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<p align=center style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center'><b><span
style='font-size:20.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>NEW YORK FILM
FESTIVAL</span></b><span style='font-size:20.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align=center style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center'><b><span
style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><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","sans-serif"'>2011 � 49<sup>th</sup>
Festival<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align=center style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center'><span
style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><a
href="http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff2011/schedule">2011 NYFF</a></b> ended on 16
October.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>This first Festival fully under
the leadership of the <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><a
href="http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff2011/schedule">Film Society of Lincoln Center</a></b>�s
new Executive Director <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Rose Kuo</b> and
her excellent new team was an enormous success�and the first NYFF to use our
new <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><a
href="http://www.filmlinc.com/about/the-elinor-bunin-munroe-film-center"><span
class=SpellE>Elinor</span> Bunin Munroe Film Center</a></b> (the �<b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Ellie</b>,� or, as the industry seems to be
calling it, the �<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Bu</b>�)..<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It was one of those NYFFs where there were
not a lot of films I knew about in advance or was particularly excited about in
expectation<span class=GramE>;<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>the</span>
single film I was most excited about seeing was not even <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>in</i> the NYFF proper (the �main slate� of approximately 30 films that
are selected each year that constitute the heart of each year�s festival)�it
was the tenth anniversary re-screening of <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Wes
Anderson</b>�s <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>The Royal <span class=SpellE>Tenenbaums</span></i></b>!<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(The fact that next year will be the 50<sup>th</sup>
edition of the NYFF has meant that the Film Society is beginning what will be a
year-long revisiting of some of the great films that have been part of the
festival�s history.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>In addition to
screening <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>The Royal <span class=SpellE>Tenenbaums</span></i></b>, there also was
a screening of <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Luis Bu�uel</b>�s 1962 <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i>The Exterminating Angel</i></b>, which
had been opening night film of the very first NYFF.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>And similar events will be occurring
throughout the year, leading up to next year�s 50<sup>th</sup> NYFF.)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>We even had had some trepidation about the
new <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Almod�var</b> film, <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
Skin I Live In</i></b>, because of some of the way it had been described�which
turned out to be completely unwarranted, as it was fabulous, and our favorite
film in the festival.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The truly marvelous
thing about NYFFs like this one is that they so often turn out to be
fantastically good�and this year was one of the best and most enjoyable ever.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>There
were many completely wonderful films that we saw in addition to <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
Skin I Live In</i></b>:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Le Havre</i></b> by <b>Aki <span
class=SpellE>Kaurasm�ki</span></b>,<b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> A
Separation</i></b><span class=mediumc3> by </span><span class=SpellE><b>Asgar</b></span><b>
Farhadi</b><span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>, and</span> <span
class=SpellE><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Pina</i></b></span> by <span
class=SpellE><b>Wim</b></span><b> <span class=SpellE>Wenders</span></b><span
class=mediumc3> being the main examples. 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'>The Loneliest Planet</i></b><span class=mediumc3> by </span><b>Julia <span
class=SpellE>Loktev</span></b><span class=mediumc3> and <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>This Is Not a Movie</i></b> by <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Jafar Panahi</b>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�� </span>There was one strange�and large�group of
films in this NYFF characterized by their having been done by great directors
and executed by wonderful actors, but that suffered to varying degrees from
having bad screenplays.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>These ranged
from <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>David <span class=SpellE>Cronenberg<span
style='font-weight:normal'>�s</span></span></b> actually quite terrific <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>A
Dangerous Method</i></b>, which was thoroughly successful <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>despite</i> the fact that its greatness was diminished by the
underlying flaws in its screenplay, to <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Alexander
Payne</b>�s <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>The Descendants</i></b> and <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Roman
Polanski</b>�s <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Carnage</i></b>, films that were seriously undermined by the dreadful
screenplays they were built upon, despite the artistry of their directors and
the skill of their actors.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There were
some terrific <a href="http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff2011/pages/special-events1/">Special
Events</a> (in addition to the special anniversary screenings described above),
including a screening of <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Grant Gee</b>�s
surprisingly satisfying <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Patience (After Sebald)</i></b>, and a most
informative and extremely interesting 20 Years of <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Art Cinema: A Tribute to Sony Pictures Classics</b><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(which itself included a special anniversary
screening of <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>James Ivory</b>�s 1992 <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Howard�s
End</i></b>).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The most completely
wonderful part of the NYFF, however, was its <a
href="http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff2011/pages/masterworks1/">Masterworks</a>
series, which, in addition to presenting a newly discovered print of <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Sara Driver</b>�s extraordinary little 1981
film <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>You
Are Not I</i></b><span class=GramE>,<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>included</span> what was for many of us the biggest treat of the entire
NYFF�a screening in Alice Tully Hall of <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Charlie
Chaplin</b>�s 1925 silent masterpiece, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Gold Rush</i></b>, with a live orchestra
doing the music.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There were also some
wonderful <a
href="http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff2011/pages/hbo-films-directors-dialogues/">Directors
Dialogues</a> (most notable among which being the ones with <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Alexander</b> <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Payne</b> and <span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Wim</b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> <span class=SpellE>Wenders</span></b>).</span></span><span
class=mediumc3><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal'><span class=apple-style-span><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>We
saw 14 of the films in Main Slate of this year�s NYFF (somewhat fewer than
usual because we had to be out of town for the middle weekend of this 17 day
event), and I saw four other films screened that were in other parts of the
festival (Nancy in addition saw and loved <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Simon
Curtis</b>�s <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>My Week with Marilyn</i></b>, starring <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Michelle Williams</b>) and three of the non-screening presentations
(Nancy was able in addition to get to see the <span class=SpellE>Wim</span> <span
class=SpellE>Wenders</span> Directors Dialogue, which I most regrettably had to
miss).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>We consciously chose to stay away
from the <span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Dardenne</b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> brothers<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>�</i></b> new film, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Kid with a Bike</i></b>, as we are not
fond of their work (although I hear, for those of you who are, that it is quite
good), and even more so avoided <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Lars von
Trier</b>�s new film, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Melancholia</i></b> (which, while I have
forever sworn off this director�s work, I am told by reliable sources was quite
different from his other work, and quite good).</span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>For
those who are interested, the entire 2011 NYFF program and the Film Society
descriptions of each event can be found at </span><span style='mso-bidi-font-size:
8.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'><a
href="http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff2011/schedule">http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff2011/schedule</a>
</span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>.<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>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>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.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(Had I
chosen to include them along with those in the Main Slate, <span
class=mediumc3><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>The Gold Rush</i></b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> </i>and<i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> </i></span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Royal <span class=SpellE>Tenenbaums</span>
</i></b>would have been at the highest end of this list, and <span
class=mediumc3><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>You Are Not I </i></b>and<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'> Patience (After Sebald)</i></b> would have
been in the top half.)</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The
list is composed of active links, and clicking on a title will take one to the
review of that film.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>All films are dated
2011 unless otherwise noted.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:16.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><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><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>THE
MAIN SLATE of FILMS IN THE FESTIVAL<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p align=center style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center'><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><!--[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><a href="#_Toc307171721"><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
Skin I Live In. (La piel que habito)</i></a></span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span class=MsoHyperlink><a
href="#_Toc307171722"><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin'>Le
Havre</span></i></a></span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:
minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span class=MsoHyperlink><a
href="#_Toc307171723"><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN
style='mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>A
Separation (Jodaeiye Nader az Simin)</span></i></a></span><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:
minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span class=MsoHyperlink><a
href="#_Toc307171724"><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin'>Pina</span></i></a></span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span class=MsoHyperlink><a
href="#_Toc307171725"><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>A Dangerous Method</i></a></span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span class=MsoHyperlink><a
href="#_Toc307171726"><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Loneliest
Planet</i></a></span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:
minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span class=MsoHyperlink><a
href="#_Toc307171727"><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN
style='mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>This
Is Not a Film<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(</span></i><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>In fIlm nist)</span></i></a></span><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:
minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span class=MsoHyperlink><a
href="#_Toc307171728"><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Shame</i></a></span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span class=MsoHyperlink><a
href="#_Toc307171729"><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Descendants</i></a></span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span class=MsoHyperlink><a
href="#_Toc307171730"><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Carnage</i></a></span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span class=MsoHyperlink><a
href="#_Toc307171731"><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN
style='mso-ansi-language:EN'>Goodbye First Love (Un amour de jeunesse)</span></i></a></span><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:
minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span class=MsoHyperlink><a
href="#_Toc307171732"><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN
style='mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>Martha
Marcy May Marlene</span></i></a></span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:
minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span class=MsoHyperlink><a
href="#_Toc307171733"><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN
style='mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>George
Harrison: Living in the Material World</span></i></a></span><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:
minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span class=MsoHyperlink><a
href="#_Toc307171734"><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN
style='mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>The
Artist</span></i></a></span><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:
minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><o:p><span style='text-decoration:
none'> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;text-align:center;
line-height:normal;mso-outline-level:1'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><u><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman"'>SPECIAL EVENTS </span></u></b><u><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>(in
no particular order)</span></u><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><o:p><span style='text-decoration:
none'> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span class=MsoHyperlink><a
href="#_Toc307171735"><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN
style='mso-ansi-language:EN'>Patience (After Sebald)</span></i></a></span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span class=MsoHyperlink><a
href="#_Toc307171736"><span style='mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-bidi-font-style:
italic'>20 Years of Art Cinema: A Tribute to Sony Pictures Classics</span></a></span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span class=MsoHyperlink><a
href="#_Toc307171737"><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Royal Tanenbaums</i></a></span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span class=MsoHyperlink><a
href="#_Toc307171738"><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Exterminating
Angel (El �ngel exterminador)</i></a></span><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><o:p><span style='text-decoration:
none'> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1>MASTERWORKS <span style='font-weight:normal'>(in no particular
order)<span class=MsoHyperlink><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1><span class=MsoHyperlink><o:p><span style='text-decoration:
none'> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span class=MsoHyperlink><a
href="#_Toc307171739"><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Gold Rush</i></a></span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoToc1 style='margin-bottom:3.0pt'><span class=MsoHyperlink><a
href="#_Toc307171740"><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>You Are Not I</i></a></span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;text-align:center;
line-height:normal;mso-outline-level:1'><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-no-proof:yes'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;line-height:normal;mso-outline-level:
1'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><u><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The Main Slate:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:3.0pt;line-height:normal;mso-outline-level:
1'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal;mso-outline-level:1'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif"'>The Skin I Live In. (La <span class=SpellE>piel</span> <span
class=SpellE>que</span> <span class=SpellE>habito</span>)</span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></span></i></b> TC "<span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171721'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171374'><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The Skin I Live In.
