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content="New York Film Festival, Dead Parrot's Reviews, Richard Rubens, Richard L. Rubens, Dr. Richard Rubens, Richard Rubens, Ph.D., Richard L. Rubens, Ph.D., Fairbairn, psychoanalysis, Rick Rubens, Urban Age, New York City">
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<p align=center style='text-align:center'><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on"><b><span style='font-size:24.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>NEW
YORK</span></b></st1:State></st1:place><b><span style='font-size:24.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> FILM FESTIVAL</span></b></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:18.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>2008 � 46<sup>th</sup> Festival</span></b></p>
<p>The<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>2008 <span class=SpellE>NYFF</span></b> once again was a wonderful
experience.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There were no films in this
year�s <span class=SpellE>NYFF</span> we were specifically<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>looking forward to, but this is the sort of <span
class=SpellE>NYFF</span> which Nancy and I enjoy most:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>the kind that<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>provides the excitement of viewing films about which we know virtually
nothing, and the joy of discovering unexpected gems for ourselves.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The <span class=SpellE>NYFF</span> is unique
among film festivals in that it is not a commercial or industry event:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span class=apple-style-span>there are no
prizes except the honor of being selected to be part of the Festival; and it is
not a marketplace for selling films, so there is no requirement that films
screened in it have any particular commercial potential.</span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Consequently, there are films in the Festival
that one will see nowhere else<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>.</i><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>While there are also films that have
significant commercial potential, this Festival was light in that regard�and
the ones that fit into this category were not ones we liked.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There were extremely few American films�and
almost as many films from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Kazakhstan</st1:place></st1:country-region>!
The films tended to be dark this year, but there were many that were quite
wonderful.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal>This year, due to the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Lincoln</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Center</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
renovations, the main features at the Festival were screened in the <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Ziegfeld Theater</b>, which is one of the
all-time great venues for seeing movies. (Opening and Closing Nights were still
screened in Avery Fisher Hall.)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Alice
Tully Hall (the usual site of most <span class=SpellE>NYFF</span> screenings)
is scheduled to be ready in time for this year�s <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Film Society Gala on 27 April 2009</b>�which will take place there
instead of its traditional venue, because the renovation of Avery Fisher will
have begun by then.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The honoree this
year will be <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Tom Hanks</b>.<span
class=apple-style-span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p>We were scheduled to see 20 of the films in this year�s <span class=SpellE>NYFF</span>
and two of the Directors Dialogues; and I have reviewed below the ones I
actually got to see.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(For those who are
interested, the entire 2008 <span class=SpellE>NYFF</span> program and the Film
Society descriptions of each film can be found at <span style='mso-bidi-font-size:
8.5pt;color:black;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'><a
href="http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff/program/films/program.html">http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff/program/films/program.html</a>
</span>.)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>We ended up missing one of the
films (<span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Serbis</i></b></span>) and the dialogue with
<span class=SpellE>Jia</span> <span class=SpellE>Shangke</span>, although we
loved his <span class=GramE>film<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>My</span>
reviews of past years of the <span class=SpellE>NYFF</span> can be found at <a
href="http://www.rlrubens.com/nyff.html">www.rlrubens.com/nyff.html</a>. </p>
<p>For those of you who over the years have not noticed my subtlety in this�and
who can be blamed for not looking for <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>me</i>
to be subtle about my judgments about anything�I thought I might mention this
year that I have always placed my reviews of these films in approximately
descending order of how much I liked them.</p>
<p>[For films whose release dates I know, the dates are given <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><u>underlined and in bold</u></b> after identifying
information.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>All films are dated 2008
unless otherwise noted.]</p>
<p align=center style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center'><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><u>THE FEATURE FILMS IN THE FESTIVAL<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 align=left style='text-align:left'><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>TOC \f \p " " \h \z <span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>TOC \f \p " " \h \z <span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 align=left style='text-align:left'><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>TOC
\f \n \p " " \h \z <span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><a href="#_Toc369603767">Let It Rain
(Parlez-moi de la pluie</a></span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
font-weight:normal;font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><a href="#_Toc369603768">24 City (Er
Shi Si Cheng Ji</a></span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
font-weight:normal;font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><a href="#_Toc369603769">Tokyo Sonata</a></span><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:
minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><a href="#_Toc369603770">The Headless
Woman (La Mujer sin Cabeza</a></span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
font-weight:normal;font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><a href="#_Toc369603771">Happy-Go-Lucky</a></span><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:
minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><a href="#_Toc369603772">A Christmas
Tale (Un conte de No�l)</a></span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
font-weight:normal;font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><a href="#_Toc369603773">Summer Hours
(L�Heure d��t�</a></span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
font-weight:normal;font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><a href="#_Toc369603774">Night and
Day (Bam Guan Nat</a></span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
font-weight:normal;font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><a href="#_Toc369603775">Waltz with
Bashir</a></span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
font-weight:normal;font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><a href="#_Toc369603776">Tulpan</a></span><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:
minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><a href="#_Toc369603777">The
Argentine</a></span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
font-weight:normal;font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><a href="#_Toc369603778">The<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Class<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(Entre
les murs</a></span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
font-weight:normal;font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><a href="#_Toc369603779">Four Nights
with Anna (Cztery Noce z Anna</a></span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
font-weight:normal;font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><a href="#_Toc369603780">Changeling</a></span><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:
minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><a href="#_Toc369603781">The Windmill
Movie</a></span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
font-weight:normal;font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><a href="#_Toc369603782">The
Guerrilla [Che �Part II</a></span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
font-weight:normal;font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><a href="#_Toc369603783">The Wrestler</a></span><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:
minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><a href="#_Toc369603784">Tony Manero</a></span><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:
minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><a href="#_Toc369603785">The Northern
Land (Acorte do norte</a></span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;
font-weight:normal;font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 align=left style='text-align:left'><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style='tab-stops:871.5pt'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Let It Rain</i></b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'> </i>(<span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Parlez-moi</i></b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> de
la <span class=SpellE>pluie</span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></i></b> TC "<span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc369603767'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265420786'><span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265413378'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Let It Rain (Parlez-moi de la pluie</i></b></span></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc265413378"></a><a name="_Toc265420786"></a><a name="_Toc369603767"></a><![endif]></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span></i></b><![endif]-->, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">France</st1:country-region></st1:place>)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Ang�s</b></span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> <span
