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The 53nd San Francisco International Film Festival
Festival Front Lines
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
APRIL 22, 2010: This is my fourteenth San Francisco International Film Festival, and so
far the entries have been fairly even, no real masterpieces so far, but nothing too
terrible either. The following are capsule reviews for the festival's first couple of days.
Please check back here for more reviews soon! (JMA)
MAY 6, 2010: The festival ended as it began: pretty solid overall, with very few masterpieces, but
hardly any duds. Hopefully viewers will be able to enjoy these movies throughout the rest of
the year, either in regular release or on home video. (JMA)
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Micmacs ***1/2
Micmacs is a delightful dark comedy with much of the cartoonish logic of
Amélie, but also a parable about the evils of arms dealers. (It's
lighter and more satisfying than Jeunet's war film A Very Long
Engagement.) Danny Boon stars as Bazil, a man whose father was killed
after stepping on a landmine, and who himself gets shot in the head
while criminals are escaping the scene of a crime. He survives, but
loses his job and his apartment and winds up living with an underground
"family" of misfits, collecting, fixing and selling junk. He discovers
the headquarters of the manufacturers of both the killer landmine and
his bullet (still lodged in his head); he begins a Yojimbo-like strategy
to play one against the other and bring them both down. Taken
separately, the characters can seem thin, each one defined by a single
trait, but together, they form a wonderful whole. And Jeunet's
wonderful, playful logic and effortless storytelling save the day.
Micmacs is the opening night feature, screening April 22. In French.
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Around a Small Mountain ***
The former French New Waver Jacques Rivette is one of my favorite living
filmmakers; he normally makes lengthy movies with room for lots of
exploration, romance and mystery, even if none of the results are very
conventional. His Va Savoir, from 2001, was one of his lightest works to
date, and it was 154 minutes in its short version. But Rivette's new
one, Around a Small Mountain, is only 84 minutes, and it feels as if
it's missing something. An Italian motorist Vittorio (Sergio
Castellitto) stops to help a stranded French woman, Kate (Jane Birkin),
and learns that she's a member of a circus. He follows her and begins
hanging around, befriending some clowns and a young woman who has grown
up in that environment. He helps out wherever he can, but nothing major
happens. He also appears to have fallen in love with Kate, but little
comes of this. Kate mostly sulks about her mysterious past. It's not
that this is a bad film; it has most of Rivette's usual touches, and
it's charming, but it just seems to go by too fast without settling on
anything. In French. [See my longer review at Cinematical.com] (April 23)
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Nymph ***
The mysterious, creepy Nymph is the latest from Thai director Pen-Ek
Ratanaruang (6ixtynin9, Last Life in the Universe). Long-haired
photographer Nop (Jayanama Nopachai) is married to the pretty May
(Wanida Termthanaporn), and the spark has gone out of their marriage.
May is currently sleeping with her boss (Chamanun Wanwinwatsara), who is
also in love with her. Nop and May go on a camping trip to the woods,
which are filled with astonishing, beautiful, haunting trees. Nop goes
missing, and when he unexpectedly turns up again, May re-thinks the
nature of her relationships. Director Ratanaruang spices things up with
a few alluring shots of a forest "nymph" who may be a supernatural
spirit in charge of everything. There are also some truly dazzling
tracking shots through the woods, which are used as a mood-setter and a
tease. When it comes to the human characters, things are a tad on the
neat side, but otherwise, it's an effective film. In Thai. (April 23)
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The White Meadows ***1/2
Rahmat (Hasan Pourshirazi) is a collector of human tears, perpetually
rowing his boat between the islands on Iran's Lake Urmia and landing
wherever duty calls. At first, he attends the funeral of a beautiful
young girl, but is surprised when he tries to steal a look under the
shroud and discovers a very much alive, boy stowaway. He agrees to take
the boy on as an apprentice, but Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof
(Iron Island) refuses to focus on anything so narratively trite. Rather,
he focuses on a series of incidents that are superstitious, bizarre,
moving, and terrifying. In one, citizens speak into glass jars, which
are then strapped to one man's back; the man is lowered into a well to
deliver the jars (and the wishes/complaints therein) but must return
back before sunrise. Rasoulof creates some astonishingly beautiful shots
filled with water and sky and strange land formations, but the movie's
mood is always slightly, deliberately cockeyed, as if weighed down with
too much salt. In Persian. (April 23)
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My Dog Tulip ***
Veteran independent animator Paul Fierlinger -- best known for his short
cartoons on TV's "Sesame Street" -- makes his feature debut (along with
co-director and wife Sandra Fierlinger) with this lovely film based on
J.R. Ackerley's novel. An aging writer gets a dog for a companion and
tells the story of how they become trusted friends, enduring a visit
from the narrator's sister, and a long, convoluted attempt at breeding.