(La piel que habito)</span></i></b></span></span>" \f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc307171374"></a><a name="_Toc307171721"></a><![endif]></span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span></i></b><![endif]--><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>.</span></i></b><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN'> </span></b><span lang=EN
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN'>(</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Spain</span><span
lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN'>, </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Spanish
with English subtitles</span><span class=GramE><span lang=EN style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:EN'>,</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"'>117min</span></span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman"'>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Sony Pictures
Classics)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�� </span></span><span lang=EN
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN'>Based on <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Tarantula</i> (a novel by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Thierry
<span class=SpellE>Jonquet</span></b>), </span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The Skin I Live In</span></i></b><span
lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN'> is yet another fabulous film written
and directed by</span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span lang=EN
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN'> </span></b><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Pedro Almod�var</span></b><span
lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN'>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>The NYFF publicity for this film said, �At �The Cinema Inside Me�
program at the 2009 NYFF, Almod�var surprised many when he spoke of his great love
for American horror and science fiction films�a clue, it turns out, to what he
was then just planning.�; and this new film does partake in some elements of
those genres.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>But <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>please</i> do <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>not</i> be misled
(as I had been):<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>it is actually <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>not</i> meaningfully a part of either of
these genres.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The Skin I Live In</span></i></b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> is a true Almod�var
film, with all the emotional nuance, psychological complexity, and
cinematographic subtlety we are accustomed to expect from this master
filmmaker.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is a film of great beauty;
but it is also a film that is built around a gripping, engaging, and
wonderfully surprising plot.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span></span><span
lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN'>Dr. Robert <span class=SpellE>Ledgard</span>
(powerfully and effectively played by Almod�var regular, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Antonio Banderas</b>) is a famous plastic surgeon, whose wife was
burned to death in a car accident, and whom we see at the beginning of the film
at a scientific meeting, arguing for the development of a transgenic, tougher
human skin.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>On one level, this is a plot
line crucial to the compelling story we are about to see; on another, it is the
foundation of metaphoric themes that are more subtly central tensions within
the film:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>the vulnerable and damaged,
natural as opposed to the powerful, impervious unnatural; perception as opposed
to reality, the surface as opposed to the underlying essence.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Secretly, Dr. <span class=SpellE>Ledgard</span>
has illegally been putting his theory into practice, doing some kind of
experimentation on a mysterious beautiful young woman, Vera (played in an
extraordinary fashion by the gorgeous <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Elena
Anaya</b>, who made one brief appearance in <span class=SpellE>Almod�var�s</span>
earlier film, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Talk to Her</i>),
imprisoned in his mansion.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I shall not
ruin the pleasure of experiencing for <span class=GramE>yourself</span> the
unfolding of this amazingly well-constructed film by describing the movement of
the story through time, plotlines, and other characters.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Suffice it to say that this is a true
masterpiece�as entertaining as it is beautiful and completely gripping
throughout.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(There is one brief moment
that was too violent for me in a way�if I dare to make such a criticism of a
director I consider to be an absolute master�I felt to be unnecessary; but I am
hyper-sensitive to violence, and I may therefore be wrong about this; and it is
a minor problem, at most.)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>See it as
soon as it comes out!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal;mso-outline-level:1'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:
EN'><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'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin'>Le Havre</span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></span></i></b>
TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171722'><span style='mso-bookmark:
_Toc307171375'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin'>Le Havre</span></i></b></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc307171375"></a><a name="_Toc307171722"></a><![endif]></span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span></i></b><![endif]--><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin'>.</span></i></b><span lang=EN
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:
EN;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> (</span><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN'>Finland/France/Germany, French with English subtitles,
93min. Janus Films)<b><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span></b>I knew to be
looking forward to this film written and directed by </span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin'>Aki <span
class=SpellE>Kaurism�ki</span></span></b><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN'>, whose <i>The Man Without a Past</i>, was a film I had loved
in the 2002 NYFF; and this new work in no way disappointed!<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>In my 2002 review, I mentioned that </span><span
class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:
minor-latin'>Kaurism�ki</span></b></span><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN'> had reminded me of Jim Jarmusch, and with this film I
believe I understand more why that is so:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>in addition to continuing the tradition of what I described in that
earlier film as being �</span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>a
somewhat bizarre, dark, strangely funny, off-beat film that succeeds in being
hilarious and <span class=SpellE>heart warming</span>,� </span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin'>Le Havre</span></i></b><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> made me realize that there was an
underlying lyrical, musical sense to </span><span class=SpellE><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin'>Kaurism�ki</span></b><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin'>�</span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>s</span></span><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> work that is similar to the
musicality that is so rewardingly at the foundation of <span class=SpellE>Jarmusch�s</span>
films.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span></span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin'>Le Havre</span></i></b><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin'> is the story of </span><span lang=EN
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>an aging shoe
shiner, wonderfully named Marcel Marx (and marvelously portrayed by <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Andr� <span class=SpellE>Wilms</span></b>),
who has retreated to the port of Le Havre, away from his former artistic
career, and is now dividing most of his time while not shining shoes between
his neighborhood bar and caring for his sickly wife (hauntingly played by <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Kati <span class=SpellE>Outinen</span></b>).<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>An African boy, <span class=SpellE>Idrissa</span>
(very successfully and enigmatically portrayed by <span class=SpellE><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Blondin</b></span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'> Miguel</b>), illegally making his way to London to find his mother,
enters Marcel�s life in a transformative way for all concerned.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span></span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin'>Le Havre</span></i></b><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin'> is a fabulously deadpan treat, which quite
whimsically tells a story that is at the same time deeply moving.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Along the way, many other wonderful
characters move in and out of the story: a fellow shoe shine man, Chang (which,
it turns out, is a false identity which he is living to himself hide from the
immigration police�his real name being <span class=SpellE>Quoc</span> Dung
Nguyen, who, in a wonderfully playful <span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Kaurism�ki</b></span> twist, is played by the actor<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'> <span class=SpellE>Quoc</span> Dung Nguyen</b>); some neighborhood
women (played by <span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Elina</b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> <span class=SpellE>Salo</span></b> and <span
class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Evelyne</b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> <span class=SpellE>Didi</span></b>) and
neighborhood men (one played by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Fran�ois
<span class=SpellE>Monni�</span></b> and the other by none other than <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Jean-Pierre <span class=SpellE>L�aud</span></b>�so
appropriate that he [who played the boy in Truffaut�s <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>400 Blows</i>] be in a movie about a young boy on the run!); a police
inspector, M</span><span class=SpellE><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN'>onet</span></span><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN'> (dressed always completely in black, and perfectly
played by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Jean-Pierre <span
class=SpellE>Darroussin</span></b>); a down-and-out local rock music legend
named �Little Bob� (played by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Roberto <span
class=SpellE>Piazzo</span></b>�who actually is a well-known local rock musician
who performs under the name <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Little Bob</b>),
and even a wonderful dog named <span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Laika</b></span>. The film is warm, gentle, funny, moving, entrancing,
and just plain entertaining.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It also
subtly has a sense of underlying rebelliousness against irrational
authority:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span class=SpellE>Kaurism�ki</span>
has said he was inspired by his wish to have lived during the French Resistance
(and there are delightful allusions in this film to films about that
period�including a musical nod to <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Casablanca</i>);
and there is an important theme in this film about the meaningfulness of
personal action, even in a pretty absurdly meaningless world.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>This film is simply a gem! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span lang=EN style='font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:
18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN'>A Separation (<span class=SpellE>Jodaeiye</span>
Nader <span class=SpellE><span class=GramE>az</span></span> <span class=SpellE>Simin</span>)</span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></span></i></b><span
lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'> </span>TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:
_Toc307171723'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171376'><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:
18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN'>A Separation (Jodaeiye Nader az Simin)</span></i></b></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;
mso-ansi-language:EN'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a name="_Toc307171376"></a><a
name="_Toc307171723"></a><![endif]></span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;
mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>. (</span><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt'>Iran</span><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;
mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>, </span><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt'>Persian with
English subtitles</span><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>, </span><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt'>123 min.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Sony Pictures Classics)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Written and directed by </span><b><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;
mso-ansi-language:EN'><a
href="http://www.filmlinc.com/films/directors/asghar-farhadi"
title="Asghar Farhadi Page"><span class=SpellE><span style='color:windowtext;
text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>Asghar</span></span><span
style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'> Farhadi</span></a></span></b><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;
mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>, </span><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt'>this is a
sophisticated, intense film </span><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>which
won the</span><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN'> Golden Bear<span style='mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>
at this year's Berlin Film Festival,</span> as well as that Festival�s acting
prizes for all four lead performers.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�� </span>We
have deeply enjoyed the works of other Iranian directors (<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>viz.</i>, </span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>Abbas <span class=SpellE>Kiarostami</span> and Jafar
Panahi)</span><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN'> at the NYFF over the years; and, while <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Farhadi</b> was new to us, we shall certainly keep an eye out for his
work in the future, as this was a <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>most</i>
impressive film!<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Beginning during the
credits with a couple, <span class=SpellE>Simin</span> (<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Leila <span class=SpellE>Hatami</span></b>) and <span class=SpellE>Naader</span>
(<span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Peyman</b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> <span class=SpellE>Moadi</span></b>),
obtaining visas for themselves and their 11 year old daughter <span
class=SpellE>Termeh</span> (played by the director�s daughter, <span
class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Sarina</b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Farhadi</b>) to leave Iran for the United
States, the starting point for the story quickly develops from the husband�s
refusal to go because he is caring for his father (<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Ali-<span class=SpellE>Asghar</span> <span class=SpellE>Shahbazi</span></b>)
