Movies on the edge

By STEVE PERSALL, Times Film Critic

BETTER LIVING THROUGH CIRCUITRY (Not rated, probably R) (85 min.) -- There must be something more to the rave craze than drugs and dancing until dawn. Nobody stands still long enough to provide deep answers in a documentary that, after first rush, becomes as redundant as its electronic music.

Director Jon Reiss focuses on the underground culture in San Francisco for an alluring sketch of a modern tribal condition. The rave scene is a recent backdrop for one fine narrative film (Go) and a gripping failure (Human Traffic), with Groove still be be judged. The elements for drama and comedy are there. But the same lack of cohesion that fuels rave behavior keeps Reiss straining to tie it all together.

There are moments of clarity, predictably from performing artists whose perspective extends beyond sheer hedonism. One deejay speaks of his turntable mixes as an ancestral duty; the primal nature of rave society emerges briefly. Moby describes ravers as possessing "a naive sense of celebration," neatly summarizing Reiss' tough cinematic nut to crack.

Most of the time, we hear rave enthusiasts bragging about how far they traveled or how many pills they popped or how they find a sense of family at raves. The danger of all this physical self-abuse is briefly addressed by authority figures dissed in the rest of the movie. Reiss knows his film's core audience is already convinced, so why bother with counterpoints?

Rave enthusiasts should enjoy the confirmation supplied by Better Living Through Circuitry. The throbbing musical soundtrack, a cacophony of industrial sounds, scratched records, sonic blasts and a defiant lack of melody, must appeal to someone. If it's too loud, you're too old. But what about too monotonous?

Opens today at Hollywood 20 in Lutz. C+

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EAST-WEST (PG-13) (121 min.) -- After World War II, Josef Stalin invited Russian emigres to return home. Many who accepted the offer, except intellectuals with skills to share, were jailed or executed as traitors.

Spared lives were under constant surveillance, creating tension that director Regis Wargnier shapes into leisurely melodrama.

Marie (Sandrine Bonnaire) is French, married to Alexei (Oleg Menshikov), a Russian doctor who fled during the war. Alexei wants to return to the USSR with his family.

Marie agrees, with the provision that they will return to France if things don't work out. Before long, they are trapped in a nation of informants and poverty, always under suspicion because of Marie's foreign heritage.

East-West operates in the grand tradition of films such as Doctor Zhivago, in which tiny lives are thrown into turmoil by grand historical tragedy. Wargnier takes a methodical approach to Marie's growing dissatisfaction, lingering on each detail of her oppressed life. The pace quickens in the final act, when political intrigue replaces social commentary.

East-West was nominated for best foreign-language film at this year's Academy Awards. Shown with English subtitles. Held over at Tampa Theatre and Beach Theater. B

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ACHILLES' LOVE (Not rated) (90 min.) -- Clearwater Cinema Cafe temporarily moves into first-run territory with this low-budget film. The beer-and-movie places usually book films after they've exhausted multiplex money. Meredith Cole's debut film simply wants an audience anywhere it can be found.

The smart move is finding a venue within driving distance of Tarpon Springs, since Achilles' Love is steeped in Greek-American tradition. The setting is Pittsburgh, where Achilles (Mather Zickel) and Claudia (Lucy Boxwell) eventually find love in middle age. She runs the Steel City Dance company, which is going bankrupt until Achilles and his friends stage a Greek celebration.

New York Times reviewer Lawrence Van Gelder called Achilles' Love a "modest, ingratiating romantic comedy" spanning 10 days in the lives of people "impelled by innate decency, supported by their friends in times of trouble and rewarded at last by a happily-ever-after ending." No wonder the multiplexes won't play it.

Opens today at Clearwater Cinema Cafe, 24095 U.S. 19 N (at Sunset Point Road). Call (727) 799-3531 for information.

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THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (R) (100 min.) -- The ultimate cult film finds a home at the Beach Theater for the next five Saturdays. Show time is 11 p.m. each Saturday. Admission is $5.

The plot matters even less today than when it confounded critics and audiences in 1975. Brad and Janet (youthful Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon) get lost on their wedding night and wind up at the decrepit mansion of Dr. Frank N. Furter (Tim Curry), a transvestite and mad scientist.

Furter has sexual designs on both newlyweds, and his latest creation, a buff creature named Rocky, figures into the seduction somehow.

If you've never seen this 1975 sci-fi spoof, a theater experience is much preferred to home video. Audience members who know the dialogue by heart respond in unison, using silly props to punctuate the action on screen. Beach Theater requests that moviegoers leave the messy stuff (meatloaf, toast, rice and hot dogs, etc.) at home.

As an added attraction, the Rocky Horror fan club, the Back Row Cast, will perform along with the film with dance routines and lip-synching. Continues through July 15. B

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