The animation style is gentle and simple, with pointed humor and plenty
of breathing room. Best of all, the film manages a genuine emotional
connection with the title dog (who does not talk, by the way).
Christopher Plummer narrates, and Isabella Rossellini and Lynn Redgrave
provide other voices. In English. (April 24)
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Cracks **
Ridley Scott's daughter (and Tony Scott's niece) Jordan Scott makes her
feature debut with this, one of the festival's duds. Though,
fortunately, it's at least unintentionally funny and could wind up with
a kind of demented cult following. Based on a novel by Sheila Kohler,
the film takes place in the 1930s at a girls' school. Di (Juno Temple)
is a "team captain," in charge of a group of girls, and worships her
teacher Miss G (Eva Green), who has organized a diving team. Everything
changes when a spoiled Spanish girl, Fiamma (Mar’a Valverde) turns up,
challenges Di's authority, and captures Miss G's attention. It turns
into a high-pitched, hysterical power play with lots of glowering and
glaring and lesbian lust. Out of all this ridiculousness, however, comes
one promising actress, a 20 year-old blonde beauty with an unfortunate
name: Imogen Poots. Director Scott rarely focuses on her, but she still
manages to pop out of every scene. I imagine you will be hearing more
from her. In English. (April 24)
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Transcending Lynch ***
It must be tempting, while making a documentary about David Lynch, to
try and indulge in some Lynchian-type imagery. Director Marcos Andrade
does that from time to time, but he also manages a sometimes revealing
and sometimes touching portrait of the artist as he tours South America
with his book about transcendental meditation. Lynch talks about how he
has been meditating each and every day since the late 1970s, and how it
has brought him a kind of peace. And indeed, he seems peaceful and
patient as he fields endless questions from reporters, mostly about his
movies. He never answers definitively on any movie-related topic, and
mainly wants to expound upon meditating, but the fans that line up for
his autograph and to shake his hand don't seem to care; they love him
all the same. When the movie discovers this clash between the neat,
calm, well-spoken little man and the hoards of fans that treat him like
a rock star, it finds its greatest poetry. Additionally, Andrade doesn't
directly sell the meditation concept, and not everyone will be
converted, but some might be. In English. (April 24)
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Everyone Else ***1/2
The second feature by German filmmaker Maren Ade, Everyone Else is a
rare movie that concentrates more on genuine characters and emotions
more than it does visual style. For some, it may delve a bit too deep
into painful territory, the source of which -- of course -- is lack of
communication. Chris (Lars Eidinger) is a tall, gangly small-time
architect, and Gitti (Birgit Minichmayr) is a tough, pretty music
publicist for a band called the Shames. Together this German couple is
vacationing in Italy, and from the start, everything seems off-kilter.