in the latter stages of his decline into <span class=SpellE>Alzheimers</span>,
through the wife�s attempt to divorce him and take her daughter to the US by
herself, to the court�s refusing both requests, but permitting her to leave
alone should she want.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>And this is just
where the story <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>begins</i>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>What ensues is a complex human drama, in
which each of the parties�soon joined by a deeply religious servant, <span
class=SpellE>Razieh</span> (<span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Sareh</b></span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> <span
class=SpellE>Bayat</span></b>), hired to take care of the household and Nader�s
father in <span class=SpellE>Simin�s</span> absence, her out-of-work
husband<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(<span class=SpellE><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Shahab</b></span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'> <span class=SpellE>Hosseini</span></b>), and their very young
daughter�plays out his individual longings and desires (all be they in highly
conflicted form), confronts (at varying levels of awareness) the dilemmas
produced by the pursuits of his desires, and needs to confront some truths
about himself in the process.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There is
an emotional intensity and a plot tension that is riveting throughout this
fast-moving film.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Nevertheless, what
makes it extraordinary is that Farhadi <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>never</i>
is reductionist about the human dilemmas and moral complexities that the film
is depicting.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There are incredible
conflicts that grow within each of the characters�and rather terrifyingly so in
the children; and Farhadi powerfully respects what Carl Jung referred to as
�the terrible ambiguity of immediate experience.�<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(</span><i><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Psychology
and Religion.</span></i><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>
1938)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�� </span></span><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:
18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN'>A Separation</span></i></b><span lang=EN
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'> </span><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>is a deeply engrossing, emotionally
wrenching, and intellectually stimulating film.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>Moreover, it has a <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>perfect</i>
ending�which is a particular achievement, since so many lesser filmmakers would
have chosen to end this story quite differently�and quite badly.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>One should always appreciate a good ending,
they are a rarity.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span></span><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN'>A Separation</span></i></b><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'> </span><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>has distribution, and it will be
released theatrically�it is already a commercial success in Europe.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>See it as soon as you can!</span><b><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;
mso-ansi-language:EN'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span lang=EN style='font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'><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'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin'>Pina</span></i></b></span></span><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></span></i></b><span
class=GramE> TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171724'><span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171377'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin'>Pina</span></i></b></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" </span><![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc307171377"></a><a name="_Toc307171724"></a><![endif]></span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
class=GramE><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:
18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>.</span></span><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;
mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> </span><span lang=EN
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>��</span><span class=GramE>(Germany/France, German,
English and French with English subtitles, 106min.</span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Sundance Selects)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>This is another one I was especially looking
forward to: we like <span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Wim</b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> <span class=SpellE>Wenders</span></b>�
films (his documentaries, like the wonderful 1999 <i>Buena Vista Social Club</i>,
are most relevant to this project; but it is films like his fabulous 1977 <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The American Friend</i> which made us such
fans [<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>that</i> is a film which, if you do
not know it, you should run to your Netflix account to rent!]), and we have
been entranced by the dance of <span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Pina</b></span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Bausch</b> (for
a sample, go watch <span class=SpellE>Almodovar�s</span> <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Talk to Her</i> again, and pay particular attention to the dance
performances at the beginning and toward the end of the film�they are by Bausch
and her company, and they are amazing).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>So, a film by <span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Wenders</b></span>
about <span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Pina</b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Bausch</b> rates as an immediate must-see
by us.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>We had not known that <span
class=SpellE>Wenders</span> and <span class=SpellE>Bausuch</span> had been
close friends for decades, and that this was a project they had discussed and
wanted to do together for decades.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Over
that period of time, however, <span class=SpellE>Wenders</span> had declined to
make the film, as he was never able to envision how it would be possible.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Bausch�s unique style, a form of �<span
class=SpellE><span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>Tanztheater</span></span><span
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>� (a form of German Expressionist dance of
which Bausch was the main inheritor), very actively blends the dancers�
movements, the very specifically created dynamic spaces of her sets, and the
music�the overall composition of all of which she insisted be created with the
active and extensive collaboration of her dancers who would ultimately be the
performers in each specific piece. </span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>The elegant and moving complexity of the
spatial/movement/musical/emotional world of Bausch�s <span class=SpellE><span
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>Tanztheater</span></span><span
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> seemed impossible to capture on film. </span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>That all changed with the advent of modern 3-D
film technology:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>it gave <span
class=SpellE>Wenders</span> a way that he felt could meaningfully capture some
of the sublime experience of the movement of emotion and energy in space that
he so loved in <span class=SpellE>Buasch�s</span> choreography and her
dancing.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>They worked out a plan
together, and were about to begin shooting when Bausch died suddenly in 2009, just
shy of her 69<sup>th</sup> birthday.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span
class=SpellE>Wenders</span> aborted the project, only to resurrect it a year
later at the insistence of her company, who wanted to do it as a tribute to
her.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The result is astounding�and the
3-D experience is an unbelievable effective presentation of the exhilaratingly
powerful and movingly beautiful work.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span></span><span
class=SpellE><span class=GramE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin'>Pina</span></i></b></span></span><span
class=GramE><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN'><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>includes</span></span><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'> three of
Bausch�s most <span class=SpellE>famus</span> pieces, �Caf� M�ller,� �Le <span
class=SpellE>Sacre</span> du <span class=SpellE>Printemps</span>,� and �<span
class=SpellE>Kontakthof</span>�; but these performances (done on stage in the
theater in which the company has always performed over the years, the <span
class=SpellE><b>Tanztheater</b></span><b> Wuppertal <span class=SpellE>Pina</span>
Bausch</b>) are interspersed with �interviews� with all the members of the
company.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span class=SpellE>Wenders</span>
poses a question to each of them, and asks�as Bausch herself was accustomed to
do�that they answer in dance, rather than words.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(Some also give verbal responses as well, and
these are most brilliantly and effectively presented as voiceovers while
showing a portrait shot of the speaker, seated on stage, but not actually speaking
at the time.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>This is also the format by
which <span class=SpellE>Wenders</span> is able to state the questions which
are being asked of the performers.)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The
incredibly powerful dance �responses� to the questions are filmed in various
outside locations around Wuppertal, Germany�the city which supported Bausch, her
work, and her company for almost four decades.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>I am not one to go to a lot of dance movies, but this one is not to be
missed�and <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>it will open at the Film
Society�s Walter Reade Theater on 23 December</b>! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span lang=EN style='font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<h3 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span class=GramE><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif"'>A Dangerous Method</span></i></span><!--[if supportFields]><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif"'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></span></i><span
class=GramE> TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171725'><span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171378'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>A Dangerous Method</span></i></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" </span><![endif]--><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc307171378"></a><a name="_Toc307171725"></a><![endif]></span></i><!--[if supportFields]><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif"'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span></i><![endif]--><span
class=GramE><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>.</span></span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> (Germany/Canada, Running time: 99min. Sony
Pictures Classics) This film about Carl Jung in the early years of the
development of psychoanalysis�and, in particular about his relationship with
his first patient, and his relationship with Sigmund Freud�could have been
dreadful; instead it was quite fabulous. Its success is a tribute to the
extraordinary directorial talents of </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>David Cronenberg</span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>, and amazing acting skills of </span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Michael <span
class=SpellE>Fassbender</span></span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> (who quite
profoundly conveyed the obvious appeal and more subtle repulsiveness, of Jung),
</span><span class=SpellE><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Viggo</span></span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> Mortensen</span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>, (who captured Freud in all the confusing intensity
of the combination of his unparalleled brilliance and creative genius and his
neurotic shortcomings), and </span><span class=SpellE><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Keira</span></span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> Knightley</span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> (who played Sabina <span class=SpellE>Spielrein</span>,
a young Russian Jew who was Jung's first psychoanalytic patient) with such
accuracy and convincingness that the whole of her symptomatology and history
was powerfully revealed to the psychoanalytically trained in the audience�even
beyond those aspects that were directly revealed and explored in this film.
What was created in the interaction between Cronenberg and the
unbelievable performances of these actors more than made up for the problems
with the story they were bringing to life�and there were <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>many</i> serious problems therein. There are the easily excusable
inaccuracies in the theoretical discussions (mostly problems of anachronism);
but these are more than compensated for by the extreme accuracy of the
presentation of the clinical picture, and of the therapeutic and relationship
dialogue. There is the shallowness of the exploration of the patient's
pathology�and, in particular, the meaning of her sadomasochistic
preoccupations; but what is presented is valuable enough largely to offset this
shortcoming. There is a far more important problem in the film's artificial
idealization of the importance of Jung in his complex relationship with Freud
(they were both extremely neurotic in both their own idealizations of each
other [Freud correctly having seen Jung's brilliance, but somewhat less nobly
having been impressed by his wealth, social standing, and particularly the fact
that he was not Jewish; Jung having correctly understood the seminal genius of
Freud's creation of the field, but wishing to find in the master an
unreasonable level of perfection], but they were equally neurotic in their
competitiveness with each other [Freud actually wanting filial submission from
his "disciple," and Jung Oedipally needing to reject and destroy his
"paternal" authority to the extent of misunderstanding and attacking
some of Freud's most brilliant and important insights]; and, while this
tendency in the script (most disturbingly reprised in the epilogue titles
before the credits in which Jung is rather ridiculously described as "the
greatest psychologist of all time") is rather effectively emotionally
offset by <span class=SpellE>Cronenberg's</span> palpably deep respect and
appreciation for Freud, this imbalance was bothersome to me. Most
important, however, was the disturbingly easy treatment Jung's personality and
actions receive in the film. The fact that he has an affair with this
young woman while he is treating her, his pretense of conceiving of it as in <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>her</i> interest, his self-glorification of
it as an important, deeply meaningful step in his own evolution as a person,
and�most dreadfully�his attempt to make her feel bad about her reluctance to
being re-assigned the role of "mere patient" when he terminated the
sexual component of their relationship, do not in the viewpoint of the film
bring down upon Jung the professional and moral judgments appropriate to his
actions�or to his actual personal character; and this was to me inexcusable.
