AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival 2007
Article
Easily one of the 10 most significant film festivals on the American continent, AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival runs the flickering lights, vibes and libations Nov. 1-11 with screenings, events, galas, seminars and parties throughout the Los Angeles area.
Due to it schedule and location, AFI often screens films which likely will be award contenders once they are released at year’s end or in the beginning of the next year (as long as they get that Academy qualifying run beforehand).
This year AFI has several films receiving their World, North American, or Californian premiere: Opening Night is director Robert Redford’s Lions for Lambs with Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise and Michael Pena (see review below); Closing Night is director Michael Newell’s Love in the Time of Cholera with Javier Bardem, John Luguziamo, and Benjamin Bratt; the Centerpiece Gala showcases director Ivan Reitman’s Juno with Ellen Page and Jennifer Garner (see review below); plus there are writer-director Richard Kelly’s Southland Tales with Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mandy Moore, Jill Ritchie, Nora Dunn, Jon Lovitz, Cheri Oteri, Bai Ling, Wallace Shawn and Kevin Smith (see review below); Julian Schnabel’s highly anticipated Cannes winner, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (see review below); and two Wayne Wang companion pieces, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers and The Princess of Nebraska (both screening Nov. 3 ; Nov. 5).
More impressive, AFI has managed to bring a French Grande Dame of cinema, Catherine Deneuve (Repulsion; Belle de Jour; Indochine) to town for a tribute and discussion preceding the screening of Persepolis, a film she worked on with her daughter, Chiara Mastroianni (see review below). This will come one night following a similar tribute to Laura Linney (You Can Count on Me; Kinsey) before the screening of Savages (see review below).
Besides this high-profile biz, there are several selections of films and shorts from around the world, showcasing old, new and newer talents.
Thanks to the excellent crew working this year’s AFI publicity, we are able to bring you our largest pre-event coverage of any festival ever, with over 50 reviews from every section of the festival.
After two strong years in 2004 and 2005 AFI’s 2006 version displayed a significant drop in the quality of films. This year the festival looks to be bouncing back. – John Esther
Unless otherwise noted, all screenings are at Arclight Hollywood.
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days/4 Luni, 3 Saptamini si 2 Zile -- Romanian director Cristian Mungiu’s second feature is a difficult film -- frustrating even, and rightly so because life is rarely anything but. University student Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) faces 24 hours of hell whilst arranging her roommate’s illegal abortion in 1980s communist Romania. Mungiu’s determination to bring unadulterated reality to the screen works thanks to Marinca’s extraordinary visceral quietude and a ferocious Vlad Ivanov as the abortionist. This Cannes Palme d’Or winner may be curiously distant (and border on tedious) but this World Cinema selection is a welcome, brash contrast to the manufactured “reality” spoon-fed to us by Hollywood and Madison Avenue. – CJ Johnson
(4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days screens Nov 3, 6:45 p.m.; Nov. 5, 4:30 p.m.)
1,000 Journals -- While our perception of connectivity is increasingly defined by advancements in technology, the 1,000 Journals project is a tangible, living experiment challenging individual creativity and forces often-emotional self-introspection. San Francisco artist “Someguy” sent 1,000 blank journals into the ether in 2000, and they’ve been continent hopping and broadening minds ever since. Filmmaker Andrea Kreuzhage documents a handful of experiences in the thoughtful International Documentary Competition film essay, exploring the provocation, rage and inspiration stirred up by the journal entries. This audacious project is, in many ways, a necessity as it advocates social tolerance and understanding -- something sorely lacking in our often-polarized world. – CJ Johnson
(1,000 Journals screens Nov 4, 9:15 p.m.; Nov 5, 3:15 p.m.)
Afghan Muscles -- Directed by Andreas Mol Dalsgaard, this International Documentary Competition choice offers a different viewpoint about a competition generally ignored in American culture: bodybuilding. But in Afghan the competitors are proud and the people cheer them on. However, there are other concerns like when one competitor is confronted about giving his “love” up to do the “right thing” by allowing the family to marry him off so he can raise children who will be able to live their dreams. In poverty even the most unlikely circumstances can wreak havoc, such as a jealous competitor whom, having lost, reduces the eggs to be given to the champions. I especially liked one of the competitor’s comments while watching some news broadcast about a suicide bombing in Iraq. Shaking his head, he says, “[S}how me an Afghanistan that would blow himself up over an American; we aren’t that stupid.” This documentary is interesting if for no other reason than to see an unheard side in a war torn and impoverished nation. Recommended -- Robert Buhrow
(Afghan Muscles screens Nov. 6, 7 p.m.; Nov. 8, 4 p.m.)
