Fall Movie Preview: December 1997

MY LIFE IN PINK (MA VIE EN ROSE)

In this Cannes sensation, a 7-year-old boy (played by 11-year-old Georges du Fresne) dreams of being a girl, pink tutu and all. Director and coscreenwriter Alain Berliner says his writing partner, Chris Vander Stappen, ''observed a case of a girl who wanted to be a boy and decided to reverse it because it's more interesting and still a taboo. A girl who wants to be a boy is practically a male fantasy.'' (Dec. 25)

THE WINTER GUEST

Directing Emma Thompson ''is a bit like driving a Rolls-Royce,'' says Alan Rickman, making his helming debut with a gentle tale about eight Scottish villagers grappling with the cold hard facts of aging. ''You just gently suggest things to the steering wheel.'' And to the wheel's mother — Thompson's real-life mum, Phyllida Law, costars.

BENT

When Martin Sherman's play opened in 1979 in London, its story of Nazi persecution of homosexuals resonated with modern audiences as a cry against bigotry. Taking into account today's more inclusive political climate, director Sean Mathias (Broadway's Indiscretions) says he went for a less polemic reading for his feature-film debut. ''It's more about how, spiritually, human beings can fight any oppression.'' The cast includes Ian McKellen, who was in the original play, and Mick Jagger as — but of course — a cross-dressing nightclub owner.

PLUS:

Strand Releasing's Office Killer, photographer Cindy Sherman's workplace horror film, follows a copy editor (Carol Kane) who begins killing off her colleagues (including Molly Ringwald and Jeanne Tripplehorn) when she learns her job is in jeopardy. Beaumarchais, The Scoundrel follows the troubled life of writer Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (The Marriage of Figaro), who, during the late 18th century, was sent to London as a secret agent to prevent a war with England. A 17-year-old painter named Artemisia finds love with an artistic mentor in the early 17th century. And the life of a grubby post-office worker is explored in Junk Mail, a quirky Cannes entry from Norway.