What can I say I lost my innocence in the dark with Tom Ripley.
I have always been a crazy ass film fan. From an early age I just wanted to watch movies. I would get up a 3 am in the pre VCR/VOD days to watch silent or foreign films on the Late Late Late Show. I had an early love of Werner Herzog and wandered into see his NOSFERATU when knee high to a grasshopper and was repeatedly asked if I knew that I was seeing a subtitled foreign film. (Yes, yes I did. Thank you).
I would go to any movie I thought looked cool or forbidden – which often meant foreign films. Which was how I wandered into seeing Wim Wenders American Friend and was scarred for life. This version of Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley's Game was my first encounter with Tom Ripley and it has made me uneasy about anything with the character ever since.
The plot has Ripley (Dennis Hopper) running scams on a dying Bruno Ganz that will leave everyone except Ripley broken.
Ripley’s guiltless socio-pathological behavior was really the first time this kid, about 13 at the time, took a walk on the dark side. I tended to watch films where good triumphed over evil and everything was skittles and beer. This film set me straight and showed me that sometimes bad guys won and we could kind of like them even as they wrecked lives.
What was this? I didn’t know. But I wanted more and it became a gate way to explore European dramas that weren’t Bergman or Fellini. While I thought I was doomed by my love of films before, Wim Wenders assured that I was going to cinematic hell in the Express Lane. The gates were open and I gorged on everything I could get my hands on- delighted by all of my new found treats.
You are probably wondering why I’m talking about this, because American Friend is making a return to the New York Film Festival and if you’ve never seen it you should. While I don’t think it will have quite the earth shaking effect on you as it did on this crazed 13 year old, I think you will walk out of the theater feeling battered and bruised and having seen something that has made you think.
A collection of reviews of films from off the beaten path; a travel guide for those who love the cinematic world and want more than the mainstream releases.
Showing posts with label nyff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nyff. Show all posts
Sunday, October 7, 2018
Monday, September 28, 2015
Labor of Finding Love: The Lobster @ NYFF
I just saw the first New York Film Festival screening of
Yorgos Lanthimos’ feature, The Lobster, which will be shown again tomorrow at 9
pm. This makes the director 2 and 1 for me, with his latest work getting me all
tingly with provoked thoughts and emotions, much in the way that his first
feature Dogtooth did. Alps, which fell in between, made less of an impression
but now I am determined to revisit it.
The film is set in a dystopian future based around a
fantastical premise – single individuals must enter into binding relationships
with another or face dire consequences, such as being transformed into animals
– rendered in entirely un-fantastic fashion. There is no effect on the setting
making it appear futuristic, and the only hint of how humans are changed into
various creatures in the bestiary is a closed door, above which is hung a sign
that says something like ‘animal changing room.’ Along with details such as this, much of the
narrative is also left up to the imagination. Lanthimos has an intriguing way
of progressing the story, narrated from a point of view of particular poignancy
down the line, that reveals the workings of its world little by little. Right
up to the end, the viewer finds herself constructing the reality onscreen based
on a modest sprinkling of clues. It’s an act of reverence, not disregard, for
the audience.
The Lobster has a dry sense of humor that sneaks up with
such uncanny deadpan and in the midst of laying out such peculiar scenarios,
one often is not certain whether they should laugh or not. Much of this humor
stems from the abovementioned narrator drolly accounting for the absurdities
that befall the protagonist (played by Collin Farrell) as he maneuvers the
strange as he tries to maneuver the bizarre landscape of a hotel meant to
engender the coupling of its unattached inhabitants. Meanwhile Farrell’s pained
sincerity, showing a complete ineptitude at manipulation or disingenuousness
toward potential mates, is both endearing and painfully funny. The script is also filled with lines that
paint pictures of awkward hilarity in viewers’ minds, such as a rebel leader’s
explanation that they ‘even dance alone.
That’s why (we) only dance to electronic music.’
Lanthimos along with cowriter Efthymus Filippou tell a story
filled with incongruities. Great expenditures of energy can go into acts of
inconsequential pettiness, while other times characters casually commit acts of
unthinkable cruelty. Even the kitsch paradise of the first act’s hotel,
populated by naturally funny figures like a lisping fellow guest (John C.
Reilly) and robotically enthusiastic master of ceremonies (Olivia Colman, whose
filmography includes The Office, Look Around You, and Hot Fuzz), can stun
audiences with sudden moments of sadism. Those who have experienced Dogtooth
will know to beware the seemingly innocuous appearance of a toaster oven.
The subtext is filled with distrust for organizations, both
those that are established and created to fight the establishment. It also
teases apart the ridiculously complex and agonizing ritual our modern society
have made of finding mates, without pointing any fingers. The social landscape here is beset with extreme inanities, for instance compatibility is based on individuals' shared physical impairments. Yet then we are dared to say that we really have it any better off.
As for a few personal touchstones: I am
reminded of The Double, Richard Aoyade’s equally dry dystopian future yarn
filled with gallows humor galore, even if more for the dim fate of both films’
sad-sack protagonists than their visions of the future. Structurally there is
something about The Lobster that keeps bringing to mind Sion Sono. Even if
Lanthimos’ aesthetic is far more subdued, the way they allow their stories to meander
off the tracks into epic or at least seemingly epic lengths shows Lanthimos is
something of a kindred spirit to the Japanese provocateur, giving audiences a
bit of an endurance test. All the better to bring about empathy for their
protagonists’ pained positions.
