Opening this week at SIFF Cinema, SILENT SOULS is a heavy going Russian film about a man mourning for his dead wife as he and a friend take a road trip to dispose of her body. I guess that many things that happen along the way are "tradition" like decorating her pubic hair with colorful strings, sleeping with whores as a way of exercizing her memory, and burning her body on a beach. The film also show flashbacks as he bathes her with vodka, and has violent sex with her. I kept half wondering why she had died--she is much younger than he--and the possibility arises that he may have had a hand in her death. At times poetic and hypnotic, at other times tedious with nervously hand-held camera work, this is just for those who have are truly interested. GRADE----------B-
The chance to see the rarely screened LORD JIM (1965) in all it's 70MM glory was presented by the CINERAMA THEATRE last Tuesday night only, and it is an impressive visual treat with an intellectual, adventurous story line, based on the novel by Joseph Conrad. Peter O'Toole, fresh from his LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962) role, which also is being featured at the Cinerama this past week, has the most arresting vivid blue eyes that I can recall. Perhaps Paul Newman's eyes can come close to that. The supporting cast manages to steal the film, especially Curt Jurgens, Eli Wallach and an evil, droll James Mason--great bad guys all. The finale is shrouded in metaphysical intellectualism, obscuring the emotional connection you might have had for the characters, and I wasn't completely sure just who, exactly, is on that boat in the final shot, so the ending is disappointingly muted. Perhaps that's why the film rarely gets shown anymore, but physically, especially on the great big Cinerama screen, it looked and sounded terrific. GRADE----------B
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I spent a 5 day weekend in Vancouver for VIFF, the Vancouver International Film Festival, and managed to see 9 films, which I will write about in greater length later when and if they are released. Most of them seem likely candidates for some sort of art house run.
Top of the heap was an odd, intense sex drama called SLEEPING BEAUTY, an Australian film featuring Emily Browning as a college student who becomes an "escort" for older men who want to watch her sleep. The film is rather divisive, and caused some in the audience to fidget and laugh inappropriately, but it is beautifully done, with fearless actors and is bound to cause a stir when it is released. GRADE-----A-
The French-Canadian film that is a big box office hit in Canada is the comedy drama STARBUCKS, about a driftless, irresponsible 40 year old man who suddenly realizes that his girlfriend is pregnant, and at the same time is hit with a lawsuit from scores of young people who want to know who their biological father is. It seems that 20 years ago he made A LOT of donations to a sperm bank, and was quite fertile. This is such a great, smart, clever comedy that you keep wondering why filmmakers in the US can't come up with something like this. Instead they buy the rights and do a dumbed down remake. GRADE-------B+
THE BRITISH GUIDE TO SHOWING OFF is a sharp, creative documentary on artist Andrew Logan, who along with his partner, puts on an extravagant, outrageous show called THE ALTERNATIVE MISS WORLD every couple of years. (He can't afford it more than that.) Some of the participants/fans of this glam/queer/fashion/extravaganza have included Derek Jarman, David Hockney, Andy Warhol, Brian Eno and Billy Connolly, to name just a few. GRADE-----------B
The Russian film ELENA was advertised as a moral thriller, but it's more like a character study. Elena's husband is quite wealthy (their house is intriguingly Russian chic) but he refuses to pay for her slacker grandson to go to college. The film is fascinating in that you rarely see wealthy Russians portrayed in film, and there is some tension with the plotting--she makes some questionable choices to reach her goal. GRADE--------B
The Australian film HERE I AM follows a young aboriginal woman just out of prison, trying to go straight and win back custody of her child from her angry mother. It is familiar stuff, except that the film works as an ethno-centric primer into the lives of urban aboriginals in the big city. GRADE--------B
Another clever French comedy called MY PIECE of the PIE has a middle-aged divorced woman losing her job when financiers close down the plant she works at. In desperation she takes a job as a domestic, for a rich.....financier, who....well, you can figure this out quickly, but the film is smart, and doesn't go to the places you think it might. My biggest complaint---the ending is unfocused and surprising, but in the wrong way. Perhaps a US remake could improve on that! GRADE------B
From the same team that made RUMBA (2008) and ICEBERG (2005) comes the stylishly similar film THE FAIRY, a Belgium/Brench co-production. There is not a log of dialogue, but mostly uncynical physical comedy much like Jacques Tati with a bit of Charlie Chaplin thrown in. Very creative, but you need to be in the right mood. GRADE-------B-
MY LITTLE PRINCESS, a French film based on the true story that inspired Louis Malle's PRETTY BABY (1974) stars the great Isabelle Huppert as the bohemian artist and photographer who exploits her daughter's 11 year old body for the sake of money and fame by filming her in adult sexual positions. The film is written and directed by Eva Ionesco, whose story this is, and could have benefited from some edgy distance. GRADE----------B-
Set in 1943 during Nazi occupation of Poland, IN DARKNESS tells the story of Jews hiding from the Nazis' in the underground sewers of Lvov, with the help of some Poles. It is a good story to tell. Unfortunately, the director Agnieszka Holland chooses to film the story in near total darkness--this being sewers after all--with only the occasional light of some very strong and long lasting flashlights to light the way, so that we cannot see the faces very well of the actors (although we see a lot of close-ups of rats crawling over bodies), and then she decides to film with busy hand held action, so that even if one could see the faces, they are so blurred and dizzingly in motion that it makes you sick. So, along with the usual Nazi atrocities, like looting, shooting, death, gas chambers, torture, etc., this film is MISERABLE to watch. GRADE----------C
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A new film has opened at one theatre this week--TRESPASS---featuring Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman. I just watched the trailor and it looks exactly like the Spanish film I wrote about 3 weeks ago called KIDNAPPED. You've been warned.
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The one DVD film I saw last week was THE KILLERS (1964)--a remake of the same titled film from a couple weeks ago, this one with Lee Marvin, and also featuring Angie Dickenson and John Casavettes. Based on a Hemingway story, this version was made for TV but was deemed too violent and released in theatres instead. Marvin is quite creepy, and has a great final scene. Ronald Regan played the baddie (quite well) in his final film role, and there were quite a few different twists than the original to keep you on your toes. GRADE---------B
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