Last week I saw a special presentation courtesy of the Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. A presentation of the Wiesenthal Center's Moriah Films division's latest work, AGAINST THE TIDE, directed by Richard Trank and narrated by Dustin Hoffman.
AGAINST THE TIDE is the story of Peter Bergson (born Hillel Kook), a Lithuanian who moved to America and worked on Zionist causes. When the first reports came in about the Jews in the Nazi death camps, he dropped everything else and started working full time petitioning the government and leading Jewish groups to engage in rescue efforts. The strange and tragic thing was how much resistance he faced. The standard wisdom was the only goal (and the best way to save the Jews of Europe) was to win the war, and anything that distracted from that was counter-productive. More importantly, there was a definite fear among the mainstream Jewish communities that being too vocal would make WWII "the Jew's war" and weaken support overall. So Bergson and his group launched a populist propaganda campaign, taking out controversial ads in the newspaper, and lining up a surprising amount of followers in the entertainment industry and in congress (most surprising is how many of his best allies were non-Jews).
The movie does a great job of mixing his struggle with the struggle of the Jews in the concentration camps. There are some really amazing stories, mostly courtesy of a group of Polish Jews who worked to document as much as they could in the camps, and buried their records (only 2 of the 3 caches were ever recovered). The deaths are, of course, included. But there's also some amazing stories, like the unbelievable courage and faith required to play a smuggled Shofar in Auschwitz on Rosh Hashanah. Or baking matzoh for Passover (and yes, there's only one oven available, but you do what you must). Or the extraordinary story of Denmark, who rose up en masse and challenged the Nazis, smuggling their small Jewish population by fishing boats to Sweden (which was neutral). In the process they completely exposed the lie that rescue operations don't work.
It's sometimes excruciating to watch. Although you know how it ends, I kept waiting for the one small victory, the small group of Jews that the Bergson saved. Or if only Winston Churchill's order to bomb the tracks leading to Auschwitz hadn't been intercepted and killed (by an American officer, as they were really running the war by then). There are a small number, mere thousands near the end of the war, that rescue efforts saved, and while every life is important you can't help but think too little, too late. Bergson's vindication really comes from history, where A) we can acknowledge that he was right when it was hard to be right, and B) when his "radical" tactics are used by pretty much all activist groups.
As always, Moriah films and Richard Trank make an engaging movie about a near-forgotten aspect of a story that must never be forgotten.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Jason goes to SFIAAFF--Closing Night
Finally, the last day of the festival, and I'm only blogging it 3 days after the fact. I'm exhausted.
First up was ADELA, a tearjerker from the slums of the Philippines. The title character is an old widow, well known and loved in her poor community, but still essentially alone. It follows her travels through the trash dump of a community (literally, trash piled everywhere) on her 80th birthday party. She helps birth a child, she sings with some friends at a bar (a combination celebration for the newborn and her 80th birthday). She watches corrupt politicians hustle for votes, young thieves hustle for money, and generally a world of decay and degradation. She watches over it as sort of a respected but ignored elder statesman, and the world is so pitiful and cruel you can almost see her begging for the sweet release of death with every long gaze. A deeply moving look at a deeply impoverished world.
Mix Tape 4: The MSG Addict
LOBSTER SCHMOBSTER: Hilarious sketch animation of a lobster caught in a trap and escaping a kitchen.
GOOD NIGHT: Cool Psychological sci-fi thriller of a man who had his ability to sleep surgically removed to get ahead.
SON OF GOLEM: Post-apocalyptic zombie just won't shut the fuck up.
SELF-ABSORBED: A vain woman puts on a necklace and turns into a giant blue mop. That's her super power.
PARTY HATS ON, PLEASE: An escalation of schoolkid violence, at a little girl's birthday party.
LITTLE PHOENIX AND THE REIGN OF FISTS: Chick fight! Chick fight! Chick fight! Chick fight! Chick fight! Chick fight! Chick fight! Chick fight! Awesome!
STILL FOR NOW: Never buy a house if the previous owner, Gregor Samsa, is nowhere to be found. He might just be inside the walls.