class=SpellE>Jaoui</span></b> (whose two other <span class=SpellE>NYFF</span>
appearances, the 2004 <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Look at Me</i> and
the 2000 <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>A Taste of Others</i>, we really
had enjoyed) has created a true tour de force with this incredibly wry
comedy.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Written by her and her
incomparable regular collaborator <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Jean-Pierre
<span class=SpellE>Bacri</span></b>, and directed by her, <span class=SpellE>Jaoui</span>
also stars in the film as <span class=SpellE>Agathe</span> Villanova, a
feminist novelist running for political office.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>She returns to her family home in the south of France, in which her
sister is living with her husband a life rather as limited and sheltered as <span
class=SpellE>Agathe�s</span> is public and expansive.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Let It
Rain</i> moves forward through the antics of <span class=SpellE>Bacri</span>
and <span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Jamel</b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> <span class=SpellE>Debbouze</span></b>�the
former playing Michel, a rather on-the-skids television director, and the
latter playing <span class=SpellE>Karim</span>, Michel�s former student, (a
north African hotel clerk) who together have contrived the idea of gaining
fame, notoriety, and success by making a documentary about <span class=SpellE>Agathe</span>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The two of them repeatedly set up to film
interviews with her, without ever really succeeding in getting anything
meaningful filmed�be it because one of them has forgotten to turn on the
camera, has gone off on some offensive or irrelevant rant of his own and totally
ignored <span class=SpellE>Agathe</span>, or has just simply failed to show up
at the appointed time or place.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The plot
thickens, as of course it will in any good French farce; but it remains
satirically funny, poignantly insightful, and thoroughly entertaining
throughout.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span class=SpellE>Bacri�s</span>
performance is simply magnificent.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>This
was one of the best films of the <span class=SpellE>NYFF</span>, and certainly
the most simply enjoyable experience of the Festival.<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>24
City</i></b> (<span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Er</i></b></span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> Shi Si Cheng <span class=SpellE>Ji</span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></i></b> TC "<span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc369603768'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265420787'><span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265413379'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>24 City (Er Shi Si Cheng Ji</i></b></span></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc265413379"></a><a name="_Toc265420787"></a><a name="_Toc369603768"></a><![endif]></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span></i></b><![endif]-->, China/Hong
Kong/Japan, Cinema Guild)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>This film by <span
class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Jia</b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> <span class=SpellE>Zhangke</span></b> was
an unexpected treat:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>what does one
expect from a fictionalized documentary about workers in a munitions plant in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Chengdu</st1:City></st1:place>?<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>What one gets is a moving, beautiful series
of sensitive, emotional <span class=SpellE>recountings</span> of the stories of
the people whose lives were involved in this plant.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Established in the 1950s, workers from many
parts of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>
were moved to this enormous plant in the middle of nowhere, but treated with
exceptional favoritism as it was always an important part of various war
efforts over the decades.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The visuals
trace the plant from its heyday through its dismantling, demolition, and
eventual replacement by a luxury high-rise apartment complex (the �24 City� of
the title).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The story telling proceeds
through the personal narratives of several workers�some actually employees of <span
class=SpellE>he</span> plant, some professional actors; some telling their
actual stories, some telling fictionalized accounts.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The tales are often heart-rending:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>one woman tells how thirty years earlier she
and her husband made the trip to the plant over several days with their 3 year
old child;<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>half way through the second
day of the river boat portion of the trip, they get off the boat for a two-hour
rest stop; in the market of the small town, she realizes, upon hearing the 30
minute warning blast from the ship�s horn, that she has lost track of her son;
after frantically searching, she and her husband are forcibly carried onto the
boat by friends when the final horn sounds for boarding�because they know that
to stay behind would be considered treason given the military implications of
their jobs.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>But what is even more
striking than the stories is the beauty of the cinematography:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span class=SpellE>Jia</span> frames each
scene magnificently, with a richness and vibrancy that is awe-inspiring�even
when it is only a shot of one of the story-tellers sitting nearly motionlessly
in the midst of his narrative.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There is
a several minute long sequence of two male factory workers sitting next to one
another, one with his arm rather tenderly draped over the other�s shoulder;
after a while he touches the side of the other�s face, and the second man tries
to restrain a smile; this happens repeatedly, until neither can<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>hold back their amusement.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Believe it or not, this is done so lovingly
and humorously that one is left wishing it could go on for even longer.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The human stories and the story of the plant
intertwine like a magnificent fugue and create an experience that is truly
luxuriant in its slow-paced, profound beauty.</p>
<p><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Tokyo
Sonata</i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></i></b>
TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc369603769'><span style='mso-bookmark:
_Toc265420788'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265413380'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Tokyo Sonata</i></b></span></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc265413380"></a><a name="_Toc265420788"></a><a name="_Toc369603769"></a><![endif]></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>(Japan/Netherlands, Regent Releasing, <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>to be released 13 March 2009</b>)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>This is a tough movie given what is currently
going on in the world�s economy:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>it
centers around a man in Tokyo whose department is being outsourced to China and
who is displaced from his long-time job�like so many other unemployed men in
Tokyo who move in and out of the story.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>This father and husband, who seems to leave his job on principle rather
than to preside over the dissolution of the department he has run, has pride
that at first seems to be admirable; but his pride leads him to maintain the
illusion to his wife that he is still employed, and eventually results in a
lying, angry, violent downward spiral in which his entire family begins to
disintegrate.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Kiyoshi Kurosawa</b> weaves the different strands of what is going on
in this family�in the lives of the wife, the talented younger son, and the
older son who enlists in the US Army (it may be hubris, but I think the film
would have<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>been more effective without
this son being in it at all)�into a beautiful emotionally charged tapestry that
is at times humorous, often desperately sad, sometime surreal, but always
riveting.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The film has a wonderful
reference to Truffaut�s <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The 400 Blows</i>,
and it is quite full of the feel of Bergman in places; but it is at every turn
original and creative.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is a
masterpiece.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>And given that, I do not
know why I would ever risk this comment:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>after its traumatic descent into oblivion, the family is reborn into a
new life�and this apparent total regeneration, including its emotionally
climactic final scene, is a bit too optimistic for me, in a way that is
reflected by what I have always felt to be the emotionality of the Debussy that
is played in its final scene; there is what for me is an amazingly poignant and
powerful climax when the wife and younger son�the two characters whose rebirth
I can<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>more fully accept�return to their
home, which would have made for a subtler and more satisfying ending for
me.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>But my quibbles are minor; this is a
must-see film.</p>
<p><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
Headless Woman </i></b>(<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>La <span class=SpellE>Mujer</span> sin <span
class=SpellE>Cabeza</span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></i></b>
TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc369603770'><span style='mso-bookmark:
_Toc265420789'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265413381'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Headless Woman </i></b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>(<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>La
