The Best Cinema of 1994

(2 of 2)

A Polish nebbish gets even with the nasty Frenchwoman of his dreams. In this dark comedy (second episode in the wonderful Blue-White-Red trilogy), director Krzysztof Kieslowski cannily observes the flourishing of capitalism and the festering of emotion in his wayward homeland.

10

Clerks.

In a Jersey mini-mall, the convenience-store guy and his pal from the video store talk dirty but think long and wistfully about the life that is passing them by. Their customers and girlfriends are just as lost, goofy and irrelevant. The budget for Kevin Smith's movie was $27,575, but he's the Chekhov of slacker life -- and maybe of America's secret life.

...And The Worst

Female Trouble

Remember when popular movies had women in them? In 1994's top films, the ladies were lucky if the guys let them even drive a bus. The typical female role was a captive or a pinup, wounded faun (Forrest Gump) or ditsy wife (True Lies). For its Best Actress prize, the New York Film Critics had to go to a TV movie (The Last Seduction's Linda Fiorentino). Affirmative action is demode these days, but Hollywood needs some spur to bring women into full partnership with the Toms and Arnolds and Simbas.