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| A Brief and Not-Entirely-Complete Guide to the 41st Chicago International Film Festival-Week Two |
by Peter Sobczynski
Now entering its second and final week, this column will be listing some of the daily highlights screening at the Chicago International Film Festival. This is not a complete guide by any means–I have neither the time nor energy to pull that off (and besides, “Doom” awaits)–but these are some of the more intriguing titles, along with a few to avoid as well. Be sure to check each day as more titles are added. And if I miss a day or two, be kind.
Unless noted, the films and events will be taking place at the Landmark Century Centre (2828 N. Clark) or the River East 21 (322 E. Illinois). For a complete and updated schedule of the films and events or to order tickets, you can contact the festival by visiting their offices at 30 E. Adams, suite 800, calling at (312)332-3456 or by going online to www.chicagofilmfestival.com
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19
MY NIKIFOR (Landmark, 6:30 PM): The winner of the festival’s top prize, the Golden Hugo, gets an additional screening for those who missed it the first time around to catch up. This is a Polish docudrama about the last few years in the life of the insanely prolific folk artist Nikifor (although a man in real life, he is played here by actress Krystyna Feldman) and his odd relationship with a more conventional and far less productive fellow artist.
THE HIDDEN BLADE (Landmark, 6:30 PM): Yoji Yamada, the director of the acclaimed samurai epic “The Twilight Samurai,” returns with anothe jumbo-sized historical drama in which a low-ranking samurai is forced to grapple with questions of loyalty (when he is ordered to battle his childhood friend to the death) and tradition (when he and his men are introduced to Western forms combat).
HOUSEWARMING (Landmark, 6:45 PM): See 10/17
MANDERLAY (Landmark, 9:00 PM): See 10/17.
STONED (River East, 9:15 PM): Imagine an exceptionally long and exceptionally boring episode of “E: True Hollywood Story” and you pretty much have this fairly useless speculative look at the last days of Rolling Stone Brian Jones (played by Leo Gregory), who was found dead in his swimming pool less than three weeks after being booted out of the band for his excesses. Plenty of sex and drugs but nary a point to be had and, not surprisingly, there is not a single Rolling Stones song to be heard on the soundtrack. (Instead, there are contributions from the likes of The Bees and the White Stripes.)
ONCE YOU’RE BORN, YOU CAN NO LONGER HIDE (Landmark, 9:15 PM): Marco Tullio Giordiana, the director of the astounding Italian epic “The Best of Youth,” returns with a slightly smaller-scaled film (only 115 minutes as opposed to the 4-hour running time of “Youth) that utilizes the basic premise of “Captains Courageous” to tell the story of a young Italian child who is rescued from drowning by illegal Romanian immigrants and who then tries to help them from being deported.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 17
HOUSEWARMING (River East, 6:30 PM): This is a French comedy–words that generally strike fear in the heart of most film fans. However, this one–in which Carole Bouquet plays a lawyer and activist for illegal immigrants who puts her ideals into practice when she hires a group of immigrants to renovate her apartment–is said to actually be pretty amusing. Even if it isn’t, the opportunity to gape at the beauty of Bouquet for 90 minutes should be inducement enough for some people–others may be intrigued by the reported cameo appearance from Hugh Grant.
OCT 17, 1961 (River East, 6:45 PM): Blending fictional characters and historical events, this French drama takes a look at the mounting tensions between Algerian immigrants and French authorities at the close of the French-Algerian war and how they built to one night of horrifying violence. For those who caught Michael Haneke’s “Cache” at the festival, this should be a must-see as it deals with an event that looms large at the heart of that film.
LE COURAGE D’AIMER (Landmark, 8:45 PM): See 10/15
MANDERLAY (Landmark, 9:00 PM): Nope, not a new version of “Rebecca.” This is the latest extravaganza from Lars von Trier, the second in the “American Trilogy” that began with the excruciating “Dogville.” In this continuation, once again set in the 1930's and represented with a bare set, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard, taking over the role previously played by Nicole Kidman) drives down South with her gangster father and comes across a plantation where slavery is still alive and well. When the owner (Lauren Bacall) dies, Grace takes it upon herself to liberate the slaves and teach them the meaning of freedom. I think we can all guess how well that will turn out. I’ve heard from a few who caught it at Cannes and Toronto that it is actually pretty good but since they also liked “Dogville,” I’d take those recommendations with several pounds of salt.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DORKS (River East, 2:00 PM and 11:30 PM): See 10/14.