Mujer sin Cabeza</b></i></span></span></span>" \f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc265413381"></a><a name="_Toc265420789"></a><a name="_Toc369603770"></a><![endif]></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span></i></b><![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>, </i></b>Argentina/France/Italy/Spain)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Very different from her 2001 <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>La <span class=SpellE>Ci�naga</span></i> or
her 2004 <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Holy Girl</i> (<i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>La Ni�a <span class=SpellE>santa</span></i>),
this latest work written and directed by Argentine filmmaker <span
class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Lucretia</b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Martel</b> floats through scenes and
themes without a clearly defined, linear and logical reality.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>We are ostensibly following a middle-aged <span
class=SpellE>Ver�nica</span> (played by the captivating <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Maria <span class=SpellE>Onetto</span></b>) through the aftermath of
her having had an automobile accident in a moment of distraction:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>she has hit something while driving�we are
presented with it as having been a dog (which we actually see dead on the road,
in the distance behind her car once she stops, <span class=SpellE>some time</span>
after the accident), but she is afraid it was a person (and events suggest that
perhaps this was what happened, whether it or not it actually was she who hit a
boy who turns out to have drowned in a flood nearby the scene of the accident);
and we follow her through a hospital emergency room experience (of which there
later turns out to be no record), and then through a series of dazed
interactions, in which she is drifting disconnectedly through her life with
family, social, and work life (including a family member that she has sex
with�although it seems like she was not at the hotel the night we supposedly
saw it happen).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The uncertainty of the
fabric of the reality was reminiscent of Alain <span class=SpellE>Resnais�s</span>
1961 <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Last Year at Marienbad</i> (<span
class=SpellE><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>L�Ann�e</i></span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> <span class=SpellE>derni�re</span> �
Marienbad</i>).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is a haunting,
powerful, and very odd film; beautifully done, and extremely evocative.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Ms. Martel was �found� by Pedro Almod�var
(and her films are produced by him and his brother <span class=SpellE>Augustin</span>
through their El <span class=SpellE>Deseo</span> film company), and her
aesthetic, while radically different from his, is also somehow deeply resonant
with it.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span></p>
<p><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Happy-Go-Lucky</i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></i></b> TC "<span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc369603771'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265420790'><span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265413382'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Happy-Go-Lucky</i></b></span></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc265413382"></a><a name="_Toc265420790"></a><a name="_Toc369603771"></a><![endif]></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>(UK, Miramax <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>released 10 October 2008</b>)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Mike
Leigh</b> (who brought <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Vera Drake</i> to
the <span class=SpellE>NYFF</span> in 2004 and <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Topsy-Turvy</i> in 1999) wrote and directed the wildly energetic romp
through the London world of Poppy Cross, a 30 year-old kindergarten teacher in
the north of London, wonderfully played by Mike Leigh regular <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Sally Hawkins</b>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Poppy is irrepressibly upbeat�happy, brimming
with energy, always joking, never serious.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>Weaving throughout her life, however, are characters who are repressed,
dark, violent, and even dangerous.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Poppy
interacts with these characters in an apparently caring, loving way; but the
interactions have results that are often far from pretty�and it becomes subtly
but increasingly evident that the presence of these people in her life and the
outcomes of their being there are neither accidental nor without meaning about
who Poppy herself is.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>One finds oneself
laughing with Poppy at her situations and the people in them:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>it all feels like raucous good fun�most of
the time.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>But eventually the viewer is
led to realize an extremely dark underside to Poppy and what one is watching,
and one starts to feel very uncomfortable and threatened.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Whether it be the uptight book salesman Poppy
makes a totally unsuccessful pass at in the beginning of the film (and where we
are more drawn to see his neurotic inability to respond to her good will), the schizophrenic
homeless person she tries to be caring toward (alone, in an isolated place
under a highway, late at night�where we are far more drawn to feel her danger),
or the damaged, obsessed driving teacher (whose ultimate tirade, while violent
and crazy, is a remarkably on-target indictment of Poppy�s character flaws),
Poppy�s apparent good will and light-heartedness reveal a much darker
side.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The general experience of watching
this film is delightful fun; but the underbelly of the whole things adds a very
meaningful and disturbing depth to that experience.</p>
<p><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>A
Christmas Tale (Un <span class=SpellE>conte</span> de No�l)</i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></i></b> <span class=SpellE>TC</span> "<span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc369603772'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>A Christmas Tale (Un <span class=SpellE>conte</span>
de No�l)</i></b></span>" \f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc369603772"></a><![endif]></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span></i></b><![endif]-->, France, <span
class=SpellE>IFC</span> Films, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>to be
released 14 November 2008</b>)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Starring
the wonderful <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Catherine <span
class=SpellE>Deneuve</span></b> as <span class=SpellE>Junon</span>, and the
even more wonderful (at least in this film)<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
Jean-Paul Roussillon</b> as her husband Abel, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>A Christmas Tale</i> is a complex weaving of various aspects of a
French family�s history over the years (including its almost mythic prehistory
involving the young first son Josef who died from leukemia), and the various
intersecting story lines of its present moment in time�eventually revolving
about a Christmas celebration in the family home.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The talented director, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Arnaud <span class=SpellE>Desplechin</span></b> has imbued the tale
with multiple levels of meaning and of philosophical import and of Biblical and
classical references (the names alone are dauntingly redolent with
association)�perhaps even too many and too profound for the film completely to
succeed as cinema�all told in a light-hearted way reminiscent of silent films
of old, with title pages for each of the many acts and music utilized not in a
simply background way, but rather actively to convey what is sometimes left
unsaid in the dialogue.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>In some ways <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>A Christmas Tale</i> is a comedy; but in
some ways it is a dark tale of anger, jealousy, and intense resentment in a
painfully charged family context.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The
great <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Mathieu <span class=SpellE>Amairic</span></b>
plays Henri, the black sheep of the family, banished from the family by his
sister Elizabeth (played by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Anne <span
class=SpellE>Consigny</span></b>, who played opposite <span class=SpellE>Amairic</span>
in Schnabel�s <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Diving Bell and the
Butterfly</i>, the sensation of last year�s <span class=SpellE>NYFF</span>) for
reasons that seem self-evidently justified, but which in fact may mask other
issues unspoken.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span class=SpellE>Janon</span>
discovers that she has a potential fatal leukemia, and Henri returns to the
family for Christmas with a Jewish girlfriend in tow.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>One of the film�s many intricate sub-plots
involves <span class=SpellE>Janon�s</span> anti-Jewish feelings, although Abel
seems to be Jewish, and it is an open question as to whether the entire family
is (there is an inexplicably hilarious moment when the family sits down, after
their elaborate Christmas meal and some of them attending Midnight Mass, to
watch on television Charlton <span class=SpellE>Heston</span> and Cecil B. <span
class=SpellE>DeMille</span> part the Red Sea in <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>The Ten Commandments</i>; and there is an equally wonderful exchange
between <span class=SpellE>Janon</span> and Henri, in which she calls him �her
little Jew,� and Henri plays with the fact that �le petit <span class=SpellE>Juif</span>�
is also a French expression for �elbow��long one of my own favorite pieces of
French trivia).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is a beautifully
directed film, with a superb cast; but does all the complexity, explicit and
implicit really work?<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There is an
intense and very effective moment when Elizabeth tearfully confronts her father
and asks why things are so wrong for her in the family, and her father says
that it is because of her feelings about her brother�and he means to refer to
Josef, the who died in childhood, and she takes it to mean Henri, whom she had
banished from the family.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>But in that
critical moment in the narrative, there is present layer upon layer of
