JANUARY 2007
JANUARY 2007
PALM SPRINGS, CA
After “putting Christmas away,” it was time to leave for Palm Springs on Wednesday, January 3 to help out with friends Paul Francis and James Lee.
Paul was in the hospital suffering from complications from his diabetes. It finally did him in on January 6, the Feast of the Kings (Epiphany), when at last he was at peace. What a life he had in Europe for 43 years. Quite a character and he was part of an era that we will never see again. Paul was cremated and his nephew from Pittsburgh, PA will arrive in Palm Springs the end of January to collect his ashes and straighten out the estate.
James is recuperating from a stroke he had right after Christmas. His left side (hand and leg) is rather weak and needs a lot of exercising. His speech is affected slightly, but that is coming along slowly but surely. His energy level is low, but he was determined to get to some of the films at the Film Festival and to entertain me and a visiting friend from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tony Rivera (another retired overseas teacher).
Opening night of the Film Festival was on January 4. We did not get to that one: that is a very expensive event and not really worth the money. Brad Pitt was the big star to show up this year—he’s not one of my favorites, so I skipped opening night!
I did begin seeing films on January 5 and only lasted until January 11 (7 days). I decided to return to Oakland early on January 12. Was scheduled to stay in Palm Springs until January 17 with Merrill coming down on January 12 for a five-day stay. Nothing much could get done with helping out with cleaning up Paul’s house; Jim was progressing as well as can be expected; Tony was there helping out (Jan 6 to 15). My dad is not happy in the new senior facility we moved him into on December 29. He was not there two weeks and they moved him to three different rooms; no warning. It scared him terribly since he is legally blind and cannot hear very well. They have lost one pair of slippers, his own walker (now has a mysterious one!??), and his blanket he loves when he naps!!! When the State starts paying the bills, things change, and change for the worst!!! Am trying to call as many facilities as I can and getting to see them and then we shall move him if we find a better facility.
Did get a chance to see 17 films at the Film Festival. The selection of films this year was not as good as in previous years. Enjoyed those that I did get to see. I have listed them by rating (in alphabetical order for each rating). Wonder how many will be nominated for Best Foreign Film Oscar?
THE 18TH ANNUAL PALM SPRINGS
INTERNATIONAL FILMS FESTIVAL
January 4 to 15, 2007
The films are rated according to the audience rating sheets handed out for each film at the Festival: Poor Fair Good Very Good (they really rate this as Excellent) and Superb. I have listed the films by the best rated films first in alphabetical order and go down the rating scale.
AFTER THE WEDDING SUPERB
This superb drama from Denmark begins in far off Bombay, India at an orphanage for street children. A new benefactor for the museum in Copenhagen demands a face-to-face
meeting with the Dane, Jacob, who runs the orphanage. He attends his benefactor’s daughter’s wedding and surprising things happen “after the wedding.” Jacob realizes he has had an affair years ago with the benefactor’s wife and this may be his daughter. The plot presents a lot of twists and turns in all these lives; their pasts all come together and what is in store for the future is quite interesting in this engrossing film.
AVENUE MONTAIGNE SUPERB
This is an old-fashioned “breezy, bittersweet and utterly charming” French comedy. It reminded me of the film, “Roman Holiday” in which Audrey Hepburn made her film debut. The French actress, Cecile DeFrance, reminded me of Hepburn in a lot of ways: she lights up the screen, great comic timing, and is so interesting to watch. Director Daniele Thompson has written a script that interweaves three basic stories around a Theatre Café (Ms. DeFrance delivers food!) which serves regular costumers: a concert pianist who plays at the Symphony Hall across the street; a TV actress who is longing for a serious film role with Sydney Pollack (he makes a smashing cameo appearance in English), and a businessman preparing to auction off his art collection. We follow their trials and tribulations over three days. It all culminates on the night when a concert, an art auction and the debut of the play coincide—a night that will change all their lives! We, the audience, had a grand treat following all of this. Best comedy I’ve seen in ages!
DAYS OF GLORY SUPERB
This Algerian/French film won the Ensemble Acting Prize at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. This is a powerful WWII story that details the awful treatment the French heaped upon their fellow soldiers of North African (Muslim) descent. This film pulls no punches especially with its stunning battle scenes. The cast also is superb in showing the heartless cruelty of war and upon the individuals and their struggles to survive. This film reignited debate about an age-old scandal: in 1952 the French government suspended payments to veterans of North African nations who fought for France, a practice that was deemed illegal by European courts in 2002. Until the release of this film, the French government had been slow to comply with the 2002 ruling. Quite a moving film.
