All ratings are based on **** being best.
Films in BLACK type are foreign films watched
Films in RED type are AFI Film Festival films
Films in GREEN type are Palm Springs Film Festival films
A LOST EMBRACE (El Abrazo Partido) (Argentina d. Daniel Burman)
Daniel Hendler, another in a seemingly endless series of attractive
Argentine leading men, plays Ariel, the twenty-something younger son of
a broken family of shopkeepers of Polish-Jewish extraction. This
film might be called
More Scenes from a Mall
since it centers around Ariel's interaction with the various denizens
of a tacky shopping mall in the heart of Buenos Aires' Jewish
quarter. The film is both a touching family story and an
entertaining farce, combining elements of both. I'm sure that
some found the constantly roving and shaky hand-held camera a
distraction; but I felt it added to the film's realism. A
charming slice of life film which I liked a lot; but it probably won't
get far in this competition. *** 1/4
THE OVERTURE (Hoam-Rong) (Thailand d. Itthisoontorn Vichailak)
This film "based on a true character" tells the life story of Sorn, a
traditional Thai musician who becomes a master at playing a xylaphone
type of instrument during the time period from the late 19th Century
through the second World War. It's something of a conventional
artist biopic, examining a life ranging from youthful prodigy to old
master, with politics always seeming to interfere with art. The
traditional Thai music was superbly played and the film looked fine,
with a flawless period feel. The film did show a tendency to slip
into melodrama, however, at least to a Western sensibility.
Still, an interesting subject and it held my interest throughout.
** 1/2
PRODUCING ADULTS (Lapsia ja aikuisia) (Finland d. Aleksi Salmenperä)
The Finns have sent us a wonderfully relevant film. Venla is a
psychologist at a fertility clinic who wants a child; but her long-term
athlete boyfriend is neurotically terrified of fatherhood. That
is the set-up for a bittersweet, subtly nuanced relationship comedy
where very realistic characters cope with modern social issues from
abortion to lesbianism. Salmenperä as a director reminds me
of the modern Swedish master Lukas Moodysson in his handling of actors
and juggling complex relationships. *** 1/4
UP AND DOWN (Horem Pádem) (Czech Republic d. Jan Hrebejk)
Hrebejk returns to form after last year's disappointing
Pupendo.
The current film is a large scale tapestry of character studies in
modern day Prague. The stories are subtly connected, and range
from the plight of refugees from the Balkans to the anomie of soccer
hooligans to the lives of a middle class family fractured by the fall
of Communism and emmigration. It comes together quite nicely and
is an interesting, if ultimately disturbingly melancholy, film.
*** 1/4
CHRONICALS (Cronicas) (Ecuador d. Sebastián Cordero)
I'm not sure what I expected from Ecuador; but this taut and exciting
psychological thriller with its international cast certainly exceded my
expectations. John Leguizamo plays an American tv journalist
based in Miami who is the crack reporter for a South American schlock
tv newsmagazine run by Alfred Molina. His crew is investigating a
series of child rape-murders in a small Ecuadorian town and they become
personally involved in the case to the point where journalistic ethics
(or the lack thereof) become a real issue. The film starts with
an excellently edited scene of a small riot which almost leads to a
lynching and gradually unfolds its creepy, moody mysterious
story. Probably too unsettling for a nomination...but I could see
it as a slam dunk American remake. *** 1/4
THE KEYS TO THE HOUSE (Le chiavi di casa) (Italy d. Gianni Amelio)
Amelio is a fine director who has been here before and this film must
rate highly as nomination fodder. Kim Rossi Stuart (startlingly
attractive and quite a good replacement for Amelio's usual actor hero,
Enrico Lo Versi) plays a man whose girl friend died birthing a
handicapped baby fifteen years earlier, and who deserted the child
sight unseen for fifteen years. Now, having grown and fathered a
normal child, he's prepared to follow his conscience and become
reacquainted with his teen-age son (a truly amazing performance by
Andrea Rossi who must be authentically handicapped or deserves an Oscar
for acting), taking him to Berlin for orthopedic treatment. He
meets another parent there, beautifully played with surface serenity
covering a tragic interior by Charlotte Rampling, who is establishing
quite a career in late middle age. Subtly, almost effortlessly,
Amelio melds these elements into a heartrending but surprisingly
unsentimental film which is a journey of personal discovery.
Academy bait, to be sure; but a fine film and worthy of a
nomination. *** 1/2
I've caught a cold, so I'm not
sure if I'm going to be able to write much to this journal. I'm
running late, so we'll see what happens if I can't kick the cold.
LITTLE GIRL BLUE (d. Anna Luif)
This Swiss film in German reminds me a lot of Dino's story in the
American tv series (which is being totally unwatched, so this reference
will mean nothing to anybody reading it now) "life as we know
it". The center of the film is a 14 year old girl, newly moved to
town, who falls for a fellow student. Her father and his mother,
old friends, meet and have an affair which tears up the kid's
lives. It's an affecting, minor little film, nicely acted.
