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Ten Best List for the Year 1984
- Amadeus -- Director Milos Forman's gaudy evocation of the great age of the Baroque features Tom Hulce in the title role of the young, brash, often vulgar composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Though somewhat lacking in dramatic development, the movie exquisitely details the pain and anguish of Mozart's spiritual and physical assassin, Salieri (F. Murray Abraham), who's driven by an overwhelming sense of divine injustice and abandonment. Too intense for youngsters. A-II-adults and adolescents (PG) 1984
- Cal -- Set against the background of the present conflict in Northern Ireland is the story of a doomed love affair between the widow (Helen Mirren) of a slain policeman and a shy, sensitive young man (John Lynch) who was inadvertently involved in her husband's death. Director Pat O'Connor has fashioned a nuanced morality tale of human beings caught in a divided world but there's some nudity and a fairly graphic love scene. A-IV-adults with reservations (R) 1984
- El Norte -- Fleeing from terrorists who kill their father and kidnap their mother, two Guatemalan teenagers head towards "El Norte," meaning the U.S., where they hope to begin a new life free from fear and exploitation. After a journey with further terrors, they reach Los Angeles, get jobs and have a taste of the good life they have dreamed about before one becomes seriously ill and the other is deported as an illegal alien. Director Gregory Nava has made a splendid film about human dignity and the exploitation of undocumented workers, with some good-natured humor keeping matters from getting too solemn. Subtitles aplenty with much of the dialogue in Spanish and Mayan. Several scenes of intense violence. A-III-adults (R) 1984
- The Killing Fields -- Powerful and visually overwhelming movie about the friendship of an American correspondent (Sam Waterston) and his Cambodian assistant (Haing S. Ngor) set against the background of the fall of Cambodia and the slaughter of millions by the Khmer Rouge. Director Roland Joffe's fact-based drama makes an extraordinary human document in the tragic history of an entire nation. Graphically realistic but not overdone scenes of carnage. A-II-adults and adolescents (R) 1984
- Mrs. Soffel -- Turn-of-the-century story of a woman (Diane Keaton), married to a prison warden (Edward Herrmann), who falls in love with a condemned convict (Mel Gibson) and helps him escape. Director Gillian Armstrong's powerful, well-acted movie balances sympathy for its doomed principals with a clear-eyed depiction of the devastation caused by the wife's betrayal of her family and herself. Adultery, though clearly depicted as wrong, is a major plot element. A-IV-adults with reservations (PG-13) 1984
- The Natural Screen -- version of the Bernard Malamud novel about a phenomenal baseball player (Robert Redford) is as much a fable about the temptations of worldly glory and the flesh as it is a red-blooded sports saga. Directed by Barry Levinson, it has a strong supporting cast (Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Wilford Brimley) but muddles the story's underlying themes of self-deceit, evil and mortality. Promiscuity figures in the plot but is treated with restraint. A-II-adults and adolescents (PG) 1984
- A Passage to India -- Screen version of the E.M. Forster classic about the cultural barriers in British-ruled India of the 1920s as seen in a story centering on an Englishwoman's charge of being raped by an Indian. Though painstakingly crafted by director David Lean and superbly acted by an outstanding cast (Judy Davis, Victor Banerjee, Dame Peggy Ashcroft, James Fox and Alec Guinness), the result is a rather ponderous meditation on the differences between Western rationalism and Eastern mysticism. Dramatically flawed but culturally rich entertainment. A-II-adults and adolescents (PG) 1984
- Places in the Heart -- Sally Fields plays a young farm widow struggling to keep her family together and her integrity intact after her husband's death in rural Texas during the Depression. Under Robert Benton's direction, Field's performance winningly conveys a character of strong faith and good will in the face of adversity. A-II-adults and adolescents (PG) 1984
- A Soldier's Story -- When a black sergeant (Adolph Caesar) is murdered at an Army base in 1944, the investigating officer (Howard Rollins, Jr.) discovers that the victim was a ruthless tyrant who had been well hated by his men. Director Norman Jewison's fine production looks at racial prejudice from a number of perspectives with unusually effective results. Some violence and rough language. A-II-adults and adolescents (PG) 1984
- A Sunday in the Country -- Warm, insightful French production about a Sunday in the spring of 1912 when an old artist (Louis Ducreux) in his country home near Paris is visited by his dull son, even duller wife and their three lively children, then are joined by the painter's unmarried daughter (Sabine Azema) who is the old man's delight. Though nothing out of the ordinary occurs, director Bertrand Tavernier's marvelously discerning study of family relationships probes the bafflements and complexities of human love and ambition. Subtitles. Various levels of enjoyment for all ages. A-I-General Patronage (G) 1984
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