Atenco: Un Crimen De Estado -- Few know the power of the people better than the population of San Salvador Atenco. In 2002, The Frente del Pueblo en Defensa de La Tierra (Community Front in Defense of Land) successfully rallied against President Fox’s plans to displace Atenco and surrounding agricultural communities from their land in order to clear way for a new Mexico City airport. On May 3, 2006, a group of florists were forcefully prohibited by police from selling at a Texcoco market. The repressed flower vendors promptly appealed to their infamously rebellious neighbors in Atenco for assistance. Colectivo Klamve’s no-holds-barred documentary features interviews with a multitude of people that were arrested, beaten, raped and tortured by police during the May 2006 protests; providing them an opportunity to speak out about the gross injustices they suffered. This International Documentary Competition selection allows them to keep on talking to more audiences. – Don Simpson
(Atenco: Un Crimen De Estado screens Nov.5, 10 p.m.; Nov. 8, 4:15 p.m.)
Big Rig -- The negative truck driver stereotype is driven off the road in veteran documentary director Doug Pray’s latest effort. From the Documentary Showcase selection this collection of candid conversations with truck drivers from all over “God’s Country,” men and women alike, brings an insightful look at this grossly under appreciated community in the American workforce and the dangerous load they carry (Bad pun, yes, but true nonetheless). Listening to their beautiful logic on passionate issues ranging from politics to racism to religion to the hard knocks of life is a deeply humanizing, moving experience, and forces introspection on the rapacious, unfair system that keeps them economically oppressed and socially derided. – CJ Johnson
(Big Rig screens Nov 5, 7 p.m.; Nov 6, 3 p.m.)
Body of War -- A film with some buzz going around it, this Documentary Showcase being is the emotional profile of Tomas Young, a kid whose passion to defend his country in the days following 9/11 prompted him to join the army. His dreams of shock and awing the Taliban were crushed when, after a week in Iraq, he became a statistic. Now the 25-year-old paraplegic’s zeal is focused on raising awareness against the war. This first-time directorial effort from talk show host Phil Donahue slices up Young’s grim everyday realities with footage of the Bush administration as they create and sustain the war that shattered Young’s life. Shaky in its editing, but ultimately haunting and unforgettable. – CJ Johnson
(Body of War screens Nov 6, 7:30pm)
Chop Shop -- From Ramin Bahrani comes the intensely intimate story of streetwise Alejandro (Alejandro Polanco). From the New York subways to an auto chop shop Alejandro is a 12-year-old struggling to provide for and protect his well being by working his young fingers to the bone in any place that will give him half a chance. Alejandro is five feet of guts, gusto and grit -- a working class anti-hero who may dream the unrealistic dreams of a child, but possesses the pride and fight of any man. This International Feature Competition chop is brief and bittersweet, beautifully made with the sort of rare authenticity that so many films strive for but fall short of achieving. – CJ Johnson
(Chop Shop screens Nov 4, 6:30 p.m.; Nov 6, 12:30 p.m.)
Chris & Don: A Love Story – Long before it was hip, way before it was tolerated in Tinseltown, author Christopher Isherwood and portrait artist Don Bachardy were one of the first and very few openly gay couples in Hollywood. In many ways it was an odd match. Thirty years Bachardy’s senior, the upper class Isherwood was a known British author who was now writing in Hollywood. Bachardy was an 18-year-old cutie pie from a local petit bourgeois family. Yet their relationship flourished, struggled and succeeded until Isherwood’s death. An International Documentary Competition Selection, directors Guido Santi and Tina Mascara trace the events of the couple’s life through interviews with filmmakers, scholars and Bachardy himself, offering the viewer a quick and thorough look at a love that has not died. – John Esther
(Chris & Don: A Love Story screens Nov. 10, 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 11, 1:15 p.m.)