FORGET YOU NOT SUPERB
At last year’s Palm Springs International Film Festival, Italian film director, Pupi Avati was honored; they screened about 10 of his films. I got to see four or five of them and loved them. Now his daughter, Mariantonia Avati, his daughter, is making her directing debut with this sentimental film. (Aren’t we into this with Francis Ford and Sophia Coppola?) It is 1946 Italy, a country that longs for rebirth after WWII, in a Rome maternity ward. Eight women are waiting to give birth and confide their stories to Nina, who works there and narrates the film. The stories really intertwine so wonderfully; there is understanding, solidarity and friendship. A very moving film about the human condition, and, at the same time, symbolizing a nation’s struggles. Would like to see Ms. Avati’s second film whenever it is released!
THE LINE OF BEAUTY SUPERB
Originally a three-hour BBC mini-series adapted from Alan Hollinghurst’s Booker Prize winning novel, this saga chronicles the contradictions of class, politics, and sex in the 1980s Thatcher Britain. It all focuses on the aptly named Nick Guest, a recent Oxford graduate who has come down to London to write his dissertation on Henry James. Moving into the grand house of a college friend whose father happens to be one of Britain’s most ambitious and conservative members of Parliament, Nick has a ringside seat to the impending right-wing revolution. He certainly sees the immense distance between the personal lives and political agendas of the men leading the country. His real education comes at night when he explores his new gay identity. This film spans the first four years of Margaret Thatcher’s rise to power, the rise of conservative politics, the emergence of the AIDS crisis, and the excess of 80s materialism. As these worlds all collide, Nick’s life becomes unhinged as well. Did not want this wonderful “film” to end as ALL the characters where very engrossing!
NINA’S JOURNEY SUPERB
Based on the true story of the writer-director’s (Lena Einhorn) young, Jewish mother’s remarkable odyssey at survival during WWII in Poland. Lena’s mother, Nina, narrates the film which is done in the flashback style. Nina passed away from cancer in 2002 and survived the Nazis by hiding out in all sorts of places with all types of Poles. This Swedish/Polish film focuses on the years 1937 to 1945: from Nina’s carefree youth in Lodz, to her years in the Warsaw ghetto from which she managed to escape, to a time of continual moving between hiding places with gentile families in the countryside. It also features some of Poland’s finest actors; this film is extremely moving!!
COVER BOY VERY GOOD
This Italian film is the story of a friendship between two young men in today’s Italy—a Romanian immigrant and an Italian lower-class worker. They struggle to find gainful employment. The immigrant escapes his native Romania to seek a better life in Italy; Michele, the Italian, is merely scraping along as a janitor. Michele gets nowhere fast and begins to fall in love with the Romanian; the Romanian becomes a model and rather famous and wealthy and just cannot return Michele’s love. A rather sad ending; enjoyed the film very much. It started out too slowly though or I would have rated it Superb.
DON’T WORRY, I’M FINE VERY GOOD
This French film stars one of France’s up and coming young actresses, Melanie Laurent. She plays Lili who returns from vacation to discover her 19-year-old twin brother, Loic, has fled from home after a violent fight with their father, who struggles along in his very middle class household. Loic does not answer any of Lili’s phone messages. Lili worries about his welfare eventually sending her to an anorexia hospital ward; suddenly a post card arrives from Loic and Lili searches for him via the postmarks on cards she then steadily receives. A wonderful surprise twist in the plot at the end of this film made this film even more engrossing. Again, it just began too slowly for the plot to develop.
EAST SIDE STORY VERY GOOD
This film from the USA depicts a funny combination of melodrama, romance and comedy that follows a couple of gay love triangles in LA’s Bario neighborhood. Gays are buying property in LA’s rapidly gentrified Latino neighborhood. Diego, desiring to be a famous gourmet chef, toils away in his family’s ordinary Mexican restaurant (Tio Pepe’s!) and is having a secret affair with the seemingly very straight real estate agent Pablo. A gay white couple, Wesley and Jonathan, move next door and Wesley is particularly appealing to the increasingly frustrated Diego, especially since Pablo starts to date Diego’s sister! When jealousy rears its ugly head on all the characters, the fun really begins! Great fun! Gay filmmaker, Carlos Portugal, makes his first independent film and does a fine job with plot twists with a very funny script that he co-wrote with Charo Toledo. Carlos was at the Festival and gave some insights about filming this all in 19 days on a very low budget! He did a great job! Most enjoyable.
