Vito Goes Back to the Fest |
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The Chicago European Union Film Festival is running until April 5 at the
Gene Siskel Center located at 164 North State Street. Here are some mini reviews
on the films I have seen so far. Some of them have already been shown in the
festival, but many will open for longer runs later in the year at the Siskel
Center and other places. Some may also be available soon online. The films are
rated from * (terrible) to **** (outstanding).
UPDATED: 032418 |
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Death
of Stalin ***1/2
Hillarious British satire shows how Stalin’s death affected
the USSR and his successors. Steve Buscemi (Blackboard
Empire) gives a delightful performance as a young Nikita
Khrushchev who does not always fully realize the absurdity
of his own actions. The other members of the party attack
each other and fight to divvy up the power. Michael Palin of
Monty Python, Jeffrey Tambor of Arrested Development, Andrea
Riseborough of Birdman, and Simon Russell Beale of Penny
Dreadful contribute to the merriment in strong supporting
roles. This is sort of like a smarter version of Hogan’s
Heroes because it milks a dictatorial regime for
well-deserved laughs. The exquisite soundtrack features well
used pieces by the masterful Mozart, as well as more modern
pieces by Christopher Willis which seem to channel
Sergej Sergejevič Prokofjev and Dmitri Dmitriyevich
Shostakovich. Stick around for the amusing doctored pics at
the end. Based on La Morte de Staline, a French graphic
novel by Fabien Nury & Thierry Robin. This film appeared on
the top 10 lists of several major critics last year, and it
is currently playing at Regal Webster Place and Century 12
Cinearts Evanston, but it may open wider. Made in the UK in
English.
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Ghost
Stories ***1/2
Classy and intelligent horror film from England about Dr.
Goodman, a professor who is very skeptical of the existence
of the occult. He spends most of his time trying to debunk
uncanny reports, so he is kind of like the old DC comics
character, Doctor Thirteen or the X-File’s Dana Scully. His
mentor now believes in the occult, and he sends his former
pupil out on three investigations to prove that Goodman’s
skepticism is erroneous. . One case involves a night
watchman who sees some bizarre and terrifying visons in a
woman’s asylum. Another case involves a man with an
expectant wife who is tied to a ghost. In the best of the
three, a teenager driving a car hits a mysterious misshapen
creature as his parents harass him on the phone. We later
learn that the ironically named Goodman has his own dark
secrets, and all three stories unexpectedly merge in the
shocking climax. Viewers need to pay attention, and the film
is full of quick clues that audience members may miss if
they blink or go to the bathroom. We can make what we want
of the clues as one of the characters tells us, “The brain
sees what it wants to see.” Although this is a bit less
profound than the other two recent ghost films (A Ghost
Story and Personal Shopper), it is far creepier. It was
based on a popular play but unlike some other plays turned
into movies (such as the 1931 Todd Browning version of
Dracula) it never seems overly stagy or artificial. This
delightfully old fashioned fright film relies more on
surprise, suspense, and ambiguity than gore or fancy camera
tricks. It reminded of many old supernatural anthology
flicks such as Dead of Night, Dr., Terror’s House of
Horrors, Trilogy of Terror, and Night Gallery.
Playing in the Chicago European Union Film Festival at the
Gene Siskel Center on Friday, March 23 and Thursday, March
29. The film is also scheduled to open wider in the USA on
April 20. |
Happy
End ***
This film features a terrific, high firepower cast. You
can’t get much better than Jean-Louis Trintignant (of The
Conformist, My Night at Maude’s, and A Man and a Woman),
Matthieu Kasovitz (Valerian and the City of Lost Planets and
La Haine), and of course, Isabelle Huppert, the reigning
queen of French cinema (perhaps all cinema), who previously
worked with the director of this film in the brilliant, The
Piano Teacher and Amour. This is reminiscent of Claude
Chabrol’s work because it finds dark humor in the banal
lifestyle of a troubled higher middle class family, and it
tries to tear the thin veneer off of civilization. This
films begins with a teen girl narrating over her video
footage of her to poisoning the mom she hates by placing
sedatives in her drink. In the extended family, there are
parents who cheat on spouses, a teen who tries to kill
herself, and a patriarch who does not care if he lives or
dies. The black humor ending cleverly renders the title
ironic. For the thousandth time, the Austrian film maker,
Michael Haneke calls attention to the limitations of a
materialistic lifestyle. This has some great moments, but it
is not quite keep my interest as much as some of the
director’s other works (such as The White Ribbon and Cache.)
