The Conical Glass: At the festival: Part 2

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

At the festival: Part 2

The San Francisco International Film Festival screened over 200 films, and I saw only five of them. It's hard to drop everything and get to screenings over in the city -- I couldn't even have seen five were it not for the superb dog-sitting provided by my fabulous neighbors (thanks, guys!). I already wrote about "The Deal" yesterday; here's a brief rundown of the rest:

"The Old, Weird America: Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music" (USA, 2006): Harry Smith seemed like such a character that I thought a documentary about him would be fascinating, but unfortunately, there's not enough Harry and too much footage of modern-day artists in this film. Smith was an avid record collector who bought everything from the 20s and 30s he could get his hands on, and then released his favorites on the Anthology of American Folk Music in 1959. As a record company owner, I was amused by the fact that Smith neither sought permission from the original artists nor paid them any royalties. Things were a lot more free & easy back in those days. Ironically, the director of the film couldn't use much of the original music in her doc because she couldn't afford the rights to the recordings (the Anthology is still in print, on Smithsonian Folkways). Most of the songs are in the public domain, and she was given free rein to use footage from a series of Anthology tribute concerts staged by impresario Hal Willner, so much of the film consists of artists like Beth Orton, Beck, Nick Cave, Lou Reed, etc. performing the songs. It would have been nice if the modern renditions could have been juxtaposed with the originals. I understand that it's hard to get financing for documentaries, but "The Old, Weird America" still seems like a missed opportunity.

"Once" (Ireland, 2006): Speaking of being done on the cheap, this low-fi charmer must have been made for next to nothing. And yet, like a beloved mix tape dubbed onto a cheap cassette, there's something undeniably endearing about it. The otherwise-unnamed Guy (a street busker in Dublin) and Girl (a young Czech immigrant) meet, realize they are musical soul mates, and make some beautiful music together. I don't want to say anything else, because nothing that happens in "Once" is conventional or predictable in any way. The slightly Radiohead-y songs by Irish singer Glenn Hansard, who plays the Guy, form the bulk of the soundtrack. "Once" has more heart than any film I've seen in a long time. It should be opening in selected cities next month, so keep an eye out for it.

"Reprise" (Norway, 2006): Bromance between two Oslo dudes in their early 20s, Erik & Phillip, who both dream of becoming successful novelists. Phillip's book is the first to be published, but his happiness is short-lived -- he is soon hospitalized after a nervous breakdown. The movie has some wonderful moments (footage of the Norwegian Independence Day Parade set to the completely incongruous music of Joy Division, for instance), but it kind of drags in the middle when the movie's focus shifts from Phillip to Erik. Still, the film shows enough promise that I'll be interested to see what director Joachim Trier (who was Norway's two-time national champion skateboarder -- talk about a renaissance man!) comes up with next.

"Rocket Science" (USA, 2007): Even though I'm getting ever closer to receiving my invitation to join the AARP (OK, still a ways away, but time flies), I still enjoy a good high school misfit movie, and "Rocket Science" is one of the best. Directed by Jeffrey Blitz, whose documentary "Spellbound" was such a delight, "Rocket Science" tackles the unlikely subject of a stutterer who joins his high school debating team. Why? For a girl, of course -- Ginny, who's like an even more devious version of "Election"'s Tracy Flick. In real life, Blitz was a teenage stutterer who joined his high school debate team and wound up becoming a champion. In the movie, Blitz obviously didn't want to go for such a feel-good story arc. This film is just stuffed with brilliant observations, surprises and moments of sublime hilarity; it opens in August, and you should go see it.

posted by 125records @ 12:52 PM

2 Comments:

At 7:36 PM, 2fs said…

Aaaargh! "Bromance"! Ick. Ugly word. Bad. Take it back...take it back! (Also, and related: I hate this prefixing of words with "man-"...)
At 7:27 PM, yellojkt said…

Joining the debate team for the chicks is like starting a rock band for the financial stability.