My third turn at this serious film lover's paradise last weekend proved a bit different than the last two years. For one thing, there was an extra passholder line at the Chuck Jones theater. For another, there seemed to be more patrons and passholders than years past. Could be my imagination but it was disappointing to be locked out of a couple of the films I'd really wanted to see. That being said, I saw more movies than I didn't. Here's the overview:
The new Mike Leigh film, Happy-Go-Lucky was the first selection. The director was there to introduce it and admitted that despite the title, there would be dark elements to the story, which concerned a 30-year-old elementary school teacher in London named Poppy. She is perpetually cheery and giddy, seemingly never allowing anything or anyone to get her down. As Leigh warned ahead of time, a viewer would either love her or hate her, but one could not help but pay attention to her. I found her to be a bit grating initially but ultimately, I kind of admired her resilience. In the opening scene, someone steals her bicycle from outside a book store. She comes upon this realization slowly, as though she can’t fathom the idea of someone doing something like this to her and then laments briefly, “I didn’t even get a chance to say good bye.” In this way, she is endearingly childlike and serves as a reminder that I need to view the world with a little more innocence and compassion sometimes. During the course of the film, we become very familiar with her quirky, bohemian lifestyle and marvel at the fact that she can so seamlessly transcend grown-up problems simply by never getting too serious. Her caring, open manner allows her to deftly handle her stalker driving instructor, an angry student in her class and even her family’s attempts to force her to conform. If it comes into wide release (and I think it will), it’s definitely worthwhile.
By Saturday, everyone was in proper festival mode and journalist/writer/documentarian Richard Schickel, (who is probably in his 70s) received a special medallion for his contributions to cinema. There was a Q&A conducted by Gary Giddins, formerly of the Village Voice, during which Schickel discussed the film we would be seeing, You Must Remember This, a documentary spanning the early decades of Warner Bros. films. It is narrated by Clint Eastwood and goes for nearly two hours, covering everything from "The Jazz Singer" to "Casablanca." This was only a fraction of the entire film, which will be shown in parts on PBS in late September and will also be available on DVD next year. Schickel recommends that everyone see the PBS version as the DVD will inevitably be cut. As a side note, we thoroughly enjoyed Schickel's reflections on the movie industry of the last century and his remark on the subject: “Young people come up to me all the time and tell me they’ve never even seen a black and white film. What are they, f-ing idiots?! That is nothing to be proud of!” (My sentiments exactly!)
One really exceptional selection was an Austrian film called Revanche. The director, Gotz Spielmann was there to introduce it. He didn’t say much about it, so I was unprepared for how truly riveting it turned out to be. In the beginning, I was a bit turned off by the really graphic/violent sex (it concerns the life of a prostitute and her struggling, good hearted boyfriend who works at the brothel) but it quickly evolves into a suspenseful and engaging thriller. It is often said of movies of this particular genre that they are Hitchcockian and I am loathe to assign that sort of praise to most films but in this case, it is warranted. The boyfriend, Alex, wants desperately to sweep away his Ukrainian girlfriend to Spain and start a new life. The problem is, they don’t have any money, so he decides to knock off a bank. Things change very rapidly after that and he winds up having to stay with his farmer grandfather in the country. Scenery aside, this is a brilliantly filmed and directed movie which interestingly and convincingly weaves together the lives of five people in surprising ways. This was probably my most favorite film of the festival.
On Saturday evening, we elected to get scared and see the director’s cut of Zodiac, a film which was originally released last year but not very well received at the box office. It follows the true story of the hunt for the so-called Zodiac serial killer in California, over nearly three decades. Stars in the film include Jake Gyllenhal, Robert Downey, Jr., and Chloe Sevigney. Needless to say, it was extremely chilling and somewhat graphically violent. The director was supposed to be there but inexplicably was a no-show so we don’t know offhand what was different about this version but it was definitely well shot and written.
Another interesting selection was The Italian Straw Hat, a French silent film from 1928, which was preceded by Man-Bull Fight, an Italian short from 1907. The short was incredible from a number of perspectives. First, the comedy is so physical that it needs no sound or titling. It is simply a ridiculous seven minutes about a man who dons a pair of bull horns and creates havoc at a dinner party in a house and on the street, overthrowing everything in his way. There is some element of the Keystone Cops with a couple of police officers trying to stop him or at least slow him down, instead colliding with one another. The second interesting element was the quality of the film. It wasn’t in perfect condition and did not have the end (we’re left instead with a gang of matadors coming down the street to tame the beast) but it was fresh enough to really see the faces of the performers. The third element was really the street scenes behind the action. There was something fascinating about getting a good look at horse drawn carriages nonchalantly coming down the cobbled streets as well as the people on those streets and realizing that this was life 100 years ago.
