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Monday, April 18, 2011
PREVIEW
From The Pyramid To The
Victorians And Beyond, The 54th San Francisco International Film Festival Covers
The Bases
San Francisco's world-famous Alamo Square aka Postcard Row.
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
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Monday,
April 18, 2011
THURSDAY NIGHT will usher in a fortnight of films, film events and awards nights
in San Francisco as the 54th edition of the longest-running film festival in the
Americas rolls out its red carpet.
New films and familiar ones will be on the marquee: Miranda July's "The Future",
Michael
Winterbottom's "The Trip" and
Catherine
Breillat's "Sleeping Beauty", Rainer Werner Fassbinder's "World On A
Wire", Federico Fellini's "La Dolce Vita" and the late Sidney Lumet's classic
"Dog Day Afternoon". (Frank Pierson, the screenwriter of Mr. Lumet's film,
will be the 2011 Kanbar Award recipient and subject of an onstage interview at
the
Sundance Kabuki Cinemas on April 30.)
Mike Mills' evocative drama "Beginners" opens the San Francisco International
Film Festival on Thursday night at the
Castro Theatre. Starring Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer
as son and father, "Beginners" traces a son's memories of his gay father and the
influences of his father on his life.
Melanie Laurent
also stars. Mr. McGregor and Mr. Mills will be at the Castro Theatre for a
Q&A following the film.
Mathieu Almaric ("The
Diving Bell And the Butterfly") tries his hand at directing with "On
Tour", a comedy-drama about a troupe of American burlesquers in France.
"On Tour" is the closing night film of this year's festival, also known as
SFIFF54, on May 5 at the Castro Theatre.
Since
the March 29 press conference for the Festival,
the San
Francisco Film Society has announced
Oliver Stone
as its Founder's Directing Award recipient (on April 27) and
Zoe Saldana
and Clifton Collins Jr. as its Midnight Award recipients (April 23).
(There has been no announced Peter J. Owens Award recipient.)
In between parties and music (The Tindersticks will live-perform music to
filmmaker Claire Denis' movies on May 2), there's the annual State of Cinema
address, given this year by Christine Vachon (April 24). Experimental
filmmaker Matthew Barney receives the Golden Gate Persistence Of Vision Award
(April 30). Numerous other award honorees will attend, and additional
events will take place over the two weeks at the San Francisco International
Film Festival, including the Golden Gate Awards.
At least 160 films will be shown. Here are capsule reviews of selected
films:
Documentaries
"The Arbor" - Docudrama about British playwright Andrea Dunbar and her ups and
downs in the 1970s and the aftermath of her life and its affect on her children
in the 1980s and beyond. Clio Barnard's biting film is lip-synched by
actors to create a detached effect that works.
"Better This World" - Kelly Duane de la Vega and Katie Galloway contrast the
criminal justice system's treatment of two close friends Brad Crowder and David
McKay in the wake of their arrests prior to the 2008 Republican National
Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Filmmaker Werner Herzog (right) on the set of his "Cave Of Forgotten Dreams".
Courtesy S.F. Film Society
"Cave Of Forgotten Dreams" - Werner Herzog's first-rate film on ancient markings
in a cave in the remote parts of the southern French countryside.
Phenomenal in its 3D presentation, utilizing the medium superbly for the subject
matter.
"Children Of The Princess Of Cleves" - A well-observed and insightful chronicle
of teenage students in contemporary France as they study 17th century novel
La princesse Clèves. Directed by Régis Sauder.
"Crime After Crime" - A penetrating story of injustice visited upon one woman,
and filmed over five years. Directed by Yoav Potash.
"The Last Buffalo Hunt" - Lee Anne Schmidt's film details just that, although
some may be turned off by certain scenes. The film offers expansive,
beautiful glimpses at the American west in all its grandeur.
"Pink Saris" - A look at arranged marriages in India, with a twist, seen through
the eyes of a resolute elder woman. Directed by Kim Longinotto.
Features
A scene from the film "Attenberg".
Courtesy S.F. Film Society
"Attenberg" - A formalist study of the dawning and ebbing of life in a
Greek family of daughter and father, directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari.
Spare, warm and engaging.
"Beginners" - Near-perfect film about a son (Ewan McGregor) understanding and
articulating himself through his late father, a gay man played by Christopher
Plummer. Directed by Mike Mills.
"Incendies" - Dour, monotonous look at an odyssey of two Canadian children
searching for a brother in the Middle East that they never knew they had.
Directed by Denis Villeneuve, the drama was this year's Academy Award-nominated
film from Canada.
"On Tour" - Mathieu Almaric's directing debut about a troupe of American
burlesquers in France. This occasionally lively and sometimes ordinary
comedy-drama stars Mr. Almaric as the troupe's director and booking manager.
"The Salesman" - Sébastien Pilote's drama features excellent work from Gilbert
Sicotte as a veteran car salesman who teaches and is taught a couple of tricks
in the sales trade. The film marks Mr. Pilote's feature-directing debut.
Tickets are now
on sale for all of these films and all events
and screenings at the Festival.
The 54th San Francisco International Film Festival starts on from April 21
and ends on May 5.
Related
Press
conference for the 54th S.F. International Film
Festival
Oliver Stone
to be feted at SFIFF54
Zoe Saldana and Clifton Collins Jr. to receive the
2011 Midnight
Award
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