meaning:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Josef is the lost brother of
the story, but in the Bible he is the thought-to-be-lost but really banished
(and sold into slavery) brother of <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Genesis</i>,
while Abel is the lost brother of <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Genesis</i>,
killed by his brother Cain, who is then banished and sent<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>out in the world marked to be an outcast
hated by all others�and, is it going too far to think that it is far from
accidental that <span class=SpellE>Desplechin</span> (who is knowledgeable
about and fascinated by the Bible) often films Henri with some cut or scar on
his face?<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is not at all clear that the
film can actually support this deep a philosophical complexity and this
intricate a set of allusions.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I liked
the film, but I fear it had a couple of themes too many and went a couple of
levels too deep.</p>
<p><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Summer
Hours (<span class=SpellE>L�Heure</span> <span class=SpellE>d��t�</span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></i></b> TC "<span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc369603773'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265420791'><span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265413383'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Summer Hours (L�Heure d��t�</i></b></span></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc265413383"></a><a name="_Toc265420791"></a><a name="_Toc369603773"></a><![endif]></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span></i></b><![endif]-->, France, <span
class=SpellE>IFC</span> Films)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Olivier <span class=SpellE>Assayas</span></b>
tells us the story of three siblings dealing with the death of their
mother.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The matriarch, played by <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Edith <span class=SpellE>Scob</span></b>,
has lived alone in the family�s country home. She has spent much of her life�and
virtually all her time and emotional energy�presiding over the legacy of her
dead artist uncle, to whom her devotion seems quite inexplicably
intense�particularly in contrast to the rarely mentioned dead father of her
children.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>She also frets about what will
become of the house and the art in it after her death.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Not surprisingly, she suddenly dies, and her
children are left to figure out how to deal with what she has left behind.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>These grown children have totally different
relationships to their family life, their inheritance, and to the family
country home:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>the eldest one, <span
class=SpellE>Fr�d�ric</span> (played by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Charles
<span class=SpellE>Berling</span></b>), who lives in Paris, wants to keep the
house and preserve what<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>he can of the
art he and<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>his family have grown up
with; the daughter, Adrienne (<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Juliette <span
class=SpellE>Binoche</span></b>), lives in the US, and, in good American style,
wants to dispose of everything as soon as possible; and <span class=SpellE>J�r�mie</span>
(played by <span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>J�r�mie</b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> <span class=SpellE>Renier</span></b>), the
youngest, who has been living in Shanghai and is about to take a position which
will keep him there for years, is less cutthroat about it, but has little
interest in keeping this property which he will be unable to use, and the money
from the sale of which he could sorely use.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>There is both a painful sadness in<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>the film and a lighthearted sense of humor about the realities involved
in all of these life-cycle issues.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is
a quietly insightful, gently provocative look at these serious issues in a not
too depressing way.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>In a way I did not
like, the film moves briefly on to the next generation and the granddaughter�s
relation to the house; but, since all of the young people we took to see it
(and Nancy) actually liked this ending, I have to conclude it had more merit
than I felt this element to have had; but, one way or the other, it was a wonderful
film.</p>
<p><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Night
and Day (Bam Guan Nat</i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></i></b>
TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc369603774'><span style='mso-bookmark:
_Toc265420792'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265413384'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Night and Day (Bam Guan Nat</i></b></span></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc265413384"></a><a name="_Toc265420792"></a><a name="_Toc369603774"></a><![endif]></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span></i></b><![endif]-->, South Korea)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Long-time <span class=SpellE>NYFF</span>
regular, South Korean director H<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>ang
Sang-<span class=SpellE>soo</span></b>, has once again created a powerful,
entrancing look into the life of human foibles and interactions.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The story begins with the main character, a
young married painter named Sung-<span class=SpellE>nam</span>, running off to <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Paris</st1:City></st1:place> to hide form the
police after the man he was smoking pot with is arrested.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>He arrives in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Paris</st1:place></st1:City> bewildered and aimless�although it soon
becomes apparent that this is a state that precedes his leaving home.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Speaking no French, Sung-<span class=SpellE>nam</span>
enters a world of Korean ex-pats, where he begins to court the favor of one of
two roommates�although one wonders why he is not pursuing the other�while all
the time having tearful telephone conversations with his wife back in
Korea.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>He seems at first to be a very
sympathetic and likable character; but his bungling innocence eventually
reveals a much darker, uglier side.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>One
slowly realizes that he has a penchant for finding women who are at least
deceitful and at worst crazy�although his treatment of women suggests that he
deserves little better.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Dream
intermingles with reality, but in every realm his distorted notion of relationship
leaves him floating uncomfortably through painful interactions that are nowhere
nearly as beautiful as the floating cloud world of his paintings.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Waltz
with Bashir</i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></i></b>
TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc369603775'><span style='mso-bookmark:
_Toc265420793'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265413385'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Waltz with Bashir</i></b></span></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc265413385"></a><a name="_Toc265420793"></a><a name="_Toc369603775"></a><![endif]></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>(Israel/Germany/France, Sony Pictures
Classics, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>to be released 26 December
2008</b>)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Israeli filmmaker <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Ari <span class=SpellE>Folman</span></b>
has written and directed this almost totally animated autobiographical
film.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I at first had trouble with the
style of the animation; but I became acclimated to it, and eventually thought
it was a quite effective device in the telling of the story.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Presented with the flashbacks that a friend
of his had been having of his experiences when the two of them were young
adults in the Israeli army during the 1982 occupation of Lebanon, the main character
begins to wonder what his role was in that experience�and he realizes he cannot
remember anything about it.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>He starts
travelling about to talk to his friends who were there with him during the
occupation, and he begins to remember pictures of it�but they are basically
what we psychoanalysts refer to as �screen memories�:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>false placeholders for memories that are too
unacceptable themselves to be admitted into consciousness.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>A therapist friend suggests to him that the
problem is his own family�s connection to the Holocaust, and the fact that in
this memory <span class=SpellE>Folman</span> finds himself in the role of
the<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Nazis.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Eventually he comes to remember that the
lovely picture he has remembered of calmly floating in the sea off a beach
watching fireworks actually refers to the fact that he was part of the Israeli
involvement in the <span class=SpellE>Shatila</span> massacre in Beirut:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>that he was part of the encircling ring of
Israeli troops that permitted the Christian <span class=SpellE>Phalangist</span>
militias to go into the refugee camp and massacre countless numbers of
civilians (in part in revenge for the assassination of their leader,
President-elect <span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>Bashir</span> <span
class=SpellE>Gemayel</span>�and thus the name of the<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>film), and that the �fireworks� were actually
Israeli launched flares to help the militias locate the people they were
slaughtering.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I was at first put off by
the fact that I thought the film let the Israelis off too easily (in reality,
they were not only complicit in permitting the massacre as the film indicated,
Sharon actually had ordered it; and it was not only a single night as portrayed
in the film, but rather two nights and the day in between); but, in the end, I
was soothed by the fact that the young people who saw it with us and had no