** 1/2
SYMMETRY (Symetria) (d. Konrad Niewolski)
Likely innocent man gets caught up in a Kafkaesque situation where he's
accused of assaulting an old lady who dies before the trial...but he's
in jail for a year anyway, awaiting trial. The film looks stark
and bleak, shot with a flourescent green tint. It has some of the
strenghts of Bresson's A Man Escaped in
that it examines jail life and its affect on the prisoners in a
realistic and non-sensationalistic way. I can't say I enjoyed the
experience of watching this film, it's slow and dismal. But
formally, it's a fine film. *** 1/4
THE DEAL (d. Harvey Kahn)
Christian Slater has made better films. Here he's playing Gordon
Gekko lite in a near future tale of Wall Street shenanigans in the oil
patch. The story sort of holds water; and I wasn't bored at
all. But I can't see this derivative, straightforwardly directed
film going anyplace except to the video store. ** 1/4
SEQUESTRO EXPRESS (d. Jonathan Jakubowicz)
Some films are so strong and stomach churning that they demand
attention. This Venezuelan video looks terrible, fuzzy, out of
focus. It's the tale of an unsympathetic young upwardly mobil
couple carjacked and kidnapped (an apparently common event in Caracas
these days) and the gang who couldn't shoot straight which took them,
combined with the corrupt cops from hell who don't help in any
way. It's shot with a very kinetic, frenetic style, much in
extreme close ups. Add Caracas to Medellin as a destination I'll
never visit. ** 3/4
MY TINY UNIVERSE (d. Glen Scantlebury, Lucy Phillips)
This is a relationship farce with a good script and a fine
cast. Andy Comeau, an actor I don't think I've noticed
before but who has a real future in comedy, plays a failed actor on the
brink of suicide when he finds the cell phone of a Hollywood bigwig
with the phone number of every Hollywood player. The way he uses this
tool is the key to a satire on the L.A. lifestyle and the biz.
The film was shot in the directors' home on HD, and it looks
great: I thought it might have been original 35mm film, so fine
was the cinematography. John Herd, Debi Mazar and Lesley Ann
Warren are part of the perfectly cast ensemble. ***
SECONDHAND CHILD (Wer Kusst Schon Einen Leguan) (d. Karola Hattop)
Presented on video, this might be called the German version of an
afternoon tv special. It's the story of a 13 year old fatherless
boy who is on the brink of losing his neglectful mother, who bonds with
a neighboring commitment phobic bachelor as an unexpected father
figure. The acting, especially of the boy who combines a certain
fake bravado with emotional fragility, is first rate. This is an
involving, if predictable, film which doesn't break much new
ground. ** 3/4
SOUTH (Het Zuiden)
(d. Martin Koolhoven)
Oy, I wish I had skipped this film. Not that it isn't a good
film...in fact, it's a gripping psychological drama. But I didn't
enjoy the experience. It's the story of an ostensibly sensible
and successful woman who is suffering secretly from a complex caused by
her losing a breast (undoubtedly from cancer in the unstated
backstory). She goes off the rails when a man in her employ
reacts with startlement at discovering her fake breast during
foreplay. One watches the results with increasing dread.
From the Q&A it is clear that the director considers this to be a
feminist film; but I thought it smacked of a little too much mysogeny
in its examination of a woman's hysteria. ** 3/4
RABBIT IN THE MOON (Conejo en la Luna) (d. Jorge Ramírez Suárez)
This is a superior thriller about corruption and conspiracy in the
Mexican government and police force and how it affects an innocent man,
his family and friends. It's a propulsive script which puts the
audience and the sympathetic hero into a situation of
powerlessness. Well acted, with an unfamiliar international cast
(some of the film takes place in England). ***
DAYBREAK (Om jag vander mig om) (d. Björn Runge)
This Swedish film is another example of the general anomie which most
Scandanavian drama seems to be asserting these days (not that that is
anything new...there's a long tradition from Strindberg to
Bergman). The current film contains three simultaneous stories,
only slightly connected, of people unhappy with their relationships and
indeed present day society in general. Technically, it's a fine
piece of filmmaking; but I just couldn't connect emotionally to any of
the stories. ** 3/4
THE HEART IS DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS (d. Asia Argento)
This mindblowing film is based on stories by J.T. LeRoy, apparently
based on his life, that I was totally unaware of. Jeremiah is a 7
year old boy (a truly fabulous performance by Jimmy Bennet) who is
taken from his middle class foster parents by his totally unfit mother
and thrust into a wandering life of drugs, molestation by her
"boyfriends", occasional respites with his religiously fanatic
grandparents, and other degrading experiences. The film covers
Jeremiah's life from 7 through about 12, and is one of the most
unsparing looks at unabating child abuse I've ever experienced.
The director, Asia Argento, plays the trashy mother like a junky
Courtney Love. She is brilliant, no other word for it. I
can imagine how this polarizing film could be hated; but I'm still
haunted by the characterizations and imagery. *** 1/2
REVOLUTION OF PIGS (Sigade Revolutsioon) (d. Jaak Kilmi, René Reinumägi)
This is a large scale, ambitious film about a convocation of Communist
youths at a summer camp in 1985 in Estonia. The kids get out of
hand, protesting Soviet rule and the war in Afghanistan, it turns into
a riot of sex and rock and roll. It doesn't get very deep into
the characterizations, and, though nicely photographed with lots of
good looking young people on view, I couldn't get into the film at
all. ** 1/4
AFTERMATH (d. Paprika Steen)
Paprika Steen is a fine Danish actor/commedian...but maybe her true calling is as a director. Aftermath
is an intimate drama about the corrosive affect of the loss of a child
on a couple and the people around them. Incredibly well acted, a
gem of a script, insightful. It's the kind of small, perfectly
executed piece of filmmaking which makes an entire festival
worthwile. *** 1/2
ASTRONAUTS (Astronautas) (d. Santi Amodeo)
A harmless piece of fluff about a Galacian artist who kicks heroin and
tries to stay off it with his own 10 part program. He gets
involved with a 16 year old girl runaway. The narrative is broken
on occasion by some Terry Gilliam like animation, which is actually
pretty skillfully produced, but way overused. This is a
disappointing Spanish film...I expect more from Spain. **
SOUNDLESS (Lautlos) (d. Mennan Yapo)
A taut, clever, well executed German thriller about a professional
assassin towards the end of his career. The subtitles call the
film Without a Sound,
which is a better title for this film, as this is a meticulous killer
who operates invisibly without making a ripple. Victor, or Felix,
has been a successful, almost unnoticed killer since he was 9.
