FRIDAY, DEC. 22 

Muir Family Christmas Tours of the Muir House in Martinez decorated for the holidays on Fri. and Sat. Cost is $3. For details call 925-228-8860. 

Impeachment Banner Fridays at 6:45 to 8 a.m. on the Berkeley Pedestrian bridge between Seabreeze Market and the Berkeley Aquatic Park, ongoing on Fridays until impeachment is realized. www. Impeachbush-cheney.com 

“Life of Mammals” The documentary by David Attenborough at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. www.HumanistHall.net 

“Apollo N Berkeley” with dancers, singers, comedians and a visit from Santa at 8 p.m. at Black Repertory Group, 3201 Adeline St. Cost is $5. 652-2120. 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction at 8 p.m. at Hillside Community Church, 1422 Navellier St., El Cerrito. Potluck supper at 7 p.m. 528-4253. www.circledancing.com 

SATURDAY, DEC. 23 

Telegraph Avenue Holiday Fair with more than 200 vendors, music and food, Sat. and Sun. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Berkeley Crew’s Annual Holiday Sprints with informal races between Berkeley High Crew Team and alumni, from 8:30 to 11 a.m. at the Jack London Aquatic Center, Oakland Estuary. www.berkeleyhighcrew.org 

SUNDAY, DEC. 24 

“Giving Birth to God” with Sarah Lewis of the GTU at 9:30 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, One Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 27 

Winter Break Movie Series for Teens will show “Harold and Maude” at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge at Shattuck. 981-6133.  

THURSDAY, DEC. 28 

Winter Break Movie Series for Teens will show “Fame” at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge at Shattuck. 981-6133. 

FRIDAY, DEC. 29 

“Life on Earth” The documentary by David Attenborough, a chronology of the flora and fauna of the Earth over 3,500 million years, at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. www.HumanistHall.net 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction at 7:30 p.m. at Finnish Brotherhood Hall, 1970 Chestnut St at University. Donation of $5 requested. 528-4253.  

SUNDAY, DEC. 31 

New Years Eve Circle Dance Party Simple folk dancing done in a circle. No partners or dance experience needed. No alcohol. Donation of $5 appreciated. 528-4253. www.circledancing.com 

“Toward a Unified Theory of Religion” with Sarah Lewis of the GTU at 9:30 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, One Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

ONGOING 

Help with Medicare Part D Enrollment Seniors who need to enroll in the prescription drug plan, or change their plan can get help and advice at Berkeley Senior Centers. Appointments required. Call 1-800-434-0222.  

Peace Action West, a local non-profit which promotes peace and justice, is looking for volunteers to do data entry, stuff envelopes and other tasks. Locates across from the Berkeley Boawl. 849-2272, ext. 104. 

Magnes Museum Docent Training Open to all interested in Jewish art and history. Classes begin Jan. 18th. cultural.arts@sbcglobal.net

FRIDAY, DEC. 22 

EXHIBITIONS 

Don Clausen Oil Paintings Abstract and Portaits at Alta Galleria, 2980 College Ave., #4. Runs through Feb. 4. 421-1255. 

The Photography of Matt Heron “Voting Rights: The Southern Struggle, 1964-1965” on display in the Catalog Lobby, Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St., through Jan. 6. 981-6100. 

THEATER 

“Amahl and the Night Visitors” at 8 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, 201 Martinez St., Pt. Richmond. Donation $10. 232-4031. 

Aurora Theatre Company “A Little Cole in Your Stocking” at 8 p.m., Wed.-Sat., at 2081 Addison St., through Dec. 30. Tickets are $25. 843-4822. 

Berkeley Rep “All Wear Bowlers” at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. through Dec. 23. Tickets are $45-$61. 647-2949. 

Circus Fellini’s Holiday Extravaganza at 1 and 3 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave., through Sun. Tickets are $8-$15. 925-798-1300. 

