Nyff 2007

[Chris Knipp]

Here is a preview of the lineup. Reviews will appear in the Festival Coverage section in late September and early October. The festival runs from September 28-October 14. More detail can be found on the website of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, www.filmlinc.com.

AGAIN, 28 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS, AND 7 OTHER SCREENING EVENTS

OPENING NIGHT
The Darjeeling Limited
Wes Anderson, US, 2007; 91m
Fox Searchlight
Three brothers travel and bicker on a train on a spiritual journey through India. Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody.

Screening with:
Hotel Chevalier
Wes Anderson, US, 2007; 12m
Fox Searchlight

CLOSING NIGHT
Persepolis
Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud, France, 2007; 95m
Sony Pictures Classics
Animated film version of Satrapi's graphic novels about growing up in revolutionary Iran.

CENTERPIECE
No Country for Old Men
Joel and Ethan Coen, US, 2007; 122m
Miramax
Adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy novel about a Texas drug deal gone bad. Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem and Tommy Lee Jones.

4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days
Christian Mungiu, Romania, 2007; 113m
IFC First Take
A desperate search for an illegal abortion in pre-perestroika Romania.

Actresses
Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, France, 2007; 110m
A middle-aged actress desperate to marry and have children. Starring Bruni-Tedeschi.

Alexandra
Alexander Sokurov, Russia, 92m
Rezo Films
An old lady visits her son's unit in Chechnya

The Axe in the Attic
Ed Pincus & Lucia Small, US, 2007; 110m
Documentary of the post-Katrina Gulf Coast diaspora.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Sidney Lumet, USA, 117m
ThinkFilm
A perfect crime plotted by two brothers that goes wrong . Philip-Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke.

RETROSPECTIVE:
Blade Runner: The Definitive Cut
Ridley Scott, US, 1982/2007; 118m
Warner Brothers

Calle Santa Fe
Carmen Castillo, France, 2007; 163m
Autobiographical remembrance of life as a revolutionary in Chile.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Julian Schnabel, France/U.S., 2007; 112m
Miramax
Adaptation of Jean-Dominique Bauby's autobiographical story about coping with paralysis.

SPECIAL EVENT
Fados
Carlos Saura, Spain/Portugal, 2007; 92m
Documentary of the song form. Another panel in Saura's musical series.

The Flight of the Red Balloon
Hou Hsiao-hsien, France, 2007; 113m
IFC First Take
A homage to the French children's classic with Juliette Binoche as the mother of a lonely boy who spends his days with a Chinese au pair.

A Girl Cut In Two
Claude Chabrol, France, 2007; 115m
Two men (Benoit Maginel, Francois Berleand) compete for the affections of a TV weather girl (Ludivine Sagnier)

Go Go Tales
Abel Ferrara, Italy/US, 2007; 96m
Willem Dafoe, Bob Hoskins, Sylvia Miles and Asia Argento struggle to keep a New York strip joint going before Times Square was sanitized.

RETROSPECTIVE
Hamlet
Sven Gade & Heinz Schall, Germany, 1920-21; 110m
Print Courtesy of the German Film Institute (Deutsche Filminstitut)
Piano accompaniment by Donald Sosin
Danish classic in which a woman plays Hamlet.

I Just Didn't Do It
Masayuki Suo, Japan, 2007; 143m
False indictment of a man for groping a girl on a train.

I'm Not There
Todd Haynes, US, 2007; 136m
The Weinstein Company
Impressionistic Bob Dylan biography with Dylan played alternately by Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Christian Bale, Marcus Carl Franklin, Heath Ledger, and Ben Whishaw.

In the City of Sylvia
Jose Luis Guerin, Spain/France, 2007; 90m
A young man sketching in a cafe pursues a lost love.

RETROSPECTIVE
The Iron Horse
John Ford, US, 1924; 132m
20th Century Fox
About the building of the transcontinental railway.

The Last Mistress
Catherine Breillat, France, 2007; 114m
IFC First Take
Amorous scandal surrounding a marriage in the reign of Louis Philippe.

RETROSPECTIVE
Leave Her to Heaven
John M. Stahl, US, 1945; 110m
Noir classic of a manipulative woman (Gene Tierney), a favorite of Pedro Almodovar.

The Man From London
Bela Tarr, Hungary/France/Germany, 2007; 132m
A man discovers a suitcase full of banknotes. Based on a Georges Simenon novel.

Margot at the Wedding
Noah Baumbach, US, 2007; 93m
Paramount Vantage
Sibling rivalry at a family gathering in Connecticut, with Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh as sisters.

Married Life
Ira Sachs, USA, 2007; 90m
A "four-hand roundelay" set in the Pacific Northwest in the Forties, based on a British crime novelist's book. With Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson, Rachel McAdams, Pierce Brosnan.

Mr. Warmth, The Don Rickles Project
John Landis, US, 2007; 90m
A documentary abut the abusive comic.

