Here's what I saw this last couple days. Listed in order of preference.
GRADE----A-
CLASS ENEMY--A disturbing and provocative drama from Slovenia features a group of high school age students rebelling against their teachers (and one in particular) because they feel that the "system" caused one of their fellow students to commit suicide. The film is intense and well structured and builds sympathy for all involved in the tragedy. On the down side, it does feature an annoyingly unsteady (as opposed to shaky) camera style. One of the very few ethnic students has the best line--screaming something like "You Slovenians, if you are not killing yourself , then you're killing each other!" and during a group parent meeting with the principal, his parents have the funniest moment in the film--and perhaps in all of SIFF this year. Watch for this one at BEST OF SIFF or hopefully it will open later this year. Plays one more time on 6/5!
SAM AND AMIRA---A BIG BIG surprise! Here's a comic drama about a healthy veteran returning from several tours of duty in the middle East, who becomes involved with an Iraqi immigrant about to be deported, as well as his cousin who is mired in a hedge fund scandal. The romance and his efforts to be a stand up comedian and his relationship to all he encounters flows with an assured confidence that made this small, independent film glow. Plays this weekend.
GRADE-----B+
INTERNET'S OWN BOY--A fascinating documentary of Aaron Swartz, a computer prodigy who was writing programs at age 12, who becomes targeted by the U.S. government as a hacker and charged with computer fraud and abuse and other felonies. His crime? Downloading millions of academic articles which are supposed to be available FREE to all citizens. It's a heartbreaking story--he committed suicide at age 26 due to the pressure and cost of government harassment.
Plays this week.
LILTING---Lovely chamber drama from England. When his lover dies, the boyfriend tries to befriend the lover's Chinese mother, who lives in a senior home and speaks no English. She is being courted by an older man who knows no Chinese, so he hires an interpreter for the three of them. Haltingly truths come to the surface. Plays this week.
EASTERN BOYS---French thriller with a gay protagonist involved with a gang of young thugs, mostly from Russia and Croatia. There's a long, almost hypnotic, opening segment involving a cruising at a train station, which reminded me of Hitchcock's VERTIGO, followed by an intensely uncomfortable home invasion sequence that had the audience squirming. The film ends with a long, intense sequence where the main character tries to resolve the issues of illegal immigration, bullying, homophobia and -Love?- with the action skill of James Bond, just exaggerating!, but the film is quite involving and raised some interesting issues.
SALVATION ARMY--Set in Morocco and France, this ethno-centric film is based on an autobiographical novel about growing up gay in Morocco, which seems to have a culture of acceptance, and follows 15 year old Abdellah as he interacts with his obsessive mother and sisters, and his big brother and abusive (at times) father. Ten years later, he is in college in Geneva, involved with a controlling Swiss man who he obviously despises. The wistful film is knowing and subtle and paints a world where being young or old creates different sets of obstacles, especially in this case, for gay men.
GRADE----B
ROOFTOPS--Algerian film, set on the rooftops of five different districts in Algiers, and featuring the five different prayers offered up throughout the day, and with five separate stories, inter cut smoothly to create a varied picture of this colorful city. The main theme of all the stories is the underling violence and danger that lies just beneath the surface of the beautiful setting.
ALEX OF VENICE--U.S. independent film, where Alex is a single mom struggling with her demanding job, losing her husband, dealing with a wacky sister and an ill father. The film is well made, acted and subtle--those are the pleasures. The negative may be the lack of "charisma" in the lead role (although the supporting cast is very strong), and the film may be too subtle for some.
GRADE----B-
B FOR BOY---Nigerian film about a pregnant middle class woman under stress from her mother in law to produce a male heir. When she has a secret miscarriage, she becomes desperate to produce a child, to keep her husband from marrying a second wife. The film keeps your interest in spite of some melodramatic maneuvering.
BENEATH--U.S.horror film (based on a true story!?!) about a trapped group of miners who start to see and experience haunted creatures. There are some definite chills and creepy moments, though that hand held camera works against the terror.
SOMETHING MUST BREAK--From Sweden comes a drama about sexual self discovery in the form of a transgendered love affair. Young Sebastian is male but longs to be female, and dresses in an androgynous fashion. He starts an affair with the hunky Andreas, but Andreas insists he isn't gay---nether am I, claims Sebastian. What a dilemma. The film has artistic pretensions at time, and the hand held business doesn't work in it's favor, but it is NOT boring and triggered some lively discussion in the lobby afterwards.
GRADE----C+
KUMIKO: TREASURE HUNTER---From Japan comes the story of a depressed, almost catatonic young woman nearly unable to function in a logical fashion. She is convinced that buried treasure lies just outside of Fargo, ND, inspired by her obsession with the film FARGO. She sets off to find that treasure. The film is small, and works, at times, like a parable, but there's not enough to satisfy our dramatic interest, and the ending is predictable. Plays this week.
WEST---German film set before the Wall has fallen in Berlin, where a young widow immigrates to West Berlin, only to find herself getting more paranoid when she discovers her husband may not be dead after all--the officials there keep questioning her. It's an interesting premise, but the film is really hampered by annoying and persistent hand held jerkiness. Plays this week.
FIRST SNOWFALL---Italian film that looks great, with lovely photography, but unfortunately, the story is very weak and the film is really, really static and boring. Many viewers I talked to found themselves drifting off, including myself, only to wake and find nothing of interest had occurred. Plays this week.
Recommended from previous blogs, and playing this week:
TO BE TAKEI
GARDEN LOVERS
HOUSE OF MAGIC 3D
BELLE AND SEBASTIAN
BALLET 422
THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD (revival)
THE STUNT MAN (revival)
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