real knowledge of the Sabra and <span class=SpellE>Shatila</span> massacres,
got a pretty clear sense from the film of the Israeli role�and, even more
importantly, I learned that the film is a big hit in Israel�which more than
justifies some watering down of the full strength of the accusations.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>In reality, though, the film is much more a
sensitive portrayal of the horrors of being a near-child in an occupying
army�exposed to violence and death themselves and required to take actions that
inflict the same on others�than it is about these atrocities themselves.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>In the final analysis, while flawed, it is <span
class=SpellE>n</span> excellent and important film.</p>
<p><span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Tulpan</i></b></span><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></i></b> TC "<span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc369603776'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265420794'><span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265413386'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Tulpan</i></b></span></span></span>" \f
C \l "1" <![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc265413386"></a><a name="_Toc265420794"></a><a name="_Toc369603776"></a><![endif]></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>(Germany/Kazakhstan/Poland/Russia/Switzerland)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Directed and co-written by Kazakh
documentary-maker, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Sergey <span
class=SpellE>Dvortsevoy</span></b>, this was one of <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>two</i> films in the <span class=SpellE>NYFF</span> this year from
Kazakhstan�I believe almost as many as from the US this year!<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>And it was both a surprise and a joy!<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Set in the dusty, forbidding emptiness of the
Kazakhstani Steppe, <span class=SpellE><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Tulpan</i></span>
is the story of young man named <span class=SpellE>Asa</span> who has returned
to his brother-in-law�s yurt and is tending the sheep with him.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The tale centers on his attempt to get a
bride for himself.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span class=SpellE>Asa</span>
and his brother-in-law go many miles to the next nearest yurt to try to talk
the family of a young girl named <span class=SpellE>Tulpan</span>�which means
�tulip,� and whom we never see, as she is always hidden from our view and his
by a curtain.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span class=SpellE>Tulpan</span>
is a totally engaging, earnest, and sympathetic character; but <span
class=SpellE>Tulpan</span> and her family rejects his offer of marriage,
ostensibly because of his unusual ears, which do stick out in a quite unusual
way.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(There is a quite wonderful and
funny sequence in which <span class=SpellE>Asa</span> tries to convince
everyone that his ears are really very stylish and attractive by comparing
himself to a picture of Prince Charles.)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>The bleakness and beauty of the steppe, and the harshness of its winds
and weather, and the bitterness of its life are every bit as major characters
in this film as are the actors; and their bleakness plays against the warmth
and good spirits of <span class=SpellE>Asa</span> and his friend and
sister.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The question of what life in
this environment can mean, and<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>whether
it is, in fact, livable, are the underpinnings for this winning film</p>
<p><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
Argentine</i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></i></b>
TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc369603777'><span style='mso-bookmark:
_Toc265420795'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265413387'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Argentine</i></b></span></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc265413387"></a><a name="_Toc265420795"></a><a name="_Toc369603777"></a><![endif]></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span></i></b><![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span></i></b><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>(<span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Che</i></b></span> <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>�Part I</b>);<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>although they are slated to be released as
two separate movies, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Argentine</i>
and <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Guerrilla</i> were screened at the <span
class=SpellE>NYFF</span> as one 4� hour movie in two parts, with an
intermission in between] (France/Spain, <span class=SpellE>IFC</span> Films, <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>to be released 12 December 2008</b>)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Although I had not expected to, I liked <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Argentine</i>, the first section of <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Steven <span class=SpellE>Soderberg<span
style='font-weight:normal'>�s</span></span></b> opus about Ernesto '<span
class=SpellE>Che</span>' Guevara.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span
class=SpellE>Che</span> is played remarkably well by the fabulous <span
class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Benicio</b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> del Toro</b>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The film opens with Fidel Castro and <span
class=SpellE>Che</span>, an Argentine physician, meeting together in <st1:country-region
w:st="on">Mexico</st1:country-region>, before they and a band of Cuban exiles
head off to <st1:country-region w:st="on">Cuba</st1:country-region> in 1956 to
overthrow the repressive, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region></st1:place>
supported regime of <span class=SpellE>Fulgencio</span> Batista. The film
follows the Cuban Revolution as it eventually moves from the beachhead it
established in <span class=SpellE>Oriente</span> province, through to the
overthrow of Batista on New Year�s Day 1959, and up to the establishment of the
Revolutionary Government under Castro.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span
class=SpellE>Soderberg</span> moves back and forth in the chronological
progression, interspersing the process of the Revolution with scenes of <span
class=SpellE>Che</span> giving his famous address to the General Assembly of
the United Nations in December of 1964.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>It is a powerful, gripping drama that captures one of the most
remarkable revolutionary triumphs of the 20<sup>th</sup> century.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Nevertheless, I felt that the film suffered
significantly from its understating the political realities against which the
Revolution was waged�and I fear that this may have been done to make the film
more palatable to a broader American audience:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>except for a few charges that come only from the mouths of Fidel and <span
class=SpellE>Che</span> themselves�and which therefore are left open to the
possible interpretation that they may simply be distorted propaganda on the
Revolutionaries� part�there was very little said about the abysmal conditions
that had been endured by the Cuban people, essentially for the enrichment of
the island�s elite and, even more so, wealthy sugar interests in the United
States.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(The average per capita income
in Cuba in the pre-Revolutionary days was 312 pesos, ~$6 per week�and most
Cuban peasants earned much less than that; most peasants lived in <span
class=SpellE>boh�os</span>�one-room thatched roofed huts with dirt
floors�without running water or inside toilets [actually, in both urban and
rural areas combined, only 35% of homes in Cuba had running water and 28% had
flush toilets�contributing to major public health problems], without
electricity, medical care or public education [in 1953, only one in four of
Cubans over the age of 10 could read and write!]; the �normal� unemployment
rate was 25%, and the life expectancy was ~50 years [almost 20 years less than
that of the United States at that time; it is now within a year of that of the
US].<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Meanwhile, corporate interests in
the US�most famously the Rockefeller-controlled United Fruit company�were
extracting huge profits from their control of the sugar production in Cuba; and
their powerful political influence led the US to back and support Batista�s
ruthless dictatorship.)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It might be
argued that the film is not about political history, but rather about the life
and character of <span class=SpellE>Che</span> himself; but it is impossible
really to understand who <span class=SpellE>Che</span> was and the motivation
behind what he became without understanding the political realities to which he
was reacting.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>A side note:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I assume that it was because they are both
based on a common source of archival footage, but so many of the scenes in <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Argentine</i> were eerily identical to
scenes in Woody Allen�s 1971 film <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Bananas</i>,
that it left us with the uncomfortable sensation that <span class=SpellE>Soderberg</span>
had used Allen�s film for the source of his images of the Revolution.</p>
<p><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Class<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span></i></b>(<b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Entre les <span class=SpellE>murs</span></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></b>
TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc369603778'><span style='mso-bookmark:
_Toc265420796'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265413388'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Class<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span></i>(Entre
les murs</b></span></span></span>" \f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc265413388"></a><a name="_Toc265420796"></a><a name="_Toc369603778"></a><![endif]></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></b><![endif]--><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>. Opening Night.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span></b>France, Sony Pictures Classics, <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>released on 25 September 2008</b>)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I had a lot of trouble with this film on
