Fiftieth Anniversary SFIFF 2007

I'm afraid you got Hong and Im confused. I only have seen I'm's President's Big Bang, so I was leaving open the possibliity that I might like his work as much as Hong otherwise. I know who Hong is, and certainly remember what I saw of his at the New York Film Festival and wrote reviews of two years in a row; I also saw Woman Is the Future of Man in a theater. But you're attributing his films to Im, whose only film that I've seen is The President's Big Bang.

As for Peter--sorry, Pedro--Costa's Colossal Youth, there's no way of knowing, but Kevin Lee seems to like it, not that my taste and Lee's are identical, but that suggests a degree of interest. (You could read ten essays like Lee's and still not know if you are going to like it. ) It seems to have been discussed on Strictly Film School, but Acquerello's poetic prose leaves it even more ambiguous than Lee's as to whether or not one would like the film; one can only see why people walk out. There is no way of knowing from reviews whether I would like it or not, really. But I can see you are right to warn me. Now you can say you did.

Some would walk out of Los Muertos. I actually only went to it because Travis said it was great.

Do you think taking Spanish language as a category is wrong, hence your equivocal comment on whether the SF festival's selection thereof is strong or weak? I assume the Miami selection is stronger, clearly? But my point is, you are more qualified to cover that area. And your polite ambiguity aside, I gather Miami covers it better than San Francisco. I have yet to figure out where San Franicicso is strong; perhaps, not untypically, in a certain showmanship, and in the sidebar events and their way of drawing on local talent. But of course I guess everybody does that, and Cannes and Berlin and Venice etc. can draw on all of Europe.

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
I'm afraid you got Hong and Im confused.
Ah silly me. I've corrected the post. Thanks.

As for Peter--sorry, Pedro--Costa's Colossal Youth, there's no way of knowing
Right, there's no way of knowing with certainty. I like how Mark Peranson approaches the film Cannes '06. Go to the last third of his long essay.

Some would walk out of Los Muertos.
Absolutely.

But my point is, you are more qualified to cover that area. And your polite ambiguity aside, I gather Miami covers it better than San Francisco. I have yet to figure out where San Franicicso is strong
San Francisco seems to me to have excellent balance as far as showing films from all over the globe. One thing I haven't been able to figure out is which of the films playing are world premieres or American premieres. I read somewhere that one of the variables to judge a film festival is the number and quality of its world and national premieres. For me, that is not a major factor per se. The MIFF is very strong when it comes to films in Spanish and Portuguese, solid in European films in general, and somewhat weak in Asian films.
Sometimes knowing the language really makes a difference, but only sometimes. I'll give you an example. One of my favorite films of all time is Carlos Saura's Cria. Well, there's a pop song in it that the young girls who are the protagonists sing repeatedly. The lyrics of the song are very important in conveying meaning but the lyrics were not subtitled when the film was shown commercially in the USA.

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I read somewhere that one of the variables to judge a film festival is the number and quality of its world and national premieres.

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Well, of course. The greater number of premieres go to the more famous and well positioned (in space and time of year) festivals.

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Sometimes knowing the language really makes a difference, but only sometimes. I'll give you an example. One of my favorite films of all time is Carlos Saura's Cria. Well, there's a pop song in it that the young girls who are the protagonists sing repeatedly. The lyrics of the song are very important in conveying meaning but the lyrics were not subtitled when the film was shown commercially in the USA.

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Your point seems a bit fuzzy here. Knowing the language, and of course also the culture, is always important, but sometimes more important than at other times.

Of course for Tony Jaa, you don't need subtitles. But try an Ingmar Bergman movie without them. But consider also how much subtitles leave out; and "language" also means culture.

Rosenbaum had never mentioned Costa, as none of his films had played in Chicago. Colossal Youth will screen there this week as part of the Chicago Latino fest.

Colossal Youth
"Most or all of Pedro Costa's films reside in a netherworld between documentary and fiction, and the two I've seen are awesome. Where Lies Your Hidden Smile? (2001), an account of Jean-Marie Straub and Daniele Huillet editing one of their films, feels very intimate, though they were also being observed by students (whose presence is elided by Costa). And the exquisitely composed, naturally lit chiaroscuro of Colossal Youth (2006), shot in the surviving ruins of one Lisbon slum and around a high-rise in another, combines realism and expressionism, Louis Lumiere and Jacques Tourneur. It was cowritten by the nonprofessional, marginal, mainly nonwhite cast; rehearsed and shot in multiple takes; then edited down from 320 hours to 155 minutes over a period of 15 months. It's unlike anything else I've seen -- mysterious, exalted, demanding, leisurely paced, and very beautiful -- and you're bound to either love it or hate it. In Portuguese with subtitles." (Jonathan Rosenbaum)

It's good to have this recognition, but I think your own review of Colossal Youth told me more than this, along with some of the same basic information. Interesting to note that Costa likes his films to be seen at public screenings so people will see others walk out, feeling that is part of his process.

