Plays that are set in the Caribbean aren’t done very often.  I don’t know exactly why that is, unless one attributes it to an aversion to all things Cuban.  In the case of San Diego Repertory Theatre, their production of playwright Caridad Svich’s family drama and memory play “In the Time of the Butterflies” takes place in the Dominican Republic during the 1950’s and 60’s under the brutal dictatorship of Generalissmo Rafael Trujillo.

The production based on the Latin American novel “In the Time of The Butterflies” by Julia Alverez, is sensitively and steadfastly co-directed by Todd Salovey, San Diego REP’s associate artistic director and Hebert Siquenza, artist in residence.

Playwright Svich is careful in her construction of the play, in making sure we understand that this is a fictional work based on real people and real events.  As fiction, she gets to add theatrical brush strokes and put a theatrical spin on the text of this story of the courageous Mirabal sisters: Patria; Dede, Minerva, and Maria Teresa, of the Dominican Republic.   They were four Hispanic sisters whose political actions during the 50’s and 60’s changed the face and history of the Dominican Republic (the DR as the locals call it).  No story about Hispanic culture would be complete without music in some form.  “Butterflies” doesn’t change the pattern, which accounts for the violinist Batya MacAdam-Somer solo as the play begins, and continues throughout with musical interludes to move the narrative forward.

The story begins as a memory piece in the tranquil garden of an upper-middle class plantation home.  The last surviving Mirabal sister, Dede (Catalina Maynard) begins to talk about her sisters by name: Patria (Elisa Gonzalez; Young Dede (Sandra Ruiz); Minerva (Jacqueline Grace Lopez); Maria Teresa (Maritxell Carrero).  As they enter, the scene flashes back to the 1940’s and 50’s.  The young sisters are close and supportive of each other in the tradition of many Hispanic families and its culture.  They love one another, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have differing personalities, likes and dislikes, and see things as individuals, not as mama and papa would like them to be.

The sisters turn political activists and join the resistance movement to overthrow Trujillo. Their code name
was “Butterflies” and they became famous for their outspoken views and participation in the resistance.
Their passion and their involvement in the movement, however, cost the lives of three Mirabal sisters: Patria; Minerva; and Maria Teresa.

The pivotal character of Rafael Trujillo is played by the wonderfully multi-talented “Culture Clash” co-founder Herbert Siguenza.  He also performs all the male characters:  a DJ, Papa, Lio, and Rufino, but his Trujillo portrayal is chillingly accurate, menacing, and outstanding.

The Mirabal sisters: Jacqueline Grace Lopez; Elisa Gonzales; Sandra Ruiz; Maritxell Carrero; and Catalina Maynard are uniformly solid and bring nuance and fidelity to their performances.  In fact, the entire cast puts forth a splendid ensemble company effort.  It’s good to see Hispanic actors performing roles written for Hispanic characters.  And it’s particularly gratifying to see roles and parts being written for complex and interesting Hispanic women with stories to tell.

I had the opportunity two years ago to meet playwright Caridad Svich in Chicago where she received the Primus Award, for one of her plays at the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) conference.  She was accepting her award for her play “The House of the Spirits”, based on the Isabel Allende novel.

Svich is a very soft-spoken, intelligent, woman with intense focus.  But don’t be fooled into thinking she is too reserved.  She makes her points as to her characters and the subject matter of her plays with laser-like intensity and skill.  She writes plays in English and Spanish and is steeped in bilingualism and multiculturalism – solid assets for a playwright with vision and passion.

“In the Time of the Butterflies”, runs at the Lyceum Space stage throughJanuary 26, 2014.

The Danish psychological drama “The Hunt”, that just screened at the 25th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival, is on a hunt of its own – to nab the Academy Award Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s Oscar ceremonies – and it has a good chance.  Danish actor Mads Mikklesen, is one of the reasons for its chance to score a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

Child sexual abuse is a particularly distasteful and disturbing activity, and one that has been radio active as a subject in movies for years.  Undaunted by the hot button subject matter, Director Thomas Vinterberg, and writer Tobias Lindholm, have fashioned a gripping film that examines the collateral damage that occurs when communities make  rush to judgment decisions.  For Southern California audiences, the film resonates (if one is old enough) and is reminiscent of the notoriety and charges of the 1980’s infamous “McMartin preschool sexual abuse scandal” that went on for four long years.

