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<title>DEAD PARROT REVIEWS - 2010 NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL</title>
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<p align=center style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center'><st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on"><b><span style='font-size:24.0pt;font-family:
Arial'>NEW YORK</span></b></st1:State></st1:place><b><span style='font-size:
24.0pt;font-family:Arial'> FILM FESTIVAL</span></b></p>
<p align=center style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center'><b><span
style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p align=center style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center'><b><span
style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:Arial'>2010 � 48<sup>th</sup> Festival<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align=center style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>2010 NYFF</b>
ended on10 October.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It was marked by
refreshing, new, positive feel, reflecting the leadership of the Film Society�s
new Executive Director, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Rose Kuo</b>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is not clear just how this new atmosphere
has communicated itself to the general public, but it clearly has:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>people coming to the NYFF this year seemed to
feel more included and to feel like the experience was a more welcoming,
friendly one; and young people were coming in significant numbers, utilizing
the last minute program of rush tickets (and, especially, the Twitter
tickets).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>For those of us more
intimately connected to the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the fact that the
Film Society is under new leadership was also wonderfully reflected in the
return to the Festival of old, beloved former staff members who had been driven
away by the prior regime.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>There were many completely wonderful films that we saw:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Certified
Copy</i></b> by <b>Abbas Kiarostami</b>, <b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Carlos</i></b>
by <b>Olivier Assayas</b>, and<span class=mediumc3> </span><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Okie�s Movie</i></b><span class=mediumc3> by
</span><b>Hong Song-soo</b><span class=mediumc3> being foremost among them.
And, as always, there was the array of incredibly beautiful, moving films one
would never have the opportunity to see anywhere else which we have come to
expect from the NYFF�the most wonderful of these being </span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Le Quattro
Volte</i></b><span class=mediumc3> by </span><b>Michelangelo Frammartino</b><span
class=mediumc3>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There were premieres of
a number of great, more popular films, like <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>David Fincher</b>�s <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Social Network</i></b>, and <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Mike Leigh</b>�s <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Another Year</i></b>. There were
some fabulous Special events, including a wonderful talk by our dear friend <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Kent Jones</b>, who presented <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>A
Letter to Elia</i></b>, the loving and beautiful film he and <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Martin Scorcese</b> did about the life and
work of Elia Kazan.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>All-in-all, it was
another great Festival.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=apple-style-span><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'>We were scheduled to see 16 of the
films in two weeks of this year�s NYFF and four of the Special Events.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>We only got to 15 of the films, as we decided
not to see <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Charles Ferguson</b>�s
documentary on the financial crisis, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Inside Job</i></b>, since I found it rather
offensive, knowing what I did about the film�s perspective, that Ferguson was
representing it as a �balanced treatment� of what had gone on (I don�t mind
seeing strongly one-sided accounts, but I am disturbed by a denial of
perspective); and we also only went to three of the Special Events, since we
decided we did not wish to hear <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Julie
Taymor</b> after having seen her film, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
Tempest</i> (<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>q.v.</i>, below).<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Meanwhile, there was one film I very much
would have liked to see but couldn�t for scheduling reasons:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Aurora</i></b></st1:place></st1:City>,
which was written and directed by Romanian <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Cristi
Puiu</b> (and who also plays the lead role), who did the marvelous <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Death of Mr. Lazarescu</i> (which was in the
2005 NYFF).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There was also one film we
knew was well-thought of and was much liked by friends who saw in the Festival,
but chose not to see:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Uncle Boonmie Who Can Recall His Past Lives</i>,
which we avoided because, while we have been impressed by Thai director <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Apichatpong Weerasethakul</b>�s technical
skill and cinematographic vision (as in his <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Tropical
Malady</i> from the 2004 NYFF), I have been put off by his world view�and, in
particular, the kind of mystical spirituality I greatly dislike, and which was
very much in evidence even in the title of this new film.</p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'>For those who are interested, the
entire 2010 NYFF program and the Film Society descriptions of each film can be
found at<a href="http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff/nyfffilm2004.htm"></a> <span
style='mso-bidi-font-size:8.5pt;color:black;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'><a
href="http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff/2010/">www.filmlinc.com/nyff/2010</a> </span>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�� </span>My reviews of past years of the NYFF can be
found at <a href="http://www.rlrubens.com/nyff.html">www.RLRubens.com/nyff.html</a>.</p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'>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 again that I have always placed my reviews
of these films in approximately descending order of how much I liked them.</p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'>All films are dated 2010 unless
otherwise noted.</p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:16.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></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 align=center style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><!--[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]--><span
class=MsoHyperlink><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-no-proof:yes'><a
href="http://www.rlrubens.com/nyff-10.html#_Toc275199361">Certified Copy.
(Copie conforme)</a></span></i></b><span style='mso-no-proof:yes'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><span style='mso-no-proof:yes'><a
href="http://www.rlrubens.com/nyff-10.html#_Toc275199362">Carlos</a></span></i></b><span
style='mso-no-proof:yes'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><span style='mso-no-proof:yes'><a
href="http://www.rlrubens.com/nyff-10.html#_Toc275199363">Oki�s Movie (Ok hui
ui yeonghwa)</a></span></i></b><span style='mso-no-proof:yes'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-no-proof:yes'><a
href="http://www.rlrubens.com/nyff-10.html#_Toc275199364">The Social Network</a></span></i></b><span
style='mso-no-proof:yes'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-no-proof:yes'><a
href="http://www.rlrubens.com/nyff-10.html#_Toc275199365">Le Quattro Volte</a></span></i></b><span
style='mso-no-proof:yes'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-no-proof:yes'><a
href="http://www.rlrubens.com/nyff-10.html#_Toc275199366">Meek�s Cutoff</a></span></i></b><span
style='mso-no-proof:yes'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><span style='mso-no-proof:yes'><a
href="http://www.rlrubens.com/nyff-10.html#_Toc275199367">Another Year</a></span></i></b><span
style='mso-no-proof:yes'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><span style='mso-no-proof:yes'><a
href="http://www.rlrubens.com/nyff-10.html#_Toc275199368">The Robber. (Der
r�uber)</a></span></i></b><span style='mso-no-proof:yes'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-no-proof:yes'><a
href="http://www.rlrubens.com/nyff-10.html#_Toc275199369">Robinson in Ruin</a></span></i></b><span
style='mso-no-proof:yes'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-no-proof:yes'><a
href="http://www.rlrubens.com/nyff-10.html#_Toc275199370">Film Socialisme</a></span></i></b><span
style='mso-no-proof:yes'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-no-proof:yes'><a
href="http://www.rlrubens.com/nyff-10.html#_Toc275199371">Old Cats (Gatos
Viejos)</a></span></i></b><span style='mso-no-proof:yes'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-no-proof:yes'><a
href="http://www.rlrubens.com/nyff-10.html#_Toc275199372">LENNONNYC</a></span></i></b><span
style='mso-no-proof:yes'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-no-proof:yes'><a
href="http://www.rlrubens.com/nyff-10.html#_Toc275199373">The Tempest</a></span></i></b><span
style='mso-no-proof:yes'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-no-proof:yes'><a
href="http://www.rlrubens.com/nyff-10.html#_Toc275199374">Revoluc�on</a></span></i></b><span
style='mso-no-proof:yes'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-no-proof:yes'><a
href="http://www.rlrubens.com/nyff-10.html#_Toc275199375">Hereafter</a></span></i></b><span
style='mso-no-proof:yes'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span class=GramE><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Certified Copy.</i></b></span><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> <span class=GramE>(<span class=SpellE>Copie</span>
<span class=SpellE>conforme</span>)</span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></i></b><span
class=GramE> TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc275199361'><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Certified Copy. (Copie conforme)</i></b></span>"
\f C \l "1" </span><![endif]--><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc275199361"></a><![endif]></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
class=GramE><span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>.</span></span><span
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>(France/Italy, IFC Films)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>We have
enjoyed the films of Iranian director <b>Abbas Kiarostami</b> in prior NYFFs
(as writer and director, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Ten</i><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>in 2002, and <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Taste of Cherry</i> in 1997; as writer of films directed by another