GRBAVICA VERY GOOD
This Bosnian/Herzegovina film captured the Best Film Award at the recent Berlin Film Festival. It depicts the plight of the thousands of Muslim women raped during the Balkan wars. Adding insult to injury, they received no support from the government and were unable to tell their families. The title refers to a Sarajevo district that was later transformed into a prison camp where inmates were tortured and raped. This neighborhood is now home to hard working Esma, a single mother haunted by events from her past. As she struggles to make ends meet, her love for her 12-year-old daughter Sara makes life worthwhile. Sara thinks her father died in the war. When she needs documentation about his death for a discount for an expensive school field trip, Esma desperately searches for the money so she won’t have to reveal the truth of Sara’s conception. If awards for Best Actress were handed out at the Film Festival, actress Mirjana Karanovic would certainly win: what a performance as Esma! Very moving indeed. Again, this film is too slow in its exposition.
VITUS VERY GOOD
In this film from Switzerland, Vitus is a child cursed with early genius; he can play the piano and memorize the encyclopedia! He is bored with school and even with piano playing. All he wants is to be “normal.” He is smothered by overly attentive parents; we see Vitus at age 6 and then again at age 12 (at this point he is played by real life piano virtuoso, Theo Gheorghiu). The child’s grandfather, played by the superb Swiss actor, Bruno Ganz, offers relief from Vitus’ parents; he teaches the boy such values as fantasy, simplicity, and practical common sense. Vitus also dreams of flying and having a normal life. Towards the end of the film, with one dramatic leap, Vitus finally takes control of his own life in a very moving ending
BLACK BOOK GOOD
This film is basically from the Netherlands, but Germany, the UK, and Belgium also helped produce the film. In 1944 a former Berlin singer Rachael Steinn, who has been hiding in Nazi-occupied Holland, tries to make a run for it. When the ship is bombed, wiping out all of the fleeing refugees on board including her parents and brother except for her, she joins the resistance eager to learn who set them up. Steinn infiltrates the Nazi machinery and becomes involved in a web of seduction, betrayal and revenge. For some reason I found the film very unmoving and a bit too “clean” in vivid Technicolor. No one got “dirty” in the film even in the bombing scenes. It all just left me “cold.” Nicely acted though.
HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE ME? GOOD
This film was in French although it was co-produced with Italy. A very different film. One could not tell if it was farce, fairy tale, or a feast of symbolism!?!? Famous French director, Bertrand Blier is a master at the politically incorrect! Francois enters a whore bar in Pigalle and approaches Daniela, the most beautiful hooker in the place, and makes a proposition to her: having recently won millions of Euros in a lottery, he would like to purchase her services at 100,000 Euros per month until his money runs out. However, two things stand in the way: Francois’ heart condition and Daniela’s gangster boyfriend, Charley, played by an old Gerard Depardieu, who looks like a balloon ready for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade! A good film but it never quite knew in which direction it was headed.
THIEVES AND LIARS GOOD
Made in Puerto Rico, this film shows the corruption that has exploded there over the last 15 years. There are three stories intertwined showing three families involved in all of this corruption as the older generations helplessly watch the deterioration of truth and justice in the Puerto Rican youth. A bit “soap opera-ish” at times, the film ends with the corruption still continuing. One could tell this was a low budget film and was much too long at 114 minutes. We got the message early on; they just kept repeating it over and over.
THE GOLDEN DOOR FAIR
This film from Italy received quite a bit of good word of mouth in VARIETY and other show business publications. I was very, very disappointed in the film. A turn-of-the-century rural Sicilian family embarks on a difficult journey to Ellis Island, leaving behind their homes and possessions in the hope of securing a better life in a land they’ve heard flows with milk and honey. The director, Emanuele Crialese, takes this to heart: in several scenes and the end of the film, characters are literally floating in milk!?!? Why not mucking through honey? It all was such a silly image on film!?? As the boat approaches Ellis Island, there is no Statue of Liberty to be seen!? The characters were not very interesting and we did not really care about them and their struggle. I did learn a few things from the film: my grandmother immigrated to Ellis Island to meet my grandfather for the first time and marry him in order to take care of his children that his first wife had given birth to. It showed these immigrant brides coming and the grooms meeting them in a huge room with hundreds of brides waiting for their new life and marriage in America. It was quite a moving scene: some were pleased, and some were not! Otherwise, the film was just a bore. Some interesting photography, but hope this is not nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film.
