Quick Thoughts on WFF ’10 – First 2 Nights + Bonus Night

My family and I have been having a blast attending the many great screenings at this year’s festival.  Here are a few brief thoughts on the films I have seen so far…

THE ART OF THE STEAL

A documentary about the fight over the fate of the Barnes’ Foundation in Philadelphia and it’s immensely valuable collection of post-modern art.  The film chronicles the history of who Dr. Barnes was, how he acquired his art and what he did with it, and then the tug of war for what to do with it after he passed away.  He set up a trust document with the city to ensure that the art that he had collected would never be removed from the building he had housed it in.  The film follows what happened as various people of power and influence wanted to get their hands on the art and the control of such a valuable collection.

This was a well made documentary that tells its story well.  The talking head format is used pretty exclusively, and the film makers’ do have a side of the argument that they are trying to push.  I do admit that I was a bit caught up in the “Barnes good, Philadelphia/Board of Trustees bad” portrayal, but the film also takes some time to explore the art itself, and raises questions on the purpose of art, how it can affect people and what passionate people will do to preserve that.  I enjoyed this movie, and do recommend seeing it on Sunday if possible.

OSS117: LOST IN RIO

This is the sequel to OSS117: CAIRO, NEST OF SPIES with Jean Dujardin reprising his role as Hubert de la Bath (OSS117) French spy extraordinaire, at least in his mind.  He is completely clueless, arrogant and offensive, but also hilarious.  The satire is spread so thick everything is at the ridiculous level.  The spy genre is skewered, and James Bond in particular, but never in a mean spirited way.  Dujardin is likable even when despicable, a testament to a great comedic actor.  And many of his facial expressions are completely priceless.

This time around he is off to Rio to pay an ex Nazi officer to keep from publicizing names of French Nazi sympathizers during WWII. He becomes entangled with CIA and Mossad agents who are trying to influence or stop Nazi goings on in Brazil.  This leads to lots of insensitive comments about Jews and Nazis, women, hippies, you name it.  Most of it works, and some of the funnier gags involve Chinese agents constantly popping up to try and kill OSS, and an beach hippie orgy that he gets involved with.  This sequel was a lot of fun, I liked it a lot, though not quite as much as the first film.  There were some jokes that were a little flat, a gag with the American CIA agent who kept swearing in front of OSS because he “couldn’t understand him” that I didn’t find particularly funny, but when the jokes come so fast and furious, you don’t really have time to worry about it.  Very funny.

THE TRAIN

Tying together the themes of stealing art (THE ART OF THE STEAL) and Nazis (OSS) was John Frankenheimer’s THE TRAIN.  This is a slick WWII film about a Nazi colonel attempting to take a large collection of famous paintings he had saved from destruction during the war, into Germany, by train, before the Allies officially take France back from German occupation.  Burt Lancaster plays a French resistance fighter whose task it is to stop the paintings, the “heart of Paris”, from being lost forever.  That’s pretty much it.  A simple set up, but the execution is near flawless.

Frankenheimer’s direction keeps things moving in such a way that you constantly feel the time constraints the characters are working under.  Train needs to leave before a yard is bombed, the soldiers need to complete a task before the Nazi’s discover them, the paintings need to leave before the Allies arrive.  Everyone is on a deadline, keeping the suspense palpable, and the stakes everyone  is operating under very real.

There are some great set pieces including a train collision and a race against time to derail a train.  The black and white cinematography is stunning.  There is quite a bit of impressive camera work, like an extended tracking shot following German soldiers around their war room that puts us both in the action, and gives us plenty of exposition without any dialogue; aerial photography and high speed filming of train sequences impress, as well as a number of great shot compositions.

The main characters are very enigmatic: Burt Lancaster smooth and commanding, being drawn into the cause as the film continues, and Paul Scofield’s Nazi colonel, who is at times like Capt. Ahab, completely obsessed with the art on the train, often sacrificing war efforts to move his precious cargo.