Confessions of a Superhero -- A homecoming king, former vagrant, George Clooney look-alike and the professed wayward son of actress Sandy Dennis (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf; That Cold Day in the Park) make up the mixed bag of … uh … characters profiled in Matthew Ogens’ intimate, affectionate documentary. Donning capes and spandex, they guard Graumann’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. to take pictures with tourists. Archetypical Hollyweirdos, right? Possibly. Sure, Superman Christopher Dennis’ apartment is a dizzying menagerie of Man of Steel memorabilia, but this Documentary Showcase is a surprisingly tender film offering a humane portrait of honest hard workers who, although refusing to give up their dreams, struggle with disappointments and insecurities like everyone else. – CJ Johnson
(Confessions of a Superhero screens Nov 2, 9:45 p.m.; Nov 4, 3:30 p.m.)
Continental, A Film Without Guns --This French-Canadian film’s name suggests that minus shoot’-em-ups, movies -- like life -- can still be full of drama. Auteur Stephane Lafleur’s often-droll story revolves around loneliness. Lucette’s (Marie-Ginette Guay) husband vanishes, somehow linking the lives of strangers. Their paths may intersect, but they rarely, if ever, connect. Louis (Real Bosse) is an apprentice insurance salesman far from home, selling “peace of mind.” Chantal is a hotel receptionist so lonely she screams; Marcel (Gilbert Sicotte) an aging repairman coping with aging. An International Feature Competition selection, Continental Divide, or Drifts, might be a more apropos title for this witty, insightful tale of estrangement that’s a cross between an Altmanesque film and the existential angst of an Albert Camus novel. Recommended. -- Ed Rampell
(Continental, A Film Without Guns screens Nov. 2, 9:15 p.m.; Nov. 3, 1:15 p.m.)
Déficit -- Gael Garcia Bernal is Cristobal: a privileged, petulant Ivy League hopeful whose weekend barbeque at his parent’s posh suburban pad is, on the surface, a piece of light entertainment. But the director Bernal (in his directorial debut) has carefully layered textures underneath the poolside frivolity about class-consciousness and keeping up appearances. Beneath the pretense, Cristobal’s family is in financial straits, Harvard’s sent him a rejection letter, and the hired help isn’t exactly helpful. Has “The Exterminating Angel” returned? Bernal evokes from his cast the sort of magnetism that has made him one of his generation’s finest, resulting in a shrewd World Cinema Latin Showcase selection that, albeit careful, is never cautious. – CJ Johnson
(Déficit screens Nov 4, 7 p.m.; Nov 7, 1:30 p.m.)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly/Le Scaphandre et le Papillon – Director Julian Schnabel (Basquiat) takes self-reflexivity to the extreme as this Special Screenings selection puts the viewer in the mind of Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric). Awaking from a coma caused by a massive stroke, Bauby discovers that his entire body, sans his left eye, is paralyzed. With the blink of his functional eye and assistance of a very patient transcriber, he writes the hauntingly existential memoir on which this film is based. Scheduled for a release later this month, this film won the technical grand prize (Janusz Kaminski) and best director award at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. Highly Recommended. – Don Simpson
(The Diving Bell and the Butterfly screens Nov. 8, 7 p.m.; Nov. 11, 4 p.m.)
Doghead/Cabeza de Perro -- Santi Amodeo’s debut is the inventive, colorful yarn of Samuel (Juan Jose Ballesta), a quiet 18-year-old with an unusual condition that makes his nervous system prone to sudden shutdowns. After a mix-up while on Holiday, Samuel ends up in Madrid, Spain, where he makes the decision to stay and build a life of his own. There he falls in love with the eccentric Consuelo (Ana Gracia), putting him on the road to self-discovery and the realization that just because he’s “not quite right,” doesn’t mean he’s crazy, or alone. Ballesta’s poetic Samuel is captivating, as is Amodeo’s exquisite, unpretentious artistry in this World Cinema bone. – CJ Johnson
(Doghead screens Nov 6, 3:00 p.m.; Nov 9, 9:30 p.m.)
Elvis Pelvis -- Nigerian filmmaker Kevin Aduaka’s film is disjointed, discordant, at times downright bizarre, and a radiant artistic achievement. The International Feature Competition picking is a poem in two parts, exploring one idea in two organically different ways: individuals who have their identity created for them by an outside force. “The Suit” follows a child and his Elvis obsessed, oppressive father, while “Messiah” tells the tale of a young man who becomes the manifestation of a dying old man’s son. Aduaka’s film is a canvas of deeply saturated grain and jarring, angry daubs of black and white images, creating an almost neo-expressionistic experience. – CJ Johnson
(Elvis Pelvis screens Nov 8, 9:45 p.m.; Nov 9, 1:30 p.m.)
