There are a couple of us here at AIM who view this festival as a vacation--the perfect escape. We plowed through the catalog and managed to select at least one film (in some instances two) for every day of the festival. This page will be updated on a daily basis as we report back to you all of our experiences. Maybe it will inspire some of you to slip out of work unnoticed in the middle of the afternoon a couple days this week and join us for some of the truly incredible films that the 40th SFIFF has to offfer this year. Day One: April 24th, 1997
Day Two: April 25th, 1997
Day Three: April 26th, 1997
Day Four: April 27th, 1997 A mandatory day of rest. You can not eat popcorn and milk duds too many days in a row. Day Five: April 28th, 1997
Day Six: April 29th, 1997
Day Seven: April 30th, 1997
Day Eight: May 1st, 1997
Day Nine: May 2nd, 1997
Day Ten: May 3rd, 1997
Day Ten: May 4th, 1997
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Unfortunately our first pick of the festival, Bliss, a Lance Young film, was sold out. We did not get to enjoy an opening night treat at all. Sheryl Lee (Laura Palmer of Twin Peaks fame) was not only a main character in this film but appeared at the screening. (urghhhh) This film also boasted the likes of Spalding Gray. Having been thoroughly humbled by not purchasing our tickets early enough we settled in with a video rental that evening. It seems that before director Bryan Singer scored a hit with his film noir The Usual Suspects he had directed an unusual little overdose of directorial style entitled Public Access. Certainly worth checking out if you haven't seen it before.
American writer/director, Finn Taylor's Dream with the Fishes was the pick for night number two. With an unusual twist on the "buddy" them, Taylor has paired up two completely unlikely partners for a sometimes hilarious, uniquely emotional, plight towards their final destinations - death. Finn managed to take two completely different and unique personalities and develop an effective and believable bond between them. Aside from being extremely well written and planned, the film also featured a few visual treats. A hitherto unknown photographic technique was used to make the film appear as if it had been shot on film stock from the early 70's. This gave the entire film a warmness that most of us associate with some of the more popular films of the same genre as well as some of the greatest directors of that time period. Finn Taylor, as well as several of the actors and a photographer for the film were on hand following the film for a Q&A where they revealed their cinematic secrets, budget (just over $1 million) as well as who played the cremated remains of Nick in one of the final scenes. Oh, this film also gets special recognition for achieving the first non-cliched LSD experience sequence.
Clubbed to Death, is the first film we had the opportunity to view that is nominated as a potential recipient of the Skyy Spirits award. This is a cash prize awarded to an emerging director of $10,000 for the director to spend as "he/she sees fit". Directed by Yolande Zauberman, Clubbed to Death is a stylish tale of love, relationships, and environment. Filmed is Lisbon, but taking place in "anywhere europa" the settings help ad inpact to this sparse on dialogue tale. The story and feelings unfold in a series of carefully planned interactions between soundtrack, visuals, settings and the movement of the characters. The soundtrack features some of the better techno and trip hop available including the title track "Clubbed to Death" as well as tracks by the likes of the Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk and more. Quite often througout the film surreal qalities take over as late night rave scenes are presented awash in shadowless bright white light and dancers pulse slowly to the fast techno soundtrack. This was much more of a "let it wash over you" sort of film. Kudos to Elodie Bouchez who plays the young girl who accidently finds herself immersed in this new environment of late night techno madness and a mysterious love. Her innocence and freshness throughout the film were more than convincing. Following the film, the soundtrack creator Philippe Cohen Zolal told rambling, endless stories of searching for the title track on record after hearing it in a club as well as the making of the film.
