Voyager (1992)

Turning alienation into art has long been a boffo European pastime, but while malaise works on the page, screen boredom can get boring. It hasn't stopped filmmakers from trying, of course, as indicated by two similar new tapes. Released theatrically last year, Voyager follows Walter Faber (Sam Shepard), a chilly American engineer who lives his life at arm's length until a young free spirit (French nymphet Julie Delpy) drags him across Europe and introduces him to his heart. Faber realizes too late that the girl may be his own long-abandoned daughter, at which point director Volker Schlöndorff shades events into tragedy. Unfortunately, Shepard's monochromatic acting holds the tale back. B-