Fernando's View
By Fernando F. Croce

"Tetro," Francis Ford Coppola's latest comeback vehicle is a gorgeous and poignant drama hitting selected theaters. In DVD, "Caroline" leads a trio of fascinating movies, both new and old, about girls figuring out their personalities.

In Theaters:

Tetro (American Zoetrope Releasing): Francis Ford Coppola's career would itself make a fascinating movie. Celebrated early for his success with classics like "The Godfather" and "Apocalypse Now," the filmmaker has spent just as many years away from the limelight. Thankfully, the comeback trail which began a few years ago with "Youth Without Youth" shows no sign of stopping with his most recent film, a heartfelt and inspired tale about family responsibility and artistic impulses. Set in Argentina, it deals with the emotional reunion between young Bennie (Alden Ehrenreich) and his older brother Tetro (Vincent Gallo), a talented but erratic writer. But will the visit help Tetro complete the play he's been working on, or will old wounds be reopened? A visually gorgeous and emotional film.

The Girl From Monaco (Magnolia Films): Bertrand (the amusing Fabrice Luchini) is a wealthy but meek lawyer whose stable life is seriously lacking thrills. Things take a turn to the unpredictable when he's assigned to sun-dappled Monaco to defend a woman (Stephane Audran) accused of murder. Instead of doing research for the case, however, Bertrand becomes more interested in going out with Audrey (Louise Bourgoin), the young, flirtatious weather-girl he meets while being interviewed on the local news. The more he finds out about her, the more it seems that there are connections between the case he's defending and the girl's impulsive behavior. With great help from the cast, director Anne Fontaine weaves a modest but polished mix of comedy and suspenseful intrigue. With subtitles.

New on DVD:

Coraline (Focus): What's a little girl to do when she finds herself in a boring new house with her inattentive parents? Coraline (voiced by Dakota Fanning) finds a solution by walking through a mysterious door and stepping into an alternate world where everything that was dreary in the real world, including Mom and Dad, becomes wondrous. When dream becomes nightmare, however, can Coraline make it back safely to reality? Taking more than a page from "Alice in Wonderland," this marvelously imaginative fable from director Henry Selick ("The Nightmare Before Christmas") uses stop-motion animation to recreate a fantasy land that's both exciting and ominous. Some passages may be too intense for younger kids, but others will be exhilarated.

Repulsion (Criterion): In his first movie away from his native Poland, acclaimed director Roman Polanski creates an unforgettable portrait of loneliness and madness. Catherine Deneuve gives a brilliant performance as Carole, a shy young woman whose mind gradually crumbles after she's left alone in an apartment in London. As time passes and her dreams of insecurity and horror become indistinguishable from reality, nobody who comes to visit her is safe. Though confined to a small space for most of the film, Polanski uses his filmmaking genius to create a stylistically stimulating experience that remains fascinating and darkly humorous despite its grim subject. Don't miss the commentary track with Polanski and Deneuve in the new, first-rate Criterion DVD release.

2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (Criterion): Jean-Luc Godard is one of the masters of modernist filmmaking, and every movie of his is worth catching. This 1966 film, being re-released in a terrific Criterion transfer, is one of his most challenging works. Based on a news item about the rise of prostitution among Parisian middle-class women, the film follows the affairs of a young housewife (Marina Vlady) who decides to look for ways to make extra money in order to afford fancy accessories. Though many people approach Godard's movies with trepidation due to their intellectual severity, this one has enough visual wit and provocative ideas to attract even non-fans of this fascinating artist. With subtitles.