DATELINE NEW YORK: Farmiga has a starring role in De Niro film (03/11/01)

DATELINE NEW YORK: Farmiga has a starring role in De Niro film

by Helen Smindak

Actress Vera Farmiga gives a stunning performance as a Czech immigrant who witnesses a horrible crime in the New Line Cinema murder mystery "15 Minutes," released nationwide on Friday, March 9. Although I'm not a cops-and-robbers movie fan, I went to a screening of this Robert De Niro who-dun-it because Ms. Farmiga is in it. Surprisingly, I liked it. And I was very impressed with Ms. Farmiga's emotional appeal and acting ability.

This searing, R-rated thriller will blow you out of your mind - it's so suspenseful and tense, filled with wild car chases and scorching fire sequences, that it will have you cowering in your seat much of the time. Yet there are segments of humor, comradeship, compassion and bittersweet romance that balance out the gore and turn it into a believeable story.

The plot revolves around a double murder that has to be solved by superstar homicide detective Eddie Flemming (Robert De Niro). Because a fire had been used to cover up the grisly crime, Flemming must work with a quiet but intense young arson investigator, Jordy Warshaw (Edward Burns). The two wrangle with each other as they try to track down the pair of Eastern European (Russian and Czech) killers, played by Karel Roden and Oleg Taktarov. But first they must find the alluring Czech immigrant, Daphne Handlova (Vera Farmiga), who witnessed the crime. The cops are chasing the criminals, the newspeople are chasing the cops, and the whole thing fuels an escalating drama.

Shot primarily in Manhattan, the film also stars Kelsey Grammer as a television tabloid anchor who sees himself as an old-fashioned crime reporter chasing important stories; Melina Kanakaredes as Flemming's field reporter-girlfriend; Kim Cattrall as a ratings-hungry TV producer; and John DiResta as Warshaw's partner.

What makes the movie so riveting is writer/director John Herzfeld's take on a speeded-up New York City saturated with blaring color and hyped-up reality, creating a film that careens and cuts across the screen so that the viewer is right in the midst of the action. The story is told through a variety of media, from a hand-held video camera to slick TV coverage and original artwork.

Looking to Eastern Europe for an actress to play the mysterious Daphne, the filmmakers instead discovered Ms. Farmiga during auditions and were impressed with her fluent Ukrainian and "wild-hearted sensibility." The actress said they had no idea she was a Jersey girl when she read for the part: "John Herzfeld suggested I keep my accent throughout production and not reveal to any of the other actors that I was really American. Halfway through the production I broke accent and spoke in English to Ed Burns. He was shocked!"

Ms. Farmiga says she was drawn to playing Daphne as a woman who uses everything at her disposal in order to survive. "Daphne doesn't want fame the way some of the others do, but she's willing to use it to bring her what she wants," the actress explained.

The Ukrainian American actress, a native of Irvington, N.J., turned critics' heads last year with her performances in two films - "Autumn in New York" with Richard Gere and Winona Ryder, and "The Opportunists" with Christopher Walken. During 2001 she will be seen in the romantic comedy "Dummy," opposite Adrien Brody; ABC's new version of "Snow White," opposite Miranda Richardson; and a Robert Redford-produced film, "Nine Scenes About Love." Other credits include the film "Return to Paradise" with Vince Vaughn and Joacquin Phoenix, appearances in the Xena-style TV series "Roar" and several on and off-Broadway productions.

Commemorating a sculptor

He was born in the village of Stezhnytsia in the Lemko region of Ukraine that is now a part of Poland. He took up woodcarving as a boy and had to make his own carving knives so that he could create topirtsi (decoratively carved wooded axes). Seated on the steps of the county courthouse, he sold all of the topirtsi for 48 zloty. Later, he attended school in the Hutsul town of Kolomyia, where woodcarving is a locally specialized craft.

This was the start of Mykhailo Chereshnovsky's career as a woodcarver and sculptor, related by the artist himself in a video/film screened at The Ukrainian Museum during a mid-February commemoration of his life and work. Mr. Chereshnovsky, who died in 1994 at the age of 83, would have turned 90 on March 5.

In the darkened auditorium, there was a hushed, nostalgic feeling as scores of friends and admirers of the artist relived scenes of Mr. Chereshnovsky at work in his studio or chatting with guests during art exhibits at the Ukrainian Artists' Association gallery in New York. The artist was pictured beside the exotically carved iconostasis he created for St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Hunter, N.Y., and standing near the Shevchenko and Lesia Ukrainka monuments at the Soyuzivka estate in Kerhonkson, N.Y.

I remember Mr. Chereshnovsky as a gentle man, a man without any airs, always kind and generous to others. He was soft-spoken and good-natured, and he went about his daily life without much thought to his appearance, his mind focused on creating beauty through his sculptures and carvings. These characteristics were evident in the film, as the artist reminisced about his life or commented on his work, his hair boyishly tousled, his grey suit somewhat rumpled.

Prepared by Anatol Vulvych at the time of Mr. Chereshnovsky's 80th birthday, the film was shown in two segments, intercut with a dramatic program of poetry and Lemko-dialect folk songs by members of Lviv's touring Les Kurbas ensemble. Natalka Polovynka, Oleh Stefan, Andriy Vodychev and artistic director Volodymyr Kuchynsky perceptively wove haunting Lemko airs and Bohdan Ihor Antonych's poetry into a moving, poignant presentation.

