‘God’s Lonely Man’ Finds Worthy Mission

Laemmle Theaters’ American Independents series continues at the Sunset 5 Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m. with Francis von Zerneck’s jolting “God’s Lonely Man,” which concerns a puritanical, bigoted, desperately lonely coke-head (Michael Wyle, electrifying), a clerk in a Hollywood adult video store. His downward spiral is broken by his encounter with a vivacious 15-year-old prostitute (a winning Heather McComb) whom he is determined to rescue along with her missing younger sister, believed to be in the clutches of a pedophile (Paul Dooley). The clerk could scarcely be less sympathetic, yet Wyle is so riveting he makes it possible to become involved in this profoundly alienated young man’s fate. This relentless stunner, made six years ago, deserves a chance to reach an audience. With Justine Bateman, Roxana Zal. Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, (323) 848-3500. The film will screen April 21 and 22 at 11 a.m. at the Monica 4-Plex, 1332 2nd St., Santa Monica, (310) 394-9741.

In November 1997, the American Cinematheque presented Seattle filmmaker Gregg Lachow’s “The Wright Brothers,” blithe-spirited and boldly oblivious to anachronism that stunningly conveys what it might have been like to be Dayton, Ohio, bicycle repairmen-turned-fathers of aviation. The film returns to the Egyptian Sunday at 5 p.m. as part of its Gregg Lachow Tribute, which begins Thursday with “Silence!,” in which an original silent film will be juxtaposed with a live performance, involving seven actors from the film plus six jazz musicians on stage. “Silence!” will be presented again on Sunday at 2 p.m. followed by a discussion with Lachow and company.

A Lachow double feature will follow at 5 p.m. Sunday with “Money Buys Happiness” (1999), after which Lachow and the movie’s star, Megan Murphy, will discuss the film, followed by the filmmaker’s 1994 debut feature “The Seven Mysteries of Life.”

“The Wright Brothers” was marred by a certain facetiousness, exemplified by casting the enchanting Murphy as Orville. Even so, it was clear that Lachow was too original to be considered as just a talented regional filmmaker, and he confirms that promise in “Money Buys Happiness,” in which he displays a dizzying ability to observe an array of hip Seattle thirtysomethings interacting busily. Gradually, he concentrates on an attractive couple, Georgia (Murphy), a commercials actress, and Money (Jeff Weatherford) whose 11-year marriage is unraveling. Georgia is looking for the love she no longer feels she receives from Money, who above all is holding out for observing the Sabbath, not so much for religious reasons as for a day of “truth and stillness.” All sorts of sharp, funny asides whiz by as Lachow zeros in on what’s happening with Georgia and Money. In this incisive and illuminating film, there’s no question that Lachow draws deeply from his Seattle roots but what concerns him and how he and his wonderful casts express themselves should play well anyplace in the country.

Lachow casts himself in the droll “The Seven Mysteries of Life” as a guy who steps into a flimsy module, pulls the curtains and disappears, ostensibly to travel back in time to become an actor in “Our American Cousin” in order to prevent John Wilkes Booth from assassinating President Lincoln. Meanwhile, he’s enlisted two women friends (Kara McMahon and Murphy) to stand by, awaiting his return. In the meantime these two free spirits strike up a friendship and display much charm as they pass time, beguilingly and whimsically. (323) 466-FILM.

LACMA’s “Seeing With Borrowed Eyes: The Films of Abbas Kiarostami” calls attention to one of Iran’s major contemporary filmmakers who is making Iranian cinema challenging and rewarding. Recalling Italian Neo-Realism in his humanist concerns and simplicity of style, Kiarostami made his first feature, “The Traveler,” in 1974, while the shah was still in power, yet this never-released-in-the-U.S. film feels like a new movie. Like so many Iranian films, the protagonist is a child, in this instance a husky adolescent (Hassan Darabi), a smart, strong-willed youth, essentially of good character yet prepared to defy authority. Obsessed with watching his favorite team compete in the nationals in Tehran’s stadium 400 miles away from his hometown, the boy becomes determined to attend no matter what the cost. Presented in a richly restored black-and-white print, “The Traveler” has an easy, expressive style and creates both humor and pathos--it inevitably recalls Truffaut’s “The 400 Blows.” It will be followed by “Journey to the Land of the Traveler,” a 27-minute documentary by Kiarostami’s son, Bahman, in which he catches up with Darabi in 1997. Screening Saturday at 7:30 p.m. will be two of Kiarostami’s most recent films, “Taste of Cherry” (1997) and “The Wind Will Carry Us” (1999). (323) 857-6010.

Among the films screening in the closing weekend of the fifth annual City of Lights, City of Angels French film festival at the Directors Guild, 7920 Sunset Blvd., is New Wave pioneer Claude Chabrol’s new “Nightcap” (Friday at 7:30 p.m.), a mordant tale of suspense in which repressed passion erupts amid stifling haute bourgeois propriety, a Chabrol specialty. Chabrol favorite Isabelle Huppert stars as a Swiss chocolate factory heiress who has just remarried her husband (Jacques Dutronc), who after a long separation has become a renowned concert pianist and has an 18-year-old son (Rodolphe Pauly) by his late second wife. The happy household, however, is then invaded by an audacious, attractive young aspiring pianist (Anna Mouglalis, who will introduce the film), who may or may not be her husband’s daughter. After 52 films and nearly 45 years, Chabrol remains as sharp as ever; this taut chamber drama is based on Charlotte Armstrong’s “The Chocolate Cobweb.” (310) 206-8013.

Note: the Silent Movie’s Lon Chaney series continues Thursday with “Oliver Twist” and with “The Unholy Three” Friday through Sunday; 611 N. Fairfax Ave., Hollywood, (323) 655-2520.