BY STEVE RAMOS

The Way Things Go

Two Unlike Classics
The Way Things Go
Unrated
1987, First Run

In the Bedroom
Rated R
2001, Miramax

The first comparison that comes to mind at the beginning of German artists Peter Fischili and David Weiss' beautiful documentary, The Way Things Go (Der Lauf der Dinge), is Wile E. Coyote using an elaborate contraption to catch the Roadrunner in a Warner Bros. cartoon. The subject of the film is a 100-foot-long structure comprised of common household products that Fischili and Weiss built inside a large warehouse. The laws of physics provide the rest of the magic. A spinning garbage bag ignites the domino effect. A small wooden go-kart carries a lit candle down a wooden track. Items bump, brush and fall into each other with methodical precision. Fire, water and smoke play equal roles in bringing the behemoth to life.

The overriding theme behind The Way Things Go is that violent reactions often take place when artists investigate the world. A few minutes into The Way Things Go, it's hard not to agree with Fischili and Weiss' thinking.

Some American audiences may know Fischili and Weiss from their 1997 exhibit, In a Restless World, at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Their recent work involves photographs of tourist attractions, shot to look like amateurish family pictures. Still, The Way Things Go best captures the way Fischili and Weiss push the boundaries of conceptual art by making mundane items into something dynamic and slightly dangerous.

The action unfolds silently in The Way Things Go. Fischili and Weiss make full use of the natural sounds of its contraptions. The film's pace is deliberate, but a constantly moving camera prevents it from becoming flat and uninteresting.

A rocketing teakettle adds to the excitement. Balloons burst. Tin cans spin from a pole like an industrial merry-go-round. My favorite part of the contraption is a pair of shoes tied to a tin can that walks down a ramp. As each moment passes, you ask yourself, "How did Fischili and Weiss do that?"

Much as it begins, The Way Things Go also concludes with a spinning garbage bag. After a puff of smoke, the monumental contraption comes to a stop after 30 minutes. At the end of the film, the best way I know to sum up Fischili and Weiss' landmark film is this: The Way Things Go is creative, spirited and utterly mesmerizing. It's the quietest spectacle you'll ever see. For 30 amazing minutes, weird science becomes amazing art.

The first time I watched In the Bedroom, actor-turned-filmmaker Todd Field's humanistic drama about a middle-class New England family facing emotional loss, I remember being unnerved by its suspenseful final act. Until that point, In the Bedroom was a humanistic drama, focused on deliberate storytelling, rich detail and character development. I was enthralled by Field's film, but I felt as if I had seen two separate stories. Later in the year, when I watched In the Bedroom a second time, its final act no longer seemed so disjointed. Granted, the element of surprise was no longer relevant. Instead, I became more aware of the subtleties that Field captured with his camera.

Revisiting In the Bedroom on DVD, I found the film complete and whole. Its extraordinary performances make the strongest impact: Nick Stahl as the teen-age son off for college, Marisa Tomei as his pretty girlfriend caught in a messy divorce, Tom Wilkinson as the kindhearted father and Sissy Spacek as the over-protective mother.

In the Bedroom gets richer each time I see it. I could watch it repeatedly and yet experience something new every time.

The Way Things Go grade: A.

In the Bedroom grade: A.

And the rest
Nicole Kidman's sexy performance as a mail-order Russian bride is the drawing card for director Jez Butterworth's punchless thriller, Birthday Girl (Miramax). Ben Chaplin, playing the nerdy bank teller who sends for Kidman, turns in the film's best performance. Without Chaplin, Butterworth's film would be completely forgettable.

E-mail Steve Ramos

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