Shotgun Players “The Forest War” Thurs.-Sun. at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through Jan 14. Sliding scale $15-$30. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“A Christmas Carol” Actor Martin Harris reads the Dickens classic at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Donation $5-$10. 848-7800. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Christie McCarthy & Starting Five at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Baguette Quartette at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

In Harmony’s Way, a cappella, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Jim Grantham Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

David Gans, Mario DeSio, and Mokai at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

The New Hour, 5 Cent Coffee, Stella at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Wounds, Have-Nots, Skyflakes at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Tracy Bartlow, Femi at 9 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway, Oakland. All ages. Cost is $10. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

Grease Traps, Oaktown funk and soul, at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5. 548-1159.  

Flowtilla at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The Invisible Cities, Scrabble at 8:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $6. 451-8100.  

Mike Stern at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sat. Cost is $22-$26. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, DEC. 23 

CHILDREN  

Elmwood Theater Matinee Benefit for local schools showing “Polar Express” at 10 a.m. and noon, and noon on Sun. Cost is $2. Sponsored by Elmwood merchants. 843-3794. 

Circus Fellini’s Holiday Extravaganza at 1 and 3 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave., through Sun. Tickets are $8-$15. 925-798-1300. 

THEATER 

“Amahl and the Night Visitors” at 8 p.m. at Masquers Playhouse, 105 Park Place, Pt. Richmond. Tickets are $10. 232-4031. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Caroling with Terrence Kelly at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Steve Taylor and Derek See at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Solstice Celebration in Honor of David Nadel with Zydeco Flames, Sidewinders, Nigerian Brothers, Edessa and others at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Drum circle and potluck at 6:30 p.m. Free. 525-5054.  

The Zoopy Show, Sugar Butt Tiger, The Yard Dogs at 8:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $6. 451-8100.  

Matt Morrish & Trinket Lover, funk, afro-cuban, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Peter Barshay’s “Fog” at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Lady Soul, Sonny, Mr. Grench at 9 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway, Oakland. All ages. Cost is $10. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

Island of Misfit Music Orchestra at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. 841-2082.  

SUNDAY, DEC. 24 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Clairdee at 7 and 9 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

TUESDAY, DEC. 26 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Will Durst “Big Fat Year End Kiss Off Comedy Show” at 18 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $15-$17. 925-798-1300. 

Reggae Reunion and Boxing Day Celebration with Fireproof at at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

McCoy Tyner Quartet at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $35. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 27 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tee Fee Swamp Boogie at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

Stars Original at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa dance lessons at 8 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

The Zazous, original bossa nova, jazz and reggae, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

THURSDAY, DEC. 28 

THEATER 

“Amahl and the Night Visitors” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at Masquers Playhouse, 105 Park Place, Pt. Richmond. Tickets are $10. 232-4031. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“924 Gilman: Past, Present and Future” with panelists who have been involved with the music venue for the past 20 years, at 7 p.m. at 924 Gilman. Free, all ages. www.924gilman.org 

”Nomad Spoken Word Night at 7 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Phoenix and Afterbuffalo, Earthquake Weather at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082  

Paul Mooney Thurs.-Fri. at 8 and 10 p.m., Sat. at 7, 9 and 11 p.m. and Sun. at 7 and 9 p.m. at Black Repertory Group, 3201 Adeline St. Tickets are $40-$100. 652-2120. 

The Attik, Diga Tio, Theory, Naya Binghi at 8:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $10. 451-8100. www.uptownnightclub.com 

FRIDAY, DEC. 29 

THEATER 

“Amahl and the Night Visitors” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Masquers Playhouse, 105 Park Place, Pt. Richmond. Tickets are $10. 232-4031. 

Aurora Theatre Company “A Little Cole in Your Stocking” at 8 p.m., Wed.-Sat., at 2081 Addison St., through Dec. 30. Tickets are $25. 843-4822. 