Expired -- When Claire (Samantha Morton) became a meter maid she chose a career path that most people do not respect; thus the stigma and guilt associated with her job destined her to never find love. The “romance” that Claire does find is with a conceited, verbally abusive asshole - her fellow meter maid, Jay (Jason Patric). Riddled with guilt from her job, Claire lives life passively and meekly like a saint. Jay, the oil to Claire’s water, approaches his job and life with unbridled aggression and anger. Some say that opposites attract, and Claire and Jay seem destined to come together. Directed by Cecilia Miniucchi, this World Cinema Showcase piece questions whether it is better to have someone (no matter how mean they are) or no one at all. – Don Simpson
(Expired screens Nov. 3, 9:45 p.m.; Nov. 5, 3:45 p.m.)
Flight of the Red Balloon/Le Voyage Du Balloon Rouge – It has been a long time since I have seen a film as half-baked and pretentious as the latest endeavor by writer-director Hou Hsiao Hsien. A remake of Albert Lamorisse’s rather forgettable 1956 film, the titular object of the film floats above the streets of Paris, predominantly focusing on a bourgeois family and its mundane preoccupations of life. Suzanne (Juliette Binoche of the equally pretentious 1993 film, Blue) has just hired Song (Song Fang) to watch her son Simon (Simon Iteanu) during the day while she practices puppet voiceover -- with an extremely annoying choice of voice. When Suzanne is home, she smokes cigarettes and searches for ways to evict her inconsiderate boarders (Hippolyte Giradot and Louise Margolin). Her husband is away so he is no help (Deep End did this better). Pointless and poorly directed by a supposedly world-class filmmaker, if Hou’s name were not attached to this World Cinema pick, I could have thought it was composed by an adolescent who had watched too much Michelangelo Antonioni and Ingmar Bergman with his teacher and was now trying to titillate her, and, in light of Binoche’s attire, his friends, too. – John Esther
(Flight of the Red Balloon screens Nov. 9, 1:15 p.m.; Nov. 10, 6:45 p.m.)
Funuke, Show Some Love, You Losers!/Funukedomo, Kanashimi No Ai Wo Misero – In the formidable nippone spirit of Yasujiro Ozu’s family dysfunction along youthful lines and Shohei Imamura’s anthropological concerns with the lower half of society and body, co-writer and director Daihachi Yoshida’s film tells the story of one family whose members alternately choke and caress each other. After witnessing her parents getting killed protecting pussy, Kiyomi (Aimi Satsukama) must move in with her brother Shinji (Masatashi Nagase) and his virgin wife (Hiromi Nagasaku giving a virtuoso performance). If this was not a big enough bummer for the meek Kiyomi, her tyrannical, narcissistic, wannabe actor sister, Sumika (Eriko Sato) has come back from Tokyo to ask for payback from her manga-making sister and promises from her stiffy-for-sister brother. Hilarious, heartfelt, and without an ounce of boredom to offer, this International Feature Competition selection is as vibrant and scintillating as a $50 bottle of sake. Recommended. – John Esther
(Funuke, Show Some Love, You Losers! screens Nov. 5, 9 p.m.; Nov. 7, 4:30 p.m.)
Heckler – Cutting back and forth between whining entertainers and shock film reviewing jocks, director Michael Addis’ 80-minute, anti-intellectual documentary about the relationship between comic and critic or actor and aesthete lacks critical range, rigorous arguments between criticism and commentary, and adequate discussion about the points is raises. To keep the interviewees and interviewers of the documentary in a cohesive manner, this International Documentary Competition tags along with actor-comic Jaime Kennedy as he goes around asking a few reviewers why they hate him so much. While I am unfamiliar with the work of Kennedy, which is widely loathed, his talents as a comic, actor or human being are not impressive in this documentary. Nor do his detractors offer much insight into why Kennedy is repugnant. In fact some of the things the film reviewers (not film critics) say are repulsive. One writer asserted, “Jaime Kennedy should be shot.” What kind of inconsiderate hack would assert the death penalty for a lousy entertainer? I could go on criticizing…for a better documentary on the subject, check out Je T’aime Moi Non Plus. – John Esther
(Heckler screens Nov. 4, 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 10, 3:30 p.m.)