In “The Hunt”, Danish star Mads Mikkelsen (Lucas), delivers a very strong performance of a man and a father wrongly accused of having had a sexual encounter with young seven year-old Klara, the child of his best friend Theo (Thomas Bo Larsen), at the school where he works as a kindergarten teacher.

The nightmare for Lucas begins when young Klara (Annika Wedderkopp) is overheard muttering words of an explicit sexual nature by Susse Wold, the school principal.  These mutterings set off alarm bells for the protective teacher. After questioning young Klara  she hastily contacts a school official, and both decide to inform the police and the parents of the other children as a way of protecting all of the children.

Lucas is not informed of their action and the school’s principal refuses to tell Lucas why he has been advised to take a leave from his duties at the school.  Gossip is the handmaiden of the ignorant thus allowing hysteria to fill the void.   It doesn’t take long for the community to brand Lucas a predator and a danger to the school and the community, with the result being that total disengagement and ostracism is the community’s answer.

Lucas as the divorced father of teenaged son Marcus (Lasse Folgelstrom), who all live in  same small town, must try to understand what and why this is taking place.  To help, Lucas’ new girlfriend Nadia (Alexandra Rapaport) moves in with him, as a way of keeping his life going.  There are a series of confrontations with local merchants and townspeople that turn ugly and physical, as Lucas try’s to put his life back in order.  There are changes that occur in him as well.  He becomes more confrontational and during the Christmas Eve church services, he goes on a rant proclaiming his innocence to the congregation, and directly to Theo.  Theo is touched by Lucas and forgives him, realizing that Lucas is telling the truth.  But the townspeople are not as eager to forgive as Theo.  Fear and uncertainty are emotions that run deep in the community, and once experienced, they are loathed to go away.

The final sequence of the film takes place one year later, and it appears all is forgiven, and the tight little community is back to normal.  During an all male community bonding ritual called “the hunting party”, Marcus prepares to be initiated.  It’s a rite of passage.  He must go into the forest alone to hunt and shoot a deer.  Lucas also takes part in the hunt but not with Marcus. He goes off by himself to hunt. Suddenly, a rifle shot rings out and a bullet slams into the tree trunk next to Lucas’ head.  He turns to look, but the shooter is too far away to be identified.  But, to Lucas, the inference is crystal clear.

Director Vinterberg and cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen have rendered a disturbing film subject in an honest and truthful manner, and performed by a uniformly solid support cast. “The Hunt” will be released in selected cities the United this year.

Films about man’s inhumanity to man are deeply disturbing and horrifying in their cruelty.   However, they need to be seen and reflected upon in an effort to prevent genocide from occurring again.  The making and viewing of such films is the beginning of the expiation period so necessary in achieving the healing process.

Cambodia’s 2014 Official Submission for the Academy Awards is “The Missing Picture”, by native Cambodian director and narrator Rithy Panh.  In this deeply personal  film Panh laments the genocide of almost two million Cambodians carried out by the infaAmous Pol Pot regime under the Khmer Rouge during the 1970’s.

The magnitude of the systematic genocide is mind-boggling.  The methods employed by the Pol Pot regime was to separate families, inculcate children and create an Agrarian-based Communist Party, devoid of capitalism in all its forms along with the country’s intellectuals, city dwellers, minorities of all stripes, and many of their own party members who were suspected of being traitors.

The title of the film “The Missing Picture” refers to the elimination and obliteration of all Cambodian film archives by the Khmer Rouge.  They preferred to create their own film history as dictated by Pol Pot and his regime. In telling the story, Panh who lost his own father, mother and sisters to malnutrition, uses hundreds of hand painted hand carved clay figures to act out the events in diorama style of the brutal four-year reign of the Khmer Rouge.