SYNCHRONICITY SERIES: Cool stop motion animation of real people. Damn lab coats can do anything.
GOOD LUCK COUNTING SHEEP: Dolly the cloned sheep in a coffee shop, giving away Celine Dion tickets?
THE OTHERS: Lou Diamond Philips! Lou Diamond Philips! Lou Diamond Philips! Lou Diamond Philips! Lou Diamond Philips! Lou Diamond Philips! Lou Diamond Philips! Awesome!
Next up was the jury winner for best documentary, MOSQUE IN MORGANTOWN: ISLAM AND FEMINISM IN WEST VIRGINIA. Asra Nomani is a respected journalist, a Wall Street Journal correspondent who reported from Pakistan shortly after 9/11 (incidentally, she was a good friend of Daniel Pearl, and currently leads the Pearl Project at Georgetown University). Upon returning to her childhood hometown of Morgantown, WV, she discovers that the only mosque in town is run by what she considers an extremist old boys club. So she sets out to change that, making headlines in 2003 by insisting on walking through the front door and praying in the main hall (instead of the segregated room or balcony where the women pray). The movie walks a fine line being hero worship/advocacy and balance. Director Brittany Huckabee is definitely on Nomani's side, but there's really no story without an explanation of the other side. At the extreme, there are people who believe that Islam decrees women to be subservient to men. A little more moderate are those who simply point out that the way Muslims bow in prayer sticks their butts up in the air, and it's not that good for women's modesty to mix them in with men. Others completely agree with Nomani, but think her tactics are too in-your-face, and that she should be more patient and work to change things slowly (basically that her problem isn't what she wants, but how quickly she wants it. Also that she is too demanding and doesn't work within community channels). It could be the influence of the movie, or it could by my good old liberal white male guilt, but I'm completely on her side. The most interesting part was just how difficult (impossible) it is to put together an active (to say nothing of activist) moderate movement. We are left, even here in America, with a mosque populated by moderates but run by extremists, because moderates can't come together and work for a common goal. Fascinating and more than a little disturbing.
Then from a dramatic documentary we moved on to a romantic comedy with KARMA CALLING. Opening with the voice of Tony Sirico as the Hindu god Ganesha (aka "G"), we know this is going to be something different. G quickly introduces us (in an animated opening sequence) to the main characters. The Raj family are Americans, living in Hoboken (so it makes sense their god is voiced by Tony Sirico). Dad Ram drives a taxi, but is falling deeper in debt every day. His wife Bebe keeps everything together while working in a lingerie store (appropriately named the Busy Lady). Their eldest son Shyam thinks he's a gangsta rapper, their eldest daughter Sonal is a college grad now working a lousy job in a company that makes artificial plants. And their youngest daughter Jamuna just wants a Bat Mitzvah like all her friends (Jews, represent!) Then we throw in some more characters. Mausi (I think Ram's mother) moves in and immediately tells them all they're doing wrong (like eating meat, being wasteful, being too American and not Indian enough). Radha is a young lady who is arranged to marry a dollar store manager who's a total zero. She needs a hero, like...Shyam? The Hindu gangsta rapper who wrote "Hapa means weed in Japanese"? Yeah, that's perfect for her. Meanwhile Sonal is carrying on a romance with a call center operator who she thinks is in Connecticut, but really "Rob Roy" is in India. If this sounds like a setup for wacky hijinx...you're right. If you think it's too complicated to pull it all together, don't worry so much. Sit back, enjoy the jokes, and trust that G will work it all out in his own way. Maybe giving him a little milk wouldn't hurt, though.
