Word: valentine
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...spite of the uproar he created by landing his Cessna Skyhawk 172 on the edge of Moscow's Red Square two weeks ago, there were signs that the Soviets might deal leniently with Mathias Rust, 19, the newly famous West German aviator. No less an insider than Valentin Falin, head of the official Novosti press agency, initially predicted that the "young man will soon see his parents and friends." But as the week wore on, the Soviets seemed to grow less and less inclined to let Rust off the hook, or for that matter to dismiss his unprecedented feat...
Others were more forthcoming. "It is our tragedy, our pain," said Valentin Avdeyev, director of a power dam on the Kolyma River in the heart of the area where most of the camps were situated. "Newcomers always ask about them. There are none left, but we know where they were. When we are driving past, we point and say, 'There was a camp here...
...love the leading man"--in other words, fantasy's healing power is in the spellbinding, not in the political message. By acting out the parts in the gloom of his darkened cell for his initially reluctant cell-mate, Molina saves his sanity and helps break the ice with Valentin--proof positive of fantasy's rich payoff for reality. As with Spielbergism, style subordinates content for our protagonist...
Spider Woman turns on Molina's love for Valentin. Without giving too much away, the pair's involvement results in a kind of personality transfer. Molina, upon release from prison, sheds his early effiminate ways to become a classical hero, sacrificing himself for the ideals of his friend. Valentin drifts off into fantasy, easing the pain of another police beating by dreaming of a deserted island and his girlfriend...
Molina's selfless behavior in doing a favor for Valentin and his cadre of revolutionaries rings partially true as another example of romantic posturing. But his pitiful end seems inconsistent with the elevated claim Babenco has made throughout for fantasy. Does hanging onto our dreams make us, finally, irrelevant? Molina's final sacrifice is supposed to prove his redemption; just as his leaving home is supposed to indicate newfound maturity. Unfortunately this sort of pandering to what conventional audiences expect in a hero undermines Molina's integrity...