favorite Iranian director of ours, Jahar Panahi,<b> </b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Crimson Gold</i> in 2003, and <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
White Balloon</i> in 1995), but <b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Certified
Copy</i></b>, written and directed by Kiarostami, is his first shot outside of
Iran, and it is far and away my favorite of his works�and my favorite of the
entire NYFF this year. <b><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>Juliette
Binoche</b> was at her wondrous best as Elle (she won Best Actress at <st1:City
w:st="on">Cannes</st1:City> this year for her portrayal), an antiques dealer in
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Florence</st1:City></st1:place>, who
brings her early adolescent son to a lecture at the Uffizi by an English
writer, James Miller, effectively played by <b>William Shimell</b>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There were those who felt Shimell�s
performance was too stilted and unnatural; but I believe that whatever his
flaws in this unaccustomed role as a film actor (Shimell�s career has been as
an operatic baritone), he was perfect for this character�whose fiery
(operatic?) emotionality is <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>supposed</i>
to exist deeply covered and restrained within the confining rigidity of his
obsessive intellectual personality.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>In
fact, I think there actually is a subtle symmetry here:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>while I very much love Juliette Binoche in
many roles, I actually find her acting somewhat flawed by an overly
emotional�often almost cloying�quality that often creeps in; but, in this role,
it is <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>perfect</i> for the character she
is portraying, in much the same way as Shimell�s reputed shortcomings as an
actor are perfectly suited to his role.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>In the wonderful and amusing opening sequence of the film, James is
delivering a lecture�to which Elle arrives late, and her son even later�based
on his recent book, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Certified Copy</i>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>His thesis, while never fully articulated,
seems to revolve around the question of what is real in art, and what the
relationship might be between that reality and the assumed realities of the
perceptions of art�as, for example, the status of a work that was revered for
centuries as real, that turns out to have been a copy or forgery.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(A key moment later in the film involves a
story about a woman talking to her young son in front of the well-known copy of
Michelangelo�s David in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Florence</st1:place></st1:City>.)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>The plot reality, as introduced in an early conversation between Elle
and her son, is that Elle has just met James for the first time at this
lecture,<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>and she is accused by her son
of looking to pick James up, not to interact with him professionally, and that
the son has witnessed this sort of performance from her before.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Everyone who has looked carefully at
marriages and other deeply personal relationships knows that each participant
in a relationship has a separate view of the reality of the events of that<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>relationship�even to the extent of having a
different sense of the facts of what has occurred between them.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Thus, a story in which a wife experiences her
husband to be emotionally distant from her and an absent father to their
children, while the husband experiences his wife to be overly emotional and
needy and never satisfied with all that he provides demonstrates a level of
divergent realities that is completely par for the course in relationships�even
to the extent that the participants can have separate views of the facts of
their joint history.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>In this film,
however, the marital relationship in question is that of Elle and James. Elle
takes James for an afternoon drive outside <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Florence</st1:City></st1:place>, and, early in the drive, a waitress
at a caf� mistakes the pair for a married couple, and Elle pretends they
are�with gusto and deep emotional response.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>This pretense continues through a series of meetings with other
people�often couples in different stages of their own marriages, but always (as
was the case with the waitress) people who have something meaningful to offer
in terms of what marriage means�and at times James joins in the pretense, and
at times he opposes it.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The pair
alternately connect and bicker as the outing progresses, certainly appearing
like a married couple; and progressively it sounds like they are arguing about
past events in a history they have shared�or, at very least, may have shared;
and James becomes every bit as involved as Elle at times in the reality of
their marriage.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>[<b>SPOILER ALERT</b>: I
liked this film <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>so</i> much, and it is so
unclear whether you�ll have a chance to see it, that I�m going to say more
about what happens than I usually like to do in my reviews.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The �plot� is not the point in this film, so
it probably won�t matter in any event; but, if you like to discover how a film
plays out without any foreknowledge, DO NOT READ FURTHER.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Just accept that it is a fabulous, fun film,
and see it if and when you can.]<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>Progressively, it becomes clearer that the discrepancies in their
different experiences of their relationship are not merely different
perspectives, but substantially alternate realities.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The conflicting realities of Elle and James
in the end are irresolvable�actually raising questions about whether there is
any objective reality at all.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The film
was reminiscent in the most wonderful ways of Alain Resnais� marvelously
reality-<span class=GramE>bending <b><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span></b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Last</i></span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'> Year at Marienbad</i>�although <b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Certified
Copy</i></b> is played, as it were, in a much lighter and more enjoyable
register.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Suffice it to say, this was my
favorite film of the NYFF; it was a complete joy; and it ended <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>perfectly</i>�something I often feel films
fail to do.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>In addition to everything
else, the scenery of my beloved <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Florence</st1:place></st1:City>
and the Tuscan countryside outside it made the film an even more rewarding
treat.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><o:p> </o:p></i></b></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Carlos</i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></i></b> TC "<span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc275199362'><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Carlos</i></b></span>"
\f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc275199362"></a><![endif]></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>. (France/Germany, IFC Films; <b>currently
playing in a limited engagement at the IFC Center in Manhattan, through the beginning
of November</b>)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Directed and co-written
(with <b>Dan Franck</b>) by <b>Olivier Assayas</b><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Summer
Hours</i>, in the 2008 NYFF, and <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Irma Vep</i>,
in the 1996 NYFF), <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Carlos</i> is the
dramatization of the career of the Venezuelan, Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, who
founded a worldwide terrorist organization and who, known to the public as
Carlos (or, Carlos the Jackal), carried out many high profile capers, including
the sensational kidnapping of all of the OPEC oil ministers from their meeting
in Vienna in 1975.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The film is a masterpiece
of suspense, action, sex, character study, and just plain gripping
entertainment.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I, who have been known to
rail at any director who makes a film over two hours in length, was totally
riveted by this 5� hour marathon of filmmaking.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>(It was filmed in three parts and was originally shown on French
television in three installments; but�believe it or not�I firmly believe it is
best seen in a single sitting:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>it is <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>that</i> compelling.)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Venezuelan actor <b>Edgar Ramirez</b> (who
played Ciro Redondo Garcia in <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Che: Part
One</i>) does an incredible job in the title role. <b><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>Nora von <span class=GramE>Waldst�tten<span
style='font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>is</span></span></b> terrific as Magdalena
Kopp�one of Carlos�s beautiful women.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>(There is a fair amount of nudity in the film:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>we see several prolonged shots of Carlos
completely naked, including one in which his narcissism is on full, meaningful
display as he admires himself in front of a mirror; and we see a lot of the
naked bodies of the multiple beautiful women in his life�including several of
the best naked breasts I�ve seen on screen in a long time.)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>All of the acting is powerfully effective,
the cinematography is incredibly well-done, the multi-national settings add
rich texture to the background of the story�but, most of all, Assayas moves the
story-telling forward in a totally engaging, powerfully effective way.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>This was simply one of the very best films of
the NYFF.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Try to find a way to see it!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Oki�s Movie (Ok <span class=GramE>hui</span> ui <span class=SpellE>yeonghwa</span>)</i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></i></b>
TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc275199363'><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Oki�s Movie (Ok hui ui yeonghwa)</i></b></span>" \f C \l
"1" <![endif]--><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc275199363"></a><![endif]></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(<st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">South Korea</st1:place></st1:country-region>)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Written and directed by <b>Hong Song-soo</b>
