brother's Wedding spends time with a number of characters situated in a beaten down African American community. The dialogue/image ratio is more conventional, but it still offers a set of fascinating and engaging scenes that add up to an artfully told tale.

The tale of My Brother's Wedding as a movie is a painful showbiz story. Burnett hadn't finished it when his producers screened a version at New Directors/New Films in 1984...critic Janet Maslin's write-up in The New York Times was mixed but not without some harshness...apparently that was enough to scare off distributors and leave My Brother's Wedding in cinema limbo until very recently, when Burnett was able to put some finishing edits on the movie and earn A. O. Scott's okay in the Times.

My Brother's Wedding is still uneven, but the goodness of it prevails. I recommend seeing the movie and letting it unfold without knowing much about it, so think twice before reading the old Times review and the new Times review if you haven't seen My Brother's Wedding first.