Ahoy, squirts! Quint here! There's almost nothing more beautiful in this world than Rav when he finds an obscure foreign and/or indie flick that he wished he could marry. I think he's considering hijacking an airplane with enough fuel to make it to France for this fest, he loves movies so much. At least he's got his beloved multi-region DVD player to help him find some gems, like the flicks he mentions below. THE KING and ROOM are two Texas made flicks, so gotta give my support to those folks. Anyway, if you're going to Cannes take a look below and let Rav's enthusiasm run all over you! If not, you can still read below and wish you were going! Enjoy!
Last week I claimed I would have reviews of three palm beach movies I had yet to watch on screeners by last wednesday. I guess I fucking lied, I still haven't watched them yet. Not that I haven't watched any movies, it's just sort of distancing myself from the fest and watching them with a fresh mind or something like that.... Actually, I'm just procrastinating. oops. Maybe I'll have those next wednesday. Though, today I have this Cannes preview of sorts. Not that I'm going or anything, but I envy every one of you bastards going this year and I?ve seen a couple of films playing in the sidebars there, both very much worth noting.
The first film, I haven't exactly seen, but knowing a bit about it locally and from the screenplay itself, I feel the need to point it out here. The film is James Marsh and Milo Addica's The King, it's playing in "Un Certain Regard". If this film has been pulled off as marvelously as some have told me it is, then it could very well be the hit of this years festival. The King's about a kid (Gael Garcia Bernal) who gets out of the navy and goes to Corpus Christi to seek out his father (William Hurt), who he has never known. I know that plot-line sounds very sorta sappy and melodramatic, but as written by Addica (Monster's Ball) and Marsh (Wisconsin Death Trip) it retains the dark atmospheric tones of their previous works and surely will be shot with the same beautiful harsh bleak photography of Wisconsin. I think this film could be very much worth going out of your way to see, it's destined to be picked up and pushed for awards season later this fall, and just might be Gael's chance at an actor nod. It also stars Pell James who is in the Jarmusch film as well for those actor-festival-double-feature planners.
The next film I saw earlier this week at a local fundraiser the director held here in austin in order to raise the funds for the filmmakers to travel to Cannes, it's Kyle Henry's Room. Sometimes these local cast/crew filled screenings can turn into pretty frightening events if you don?t like the movie, it's sort of akin to being at a junior-high play, surrounded by the parents of all the actors. Their faces around you make you feel like you are a critical shit-head if you don't like it, and god damn you for judging it like a real movie. The line "They are just kids, cut em some slack" runs through your head like mad, but that doesn?t keep you awake or stop you from praying for it to end. That?s the way it normally is.
Thank god none of that really applied to last sunday's screening of Room at the alamo south lamar. This film originally caught my eye while compiling a sundance preview article late night at quint's house for two reasons: Reason a. being it was a film shot in houston that was getting noticed, which is a very rare thing for a film worth-a-shit to come out of houston, Reason b. was that Michael Stipe had signed on as executive producer of the project, and he has pretty good taste being that he was the first one to cinematically realize Charlie Kaufman's talent as well as being responsible for getting other challenging indie fare like Saved! and Tom Gilroy's Spring Forward produced. Honestly I had read no prior review from sundance, couldn't recall the plot, generally I had no idea what I was getting into. I was just crossing my fingers and hoping my $12 was well spent.
Room follows a middle-aged woman named Julia, she's stuck in a dead-end job working at a bingo parlor for an asshole boss. She's stressed with work and having trouble affording christmas presents for her daughter and husband whom she supports. Through all of her work problems she is experiencing a rash of migraine headaches, she doesn't see a doctor and then the headaches accelerate into short-blackouts where she see's a vision of a large, dirty, warehouse like room. One day she has one of these black-outs while driving and it causes a car accident, it changes her forever, she begins to have a new mission in her life, to find the meaning of the visions by searching for the room in them.
