Hey folks, Harry here with another fantastic installment from EliCross from the Tribeca Film Fest 2005! Well, this time he has tons of stuff for us - including his looks at the amazing 2046 and cool as hell NIGHT WATCH and lots more. Here ya go...
Welcome back to the merry go round that keeps going where there's no signs of slowing
Two documentaries and two features that have been causing a stir amongst this fest, two invested in New York and two from abroad. With all the signs on the compass moving in all directions, on with the SHOW.
SHOW Business (1.33:1)
The stage for Broadway plays and musicals has had it share of peaks and valleys and none were more prevelant than the 2003-2004 season. From a musical spawned from a love of Sesame Street to a controversial musical from the creative mind of Tony Kushner, Broadway lent itself to the debut of Boy George to the backstory behind the Witches in the Land of Oz.
Dori Bernstein's documentary about the ups and downs and the inner struggles of these musicals and the hired help is not only in keeping in spirit with the energy that Broadway has to offer every season along with seeing the view from a few outside sources, the critics.
Everyone has their viewpoint into what the audience knows from the behind the scenes footage along with being one step ahead of the critics when it comes to discussing each of the four musicals and each in between is given equal time.
Watching this film, this viewer liked all four and kind of wished to see two of them continue on from getting great interest from how they were presented (not too late to catch the other 2). From the rehearsals to outside buzz, no one knows what will be covered from one corner to the next.
I felt a great bit of sympathy towards Taboo in which the lead is a dead ringer for Boy George with one hell of a voice. I felt his pain when his unexpected result settled into the documentary.
It's also good to note some of the other highlighted shows that are given small glimpses but retain what it was like during this competitive season.
From it's big beginning to it's finale at the Tony Awards and beyond, Dori Bernstein and the entire cast of SHOW Business show us a season that the audience wishes can go on and on for this viewer wishes with the great care the shows were given on display, that there would be future SHOW Business seasons as this gives a flavor for present day Broadway and it's delicious.
2046 (2.35:1)
In viewing the current Wong Kar Wai's film, I had seen a review of this spawning my interest in the project and questioned whether it would meet my expectations. The answer to that question is yes and no.
A writer in the 1960s (Tony Leung) is working on his next piece of literature entitled 2046. The number carries with it few bits of significance. One is an eye popping future where one train can recall the memories of close love in the past. This parallel's the writer's life as he encounters other loves that come and go and as time goes by he questions whether or not the number means more to him or if he means more to the number.
As each Wai film has been experienced there always carries a sense of mystery and intrigue even in the element of love and it is widely experienced here. Artistically, it's beautiful to look at and it has an exquisite use of color. However, there are times when the film gets redundant and when there is an opportunity for the film to open up in a great light, the overall result leaves with a desire for much more.
Love is a patient subject but at the same time it shouldn't test the patience as well. Granted, the use of music and the score recalls Eric Serra's score on Leon. But the film shows a man who is tortured by his many loves and seeing, like the film, like it has no end and the result remains the same.
The acting is fine by all but the overall result left this viewer a bit empty and hoped there was much more to it than that.
Night Watch (1.85:1)
Over in Russia, this film, based on a trilogy of books, has been breaking box office records so it's no surprise that this viewer wanted to see what all the fuss is about. What I got was quite a unique experience.
Many years ago, there was a battle between the Warriors of Light and the Warriors of Night. This did more harm than good and before the havoc became worse, one side agreed to a truce and anyone that comes in the path to break that truce will suffer the consequences.
Fading in to 1992, a young man is brought forth to do a task. However, with the results of his task he realizes that he, along with many in this world, has a special gift with a choice. He can either choose to side with the Light or the Night. In this choice, he faces a future 12 years later that will play a part in the overall progress in this world when a simple task has a complex cause and effect of it's own.
This film can be difficult to follow at times but if you stick with it long enough, you will realize that they all fit into what is the entry level into this world that has two other chapters. As an entry level film, it has a lot of wild ideas and a feel of a world that is out of control (with a slight tip of a hat to Cronenberg's Videodrome).
From a special truck to the gifted people that populate this two sided world, there is a kineticism surrounding all from the crazy editing to the high energy score of the film. Right to the films climax and final solution, I really felt I was taken on a wild ride in the night where the colors of the world and the unique vision combined and exploded in a sea of amazement.
It was enough to have an interest in what the next two chapters of this series will have in store.
Night Watch is dark, head-scratching and some things do fall on its face in the film (like the way the film almost ended), but overall Night Watch is an intriguing look into the nighttime world with a glow and complexities that warrant high on many levels.
TV Party (1.33:1)
As a child of the "forgotten borough" of New York, one element that was lacking that was over the rest of the tri-state area was the luxury of cable television and Manhattan Cable carried a most intriguing show from 1978 to 1982 that prided itself as a TV Show that's a party and that can be a political party.
Now in the present day when all the drugs are not free, when all the paths go seperately, what you have left here is the various memories of the characters that have come to the party, some that have gone on to a wide range of popularity and some just get by being themselves and sharing a story or two about the fun goings on and the theme nights that seem to never end.
Without showing much of it, TV Party paints an interesting portrait, in words, of a past NY that was much different than the present day and a time before reality television when there was great freedom in public access television complete with black and white, many buttons and an occasional piece from a Henry Mancini record every now and then.
Some acts are funny (like the odd musical riffs) and some drag on (like the political chapter) their purpose on the show but it keeps in the spirit of a time that once was with a computer font giving hidden messages and the sense that there's always something going on at this spot no matter how outrageous or experimental it may be. Many of the antics, especially the wild phone-ins, foreshadowed much of the activity on TV today.
As a curious viewer, I felt welcome to the TV Party as it gave me an interesting idea of what Manhattan was like a ferry boat away at the age of two to six and from most of the players that lived to tell about it, it made for an entertaining piece of a time that once was and what still exists.
To the many that have crossed Eli's path, thank you for your company
and the view from the Killer Crane continues to shine on here in Tribeca
EliCross