Haneke does not quite seem to be firing on all cylinders.
But I guarantee you will never forget the shocking
conclusion or the darkly hilarious opening. This was the
Austrian entry for the 2017 Academy Awards, but it is in
English and French with English subtitles.
This film has finished its Chicago run, but it is currently
streaming on Hulu. |
A
Heart of Love (Serce miłośc ) ***
This film tells the tale of a real, slightly unhinged, and
highly artistic couple based in Warsaw. Justyna Wasilewska
is wonderfully eccentric playing Zuzanna Bartoszek and Jacek
Poniedziałek is just as impressive playing Wojciech Bąkowski.
She is a promising poet, and he is an established artist and
musician. The couple come from different generations and so
the film also examines the differences between the people
born before and after the fall of communism. Their rivalry
and artistic vanity gets in the way of their relationship
and they begin drifting apart. One of the song lyrics
alludes to their painful breakup. The film contains some
real modern art, performances and installations. Many of the
shots are very symmetrical and visually arresting, and this
is the kind of film that you might see in an art museum. A
Heart of Love is bizarre, interesting and occasionally hard
to follow, but it is worth the effort. It is primarily
recommended for avant-garde enthusiasts. In Polish with
English subtitles.
Playing March 24rth and 27 at the Gene Siskel Center. |
Hustler’s
Diary (Måste gitt) ***1/2
Riotous dramedy is about a common thug in a bad neighborhood
who wants to be an actor. He writes about his criminal
misadventures in a diary which gets into the hands of a book
publisher who wants to make a book out if it. The thug is
horrified because the thinks that if it gets in the wrong
hands everyone he knows will get arrested. Many laughs are
generated when the thug tries to get his delinquent younger
brother to act respectable. The film also includes some
social commentary and many of the criminals are immigrants
from other countries who take up crime to avoid abject
poverty (the director himself is a Croatian who emigrated to
Sweden and the led actor’s family came from Turkey and ended
up in Sweden.) . The shaky handheld camerawork and
characterization was obviously influenced by Martin
Scorsese’s and Spike Lee’s works. Many of these characters
are so brutish and violent that they make the characters in
Trailer Park Boys look like high society people. In Swedish
with English subtitles.
Playing on March 23 and 27 at the Gene Siskel Center |
Jeannette
the Childhood of Joan of Arc ****
Bruno Dumont’s irreverent, subversive, moving and unusually
shocking historical biopic/musical depicts young Joan before
she went to battle (by two capable actresses.) It was based
on “The Mystery of the Charity of Joan of Arc,” a dramatic
text by a socialist mystical poet, Charles Péguy, “and it
sets his words to music the background music is often a
jarring mixture of rock, rap, metal and synth pop and
hip-hop. The film does an excellent job of combining the
everyday with the divine and often has scenes of people
praying or singing to God while doing banal things such as
plucking chickens. The film makes good use of
nonprofessional actors with ordinary voices who get by with
their charisma and apparent sincerity (it’s the opposite
approach used in the slick, professional Glee show.) This is
like a Jesus Christ superstar version of the Joan of Arc
story. The film is sure to offend some (in one scene the
young Joan does a cartwheel in the middle of a prayer), but
no one will ever forget it, If you adored Lars Von Trier’s
Dancer in the Dark, you should also love this. The
prestigious film journal, Cahiers du Cinéma chose it as the
second best film of last year. With this film and his last
two features, Lil Quinquin and Slack Bay, director, Bruno
Dumont shows he is one of the best and most consistently
entertaining avant-garde film makers on the planet. An early
contender for my next top 10 films list.
Opening wider in
Chicago later in the year. In French with English
sub-titles. |
The Last Processo **1/2
A chubby, laid back inspector (he looks kind of like Kevin
Smith) begins to investigate the mysterious murder of a
count. The mystery is linked to a femme fatale with a gecko
tattoo. The inspector finds out that his death is tied to
corporate abuse of the land and environmental issues. This
film has a fairly routine story, but the cinematography
depicting the wine country is gorgeously picturesque. This
film takes place in wine country and it is named after a
type of wine (Italy sells some of the best low price wine in
the world.) Italy has its fair of good cop dramas (such as
Matteo). Although this film is sometimes diverting viewers
might want to ask themselves why they would go all the
trouble pf going out to see a police film, when there are so
many better cop drams that they can see on TV for free. In
Italian with English subtitles.