I'm finding it hard to access the SFIFF's press information, and so I missed the fact that at the last minute they added a press screening of Emanuele Crialese's Golden Door on Friday, and this is an $85-ticket grand opener that I may not otherwise be able to see. I am going to try to make it to what remains of the press screenings, , minus the Edith Piaf biopic which I've already covered and was the finale at the Rendez-Vous. Tomorrow they are showing a Czech film that was shown at the Berlinale, David Ondricek's Grandhotel and I will do my best to make it to that, at least. Just about every other press screening is at a different venue. This is probably because the Kabuki, the main venue, is still being done over by the Sundance people. But it will still be the main venue of the festival and they say it's going to be very nice. Well, Graham Leggatt says.

As promised, a review of the press screening of this new Czech film shown recently at the Berlinale:


DAVID ONDRICEK'S "GRANDHOTEL" (2006)

A good one.


IM SANG-SOO: THE OLD GARDEN (2006)



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Great little documentary on the film and sound editor.


EDIE AND DAVID ICHIOKA: MURCH (2006)




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Smart and occasionally surprising Sundance teen flick, but you may want to wait for the DVD.



JEFFREY BLITZ: ROCKET SCIENCE (2007)



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I'm going back over Oscar's lists and mine for the SFIFF now as the festival begins this week. The opening night is Thursday. Regular showings of up to 21 a day begin in the main venue Friday.

Oscar's lists:
Films playing at the SFIFF I've reviewed:
-Colossal Youth
The Violin
-Sounds of Sand
-The Old Garden
-The 12 Labors
Fish Dreams
Jindabyne

Films playing at the SFIFF I'd want to watch:
Brand Upon the Brain
Opera Jawa
-Daratt
-The Yacoubian Building
The Island
Born and Bred
-Gardens in Autumn
-Il Caimano
-Lady Chatterley
-Aria
-Otar Iosseliani: The Whistling Blackbird

The tick marks show ones I've already seen or hope to see. Some of the omissions are merely due to venue or scheduling problems. Of course I have some others on my wish list, which you can find above.

The press screenings are still a source of frustration. As few as there are, theyu've made it harder to see even those by scattering them among various venues and scheduling them with four hours in between them.

*Ondricek's Loners had a commercial run in NY in 2002, based on awards at 2nd-tier Euro fests, but it didn't get good reviews here. Not on dvd. A better choice for the SFIFF would have been Jan Hrebejk's Beauty in Trouble.

*FF Coppola hasn't directed in 10 years. His Youth Without Youth has been completed. Walter Murch edits of course. I hope the Ichiokas doc ends up as an extra on a dvd or gets broadcasted on cable because I'd like to watch it.

*If it's convenient for you to catch The Violin check it out. I think you might enjoy it.

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A better choice for the SFIFF would have been Jan Hrebejk's Beauty in Trouble.

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You may well be right on that; I would hope so. I did not choose to see the Ondricek film; I simply went because it was a press screening offered. Last year just turning up for the then conveniently located and scheduled press screenings was a good way of getting a cross section of the festival and that's how I happened to see Play, Noticias Lejanas, Half Nelson, Brothers of the Head, Factotum, and the award-winning documentary, Iraq in Fragments. A different story this year: far fewer shown, harder to get to, and I only managed to see five.

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*If it's convenient for you to catch The Violin check it out. I think you might enjoy it.

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I don't know what I will be able to get to yet, but I've circled that one with the others.

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I hope the Ichiokas doc ends up as an extra on a dvd or gets broadcasted on cable because I'd like to watch it.

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The Murch documentary/interview is certainly one any film buff or fan of Coppola and Zoetrope would want to see and I hope it is presented in some easily available form.

Astonishingly ambitious youthful effort from Morocco.


SWEL AND IMAD NOURY: HEAVEN'S DOORS (2006)



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Elegant mystification from Taiwan.



MI-SEN WU: AMOUR-LEGENDE (2006)



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