In actuality�and in the events portrayed in the film�Jung, despite his
great intelligence and early insights, was an infantile, entitled, selfish,
mean, and ultimately rather seriously crazy man (and the depth of this can be
sensed in the film only ever so slightly in his despicable treatment [actually
understated in the film] of his own wife, who, it was noted in the film, was
the source of his wealth and support�albeit she was not particularly
well-treated as a result). It is to me an enormous tribute to the
success of the film as a cinematographic creation that these rather dreadfully
serious plot flaws interfered almost not at all with my intense enjoyment of
the film. It is a beautiful, completely riveting, intensely provocative,
and profoundly�and enjoyably�successful film...and I recommend it
enthusiastically! Although I should like you to be aware of its
shortcomings as a serious discussion of the topics involved, I do not want to
do so in such a way as to interfere with your enjoyment of it as a film.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I may have to add the screenwriter [</span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Christopher Hampton</span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>] and most probably the author of the book [</span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>John Kerr]</span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> to the group of such writers about whom I feel so
negative because they had such a deleterious effect on several of the films in
this year�s NYFF, even though in this instance the quality of the film survives
the damage they did.<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<h3 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span><o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal'><span class=GramE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif"'>The Loneliest Planet</span></i></b></span><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></span></i></b><span class=GramE> TC
"<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171726'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171379'><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The Loneliest Planet</span></i></b></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" </span><![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif"'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a name="_Toc307171379"></a><a
name="_Toc307171726"></a><![endif]></span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
class=GramE><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>.</span></span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> <span
class=GramE>(USA/Germany, English 113 min.)</span> <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Julia <span class=SpellE>Loktev</span></b>, who wrote and directed this
film (based on a short story by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Tom
Bissell</b>), has created a deeply beautiful, richly sensuous, and profoundly
involving work of <span class=GramE>art</span>. It begins in somewhat
inexplicable tension: we watch a young woman repetitively jumping up and
down in the grayness of a primitive shower (evoking in <span class=SpellE>me</span>
thoughts of patients in old psychiatric facilities), beautiful in the starkness
of her total nakedness, but against the disconcerting grating, obsessive
quality of the soundtrack. After this confusingly disturbing but sensual
opening, we find that we are actually following a young couple on their
vacation trip to the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia. The woman in the
opening scene turns out to be </span><span class=SpellE><span lang=EN
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN'>Nica</span></span><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN'> (</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>the
female of the couple, played by</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'> <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><span lang=EN>Hani Furstenberg</span></b><span lang=EN>).<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span class=SpellE>S<span lang=EN-US
style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'>he</span></span></span></span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> and Alex (played by <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Gael <span class=SpellE>Garc�a</span>
Bernal</b>), are a few months away from their wedding.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>They are embarking on a backpacking hike in
the Caucasus, led by tour guide <span class=SpellE>Dato</span> (<span
class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Bidzina</b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> <span class=SpellE>Gujabidze</span></b>).<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>They are apparently quite happy with each
other and quite close in their friendship, as well as in their sexual
relationship.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Whatever the tensions of
the opening sequence had been, we quickly find ourselves enjoying the eroticism
of their sexual encounters, and the breathtaking beauty of the landscape they
are walking through�which we see in languorously gorgeous landscapes,
sumptuously directed by <span class=SpellE>Loktev</span> (who is bravely
willing here to take the time to create the slowness of mood that so
contributes to the success of this film) and beautifully filmed by <span
class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Inti</b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> <span class=SpellE>Briones</span></b>, the
film�s DP.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>There is a single, intense,
inexplicable moment that disrupts all this bliss; and the rest of the film
takes place against the tension that is created between <span class=SpellE>Nica</span>
and Alex.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>This film is a psychologically
sophisticated, artistically elegant work:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>it is a textural unfolding of an emotional drama, expressed more in
subtle gesture and nuance than by action in the plot, and integrated on every
level into the tapestry of its lush and beautiful settings<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�� </span>As much as I loved the slow pace and
exquisite, meandering evolution of the story, I must say I thought the film
would have profited from being 15 or 20 minutes shorter�not that I would have speeded
up any moment in it, but rather that I would have chosen to have fewer of
them.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�� </span>But it is still a most worthwhile
film.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal'><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;
mso-ansi-language:EN'>This Is Not a <span class=GramE>Film<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(</span></span></i></b><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>In <span class=SpellE>fIlm</span>
<span class=SpellE>nist</span>)</span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'><span style='mso-element:
field-begin'></span></span></i></b><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'> </span>TC
"<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171727'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171380'><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:
EN'>This Is Not a Film<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(</span></i></b></span></span><span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171727'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171380'><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>In fIlm nist)</span></i></b></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a name="_Toc307171380"></a><a
name="_Toc307171727"></a><![endif]></span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'><span style='mso-element:
field-end'></span></span></i></b><![endif]--><b><span lang=EN style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span></span></b><span lang=EN style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold'><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>(</span><span lang=EN
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>Iran, Persian
with English subtitles, 75 min.)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>We have
very much liked <b>Jafar Panah</b>i�s earlier films (particularly <b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Circle</i></b> from the 2002 NYFF, and <b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Crimson Gold</i></b> from the 2003 NYFF), so
we were looking forward to his latest film, which he made in collaboration with
the Iranian documentary filmmaker </span><span class=SpellE><b><span lang=EN
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN'>Mojtaba</span></b></span><b><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'> <span class=SpellE>Mirtahmasb</span></span></b><span
lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Nevertheless, we did not know what to expect
from this new film, particularly since it was described as �</span><span
lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN'>a remarkable day-in-the-life chronicle that�finds a rich middle ground
between fiction and reality. Shot with a digital camera and an iPhone, the
movie is almost entirely confined to the director�s apartment, where he
discusses his films and an unrealized script, while the outside world imposes
itself through phone calls, television news, a few comic interruptions, and the
sound of New Year�s fireworks.�<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>We knew
that in December 2010, Panahi had received a six year jail sentence and was
placed under a 20-year ban against giving interviews, leaving the country, or making
any movies.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>What we did not know was
that <b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-font-kerning:
18.0pt'>This Is Not a Film</span></i></b> was a project he did subsequent to
this ban (thus the name of the �film�), while waiting to hear the expectedly
bad results of his appeal of his sentence.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>The biggest surprise was how powerfully emotional and deeply moving this
little piece turns out to be.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>Essentially <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Panahi</b> has called
his friend <span class=SpellE><b>Mojtaba</b></span><b> <span class=SpellE>Mirtahmasb</span></b>
to come to his apartment and film him talking about a script that of his that
he had wanted to turn into a movie, but was now enjoined from doing so by the
ban.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span class=SpellE><b>Mojtaba</b></span><b>
<span class=SpellE>Mirtahmasb</span></b> films him setting up the story, laying
out with yellow masking tape on the floor of his apartment the set for the film
his is envisioning, and then proceeding to describe�in understandably extremely
visual terms, but surprisingly in emotionally moving terms, as well�the action
of the film.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The script is about a young
woman from a lower class family; she has been accepted into a university, but
her parents are refusing to allow her to matriculate; to keep her from doing
so, they are keeping her locked in a room in their home.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Panahi describes in the first scene of the
script the details of the physical conditions of her confinement.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>When he starts to describe the chair she has
positioned in the middle of the room that she intends to stand on to hang <span
class=GramE>herself</span>, he stops, tears up, and cannot go on.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The poignancy of this moment�and its
implications for the years of confinement he is facing�is truly heart-rending;
and this description may convey a bit of the emotion that is present at the
very foundation of <b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-font-kerning:18.0pt'>This Is Not a Film</span></i></b>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Nevertheless, in good Panahi form, there is
also a great deal of upbeat emotion and humor in the film.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is a pretty amazing little piece of �<span
class=GramE>non</span>�-filmmaking, and even the fact that Panahi begins using
his iPhone to photograph <span class=SpellE><b>Mirtahmasb</b></span><span
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> photographing him actually works quite
effectively.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Of course, beyond the
filmmaking, there is the fact that this is an act of courage and principle, so
characteristic of Panahi (and part of what got him into trouble in the first
place)�but also so typical of his entire circle of filmmaker Iranian friends,
all of whom risk such dangers with every film they make.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>In the final credits, Panahi thanks certain
individuals in that community; but the people he thanks appear simply as blank
lines instead of actual names, in order to protect their safety.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal;mso-outline-level:3'><span class=GramE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Shame</span></i></b></span><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></span></i></b><span class=GramE> TC
"<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171728'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171381'><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Shame</span></i></b></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" </span><![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif"'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a name="_Toc307171381"></a><a
name="_Toc307171728"></a><![endif]></span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
class=GramE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>.</span></b></span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> </span></b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>(UK, 99 min., Fox <span
class=SpellE>Seachlight</span>) <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Steve
McQueen</b> has created a most unusual, interesting, and absorbing film...about
what could be a most off-putting subject�sexual addiction. The main
character, superbly played by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Michael <span
class=SpellE>Fassbender</span></b> (who certainly in this NYFF has put in a
couple of bravura performances), is a clearly bright, seemingly engaging and
successful man, who uses his professional skills to achieve business triumphs
and his potent interpersonal talents very effectively to approach and seduce
innumerable women into intense sexual contacts. While on the one hand we begin
to develop some appreciation for him and his prodigious talents (and other
endowments!), nevertheless at the very same time we are increasingly made aware
of a growing dark sense of his unattractiveness and <span class=SpellE>dysfunctionality</span>.
