The Crying Game
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 23, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 Photos from Universal Studios Christina
Ricci stars as Suzie in Sally Potter’s movie, "The Man Who
Cried."
By David Holmberg
Daily Bruin Staff
It may be time for the Japanese fighter pilots and U.S. Navy
machine gunners of “Pearl Harbor” to think about a
truce, for another enemy has arrived to threaten them both.
While in comparison it may be a tiny film, Sally Potter’s
World War II drama “The Man Who Cried” is nevertheless
filled with an emotionally charged cast strong enough to certainly
put up a valiant effort in the face of box office competition.
The film begins in 1927 Russia, with snow falling calmly on a
tiny village community. A Jewish girl named Suzie (played at this
young age by Claudia Lander-Duke and later by Christina Ricci) and
her father (Oleg Yankovskiy) wander through the snow-deadened
forests. At night he sings her Jewish folk songs, solidifying their
powerful bond.
The cold Russian village is filled with the warmth of songs and
dance tied to an old culture, and the use of blue/brown film stock
enhances this feeling of well-worn tranquility.
But the late 1920s is a world in flux, and this small village is
forced to adapt to new times. Suzie’s father leaves for the
United States, hoping to earn enough money to eventually bring the
rest of his family with him.
As he leaves his tiny village and young daughter, he is the
first of the men who will cry for what they have lost. With his
departure, the central conflict of the film is established. Suzie
and her father’s bond is stronger than anything she has
known, and when he does not return home, she focuses on travelling
to America to find her beloved father.
Almost immediately, violence consumes the small town as soldiers
relentlessly burn and pillage it. Suzie is whisked off by refugees
fleeing the chaos and winds up in an English boarding school. As an
outcast, she turns to singing as her means of communication, a mode
of expression which carries her through to young adulthood.
 Johnny Depp, who plays Cesar, Ricci’s
love interest, stands in the gypsy camp. The dreamlike quality of
the film begins to fade when Ricci fills the screen with a quiet
strength and realism. Her presence is remarkable, which is vital
because she has surprisingly few lines despite her central role in
the narrative.
As a testament to her acting ability, she commands the film with
merely her body language and facial expression. Her character is
also one of the recently rare female leads whose story does not
depend on or revolve around a man. She has a passion and a goal
that she follows to the end, no matter what the costs are.
Her love of singing takes her to Paris to attend school, which
is also where the remaining characters appear in all their
splendor. Cate Blanchett (best known for her role as the English
queen in 1998’s Oscar-nominated “Elizabeth”) does
a marvelous turn as Suzie’s friend Lola, an aspiring Russian
dancer striving for success and love. Blanchett gives life to this
fragile woman who feigns assertiveness through sexuality.
The singer and dancer duo enter the world of opera together,
with Suzie wanting to make just enough to buy a ticket to America
and Lola searching for a man to marry.
That man appears in the form of John Turturro as the Italian
opera singer extraordinaire Dante Dominio. He is a pompous
performer, and it is clear that his relationship with Lola is not
one based on mutual respect.
Turturro is excellent as the selfish star, although his history
of playing comic characters may make it difficult to take him
seriously as a menacing figure.
Suzie also inadvertently finds her love, Cesar, in the
ever-enigmatic and repeatedly gypsy-playing Johnny Depp. Just as in
“Chocolat,” Depp returns as a mysterious outsider.
Speaking even fewer lines than Ricci, who also played his romantic
interest in Tim Burton’s “Sleepy Hollow,” Depp
again shows a passionate burning flame in even the most minimal of
characters.
The fire between Suzie and Cesar is intense and much needed,
giving the otherwise slow film a scorching drive. In a movie with
little action and even less dialogue, the relationship becomes a
pillar for the unspoken.
The most memorable and cinematic sequence in the film occurs
between the two lovers. Cesar, who is not only a gypsy but also a
considerable horseman, leads a bike-riding Suzie on a chase through
the Paris streets at night.
It is a sweeping and involving scene, one that visually makes
the concept of love, and the extent to which someone will strive to
achieve it, understandable. The scene also gives Suzie a new
purpose, which is critical because up until this point, her only
motivation has been to get to America to find her father.
The film arrives at the early 1930s, an era of significant
upheaval as Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy begin to invade
surrounding European countries. Each character’s personal
drama regarding love, success and social acceptance begins to
escalate and soon takes the form of fervent political and religious
beliefs.
The Jewish Suzie and gypsy Cesar are in trouble because they are
outsiders, and Italian fascist Dante, who already has personal
issues with them, is the instigator. Violence erupts, and soon the
characters must take sides and make decisions.
The women cry and the men cry, because ultimately the film boils
down to the impact of global conflicts on the individual. All the
characters fall into their religious or political roles, becoming
representatives for their own causes that had previously existed
only in the abstract.
The ending feels unresolved due to the continuation of the
negative political climate. The characters each resolve their own
personal issues while the worldwide crisis continues.
“The Man Who Cried” is not a history lesson, but
rather a portrait of four individuals’ lives as affected by
world events.
The film is not nearly as heart-wrenching as
“Schindler’s List,” nor is it laden with special
effects like “Pearl Harbor.” It is merely a story about
people who must watch their world torn apart by events about which
they have no say, and sometimes all one can do is cry.
FILM: “The Man Who Cried” opens
tomorrow in Los Angeles.
