10/06/2002 Entry:
"CIFF - Day Two"

I actually ended up adding a film today, making four. I was thinking about whether or not I've seen four films projected in one day before, and I don't think I have. Admittedly, one thing which made it easier here is that two of these were shortish (45m and 77m.) Still, it was pretty fun spending all day at The Music Box, and I never even had to pay for parking.

First up was Afghan Alphabet, the new film from Mohsen Makhmalbaf. The film covered the educational plight of children in Afghanistan and Iran, where 80% of boys and 95% of girls never go to school. Makhmalbaf conducts a series of interviews with various sets of children, getting their opinions about school, education, and god (many towns only give schooling in religion.) The film closes at a girl's classroom, focusing on a girl who refuses to remove her veil for fear of reprisal from her family. As the teacher and the girl's friends (and, one can assume, Makhmalbaf himself) press the girl to show her face, the film cuts from scenes of schoolchildren chanting the Persian word for water during a class. Makhmalbaf seems to be trying to make the point that through education these women will be freed to view the world with their own eyes, and it is pretty effective until Makhmalbaf adds a heavyhanded voiceover which spoils the mood completely. It is at once moving and irritating, although the final shot did manage to redeem everything in a positive way. Overall the film had some very interesting moments, and some very uninteresting moments. Still, at only 45 minutes it is worth seeing. Film Center showed a pile of Makhmalbaf films last month, and I'm pretty bummed I missed them all, as the two I've seen (this and Kandahar) both had hints of greatness without ever closing the deal, leaving me wanting to see some of his more well-regarded early work. I tore a 3.

After Afghan Alphabet, I drove back home to pick up Bethany, who was joining me to see My Life As McDull. This animated film from Hong Kong was enjoyable in parts, but never seemed to form a coherent whole. It chronicles the adventures of a young pig named McDull (his mother rejected the name McNificent) who wanders around Hong Kong trying to find his place in the world. Using a wide variety of animation techniques, the look of the film is great, and the camera flying through wacky situations almost brought to mind Jeunet/Caro (in a good way.) However, the story never seems coalesce, although some individual pieces are very effective and heartfelt in a kind of bittersweet Daniel Pinkwater way. One thing My Life As McDull does do well is to portray life in the city in a way you wouldn't expect from an animated film. The buildings are gritty, the walls are covered in graffiti and handbills, and traffic is everywhere. As an avowed city dweller, I really enjoyed this aspect of the movie, but Bethany hated it, saying it made the whole film seem grey and depressing. It certainly provided a contrast to the cute Hello Kitty-esque characters running around everywhere, and served to mantain the film's happy/sad mood. I tore a 3.

After McDull we went down the street for a quick sushi dinner at Kabuki, which is highly recommended to all fest-goers looking for a quick healthy meal. Its two blocks South on Southport. Our stomachs sated, we returned to Music Box for Bellaria: As Long As We Live!. I had never heard of this German documentary before, but it looked interesting and almost perfectly filled a gap in the schedule. Bellaria follows a group of senior citizens in Vienna who congregate at the Bellaria Kino, a theatre which shows nothing but German films from the 30s and 40s. Director Douglas Wolfsperger treats his subjects with the utmost respect and tenderness as they unfold their lives to the camera. Many of them have show business backgrounds, and many are just nutty about stars. What they all have in common is the community they form when they go to the movies and hang out with a bunch of people of their own age and experiences. Wolfsperger shot most of this with wide angles, positioning his subjects in the sides and corners, allowing their environments to come into view and giving us a better sense of who they are. The film has a real sense of place and the theatre itself almost becomes a character unto itself. As an avid filmgoer, the shots of the theatregoers sitting watching a film, the screen reflected in their glasses, and pure joy spread across their face, were extremely touching. Thus far, this is my favorite film of the festival, and I was pretty happy to have seen it since the likelihood of it getting distributed seems pretty small. I tore a 4 (although I really feel like it was a 4.5.)

Douglas Wolfsperger was present for Q&A after the film, but sadly we didn't have time to stick around for it, as we wanted to step over to theatre 1 to get a good seat for the sold out presentation of Bowling For Columbine. Michael Moore was present to introduce the movie, and his faithful followers gave him an ovation before the movie even ran. I have always had mixed feelings about Michael Moore, and I had wildly mixed feelings about this film. I will probably write a detailed entry about it at a later date after I've had more time to gather my thoughts, but there were parts of this film which were very very good, and parts which were very very bad. Moore still has a tendency to go for the cheap laugh, and he used some file footage which I felt was totally unnecessary and counter-productive. There is just no need to hit people over the head with 9/11 footage in this context. Still, the film also has sections which are more thoughtful and effective than anything Moore has done before, and this is a film that deserves to be seen by as wide an audience as possible despite my numerous reservations because it really does attempt to answer a question which everyone in America should be thinking about. There is a beautiful moment at the very end where Moore is interviewing an employee at a gun store who is wearing a hat that says "FUCK EVERYBODY," which really sums up the whole thing in a way that couldn't be more perfect. Moore did a Q&A afterwards which ran way long, but was interesting, and he actually addressed a couple of detractors without just making jokes at their expense. I tore a 4, but since seeing the film my attitude has ranged everywhere from 1 to 5 depending on when you catch me.

Sunday's schedule is kind of up in the air. I'm taking the morning and early afternoon off to do some chores and stuff. I had originally planned to see One Fine Spring Day at Landmark at 6:00, but it only leaves an hour to get home, pickup Bethany, and get back in time for Lost In La Mancha at 9:00. That is doable, but its tight. My backup plan is going to see Safe Conduct at 4:30, but I may just pass on both depending on how things go. I did get my tickets for Monday's showings of City Of God and Russian Ark, which means Monday is going to be hugely chaotic. Leave for work at 7:30 am, get home at 6:15, drive straight to Music Box for two movies, get home at like 11:30. Suddenly taking Sunday off and sitting around watching football is sounding more and more attractive.

Replies: 1 Comment

Looking forward to reading more detailed thoughts on Bowling for Columbine. I run hot and cold on Moore, but I've been anticipating this one for awhile. Posted by stennie @ 10/07/2002 12:47 PM CST