Panh’s decision to tell his story with clay figures is a daunting method of filmmaking, which requires literally hundreds of hours of preparation and camera work.  The documentary film intersperses what archival film footage was available from Cambodian, as well as, outside sources to paint a reign of terror designed to decimate millions of Cambodian citizens, just to prove that Pol Pot could create a new agrarian society using communist ideology.

The Khmer Rouge regime that lasted just four years, is a grim reminder of what can take place when the rest of the world stands idly by and lets a dictator have full sway.  “The Missing Picture” is a sobering and thought provoking film, which hopefully, will find its way into theatres across the country.

Hollywood is no stranger to fundraising, but this time some of the country’s biggest comedians are putting on a show in support of Texas women who are facing down the state’s new abortion restrictions.

Taking place in Los Angeles on Sunday, January 19, the event is titled, “A Night of a Thousand Vaginas!” and will raise funds for women’s groups in Texas that are helping to guide individuals through the state’s latest abortion law.

The show will star comedians like Sarah Silverman, Zach Galifianakis, Jen Kirkman, Steve Agee, Queens of the Stone Age musician Josh Homme, and more. Tickets were available for up to $100, but the event is now sold out.

Reproductive rights advocates cheer as the Texas Senate tries to vote on the controversial anti-abortion bill SB5, which was up for a vote on the last day of the legislative special session June 25, 2013 in Austin, Texas. (Erich Schlegel / Getty Images / AFP)

Organized by the women’s group “A is For,” which describes itself as “an ally and advocate for organizations working to protect reproductive rights,” the event has already come under fire from conservative outlets like Truth Revolt and NewsBusters and pro-life supporters.

According to The Daily Caller, “A is For is organizing this emergency benefit to raise money for Texas abortion funds (Lilith Fund, TEA Fund, Whole Women’s Health Action Fund, and Fund Texas Women) who are working to help women affected by this law by providing financial support to help cover procedures, travel, lodging and child care.”

Texas’ new abortion law – which includes a ban on the procedure for women past 20 weeks of pregnancy – have become a heated point of contention ever since Democratic state Senator Wendy Davis performed a marathon 13-hour filibuster in order to deny the restrictions’ initial passage. Despite her efforts, the law was passed in July.

Senator Wendy Davis (Win McNamee / Getty Images / AFP)

In addition to the 20-week abortion ban, the law mandates that any doctor performing the procedure must have admitting privileges at a hospital within a 30-mile radius of the abortion clinic. Access to non-surgical forms of abortion, such as pills, has also been restricted.

Women’s groups have filed lawsuits against the law and notched an early victory when a district judge declared parts of it unconstitutional in October. Three days later, however, the 5^th US Circuit Court of Appeals overruled that order and reinstated most of the law’s restrictions while it hears oral arguments for and against the restrictions.

Earlier this month, both sides appeared in front of the court to present their argument. It’s unknown when exactly the a ruling will be issued, though many expect the case to ultimately head to the Supreme Court.

The Italian film industry is known for producing some of the most memorable films ever made over the last 65 years.  Some of their most iconic directors like Fellini, Antonioio, Visconti, Rossellini, and De Sica, along with actors, Anna Mangnani, Giuletta Masina, Sophia Lauren, Marcello Mastroianni, and Gina Lollobrigida, have graced the world’s silver screens.

In the Italian film “The Great Beauty”, which screened at the just concluded Palm Springs International Film Festival, young Italian director Paolo Sorrentino set out to pay homage to his great predecessors and the country that inspired their work.  Rome is one of the great cities of the world and it’s art, sculpture, architecture and splendor are nonpareil.

But the send-up comedy satire fell short of writer/director Sorrentino and co writer Umberto Contarello’s goal.  Yes, the visuals are indeed Fellini-like with scenes of hedonism and excess reminiscent of “La Dolce Vida”, along with the obscurity of an Antonioio narrative script.   However, there is a time limit involved for keeping the viewer engaged. The opening disco music-driven sequence runs 12 minutes of “the beautiful people” dancing, drinking, and mugging for the camera.  We got the vulgarity and a taste of Sorrentino’s spoof of their lifestyle in the first two minutes.