But a clever policeman puts himself into the assassin's mind and starts
to get closer to him. This is an extremely well written script,
which holds together better than most recent thrillers. Tom
Tykwer produced, and the film has some of the look and feel of films by
that director; but Yapo is a talent in his own right...exceptionally
good with pacing and wide screen compositions. I expect an
inferior American remake is in the cards. *** 1/2
SOMERSAULT (d. Cate Shortland)
This small scale Australian film is quite affecting. It's a
drama/road picture about a sexually precocious 16 year old girl
runaway, a "good" girl who manages to find a viable life on the
road. These are very real characters, and the low key acting and
direction are just right. ***
OMAGH (d. Pete Travis)
This is a documentary style film about a family caught up in the
aftermath of the IRA bombing of a main street in Omagh, N. Ireland in
1998. Gerard McSorley gives a beautifully moderated performance
as an ordinary man thrust despite misgivings into the heart of a search
for justice after his son was killed in the bombing. I thought
the film might be even a little to underplayed...I found my attention
wandering. But the central performance is so strong it carries
the film. An interesting companion piece to
Bloody Sunday. ***
THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON (d. Niels Mueller)
Sean Penn gives his usual top-flight performance here, based on a true
story of a man pushed to horrible violence by a life of desparate
mediocrity. I can't say I loved the film, it is such a
downer. But I have to give much credit to the director and actors
(Jack Thompson especially is great as the supersalesman boss from
hell.) ***
MY STEP BROTHER FRANKENSTEIN (Moj svodnyj brat Frankenstein) (d. Valery Todorovsky)
It's hard to put my finger on why I enjoyed this film so much more than
its modest, downer plot seems to deserve. It's a familiar story
of the plight of a returning soldier, this one of a Chechnya veteran
who is wounded both physically and mentally. He imposes himself
on the family of his father, who didn't even know of his existence
until he showed up in Moscow one day. The family is well
portrayed, and the film shows modern Russian society in a more real
fashion than I think I've ever seen before. Somehow the film just
worked for me. ***
BRIDE AND PREJUDICE (d. Gurinder Chadha)
I think Chadha and Miramax have an unlikely hit here. This is a
Bollywood musical toned to fit the Hollywood mode, with American and
English characters who combine well with the cliché Indian
plot of the middle class family of four daughters trying to find
husbands (it's based sort of on Jane Austin's
Pride and Prejudice,
though the connection is pretty forced.) Chadha isn't very
inventive when it comes to the musical numbers; but she is a fine
director of actors and getting to the emotional truth of her
plot. Despite all my prejudices against the Bollywood
conventions, I was simply charmed by the film after I got over my
initial reluctance. ** 3/4
DUCK SEASON (Temporada de Patos) (d. Fernando Eimbcke)
This is a simple, one location black and white film in the mode of Jim
Jarmusch (whom the director credits as being a primary
influence.) It's the story of two 14 year old boys stuck alone in
an apartment on a Sunday and all the troubles imaginable that can
happen without their leaving the apartment. It's a delightful
slice of life film, a comedy with a great deal of heart and from a
director who has a keen understanding of his characters. It has a
great soundtrack mix of natural sound effects and original music.
Just a gem of a little film. *** 1/4
FERPECT CRIME (Crimen Ferpecto) (d. Alex de la Iglesia)
Iglesia can be uneven; but this caper comedy is one of his better
efforts. Its clever script and high gloss cinematography and
production design balance some unlikely sillyness. But it's a
purely fun audience film, a farce about a Lothario salesman in a big
Madrid department store who gets taken down by an unattractive woman
employee. Richly inventive, and very enjoyable. ***
20 FINGERS (Beest Angosht) (d. Mania Akbari)
I was bored stiff by this Iranian film, done in the style of recent
Kiarostami in tight close ups of a bickering couple in various modes of
travel. They fight about some pretty weighty things for an
Iranian film, among them abortion and infidelity. But I found the
director/leading actress to be shrill to the point of annoyance and the
claustrophobic camera style equally bothersome. * 3/4
WHISKY (Uraguay d. Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stall)
This is a subtle and emotionally truthful film about two brothers, each
owners of their own stocking factories a legacy of their
patrimony. The younger Argentinian is visiting his Uraguaian
brother to commemorate their Jewish mother's headstone unveiling.
They are playing a lifelong game of competitive dissimulation.