Playing on Saturday, March 24 and Tuesday March 27 sat the
Gene Siskel Center in the Chicago European Union Film
Festival. |
Messi
and Maude (La Holandesa) ***1/2
Maude, a forty something wife who can’t have children,
argues with her husband over the issue while they are on
holiday. She runs off and gets picked up by an out of
control father and his boy, Messi. When the man tries to
rape her, she accidently kills him (or maybe she just knocks
him unconscious) when she is defending herself. She leaves
with Messi and gradually develops a deep emotional bond with
him. The oddly paired couple travel through Chile and are
dazzled by the country’s intoxicating beauty, and the
child’s presence fills a void in Maude’s life. The female
lead, Rivka (Public Works) Lodelzen, gives a winning,
inspirational performance in the female lead role, and she
has a promising future. Marlene Jonkmann’s directorial debut
is a complete winner. This film in the great tradition of
Lost in America, Alice in the Cities, and my personal
favorite, Two Lane Blacktop, and it is one of the better
recent road films I have seen. Like all those films it is
about how a physical trip helps people find themselves. In
Dutch with English subtitles.
Playing Friday, March 23 and Saturday, March 24 in the
Chicago European Union Film Festival. |
Submergence
***
Talky, atmospheric, and arty romantic film about two lovers
who split up and later they both end up underwater. James
McVoy who played the young Professor X, is sympathetic as a
secret M16 agent who is captured and imprisoned by Jihadists
while the bookish and ravishing Alicia Vikander (of Ex
Machina and The Danish Girl) must stay in a diving belle for
months to further scientific research. As they fulfill their
destinies they each look back on the brief days of romantic
bliss they had together at Christmas. Win Wenders’ art film
is slow moving but emotionally volatile. The ending is
particularly powerful. There are still some signs of genius,
but German new wave master, Wim Wenders (he did Wings of
Desire and Paris Texas), is not exactly at the top of his
game anymore. A German film in English.
Playing March 24 and 27 at the Gene Siskel Center. |
Young
Karl Marx (Le Jeune Karl Marx) **1/2
Considering the unusual amount of great talent assembled for
this film, the results are slightly disappointing. The
promising director, Raoul Peko, is best known for I am Not a
Negro. August Diehl, who is best known for Inglorious
Bastards, is sufficiently charismatic for the lead role, and
Vicky Krieps is charming playing Marx's wife. Stefan
(Valerian and the City of Lost Planets) Konarske is also
likeable playing Marx's confidant and financier, the young
Frederick Engels. Olivier Gourmant (he worked with the
Dardenne Brothers on Le Promesse, L'Enfant, and Rosetta)
gives a fiery performance as Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, the
first anarchist. Like The Motorcycle Diaries (which was
about the young Che Guevera) this film shows us the
evolution that took place in the mind of a revolutionary on
the way to fame and greatness. The only problem is that the
life of the young Marx is less inherently dramatic than
Che's, and heated intellectual discussions (usually shot in
medium close-up shots) don’t always make interesting cinema.
However the film is intellectually stimulating and the naive
confidence of the young philosophers (one insists that in
the future all art will be collective) brought back pleasant
memories of grad school philosophic debates. Engles and his
wife are pro labor leftists, yet Engles who finances Marx
got rich from factory labor, so ironically both Marx and
Engel used capitalist money to bankroll their campaign
against capitalism. At around two hours, the film feels a
bit overlong, but the footage of workers and other
historical images at the end set to Dylan's Like a Rolling
Stone ends the film on a high note. In English, German and
French with English subtitles.
Playing March 31rst and April 5 at the Gene Siskel Center. |
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If you want to read more about Vittorio Carl’s work go to
www.artinerviews.org. |
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CHICAGO EUROPEAN UNION FILM FESTIVAL © 2018 Gene Siskel Film Center
All Rights Reserved
Article © 2018 Alternate Reality, Inc.
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