Gloria (1999)

A woman who has just been released on parole pays a visit to her former boyfriend, right after the latter has ordered the execution of an entire family and got stuck with a boy of seven as the sole survivor of the massacre.

I cannot fathom the reason why they had to remake the 1980 film. And, unless I am severely deluded, they set it in the same era as the first, which is puzzling also. Anyway, I disliked this remake, and am beginning to have doubts whether the original was as good as I thought. I remember when I was a University student in the 1980s and for a very brief period (of approximately two weeks) was part of a group of students who showed films on campus (on video, I think), and I suggested the 1980 Gloria, against a colleague who suggested Rollerball. I won, chiefly because my pick had been easier to find, and after the exhibition this colleague (I do not remember his name, and barely knew him) called the film "cretinous", probably intending it to be heard by me. I am wondering now whether he was right after all. Anyway, what is obvious and nearly everybody has noticed is the lack of energy of this 1999 film. What is perhaps less obvious, and probably applies to the 1980 film as well, is that this is a curious case of liberal propaganda. It tries to pass off its protagonist's motivations as a belated case of motherhood instinct, which is a concept with universal appeal, including (and perhaps especially) among conservatives. But in the movie this motivation is very unconvincing, and might be seen as a flimsy disguise for its liberal message of whites taking care of "the other". If the film had taken a different turn at its midpoint, it might had made the excellent point that people who are in trouble should take care of themselves first. But that would be deemed insensitive, I guess.

Rating: 32