The film presents its psychological revelations very nicely in a slow,
repetitive style which is probably too subtle to break through to a
nomination. ***
CHRYSTAL (d. Ray McKinnon)
An overwrought piece of Ozark gothic that is also a propulsive and
interesting character study of the corrosive affects of grief and
guilt. Billy Bob Thornton gives one of his best, if amazingly
muted, performances as an ex-con returning home after a stretch in
prison for causing a car accident where his young son was lost; while
Lisa Blount is fine in the title role as Thornton's grief stricken,
long suffering wife. The director, Ray McKinnon plays a
particularly sleazy villain. The film uses mountain music and the
ambience of its place quite well. ** 3/4
ETHAN MAO (d. Quentin Lee)
Quentin Lee is the heir apparent of Gregg Araki. This is a film
about a Chinese-American teenager who is kicked out of the house by his
stern father when he comes out as gay. He hustles, gets involved
with a hispanic roommate and ultimately confronts his devils.
It's all straightforwardly done, with some nicely crafted performances
by newcomers (to me). If the plot is a little pat, at least it
kept me interested and involved. ** 3/4
BEREFT (d. Tim Daly and Clark Mathis)
I saw this wide screen Showtime effort at the Seattle Festival, where
it made such a mediocre impact that I forgot that I'd seen it
before. I sat through it a second time, and this time I liked it
a little more, appreciating the beautiful photography and the finely
wrought and psychologically interesting characterizations. It's
another film about the terrible affects of grief on a person's life,
this time a young wife whose husband was killed by a car while
jogging. I still felt emotionally distanced by the film, which is
why I can't rate it highly...but there's much to admire here. **
3/4
SPEAK (d. Jessica Sharzer)
An exceptional central performance by Kristen Stewart as a troubled
teenage highschool student marks this fine Showtime film (shot on
super-16 but presented in video). What makes her performance such
a standout is that for most of the film she is basically mute, unable
to communicate her hurt after a casual rape at a party. Steve
Zahn, too, gives a wonderful performance as an unconventional art
teacher who manages to reach the troubled girl. This is an
effective, emotionally powerful film. *** 1/4
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STREET (O Outro Lado da Rua) (d. Marcos Bernstein)
Fernanda Montenegro, so wonderful in
Central Station,
is the attraction here. She plays a retired lady who works for
the police as a sort of ad hoc crime spy. She witnesses a crime
from her high-rise window and gets caught up in a romance centered on
the perpetrator. Nicely made and acted, I just felt a little too
emotionally distanced from the characters to love the film. ***
PEAS AT 5:30 (Erbsen auf Halb 6) (d. Lars Buechel)
Germany erred in not sending this wonderfully touching and skillfully
made film to the Academy for the foreign language film Oscar. I
suspect it would have been nominated. Hilmir Snaer Gudnason (a
favorite actor of mine from his work in Icelandic films) is simply
terrific as a stage director driven suicidal by his recent blindness,
the result of an auto accident. He encounters a blind-from-birth
girl (another wonderful performance by Fritzi Haberlandt,) and the film
turns into an unlikely road picture as the two blind people set off on
an impromptu journey. The film is beautifully made, exceptional
photography, script and direction. Except for the inherent
implausability of the plot, this was almost a perfect film for me,
leaving me stunned by its emotional power. A great way to end the
festival on a high note! *** 3/4
A LEGENDARY LOVE (Malaysia)
Missed it! I doubt I'll get another chance to see this 16th
century epic since word is it doesn't have much of a chance to make the
final five...but one never knows.
HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS (China d. Zhang Yimou)
This film is the visual master Zhang Yimou's throwing down the gauntlet
in the sweepstake to produce the most amazing Chinese magical martial
arts film ever. I think he's succeded; but then this isn't my
favorite genre and I haven't seen many of the classics. Still,
this film astounds for the number of stunning set pieces: the echo
dance, the battle in the trees, the swordsmanship displays. And
let's not forget that the three central actors, so perfect as archtypes
and exemplars of physical skill, are also completely convincing in the
personal story. The only flaw of this film is that it goes on too
long. Too much of a good thing is still too much. But it's
hard to see how anyone could do this type of a film better than
Zhang. I expect it will be a box-office success in the U.S.; and
I think it will be a strong contender to make the final five in this
competition. *** 1/4
CAMPFIRE (Israel d. Joseph Cedar)
The Israelis have been sending excellent family dramas to this
competition the past three years; and this one fit right into the
pattern. It's the story of a recently widowed young mother and
her two teenage daughters; and manages to be touching, harrowing and
informative all at once. Tami is the younger daughter,
something of an awkward misfit, and the crucible of the drama is what
happens to her at a summer campfire ritual, something bad. There
are some fine performances here, particularly Michaela Esher as the
lovely, if self-involved mother; and Moshe Ivgy as her shy
suitor. But it is also the children's story, and the two girls
are quite fine. I should also mention Oshri Cohen, who was
so outstanding in last years
Bonjour M. Schlomo.
Here he has to play an unsympathetically passive boyfriend; but he
shines even in that role. The film gets political in the way it
deals with the family's intention to become settlers of a West Bank
commune. I found the details of modern Israeli life to be quite
illuminating. The film doesn't quite have the heft to make it to
the final 5; but it is a good effort. ***
20:30:40 (Taiwan d. Sylvia Chang)
Sylvia Chang is the Tonie Marshall of Taiwanese films (meaning an
actress turned director making light ensemble pictures based on women's
lives like that French director of
Venus Beauty Institute.)