As the addictive aspects of his personality begin to be exposed to us, we
simultaneously begin to learn that his obsessive involvement with pornography
and masturbation reveals a side to his "interpersonal" sexuality that
is not much differentiated from it; and that prostitutes can serve just as
well�or perhaps better�than more "intimate" connections. His
sister (very effectively played by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Carrey
Mulligan</b>), their relationship, and her more blatant�but ultimately
revealingly similar�borderline pathology, create an awareness of his
dysfunction�and of the suggestively implied (but not explicitly explored)
disturbing family history. Speaking of "explicit," there is a
lot of explicit nudity and sexual activity in this film. Most
interestingly, despite all that (or because of it?) and the rather beautifully
attractive bodies revealed in it, there was, for all with whom I spoke, little
or no erotic thrill in this film. There was, for all of us, one
profoundly important exception: the one more interpersonally meaningful
sexual encounter he has, which, despite the minimal explicitness, was enormously
erotic�and revealingly different in its outcome. Ultimately, I am afraid
the film fell far short of the amazing potential it created: while it so
successfully evoked a complex, sophisticated, and deep understanding, on such a
direct, visceral level of an aspect of human activity so off-putting that we
usually decline knowledge about it, the last several minutes of the film went
in a much less sophisticated, shallower, more melodramatic direction�with
precisely the sort of obviousness absent from the rest of the film. Oh,
that it had stopped 10 or 15 minutes earlier...<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>There was a moment would have made a perfect, sophisticated ending; but,
instead, McQueen continued on past the fade out to black, to the film�s great
detriment.<br>
<br>
<span class=GramE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>The Descendants</i></b></span></span><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></span></i></b><span class=GramE> TC
"<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171729'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171382'><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The Descendants</span></i></b></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" </span><![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif"'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a name="_Toc307171382"></a><a
name="_Toc307171729"></a><![endif]></span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
class=GramE><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>.</span></span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> (</span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt'>USA, 115min. Fox <span class=SpellE>Seachlight</span>)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I had very much liked </span><span
class=MsoHyperlink><b><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:windowtext;mso-font-kerning:
18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>Alexander
Payne</span></b></span><span class=MsoHyperlink><span lang=EN style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:windowtext;mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>�s</span></span><span lang=EN
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN'> </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>wonderful
last two NYFF films (in 2002 <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>About
Schmidt</i>, and in 2004 <span class=GramE><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Sideways</i></span>),
so I was very much looking forward to this new film.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(There was also a wonderful HBO �On Cinema�
90 minute dialogue <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Payne</b> did with
the Film Society�s <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Richard Pe�a</b> the
day before [<i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>q.v.</i>, below, under
Special Events], which had heightened my anticipation)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I was sadly disappointed�and, once again, the
problem was a stupid screenplay.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The film
was beautifully filmed (DP <span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Phedon</b></span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> <span
class=SpellE>Papamichael</span></b> captured some amazingly gorgeous
landscapes�particularly of Kauai [which Nancy and I particularly enjoyed,
having been there in September 2010�even having stayed at the Princeville St.
Regis Hotel, which figures prominently in the film, and having hiked through
and flown by helicopter over some of the coastline which is of concern at the
heart of the film�s plot]; and <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Payne</b>�s
visual directorial decisions were, as always, excellent), well-acted (<b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>George Clooney</b> effectively did what he
was supposed to do to portray Matt King, a lawyer and trustee for the estate of
his family�s enormous swath of undeveloped land on Kauai, and husband of a
woman who has just ended up in a coma following a motorboat accident, and the
father of their two daughters�the angry, drug-addicted Alex [well-played by <span
class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Shailene</b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Woodley</b>], and the pre-adolescent
Scottie [also well-portrayed by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Amara
Miller</b>])�if actors playing characters that are totally ridiculous and
unbelievable can be understood to be doing a good job when they correctly
create what a stupid script calls for; and the experience is actually pretty
successfully involving (it moves one on through its action with involvement and
interest)�if one overlooks that what it is involving one in turns out in the
end to be offensive drivel.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>In case I am
being too subtle, I thought the inanity and stupidity of the screenplay ruined
this film�and, as one of the writers of it (along with <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Nat <span class=SpellE>Faxon</span></b> and <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Jim Rush</b>), <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Alexander Payne</b>
deserves a great deal of the blame.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I
have so come to expect psychological sophistication and mature nuance from <span
class=GramE>Payne,</span> I was completely shocked by the lack of it in <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The
Descendants</i></b>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(I must assume that
the <span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Kaui</b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Hart <span class=SpellE>Hemmings</span></b>
novel on which the screenplay was based also deserves a great deal of the
opprobrium I am handing out for bad writing that ruins movies.)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>So as not to reveal the details of this
ridiculous plot, I shall not specify more than to say the following:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>the character of Matt makes no coherent sense,
nor does that of his daughter Alex, nor does their relationship (aspects of
which were infuriating to me�not so much if we were going to be viewing Matt as
a hopelessly insensitive, horribly flawed mess, but inexcusable if we are asked
to go where we are asked to go about him); the screenplay keeps inserting
coincidental aspects into the plot that are beyond ridiculous and vitiate the
power of what might have been an interesting drama.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Importantly, Payne does not manage
successfully to integrate his comic elements into this emotionally charged
story as he was able to do in the two earlier films; there are quite funny
moments in this film, but they do not add to the depth of the experience as
they so sublimely do in his other films.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>The texture of this film simply is not sophisticated enough to support
the integration into it of the many diverse element of which Payne is usually
capable.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Descendants</i></b> is,
nonetheless, quite watchable�and that is a tribute to <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Payne</b> and his cast.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<h3 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span class=GramE><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif"'>Carnage</span></i></span><!--[if supportFields]><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif"'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></span></i><span
class=GramE> TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171730'><span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171383'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Carnage</span></i></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" </span><![endif]--><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc307171383"></a><a name="_Toc307171730"></a><![endif]></span></i><!--[if supportFields]><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif"'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span></i><![endif]--><span
class=GramE><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>.</span></span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> </span><span
class=GramE><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>(Opening Night.</span></span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> <span class=GramE>France/Germany/Spain/Poland,
80min.</span><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Sony Pictures Classics<span
class=GramE>) <b> </b>Based</span> on the popular Broadway play, �God of
Carnage,� this film is the story of two couples attempting to deal with the
fact that there was an interaction between their sons (seen indistinctly at the
beginning of the movie as a long shot of a group of preadolescent boys in a
park on the Brooklyn shoreline of the East River, with Lower Manhattan in the
distance) in which the one rather unexpectedly hits the other in the face with
a stick. The action essentially takes place completely in the apartment
of the "victim," and mostly in just the living room. Both
couples try hard to deal with the situation in a mature manner, but their
attempts at being civilized rapidly deteriorate. I do not think any
director deals with action in severely enclosed, limited spaces like this as
well as Roman Polanski (and I am a great fan of his directorial genius in
general); and Polanski's direction�including his decision to keep this
over-heatedly emotionally intense film under 80 minutes in length�was one of
the reasons it worked as well as it did as a film. The other reason was
the excellent acting. All four of the cast members (</span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Jodie Foster</span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> as Penelope Longstreet, the politically correct,
intellectual, uptight wife of </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif"'>John C. Reilly</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>,
as Michael Longstreet, the apparently affable, earthy hardware salesman from
Queens; and </span><span class=SpellE><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>Christoph</span></span><span
lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN'> Waltz</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>, as Alan Cowan, the cell
phone-addicted, detached, angry lawyer arranging the defense for a drug company
client, and </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Kate
<span class=SpellE>Winslet</span></span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>
as Nancy Cowan, Alan�s well-dressed but empty-headed society wife) turn in
magnificent performances. Unfortunately, this rather magnificent
combination of actors and director is fighting against a rather overwhelmingly
difficult problem: the script itself�and particularly the thought and
perspective behind it�is shallow, simplistic, and trite in what to me was a
totally offensive way and off-putting. Each character turns out to be
merely a gross, hollow stereotype�all of them empty caricatures, devoid of any
depth or personhood. The plot development is completely predictable and
meaningless. And the script's pretensions and wish to view itself as
profound were particularly painful, given the banality of its treatment of
issues and the lack of sophistication of its worldview. (The fact that so
much of it unavoidably evokes memories of �Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf,�
makes the shallowness of this piece all the more painful.) It is an
achievement that I did not have to run out of the theater screaming, but,
instead found the film somewhat entertaining. The acting was so good, and
the direction so effective, that I found myself only rarely becoming aware of
what to me were the offensively pretentious but empty underpinnings of the
story.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>From people who saw the play
(which I am sure I would have out-and-out <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>hated</i>),
I know that the film was shorter and contained more comic moments than the
play�which, apparently, took itself even more seriously and pretentiously.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Any time <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>I</i>
thought seriously about this story, it just annoyed and infuriated me.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I cannot help but believe that most of the
blame for the despicable parts of all this should be laid at the feet of </span><span
class=SpellE><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN'>Yasmina</span></span><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'> Reza</span><span
lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>, </span><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>the author of the play and�along with Polanski (who
I assume at least shortened, tightened, and made the mess a bit lighter)�wrote
the screenplay.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I am afraid she is
another of the group of writers whom I hold responsible for the downside of
many of the films in this NYFF. Nevertheless, I did not think that </span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif"'>Carnage</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>
was a totally bad choice for an Opening Night film for the Festival: it
was short (a big plus for an evening that has a major Black Tie party following
a 9 PM screening); it was involving and entertaining; it was a somewhat worthy
piece of filmmaking, albeit not a good film (and I could not help but think it
must have been a <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>dreadful</i> piece of
theater�at least, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>I</i> am extremely
quite happy I had not seen the play); and it certainly had folks talking
energetically about it at the party. It is in no way a good movie, but it
may be a movie that is marginally worth seeing for the aforementioned reasons.</span><span
lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Of course, there are innumerable Polanski
films I�d suggest you see first�everything from his unbelievably powerful 1962 <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Knife in the Water</i>, through the 1968 <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Rosemary�s Baby</i>, to his great 1974 <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Chinatown</i>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(I suppose it is only fair that I should also
remind you that he has made an awful lot of <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>bad</i>