Gitti has a tense encounter with Chris' niece, and the couple never
seems to be on the same page at the same moment. Things get worse when
an architect colleague of Chris's turns up; Chris wants both to avoid
and impress the more successful man, though Gitti sees this more clearly
than Chris does. Ade films in a grungy, realistic style much like
Cassavetes, and though the film has drawn comparisons to Antonioni,
Bergman and Rossellini, it lacks the "bigger picture" feel of those
films; Ade moves closer and uses her camera to depict alienation, as if
this stuff happens every day. And it does. In German. (April 25)
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Soul Kitchen ***
German-Turkish director Fatih Akin sets aside his tense cross-cultural
dramas for a moment to make this high-energy comedy of errors, which is
sort of a wintertime equivalent to his delightful summertime rom-com In
July (2000). Zinos Kazantsakis (Adam Bousdoukos) runs a sleazy, greasy
little restaurant in a run-down part of town that the locals seem to
love. He can't pay his taxes, his sexy girlfriend Nadine (Pheline
Roggan) is about to move to Shanghai and wants Zinos to come with her.
And his brother Illias (Moritz Bleibtreu) has just been given daytime
work passes from prison and needs a job (but would rather not actually
have to work). In the middle of all this, Zinos impulsively hires an
out-of-work master chef and throws out his back. Each time we turn
around Akin (and co-screenwriter Bousdoukos) throws in something crazy,
such as building inspectors, aphrodisiacs, midnight raids, unexpected
romances, reckless gambling, and increasing back pain. Akin keeps the
atmosphere loose and realistic and despite the usual third-act scramble
to wrap up all the plot threads, the mood and the humor are well
balanced throughout. In German. (April 26)
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Cairo Time ***
Ruba Nadda's gorgeous Cairo Time has three stars: the luminous Patricia
Clarkson, the lanky, gentle Alexander Siddig, and Cairo itself, sprawled
out around and between them at every moment. It's one of those movies in
which the air itself -- its smells and warmth -- seems to emanate from
the screen. Clarkson plays Juliette, who arrives in Cairo hoping to meet
her husband, a NATO man. Instead, Tareq (Siddig) meets her and informs
her that her husband is stuck in Gaza. Tareq used to work for the
husband but recently retired to run a coffee shop. He offers his
services to Juliette should she need them. Juliette is far from the ugly
American; she's quiet and polite, but still blunders into some odd
situations. She finds that men not only follow her, but brush right up
against her. She also wanders into Tareq's café without realizing that
it's for men only. She even boards a bus for Gaza without realizing the
military danger involved. Nadda unfolds this with a gentle, observant
pace, relying on Clarkson's deep, thoughtful performance to help drive
things (and show things down). Clarkson brings an entire history to this
character with just her eyes, face and body. Thankfully, Tareq is shown
to have his dark side as well; he's more than just the "pure,"
unsullied, non-American native. When these two fall in love, the movie
avoids big, passionate moments or painful payoffs. It doesn't blame the
exotic locale, either. It's just something that happened in-between
moments. In English & Arabic. [See my longer review at Cinematical.com] (April 28)
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White Material ****
The great Claire Denis returns with one of her most narratively
conventional movies; even though it has a few flashbacks and
flash-forwards here and there, it more or less follows a plot. It even
features a big star, Isabelle Huppert, in a strong lead role. But it's
also one of her grimmest and most relentless movies. Huppert stars as
Maria Vial, a French coffee grower in Africa. She gets word that the
French army is packing up and leaving in the midst of a revolution
between the African army and a band of rebels, neither of which is too
happy to have white people around. Maria's husband (Christopher Lambert,
of Highlander) tries to make secret arrangements to get the family out
of the country, but Maria is more interested in finishing the harvest,
which will take a mere five days. She has an attitude of entitlement;
she knows her neighbors and doesn't believe anything truly terrible
could happen. Things grow more complex with Maria's grown, lazy son
(Nicolas Duvauchelle) suddenly snaps, and when a famous rebel soldier
known as "The Boxer" (Isaach De Bankolé) takes refuge on the plantation.
