C. G. Jung, page 105 from THE RED BOOK, pigments on paper, 1914-30 (courtesy of the Foundation of the Works of C. G. Jung)
Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th St. at Seventh Ave.
Tickets: $15-$25 ($7 student rate for some programs)
Through January 24
212-620-5000
www.rmanyc.org/redbook
In conjunction with the intriguing exhibit “The Red Book of C. G. Jung,” the Rubin Museum is continuing its special Red Book Dialogues series, as artists of all kinds sit down with psychoanalysts and discuss a specific folio from Jung’s unpublished tome, which is on view in the gallery right outside the auditorium. The series has already featured programs with Gloria Vanderbilt, Albert Maysles, Alice Walker, and David Byrne; up next are such figures as performance artist Marina Abramovic on December 3, New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik on December 7, theater director Andre Gregory on December 9, filmmaker Jonathan Demme on January 11, composer John Adams on January 13, and poet Tracy K. Smith on January 24.
Based on embedded journalist Mark Boal’s experiences in Iraq, THE HURT LOCKER follows a three-member Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit as they are called in to defuse a series of dangerous situations involving various kinds of bombs, including IEDs and other life-threatening explosive devices. Team leader Will James (Jeremy Renner) is an expert bomb defuser and maverick who doesn’t follow protocol and likes to live on the edge. Spc. Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) is a greenhorn who just wants to survive the last forty days of their rotation. And Sgt. J. T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) likes to go by the book and take no unnecessary chances, which puts him in constant conflict with the unpredictable James. Recalling the second half of Stanley Kubrick’s Vietnam drama FULL METAL JACKET (1987), THE HURT LOCKER unfolds in a series of harrowing set pieces in which the EOD unit is called in to either safely detonate or defuse explosive devices while under the eyes of local Iraqis, any of whom could potentially be the bomber or a sniper. Director Kathryn Bigelow (BLUE STEEL, POINT BREAK) masterfully builds suspense scene after scene, beginning with the edge-of-your-seat opener through to the gripping conclusion. The experiences of the EOD unit serve as a microcosm for modern warfare in general and the U.S. involvement in the Middle East specifically, placing viewers in the midst of a tense, bitter, psychologically and emotionally draining battle that can never be won. The outstanding cast also features Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, and Evangeline Lilly in small roles; many of the Iraqis were played by actual war refugees. Shot in Jordan not far from the Iraq border, THE HURT LOCKER is a remarkable story, one of the best war films of the decade.
South Korean singing sensation Rain goes all Black Mamba in this action-packed revenge thriller chock-full of highly stylized beheadings, beautifully sliced-off limbs, and extreme bloodlettings, courtesy of director James McTeigue (V FOR VENDETTA) and MATRIX producers Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers. When Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris), a Europol agent based in Berlin, thinks she has found a connection between a series of assassinations and murderous ninja clans long believed to be the stuff of legend and rumor, her career – and life – are soon in jeopardy. Even her boss, Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles), seems to give up on her as he is ordered by powerful higher-ups to drop the case, but she is already in too deep, on the run with mysterious ninja Raizo (Rain). The confusing plot mixes a BATMAN BEGINS-like origin story with KILL BILL-type violence as McTeigue cuts between Raizo’s brutal life as an orphan training to be a cold-blooded killer in the Ozunu clan (run by Japanese martial arts master and ENTER THE NINJA star Sho Kosugi) and his modern-day struggle to survive, being hunted by the clan he betrayed. Rain takes quite a beating in the film, reminiscent of what Jim Caviezel went through in THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, but Raizo is not so set on turning the other cheek. A lot of NINJA ASSASSIN makes no sense, and the ninjas move so fast during some of the fight scenes that you can’t really tell just what the hell is going on, but, hey, it’s a ninja movie. What did you expect?
