The 2007 Miami International Film Festival

[oscar jubis]

Greetings from sunny Miami. Local filmgoers await with excitement the signature film event in our city. The 2007 Miami International Film Festival will take place from March 2nd to March 11th at 6 venues throughout the city. The festival is divided into several sections. 17 films from established directors, which are typically shown out of competition, are screened at the majestic 1400-seat Gusman Theatre in the downtown area. Dramatic and Documentary features competing for awards usually receive three screenings at smaller venues located in South Beach, Coral Gables, Little Havana, and North Miami. This year the Festival opens with the screening of Paul Verhoeven's Black Book and closes with the world premiere of The Heart of the Earth, the new film by Antonio Cuadri.

The Festival will show well over 100 films from throughout the world, with a continued concentration on documentaries and films from Iberoamerica. The Festival's Film Exchange Program focuses on a different Latin American country each year with exhibition of films, panel discussions and events. This year, films from emerging Colombian filmmakers will be shown, and the festival will bring to Bogota a group of film industry advisors to share experience and knowledge with Colombian film students and filmmakers.

In 2007, the Festival bestows its Career Achievement Award to the world-famous director Luc Besson. His latest film, Angel-A, will be screened following a tribute.
Let the films begin!

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CHOKING MAN (USA)

Choking Man is set in Jamaica, Queens, where reportedly 140 different languages are spoken. Rick, a sympathetic Greek man, is the owner of Olympic Diner. His quiet wife is the cashier; a surly Mexican cooks; there's Jerry, a jokester from Philadelphia who did time for selling drugs, and middle-aged, long-suffering waitress Teri. The film's protagonist is Jorge, a pathologically shy busboy from Ecuador. When Rick hires a new waitress named Amy, a cute and vivacious Chinese girl, friction develops between Jerry and Jorge.

Choking man is quite a departure for Steve Barron, who directed groundbreaking music videos in the early 80s and went on to make Electric Dreams, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Coneheads. His latest feature is an independent, low-budget film, based on his own script, that depicts a young immigrant "choking on the American Dream". One can't imagine the extremely introverted, near-mute Jorge managing anywhere, and one can't imagine a more inaccessible protagonist. Barron responds to the challenge by finding novel ways to get inside Jorge's head. At first it seems that the handsome guy inside Jorge's dingy studio is his roommate. Gradually it becomes apparent he is a type of mental projection, perhaps Jorge's alter ego, or his subconscious, or an alternative personality kept locked inside his psyche. On the outside, Barron illustrates Jorge's thoughts and imaginings via brief animated sequences. As a result, Choking Man manages to create a rich character study of an individual cinema rarely bothers to portray. The excellent ensemble cast features Mandy Patikin as Rick, and newcomers Octavio Gomez Berrios and Eugenia Yuan. Choking Man was named "Best Film Not Playting at a Theater Near You" at the Gotham Awards.

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COCALERO (Bolivia)

Cocalero is a term used in Bolivia to describe coca leaf growers or members of the union they formed to advance their interests. Coca growers became politicized after the Bolivian government, pressured and financed by the USA, began a campaign to eradicate coca plantations. The key person in this union movement is Evo Morales, a bachelor of indigenous descent (Aymara tribe) who is now the President of this South American country. Native populations have historically been subjected to all types of abuses and discrimination throughout the Americas. Morales states he understood the degree of hatred towards indians when, in 1981, he witnessed a Quechua man being burned alive by soldiers not far from his small farm.

Documentarian Alejandro Landes was given unprecedented access to the charismatic but simple leader. Cocalero's footage was shot over the course of a year, but focuses mainly on Morales during the 2-month campaign as the presidential candidate from the "March Toward Socialism" party. Landes shows him getting a haircut at a tiny barbershop, taking a back-country swim in a river, ordering breakfast at a food stall, and casually chatting with townfolk. Morales is a populist who seems quite humble, lacking the arrogance and self-importance of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, his major ally in the region. We watch him at campaign meetings and political demonstrations, rallying workers with a fiery speech and appeasing business and military leaders. As we follow the candidate, the viewer gets an overview of Bolivian society although, lamentably, Cocalero pays no attention to the opposition or those who disagree with his socialist platform. Of particular interest are scenes involving several indigenous women of limited education who have been elected to political posts, and a scene in which Morales is publicly subjected to racial slurs. Cocalero ends with a caption that reports that Morales won the election with 54% of the vote in his favor. Over the closing credits, we watch a tailor making a business suit for the president. His first one.

[Chris Knipp]

Morales is a populist who seems quite humble, lacking the arrogance and self-importance of Venezuela's Hugo Perez, his major ally in the region. I guess you mean these unfavorable adjectives to refer to Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela?

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Thanks.

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SALVADOR (PUIG ANTICH) (Spain)

The titular character is the last person to be sentenced to death in western Europe. It happened, naturally, at the conclusion of the Franco regime in Spain, the last country in the region to embrace democracy. The film opens immediately after Salvador (Daniel Bruhl, who was born in Barcelona and speaks unaccented Spanish and Catalan) was brought to jail. He meets with his lawyer Arau (Tristan Ulloa) and recounts in flashback the last three years of his life. At the beginning of the 1970s, the MIL, a left-wing group made up of a handful of Spanish college students and French militants, commits a series of robberies in Catalonia to fund the more radical sectors of the workers' movement. At first, their success gives the young, giddy MIL members a feeling of invulnerability. Their actions come to a sudden end in September 1973 when members of the Socio-Political Brigade set a trap for two of the group's key members. During the arrest, there is a shootout in which a police inspector dies. Salvador is seriously injured and, after a time in hospital, is sent to Modelo prison in Barcelona to await trial. Salvador depicts the camaraderie between the friends/partners-in-arms and the protagonist's intermittent family life and romantic liaisons.

Director Manuel Huerga (Antartida, Gaudi) maintains a fast pace during the fist half of the film via quick edits and skillful deployment of handheld cameras. The vibrant, saturated colors give way to a palatte of somber grays and blues during the last hour of Salvador. Arau and Salvador's sisters race against the clock to save him from "the garrote", Franco's very brutal method of execution. However, on 20 December 1973, an ETA bomb kills Admiral Carrero Blanco, a high government official. Huerga's film proposes that Salvador Puig Antich became the scapegoat for a sector of Franco's regime bent on revenge. As Salvador prepares to die, he develops a close relationship with Jesus (Leonardo Sbaraglia), a prison guard who moves from brutality to empathy as he gets to know the young militant. All the efforts to save his life, including an improbable and bizarre escape attempt, are in vain and Puig Antich is executed on March 2, 1974. Towards the end, Salvador (Puig Antich) becomes somewhat repetitive and sentimental. The filmmakers' aim to highlight the tragedy and gravity of the event is commendable, but I find that the change in pace serves to lessen the film's impact and diffuse its undeniable power. Salvador (Puig Antich) received 11 Goya nominations and won the award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

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TWO HOMELANDS, CUBA AND THE NIGHT (Germany)

This documentary aims to answer the question: what's it like to be gay in 21st century Cuba? Producer/director Christian Liffers made two trips to the island to interview six individuals that constitute a cross-section of the gay community. The six portraits alternate with readings of poems by Reinaldo Arenas (1943-1990), the renowned gay writer whose life was dramatized in the acclaimed film Before Night Falls. There are also brief musical interludes, most of them original compositions. A former friend of Arenas finds acceptance and sense of community among practicioners of African-based religions; an artist and intellectual complains about the government censoring his provocative photo exhibit; a 19 year old social worker gives a tour of the clandestine gay meeting places in the outskirts of Havana; an HIV-positive man struggles to make a living as a drag performer; a transexual living with a dozen relatives finds brief respite from prejudice at nightly get-togethers along Havana's waterfront; an unemployed 30 year-old relates how a private party was infiltrated by an undercover cop who made a video that was shown to party officials, his own father among them.

The violent repression of gay life experienced by Arenas in the 70s is no longer the government's policy, which was oficially amended in the late 80s. The current practice is to keep gays (and lesbians) marginalized, outside of "official" society. For instance, there are no establishments of any kind that cater to gays, no gay organizations, no freedom to express explicitly gay viewpoints or depict aspects of gay lifestyle, and no educational campaigns aimed at reducing homophobia or HIV infection. The poems and novels written by Arenas remain unpublished on the island. Clandestine copies of his works are still subjected to expropriation. These issues are not explored beyond what is divulged by the six men. As a matter of fact, a significant amount of material they share deals with the universal theme of the search for happiness and lasting romance. Two Homelands would gain heft and gravity by moving beyond the anecdotal to explore and perhaps confront the barriers to progress for gay Cubans.

[Johann]

Great Stuff Oscar

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Thanks Johann. It's great fun to cover the fest. But it's a big project and your encouragement and interest are important to me. Expect two reviews daily for the next four weeks. Will move the reviews to the Festival Coverage area and keep a thread here for comments, questions and whatever.

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THE 12 LABORS (Brazil)

Heracles (Sidney Santiago) has spent a couple of years at a reformatory for petty theft. The handsome 18 year-old from the slums of Sao Paulo wants to renounce a life of crime. "Depending on where you were born, your story is written before it starts", he comments in voice-over. His cousin Jonas (played by Madame Sata's Flavio Bouraqui) provides him with an opportunity: to join him as a motorcycle courier for Olimpo Express. Heracles is hired on a trial basis and sets out to prove he can handle the task. During the course of one day, Heracles is entrusted with both assignments and impromptu requests from clients. Heracles navigates the city of 17 million on a beat-up motorcycle trying to meet the 12 challenges. Changing his fate will require a Herculean effort.

Indeed, The 12 Labors's structure is inspired by a tale from Greek mythology. Writer/director Ricardo Elias has previously shown a particular interest in impoverished young men trying to "do the right thing" and enter mainstream society. He offers an alternative to a slew of films that exploit the violent, criminal lives of ghetto youth for thrills (City of God being the most prominent). The threat of violence is palpable here, but it never manifests itself. It merely lurks somewhere on the periphery of the action. Consequently, some viewers may find the plot less compelling than anticipated. Instead, The 12 Labors explores the potential obstacles that keep lower-class youth mired in a life of crime and deprivation, and creates a comprehensive snapshot of Sao Paulo via Heracles' contacts with a variety of its residents. To that end, Elias gives artistic license to his protagonist, who narrates brief biographies of several individuals he meets throughout the day as if he really knew them. The dynamic mise-en-scene is enhanced by a knockout soundtrack that incorporates orchestral passages, Brazilian hiphop, and samba-infused electronica. The final scene pays homage to Truffaut's The 400 Blows and draws parallels between Heracles and Antoine Doinel. The 12 Labors took home the Horizons Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival and the Best Actor award at the Rio de Janeiro Film Festival.

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RADIANT CITY (Canada)

Throughout his career, writer/director Gary Burns has developed the theme of people trapped in dehumanizing environments in his native Calgary. He debuted with The Suburbanators, a comedy about 20-somethings living in cookie-cutter residential developments and hanging out in strip malls. His best film to date, Waydowntown, is set entirely in the grid of downtown office buildings interconnected by glass-enclosed walkways that dominate the city's center. Now Burns has teamed up with journalist Jim Brown to make a documentary about life in Calgary's newest suburban enclaves.

Radiant City combines interviews of city planners, architects and sociologists with a presentation of the daily life of the Mosses, a family who moved from the inner city to a new suburban development a year earlier. The experts provide interesting data about the increasing amount of private space required by North Americans over time, and how it compares with other industrial nations. The sacrifice of community for the sake of privacy and security, the way house design has changed to deter social interaction, and the effects of the cost of land and energy are major issues explored, although not always with sufficient depth. Moss family members discuss their lifestyle-altering decision to move to the suburbs, and the inherent gains and losses. Some drama is generated when dad decides to act in a community play, a musical comedy that pokes fun at suburban living. His wife disappoves and ends up refusing to attend. The filmmakers have a trick up their sleeve, a last-minute revelation that warrants discussion but cannot possibly be revealed without spoiling the surprise.

[Chris Knipp]

Re Two Homelands, Cuba and the Night.
no educational campaigns aimed at reducing homophobia or HIV infection. In view of Cuba's known involvement in health care, this rings false. There are quite a number of non-Cuban websites that detail Cuba's AIDS information and treatment programs and their success. Maybe you say "the documentary says," here unless you are sure it presents gospel truth.

Re The Twelve Labors.
Indeed, The 12 Labors's structure is inspired by a tale from greek mythology. Yes, obviously, the labors of Hercules. Greek, Indian, French, etc. should be capitalized.

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Originally posted by Chris Knipp
Maybe you say "the documentary says," here unless you are sure it presents gospel truth.
I already qualified the statement when I wrote: "These issues are not explored beyond what is divulged by the six men". Finding "the gospel truth" about any Cuban issue is virtually impossible because of the propaganda war between those for and those against Castro. I'm presenting this information as coming from the six documentary subjects. I wouldn't trust ANY source of info about Cuba as "the gospel truth".

Yes, obviously, the labors of Hercules. Greek, Indian, French, etc. should be capitalized.
You're right.

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SATANAS (Colombia/Mexico)

Debut feature by Colombian director Andi Baiz, a New York University graduate. Satanas (Spanish for Satan) is an adaptation of a popular novel by Mario Mendoza based on real events that took place in Bogota in 1986. Baiz presents three separate plot threads that converge at the conclusion. Each thread is dominated by a precisely drawn character struggling with "the evil within" or the dark aspects of their personalities. Eliseo is a trilingual, cultured man who served in the US Army for 13 years, including tours of duty in Vietnam. He is about 50, single, and works as a private English tutor. Eliseo lives with his elderly mother, with whom he constantly bickers. He has an obsession with order and cleanliness_he carries a bottle of hand desinfectant wherever he goes and eschews cloth towels for disposable, paper ones. Eliseo is courteous but not kind; meets a friend for chess regularly but treats him with great reserve; he is obviously troubled but can't express it. Paola, a sexy 20-something, makes a living by meeting men at ritzy clubs and spiking their cocktails so her accomplices can steal from them. Returning alone from a club one night, she gets raped by two men. She takes revenge with help from her crime buddies, then feels remorse. She vows to change her lifestyle and gets a job as a waitress. Ernesto is a portly priest disappointed by his failure to keep a parishioner from committing a serious crime, and tormented by his lust for his cleaning lady. One night he takes his frustrations on a persistent beggar. Eventually, he realizes he's lost his vocation for the priesthood. He takes the cleaning lady out to dinner at a restaurant where he will run into Paola and Eliseo.

Satanas is an auspicious debut for Mr. Baiz, who was obviously ready for feature-length work after directing several well received shorts. The style of the film is straightforward, never calling attention to itself. The suggestive, piano-based score by Angelo Milli is a major asset in sustaining a portentous mood. The script, written also by the director, is tight and economical. Satanas is truly a character-based piece. Its ace-in-the-hole is Damian Alcazar, winner of 6 Mexican Academy Awards and known to American audiences via films like Herod's Law, Chronicles, and The Crime of Father Amaro. His Eliseo is a particularly difficult part because he must merely suggest a storm brewing inside while presenting a placid emotional facade. I don't claim expertise in distribution matters, but it seems obvious to me that Satanas has wide commercial appeal. Satanas is having its world premiere at the festival before opening in Colombia next June. Distributors should heed my advice and start bidding.

[Chris Knipp]

I don't claim expertise in distribution matters. . .

To some extent you can. You've been thinking about those issues longer than I have. The Rendez-Vous brought me a little more insight ithis time because I was a bit closer to what was going on and talked every day to a guy who sells films, began to get a sense of his point of view.

This sounds like an interesting piece. Sort of the Innaritu model, no? The three converging plotlines is beginning to become a commonplace template. But that doesn't mean it can't work well. You mean Baiz went to NYU Film School I assume, not just NYU?

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I've been thinking about distribution matters but strictly from the perspective of a film lover who believes an audience for art and foreign-language films can and should be nurtured. Of the festival films I've liked, the two starring Damian Alcazar (Satanas and A Wonderful World) are the most likely to do well if distributed and released commercially. I have yet to review A Wonderful World.