The Orphanage
Juan Antonio Bayona, Spain, 100m
Picturehouse
A supernatural thriller that turns darker.

SPECIAL EVENT
The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival, 1963-1965
Murray Lerner, US, 2007; 80m
Portraits of Bob Dylan going through a transitional period from chipper to darker using Lerner's footage from the time.

Paranoid Park
Gus Van Sant, US, 2007; 85m
IFC First Take
Memories and experiences of a skateboarder involved in an accidental murder.

Redacted
Brian DePalma, US, 2007; 90m
Magnolia
Fictionalized story of an American solider involved in an atrocity in Iraq.

The Romance of Astrea and Celadon
Eric Rohmer, France, 2007; 109m
Rezo Films
Rohmer, now 87, adapts Honore d'Urfe's 17th century pastoral romance.

Secret Sunshine
Lee Chang-dong, Korea, 2007; 142m
Complex story of a widow and her young son who relocate to the country.

Silent Light
Carlos Reygadas, Mexico, 2007; 142m
In Plautdietsch, about the Mennonite community in Norther Mexico, a tale of love and betrayal based on Carl Dreyer's Ordet.

SPECIAL EVENT
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin' Down a Dream
Peter Bogdanovich, US, 2007; 238m
A thoroughgoing history of the band.

RETROSPECTIVE
Underworld
Josef von Sternberg, US, 1927; 80m
Accompaniment by the Alloy Orchestra
Pioneering effort of the gangster genre.

Useless
Jia Zhang-ke, Hong Kong, 2007; 80m
A far-reaching documentary about clothing that examines in a free-form way what we wear and what we are.

[oscar jubis]

Very much looking forward to your reviews. As usual, I hope you don't miss a single film that doesn't have distribution. When do the previews start?

[Chris Knipp]

Probably around September 18th. I will make my coverage as complete as I can, at least on the 28 official selections. I can't promise any coverage of the numerous sidebar items, though. Whatever I have the stamina for, I'll do. It will depend a little on the scheduling too.

[oscar jubis]

Sounds good.
I just attended a screening of a 35 mm print of Leave Her to Heaven. Is it the Fest billing it as a "noir classic"? It's a campy and lurid melodrama with gorgeous technicolor cinematography. I enjoyed it for what it is.
The Reygadas film will probably get distribution in the future. It's been widely praised and described by some as significantly less transgressive than his two previous features.

[Chris Knipp]

A lot of things get called "noir" and a lot of things get called "noir classic," including this one. It's available on DVD at Netflix and has a good viewer rating, but sounds mediocre (though better than a lot they call "noir"). As I said, I'm only shooting for the official selections, not the sidebar items, so Stahl won't be included on my schedule, and may not be shown at a press screening. Some retrospective items might, and there might be interesting Q&A's with them--that would be what would justify attending: a good on stage discussion afterwards. I don't have to exclude any of the official selections as long as my health and stamina and the scheduling permit. The scheduling was very wearing last year and if they again show three or four a day day after day, I might skip some just to survive. Unfortunately. Let's hope they're better spread out as they were in 2005, though.

[oscar jubis]

Great. I hope it works out so that you can review all the official selections. Have fun!

You're right. A lot of things get called noir nowadays. I think the term "sells". Kevin Wynn of the local Rewind/Fast-Forward fest introduced the film here as a "woman's picture" as it was marketed in the 40s and emphasized its campy elements_aspects that have dated in a manner that provokes laughter from a segment of the contemporary audience (as opposed to a similarly-titled masterpiece like All that Heaven Allows which would generate no laughter from an audience). Afterwards, Kevin pointed out to me that it was mostly the males in the audience who were laughing whereas generally women took the film more seriously. I don't quite mean to refer to Leave Her to Heaven as "mediocre" but I wouldn't call it a "classic", much less a "noir classic". It's an engaging, compulsively watchable studio picture that has a crime element; enough for savvy programmers to bill it as a "noir classic". I had seen it on dvd but I wouldn't want to miss a repertory screening, rare as they are nowadays.

[Chris Knipp]

Yes, I see.

[cinemabon]

Nothing beats a new 35mm print for clarity and framing, something even the HD experience cannot duplicate, i.e. Academy framing, impossible with 16:9 televisions.

[Chris Knipp]

Indeed. Though re-dos of old B&W films for good DVD's are quite wonderful nowadays.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by cinemabon
Nothing beats a new 35mm print for clarity and framing, something even the HD experience cannot duplicate, i.e. Academy framing, impossible with 16:9 televisions.

I couldn't possibly agree more. I view the whole dvd business with great ambivalence. Absolutely NOTHING compares to theatrical screenings of 35 mm prints of studio films. The death of repertory theatres makes me so sad. My alma mater (UM) is considering building a new theater (the existing one can't handle 70 mm. and has to crop CinemaScope films somewhat) mostly to show a large collection of studio prints donated recently by a rich benefactor. There are funding issues they tell me so it might not happen. They are screening Bergman and Antonioni films this month, a combination of 35 mm. prints and digital projection. You know which ones I'm interested in.