(a favorite NYFF director:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Night and Day</i> in 2008, <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Woman on the Beach</i> in 2006, <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Tales of Cinema</i> in 2005, <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Woman is the Future of Man</i> in 2004, and <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Turning Gate</i> in 2002), the film consists
of four separate vignettes, each involving the same main characters:<b> Moon
Sung-keun</b> as Professor Song, a teacher in a film school; <b>Lee Sun-kyun</b>
as Jin-gu, a student and later junior faculty member at the school; and<b> Jung
Yumi</b> as the film student, Oki, who loves both of these men.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The four segments are out of chronological
order and from different perspectives, but they are interrelated in virtually
every other way�including the bizarre fact that each has �Pomp and
Circumstance� playing on and off throughout.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>In the first segment, Jin-gu, as junior faculty member, is screening his
film in a festival and appears there and does what must be the funniest Q&A
session ever put on film:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>the moderator
begins by asking a long, intellectual question, and Jin-gu stares blankly,
laughs, and says he cannot answer that question because he is very drunk�which,
indeed, he is.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>A young woman audience
member then says she wants to ask him a personal question and proceeds to tell
everyone that Jin-gu had an affair with her friend and ruined her life, and asks
how he could have done that.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>He denies
it, and says he�s married; and the woman says, yes, he was married, but he did
it anyway.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>And this torment humorously
continues for a hilariously unbearable length of time.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Oki�s
Movie</i> is imbued with the wonderful comic spirit of its director, and this
spirit allows the film to explore the emotions and meanings of relationships
and filmmaking in great depth while remaining at all times fun
entertainment.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is a real treat, and I
dearly hope it finds distribution.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span class=GramE><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
Social Network</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><span
class=GramE> TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc275199364'><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
Social Network</i></b></span>" \f C \l "1" </span><![endif]--><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc275199364"></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 class=GramE>.</span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span></b>(<b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Opening Night</b>, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">USA</st1:country-region></st1:place>, Columbia Pictures<span
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>; <b>in theaters now</b></span>)<b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> </b><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>��</span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
Social Network</i><span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>, <b>David Fincher</b>�s
eagerly awaited and much ballyhooed fictionalized account of Mark Zuckerberg,
the young man who started Facebook, had its world premiere as the Opening Night
film of the NYFF.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(Fincher directed <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Zodiac</i> in 2007, and <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Fight Club</i> in 1999.) While I did not think it was as great as many
are saying, it <span class=GramE>is<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>totally</span> enjoyable, well-made, and well worth seeing.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The screenplay was written by <b>Aaron Sorkin</b>
(who wrote <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The West Wing</i> for
television, and the 2007 film, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Charlie
Wilson�s War</i>), and it effectively moves one though the story of the
creation of Facebook, creating an understandable, reasonably nuanced version of
the events and, even more, of the characters involved�from its prehistory at
Harvard in the online antics of Zuckerberg, through its development there as an
on-campus phenomenon, to its unparalleled success and subsequent legal
entanglement.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>After the initial Harvard
story, the film moves back and forth from a later point in time where
Zuckerberg is seen with most of the other major characters at a legal
deposition<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>��� </span>Although the film is
unrealistic in many of its details (<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>e.g.</i>,
the scenes of the deposition bear little relationship to anything that would
ever occur in such settings�including, of course, the fact that multiple
characters from multiple legal actions are all together in the same
deposition), it works to move the story along in a quite believable and
successfully dramatic way.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is not
profound, but it works�which may be more important to success of a film
experience<span class=GramE>..</span><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>For the most part, the acting is excellent:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b>Jesse <span class=GramE>Eisenberg<span
style='font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(</span></span></b>perhaps best remembered
for his portrayal of the elder son in Noah Baumbach�s 2005 <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>The Squid and the Whale</i>) turns in a spectacular performance as Mark
Zuckerberg; <b>Andrew Garfield</b> is terrific as Eduardo Saverin; and <b>Armie
Hammer</b> is extremely good playing <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>both</i>
of the Winklevoss twins.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The Director of
Photography, <b>Jeff Cronenweth</b>, does an excellent job of capturing all
this visually�and actually manages to make Harvard College look like the dreary
place it must have seemed to the socially awkward, interpersonally challenged
misfit, Zuckerberg (not an easy feat).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>The film is also quite funny at moments:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>my favorite line was when one of the Winklevoss twins says in
explanation of why an opponent should be intimidated, �Because I'm 6'5",
220 pounds, and there <span class=GramE>are</span> two of me.�<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span class=GramE><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Le
Quattro Volte</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><span
class=GramE> TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc275199365'><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Le
Quattro Volte</i></b></span>" \f C \l "1" </span><![endif]--><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc275199365"></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 class=GramE><span
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>.</span></span><span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold'><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(Italy/Germany/France, Lorber
Films)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Written and directed by <b>Michelangelo
Frammartino</b>, this is a four part (thus the title) meditation on rural
village in <st1:State w:st="on">Calabria</st1:State>, in southern <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Italy</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There are no subtitles to this Italian
film�because there are no words!<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b>Giuseppe
Fuda</b> plays the only central human role, an aged shepherd, in obviously
failing health, who never utters a word.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>There are some other significant individual human characters�an old lady
who sweeps up the village church and sells the shepherd the �holy� dust from
the church floor, upon which he relies to deal with his horrible cough (mixing
it with water as medicine he drinks each night at bedtime; and upon which he
seems totally dependent); two charcoal makers, whose primitive labors bookend the
film, and whose deliveries move in and out of the fabric of the whole story�but
the remaining humans always appear in the film only at a distance, and usually
moving in groups.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The other main
characters of the film, who also speak no words, are the goats tended by the
old shepherd.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The goats appear both in
groups and as individuals (one of whom we follow right from the moment of its
birth); and, although they speak no words, their bleating is the most
expressive audible part of the film.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The
two other main characters that figure in the film, both without words, are a
dog that gives an incredibly riveting performance, and an amazingly stately fir
tree which is also a commanding presence.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>But do not be misled:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>this is a
totally engaging, deep, emotional, lyrical film.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It has plot, action, drama, humor, and
pathos�and achieves a remarkable level of philosophical insight into the human
condition.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is unbelievably expressive
and meaningful�a fact that it only heightened by the absence of language.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Meek�s Cutoff</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:_Toc275199366'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Meek�s Cutoff</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="_Toc275199366"></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-bidi-font-weight:bold'>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(<st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region>)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b>Kelly Reichardt</b> (whose <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Wendy and Lucy</i> was in the 2008 NYFF) has
directed this most unusual tale of the Old West.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Set in 1845, it is the story of three
families who have been persuaded to leave a wagon trail heading west along the
Oregon Trail in order to take their covered wagons on a shortcut through part
of <st1:State w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State>�s <st1:place w:st="on">Cascade
Mountains</st1:place>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The story begins
with our being introduced to the players at the very time they are becoming
distrustful of Stephen Meek, the man who persuaded them to hire him to take
them via this �cutoff.�<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>At very least,
