THE WRESTLER, EVERLASTING MOMENTS, LA RABIA: AFI FEST 2008
Below are a few choices tonight, November 6, at AFI FEST 2008, held at ArcLight Hollywood. (Note: The Wrestler screening will take place at the Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.)
Schedule and synopses from the AFI FEST 2008 website.
6:45 p.m.
Everlasting Moments
Directed by: Jan Troell. Written by: Niklas Rådström, Jan Troell, Agneta Troell
Cast: Maria Heiskanen, Mikael Persbrandt, Jesper Christensen
One fine day in 1907 in the Swedish village of Malmö, Maria Larsson (Maria Heiskanen) wins a Contessa camera in a lottery. That camera accounts for the title of the latest film by the Swedish master and Oscar nominee Jan Troell. Over a decade, the family grows from three to seven children, and Maria struggles to keep her home and family together in the face of the Great War, hard times, a workers’ strike, unemployment and a chronically philandering and abusive husband (Mikael Persbrandt). Still, under the tutelage of the kindly village photographer, Sebastian Pedersen (Jesper Christensen), Maria enthusiastically masters the camera, producing, from her own darkroom, fragile images of the family cat, the children, her neighbors, village parades, her friend Pederson and, finally, herself. “Not everyone is endowed with the gift of seeing,” Pederson tells her, an unspoken love in his eyes. “You see a world there to be explored—to preserve, to describe. Those who have seen it cannot merely close their eyes. You can’t turn back.” This is a family album, a humane and compassionate series of glimpses into lives we care about and are grateful to know. And all of it is captured not just through the camera eyes of Maria, but through the affectionate viewfinder of Troell himself. John C. Tibbetts
7:00 p.m.
Shakespeare and Victor Hugo’s Intimacies / Intimidades de Shakespeare y Victor Hugo
Written and directed by: Yulene Olaizola
At the corner of Shakespeare and Victor Hugo streets in Mexico City sits a boarding house owned by Rosa Elena Carbajal. Within this house lies an intimate, passionate and potentially explosive story. Winner of best documentary prizes at festivals in Mexico City and Buenos Aires, this thought-provoking first-person investigation by filmmaker Yulene Olaizola traces her grandmother Rosa’s friendship with Jorge Riosse, her young, troubled tenant. Thanks to Jorge’s intelligence, artistic talent and sense of humor, this odd couple created a strong bond that few would understand. But Riosse was also a deeply troubled man—possibly schizophrenic, and carrying dark secrets that emerged only after his sudden death. With a quiet powerfully clear voice, Olaizola has created one of the most remarkable documentaries of the year about creativity, intimacy, homosexuality, friendship and maybe even murder. This film is reminiscent of GREY GARDENS with its simple, immediate style and its tales of mysterious connections behind closed doors. Seamlessly constructed, Olaizola’s film reveals new information with perfect timing. SHAKESPEARE AND VICTOR HUGO’S INTIMACIES is an engaging, thought-provoking portrait of two lonely and strangely intertwined friends. Shaz Bennett
7:10 p.m.
Better Things
Written and directed by: Duane Hopkins
Cast: Rachel McIntyre, Emma Cooper, Liam McIlfatrick, Che Corr, Freddie Cunliffe
“Real life was difficult, at best,” Gail reads to herself, a good summation of this exploration of people connected by their isolation. An agoraphobic, Gail keeps inside, escaping into romance novels. Mr. and Mrs. Gladwin find their 60-year relationship shifting. In her abiding love, Mrs. Gladwin tries to erode, with little gestures, the barriers built by the years of unspoken truths. Rob is a heroin addict who has just lost his girlfriend Tess (in an early scene, we see her lying in her neat, quiet house, needle in her arm). But where do you find solace after the death of a loved one if you, and all your friends, are addicts too? A lush meditation on isolation and addiction in rural England, Duane Hopkins‘ surprisingly quiet film speaks volumes, delivering sharp insight into the lives of his characters. With raw, exacting performances by a mostly non-professional cast, BETTER THINGS wields fertile metaphors and a sophisticated sense of psychology. Hopkins penetrates the subtle process of human transformation and the possibilities for meaningful interchange lying dormant in contemporary country living. There are no shaky drug-fuelled parties here. Instead, Hopkins immerses us inside each person’s loneliness. Lucid, articulate, and breathtakingly poetic, BETTER THINGS is nothing short of masterful. Shaz Bennett
7:15 p.m.