As always, Denis creates a remarkable texture here, using the land and
air and temperature and atmosphere as part of the fabric of the movie;
and this time the land is really what's at stake. The movie asks the
question: who really deserves to live here? And, as with all her movies,
Denis thankfully does not answer. [See my longer review at Cinematical.com] (April 29)
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Get Low ***
Aaron Schneider is a former cinematographer and the director of the
Oscar-winning short film Two Soldiers (2003); he makes his feature
directorial debut with Get Low. It feels like a debut, it's not totally
assured, and it wobbles a bit here and there between tones. But
thankfully Schneider is smart enough to have hired such talented
veterans as Bill Murray, Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek, each of whom
brings some personality and balance to most of the scenes, and manages
to sell the entire package as a whole. Duvall plays Felix, an old hermit
who suddenly decides to throw his own funeral (while still alive) so
that he can hear all the stories people have told about him over the
years. He hires funeral director Frank Quinn (Murray) and Frank's
upright assistant Buddy (Lucas Black) for the job. But the more things
progress, the more Felix realizes that he needs to tell his own story.
(The movie makes the mistake of opening on a "mysterious" flashback to
this incident.) A couple of the subplots, one involving a robbery, never
go anywhere, and the comic and tragic moods never quite mix. But thanks
to the skill of the actors, the tragic moments come out quietly and the
comic ones come out warmly. Get Low screens April 30 as part of the
festival's tribute to the career of Robert Duvall.
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To Die Like a Man ***
Portuguese director João Pedro Rodrigues (O Fantasma, Two Drifters) has
a frank, blunt storytelling style; his images and moments can seem
clumsy one moment, and bold the next. His third feature, To Die Like a
Man, tells the story of an aging Lisbon drag queen, Tonia (Fernando
Santos), who no longer draws the crowds to her fado show, and is on the
verge of losing her young lover, Rosario (Alexander David). Tonia and
Rosario take a mystical road trip together and wind up at the home of a
pair of drag queens, hunting snipes in the woods. The picture is mainly
about Tonia's struggle for identity, not only as a male or a female, but
also as the parent of a soldier (who goes AWOL after shooting and
killing a comrade), and as a human being with memories (treasured
artifacts keep disappearing from Tonia's home). It's so deadpan at times
that it seems like a joke, or a dream. It's always bizarre, but for all
this, To Die Like a Man still manages to find something genuinely,
beautifully moving, like a steady heartbeat in a very confused body. In
Portuguese. (May 1)
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Air Doll **1/2
The acclaimed, but inconsistent Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda
returns to his first non-realistic film since the wonderful After Life,
but it's also a million miles away from his previous film, the
outstanding Ozu-inspired Still Walking. Air Doll goes on far too long
and plays with so many different themes that it seems more like a doodle
than a film. It involves an inflatable sex doll named Nozomi (Doona
Bae), which "finds a heart" and comes to life. We see endless montages
of her discovering the small beauties of life, as well as lifelessly
enduring the mechanical pounding of oversexed men. She gets a job in a
video store and falls in love with another clerk there; they have
several sweet little dates in which he explains more things to her.
(This also allows for lots of little movie-related conversations and
references.) There's an old man with more advice, and images of garbage
and so many other themes that it takes Kore-eda a full half hour just to
end the film. The ending could have been an O. Henry-style stinger, but
it comes so late and after so much meandering that it just thuds. In
Japanese. (April 30)
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Julia ***1/2
French director Erick Zonca (The Dreamlife of Angels) returns after a
long absence with this harrowing American film. It takes a cue from John
Cassavetes' Gloria (1980), starting with a hard-living, older woman.
