Bit to Do

Madonna: pop superstar, Golden Globe-winning actress, fashionista extraordinaire… filmmaker? Yes, friends, while we are well-accustomed to seeing Madonna in front of the camera in films like “Evita” and “A League of Their Own,” the lady is also a film director! I, and presumably many others, first became aware of this fact with last year’s release of the film “W.E.”

It turns out, however, that “W.E.” isn’t Madonna’s first filmmaking effort. In 2008 she made her directorial debut with “Filth and Wisdom,” which stars Gogol Bordello frontman Eugene Hütz as an immigrant who wants to be a rock star, a dream he finances by working as a cross-dressing dominatrix. (It sounds like a hell of a movie, but it unfortunately did poorly with critics.)

But back to “W.E.”, which opens at Village 8 Theater today as an installment in their Louisville Originals series, which showcases art, foreign, or limited-release films you won’t see anywhere else in the city. “W.E.” consists of two interrelated stories: in 1998 New Yorker Wally Winthrop pursues a relationship while obsessing over the story of King Edward VIII and his romance with Wallis Simpson – for whom he gave up the throne since she was a divorcée: the Church of England forbade such unions (you will remember this as a significant subplot in “The King’s Speech.”

“W.E.” has likewise not done so well with critics; however, it did manage to win a couple of music-related Golden Globes: for Best Original Song and Best Original Score (which I have no doubt was deserved, as the music was composed by Abel Korzeniowski, who wrote the devastatingly beautiful musical score for “A Single Man” - which, by the way, is an amazing film you should definitely check out.)

“W.E.” plays at Village 8 until next Thursday, April 12. Village 8 Theater is located at 4014 Dutchmans Lane. Further information can be found at the theater’s website.

Image: Internet Movie Database