PSIFF 2017 (last three days of the festival)
“Neruda” – When the Communist Party is banned in Chile in 1948, senator, poet and sensualist Pablo Neruda (Luis Gnecco, No) is forced into hiding, hotly pursued by determined if none-too-bright police prefect Oscar Peluchonneau (Gael Garcia Bernal), who is eager to make a name for himself by capturing the famed poet. Champion of the downtrodden yet vain enough to fret over his public persona (and pepper his escape with a few decadent diversions), Neruda engages in a delicious cat-and-mouse game with Peluchonneau, whose own deep-seated vanities drive an insatiable hunger to will himself into the writer’s world-and/or transcend his supporting role as an extension of Neruda himself. Teaming once again with DP Sergio Armstrong and writer Guillermo Calderon, acclaimed Chilean director Pablo Larrain (Jackie, The Club) balances historical fact with a playful, literary blurring of narrative lines. Less concerned with re-enacting history than honoring the tone and spirit of the famed writer’s art, Neruda is a brilliant homage to the creation of narrative itself. I have to say that I saw Neruda in a brand new light as a human being than just a noble poet, but was also reminded how viciously and mercilessly US interfered in free democratic elections in latin America and elsewhere.
My last Polish film was “United States of Love” which painted the drabness of life in Poland just after its “liberation: in 1990. Like many societies unable to provide economic opportunities, many men roam the world in search of work and leave women to fend for themselves. The third film from one of Poland’s talented young director is a striking, sometimes darkly comic drama set in Poland in 1990-the country’s first euphoric year of freedom after years of state repression. It tells the loosely connected stories of four women of different ages who decide it’s time to change their lives and fulfill their desires. Agata, a young mother trapped in an unhappy marriage, seeks refuge in an unrequited relationship with a handsome priest. Lonely, about-to-retire schoolteacher Renata becomes obsessed with her neighbor Marzena, an aerobics instructor and former local beauty queen, whose husband works in Germany. Meanwhile, Marzena’s sister Iza is a headmistress in a long-term but unfulfilling relationship with the father of one of her students. “Love is a losing game for the four women at the heart of this austere Polish ensemble drama. Shot in artfully washed-out pastel tones by feted Romanian New Wave cinematographer Oleg Mutu, Wasilewski’s Berlin debut combines stylistic rigor, serious intent and a fine ensemble cast.” Stephen Dalton, The Hollywood Reporter Winner: Best Screenplay, Berlin. Not an easy film to watch or follow.
“Glory” = writer/directors Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov (The Lesson, PSIFF 2015) are back with another blistering and complex moral tale from contemporary Bulgaria that uses the extraordinary performers from their debut film in strikingly different roles. Tsanko, a lonely, stuttering railroad worker from a rural town is elevated to the status of poster boy after he selflessly turns in a tidy sum of money he finds spilled on the railway tracks over to the police (about US $85, or half a month’s salary to Tsanko). The Ministry of Transport awards him a new digital wristwatch, which is the last thing he wants or needs. Worse, Julia, the domineering and heedless PR at the Ministry, loses Tsanko’s old watch – “glory”, a gift from his father. Frustrated, Tsanko goes to the press, and the reporter in question sees an opportunity to rake some muck. All Tsanko wants is to have his watch back. “Sharply executed, superbly performed… A gripping dark comedy that turns unnervingly tragic in its final stages.” Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter. Winner: Best Film, Hamptons.
“OBIT” is an interesting and amusing, inside look at the New York Times‘ obituary section, Obit. is one of the least morbid movies you can imagine. At its core is a group of reporters and editors far less interested in the circumstances of a person’s death than in that person’s life. Among the questions facing these writers every day is how can someone be captured in 500 or 1,000 words, and what does a person’s life, no matter how short or long, how famous or obscure, mean to those of us left behind? Who “deserves” to have his or her obituary on the front page and who doesn’t make the cut? Such questions are, well, life and death ones for this crew. Flawlessly directed by Vanessa Gould, fluidly edited by Kristin Bye, and expertly scored by Joel Goodman, Obit. is a beautifully composed piece in its own right. Its insightful, funny and relatable cast of characters fill in the story. Who knew an existential journey inside the obituary pages would be so life affirming? Highly recommended it, when it comes to Netflix.
My last film of the festival was also a good movie and good entertainment – “At the end of the tunnel” from Argentina/Spain.
Reeling from loss and living in self-imposed exile, wheelchair-bound Joaquín (Leonardo Sbaraglia, Wild Tales) whiles his days away stewing in bitterness and fiddling with surveillance equipment in his grungy basement. But when a room-for-rent ad is answered by Berta (Clara Lago), Joaquin finds his antisocial way of life upended by the brash, sexy single mom and her mysterious young daughter. As his icy disposition slowly begins to thaw, Joaquín uncovers a plot by a gang of criminals, led by psychopath Galetero (Pablo Echarri), to tunnel their way beneath his home and into the vault of a nearby bank. Rather than call the cops, Joaquín senses an opportunity to get his life back on track in this wild, unpredictable rollercoaster ride of a thriller. Combining ingenious visuals, tight editing and a rich, evocative sound design, writer/director Rodrigo Grande follows up his 2009 hit A Matter of Principles with an emotionally rich cat-and-mouse thriller that would’ve made Hitchcock’s palms sweat.
Till next year – in my next post I will tell you who won what.