THE MOON AND THE STARS FAIR
This Italian/UK/Hungarian co-production was filmed in English and in lovely Technicolor. English actors, Jonathan Pryce and Alfred Molina star in this story of a group of actors and filmmakers trying to film a version of the opera, TOSCA, in the Rome of 1939. Pryce plays an alcoholic and drug addict; Molina plays a nervous, in the closet homosexual producer brought to the Cinecitta Studios in Rome to make this film despite the growing tremors of war. Director John Irvin spoke before the film began and said this film was an homage to the art of filmmaking. Although pleasant to look at, this film was rather boring: the characters and storyline. I’m afraid I left before the end.
THE CURIOSITY OF CHANCE POOR
A co-production of the USA/Belgium/Philippines, this film was so amateurish and should not have been in the Film Festival to begin with. Standards should be a bit higher for acceptance for a film to be entered. About a new kid at the high school, Chance Marquis, is not with it. He is very obviously gay and it is the 80s. He is such an obvious target for the school bully. To deal with this dilemma, Chance turns to the opposite ends of the high school spectrum for help: the high school jock and a drag queen at a local drag bar! The faculty are portrayed as all idiots, the parents are all good hearted but delusional, and all is right with the world in the drag bar! Pitiful writing and the acting is worse than some of the talent displayed on America’s favorite program, “American Idol.” I lasted only 40 minutes for this piece of crap and left rather hurriedly limping up the aisle with my cane! Get me out of the theatre!!!!!!
I was not too disappointed that my trip to the Film Festival was cut short (only 7 days) since the selection this year was not as great as the last two or three years. Still enjoyable however.
We’ll see how many of these foreign films are nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film this year.
Stay well and keep in touch……more about January Happenings in another newsletter coming up before the end of the month!
PALM SPRINGS, CA
After “putting Christmas away,” it was time to leave for Palm Springs on Wednesday, January 3 to help out with friends Paul Francis and James Lee.
Paul was in the hospital suffering from complications from his diabetes. It finally did him in on January 6, the Feast of the Kings (Epiphany), when at last he was at peace. What a life he had in Europe for 43 years. Quite a character and he was part of an era that we will never see again. Paul was cremated and his nephew from Pittsburgh, PA will arrive in Palm Springs the end of January to collect his ashes and straighten out the estate.
James is recuperating from a stroke he had right after Christmas. His left side (hand and leg) is rather weak and needs a lot of exercising. His speech is affected slightly, but that is coming along slowly but surely. His energy level is low, but he was determined to get to some of the films at the Film Festival and to entertain me and a visiting friend from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tony Rivera (another retired overseas teacher).
Opening night of the Film Festival was on January 4. We did not get to that one: that is a very expensive event and not really worth the money. Brad Pitt was the big star to show up this year—he’s not one of my favorites, so I skipped opening night!
I did begin seeing films on January 5 and only lasted until January 11 (7 days). I decided to return to Oakland early on January 12. Was scheduled to stay in Palm Springs until January 17 with Merrill coming down on January 12 for a five-day stay. Nothing much could get done with helping out with cleaning up Paul’s house; Jim was progressing as well as can be expected; Tony was there helping out (Jan 6 to 15). My dad is not happy in the new senior facility we moved him into on December 29. He was not there two weeks and they moved him to three different rooms; no warning. It scared him terribly since he is legally blind and cannot hear very well. They have lost one pair of slippers, his own walker (now has a mysterious one!??), and his blanket he loves when he naps!!! When the State starts paying the bills, things change, and change for the worst!!! Am trying to call as many facilities as I can and getting to see them and then we shall move him if we find a better facility.
Did get a chance to see 17 films at the Film Festival. The selection of films this year was not as good as in previous years. Enjoyed those that I did get to see. I have listed them by rating (in alphabetical order for each rating). Wonder how many will be nominated for Best Foreign Film Oscar?