[mouton]

Hey Chris ... I will be heading to NYFF for the first time this year. I'm really excited. Unfortunately, in the middle of the TIFF craze, I missed the onsale and now am scrambling for tickets online. It worked at TIFF so I'm hoping it works here too. I am hoping to catch NO COUNTRY FOR OLD ME and MARGOT AT THE WEDDING. I haev tickets to PARANOID PARK. The best thing about going to NYC though for a film fan is that even if I don't get the tickets I want, I can still see plenty of movies that won't play in Montreal for at least a few weeks. Last year I saw LITTLE CHILDREN there and the year before, I caught CAPOTE. Neither film played here for at least a month afterwards. Helps me get a bit of a jump on things. It would be great to catch the Julian Schnabel film or the Dylan pic but neither will be playing when I'm there. I hope you're going to see PERSEPOLIS. It was truly wonderful.

[Chris Knipp]

I hope to see all of them. The Schnabel picture shows to press Monday morning. Oscar feels, and I think he's basically right, that the important films to see at a festival are the ones that will not later be at a theater near you, ever. However, with the NYFF one gets both, and the selectinon quality level is high. If you'd like to get in touch while you're in NYC my email is ccknippart@gmail.com.

[Chris Knipp]

September 16, 2007, NYC.

Press screenings begin tomorrow. Watch this thread for links to the festival coverage.

Openers:

Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Masayuki Suo, I Just Didn't Do It.

[Chris Knipp]

JULIAN SCHNABEL: THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18510#post18510)

[Chris Knipp]

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MASAYUKI SUO: I JUST DIDN'T DO IT(2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18513#post18513)


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[Chris Knipp]

CARLOS SAURA: FADOS (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18518#post18518)


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[oscar jubis]

I'm reading these reviews with great interest and anticipation. However, I'm running into the old problem of having difficulty reading them because of the "characters" or format being used. Is there anything you can do about it?

[Chris Knipp]

That's terrible. I don't know what is happening. I'll try to correct it.

[oscar jubis]

They're all fixed. Was it difficult to do that so quickly?

[Chris Knipp]

Yes. Only in that I had to redo the italics and quote marks manually. There are two new reviews up today. Links below.

[Chris Knipp]

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ERIC ROHMER: THE ROMANCE OF ASTREA AND CELADON (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18529#post18529)


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[Chris Knipp]

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SIDNEY LUMET: BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18531#post18531)


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[Chris Knipp]

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CLAUDE CHABROL: THE GIRL CUT IN TWO (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18535#post18535)


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[Chris Knipp]

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IRA SACHS: MARRIED LIFE (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18538#post18538)


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[Chris Knipp]

Weekend roundup:

Definitely the best so far have been Schnabel's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and Chabrol's The Girl Cut in Two. The others were a bit disappointing. Saura's Fados was very fine, but not an official selection of the Festival.

Meanwhile away from Lincoln Center on my own I saw some current releases that have had a lot of press.

--There was In the Valley of Elah, which has great acting in it and which I like better than Haggis' previous one, Crash, but somehow seems questionable again for being too preachy. And too negative to convince anyone not already convinced hat the Iraq war is a mistake.

--The Brave One seems a complete waste of time. So is, despite its artistic visuals,

--The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Casey Affleck is arresting, but Brad Pitt doesn't come through with anything special. The film is too meandering anyway. The one new commercial release that I loved is

--Into the Wild. It does full justice to the book and is a fine directorial performance by Sean Penn and a great role for Emile Hirsch, who I have always thought was a very interesting actor with qualities other actors don't possess. I've not seen Eastern Promises yet. It comes so highly recommended I am apprehensive, and I considered The History of Violence overrated.

--Also saw but no time to review Jacobson's documentary about her grandfather Toots Shor, the famous 40's-50's-60's NYC celebrity saloon keeper, an invaluable picture of America and New York in those years from the post-Prohibition era into the 1960's and the differences between the old celebrity culture and the new one. It's called Toots and will be in very limited release. Look for the DVD.

Some of the still-to-be seen NYFF selections are movies we're all going to get to see soon, No Country for Old Men, Paranoid Park, Margot at the Wedding (Noah Baumbach), I'm not there (Todd Haynes' Bob Dylan evocation), Wes Anderson's Darjeeling Limited. But I am excited to see Bela Tarr's The Man from London, and there are some other directors whose work we don't get to see as often in theaters, Hou Hsiau Hsien, Catherine Breillat, even Abel Ferrara. Marjane Satrapi 's graphic novels I've read, but I hope the animations will add something new to them. They're to be featured as the closing night film of the Festival, Persepolis.

[oscar jubis]

Great job, CK.

*Very interested in Schnabel's film, which opens in December. It seems to have quite a bit in common with a magnificent and unreleased impressionistic doc I watched in 2006 called Black Sun. It attempts to convey the experiences of painter Hugues de Montalembert after he lost his sight during an assault.

