Author: Ron Shaker

I watched this at opening night of the 2008 Seattle International Film Festival. Many of the actors (including Charlize Theron) attended the screening and participated in a question and answer session afterward. It played previously at the Toronto Film Festival last summer, and in some other venues. It’s currently scheduled for a general USA release in September of 2008.

If you lived or worked in downtown Seattle during that week of 1999, or were one of the WTO protesters, or just loathe the WTO in general, then this may be a movie for you. It was a good choice for opening night, because a Seattle audience is uniquely equipped to energize such a screening. And, it was a fun experience (the movie, not the riots). But, now I will review what I’ve been avoiding saying for the past couple of weeks.

The film is a mess. Good intentions aside, the story is chronologically told in an ominous and overly dramatic style that doesn’t befit the actual events. The filmmaker splices a generous portion of archival news footage into the movie, but in a way that made the film feel choppy and fractured. I know that parts of Battle in Seattle were shot in Vancouver BC, but the contrast of Seattle and Vancouver streets only made it feel that much more fractured. There are some competent acting talents cast in this film, but they’re grossly underutilized.

The reporter: reminded me of a magnetized pinball, bouncing from scene to scene, attracted to flashpoints in the conflict. The mayor: came across like a deer caught in someone’s headlights, over and over again, I kept expecting him to pull a bottle from his desk drawer and start drinking. The governor: was a good portrayal of an angry, mob boss.

This film felt much like a 2 hour, network television show, complete with at least three peripheral love lines. See it if you must, but if the WTO is what really interests you, avoid this movie and spend some time researching that organization and the 1999 Ministerial Conference on your own.

WTO Seattle Collection (at UW)
WTO History Project (at UW)
WTO Accountability Review Committee (at City of Seattle)

It would be nice to see a good documentary of the 1999 riots. Perhaps in a format of half archival footage and half interviews with city officials, demonstrators and residents. Perhaps sprinkled with an in-depth look into the architecture and impacts of the WTO. Perhaps a non-biased look at the events (if that’s even possible).

Venue: Seattle International Film Festival, 2008
Language: English
Genre: Drama

IMDB

Captain Ahab (at IMDB)

Ever read Moby Dick? Ever wonder why Ahab was so obsessed with a particular white whale? This 2007 film from France follows Ahab’s life growing up in the woodlands of northeastern America. We see him as an orphan, moving from place to place. There’s singing about drunken sailors as well as some short news reel footage of whaling from that period. Queequeg and Starbuck appear only towards the end of the film, but there’s no sign of Apollo or Admiral Adama.

Let The Right One In (at IMDB)

There are both advantages and disadvantages to having a 12 year old girlfriend who’s a vampire. But for the right boy, she might be the right girl. This is the most touching vampire movie I’ve ever seen, probably because it’s really not about vampirism. It’s about finding someone you can trust and who accepts you for who you are, and about the loneliness associated with living with a disability. Minus the horror, blood, guts and gore, this would be a good movie to take a 12 year old to see (but don’t, adults only). It’s Swedish with Swedish subtitles.

Ben X (at IMDB)

The director of this movie told us that Belgium doesn’t have the money required to make big budget films. However, he was preaching to the choir. Most of us who attend film festivals already know that a mountain of cash isn’t what makes a film great. This story is about an autistic, teenage boy who is bullied to an extreme by his classmates. Its intensity and sense of looming disaster makes it hard to watch. The director’s continual use of images from the boy’s online role playing game is effective and plays a central role in the story’s telling. The ending is not what I expected, but sometimes it takes a tragedy to get peoples’ attention. This is definitely something worth seeing.

Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame (at IMDB)

This was part of the New Directors Showcase at the festival this year. The film is acted almost entirely by young children, and directed by someone that’s barely an adult herself. Most people don’t understand the impacts of war, or how it touches the roots of a society. This film is a good educator. Also, it’s a pleasure to watch.