it has been established that Meek, a gruff, surly, unshorn, and basically
brutal character of the wild west, is not nearly as familiar with this
territory as he led them to believe.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It
is clear they are lost, but they are beginning to worry that it may not be
accidental:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>some among them are fearful
that Meek is one of those people trying to discourage the influx of settlers,
and may actually be purposefully leading them to their deaths.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The tensions rise as they wander lost across
the high <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">desert</st1:PlaceType>
of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Oregon</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>, running out of
food, water, and eventually hope.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>At one
point they encounter a lone Native American, who becomes for a while a
background presence in the journey�and eventually becomes an unwilling
participant, in that he is captured and forced to become their guide in their
desperate search to find water.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b>Michelle
Williams</b> is good as Emily Tetherow, the positive center of Reichardt�s
complex story.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>On the opposite side,
there are the two figures <span class=GramE>who</span> provide the pressing
questions of the story: are they evil, or are they good? Are they to be
trusted, or are they to be feared and attacked?<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>On this end of the spectrum, <b>Bruce Greenwood</b> as Meek and <b>Rod
Rondeaux</b> as the Indian do a somewhat less good, albeit quite adequate job,
with Rondeaux being the better actor of the two.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>To be fair, all the characters are rather
caricatures, and the actors do not have fully developed personas to
inhabit.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The real drama is played out on
the level of the larger movement of the storyline, rather than in the
personalities of the characters�and, on that <span class=GramE>level,</span>
the film works powerfully and beautifully.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>The terrain is beautifully filmed by <b>Chris Blauvelt</b>, with
gorgeous barren daytime scenes enhancing the growing sense of arid desperation,
and rich nighttime ones added a feeling of vastness and wonder.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The film certainly captures the life and
death tensions of the choices and issues facing these pioneers of the country�s
westward migration, and it takes up�if only in dramatic and rather oblique
form�some of the moral questions facing these people.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There are those who have seen the film as an
allegory about the current political climate (<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>viz</i>., a �cowboy� leader moving his followers onto a disastrously
wrong path, and the distain for the foreign �other� [read Muslim instead of
Native American] who is a danger to be viewed as not human and requiring
destruction).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I hope that was not
Reichardt�s intention, as I think the film would be rather stupid on that
level; but I do not believe it was.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>Actually, its success lies in precisely the opposite direction: as a
much more general exploration of the trials and dilemmas of human strivings,
against the very specific dramatic context of the strivings of these early
pioneers.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The irresolvable<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>uncertainty of the monumental choices they
had to make in their daily existence�and the moral and personal consequences of
their making them� weigh most powerfully and meaningfully in a specific human
context, not a politicized one.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>And, on
this level, the film is an enormous success.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>Toward the end, I found myself thinking (apropos of my comments about
film endings [<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>q.v.</i>, in the review of <b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Certified Copy</i></b> above]), �Please let
it end here.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Please</i> let it end here!<span class=GramE>�;</span> and it did!<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Brava.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span class=GramE><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Another Year</i></b></span><!--[if supportFields]><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></i></b><span
class=GramE> TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc275199367'><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Another Year</i></b></span>" \f C \l
"1" </span><![endif]--><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc275199367"></a><![endif]></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
class=GramE><span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>.</span></span><span
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(<st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region>, Sony
Pictures Classics)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Written and directed
by <b>Mike Leigh</b> (whose<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>
Happy-Go-Lucky</i> was in the 2008 NYFF, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Vera
Drake</i> in the 2004, and <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Topsy-Turvy</i>
in the 1999), <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Another Year</i> is yet
another of his wonderfully done textural slices of London life, capturing<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>the mood, tone, feel of the characters as
well as of the city which they inhabit.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b>Jim
Broadbent</b> is very good as Tom, as is<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span><b>Lesley Manville</b> as Mary�a middle-aged married couple, happily
sharing together a low-key, but apparently fulfilling life, including their
joint gardening, socializing, cooking, vacationing, and family, as well as
their separate respective professional lives.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>They seem to have a good relationship with their 30 year old bachelor
son, Joe<span class=GramE>,<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>played</span>
by <b>Oliver Maltman</b>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Two friends
repeatedly enter Tom and Mary�s relationship:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>Gerri, a co-worker of Mary�s is very effectively portrayed by <b>Ruth
Sheen</b>; and Tom�s very old friend Ken, played with disgusting accuracy by <b>Peter
Wight</b>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The relationship with Gerri
is full of warmth and humor, but increasingly those elements are overshadowed
by the emptiness of her life and her drunken dependence on Tom and Mary.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Ken, on the other hand, is a pitiful drunk,
infantile in his needs and his actions�repulsive on most every dimension.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There is the sub-plot concerning the question
of whether Joe will eventually find a mate; there is the sub-plot around Tom
and his family; but, for the most part, these just function as devices to
extend the story about Tom and Mary�s relationship with their two friends�and,
even there, most of that is subordinated to their relationship with Gerri.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The <span class=GramE>interactions between
the characters engages</span> us in an absorbing and often humorous fashion;
but, in the end, it is not clear how rewarding it has been to enter the world
into which we have been drawn.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Leigh�s
vision is definitely a comic one, in the classic sense of that distinction:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>we look at the characters in the drama from
the outside (as opposed to indentifying with them from the inside), and the
movement of the story (consistent with Northrop Frye�s notion about comedy
[similar to similar to that of Plato in the <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Philebus</i>])
focuses on characters� consistent lack of self-knowledge, rather than on any
growth in it.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>If anything rises above
the empty, drunken, meaninglessness of much of what transpires, it is Tom and
Mary�s relationship; but there really isn�t too much we can get inside there,
either.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>This is a Mike Leigh comedy, and
a successful one, at that.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is nothing
more�but it is nothing less, either.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It
is beautifully executed, and richly well-done.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>It is entertaining, and absorbing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span class=GramE><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Robber.</i></b></span><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> <span class=GramE>(Der r�uber)</span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></i></b><span
class=GramE> TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc275199368'><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Robber. (Der r�uber)</i></b></span>"
\f C \l "1" </span><![endif]--><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc275199368"></a><![endif]></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
class=GramE><span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>.</span></span><span
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>(Austria/Germany)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Directed and
co-written (with <b>Martin Prinz</b>) by <b>Benjamin Heisenberg</b>, is based
on a novel by <b>Prinz</b>, which, in turn, was based on the true story of a
champion marathon runner, <b>Johann Rettenberger</b> (marvelously portrayed by <b>Andrera
Lust</b>), who, in 1980s Austria, had a second career as a bank robber.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>As the Film Society description put it
�Johann is defined almost exclusively by his two obsessions.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>He runs and he robs, therefore he is.�<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The only other meaningful presences in his
schizoid existence are that of his parole office and that of the woman Erika
(played well by <b>Franziska Weisz)</b> who is rather enigmatically part of his
existence. It is one of the most unusual and well-done action/thrillers you are
likely to see.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I found myself almost
completely and satisfyingly absorbed in the weird intensity of this film for
80% of it length; but then I started to get the uncomfortable awareness that
there was really nowhere for it to go�and that progressively made me
retroactively uncomfortable with where it had been.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Of course, it turned out that there <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>was</i> no place for it to go; and, in the
end, I felt that I had watched an extremely well-made film with no point.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It was a very hollow feeling to have after
