INTRUSIVE `WAR ZONE' DOESN'T DO FEMINISM ANY FAVORS.

Byline: Janet Maslin The New York Times

Stalked and harassed, made to feel unsafe in public places, the victims of street abuse in Maggie Hadleigh-West's ``War Zone'' often generate their share of sympathy. Too bad, because in a film that means to decry the treatment of women, a lot of the victims are men.

And these tragically benighted wolf-whistlers are turned into prey by the filmmaker who hounds them. Dressed to stop traffic (or at least slow it down marginally), Hadleigh-West roams city streets with her Super-8 camera, cornering any fool who dares to look her over.

By her own calculations, she was annoyed by 1,050 insensitive men during the five-week period when the film was shot.

But if Hadleigh-West's confrontational tactics are meant to turn the tables on male aggressors, they backfire spectacularly. Out on the prowl, the filmmaker becomes her own worst enemy as she refuses to make the slightest distinction between the smiling guy who calls out ``Hello, beautiful'' and the vicious rapist who prompts a 911 call.

In the process of making what she has called ``a film that can ultimately participate in the liberation of men,'' she dishes out mocking sarcasm (``Oh, is that how you say hi, by whistling at a woman on the street'') that discredits her arguments and even her motives.

Turning potentially serious material into a stunt that has made her the toast of various talk shows, she appears to be having much too good a time demanding attention and making men squirm.

The pity of it is that within ``War Zone'' there are several other women whose concerns about unwanted male attention sound more serious and authentic and who describe them in much less self-serving ways.

And in any case, the other women aren't given much screen time. The bulk of the film is devoted to watching Hadleigh-West create ambushes and get into shrill disputes, daytime-television style.

While ``War Zone'' may be enough of a conversation piece to draw the attention that other, better documentaries deserve, its counterproductive effects are truly regrettable.

Hadleigh-West is a filmmaker who asks questions like, ``Sir, are you ashamed of yourself?'' and describes how she laughed over Lorena Bobbitt's attack on her husband. She reduces men to insulting stereotypes while complaining that they do the same to women, and she makes snide remarks like, ``You're not aware of the fact that women are assaulted and raped, sir?'' None of this does feminism any favors.

THE FACTS

The film: ``The War Zone'' (not rated).

Behind the scenes: Directed by Maggie Hadleigh-West. Produced by Hank Levine.

Running time: One hour, 16 minutes.

Playing: Laemmle Grande 4-Plex, downtown Los Angeles.

Our rating: Two Stars.