*I am a fan of Sean Penn's The Pledge and the followup (as director) is already in theaters and attracting high praise.

*The Rohmer "sounds" and looks (I've seen the trailer) like a close cousin of Rohmer's mid-70s films like Perceval and The Marquise of O.... It got 4 stars from Positif, Cahiers, and Les Inrockuptibles. I'm very curious about it. Like Triple Agent (which I didn't like), it doesn't have distribution in the US (not at the moment).

*Saura's Fados is likely coming to the MIFF. I'm sure it's lovely but I keep wishing Saura would make another Cria. Ot at least another Ay Carmela!.

*I've been very busy with Antonioni and Bergman retros. And this week my nights are occupied with Ken Burns' 15 1/2 hours-long The War (on PBS and not to be missed!). So In the Valley of Elah, Dans Paris, Across the Universe, Eastern Promises, The Assassination of Jesse James... and Into the Wild will have to wait until the weekend and beyond.

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks for the response, Oscar. I didn't know about the Montalembert film, which would be interesting to compare, no doubt, with Schnabel's.

I don't think you'll find Rohmer's swan song quite as striking as Perceval, at least I didn't.

The Reygadas is very beautifully done, and I'll be posting a review of it and Ferrara's Go Go Girls shortly, if technical problems are overcome.

Enjoy your retrospectives and War.

[Chris Knipp]

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CARLOS REYGADAS: SILENT LIGHT (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18549#post18549)


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[Johann]

Beautiful thread Chris.
Thanks.

[Chris Knipp]

Thank you.

[Chris Knipp]

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BRIAN DE PALMA: REDACTED (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18559#post18559)


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[Chris Knipp]

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HOU HSIAO HSIEN: FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18560#post18560)


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[Chris Knipp]

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CRISTIAN MUNGIU: 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND TWO DAYS (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18561#post18561)


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[Chris Knipp]

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ED PINCUS, LUCIA SMALL: THE AXE IN THE ATTIC (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18568#post18568)


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[Chris Knipp]

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WES ANDERSON: THE DARJEELING LIMITED (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18570#post18570)


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[Chris Knipp]

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LEE CHANG-DONG: SECRET SUNSHINE (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18572#post18572)


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[Chris Knipp]

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JUAN ANTONIO BAYONA: THE ORPHANAGE (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18574#post18574)


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[Chris Knipp]

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BELA TARR: THE MAN FROM LONDON (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18576#post18576)


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[cinemabon]

Incredible job, Chris, excellent work, well done, nice graphics

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks, cinemabon; the stills do add a lot I think.

Best so far:

THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (SCHNABEL)
THE GIRL CUT IN TWO (CHABROL)
SILENT LIGHT (REYGADAS)
FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON (HOU)

Also notable:

FADOS (SAURA)
GO GO TALES (FERRARA)

It was interesting and instructive to see the others, but they had some flaws that kept them off the list.

12 more to come. I'm looking forward to:

ACTRESSES
Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, France, 2007; 110m
Fidelite Films

ALEXANDRA
Alexander Sokurov, Russia, 92m
Rezo Films

THE LAST MISTRESS
Catherine Breillat, France, 2007; 114m
IFC First Take

Also even though they'r opening very soon in theaters I"m looking forward to festival screenings here of :

MARGOT AT THE WEDDING
Noah Baumbach, US, 2007; 93m
Paramount Vantage

I'M NOT THERE
Todd Haynes, US, 2007; 136m
The Weinstein Company

PARANOID PARK
Gus Van Sant, US, 2007; 85m
IFC First Take

PERSEPOLIS
Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud, France, 2007; 95m
Sony Pictures Classics

And especially (what I seem to have omitted from my original list on this thread):

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Coen brothers, US, 2007; 122m
Miramax

The buzz for the latter is very good. I'm also a big Cormac McCarthy fan. He's one of the most important living American fiction writers; don't let anybody tell you different. Word is Persepolis could give Ratatouille a run for its money for Best Animation Oscar. Baumbach has a stellar cast this time, it sounds like Van Sant is up to form again and they say Haynes' non-Dylan Dylan picture is brilliant.

Unfortunately I'm not able to see the sidebar US classics, Chinese modern, and musical series, though I'd like to see the Dylan at Newport 1960's film and several other things.

[Johann]

Persepolis won the top prize here in Ottawa at our world renowned animation festival recently.

I heard the response to it was overwhelming.
Looking forward to your thoughts.

[Chris Knipp]

You'll get my thoughts, I promise, Johann .

Check your email, please.

I wonder if mouton is making it to the Nyff? I never heard back from him.

[oscar jubis]

*Chabrol is always fun to watch and he's a great interview subject because he is candid and honest. He's quite willing to admit he's made a lot of crappy movies because he's never as happy as when he is shooting a film_he's the most prolific French director of the past forty years. During an interview he gave in San Francisco in the late 70s, he admitted to beating his wife. Twice!