Honeydripper – The sixteenth feature from independent filmmaking legend John Sayles (The Return of the Secaucus Seven; Silver City) may be his softest one yet. Set in a rural place called Harmony, Alabama, 1950, the oppressed African Americans of the film spend their time picking cotton, picking guitars and sometimes even picking fights while the racist Sheriff (Stacey Keach) picks on them. At night the denizens let loose at two clubs: the jukebox-ing Touissant and the more soulful Honeydripper Lounge. Heading the Honeydripper is Tyrone Purvis (Danny Glover). Faced with eviction, Tyrone breaks an enduring personal policy of his, thus changing the nature of his game and strain. Lacking the political aggression in most of his films, Sayles simply sets out to show a rooted redemptive relationship between music and the downtrodden. – John Esther
(Honeydripper screens Nov. 4, 4 p.m.; Nov. 6, noon)
In Search of a Midnight Kiss – The end of the year is nigh and Wilson (Scoot McNairy is Wilson), an aspiring writer who has recently relocated to Los Angeles, could not be more depressed. It has been a crummy year and now it looks like Wilson will spend the final day moping around the place. As a result, Wilson’s pal Jacob (Brian McGuire) persuades Wilson to place in ad in Craigslist. The ad leads to an encounter with Vivian (Sara Simmonds), a neurotic and annoying human being who has also relocated to Los Angeles for fame and is having a bad time at it. It is a testament to Wilson’s depression, desperation and determination to get laid (even if he is oblivious to the fact) that he does everything he can to stay with Vivian through the New Year. Shot with a fond heart toward Los Angeles, writer-director Alex Holdridge’s film is another amusing, low-key story one can find in the World Cinema American Showcase. – John Esther
(In Search of a Midnight Kiss screens Nov. 3, 3:30 p.m.; Nov. 10, 1 p.m.)
Irina Palm - About an hour into director Sam Garbarski and writer Martin Herron’s film, Maggie (Marianne Faithfull) explains the situation: “He’s dieing. I’m yanking. It’s a mess.” If there is a better line in any AFI Festival film of 2007, please let me know. The “he” that is dieing is Maggie’s grandson (Corey Burke) and the family needs money for further treatments. Mortgaged to the hilt with no one or nowhere else to turn for money, middle-class Maggie rolls up her sleeves and starts doing handiwork around a house of ill repute. Now known as Irina Palm (Rosie Palm would have been better), the dexterous Maggie gets the high five from dozens of men. This may get her palms greased with a wad…of dough, but it also threatens her grip on the situation as everyone wants to know how mild Maggie got her soft long fingers on so much cash. A fresh and comical film asking what one would you do for family, this World Cinema packs an extra load of substance that you will not find in your typical popcorn movie. – John Esther
(Irina Palm screens Nov. 6, 7 p.m.; Nov. 8, 2 p.m.)
It’s Better if Gabriela Doesn’t Die/ Mejor Es Que Gabriela No Se Muera -- Frustrated telenovella soap writer Miguel (Mauricio Isaac) has a run in with a cop who, unfortunately, is an emotional basket case with an unhealthy obsession with Miguel’s show. So when Destiny of Love takes a turn the cop doesn’t approve of, the film spirals into the same over-the-top-you-gotta-be-kidding-me theatrics that would make Destiny of Love proud. Which is the point, by the way, and first-time director Sergio Umanksy gives this World Cinema Latin Showcase selection a wonderfully sarcastic wit and acerbic edge, affirming that the film knows exactly how ridiculous the plot is. And, just like Miguel’s telenovella, it’s nearly impossible not to love. – CJ Johnson
(It’s Better if Gabriela Doesn’t Die screens Nov 3, 9:45 p.m.; Nov 6, 1:30 p.m.)
Juno – Following filmmaker father Ivan Reitman’s (Ghost Busters; Evolution) conservative comedy cinema footsteps, the latest film from director Jason Reitman and Fox Searchlight Pictures (Thank You for Smoking) sugarcoats the realities of a 16-year-old Minnesotan girl who chooses adoption over abortion. One evening Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) “chairs” a meeting with Bleeker (Michael Cera), a silly-short wearing, Tic-Tac consuming (product placement!), blasé teenager. This single(s) encounter leads to an unwanted pregnancy. Rather than terminate her pregnancy, Juno finds the seemingly perfect adoptive parents (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner acting above par) in a PennySaver ad. As far as teenage unwanted pregnancies go, Juno’s is a Pro-life fantasy. There are a few minor struggles yet everyone in AFI’s Centerpiece Gala is uncomplicatedly supportive during and happy at movie’s end. Jason and screenwriter Diablo Cody ignore what a birth would do physically to someone with Juno’s physique and the notion that Hollywood is a liberal bastion remains incredulous. – John Esther
(Juno screens Nov. 5, 7:30 p.m.)