The description in the festival catalog truly sums up this film...disturbing, funny, and oh yes sometimes boring. The River is a film from Taiwan that plods along in as close as you can get to real time without plunging into the abyss heretofore occupied by Bela Tar. Moments at the beginning of the film have an odd sense of humor about them, an almost cuteness. As the film progresses the story line becomes more sparse and the attention to minute detail as well as the mundane increases. We had completely mixed feelings with regard to this project. On one hand many issues that I have rarely seen approached in Asian cinema are brought up. We also get an almost voyeuristic glimpse of an Asian family and their aparent dysfunctions which is at some times intriguing and at others could be seen as disturbing. By the end of the film we were left with a sort of one eyebrow raised emptiness. Lee Kang-sheng portrays the son in the family who is stricken with a terrible neck pain as the result of being talked into acting the part of a corpse floating in a river by a rather amusing female director. Lee Kang-sheng manages to pull of his role unelievably effectively and with such a look of pain on his face for so long a time that you too begin to feel his neck twisting in agony. The River is unusual in its approach and unique in its contents but not worthy of receiving a "must see" vote from any of us.
Moebius is the second film on our list that is a nominee for the Skyy Spirits award. We may not have to see any more of the nominated films at all to know who we would cast our vote for. This is the first ever film produced by the Universidad del Cine in Argentina. Gustavo Mosquera, the director and a professor at the university, assembled a crew made entirely of his students and set to work on this project. Moebius explores the political recklessness and cover-ups of a country that has undergone the dissappearance of thousands upon thousands of its citizens at the hand of a military dictatorship in a brilliant and imaginative fashion. This film is a sci-fi thriller which ranks high on the intellectual side and is immensely effective and visually stylish without having to result to the expense of multi-million dollar budgets or special effects. With each San Francisco Film Festival attended there is always a single film that strikes your heart and mind as truly remarkable and we believe that this may have been the one in this years festival. Following the screening Gustavo Mosquera was on hand to field questions and explain some of the techniques and sentiments behind the film. Despite the language barrier he was able to eloquently instill in all who attended the plight and purpose of the film thus forcing its impact to be that much more remarkable. In listening to Mosquera, it was as if we were getting the opportunity to see and listen to the words of a director who will be mentioned in the not too distant future in the same breath as Tarkovsky and Kubrick. (surprisingly he admitted to having a great love for these two directors). We can only hope this film gets the distribution deal it deserves and more people all over the world are able to view it. If you do get the opportunity to view this film keep in mind that the gorgeous visual effects presented in the ending sequences were achieved with a 129 dollar camera fitted with a small motor. Mosquera and his students have achieved a rare piece of cinema and have proven that you can do it without proper funding, without high price effects or crews, and with beauty. Moebius is a reminder of what film can be when approached from the heart and mind and not from the wallet.
Level Five is the latest endeavor by film maker Chris Marker who some of us remember as being the mind behind the 1963 film Le Jete (which later came to be remade by Terry Gilliam as 12 Monkeys). There were some strange vibes surrounding this film. There had been a tone set from overheard discussions prior to the screening and idle banter about town that this was not that great a film. Our experience had even brought us across such ridiculous comments a, "It's a shame when your best work is from 30 years ago." This review is going to be in complete defense of Chris Marker and Level Five. First impressions from this film should be immediately discarded. At the onset this film seems a little bit 1980's in its style and effects - much more low tech than high. However, if we set aside Le Jete and focus on the fact that Chris Marker has been working more with the video medium than the film medium and we accept this it may just allow the better qualities of this film to shine through. Level Five serves as a personal video diary of a woman involved in an attempt to pull together the mysterious pieces of computer game based on the battle of Okinawa. At the same time this womans video diary entries serve as a looking glass into her emotions, personality, and love for her lost partner we also receive small video clips and commentaries that unravel the tragedy that was the battle of Okinawa. In the least this film serves as a valuable history lesson. There are extremely powerful elements and imagery and insights presented in this film which could be easily overlooked by any viewer who had set their sites differently before the screening. Although the editing, effects, and style are rough and scratchy it helps to provide a realistic and somewhat voyeuristic experience for the viewer. Level Five served as a reminder to anyone viewing it that we need to remember to set aside our expectations based upon a director's history each and every time we sit down to enjoy one of their new films. With this film Chris Marker managed to deliver sensitive and sometimes heavy material in a unique and effective manner.
