By Warren Curry
It's always difficult choosing the proper format to use when writing about the majority of films you see at a festival that you don't have the chance to review in detail. I previously thought the journal, which I used as an overview of the most recent LA Film Festival, was the answer, but I came to find that it's more of an ambitious endeavor than I had initially expected. (This explains why part two of the journal has never been posted…and only partially written.)
So, I will take a page from my wrap-up
of last year's AFI Film Festival and present a running list
of capsule reviews, which will be updated constantly throughout
the duration of the festival. Overall thoughts about this year's
festival will appear in this space at the conclusion of the event.
Just know that for this writer, November 7, 2003 (the opening
day of the fest's regular screenings) felt better than Christmas
morning.
Final Thoughts: As mentioned above, I had extremely
high expectations going into AFI 2003. Did the end result warrant
the anticipation? Yes and no. It must be noted that AFI 2002
was an extraordinary festival -- it was where I first saw my
#1 film of 2002 (City
of God) and my current best film of 2003 (Sweet
Sixteen) -- and who knows when I'll experience anything
like it again.
Most of the films I caught at this year's festival, as evidenced by the vast majority of 3 and 3 and 1/2 star ratings found below, fit comfortably into the range of pretty good-to-good, and I can't say I sat through any films I truly disliked. Perhaps when you see this many movies in this compressed amount of time, you need a few duds to emphasize the strengths of the good ones. Regardless, the festival was again run beautifully and one can only hope that the Arclight will remain a permanent home to it.
As for awards, the Dogme comedy Old, New, Borrowed and Blue (one of the few Scandinavian films I managed to miss) won the Grand Jury Prize for best International Feature, Beah: A Black Woman Speaks took the International Documentary Grand Jury Prize and Deep Silence was awarded the International Shorts Grand Jury Prize. Audience awards were given to In America (Best Feature), Double Dare (Best Documentary) and Fragile (Best Short).
Read on…(all ratings are based on a 5 star scale.)
AFTERLIFE (Dir. Alison Peebles/Scotland)
: (Read
full review)
AILEEN: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A SERIAL
KILLER (Dir. Nick Broomfield, Joan Churchill/U.S.A.) : (Read
full review)
AT FIVE IN THE AFTERNOON/PANJ E ASAR
(Dir. Samira Makhmalbaf/Iran) 
: 23-year-old female Iranian
filmmaker, Samira Makmalbaf, has already made three feature films
in her young life. The third, which is my first exposure to her
work, At Five in the Afternoon, is very loose in the story
department and doesn't have much narrative focus. Set in Afghanistan
after the fall of the Taliban, the film follows the existence
of Nogreh, a woman who aspires to be Afghanistan's first female
president, but must figure out a way to get an education. Makhmalbaf
comments on the subservient role of females and the deeply ingrained
cultural sexism in the strife riddled country, but the message
just seems to hang over a film that doesn't appear too intent
on going anywhere.
BUDDY (Dir. Morten Tyldum/Norway) : (Read
full review)
DOLLS (Dir. Takeshi Kitano/Japan) : Beat Takeshi's transcendent, complex,
and intense observation of love juggles three separate story
lines and fluctuates between small beautiful moments and studied,
needlessly prolonged passages (largely void of any dialogue).
Less accessible than the previous work of the director that has
received distribution in this country, the gorgeous cinematography
is pure eye candy, but the narrative structure seems strangely
out of balance. This film should've had about 20 minutes trimmed
-- and many might think that's a modest request. Palm Pictures
will release in 2004. Miramax will release Takeshi's other new
film, Zatoichi, next June, and that sounds to be an easier
sell to American moviegoers.