Lions for Lambs – Offering various points to where we are as a nation, director Robert Redford’s film sets itself up in three locations. Behind one door, rightwing chicken hawk Senator Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise likely on his way to meet his first Oscar) discusses his strategy for a U.S. “win” with news reporter Janine Roth (Meryl Streep not at her best). This “win” involves a mission where U.S. forces will occupy a mountain in Afghanistan as part of way of bridging Afghanistan and Iraq. Through Iran! This mission is the film’s second story and it involves Ernest (Michael Pena) and Adrian (Derek Luke), two topnotch students who decided to join the Army in order to make a difference once they returned. “If you return,” remarks Dr. Stephen Malley (Redford) who is reaching out to Todd (Andrew Garfield), the student displaying the greatest potential since Adrian and Ernest, in the film’s third story. Intersecting the stories, this well-written space-stagnant film is the one most politically interesting films of the year. Recommended. – John Esther
(Lions for Lambs screens Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m.)
The Living Wake – A low-budget film with an opening eying Citizen Kane, director Sol Tryon and screenwriters Peter Kline and Mike O’Connell’s film reminds the viewer to live each day as though it was your last because one day you will be right. Unfortunately, that day has come awfully quick for K. Roth Binew (O’Connell) an artist, writer and local eccentric who has contracted his own very special disease which shall shed him of his mortal coil at a precise time that evening. Naturally, like anybody who finds out he or she will die any day now, K has a list of things to do on this final day: get even; get poetic; get laid and get reconciliation. Like all of his preceding days, none of this goes the way K planned, but, hey, what is life if not a series of chaotic disappointments and delightful surprises? Jesse Eisenberg co-stars in this World Cinema American Showcase chunk. – John Esther
(The Living Wake screens Nov. 9, 9:15; Nov. 10, 1 p.m.)
Look – Every week an estimated four billion hours of footage is caught on surveillance cameras in the United States. While that is not much of a shock in our every increasing techno world, the way we respond to what we see is what is at stake in writer-director Adam Rifkin’s video-slave new world. Intertwining several stories about deception, destruction, distastefulness and de-composure, this World Cinema American Showcase standout illustrates a nation of voyeurs generally looking at others but not seeing them; voyeurs watching tragedy unfold but not responding to it; voyeurs responding to a crime instead of preventing one; voyeurs obsessed with sensation yet antagonistic toward sensitivity; voyeurs gazing at their own humanistic demise and adapting instead of rebelling. While some interpreters may find the film a confirmation of George Orwell’s 1984-predictions, it could be contested that this is an argument for Big Brother’s surveillance cameras as a means to protect us from ourselves. If only the personnel privy to the images engaged him or herself in what he and she was looking into. At any rate, after watching this film you will alter your behavior in the public sphere (perhaps private sphere, too). Highly Recommended. – John Esther
(Look screens Nov. 8, 9:30 p.m.; Nov. 9, 3 p.m.)
Lynch – Regardless of your opinion of his work, David Lynch has been one of the world’s most significant filmmakers over the past three decades. For those who are curious how the writer-director behind such films as Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart and Straight Story thinks these days, blackANDwhite went behind the scenes during Lynch’s best film in decades, Inland Empire, for an insightful look into the man behind his movies. The 84-minute Documentary Showcase selection amply focuses on Lynch’s artistic processes, but one wishes blackANDwhite was a little less reverent and a lot more inquisitive into what other outside influences -- beyond Lynch’s life in Philadelphia, daily meditation and thoughts of red ants -- which have made an impact on the filmmaker. Namely, where are his politics? Recommended. – John Esther
(Lynch screens Nov. 10, 10:30 p.m.; Nov. 11, 3:45 p.m.)