There is no official release date for the film in the US but
in the UK, The Lobster will claw its way onto screens October 16th.
When it makes its way to this area, I would gladly see the film again if it
plays one of the area’s cozier repertoire theaters, such as IFC or The Alamo.
Not the least of which to see the film with one particular scene with French
dialogue subtitled, which was unintentionally left without captions according
to Lanthimos during the post screening Q & A.
Below are pictures of Lanthimos and actresses Rachel Weisz and Ariane Labed from the Q & A afer the screening.
Twitter: @mondocurry
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Foreign Parts (2010) Art of the Real 2014
I believe this premiered at the New York Film Festival back in 2010. It now returns to Lincoln Center to be part of this years Art of the Real series.
Wonderful look at the area around Citifield in Willets Point on the eve of its redevelopment as a paradise of parks, malls and entertainment venues. When the film was made the area was full of auto body shops, junk yards and auto parts places, now all of the business are either gone or on their way out. To make the future this past had to go.
Seeing this film is like being allowed to wander in and out and around the various establishments that once filled the area. Filled with great people and characters this is the sort of film you have to watch a couple of times simply to see all of the the little things going on the background- what did that sign say, whats going on back there.
This very melancholy film is a very rare thing in that it managed to capture a grand moment of change. To be certain other films have caught bigger moments, battles, political events, assassinations,but some how the enormity of those events pale when compared to the events in this film. Here the lives of every person seen is being altered, every person nothing is going to stay the same for anyone. What's worse we don't know how its all going to end. When the film was made change was just coming, but as I write this some 4 years since the film was released that change is still occurring, its still devouring lives. Things are changing and not as anyone expected.
If you haven't seen this before its worth getting to Lincoln Center when the film screens tomorrow at 5pm Details can be found here
Wonderful look at the area around Citifield in Willets Point on the eve of its redevelopment as a paradise of parks, malls and entertainment venues. When the film was made the area was full of auto body shops, junk yards and auto parts places, now all of the business are either gone or on their way out. To make the future this past had to go.
Seeing this film is like being allowed to wander in and out and around the various establishments that once filled the area. Filled with great people and characters this is the sort of film you have to watch a couple of times simply to see all of the the little things going on the background- what did that sign say, whats going on back there.
This very melancholy film is a very rare thing in that it managed to capture a grand moment of change. To be certain other films have caught bigger moments, battles, political events, assassinations,but some how the enormity of those events pale when compared to the events in this film. Here the lives of every person seen is being altered, every person nothing is going to stay the same for anyone. What's worse we don't know how its all going to end. When the film was made change was just coming, but as I write this some 4 years since the film was released that change is still occurring, its still devouring lives. Things are changing and not as anyone expected.
If you haven't seen this before its worth getting to Lincoln Center when the film screens tomorrow at 5pm Details can be found here
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Looking back: Film Festivals 2013
This year we hit 31 film festivals and film series. This year we got a film out at Sundance, went international with Hot Docs, Toronto and Fantasia, found some new friends and visited with some old favorites. All the festivals gave us a ton of films we fell in love with.
There is no way to recount every festival, there were simply too many, with too many films and too many neat things happened. Since I can't recount it all I'll give you some highlights (in order of occurrence):
New York International Children's Film Festival every year the festival year gets going with the first jewel in my top five must attend film festivals. Why do I feel like I'm the only one who realizes how good this festival is? My god every year two or three of the best films of the year come from its screenings (Ernest and Celestine and Day of the Crows this year). and no one seems to notice until way after the fact. It says Children in the title but the films are for everyone and just damn good. If the festival made any missteps its that its now so big its too scattered to get from the multiple locations. Still I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Tribeca We covered 80 features films this year. 80 features- plus lots of shorts. Its insane. However since I and the rest of Unseen Films are insane film nuts this festival is perfect for us. I think this may have become my favorite festival of the year. Its 6 weeks (Press screening start in March) and its lots of movies and lots of talk and lots of insanity. Hell, Mondocurry has us considering all going in on an apartment for this year. For me the best part is this is the one New York Festival where you get to see tons of movies without any preconceived notions since many of the films have never been shown anywhere before. This year I saw so many great films (The Rocket, Red Obsession, Frankenstein's Army, Before Midnight...) I can't wait for next year..
New York Asian Film Festival/Japan Cuts What can I say? JACKIE FREAKING CHAN . Thank you guys. Yea I know it was two weeks early but JACKIE FREAKING CHAN. I love this festival. I love the guys who run it. We hit almost every movie and we all had a blast. I know Japan Cuts isn't really part of NYAFF but they crisscross and I can't see them as anything other than one festival. My one fear about the fests is that Samuel has left the building and his ability to pick good Japanese films may be impacted, I know the influx of Asian film toward the mainstream has impacted their selecting process, but then again they found some winners like Bad Movie, The black films, Countdown, Juvenile Offender. I got to see Eric Kot prove he was the funniest man in the world and I saw this which made me cheer and proved Grady is no longer the greatest intro man going.