This is the biographical information about Baiz I received from the Fest's Press Department:

"Colombian. Graduated from NYU’s Film Program. Directed “JIM”, a doc on Jim Adams, a man with an extraordinary illustrator ability and cartoonist for children’s books, who is currently sentenced to death for the tragic events that took place in one day. Mr. Baiz was Production Assistant on: Scorcese’s “Bringing Out the Dead”, Matthew Barney’s “Cremaster 2”, Ben Stiller’s “Zoolander”, and Associate Producer on Josh and Jeffrey Crook’s “The Fittest”. Mr. Baiz was accepted in the Narrative Unit of the Spring 2004 session of IFP/New York’s Project Involve program, where he developed his directorial film debut Satanás "

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SOMEONE TO RUN WITH (Israel)

This adaptation of David Grossman's bestselling novel juggles two timelines that are kept separate for most of the film. Tamar, a 16 year-old girl, gets her head shaved in preparation to go "underground". She joins the homeless teens of downtown Jerusalem accompanied by Dinka, her Labrador retriever. Tamar makes a living by singing and playing songs on her acoustic guitar while looking for a boy whose connection to Tamar is kept secret. Her months-long street adventure alternates with the story of Assaf. He is a gangly teenage boy who takes a summer job at the city's dog pound. His first assignment is to track down the owner of a Labrador retriever that has been picked up on the street. Dinka leads him to what turn out to be Tamar's usual haunts. Among them, a convent and a home for wayward youth run by a villanous, Fagin-like drug dealer. Assaf, partly functioning as audience surrogate, pieces together the details of the girl's situation over the course of two eventful days. Then they finally meet.

Someone to Run With is the sophomore effort of director Oded Davidoff, whose familiarity with his native Jerusalem pays dividends. Neophytes Bar Belfer and Yonathan Bar Or were cast in the lead roles. Their performances speak well of Davidoff's skill as a director of actors. The film is stylishly shot on HD video (transferred to 35 mm) by Yaron Scharf (who photographed last year's fest hit Close To Home). Just about everything else is a mess. Foggy behavioral motivations, continuity problems, poorly developed characters,and inexplicable plot twists abound. I was about to place most of the blame on first-time scriptwriter Noah Stollman when I learned that the 2-hour theatrical cut is an hour shorter than a version intended to be shown only as a miniseries on Israeli TV. Anyway, I can only judge this theatrical version and it's not very good. The fact that Someone to Run With was nominated for 9 Israeli Academy Awards is perhaps indicative of the poor state of Israeli cinema at this juncture.

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ALATRISTE (Spain)

Diego Alatriste is a courageous soldier who's the protagonist of a popular series of novels written by Arturo Perez-Reverte. They are set in the first half of the 17th century, when the power of the mighty Spanish empire began to decline. Alatriste (Viggo Mortesen) is a common soldier, but he is nicknamed "Captain" by his buddies because of his skill and leadership qualities. Alatriste opens at dawn as a group of soldiers silently wade through waist-deep water to ambush a Dutch contingent during the War of Flandes. Alatriste becomes entrusted with the care of Inigo, the son of a soldier who dies in his arms, and gains notoriety when he saves the life of a duke. He returns to Madrid wounded. Once recovered, he is commisioned by the Grand Inquisitor (Blanca Portillo) to intercept two "heretic" foreigners at the city's entrace and kill them. Alatriste accepts then decides not to obey orders, as one of the foreigners turns out to be the Prince of Wales, visiting to forge an alliance with the Spanish Crown. Meanwhile, Alatriste reignites an on-going affair with Maria de Castro (Ariadna Gil), a famous and married actress. The film jumps 10 years when Inigo, now in his 20s, becomes Alatriste's squire and falls in love with the aristocratic and conniving Angelica (Elena Anaya). Alatriste proceeds to depict conspiracies, court intrigue, and war battles, as Spain strives to maintain its hegemony. Throughout, Alatriste and Inigo struggle to maintain relationships with the compromised women they love.

Alatriste is the most expensive production in the history of Spanish cinema, and you can see where the money went. The film looks gorgeous, a winner of Goyas for Best Costumes, Production Design, and Production Direction. The period recreation is stunning, the battle scenes imposingly realistic. The cinematography of the indoor scenes uses a color palette and lighting scheme based on epochal paintings by Velasquez and his contemporaries. Mortensen, who speaks Spanish since childhood, is perfectly cast as the sedate and noble soldier who anchors the film and gives it a sense of continuity. The decision to cast an actress in the role of the Inquisitor is the sole unconventional choice in a film that otherwise adheres to the conventions of the historical epic film. Despite excellent production values and good execution, Alatriste was doomed from the start to be average by the decision to condense material from the five novels published into a single film. A number of secondary characters are insufficiently developed, consequently their motivations are sometimes obscure. Alatriste entertains with its eventful narrative, but feels somewhat underdeveloped and rushed. Many critics who watched the film when it premiered in Venice and Toronto last September share my opinion. Consequently, director Agustin Diaz Yanes added 12 minutes of footage to the original 135-min version. Although I haven't seen the shorter version, I'm convinced the added running time improves the film, but not enough to make it memorable.
20th Century Fox will distribute Alatriste in the US.

[Chris Knipp]

the War of Flandes. That would be Flanders (Belgium).
The decision to cast an actress in the role of the Inquisitor is the sole unconventional choice in a film that otherwise adheres to the conventions of the historical epic film.Variety's Jonathan Holland I see likes the unconventional casting. Interestingly he says Spanish audiences find Mortensen's Latin American-inflected Spanish creates a "credibility problem" for the Spanish viewers for whom the film was especially made (good box office there not withstanding), so perhaps in that sense the American actor perhaps wasn't so "perfectly cast" after all and a real Spaniard might have been preferable. I know he's a handsome chap though. Otherwise you and Holland seem in agreement though Holland indicates some more reservations during his summary about the tone and effects, though you work these in at the end.

This sounds like a terrible bore -- 135 + 12 minutes of rushed incidents, confused characters and big closeups -- but then again, one might just have to slog through it for the wonderful visuals and costumes.

Interesting also that the French review IMDb cites says Ariadna Gil's performance of a scene from a play by Lope de Vega is so astonishing it ought to have been allowed to "play out" and might have thus become the "most poetic passage of the film." Maybe Twitch has the best comment in a forthright discussion: "Alatriste is proof yet again that even the biggest budget can't save a film if it's lacking a solid storyline and well-developed characters." And it sounds like they had serious problems in the editing department. I guess this will make dough in Latin America? And they won't mind how Mortensen's Spanish sounds.

Allociné says it cost "20 millions d'euros", which would mean chicken feed by Hollywood standards, not enough to pay Brad Pitt. But then Brad Pitt has not spoken Spanish since earliest childhood.

How about that Clint Eastwood! He really understands Italian -- even if it was planned out he didn't miss his cues translating Ennio Morricone's acceptance speech--and he still had forgotten his glasses.

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I've spent some time lately highlighting what's wrong with Alatriste in conversation with two fans of the film, one being a charming Argentine actress-turned-programmer. She probably thinks I'm too enamored of low-key, low-budget, "alternative" cinema, as she calls it. And there seems to be a critical consensus that what's wrong is, mainly and to put it simply, too much plot/source material. Complaints about Mortensen's accent are petty. A couple of times he forgets Spaniards don't pronounce the "c" as if it is an "s". Big deal. I liked his performance. Press material I got indicates budget at 24 million Euros. It's a lot of money when you consider that The Lives of Others cost 2 miilion Euros to make. Perhaps you'd find Alatriste boring, but I didn't. I found it flawed. If you didn't like Kingdom of Heaven, you should probably avoid it.

[Chris Knipp]

I liked Kingdom of Heaven. In my review of it (http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/viewtopic.php?t=421), headed "A beautiful and misunderstood epic," you'll find signs that I might very well respond favorably to Alatriste.

My Spanish is limited. Maybe you can help me with :


IMDb-referenced Spanish critique 1:

La calidad artÃ*stica del reparto es cuanto menos irregular. Sobresale Viggo Mortensen que aguanta el personaje, se muestra rocoso, pendenciero y seductor. Una pena que le quede tan "raro" el intento de acento castellano seco.

IMDb Spanish critique 2:

Destaca el esfuerzo de Viggo Mortensen, Aragorn en El Señor de los Anillos, por hablar un castellano adecuado a su personaje. . .

Nol. 1 begins with, "Alatriste es un castigo de dos horas y media para las posaderas.." What's that mean? I don't get what he means by "posaderas." I thought maybe he was saying the film was hard to sit through.

I'm puzzled that you feel you can decide so confidently how a person from Spain would react to Mortensen's accent, not being from Spain yourself.


Press material I got indicates budget at 24 million Euros. It's a lot of money when you consider that The Lives of Others cost 2 miilion Euros to make. Claro que si. But in your example of The Lives of Others you're comparing apples to oranges. I was merely saying that it would barely pay Brad Pitt's salary on a Hollywood movie. I guess it's a big budget by European standards. You'd have to compare it to those rare other expensive European film productions. Apparently Bille August's Les Miserables (1998) cost $20 plus.
[From a fairly old budget discussion (http://www.obs.coe.int/online_publication/expert/dublin_forum_2001.html) re European films:]

A simple comparison of average production costs immediately illustrates a fundamental difference: films produced by the major American companies (unfortunately our figures do not include independent producers) cost an average of USD 54.8 million in 2000, compared to an average 7.2 million for British films, 5 million for French films and 2 million for Italian films. That was my point. And one might progress from it to consider the possibility that "big-budget" productions aren't a very promising European prospect, since when it comes to splurge budgets the Europeans can't beat the Americans at their own game, whereas where European fiolmmakers can and do excel and arguably on average outdo the US is in small, subtle, sophisticated productions exhibiting culture rather than technology.

I'm surprised in this response to my comment you are somewhat championing the film after your writing
Alatriste was doomed from the start to be average by the decision to condense material from the five novels published into a single film. A number of secondary characters are insufficiently developed, consequently their motivations are sometimes obscure. Alatriste entertains with its eventful narrative, but feels somewhat underdeveloped and rushed. Many critics who watched the film when it premiered in Venice and Toronto last September share my opinion. Consequently, director Agustin Diaz Yanes added 12 minutes of footage to the original 135-min version. Although I haven't seen the shorter version, I'm convinced the added running time improves the film, but not enough to make it memorable.

Sorry this is so long but in your short response you brought up a lot of issues.

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I appreciate the reply, long or short. I have to be brief while trying to respond. I appreciate the interest.
I had no idea whether you liked or didn't like Kingdom of Heaven.
Of the two quotes in Spanish, one praises Mortensen's accent while the other is critical.
"Posaderas" means "buttocks". It's a nicer term than "nalgas" but not as formal or correct as "gluteos". Guy basically says it was a pain in the ass to sit through this 2 1/2 hour film.
I am clearly neither championing nor damning Alatriste.
I'm definitely qualified to judge any Spanish accent for a lot of reasons I don't have time to go into.

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MEANWHILE (Argentina)

A month after her mother's death, Eva comes to Buenos Aires to work as a maid. She rents a room in the humble home of Violeta, a childhood acquaintance who is separated from her husband Mono. Violeta is considering a reconciliation with Mono, who plans to bring her and their young daughter to Ibiza. Meanwhile, she works in a restaurant where a co-worker shows romantic interest in her. Eva cleans two houses. In one she's disparaged by the employer and made to clean dog poop. In another the lady keeps warning Eva not to steal, but her son Dalmiro is very kind. Dalmiro is a lonely bachelor who has a small studio where he makes pottery to sell at the crafts market. Sergio, a friend of Mono, wants to realize his wife's dream of having a child of their own. Their doctor tells them he is "sub-fertile" and recommends adoption, because other options are beyond their means. By the conclusion, these characters make crucial decisions about the course their lives will take.

Meanwhile is the sophomore feature by Diego Lerman, the 30 year-old who made a splash at festivals worlwide with Suddenly (2002). The new film confirms Lerman's talent for depicting the lives of working-class people in a thoroughly naturalistic manner. It takes a lot of planning and skill to give the impression a film was put together on the fly, without a blueprint. There's an organic feel to the transformations and realignments of characters in a Diego Lerman film. This is more true of Meanwhile than the highly praised debut. That film includes a scene in which a parachutist improbably lands on a road in the middle of the night, gets run over, and dies in the arms of a protagonist. There's nothing of the kind in Meanwhile (and no lesbian girls who call each other Mao and Lenin). Moreover, Meanwhile evidences a refinement of technique. For instance, in Meanwhile, Lerman and crew are more skillful at shooting using only existing sources of light (Suddenly looked murky and underlit in spots). The new film has a greater number of characters, all of which are introduced early on. This could cause the viewer to become temporarily disoriented and lose patience. Those who stick it out will be rewarded by a low-key but substantive slice-of-life.

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks for your reply, if brief. I figured the guy was talking about sitting for all that time on something.....and finding it a chore. The online Collins dictionary is not always complete and that word was not given.

I was not questioning your ability to judge a Spanish accent -- you don't have to get huffy with me -- but you aren't Spanish, are you? Anyway one guy was praising his accent and the other the opposite. It would seem David Holland's statement was not completely off the wall. Some Spanish viewers are jarred by Mortensen's Latin American accent. Come on, grant that the fact you were not jarred by it doesn't mean no one is.

If you're "clearly neither championing nor damning Alatriste," what are you saying about it?

What I was saying was, that if you looked up on Google, you would have seen that I liked Kingdom of Heaven. I know you didn't know; but you could have. Then you would not have said what you said, would you? Google, "Chris Knipp + Kingdom of Heaven." It's easy.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
The online Collins dictionary is not always complete and that word was not given.
Makes sense, term is rarely used.

I was not questioning your ability to judge a Spanish accent -- you don't have to get huffy with me -- but you aren't Spanish, are you?
Not "huffy". I simply don't have time to explain in detail all the personal experiences (family in Zaragoza, educated by Spanish Martist and Jesuit brothers, frequent travel to the country, friendships with Spaniards living in Miami, etc) that make me qualified to evaluate Spanish accents. I'm simply busy reviewing the three fest films I watched today.

Come on, grant that the fact you were not jarred by it doesn't mean no one is.
I just opined that to be jarred by it is petty within the context of the film, and because the accent is off very infrequently. I didn't say that no one finds the accent jarring.

If you're "clearly neither championing nor damning Alatriste," what are you saying about it?
I said a lot of things about it. It's flawed, "average" but not boring or bad, to summarize.

What I was saying was, that if you looked up on Google, you would have seen that I liked Kingdom of Heaven.
I wrote initially: "If you didn't like Kingdom of Heaven, you should probably avoid it." Translation: In the event that you watched Kingdom of Heaven and did not like it, then you probably shoud avoid Alatriste because both are historical epics that have, to a significant extent, similar flaws and praiseworthy aspects.

[oscar jubis]

BACK HOME (USA)

Autobiographical documentary directed by J.B. Rutagarama, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide. He relates how, as a 17 year-old, he managed to escape across the border to a refugee camp when the violence reached his town. News footage provides historical background. Evidence that occupying Belgian forces manufactured hostility and segregation between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes is particularly convincing. They planted the seeds to a civil conflict that erupted in most brutal carnage during the 1990s. Some scenes recreate J.B.'s perilous escape. Upon reaching the camp, he befriended two London-based ABC News correspondents. The women practically adopted him, helping him move to Britain where he earned a college degree. J.B. got a job as a cameraman for Fox News in New York. A month later, the Twin Towers were attacked. It had a profound effect on J.B., opening old wounds. He decides to reconnect with his homeland, search more diligently for his lost mother and brother, and make a film of the experience. Back Home details with great care J.B.'s ambivalent feelings about returning to Rwanda and the painful confrontation with its violent legacy.The search and reunion with his mother is quite moving, particularly when he learns of the courageous Hutu man who risked his life to bring his mom and nearly 200 other Tutsis to the Hotel Milles Collines (the one in the fiction feature Hotel Rwanda). The most interesting aspect of the film is the depiction of the "gacaca", the traditional Rwandan approach to justice. It consists of open-air town meetings in which the guilty confess, seek forgiveness, and agree to perform work for the benefit of the comunity. J.B. and his mother visit a work camp and interview several Hutus involved in the massacre. It's a decidedly difficult emotional experience for both sides, and compelling to witness. Rutagarama comments that "Reconciliation is awkward, imperfect, and slow, but it is possible".

Rutagarama chooses not to deal with the issue of his Hutu father, who was poisoned by tribal propaganda and reported his wife to the militia that perpetrated most of the acts of genocide. The director reveals this during the opening minutes, and never mentions his father again. It would also be of great interest to explore why it took him two years to get a visa to visit the country, and why representatives of the current administration seized his equipment and footage he had shot. This information about government interference is contained in the production notes made available to the press, but Back Home ignores it completely. It's seemingly relevant to the future prospects of the country. Addressing these topics would make the film more thorough and satisfying.

[oscar jubis]

A TON OF LUCK (Colombia)

Hollywood films invariably top the Colombian box office year after year. In 2006, this local, populist entertainment was the country's highest grossing film. It's based on a real event that took place in 2003, when a battalion of 147 soldiers found $46 million hidden deep in the jungle by narco-guerrillas and decided to divvy up the untraceable loot. Rodrigo Triana's sophomore effort reduces the number of soldiers involved to a manageable 30 and focuses on four of them who are close friends.

