Democrat and Chronicle from Rochester, New York • Page 32

6C DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE, ROCHESTER, N.Y., THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 1995 Woman's journey into Asia takes ns beyond borders House Bv JACK GARNER STAFF FILM CRITIC "in ma mihh 1. 1 in 1 11 i iMmwmmit't'H "Vi i it Hi KAREN SCHIELY staff photographer Cattle Rock Entertainment Tourist clash American tourist Laura Bowman (Patricia Arquette) discovers bad news in the Burmese countryside. Meeting on the street Barbara Hoffman greets neighbors Shanetta Murray, 14, and her sister, LaToyia, 15. vision houses for nearby business owners and workers. Shortly after Hoffman's house was built, it was occupied by its most famous resident, Henry Fish, who lived there until his death in 1895.

Fish's portrait, by the Hoffmans' neighbor Shirley Zimmer, hangs in a place of honor over the front-room mantle. Fish's wife, Leah Fox, made the house a focal point of another kind. Her sisters began to hear spirit "rappings" in their house in Hydesville, Wayne County. But when one of them came to live with Leah, the first Rochester rappings were heard in the King Street house. Hoffman repeats a phrase that Zimmer coined for the district.

"Shirley always calls it the 'undiscovered jewel of FROM PAGE 1C Empire style one of the most ornate Victorian styles the Hoff-mans had lots of detail to restore: an oversized front door, elaborate exterior trim, en special windows required for the central tower walls, which slant inward at the The second-floor dining room had been broken up into several bedrooms until the Hoffmans tore down walls and false ceilings to expose the original details. Now, the dining roomsitting area is bright and airy, with a 14-foot-high ceiling, high windows and an entrance to the round tower. A steep wooden staircase, squeezed between two walls covered with framed artwork, leads from a downstairs parlor to the dining room. Decades of use have worn deep wells into each step. A door off the dining room leads to Dan's office, where he does his volunteer work as president of the Susan B.

Anthony Neighborhood Association. Another door leads to a corridor and the Hoffmans' central living area. The house had been converted into a three-family dwelling when the couple bought it. But no one had lived there for a long time. It took the Hoffmans almost a year to put it into living condition.

After they moved in with their daughters in 1986, Barbara and Dan celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in the house. It's still a three-family dwelling. The Hoffmans rent out a first-floor studio and their daughter Lisa has the back apartment. The neighborhood is a similar mix of owners and renters. It's an isolated little area that you'd hardly notice as you drive out of downtown on West Main Street.

But once you turn right onto King Street, you enter a pleasant island of historic homes and a lovely park, Susan B. Anthony Square. When I first drove i through the area, all I saw were the run-down and boarded-up buildings. Only when I scratched the surface did I find a sweet little 140-year-old house to rent; friend-1 ly, concerned neighbors; and plenty of trees and lovingly tended flower gardens. i Barbara admits the area is a diamond in the rough.

In urban terms, King and Madison Streets are "right on the edge," a transitional neighborhood off West Main Street between downtown Rochester and Bulls Head Plaza that some people wouldn't call safe. The transition seems to be going in the neighborhood's favor, thanks in part to homeowners like the Hoffmans, whose dedication to the historic district isn't limited to their personal property. Dan is in his second term as president of the neighborhood association, of which he's been a member for 15 years. A mechanical engineer, he retired last year from Xerox Corp. after 33 years.

Barbara, as president of Hoffman Associates, an urban real-estate development firm, is renovating commercial storefronts along West Main Street. One 1853 building, at 544 W. Main houses the West Main Street Gallery, owned and operated by artist Daniel Goodwin, who rents the space from Barbara for $75 a month. During Sunday's festivities, the gallery will be open free to the public from noon to 5 p.m. (See "Women on Display" on this page for details.) The historic district started in the 1840s as the King-Bush subdi- Susan B.

Anthony Home The Fish House Map i area Madison St ff King St. k- -D i aaam I 'jg REVIEW her life, giving her a reason to live. Bowman later meets a kindly tour guide, a former college professor named Aung Ko (played by a Burmese actor of the same name). Despite the imposition of martial law and orders to not travel "beyond Rangoon," Bowman impulsively joins Ko on an exploration of the countryside. There she learns how the guide had been dismissed as a teacher and imprisoned for his political beliefs.

She meets students and relatives with similar horror stories. And she's gradually moved to passionate concern. We see less of her sunglasses, while she sees more of the real world that needs her help. And as a physician, she has something to offer. Boorman injects a strong sense of pace and adventure into the film, which clocks in at a fast-moving 99 minutes.

Much of the energy comes from Arquette, who spends a lot of time running barefoot through jungles, swimming through murky waters, fleeing military gunfire and dragging the wounded down muddy paths and over tree roots. It's a rare actress who can project such Columbia Pictures Cheech, but no Chong Comic Cheech Marin plays a caustic but funny bartender in a lawless border town. even with a violent and despicable drug lord (Joaquim de Almeida). To get to him, our hero must fight his way through a phalanx of slimy gunfighters, knife-throwing drifters, and even a few caustic bartenders (including one played I ft 1 if 1 1 I ft i fen-- When we first meet Laura Bowman, she couldn't care less about politics. Nor is she impressed with an opportunity to experience steamy, exotic Rangoon, the capital of Burma.