Fantasia was something we backed into. We had no intention of covering it, but the oppurtunity arose and I dove in with both feet. Wow Wow and wow. I had so much fun just seeing the movies I'm considering going to the festival in person next year. I loved the mind expanding nature of the choices, from Burning Buddha Man to Across The River to Thanatomorphose to Jack Attack and one of my favorite films of all time Decelerators. Yea there were some clunkers but even those were intriguing.
New York Film Festival is the longest running of the fests listed here and it's a great deal of fun. This year we had the joys of Captain Philips and The Immigrant and Costa De Morte. While this year was very up and down, it still was more up then down and the downs were better than most other festivals ups. My only real complaint with this grand old girl is more and more she's showing things that have screened elsewhere. Still if you're not elsewhere its great to see the films.
Doc NYC latest addition of the big five of must see New York festivals is non-fiction manna from heaven. I love it. Its possibly the best programmed New York festival- I mean the bad films are only bad when compared to the best of the films screening. This is also a must ATTEND festival. you have to go. Most of the filmmakers are there so you get to listen to their thoughts and even talk with them. Truly a festival for and by film lovers. This year it gave me the chance to see my best film of 2014- Things Left Behind. You have to make time and attend next year.
Rocks Off Pro Wrestling- I went to one screening but this is old school. Its a film festival by fans for fans and it felt like home. I had such a good time that should it have the same vibe next year- where I'm planning on going to everything- I'll make the big 5 a big six. And oh yea- the Q&A that followed the film was one of the best I've ever attended.
The South Asian International Film Festival opened my eyes last year to South Asian film. I who knew nothing last year I suddenly saw the wonderful things that was coming from the region. This year the collection of films impressed the hell out of me. There were some winners and even the not so much winners were really good. I can't wait for next year.
Lastly I have to say that I don't know what to make of The New York Chinese Film Festival. Yes I got to meet Donnie Yen, but I'm not sure what to make of the festival. Its got great films, great guests but ran at an odd time (3 days midweek) and seemed to be badly managed (people were milling around waiting for Donnie Yen, did anyone really know this was happening? and the ticket screw up on opening night). This could and should be one of the best festivals of the year. I'm hoping it gets better next year since this should be truly great.
Those are the highlights of this year. With 2014 only days away we're already working on next year with The New York Jewish Festival getting heavy coverage starting next weekend, and we're talking about covering a horror festival in Syracuse and another in Boise (no seriously). Who knows where we'll end up...
There is no way to recount every festival, there were simply too many, with too many films and too many neat things happened. Since I can't recount it all I'll give you some highlights (in order of occurrence):
New York International Children's Film Festival every year the festival year gets going with the first jewel in my top five must attend film festivals. Why do I feel like I'm the only one who realizes how good this festival is? My god every year two or three of the best films of the year come from its screenings (Ernest and Celestine and Day of the Crows this year). and no one seems to notice until way after the fact. It says Children in the title but the films are for everyone and just damn good. If the festival made any missteps its that its now so big its too scattered to get from the multiple locations. Still I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Tribeca We covered 80 features films this year. 80 features- plus lots of shorts. Its insane. However since I and the rest of Unseen Films are insane film nuts this festival is perfect for us. I think this may have become my favorite festival of the year. Its 6 weeks (Press screening start in March) and its lots of movies and lots of talk and lots of insanity. Hell, Mondocurry has us considering all going in on an apartment for this year. For me the best part is this is the one New York Festival where you get to see tons of movies without any preconceived notions since many of the films have never been shown anywhere before. This year I saw so many great films (The Rocket, Red Obsession, Frankenstein's Army, Before Midnight...) I can't wait for next year..
New York Asian Film Festival/Japan Cuts What can I say? JACKIE FREAKING CHAN . Thank you guys. Yea I know it was two weeks early but JACKIE FREAKING CHAN. I love this festival. I love the guys who run it. We hit almost every movie and we all had a blast. I know Japan Cuts isn't really part of NYAFF but they crisscross and I can't see them as anything other than one festival. My one fear about the fests is that Samuel has left the building and his ability to pick good Japanese films may be impacted, I know the influx of Asian film toward the mainstream has impacted their selecting process, but then again they found some winners like Bad Movie, The black films, Countdown, Juvenile Offender. I got to see Eric Kot prove he was the funniest man in the world and I saw this which made me cheer and proved Grady is no longer the greatest intro man going.
Fantasia was something we backed into. We had no intention of covering it, but the oppurtunity arose and I dove in with both feet. Wow Wow and wow. I had so much fun just seeing the movies I'm considering going to the festival in person next year. I loved the mind expanding nature of the choices, from Burning Buddha Man to Across The River to Thanatomorphose to Jack Attack and one of my favorite films of all time Decelerators. Yea there were some clunkers but even those were intriguing.
New York Film Festival is the longest running of the fests listed here and it's a great deal of fun. This year we had the joys of Captain Philips and The Immigrant and Costa De Morte. While this year was very up and down, it still was more up then down and the downs were better than most other festivals ups. My only real complaint with this grand old girl is more and more she's showing things that have screened elsewhere. Still if you're not elsewhere its great to see the films.
