My Uncle Antoine. An outstanding French-Canadian film, directed by Claude Jutra, which shows a great deal of ingenuity. 1972. (Reviewed tomorrow) Discreet Charm of the Bourgeousie. From the first scene of his first film (the surrealist Un Chien Andalou, 1928) Luis Bunuel has shocked -- even attacked -- his audience. He continues to surprise in this latest film, but by playfulness. Bunuel manipulates a half-dozen engaging characters in an ironic world of distorted time and confused identity, creating a witty and eloquent phantasma. Bunuel has become an aesthete, but he retains his expressiveness. At age seventy-two, he has become the screen's Nabokov. 1972.

Maltese Falcon. Established John Huston as a director and Humphrey Bogart in the kind of double-edged role that became "Bogey." The third and most faithful adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's novel dwarfed its predecessors and became the screen's classic American crime tale. Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, and Sidney Greenstreet lead a cast that's perfect right down to Captain Jacobi, molding exciting mystery around the deceptive personality of detective Sam Spade. 1941.

State of Siege. A film of major significance: Costa-Gavras (Z, The Confession) powerfully indicts covert American action to support Latin American dictatorships. Yves Montand plays a character who represents Daniel Mitrione -- the AID officer killed by Tupamaro insurgents in 1970 -- but emphasized his kidnapping less than his previous activities: training the Uruguayan police, teaching torture, repression, use of explosives. The film is committed, not biased -- and based to a surprisingly large degree on public information. 1973. (At the Charles Cinema, Boston)