無焰愛火

繼承父親遺產後於職場中殺伐決斷、有所建樹的中年女總裁，在愛情面前放棄獨善其身的人生信條，同年輕下屬走入婚姻殿堂，婚後發現丈夫與妹妹的秘密情事後毅然放手成全——影片的情節，如今看來已是老生常談，但若論真正讓本片熠熠生輝的原因，除了對於“社會性別期待“等經久不衰的議題的討論，不可忽視的是主角波琳·弗雷德裡克(Pauline Frederick)風趣、幹練而又感人至深的表演。童年時期父母離異後被母親撫養長大的波琳，自小便確立了演藝事業的理想，二十歲時便已擔任巡迴演出劇目的主角，雖然波琳·弗雷德裡克在32歲時才出演了自己的銀幕處女作——由休·福特和埃德溫·鮑特指導的《不朽城》(The Eternal City, 1915)，但她依舊是最早前往好萊塢發展的百老匯明星之一，後來也成為了最早接演“有聲片”（波琳曾接受系統的聲樂、表演訓練）的知名演員之一。事業方面可...

　　由加籍印裔女導演迪帕．梅塔執導，曾獲芝加哥國際影展獎。因內容表現在打破傳統的 “性禁錮"方面，所以公映時竟觸發狂潮，成為眾矢之的，導演本人亦遭受恐嚇。劇情介紹新德里一個年輕美貌姑娘嫁入中產店主家庭後，因丈夫沉緬於香港功夫，並迷戀於中國豔女而受到冷落。而不育的大嫂亦因丈夫參與 “靈脩"倍感寂寞，兩人同病相憐遂成閨中好友，並發展成床上鴛鴦。後來東窗事發，迫使兩人離家出走。該片在印度來講，內容較為惹火，但比起香港片，似乎仍顯平談，而且劇情頗為噱頭，算不上佳作。不過對女性情慾描寫極為細緻，有一定的文藝劇情趣味。該片還入選香港 “印度多面睇"十大印度影片。　　Ashok (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) runs a family business that sells takeout food and which also has a video rental store at the side. Ashok's extended family includes his wife Radha (Shabana Azmi), his brother Jatin (Javed Jaffrey), their ailing mother Biji (Kushal Rekhi) and their manservant Mundu (Ranjit Chowdhry), all living under the same roof. Jatin, at the insistence of Ashok and their mother, Biji, agrees to marry the beautiful Sita (Nandita Das) in an arranged marriage, although he is actually in love with Julie (Alice Poon), a Chinese-Indian. At first glance, you see a happy middle-class family going through the normal paces of everyday life. However, as the layers are slowly peeled back, we find a simmering cauldron of discontent within the family, with almost every family member living a lie. Both marriages in the family turn out to be emotionally empty, without love or passion. While Ashok is an ascetic who has taken a vow of celibacy, Jatin is a handsome ladies' man who is still openly seeing Julie even after his marriage to Sita. Ashok has pledged his total devotion to a religious holy man, a swami, in order to purge his life of worldly desires and temptations. Radha, bound by her sense of duty to her husband, agrees to go along with his wishes. As you can imagine, with both husbands ignoring their spouses' emotional and sexual needs (albeit with reasons that are totally opposite from each other), it is only a matter of time before Radha and Sita look to one another for comfort and to satisfy their own passions. In this environment, it is only natural that Sita and Radha become fast friends, and, in time, much more than that. But their love is not without its share of painful obstacles.