Doc NYC latest addition of the big five of must see New York festivals is non-fiction manna from heaven. I love it. Its possibly the best programmed New York festival- I mean the bad films are only bad when compared to the best of the films screening. This is also a must ATTEND festival. you have to go. Most of the filmmakers are there so you get to listen to their thoughts and even talk with them. Truly a festival for and by film lovers. This year it gave me the chance to see my best film of 2014- Things Left Behind. You have to make time and attend next year.
Rocks Off Pro Wrestling- I went to one screening but this is old school. Its a film festival by fans for fans and it felt like home. I had such a good time that should it have the same vibe next year- where I'm planning on going to everything- I'll make the big 5 a big six. And oh yea- the Q&A that followed the film was one of the best I've ever attended.
The South Asian International Film Festival opened my eyes last year to South Asian film. I who knew nothing last year I suddenly saw the wonderful things that was coming from the region. This year the collection of films impressed the hell out of me. There were some winners and even the not so much winners were really good. I can't wait for next year.
Lastly I have to say that I don't know what to make of The New York Chinese Film Festival. Yes I got to meet Donnie Yen, but I'm not sure what to make of the festival. Its got great films, great guests but ran at an odd time (3 days midweek) and seemed to be badly managed (people were milling around waiting for Donnie Yen, did anyone really know this was happening? and the ticket screw up on opening night). This could and should be one of the best festivals of the year. I'm hoping it gets better next year since this should be truly great.
Those are the highlights of this year. With 2014 only days away we're already working on next year with The New York Jewish Festival getting heavy coverage starting next weekend, and we're talking about covering a horror festival in Syracuse and another in Boise (no seriously). Who knows where we'll end up...
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Jackie Chan's Police Story (1985) plays next Monday at Lincoln Center

Jackie Chan’s Police Story is the first time that the New York Film Festival looked like it actually would show something that wasn’t an arty farty film (at least to me). Here was a movie that most people I knew would watch. It was a film that had me considering actually trying to get tickets and go to the festival. It didn’t happen (actually my first trip to the festival was not until 1991), but the thought of Jackie Chan, clown prince of Hong Kong cinema, getting attention from the film snobs was somehow thrilling.
It would be a while after the festival before I saw the film, but once I did it was clear why the film was chosen to run, it’s an amazing piece of film making (actually every film in the series is amazing). The film is your typical cops and robbers stuff. Its nothing you haven’t seen before, nor isthe plot anything particularly memorable. On the other hand the point of the film and what YOU WILL REMEMBER are the action set pieces, in particular the opening and closing bits. The opening bus chase, with Jackie using and umbrella to hang on to a double decker bus is still one of the best things Jackie has ever put on film. The final fight in a shopping mall is equally something that hangs in my memory these 25 years plus since I saw it.
I love this film. It’s the one I usually put into the hands of anyone who I want to turn on to Jackie Chan. This is the film to see if you want to know what his reputation is all about.
If you’ve never seen the film you should.
If you live in the New York City area you can see it the way it was meant to be seen, on a big screen. It runs next Monday night at Lincoln Center as part of their look back at 50 years of the NYFF. Its being done in connection with the NYAFF which means expect a stunning introduction from someone connected by the festival- and if we’re really lucky perhaps we’ll coax some hints about the NYAFF out of them.
I'll be there as will many of the Unseen Films writers and readers. Come Join us.
The film starts at 615, which is early, but trust me, it’s worth cutting out of work early to see it.
(This picture is some of the destruction that results from a chase literally through a town)

Thursday, March 15, 2012
Gommorah (2008)

I do not have the Criterion edition of this film, I have a lovely English DVD which more or less has everything the Criterion edition does. I mention this simply because I wanted to be on record as having said that I will not always just buy a Criterion edition when the goodies on it can be had elsewhere.
I originally saw Gommorah at the NYFF the year that Alice Tully Hall was being renovated and the whole kit and caboodle was being run at The Ziegfeld. I mention this simply because where we sat seemed to be farther back than sitting at the back of Tully Hall which is a HUGE space. This change also put Lou and myself in front of several older ladies who were out on a jaunt to see a good movie- and since it was at the NYFF it must be a good movie- only they had no idea what they were seeing and were horrified by the violence (real and implied) and confused by it's disjointed nature.
Gommorah is based on a book by Roberto Saviano about the Italian organized crime group called the Commorah which operates in and around Naples. The book is a scathing indictment of the organization, and to a certain degree the populace that allows this group to run roughshod over everyone and everything. The book was so damning of the criminals it drove its author into hiding in protective custody. I read the book and was depressed for days afterward. I actually gave my copy of the book away since it’s portrait of entrenched corruption is disheartening in the extreme.
The film is based on five short passages from the book, some as sort as a couple of lines, others are only a couple of pages. While the book is deserving of a real TV miniseries, the film is a wonderful taste of the poisoned souls that are the Commorah.
The five stories we follow are: A money man who gives pay offs to the families of Commorah members in prison; a dress maker who decides to make some extra money by teaching the Chinese to sew; a young boy who decides to join up with the group; a man who is burying toxic waste; and finally two dimwits who think they can be as tough and mean as the big boys only find out real fast that they are flies to be swatted.
When I saw the film at the film festival, I was in a daze for a long time afterward. Yes, it’s a good film, yes it’s got some great characters and some great sequences, but at the same time it operates on other levels. It lifts the curtain on things we may not want to know about. It forces you to think about things we may not want to consider.
