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february '07 list |
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commentary
by stuart chait
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| published
15 february 2007 |
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deleted
scenes | volume 5 •
number 4
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print
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"I
want to give the audience a hint of a scene. No more than
that. Give them too much and they won't contribute anything,
themselves. Give them just a suggestion and you get them
working with you. That's what gives the theater meaning:
when it becomes a social act." -Orson
Welles
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published since November 2003 | Deleted Scenes (A Guide to the Great Cinema and TV You're Missing)—our resident cinephile's
keen critiques of superb and challenging film and television that
often fly beneath the mainstream radar |
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Film/Television Criticism |
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| Stuart
Chait
(eMail • Web
site) hails from Rochester,
New
York. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Film (2002) and
a Master's degree in Playwriting (2003)—both from Boston
University. |
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stage directing credits include "The 15-Minute Hamlet",
"Sexual Perversity in Chicago", "A History
of the American Film", "The Dumb Waiter",
and his own "A Night with Edgar", based on the
works of Edgar
Allan Poe. |
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| Stuart
resides in Studio
City, California
and currently serves as a producer for Authentic
Entertainment (Los
Angeles), working on documentary programming for The
History Channel. He is also a co-founder of Troupe West,
a theater company based in the L.A. area. |
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We're
still a few weeks away from what most of the studios (majors
and independents) consider the start of the year: the day after
the Oscars. That's when the distracted attentions of the higher-ups
will turn, once more, towards the contemporary calendar, and
the race for quality box office will start anew. Even the independents
will have finished swaggering through their scant months in
the spotlight and begin the release of their most recent festival
pick-ups. So, it's no surprise that February brings a slew of
mostly foreign offerings.
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THE
LIVES OF OTHERS |
| February
9 (limited) |
| written
and directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck |
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'R'/runtime – 137 min./2006 |
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| A
Hitchcockian-looking drama from Germany, winner of numerous
European film awards, and nominee for Best Foreign Film
in this month's ceremonies, The Lives of Others is
being praised as a rare breed of period film. Its gaze firmly
cemented in the past, it looks to subtly glance at the present,
sketching historical precedents as if they were blueprints
for today's political movements. The story involves the
East German Secret Police (the 'Stasi') and their relentless,
methodical system of domestic spying in an attempt to maintain
social order. Though political, the film has the ring and
tone of a Rear Window or The Conversation.
It may have certain aspirations, but countless critics have
praised its ability to be more loyal to its story and characters
than to lofty thematic goals. It's often these films (Paths
of Glory, The Battle of Algiers) which attain
a firmer hold on their audiences. A good character and intriguing
story will always be far more memorable than shouts from
a soapbox. |
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CLOSE
TO HOME |
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February
14 (limited) |
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written
and directed by Vardit Bilu and Dalia Hagar |
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not
rated /runtime – 90 min./2005 |
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| My
passion for Middle Eastern cinema has been documented, here,
a few times; so, when a new such film arrives, it will almost
certainly make an appearance in this column. Enter Close
to Home, which appears to rise above making the list
for purely stereotypical purposes. An account of two young
Israeli women in the midst of their compulsory military
service, Hagar and Bilu's unique coming-of-age drama draws
some broad strokes (two girls of opposite temperaments,
thrust together in the real world), but the devil and the
truth are almost always in the details. Part of IFC's 'First
Take' series (of which Alone with Her and An Unreasonable
Man are also a part), the film can be seen in select
theaters across the country, or through On Demand services
available through most cable and satellite providers. Read
more about it at the official
IFC films Web site. |
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•••
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THE
TASTE OF TEA |
| February
23 (limited) |
| written
and directed by Katsuhito Ishii |
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rated /runtime – 143 min./2004 |
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Another
festival favorite (especially with audiences), The
Taste of Tea will arrive on a very limited scale near
the end of February. It's a shame the release pattern
looks so thin, because many reports from this film, in
my over-active imagination, evoke thoughts of Buñuel.
