SIFF Report thru June 9th

Final weekend ahead, and still a lot to see. Here's the latest that I saw on Wed and Thur.

THE YELLOW SEA--------GRADE TBA
Another big OOOOOPPPPPSSS for the press screenings---shown without subtitles---so if you want to see it (the picture looks impressive during the first 10 minutes) make sure to call SIFF Info line to check that the subtitles will be included.

POR EL CAMINO--------GRADE B
I'm not sure exactly why I enjoyed this breezy, nearly plot less, would be romantic, road trip through Uruguay, but the scenery sure stays with me, and the characters don't jump right into bed, either. Very pleasant.

SPUD------------GRADE B+
John Cleese is the influential teacher at a private South African boys school in 1990 and the young hero has not yet developed into puberty (the term "spud" referring to his small undeveloped genitalia), and as it starts you will be thinking that this story is going to be very familiar, and for a while it is. But the characters are all likable and become unusually rounded for such a comedy/drama, the shenanigans are realistically subdued, and the film becomes quite moving by the end.

MARATHON BOY-------GRADE A
Another GREAT documentary, this one is set in India, and tells the story of a 3 year old boy who loves to run. He is adopted out of poverty by his coach, who runs an athletic/training orphanage with his wife, but because the boy is so young, controversy arises when he tries to run half and full marathons. Ethics, politics and social conflicts put up barriers between the coach and the child. There is a shocking development towards the end that I didn't see coming. This film, along with HOT COFFEE and HOW TO DIE IN OREGON are all sponsored by HBO, which will be handling their release, and they should show up on HBO later this year. THE LAST MOUNTAIN is also getting a theatrical release this summer. These are the 4 top films of SIFF this year.

ROMEOS---------GRADE B
This lively German film by a first time woman director is quite good, especially considering the complicated subject matter. Lukas is a trans-gendered 20 year old going FTM (female to male)who depends on his best friend, a lesbian, for moral support during this process. In college he falls for a flirty, bisexual hustler who doesn't know about Lukas' FTM situation. There is a lot of sexual tension, humor,
pathos and drama that feels quite real for the main character. The key role of Lukas is played by a first time actor called Rick Okon, and I kept thinking that this is one of the strongest break-through roles since BOYS DON'T CRY that I've seen.

HOLY ROLLERS: THE TRUE STORY OF CARD COUNTING CHRISTIANS------GRADE B-
A true documentary based on a group of Christian black-jack players based in Seattle is notable mainly for emphasizing how 1) Christians or otherwise can justify gambling, as long as money is being made, and 2)Christians and otherwise can be as deluded, sinful and selfish as any one else. It raises some interesting ideas, but at 93 minutes seems unfocused at times and could lose 15 minutes to editing.

FUNKYTOWN-----------GRADE B-
Set in the mid 1970 during the disco era, this slick, hoary,melodramatic cliche, filled with sex, drugs and music in Quebec, feels like a Guilty Pleasure from the start, especially with most scenes punctuated with some great disco classic covers. But the film does go on too long, and the fun starts to fizzle as cliche piles on to cliche in deadly seriousness.

THE DESTINY OF LESSER ANIMALS----------GRADE B
Interesting ethno-centric film from Ghana about a police officer trying to track down his stolen counterfeit passport so he can escape to America. Part mystery, part thriller, part character study, and part allegory to patriotism.

THE REDEMPTION OF GENERAL BUTT NAKED---------GRADE B-
Liberia's General Butt Naked was a terrifying brutal soldier during his country's 14 years of civil war, ruthlessly attacking, raping and murdering over 20,000 people (by his own admission) while naked. After the war he reinvents himself as a Bible-toting preacher, trying to turn his henchmen towards God and religion and seek forgiveness for his many sins. This is a powerful documentary, as it follows him running into survivors whose family he murdered, and it raises a lot of questions, like should he be prosecuted for war crimes, and should he be trying to convert people to Christianity when just a few years earlier he'd have rather killed them. Can we believe him? (The war time tribunal recommended amnesty towards him!) But part of the problem with the film is the rough handheld cinematography, and many of those questions remain unresolved.