EVIL/ONDSKAN (Dir. Mikael Hafstrom/Sweden) : The most entertaining film I caught
at the festival. Any time a movie can get your juices flowing
this much, it has to be doing something right. Set in 1950s Sweden,
Andreas Wilson (who looks like Edward Furlong with sharper features)
excels as the charismatic Erik, a teenager who, unable to control
his vicious temper, is sent to a boarding school where his brand
of defying authority is met with hostility and abuse from the
institution's student ruling class. This can only mean one solution
for Erik: violent revenge. Director Mikael Hafstrom really never
delivers the climactic blow-out scene we're craving by the film's
conclusion, but he gives us minor indulgences along the way and
paces this film superbly. In the end, Evil may not really
be commenting on much of anything, but it's still the rare film
that can get my blood pumping the way this one was able to. Some
wise U.S. distributor will pick this up...right?
THE GREEN BUTCHERS/DE GRONNE SLAGTERE
(Dir. Anders Thomas Jensen/Denmark) : A dark comedy that's reminiscent
of the Coen Bros. on downers. Two friends/co-workers leave the
butcher shop where they had been employed to open their own store.
Business starts off slow until the duo's secret "chicky-wickys"
begin to sell like hotcakes. What's so secret about the "chicky-wickys"
you ask? They're made of human flesh, of course. Anders Thomas
Jensen drives the story competently but there's some snap missing,
most obviously in the run-of-the-mill dialogue. Newmarket Films
will release in the U.S. in 2004.
I'M NOT SCARED/IO NON HO PAURA (Dir.
Gabriele Salvatores/Italy/Spain/U.K.) : The Italian Oscar submission
for Best Foreign Picture. Director Gabriele Salvatores' (Mediterraneo)
portrait of the joy, curiosity and helplessness of childhood
is told via beautiful visuals and a tense, sad story. Set in
southern Italy in the scorching hot summer of 1978, a 10-year-old
boy named Michele uncovers a pit in the middle of a desolate
farmland, which serves as a prison for the kidnapped young son
of affluent parents. Things become increasingly more complicated
for Michele when he learns that his mother and father are involved
in the kidnapping/ransom scheme. A moving thriller that suffers
a bit from an overcooked ending, but remains a haunting tale
of lost innocence. Miramax will release domestically in April
of 2004.
KAMCHATKA (Dir. Marcelo Pineyro/Argentina/Spain) : Argentina's Oscar submission for
Best Foreign Language Picture feels oddly quiet and less dramatic
than it should be, but there's a rumbling beneath the surface
that doesn't clearly make itself heard until the film's conclusion.
Set during the 1976 coup d'etat in Argentina, Marcelo Pineyro's
study of a boy forced to partially come-of-age long before his
time is anchored by great performances, especially from Ricardo
Darin and Cecilia Roth as the parents who struggle to protect
their family at all costs. The movie's ultimate impact sneaks
up on you, and I get the distinct feeling this is a film I'll
appreciate more upon second viewing. Menemsha Films will release
in 2004.
KITCHEN STORIES/SALMER FRA KJOKKENET (Dir. Bent Hamer/Norway)
: A downbeat, dryly humorous film in
the vein of the more comedic leanings of Jim Jarmusch. Based
on a true story, Kitchen Stories focuses on a Swedish
scientist who travels to Norway to observe the kitchen habits
of an older Norwegian widower, who wants nothing more than to
be left alone. The men, because of their forced union in this
isolated environment, are given no choice but to act human, although
their roles as scientist and subject strictly forbid such behavior.
A quiet, simple, and engaging film -- director Bent Hamer establishes
the film's tone beautifully, although those without the patience
for movies with little physical action will most likely be left
cold. IFC Films will release in February of 2004.
LIVE FOREVER (Dir. John Dower/U.K.) : If you're a fan of 90's "Britpop,"
you'll probably be suitably entertained by this much too esoteric
and somewhat empty documentary. This film attempts to put that
music movement -- which includes bands like The Stone Roses,
Oasis and Blur -- in some sort of socially and historically significant
context (really in an effort to justify its own existence), but
I identified with the movie about as much as I would a documentary
about The Backstreet Boys and N'Sync. Some amusing interview
snippets (mainly courtesy of Oasis vocalist Liam Gallagher, who
can be best described as unintentionally paying tribute to Spinal
Tap's Nigel Tufnel), and the music's admittedly good, but why
exactly am I supposed to care enough to sit through a 90-minute
movie about these bands? The best docs are ones that can capture
the interest of viewers who are unfamiliar with the subject --
Live Forever falls a bit short of the mark.
