WINTER 2010-2011 FESTIVAL FILMS

FILMS IN RED are seen at the AFI Film Festival
FILMS IN BLACK  are seen at the Palm Springs International Film Festival

THE PRINCESS OF MONTPENSIER (d. Bertrand Tavernier)
Tavernier is an outstanding director, and with this film he is essaying the epic costume drama genre with great success.  The film takes place during the Catholic-Huguenot religious wars in the late 16th Century, during the same time period as other films such as Chéreau's outstanding Queen Margot.  It is the story of Marie (radiant Mélanie Thierry), and the four men who love her in an age when noblewomen are sold by their fathers to marriage for advantages at court.  Some of my favorite French actors play her putative soldier-lovers:  handsome, stolid Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet as her jealous husband the Prince; dashing, charismatic Gaspard Ulliel as her childhood friend and the man she can't help loving; new-to-me, but an actor to watch Raphaël Personnaz as the king's brother and mediator between the two rivals; and Lambert Wilson as a disgraced soldier who serves as adviser and friend to all. This is Romance with a capital "R", passions unleashed, dashing soldiers waging war, court intrigues, heaving bosoms, dueling rivalries...and I ate it up!  *** 1/2

BOY  (d. Taika Waititi)
Taika Waititi is a multi-hyphenate native New Zealander.  This is a gentle comic drama about two young boys, Boy and Rocky, whose mother died in childbirth and whose father (played by the director) has just been released from prison in the North Island seaside town of Waihau Bay in 1984.   The story plays from the point of view of the 11-year old older boy; and it is full of apt and authentic commentary on the place and time.  It's an enjoyable look at small town N.Z. life with just enough originality to be diverting.  Plus, Waititi's skill at handling the excellent, novice child actors is a marvel.  ***

HEARTBEATS  (d. Xavier Dolan)
Dolan's first film as director/writer/actor was the utterly remarkable How I Killed My Mother, made when he was 19.  His followup venture doesn't entirely escape the sophomore jinx; but he remains a remarkable talent with a huge future.  This film is about a young gay man and his best friend fag hag who both fall for a sexually ambiguous Adonis, and try to be very, very cool about it.  Dolan plays the gay member of the triangle with aplomb and a fabulous fashion sense.  Much of the film follows him from the back in slow motion as he observes the world to an apropos rock song score (especially "Bang Bang", Sonny Bono's song in a modern interpretation.)  I wasn't as impressed by Monia Chokri, who fills the straight woman role; but Niels Schneider is extraordinarily well cast as the object of their affection; and Dolan's camera and montages do a fine job of featuring his classic beauty.  It was pretty obvious to me that Dolan was heavily influenced by Bartelluci's The Dreamers and Christophe Honoré's filmmaking style in making this film...the references underscored by a late cameo by those film's sex object:  Louis Garrel himself.  But I'm afraid that Dolan's precocious pretentiousness got away from him with a series of unnecessary documentary like interviews with subjects otherwise unassociated with the story.  Plus, the very cool nature of the characters made for a rather cold film which doesn't really go anyplace plotwise.  Still...Dolan even with a sub-par script is more interesting to watch than just about any other gay auteur making films today.  ***

HAMILL  (d. Oren Kaplan)
Matt "The Hammer" Hamill is a profoundly deaf pro wrestler who, from this standing-room only festival screening, apparently has a large fan base, representing a sub-culture that I've never even heard of.  This is a sports biopic of his early life and struggles, culminating with his participating in the National 167 lbs. collegiate championships in the early 1990s.  In the film, Hamill is played by deaf actor Russell Harvard, who is enormously engaging and one of the reasons the film works as well as it does.  Other stand-outs in the cast are Shoshannah Stern, a familiar deaf actress who plays Hamill's deaf culture activist girlfriend; and Raymond Barry who is quite effective as Hamill's beloved grandfather.   This film does work, both on an emotionally satisfying level and as pure filmmaking, which is remarkable since the filmmaker comes from tv and this is his first feature film.  I'm not sure why I originally programmed this film; but I'm glad I did!  *** 1/4

SUBMARINO (d. Thomas Vinterberg)
Two pre-teen brothers are left to care for their baby brother by their drunkard single mother, precipitating a life-scarring tragedy.  The film picks up several years later as both brothers are 30-something and deeply depressed...the elder just released from prison with anger management problems, the younger a junkie single father of an adorable young son.  The inevitable drama which proceeds from this set-up is a fine return to form from Vinterberg, who is back making Danish films after a so-so career in Hollywood.  It also features outstanding work by the two lead actors:  Jakob Cedergren and Peter Plaugborg.  If this isn't exactly a Dogme 95 triumph like Festen, it still is an emotionally shattering drama in its own right.  By the way, I understand that "submarino" may be Danish slang for waterboarding; but I'm not sure what relevance this has to the film.  *** 1/2

THE MYTH OF THE AMERICAN SLEEPOVER (d. David Robert Mitchell)
Using a large cast of mostly unknown amateur actors picked up in the Detroit area where the film takes place, this film tells the comic-drama story of one summer night revolving around a number of high-school age group sleepovers.  The kids rove around searching for sex or love or adventure, sort of reminiscent of Superbad, without the "bad" (or even the "super").  The acting is a mixed bag, although Claire Sloma, who plays a bike-riding temptress, is a potential find with star quality.  The script ambles along, not going anywhere profound; but it does have its moments of insight into the youthful Zeitgeist.  ** 1/2

NOTHING'S ALL BAD  (d. Mikkel Munch-Fals)
A father-son pair of sexual perverts encounters a mother-daughter pair of potential victims.  But this is a non-violent black comedy of sorts; about characters who are hiding their lives from each other and even from themselves.  Maybe I was tired going in, or coming down with a cold which developed later that night; but I just couldn't manage to get involved with this film.  I loved the artful cinematography and the oft times cleverness of the writing.  Still, the film overall didn't work for me.  ** 3/4
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