Tuesday, May 28, 2013

CLFF 2013: Peru Sabe

More and more I see television productions being entered into film festivals, or even getting some screen time in general theaters.  Most of them are in the documentary vein.

This documentary definitely felt like a television travelogue type show. There were two well known chefs who went around Peru and talked about how cooking is making social change in that country (the film is subtitled Cuisine as an Agent of Social Change), one of whom is the chef of El Bulli (which you might recall has its own documentary about it)—Ferran Adria. The other is Gaston Acurio, “the most famous chef you’ve never heard of” who has 31 restaurants in 12 countries.


Friday, May 24, 2013

CLFF 2013: In the Middle of Heaven


This plot could easily be transported to any country. An office executive Andrea at a design and advertising firm barely sees the janitor Gualberto who works at her building. She is a A-type personality but her boss challenges her to deliver a project much sooner than expected. Although she is only in her thirties, she sees the writing on the wall when he also gives a younger attractive rival the same opportunity, so Andrea needs to work all weekend to deliver. Unfortunately it is her birthday this weekend, and her best friend, who is also her trusted assistant, has to remind her which restaurant her boyfriend is meeting her at. Her friend/assistant encourages her to take some time to celebrate but Andrea angrily responds that she is not dedicated like herself to work on the weekend, and their friendship is tested.

After a bit Andrea feels guilty about breaking her birthday date with her boyfriend, but spills something on her blouse at the office and attempts to wash it before the date. She goes up on the roof of the office building to hang up her blouse to dry, but does not realize that the door that was propped open locks from the inside. Gualberto's colleagues had propped it open so that he could exit, as he was cleaning up for the night in a roof shed. Of course she closes the door in order not to be seen without her blouse.

As expected, once she and Gualberto are trapped on the roof, Andrea throws her weight around, making assumptions about Gualberto's intelligence, class etc. Gualberto good-naturedly takes it all in stride as he's seen these types of personalities before, and actually tries to help the ungrateful Andrea by offering her a soccer team flag as a blanket, or sharing his apple for a meal, or scrounging up an old tortilla to cook on his camp stove, as the night goes on.

There are a couple opportunities to call for help when Andrea's boyfriend comes to look for her, or when they throw a water bottle to a passerby, or when they try to get the attention of someone in the apartment building across the street, but all are unsuccessful. They both talk about their families--Gualberto's daughter whom he tries to instill his love of soccer to, and Andrea's father who tried to do the same to her. They find common ground when Andrea admits to Gualberto that she only pretended to like soccer to spend time with her dad and suggests Gualberto treat his daughter more like a girl than a boy.


Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Past seven days

Summer movie season has begun!  My first of the summer movies--Star Trek Into Darkness.

Elomea
The Hangover Part III
Private Eye
Star Trek
Star Trek Into Darkness
Stash Sixpack
Take Shelter
This Is The End
When I Walk

Thursday, May 16, 2013

CLFF 2013: From Tuesday to Tuesday

From Tuesday to Tuesday, from Argentina, was the first film I saw at the recent Chicago Latino Film Festival.  It's a dark story that takes place over a week, thus the title. The main character is Juan, a worker in a small clothing factory, who also has a night job as a bouncer. Due to his bouncer job, he works out a lot at a gym to bulk up, but the membership fee and the protein shakes are expensive for his budget. His factory co-workers make fun of his workout efforts and belittle him, because he keeps silent and doesn't fight back. Every day he stops at a convenience store to buy a treat for his daughter. His wife saves their money and hopes to have enough to repair the leaking roof of their home, but Juan instead wants to use the money to buy workout equipment to open his own gym.

These details about Juan's life come into play together when one night he witnesses the convenience store lady being attacked, and uses this encounter to his own advantage. As in several of the Latino films I saw, and probably prevalent in those macho cultures, women's rights and identities are not very well respected. Juan blackmails her attacker for money. Although Juan does not actively hurt the convenience store lady and keeps his involvement secret from her, his actions are shockingly unexpected as to the personality we had seen until then--the meek and silent "gentle giant" is suddenly ruthless in order to fulfill his dream of opening a gym.


Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Past seven days

This was short film week as I caught a few programs where short films were featured.  One, the Midwest Independent Film Festival, a festival that instead of screening programs over one or two weeks, hosts a screening once a month, and scheduled their annual Female Filmmakers night (which I listed on the previous Past seven days).  Several Midwestern female filmmakers offered narrative and documentary short films.

At a weekend-ish event, the Chicago International Film Festival/Cinema Chicago also hosted an annual event, their CineYouth screenings as well as their film challenge over a few days.  These short films are all made by young filmmakers, from as young as nine years old this year, up to age 21 (when they age out of this program).  Youths from around the world are invited to participate and I saw films from as far away as India and Australia, but there was a strong showing from local filmmakers and some from several film schools around the country.  Needless to say there are a bunch of talented kids out there!


Child's Play
CineYouth 2013
Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench
Prometheus
Run If You Can
Save the Date
Up the Down Staircase