opening night of the Festival:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>it was
not what I expected to see that evening, nor was it what I particularly wanted
to see; and my immediate reaction was not to like it at all.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>As time passed, I reacted more kindly to it;
and, ultimately, I <span class=SpellE>though</span> it was reasonably
interesting�although in no way good enough for opening night of the <span
class=SpellE>NYFF</span>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The screenplay
and the book upon which it was based were written by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Fran�ois <span class=SpellE>B�gaudeau</span></b>, who also plays the
main character in it.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is the memoir
of <span class=SpellE>B�gaudeau�s</span> experiences actually teaching high
school in a tough, multi-ethnic neighborhood in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Paris</st1:place></st1:City>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Laurent <span class=SpellE>Cantet</span></b>
has directed the film in pseudo-documentary style; and, to be fair, he has
captured some of the complexities and frustrations of working with such
difficult adolescents�and of teaching in general.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(One of the things that made me soften about
the film was that the our friends who saw it with us who actually had been high
school teachers all felt that it was an extremely realistic portrayal of the
situation of teaching high school.)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The
students in the film are played by actual students, rather than professional
actors, and there is a very real texture to the experience presented by the
film�even if some of the events seemed contrived and unbelievable.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span class=SpellE>B�gaudeau</span> is a
well-meaning, but meaningfully flawed teacher; but what he what he and the
other faculty members have to deal with is difficult beyond all telling.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Nevertheless, I ultimately did not find it
that satisfying as cinema.</p>
<p><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Four
Nights with Anna </i></b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>(<span
class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Cztery</b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> <span class=SpellE>Noce</span> z <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Anna</st1:City></st1:place></b></i><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></i></b> TC "<span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc369603779'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265420797'><span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265413389'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Four Nights with Anna (Cztery Noce z Anna</i></b></span></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc265413389"></a><a name="_Toc265420797"></a><a name="_Toc369603779"></a><![endif]></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span></i></b><![endif]-->, <st1:country-region
w:st="on">Poland</st1:country-region>/France)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>The first film in 17 years by the renowned Polish filmmaker, <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Jerzy <span class=SpellE>Skolimowski</span></b>,
<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Four Nights with Anna</i> is a dark,
powerful story of a minimally functioning, introverted crematorium worker at a
Polish hospital.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>He is affectionately
obsessed with one of the nurses, and he begins repeatedly to break into her
room and spend the night there with her while she is asleep�sometimes cleaning
up her room, sometimes fixing things for her, sometimes even sleeping on the
floor next to her bed.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The story begins
to be intertwined with a rape that this man has witnessed, the death of<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>his mother (with whom he has been living),
and then courtroom scenes in which he is on trial, and scenes in which he is in
prison.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is only at the denouement
that the viewer fully realizes the meaning and temporal sequence of what he has
been viewing.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The film is creepy beyond
all telling; yet beautifully so�if that is imaginable; it is a complex
exploration of twisted love, longing, violence, and bizarre tenderness.</p>
<p><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Changeling</i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></i></b> TC "<span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc369603780'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Changeling</i></b></span>" \f C \l
"1" <![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc369603780"></a><![endif]></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>��</span>(<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Centerpiece</b>,
USA, Universal Pictures, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>to be released
31 October 2008</b>)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The very best thing
I can say about this film is that it kept me awake, even though it was the
third film we had seen that day and it went until well after midnight.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>But that was only because the story itself
was rather compelling.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Based on a true
story having taken place in Los Angeles, starting in1928, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Angelina Jolie</b> (who, while not terrible, certainly cannot support
being the center of attention on screen for almost 2 � hours) plays a single
mother whose 10 year old son disappears one day.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>After a nationwide manhunt, a boy is returned
to her whom the police insist is her son�although it is far too clear, far too
immediately, that it is not.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(It might
have been interesting had there been some real ambiguity as to whether the boy
was really not her son or whether she was in fact delusional in her rejection
oh him�but there was virtually none.)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>The police have their nefarious reason for <span class=SpellE>quelching</span>
her protestations and further efforts to find her actual son; and what ensues
exposes�with the help of a minister played by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>John <span class=SpellE>Malkovich</span></b>�many moral problems within
the City�s government.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>O that the film
had been done by a good director!<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I have
<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>never</i> liked <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Clint Eastwood</b>�s directing:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>it is slow, heavy-handed, and painfully out of touch.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Some of the scenes in this films that could
have been incredibly powerful were all but eviscerated by his plodding and
simplistic style.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>And his moral vision
has only two settings:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>black and
white�no character in the film has <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>any</i>
subtlety or moral nuance or complexity.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>The level of gore and violence in the film did not help my opinion of
it, of course.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Given the sophistication
level of the general American movie-going public, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Changeling</i> is likely to be a big hit; but I�d suggest you avoid it
like the plague!</p>
<p><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
Windmill Movie</i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></i></b>
TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc369603781'><span style='mso-bookmark:
_Toc265420799'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265413391'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Windmill Movie</i></b></span></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc265413391"></a><a name="_Toc265420799"></a><a name="_Toc369603781"></a><![endif]></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>��</span>(USA)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>Written and directed by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Alex <span
class=SpellE>Olch</span></b>, this film is an attempt to make sense of the
unfinished�never seriously started, actually�autobiographical film project of <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Dick Rogers</b>, <span class=SpellE>Olch�s</span>
film teacher at Harvard.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span
class=SpellE>Olch</span> waded through endless footage that Rogers had shot of
himself, his friends, and his family�much of his rather monstrous and imposing
mother�and of the world he inhabited, largely in the Hamptons.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span class=SpellE>Olch</span> actually
succeeds in making a rather watchable�if somewhat fanciful (some of its impact
was retroactively diminished for me upon learning after seeing the film that
the �diaries� that were used to narrate much of the later parts of Rogers� life
and experience were fictions created by <span class=SpellE>Olch</span>)�version
of Rogers and his project.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The main
problem is that it just didn�t seem to me that Dick Roger�s life or work was
important enough to warrant the effort.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>Nothing in the film did anything to suggest to me that he had been
anything other than a self-centered, spoiled fellow who had inherited his way
into the rarified life of Georgica Estates in Wainscot in the Hamptons.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>He obviously must have been intelligent, and,
judging from the quality of his friends (<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Wallace
Shawn</b> was one of his intimates, and he plays an important role in this
film), he may have been a quite interesting, charming guy.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Nevertheless, I could not stop myself from
thinking that the real reason he never assembled his autobiographical attempts
into a film was that he correctly did not believe that there was enough in it