*I hope Mr. Reygadas' film gets distribution. He's simply the best new director to emerge during the current decade.

*Schnabel's film will be playing here at the Fort Lauderdale festival in late October. So far the two screenings are on working days during the early evening, which would require a long drive during rush hour. Fest people told me an added screening early afternoon on saturday or sunday remains a possibility. The most interesting film (to me) to this fest is the Chinese Berlinale winner which doesn't have distribution. Schanbel's film opens in NYC in late December and comes here in January 2008.

*I regret having opined that I wish Saura would make another Cria or Ay Carmela!. Musical films he started making in 1980 (Carmen, Tangos, etc) and the biographical essays he started making about a decade ago (Goya in Bordeaux, etc.) are worthy addition to the psychological dramas with political subtext that made him famous worldwide.

[Chris Knipp]

I am convinced that Chabrol has really done a good one this time. It's not deep stuff, but it's very witty, very buoyant, not at all un-thought-provoking, a bit of a new direction for him, and great to see Magimel emerging as such a protean "muse" for him. Chabrol may beat his wife, but he has a great family team, and he gets away with using it skillfully his films.

You know I still haven't seen Reygadas' second film, which people haven't liked much (and sounds rather unappetising), so I approached Silent Light with ony the most positive expectations. It really hangs in my mind as the most beautiful art film of the festival. It works, too; I mean it is an artistic whole. Marvellous--a step forward for him further into the big time.

Schnabel's film has been accused of being somehow lightweight or too pretty. I don't believe that. I think it really takes you there, and it's full of imagination. I hope it gets widely seen here. People are put off by the subject. I was too. In fact the experience of watching it was curiously enchanting.

I simply adore Saura's FLAMENCO. I watch and listen over and over. I think the style he's devised for these musical presentations is superb. I couldn't question your previous comment because I haven't seen CRIA or, as far as I can remember, AY CARMELA!

[oscar jubis]

*Glad you like the new Chabrol. This quote from Slant's Ed Gonzalez gives me pause though: "It's hard to tell if he still cares to give the finger to the monstrous upper-class environs in his films".

*I've written at length about Battle in Heaven and its critical reception. I concluded that the reviews that were negative were based mostly on the writer being offended by at least one of 3 scenes:
-An obese, completely naked couple having sex.
-Explicit opening and closing scenes of a young, white, attractive, upper-class woman giving a blow job to a middle-aged, mestizo, ugly, working-class man.
-Macho, seemingly-heterosexual guy masturbating while watching men play soccer on television.

*Cria is one of my Top 10 All-time films. I've probably seen it more times than any other movie. It's finally available on home video with proper subtitles: a Criterion 2-disc edition that includes a definitive biographical documentary about Carlos Saura.

*My devotion for Bela Tarr is based on only 5 films that I've been able to watch. Tarr fans have been waiting since 2000 for a new release. And here it is!

*The trailer for Bayona's The Orphanage didn't look promising to me.

*I've seen three films by Korean tragedian Chang-dong Lee (Oasis, Peppermint Candy) and look forward to Secret Sunshine. The Korean dvd should become available online soon. Not a huge fan of this director though, and Secret Sunshine seems like a lesser and more conventional effort based on what I've read by you and others. I'll post my opinion after I watch it.

[Chris Knipp]

Some local writers apparently love Secret Sunshine. I don't know why--not given the meandering, stumbling plot. I think I saw Peppermint Candy. I'm almost sure. But it didn't seem that great.

I don't say anything's wrong with The Orphanage, but it isn't really Nyff material, except as a gesture to del Toro and to the young filmmakers.

Tarr's fimls are obviously an extremely hard sell and so hard to get funding for, plus the death of Balsam was a blow for various hard to produce directors. This was a good sample of his style, but I"m sure he's done better; I hope much better. I feel the same way about Sokurov, whose new one Alexandra is coming up this week: superb stylist, marvellous when he hits his stride, sometimes turgid.

I may have seen Cria. Is it the one about hunting? I think I"ve read something you wrote about it. But if it is the one I saw, it didn't make that strong an impression on me. Don't think I"ve seen Ay Carmela!

Coming up from today: coverage of Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park and Todd Haynes' I'm Not There. The Q&A for the latter featured Jim HOberman with Haynes, Oscar. You'd have loved it. And Haynes in fact was very articulate and knows his Dylan

[Chris Knipp]

Got it. Thanks.

[Chris Knipp]

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GUS VAN SANT: PARANOID PARK (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18605#post18605)


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[Chris Knipp]

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TODD HAYNES: I'M NOT THERE (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18606#post18606)


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[oscar jubis]

*In your review of I'm Not There, you mention "Iggy Stooges". I think you meant to write Iggy Pop of the Stooges or Iggy & The Stooges (as they called themselves after reuniting a couple of years ago).