The narrative thread of the film then is left to our “tour guide” Jep Gambardella (Toni Servillo), who as one-novel writer and social/celebrity gadfly, apparently knows everyone, and I mean everyone, worth knowing in Roman society. And they all parade in fron of Sorretino’s camera.  There is even a reference to that old gag-joke about The Pope (we recognize Jep, but who’s the guy, in white, he’s standing next to on the papal balcony).

Servillo’s Gambardella is an engaging, charming, and totally cynical creature who represents the best and the worst of Italian culture.  In my recollection of Italian films from the 40’s to the present day, directors were always obsessed with breasts; the bigger, the better.  Apparently, that obsession is still alive and well.  In the last scene of the movie Jep is reminiscing about his first love.  A comely young lass is standing next to the sea, and just before she walks away, she whispers to Jep, “there is something I want to show you”, and with that, she bares her young breasts for Jep.  It’s the stuff that young 12 and 14 year-old boys dream about.

Forget the weak story, the real treasure of  “The Great Beauty” is in the stunning visuals from Production Designer Stefania Cella and the camerawork of Cinematographer Luca Bigazzi, and his lighting crew.  They provide a “tour” of the great works of art very few visitors to Rome get to see.  On this aspect alone, the film is worth seeing.   Also, I suspect that this was one film everyone in the Italian movie industry wanted to be in.  The cast peppered with former actors and actresses made it a must see movie for local consumption.  For me it failed.  I just found it pretentious and overly long.

Next to the British and the United States, the German film industry produces some of the best spy-movie thrillers.  Their Oscar Submission for Best Foreign Language Film of 2014 is “Two Lives”, directed and co-written by Georg Maas, and stars the iconic Norwegian actor Liv Ullman (a favorite star of many Ingmar Bergman films), German stars Juliane Kohler, Rainer Bock, and Norwegian stars Sven Nordin, and Julia Bache-Wiig.

The huge success and ultimate Oscar win for the German film “The Lives of Others” in 2007 would appear to auger well for Germany’s 2014 submission, however, “Two Lives” has the taste of an old wine in a new bottle.  The performances are finely judged, along with the personal vision of director Maas, but the smooth, satisfying, after-taste of a fine vintage wine is illusive and found wanting.

The story of Norwegian women fraternizing with their German occupiers during WWII, repugnant as that may sound to some, is never-the-less the reality of war since the beginning of time.   Director Maas sets his story in 1990 Europe, one year after fall of the Berlin Wall. The action and intrigue that revolve around the stigmatic treatment of these women by the Norwegian government after the war, becomes the main thrust of Maas’ film by asking the question: “whatever happened to, not only the mothers, but to the children of these women”?   The plot thickens a bit when the East German secret police, the Stasi, are introduced into the mystery.  In the world of deep-cover agents, spies, and double agents, all sorts of shadowy characters can be found.

The Berlin Wall has crumbled and Katrine (Juliane Kohler) a Norwegian “war child” raised in East Germany, but living in Norway for the past twenty years, is visited by a lawyer (Ken Duken) from a department of the EU.  He is interested in repatriating children of that era with their birth mothers as well as seeking compensation for the women as a result of their treatment by the Norwegian government.  He wants Katrine to testify as a way of helping other women remove the stigma of what took place some fifty years ago.

Katrine knows all too well her history and that of her mother (Liv Ullman).  They all live together.   Katrine, her daughter (Julia Bache-Wiig), and new baby, and Katrine’s husband Bjarte (Sven Nordin) a Captain in the Norwegian Navy.  Katrine’s has not shared all she knows about her past.  It’s a period of her life she would prefer remain a secret.  It’s a convoluted and complex story and plotline that needs to be seen in a theatre to get the full impact of the story (so no spoiler alerts here).

Cinematographer and co-director Judith Kaufmann, provides wonderful visuals and camera work, however, I found the overall film experience a few notches below my expectations.