THE BEE SEASON (River East, 6:30 PM): This year’s Festival Centerpiece is an advanced screening of the new film from Scott McGehee and David Siegel, the directors of “Suture” and “The Deep End.” A break from their past twisty thrillers, this is an adaptation of Myla Goldberg’s best-seller about a family (headed by Richard Gere and Juliette Binoche) in crisis set against the world of competitive spelling bees.
LE COURAGE D’AIMER (Landmark, 6:30 PM): I suspect that many years ago, French filmmaker Claude LeLouch removed a thorn from the paw of festival organizer Michael Kutza and in gratitude, he agreed to program any of his films until the end of time. The latest fruit of this unholy deals with a street performer (Massimo Ranieri) and a starlet (Maiwenn) who become personal and professional partners, suffer an acrimonious breakup and are then uncomfortably reunited years later when a film is made based on their lives.
CACHE (Landmark, 9:00 PM): Arguably the best film screening at this year’s festival, the latest work from Michael Haneke (the creator of such intense psychodramas as “Funny Games” and “The Piano Teacher”) starts off as a comfortably bourgeois French couple (Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche) begin receiving a series of strange videotapes showing the outside of their home. Before long, it appears that the tapes may be related to dark secrets in Auteuil’s past that now threaten to tear his present life apart. Due for release early next year, this is one of Haneke’s most powerful works and is likely to jolt even the most jaded viewers out of their seats.
THE MATADOR (Landmark, 9:15 PM): In perhaps the funniest and most interesting performance of his career, Pierce Brosnan stars as a burned-out hitman who meets and bonds with a down-on-his-luck businessman (Greg Kinnear) while they are both doing “business” in Mexico. Several months later, Brosnan appears on Kinnear’s doorstep to ask a favor. Richard Shepard’s film is a darkly funny little gem featuring strong work from the two leads as well as a nice supporting turn from Hope Davis as Kinnear’s wife.
FEAST (River East, 11:30 PM): See 10/14.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14
BRICK (River East, 6:00 PM): If Alan Rudolph directed an entire season of “Veronica Mars” and then somehow compressed that entire run into only two hours, it would probably look a lot like this defiantly quirky gem. It tells a standard film noir story–a hard-bitten guy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) discovers the dead body of his beloved ex-girlfriend and delves into a world of crime and corruption in order to find out who was responsible–but the twist is that while all the characters looks and sound like noir icons, everything takes place against the backdrop of a contemporary California high school. It sounds like a weird joke but what is really impressive about writer/director Rian Johnson’s film debut is that it takes an absurd conceit and plays it completely straight the whole way through. This is scheduled for general release early next year and it is definitely worth checking out.
BLACK PERSPECTIVES TRIBUTE TO TERRENCE HOWARD (Bank One Auditorium, 7:00 PM): Black Perspectives, the festival sidebar dedicated to African-American filmmaking, pays tribute to Howard, who has made a big impact this year with his acclaimed performances in “Crash” and “Hustle & Flow” and who will be seen next month in the Jim Sheridan-50 Cent collaboration “Get Rich or Die Tryin’,”with a program honoring him and his work. (The Bank One Auditorium is located at 10 South Dearborn in Chicago. Tickets are $20 for the program and $50 for the program and after-party.)
ENTRE SES MAINS (Landmark, 7:00 PM): The latest film from French director Anne Fontaine stars Isabelle Carre as a bored mother and housewife who finds herself swept off her feet by a hunky womanizing vet (Benoit Poelvoorde). The only hitch is that he may just be the guy who is going around town seducing women and then murdering them–a minor fact that she seems perfectly willing to ignore and/or overlook.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DORKS (River East, 11:30 PM): Like most characters in teen-oriented movies, the three guys at the center of this German comedy are essentially led around by a body part located slightly below the beltline. The twist is that since they were recently killed and brought back to life thanks to a voodoo experiment gone bad, that particular body part, among others, is in serious danger of falling off at a moment’s notice. I haven’t seen this one yet but I couldn’t resist listing it just for the title.
FEAST (River East, 11:30 PM): Fans of the last edition of “Project Greenlight,” which chronicled the struggle of director John Gulager to bring a gory, low-budget horror film to the screen, will get their first chance to see the final product and discover if it was all worth it. Miramax decided not to screen this film for critics in advance so your guess is as good as mine. However, it can’t be any worse than “Stolen Summer” or “The Battle of Shaker Heights,” can it?
link directly to this feature at http://www.hollywoodbitchslap.com/feature.php?feature=1620
originally posted: 10/14/05 10:37:26
last updated: 10/23/05 21:36:25
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