THE 18TH ANNUAL PALM SPRINGS
INTERNATIONAL FILMS FESTIVAL
January 4 to 15, 2007
The films are rated according to the audience rating sheets handed out for each film at the Festival: Poor Fair Good Very Good (they really rate this as Excellent) and Superb. I have listed the films by the best rated films first in alphabetical order and go down the rating scale.
AFTER THE WEDDING SUPERB
This superb drama from Denmark begins in far off Bombay, India at an orphanage for street children. A new benefactor for the museum in Copenhagen demands a face-to-face
meeting with the Dane, Jacob, who runs the orphanage. He attends his benefactor’s daughter’s wedding and surprising things happen “after the wedding.” Jacob realizes he has had an affair years ago with the benefactor’s wife and this may be his daughter. The plot presents a lot of twists and turns in all these lives; their pasts all come together and what is in store for the future is quite interesting in this engrossing film.
AVENUE MONTAIGNE SUPERB
This is an old-fashioned “breezy, bittersweet and utterly charming” French comedy. It reminded me of the film, “Roman Holiday” in which Audrey Hepburn made her film debut. The French actress, Cecile DeFrance, reminded me of Hepburn in a lot of ways: she lights up the screen, great comic timing, and is so interesting to watch. Director Daniele Thompson has written a script that interweaves three basic stories around a Theatre Café (Ms. DeFrance delivers food!) which serves regular costumers: a concert pianist who plays at the Symphony Hall across the street; a TV actress who is longing for a serious film role with Sydney Pollack (he makes a smashing cameo appearance in English), and a businessman preparing to auction off his art collection. We follow their trials and tribulations over three days. It all culminates on the night when a concert, an art auction and the debut of the play coincide—a night that will change all their lives! We, the audience, had a grand treat following all of this. Best comedy I’ve seen in ages!
DAYS OF GLORY SUPERB
This Algerian/French film won the Ensemble Acting Prize at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. This is a powerful WWII story that details the awful treatment the French heaped upon their fellow soldiers of North African (Muslim) descent. This film pulls no punches especially with its stunning battle scenes. The cast also is superb in showing the heartless cruelty of war and upon the individuals and their struggles to survive. This film reignited debate about an age-old scandal: in 1952 the French government suspended payments to veterans of North African nations who fought for France, a practice that was deemed illegal by European courts in 2002. Until the release of this film, the French government had been slow to comply with the 2002 ruling. Quite a moving film.
FORGET YOU NOT SUPERB
At last year’s Palm Springs International Film Festival, Italian film director, Pupi Avati was honored; they screened about 10 of his films. I got to see four or five of them and loved them. Now his daughter, Mariantonia Avati, his daughter, is making her directing debut with this sentimental film. (Aren’t we into this with Francis Ford and Sophia Coppola?) It is 1946 Italy, a country that longs for rebirth after WWII, in a Rome maternity ward. Eight women are waiting to give birth and confide their stories to Nina, who works there and narrates the film. The stories really intertwine so wonderfully; there is understanding, solidarity and friendship. A very moving film about the human condition, and, at the same time, symbolizing a nation’s struggles. Would like to see Ms. Avati’s second film whenever it is released!
THE LINE OF BEAUTY SUPERB
Originally a three-hour BBC mini-series adapted from Alan Hollinghurst’s Booker Prize winning novel, this saga chronicles the contradictions of class, politics, and sex in the 1980s Thatcher Britain. It all focuses on the aptly named Nick Guest, a recent Oxford graduate who has come down to London to write his dissertation on Henry James. Moving into the grand house of a college friend whose father happens to be one of Britain’s most ambitious and conservative members of Parliament, Nick has a ringside seat to the impending right-wing revolution. He certainly sees the immense distance between the personal lives and political agendas of the men leading the country. His real education comes at night when he explores his new gay identity. This film spans the first four years of Margaret Thatcher’s rise to power, the rise of conservative politics, the emergence of the AIDS crisis, and the excess of 80s materialism. As these worlds all collide, Nick’s life becomes unhinged as well. Did not want this wonderful “film” to end as ALL the characters where very engrossing!