Shotgun Players “The Forest War” Thurs.-Sun. at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through Jan 14. Sliding scale $15-$30. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Ralph Nader on continuing the themes of “The Good Fight” at at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Alex Pfeifer-Rosenblum at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Dick Conte Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Swing dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

David Grisman Bluegrass Experience at 5 and 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $29.50-$30.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Mark Robinson Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Dave Lionelli and Jamie Jenkins at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

That Man Fantastic, Ramon & Jessica, Sligo Rags at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

All You Can Eat, Born/Dead, Drain the Sky and others at 6 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $10. 525-9926. 

Chris Zanardi Quartet, jazz and groove, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Frost Bite, RBL Posse at 7 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway, Oakland. All ages. Cost is $10. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

Lord Loves a Working Man, The Struts at 8:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. 451-8100. www.uptownnightclub.com 

McCoy Tyner Quartet at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $35. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, DEC. 30 

CHILDREN  

Elmwood Theater Matinee Benefit for local schools showing “Wallace & Grommit: Curse of the Wererabbit” at 10 a.m. and noon, and noon on Sun. Cost is $2. Sponsored by Elmwood merchants. 843-3794. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Black Tie Botanical Experience” Botanical watercolors by Bay Area artists. Opening reception at 3 p.m. at Esteban Sabar Gallery, 480 23rd St., Oakland. Exhibit runs to Jan. 29. 444-7411. 

FILM 

“924 Gilman” Screening of the documentary in celebration of the music venue’s 20th anniversary at 2 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. 525-9926. 

THEATER 

International Comedy Showcase with comedians from Africa, China, Labanon, Scotland, India and Iran at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattucks Ave. Cost is $13-$15. 849-2568.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tanaora at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Workingman’s Ed at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Stephanie Crawford, jazz, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Clifford Lamb Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Paul Mooney Sat. at 7, 9 and 11 p.m. and Sun. at 7 and 9 p.m. at Black Repertory Group, 3201 Adeline St. Tickets are $40-$100. 652-2120. 

The Loud Family, Anton Barbeau, Fainting Goats at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

California Flight, Mike Marshall at 9 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway, Oakland. Cost is $10. All ages. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

Cyril Guiraud Trio, jazz, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

924 Gilman’s 20th Anniversary with Social Unrest, El Dopa, Black Fork, and others at 6 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $10. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, DEC. 31 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

San Francisco Chamber Orchestra New Year’s Eve Celebration, dedicated to the memory of Maestro Edgar Braun at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Free. 415-248-1640. 

Jesus Diaz and his Bay Area Cuban All Stars at 9:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $25-$27. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Bobby Cespedes & Her Trio with John Santos at 7 and 10 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $50-$75, includes traditional Cuban dinner. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Will Durst “Big Fat Year End Comedy Show” at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $15-$17. 925-798-1300. 

High Country at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $26.50-$27.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Disappear Inompletely at 9 p.m. at Jupiter. Cost is $10. 655-5715. 

New Year’s Eve Flamenco Fiesta at with dinner and performances by Yaelisa and Caminos Flamencos Company at Cafe de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $50-$145. 287-8700. 

Jazz Fourtet at 10 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $10 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Balkan Bash with Edessa, Ziyia, Joe Finn at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $20. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Kings & Queens New Years Bash at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Tickets are $20 in advance from ticketweb. 548-1159.  

Zadell at 9:30 p.m. and Jason Martineau at 6:30 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

California Flight, Baby James at 9 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway, Oakland. Cost is tba. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

Antioquia, Sinclair at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

McCoy Tyner Quartet at 9 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $100. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

A CELEBRATION OF THE WINTER SOLSTICE 

A solstice celebration in honor of David Nadel will be held at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 23 at Ashkenaz. The event will feature the Zydeco Flames, the Sidewinders, the Nigerian Brothers, Edessa and others, as well as a drum circle and potluck. Admission is free.  

1317 San Pablo Ave. 525-5054. 

INTERNATIONAL COMEDY SHOWCASE 

South Berkeley’s La Peña Cultural Center will host an “International Comedy Showcase” at 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 30, featuring comedians from Africa, China, Lebanon, Scotland, India and Iran. $13-$15. 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2568. 