Elegy (at IMDB)

How many films have you seen about a romantic relationship between a Professor and one of his students? or from another perspective, between an older man and a younger woman? So many that I’ve lost count. This adaptation of a Philip Roth novel explorers how its characters face mortality by examining their insecurities and…oh hell, it’s a great movie, go see it.

Mermaid (at IMDB)

A Russian movie, complete with Russian sailors. It reminds me a lot of Amélie, The Fifth Element, and The Science of Sleep, but as a coming of age tale. Alisa doesn’t have a strong grasp of reality, but does it matter? As a giant cell phone and pint of beer is how she roams the streets of Moscow working her “day” job. She wants to be a ballerina. She kills off her ice cream craving grandmother in comical fashion. This will be one of my favorites at this year’s festival.

Vexille (at IMDB)

Set in the mid 21st century, Japan has isolated itself from the rest of the world and embarked on creating an ultra high tech society. There are sand worm made of metal, wastelands and walls around cities, and a navy strike force sent in by the Americans to expose a rising threat. The biggest problem I had with this anime was the melodramatic relationships between some of its characters, they detracted from the script and movie as a whole. Also, I’m not used to fluid CGI animation, I grew up watching drawn stuff. If you can get past those elements, it’s well worth seeing.

Ballast (at IMDB)

How much do you disclose about a film in a review? There are a couple of subtle facts which evade the audience for quite some time in this movie. It’s about a brother and wife dealing with suicide in a very small town. In fact, I would not call it a town, it’s just a zip code. It’s minimalistic and slow, very slow, but well worth seeing. I hear that it played at Berlin and Sundance, so take that into account.

Fatih Akin’s new film is part of this year’s Emerging Masters series at the film festival. I saw one of his works “Head-On” at last year’s festival and really enjoyed it. He has a knack for weaving together parallel story lines in a way that doesn’t seem unbelievable, and surprises me even when it shouldn’t. Have you ever crossed paths with an acquaintance at a distant airport somewhere, as you’re hurrying to change planes? It might be someone you haven’t seen in years, or someone you live two blocks from. I think it’s those kind of real life experiences that add plausibility to his screenplays.

Most of the movie felt like it was in English, but I don’t think it was (just felt that way, not sure why). This was Germany’s official submission for the 2008 Academy Awards. In addition to its German backdrop, much of the film takes place in Turkey.

Venue: Seattle International Film Festival
Country: Turkey, Germany, Italy
Language: German, Turkish, English
Genres: Drama

IMDB
Official site

The first time I saw Ben Kingsley, he was wearing a white robe and in his late 30’s. The movie was of course was Gandhi. That was only the second film I’d ever been to that had an intermission. The first being Reds, which approached the grueling 200 minute mark and had me squirming in my seat, desperately wishing for an end to the damn revolution. What can I say, I was in high school at the time, and accustomed to those 90 minute action hero masterpieces and goofball comedies that serve to lobotomize suburban audiences. Still, Reds is way too long.

But Wackness wasn’t like that. At 110 minutes, I wasn’t feeling the least bit drowsy. Kingsley’s performances are always entertaining, yet perplexing at the same time. I’ve not seen many other actors with his range. From one film to the next, I often don’t even recognize him by the characters he plays–I mean that literally, I had trouble convincing myself that he was the one playing the drug addicted psychiatrist (perhaps I just need glasses).

Set in summertime Manhattan of the mid-90’s, it gives the feeling that change is inevitable if not hard to swallow. Swallow it, you’ll be glad you did. The look and feel, as well as much of the musical score, is hip-hop. The river of drugs that flows throughout this film reminded me of Hunter S. Thompson.

Venue: Seattle International Film Festival
Country: UK, USA
Language: English
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance

IMDB
The Wackness (official site)

Or, go see a great documentary about Hunter S. Thompson in which Johnny Depp sits at a bar and reads from the journalist’s works (118 minutes): Gonzo