SIFF Screenings---Best Bets-----Polanski's VENUS IN FUR, NIGHT MOVES, BELLE & SEBASTIEN, FIGHT CHURCH, SUNFISH

Opening night is tonight, and here is the last bit of pre-festival films I've viewed, in order of preference.

GRADE A

VENUS IN FUR is Roman Polanski's excellent version (in French) of a play based on an adaption of a story about pleasure and pain and the relationship between men and women, written originally by Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch in the 19th century.  A story within a story, this concerns a frustrated director (Mathieu Amalric) who cannot find the right actress for the lead.  When a wet and very late actress (Emmanuelle Seigner) arrives and demands an audition, he finds she may be just what he needs, but quickly finds the tables turned as the afternoon progresses.  Funny, smart, sexy and audacious, this is a battle of the wits and the sexes, and the actors are sensational.   It's a big crowd pleaser.

GRADE B

NIGHT MOVES was filmed in the Bend, Oregon area, and works like a slow burn thriller , building suspense and tension.  Three friends build a bomb to destroy a dam that is blocking the salmon runs in their area---they are committed environmental activists.  But when things go wrong, they find their emotions are running out of control.

BELLE AND SEBASTIEN is a French family film about a young boy during WWII who befriends a wild dog that the towns people think is a beast.  The photography, music and setting are beautiful,  the actors are accomplished, and the drama, which includes smuggling Jews cross the border to Switzerland, is engrossing.  Surprisingly disarming.

GRADE B-

FIGHT CHURCH is a US documentary about the popularity of churches starting up clubs to train fighters for "cage" fighting--trying to appeal mostly to men.  The film feels like a long commercial for fight club activities, with ministers who fight and train doing a lot rationalizing as to why this is a good idea.  Towards the end,  two other pastors appear to give the opposing view point.  It raises a lot of controversial issues regarding religion versus violence, and it also raises a lot more questions than it answers.  If you don't like seeing (mostly) men beat each other senseless in the ring, than stay away from this film, as it got a lot of early walkouts.

THE SUNFISH is a charming Danish love story about a divorced fisherman trying to rebuild his life after a nasty divorce.  He finds love with a lovely biologist who tries to help him with his fishing, but he can't seem to stay out of trouble.  I might have liked this more except for the obnoxious hand held camera that seemed to creep into most scenes.

GRADE C+

BEYOND THE BRICK; A LEGO BRICKUMENTARY.  The title says it all in this proficient but long info commercial about the LEGO product and how kids and adults have created the second biggest toy company in the US.  Strictly for LEGO fans.