Bowman (Patricia Arquette) dutifully explores the Buddhist temple and colorful bazaars, trailing behind a tired, cynical guide (Spalding Gray). But she hides her eyes behind sunglasses and her feelings behind a mask of indifference. It's understandable; she's reeling from a tragedy. Back in the United States, Bowman, a physician, recently discovered the bloodied bodies of her husband and her child, killed by burglars. The Asian.

vacation is a distraction arranged by her concerned sister. In John Boorman's sweeping new film, Beyond Rangoon, Bowman is a surrogate for the American audience, and we are sucked with her into a maze of Third World political intrigue, armed rebellion and cultural clashes. This adventure, in the tradition of The Year of Living Dangerously and The Killing Fields, is set in Burma, recently renamed Myan-mar but still under the rule of a violent military junta. The South-cast Asian nation's turmoil has seldom been reported with much depth in the West. The screenplay, which Boorman co-wrote, combines the fictional story of an American tourist with known facts about the dictatorship of Burma in the late 1980s.

Beyond Rangoon sides with students and other freedom fighters supporting a popular pacifist dissident named Aung San Suu Kyi. (Suu Kyi, in fact, has helped give the country's struggle a public face. The Nobel Prize winner, 50, was just released last month from six years under house arrest.) Though ksr screen time is brief, Adele Lutz portrays the charismatic dissident in a pivotal moment in Beyond Rangoon: As Laura Bowman watches, she walks bravely through a cordon of armed police who have been ordered to shoot her. Suu Kyi's courage catches Laura Bowman at the lowest point in 'Desperado' FROM PAGE 1C the dance routines of Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly. The panache comes from the darkly sexy, charismatic Antonio Banderas, who stars as the unnamed mari- achi.

He steps from the shadows of the cantina with Rodriguez graceof a legend, moving confidently through the violent landscape like a hero in the hands of the gods. Whether he's singing a song, blasting the bad guys or kissing the town beauty, this mariachi has no fear. In the first film, we saw how the mythical character stumbled upon his career how he was forced by circumstances to trade guitars for guns. In Desperado, he's much more seasoned and self-assured. The plot is simple: The black-atvtired mariachi is looking to get Wizard of Oz LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS Until recently, a perfect CD reproduction of the original score to The.

Wzard of Oz only could be found somewhere Oi'er the Rainbow. Now, with the release of Rhino's lavish double-disc box set of the original motion picture soundtrack, the music and songs from the Victor Fleming-directed 1939 classic are as clear as a bell. Along with the CDs, the package includes many rare photos and an informative booklet explaining the background of the score by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg. "This shows they really don't make 'em the way they used to," said John Fricke, associate produc- White House reporter Thomas here for downtown reception Beyond Rangoon Starring: Patricia Arquette, Spalding Gray, Aung Ko Directed by: John Boorman Opens tomorrow at: Marketplace, Cine Greece, Movielime, Webster Rated: Ft, with profanity and violence an Jack's rating: With 10 as a must-see, this film rates physical agility and stamina, but Arquette does it all quite convincingly.

The film is mpre effective as a personal odyssey and exotic, adventure than as a political trea-tise. Boorman and his co-writers never adequately background viewers on the Burmese dictatorship or sufficiently expose its presumed injustices. The use of Laura Bowman's numbing grief also seems contrived to add an emotional subtext where none so drastic is needed. I found myself longing for the more subtle artistry of the similar, superior Year of Living Dangerously. Still, Boorman knows how to grab and hold a viewer's interest.

And for its Western audience, the film sheds some needed light on an intriguing, troubled corner of the world. hilariously by Cheech Marin.) At his side is Carolina (Salma Hayek), a beautiful woman obstinate enough to operate a bookstore in a town in which nobody reads. He's also assisted by an obscure character named Buscemi (Steve Buscemi) who precedes him into the towns and taverns, proclaiming his greatness and preparing the way, like a demented John the Baptist. Also on hand is Quentin Taran-tino, who offers a crowd-pleasing cameo as a wise-guy underling sent to conclude a drug deal. Tarantino and Rodriguez have become tag-team movie rebels.

Both men came to fame in 1992, thanks to Reservoir Dogs and El Mariachi, respectively. They've since worked together on several projects, including the forthcoming Four Rooms and From Dusk to Dawn. But in Desperado, Tarantino barely gets to tell a joke before he's blown away. This film is Rodriguez's show, and except for a few lethargic moments in the latter half of the film, it's a wacky, wicked hunk of burnin' action. famous numbers is the Oscar-winning Over the Rainbow, sung by Judy "It's just a magnificent score that, no matter how trendy you are', everybody likes," Fricke, 44, said.

The best of Disney echoes this kind of thing, but you couldn't do The Wizard ofOz today and have it come anywhere near to the way MGM did it." Helen Thomas, longtime dean of the White House press corps, will be the guest of honor at an informal reception in Rochester tomorrow. The wine-and-cheese reception, to 7 p.m., will be held in the Freedom Forum offices on the 16th foor of the Lincoln First tower downtown. Admission is $25, and proceeds will go to the National Women's Hall of Fame and the Women's Equality Day Committee in Seneca Falls, xejtfUatUi 'to mm rmtammM u. a $2 MILLION Women on display What: Works by Rochester women artists are on exhibit'at the West Main Gallery, owned and operated by artist Daniel Goodwin. Barbara Hoffman owns and restored the building.

Participating artists include painter Dianne DeCaire, potter Rae Fox, photographer Betsy Phillips, illustrator Joann Knights, artist JoAnna Phillips and painter Emily Oinen. When: The exhibit runs through Wednesday Exhibit hours: Noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m Monday through Wednesday Where: 544 W. Main St.

Admission: Free Call: (716)464-8310 File graphic Seneca County. For more information, call (315) 568-8060 or (716) 271-4655. On Saturday, Thomas, senior correspondent for United Press International, will be keynote speaker for Women's Equality Day. The events celebrate the 75th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed women the right to vote. For more information, call (315) 568-2906 or (800) 732-1848.

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