It is always a good bet when a director decides to make a film about making a film. Buried beneath those initial flickering images is a wealth of sarcasm, cynicism, wit and of course experience. What more can be said about a Godard classic that has not been said before..or with regard to Godard for that matter. The screening of Contempt, Godard's 1963 film all about making film was a great treat. The SFIFF had a new print of the film and as many of you may know a good print of Contempt is very hard to come by. Besides the fact that this film was probably considered extremely racey for its time period due to the copius amount of exposure on the part of Bridget Bardot, this is no doubt one of Jack Palance's most hysterical performances of his career. Fritz Lang (of Metrolpolis fame) also lends a hand with his wickedly cynical delivery. Godard's Contempt still stands up after all these years.
U.S. director Tim Hunter who brought us 1987's dark view of suburban youth in The River's Edge was on hand for this screening of his newest film The Maker. Continuing in his favorite type of work, the genre piece, Hunter has pulled together another one of his admitedly "tough to market" works. The Maker is a coming of age story which avoids the sitting around and getting loaded wondering what will happen next and focuses more on the effects the decisions made by the inexperienced suddenly thrust into a world they are neither ready nor prepared for. Hunter manages to display situations in which the main character is confronted with a series of circumstances in which many of the constants in his life are slowly broken down especially when he needs these constants the most. Although the story line is markedly over the top in comparison to The River's Edge many of the real concerns and situations of today's youth are brought to the forefront. You certainly don't have to be a teenager to enjoy the film either. Hunter was obviously working with a great screen play and managed to maintain the integrity and intention of the story. Oh, Fairuza Balk also plays one of the coolest ever high school lesbian stoner girls to grace the screen.
The first two film day of this years festival. The first undertaking of the day was Raoul Ruiz's Genealogies of a Crime. Following the screening this film Raoul Ruiz was on hand to explain a little about the film and his methods. Mr Ruiz claims that he generates his work prior to having the script and after completion of imagery and editing begins to piece the story toegther. This may account for the perpetually odd paced and often confusing plot. This is not to say that the film is not completely enaging and an entertaining mystery as well. This film is chock full of commentary with regard tothe validity of psychiatry and therapy as well as the politics that surround the field. Genealogies of a Crime is darkly comic and thoroughly engaging.
Following Genealogies of a Crime, a mad dash was made back across the Bay Bridge to attend the screening of Irma Vep, yet another addition to the films about making films archives. This was one of Hong Kong films star Maggie Cheung's few and recent departures from action film into independants where she is given the opportunity to perform in the always difficult role of playing oneself. Irma Vep focuses on a more than confused directors attempt to remake Louis Feuillade's 1916 serial Les Vampires. Providing more than its fair share of comic relief and poking an enormous amount of fun at the French film industry, Irma Vep wraps everything up with a bizarre and surreal outcome. Irma Vep presents itself as somewhat of a hybrid of Living in Oblivion and Nadja and stands alone as thoroughly entertaining.
The Pillow Book is the latest work by director Peter Greenaway. Having established himself as one of the most visually stimulating and texturally sensuous directors, Mr. Greenaway in no way disappoints with this film. Sensual, erotic, stimulating and beautiful are understatements in this case. It is hard to imagine that Peter Greenaway can continue to push the limits of beauty as they apply to the art of filmmaking with each and every picture he directs. The Pillow Book affects the senses on a multitude of levels through the use of a wide variety of filming, sound, and visual techniques. At times you are viewing less of a film and more of a painting or collage or meticulously planned photograph with the exception that there are hundreds of thousands of these art works presented one after the other. One can only wish for a huge volume of printed stills from this film so as to explore the balance and arrangement of each and every scene detail by detail. Greenaway has not only utilized a visual feast but incorporated and collage of language as well which flows perfectly with the meaning and emotion of the poetry of the screenplay. It is rare that a director achieves a film that effects the senses on multiple levels so intensely but, as with many of his prior endeavors, Peter Greenaway has done it again. The Pillow Book is possibly the most beautiful and exquisite work presented at this years festival. Following the film Mr Greenaway was on hand to field questions from the audience where he presented himself as a rather eloquent speaker as well as brilliant filmmaker.