movies, as well�)<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal;mso-outline-level:1'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<h1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN'>Goodbye First Love</span></i><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal'> (</span></i><span class=GramE><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>Un</span></i></span><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'> amour de <span
class=SpellE>jeunesse</span>)</span></i><!--[if supportFields]><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'><span style='mso-element:
field-begin'></span></span></i><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'> </span>TC
"<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171731'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171384'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>Goodbye First Love</span></i></span></span><span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171731'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171384'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal'> (</span></i></span></span><span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171731'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171384'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>Un amour de jeunesse)</span></i></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" <![endif]--><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a name="_Toc307171384"></a><a
name="_Toc307171731"></a><![endif]></span></i><!--[if supportFields]><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'><span style='mso-element:
field-end'></span></span></i><![endif]--><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span></span><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>(</span><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal'>France/Germany,
French with English subtitles, 110 min.</span><span lang=EN style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Sundance
Selects)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�� </span><span class=GramE>This</span>
film by 30 year old writer-director </span><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>Mia Hansen-<span
class=SpellE>L�ve</span></span><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> is about adolescent infatuation and the general
agony and the ecstasy of adolescence.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>We
are introduced to 15 year old Camille (beautifully portrayed by </span><span
lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN'>Lola <span class=SpellE>Cr�ton</span></span><span lang=EN style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>) and her teenaged paramour Sullivan (who is played
in an appropriately annoying fashion by</span><span lang=EN style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'> Sebastian <span
class=SpellE>Urzendowsky</span></span><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>We are
somewhat effectively drawn in to a feeling of support for their relationship,
in part by the successfully erotic, beautiful early scenes of it in the
beginning of the film.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Early on there is
some supportable tension created between Sullivan�s seemingly reasonable
decision to take a trip with his two buddies through South America and
Camille�s wish for him to stay with her and not to abandon her or their
relationship.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Right from the start,
however, there is also some sense that Camille is just clinging to her immature
infatuation in a needy and unhealthy way�and this sense steadily increases
throughout the course of the film; nevertheless, her lack of reasonableness and
maturity quickly is outpaced by the viewer�s growing awareness that Sullivan is
not at all worthy of her attachment to him.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>Camille is devastated, and years have to pass before she takes up an
independent existence.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Eventually she
becomes an architect and begins a relationship with the head of her firm (</span><span
class=SpellE><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN'>Magne-H�vard</span></span><span lang=EN style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'> <span
class=SpellE>Brekke</span></span><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>)�a relationship that began while he was still her
teacher (so, not <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>such</i> an independent
existence).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�� </span>It is a well-directed film,
involving and beautiful.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The perspective
of the film, unfortunately, is <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>itself</i>
too adolescent and immature to support the film as a totally serious work.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Camille�s incredibly adolescent inability
fully to free herself from her immature attachment in the face of unending
evidence that she has no reasonable choice but to do so is annoying enough; but
</span><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN'>Hansen-<span class=SpellE>L�ve<span style='font-weight:
normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>�s</span></span></span><span lang=EN
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> literally needing to have
Camille tell us that she thinks she needs to experience things twice before
they are real to her was just beyond bearable to me.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is not a bad movie.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Perhaps I can best sum up my feelings though
with the comment I made to Nancy as the credits were rolling:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>�Some of this film is truly wonderful, and
this director is incredibly talented�and one day she may even grow up.�<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:
18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN'>Martha Marcy May Marlene</span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></span></i></b><span
lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'> </span>TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:
_Toc307171732'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171385'><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:
18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN'>Martha Marcy May Marlene</span></i></b></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;
mso-ansi-language:EN'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a name="_Toc307171385"></a><a
name="_Toc307171732"></a><![endif]></span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>��</span>(USA, 101 min.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Fox Searchlight)<b><span style='mso-font-kerning:
18.0pt'><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span></span></b><span
style='mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>When, in the
introduction </span><span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>to this film, it
was noted that it was a continuation and expansion of <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Mary Last Seen</i>, a short film that <b>Sean Durkin</b> (the writer
and director of this full-length film) had screened at an earlier NYFF, my
heart sank, as I had not yet connected <b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='mso-font-kerning:18.0pt'>Martha Marcy May Marlene</span></i></b> with
that short, which we had <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>not</i> liked,
in which a young woman is essentially kidnapped and taken to a farm in upstate
New York where she finds herself with a group of other similarly held young
women.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><span style='mso-font-kerning:18.0pt'>Martha Marcy May Marlene</span></i></b>
is </span>about a young woman Martha (<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Elizabeth
Olsen</b>) who escapes from a farm compound and is taken to live with her older
sister, Lucy (<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Sarah Paulson</b>), a New
Yorker at the Connecticut country house she shares with her husband, Ted (<b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Hugh <span class=SpellE>Dancy</span></b>).<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>What ensues is a rather naively conceived
comparison between the obviously mind-numbing, claustrophobic repressiveness of
life in the cult and the more covert version of the same repressiveness in the
bourgeois lifestyle of Martha�s sister.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>There is a somewhat successful temporal back and forth in the flashback
revelations of the terrible truth of what Martha�s years in this cult actually
were like, as Martha herself seems to be recovering her memories about the
experience as she moves farther from them�and this parallels the slow
revelation of the shortcomings of Lucy�s life.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='mso-font-kerning:
18.0pt'>Martha Marcy May Marlene</span></i></b> is relatively well done:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>it is beautifully filmed (by cinematographer <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Jody Lee <span class=SpellE>Lipes</span></b>),
<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Durkin</b> is quite successful in
creating and maintaining an involving tension that works on the story level as
well as the overall level of visual flow, and in general it was a far better
film than I feared when I learned it was by the same person who had done that
short film.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>But, as many films in this
year�s NYDD, it suffers from an essentially bad script:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>the ideas behind it are poorly conceived and
immature, there are aspects that simply are not credible, and too much of the
underlying thinking it reflects is annoyingly na�ve.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal;mso-outline-level:1'><b><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:EN'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal;mso-outline-level:1'><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN'>George
Harrison: Living in the Material World</span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></span></i></b><span
lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'> </span>TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:
_Toc307171733'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171386'><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:
EN'>George Harrison: Living in the Material World</span></i></b></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc307171386"></a><a name="_Toc307171733"></a><![endif]></span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span></i></b><![endif]--><b><span
lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:
"Times New Roman";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN'>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(</span></b><strong><span lang=EN
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN;font-weight:normal'>USA</span></strong><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>, <strong><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal'>208 Min.</span></strong>
HBO Documentary Films)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Martin Scorsese</b>�s epic documentary on <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>George Harrison</b> has some very
interesting archival footage of the Beatles�and, I suppose that if I were a
rabid Beatles fan, that might have sufficed; and, to be sure, if one were madly
enthralled with Harrison himself, 3� hours about his life might be
irresistible�but I am not.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Scorsese�s
film is extremely well-done, but I was painfully bored through most of it.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Most of all, I was uninterested in hearing
Harrison�s rather pedestrian version of Eastern thought:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I was not impressed by his foray into
mysticism back when it was happening, and I am no more impressed with it
now.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(Harrison�s journey into Indian
music, on the other hand, was quite interesting�as is the opportunity to listen
once again to the likes of <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Ravi Shankar</b>.)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Just because someone is a talented musician
(or a talented visual artist), I do not automatically assume that he will be
verbally talented; and often it simply is not the case that an artist�s
intellectual profoundness is proportionate to his other skills.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>As Keith Jarrett once told me he replied to
an interviewer asking him to explain something in his music, �If I could
explain it, I wouldn�t need to play it.�<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>And, to my mind, Harrison�while a good guitar player�was simply a
shallow thinker.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>He also in my opinion
was not much of a song writer�with the notable exception of �Something,� which
is extraordinary in ways none of his other songs even approach.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>But most objectionable was having to listen
to the extensive �philosophical� ramblings of his ex-wife (<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Patti Boyd</b>) or the even more extensive gibberish from his widow (<b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Olivia Harrison</b>, who has an
unforgivably large role in this film, I suppose because she was a co-producer
of it).<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>In the penultimate half hour of
this cinematographic marathon, we get to see something of his interaction with
the <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Monty Python</b> people, and this
does two things in the film:<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>first, the
wit and vitality of verbal geniuses like <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>John
Cleese</b>, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Eric Idle</b>, and <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Terry Gilliam</b> showed how empty and
lifeless all the film�s other verbal outpourings had been; and, second, it made
me aware of what I now consider to be George Harrison�s greatest contribution
to culture�his personally financing the production of <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>The Life of Brian</i>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(I knew
Harrison had been friends with Eric Idle and close to the Pythons in general at
one point; but the film tells a story I did not know:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>when the CEO of the studio producing the film
finally read the script, he was so unhappy with how �blasphemous� it was, that
he entirely pulled the funding for it, and Harrison stepped up and provided the
rather considerable sum of money necessary.)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>��
</span>So, if you�re an obsessed Harrison fan, I suppose this is the perfect
experience for you.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>For me, it was
mostly torture.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal;mso-outline-level:1'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span class=GramE><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN'>The Artist</span></i></b></span><!--[if supportFields]><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></span></i></b><span
class=GramE><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'> </span>TC "<span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171734'><span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171387'><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN'>The Artist</span></i></b></span></span>"
\f C \l "1" </span><![endif]--><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;
mso-ansi-language:EN'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a name="_Toc307171387"></a><a