At the opening, the wife of Porras (Manuel Jose Chavez) travels with their small daughter as she reads a letter sent by her husband. It instructs her to travel to a remote town at the edge of the Amazon forest. A Ton of Luck flashes back to the foursome at a strip joint prior to going on a mission. The scene establishes Perlaza's dream of marrying exotic dancer Dayana and Porras as devoted married man. Suprisingly, the sequence culminates with an inconsequential melee that is poorly staged. The mise-en-scene improves once the troops enter the jungle and the adventure begins. After a few skirmishes and long days battling the elements with inadequate resources, they discover piles of cash buried inside plastic containers. Porras is the only one who takes the moral high ground. The soldiers are ill-equipped to handle their sudden riches. After barely missing being caught at the military base, they get a day off and go to the city. These poor, uneducated, young soldiers can't help but flaunt and squander the money with obvious consequences. A Ton of Luck returns to Porras' wife for the surprising finale. The film often assumes a light tone, with attempts at humor achieving mixed results and performances that never rise above merely competent. A Ton of Luck is worth watching but unremarkable. It received a nomination for "Best Spanish-language Foreign Film" at the Spanish Academy Awards. It's Colombia's submission to the Oscars yet simply not good enough to have a chance at getting a nomination.

[Chris Knipp]

I wrote initially: "If you didn't like Kingdom of Heaven, you should probably avoid it." Translation: In the event that you watched Kingdom of Heaven and did not like it, then you probably shoud avoid Alatriste because both are historical epics that have, to a significant extent, similar flaws and praiseworthy aspects.My English is fine. You didn't have to translate your simple statement. But you were directly addressing the statement to me, and it was pointless, since the fact that I liked Kingdom of Heaven was available to you on the web. If I'd been writing to you and thinking of making this statement, I'd have thought first, "I wonder if Oscar liked or disliked Kingdom of Heaven"? Let's see if he commented on it on the Web? If our online commitments of opinion are dispensable, then why should we bother? And if you aren't following what I write online about movies, who is?

"A TON OF LUCK (Colombia)"

You didn't mention the original language title which is nice to have when it's a language we tend to know a bit. So I looked it up and it's Soñar no cuesta nada, It Costs Nothing to Dream (don't expect my translations to be catchy). I have a young email penpal in BobotÃ* so I've emailed him asking if he's seen it and what he thinks. Predictatably he has a low opinion of local filmmaking and probably avoided it.


Not "huffy". I simply don't have time to explain in detail all the personal experiences (family in Zaragoza, educated by Spanish Martist and Jesuit brothers, frequent travel to the country, friendships with Spaniards living in Miami, etc) that make me qualified to evaluate Spanish accents. I'm simply busy reviewing the three fest films I watched today. It is odd that you consider yourself too "busy" to bother to explain in detail the nature of your Spanish language background. Since it is the main reason why you are particularly qualified to write about the Latin American and Spanish films shown at the Miami festival, it's of compelling interest, not only to me, but to anyone reading your coverage.

[Chris Knipp]

BACK HOME (USA)

I know "directed by" is used for the makers of documentaries, not to mention in other descriptions of this film, so call me fussy, but to me it's jarring to use that term when a guy is not so much overseeing or controlling ("directing") but chronicling or documenting ("making a film about"). In otherwords since a documentary filmmaker is gathering information rather than directing actors or creating mise-en-scène, I'd prefer to say he is "making a documentary." It think that's important to specify that he isn't tampering with the facts. (Not that he often isn't.)

This was shown at the San Jose festival, "Cinequest 2006," March 1-11, 2006, whose blurb promised that it was "likely to be one of the most powerful, disturbing, haunting and ultimately moving films you will ever see," and that it "recalls the horror that beset his country. Yet once back home, he's able to find joy, hope and reconciliation, both personal and national." I gather you don't quite agree with this enthusiasm, and your focus on external facts suggests that you don't feel the internal autobiographical aspect emerges as strongly as it might, not to mention the gaps about government meddling with Rutagarama's filmmaking project in Rwanda.. . It's not clear to me how the "gacaca "fits into the film's context, i.e. into Rutagarama's personal narrative, if it does.

In the somewhat related context of boy soldiers in Sierra Leone's civil war, brought to public attention in Zwick's Blood Diamond, Ishmael Beah's personal account, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier (about another African who came to the US young after horrific war experiences at home and has survived to tell about those), is a book that just came out (Farrar Stauss & Giroux). An excerpt/summary appeared I think it was in the NYTimes magazine recently, and it is dumbfounding. That short piece pu by Beah published in the Times in January is here. (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/magazine/14soldier.t.html?ex=1326430800&en=18db63da3854259e&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss) The photo of Beah now suggests that he has emerged as a smiling, open-hearted person.

[oscar jubis]

SEPTEMBERS (Spain)

Director Carles Bosch was visiting a friend at a detention facility near Madrid when he stumbled on inmates singing karaoke on stage. They were practicing for a singing competition held every September within Spain's penitentiary system. Bosch decides then that the follow-up to his Oscar-nominated documentary Balseros would focus on these men and women. Septembers is less concerned with the competition than with the personal tragedies, hopes and dreams of the participants. Adalberto is wanted for theft in his native Argentina and hopes to avoid extradition so he can live with his lover in Barcelona. Rudolf is a Lithuanian accused of making counterfeit bills; he's sad because his Ukranian girlfriend has lost interest in him. Arturo is a proud gypsy with a tattoo of his wife's face on his arm who worries about his three sons growing up without a father. There's a Mexican woman who tried to enter Spain with a substantial amount of cocaine; she's won the "festival of song" the past two years. An attractive Bolivian woman feels ambivalent about a liaison with an older Spanish man. There's a woman from Valencia who bought heroin for her addicted son, and a drummer for a once-famous rock band.

Bosch's primary focus is on the love lives of a dozen inmates and their expression through song. Bosch doesn't editorialize or make generalizations but, because of the variety of subjects from several prisons, Septembers manages to comment on the nation and its penal system. It's clear that Spain's healthy democracy and economy have attracted a high number of immigrants in the past decade, and that they often experience difficulty adjusting. I was quite impressed with the physical condition of the penitentiaries (very clean and spacious), the opportunities for rehabilitation available, and the dignity with which inmates seem to be treated. Granted, these facilities don't hold the most dangerous criminals_only one documentary subject is guilty of a violent offense, but what's on view is indicative of a humane and efficient penal system. Septembers is very coherently edited and consistently engaging. It's having its world premiere at the festival.

[oscar jubis]

PRINCESS (Denmark)

Shortly after he returns to Copenhagen, the sister of a missionary named August dies of a drug overdose in a brothel. He picks up his young niece Mia and brings her to live with him. It soon becomes evident that Mia has been subjected to physical and sexual abuse while living with her mother, the porn star known as Princess. The devoutly Christian August vows to take revenge. With assistance from Mia, he proceeds to shoot, maim, burn, torture and bomb anything and anybody connected with the "smut empire" built by Mia's ex-boyfriend Charlie, who may or may not be Mia's father.

The film is mostly animated, with character and background drawing below the standards of current American and Japanese animation. Animated sequences are interspersed with live-action flashbacks from August’s camcorder, an original approach that enriches the film by providing detailed backstory regarding August, Charlie and Princess.
From animator and author of children's books Anders Morgenthaler's statement: "To enjoy a porno film one must either be very dumb or be able to abstract from the fact that one is watching real people". Princess is an expression of its creator's religious, anti-porn crusade. Even those who support his views might wince at the way he glorifies and justifies all sorts of gory, vigilante violence. Perhaps there's an audience out there for Princess. I just don't want to meet them.

[oscar jubis]

FICTION (Spain)

Alex, a 39 year-old film director, comes to a village at the edge of the Pyrenees to spend a couple of weeks with Santi, an old friend. Alex hasn't seen Santi for years and doesn't feel completely at ease around him, but needs a respite from the wife, kids, and big city pressures. Also at the village is Judith, Santi's best friend and a former acquaintance of Alex, and Monica, a musician from Madrid visiting Judith. Fiction concerns these four characters and how they relate to each other, but gradually the main focus becomes what develops between Alex and Monica. They get ample time together when they become separated from Santi and Judith during a mountain hike and get lost. They spend the night in a shelter where each realizes separately there is something special between them, something that is perhaps better left unacknowledged. Later, Judith's girlfriend returns from a trip abroad and Alex's wife makes an impromptu visit.

Ficcio (Fiction in Catalan) is the third solo effort from director Cesc Gay (In The City, Nico and Dani). All three films revolve around characters who either are not the type to show their feelings openly, or choose consciously to repress them. Only the spectator is truly privy to certain emotions felt by key characters. In Fiction, Gay explores the nostalgia felt by people at mid-life for a time when all the roads were open. Any road taken closes the door on other possibilities because we can never really go back. This is the third script co-written by Gay and Tomas Aragay. It typically avoids any semblance of stiff theatricality or literary wit. Gay's method of shooting chronologically to allow for improvisation without creating continuity problems again pays dividends. The tone is consistently understated and sober, probing character nuance without histrionics or genre twists. Fiction is the type of film in which it's almost unfair to single out any of the actors because the whole cast is impressive. Having said that, Fiction features, arguably, the two best Spanish actors working today: Eduard Fernandez (as Alex) and Javier Camara (as Santi).

Catalan is the prevalent language in Fiction, which is no small matter. Catalan is spoken by less than 5 million people. The mere use of the language spoken in Catalonia means reduced box office potential and distribution for any film, not only in Spain but also in Latin America and the USA. Perhaps Fiction will eventually be released on dvd in the US (like In The City, which is also in Catalan). For the time being, it will delight festival goers looking for refined adult fare. Fiction is one of the best films of the festival.

[Chris Knipp]

In Fiction, Gay explores the nostalgia felt by people at mid-life for a time when all the roads were open. Any road taken closes the door on other possibilities because we can never really go back.

The tone is consistently understated and sober, probing character nuance without histrionics or genre twists.The best parts of your description--the only ones other than your saying i(somewhat oddly) it will "will delight festival goers looking for refined adult fare" and "Fiction is one of the best films of the festival" -- which otherwise might leave one a little at a loss as to what the fascination is in specific terms.

MARC RECHA: AUGUST DAYS (2006)--in the NYFF--was also in Catalan, interesting. What does it sound like to a Spanish speaker? How hard is it to follow?

[oscar jubis]

My wife says most Spanish speakers would find Catalan slightly easier to understand than Portuguese and Italian. She's probably right. The reason why it's the other way around for me is exposure to Portuguese via films and Italian via films and travel.

Acquarello, my favorite online critic on August Days: "Marc Recha channels the spirit of Lisandro Alonso's primitivistic, metaphoric journey of interiority in Los Muertos (a derivation made all the more transparent by an extended river exploration sequence) to a visually sublime, but soporific and tediously unoriginal effect in Days of August."
Visually sublime? That's reason enough for me to watch it if it comes my way.

[Chris Knipp]

So what you're saying is you have a smattering (or maybe more than a smattering) of Portuguese and Italian and not of Catalan, so far? Is your wife Spanish-speaking?

August Days is not only a visual extravaganza but an auditory one. The comparison with Lisandro Alonso's powerful Los Muuertos doesn't seem to me very enlightening, "extended river exploration sequence" notwithstanding. They have about as much in common as Catalan and Italian. Acquarello has a slight proclivity for the far-fetched link. I can see why you'd admire that site but I'm glad you don't emulate Acquarello's highfallutin "Strictly Film School" style, which sails high and often sinks, Icarus-like, into the muddy sea of its own pretentions.
a visually sublime, but soporific and tediously unoriginal effect Acquarello does love to multiply those adjectives and adverbs. You have to wonder how something can be simultaneously sublime and tediously unoriginal. (Is there a category of stimulatingly unoriginal, I wonder?) It does go on and on, Recha's film, and never gets anywhere though. You might like it, sure. Acquarello ought to have mentioned the sound. And I guess the Catalan language adds to the richness of that. Here's what I wrote in my coverage of the NYFF 2006:
In August Days/Dies d'agost Marc Recha has given us a sun-saturated Catalan documentary-style road movie that’s mostly a meandering improvised meditation on brotherhood and reclaiming the dead. The beautiful sometimes large-scale, richly atmospheric 35 mm. landscape images, nice soundtrack and Catalan-language narration are enchanting as a mood piece, if one is content with a trajectory that hasn’t much momentum and doesn’t lead anywhere in particular. You probably are. For much of the time I was.

[oscar jubis]

Acquarello's writing style is highly concentrated. Not to everyone's taste. He's got a vast knowledge of the history of the medium, an obsession with finding undistributed gems, and ability to offer insightful takes on films.
Cristi left Cuba at age nine and lived in Madrid for three years before moving to the US.
Catalan has managed to survive despite efforts by Franco to supress it. I understand some Italian and Portuguese, but only words in Catalan which are similar to Spanish. The reason for this is minimal exposure to Catalan. I've visited Barcelona twice. Everybody who speaks Catalan seems to also speak Spanish. They notice you are a visitor because you carry a camera or a backpack or whatever and they address you in Spanish.

[oscar jubis]

OUR FATHER (Chile)

Pedro, Roberto and Meche have been summoned to Valparaiso after their 72 year-old father is hospitalized. The first half of Our Father (Padre Nuestro) is a road movie as the siblings, along with Pedro's Argentine wife Maite, make the hour-long drive from Santiago. The drive is interspersed with flashbacks to each receiving a phone call from Rosa, Caco's second wife. Pedro, the oldest, has lied to Maite about undergoing fertility tests because he believes he's sterile and fears Maite will leave him when she finds out. Meche, who suffers from bulimia, is the one who found out about her father's affair with Rosa when her parents where still married. She is still quite angry at her father and has kept a distance from him for years. Roberto, the youngest, has not told anyone that he separated from his wife months ago. Caco turns out to be quite a character, a gregarious bon vivant with a great sense of humor. He is on the verge of dying but vows to go his own way. After the others return briefly to Santiago, he gets Roberto to "borrow" an ambulance and take him to his old haunts by the waterfront. They have a ball at a bar owned by an old friend of Caco's and visit a lively bordello. At sundown, Caco gets Roberto to drive him to the beach town where they used to go on vacation. Caco's dream of reuniting the whole family one last time is realized there.

This film, written and directed by Rodrigo Sepulveda, shares thematic elements with The Royal Tenenbaums and The Barbarian Invasions but can't quite reach their high level of artistry. Our Father is impeccably directed and thoroughly enjoyable though. Veteran Chilean thespian Jaime Vadell seems to be having a blast playing Caco, and Cecilia Roth (as Maite) is always a welcome presence. The problem with Our Father is that the compelling issues raised during its first half are abandoned in order to grant Caco one last joyride and the conflict-free reunion that is his final wish.

[Chris Knipp]

I appreciate and noted the virtues of Acquarello and said I could well see why you'd admire him. I find the style bothersome. To say it's "highly concentrated" and not to everyone's taste" doesn't adequately excuse its flaws, but you may be willing to put up with it for what he otherwise has to offer, of course, and understandably so. Maybe you don't even notice. Lucky you. I however find that his critical evaluations are often blurred by weaknesses in his writing.

I didn't even realize your wife Cristi was of non-US origin, and obviously she too would be an excellent judge of Castillian Spanish. I remember that in L'Auberge Espagnole one lecturer insists on addressing the students in Catalan. They are annoyed but don't seem to be saying they can't understand it at all, which from what you say would be likely, since they're foreign students to begin with. Of course maybe they're just there for a good time. Barcelona seems to be a non-stop party town for young people from other countries.

[Chris Knipp]

Always with the reservation that my knowledge of Spanish is limited, I thought this was an interesting discussion of the film that brought out some aspects of it you don't mention re its "intimist" style and portrait of another generation -- and a more philosophical analysis of the content.

http://nuevomundo.revues.org/document2908.html

I still don't know why you have this aversion to revealing the name of the directors of the films you are reporting on till somewhere down in your text.

[oscar jubis]

I don't mind Acquarello's writing style. Actually, I appreciate his brevity.
Piece by Chilean writer is more essay inspired by one character in the film than a review. The writer seems to have been inspired by Caco to wax nostalgic about what Chile was like between 1930 and 1970 (film doesn't include scenes set during that period). Film is neither "intimist" nor "austere". Writer doesn't even mention four characters that have more screen time than Caco (whom we meet half way through the film).