what had mostly been a very engaging experience, and it very much detracted
from my ultimate enjoyment of this film.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span class=GramE><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Robinson
in Ruin</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><span
class=GramE> TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc275199369'><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Robinson
in Ruin</i></b></span>" \f C \l "1" </span><![endif]--><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc275199369"></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 class=GramE>.</span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">UK</st1:country-region></st1:place>)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>WARNING:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Patrick Keiller</b>�s newest film is <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>definitely</i> not for everybody; in fact, it is for very few
people�both Nancy and my mother were in complete agreement about how much they
had disliked it (although Nancy had liked the visual images).<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I must say up front, however, that I really
liked it.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Robinson in Ruin</i> is an extremely odd film.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It purports to be a documentary based on the
�recently discovered� records of a scientist named Robinson, who had been
journeying about <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Britain</st1:country-region></st1:place>
in 2008, following oil and gas pipelines, looking to discover the sites of
ancient meteor strikes and signs of ancient civilizations.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The mock documentary quality is reinforced by
the droning, flat, pseudo-scientific/historical narration provided by <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Vanessa Redgrave</b>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There are no people in this film, nor is
there any action.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>We merely are led from
one beautifully photographed scene to another (it is worth mentioning that <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Patrick Keiller</b> was also his own DP for
the film)�sometimes flowers (which Robinson at times took to be evidence of
extraterrestrial life), sometimes industrial sites (which he took to be ruins
from ancient civilizations), sometimes quarries (ancient meteor strikes), often
the vents from an oil or gas pipeline�with the camera lingering for extended
periods of time on each.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The most
repeated image was that of a road sign, with some lichen growing on it, filmed
in ever increasing close-up�with the assertion that this lichen was one of
Robinson�s main channels for communication (whatever that means).<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>One of the phenomena Robinson seemed drawn to
was the opposition of capitalism and the individual assertion of public will,
which he seemed mostly to focus on in the minutia of a 16<sup>th</sup> century
confrontation in a small village between landowners and some local citizens who
had torn down the enclosures the landowners had erected to demarcate their
property rights.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>This interest played
out against the distantly and vaguely recognized parallel issues of the world
financial collapse that was going on contemporaneously with his journeys.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I completely loved the wildly oscillating
perspectival distance of Robinson�s viewpoint�intellectually varying
unexpectedly from minute close-up micro-analysis to sweepingly cosmic overview,
much as the visual focal length of the photography similarly was irrationally
and extremely varying�and the complete confusion of scale, similar to the
complete confusion of time, in which distant past and immediate present were
not distinguishably different.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>As I
said, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Robinson in Ruin</i> is not for
everyone; but I thought it was terrific.</p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span class=GramE><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Film <span
class=SpellE>Socialisme</span></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><span class=GramE> TC "<span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc275199370'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Film Socialisme</i></b></span>" \f C \l
"1" </span><![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc275199370"></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 class=GramE>.</span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Switzerland</st1:country-region></st1:place>)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I have long been a fan of <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Jean-Luc Godard</b>; of course I loved his
old films (<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>e.g.</i>, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Contempt</i> [1963], <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Breathless</i>
[1960]), but I am also someone who has enjoyed his more recent, artier films,
like, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>In Praise of Love</i>, from the
2004 NYFF, and, somewhat less so, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Notre
Musique</i>, from the 2001.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>But, I am
afraid that his latest effort, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Film
Socialisme</i>, rather lost me.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There
were many wonderful moments, and lots of visually interesting sequences.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I suppose one could linger over its imagery,
and parse it like some elaborate, visual poem.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>But it just never quite worked for me:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>I could sense the richness and artfulness, but I could only <span
class=GramE>occasionally<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>let</span>
myself go with it.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>And, in truth, I
feared a simplistic political meaning within it that I simply did not wish to
go along with.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(I have had a growing
feeling that while I enjoy Godard as a visual artist, I find him shallow and
tedious as a philosophical or political thinker�and I have had a sense that
these intellectualized elements have been unfortunately ascendant in his own conception
of himself and his work.)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Since I do
believe there was much in this film that I did not resonate fully to, I am
taking the unusual step of inviting a guest reviewer to step in on this one.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Our good friend Fred Utley and his wife
Valerie accompanied Nancy and me to the Festival screening of <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Film Socialism</i>, and afterwards Fred
emailed me his reactions.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>With his
permission, I am including them here for your pleasure and edification, as they
are quite wonderful (and, actually, I agree with his observations, even if I
did not share his enthusiasm):</p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>From its title, Jean-Luc Godard's
film could be a political tract or a documentary. As it turns out, it is
a fantastic collage of rapidly cut scenes in a Fellini-esque fable about
modern society and world-wide atrocities.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'> </p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>It starts with lush filming
(vibrant, deep and hard-edged colors) from the decks and interiors of a large
cruise ship in the middle of a vast sea - the camera pans to the
steep glistening walls of the ship's sides, to its night-lit rain-soaked
decks, and, inside, to the day and night partying of its
easily-labeled bourgeois passengers. We see the syncopated scenes and
hear the music - they are color soaked and sound blasted riffs- a
parody of cruise ship parties. But woven through the scenes of
the painted, foolish cruise ship world are intermittent sinister
scenes, where carnival-like ghoulish personages try to lure their passenger
companions to some undefined evil end. Throughout the cruise ship phase
of the film, we never see the whole ship - we see waves crashing into the
ship's eerily white sides and their white foam, black troughs, and surging
and crashing movement - truly lyrical. We see the seas, the horizons, the
waves, the decks, the clubs - but never the whole ship filmed as an
entirety. The ship is the world - with no other<span class=GramE> points</span>
of reference. </p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'> </p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>Midway, the film shifts to a farm
house, also a self contained world, where a family appears to
by carrying on its life, but the parents also appear to be running
for some sort of office. A set of journalists arrive and try to get interviews
with the family, to be frustrated by the evasive moves of them and their
children. The children make up games to tease and distract the
journalists - for many such scenes, a dirty white llama and a jet black donkey
are in one side of the scene, tethered to the scene, observing it, but
trying to turn away. Here Godard is in full imagining on a large rural
canvas. The journalists' attempts at interviews evoke the Sartre interview by
Jean Seberg in his classic "Breathless". The deep
color filming of the <span class=GramE>farm,</span> coupled with the childish
hide and seek of the family and the journalists, evoke many visions
from Godard's own "Week End", another attack on the destructive
values of modern society. The scenes become increasingly punctuated by
black, brown and white documentary videos of historic carnage scenes, including
the Holocaust and the <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Odessa</st1:place></st1:City>
steps. Who knows the message - it is perhaps the total impossibility that
the local elections and the farm house couple's attempt to join the local
bureaucracy can possibly address the serious issues of the world and
that journalists often flock to inane stories while ignoring or failing to
comprehend the serious issues in the world.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'> </p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>Whether the film is a lusciously
disguised political commentary or a series of visual and mental dreams can
legitimately be discussed. The film making<span class=GramE>
is</span> a given - its scenes snap from one set of images to another with
abrupt cutting. Equally, the narrator's deadpan<span class=GramE> monotone</span>
in French describing or commenting on each scene abruptly shifts from
one focus to another.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>In French one can understand the
full sense of the absurdist<span class=GramE> commentary</span>, jolting
as it may be, but the English subtitles - giving only nouns and selective adjectives
- contribute to making the film incomprehensible to the non-French
speaking audience.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'> </p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>This is a rich and evocative film.
