COMING soon

Coming soon, a review of. . . . documentary by Luca Guadagnino.

http://www.chrisknipp.com/images/calz.jpg

"Salvatore: Shoemaker Of Dreams chronicles how Ferragamo established his Hollywood foothold."

Quote:

---

SYNOPSIS
In the early 20th century, impoverished teenage Italian cobbler Salvatore Ferragamo sailed from Naples to America to seek a better life. He settled in Southern California, and became Hollywood's go-to shoemaker during the silent era. In 1927, he returned to Italy and founded in Florence his namesake luxury brand. This feature-length documentary recounts his adventures.

---

Watched, nice enough, but a bit disappointing. Metascore 64%. I'd not rush out to see it. Lots of Italian, and lots of shoes.

Now on the agenda: ARMAGEDDON TIME (James Gray); AFTERSUN (Charlotte Wells).

Coming review: AFTERSUN (Charlotte Wells 2022).
Best review comment on it is from A.O. Scott of the New York Times. I will quote it in my review:

Quote:

---

It’s hard to find a critical language to account for the delicacy and intimacy of this movie. This is partly because Wells, with the unaffected precision of a lyric poet, is very nearly reinventing the language of film, unlocking the medium’s often dormant potential to disclose inner worlds of consciousness and feeling.

---

AFTERSUN (Charlotte Wells 2022), from Cannes Critics' Week 2022. Filmleaf review thread is open HERE.

New Yorker cartoon from Nov. 7, 2022:

http://www.chrisknipp.com/images/woof2.jpg
"The line in the script was actually 'Woof woof,' but, when we
started shooting, 'Bow wow' came out, and the rest is history."

Hope you liked that one.

ARMAGEDDON TIME (James Gray), in a way the most important film by one of my favorite American directors, seen today: this requires some thought, but I will publish a my report on it soon.

My REVIEW is up now.

THE BOX (Lorenzo Vigas 2021)

Finally getting to LA CAJA/THE BOX (2021). The director, Lorenzo Vigas, is responsible for the 2015 Venice Golden Lion winner, FROM AFAR/DESDE ALLÀ, which I had a lot of time for. I gather some citizen critics find this one too low-key for their taste. Alejandro A. Riera wrote a good review for Mano. CAJA/THE BOX is an Argentinian film set in Mexico. It concerns a 13-14-year-old boy who collects the remains of his estranged father for his grandmother and then thinks he sees his father alive and comes looking for him.

LIVING (Oliver Hermanus 2022)

The British remake of Kurosawa's 1952 IKIRU by Kazuo Ishiguru. Did not know I had a screener of it (Sony), and it's not out till next month, but I watched it and wrote a review. I lost nearly the whole review and am quite bummed. This never happens. But on the plus side, despite expecting to be disappointed because the original is a masterpiece and officially my favorite film, I'm happy to sqy tht Hermanus' version with Bill Nighy is exquisite.

I shall write another review.

South African director Oliver Hermanus' LIVING doesn't release till December, so my replacement review will be held till then. Though I had strong resistance to a remake of Kurosawa's IKIRU, this is an exquisite little film with beautiful academy ratio color images, an elegantly used postwar London setting and a subtly controlled turn by Bill NIghy.

Upcoming review, just watched in theater: Sally Hosaini's THE SWIMMERS. Somewhat baggy saga of two sisters who escape from war-torn Damascus and make it eventually to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, a true story from the director of the 2012 MY BROTHER THE DEVIL.

Probably coming soon (Netflix): DESCENDANT. Documentary about a ship unearthed revealing details of enslaved Africans brought to Alabama many years after slavery was made illegal. A NYFF Main Slate film.

DESCENDANT Margaret Brown 2022)

Stunning documentary not only for content but for formal power. One of the 2022 NYFF Main Slate's most critically admired films, a personal look at the ever-present legacy of slavery.

Seen in theaters on the big screen in the San Francisco area the past week:

THE MENU
BONES AND ALL
LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER
THE FABELMANS
GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY

The last one had literally dozens of people in the audience.

It was a good movie-going week! THE FABELMANS, which I hadn't 'been expecting that much of, is a wonderful watch, very enjoyable and Spielberg at his best. We had James Gray's ARMAGEDDON TIME, also a portrait of the artist as a budding filmmaker (and growing up Jewish). And we have another one coming from Sam Mendez shortly, EMPIRE OF LIGHT. (Mendez's mother is Jewish - but he seems to have grown up with his father.)