[oscar jubis]

SERAMBI (Indonesia)

Serambi (Veranda) was shot in a town in the Aceh region referred by Indonesian Muslims as the Veranda of Mecca, the point of departure for their pilgrimage to the Holy Land. It is, historically, an important center of trade between East and West. On December 26, 2004, the town was ravaged by the tsunami that killed over 200,000 people and left many more homeless in the Indian Ocean region. Home video footage shows crowds running away from waves of water carrying cars, piles of debris, and people down the streets. After the water recedes, the corpses that litter the street are taken away and survivors look for missing friends and relatives.

Director Garin Nugroho, returns to his documentary roots after successful forays into fiction features (including the critically acclaimed musical Opera Jawa). He focuses primarily on three survivors from different generations. Reza, a middle-aged man who makes a living delivering goods in a small motorized vehicle, misses his wife terribly, and eats food he buys at street stalls at the ruins where his house used to be. Usman, a college student who worships Che Guevara and attempts to restart a relationship with his despondent ex-girlfriend. Tari, she's about 9 years old, lost most of her family during the tsunami and now lives in a UN shelter. The devout girl prays for "God to love my parents like they loved me when I was little". Serambi follows its three subjects around town as they attempt to cope with their many losses and reorient themselves to the environment. Some of the most interesting issues that come up refer to how the disaster challenges certain religious beliefs of the survivors. Nugroho's approach to the documentary form is anecdotal and poetic, which may disappoint viewers looking for a comprehensive, informational point-of-view of this terrible natural disaster.

[oscar jubis]

I AM THE OTHER WOMAN (Germany)

Robert (August Diehl), a civil engineer, travels to Frankfurt on business. At the hotel bar, he meets Carlotta, a platinum blonde in a red dress and they share a night of kinky sex. She's gone by the time he wakes up. Robert goes to his scheduled meeting with Carolin Winter (Katja Riemann), who looks just like Carlotta (remember Vertigo?) except her attire and demeanor are completely different. Carolin accepts an invitation to dinner, where she denies any connection with "the other woman" and resists Robert's persistent attempts to seduce her. Undeterred, Robert visits the Winter estate and meets her ditzy, alcoholic mother (Karin Dor, making a comeback to the big screen) and creepy, wheelchair-bound father Karl (Armin Muller-Stahl, perfectly cast). Also living in the household: a mute, glowering manservant, who turns out to be Mrs. Winter's longtime lover, and a fortyish secretary who, we will learn, was a teen prostitute Karl met during a trip to Morocco and brought home with him. The intriguing plot of I am the Other Woman is propelled by Robert's erotic obsession and by Carolin/Carlotta's need to escape the clutches of the dementedly possessive Karl.

I am the Other Woman is an adaptation of a novel by Peter Merthesheimer who collaborated with F.W. Fassbinder on several projects. Perhaps Fassbinder could have made art out of this lurid, grotesque, sometimes preposterous material. Veteran director Margarethe von Trotta was perhaps attracted by the theme of male oppression in the story_a topic she explored in some of her best work. Here she seems content with delivering outrageous entertainment and directing an amazing veteran cast. File under guilty pleasure.

[Chris Knipp]

Home video footage shows crowds running away from waves of water carrying cars. . . At first I thought that would be interesting to see till I realized you meant the waves were carrying the cars, not the crowds.

[oscar jubis]

*Right. The footage seemed to be shot from a balcony or roof several blocks inland. You watch horrified people running ahead of a huge amount of water propelled forcefully down the streets of the town. Then, shocked survivors walk around wet corpses looking for missing friends and relatives. The awesome power of nature to deliver human tragedy.
*Festival opened last night. Arrived at the Verhoeven press conference (from work) just in time but all the seats were taken. I had to stand in the back and didn't get a chance to ask questions about Black Book.

[Chris Knipp]

I'm glad it's well attended. Why couldn't you ask a question, because they couldn't see you in the back?

[oscar jubis]

It was awkward. I was standing in the back, behind a raised area where the cameras where set. The day's highlight for me was a nice conversation with Bertha Navarro. She's the mother-in-law of director Paul Leduc and has produced his films. She also produced or co-produced Cronicas and all the films directed by Guillermo del Toro, including Pan's Labyrinth. Nice lady. She's here as a juror.
I plan to skip the Luc Besson conference. His new movie certainly failed to turn me into a fan. What I'll miss is another opportunity to socialize with all kinds of people connected with the festival. The ladies at the Press Dep. have been swell. I got tickets to every screening I wanted.

[oscar jubis]

ANTONIA (Brazil)

A hiphop band allows their four backup singers to play one song to open a concert. The talented girls get an enthusiastic response from the audience and hire a manager. They sing at private parties and get gigs at clubs and festivals. Then the group starts to fall apart. Preta (Negra Li) catches Mayah (Quelynah) flirting with her husband and a rift develops between the two childhood friends. Mayah ends up leaving Antonia, as their group is called. Lena (Cindy Mendes) gets pregnant. Her boyfriend agrees to live together and recognize the child if she stops performing. Barbarah (Leilah Moreno) gets taunted in the street by a boy who claims responsibility for the beating of her gay brother. A fight ensues in which Barbarah pushes the boy against a concrete wall and dies. She is sentenced to jail for manslaughter. Preta performs solo while manager Marcelo tries to keep up her spirits. Antonia jumps to moments of crisis resolution, and rushes to Antonia reunited to deliver two outstanding numbers at a music festival.

Antonia, a musical directed by Tata Amaral, is grounded on life as lived in the hilly working-class neighborhoods of Sao Paolo, South America's largest city. Dramatic situations are familiar and handled conventionally. Key to Antonia's ability to deliver solid entertainment is the casting of the four attractive and talented singers, none of which has previous acting experience. The dramatic scenes are delivered with conviction and credibility, perhaps a sign that that Ms. Amaral is a skillful director of actors. The musical numbers, a mix of rap, ballads, and r&B, exude on-stage chemistry.

[Chris Knipp]

I plan to skip the Luc Besson conference. His new movie certainly failed to turn me into a fan. I'm sure you don't only attend confereences of people of whom you're a fan! You would be more likely to admire Besson from his earliest films, not his later ones--as I should think you would know. The Last Combat (1983), La Femme Nikita (1988), and The Big Blue (1990) are his best work. He's more a producer than a director now, produced for instance The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada and in the recent Rendez-Vous that I covered, produced The Singer (one of the best in the series) and Tell No ONe (one of the most awarded in France). So I personally would have been interested in what he had to say -- but not going by his recent filmmaking.

[oscar jubis]

Chris: I would attend if I didn't have to leave work at a most inconvenient time and day (Wed 10:30 a.m) although I don't "admire" any of the films he's directed, not even the ones you mention. Besson has "co-produced" a ton of films and it's hard to find out the nature of his involvement with these projects. I know that some of them are merely "investments".

*Guests and Members: I have opened a 2007 MIFF thread in the "Festival Coverage" section (upper right corner). I will provide links here to the reviews I'm placing there just in case it's hard to find. That section doesn't allow replies but I hope those who have comments or questions continue to post them here. I'll continue to post 2 reviews per day and conclude by reporting the lineup of films that receive jury and audience awards.

La Lupe: Queen of Latin Soul (USA) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17055#post17055)

[Chris Knipp]

That wasn't the reason you gave for eschewing his talk at first. I suspect with so many producing credits he has had an influence on French and American movies, whether a good one or a bad one I don't know. I'd be curious to know more about him simply because of his evidence of energy -- or money, whatever it is, he's some kind of force and we need to know about those. The fact that he was a producer of The Singer suggests that his influence isn't all bad.
That section doesn't allow replies but I hope those who have comments or questions continue to post them here. I was hoping for that too for the Rendez-Vous but it hasn't happened. Some people have visited the reviews though.

[oscar jubis]

*I can't deny that if it was O. Assayas or P. Chereau at the conference I'd find a way to be there.
*I've read your Rendezvous section with great interest. Shame that in the past month or so all my free time has been dedicated to watching as many of the MIFF films and writing reviews.
*There are 92 features being shown, about the same as last year when I managed to watch 54. I should be able to surpass that number this year. But I'll miss over 30 and one hopes one can manage to watch every good film that doesn't have distribution.
Most of what I'm missing are docs or films scheduled for commercial release.
*Tonight I'm seeing a film from Bolivia that looks very promising if not quite something that has potential for distribution like the Colombian Satanas and the Mexican A Wonderful World.

[Chris Knipp]

I've read your Rendezvous section with great interest. Glad to hear that and I'm going to try to follow your Miami reports much more closely this year.
There are 92 features being shown, about the same as last year when I managed to watch 54. I should be able to surpass that number this year. But I'll miss over 30 and one hopes one can manage to watch every good film that doesn't have distribution. . 94 in a sense is a manageable number, not that one can see them all but that one has a better chance of assessing or guessing how worth seeing them may be. When it's 150 or 200 or 300, it's really hopeless. But my imporession is that you can never really know, and that you (I,one) guess (guess, guesses) wrong quite often sometimes. But still, it's quality rather than quality that matters. That's why I like the NYFf better than the SFIFF and enjoy the very small series like the N.I.C.E. and the Rendez-Vous, which one can actually encompass. I would not necessarily want to skip documentaries, but I can see skipping commercial releases, assuming that you can see them when they're in commercial release. Context helps and things I see in Paris or New York or at the NYFF look better and make more sense to me than elsewhere or at other times, so I have gotten a lot out of seeing commercial release films at the NYFF, but then, there were only 28 total to see.

[oscar jubis]

The MIFF was modeled after New York's fest up until maybe 2000. Then it was possible to watch everything, especially everything undistributed. I like being able to watch close to 60 films rather than 28, but there are drawbacks, of course.
I am watching several films coming to theatres, but I'm also missing a bunch.
New Review, a bit of a dissapointment coming from the director of Lantana:
Jindabyne (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17064#post17064)

[Chris Knipp]

I like being able to watch close to 60 films rather than 28, but there are drawbacks, of course.

I don't see any advantages. Beyond a certain point one becomes saturated, and to write intelligently about three films a day is something one can't do for long. It's too wearing and becomes like cramming for an exam. You can say something coherent the next day, but next month you've forgotten most of it. The brain needs time to digest. It needs space, time free of static and overstimulation. Of course if you're just sifting through to see if something is worth distribution, worth hyping; worth coming back to later, one can learn to flit in and out like a butterfly making a few mental notes. But that's not the process I've come to enjoy.

I have a feeling you somewhat underrate Jindabyne. I can see it may have some flaws, but it also sounds very interesting and well acted. Lawrence showed a desire to work on many levels in Lantana, which is good but not so marvelous that this would have to be seen as a terrible falling off just because it has some dubious edits and is a little overcomplicated or feels padded in places compared to Altman and the Carver story. (Not many people or films could be as spare as Carver's stories.) I would guess Jindabyne might be worthy of serious and thorough discussion. Anyway I'd like to see it and judge for myself.

[oscar jubis]

*There were a couple of 3-per-day on weekends. But the first film screened for the press was Feb. 1st and the last film I'm watching is the Closing Night film, on March 11th. So, it's close to 60 films spread over 39 days. A huge task to review all those but not unreasonable.

Jindabyne is worth seeing but not a "must see" and not as good as Lantana ("several notches below" said Variety, whatever that means specifically). I wrote:
"Jindabyne boasts very good performances and evocative use of landscape. It's an imaginative re-thinking of Carver's original story that serves as an allegory of the history between Europeans and aborigines in Australia. The film generates great interest when focused on the crumbling marriage of Stewart and Claire."
So it's good enough to give it a chance but "a bit of a disappointment coming from the director of [i]Lantana". Looking forward to your review when it opens.

And the reviews keep on coming:
Dark Blue Almost Black (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17069#post17069)

[Chris Knipp]

So, it's close to 60 films spread over 39 days. I didn't know they were spread out that thin. It's a long go, but more doable than I thought. Yes, a task to review. Why not just skip reviewing some of them? Can 60 really all be worth a detailed notice? But that's up to you.

I know what Variety said about Jindabyne, but your assessment is closer to Variety's than to anybody else's that I've seen.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
Yes, a task to review. Why not just skip reviewing some of them? Can 60 really all be worth a detailed notice?
I appreciate this. I do have a lot on my plate right now. But so far, I've managed. But I'll keep your suggestions in mind. I guess it's nice to have a record of my thoughts/opinions, even of films I didn't like. A kind of memento of the festival.
Angel-A (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17074#post17074)

[Chris Knipp]

Easy for me to say but I'm pretty driven and compulsive myself--that's why it's good for me to go to the Rendez-Vous or NYFF because it's possible to review them all. But with 60, I'd edit some out. In my opinion, it is a winnowing process, always. And at the bottom, are ones that maybe you don't have to write about at all, just keep notes on.

[Chris Knipp]

Angel-A.

who owns thousands of Euros to some bad guys Typo for "owes."

the Siene Typo for "Seine."

Anja Garbarek Daughter I see of Jan Garbarek, who has played with Keith Jarrett in his nice Standards albums.

It does indeed sound like a crap movie. Wonder why they included it. The visuals sound nice though. Indeed lousy reviews in France. Cahiers du Cinema said "like Amelie but without color and without the gags." I gather they didn't like Amelie. Libération: "Angel-A is just a dumb film. And it's pretentious dumbness, as if they thought fine filmmaking was just a matter of piling up pretty images."

[oscar jubis]

*I knew there was something odd about my spelling of Seine. Thanks Chris.
*Brit critics were even more uniformly negative about Angel-A than French critics. That doesn't mean the film won't have fans. Mostly due to the Paris locales and readymade sex fantasy for a segment of the male population.
*Cristi and friends watched a Spanish thriller called Las Vidas de Celia (Celia's Lives). She didn't like it much (fractured chronology seemed more like an affectation, gratuitous sex scene, unconvincing narrative...). Crowd reaction negative. Audiences often feel compelled to clap politely when the director is in the audience but Cristi reports people filed out quietly. Variety gave it a decent review though. IMDb viewers don't seem to like it.

The Most Beautiful of My Very Best Years (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17080#post17080)

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
Angel-A
It does indeed sound like a crap movie. Wonder why they included it.
Because the MIFF is, among other things, "the East Coast launching pad for films on our release schedule" (Sony Pictures Classics spokesperson).

[Chris Knipp]

Oh. Well, that's an explanation. But then that unfortunately means the organizers of the MIFF are completely at the mercy of Sony in this.

[oscar jubis]

I think it's a good deal for the fest, as almost all SPC's releases are well worth seeing. I think other East Coast fests would jump at the opportunity.
Chris, I wonder if you missed the post at the end of last page.

[Chris Knipp]

I did miss it. Now I've seen it though.


. . .almost all SPC's releases are well worth seeing.That's what I'd have thought. You picked the wrong one then.

[oscar jubis]

It was screened for the press before the fest started.

[oscar jubis]

Official MIFF Press Release regarding yesterday's events. Reviews of Sounds of Sand and Hole will be forthcoming. Reviews of Alatriste and Dark Blue Almost Black have already been posted.

" The anticipation and enthusiasm was palpable last evening when LORD OF THE RINGS heartthrob Viggo Mortensen made his appearance on the Red Carpet just prior to the Gusman Premiere screening of the Spanish swashbuckler epic ALATRISTE. The actor’s fanatical fans, and lovers of the novels by Arturo Perez-Reverte that form the basis of the film, lined Flagler Street in front of the historic Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, to catch a glimpse of the film’s lead Viggo Mortensen, co-stars Ariadna Gil and Eduard Fernández, and their directorAgustín Díaz Yanes in what was certainly a Festival highlight.

ALATRISTE was one of four Spanish films that premiered to great acclaim on Monday. Antonio Chavarrías’ CELIA’S LIVES, one of the top hits of the San Sebastian Film Festival, was an instant crowd pleaser, keeping audiences guessing till the very last moment as its intricately plotted twists and turns took their due course. HOLE, a provocative thriller by C. Martin Ferrera, was the subject of discussions that spilled out onto the street on Lincoln Road. DARK BLUE ALMOST BLACK, the winner of numerous prizes in its native Spain, had its second and final screening, with director Daniel Sánchez Arévalo visibly excited about the film’s strong reception in Miami.

While most of Miami was back to Monday-business-as-usual, the Festival continued in high gear with a full roster of well-attended film screenings. Just off the airplane, Issaka Sawadogo, lead actor in Marion Hansel’s SOUNDS OF SAND, gave an engaging and passionate Q&A to the 1,000+ audience at the Gusman."

[oscar jubis]

Accident (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17092#post17092): An experimental documentary from Brazil.

After the Wedding (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17097#post17097): an Oscar-nominated drama from Denmark.

