Based on Bret Easton Ellis’ controversial 1991 novel, comes this dark story of a young Harvard graduate, Patrick Bateman, who has all the accoutrements of a young ‘master of the universe’ — from designer wardrobe to a killer apartment — just like everyone else in his crowd. He desperately wants to fit in, yet, the terrible irony is the more he tries to be like every other money-drenched man on Wall Street, the more faceless he becomes — and the less control he has over the urges that, ironically, make him feel like an individual. Bateman is a paragon of conformity in an amoral society where to conform is to be amoral.

The fourth screen adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic 1869 novel, LITTLE WOMEN, is given a realistic and rounded treatment by screenwriter Jo Swicord and Australian director Gillian Armstrong, whose perspective emphasises a feminist tone. The story chronicles the lives of a mother and four daughters and their daily toils during the Civil War in the absence of their father, a Union army chaplain. Winona Ryder (in an Oscar-nominated performance) is vibrant as Jo, the least conventional of the sisters. Christian Bale captures the ebullience of their neighbour, Laurie, whose company Jo enjoys so much it seems inevitable that they will end up together. Kirsten Dunst (at age 12) gives a fiery performance as the younger Amy, proving even more willful than Jo; Claire Danes brings a mysterious otherworldliness to Beth. LITTLE WOMEN, touchingly rendered, has many subtle moments and an appropriately moving visual sense to accompany the narrative. Susan Sarandon and Gabriel Byrne also star in this well-crafted film.