20th ANNIVERSARY BASH FOR 924 GILMAN  

924 Gilman, Berkeley’s venerable member-run punk rock venue, will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a 6 p.m. show Saturday, Dec. 30 featuring a number of bands, including Solcial Unrest, El Dopa and Black Fork. All ages welcome; no alcohol, no drugs, no violence. $10. The celebration will be preceded by a 2 p.m. screening of 924 Gilman, a documentary about the venue.  

525-9926. 

CELLULOID CLASSICS IN EL CERRITO 

The Cerrito Theater continues its weekend series of classics from yesteryear with Cary Grant in The Bishop’s Wife (1947), showing at 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 23 and at 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 24. The following weekend will feature After the Thin Man (1936), the second film in the Thin Man series, at 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 30 and at 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 31. 10070 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. www.picturepubpizza.com.

Words of My Perfect Teacher, opening today at the Elmwood Theater, begins with a dose of comedy, a sequence of close-ups of two men, both seemingly deep in thought. We are meant to interpret this as some sort of Buddhist exercise, the teacher perhaps leading the student in a form of meditation. But then the camera pulls back, the soundtrack kicks in, and we see instead that the two men are engrossed in a televised soccer match. 

It is a great opening, perfectly setting the tone and premise for the story that follows, a portrait of Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Norbu Rinpoche, one of the world’s most preeminent and iconoclastic Buddhist lamas. If only the film were able to maintain the ironic distance and awareness of this opening scene. But unfortunately director Lesley Ann Patten has neither the skill nor apparently the sophistication to create a film with the insight and depth warranted by her subject. 

There are few things more nauseating than self-satisfied white westerners opining on the virtues of eastern religions and philosophies. Too often the opiner has been disproportionately impressed by a dollar-book summary of a major religion’s tenets and has taken that grain of truth and blown it up into a mountain of simplistic misinterpretations. Words of My Perfect Teacher suffers greatly from this malaise.  

The film follows Khyentse Norbu during the course of a year which includes the Sept. 11 attacks and the 2002 World Cup. We see the guru on the streets of London, in New York, at a soccer game in Germany, and in Bhutan. In western cities, Khyentse Norbu is an unassuming presence, a modest man sometimes in robes, sometimes in jeans and sweatshirt. He is seen as a kind but enigmatic teacher, a man who embodies the east in a demeanor that fits in perfectly in the west. But it is in the east that we see Khyentse Norbu truly in his element, performing ceremonies in Bhutan, a nation where his religion is practiced and embraced and his station understood. Here he is able to administer his teachings at a high level, while in the west it as though he is simply playing a role, a sort of dog-and-pony show, babysitting the privileged white folks who have neither the depth nor the dedication to truly master the techniques and teachings he has to offer. 

One of the first and seemingly most obvious of his teachings is the danger of idolatry, of looking upon a teacher as an infallible and unfailingly wise creature who can bestow wisdom upon his disciples like a gift. Perhaps we’re seeing these students at too early a stage in their studies, but this is one lesson they seem to have trouble learning. Throughout the film they persist in this indulgence, viewing Khyentse Norbu as an all-knowing, all-seeing master of their fates. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and sometimes a glance from Khyentse Norbu is just a glance, and sometimes a guru who appears lost in an airport is truly just a man lost in an airport. No matter, Khyentse Norbu’s disciples prefer to treat him like a human Rorschach test, taking his every glance and gesture as a great lesson to be learned and every all-too-human error as a mysterious and profound teaching moment—though they can never quite convey to us precisely what they have learned.  

Patten’s press materials for Words of My Perfect Teacher enthusiastically cite the film as Patten’s first on-screen appearance in one of her own works, an admission that Patten indeed falls short of her Buddhist aspirations. It is clearly an error of ego for her to believe that her presence and narration shed any light on the subject, and the film would have benefited greatly from a collaborator’s intervention. Instead we get inane voiceovers and absurd reaction shots in which Patten’s face emotes nothing; she is so intensely conscious of the camera that her appearances have the feel of a dreadful TV reality show in which participants awkwardly ape mannerisms they perceive as natural.  