*Oh, absolutely. Chang-dong Lee does have a following. Perhaps a devoted following. I wouldn't miss any of his movies, but I don't think he's made his masterpiece yet, or anything truly great.

*Hoberman interviewing Haynes? Heaven.

*No, Cria is not the Saura movie about hunting. That'd be The Hunt ('67) which was voted once by the Spanish Critics Assoc. as the best Spanish movie of all time. It's brilliant political allegory but I prefer his Cannes winner Cria, with the best child actor ever: Ana Torrent.

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks for the corrections, and I'll fix Iggy.

[Chris Knipp]

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JOSE LUIS GUERIN: IN THE CITY OF SYLVIA (2007 (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18613#post18613)


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[Chris Knipp]

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ALEKSANDR SOKUROV: ALEXANDRA (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18621#post18621)


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[Chris Knipp]

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CATHERINE BREILLAT: THE LAST MISTRESS (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18632#post18632)


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[Chris Knipp]

Coming up: No Country for Old Men, new Coem brothers film screened for press by the Nyff today. The Coens, Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, and Kelkly Macdonald were there for the Q&A. Moderator Lisa Schwartzbaum.

Tonight I expect to see Michael Clayton on my own.

[Chris Knipp]

.


ETHAN, JOEL COEN: NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18640#post18640)


.

[Chris Knipp]

.


JOHN LANDIS: MR. WARMTH: THE DON RICKLES PROJECT (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18650#post18650)


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[Chris Knipp]

.


VALERIA BRUNI TEDESCHI: ACTRESSES (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18661#post18661)


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[Chris Knipp]

.


MARJANE SATRAPI, VINCENT PARONNAUD: PERSEPOLIS (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18666#post18666)


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[Chris Knipp]

.


CARMEN CASTILLO: CALLE SANTA FE (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18670#post18670)


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[Chris Knipp]

.


JIA ZHANG-KE: USELESS (2007) (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18672#post18672)


.

[oscar jubis]

American moviegoers aren't likely to know this name, Jia Zhang-ke, but he's a New York Film Festival name: his sad, haunting 2002 Ren xiao yao/Unknown Pleasures was an official selection; it's a meandering tale of two lost young men in the wasteland between industry and countryside that is a lot of modern China and it's extraordinarily original and memorable piece of work. Earlier they showed his 2000 Zhantai/Platform , which reviews the whole period of the Eighties in China and the generation that grew up then through following a traveling theatrical troupe. Recently the festival skipped Jia's 2006 Dong, about a painter, and Sanxia haoren or Still Life, from the same year, though the latter got the Golden Lion at Venice. It was Jia's 2004 Shijie/The World that first got him worldwide exposure. (Chris Knipp)

American filmgoers who pay attention to foreign films have known about Jia Zhang-ke for a few years. Platform had a theatrical release in the US in 2003, then a dvd release (let's face it, this is the main way films are consumed nowadays) in 2005. Unknown Pleasures has been available in the US on dvd since early 2004. I had bought both on import versions and sold them before the domestic releases. Jia had worldwide exposure before The World, particularly in Asia and Europe. Dong is an hour-long documentary intended as a companion piece to Still Life, which comes out in January courtesy of New Yorker Films. His earlier The Pickpocket ('97) is fairly obscure, but can be obtained with English subs in the UK.

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks for the elucidation.

I'll stick by my statement, that American moviegoers don't know Jia Zhang-ke's name. It's also still box office success that makes a director known, not DVD rentals. I would think Jia's The World would be the one that got the most US publicity. He said that when he learned that tens of tyhousands of pirated DVDs of his films were selling in China, he realized he was known. But that was in China.

I wasn't referring to Jia's reputation among cinephiles and frequenters of major festivals, which I hope would be good. I hope he doesn't squander it.

[oscar jubis]

Cool. I guess one can credibly say: "American filmgoers aren't likely to know this name, Wong Kar Wai" because let's face it: the average American filmgoer doesn't know the names of many directors, particularly not the ones whose work is in a language other than English.

By the way, I'm a huge fan of Jia. His last three films landed in my Top 10, with The World second to WKW's 2046 in 2005. I can't wait for Still Life. So much so I might buy the PAL dvd of it so I don't have to wait a few more months. I trust you that the subsequent doc doesn't measure up.

[Chris Knipp]

If you're a "huge fan" you'll doubtless want to watch Useless too. I'd like to see the recent ones since The World that I haven't been able to see. I didn't like The World as much as Platform and Unknown Pleasures, at all, though. I hope he's not losing it, with "success."

A lof ot Americans who like movies know Wong Kar Wai now. Some may know Hou Hsieu-hsien. Jia is a step further away from recognition.

[oscar jubis]

*Secret Sunshine is South Korea's Oscar submission and Silent Light is Mexico's. If either is among the 5 nominated, distribution is more likely. As of now, nada.