The main film was entertaining enough but ran a bit long, even though it was only 90 minutes. The joke is revealed very early on and it doesn’t really require 90 minutes to tell. That being said, it was still a lot of fun to be frustrated and watch as a man on his wedding day accidentally destroys a married woman’s hat as she is out enjoying the afternoon with her lover…The lover and the woman take up residence at the man’s house and demand that he find an identical hat so as to preserve the woman’s honor…There are a number of sight gags, such as the uncle who has trouble hearing and therefore is unaware that anything is happening behind him and of course, the innocent bride who must wait for her groom at the altar, at the reception and ultimately, at home, while he searches for the hat.
A late screening of American Violet, which tells the true story of Dee Roberts, a young mother of four in the projects of a small Texas town who was selected for the help of the ACLU after she was unjustly imprisoned for selling drugs was enhanced by a special Q&A after the screening. Refusing to take a plea bargain, she goes up against the bigoted judicial system in Texas and ultimately prevails. Roberts is played by actress Nicole Behaire, who I am convinced will be nominated for an Academy Award after this is released. The Q&A following the film was emotional and terribly interesting as nearly the whole cast was present, in addition to the writer, Bill Haney, and the director, Tim Disney. The most exciting part was that Roberts and her children were all also in attendance and also answered questions from the audience. It will be very interesting to see what impact this has on the Texas town and its corrupt/vile D.A., who apparently is still working in that capacity there.
Also screened on Sunday was Flash of Genius, which stars Greg Kinnear in the true story of Robert Kearns, a professor/engineer/inventor who developed the intermittent windshield wiper in the late 1960’s and was ripped off by Ford. He lost his wife over his battle for rightful recognition and represented himself in the suit he filed against Ford but it took him 12 years to do it. American corporations have apparently always suffered from a total lack of ethics and responsibility and I’m hopeful that films like this will result in better treatment of artists and inventors. At the very least, people deserve to be credited for the work that they do. Sometimes, it’s really not about money. (Although Kearns ultimately did get several million dollars).
Mondays have generally been good at the festival, at least in my short experience. The festival generally TBA’s a number of popular films in an effort to help people get a final chance to see anything they’ve missed thus far. It’s also been the best way for ticket buyers to get in after the passholders and patrons have seen it all. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way this year. I had high hopes for a French film called I’ve Loved You So Long but despite several attempts to see it, the lines proved impossible, even on Monday, and we were turned away. I still recommend taking the ticket buyer route (as opposed to spending hundreds of dollars on a pass) but it does occasionally prove disadvantageous, as in this case.
In any case, after we were turned away, we did manage to see Laughing ‘Til It Hurts, a really rare collection of shorts unearthed by the Pordenone Festival. These come from archives from all around the world and included The Cook, with Buster Keaton and Fatty Arbuckle from 1918, Should Men Walk Home with a young Oliver Hardy (1927), and a number of others that were all thoroughly entertaining and in surprisingly good condition.
Later in the day, for the final Telluride film of the year, we saw the Norwegian O’Horten, a rather bizarre and disjointed story about a man (Odd Horten) who retires from being a train engineer (beautiful snowbound scenery as the high speed train glides from tunnel to tunnel) and is evidently very lonely and bored. He spends a lot of time smoking his pipe and just drifting from one improbable situation to another and there are some mildly amusing moments but it is mostly a bit sad and felt too long. I’m not quite sure what to take away from it but there were some moving moments.
There was no place to go for food after that, as Telluride rolls up its sidewalks at 10 p.m. or earlier. That being said, Monday was a gorgeous, sunny day with hints of fall in the air. Perhaps this melancholy ending was ultimately the best, most reflective conclusion to another inspiring and varied festival.
Obviously, there were many more films I didn’t see. In addition to I’ve Loved You So Long, I’d like to catch Everlasting Moments and Adam Resurrected, which stars Jeff Goldblum.
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