What saves the film is Khyentse Norbu himself, for his charisma and enigmatic appeal are indeed very real and palpable. And human. The guru acknowledges the problems of the teacher-student relationship, is forthcoming about its inherent shortcomings and potential hypocrisies, and even admits that he too falls prey to these problems. His everyman persona is natural and naturally complex, and while some may see his silly hats or obsessions with soccer and cinema as eccentric for a Buddhist lama, his simple message of humanity and humility and fallibility apparently goes unheeded by the film’s participants. 

A more satisfying tale of adults in search of enlightenment comes in the form of Soap, a Danish import opening this week at San Francisco’s Lumiere Theater. 

The contrasts are simple: Charlotte is an easy-going, sensual woman, natural and earthy in appearance, with no makeup and no apologies. She has left her boyfriend and moved into a bright and sparse apartment to start her life as a single, sexually liberated woman. In the dark, cluttered apartment downstairs lives Veronica, a transsexual waiting anxiously for a surgery appointment that will finally make her a woman.  

The film uses the device of Veronica’s obsession with an American soap opera to both frame and gently mock the melodrama of its own story, a technique that can be perceived as either endearingly quirky or as a shameless crutch. Or maybe both. Early on the plot and characters seem too trite and simplistic to be taken seriously, making the soap opera device seem like a poor attempt to mask the film’s weakness as irony. However, the film only gets better and the characters more sympathetic, eventually casting the framing device as a playful chorus offering comment on the simple story line. 

The contrasts between the two characters are emphasized at every turn. Veronica’s shabby apartment looks as though it has been lived in for centuries, while Charlotte’s stark white walls and packing boxes reveal her as a woman in transition, afraid to become attached to anything or anyone. Her charm and sensuality mask a personality turned cold and withdrawn while Veronica’s humble, worn environment shields the fragile existence of a man trying desperately through awkward wigs and makeup to feel natural as a woman. Of course the two come in contact with one another, and of course they clash, and of course they gradually come to like one another, though the relationship is always fraught with tension and uncertainty. But the contrivance of it softens over time as the two women get to know each other, together adding up to something resembling a complete human being, the two imperfect halves coming to form a happier if still imperfect whole. 

The film’s best moments are in the simple details of the performances. Trine Dyrholm effectively conveys the spiritual isolation of a woman who has been treated by her brutish man as all sex and neediness and has now run as far with the identity as she can, distorting her sexuality into a promiscuous, vapid existence where she is finally incapable of even expressing polite interest in the lives of those she beds. A particularly poignant moment comes when Charlotte stands before her bedroom window, looking longingly and in vain for the peeping tom she has previously castigated. But there is no one out there to pay attention to her, and she simply stands there, flashing her breasts to the city like an S.O.S. 

And David Dencik, as Veronica, takes the cliché of the suicidal transsexual and imbues his performance with the undercurrents of agony spawned by the rejection of the father and the lack of understanding of the mother, as well as the failing life force of a woman who has ceased to believe in her own worth.  

Sure, there are plenty of hackneyed devices at work here, from the depressing depravity of Veronica’s johns to the ball-busting coldness of Charlotte, the woman scorned. And yes, it’s a soap opera, and not even that—it’s just one small subplot of a soap opera, a narrative that would be resolved and discarded in just a week’s worth of daily broadcasts. But director Pernille Fischer Christensen manages to take Soap beyond the trite contrivances of its framework, casting light on the humanity and depth that lies beneath the melodrama. 

Photograph: Words of My Perfect Teacher is a portrait of Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Norbu Rinpoche, a preeminent and iconoclastic Buddhist lama. 

