`Paris Trout': Racism In A Georgia Town

Viewers seeking new fare for "Saturday Night at the Movies" on TV this week will have to go to cable, where Showtime premieres "Paris Trout" at 9 and HBO airs "One Man's War" at 8 p.m.

"Paris Trout" is drawn from Whidbey Island writer Pete Dexter's 1988 National Book Award winner about violent tragedy in a small Georgia town in the 1950s. It involves a racist shopkeeper, his abused wife and a lawyer the shopkeeper hires to defend him when he murders a small black child. Paris Trout is a real mean SOB, a conniving little man who embodies our worst nightmares about a racist cracker.

The real reason to watch "Paris Trout" is Dennis Hopper's mesmerizing portrait of Trout. Barbara Hershey plays Trout's subservient wife, Hanna, while Ed Harris portrays the lawyer hired to defend Trout - and who then falls in love with his client's wife.

Stephen Gyllenhaal, who directed "Killing in a Small Town," which also starred Hershey, indicated in that film that he knew how to perfectly capture a small-town atmosphere. In "Paris Trout," filmed in Georgia, the small-town atmosphere is almost palpable and the characters seem rooted in the correct time and place - especially Hopper, whose racism is as shabby and comfortable to Trout as the nondescript clothes he wears.

Dexter wrote the screenplay from his novel, and it is tight and taut, designed to move inexorably toward its dark conclusion, while providing a three-dimensional portrait of evil (and one hell of a role for an actor). The film's greatest weakness is in never making it clearly believable why Hanna would take up with Trout in the first place.

Showtime repeats "Paris Trout" April 26 and May 1, 5 and 9.

"One Man's War," a docudrama about a Paraguayan doctor/artist, also has a fine central role, that of Joel Filartiga, played with his usual care and sensitivity by Anthony Hopkins.

When he came to the U.S. in the 1970s to sell his paintings, Filartiga also told the outside world about brutal repression of basic human rights in Paraguay. Those in power retaliated by killing Filartiga's son. When Filartiga set about trying to prove the murder, he was stymied at every turn.

Hopkins' powerful performance as Filartiga is matched by that of Norma Aleandro as his wife - the moment when she learns of their son's death is the film's most powerful scene - and of Fernanda Torres as their daughter. Ruben Blades plays the lawyer who tries to help Filartiga. The film was produced by Ann Skinner, who also produced "A Very British Coup." HBO repeats "One Man's War" April 23, 25 and 28 and May 1, 6 and 10.

Conversation: Don't be put off by the title "Your Mythic Journey with Sam Keen," the newest Bill Moyers PBS special that airs at 10 p.m. Sunday on KCTS-TV. This is another of those engrossing, highly personal and insightful conversations similar to those presented in Moyers' splendid "World of Ideas" series. Keen falls between the late Joseph Campbell and contemporary self-help gurus like poet Robert Bly and psychologist John Bradshaw.

The difference - and it's a major one - is that Keen is thoroughly engaging and not the least bit self-important. While he holds seminars and workshops designed to help people who are trying to learn more about themselves, there's a charming diffidence about Keen and a lack of pretension that makes him wholly engaging. You'll get some interesting insights into all manner of subjects just from listening to Keen and Moyers converse - but you'll probably also be envious of Moyers for having had the chance to spend so much time with Keen (and grateful to him for bringing Keen to TV).

Short takes: "The Moon's Prayer," at 8 p.m. tomorrow on KIRO-TV, is an environmental special with a different twist: It offers Native Americans' views on what has happened to the Northwest environment since the takeover of the white man. As you might expect, members of the nine Western Washington tribes that filmmaker John de Graaf and photographer Richard Pratt visited take a dim view of what white stewardship has done to this once pristine area - an arresting hour with practical suggestions from Native Americans, as well as criticism.

"The Home" is the final episode in the three-play "Sunset Gang" series on PBS' "American Playhouse." It airs at 10 p.m. tomorrow on KCTS-TV, and the reason to watch is to see theatrical legend Uta Hagen portray a feisty 76-year-old who fiercely treasures her independence, and fears her squabbling children may put her in a home after she has a debilitating accident. Hagen's characterization is superb - tough, funny, ultimately heartbreaking.

"On the Waterways," a new 13-part PBS series that makes its debut at 8 p.m. Saturday on KTPS-TV, is a surprise - a delightful piece of Americana created by a group of young filmmakers who traversed a number of waterways in the Eastern U.S., focusing on the people and the rivers. It's not unlike Jean Walkinshaw's look at the Columbia River a few years ago. Jason Robards narrates, and the series starts in New England. This one's a sleeper.

Video notes: ABC airs "The American Environment Test" at 8 tonight on KOMO-TV. . . . CBS airs a Tim Conway comedy special, "Dorf's Family Stump," at 10 tonight on KIRO-TV. . . . Canada's Cirque de Soleil, a hit here last year, is featured on A&E's "Revue" at 7 and 11 p.m. tomorrow on cable. . . . That highly touted anti-drug cartoon, "All-Stars to the Rescue," which features 20 favorite cartoon characters, will be repeated at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow on cable's USA channel and Saturday at 7 a.m. on KING-TV, 9:30 a.m. on Canada's Channel 2, 10 a.m. on cable's Nickelodeon channel, 10:30 a.m. on KTZZ-TV, 11 a.m. on cable's Disney channel, and 4 a.m. Sunday on cable's WTBS-TV. . . . KTZZ-TV carries the eight-hour Arthritis Telethon starting at 11 a.m. Sunday. . . . KSTW-TV carries the 1991 Daffodil Festival Parade at 10 a.m. Saturday. . . . PBS' "Bookmark" examines Tom Wicker's new book on Richard Nixon in an enlightening episode of the PBS series at 10 a.m. Sunday on KTPS-TV.

. . . Cablearn (Channel 27) is airing a new magazine series called "TechnoPolitics" at 8 p.m. Fridays.

John Voorhees' column appears Sunday, Monday and Thursday in The Times.