One could discuss each one of the vignettes at length and draw meaning or
pretention out of each. Its central message seems to be that the current
pan American, pan European middle class and upper class societies seem
incapable of dealing with - or even to try to summon the collective will to
address - the presence of terrorism, famine, and other evils in the modern
world. Yet we surmise these readings out of a pastiche of images and
narration that is supposedly to<span class=GramE> be</span> profound,
but is over the course of the film at best confusing and at worst
annoying. The wonderful fragments that comprise this film address so
many themes and images that no central force carries it, except the
sophisticated film making. It goes from lyrical images of waves and
coasts to ghoulish Expressionist figures to slapstick comedy. The images
and messages are there for all to see and hear, but there is no visual,
thematic or other sustaining movement. </p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'> </p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'>The film is a kaleidoscope - with
many richly colored and many gray moments - that takes us to too many
places or to nowhere. Having had a visually wonderful experience, we are left
with a great film maker's reveries - wondering what we have seen.</p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span class=GramE><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Old
Cats (Gatos <span class=SpellE>Viejos</span>)</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><span class=GramE> TC "<span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc275199371'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Old Cats (Gatos Viejos)</i></b></span>"
\f C \l "1" </span><![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc275199371"></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 class=GramE><span
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>.</span></span><span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold'> (<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chile</st1:place></st1:country-region>)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span class=SpellE><b>Sebasti�n</b></span><b>
Silva</b> (whose <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Maid </i>was
featured in the 2009 New Directors/New Films Festival) and <b>Pedro Peirano</b>
are two young, talented Chilean filmmakers co-wrote and co-directed this comedy
about an aging family.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Enrique
(convincingly played by <b>Alejandro Sieveking</b>), and his wife Isadora
(wonderfully played by <b>B�lgica Castro</b>, who played the title role in
Silva�s other film) live together�as the metaphoric �old cats��in a nice
apartment left to Isadora by her deceased former husband�and which is inhabited
by a literal old cat, as well.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There is <span
class=GramE>a warmth</span> to their relationship and a positive sense of their
caring for each other which pervades most of the film.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>In a comic, but loving way, we see this
couple taking their endless morning medications, and dealing with each other�s
idiosyncrasies and failings.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Slowly,
however we become aware that not only is Isadora�s health declining, she is
becoming demented.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Meanwhile, we are
introduced to Isadora�s ridiculous, conniving, cocaine snorting daughter (by
her former husband) Rosario, and Rosario�s butch girlfriend �Hugo,� whom
Isadora persists in calling by her given name, �Beatrice,� much to Rosario�s
consternation.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>These characters are such
grotesque, unnatural caricatures, unfortunately, that it is impossible to know
whether their acting is as bad as it seems, or whether it is just the function
of bad writing.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Rosario</st1:place></st1:City>, with Hugo�s assistance, is trying to
swindle the elder couple out of the mother�s apartment.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Despite their extremely shallow
characterization, the film remains reasonably good for a long time:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>it is engaging, funny, and entertaining.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Nevertheless, it eventually trails off toward
an extremely a trite�and I felt�unsuccessful ending, which sorely diminished my
enjoyment of the movie as a whole.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>But
these two filmmakers are really young (Silva is 31), and it is reasonable to
assume from how well they did with most of </span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Old Cats</i> that we can look to them for more sophisticated work in
the future.<span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span class=SpellE><span
class=GramE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>LENNONNYC</i></b></span></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><span class=GramE> TC "<span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc275199372'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>LENNONNYC</i></b></span>" \f C \l
"1" </span><![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc275199372"></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 class=GramE>.</span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">USA</st1:country-region></st1:place>; <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>premieres on Thirteen�s <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>American
Masters</i> on 22 November</b>)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I was <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>so</i> looking forward to this documentary film
by Michael Epstein about John Lennon�s years in New York:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>the promise of rarely-seen footage of his
time in <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>our</i> city, with much of it in
our <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>neighborhood</i> (Nancy used to run
into John and Yoko on 72<sup>nd</sup> Street a lot, back in the day), was
extremely promising�and John Lennon is a musician I greatly respect.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Unfortunately, it did not live up to my
expectations.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It started well, and I
enjoyed the footage of his early years in the City.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Nevertheless, rather than almost exclusively
being focused on his time in <st1:State w:st="on">New York</st1:State>, much of
the film deals with his unhappy sojourn in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>Having been caught by Yoko Ono cheating on her by having sex with
another woman at a party they were both attending, his wife throws him out and
places him in exile�which he chooses to serve out in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>The focus on his miserable time there made me uncomfortably aware of
things I�d just as soon not have needed to focus on:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>in the first place, it made me painfully
aware of how psychologically unhealthy John was�how infantile and dependent
(and I am not referring primarily to his substance abuse and alcoholism at this
point), not to mention depressed he was; it also reminded me of how much I
always disliked Yoko Ono�s presence in his life back then�something I had
ceased to focus on in later years.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Now,
I cannot fault her for throwing the rascal out; but it is not exactly as if she
actually ended her relationship with him:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>she basically let him twist pathetically in the wind, in a way that the
film made me feel was horribly sadistic and cruel�only eventually to reunite
with him once his degradation and dependent surrender was complete.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Yuck.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>Anyway, there was far less of the good stuff I was hoping to find, and
far more stuff I�d rather not have spent my evening watching.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nancy</st1:place></st1:City>
was disappointed, but disliked it less than I, however; and my mother, whom we
brought to the screening with us, actually enjoyed it.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Go figure.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>It was not a bad documentary; it was just disappointing.</p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span class=GramE><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
Tempest</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><span
class=GramE> TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc275199373'><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
Tempest</i></b></span>" \f C \l "1" </span><![endif]--><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc275199373"></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 class=GramE>.</span></i></b><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Centerpiece</b></st1:City>, <st1:country-region
w:st="on">USA</st1:country-region></st1:place>, Touchstone)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�� </span>After suffering through the 1999 <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Titus</i> (<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Taymor</b>�s film rendition of <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Titus
Andronicus</i>�the choice of which alone being more than mildly off-putting), I
was deeply worried about seeing <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Julie
Taymor</b> do more Shakespeare.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I had
basically liked her 2002 film,<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Frida</i>, except where she had felt the
need to indulge in what I certain she considers her signature elements�a
stylized, psychedelic sort of animation.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>But Shakespeare�and Shakespeare�s <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
Tempest</i>, no less:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I very much like
the play, and I have only ever seen one production that I thought was any good,
but have suffered through many that I found to be drivel.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Well, Julie Taymor�s film was a better movie
than I had feared it would be.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Helen Mirren</b> was wonderful, as usual�and
the film worked fine with the questionable, gender-crossing premise of turning
the main character into her as �Prospera.�<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Alan Cumming</b> was good as
Sebastian, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Tom Conti</b> was reasonable
as Gonzalo, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Felicity Jones</b> OK as
Miranda, and <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Ben Wishaw</b> was interesting,
transformed into whatever Tinkerbelle-inspired, hermaphroditic creature Taymor
was thinking of Ariel as being.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(In the
other direction, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>David Strathairn</b>,
whom I usually love, was simply flat as Alonso, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Alfred Molina</b>, whom I usually like was terrible as Stephano, <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Russell Brand</b> was horrid as Trinculo,
and <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Djimon Hounsou</b> beyond horrid as
Caliban.)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>But Taymor succeeded in moving
the whole thing along as an easy-to-understand story, a straight-forward
narrative that worked in a coherent, linear way in this film.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Well�that is, as long as you don�t connect it
to Shakespeare.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>�Ah, there�s the
rub�!<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>One of the most striking facts
about Shakespeare�s <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Tempest</i> is
that it is almost completely <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>not</i> plot
driven.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The reason that there are so few
good productions of this play is that it is exceedingly difficult to generate a
meaningful interpretation of the nuances of its meanings.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It richness and its intensity�even its very
meaning�come from the very complexities that Taymor has excised from her
film.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Taymor�s <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>The Tempest</i> reminds me of Mel Brooks� idea in his 1983 film <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>To Be or Not to Be</i>, in which the main
actor does a compilation he entitles, �Highlights from Hamlet��a very funny
idea in that film, a very disturbing association here.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>So, if you have no interest in Shakespeare�s
play, feel free to go see this wonderful performance by Helen Mirren in