WORDS OF MY  

PERFECT TEACHER 

Directed by Lesley Ann Patten and featuring Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Norbu Rinpoche, Bernardo Bertolucci, Steven Seagal. 103 minutes. Playing at the Elmwood Theater in Berkeley.  

SOAP 

Directed by Pernille fischer Christensen. Starring Trine Dyrholm and David Dencik. Playing at the Lumiere Theater in San Francisco. 104 minutes.

“I’m a doctor,” said Dr. Samba, aka Molly Shannon, as she passed out paper napkins for kleenex to a family suffering from little sniffly noses while waiting for Circus Finelli’s Holiday Extravaganza at the Julia Morgan Center on College Avenue. “I have these things under control.” 

Then, springing up to the stage, she asks those assembled, “Do you like my outfit?”—a bright, scanty Carneval two-piece with tutu—receiving a big shout from the kids. The samba music starts, Dr. Samba herself, shimmying, introduces the Circus en Espagnol, and a clown trombonist with big glasses and pigtails like antennae (Luz Gaxiola) blats her way onstage, kicking a high-hat cymbal strategically placed. 

Another act’s announced, getting a single cheer from the audience—from Verka Zaskodna, who rushes up the aisle and onstage, realizing it’s her act and she’s late. Clad in a bathrobe and slippers, crowned with a bathcap, munching a banana, Verka dryly translates Dr. Samba’s orotund Spanish intros into terse English, as Luz, playing yet another of her many instruments, peels off Dr. Samba’s tutu as she marches past and suddenly we’re at the beginning of Beth Clarke’s slack rope act. 

Circus Finelli’s all-female phantasmagoria, presented by the Circus Center in San Francisco, rolls along at this brisk clip (it’s under an hour), droll pauses and counter-beats to mix up the fun. It’s a family show, and perfect for the kids (who were howling with glee), but also an amusing holiday escape during for unaccompanied adults, with matinees (two a day) up through Christmas Eve. 

Beth Clarke’s a slack rope walker with style, smiling with confidence, posing with elegant gestures, even hopping backwards or balancing a rolled-up carpet on her raised feet as she stretches back on the rope, to the tune of “My Black Market Baby.” 

At the end of her act, Pepito (Z. Smith) makes a clown ballet out of an ungainly pas de deux with stage manager Mike Clifford in getting the rigging down. Luz on harmonium shoots Pepito with her finger, and Verka in her housewife get-up shoves the clown corpse offstage with a pushbroom to the hilarity of the kids present.  

There’s a cartoon quality to the sound effects and instruments that texture the string of acts, but it’s all dependent on live timing—nothing like you’d ever see on TV or in the movies. There’s lots of comical juggling and acrobatics, thrown in with the real thing; humor and excitement are inextricable. Pepito plays a roaring lion, bursting out on stage after Dr. Samba asks for a replacement tamer—a boot with a big bone in it and a frayed whip have just been tossed from the wings—ferociously gnawing the boot, swallowing the bone like a sword swallower, and using the whip handle as a mic to do a little leonine rap act, before tearing into the audience to chew on a few little rainboots, feet wriggling in ticklish delight. 

But the lion turns out to be a relation to Bert Lahr’s cowardly lion, scared by a dancing cow shuffling onstage to James Brown and twirling hula hoops on her hooves. Later, Lorelei MacDonald, the trapeze artist, will ride on with great eclat astride the same cow, doing her fabulous act aloft to the old Yiddish swing tune, looking in her get-up and big grin for all the world like Ann Miller. 

There’s a funny contortionist bit, a bit of audience participation here and there, like Dr. Samba switching to English as she treats patients by misting them, until a disguised clown plant retches her way up from the audience and everything goes awry. There’s some slap-boxing, too, and a great finale with curtain call, Pepito hitting the deck again, and Verka with the pushbroom, following the great Wilson Mizner (of Benicia and the Barbary Coast) and his advice when he managed a theatrical flophouse in Manhattan: “Carry Out Your Own Dead!” 

CIRCUS FINELLI’S  

HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA 

1 and 3 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. 845-8542.