Jason goes to the Cleveland Cinematheque and sees LE QUATTRO VOLTE and NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT

In my latest trip to Cleveland, I returned to the prime spot for cinephilia, this time for a double feature of films I meant to see but never got around to in the SF Bay Area. Let me once again remind my Cleveland readers that you have a real jewel of film programming right there, and they deserve (and could certainly use) your support.

First up, the nearly dialogue free LE QUATTRO VOLTE. We open on an ash mound, as the workers are making charcoal. The mound is breathing smoke and as the camera enters the mound, the relentless, rhythmic pounding of the workers shovel becomes a heartbeat. You can tell immediately this is going to be a brand new interpretation of life and nature. We see smoke from the charcoal mounds drift over the forests. We see a goatherd take his herd out grazing. We see an ant crawling across his face. We see a baby goat be born. We see (in the funniest scenes, bordering on pure but subtle slapstick) the newborn goats exploring their world and playing with each other. We see the charcoal men's truck lose control and knock over the gate to the goat's pen. We see the tallest tree in the forest cut down and brought to the town square for a festival. And after the festival, we see the tree cut into pieces, taking to the ash mounds, and turned into charcoal.

I'm convinced I only 'got' about half of what was in this film. It's challenging, but a challenge with the immediate reward of seeing the world in a brand new way.

Before the second film started, they ran some trailers including the trailer for LE QUATTRO VOLTE, which I'm declaring essential preparatory viewing for the film. It actually lays out--in words (which aren't used in the actual film)--the thesis of the film. Everyone lives 4 lives: we are minerals (the ash mound), we are plants (the forest and the tree), we are animals (the goats) and we are rational beings (the goatherd) and we must be born and die 4 times in our life. Now that I've seen the trailer, I need to see the film again.

And then the second film was NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT. The Atacama desert of Chile is the driest spot on earth. And because of this, it has attracted astronomers from around the world to its pure, clear, distortion-free sky. I love seeing science romanticized, and astronomy is a great branch to show beautiful, stunning pictures. The astronomers are quick to point out that when they look at light far away they're looking into the past (even sunlight is 8 minutes old when it reaches earth), which gives them something in common with the other scientists who roam the desert--the archaeologists (it also gives a reason for the word "Nostalgia" in the title). The same dry climate that makes the sky so clear also keeps remains wonderfully preserved. And finally there are the searchers for the most recent of histories--the women who search for remains of dissidents who were "disappeared" during Pinochet's reign. It makes the last half of the movie very sad, heart-rending even. And sets up some eerie juxtapositions, like when an old woman wishes that the telescopes can be turned back on the earth and find bones, and then the astronomers excitedly point out the characteristic peak of calcium in a distant star's spectrum. Or when the remains of prehistoric aboriginal residents are better preserved and catalogued than the unidentified remains of the disappeared. The final coda--that a culture without a memory is already dead--is elegantly and poetically expressed, and the film ultimately stands as a thank you note to those who would preserve memory, whether recent, prehistoric, or as far back as the start of the universe.

Total Running Time: 178 minutes
My Total Minutes: 241,024

Jason watches MIDNIGHT IN PARIS

Continuing my occasional series of checking out independent/art house theaters in Cleveland, I went to the Capitol Cinema. Part of the same chain that includes the Cedar Lee, this is a 3 screen house that plays a mix of art-house and blockbuster fare. While I was watching MIDNIGHT IN PARIS in one of two upstairs screens, GREEN LANTERN was playing in the big screen downstairs (I forget what was playing on the third screen). Which brings me to my only real gripe--they could do with better soundproofing. I could hear the rumbling explosions of GREEN LANTERN below me. I believe the three houses were converted from a single screen movie palace, and this inadequate soundproofing is pretty common.

My other minor gripe is there's a small half-wall in front of the front row (at least upstairs) which prevents me from stretching out my legs (one of the best perks of the front row). But on the plus side, you can get a beer at the concession stand, the staff was friendly, and the digital projection looked very clean (I'm guessing it's some version of HD, and it was definitely Dolby Digital, I don't think it was 4K). And Tuesday night is free (small) popcorn night.

Okay, as for the movie...it was charming. The trailers I saw did a great job of setting up that Owen Wilson's character (Gill Pender) loves Paris although his fiance and her family aren't that enthralled. And particularly he has adventures at night when he's all alone. But they don't reveal the big surprise about those adventures...and neither will I. I'll just leave it at it's charming, pleasing, and there's a good message about finding your bliss in the life you're given. Perhaps not a greatly profound or earth-shaking message--Woody Allen doesn't really do that. Instead (when he's at his best) he takes simple elegant truths and displays them with easy grace and charm, as he does here.

Running Time: 100 minutes
My Total Minutes: 240,846

Jason watches WIN WIN

Part of my ongoing project of taking too many business trips to Cleveland, and while I'm there checking out the cool places for cinephiles. Last week was the Cedar Lee Theatre. Like most art house cinemas it's in a bit of disrepair, but it has a great program and you can get a beer with your movie--awesome! I had the good fortune of going there on a night there was a thunderstorm. I was one of only three people in the screening, and an usher came up before the show and explained that if the power went out or the storm warning increased, we would evacuate and take shelter in the basement. That didn't happen, but I did get to listen to the booming thunder outside all through the movie. It wasn't really the right movie for that.

As for the movie, WIN WIN showcases the acting talent of Paul Giamatti as Mike Flaherty, a struggling lawyer and volunteer wrestling coach. The title seems ironic at first, with not much winning in either his professional life (he doesn't even have money to fix the furnace, which might go at any moment) or his wrestling team. He pulls a bit of a fast one when he volunteers to be the legal guardian for a wealthy but senile client Leo Poplar (Burt Young) and then cashes the checks while putting him in a home. All well and good (and illegal/unethical) until Leo's grandson comes to visit. He's got a story about how he can't go back home to his mother, and this seems like just another headache for Mike until it turns out the kid is a brilliant wrestler. In fact, there might eventually be some winning going on. Or instead his past misdeeds will catch up with him. Good acting and well rounded characters.

Running Time: 106 minutes

My Total Minutes: 236,769