THE MAN OF THE YEAR/O HOMEN DO ANO (Dir. Jose Henrique Fonseca/Brazil)
: (Read
full review)
NOI ALBINOI (Dir. Dagur Kari/Iceland/Germany/UK/Denmark)
: Teen angst is universal -- it even
affects those stuck in tiny villages in the furthest reaches
of Iceland. Tomas Lemarquis turns in a wonderfully affecting
performance as Noi, a lonely, frustrated, and witty teenager
trapped in a small town where nobody understands him. Writer/director
Dagur Kari finds a great tonal balance, mixing understated comedy
and dramatic flourishes that, when hitting on all cylinders,
reminds of Jim Jarmusch's strongest moments. This character driven
piece dismisses plot and can occasionally feel meandering, but
you always know that Kari, thankfully, is leading you somewhere.
The locations and cinematography are spectacular and breathtaking.
Palm Pictures releases in March of 2004 -- look forward to seeing
it again.
OSAMA (Dir. Siddiq Barmak/Afghanistan) : In the interest of full disclosure,
Osama was my most anticipated film of the festival, and
it lived up to just about all of my expectations. Set in Afghanistan,
a 12-year-old girl (Marina Golbahari) is forced by her family,
which has lost all of its male members, to pose as a boy so the
Taliban will allow her to work and provide for the family. Adopting
the name Osama, the girl is rounded up and sent to an all-male
religious school/military training camp, where she risks death
if her true identity is revealed. Full of horrifying situations,
this film is consistently upsetting but also well pitched dramatically.
Barmak's mix of haunting and frighteningly real images (often
one and the same), and an urgent, thoroughly convincing performance
by Golbahrai, makes this a hard film to shake. United Artists
will release in early 2004.
THE RAGE IN PLACID LAKE (Dir. Tony McNamara/Australia) : (Read
full review)
SHE GOT GAME (Dir. Bobbi Jo Krals,
Abbey Jack Neidik/Canada) : An eye-opening documentary
that exposes the hardships of life on the professional women's
tennis tour. For every Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Anna
Kournikova, and Jennifer Capriati, there are hundreds of Sonya
Jeyaseelan's, a Canadian player whose highest world ranking was
#47. Having her childhood stolen away by an abusive father bent
on stardom for his daughter, Jeyaseelan's career is in constant
limbo, thanks mainly to a rash of injuries, which forces the
young woman to deal with the reality of being a 20-something
without a high school diploma and any tangible professional skills
outside of her athletic talent. Ala Hoop Dreams, the documentary
examines the human casualties of our sports', and bottom-line,
obsessed society. The behind-the-scenes access filmmakers Bobbi
Jo Krals and Abbey Jack Neidik are given to the WTA tour makes
the doc that much more compelling.
SONG FOR A RAGGY BOY (Dir. Aisling
Walsh/Ireland/UK/Denmark/Spain)
: (Full review forthcoming)
TWO DAYS (Dir. Sean McGinly/U.S.A.)
: Are you aware that there is a movie
genre known as the suicide comedy? According to the description
in the AFI Film Festival catalogue, Sean McGinly's Two Days
is another contribution to the neglected genre. Whatever
the case, Two Days achieves a nice balance between ironic,
wise-ass comedy, and haunting tragedy. Starring Paul Rudd as
struggling Los Angeles actor Paul Miller, who decides to hire
a film crew to shoot a documentary about the final two days before
he takes his own life, the movie may sound like a typically self-indulgent
indie flick on paper, but it's focus on remaining light-hearted
when appropriate and laying on the drama when it's earned, results
in a surprisingly assured effort by McGinly. The film has a tough
time figuring out when to end, but the vast majority of the movie
works quite well.
WOLFSBURG (Dir. Christian Petzold/Germany) : (Read
Full Review)
Comment
on the message boards.
|
|
|
|
|