[oscar jubis]

BELLA and FULL GROWN MEN (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17101#post17101)

[Chris Knipp]

Good short reviews, Oscar. I think the one of Full Grown Men works better, because you give us something to focus on by describing the character for us first off, whereas the Bella description leans to strictly plot summary and it's harder to whip up any interest in reading it. But they seem manageable for you and us, and logical that they should be of this length given your (convincing) evaluations.

[oscar jubis]

Thanks. My style derives from the fact that the first thing people ask me about a movie is: What is it about? Full Grown Men is completely centered on the unreal and dislikable Alby, so I started with him. Length of reviews vary according to what I think I need to say about a given film. Perhaps the longest reviews involve "borderline" films_with both strong assets and significant flaws, and heavily-plotted films (Alatriste and Jindabyne meet both criteria).
***
Almost two pages of reviews in Festival Coverage section have been posted. Reviews posted towards the bottom of a given page tend to get overlooked when a new page starts. So, I'm posting some negative reviews in the bottom of page 2. Among them this Colombian stinker: Bluff (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17104#post17104)
***
Cristi went to the fest with friends. I'm happy to report she found Fiction (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17050#post17050) to be "as good as any movie I've seen in years. But of course a few people didn't like it: no sex, no violence, no buried secrets, no melodrama, and some people assumed it was in Spanish because it was made in Spain". Screening was sold out, by the way, and many were turned away. Apparently, it was singled out as a "fest pick" by the Miami Herald critic.

[Chris Knipp]

Reviews posted towards the bottom of a given page tend to get overlooked when a new page starts. So, I'm posting some negative reviews in the bottom of page 2. Among them this Colombian stinkerClever strategy--I guess.
My style derives from the fact that the first thing people ask me about a movie is: What is it about? That's not your style, that's your approach. But this isn't my point. Every review must tell the reader what the movie is about. But the trick is to do that in an engaging, original way, while also conveying your critical opinion, without having either the information or the opinion overwhelm the other.

[oscar jubis]

That's right.

The Miami Herald critic is often infuriating. Perhaps I shouldn't care since the internet has given everyone easy access to reviews from everywhere. But one wishes the hometown daily would have a decent film critic, especially since the other arts critics are very good. My issue with Rene Rodriguez is not that he gave El Benny two stars (2 1/2 means "worth seeing" which is the grade I would give it) or that he doesn't attend festival press screenings (dvds are mailed to him). It's just that his low opinion of the Cuban film seems colored by strict political ideology. In one paragraph he complains that El Benny "follows a woefully similar blueprint to Walk the Line and Ray", which it does but those are the conventions of the genre and those two are enjoyable films. But then he writes: "What's worse, El Benny sports an entirely superfluous pro-Revolution subtext..." I wish I had attended the public screenings to confirm my suspicion that his is an extreme position and that audiences didn't find anything in the film overtly political.

Here's my review:El Benny (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17107#post17107)

[Chris Knipp]

You're right, now that we have Internet access we don't have to read local reviews and I don't even read the San Francisco papers. I'd rather be challenged or uplifted by the best writers. On the other hand it is useful at least sometimes to read a whole bunch of reviews of a film to see the wide range of interpretations and levels of thinking and writing ability and the bad ones make one appreciate the good ones better, but why have a daily diet of the bad ones? Doesn't Miami have a lot of right wingers? The San Francisco-Berkeley area is of course very liberal so a reviewer like your local one probably wouldn't get hired in the first place. It is also possible with a secure writing position that requires a daily grinding out of a column means the guy goes stale and gets grumpy.

[Chris Knipp]

El Benny.

I didn't know the word aguardiente. It could have been poison, it could have been liquor. I guess for El Benny it was both. I looked it up and it said "liquor, brandy."

It might be interesting to compare this with the new one about Edith Piaf, La Môme (AKA "La Vie en Rose"), which was the opener for the Berlinale and the NY Rendez-Vous and I reviewed (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=16914#post16914) it. It also has a twisted chronology, which doesn't always seem to make much sense, but is, as you say of El Benny, elevated by the actors and by someone doing the voice who's almost indistinguishable from the original, for what that's worth.

The Miami Herald review (http://www.miamiherald.com/249/story/34989.html) is less favorable than yours certainly but doesn't complete shred the film -- he admits it has some redeeming features. I take your word for it that he is wrong is saying, "What's worse, El Benny sports a entirely superfluous pro-Revolution subtext that adds considerable running time to a movie that often requires three scenes to convey plot points that could have fit into one." One wonders how a "subtext" could add running time in the first place? The general tone suggests I'm right in thinking this guy is a grumpy burnout. He certainly doesn't bring your kind of sympathy to film writing. On the other hand, he does give mainstream readers what they usually want from a movie review: a vivid account of the contents and a strong evaluation. That the evaluation may be wrong is another matter. And I'm not saying he's a good movie reviewer either. There is something condescending in his tone that I don't like. I wouldn't expect anybody to write this way about La Môme. We'll see. But while La Môme got very high ratings in France according to Allociné, Cahiers du Cinema ripped it to shreds, and people do tend to be sick and tired of biopics and their mannerisms, sometimes.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
It might be interesting to compare this with the new one about Edith Piaf, La Môme (AKA "La Vie en Rose")
Yes, it would be. It seems the films have a lot in common.

The Miami Herald is less favorable than yours but not quite as unfavorable as you made it sound
Right. My issue is "just that his low opinion of the Cuban film seems colored by strict political ideology" (OJ). Miami is as liberal as Ibiza or anywhere else when it comes to lifestyle/social issues. But the opposition to Castro and Chavez is headquartered here. Then again, the Cuban-American writers and academics who attended the press screening seem to like the film and made no mention in conversation of any political tract. My suspicion is that fest audiences also enjoyed the film but I wasn't there to confirm it. More than anything, I'm surprised that the youngish Miami-born Rodriguez concluded that "what's worse is the entirely superfluous pro-Revolution subtext". I didn't see any such thing. Perhaps he doesn't like Benny More because he refused to leave the island, like many other famous Cuban musicians who did. Beats me.

And now to something decidedly unconventional: LIFE CAN BE SO WONDERFUL (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17109#post17109)
The audience to this film was very young. The fest has raised prices to $12 for regular audience members and reduced tickets to $7 for students. Perhaps they are taking advantage.

[Chris Knipp]

If the 'youngish' Rodriguez (who sounds rather old) is the offspring of anti-Castro Cubans that would pretty much explain everything. For him probably simply not attacking the revolution constitutes a pro-revolution subtext.

[oscar jubis]

You're probably right, but I don't know him.
THE VIOLIN (Mexico) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17117#post17117)

[oscar jubis]

I can't help but feel a little nervous about MIFF director Nicole Guillemet's resignation after five years at the helm. Guillemet did a fantastic job. She certainly raised the international profile of the fest. "Ms. Guillemet can turn a small, indigenous film festival into the Cannes of the Americas" said The New York Times and yes, that's an overstatement. But the truth is that under Guillemet the festival flourished. I'm particularly appreciative of the chance to watch the type of "vanguard cinema" you find at Rotterdam and Berlin but rarely at US festivals. So, today the MIFF passed from the hands of a Parisian to another Parisian, Patrick de Bokay. He's got the right credentials alright. But I worry when he's quoted as having "a fondness for the horror genre", and rooting for Crash over Brokeback Mountain at the 2006 Oscars. Now, that's scary!

SOUND OF SAND (Bel/Fra) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17127#post17127)

HOLE (Spain) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17137#post17137)

[Johann]

Thanks for this thread Oscar- it is both a great reference for rarely seen flicks and indeed a momento of the fest.

I'll refer to it when some of these films cross my path.

I'm gonna try for accreditation for the 32nd TIFF- you gotta get it in early because they don't give too many "new" journalists a chance.
Here's hoping...

[oscar jubis]

My pleasure. It would be a treat for all of us filmleafers if you get accreditation Johann. What I love about TIFF is how all the venues are within walking distance. I'm very curious about their press screenings. I wonder how many of the 300+ films are shown to the press prior to the fest, for instance. Anyway, good luck!
The MIFF was very rich this year in new, vanguard films that don't stand a chance to ever show on commercial screens; truly "art cinema" not what gets released under that moniker. Stuff that truly moves the medium forward and defies any expectations. I like commercial movies too and there's plenty of them at the MIFF, but what I love about festivals is the opportunity to watch challenging and original films.

FRAULEIN (Switzerland) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17141#post17141)

[Chris Knipp]

Sound of Sand : This director also helped write the screenplay for Frédéric Fonteyne's mournful, well-acted '30's drama of adultery La Femme de Gilles (2004), and she produced the highly regarded Denis Tanovic film No Man's Land (2001).

I can appreciate your concern about the change of directors for the Miami festival. Just the departure of the Press director of the NYFF, Graham Leggat, to head the SFIFF, meant pain for me. He seems to be doing a good job in San Francisco, but his New York press successor seemed to have had some trouble filling his shoes. Things just didn't seem to be as sharp or well handled last fall compared to the previous year under Leggat's regime. In your case, the whole character of the festival may change. But somebody else usually directs the "programming," I think, i.e., oversees the selections of films. Do you know anything about this new (French) guy? Why a French guy in Miami, by the way? I'm not sure I'd let just those two preferences spook you but this Patrick de Bokay guy seems to have a more commercial background.

[Johann]

re: press screenings

I don't know how the TIFF works on press screenings, but the VIFF has all of the press screenings you can handle a month prior to the festival.
Usually 5 days a week, they all begin at about 10 am and run about 4 films a day (before most of the "art" theatres begin their evenings' screenings).
Your butt can get sore.


Please check the 'ol e-mail Oscar.

[oscar jubis]

Johann:
Thanks for the e-mail. If you haven't received my response let me know. Man, that's a lot of press screenings. At MIFF, it was never more than three-a-day.

Chris:
*We discussed Marion Hansel on page 2 of your "New French Films..." thread.
*During his introduction on Closing Night, de Bokay joked that he was hired because of his accent. Like Nicole, he opens his mouth and you know he's French. You hear a lot of French in Miami: there's a large Haitian community, many French ex-pats, and lots of Quebecois with second homes in South Florida.
*Programming here is by committee, but the director has a major influence. Programmer Monika Wagenberg stays with the fest and that relieves my anxiety a bit. De Bokay is well-connected and experienced but I won't relax until February '08. Will films like Juventud em Marcha, Hamaca Paraguaya, Hole, and Life can be so Wonderful continue to be included? Indeed, Bokay seems to have a more commercial background than Nicole Guillemet. Would he have brought the amazing Jean Rouch retrospective/conference that came here in '05? De Bokay doesn't "sound" like the type who'd go through the trouble.

GOD WILLING (Sweden) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17156#post17156)

[Chris Knipp]

I see I repeated some information you had already given about Hansel and La femme de Gilles. I get tangled up in these crisscrossing threads sometimes and I have a really hard time keeping track of people whose films I've never seen. Fougeron's Mon fils a moi might appeal to me. But you didn't go to see it? It sounds up your alley too.

If I were you I would relax about this new director. Go with the flow. He may too.

The Swedish Syrian hiphop director's name is actually Amir Chamdin, with an M. Maybe it relates to an old name for the Syrian region in Arabic, al-Sham. You've generated some interest with this thread, Oscar--it's gotten a lot more hits than your MIFF reviews or mine of the Rendez-Vous. This Chamdin film interests me, for the images and music and the Syrian angle too, though I wonder why he chooses to call himself "Juan" and thus denies his Arab origins. The Variety review, the only one of many on IMDb that's in English, is quite favorable, at least about the look of it, and the many Swedish ones suggest there's been a lot of interest, and obviously a fair amount of festival play. A new face on the festival circuit is always welcome. Finnish tango comes up again here, as in Aki Kaurismäki's new one, Lights in the Dusk. I'll have to tell my American friend Steve, the Aki Kaurismäki fan who lives in Paris with his Swedish wife. We met in Morocco, and he met her there, so there's an Arab angle for us too.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
Fougeron's Mon fils a moi might appeal to me. But you didn't go to see it? It sounds up your alley too.
I watched it during the fest proper with a large audience. I still have 20 reviews left to post.

If I were you I would relax about this new director. Go with the flow. He may too.
Ok

The Swedish Syrian hiphop director's name is actually Amir Chamdin, with an M.
Thank you very much. I've corrected the spelling.

You've generated some interest with this thread, Oscar--it's gotten a lot more hits than your MIFF reviews or mine of the Rendez-Vous.
Many locals have commented they've read my reviews. They invariably find them here and not under "Festival Coverage".

This Chamdin film interests me, for the images and music and the Syrian angle too, though I wonder why he chooses to call himself "Juan" and thus denies his Arab origins.
I was curious but couldn't find an explanation. The film plays down the immigrant character's specific background. It's really cool how the film ends with the newspaper photo that, along with his parents' romance, inspired Chamdin to make the film.

[Chris Knipp]

But the hits are shown, 1080 for this thread and 375 for your Festival Coverage reviews thread. If you click on a review link here, it adds a hit on the reviews thread. And there are nearly three times as many here than there Could they be pulling the wool over your eyes? 20 more reviews, gosh, you never stop. But you are actually done, then? Aren't you tired? Your last link, God Willing, doesn't work. By the way of course God willing is a common Arabic expression: insha'allah.

[oscar jubis]

I forgot a key detail. I started the thread here on Feb. 20th and the one in "Fest. Coverage" on March 4th.

I still have a dozen reviews to write (but I have notes) including 2 that will be difficult to write: Drained from Brazil (because of my complex reaction to it) and Pedro Costa's Colossal Youth aka Juventud Em Marcha (because Costa is the most innovative new director around and this is my first exposure, and because others have captured the film perfectly in their reviews.)

Are you attending SFIFF this year?

SONJA (Germany) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17163#post17163)

[Chris Knipp]

I will attend SFIFF screenings, we'll see if I can cover as many as last year. I'll look forward especially to your Drained and Colossal Youth reviews--the problematic complex ones oft are the most interesting ones.

[Johann]

Chris- no replies allowed anymore on your website?

I wanted to reply to your dead-on "Sorceror's Apprentice" piece.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
I will attend SFIFF screenings, we'll see if I can cover as many as last year.
Bravo

I'll look forward especially to your Drained and Colossal Youth reviews--the problematic complex ones oft are the most interesting ones.
For Colossal Youth, I probably will use quotes from 2 or 3 different critics who have written quite insightfully about Pedro Costa. It's the only festival review in which I feel inclined to do that. It's been a long time since a director has emerged who has inspired such admiration from the most devoted cinema freaks worldwide. I'm a novice like I said. I'm still not quite sure he's at that Kiarostami-WKW-Tarr level. Same goes for Lucrecia Martel and Carlos Reygadas. Put the Portuguese Costa is in the running. The first time I heard of him was an interview of Jacques Rivette who said Costa was "one of the greats". It took years to finally get to watch one of his films. There are two more available in Europe on dvd. Having dvds shipped from Europe is too expensive though.

THE OLD GARDEN (S. Korea) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17169#post17169)

[Chris Knipp]

Johann:
Chris- no replies allowed anymore on your website?

I wanted to reply to your dead-on "Sorceror's Apprentice" piece.
(Johann is referring to a political not a film piece.]
I figured it's not really a discussion site, and I had got spooked by the hackers, so...but why don't we have a discussion of this here on the LOUNGE section-- I started a thread (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1983) there with my "Masters of Terror" AKA Sorcerer's Apprentice piece, and you can have at it.


Oscar:
For Colossal Youth, I probably will use quotes from 2 or 3 different critics who have written quite insightfully about Pedro Costa. It's the only festival review in which I feel inclined to do that. It always makes sense if they say interesting things and a lot of critics have already had a go at a film before you get a chance to write about it. You can say where you stand in relation to them.
It took years to finally get to watch one of his films. There are two more available in Europe on dvd. Having dvds shipped from Europe is too expensive though.
Maybe so but it's a bit cheaper than going over there to get them.

[oscar jubis]

Now that's way beyond my budget nowadays. I'm glad I traveled a lot in the 80s and 90s. Foreign movies are like a vicarious form of travel, aren't they? Well, here's an American one:

IRA & ABBY (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17173#post17173)

[Chris Knipp]

I realize after checking just now with a friend who's used that service that shipping by Amazon.fr or FNAC of DVD's or books from France is quite expensive. So one would do it only in extreme cases where one had a dire need for something. If you need a couple DVDs from France ask me and next fall if I go there as I very well may I can get it for you. I think the shipping charges via those businesses are a bit inflated; one can ship cheaper from a local French P.O. via surface, which really seems to go air nowadays and which is always faster than they say it will be from the UK, France, or Italy.