This film is a romantic, if dark comedy about three seemingly
unconnected women (one twentysomething, one thirtysomething, one
fortysomething, which explains the title of the film.) They
actually inhabit the same street, unbeknownst to each
other. Each is the victim of love and the search for
love. I thought the film was tedious and uninvolving, although I
must say that Ms. Chang is quite good as the 40-something
divorcée. Just not my kind of film. * 3/4
BENEATH HER WINDOW (Pod Njenim Oknom) (Slovenia d. Metod Pevec)
This is one of those quirky relationship comedies which stands or falls
by the charms of the actors. Here Polona Juh plays a thirtiesh
dancer who has prickly relationships with her mother, an older married
man, and a sympathetic young stalker. For whatever reason the
charms of this film eluded me...I just didn't relate to the characters
(except for the stalker who was attractive and different enough to make
his all too few scenes interesting). Others on the committee were
more enthusiastic, I have to admit; but I think this is an
also-ran. ** 1/4
AS IT IS IN HEAVEN (Sa som i himmelen) (Sweden d. Kay Pollak)
Oh, oh...here is the perfect example of why this committee is in
trouble with the media. The Swedes have sent us an utterly
charming audience pleaser about an orchestra conductor who returns to
the town of his unhappy youth to recuperate after a heart attack.
It's the story of the blessed stranger transforming a dull reality into
something magical. There's nothing edgy or experimental here,
just good story telling (which stays just this side of sappy).
The film does have a hard-hitting message ending. Still, it's
typical Academy bait and almost sure to get nominated by this
committee. Needless to say, I loved it. *** 1/2
THE OLIVE HARVEST (Mousem Al Zaytoun) (Palestine d. Hanna Elias)
Two brothers in love with the same woman. There's a little
politics about the Jewish settlements destroying the Palestinian olive
groves...but that is not the real text of the film. It's
basically an overwrought love story looking dingy with a bad digital
video transfer and featuring some hammy acting. Raeda Adon is
beautiful, however, as the woman who is torn between the
brothers. * 3/4
OLGA (Brazil d. Jayme Monjardim)
This is a difficult film to pigeon hole. It is a huge Holocaust
epic about a real-life German-Jewish woman who gets involved in
Brazilian politics through her activities as a pre-WWII communist
activist; and who eventually gets caught in the Nazi Gestapo net.
It's also a love story: romance thwarted by war. And a
harrowing concentration camp story of birth and death. It's just
too darn ambitious for this journeyman director. For all its
fascinating based on real-life plot, the film comes across as
overproduced melodrama. Camila Morgado does give a strikingly
strong performance as Olga Benario, beautiful even with the shaved head
of her Ravensbruck incarceration. I've raised my rating on this
film because in retrospect it has substance which sticks to the
ribs. But I don't think it has enough oomph to make the final
5. ***
COLD LIGHT (Kildaljós) (Iceland d. Hilmar Oddsson)
This is an implacably cold Icelandic drama about a neurotic,
40-something man whose present day life is out of joint (from a
tramautic event in his youth which he is unable to process). It
is perhaps too reminiscent in terms of plot of the previously presented
Noi, Albino.
In any case, despite a fine central performance by Ingvar Sigurdsson,
it didn't much engage me. Still, as with many Icelandic films,
one has to admire the filmmaking which manages to find humanism in its
frigid setting. ***
I LOVE CINEMA (Baheb El Cima) (Egypt d. Osamma Fawzy)
This is a family comedy centered on a young boy's point of view of the
events which affect his raucous Coptic extended family circa
1966. The characters are screeching and annoying, and any
resemblence between this and
Cinema Paradiso (which I believe is the director's intention) is purely a non-starter. * 3/4
LONG DARK NIGHT (Duga Mracna Noc) (Croatia d. Antun Vrdojak)
I was transported by this World War II epic of the struggle in Croatia
between the Nazi collaborators and the Communist partisans. The
film features a strong, charismatic performance by Goran Visnjic (of
ER
fame) as a hero of the Communist resistence whose best friend is on the
other side and whose family of simple farmers is in the middle of the
partisan ebbs and flows of the time. The film is almost 3 hours
long; but I was not bored, even though the film bogs down in political
infighting as it transitions to the post war Communist era.
Still, it's a pleasure to watch a film of such ambitious scope which,
despite my ignorance of the politics still packs such an emotional
wallop. It's not up to the level of, say, Bartoluci's similar
1900; but I can mention this film in the same breath, which is a rare compliment. ***
Monday 12/13
REVOLUTION OF PIGS
(Sigade Revolutsioon) (Estonia d. Jaak Kilmi, René Reinumägi)
Seen at AFI film festival (see above). ** 1/4
A TOUCH OF SPICE (Politiki Kouzina) (Greece d. Tassos Boulmetis)
Boulmetis is a filmmaker in the Jean-Pierre Jeunet tradition of wild
whimsy and visual pyrotechnics. This is a highly stylized, big,
wide screen film about a Turko-Greek boy's transition to manhood
over several decades. There's an extended food metaphor, a
beloved absent grandfather figure, a huge family of eccentrics...in
other words this is a complex film which doesn't lend itself easily to
summary. Let it suffice to say that it is an exceptionally
audience friendly film, very ambitious in scope. If it doesn't
quite live up to the ambitions of the director, it isn't for lack of
trying. I suspect that it is going to be in the running for the
final 5 with this audience. ** 3/4
SIMON (The Netherlands d. Eddy Terstall)
Theme night at the Academy: euthenasia. Funny about
that. The Dutch film takes the tack that Simon Cohen,
reckless heterosexual adventurer, eccentric soft-drug dealer, 40-ish
brain cancer victim, is a candidate for state sanctioned euthenasia
(the Dutch are so civilized and liberal about this sort of
thing). His erstwhile friend Camiel, timid gay dentist,
re-encounters Simon after years of being out of touch, and the film
switches time lines from the flashbacks of their adventures together
several years before to the present day. The film takes a while
to get started. The flashback scenes are frenetic and hard to
follow. But eventually the brilliance of the writing and
characterizations take hold; and this film becomes an emotionally
satisfying drama which affected me deeply. I doubt if the
committee is going to award this film with a nomination...it's just too
scattershot. But for me, in an evening of intense emotional
catharsis, this was the film I preferred. *** 1/4
THE SEA INSIDE (Mar Adentro) (Spain d. Alejandro Amenábar)
This is a based-on-fact story of Ramón Sampedro, a long-term
quadraplegic confinded to a room in his family's farm in rural
Spain. Ramón is tired of the struggle, and with the help
of a female lawyer who is also physically impared, and despite the
opposition of his immediate family, he goes to court in a well
publicized struggle to get the state to sanction his euthenasia.