to warrant it.</p>
<p><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
Guerrilla</i></b> [<span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Che</i></b></span> <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>�Part II</b><!--[if supportFields]><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></b> TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:
_Toc369603782'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265420800'><span style='mso-bookmark:
_Toc265413392'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>The Guerrilla</i></b> [<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Che</i></b> <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>�Part II</b></span></span></span>" \f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc265413392"></a><a name="_Toc265420800"></a><a name="_Toc369603782"></a><![endif]></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></b><![endif]-->;<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>although they are slated to be released as
two separate movies, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Argentine</i>
and <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Guerrilla</i> were screened at the <span
class=SpellE>NYFF</span> as one 4� hour movie in two part, with an intermission
in between] (France/Spain, <span class=SpellE>IFC</span> Films, <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>to be released 12 December 2008</b>)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�� </span>I found myself disliking <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Guerrilla</i> almost as much as I had liked <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Argentine</i>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It was a slow, tedious telling of the failure
of <span class=SpellE>Che�s</span> attempt to export the Revolution to the
mainland of South America and overthrow the government of Bolivia�the movie
seemed to last longer than did <span class=SpellE>Che�s</span> insurgency,
which was over in the brief<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>span of 11
months.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I guess the point of the film
was, �The Revolution didn�t work elsewhere�;<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>nothing much else seemed to happen or to be said in the film.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I hate to give away the ending, but <span
class=SpellE>Che</span> gets killed in the end.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>I�d suggest you miss this one�even if it is playing as a double feature
with <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Argentine</i> and your ticket
gets you into it for free.</p>
<p><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
Wrestler</i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></i></b>
TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc369603783'><span style='mso-bookmark:
_Toc265420801'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265413393'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Wrestler</i></b></span></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc265413393"></a><a name="_Toc265420801"></a><a name="_Toc369603783"></a><![endif]></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>(USA, Fox Searchlight, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>to be released 17 January 2009</b>)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>I hated this film.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I had
heard�incorrectly, it turned out�that <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Darren
<span class=SpellE>Aranofsky</span></b> had created a masterpiece.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is actually a dreary, trite, senselessly
violent mess.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I suppose it will be said
that<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Mickey <span class=SpellE>Rourke</span></b>
turned in an excellent performance as the over-the-hill professional wrestler,
Randy �The Ram� Robinson; and I suppose that is in some way true.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>But I could not tolerate looking at his <span
class=SpellE>steroided</span>-up, middle-aged body.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>And <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Marisa
<span class=SpellE>Tomei</span></b>, whom I usually like a great deal, not only
was not particularly good in the role of the stripper/single mother Cassidy,
she even did not <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>look</i> good (although <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>her</i> naked chest was <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>much more</i> appealing to me than <span class=SpellE>Rourke�s</span>�nipple
rings aside)!<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I found the triteness of
much of the film unbearable:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>the entire
attempted relationship between �The Ram� and Cassidy was almost of comic book
mentality; and �The Ram�s�<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>attempted
relationship with his daughter was laughable; but it was the predictability and
triteness of the ending that was literally the final straw.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Nevertheless, it was the violence and gore
that pushed me over the edge:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I have trouble
with it in any film, but here there was absolutely nothing to justify or
mitigate its horribleness.</p>
<p><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Tony
<span class=SpellE>Manero</span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></i></b> TC "<span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc369603784'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265420802'><span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265413394'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Tony Manero</i></b></span></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc265413394"></a><a name="_Toc265420802"></a><a name="_Toc369603784"></a><![endif]></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>(Chile/Brazil)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>Set in the very most vile years of Pinochet�s violent and repressive
regime in Chile, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Pablo <span
class=SpellE>Larrain</span></b> tells the story of a middle-aged, psychotic,
violent man obsessed with <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Saturday Night
Fever</i>, and John Travolta�s character in it�Tony <span class=SpellE>Manero</span>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>This main character (played by one of the
co-authors of the screenplay, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Alfredo
Castro</b>, who looks not a little like Al Pacino) is putting together a
homegrown stage production of <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Saturday
Night Fever</i>, and is stealing and killing to get materials to stage the
show.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I can best give a flavor of the
film by describing the following scene:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>the main character goes to the movie theater <span class=SpellE>everyday</span>
to see <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Saturday Night Fever</i>, but, one
day when he shows up it is no longer playing; it has been replaced by <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Grease</i>; the ticket seller tells him,
�It�s the same guy,� and he goes in, sits for about 15 seconds, gets up, sneaks
up to the projection booth, and beats the projectionist to death against the
projector.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Now, it has been claimed that
this is all an allegory for the senseless violence of the Pinochet era�and even
of its connection to the US and to American culture. <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Tony <span class=SpellE>Manero</span></i> is a well-made film, but is
simply too violent for me�and I did not feel enough power to the allegory to
justify that violence.</p>
<p><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
Northern Land </i></b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>(<span
class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Acorte</b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> do <span class=SpellE>norte</span></b></i><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></i></b> TC "<span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc369603785'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265420803'><span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc265413395'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Northern Land (Acorte do norte</i></b></span></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc265413395"></a><a name="_Toc265420803"></a><a name="_Toc369603785"></a><![endif]></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span></i></b><![endif]-->, Portugal)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>This was without a doubt our least liked film
in this year�s <span class=SpellE>NYFF</span>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>It was an almost completely unsuccessful attempt by Portuguese director <span
class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Jo�o</b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> <span class=SpellE>Botelho</span></b> to
create a film based on a novel by <span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Augustina</b></span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> <span
class=SpellE>Bessa</span> Luis</b>, in which a young woman searches for the
true story of a distant noblewoman ancestor.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>Although the film is beautifully photographed, the acting is stiff and
wooden, the story dull, and the result pointless and pretentious.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It left me feeling I had just seen a
beautifully filmed but dreadful high school play.<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><u>RETROSPECTIVE<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Lola <span class=SpellE>Mont�s</span></i></b> (France/West Germany,
1955, Rialto Pictures, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>already in
limited release at NYC�s Film Forum</b>)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>This was <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Max <span class=SpellE>Oph�l<span
style='font-weight:normal'>�s</span></span></b> final film, and his masterpiece
by all accounts.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>After decades of
existing only in versions badly butchered by the producers, <span class=SpellE>Cin�math�que</span>
<span class=SpellE>Fran�aise</span> has produced this excellent newly restored
version using all the available footage.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>Told in flashbacks from a circus performance about her life, the film