IRA & ABBY (USA)
It's an "indie" picture that could perform like a "major" at the box office if handled properly.. . .Ira & Abby moves like a sitcom but the material is a notch above. . .I'm afraid an indie performing like a major if handled properly and something a notch above a sitcom doesn't sound particularly exciting, and this film will probably turn up in Berkeley's Landmark theaters. I hope you found some more interesting new US work in the whole Miami festival.

[oscar jubis]

Thanks for your offer. FNAC has the better prices but the shipping is outrageous. They have outlets in Spain, France, Portugal,etc. I have bought some UK dvds from Bensons and the shipping is only 1.25 pounds per. But the Costa dvds have not been released in the UK. I could ask my father-in-law to send me the discs from Spain, but the Costas are not available in Spain yet. There are some American sites that sell dvd-r of Euro dvds but it's been a while since I checked what's available.

The MIFF screened 7 "Amerindies". "Bella" and "Full Grown Men" were bad. "Padre Nuestro" (same title as a Chilean film I reviewed already) won Sundance '07 but got slammed by Variety. I skipped the press screening of "Thanks To Gravity" and I was told by colleagues I made a wise decision. "Ira & Abby" is a NY comedy for adults that's better than most studio comedies and still not "particularly exciting" as you correctly inferred from my review. "First Snow", starring Guy Pearce and opening soon, looks promising. And Choking Man (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17036#post17036) which is good and I hope gets released.

[Chris Knipp]

You'll know when I'm headed for France and can put in an order. The big FNAC stores in Paris do seem to havepretty good DVD selections.
There are some American sites that sell dvd-r of Euro dvds but it's been a while since I checked what's available. Can you tell me more about those sites? I'd like to check them out.

Thanks for the rundown on the English stuff--Miami seems to have been weak in that area but I'll have to read the rest of your reviews. I did read the Choking Man one.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
Can you tell me more about those sites? I'd like to check them out.
This American site sells dvds from all over the world:
xploitedcinema (http://xploitedcinema.com/catalog/art-house-c-25_1.html?page=1&sort=2a)
This site sells much cheaper conversions (dvd-r) of import dvds and vhs:
Superhappyfun (http://www.superhappyfun.com/content.htm)
There are others.

Thanks for the rundown on the English stuff
You're welcome. That's the American stuff.

[Chris Knipp]

I meant in English. I'll look at those sites, thank you very much indeed.

[oscar jubis]

There were other fiction films in English: Jindabyne and Cate Shortland's The Silence from Australia, Red Road from Scotland and Nick Broomfield's Ghosts.

The Page Turner (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17199#post17199)

[oscar jubis]

MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THE WORLD (Mexico) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17203#post17203)

[Johann]

Sonja and Fraulein sound real good.

Your reviews remind me of the press screenings in Van.

The new foreign and obscure films unfolding before your eyes that have a long shot at a decent release.
Some are outstanding, extremely well made.

The sad reality is most of these films won't be seen by anybody in the mass public unless you attend a festival or seek them out.

A lot of these movies won't even make it to DVD.

[Chris Knipp]

DENIS DERCOURT: THE PAGE TURNER/LA TOURNEUSE DE PAGES.

As you may remember this was in the Rendez-Vous series this year and I reviewed (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=16919#post16919) it in that Festival Coverage thread. One small correction: since the Césars are already over, we have to say that Frot and Francois were nominated. And they didn't win and Frot for Best Actress lost to the young Marina Hinds for the much admired Lady Chatterley (which hasn't been shown at a venue I've been to yet, it made a splash at the Berlinale) and Most Prosmising Actress (Meilleur espoir féininin) went to Mélanie Laurent of Rendez-Vous film Don't Worry, I'm Fine/Je vais bien, ne t'en fais pas (another good entry in the Rendez-Vous, though I prefer The Page Turner), rather than to Francois. There's one thing in your review that puzzles me: "Jean tells Melanie that his wife is emotionally fragile and afflicted by stage fright since she was hit by an unidentified driver (was it our young protagonist?). " There's no indication our young protagonist even has a car, and Frot's presence in Greggory's household appears to be a complete surprise, but maybe we shouldn't even go into these details since the suspense rests on slow revelations. The comparison with Chabrol is inevitable, but I don't really agree with you if you're comparing this unfavorably with Chabrol, who has been very uneven, with high and low points. It's different, not inferior. In a way, due to the command of the musical milieu, Dercourt's work carries more conviction and at times is more subtle than much of Chabrol's, even though Chabrol is the greater, more productive, destined to be the more remembered, director. And hence I remain convinced that this was one of the best of the Rendez-Vous this year -- which contained much else of interest and high artistic accomplishment-- and will probably do well critically with art house distribution here. However it is an extremely dry and wooden kind of story, the storytelling to some extent partakes of that dry woodenness, and I might not disagree with the Film Freak Central writer on the Toronto Festival who wrote
I question whether Denis Dercourt's Chabrolian The Page Turner (La Tourneuse de pages)--which more than earns its presumptuous double entendre of a title--actually has anything of consequence to say, but I sure got a charge out of it. A pretty strong charge, too, thanks in no small part to the excellence of the principals.

P.s. It's a lucky thing that somewhat by chance I bought a DVD of Dercourt's previous MY CHILDREN ARE NOT LILKE THE OTHERS (or whatever it's called in English)/MES ENFANTS NE SONT PAS COMME LES AUTRES in France two years ago, because the comparison is very interesting and enriches my understanding of what Dercourt's doing considerably--but I don't think you can get that title here, or through those two sites you gave me, which seem to lean toward the dark and backroom kinds of titles rather than the host of good more mainstream stuff from France that we never get access to.

[Chris Knipp]

johann:

The new foreign and obscure films unfolding before your eyes that have a long shot at a decent release. Yes, but my observation from my slightly closer scrutiny of current French cinema lately indicates that it's not just the obsucre ones that have a long shot, but some excellent fairly mainstream French ones. We just don't have universal inter-national distribution, and wouldn't it be nice if we did. But maybe download technology eventually will bring us that, and they'll come through the air, computer bank to computer, in a cyberwonderland. Trouble with that: money's involved. Competition. Which means "free enterprise," which means really restricted enterprise.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Johann
Sonja and Fraulein sound real good.
Good movies. I think Fraulein has a better chance at distribution because of winning the top prize at Locarno, one of the top 10 European Festivals.

The new foreign and obscure films unfolding before your eyes that have a long shot at a decent release.
Some are outstanding, extremely well made.
Indeed. Often there's no rhyme or reason as to why some films get picked up for distribution and others don't. The British film A Way of Life (a BAFTA winner) and 2005 MIFF audience fave Accused (from Denmark) didn't get distribution, but New Yorker Films picked up the very downbeat "difficult" The Forsaken Land from Sri Lanka. These are films from the past two festivals. It's going to take a year or two to find out whether some of the films at 2007 MIFF will get distributed. I forgot to say in my review that Tartan USA will release iThe Page Turner a week from tomorrow. Also, the Brazilian films Antonia and Alice's House and the Colombian A Ton of Luck were purchased at the fest and will be distributed. There are films that don't have distribution and, sadly, won't get picked up, and a few of of them probably shouldn't, no matter how brilliant they are. I mean Hamaca Paraguaya (reviewed), Life Can Be So Wonderful (reviewed) and Colossal Youth (not reviewed yet) are not meant for commercial theatres. These amazing films belong at festivals, cinematheques and art museums.

The sad reality is most of these films won't be seen by anybody in the mass public unless you attend a festival or seek them out.
I didn't realize to what extent we have access to only a small portion of what's good until I looked into the "World Poll" at Senses of Cinema a couple of years ago. Here's the 2006 Poll: http://www.sensesofcinema.com/

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
There's one thing in your review that puzzles me: "Jean tells Melanie that his wife is emotionally fragile and afflicted by stage fright since she was hit by an unidentified driver (was it our young protagonist?). " There's no indication our young protagonist even has a car
True, but that doesn't rule out the possibility that the hit 'n run driver was Melanie. I think it's a little "tease" by Dercourt. I'm convinced I'm not the only one who thought about it.

...and Frot's presence in Greggory's household appears to be a complete surprise
I don't know what you mean. Do you mean Melanie coming to work as an au pair there? If so, that doesn't rule out her being the driver either. Dercourt simply throws this possibility into the mix. Not a major plot point or anything.

The comparison with Chabrol is inevitable, but I don't really agree with you if you're comparing this unfavorably with Chabrol, who has been very uneven, with high and low points.
I mean exactly this: "The Page Turner recalls Claude Chabrol's suspense thrillers, particularly La Ceremonie for its locale, This Man Must Die for its theme of obssesive revenge, and Merci Pour Le Chocolat for its classical music milieu. Dercourt's film lacks the irony, humor and sharp social commentary of Chabrol's best films."
If you actually agree with the comment you quoted then we're not far apart re: The Page Turner.

[Chris Knipp]

I'm in agreement with the line I quoted, but not with your apparent inference that I'd agree with you seeing Dercourt somehow as a Chabrol manqué. "Dercourt's film lacks the irony, humor and sharp social commentary of Chabrol's best films." Yes but so do the films of Bruno Dumont. No, Dercourt is no Chabrol, but one can say approvingly that he creates a Chabrolian atmosphere in his latest film. I don't see how your listing three Chabrol films that have elements in The Page Turner makes an interesting or useful comparison. What's the value? In his own more limited vein of a specialist in classical music (Dercourt is a conservatory music teacher and musician as well as writer-director), Dercourt goes deeper than Chabrol, and a look at Merci Pour le Chocolat shows that. Dercourt has something unique to say. He takes us into a less severe, more subtle, and more specialzed realm than Chabrol's. Other names also come up, Hitchcock, Dominick Moll, even Maupassant, but Dercourt, however limited is also unique and in this case I think very effective in a vein we can relate to classic thrillers.

I think you ought to give up the idea about Mélanie's hypothetical role in the car accident. Such a plot element would be jarringly out of keeping with both Dercourt's methods and Mélanie's.

[oscar jubis]

You start the post: "I'm in agreement with the line I quoted,..." in which the writer questions whether the film " actually has anything of consequence to say". A liitle further down you write: "Dercourt has something unique to say." I'm confused.

Melanie's hypothetical role in the car accident is like a amuse-bouche, like a little "teaser". I knew I wasn't the only one who thought about it:
"She is taken on as a nanny for the couple's young son and soon she is not only caring for him but also tending to Ariane. The imperious pianist of old has been made fragile by a recent hit-and-run incident (the possibility that this was carried out by Mélanie is left tantalisingly open.) "
Sam Jordison
Channel 4 (UK) Critic


STRAIGHT TO THE POINT (Brazil) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17221#post17221)

[Chris Knipp]

I had actually meant to say I don't think despite his ironic comments on the bourgeois life Chabrol actually has anything of consequence to say either. So both have something unique to say, but not of consequence. Examples of films with something of consequence to say are too numerous to mention, but among recent ones I'd suggest The Lives of Others, or Days of Glory, or Letters from Iwo Jima. Your hypothesis and the UK TV reviewer's seems to me out of keeping with the style of the narrative and the personality of Mélanie, and it would mean she knew Greggory was Ariane's husband when she got the job, which we aren't told, so that would mean we aren't being told anything. You have found one English-speaking writer who agrees with you, but I could refer you to a dozen French-speaking ones who have written about the film and have not the slightest suspicion that Ariane's fragile condition has anything to do with Mélanie. I don't think this is "tantalizingly left open," I think it's a whole segment of the film where the girl is set up for her revenge that is really not very clearly worked out, but which presumably just happens fortuitously for Mélanie. We'd need to see how it goes in the screenplay or what Dercourt or his co-writer Jacques Sotty would say. I don't think it's an amuse-bouche, this uncertainty, but an indigestible element which, however, I don't think we're meant to be tantalized by so much as just accept. But since there's a question mark, you have pointed to a weakness. Thrillers often have such leaps or gaps, including Chabrol's. That's how I see it anyway. You're welcome to your opinion. If I find out anything further, I'll let you know. The film's coming to Berkeley for a one-week run in a week and I'll try to get somebody to go with me and get their feedback on the plot issues, see if their bouche gets amused.

[oscar jubis]

I'm convinced Melanie knew Greggory was Ariane's husband when she got the job (even though we aren't told) and I don't believe Melanie was the hit-and-run driver even though I enjoyed entertaining the possibility.

MISSISSIPPI CHICKEN (USA) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17228#post17228)

[Chris Knipp]

I'm glad you're not pushing Mélanie's having a role in the accident as either a fact or an authorial tease any more. The husband's identity is equally unsupported, as you acknowledge. I don't use that approach. I don't like to get "convinced" of things for which there is no justification in the piece. I take a more rational and skeptical approach to interpretation. I try to stick to what I'm actually given; there's quite enough with that. It's a pity you focus on these pure hypotheses, when there are other real false hints, such as that Mélanie may be preparing to get Tristan drowned. As I said before, the whole sequence of events by which Mélanie is set up in a position to exact her revenge on Ariane years after she loses the scholarship is not very clearly worked out. But it's still evident that Mélanie just gets lucky.

[oscar jubis]

I was never "pushing it". I never said it was a fact. It's still an authorial tease. It's not a "weakness". Film is fine if limited. And regarding Chabrol...better than some from the prolific master (who has admitted to accepting projects he shouldn't have just because he likes the shoot) and not as ambitious and significant as the best dozen films Chabrol directed.

[oscar jubis]

FISH DREAMS (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17239#post17239)

[oscar jubis]

SWEET MUD (Israel) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17243#post17243)

[oscar jubis]

Perhaps the most challenging film to review. My reaction to the film was very complicated. I wish I could have seen it again before reviewing it. The source novel is a dark, absurdist tragedy with an anonymous and nefarious protagonist. I concluded that the film's added humor and efforts to ellicit some sympathy for the character clash with the many elements from the novel that survived the translation to film. I think those are the reasons why I found most of the film both smart and unpleasant. But I'd have to watch it again to solidify my opinion. Anyway, here it is:
DRAINED (Brazil) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17246#post17246)

[Chris Knipp]

Probably your most interesting review of the festival. It pays to agonize. If done intelligently. And it was.

[oscar jubis]

I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was hard to write. I hope it's shown at the upcoming Brazilian Film Festival (which now travels from here to NYC, and China!) so I can give it a second look.

THE CUSTODIAN (Argentina) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17249#post17249)

[oscar jubis]

BLACK BOOK (Netherlands) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17257#post17257)

[Chris Knipp]

Black Book -- scheduled to open NYC and LA April 4.

[oscar jubis]

Indeed. Thanks. I think I spoke too soon when I predicted Black Book would be the highest grossing foreign-language film of the year. It's going to go wide before the end of April. But not to over 1000 screens as Pan's Labyrinth did. It won't match that film's amazing b.o. take ($36 million) but it should surpass Volver's $12 million (quite respectable for a subtitled film in the USA).

[Chris Knipp]

It's nice that V. has gone back to Dutch and I hope I like it, but I'm a bit doubtful it will do as well critically as, or better financially than, Volver, just from reading about it. I guess the latter depends on levels of distribution and promotion -- unknown factors, presumably, to us?

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
I'm a bit doubtful it will do as well critically as, or better financially than, Volver, just from reading about it.
It won't do as well critically as Volver. It will do at least as well financially if properly marketed. If the trailer emphasizes the sex and violence and de-emphasizes the fact that it's subtitled, pic will do real well at the box office.

[Chris Knipp]

As I said, "depends on levels of distribution and promotion ."

[oscar jubis]

You did and you are right.

THE HEART OF THE EARTH (Spain/UK) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17273#post17273)

[oscar jubis]

BELLE TOUJOURS (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17282#post17282)

[Chris Knipp]

BELLE TOUJOURS.

It was shown at the NYFF last fall and I wrote a review (
It's a magnificent film, best enjoyed by those familiar with Bunuel's 1967 masterpiece. A good question is whether it meant much to anyone not familiar with Bunuel's "1967 masterpiece." It shows great command but is rather slow to say the least, though the private dinner sequence is memorable, and the bar scenes. Fred Scheck, Hollywood Reporter:
unlikely to have much resonance for those who have not seen its inspiration. I likeed watching Ogier, Piccoli, and Oliviera's relative as barman, as well as the elegant Parisian locales, but it was not, for me, a highlight of the festival.

[cinemabon]

It's taken me over an hour, but I managed to make it through this post, following up with all its links...

I must say I adamantly admire you and Chriss for your dedication to film and bothering to keep this site afloat. Posts like this one, with such valuable contributions to criticism and commentary, legitamize the rest of our ramblings. It's a shame the public is not privy to these monumental posts, whose insight arguably reach further into the psychology of film than is posted on the majority of the internet.