Spain isn't as enlightened as the Netherlands in matters like
this. Javier Bardem gives a wonderful performance (though I was
never completely convinced that he was totally immobile lying there in
his bed...certain body parts that shouldn't move sometimes did.
Compare this with the incredible job that James McAvoy does as an
immobile DMS victim in the upcoming
Rory O'Shea Was Here
film, and Bardem isn't as convincing). But he does capture
Ramon's sweet and implacable personality; and Amenábar is a
wonderful director in establishing the inner life of his characters by
visual means. I felt that the movie was just a little too spot
on, too much Academy bait lyrical for my taste...especially in contrast
to the rougher, edgier
Simon which preceded it. But from the audience reaction, I suspect this will be a finalist. ***
THE WELTS (Pregi) (Poland d. Magdalena Piekorz)
Another thematic double bill: this one about child abuse.
The Polish film is a stark, formal affair existing on two
time-lines. First is an extended flashback about a rebellious
teen-age boy struggling against his physically abusive father who is
bent on controlling his son's misbehaviors. The present day
time-line is about the boy grown up: a misanthropic caver who has
trouble relating to people...directly connected to his childhood.
I found the film to be intensely affecting, the acting and direction
beautifully realized. Still, the stark reality of the story, the
murky cinematography and slow pace made it a difficult film which
will have trouble with this committee. *** 1/4
NOBODY KNOWS (Japan d. Hirokazu Kore-Eda)
Kore-Eda has made a long film with a simple subject...a family of four
adorable kids left to fend for themselves, unnoticed by neighbors and
the authorities, when their mother abandons them in a small Tokyo
apartment. I think the film is an extended metaphorical indictment of
the anomie of Japanese society, and even capitalism in general.
But for my tastes it went on too long for its slender plot.
Still: children in jeopardy is a theme that the Academy eats up;
and this film is skillfully made with four of the most sympathetic and
attractive kids ever. ** 3/4
THE CHORUS (Les Choristes) (France d. Christophe Barratier)
Another of this year's recurrent themes is the making of ad hoc
choruses in unlikely places (the Swedish film is similar in this
way.) In this case at a school for wayward boys in 1949 France,
where the kindly new schoolteacher gets control over the unruly boys by
getting them involved in a choir. This film is in the French
tradition of Jean Vigo and François Truffaut (it feels like
The 400 Blows
in many ways.) It is definitely a huge audience pleaser and has
to be strongly in the running for a place in the final five. ***
1/2
HAWAII, OSLO (Norway d. Erik Poppe)
This is a very difficult film to pigeonhole. It's a slick,
beautifully realized production with a complex plot which involves
predestination...twelve characters fated to be connected. It is
entertaining, maybe even a little profound; but I found it somewhat
predictable and overwrought. It's a lot like Scorsese's
Bringing Out the Dead;
and like that film only partially successful in overcoming its
supernatural premise. Definitely a long-shot in this
competition. ***
YESTERDAY (South Africa d. Darrell Roodt)
South Africa has sent a heartrending, beautifully shot and produced
film from the present day agrarian Zulu countryside. It is the
story of a beautiful, resourceful young mother named Yesterday, and her
determination to live for her young daughter when personal calamity
strikes. The film is made in stark wide screen vistas, presented
at a leasurely pace which somehow never bores. Leleti Khumalo is
radiant in the lead role, and frankly, even though it isn't among my
personal favorites since its simplistic and fairly predictable plot
seemed a trifle obvious, I'd have to say that this film is a darkhorse
candidate to make the final five. ***
MACHUCA (Chile d. Andrés Wood)
The Machuca in the title is an 11 year old boy from a poor family in
1973 Santiago de Chile, who gets a scholarship to attend an English
private parocial school in the heyday of Allende's socialist
experiment. The film is shown from the point of view of another
11 year old boy, student at the same school, son of privilege (though
his father is a middle class merchant and his mother is the mistress of
a rich politico). The film is essentially a political drama of
the tumultuous times in Chile when the Allende goverment is being
overthrown by the army junta, from the point of view of the
children. The film definitely has a leftest slant; but it sucked
me right into the era...very effective filmmaking which reminded me
faintly of the political stance of early Bertolucci, though without
that filmmakers cinematic brilliance. However, it's slated to be
an also-ran in this competition. ***
EARTH AND ASHES (Afghanistan d. Atiq Rahimi)
Afghanistan is obviously now developing a film industry on a similar
track to Iran. This is a technically accomplished, wide screen
film which makes good use of its desert setting: a crossroad
busstop in the middle of nowhere, amidst the destruction of war
ravaged villages. The main character is an old man and his
grandson on a mission to find the boy's father to tell him of the war
caused tragedy which befell the rest of his family. This is
essentially a road picture where we hardly move from one place, but
where details gradually accumulate which have a powerful impact.