name="_Toc307171734"></a><![endif]></span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
class=GramE><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:
18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>.</span></span><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;
mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span class=GramE>(<span style='mso-font-kerning:
0pt'>France, 98min.</span></span></span><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span></span><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN'>Weinstein Company<span style='mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>To be fair,
I might have found this film less problematic had we had not earlier in the
NYFF seen Chaplin�s 1925 silent masterpiece, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>The Gold Rush</i>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>In <b><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>The Artist</i></b>, </span><b>Michel <span
class=SpellE>Hazanavicius</span></b><span style='mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> has created a 21<sup>st</sup> Century silent film,
in black and white, ostensibly in the style of the 20s, and I suppose that is
an ambitious and noble undertaking.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It
tells the story of</span> a dashing silent film male lead (<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Jean <span class=SpellE>Dujardin</span></b>, who, while fairly good,
for reasons I cannot understand won the best actor prize in Cannes) whose
career is about to fall apart with the advent of talkies, and his<span
style='mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> </span>relationship
with a young starlet (<span class=SpellE><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Berenice</b></span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> <span class=SpellE>Bejo</span></b>, who
actually is quite good), who, surprise, surprise, is going to have a meteoric
rise in the new medium.<span style='mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold'><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><b><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>The Artist</i></b> even worked for a little while:<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>the first portion of the film is reasonably
successful and entertaining; but </span><span class=SpellE><b>Hazanavicius</b></span><span
style='mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> simply does not have
the skill or talent to pull this undertaking off, and the film quickly becomes
pedestrian and quite dull�dragging on interminably, and feeling <i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>unbearably</i> longer than its 98 minute
length.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>If one did not know what was
possible in silent filmmaking, one might have considered this an excusable
limitation of the genre; but it is simply not true�totally engaging, deep,
extraordinary works like Chaplin�s powerfully make that point.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>So, in the end, this being a silent film
turns out merely to be a gimmick, and the underlying weakness of the film�and
of the filmmaker�is painfully apparent.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>(There <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>were</i> those who seemed
thoroughly to like this film, but I am willing to wager it is because they do
not know what real silent filmmaking can be.)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>There are two moments�one of them even quite successful�when </span><span
class=SpellE><b>Hazanavicius</b></span><span style='mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> plays on the fact that this is a silent film by
briefly having sound <span class=GramE>intrude</span>.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Nevertheless, even this is pretty
unimpressive if compared to the all-too-similar�and far more profoundly
wonderful�moment created by Mel Brooks in his <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>Silent Movie</i>, wherein the only sound in the entire film is a single
word�uttered so wonderfully paradoxically by the world renowned French mime,
Marcel Marceau.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>This whole film is a
gimmick, not a real adventure in silent filmmaking.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>And, without falling for the gimmickry, it is
an unforgivably mediocre experience.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>There should be a current distribution for <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'>The Gold Rush</i> instead, and the world could get to see authentic
silent film magic.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span lang=EN style='font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN;mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;tab-stops:2.05in'><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><u><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Special
Events:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<h1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN'>Patience (After Sebald)</span></i><!--[if supportFields]><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'><span style='mso-element:
field-begin'></span></span></i><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:EN'> </span>TC
"<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171735'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN'>Patience (After Sebald)</span></i></span>" \f C \l
"1" <![endif]--><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a name="_Toc307171735"></a><![endif]></span></i><!--[if supportFields]><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'><span style='mso-element:
field-end'></span></span></i><![endif]--><strong><span lang=EN
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>��</span>(UK</span></strong><span lang=EN
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN'>, </span><strong><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>82m)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�� </span>I love </span></strong><strong><span
lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN'>W.G. Sebald</span></strong><strong><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>�s 2002 novel, <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Austerlitz</i>,
and so I was intent upon seeing this documentary about Sebald and another of
his novels.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Nevertheless, given the
ethereal, highly intellectual, intensely verbal, esoterically textural nature
of Sebald�s prose, I was more than uneasy about what to expect from </span></strong><strong><span
lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN'>Grant Gee</span></strong><strong><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>�s film.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>But
we were pleasantly surprised at how wonderful this little gem was!<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It was billed as, �</span></strong><span
lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>a journey through the coastal
Suffolk landscapes described in Sebald�s <em><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The
Rings of Saturn</span></em><em><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:italic'>.�<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I have not read that novel, but I learned
from the film that it begins with an author completing his exhausting work on
his latest book and deciding to take a relaxing and carefree fun holiday on the
English coast�and that the journey that ensues is neither carefree nor
restorative nor fun.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Instead, the
narrator becomes increasing depressed while visiting the sights in a series of
walks through Suffolk.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The grainy, black
and white cinematography seems rather perfectly to capture the world-weariness
Sebald�s character experiences in the book�and the quality of the mood of
Sebald�s prose in general.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The images
themselves seem hauntingly beautiful, while somehow at the same time
dreary.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Interspersed with the landscapes
are interviews with artists, philosophers, critics, and even Sebald�s
publisher.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Some of those interviewed
actually have themselves attempted to retrace Sebald�s journey in </span></em><em><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The Rings of Saturn</span></em><em><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:
italic'>; and, In general, they had all discovered that the actual beauty of
the sites themselves prohibited them from recreating the dark emotional mood
Sebald was describing; but this dissonance between the<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>actual experience of the bright beauty of the
sights and the mood evoked in Sebald�s literary presentation of them was central
to the essential meaning of novel, and characteristic of the experiential
texture Sebald�s prose in general.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I
find myself completely agreeing with the Film Society�s </span></em></span><em><span
lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN;font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:italic'>Richard Pe�a</span></em><em><span
lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:
italic'>: �</span></em><em><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:
italic'>It�s a very creative way to make a film about a book and about an author.
It�s neither an adaptation of the book, nor a didactic presentation of that
book, but an aesthetic response in which the director tries to find a cinematic
form that in a certain way approaches the suppleness of form that Sebald had in
his book.�<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span></span></em><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:
normal'><span lang=EN style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN'>Patience (After Sebald)</span></i><em><span lang=EN
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:
italic'> </span></em><em><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:
italic'>is indeed a thoughtful, beautiful, and entertaining response to Sebald
and his work.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Even if you have never
read anything by this marvelous author, you will enjoy this film, and you will
emerge from seeing it with some knowledge about Sebald (who, BTW and FYI, was a
German who spent most of his creative life in England, living in Suffolk, and
who died in 2001), some knowledge about </span></em><em><span lang=EN
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:
EN;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>The Rings of Saturn</span></em><em><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:italic'>, some
sense of the Suffolk coast, and, most of all, a reasonable approximation of
what Sebald�s writing feels like.</span></em><em><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:
italic'><o:p></o:p></span></em></h1>
<h1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><em><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold;
font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:italic'><o:p> </o:p></span></em></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:
normal;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none'><em><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:italic'>20 Years
of Art Cinema: A Tribute to Sony Pictures Classics</span></b></em><!--[if supportFields]><em><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:
italic'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></span></b></em> TC "<span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171736'><em><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;
font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:italic'>20 Years of Art Cinema: A Tribute
to Sony Pictures Classics</span></b></em></span>" \f C \l "1" <![endif]--><em><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:
italic'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a name="_Toc307171736"></a><![endif]></span></b></em><!--[if supportFields]><em><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:
italic'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span></b></em><![endif]--><em><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;font-style:
normal;mso-bidi-font-style:italic'>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>Sony Pictures Classics has been the source of </span></em><em><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt'>so</span></em><em><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;font-style:
normal;mso-bidi-font-style:italic'> many films in the NYFF (and I believe five
in this year�s festival). And it has been so essential to the whole genre of
�art cinema,� the Film Society chose this year to honor the founders of SPC, <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Michael Barker</b> and <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Tom Bernard</b>, their company, and the films they have made
possible.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Twenty years ago, Michael and
Tom left Orion Pictures to start SPC, and they have distributed and produced an
unending stream of wonderful and successful independent and foreign-language
films.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Before the presentation (which
took place in the <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Beale Theater</b> in
the <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Bu</b> (what the industry seemed to
be calling the new <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Film Center</b>�which
we had been calling the <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Ellie</b>),
there was a wonderful series of photographs projected (mostly take by Tom
Barker himself) which was like a montage of all the people who figured in the
history of the NYFF.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It was followed by
an incredible reel of clips from the huge number of films SPC has presented at
the NYFF over the years.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The heart of
the program was a discussion conducted by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Richard</b>
<b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Pe�a</b> with <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Michael</b> and <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Tom</b>�joined at
the end by their third partner, <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Marcy
Bloom</b>.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It included many insights
into the development of �art cinema� and how the nature and finances of the
industry have changed�from the days of the isolated art houses, through the
rise and fall of the prominence of college film societies, to the advent of
huge theater chains, and on into the current chaotic day in this arena.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Following the talk, there was a screening of
SPC�s inaugural release:</span></em><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN'> <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span lang=EN>James
Ivory</span></b><span lang=EN>�s 1992<em><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:italic'> </span></em></span></span><em><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-font-kerning:18.0pt'>Howards End</span></b></em><em><span style='font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt'>, </span></em><em><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;font-style:
normal;mso-bidi-font-style:italic'>which</span></em><em><span style='font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt'> </span></em><em><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-font-kerning:18.0pt;font-style:
normal;mso-bidi-font-style:italic'>grossed more than $25 million at the U.S.