whatever this story is; it is a very watchable film (although it does still
suffer from Taymor�s damnable tendency to fill things with meaningless, self-indulgent
animation; and the use of music is horrendous�particularly offensive in the
pop-ballad version of the play�s epilogue); but please do not go and think you
have witnessed even a decent Classic Comics version of Shakespeare�s play.</p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span class=SpellE><span
class=GramE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Revoluc�on</i></b></span></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><span class=GramE> TC "<span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc275199374'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Revoluc�on</i></b></span>" \f C \l
"1" </span><![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc275199374"></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 class=GramE>.</span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Mexico</st1:country-region></st1:place>)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>To commemorate the centenary of the Mexican
Revolution, Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna produced this compilation of
short films, each done by one of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Mexico</st1:country-region></st1:place>�s hot young directors:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Mariana
Chenillo</b>, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Patricia Riggen</b>, <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Fernando Eimbcke</b>, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Amat Escalante</b>, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Gael Garc�a
Bernal</b>, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Rodrigo Garc�a</b>, <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Diego Luna</b>, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Gerardo Naranjo</b>, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Rodrigo Pl�</b>,
and <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Carlos Reygadas</b>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There was enormous variation in the type,
quality, and success of these films�half of them were quite good, and half were
quite bad (and most of the six of us who saw it together were fairly consistent
in our reactions as to which were which).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>I wish I had access to the names of each segment and who directed each
one.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I am going to make the perhaps
unwarranted assumption that the list of the directors above (which I copied
from the Film Society�s write-up of the film) is in the order the segments
appeared�but don�t hold me to it or count on it!<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>My very favorite piece (it was everyone�s) was
the second, so I am going to assume it was made by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Patricia Riggen</b>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The
Mexican-American female lead is first seen in a hospital, at the deathbed of
her immigrant father, whose last words to her are the request to bury him in <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Mexico</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>She is appalled by the idea, and cannot
afford the cost�which she learns from a mortuary/travel agent who has an entire
business providing just this service�even by pawning his most treasured
possession, a pistol used by his grandfather, who had been an officer in the
Revolution.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>She also cannot understand
why her father would have wanted this, <span class=GramE>nor</span> why it
could be meaningful in any way; but, encouraged by her Mexican aunt, she
eventually decides to have him embalmed and drive him to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">Mexico</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The entire beginning of the piece is
wonderfully funny, especially the drive with the corpse.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The emotional d�nouement, however, comes with
the tender caring greeting she finds in her father�s old village, where she
discovers things about her father, rural loyalties, and ties to a country and a
history that move her, and the audience as well.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There is a later segment (by a director I
cannot begin to guess at, as it was neither at the beginning or the end of the
film) in which a local politician has invited the elderly grandson of Poncho
Villa to come to a series of speaking engagements; the grandson, who has
nervously prepared his remarks, is repeatedly trotted out before the crowds,
but never allowed to utter a word; finally, realizing that he, the descendent
of the great revolutionary, has simply been being manipulated and used by the
sort of politician that his ancestor might<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>have fought to overthrow, he asks to be sent back to his village.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is a touching and surprisingly powerful
political tale, told in such a gestural and subtle fashion.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The last sequence in the film, which I am
supposing was by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Carlos Reygadas</b>,
and was a parade down a <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Los
Angeles street</st1:address></st1:Street> in slow motion photography.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span class=GramE>Interspersed with the LA
fire trucks and marchers and largely Mexican people watching the parade were
Mexican rebels from the 1910 revolution�some on horseback, some walking, but
all representing a past that somehow was a presence in modern day <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Los Angeles</st1:place></st1:City>.</span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It was a surprisingly moving and effective
piece.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>As a whole�with some of the
segments as good as they were, but also with some as bad as were�the overall
effect was not all that satisfactory.</p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span class=GramE><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Hereafter</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><span class=GramE> TC "<span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc275199375'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Hereafter</i></b></span>" \f C \l
"1" </span><![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc275199375"></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 class=GramE>.</span>
(<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Closing Night</b>, <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">USA</st1:place></st1:country-region>, Warner
Bothers)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Let me begin by saying I do not
like <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Clint Eastwood</b> as a
director.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>thoroughly</i> disliked <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Changeling</i>,
his film in the 2008 NYFF, and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on"><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Mystic</i></st1:PlaceName><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></i></st1:place>,
from the 2003 NYFF; and I felt the same way about his 2004 <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Million Dollar Baby</i>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>In
fact, he has not directed any film I�ve found even vaguely tolerable since the
relatively good ones he did in the 70s (<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
Gauntlet</i> in 1977, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Outlaw Josey Wales</i>
in 76, <span class=GramE>and<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The</i></span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'> Eiger Sanction</i> in 1975).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I
found <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Hereafter</i>, which closed the
NYFF this year, similarly objectionable�albeit for somewhat different
reasons.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I don�t know whether Eastwood
believes the drivel upon which this piece of trash was based, or whether he is
merely venally pandering to the fact that much of the American public does and
is going to lap this up�and I am not sure which I think would be worse; but
this film panders to exactly the kind of impoverished, flawed thinking that is
causing the decline of American society.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>I was struck by the fact that it makes the case that one does not have
to be religious in order to be stupidly superstitious or to trust in ridiculous
magical thinking.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Manipulating various
maudlin melodramatic possibilities�the resuscitation of a beautiful French
woman (played in a beautiful but empty way by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>C�cile De France</b>, probably due to the nature of the part), swept
away by the tsunami in Indonesia (while out buying gifts for the children of the
man she is having an affair with, no less); the misery and anguish of an early
adolescent boy whose more successful but beloved twin brother has just been hit
by a truck and killed while trying to escape some older juvenile delinquents
who were chasing him while he was on the London streets doing an errand for
their mother�the film attempts to draw the viewer into the desire for contact
with the recently dead, and a belief in an afterlife in which they are still
mercifully present.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I must admit, <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Matt Damon</b> does a masterful job playing
George Lonegan, the blue collar worker who is a �<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>real�</i> psychic (as opposed to the numerous �phony� psychics we see
during the desperate attempts of the bereft characters to connect with the
afterlife�who are, of course, not the real thing, but help us to accept the
�legitimate� item when we encounter it).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>Lonegan has left the psychic biz, and he is now a worker in a sugar
factory, trying to avoid making money from his �gift��which, of course, had
been a very heavy burden for him to bear.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>George�s brother, meanwhile, is doing everything imaginable to coerce
George into returning to the business (because he feels no compunction at all
about trying to make money off his brother�s �gift�)�including sending one of
his clients for a �reading� (what these mini-<i><span style='mso-ansi-language:
EN'> </span></i><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-bidi-font-style:
italic'>s�ance</span>s with the recently deceased are called in this
film).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The client, Christos (if you�re
ready for <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>that</i>), played extremely
convincingly by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Richard Kind</b>, is
completely satisfied, beyond even what he is willing to admit to George:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>in one of the many tricks used to induce the
audience to go along with the hocus-pocus premise, George seems to have been
mistaken about a time or date which Christos�s dead wife repeatedly tried to
communicate to him but which seems to have had no temporal significance;
Christos later confesses to George�s brother that the �April� his wife was
referring to was not a date, but actually the <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>name</i> of his wife�s nurse during her protracted illness, and a woman
with whom Christos had had a long affair during that illness.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There is one cute theme when George begins a
relationship with Melanie (played refreshingly by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Bryce Dallas Howard</b>), whom he meets in a cooking class, and which
results in the one rather good, psychologically interesting scene in the film
(which, expectably, does not require anything supernatural whatsoever to make
it work). Although maudlin, melodramatic, and cheesy, the film is quite
well-done from a visual and cinematographic point of view; but I found
everything good about it technically to be even more disturbing because of its
pernicious potential to serve as reinforcement for the kind of idiocy the film
is selling.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I hated this film, and I
found it offensive that it was in the Festival at all, no less in a position of
honor.</p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span
style='font-size:16.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></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 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></h2>
<h2 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>Every year the NYFF has a rich
array of <a href="http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff/2010/special">Special Events</a>.