An absurdist delight, Ishii's film is about a small family
and its members' surreal lives (i.e., , the daughter, who
can't figure out why she's followed everywhere by a much
larger incarnation of herself). Apparently, this is just
the tip of the iceberg, and it sounds like pure joy from
start to finish. Films that defy expectations are, nowadays,
few and far between, remakes and audience groveling being
so prevalent. Cinema with a unique internal logic is just
what the doctor ordered to break the monotony of the awards
cavalcade.
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AVENUE
MONTAIGNE |
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February
16 (limited) |
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written
by Christopher Thompson and Danièle Thompson |
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directed
by Danièle Thompson |
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rated
'PG-13'/runtime – 106 min./2006 |
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No
fan of the typical romantic comedy am I, but I won't deny
that Danièle Thompson's previous effort, Jet
Lag, starring Juliette Binoche and Jean Reno, played
much sweeter and intelligently than expected. And my weakness
for any and all films dedicated to the examination of
art (in every form) and its purpose inclines me greatly
to the filmmaker's latest.
Jessica comes to Paris to seek fame and fortune, but starts
in the way so many often do—as a waitress—where
she comes across an actress, a pianist, and an art collector,
all whose lives, in some manner or another, have been
touched by art and its obsessions. Will Jessica learn
something about her dreams? Will her acquaintances learn
something new about their lives? If this were a
Hollywood offering, that mere encapsulation would make
me cringe, but Avenue Montaigne hails from France
and, as Thompson has proven before, she can take something
saccharine and overly garnished, and turn it into something
smooth, just slightly sweet, and ultimately capable of
bringing a smile to the face of even the world-weary viewer.
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•••
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GLASTONBURY |
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February
23 (limited) |
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directed
by Julien Temple |
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not
rated /runtime – 122 min./2006 |
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| Six
years after his Sex Pistols opus, The Filth and the Fury,
Julien Temple's still searching for that next great musical
revelation (hint: it wasn't his video on Luther Vandross'
From Luther with Love collection). Could his coverage
of the 30th anniversary of Britain's widely-recognized music
fest in Glastonbury be it? Initial signs are mixed, but
one thought is shared by almost all early critics: Temple
succeeds at placing his audience in the heart of the festival.
From Glastonbury's infancy as a free event to its current
prominence, the director covers it all. And even if the
documentary can't dig any new ground, it may still make
a heck of a concert film. |
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THE
WAYWARD CLOUD |
| February
23 (limited) |
| written
and directed by Ming-liang Tsai |
| not
rated /runtime – 114 min./2005 |
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| from
IMDB: |
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Genre:
Musical / Comedy / Drama |
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Plot
Outline: "Hsiao-Kang, now working as an adult
movie actor, meets Shiang-chyi once again. Meanwhile,
the city of Taipei faces a water shortage that makes
the sales of watermelons skyrocket." |
The trailer's here.
Few films leave me with a 'What the...?' look on my face,
and never has a trailer been able to accomplish
that feat...until now. Ming-liang Tsai is one of the few
widely-praised modern filmmakers I've yet to encounter,
but between his popularity with cineastes, his love of
Francois Truffaut, and the incredible (quite strange)
imagery from this trailer, it's about time to dive in.
'Anyone care to join? The watermelon's fine!
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BLACK
SNAKE MOAN |
| February
23 |
| written
and directed by Craig Brewer |
| rated
'R'/runtime – tba/2006 |
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| I'm
not quite sure what to make of Black Snake Moan.
I first saw the trailer in front of, appropriately enough,
Snakes on a Plane. The audience, already primed for
scene-chewing Samuel L., responded appropriately with unbridled
enthusiasm for what they surely saw as a throwback to Jackson's
character in Pulp Fiction—albeit, this time,
with a chain...and a little white girl attached to it. I
file Moan under guilty pleasure because the trailer
and advertising are far too B-movie to be taken seriously,
but that may just be a ploy to garner a wider viewership.
This film (and Brewer, judging from Hustle & Flow)
might very well have more up its sleeve than we've been
presented with, thur far. Time (and a ticket) will tell. |
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