GION BAYASHI

 Kenji Mizoguchi's splendid "Gion Bayashi" begins like a docu-drama on the role of the geisha in Japanese society before turning into the kind of melodrama you might expect from Douglas Sirk. Eiko is the 16 year old trainee geisha and Miyoharu is the older, more experienced geisha who, as a friend of Eiko's late mother, takes her under her wing and who develops a strong, sisterly bond with her.

Few male directors could have handled this material with the empathy Mizoguchi brings to the subject. Men are basically secondary characters and are mostly seen as predators and Mizoguchi draws wonderful performances from his largely female cast and in particular from Michiyo Kogure as the unfortunate Miyoharu. If the film is not as well-known as some of the director's other works it remains absolutely essential nevertheless.

THE DEVILS

 You know when Ken Russell does "The Devils of Loudun" it won't be like anyone else's version of "The Devils of Loudun" and it certainly won't be another "Mother Joan of the Angels" and although the opening credits tell us that what follows is based on fact and that the events portrayed actually happened I'm pretty sure they didn't happen quite the way Russell shows them.

This is a piece of pure cinema, stunningly designed, (by Derek Jarman, no less), and photographed, (by David Watkin); a feast of mounting hysteria totally in keeping with its subject and with 'realism' conspicuously absent from almost every shot as Sister Jeanne's fantasies and accusations come to dominate. Considered both blasphemous and obscene at the time of its release it now looks like something of a near-masterpiece, the kind of film Powell and Pressburger might have made but were never allowed to.

Like Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" it's about what happens when lust and religion collide and of the terrible aftermath of such a collision. In 17th century France, in the town of Loudun, during the plague, a handsome, if randy, priest Father Grandier, (Oliver Reed, excellent), is accused of being in league with the Devil by hunchback nun Sister Jeanne, (Vanessa Redgrave, embracing hysteria as if it were going out of fashion).

The thing is, Grandier may be guilty of committing 'sins of the flesh' but is actually in all other respects a good man and it is Sister Jeanne, her nuns and the powers-that-be who are really tainted by evil. Of course, it won't appeal to everyone; this is a brilliant, challenging work, funny and disturbing in equal measure and beautifully played by Russell's stock company. Essential viewing.

THE CRIME IS MINE

 I've always preferred Francois Ozon when he's in a playful mood and he's certainly in a playful mood here revamping a creaky old play by George Berr and Louis Verneuil that's already been filmed twice before and giving it a bright new glow, dispensing with realism from the start. "Mon Crime" is definitely an old-fashioned comedy-thriller with nary a thrill to be found, silly enough to keep a soppy grin on our faces for most of its running time.

The daft plot has young actress Nadia Tereszkiewicz accused of murdering an over-sexed producer only to be defended in court, in something of a parody of "Roxie Hart", by her roommate and best friend Rebecca Marder and that's just the half of it. It's totally daft and thoroughly delightful with a superb performance from Fabrice Luchini as the investigating judge and if that's not enough there's always Isabelle Huppert as a wildly over-the-top actress insisting on her day in court. Minor Ozon but even minor Ozon can be a real treat.

THE MUSIC LOVERS

 The story of a homosexual who fell in love with a nymphomaniac! At least that's how the publicity department tried to sell Ken Russell's Tchaikovsky biopic "The Music Lovers". Russell was never known for his subtlety and "The Music Lovers" certainly isn't subtle. It's a kind of 'Tchaikovsky's Greatest Hits' and since Nina, the nymphomaniac he marries, is given pride of place it more often than not verges on hysteria and purists are going to find it a hard pill to swallow but it's also hugely entertaining, even when it's terrible, and as Tchaikovsky Richard Chamberlain, previously known as the boyishly good-looking Dr. Kildare, is surprisingly good while as Nina, Glenda Jackson chews the scenery and everything else in a wildly over-the-top performance. It looks fantastic and if, in the musical sequences, Russell is playing to the gallery, (wait until you get to the 1812 Overture), it's certainly never dull. Of course, the composer deserves a lot better than this but as biographies of the great composers go, it's definitely a step up on "A Song to Remember" and the blandness of Cornel Wilde.