* Of course you can watch Still Life in early '08 during its theatrical run. I hope Dong is included by New Yorker in the dvd release, as it was included in the Asian dvds of the film. BTW, I reviewed Regular Lovers in the dvd section, which you watched at the NYFF last year (or was it '05?). Maybe you've already read it but "it don't hurt" to ask.

[Chris Knipp]

I am in Paris now and find that Still LIfe is playing at the Odeon area rep house MK2 Hautefeuille, only one day a week and one hour. I will try to catch it if I can.

No, I have not read your Regular Lovers review. I wish you'd provided the link. I know it's right here, but I'm paying top Euro for my time here...

I saw regular Lovers twice, 2005 Nyff, and then I think last summer at either Quad Cinema or Cinema Village with a friend in NYC--so it did have a theatrical run there. Best seen in a theater since the images are rather grand in scale.

Saw Claude Miller's new one "Un secret" last night, a drama about a Jewish family and half brothers during and after WWII. So so, I thought, thought Variety's Dennis Harvey says " "Un secret" is a fine drama that stands as Gallic vet Claude Miller's best in at least a decade." I found the "comples flashback structure" diminished the energy and there were too many themes. Good cast though.

[oscar jubis]

The theatrical run of Regular Lovers in the US consisted of a 1 week engagement at the Cinema Village. It's great you saw it there, but what about the rest of us. That's why I posted my review under DVD RELEASES because it is the first release of a Garrel film on Region 1 dvd that truly matters (except to the relatively few who caught it during that January week in Manhattan). Check out the review, I think you'd enjoy it. You're the only one at FilmLeaf who's seen it.

I've seen 8 Claude Miller films. All of them worth watching, none of them great. My favorite would probably be The Accompanist (1992) with Romane Bohringer. The new one will get distribution, I'd bet on it.

Are you also going to Italy, like last year? Did you get to watch THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD? I loved it but it's not a commercial movie so it's going to be out of theaters by the time you come back. It's got Mr. Pitt so it'll play around the globe.

[Chris Knipp]

I saw Assassination of...at the Angelike Film Center in NYC. I unfortuantely did not like it. Only Casey Affleck's performance is interesting though.

It is showing here in Paris and got good reviews The critics top ratings according to Pariscope are:

4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days (Romanian, in NYFF)

Ratatouille

Persepolis (NYFF closing film)

My Brother is an Only Child (Italian---which I will see today)

La vengeance dans la peau (not sure what this is)

The Assassination of....

Control (I saw in NYC)

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (NYFF)

I will look for your Regular Lovers review. I saw it twice. Send the link.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
I saw Assassination of...at the Angelike Film Center in NYC. I unfortuantely did not like it. Only Casey Affleck's performance is interesting though. It is showing here in Paris and got good reviews
I'm not surprised. It will turn up in some Top 10s at year's end. This is as psychologically complex as westerns have ever gotten. The photography is so accomplished with the distortion one gets from looking out through window edges extended to several outdoor scenes, great performances from Affleck and Pitt (perfectly cast as the "elder" James when he was as famous as the actor that portrays him), and a respect for "down time" that reminded me of...Regular Lovers.



4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days (Romanian, in NYFF)
Opens early 2008< I think. The third Romanian film in three years that receives a major prize at Cannes. Of course we've seen Lazarescu, but I wonder how many people caught 2006 Camera d'Or winner 12:08 to Bucharest when it came out here in the summer. Perhaps I should write a comment now that it's available on dvd.


My Brother is an Only Child (Italian---which I will see today)
It's bound to be enjoyable I'm sure but, as I've said before, Italian cinema keeps disappointing. We have two Italian cinema showcases here, one of them called Miami-Italian Film Festival. It just ended. I went to watch two of the best regarded films: Sergio Rubini's La Terra (7 David nominations) and Marco Bellocchio's The Wedding Director. Wish I had skipped the damn thing altogether.


I will look for your Regular Lovers review. I saw it twice. Send the link.
Here it is: REGULAR LOVERS (www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18669#post18669) I saw it twice too.

[Chris Knipp]

the distortion one gets from looking out through window edges Well, I thought the attempt was to duplicate the effect of some old lenses. But I didn't like it because it wasn't consistent. Maybe I didn't get what it was supposed to be. The "longeurs" in The Assassination of Jesse James and the aimlessness of the conversations are excessive. I'm sure you're right, though, that it will wind up on some annual Best lists--some love it.

Perhaps I should write a comment now [on 12:10 to BUcherest] Yes, you definitely should.

Italian cinema keeps disappointing. The Italian series at Lincoln Center this year was indeed pretty disappointing. But I have not been disappointed with Gianni Amelio. This one (My Brother is an Only Child ) is worth seeing. I found The Wedding Director a big bore. The other one La terra I haven't seen. I'll try to put up something on MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD, but I don't know where to put it on this site.

