Hey folks, Harry here... Vern ain't the only one chiming in from Seattle, here we have Secret Asian Anne, who has a run down on three films, which she seemed to dig... Wow, she sees 3 films and enjoys all three, meanwhile folks are going day after day at Cannes coming up with a mouthful Gallo? Sometimes, you're in the wrong place. Here's Anne with her experience thus far....
Hey Harry,
Long time reader, first time writing in, yada yo-
Just checking in w/ a few words 'bout SIFF. This is
my fourth year attending, first time I've sprung for a
pass, so I'll be hitting more films than in previous
years. It gets to be kinda stressful maneuvering the
logistical mayhem that is SIFF - almost always at
least four films going on, and with 220 films
screening this year, absolutely impossible to hit all
of them - heck, impossible to hit even half of them!
For 3.5 weeks every year, it's like this exciting time
when there's always a movie to go to, but it's almost
a bit of a bummer because whenever I get burned out
and spend a day not seeing any films , I'm thinking
about what it is that I might be missing! agh.
VALENTIN
First off, Valentin at the Paramount for the opening
night gala. Looks like you've already posted a review
of this so I'll be brief. In short, it's just like
all the write-ups say - very charming. Precocious but
highly endearing kid, being inquisitive, having
philosophical conversations with the cool adults that
come into his life, and making his way through events
and family influences that aren't so positive. It's a
simple story, made up of nice little moments. The
scene w/ the moonwalk is classic, as is the scene in
which Valentin adamantly requests that his teacher not
interrupt him w/ complements as he is trying to
concentrate on an assignment. His gravitation
towards people and things that expand his horizons is
absolutely inspiring, and it is pretty refreshing to
see a child character portrayed as an actual person
who has opinions and reasons to back them up, who
stands up for what he believes in, who has grand
ambitions and is actually doing everything he can to
achieve them, who cares so much and works so hard to
help the people around him, who is so curious about
the world and life, and has so much desire to learn
more and experience more. I'm generally not a huge
fan of sweet charming movies but I gotta give this one
a thumbs up.
Sidenote: The gala partay after the screening was at
the Seattle Art Museum, and it was full of excellent
people-watching, lots of free booze (well, free w/
price o' ticket!), and plenty of opportunity to
schmooze with whoever you happened to run into that
you might or might not have already known. All in
all, quite a fun evening, from what I can, ah,
remember. (And random fact o' the day: if you ever
visit the Seattle Art Museum, you'll find that the
camel sculptures in the main hall are decidedly male.)
Day 2 consisted of just 2 films for me - it's possible
to hit as many as 4 films in a day and 5 on wknds, but
I don't want to burn myself out right off the bat!
AUTUMN SPRING
Autumn Spring is a Czech film about a retired 76 yr
old theatre actor who likes to spend his days
wandering around town pretending to be an assortment
of people he is not. Along with his best friend, also
a retired actor, Fanda engages in generally innocuous
episodes of identity-con, from posing as a subway
ticket-checking official, to viewing mansions under
the pretense of being a millionaire opera singer with
intent to buy luxurious property. Meanwhile, Fanda's
wife is perpetually fixated on saving money and making
preparations for their funerals, a "goal" which
becomes at odds with Fanda's hijinks when one of his
escapades puts him in the position of owing a large
sum of money. Going into this film, I wasn't entirely
sure what to expect. I don't think I've ever seen a
Czech film before. I sorta figured it would be kind
of a cute "old people doing goofy outlandish things
and enjoying life" kind of flick, which in a way it
is, but it actually turned out to be quite a bit more
than that. It wasn't all nice and fun and sweet -
there were some sad moments. But that was what I
liked about it - there were fun times, and there were
bummer times, just like in real life. I dragged a
friend with me to see this one (his initial comment
being "A Czech movie? Isn't everybody gonna die at
the end?!"), and even he thought it was quite good.
There were a few parts where I felt the dialogue went
on a bit longer than I would have liked, but overall,
a very well-made film, inspiring but not saccharinely
so. 'nuther thumbs up.
THE BLUES
The second film I saw today was The Blues, a
compilation of five segments from a series of
documentaries about, well, the blues. Music, that is.
I kind of wish I could have seen more (or heck, ALL)
of each documentary! The screening tonight seemed a
little bit non-cohesive to me, but I think that was
just because it consisted of parts of several
different films put together in one show, and by the
time I got into the rhythm of one of the segments, the
next one started. So I guess if you just look at it
as five sorta random mini-documentaries on various
artists, developments, and history of the blues, then
itÃs all good. I definitely dig blues music and I
think anyone who likes blues at all will enjoy this
film. Subjects included the recordings of blues music
that were sent into space with Voyager to be
representative of 20th century American music,
something which I had not known about and found rather
fascinating; blues influences on music in the UK,
including the Rolling Stones and the Beatles; some of
the most influential blues artists - B.B. King, Muddy
Waters. And in one segment featuring blues musician
Bobby Rush performing with his dancinà ladies in the
background, I witnessed what is undoubtedly one of the
most memorable onion-shaking scenes ever recorded on
film. Really, it has to be seen to be believed. All
in all, an enjoyable screening, and I look forward to
seeing the entire series at some point in the future!
Welp, that's it for now. I'm still kind of undecided
on what to see tomorrow, but definitely Bubba Ho-tep
at midnight!
check ya later,
Secret Asian Anne
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