[oscar jubis]

Thank you. I'm glad you enjoy this thread, cinemabon. There's a lot of movie prattle online. It's an honor to share this forum with you, Chris, Johann, bix, mouton, Tab, and others and go "deeper into movies" (to borrow the title of Kael's book).

*I'm one of those people who start conversations with strangers at the end of films. I do this a lot during the festival because the atmosphere is conducive to discussion. I talked to several people after Toujours, most of whom had not seen or did not remember the 1967 film. Some liked it, others found it "slight". I find it difficult to rate Tojours from the perspective of someone who didn't watch the early film. Like most of Bunuel's films, I've seen it several times. For me, the appearance of the chicken is more than a surrealist touch, it immediately brings to mind scenes from Viridiana and L'Age d'or. When Henri tells the story to the bartender, I know when he's lying or embellishing or providing a valid but personal interpretation. I don't think someone without the previous experience can enjoy Tojours as much as I did. I think that person can derive some enjoyment from the film though. I did not find it "slow" at all, but I can't speak for others. Since Bunuel's film is so great, I would tell someone planning to watch Toujours to rent the nice dvd of Belle de Jour prior to watching what I called an "epilogue".

[Johann]

I agree with cinemabon.

Some praise is due here.

I count what, 50 film reviews in a very short time?

50 awesome, well-written, highly focused reviews from someone who is a real cineaste.

I drop a knee my friend.
And you do it without pay.
You are arguably the lifeblood of this site Oscar.
*Don't pout Chris- you know you rule too...*
We're lucky to have you Mr. Jubis.

Film Comment, as great as it is as a magazine, cannot be this comprehensive with their coverage of festivals- not even close.
And they publish long after the dust settles.

Online publishing is great, isn't it?

Standing-O for this great collection of viewpoints.

Hope you do it for many years to come.

[Chris Knipp]

I find it difficult to rate Tojours from the perspective of someone who didn't watch the early film. Or, since I don't remember that film that well, haven't watched Ogier and Piccoli in many films before and don't know who Oliveira is. I'm sure for me knowing this one is by a very old, very mellow director using remarkable French actors with long careers made me sit up and take notice. Otherwise, I might well have said, What the heck is this all about? If I said it was "slow" I don't mean it was boring. Van Sant's Gerry is "slow," --very, very slow -- but I happen to have really enjoyed it.
For me, the appearance of the chicken is more than a surrealist touch, it immediately brings to mind scenes from Viridiana and L'Age d'or.Point well taken.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
If I said it was "slow" I don't mean it was boring.
I apologize. Even though I didn't specify that you called it "slow", I admit I wrote my reply under the false impression that you had written that.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Johann
I drop a knee my friend.
And you do it without pay.
I don't know that I deserve such amazing comments but I thank you. You've provided all the motivation I could need to write the six reviews pending. I must confess that without this outlet and these readers I could not afford to watch more than a handful of films. It's not only that the press screenings precede the festival, but as a low-income person I could never afford to watch 56 films at $12 each.

[Chris Knipp]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
If I said it was "slow" I don't mean it was boring.
I apologize. Even though I didn't specify that you called it "slow", I admit I wrote my reply under the false impression that you had written that. I don't know what your impression was, but slow is not boring. It's slow, that's all. Fast could be boring too, very easily in fact.

[Chris Knipp]

as a low-income person I could never afford to watch 56 films at $12 each.Let's hope online reviewing is growing in respect as politics blogs seem to be doing. I don't think you have to be low-income to find $672 a lot to spend for a few weeks of movie-going. I just went to only 10-15 in the SF festival till I started getting a press pass.

[oscar jubis]

The SFIFF will announce their lineup soon. I'm curious. That 10-ticket pass for $80 is a good deal. There's no equivalent at the MIFF.


BEAUTY IN TROUBLE (Czech Rep) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17302#post17302)

[oscar jubis]

MY SON (France) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17304#post17304)

[Chris Knipp]

Julien gets a respite from her when he receives piano lessons from his grandmother (Emmanuel Riva)Emmanuel is a boy's name. It's Emmanuelle. In French Danielle, Marcelle, etc. are the female versions of names that have a masculine form. Or not, as in Isabelle.
They establish a tense mood from the start and sustain it. . . That's what I think about The Page Turner, but you seem to like this better. Why? I would like to see this. Apart from my usual interest in French films, I like Baye, though the films I've seen her in have been uneven. I personally think she's terrific in Le petit lieutenant, and love the film (SFIFF, NYFF, and limited US distribution) though the US reviews were mediocre (Metacritic 72); she got the Best Actress César for that one, I believe.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
Emmanuel is a boy's name. It's Emmanuelle.
Thanks Chris. I don't want my review to contain errors like this one. Actually I knew it's Emmanuelle but I rushed the posting and failed to check the spelling. Ms. Riva is "Elle" in one of my very favorite French films ever: Resnais' Hiroshima Mon Amour. I've lost count of how many times I've seen it.

That's what I think about The Page Turner, but you seem to like this better. Why? I would like to see this.
I agree that both films create and sustain a tense mood. I like them both Chris, but I hadn't actually compared one with the other. Let's see. What I said about The Page Turner that was negative was that it "lacks the irony, humor and sharp social commentary of the best Chabrol films." I would agree with the following comment about My Son by Variety's Jonathan Holland:
"Subtle ironies abound, as when mother tells the uncomprehending Julien it's better to tell a lie than to hurt someone's feelings: of course, she is telling herself a big lie to avoid being hurt."
These "subtle ironies" are not present in The Page Turner. On the other hand, we know why Melanie is bent on revenge (even though we don't know why in the decade transpired since the failed audition she hasn't managed to accept it and move on) whereas we have no idea how Baye's mom character got to be such a monster and how her marriage got to be so utterly unsatisfying emotionally. When I write that "My Son is more than anything a horror film", I'm suggesting its limitations.
Both The Page Turner and My Son are well-executed, both feature very good performances, both have premises that can be summarized in a single sentence, both are worth seeing, and both lack the scope and ambition of films one considers as among the "best of the year" or "best of the fest". Obviously, the jury at San Sebastian liked My Son more than I did (tied for best film of that festival). My Son is a lot more difficult to watch and one admires the filmmakers lack of concern with giving an audience what they want. To say more would spoil the film. I don't expect My Son to be released in the States although one never knows. If I'm right, you can still get the dvd in France in 6 months or so.


I like Baye, though the films I've seen her in have been uneven. I personally think she's terrific in Le petit lieutenant, and love the film (SFIFF, NYFF, and limited US distribution) though the US reviews were mediocre (Metacritic 72)
Mediocre? 60 and above means "generally favorable reviews".
Le Petit Lieutenant comes out on dvd on April 10th y'all.

[Chris Knipp]

Le petit lieutenant reviews not "mediocre."
I shouildn't have said the US Petit lieutenant reviews were mediocre, just not as enthusiastic as I'd hoped. I won't comment further, except I saw it with someone at the SFIFF who thought it was just a cop flick, and I don't think everyone especially Americans would see that it transcends that genre. You will like Baye in it, I think. It also relates to addiction and recovery. I think Jalil Lespert is better than usual in it as the titular "little," i.e., fresh young, police academy grad, maybe he just had a better role and director there--just a guess, since I've seen only a handful of the 24 films this 31-year-old actor has been in. Anyway Nathalie Baye's is one of her best recent roles--again guessing, since only a few of them have been available to me--but this is supported by her getting the César, and La Californie, her latest, is lackluster. She acted for Xavier Beauvois before, in Selon Matthieu (2000), also starring Cannes prizewinner Benoît Magimel (for La pianiste, with Isabelle Huppert), and wouldn't I like to see that--available on French DVD.

"Not" defending The Page Turner
I don't want to over-defend The Page Turner; maybe I have a chip on my shoulder about it. I am getting tired of seeing it compared to Chabrol and found wanting -- not you in particular, Oscar. I was very disappointed in Manohla Dargis' dismissive review of it Friday. I am afraid I have lost my former enthusiasm for Dargis. I do think that seeing Dercourt's previous My Children Are Different, or whatever it's called in English, greatly enhanced my appreciation of The Page Turner because it shows his way of looking into the darker aspects of musicianship, and gives me a definite handle on what's distinctive about Dercourt's sensibility. Whether Manohla has seen it I don't know, but I think this approach through the previous work frees one of the compulsion to see The Page Turner as inferior Chabrol. Apparently Dercourt's earlier Les Cachetonneurs is a "joyous celebration of classical music," so he is moving into continually darker realms lately, but with a musical perspective.

Not comparing My Son with The Page Turner.
I see what you're saying about My Son, and that you don't want to be particularly seen as preferring it to The Page Turner (the latter, again, is coming to Berkeley for one week only in a couple weeks so I hope to re-see it). Finally, I do consider The Page Turner one of the "best of" the Rendez-Vous, but that's not the same level of selectivity as "the best of the fest." Looking on the fnac website, only The Page Turner and My Children...etc. are available on French DVD's, so he is only recently being noticed in France.

Emmanuelle Riva's greatest role.
Now you have told me why the name Emmanuelle Riva is familiar to me. I have also seen Hiroshima mon amour a number of times and thought a lot about it; it made a big impression on me the first time, when it was new and I was very young and the Nouvelle Vague was a new and exciting thing. It continues to reverberate through the many film treatments of works by and screenplays by the writer Marguerite Duras--The Lover, starring Jane March (Jean-Jacques Annaud, 1992) was a pretty good treatment of the actual experience of Duras' youth, directly described in her novel La douleur (Pain), out of which the Hiroshima mon amour story grew, in some sense.

[oscar jubis]

You probably like The Page Turner more than me, which doesn't mean I didn't like it. I am obviously curious about what you'd think of Mon Fils A Moi. I like this Spanish rural thriller more than either and it probably won't get distributed either:

The Night of the Sunflowers (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17325#post17325)

[Chris Knipp]

Sunflowers. Yes that sounds interestingly done. I think the touble is you don't feel the tension in The Page Turner as keenly as I do. But more is happening in this one, certaily. I really liked The Aura. I'm a little bothered by the use of the word "thriller." It sounds like something more.

So it's called Mon fils à moi--I see. That makes more sense. "The Son" is confusing, because we've just had The Sun and then we've already had Le Fils (Dardennes brothers) and then their "L'Enfant," The Child. Mon fils à moi is more distinctive. I bet this time the accent will read okay for you, because I'm sending this via Internet Explorer.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
I really liked The Aura. I'm a little bothered by the use of the word "thriller." It sounds like something more.
Well, it is that but it's not confined by it. I understand though, I'm a little bothered lately by the overuse of "noir". The Aura? Apt comparison. Looks like we are understanding each other.

I bet this time the accent will read okay for you, because I'm sending this via Internet Explorer.
Yep.

[Chris Knipp]

Accent--so that is the reason. But now I'm back in Firefox, so see if this works: touché. Touché.

I don't understand how this works and I need to learn more about it.

[oscar jubis]

A WONDERFUL WORLD (Mexico) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17357#post17357)

[Johann]

Not really related to your review:

I saw a comedian on TV say Louis Armstrong was a heavy marijuana smoker, which gives new meaning to "What a Wonderful Wolrd":

I see trees of GREEN...
Clouds of white (smoke)...


sorry, bad joke.

:)

[Chris Knipp]

Wikipedia "unsourced" Satchmo quotes:

"At first it was just a misdemeanor, but then you lost the "mis-de" and you just got meaner and meaner. [A reference to the anti-marijuana laws of the 1930s]."

"It really puzzles me to see marijuana connected with narcotics dope and all of that stuff. It is a thousand times better than whiskey. It is an assistant and a friend."

I guess that indicates he was a grateful and regular user. I hope he wasn't addicted to the stuff. When I was growing up the only grass was to be found from jazz musicians; maybe also in the black community.

But why are we talking about this in this thread???

[Johann]

I agree.

I also agree with Louis- it IS better than whiskey.

In 2004 I bought a mickey of jack daniels and I was never more sicker in my life. I was on the floor of my bathroom for hours, thinking I was dying. "Why did I think Jack Daniels was cool to drink? Ohhh..uggghh..

That stuff is SERIOUS rotgut. It says "This is a sippin' whiskey" on the bottle for a reason.

[oscar jubis]

Perhaps we can all agree that marijuana is better than whisky but whisky is better than GLUE (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17376#post17376)

[Johann]

Cocalero sounds very interesting.
I really like it when "the viewer gets an overview of (x) society"
Congratulations to Evo for getting elected!


Having met Gary Burns (I even did security on his sets for A Problem With Fear- I love Emily Hampshire's performance in that. Pls check it out) I know exactly what he's driving at with Radiant City.

I've lived a considerable amount of time in Calgary Alberta and that urban spawl/ insulated community thing is scary.

The town of Airdrie USED to be a good drive north, now it's practically a suburb of Calgary proper. Many Calgarians live in Airdrie and commute every day. The homes are cookie-cutter, and they are MASS produced.
You could lose your soul living in those "hoods". Whatever big city I've lived in, I've almost always lived centrally, downtown.
I just feel extremely secure in the downtown core of cities- even L.A! You laugh, but I am at home downtown. Precisely because all of the people SPREAD OUT after dark. they go to the burbs, their neighborhoods, their closeted homesteads. Call me crazy but I really love living in the core of a city.

Satanas sounds really good.

Alatriste sounds intriguing.
24 million Euros, eh? Most expensive production in the history of Spanish cinema? Cool.
I dig Viggo.
I'll look for it.

Septembers also sounds good- criminal karaoke? I'm all there!

Fiction I'll look for too.
One of the best at the fest?
I'll take your word for it.

You guys talk of M. Recha's August Days with reverence. Sublime? Visual extravaganza? Sounds gravy to me.
I kept notes.

I really wanna se Margarethe von Trotta's latest. That sounds right up my alley.

Same with Verhoeven's Black Book.
There's something about Verhoeven that grabs me.

The Oscar-nominated After the Wedding has got my interest too.

Full Grown Men sounds warped.
You say a dud? The way you wrote about made it seem like it might be funny. A man-child getting beaten up by dwarves?
Sign me up!

Straight to the Point sounds cool and so does Sweet Mud. Anything that wins a prize @ Sundance must have some merit.

re: Drained

I saw 5 films at the 24th VIFF that I just couldn't summon the strength to review.

One was because it was so amateur and trite despite being a serious effort at tension and taut, nail-biting suspense (Cavite).

One was because I just didn't know how to put into words what I felt (40 Shades of Blue), one was because I lost my notes (a shame, because I really wanted to say something about it: ), and two because I just wanted to keep the memories of the films to myself, like a selfish cinephile: [B]Water & Otto Preminger's Bonjour Tristesse, which was one of the best screenings I ever attended. The cinemascope, the old-style of Preminger, David Niven, it was a glorious big-screen treat.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Johann
Cocalero sounds very interesting.
Congratulations to Evo for getting elected!
He hates the US as much as Chavez, but he has very good reasons to feel that way. Evo is an extremely likable guy, not an ounce of arrogance or self-importance in him.

Having met Gary Burns (I even did security on his sets for A Problem With Fear- I love Emily Hampshire's performance in that. Pls check it out) I know exactly what he's driving at with Radiant City.
Radiant has an unspeakable twist at the very end. A Problem with Fear is not available on dvd. Will check out if Sundance or IFC channels show it.

Satanas sounds really good.
Satanas was a world premiere so the fact that it doesn't have distribution now doesn't mean it won't in the future. Damian Alcazar is a fabulous actor. I met him briefly and congratulated him just prior to the screening of More Than Anything in the World. Film has obvious commercial appeal.

Alatriste sounds intriguing.
I dig Viggo.
I dig Viggo too, but the film is a mixed bag.

Septembers also sounds good- criminal karaoke? I'm all there!
If I have to do prison time, Spain would not be a bad place.

Fiction. One of the best at the fest?
I'll take your word for it.
A quiet, sensitive drama that blew me away.

You guys talk of M. Recha's August Days with reverence. Sublime? Visual extravaganza? Sounds gravy to me.
I kept notes.
Me too. I hope to have a chance to see it without having to import the dvd from Spain ($$$).

I really wanna se Margarethe von Trotta's latest. That sounds right up my alley.
Euro trash, but really good Euro trash.

Same with Verhoeven's Black Book.
Will "play wider" than your average foreign-language film because it's hugely entertaining and engrossing.

The Oscar-nominated After the Wedding has got my interest too.
Danes are not afraid of strong emotions. Blier is a little like Bergman.

