FREEZE FRAMES
* THE ACCOMPANIST
During the Nazi occupation of Paris, a young pianist takes a job as accompanist to a French singer, only partially realizing that she must now subordinate her own interests to those of her employer and the employer's husband. The husband, a businessman, is increasingly uncomfortable about the political ramifications of his work. The movie is handsomely filmed and tastefully directed, which makes for a pleasant viewing experience but a rather pallid treatment of the serious themes raised by the screenplay. Romane Bohringer gives an impressively nuanced performance in the title role. Claude Miller directed. (Rated PG) * THE CEMENT GARDEN - After the death of their parents, the children of an English family lose their grasp on social and sexual norms as they slide into a dangerously isolated new existence. Andrew Birkin wrote and directed. He slightly tones down the rampant perversity of Ian McEwan's novel while retaining its dreamlike tone, its preoccupation with sex, and its skeptical attitude toward conventional notions of youthful innocence. (Not rated) * THE GETAWAY Although he'd rather quit his criminal career and settle down to a quiet life, an experienced thief agrees to do one last job for a ruthless mobster, and soon finds himself running from both the police and his boss's vicious thugs. This slickly made thriller is an example of current Hollywood at its brainless worst, combining a barrage of gratuitous violence with grotesque insensitivity toward the humanity of nearly all its characters, not to mention the audience. The movie's women fare especially badly, even if the heroine does get to shoot a lot of people. Directed by Roger Donaldson from a screenplay by Walter Hill and Amy Jones, based on Jim Thompson's novel and Sam Peckinpah's undistinguished 1972 melodrama. (Rated R)