As exciting as it is, it is also heartbreaking as a number of characters are lost.  The film ends on a somber note, as a character asks another if he even knows why he has been fighting.  Images cut between the boxes of art, to dead bodies, back to the art, then to the characters, etc. leaving the viewer with a clear sense of, “OK, but what did this all accomplish?”  Both this scenario AND the war.  It’s a great movie that gives you that little nugget, after thoroughly entertaining you for over 2 hours.

DUCK, YOU SUCKER

Keith Phipps from the Onion AV Club introduced this film, with a bit of info on Sergio Leone, and spaghetti westerns in general.  This is one Leone film I had yet to see, and couldn’t wait to see it projected.  Mr Phipps even mentioned that if you have the chance to see a Leone film projected “DO IT!”–and after seeing THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY and now this one on a big screen, I completely agree.

The opening shot of ants being peed on evokes the opening sequence of THE WILD BUNCH, where children watch as a scorpion is attacked and killed by a swarm of ants.  Both films take place near the end of an era during the Mexican revolution, and both use these metaphors to describe what is about to go on.  Basically, Rod Steiger’s Juan, a Mexican bandit, meets up with James Coburn’s John, an ex IRA demolitions expert, they become involved in the revolution, and along the way forge a friendship.  I won’t go into much, because I could probably ramble on all night.

This film, like Leone’s other westerns, is epic, both in scope and theme, and character…but also personal.  Much like THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY did with the American Civil War, this huge conflict is brought down to a more personal level, where you see how individual lives are affected.  There are some wonderful emotional moments that the main characters have, and they really draw you into the story.  Rod Steiger is as Mexican as my foot, and Coburn as Irish as my other foot, but they are both fantastic and utterly charismatic.  There is a lot of humor in this film, that helps to alleviate some of the horrors of the revolution put on screen.  There is a LOT of on screen killing, much to the chagrin of some people sitting in front of us.  But it serves to paint a complete picture of what revolutions are like, out of history books and with real people.

This is such a rich film.  The themes of the toll of war and friendship, duty, etc alone fill the nearly 3 hour run time.  Leone shows the contrasts between characters and causes, but also ties them together.  Ennio Morricone’s score ties events together with a repeating theme, but the context changes, and blurs the line of whether things are good or bad.  Actions of characters are deliberately shown or repeated to tie them together (eg teeth-John and Col. Gunther).  The camera work is amazing, like all of Leone’s work.  And there are glorious explosions.  The pacing does feel a little long in a couple spots, and there is a little bit of RETURN OF THE KING feel to the end, where it could end 3 or 4 times, but goes on.  Which is fine…you really don’t want to leave these characters.  A couple of the slo motion flashbacks with John kissing his girl, with this buddy RIGHT THERE watching got a little goofy.  But, really, those are just drops in the bucket.  This is a great epic film that deserves to be seen.

HARMONY AND ME

Getting tired…so gotta be brief…

We really enjoyed this low key film about a slightly strange man who has recently broken up with his girlfriend.  Well, she broke up with him.  And is still breaking his heart…she hasn’t finished the job.  This film is very funny, and very heart warming.  We watch Harmony go through life, interact with his family, co-workers, all of whom are, also odd, but in different ways.  Harmony slowly heals as he takes life one encounter at a time, with his heart, awkwardly on his sleeve.  Highly recommended.  Q&A afterward with the writer-director (also star) was great.  Not many revelatory questions asked, but his demeanor and wit were hilarious and a blast to listen to.  He seemed to really enjoy being able to see a crowd of 1000+ totally dig his movie.  Pretty cool.

A FILM WITH ME IN IT

This Irish dark comedy was a great way to end the night.  A down on his luck actor goes from having bad luck in his life to completely horrible luck as his ineffectual bumblings begin to be the cause of some pretty ridiculous events that he and his alcoholic friend aren’t sure they can deal with because they are both quite inept.  Sounds vague and obtuse, but I don’t want to give anything away, because part of the fun of this movie is not knowing what is going to happen next.  Very funny and darkly comic, at times a bit uncomfortable, this is a fun little piece of twisty entertainment.

Tomorrow is my fullest docket yet-

MEMORIES OF MURDER

A TOWN CALLED PANIC

GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

INTO THE PIT

…..can’t wait…

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