It’s a sad sad portrait that says a great deal about the moral decay of today's world. Especially telling is the toxic waste dumper who is using the land of his forefathers to make a profit today by poisoning the children of tomorrow. While it’s clearly a metaphor for something bigger, it’s also just a horrifying revelation that is unpleasant on a visceral level.
This isn’t to say that the film doesn’t work on a less deep level. The sequences with the tailor are often funny, as is the sequence where the young boy is taught to deal with the pain of getting shot…by getting shot. The story of the two dimwit wannabe gangsters is also amusing as well until the laughter of how stupid they are, catches in your throat with their ending (That’s not a spoiler you’d have to be a fool to think they met with anything other than a really bad end).
Gommorah is a masterpiece of a film. It’s a perfect antidote for anyone who thinks that the Godfather and Scorsese gangster films are the life or something to aspire to.
See this film and be afraid.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Hadewijch (2009)
This was on my short of films to see at the 2009 New York Film Festival but scheduling and a wariness concerning the subject matter made me have to wait until the film surfaced in December as an IFC Films release in theaters and on their pay per view service.
The film, concerning a burning desire to connect with God, may sound like an odd choice for films with a romantic bend, but if you watch the film you'll see that what our heroine feels is very much like a woman yearning for her lover.
The title is the name given to our heroine by the nuns in the convent she is seeking to join. The name is a reference to a 13th century poet. The women in the convent are bewildered by the young girl who refuses to eat, refuses to wear a coat in bad weather, and takes great pains in any attempt to mortify her body. Unsure of how to handle her they ask her to leave, so she returns to her well to do family.
She then goes about her life until the day she meets a nice young man who just happens to be a Muslim. What happens next is partly what you expect and partly not. Mostly its an examination of one's path to God, especially when that God isn't talking.
Actually the film is a meditative examination of how the heart approaches what it yearns, only this time its a connection with God.
A beautiful and beautifully acted film this is a very deliberate meditation on belief. It can be argued that its so deliberate as to be slow, and in all honesty it is. This is a film that is going to take its time in getting where its going.
Its also a film that is going to confound your expectations. Little in the film goes the way you expect it. Our heroine is not your typical person with religious fervor. The Muslim's she meets are not you typical movie Muslims. What happens is not what you think will happen. Its the sort of film that you have to see a second time, not only because its good, but also because odds are you've fought it for a good portion of it so that when you get to the end and it's all played out, you realize that you haven't gotten all you could out of the film simply because you worked hard against it happening.
You're going to need to see this a second a time. I know I do.
Beyond that I don't know what else to say. This is the sort of film that is better to see before reading about since anything I'm going to say is not going to do the film justice.
The best thing I can say is see this if you want an emotional and heady discussion of fervor see this film.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Christmas Tale (2008)
I've explained that badly, which is fine since I doubt there is any way I can truly do justice to this wonderful film about families; how they make us crazy, how they help us along, and how life kind of gets in the way. I loved the way that about a half hour into the film I knew I was going to have to watch this again; not because I was missing something, but rather it was because I was simply enjoying it so much. (Thank you Criterion for putting out a super DVD edition). This is a magical movie that's worth the effort to see.
I have to say I love that in the film Catherine Deneuve, a babe if there ever was (and is) one, is married to Jean-Paul Roussillon, a small, squat, almost troll-like man. You watch the two together and there is such love and ease and magic between them that the pairing is utterly perfect. Their pairing makes absolute sense, more than most romantic pairings that the movies have ever shown us. It's brilliant, and it's just a small element of a film that gets adults and families right. To be certain it's idealized in many ways, but the film still feels wonderfully real.
It's just a great film from top to bottom, with a great script, a great look (and sound), and a cast that is as good as it gets.
See this film, it's one of the better films of the last few years. If you want to know how good it is, I can't stop talking about it for days after every viewing I have of the film.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Paprika (2006)
This is the final part of out Satoshi Kon tribute. It comes on a day that is the final day of the NewYork Comicon, The final day of the New York Anime Festival and the final day of the New York Film Festival. In order to celebrate the life of Satoshi Kon, film maker and cartoonist, I'm going to repost the review of Kon's Paprika which I posted a couple of hours after seeing it at the New York Film Festival. To me this is the best way to go since the review has much of the joy one feels when one gets to see a Kon film for the first time.
Just back from the New York Film Festival Screening of Satoshi Kon's Paprika.
Kon's new film is not the dark mind warps of Perfect Blue or Paranoia Agent, this is closer to blending of real and unreal of Millennium Actress and Tokyo Godfathers light and airy touches. Its got its darkness but its mostly a light thriller.
(I'm not going to go into a discussion of specifics concerning the plot, since I was told things by reviews I read prior to seeing the film which, while they didn't reveal a great deal, spoiled just enough to take the wonder off some of the story and images) The plot concerns a device called a DC Mini which allows people to enter other peoples dreams. It also allows your dreams to be recorded for play back. Three of the revolutionary devices are stolen before they could be encoded with a software that will prevent total access to anyone at anytime, which means that anyone with the devices can not only enter anyone's dreams at anytime, but also enter there mind and put them into a dream of their choosing. Unfortunately the head of the project suddenly begins spouting nonsense (the result of being dropped in the dream of a mental patient) and before anyone can stop him he leaps from a high window. The race is on, with our heroes getting the help of a mysterious girl named Paprika, who seems to be able to move with in dreams in ways that are completely unnatural.
