If, like me, you find it increasingly difficult to enjoy a movie for anything other than its kitsch value, you appreciate the need for a movie that straddles the fine line between unbearable pacing and refreshing unevenness. Fortunately, Video Americain, located in Takoma Park, Md., is staffed by an army of lifestyle clerks who will engage you in unsolicited shop talk and, in the process, maybe even help you grow.
If growth isn’t your thing, however, you can always read the back of the box. This is how I found “Gumnaam,” billed as “India’s First Horror Thriller.”
The action begins as a cross-section of Bombay society wins a raffle and finds itself abandoned on an island. From there, the back of the box tells us that “one by one the visitors die over the following two evenings, but that doesn’t stop them from indulging in a little beach party, a drunken duet, and an elaborate MGM-style dance fantasia in between all of the screaming and dead bodies.” The jerking back-and-forth between love story and film noir may make for a formidable two hours, and the interminable scene of Russian roulette is just an exaggerated attempt at stock Americanisms, but they don’t seem to care, and neither will you.
Also check out “Rocking Popenguine,” the extremely well done story of two rival cultural groups in a village in ‘70s Senegal. One styles itself after American rhythm and blues greats, and owns a record player, while the other wears the neon and velcro of French pop stars, and has all the girls. Clearly, they can’t both throw the party.
I was initially reluctant to watch “Boy of the Terraces,” a tale of sexual awakening told mostly through the eyes of a 14-year-old Tunisian boy—the two pictures on the box both involve references to women’s underwear drying on clotheslines. The nuanced telling of a boy negotiating boundaries in a conservative society mitigated the “aw, shucks” factor, however, and the variety of perspective came together as a surprisingly complex and candid story.
As the employees of Video Americain remind you on the back of the Tammy Faye Bakker Story, “Don’t hate.”
Video Americain is located at? 6937 Laurel Ave. in Takoma Park, Md., and 2104 18th St. N.W. in the District.