It's a very worth-while promising narrative debut from Mr. Henry, but it's not without its problems, though fortunately enough what I perceive as "problems" may be what others love about it, and very much intended. The film follows Julia through her journey lost through her own madness, and while she was lost as a viewer I felt slightly too. At times being lost in the film felt like very effective filmmaking, but at others it felt slightly dull. As well the film has a very open-ended conclusion that is slightly grating and unfulfilling, while leaving you stunned by the journey, this might cause a moment of self-reflection or make you throw your empty soda container at the screen. I'm sure many others will get into it more than I did. I felt it slightly similar to the schizophrenic indie Revolution #9, except I feel it was a bit more gripping in that film.
I know it probably seemed like I was a kind of hard on it there, but I really still recommend this film. The sound design elevates this film into something really amazing during Julia black-outs, it's very capable of transporting the viewer into this mental state she's in, whoever did the sound for this is going to get in oscar in ten years time. As well the bleak videography, while depressing the hell out of you creates a moody atmosphere that is very much worth the experience alone. And lastly Cyndi Williams does a bang-up job as Julia. If you are in Cannes check it out next week, it's screening in Director's Fortnight, hopefully somebody'll pick it up domestically.
Next up is a film I'm head-over-heels in love with after watching it a couple nights ago, I've actually watched it like three times now and I've had it only around a week. This film is called The President's Last Bang, with that title it could have been anything from soft-core porn to a monica lewinsky documentary. It's got kinda wacky title-art too, here's the website so you can see for yourself, with the title and poster I was sure I was about to watch some stupid wacky action buddy comedy you know something where Chris Tucker squeals "Kracker Ass Whitey" while break-dancing with his 9mm hanging off his palm. Fortunately it's a subtle dry black comedy/satire/historical drama profiling the real assassination of Korean president Park Chun-hee, who ruled South Korea with almost dictatorial power from 1961-1979, well at least thats what the opening sub-titles tell me.
The film is set in a 24 hour period, starting early the day of the assassination leading all the way to the frenzied hours post-assassination. Stupendously awkward is the phrase I think best describes the tone and intent of this movie, it's paced like a political thriller and if you weren't paying attention you just might walk out feeling that you just saw a damn good. The film is seriously executed, but there's a bit of dry, satirical wit that is hysterical and very much present for the entire film. Imagine a slightly toned-down peter-sellers-less Dr. Strangelove and you'll sort of an idea of what you are in store for in The President's Last Bang. It's almost like a exceptionally produced subtle black comic remake of JFK, except of a foreign leader that ignorant people like me know nothing about.
Every lead of the film is dead-on perfect casting, it's a very much an ensemble of the best of Korean talents today, with leads veterans of such Korean hits like Memories of Murder and Save the Green Planet. As well it is eloquently shot by the cinematographer of Resurrection of the Little Match Girl, with a serene score that masterfully aids the dramatic intensity of post-assassination sequences of the film. This is a perfectly made film from director Im Sang-Soo (A Good Lawyer's Wife) and the producer of My Sassy Girl. It's a film with exceptional ensemble character work, it's juggling perhaps 8 different lead characters, but everyone has moments where you feel for them and are able to identify with them. There's subtle funny moments, wacky moments, brutal moments that are more intense than most action thrillers today, a group of beautiful korean girls topless splashing in a pool, and great drama, this movie's got it all!
I somewhat hope that someone becomes inspired by this film and decides to do a satirical comedy on some dead serious american subject, it would be interesting to see how it would play here. Though it'll probably never happen, as the film didn't even get out of Korea un-scathed, the family of president Chun-Hee sued to block the release of the film in Korea. They didn't get it banned, but it did get about 10 minutes censored out of the film, as well as the courts removed documentary footage that book-ended the beginning and end of the film. If you have the chance to see this next week in Cannes in 35mm, you are a very lucky panda-bear. Otherwise, buy a mult-region player and order the Korean DVD!
This is just the films I've seen and know a little about, figured I'd help you Cannes-ing people out. I'm jealous of everyone of you people, a new Jarmusch, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, new Wim Wenders, Cronenberg, Kim Jee-Won, Manderlay, and Election...God, I hate all you guys! and 20 minute's of land of the dead. I don't know...I think i'm going to spend the next week staring at the travelocity web-page telling myself I can't afford a flight to france. I wonder if i can do it and just like be homeless and sleep in the theatre bathrooms or something. hrmmmm....
Oh yes and I promise I'll get around to the Palm Beach Left-overs soon!,
Later,
Rav
