A movie lament

THANK you for Peter Rainer’s article on Terrence Malick [“Malick’s Messy, Beautiful Frontiers,” Jan. 1]. I could not agree more when he describes the state of filmmaking in America as being poor when it comes to visual expression. I have not seen one Sundance film in 25 years that has tried to reach the visual level of a “Deer Hunter,” a “McCabe & Mrs. Miller” or any Hal Ashby of the era.

Contemporary filmmakers just do not use much visual grammar anymore. On one hand, there are head shots of actors delivering their dialogues to offer us dramatic and social meanings. On the other hand, special-effects movies try to wow us. Rainer mentions Quentin Tarantino as being the sole descendant of the maverick filmmakers of the ‘70s. In my opinion, he overlooks one other: Wes Anderson. This young guy knows his film grammar to the tips of his fingers and uses it to great efficacy. But after these two ... who else?

GUY LAMPRON

Montreal