Manuela y Manuel -- Unrequited love sucks, and it is pitifully played out in this film directed and edited by Raul Marchand Sanchez. It is not all bad though. If you’re into cheesy chic flicks with a feel good happy ending this World Cinema Latin Showcase offering is for you. Half the cast is male, but they’re kind of gay, and yes, only the men are gay (some refuse to admit!). Humberto Busto plays Manuel, who is also Manuela -- a man at birth, a drag queen by profession, a woman at heart. If it weren’t for needles and the very possible risk of undergoing a painful surgery to become neither man nor woman, an asexual mutant, Manuel would be first in line to trade his willy for a polly. His best friend, Coco (Elena Iguina), gets knocked up from a one-nighter and wants to keep the baby. Out of fear she begs flaming Manuela to drop it down a notch and temporarily be masculine Manuel and meet her traditional parents as her soldier boyfriend. One thing leads to another, and everyone’s true identity emerges when his/her small worlds collide under the guise of love. – Kenari Lee
(Manuela y Manuel screens Nov. 5, 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 7, 4:45 p.m.)
Margot at the Wedding – Noah Baumbach, the writer-director of The Squid and the Whale, once again reminds viewers what he thinks of smart people, especially those cataclysmically intelligent women. Nicole Kidman plays the titular character, a writer with many issues, who takes her son Claude (Zane Paris) to see her sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh) marry Malcolm (Jack Black) in the backyard of their childhood home. From the moment Margot arrives she manages to mangle the lives of everyone involved. At first this is quite interesting as the acting is superb and the dialogue is fresh. However, around the time Margot’s estranged husband Jim (John Turturro) unwelcomingly appears, a sense of dread for the project emanates from the cast and never lets go. The finale is preposterous. – John Esther
(Margot at the Wedding screens Nov. 3, 7 p.m.; Nov. 10, 3 p.m.)
Munyurangabo --This moving Rwanda-set movie asks: In the aftermath of genocide, can survivors get on with their lives? If so, how? Was novelist Thomas Wolfe right – you really can’t go home again? Teenage pals Munyurangabo (Jeff Rutagengwa) and Sangwa (Jeff Ndorunkundiye) are a Tutsi and Hutu on a journey. (This is a bit like a Jew and a German crossing 1948 Europe together.) Their mission: to avenge the murder of Munyurangabo’s father by Hutus. En route, they visit Sangwa’s village; he hasn’t been home for three years. There is a universality to the ensuing father-son conflict; think Ivan Turgenev or James Dean. There are twists and turns along this curvy path, especially when Munyurangabo finally catches up with his father’s executioner. Part of the International Feature Competition, Rwanda’s Poet Laureate, Edouard Uwaya, recites a poem about reconciliation and liberation, rendered in exquisite close-up by Korean-American director Lee Isaac Chung. Recommended. -- Ed Rampell
(Munyurangabo screens Nov. 8, 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 10 2 p.m.)
Night Train – No, this is not a film based on the awful Visage song or that nasty beer. Diao Yi Nan’s beautifully photographed, sparsely spoken feature follows the grim reality of Wu Hongyan (Liu Dan), a bailiff in a western province who executes women in patriarchal China. When she is not shooting some poor soul at point blank range after the woman has been found guilty in a Kangaroo Court, Wu looks for men in all the wrong places, including the Good Luck Matchmaking dance in the city. Wu is about as successful with men as her victims are in court. A film with an ethereal quality that, at least on three distinct occasions, has the influence of Michelangelo Antonioni painted all over it, this World Cinema choice on a personal level personifies horror in the humdrum of life while portraying the political horror of habitual homicide. Recommended. – John Esther
(Night Train screens Nov. 6, 8:45 p.m.; Nov. 9, 12:30 p.m.)
Nosaltres -- Set in Sant Felin de Codina, a small village near Barcelona, Spain, African filmmaker Moussa Toure follows a number of people residing in town, including the mayor, and following shallow facts, divides them into 2 groups: the Black Muslim Malians and the White Christian/Catholic Catalonians. Toure seems to want to capture the Non-Malians uttering racist comments to prove there exists a rooted prejudice against darker skin colors. It is implied, not stated. If edited with a stronger vision in mind, Toure’s documentary on the plight of Malians, now relocated in St. Felin, an ethnic group from the Republic of Mali -- a landlocked nation in Western Africa -- this World Cinema African Showcase show would’ve been a success. But it is not edited well. Other intriguing topics were introduced, but left in mid-air. The subtitles were written in broken English. I’m sure it was a pain to translate because the subjects uneasily switched languages and dialects while listing their complaints, after complaints, after complaints... One would hope the final scene would end with a bang, but it was cheap and anticlimactic. – Kenari Lee
(Nosaltres screens Nov. 3, 7:15 p.m.; Nov. 3, 1 p.m.)
Print
E-mail
SMS
Print Preview