NINA’S JOURNEY SUPERB
Based on the true story of the writer-director’s (Lena Einhorn) young, Jewish mother’s remarkable odyssey at survival during WWII in Poland. Lena’s mother, Nina, narrates the film which is done in the flashback style. Nina passed away from cancer in 2002 and survived the Nazis by hiding out in all sorts of places with all types of Poles. This Swedish/Polish film focuses on the years 1937 to 1945: from Nina’s carefree youth in Lodz, to her years in the Warsaw ghetto from which she managed to escape, to a time of continual moving between hiding places with gentile families in the countryside. It also features some of Poland’s finest actors; this film is extremely moving!!
COVER BOY VERY GOOD
This Italian film is the story of a friendship between two young men in today’s Italy—a Romanian immigrant and an Italian lower-class worker. They struggle to find gainful employment. The immigrant escapes his native Romania to seek a better life in Italy; Michele, the Italian, is merely scraping along as a janitor. Michele gets nowhere fast and begins to fall in love with the Romanian; the Romanian becomes a model and rather famous and wealthy and just cannot return Michele’s love. A rather sad ending; enjoyed the film very much. It started out too slowly though or I would have rated it Superb.
DON’T WORRY, I’M FINE VERY GOOD
This French film stars one of France’s up and coming young actresses, Melanie Laurent. She plays Lili who returns from vacation to discover her 19-year-old twin brother, Loic, has fled from home after a violent fight with their father, who struggles along in his very middle class household. Loic does not answer any of Lili’s phone messages. Lili worries about his welfare eventually sending her to an anorexia hospital ward; suddenly a post card arrives from Loic and Lili searches for him via the postmarks on cards she then steadily receives. A wonderful surprise twist in the plot at the end of this film made this film even more engrossing. Again, it just began too slowly for the plot to develop.
EAST SIDE STORY VERY GOOD
This film from the USA depicts a funny combination of melodrama, romance and comedy that follows a couple of gay love triangles in LA’s Bario neighborhood. Gays are buying property in LA’s rapidly gentrified Latino neighborhood. Diego, desiring to be a famous gourmet chef, toils away in his family’s ordinary Mexican restaurant (Tio Pepe’s!) and is having a secret affair with the seemingly very straight real estate agent Pablo. A gay white couple, Wesley and Jonathan, move next door and Wesley is particularly appealing to the increasingly frustrated Diego, especially since Pablo starts to date Diego’s sister! When jealousy rears its ugly head on all the characters, the fun really begins! Great fun! Gay filmmaker, Carlos Portugal, makes his first independent film and does a fine job with plot twists with a very funny script that he co-wrote with Charo Toledo. Carlos was at the Festival and gave some insights about filming this all in 19 days on a very low budget! He did a great job! Most enjoyable.
GRBAVICA VERY GOOD
This Bosnian/Herzegovina film captured the Best Film Award at the recent Berlin Film Festival. It depicts the plight of the thousands of Muslim women raped during the Balkan wars. Adding insult to injury, they received no support from the government and were unable to tell their families. The title refers to a Sarajevo district that was later transformed into a prison camp where inmates were tortured and raped. This neighborhood is now home to hard working Esma, a single mother haunted by events from her past. As she struggles to make ends meet, her love for her 12-year-old daughter Sara makes life worthwhile. Sara thinks her father died in the war. When she needs documentation about his death for a discount for an expensive school field trip, Esma desperately searches for the money so she won’t have to reveal the truth of Sara’s conception. If awards for Best Actress were handed out at the Film Festival, actress Mirjana Karanovic would certainly win: what a performance as Esma! Very moving indeed. Again, this film is too slow in its exposition.
VITUS VERY GOOD
In this film from Switzerland, Vitus is a child cursed with early genius; he can play the piano and memorize the encyclopedia! He is bored with school and even with piano playing. All he wants is to be “normal.” He is smothered by overly attentive parents; we see Vitus at age 6 and then again at age 12 (at this point he is played by real life piano virtuoso, Theo Gheorghiu). The child’s grandfather, played by the superb Swiss actor, Bruno Ganz, offers relief from Vitus’ parents; he teaches the boy such values as fantasy, simplicity, and practical common sense. Vitus also dreams of flying and having a normal life. Towards the end of the film, with one dramatic leap, Vitus finally takes control of his own life in a very moving ending
BLACK BOOK GOOD
This film is basically from the Netherlands, but Germany, the UK, and Belgium also helped produce the film. In 1944 a former Berlin singer Rachael Steinn, who has been hiding in Nazi-occupied Holland, tries to make a run for it. When the ship is bombed, wiping out all of the fleeing refugees on board including her parents and brother except for her, she joins the resistance eager to learn who set them up. Steinn infiltrates the Nazi machinery and becomes involved in a web of seduction, betrayal and revenge. For some reason I found the film very unmoving and a bit too “clean” in vivid Technicolor. No one got “dirty” in the film even in the bombing scenes. It all just left me “cold.” Nicely acted though.
HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE ME? GOOD
This film was in French although it was co-produced with Italy. A very different film. One could not tell if it was farce, fairy tale, or a feast of symbolism!?!? Famous French director, Bertrand Blier is a master at the politically incorrect! Francois enters a whore bar in Pigalle and approaches Daniela, the most beautiful hooker in the place, and makes a proposition to her: having recently won millions of Euros in a lottery, he would like to purchase her services at 100,000 Euros per month until his money runs out. However, two things stand in the way: Francois’ heart condition and Daniela’s gangster boyfriend, Charley, played by an old Gerard Depardieu, who looks like a balloon ready for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade! A good film but it never quite knew in which direction it was headed.
THIEVES AND LIARS GOOD
Made in Puerto Rico, this film shows the corruption that has exploded there over the last 15 years. There are three stories intertwined showing three families involved in all of this corruption as the older generations helplessly watch the deterioration of truth and justice in the Puerto Rican youth. A bit “soap opera-ish” at times, the film ends with the corruption still continuing. One could tell this was a low budget film and was much too long at 114 minutes. We got the message early on; they just kept repeating it over and over.
THE GOLDEN DOOR FAIR
This film from Italy received quite a bit of good word of mouth in VARIETY and other show business publications. I was very, very disappointed in the film. A turn-of-the-century rural Sicilian family embarks on a difficult journey to Ellis Island, leaving behind their homes and possessions in the hope of securing a better life in a land they’ve heard flows with milk and honey. The director, Emanuele Crialese, takes this to heart: in several scenes and the end of the film, characters are literally floating in milk!?!? Why not mucking through honey? It all was such a silly image on film!?? As the boat approaches Ellis Island, there is no Statue of Liberty to be seen!? The characters were not very interesting and we did not really care about them and their struggle. I did learn a few things from the film: my grandmother immigrated to Ellis Island to meet my grandfather for the first time and marry him in order to take care of his children that his first wife had given birth to. It showed these immigrant brides coming and the grooms meeting them in a huge room with hundreds of brides waiting for their new life and marriage in America. It was quite a moving scene: some were pleased, and some were not! Otherwise, the film was just a bore. Some interesting photography, but hope this is not nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film.
THE MOON AND THE STARS FAIR
This Italian/UK/Hungarian co-production was filmed in English and in lovely Technicolor. English actors, Jonathan Pryce and Alfred Molina star in this story of a group of actors and filmmakers trying to film a version of the opera, TOSCA, in the Rome of 1939. Pryce plays an alcoholic and drug addict; Molina plays a nervous, in the closet homosexual producer brought to the Cinecitta Studios in Rome to make this film despite the growing tremors of war. Director John Irvin spoke before the film began and said this film was an homage to the art of filmmaking. Although pleasant to look at, this film was rather boring: the characters and storyline. I’m afraid I left before the end.
THE CURIOSITY OF CHANCE POOR
A co-production of the USA/Belgium/Philippines, this film was so amateurish and should not have been in the Film Festival to begin with. Standards should be a bit higher for acceptance for a film to be entered. About a new kid at the high school, Chance Marquis, is not with it. He is very obviously gay and it is the 80s. He is such an obvious target for the school bully. To deal with this dilemma, Chance turns to the opposite ends of the high school spectrum for help: the high school jock and a drag queen at a local drag bar! The faculty are portrayed as all idiots, the parents are all good hearted but delusional, and all is right with the world in the drag bar! Pitiful writing and the acting is worse than some of the talent displayed on America’s favorite program, “American Idol.” I lasted only 40 minutes for this piece of crap and left rather hurriedly limping up the aisle with my cane! Get me out of the theatre!!!!!!
I was not too disappointed that my trip to the Film Festival was cut short (only 7 days) since the selection this year was not as great as the last two or three years. Still enjoyable however.
We’ll see how many of these foreign films are nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film this year.
Stay well and keep in touch……more about January Happenings in another newsletter coming up before the end of the month!
posted by Gennaro (Gerry) DeVito | 5:33 PM
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