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The European Union Film Festival is running until the end of
March at the Gene Siskel Center. Here are some mini-reviews on the films I have
seen so far (some of them have already been shown, but many will open for longer
runs later in the year at the Siskel Center and other places.) The films are
rated from * (terrible) to **** (outstanding). |
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Franz
****
J Francois Ozon’s intensely moving drama is about a man from
Germany who goes to visit the French family of Frantz, a man
he killed in World War II. He tells the family he was
friends with Franz and eventually he even starts to date
Franz’s ex. It’s clear that he wants to replace Frantz on
some level but what will happen when they find out the
truth? In French and German with English subtitles.
Playing on Sun, Mar 19, 2017 - 03:00pm and Thu, Mar 23, 2017
- 06:00pm |
A
Holy Mess **
Two male lovers buy a house with a woman, and she is
impregnated by one of them (she’s not sure which one.) So
one of the men decides to break the news to his family over
the holidays. Standard comedy about a family gathering at
Christmas time is not particularly original, and it does not
reveal much about Swedish culture. In Swedish with English
subtitles.
Playing on Fri, Mar 24, 2017 - 02:00pm and Sat, Mar 25, 2017
- 03:45pm |
Slack
Bay ***1/2
Bruno Dumont’s weirdly wonderful and surreal film shows how
a series of murders affects a small town. A pair of bumbling
policeman arrive to investigate the disappearances, and they
resemble and act like Laurel and Hardy. The film contains is
chock full of visually odd scenes and situations such as a
man who loves an androgynous character who may or may not be
a woman, and a happy family of cannibals. Juliette Binoche
shows up as a pompous society woman in a ridiculous hat, and
I’m sure most of the audience hopes she will get eaten. This
film is not quite up to the level of quality of Dumont’s
last film, Li’l Quinquin (which also includes a humorous
policeman) but it’s still great fun. The social satire and
religious criticism in this work make it reminiscent of the
classic films of the great Spanish film maker Luis Bunuel.
In French with English sub-titles.
Playing on Sat, Mar 11, 2017 - 04:00pm and Thu, Mar 16, 2017
- 06 |
Suntan
****
A repressed ,middle aged doctor moves to an Edenic Greek
island that is full of nude beach goers and lusty locals
(one of his buddies acts like Zorba the Greek). He hits it
off with a free spirited 22 year old patient, and he begins
going everywhere with her and her friends. He becomes
intoxicated with her beauty, energy and raw sexuality. The
movie gets darker and darker once the relationship begins to
sour. The film is very suspenseful and almost perfect until
we get to the ambiguous and not totally satisfying ending.
The director, Helmer Argyris Papadimitropoulos (I dare you
to say that five times fast) is definitely a talent to
watch. In Greek and English with English sub-titles.
Playing on Sat, Mar 18, 2017 - 08:15pm and Wed, Mar 22, 2017
- 08:00pm |
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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 © 2017 Gene Siskel Film Center
All Rights Reserved
Article © 2017 Alternate Reality, Inc.
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