This time, she's an alcoholic played by Tilda Swinton. After a series of
incidents and temptations, Julia winds up kidnapping a boy, Tom (Aidan
Gould), with the hope of reuniting him with his mother and collecting a
large fee. But instead, Julia winds up on the run to Mexico, where the
boy is kidnapped again. Zonca turns in a very long (144 minutes), very
tough movie that switches moods and logic almost haphazardly (perhaps
like a drunk?). Despite all this, it's a gripping, highly effective
picture. The thanks mostly goes to Ms. Swinton, who gives a truly
astonishing performance. She puts most of the actual 2009 Oscar nominees
to shame. We can start by celebrating her surface achievements like
seeming to understand the logic of being drunk and being an alcoholic,
to the achievement of hiding her British accent behind a very authentic,
attitude-ridden American accent, but it goes much, much deeper than
that. Over the course of the film, we see Julia's long-buried instincts
awakened. She's not redeemed as much as she simply becomes more human.
Julia was selected by film critic Roger Ebert, who received the Mel
Novikov award at this year's festival. The extraordinary evening
included tributes by directors Terry Zwigoff, Errol Morris, Jason
Reitman and Philip Kaufman. (May 1)
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Alamar ***1/2
Pedro González-Rubio wrote and directed this absolutely breathtaking
portrait of a father and son, so realistic that it plays like a
documentary. (The people and their situations are real, but the events
of the film are created.) It starts with the story of a whirlwind love
affair between a man of Mayan heritage, Jorge, and an Italian woman,
Roberta. They have a son, Natan, before they realize that their two
worlds are just too different and they split up. Alamar begins as Natan
goes to spend a little time with his father, a fisherman in the Banco
Chinchorro area near Mexico. Jorge -- who works with his father, Natan's
grandfather -- goes about his day and teaches Natan all about fishing
and boating and snorkeling, as if they were the most amazing new toys.
Natan becomes enamored of a beautiful egret he names Blanquita. There's
hardly any conversation, and what there is seems pitched just to pass
the time; the sun and the sea and the wind are just as important as the
son, father and grandfather. The movie has a very relaxing acceptance of
the world's rhythms. It's male bonding at its most natural. González-Rubio won the festival's New Directors Award. In Spanish.
(May 1)
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The Loved Ones ***1/2
One of the festival's late-night selections, this surprising gore fest
from Australia remains one of my favorites. Writer/director Sean Byrne
mixes up a perfect combination of humanity, dark, dry humor and bloody
terror. Handsome high-schooler Brent (Xavier Samuel) lives a tormented
existence; he blames himself for his father's death in a car accident.
But things are looking up, as he will be going to prom with a good girl
who really loves him. When the shy Lola (Robin McLeavy) also asks him to
the dance, he has to break the news that he already has a date, which
begins a load of trouble. Simultaneously, Brent's best pal, a tubby
stoner called Sac (Richard Wilson) manages a date with the sexy,
dangerous Mia (Jessica McNamee). I can't say any more, since The Loved
Ones constantly moves in unexpected directions with these two subplots.
Byrne's use of space and light is very highly skilled; he gets some very
good dark laughs in during the third act. Ms. McLeavy is a true find,
managing to use her eyes and body to convey coyness, shyness, sultriness
and downright insanity. In English. (May 2)
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Splice ***1/2
A last-minute addition to this year's festival, Vincenzo Natali's Splice
is a terrific sci-fi summer treat that somehow manages to combine a very
twisted, line-crossing sensibility with a genuine kind of sweetness. It
has a most peculiar, appealing tone, which makes even the most familiar
moments seem fresh. Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley star as Clive and
Elsa, a pair of genetic scientists -- and lovers -- who have created
some new life forms that may also provide medicine for animals. When
bureaucrats threaten to take over their operation, they decide to work
on a human-based creature, and "Dren" is born. She grows very quickly
and causes no end of complications and surprises, made more complicated
by the fact that Clive and Elsa must keep her hidden. (They have crossed
some serious ethical boundaries.) Natali -- who directed the 1997 cult
film Cube -- rarely steps wrong here, with outstanding achievements in
everything from set design to sound design. The striking Delphine
Chanéac plays Dren as an adult. In English. (May 4)
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