Month: May 2011

This film is a good mix of levity, gravity and absurdity. It’s sweet and sour without a bitter aftertaste. It’s not too mainstream, nor is it too fringe. The actors looked familiar, but it wasn’t until afterward while searching IMDB that I realized from where (Jane Eyre, An Education, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1980, and The Sarah Jane Adventures).

This is the story of 15-year-old Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts). Oliver wants to lose his virginity to a bully-loving, pyromaniac psychopath named Jordana (Yasmin Paige) before his next birthday. Actually, what Oliver really wants is to have Jordana shrunk down to microscopic size and pilot a tiny submarine through his veins. This story isn’t as shallow (or deep) as I’ve implied–The relationship between these kids is sort of complicated. Jordana hates romance, precluding development of a sappy love story. Throw in the potential for illness and death and the teenagers’ lives aren’t that carefree.

Throughout the film, Jordana wears the same red jacket in most scenes. I realize this is an important plot point (for reasons I will not divulge), but it also adds an extra bit of realism to the character. Recall how growing up you often recognized people from a distance, not by how they moved, but by the color of their jacket? I thought it was a nice touch.

Venue: Seattle International Film Festival, 2011
Language: English
Genre: Comedy, Drama

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The tagline could read “Dead people are useful in many ways.” I wouldn’t describe this film as a black comedy, because there’s very little humor–Perhaps all of the jokes were too subtle for me to appreciate. The movie starts with a young immigrant woman (named Yolanda) leaving a dear John letter for her boyfriend. Unfortunately, and with the help of socialized medicine, she soon learns that she’s pregnant and decides not to leave her lover–She’s trapped.

To make more money to buy a new refrigerator, Yolanda (Sonia Almarcha) takes extra work caring for an elderly, sick gentleman named Amador. Amador’s daughter and son-in-law are busy building a house in the country, so they hire Yolanda to house-sit their father.

The running time of 112 minutes is far too long. Once the old man dies (and it happens rather early in the film), any charm or witty conversation dies with him. We spend much of the middle half of the film watching Yolanda silently trying to come to terms with a rotting corpse and her secret pregnancy.

Venue: Seattle International Film Festival, 2011
Country: Spain
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama

IMDB

This is the story of a vaudeville troupe trying to reassemble their stage act and put the Spanish civil war behind them. In the process, they adopt orphans, forge papers, and try to forget the loved ones they’ve lost. Your friends are sometimes your family. There is a plot twist that took me by surprise, and not everyone’s allegiances are what they appear.

‘Paper Birds’ won the Golden Space Needle Award for Best Film at the 2011 Seattle International Film Festival. We were fortunate enough to see it at the donor’s screening a few weeks before the festival officially started.

Venue: Seattle International Film Festival, 2011
Country: Spain
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama

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It was the 70’s, and the premise was simple. Raise and nurture a chimpanzee like a human child, teach it sign language, and then sit down over tea and have a civilized conversation. What could go wrong? First, let’s name the chimp ‘Nim Chimpsky’. Second, lets find a young, financially independent hippie mother who’s willing to breast feed the chimp and serve as its role model.

Since it’s the 70’s (and we all want to be free spirits), lets give the chimp some marijuana and a bottle of Jack Daniels. Since no one in his foster family even knows sign language, there’s really no reason to create a lesson plan or take any notes. The lack of forsight about how the chimp will mature and pose an increasing risk to his keepers’ safety is mind blowing. For all of you kids out there that want to grow-up and be scientists, this movie demonstrates how not to carry out an experiment. Nim’s story is fascinating in the same way a train wreck is.

This is the third film from director James Marsh I’ve sat through. The first was Man on a Wire, a documentary about tightrope walker Philippe Petit who crossed the distance between New York’s twin towers. The second was Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1980, a mystery thriller about a serial killer. Both are worth seeing.

In all of his films, one thing seems constant. Whether documentary or historical fiction, Marsh likes to explore the interpersonal relationships of his actors no matter how dysfunctional or embarrassing they might be. What surprised me most was the high quality and volume of archival footage and stills used in this production.

Venue: Seattle International Film Festival, 2011
Country: USA
Language: English
Genre: Documentary

IMDB