<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<h2 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></h2>
<h2 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span class=GramE><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>We<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>attended</span></span><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> three of these Special
Events.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Two were talks by
directors:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span></span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Cinema Inside Me: Olivier Assayas</span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>, in this
dialogue with NYFF Selection Committee Chairman </span><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Richard Pe�a</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>, Assayas, who is the director of </span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Carlos</span></i><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> (<i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>q.v.</i>, above), guided his audience on a
marvelous tour through some of the history of cinema that has influenced his
own filmmaking; and </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Mike Leigh: Shooting
London</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold'>, in this dialogue with</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> Adrian
Wootton</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold'>, CEO of Film London (a municipal organization set up to support
filmmaking in that city), Leigh, who is the director of </span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Another Year</span></i><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> (<i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>q.v.</i>, above),<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>examined the way the city of London has
played an essential role in his filmmaking and gave an insightful understanding
of how importantly the urban environment figures into the textural fabric of
his films�even when that environment is artificially created.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The third event was the screening of </span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:
normal'>A Letter to Elia</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:
normal'>, a truly wonderful film by </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Martin Scorcese</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:normal'> and </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Kent Jones</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:normal'>,
followed by a wonderful dialogue between </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Kent</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:normal'> and </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Todd McCarthy</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:normal'>,
and then a screening of </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Elia Kazan</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:normal'>�s
rarely available 1963 masterpiece, </span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>America, America</span></i><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:normal'>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>A Letter to Elia</i> is a loving
tribute to a very controversial man who made some extremely wonderful
films.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>In this film, Scorcese gives a
deeply personal account of why <st1:City w:st="on">Kazan</st1:City> was so
deeply important to him, and what is so deeply wonderful and artistically
powerful about <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Kazan</st1:place></st1:City>�s
films.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It deals directly with the
central controversy about <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Kazan</st1:place></st1:City>:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>the fact that in 1952 he caved in to pressure
from the House Un-American Activities Committee and became a friendly witness,
�naming names� in the process that created the despised blacklist of the
period.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The film wishes to make the
point that this event, despite its importance, does not constitute the whole of
this man�and certainly does not invalidate all of the art he created.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>These contentions are clearly valid; and the
film successfully goes on to give deep insight into what was so special about <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Kazan</st1:place></st1:City>�s cinematographic
vision.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Whatever he was as a person, he
created great art:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>A Streetcar Named Desire</i> (1951), <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>On the Waterfront</i> (1954), <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>East
of Eden</i> (1955), <st1:PlaceName w:st="on"><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Wild</i></st1:PlaceName><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></i> (1960), <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Splendor
in the Grass</i> (1961), <st1:country-region w:st="on"><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>America</i></st1:country-region><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>,
<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region></i>
(1963)�this is an impressive oeuvre!<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>(And I believe that a person�s art stands apart from his personality and
his personal actions.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I can respect
someone�s art even when I cannot respect his actions:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>my love for the writing of Thomas Mann is not
affected by his flirtation with the Nazi party; Wagner�s politics would not
keep me away from his operas [it�s actually the fact that I do not like his
music that does that! {<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>cf.</i>, Mark
Twain�s famous quip: �Wagner�s music is better than it sounds�}]; and the fact
that Picasso was a womanizer and generally not a nice person does not diminish
my affection for his art.)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>��
</span>Nevertheless, the greatness of his films does not obviate the problem of
dealing with the personal implications of <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Kazan</st1:place></st1:City>�s
actions.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>As someone whose first arena of
political activism was the opposition to the HUAC�which, many people do not
know continued to function <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>long</i> after
the corresponding Senate committee which had been led by Joseph McCarthy ceased
to operate (after the disastrous Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954)�I am afraid I
cannot be so quick personally to exonerate Kazan for his actions.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is not primarily that he caved into the
pressure; many people did, and it is hard to condemn someone for not being able
to resist the terrible pressure and personal threat that the Committee
imposed.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The real problem is that <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Kazan</st1:place></st1:City>, unlike many who
gave in to that pressure, was never repentant.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>In fact, he staunchly defended the virtuous correctness of his actions
right to his death.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>As <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>A Letter to Elia</i> suggests, we should
appreciate the fabulous art <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Kazan</st1:place></st1:City>
made; but this does not mean we necessarily should honor the man.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I was not in favor of awarding him a life
achievement Academy Award, and, I must confess, I still think it was a mistake,
and I am not happy with those, like Scorcese, who supported that move.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Having seen this film, I understand and
appreciate the personal importance that <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Kazan</st1:place></st1:City>
had for Scorcese.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>That does not,
however, mean I am willing to honor Kazan himself.</span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<h2 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span><o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p class=MsoNormal>There are short films shown with some of the main screenings
of the Festival.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Very occasionally there
have been some wonderful ones; far more often there have been many simply
dreadful ones; and, mostly they have just not been particularly good.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is my strong opinion that they simply
should not be part of the NYFF programming in the future:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>it just does not seem worth it, and it
certainly is not necessary.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>This year
there was nothing special, only two vaguely good ones that we saw:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Protect the Nation</i></b> by <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Candice Reisser</b>, and <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Day
Trip</i></b> by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Zoe McIntosh</b>; and
there were a couple of distressingly bad ones:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>the worst being the usurious, contrived <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Translating Edwin Honig: A Poet�s
Alzheimer�s</i></b> by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Alan Berliner</b>,
followed by the somewhat less terrible <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>All Flowers in Time</i></b>, by <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Jonathan Caouette</b>; and one that wasn�t
too bad, but rather was just pointless:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Mary
Last Seen</i></b> by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Sean Durkin</b>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<h2 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>During this year�s NYFF, there
was a </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><a
href="http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff/2010/masterworks-2">NYFF Masterworks</a> </span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>series,</span>
<span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Elegant Elegies: <span class=GramE>The</span>
Films of Masahiro Shinoda</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>This</span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> NYFF Masterworks </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>series, screened at the Film
Society�s <a href="http://www.filmlinc.com/wrt/wrt.html">Walter Reade Theater</a>.,
consisted of 12 films by this Japanese master filmmaker.<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.<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<h2 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></h2>
<h2 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
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/2010/views1">Views from the
Avant-Garde</a> series, which is always so wonderful.<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<h2 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></h2>
<p align=center style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center'><img
border=0 width=573 height=6 id="_x0000_i1025" src=line1.gif></p>
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