Thanks for the link to your Regular Lovers review. I've read it with interest and written a reply. (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18710#post18710)

By the way I am in fact going on to Italy this time too--forgot to answer that question above.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
The "longeurs" in The Assassination of Jesse James and the aimlessness of the conversations are excessive. I'm sure you're right, though, that it will wind up on some annual Best lists--some love it.
Well, I do. And I found the longeurs not unlike Garrel's in their contribution to providing a sense of authenticity and realism. The conversations, even when seemingly aimless, facilitate the depth of characterizations. As a treatise on fame and celebrity, the film is memorable. I can't possibly write a review as fu&%ing wonderful as J. Hoberman's or as admiring as Variety's, so I won't try.

Perhaps I should write a comment now on 12:08 to Bucharest Yes, you definitely should.
I'm a bit behind schedule with my writing. I finally posted the review Across the Universe merited, and I have yet to comment on The Darjeeling Limited (somewhat better than the previous Wes Anderson movie but not nearly as good as Rushmore) and Michael Clayton which, however earnest and entertaining, is getting overrated in the mainstream press. I'll try to post briefly on the minimalist but almost perfect Romanian film 12:08 to Bucharest (perhaps under dvd releases as the film is out on dvd).

The Italian series at Lincoln Center this year was indeed pretty disappointing. I found The Wedding Director a big bore. The other one La terra I haven't seen. I'll try to put up something on MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD, but I don't know where to put it on this site.
I've often thought we need a "Briefly Noted" thread somewhere to supplant the ancient "Last Movie I watched" thread. Although perhaps you have a long review of MY BROTHER in mind. So we agree on THE WEDDING DIRECTOR. Although it got a good review on Variety, I found LA TERRA just as mediocre.

Thanks for the link to your Regular Lovers review. I've read it with interest and written a reply. (http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=18710#post18710)
Thanks. I basically wrote it for me and you. Of course, one hopes someone else will be inspired to give it a try now that it's available on dvd. I'll reply soon.

By the way I am in fact going on to Italy this time too--forgot to answer that question above.
Have a fun and safe trip. Hope you can post from there.

[Chris Knipp]

I can't possibly write a review as fu&%ing wonderful as J. Hoberman's or as admiring as Variety's, so I won't try. And I can't write one as negative as Armond White's. I didn't hate it; I just thought it was misguided. Surely the difference between its evocation of Jesse James and Garrel's of Regular Lovers is that Garrel actually lived through 1968 in Paris, and probably very intensely. But Jesse James may become more intereesting with time. It's sort of a feather in the cap of Brad Pitt and a jump forward for Casey Affleck. I see that Gone Baby Gone is getting very decent notices (Metacritic 73).


I've often thought we need a "Briefly Noted" thread somewhere to supplant the ancient "Last Movie I watched" thread.

I stilll use that thread, I don't see what's wrong with it, but nobody else seems to notice it any more. I think I'll just post full reviews and new threads for all the films I see in Paris. Eventually people will be able to see most of them, if they try, I imagine.
Have a fun and safe trip [to Italy after Paris]. Hope you can post from there. I'm sure I can, but I certainly won't have as many new films to see there--if any!

[Chris Knipp]

Index to Filmleaf's NYFF 2006 reviews

Links to Reviews:

4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (Christian Mungiu 2007 (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18561#post18561)
Actresses (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18661#post18661)
Alexandra (Aleksandr Sokurov 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18621#post18621)
Axe in the Attic (Ed Pincus, Lucia Small 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18568#post18568)
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (Sidney Lumet 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18531#post18531)
Calle Santa Fe (Carmen Castillo 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18670#post18670)
Darjeeling Limited, The (Wes Anderson 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18570#post18570)
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (Julian Schnabel 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18510#post18510)
Fados (Carlos Saura 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18518#post18518)
Flight of the Red Balloon, The (Hou Hsiao Hsien 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18560#post18560)
Girl Cut in Two, The (Claude Chabrol 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18535#post18535)
Go Go Tales (Abel Ferrara 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18551#post18551)
I Just Didn't Do It (Masayuki Suo 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18513#post18513)
I'm Not There (Todd Haynes 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18606#post18606)
In the City of Silvia (Jose Luis Guerin 2007)
Last Mistress, The (Catherine Breillat 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18613#post18613)
Man from London, The (Bela Tarr 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18576#post18576)
Margot at the Wedding (Noah Baumbach 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18635#post18635)
Married Life (Ira Sachs 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18538#post18538)
Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project (John Landis 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18650#post18650)
No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18640#post18640)
Orphanage, The (Juan Antonio Bayona 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18574#post18574)
Paranoid Park (Gus Van Sant 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18605#post18605)
Pesepolis (Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Parannaud 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18666#post18666)
Redacted (Brian De Palma 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18559#post18559)
Romance of Astrea and Celadon, The (Eric Rohmer 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18529#post18529)
Secret Sunshine (Lee Chang-Dong 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18572#post18572)
Silent Light (Carlos Reygadas 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18549#post18549)
Useless (Jia Zhang-ke 2007) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2121-New-York-Film-Festival-2007&p=18672#post18672)