Film
Director Johnnie To has a playfulness found in much Hong Kong cinema. He has found a different way to unfold a story, making clear how money and greed can inform everything, but with plenty of room for humor and for good fortune.
Twenty-one years after she received a Golden Globe for “Europa Europa,” director Agnieszka Holland returns with another uncompromising vision of perseverance and the power of human connection in the worst of times.
What’s coming up now in this small gap between the Awards shows and the Film Festival Season? Lots! This month is a cornucopia of adventurous off-the-radar films. March features several great director’s series, Hong Kong, German, and Czech premieres, women directors, local directors, and a range of documentaries on music that you probably never heard of.
August Strindberg’s work unquestionably has not received the degree of popular acclaim in America that it deserves. It’s a bit mysterious, given that major U.S. playwrights — Eugene O’Neill, Edward Albee, Tennessee Williams — have openly acknowledged their debts to Strindberg.
Five strong contenders: production values are high, the actors excellent, and four are beautifully grounded in their settings –- Norway, Calcutta, and two in Ireland.
“The Artist” works on two levels: the audience in the film and the audience watching the film are entertained by the same things. And it’s that simplicity – the era when silent movies were all they had and it was good enough – is the real protagonist.
Award-winning filmmaker Helen Whitney: “My films form a kind of spiritual autobiography. I’m always searching for subjects that allow me to ask the big questions: Why are we here? Why must we die? Is this all there is?”
I recommend keeping an eye out for this and other animation shows at local, independent theaters and museums. You will be dazzled and amazed.
You may be still catching up on the Academy Award, Golden Globe, People’s Choice, or SAG picks. But this month offers some rare and wonderful treats for film fans of all kinds.
As in the plays of Harold Pinter, Reza realizes that violence seethes underneath our words; our language betrays our better nature.
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