Full Grown Men sounds warped.
You say a dud? The way you wrote about made it seem like it might be funny. A man-child getting beaten up by dwarves?
Sign me up!
Only if you bring some strong weed :)

Straight to the Point sounds cool and so does Sweet Mud. Anything that wins a prize @ Sundance must have some merit.
The Brazilian film is very authentic and I love samba. The Israeli film won an audience award here (I'll post the award round-up soon).

re: Drained
I saw 5 films at the 24th VIFF that I just couldn't summon the strength to review.
This post of yours came at the perfect time (thanx) to give me breather from writing (I left the toughest review for last, but it's almost done).

One was because it was so amateur and trite despite being a serious effort at tension and taut, nail-biting suspense (Cavite).
Curious mostly because of the setting. Available on dvd.

One was because I just didn't know how to put into words what I felt (40 Shades of Blue)
I didn't feel strongly about it either way.

one was because I lost my notes (a shame, because I really wanted to say something about it: (L'Enfer/ HELL)
CK reviewed it. I put it on my wish list and the damn thing never came out. Apparently its out on dvd in Hong Kong, which means I can afford it. Will look into it.

Otto Preminger's Bonjour Tristesse, which was one of the best screenings I ever attended. The cinemascope, the old-style of Preminger, David Niven, it was a glorious big-screen treat.
You probably know Jean Seberg's character in Breathless is an extension of the restless teen she plays in Bonjour. I love Preminger! Everybody knows Laura and Anatomy of a Murder. Just as great and recently released on dvd: Angel Face with Gene Tierney and his last great movie: Bunny Lake is Missing also, like Bonjour[/i], in gorgeous CinemaScope format.

[Johann]

Problem with Fear is not available on DVD?
Hmm. They seem to be everywhere up here.

Strong weed is not an issue.
Let me just dig into my bag here...
Whoa!
Yep, that is some strong herbage pardner...


Yeah man, take a breather.
Aren't your nalgas sore?
Aren't your posaderas a little numb?
Oh yeah, the festival was over a while ago...

:)

yeah, Bonjour Tristesse was beautiful.
Felt like a vacation watching that movie.

The scenery, Seberg's sexiness, preminger's assured hand...wonderful to see it on the big screen. I said to myself that I was keeping that memory private. (not so private now...)

[Chris Knipp]

Cavite was one I didn't mean to miss but you are making me think it's not worth renting.

I did review (http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/viewtopic.php?p=493) Forty Shades of Blue when it was shown in September 2005 at Film Forum. I found it had some indie-viduality and said it
has an unforgettable character at its center. But there is something static about her and the film at some times that makes it awkward and painful to watch. After the Wedding is coming to a Landmark theater in Berkeley soon and I certainly will be interested to see it.

I also appreciated Johann's notes and comments highlighting some of your Miami reviews, Oscar, and I'm sorry I've kept less effective track of your Miami festival screenings, though I have read your reviews. I hope you'll have a brief Best Of listing at the end.

A wide range of people at Lincoln Center press screenings recently spoke with awe of Hell/L'enfer yet it seemed to me too much like a Kieslowski knock-off. The director also personally didn't impress me. He didn't strike me as very sincere. I didn't think he meant it. I feel Kieslowski emphatically does; he has a high moral seriousness that is impressive, along with his artistic command.

Sagan's Bonjour Tristesse -- the book -- seemed like a clever and elegant little piece of fluff when it was a bestseller back in the day; good for a beginning French student but nothing to linger over. I hence avoided seeing the Hollywood film version, and I preferred more hardcore French stuff with Seberg in it, namely of course, Breathless/À bout de souffle (1960). But a guy named Fred Camper in Chicago Reader rates Preminger's BT as a Masterpiece. I can't comment, except to say maybe they ought to retire that word, and that it's not my type of film, too mainstream Hollywood, making a big production out of a very economical little book, and having people who're French speaking English -- no thanks -- and has anybody noticed Seberg couldn't act? But I haven't seen it; that's just my prejudgment based on who I am and where I came from.

The San Francisco festival press screenings begin next week.

[Johann]

Cavite annoyed me.
I appreciated the effort (it was the filmmakers' first film (2 guys whose names I can't remember- they introduced the movie before the screening) but it was just too....amateur.

It went on and on. The guy has a cell phone on his ear for practically the whole damn movie and the guy who's telling him what to do has a grating voice coming thru the receiver. I didn't really believe the story. The acting didn't convince me. The audience clapped because the filmmakers were in the theatre, but I bolted when the credits were rolling. Didn't hang around for the Q & A.

40 Shades of Blue interested me, but it did have a very sombre tone. It seemed like a dead-stop to my mind when I went to see it.
I may have had other movies on my mind too.
That happens at festivals.
You'd be sitting waiting to see a film just after you watched something powerful, something you're still thinking about.

Even when you're watching the movie, thoughts of the other one enters your head.
Ah, festival madness...

Hell I remember liking but it is definitely
NO K. Kieslowski. I remember wondering what he would've done with the story. Kieslowski was posessed. He was consumed by his filmmaking, like Kubrick.
Nothing he made didn't have the stamp of utterly personal genius on it.


Tristesse is a mood movie, a very specific STYLE. It left me with a euphoric appreciation for the style, the overall luxuriousness and just plain "good quality movie" aspect.
Masterpiece is a word i understand somebody using to describe it, but it's not a quote unquote "masterpiece". It's just a really good studio film. (with David Niven sashaying & lounging around in his swimming trunks)

[oscar jubis]

*I'd like to watch Bonjour Tristesse in a theatre. It's really good. Just had a chance to watch Malle's Elevator to the Gallows on the big screen. Becket, with O'Toole and Burton, is playing here. I have to check it out.
*Perhaps I'll pass on Cavite then.
*I'm going to the SFIFF site to learn about the films showing as soon as I finish this post.
*If I go to the Sarasota festival, I'll write notes in between screenings to get my thoughts about a movie out of my head before the next screening starts. Perhaps that'll relieve "festival madness". I'd be watching 3 or 4 films a day.
*I still want to watch Hell.
*Might do two MIFF "Best of" lists: one for commercial and one for art films. I'll start with the awards list then a list of what I missed. Here's the last review:

COLOSSAL YOUTH (Juventud em Marcha) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17389#post17389)

[Johann]

Notes are essential to me at a festival.

I'd never remember a damn thing, never write a review:
So what film did you see, Bob?
I can't remember.
C'mon Bob, you must remember something!
No not really...There were people in it....and a dog...
Oh Bob, you are such a wacky guy...

[Chris Knipp]

Johann

I may have had other movies on my mind too.
That happens at festivals.
You'd be sitting waiting to see a film just after you watched something powerful, something you're still thinking about.

Even when you're watching the movie, thoughts of the other one enters your head.
Ah, festival madness... When all is said and done I am not crazy about festivals. One movie a day is enough and if I have to write a review of it one a day is too much, though even when I'm just on my own in NYC I often see two or even three a day, but then, I'm free to take a day off or go to a museum, or for a walk, or do nothing. At a festival while it's on there's no letup.

Notes--Nonetheless I don't have that much trouble keeping movies separate in my mind, and besides, when you have a press kit you don't need notes, or you can jot them on the press kit. During the French series this time I used the press kits to jot down French vocabulary . . My ideas often come in the writing process though, not in the theater. I probably am weak in concrete details due to this.

I liked what you said about Kieslowski. I would consider Danis Tanovic's Hell a Kieslowski knockoff. He'd have been better off doing something entirely of his own. I have to say I was underwhelmed by No Man's Land. LIke a lot of new directors when they can get hold of the money or even when they can't, he shows great technical accomplishment, but I'm not sure he has found himself as a director, going by those two.

Oscar

I'm going to the SFIFF site to learn about the films showing as soon as I finish this post And again please let me know any suggestions or comments on the list. What I did last year was I just went to all the press screenings. They're just a fraction of the whole. Then I went to a necessarily selected few of the public screenings, letting my young friend pick a lot of them. He can't go this year, so I guess I'll pick on my own.

Noticias Lejanas and Play were press screenings. I saw Los Muertos in the previous year because my young friend saw it with his dad and said it was great. Who knows if I would have chosen to see them? Yet they were the highlights that I remember now. I also suffered thorough some dim productions at the press screenings too though. Every time it's a very mixed bag. That's why I like the NYFF. At least in the minds of the jury, its selections are not a mixed bag, but the best of the best.

Now that I see far more movies in theaters than on home video and not the other way around as it was a decade or so ago, I consider the theatrical experience overwhelmingly superior. The DVD/tape is only a useful tool to study or catch up, but that's the main reason why I perhaps won't see Cavite now--if it was in a theater and I had the time, I'd go see it still to see if I agree with what Johann says or not.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
And again please let me know any suggestions or comments on the list.
I'm on top of it. List will be made publicly available tomorrow.

Every time it's a very mixed bag. That's why I like the NYFF. At least in the minds of the jury, its selections are not a mixed bag, but the best of the best.
I've noticed that they save most of the truly adventurous fare for "Film Comment Selects" and "New Directors/New Films".

MIFF AWARDS (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17398#post17398)

[Chris Knipp]

I've noticed that they save most of the truly adventurous fare for "Film Comment Selects" and "New Directors/New Films".They sure do. But "truly adventurous" is a very value-laden phrase. I hope your statement is not meant to imply that nothing in the NYFF is adventurous, or that the other smaller series are of higher quality. Neither is true. There are just so many overlaps. The NYIFF goes for high quality, and it contains "truly adventurous" entries. And some of the "Film Comment Selects" and "New Directors/New Films" are unsuccessful, this year from reports especially the former series had some dogs in it. I wouldn't take on the trouble and expense of spending a month in New York to see "Film Comments Selects." But maybe I should go to Toronto, or Berlin, or Cannes. I dare say now you, Oscar, will say you'd rather go to Rotterdam. "De gustibus..." We do what we can do. And there are those overlaps. If you went to all the big festivals, there'd be plenty of films you could skip because you'd already seen them, and that goes on for over a year for them.

[oscar jubis]

WHAT I MISSED AT THE 2007 MIFF

Films that have distribution deals
Red Road (Scotland)
Chronicle of an Escape (Argentina)
Manufactured Landscapes (Canada)doc
The Valet (France)
First Snow (USA)

Films likely to have distribution in one form or another
Banished (USA)doc
Off the Grid: Life on the Mesa (USA)doc
Padre Nuestro (USA)
Ghosts (UK)

Films unlikely to get distributed (the ones that got away):
The Dog Pound: Uruguayan drama about a 20-something slacker.
The Silence: Cate Shortland's follow-up to her amazing Somersault. Made for TV.
U:Animated film opened in France to copious praise.
The Only One: Belgian drama about an octogenerian struggling to maintain his independence.
The Boy on a Galloping Horse: arty Polish b&w film.
Living with Hannah: German drama about a traumatized young woman.
Red Like the Sky: Italian psychological drama about a blind man.

[Chris Knipp]

The Valet AKA La doublure was in the Rendez-Vous series and I wrote a review. (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=16880#post16880) It's a very conventional and old fashioined romantic comedy and you didn't miss anything by not seeing it--except a beautiful blonde babe.

You used the word "arty", I consider that a kind of breakthrough.

[oscar jubis]

*I read your review at the time you posted it and I noticed your lack of enthusiasm for La Doublure. This director's films are enjoyable but certainly not important or particularly accomplished. It wasn't screened for the press and it has distribution so I didn't see it at the fest.
*First Snow has already been released in a couple of markets. I will try to alert readers when other festival films are released comercially.
*Manufactured Landscapes will be showing in Sarasota. I'll probably watch it there because the "captures" look amazing.
*Haha! I thought of using "painterly" instead of "arty". Reviews I read praise the visual qualities of the film over other aspects.

[Chris Knipp]

This director's films are enjoyable but certainly not important or particularly accomplished. Francis Veber's films surely are influential, and that makes them important. He has been remade in Hollywood--another sign of influence. La Cage aux Folles and The Closet are particularly notable, not to mention The Man with One Red Shoe, the interesting The Dinner Game, and others. At film comedy, he is accomplished. Though I don't think this one is as good as earlier ones, still La Doublure is a well-oiled machine. The fact remains, nobody in this crowd necessarily needs to run out and see it. But one can't say he's not important or accomplished just because one doesn't like his work particularly. His work is not particularly to my taste either, but I can't dismiss it quite that easily. No big deal, though, I'm just being picky, as usual.

[oscar jubis]

BLACK BOOK (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17257#post17257) has now been released in NYC and Los Angeles by Sony Pictures Classics. The new film from director Paul Verhoeven will expand to other cities shortly.

[Chris Knipp]

Yes, it was reviewed last week in TimeOut New York.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Johann
Cavite annoyed me.
I appreciated the effort (it was the filmmakers' first film (2 guys whose names I can't remember- they introduced the movie before the screening) but it was just too....amateur.
I also appreciate the effort. These guys basically had $7000 and NO CREW and they managed to get their film distributed in the US. Of course, $7000 doesn't pay for explosions so when these happen the screen just goes black for a few seconds.

It went on and on. The guy has a cell phone on his ear for practically the whole damn movie and the guy who's telling him what to do has a grating voice coming thru the receiver.
Right. There are two characters. One is Filipino-American played by one of the directors who's made to pay dearly for the "sins" of his father and for being a lapsed Muslim out of touch with his country of origin. The other is a leader within the Muslim Separatist movement in the Philippines who has kidnapped his mother and sister.

I didn't really believe the story.
I didn't believe the terrorists could possibly keep an eye on the guy as he is moving around the city in all kinds of motorized transport and walking in and out of places. But I most definitely appreciate the tour of the working class and poor sections of Greater Manila and the immersion in the living conditions there.

The acting didn't convince me.
The director has a limited range as an actor. No doubt.

Didn't hang around for the Q & A.
I'd love to question the directors about the political stance of the film which is absolutely provocative and probably wrong-headed.

[Johann]

So you saw it.

It has jumpy, grainy camerawork that is very "guerilla", but I just didn't buy the story. A great effort, and they did achieve a degree of success with it. They made something from pretty much nothing and that's always to be commended.

[Chris Knipp]

Cavite--As mentioned, I wanted to see it. It showed both in the Bay Area and NYC but I missed it both times. Despite the flaws you have been both discussing, it sounded interesting enough to see, had it been convenient. It never was.

The Valet/La doublure is showing here now or coming.

First Snow has been here briefly and I saw and reviewed it (as I did Valet earlier this year in connection with the NY Rendez-Vous).

Red Road has been showing in NYC and LA lately; do not know if it will continue on to here.

Padre Nuestro was made by a friend of my goddaughter from Oberlin College and she just emailed me her excitement at its winning the prize at Sundance. It has gotten very bad reviews though so its future seems uncertain, but the prize should mean some further opportunities for Christopher Zalla.

[oscar jubis]

These are the ones I missed at the fest because they have distribution. Then First Snow had its commercial run here and... I missed it. Red Road won a jury and a press award at the fest. I hope the Scottish working class accents are not too "thick".

[Chris Knipp]

. Then First Snow had its commercial run here and... I missed it. As I indicated, it didn't have a long run in Berkeley either. I missed Hanake's Code Unknown that way a few years ago. I read about it, said I must see this, then it was gone before I got over to San Francisco to see it. Not everything comes to Berkeley, though most do, due to Berkeley having a good proportion of art house and Landmark theaters.

As for Red Road, maybe it will have subtitles? I was surprised After the Wedding had subtitles for some conversation in English at the beginning, because Mrs. Shaw had an Indian accent. It seemed a bit condescending. . .

[oscar jubis]

I have a slight accent too, and a consciously un-American way of pronouncing the middle "t" sound in words like twenty and bitter.
A couple of reviewers have pointed out the accented English in Red Road. Loach's Riff Raff had a subtitled theatrical release for a reason. But, as far as I know, Red Road is being released sans subs.

Zalla's film won the top prize at Sundance but Zalla left the fest without getting distribution for Padre Nuestro. Maybe it was the very negative reviews on Variety and Slant.

[Chris Knipp]

Zalla's film won the top prize at Sundance but Zalla left the fest without getting distribution for Padre Nuestro. Maybe it was the very negative reviews on Variety and Slant. Maybe. But distributors go to see films at festivals for themselves, and the very downbeat nature of Padre Nuestr would make them leave it alone. The reviews also suggest the writing is bad. However the way this titles came up is that you listed it as one of the Miami festival "Films likely to have distribution in one form or another," so we seem to be going astray here.

[oscar jubis]

And I still think it's likely to get some form of distribution. It's just noteworthy that Sundance ended without its Grand Jury Prize winner having a distribution deal. It's unprecedented I believe.

[oscar jubis]

This documentary, which won an audience award at the festival, screened as part of a retrospective of Venezuelan cinema this weekend: TO PLAY AND TO FIGHT (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=17915#post17915)