tells the story of <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Elizabeth Rosanna
Gilbert</b>, known as �Lola <span class=SpellE>Mont�s</span>,� a dancer and
courtesan who was the mistress to men as varied and famous as Franz Liszt and
Ludwig I of Bavaria.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Lola is played by <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Martine Carol</b>, and her co-star is <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Peter Ustinov</b>, who is the ringmaster of
the circus�the producer of the show, and yet another man in Lola�s life, along
with the likes of Oskar Werner (who plays a young student who becomes
infatuated with Lola, and figures in and out of the story).<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The film is visually magnificent, beautiful
in the opulent richness of every detail of every carefully filmed moment,
filling the screen in all of its <span class=SpellE>CinemaScope</span>
glory.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The camera moves luxuriantly
along with Lola, creating a sense of motion and progression that basically
serves to move the film forward.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>Unfortunately, it does so somewhat better than the storyline itself,
which is rather mawkish and melodramatic.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>It is a profoundly satisfying visual experience, but I certainly can in <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>no</i> way agree with the conclusion of film
critic Andrew Sarris (who introduced the film at its <span class=SpellE>NYFF</span>
screening on the occasion of his 80<sup>th</sup> birthday) that �<i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Lola <span class=SpellE>Mont�s</span></i>
is�the greatest film of all time.�</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><u>SPECIAL EVENTS<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<h2><span style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>Every year the <span
class=SpellE>NYFF</span> has a rich array of <a
href="http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff/program/special/specialevents.html">Special
Events</a>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<h2><span style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>The </span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>short films</span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";font-weight:
normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> shown with some of the main screenings of
the Festival were particularly excellent this year.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Our favorites were all light-hearted and
quite wonderfully funny:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span></span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span><span class=SpellE>Fabrice</span> <span
class=SpellE>Maruca<span style='font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>�s</span></span></span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";font-weight:
normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> </span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Surprise!</span></i><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";font-weight:
normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> (France, 2007), a delightful 18 minute farce
that begins with a man in bed on top of his nearly naked female neighbor, and
which then proceeds to show the back story, which essentially is meant to offer
an explanation to his wife that�while true�is quite hard to believe; </span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Eric <span
class=SpellE>Capitaine<span style='font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold'>�s</span></span></span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> </span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman"'>Love Is Dead</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold'> (France, 2007) in which a company named �Love Is Dead� offers a service
for the busy professional�they end relationships for you; and our very
favorite, </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Sam
Taylor-Wood</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>�s </span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Love
You More</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> (UK, 2007) a film version of </span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Patrick <span
class=SpellE>Marber<span style='font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>�s</span></span></span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";font-weight:
normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> great short story, �</span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Peter
Shelley</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>,� about two British high school
students who go to buy the newly released single �Love You More� by the </span><span
class=SpellE><span style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Buzzcocks</span></span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";font-weight:
normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>, end up going home together and having sex
while listening to it.<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<h2><span style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>We only were able to attend one
of the <a href="http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff/program/directorsdialogues.html">Directors
Dialogues</a> sponsored by HBO Films at the Kaplan Penthouse, and, as in the
past they were fabulous.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There is
something about this smaller audience, longer time format that brings out a
different level of discourse from the <span class=SpellE>NYFF�s</span> usual
Q&A�s:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>the directors speak more
seriously, and the interviewers set a better tone, so that even audience
questions tend to be meaningful and interesting.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The one we saw was with </span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Arnaud <span
class=SpellE>Desplechin</span></span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> (conducted by
our friend </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Kent
Jones</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>) was quite wonderful:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>whatever the shortcomings I felt were present
in his <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>A Christmas Tale</i>, Arnaud�s
thinking about cinema�and life�was totally refreshing and exciting..<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<h2><span style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>During this year�s <span
class=SpellE>NYFF</span>, there was a Film Festival sidebar of the nearly
complete retrospective of the works of the Japanese master, </span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'><a
href="http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff/program/oshima.html"><span class=SpellE>Nagisa</span>
<span class=SpellE>Oshima</span></a></span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold'>, at the Film Society�s <a href="http://www.filmlinc.com/wrt/wrt.html">Walter
Reade Theater</a>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>As much as we should
have loved to see these films, we simply did not have the time this year.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Hopefully, once the Film Society�s new
building is complete, there will be retrospectives like this shown throughout
the year at one of its two new theaters.<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<h2><span style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>We were also unable to attend any
of the annual <a
href="http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff/program/avantgarde/avantgarde.html">Views
from the Avant-Garde</a> series, which is always so wonderful.<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<h2 align=center style='text-align:center'><span style='font-size:8.0pt;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></h2>
<h2 align=center style='text-align:center'><u><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>AFTER WORD<o:p></o:p></span></u></h2>
<p>I once again encourage all of you in the NYC area to join the <a
href="http://www.filmlinc.com/"><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>Film
Society of Lincoln Center</a> and attend the <span class=SpellE>NYFF</span>
next fall.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>As some of you may know from
personal experience, getting tickets for this incredibly popular NYC event can
be <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>extremely</i> difficult�and, once one
has realized how wonderful the Festival is, it can be extremely frustrating not
to be able to obtain tickets.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I
therefore refer you to the short <a href="http://www.rlrubens.com/primer.htm">Primer
on Membership in the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Obtaining Tickets for
the New York Film Festival</a> I put together to discuss strategies of how
successfully to get tickets for the <span class=SpellE>NYFF</span>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The short story is this:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>you either take your chances on being able to
get scalped tickets (often available during the <span class=SpellE>NYFF</span>
from people selling them outside the theater) or returned tickets (at the box
office) at the last minute, or you improve your chances by becoming a member of
the Film Society.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>But</i> <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>N.B.</i></b>:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>membership only
gives one a <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>relative</i> advantage (in
that you get to put in your requests before it is opened to the general
public�which means you are likely but not guaranteed to be able to get tickets
to all but the most sought-after films);<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>the <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>only</i> way to guarantee you
will get tickets to all of the films you want�particularly immensely popular
ones�is to become a donor.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Being a
member does <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>not</i> guarantee anything!</p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><span style='mso-no-proof:yes'><img
border=0 width=573 height=7 id="_x0000_i1025" src=line1.gif></span></p>
<p align=center style='text-align:center'><a
href="http://www.rlrubens.com/nyff.html"><i>Return to <span class=SpellE>NYFF</span>
Reviews main page. </i></a></p>
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