I love this movie. It takes a while to get going but once it does its really good (it has a gangbusters last third). Kon blends the real and the dream in ways that can only be done through animation (see his earlier films for how good he is at it). Its wonderfully done, so much so that you can never be sure whats real and whats not, as one character says late in the film, "is this real or is it a dream?" In the end you can not tell, especially as the worlds begin to overlap. I know for some, myself included, the plot line may seem a bit of been there and done that (ie Dreamscape) but Kon's visual sense pushes the film from a run of the mill retread into something worth going out and seeing.(As I said I'm not going to go into some of the wild things that Kon has cooked up for his dream world since somethings should remain a surprise.) For those looking for some of the darkness of Kon's Perfect Blue or Paranoia Agent, its not really here, actually the movie is frequently very funny. Certainly some of the dream imagery can be frightening and disturbing in a not normal (dream)) sort of way, but other than one moment where a villain shows how he can control anything in the dream world, there isn't anything thats mind twistingly scary. (Though that one moment is sure to send shivers up and down most peoples backs) This is just a good little fantastical thriller.
At this point I have to make a confession. This movie reduced to tears a couple of times. There are a couple of moments when this movie is like a shot of pure joy. The title sequence with its J-Pop ear worm of a song had the tears rolling down my face. Later when Paprika dives into a dream and rides a cloud the marriage of music and image, however fleeting had me blissed out. Best of all the films exploration of who we are underneath it all will make everyone grin from ear to ear.
See this movie. Its a good little thriller. Its not the best thing that director Satoshi Kon has done, but its a good time in the movies (which it celebrates).
I want to add that this is one of the truly great films that plays better the more you see it. I've seen this any number of times and with each viewing I keep finding things that make me go "Oh Wow" as I connect up bits of plot and story.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Updates on films we've covered and other stuff coming up
First up Gallants the winner of the audience award at the New York Asian Film Festival is out on DVD in Asia. I still have no idea if it's picked up a distributor but you can get it from Yes Asia.
Summer Wars which was the opening film of this years New York International Children's Film festival has picked up a distributor Funimation. They are planning on releasing it in theaters through the end of the year and then putting it out on DVD next year. Its a great film and one you really should see on a big screen. the film is playing in Manhattan August 28th and 29th at the IFC as part of the NYICFF weekend screenings. If you're in town go.
The Brooklyn Academy of Music is running a series of vampire films through September. Its a must see since they are running not only Lugosi but Hammer and the wonderfully under rated Planet of Vampires in widescreen and Italian.
The Film Society of Lincoln Center has some cool things coming up. Monday is an anniversary screening of Airplane with the directors in attendance. They are also having their summer melt down which includes some strange musical films plus Gaspar Noes directors cut of his Enter the Void. They are also in the process of announcing films for the New York Film festival.
Jasques Tati's Play Time is playing this weekend at Symphony Space in Manhattan. Its playing Later in the month joining Hitchcock Classics, more Tati films including Trafic and Aardman films between now and November. Play Time is a film that is must see on a big screen since most of the jokes are in the background. And Trafic you know because it was reviewed several weeks back.
Johnnie To's masterful Vengeance is currently in theaters and on IFC In Theaters Pay per View service. It wobbles but its worth a look.
Secret of Kells is still out in theaters and is due for DVD in October.
A Fish Story is out on DVD in the UK and is due for a release in the states in the fall.
Bran Nu Dae is getting a US release this fall.
IP Man just got an official US release (and places selling Chinese Imports around Manhattan are advertising they have the sequel)
Crimson Wing is getting a DVD release this fall from Disney.
Mesrine is finally getting a US release to theaters in the fall (I don't have the details this just popped up on a local theaters list of up coming films)
Summer Wars which was the opening film of this years New York International Children's Film festival has picked up a distributor Funimation. They are planning on releasing it in theaters through the end of the year and then putting it out on DVD next year. Its a great film and one you really should see on a big screen. the film is playing in Manhattan August 28th and 29th at the IFC as part of the NYICFF weekend screenings. If you're in town go.
The Brooklyn Academy of Music is running a series of vampire films through September. Its a must see since they are running not only Lugosi but Hammer and the wonderfully under rated Planet of Vampires in widescreen and Italian.
The Film Society of Lincoln Center has some cool things coming up. Monday is an anniversary screening of Airplane with the directors in attendance. They are also having their summer melt down which includes some strange musical films plus Gaspar Noes directors cut of his Enter the Void. They are also in the process of announcing films for the New York Film festival.
Jasques Tati's Play Time is playing this weekend at Symphony Space in Manhattan. Its playing Later in the month joining Hitchcock Classics, more Tati films including Trafic and Aardman films between now and November. Play Time is a film that is must see on a big screen since most of the jokes are in the background. And Trafic you know because it was reviewed several weeks back.
Johnnie To's masterful Vengeance is currently in theaters and on IFC In Theaters Pay per View service. It wobbles but its worth a look.
Secret of Kells is still out in theaters and is due for DVD in October.