DARLING LILI

 After the success of "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music" did Hollywood ever worry about what they might do with the hottest property on the planet? Did anyone ever doubt that Julie Andrews could act or that she was more than just a voice, even if that voice seemed limited in its range? The 'big' Hollywood musical did seem to be on the way out, (even "Camelot" went with Vanessa Redgrave and not Julie, who was the stage Guinevere), but Miss Andrews was still holding her own in such non-musicals as "Hawaii" and "Torn Curtain" and she would prove a splendid Gertrude Lawrence in "Star" and for a time she would continue in roles that allowed her a certain dramatic or comedy license while also giving her the chance to sing.

In 1970, cast in "Darling Lili" she had the role of a music hall entertainer who also happened to be a German spy during the years of World War One. It was a frivolous epic, part romantic comedy, (though never a particularly funny one), and part spirited action flic with some splendid aerial sequences as well as being a mildly engaging spy yarn with perhaps the least likely German spy in all of movies. Of course, if Julie is to change her allegiance it's going to take the right man to do it and I suppose who better than Rock Hudson, still flaunting his hunk status almost 20 years after first baring his chest on screen. Unfortunately for Rock, (not looking very happy here), Jeremy Kemp is there to steal his every scene. The director was Blake Edwards and if it isn't one of his finest films let's just say it has its moments.

QUILLS

 More ambitious than successful, "Quills" hasn't quite stood the test of time. If you want de Sade you really need to go to Pasolini and if you want the Asylum of Charenton you should stick with Peter Brook. To be fair to Philip Kaufman, "Quills" at least went as far as mainstream cinema might have gone in 2000 and it did pick up 3 Oscar nominations, (including one for Geoffrey Rush's Marquis), as well as several other prizes but it's hardly a manifesto for free speech, liberty or even carnality sometimes coming across like a Carry On movie with the cheap laughs removed.

On the plus side it is splendidly designed and well acted with Rush giving us a de Sade more sinned against than sinning making Michael Caine's 'doctor' the film's real sadist and there's nice work from both Kate Winslet as the laundress with a mind of her own and Joaquin Phoenix as the young priest whose good intentions backfire on him. Doug Wright's script, taken from his own play, aims for the literate but he can't quite escape the fact that he's written a horror film complete with the requisite amount of torture-porn, an obligatory dash of necrophilia and a touch of blasphemy . By the time we get around to the Marquis' final declaration, written in feces on the walls of his cell, the film has nowhere to go but down.

SCENT OF A WOMAN

 Most people are probably familiar with the American remake if only because Al Pacino finally won his Oscar for it but how many people have seen this superior Italian original? "Profumo di Donna" or "Scent of a Woman" was directed by Dino Risi in 1974 with Vittorio Gassman in the role of the blind former soldier being guided around Italy by a young private, (Alessandro Momo, tragically killed in a motorcycle accident shortly after the film was completed).

Whereas Pacino cut the ham fairly thickly in an Oscar-bait performance, Gassman plays the part in a much lower key, (he won the Best Actor prize at Cannes), making his character largely sympathetic and likeable from the get-go. Momo, too, is excellent as the poor lad who would seemingly be rather doing anything else than chaperoning Gassman. It's a slight film with a rather improbable plot, and one that's very different from the American version, but it has a lot of charm and none of the sentimentality you associate with American movies of this ilk.

HOFFA

 Not as bad as many people say but it's not good either. "Hoffa" certainly looks terrific, (Stephen H. Burum was justly Oscar-nominated for his cinematography), but despite a screenplay by none other than David Mamet it lacks heft and there are long dull stretches as it flits back and forth in time, (it's told in flashback), through the career of Union boss and mob associate Jimmy Hoffa, (Jack Nicholson in one of his least charismatic performances).

The director of the picture is Danny DeVito who also plays his life-long friend Bobby Ciaro but this is a film that needed a Scorsese and not a DeVito at the helm. There are some good set-pieces, again enhanced by Burum's cinematography, but the acting is all over the place and at two hours and twenty minutes it's far too long. Mamet probably hoped this would be an epic tragedy but he keeps missing the mark. It's certainly not a total write-off, (there's a great supporting turn from J.T. Walsh), but it still counts as a failure albeit an ambitious one with an ending that is pure conjecture.