<html> At 04:28 PM 01/28/2003 -0500, you wrote:<blockquote type=cite cite> <dl> <dd>It is no accident that most other peoples on earth would probably <dd>understand such a melodrama with all its self-reflexive metaphors <dd>intact---and most in the US wouldn't, much less have any sympathy at <dd>for it. In the many evolving rounds from their legend three quarters <dd>of a century ago, it is now become the drama of Empire against Earth, <dd>what the US is doing today, now, immediately. </dl></blockquote> Ugh-- the movie's sense of history is laughable, pitiable, etc. I mean, it makes "Amadeus" look like something directed by Eisenstein -- by comparison. And, Amadeus, by my standards was only-just-OK....though I have enjoyed watching it with my kids many times since the first (disappointing) viewing. The only living American director who can handle/understand/represent a historical consciousness is Ang Lee, and I don't know what the hell he's doing these days. Joanna</html>