La Rabia
Written and directed by: Albertina Carri
Cast: Analia Couceyro, Javier Lorenzo, Victor Hugo Carrizo, Nazarena Duarte, Gonzalo Perez
The farmers of Argentina’s endless pampas are as rough and bristly as the arid landscape that is their home. Circumstances force them to share and help one another. But sometimes emotions can erupt like a summer storm. When strong, silent Poldo feels that his more exuberant fellow farmer Pichón has insulted little Nati, his mute daughter, Poldo breaks off all contact with him. Poldo also forbids his wife to see Pichón, not suspecting that they are carrying on a passionate relationship behind his back. Nati knows what is going on, and so does Pichón’s son, Nati’s only friend. Things come to a head when Poldo finds drawings made by his daughter that depict what she has seen, but which he misunderstands for something much worse. Albertina Carri, one of the leading lights of Argentina’s remarkable cinematic renaissance, returns with this stark, evocative and potent tragedy, a nearly wordless passion play that employs gorgeously dark cinematography and inventive animation. Told through the perspectives of the children, it takes on a harrowing aspect. Vivid, unforgettable and masterfully constructed, LA RABIA provides more evidence that the miraculous Argentine film scene is continuing to grow and thrive.
7:30 p.m. — at Grauman’s Chinese
The Wrestler
Directed by: Darren Aronofsky. Written by: Robert Siegel
Cast: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood
Back in the late ’80s, Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke) was a headlining professional wrestler. Now, 20 years later, he ekes out a living performing for handfuls of diehard wrestling fans in high school gyms and community centers around New Jersey. Estranged from his daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) and unable to sustain any real relationships, Randy lives for the thrill of the show and the adoration of his fans. However, a heart attack forces him into retirement. As his sense of identity starts to slip away, he begins to evaluate the state of his life—trying to reconnect with his daughter and striking up a blossoming romance with an exotic dancer (Marisa Tomei) who is ready to start a new life. Yet all this cannot compare to the allure of the ring and passion for his art, which threatens to pull Randy “The Ram” back into his world of wrestling. Director Darren Aronofsky presents a powerful portrait of a battered dreamer, who despite himself and the odds stacked against him, lives to be a hero once again in the only place he considers home—inside the ring.
9:50 p.m.
La Mujer sin cabeza / The Headless Woman
Written and directed by: Lucrecia Martel
Cast: Maria Onetto, Ines Efron, Cesar Bordon, Claudia Cantero, Daniel Genoud, Guillermo Arengo, Maria Vaner
Lucrecia Martel’s LA CIÉNEGA skewered the corruption of a wealthy Argentine family and their servants. In THE HOLY GIRL, Martel explored an adolescent girl’s erotic-religious obsession. Now, in her third and most demanding film, THE HEADLESS WOMAN (co-produced by Pedro Almodovar and his brother Augustin), Martel ingeniously depicts an upper-class matron in crisis. The heroine, Verónica (María Onetto), is racing home when she hits an object in the road. We, and she, are not sure what it might be. Verónica drives away haunted by what may or may not have happened. The film focuses literally and figuratively on her, gazing through long focal shots that blur the space around her, trapping her in a world of guilt and paranoia. What Verónica discovers, among other things, is that none of her friends are particularly interested in hearing about her complicity in a potential crime. Their selfish, obsessive daily routines mean too much to them; they simply can’t be bothered. The stinging judgment on polite society comes very close to harsh comedy. Martel’s widescreen camera is as stunning as it is disorienting and ambiguous, frustrating our desire for moral clarity. Verónica is trapped, like a ghost, in the mediocrity of her everyday life. Martel implicates us in Verónica’s point of view and with the same state of confusion—and that’s exactly what is so brilliant about the film.
9:40 p.m.
De Ofrivilliga / Involuntary
Directed by: Ruben Ostlund. Written by: Ruben Ostlund, Erik Hemmendorff
It’s almost summer in Sweden. Throughout the city, people are engaging in minor indiscretions and misbehavior. Leffe likes to show off for his friends and play salacious pranks, especially when he’s drinking. A righteous grade-school teacher doesn’t know where to draw the line: she insists her fellow educators need a bit of instruction. And two young teenage girls who like to party and pose for sexy photos go a few steps too far. Inflected with an edgy, urban realism and dark, laconic wit, INVOLUNTARY offers an astute meditation on the intermingling of humans in our modern world. It’s innovative in form, defiantly deeper in tone than a mere series of comic vignettes, and beautifully enacted by its ensemble cast. Director Ruben Ostlund writes about the germ of the idea behind the stories: “I played a computer game. The aim was to build and maintain a city. It was played from a bird’s eye perspective, with humans represented by small dots. One press of the icon resulted in pandemonium amongst the inhabitants. I felt that through the emotional distance, I was able to observe in an interested yet distanced manner, without judging and without any feelings of discomfort.” Ostlund replicates this effect, with astonishing success, with INVOLUNTARY.
INVOLUNTARY was selected for Cannes Official Selection “Un Certain regard” 2008. Shaz Bennett
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ACHILLES AND THE TORTOISE, THE BROTHERS BLOOM: AFI FEST 2008
POUNDCAKE, WITCHHUNT, KASSIM THE DREAM, OF ALL THE THINGS: AFI FEST 2008
THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX, JOHNNY MAD DOG: bfi London Film Festival 2008
Pittsburg Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2008
Homo Horror: Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival 2008
UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US: Norwegian Black Metal at AFI FEST 2008
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