The pacing is probably too slow for most of this audience, so I doubt
whether it will make the final five; but this is a very well made film,
a humanistic tragedy. ***
FAR SIDE OF THE MOON (Canada d. Robert Lepage)
Apparently based on a famous one-man play, this rather abstract comedy
didn't quite work for me. Lepage plays an both a struggling and
failing grad student and his gay tv weatherman brother who are
resolving old childhood conflicts after their mother's death.
There's also a strange sub-plot involving the student's dissertation
which is about the narcissism of nation's involvement in the space
race. In other words, this is an intellectual exercise which is
faintly reminiscent of Lily Tomlin's
Search for Intelligent Life,
but lacking most of the wit of that exercise. Or maybe it just
doesn't transfer to film very well. Lepage isn't a very engaging
film personality. **
DAYS AND HOURS (Bosnia/Herzegovina d. Pjer Zalica)
This is a slow (months and years, rather than "days and hours",) talky
film about a family which is still affected after seven years by the
death of one of them in the Bosnian war. It is sort of a
bittersweet comedy, and to be truthful it does pack into a heartfelt
emotional catharsis into its ending...but by that time it is too late,
the film took too long making banal dialog which didn't translate well
in subtitles. **
INNOCENT VOICES (Mexico d. Luis Mandoki)
Wow. Mandoki has made a very powerful film about the 12 year long
El Salvador guerilla uprising from the point of view of an 11 year old
boy in a rural village who is about to be conscripted at age 12 by the
U.S. supported army. Carlos Padilla gives one of the great child
performances of all time in this effective piece of anti-war
agitprop. I would think this film is a sure thing as one of the
five nominees, and for my money has to be a contender for the
Oscar. *** 1/2
THE MIRACLE ACCORDING TO SALOME (Portugal d. Mário Barroso)
This is a pleasant enough historical drama about a lovely, virtuous
prostitute (played by the radiant Ana Bandeira) who is confused for Our
Lady of Fatima by peasants in 1917 Portugal. It's a pretty
traditional, even operatic (Puccini would love this story as a
libretto) tragedy of love thwarted, but is very true to its period and
looks great with beautifully authentic costumes and lush location
photography. Maybe it was slightly too melodramatic for modern
tastes; but all in all an honorable effort. ** 3/4
ORIENT EXPRESS (Romania d. Sergiu Nicolaescu)
To my everlasting shame, I skipped this due to film fatigue. I
apologize to my vast public dependant on my pearls of wisdom.
DOWNFALL (Germany d. Oliver Hirschbiegel)
This is probably the most comprehensive and authentic seeming film I've
seen (among at least four, including tv mini-series) about the last
days of Hitler's Third Reich. It was told mainly from the point
of view of Traudl Junge, one of Hitler's secretaries, who was featured
in the memorable documentary
Blind Spot.
One reason it seemed so authentic was that it was in German, and its
casting and dialog rang true to life. Especially notable was
Bruno Ganz, chillingly realistic as the increasingly out-of-touch
führer. This film has grandeur and impeccable
quality...leave it to the Germans to make the fall of Berlin into
Götterdämmerung. Maybe too downer for a nomination; but
certainly deserving of one. *** 1/4
MEIN NAME IST BACH (Switzerland
d. Dominique de Rivaz)
Seen at the Seattle film festival under the name
Jagged Harmonies.
NIGHT WATCH (Russia d. Timur Bekmambetov)
A pastiche of every supernatural film cliché from
The Omen to
The Matrix
. The special effects are pretty nifty (many produced by U.S. f/x
houses); but the story, a huge battle between the forces of good and
evil which spans 1000 years, culminating in dark doings by vampires in
present day Moscow, well, the story just eluded my comprehension.
To be truthful, this genre is not my cup of tea. Still, the film has
scope and vision. I can see how it is a popular success; but it
is a tough sell to this crowd. **
TURTLES CAN FLY (Iran d. Bahman Ghobadi)
According to the credits, this is an Iran-Iraq co-production, and in
truth it seems to be very relevant to the Iraq of today. The film
takes place in a refugee camp in Kurdistan, and is the story of a
teenage boy (nicknamed Satellite for his skill at setting up television
hookups) who leads a group of ragtag kids as the U.S. invasion of Iraq
in 2003 is about to occur. I was totally immersed in this film,
feeling an emotional involvement with the kids. I'm not sure if
it had the same effect on the committee; but this film should be a
contender. *** 1/4
ANTARES (Austria d. Götz Spielmann)
Austria's entry is a sexually explicit, tough, realistic slice of life
drama about three families living empty lives in a housing project in
Vienna. The film has a complex circular time-binding structure,
sort of reminiscent of
Before the Rain (or this year's
Hawaii, Oslo,
which is eerily similar in structure), where actions happen out of
sequence but everything leads to ultimate connections. I found
the film difficult to follow at first; but ultimately it is a pretty
satisfying film, well acted and directed. ***
MILA FROM MARS (Bulgaria d. Zornitsa Sophia)
This is one of those films which defies pigeonholing into one
genre. Essentially it is a road picture about a pregnant 16 year
old girl orphan who escapes from an abusive man and hides in a small
Bulgarian border village. The child, an allegorical Christ
figure, is born there, and the film turns into a tough love
story. It doesn't sound promising; but somehow it works.