Museum Director Maria Shust, who said that Mr. Chereshnovsky "lives on in our hearts and lives on in his sculptures," thanked Ludmyla Chereshnovsky, seated in the audience, for her support. She noted that an album of essays, reminiscences and other materials about the artist was recently published by the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences through the initiative and funding of Mrs. Chereshnovsky.

Sculptor Anya Farion, former head of the Ukrainian Artists' Association gallery in New York, in her remarks to the gathering said that Mr. Chereshnovsky liked to help young artists and encouraged them because he believed that "talent is God's gift and to neglect it would be a sin."

Mr. Chereshnovsky's work is characterized by a monumental style and a classical simplicity that was apparent in bronze and wood sculptures on view that evening: a head portrait of his wife Ludmyla, titled "A Portrait of My Wife" (1950), a 20-inch high head portrait of Stepan Bandera (1948) and a 17-inch high full-figure bronze rendering of Lesia Ukrainka (1961), that served as the model for the monument of the poetess which stands in Cleveland. Beautiful and impressive was the 28-inch high sculpture "A Modern Madonna" (1953), showing the gracefully elliptical lines and curves which the sculptor liked to reserve for his images of the Virgin Mary.

Mr. Chereshnovsky graduated from the School of Plastic Arts in Krakow, Poland, in 1939, emigrating to Germany after the war and then to the United States. He sculpted busts of many prominent Ukrainians, including Roman Shukhevych and Oleh Olzhych, and Ukrainian Americans Valentyna Pereiaslavets and Roma Pryma Bohachevsky, and produced several bronze monuments, such as the Monument to the Heroes at the resort of the Ukrainian American Youth Association (SUM) in Ellenville, N.Y. The artist served for years as president of the Ukrainian Artists' Association in the United States and was a longtime director of the UAA gallery.

A musical cause

The Ukrainian Institute of America's excellent "Music at the Institute" series, guided by artistic director Mykola Suk and executive director Dr. Taras Shegedyn, has been drawing more and more non-Ukrainians to its elegant ésoirées. Classical music - the creations of Ukrainian and world composers - and the superb artistry of singers and musicians from Ukraine and the United States draw a music-loving melange to the French Gothic mansion at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 79th Street. (The only element that could be said to be poorly represented is the younger Ukrainian generation; a pity the young people are missing a treasure trove of outstanding singers and musicians.)

February's musicale, a prime example of the mix of artists, featured the virtuosity of cellists Natalia Khoma, Suren Bagratuni and Rachel Lewis Krysa, violinists Peter Krysa, Catherine Cho and Todd Phillips, pianist Volodymyr Vynnytsky and violist Daniel Panner- all of them seasoned professionals with lengthy resumes in concert appearances, tours, festivals, recordings and teaching experience. The artists presented a superior program of marvelous chamber music by Handel, Schubert and César Franck.

Mr. Vynnytsky's vibrant artistry, which earned him the Distinguished Artists Award in New York in 1994 (in duo with cellist Vagran Saradjian), stood out in Franck's Piano Quintet in F Minor, a work that opened with powerful piano chords. Joining in, the violins of Ms. Cho and Mr. Krysa, together with Mr. Bagratuni's cello and Mr. Panner's viola, carried the piece through lyrical, serene, rich and full-bodied passages that at times soared to great volumes, and concluded with an exciting and vigorous finale.

In Schubert's exquisite String Quintet in C Major, Op.163, the work of Ms. Khoma, Mr. Bagratuni and Ms. Cho held the audience in thrall. Together with the fine musicianship of Mr. Phillips and Mr. Danner, the artists poured amazing energy and finesse into a piece that in some passages resembled an English minuet. The violins sang sweetly and the cellos added pizzicato work as the musicians, obviously enjoying themselves, gave an impassioned interpretation of the work's four movements.

Along with several other concert-goers who were trying to fit two important Ukrainian events into one evening, I arrived late and missed the opening number - Handel's Sonata for Two Cellos and Piano in G Minor, Op. 2 No. 8, executed by Ms. Khoma, Ms. Lewis-Krysa and Mr. Vynnytsky. My seat neighbors soon informed me that the piece had been "gloriously executed."

Without question an artistic success, the concert was extremely important from another aspect as well. It marked the introduction of an important program for helping gifted musical students in Ukraine - the "Children and Music" Foundation, founded by Maria Czyzyk in memory of her husband, violinist/music teacher Wolodymyr Czyzyk, and Ms. Khoma.

Three inaugural concerts held last summer in Lviv enabled the foundation to present awards to nine students of music last December. The foundation's annual awards will provide students with optimal musical training, the ability to purchase instruments, and funds enabling them to attend competitions. The foundation plans to bring world-renowned artists to Ukraine to give master classes and concerts, as well as to help students to travel to other countries in order to broaden their musical horizons.

Addressing the audience midway through the evening, Ms. Khoma appealed to everyone "to support this very important cause by making a monetary gift or by sponsoring a benefit event in your community." She expressed gratitude to the musicians, all of whom had volunteered their time and talent to the foundation's mission, and introduced Mrs. Czyzyk, who had traveled from Chicago for the occasion.

Ms. Khoma, a top prize-winner at several international competitions, took first prize at the 1990 Belgrade International Cello Competition and went on to establish a distinguished career as a recitalist and soloist with orchestras around the world. She and her husband, Mr. Bagratuni, are faculty members of the Michigan State University School of Music and often appear together in recitals. Both have released individual recordings on a variety of labels.

Helen Smindak's e-mail address is [email protected].

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