A Fish Story is out on DVD in the UK and is due for a release in the states in the fall.
Bran Nu Dae is getting a US release this fall.
IP Man just got an official US release (and places selling Chinese Imports around Manhattan are advertising they have the sequel)
Crimson Wing is getting a DVD release this fall from Disney.
Mesrine is finally getting a US release to theaters in the fall (I don't have the details this just popped up on a local theaters list of up coming films)
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Kanikosen (2009)

Sabu's brilliant screen version of a 1929 proletariat novel concerns the oppressed crew of a crab canning ship. Forced to work in brutal conditions they dream of escape. When one of their number decides to commit suicide the others decide to join him figuring the next life has to better than this one. It goes wrong and the crew is forced to endure more punishment until a combination of Buddhist teaching and a stay on a Russian cargo ship set things in a different direction.
This is a brilliant film. It's a very political film. Its an intellectually challenging film. It's a very human film. It's a film that seems to improve the more you think about it.
I'm a fan of Sabu. I like that his films take things that we think we know and turn them just enough that we are forced to see things differently. I like that he takes chances, what else do you call a scene that is suppose to be a mass suicide that turns into black comedy as the motion of the ship makes death not an option.(actually suicide, as is any form of escape, is thwarted repeatedly through the film). I like that he assumes that his audience is adult and will be willing to work with him. Things are laid out and while the plot moves along its up to the audience to connect the larger dots and to make the film take on a larger significance.
For most of the film we see only the hell of the canning floor. There is no outside would. If there is anything else it's a fleeting view, more often night or fog obscures the view. It's a hell that approximates the hellish world of Fritz Lang's Metropolis. There is talk of heaven and hell and notions of hell being with in us and where do we choose to live. Are we doomed to live in that hell or can we escape? The answer isn't clear, though there is hope. Sabu is asking us to consider our jobs, our lives and our existences, should we wait for the next life or do we seize the day? I really like this film. Its not necessarily a warm and fuzzy movie, but it will make you feel good, especially if you allow the film to do what its going to do. It's a mannered film at time. Its emotional cold at times and yet I was touched. There is a kindness and a life to it.
Forgive me the film is hard to describe. As with most Sabu films its easy to tell you the plot, but not always to tell you how they operate or how they make you feel. I know that grates on some people. Films for many people have to be a certain way and if they aren't they can't really process them. I like Asian films because they often take you out of the comfort zone. Sabu's film will take you outside of that comfort zone even more. Its not a David Lynch sort of thing, rather its simply an opening up of ones eyes to seeing things in a completely new way. It strikes some as cold and manipulative, and on some level it is, but at the same time it forces one to consider things in ways we haven't before.
Not long after seeing the film I decided thatt this was one of the best films of 2009. Yes it's more a film of the head then the heart, but in making me think, by challenging me to do more than just sit there the film has engaged on so many more levels than most films ever have. When it was over I felt moved, not just emotional but on other levels as well.
If you want to be challenged and to be more than a passive reactor, see this film, it will change the way you think.
Currently out on import DVD
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Antichrist (2009)

We're at the midway point of WTF week and I'm going to talk about one of the biggest WTF movies of recent vintage, Lars Von Trier's Antichrist. This is a film that marched across the world via film festivals until it hit the 2009 New York Film Festival where a screening had to be stopped because someone in the audience had a medical emergency. Talking to one of the people from the festival while waiting to go into one of my screenings (of a different film) I was told that there were a large number of walk outs, numerous heated arguments and a general feeling that the audience wanted to take a shower.
Yea, its that sort of a film.
Actually its probably unendurable in its graphic and psychic cruelty toward people. I've seen it twice, more or less reluctantly and to be perfectly honest, I never need to see it again.
(The following synopsis may make you queasy- so you may want to skip it)
The plot of the film has a married couple having sex (graphically) one snowy night. While they are engaged their infant falls out a window and falls to his death (graphically). The parents are both over come with grief. The man, a therapist, feels he knows best how best to help his wife and they retreat to a cabin in the woods where a fox talks. The relationship deteriorates and it isn't long before the psychic and emotional violence they have been inflicting on each other amps up to physical violence in ways that involve genitals, power tools, shears and grinding stones (all graphical). It then ends with a real WTF moment.
(End queasy inducing synopsis)
At this point you're probably wondering why I would recommend this film to anyone. Basically because I'm not sure what to make of the film.
I'm not sure if Von Trier is playing a joke on everyone. He loves to play jokes on audiences, to the point I never know if he's just having a goof. Then again many people have said that this was conceived and made at a dark period in his life and that unlike his other films he's very serious about this one. Its a long pained shriek into the heart of god and mankind. Its darkness made light.
Its also damn near unendurable. Its two hours of some of the nastiest emotional cruelty between two people ever put on film. Why would any one want to see people being this nasty to each other? I don't know.
Some people have found great meaning in it all.
I have no idea, but its the sort of movie that I can't dismiss out of hand. And its the fact that I can't dismiss this film is the reason that I'm writing this film up. There just might be something inside the cruelty that shines some sort of light into dark places.
You'll have to figure this one out for yourself. If you have a strong constitution feel free to look into the abyss.