The film looks digital and dingy, and has an overly confusing flashback
filled editing schema. Still, thanks to some good acting and a
director who has an observent eye, this is a pretty good film. **
3/4.
SHWAAS (India d. Sandeep Sawant)
Maybe it is the cultural differences between India and the west, or
maybe I'm just too cynical; but this heart tugger film about a young
boy with eye cancer and his grandfather who can't accept that his
grandson must lose his eyes just seemed over the top. * 3/4
I
saw 7 films at the Palm Springs film festival. Especially
notworthy was ROMA, to my eyes a masterpiece of intimate epic
filmmaking. I may or may not review each film separately in the
future; but for the record following are the films I watched:
WILBY WONDERFUL (d. Daniel MacIvor)
LA FEMME DE GILLES (d. Frédéric Fonteyne)
CHANGING DESTINY (d. Daniele Gaglianone)
NAPOLA (d. Dennis Gansel)
THE NINTH DAY (d. Volker Schlöndorff)
BAD SPELLING (d. Jean-Jacques Zilbermann)
ROMA (d. Adolfo Aristarian)
PUNTO Y RAYA (Venezuela d. Elia K. Schneider)
I found this Venezuelan black comedy to be silly and without much
merit. I may be in the minority, because a lot of people on the
committee seemed to enjoy it. It looked terrible, in washed out
digital black and white. It's the story of two opposing soldiers,
one a conscripted Venezuelan drug dealer/pimp, the other an upright
Columbian villager who volunteered to serve in the army. They are
thrown together in the jungle à la
The Defiant Ones as friendly enemies facing the narcos and revolutionaries and their own forces. Not much to recommend. * 3/4
KONTROLL (Hungary d. Nimród Antal)
This is a fairly heavy handed allegorical film, I think it uses the
Budapest subway as an allegory of Hell; but I'm not sure about that,
since the relationship isn't obvious. In any case, after an
amusing on-screen disclaimer that the film doesn't represent the real
subway or its employees in any way, the film becomes the story of a
group of five subway fare enforcers who hardly ever leave the confines
of the underground system. The film is shot exquisitely,
considering the lighting problems of using the actual subway as a huge
set. It's well acted and directed; but I suspect too obscure and
allegorical for this audience. ** 3/4
EL REY (Columbia d. Antonio Dorado)
A glossy melodrama about Pedro Rey (the King), one of the first of the
Columbian drug lords as that country took over the manufacture of
cocaine from the Peruvians in the 1960s. Violent and somewhat
reminiscent of DePalma's
Scarface
(though less Grand Guignol than that film), with a strong central
performance from Fernando Solorzano. Diverting and fast moving;
but perhaps too lacking in subtext to thrive in this competition.
** 3/4
GOOSE FEATHER (Jesen Stize Dunjo Moja) (Serbia/Montenegro d. Ljubisa Samardzic)
Serbia's film is a melodramatic soaper about a peasant farmer in the
WWI era who cannot marry the woman he loves in his own village, so
moves to a neighboring one and marries above his class with unfortunate
consequences. I had trouble believing in the actions of the
characters, as they seemed to act irrationally. The film looks
authentic to its period; but it's certainly a minor effort. ** 1/4
THE ALZHEIMER CASE (De Zaak Alzheimer) (Belgium d. Erik Van Looy)
Belgium's entry is a superior thriller which holds together well about
a mafia hit-man, a Flem working in Merseilles, who can feel the affects
of old age (his elder brother is in a home, completely senile) creeping
up on him. He's given a contract in Antwerp involving child
prostitution and all sorts of hell breaks loose. I don't think
this committee is favorably disposed towards thrillers; but this
exceptionally well directed and acted wide screen effort is a worthy
one. ***
GREAT WATER (Golemata Voda) (Macedonia d. Ivo Trajkov)
This is an extremely interestingly directed political drama about the
era after WWII when the Stalinists were on the ascendent in Tito's
Yugoslavia. It's told in flashback from the point of view of a
present day politician who has been victim of an assassination attempt
and is on the operating table. He is recalling his childhood when
he was sentenced to a re-conditioning camp for the orphan children of
the bourgeois and Nazi sympathizers. Well acted, and directed
with a great eye for composition and detail, the only detraction is
that it is hard for American's to relate to the politics. Good
film. *** 1/4
CRYING LADIES (Philippines d. Mark Meily)
I just couldn't get into this light hearted story of three Philippine
women who are hired by a rich Chinese family to be designated "cryers"
at the funeral of the family's pater familias. Honestly, I left
after about an hour when the story just wasn't involving for me.
W/O
Films already viewed
THE FIVE OBSTRUCTIONS (
De Fem Benspaend) (Denmark d. Jorgen Leth & Lars von Trier)
Seen at Seattle film festival. See link for reaction. ** 1/2
TAE GUK GI (Korea d. Kang Je-Gyu)
Overly melodramatic Korean war film, encompassing the entire history of
the Korean war conflict between north and south from the point of view
of two South Korean brothers. The film had several good, bloody
battle scenes, though they were edited too fast for my taste. But
the people story was trite and overacted. I can't help but
compare this with another large scale Korean war epic, Kang Woo-Suk's
Silmido, which was better in every way. ** 1/2
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