box office and earned nine Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.<o:p></o:p></span></em></p>
<h1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><em><span lang=EN
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:
bold;font-style:normal;mso-bidi-font-style:italic'><o:p> </o:p></span></em></h1>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span class=GramE><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The Royal <span class=SpellE>Tanenbaums</span></span></i></b></span><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></span></i></b><span
class=GramE> TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171737'><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The Royal Tanenbaums</span></i></b></span>"
\f C \l "1" </span><![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc307171737"></a><![endif]></span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
class=GramE><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>.</span></span><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span><span class=GramE>(2001, <strong><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal'>USA</span></strong><span lang=EN
style='mso-ansi-language:EN'>, <strong><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
font-weight:normal'>110 min.)</span></strong></span></span></span><strong><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;
font-weight:normal'><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�� </span>I love this film,
in large part for how much sheer enjoyment it brings me every time I watch it,
which I have done innumerable times through the years since I first saw it in
the 2001 NYFF.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Here is my review from
when I first saw it:</span></strong><strong><span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><o:p></o:p></span></strong></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><strong><span lang=EN
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal'><o:p> </o:p></span></strong></p>
<p style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt'><strong><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal'>T</span></strong><strong><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>his new film by </span></strong><strong><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>Wes
Anderson</span></strong><strong><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> (</span></strong><strong><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>Bottle
Rocket</span></strong><strong><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> and </span></strong><strong><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>Rushmore</span></strong><strong><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>) had its <span class=SpellE>premier</span>
at the NYFF, and it was the festival's hottest ticket. If you are one of those
people who didn't get </span></strong><strong><span lang=EN style='font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>Rushmore</span></strong><strong><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>, you may not like this film
either (although its star-studded cast�</span></strong><strong><span lang=EN
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>Gene Hackman</span></strong><strong><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>, </span></strong><strong><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>Angelica
Huston</span></strong><strong><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>, </span></strong><strong><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>Danny
Glover</span></strong><strong><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>, </span></strong><strong><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>Ben
Stiller</span></strong><strong><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>, and </span></strong><strong><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>Gwyneth <span
class=SpellE>Paltrow</span></span></strong><strong><span lang=EN
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>, in addition to Wes Anderson regulars </span></strong><strong><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>Bill
Murray</span></strong><strong><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>, and </span></strong><strong><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>Luke and
Owen Wilson</span></strong><strong><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'> [the latter
being the co-author with Anderson]�give such terrific performances that you may
like it anyway. If, like us, you LOVED </span></strong><strong><span lang=EN
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>Rushmore</span></strong><strong><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>, you are going to go wild over
this madcap romp through </span></strong><strong><span lang=EN
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>Wes Anderson</span></strong><strong><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;
font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>'s incredible imagination. If you
haven't seen </span></strong><strong><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN'>Rushmore</span></strong><strong><span lang=EN
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal;
mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>, for God's sake, go out and rent it! (It is easier
than explaining what Wes Anderson is about. The FF describes it as, "[a
mingling of] romance, tragedy, social observation, and unforgettable characters
in this dense but buoyant film about a family of eccentric geniuses living in a
parallel New York (where Helvetia is the only typeface and all cabs are
Gypsies)."</span></strong><strong><span lang=EN style='mso-ansi-language:
EN;font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></strong></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><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'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The
Exterminating Angel (El <span class=SpellE>�ngel</span> <span class=SpellE>exterminador</span>)</span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></span></i></b>
TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171738'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The
Exterminating Angel (El �ngel exterminador)</span></i></b></span>" \f C \l
"1" <![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc307171738"></a><![endif]></span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>. </span><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>(</span><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN'>1962<span class=GramE>,<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span><strong><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal'>Mexico</span></strong></span>,
<strong><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal'>Spanish
with English subtitles</span></strong>, <strong><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
font-weight:normal'>94 min.)</span></strong><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>��
</span>We knew we could not see the screening of this 1962 masterpiece by <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Luis Bu�uel</b>, so we rented it from
Netflix and watched it before the NYFF started.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>What an amazing, disturbing, and completely wonderful surreal piece of
filmmaking!<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Go rent it.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(Meanwhile, one of the times I got to chat
with Pedro Almod�var at the NYFF [he was around quite a bit, seeing a number of
films other than his own], he told Michael Barker and me that we needed to see <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Bu�uel�</b>s film <span class=SpellE><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>�l</b></span>, which neither of us had ever
seen.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I for one have just purchased a
copy [it is not available on Netflix, unfortunately] and intend to watch it my
first free moment.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Who am I to ignore a
suggestion from Pedro?!)<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Here is the
Film Society note about </span><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The</span></i></b><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'> </span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Exterminating Angel</span></i></b><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>:</span><strong><span lang=EN
style='mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></strong></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><strong><span lang=EN
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal'><o:p> </o:p></span></strong></p>
<p style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN'>In anticipation of the New York Film Festival�s historic
50th edition in the fall of 2012, the Film Society is proud to inaugurate a year-long
retrospective of highlights from the <span class=GramE>festival�s</span> past
49 editions, curated by current and former members of the NYFF selection
committee. We begin with the opening night film of the very first NYFF, Luis
Bu�uel�s <em><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The Exterminating
Angel</span></em>, described by festival director Richard <span class=SpellE>Roud</span>
thusly: �For ninety hypnotic minutes Bu�uel shatters all conventional notions
of social logic and ethics. Never before has he been able to give such free
reign to his vitality, wit and iconoclasm, his power to surprise and shock.
Bu�uel has been a great name in world cinema for over thirty years now, and we
are proud to open the first New York Film Festival with his most remarkable
film.�</span></p>
<p style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN'>Luis Bu�uel wrote and directed this 1962 classic, set in
Mexico and starring the popular Mexican actress Silvia Pinal. </span><i><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The Exterminating Angel</span></i><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'> is
unique as it offers characters taking actions which are never explained. You
know something is off when service <span class=GramE>staff for an upscale
dinner party decide</span> to abandon their duties without telling anyone. They
rush out as if to say: �I do not want to be here tonight.� Later, we see a
group of apparently well-to-do folks who decide not to leave after their meal.
Maybe they were too lazy, maybe they couldn't be bothered. In any case, we
witness these guests slowly descend into inexplicable savagery�or </span><i><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>is</span></i><span lang=EN
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'> it inexplicable?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span lang=EN style='font-family:
"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><u><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Masterworks:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><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'><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The Gold Rush</span></i></b></span><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></span></i></b><span
class=GramE> TC "<span style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171739'><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The Gold Rush</span></i></b></span>"
\f C \l "1" </span><![endif]--><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc307171739"></a><![endif]></span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span></i></b><![endif]--><span
class=GramE><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>.</span></span><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�
</span>(1925, </span><strong><span lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal'>USA</span></strong><span lang=EN
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>, <strong><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal'>Silent</span></strong><span
class=GramE>,<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><strong><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal'>90m</span></strong></span><strong><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal'>)<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>This film should be declared a national
heritage site!<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is certainly a
national treasure. <span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>�</span>Our screening of it
was introduced by the Film Society�s founder </span></strong><strong><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Martin
Siegel</span></strong><strong><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
font-weight:normal'> and </span></strong><strong><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>David Rockefeller</span></strong><strong><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal'>, both of whom
having been instrumental and bringing Chaplin back to the U.S. after his long
exile abroad.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>And it was screened in a
restored print of the original 1925 silent version (there was a 1941 version
redone with sound, but Chaplin never approved of it) with a live orchestra
(fifteen members of the </span></strong><strong><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>New York Philharmonic</span></strong><strong><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";font-weight:normal'>), conducted by</span></strong><strong><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Timothy
Brock</span></strong><strong><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
font-weight:normal'>, who was responsible for composing the new restoration of
the film�s score.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It was a thrill for
every single member of the audience, including the children of all ages who
were in attendance.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>We were sitting near
two 8 year old girls who were literally quivering with joy and excitement
throughout the whole film�and I was virtually doing the same.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>Chaplin�s genius is completely apparent in
this masterpiece: while it is hilariously funny on every level of humor from
the slapstick to the sublime, it is also deeply moving and emotional.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>The idea that so much depth and complexity
could be conveyed by physical gesture is staggering.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>But it is also a perfect cinematographic
experience, entrancing and entertaining us while it totally involves us in its
story, touching every one of our heartstrings along the way.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I could have sat and watched it again right
there�and I am sad that it may be a long time before I again have the pleasure
of seeing it on the big screen.</span></strong></span><strong><span lang=EN
style='mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></strong></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><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'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>You
Are Not I</span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></span></i></b> TC "<span
style='mso-bookmark:_Toc307171740'><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>You
Are Not I</span></i></b></span>" \f C \l "1" <![endif]--><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><![if !supportNestedAnchors]><a
name="_Toc307171740"></a><![endif]></span></i></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><span style='mso-element:field-end'></span></span></i></b><![endif]--><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>.</span></b><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> (1981, </span><strong><span
lang=EN style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;
font-weight:normal'>USA</span></strong><span class=GramE><span lang=EN
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN'>,<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span><strong><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
font-weight:normal'>48min</span></strong></span></span><strong><span lang=EN
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-ansi-language:EN;font-weight:normal'>.</span></strong><span
style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>) This 1981 short film by <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Sara Driver</b>, based on a short story by <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Paul Bowles</b>, was definitely the biggest
positive surprise for us at this year's NYFF. It was not part of the Main
Slate, and we mainly decided to see it because we had known that <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Jim Jarmusch</b> had been the DP for the film.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>(It turns out that <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Jim</b> also co-wrote the screenplay with <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'>Sara</b>; and <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Tom <span
class=SpellE>DiCillo</span></b> was part of the camera crew�<i
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>and</i> <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Nan
<span class=SpellE>Goldin</span></b> did the still photography for the film!)
There was also an odd backstory to this screening: since 1982, there
basically has been <i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>no</i> print available
of this early project by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Driver</b>
(save one, virtually unwatchable, deteriorating print she herself had); a year
or so ago, a print was found in an unmarked cardboard box in the collection of <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Paul Bowles</b>--in Tangiers; and, beyond
all reasonable hope, it was in excellent condition. <span class=GramE>The
film</span> itself is a starkly shot black and white journey--more
internal than external--with Ethel (played with minimalist, but
incredibly intense emotional flatness by <b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Suzanne
Fletcher</b> [who, along with Sara Driver and Jim Jarmusch, was present for
this screening]), an inpatient from some sort of psychiatric facility who has
wandered off the grounds and is exploring the scene of a nearby
automobile accident. As we watch Ethel "relating" to the
several corpses, we listen to the monotone recitation of the thoughts she is
having as she idiosyncratically reacts to and interprets what is <span
class=GramE>going on</span> around her. She makes it as far as her
childhood home, where her sister is living. <span class=GramE>and</span> where
there is a quite wonderfully odd denouement which occurs. While the piece
is somewhat roughly done (Driver was in her early twenties when she made it), <b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><i style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>You
Are Not I</i></b> is eerily effective and profoundly successful.<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>I don�t know whether there will be an occasion
when you will be able to see this one, but do so if the opportunity presents
itself.<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>� </span>It is a treat.</span><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p align=center style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center'><span
style='mso-no-proof:yes'><img border=0 width=573 height=6 id="_x0000_i1025"
src=line1.gif
alt="Description: C:\Users\rick\Documents\T\Dead Parrot\RCN\line1.gif"></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align=center style='margin-top:3.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center'><a
href="http://www.rlrubens.com/nyff.html"><i>Return to NYFF Reviews main page. </i></a><o:p></o:p></p>
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