2014 Chicago International Film Festival Preview
MOVIE: ARTICO
STARRING: DEBORAH BORGES; VICTOR GARCIA; LUCIA MARTINEZ; ALBA NIETO
DIRECTED BY: GABRIEL VELAZQUEZ
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 2 STARS
Artico (Arthouse) never lets the viewers get close to the films subjects. It won a special mention for the Crystal Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival, which is the 14 Plus age group category. Director Gabriel Velazquez shot in a unique style, always at a distant with the camera focusing on beautiful picturesque shots that are worthy of cinematography awards. It is about a pair of misguided teens. Debi and Lucia spend their days pushing drugs and babysitting. While Jota and Alba bully kids to give them their shoes, and steal horses for cash. Things get messed up when Jota gets Debi pregnant as they must deal with the consequences. The problem with this film is that our main characters are set against beautiful backdrops, but never let the viewers into their lives. It is an interesting style, but overall leaves viewers uncaring of our characters. This movie looks beautiful in an almost doc-style, but the narrative is weak.
2 Stars.
MOVIE: THE EDITOR
STARRING: PAZ de la HUERTA; UDO KIER; ADAM BROOKS; LAURENCE R. HARVY
DIRECTED BY: ADAM BROOKS & MATTHEW KENNEDY
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 2 STARS
The Editor is a part of the After-Dark competition because a movie like this just fits into an audience that is weird enough to watch it at 11 at night. The reason I say this, is because this is a movie you are only going to see it if you have a thing for an exploitation style spoof film, that combines sex, gore, and euro-silliness. For me, I found it at times boring. It is about Rey Ciso (Adam Brooks), a famous film editor who becomes the subject of a murder mystery, when the cast of the recent film he is editing are killed one by one. Some of the jokes get good laughs, it stalls in its pace, and never has the story to make up for its faults. Fans of the style may like it. Think Evil Dead combined with the OSS 117 films…but not that good.
2 Stars
MOVIE: ZURICH
STARRING: LIV LISA FRIES; LENA STOLZE; SOPHIE ROGALL; MAX HEGEWALD
DIRECTED BY: FREDERIK STEINER
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 2 STARS
Zurich is like a German version of The Fault in our Stars, but it never sparks the emotions that it should. It is about a young woman named Lea (Liv Lisa Fries) who is dealt with Cystic Fibrosis. She has made the decision to take her own life, before this awful disorder takes her. Lea witnessed her brother pass away from CF and wishes to not go through the lung surgeries and battle that he went through. So she goes to Zurich where a doctor is willing to help her take her life. The performance from Fries is consistent throughout. Her family gathers with her, grieves, she meets with a new friend and an old boyfriend whose backstory is not much explained other than he was her doctor at one point. The film builds up to her decision on taking her life and then has 3 different endings. All the performances are quality, especially Fries, but all ends with a depressing whimper. There seemed like more could have come from this. You may want to skip it.
MOVIE: CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA
STARRING: JULIETTE BINOCHE; KRISTEN STEWART; CHLOE GRACE MORETZ
DIRECTED BY: OLIVIER ASSAYAS
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 3 ½ STARS
A must-see for some of the best female performances of 2014. Director Olivier Assayas’s film was nominated for the Palme d’Or at this years Cannes Film Festival and should be a big hit at CIFF. It is like a modern version of All About Eve, but has more of a reality to it. It stars Juliette Binoche, in another Oscar worthy performance, as Maria Enders, a world famous actress. She is on her way to an award ceremony, with her assistant Valentine (Kristen Stewart, in also an impressive performance), for a mentor and writer of Maria’s. The writer shockingly passes away, but while on the trip Maria is persuaded to play the older role in the play that made her famous, where she originally played the younger role. So the actress and her assistant isolate to the Alp mountains of Sils Maria, where they discover that there is not much difference in what is on the pages and what is reality. The writing of this film is so powerful for woman in film. Along with the dramatic dialogue between the films two leads, is a parallel commentary about how woman are viewed with age. It is worth watching and must have come close to winning that coveted Palme.
MOVIE: FAIR PLAY
STARRING: JUDIT BARDOS; ANNA GEISLEROVA; ROMAN LUKNAR
DIRECTED BY: ANDREA SEDLACKOVA
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 3 STARS
Fair Play tells the story of Anna, a young woman who is in competition to make the 1983 Summer Olympics for her native Russia. At the time her country is under communist law and what her coaches and doctors say is what goes. That includes taking an anabolic steroid called Stromba. This is a very well done period piece that shows the difficulties of those who are under communist rules. Anna (played by Judit Bardos) gives a steady performance, as she deals with the struggles of competing clean, and keeping up with those around her who cheat. Meanwhile, her mother (Anna Geislerova) is helping to write anti-communist literature which will force her to choose between the well being of her daughter and what she believes in. I recommend this one for sure.
MOVIE: THE FOOL
STARRING: ARTYOM BYSTROV; NATALYA SURKOVA; SERGEY ARTSYBASHEV
DIRECTED BY: YURIY BYKOV
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 3 STARS
Director Yuriy Bykov’s film, The Fool- symbolizes life in Moscow, Russia. Cold and brutal is what many of the people in this film live, like the old, cracking dormitory the film focuses on, that will collapse if nothing is done about it. Dima (Artyom Bystrov) is a simple plumber, living in a small apartment with his wife, child, and parents. He is called to a poor, smelly, broken down dormitory when a pipe breaks in the building. He notices that there are two massive cracks that go up the sides of the building and the foundation is collapsing. He checks the dimensions and sees what it means, this building will certainly fall. His efforts to talk to those in power to help save the people in the building is a waste of time, this world is corrupt. The lead performance from Bystrov is good and the ending of the film fits in with this movies theme of being the good guy is not always the best thing to do.
MOVIE: A GIRL AT MY DOOR
STARRING: DOONA BAE; KIM SAE-RON; SAEBYEOK SONG
DIRECTED BY: JULY JUNG
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 1 ½ STARS
A Girl at my Door is a South Korean film that deals with two female leads that live in a world where they are treated by their male counterparts, less than dogs. And when Director July Jung allows them a position of authority, like Young-Nam (DooNa Bae), it makes sure to throw their sexuality and status to the ground floor. When Young-Nam is relocated as Police chief to a small fishing town, her power is tested when young Do-Hee (Kim Sae-Ron) is a victim of abuse from her father and grandmother. Now Young-Nam must choose between taking care of the young child, or letting the father (Saebyeok Song) get away with his abuse. This film is a consistently repetitive in its narrative and plot. It goes back and forth of abuse to the young child, has a few twists, but never gets to its points. Even the ending goes back and forth, never wanting to end.