And keep this far away from the kids.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Mother (2009)

Mother is just getting a US release and it’s a film that will knock you back and kick your feet from under you.
It’s a film that you have to be willing to allow take its time to complete. Don’t assume anything about what’s going on at any point. I mention this up front since when I saw this at The New York Film Festival last year there was appoint at which about 20 people all through the audience got up and walked out. It was as if a certain revelation was too much for them, little did they know that there was even more twists and turns coming. I’m mentioning this because this is a film that doesn’t truly end until the credits roll. If you go don't leave until the end. I say this at the outset because most US films end before they end. This one doesn’t, and it would be a shame if you miss something.
This is the story of a mother whose son is charged with killing a young girl. He’s a none too bright kid who is severely mentally handicapped. Knowing her boy she instantly springs into defending him and clearing his name. How far she goes and what is revealed in the course of that is the movie.
This is a film from Joon-ho Bong who directed two marvelous films that also play with your expectation, Memories of Murder, the true story of the hunt for South Korea ’s first recognized serial killer and The Host, a monster on the loose film that wrecks every convention that went before and reset the board. Neither of those films followed the normal course and where they went made you sit up and take notice. They were singular films from a singular mind, who it could be argued is one of Korea ’s best directors.
The story, a heartbreaking, nerve jangling tale is very good, however what kicks this up a couple of notches is Kim Hye-Ja as the title character. She is amazing. When I saw the director speak after the NYFF screening he said that she had made her career playing typical motherly characters. This is a take on that. In some ways she is the mother we all would want and yet in other ways… let’s just say that maybe not.
Its certainly one of the two best lead performances by an actress I saw in 2009 (Xun Zhou in Equation of Love and Death is the other). I can’t really compare the two performances fairly since they are so different. I won’t dare try and say who is better because the effect of both performances is different.(I want to say more but I don’t dare, you'll understand when you see this film why I'm so careful)
Do yourself a favor and just see this movie. Don’t read any more about it then you have . Just see the film with as few expectations as possible. Just see it.
Just be prepared to be knocked about, and I can not stress this enough, STAY TO THE VERY END.
Currently going into US theatrical release this is coming out on DVD elsewhere in the world. However you see it. Just see it.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Ghost Town (2008)

These are my thoughts on Ghost Town which I mentioned in the introductory post. This was lifted from a review I posted elsewhere after I saw this at a screening at the 2009 New York Film Festival:
This is a three hour documentary about a small mountain top village near the Myanmar border. The town was abandoned in 1985 by the Chinese government and the surrounding farmers moved in. The film follows the harsh lives of several of the villager over the course of approximately a year. (The details of the preceding were gleaned from a post film discussion with the director , Zhao Dayong, and are not mentioned in the film) The characters include a preacher and his father (the focus of the first third of the film) who keep their Christian faith alive; a truck driver, a divorced farmer who's wife has moved away, a young girl who was swindled into marriage and now has a child, and a drunk in the town (The second part of the film) and a 12 year old boy living alone (focus of the final third). Its a rambling slice of life where the director points his camera and lets things happen, or not happen as the people of the village talk about their lives and nothing important.
At times this is a hypnotic film. One can very easily fall into it. Despite the film feeling about four times its three hour length (I'll get to that in a moment) I was happy to just let the film roll on before my eyes. There is a kind of wisdom and philosophy at times to it all. How do we get by? There is some stunningly beautiful images. This is a town high in the mountains and the views are amazing. You'll want to go just to see this place. There is magic in the small moments, the drunk with his mother, the 12 year old being a boy, the odd image of a giant chicken, the result of mixed perspective; the truck driver dealing with a cop who doesn't want him to have passengers, the father and son debating if one can sing and play the guitar. There is some wonderful things here.
The problem is this is a long 3 hours for no good reason. Shots go on way too long. There seem to be endless shots of the dogs and cats in the town. We watch the boy cook a cake in what seems like real time. Nothing happens frequently. You want real life, here it is, but it makes for a very long film. The screening at the New York Film Festival had a large number of walk outs I'm guessing from people who just didn't have the patience (and don't know what some Chinese films can be like).This can be like watching paint dry. I was kind of prepared for what I saw and went with it. Honestly as it stands now this is one of the longest feeling films I've seen. Its seems much longer than its three hours because the pacing is so leisurely.
I'm not crazy in love with the film but I am a fan of the core film. I really hope that the director will go back to the editing suite and make two changes. First the film needs some sort of explanation at the start. Where are we and what are we seeing. I've read numerous reviews that mentioned details that aren't in the film and which I only learned when the film was over and the director spoke. Give us some sort of introduction of where we are and what this place is, and maybe fill in some of the details of who these people are. The other thing this film need is trimming. Trim the animals. Trim the scenes where nothing happens. I understand this is the pace of life, but people will walk out if it stays like this. (Oh and something should also be done to the sound mix because the high end sound the clanging pots and shrill noises, at least as heard in Alice Tully Hall was often piercing.)
This is a really good movie. Its not the great film that the Village Voice and Time Out New York have suggested it is, but it is very good, though it does need work. I recommend it with reservations. If there is a later cut I'm hoping not to have any.
Availability:
This film is not currently being distributed. Its producer dGenerate Films has links about the film, including a link to an article on this film being one of the top undistributed films of the year.

Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)