My only regret is that I couldn't stay for the Q&A because I had to rush out to catch the final film of the night, the brutal Korean action flick, THE CHASER. A cat and mouse game with an ex-cop turned pimp and the serial killer (played by Jung-woo Ha of MY DEAR ENEMY, the opening night film) who is taking his girls. At first the pimp (Kim Jung-ho, played by Yun-seok Kim) thinks his girls are either running away or are being stolen and sold by a rival. When he sends one of his girls, single mother Mi-jin Kim (Yeong-hie Seo) to a number that he belatedly recognizes as the last number all his missing girls went to, the chase is on. And I can't say anything else, because I don't want to spoil anything. Police get involved, but poo flung at the mayor of Seoul becomes a huge distraction. It's a tight, tense, brutal thriller that I could throw any number of cliches at ("edge of my seat", etc.) But I'll just end by saying it kept me surprised and a little shocked all through to the end.
And so ends the 2009 edition of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. Awesome, now I'll go get some sleep.
First up was ADELA, a tearjerker from the slums of the Philippines. The title character is an old widow, well known and loved in her poor community, but still essentially alone. It follows her travels through the trash dump of a community (literally, trash piled everywhere) on her 80th birthday party. She helps birth a child, she sings with some friends at a bar (a combination celebration for the newborn and her 80th birthday). She watches corrupt politicians hustle for votes, young thieves hustle for money, and generally a world of decay and degradation. She watches over it as sort of a respected but ignored elder statesman, and the world is so pitiful and cruel you can almost see her begging for the sweet release of death with every long gaze. A deeply moving look at a deeply impoverished world.
Mix Tape 4: The MSG Addict
LOBSTER SCHMOBSTER: Hilarious sketch animation of a lobster caught in a trap and escaping a kitchen.
GOOD NIGHT: Cool Psychological sci-fi thriller of a man who had his ability to sleep surgically removed to get ahead.
SON OF GOLEM: Post-apocalyptic zombie just won't shut the fuck up.
SELF-ABSORBED: A vain woman puts on a necklace and turns into a giant blue mop. That's her super power.
PARTY HATS ON, PLEASE: An escalation of schoolkid violence, at a little girl's birthday party.
LITTLE PHOENIX AND THE REIGN OF FISTS: Chick fight! Chick fight! Chick fight! Chick fight! Chick fight! Chick fight! Chick fight! Chick fight! Awesome!
STILL FOR NOW: Never buy a house if the previous owner, Gregor Samsa, is nowhere to be found. He might just be inside the walls.
SYNCHRONICITY SERIES: Cool stop motion animation of real people. Damn lab coats can do anything.
GOOD LUCK COUNTING SHEEP: Dolly the cloned sheep in a coffee shop, giving away Celine Dion tickets?
THE OTHERS: Lou Diamond Philips! Lou Diamond Philips! Lou Diamond Philips! Lou Diamond Philips! Lou Diamond Philips! Lou Diamond Philips! Lou Diamond Philips! Awesome!
Next up was the jury winner for best documentary, MOSQUE IN MORGANTOWN: ISLAM AND FEMINISM IN WEST VIRGINIA. Asra Nomani is a respected journalist, a Wall Street Journal correspondent who reported from Pakistan shortly after 9/11 (incidentally, she was a good friend of Daniel Pearl, and currently leads the Pearl Project at Georgetown University). Upon returning to her childhood hometown of Morgantown, WV, she discovers that the only mosque in town is run by what she considers an extremist old boys club. So she sets out to change that, making headlines in 2003 by insisting on walking through the front door and praying in the main hall (instead of the segregated room or balcony where the women pray). The movie walks a fine line being hero worship/advocacy and balance. Director Brittany Huckabee is definitely on Nomani's side, but there's really no story without an explanation of the other side. At the extreme, there are people who believe that Islam decrees women to be subservient to men. A little more moderate are those who simply point out that the way Muslims bow in prayer sticks their butts up in the air, and it's not that good for women's modesty to mix them in with men. Others completely agree with Nomani, but think her tactics are too in-your-face, and that she should be more patient and work to change things slowly (basically that her problem isn't what she wants, but how quickly she wants it. Also that she is too demanding and doesn't work within community channels). It could be the influence of the movie, or it could by my good old liberal white male guilt, but I'm completely on her side. The most interesting part was just how difficult (impossible) it is to put together an active (to say nothing of activist) moderate movement. We are left, even here in America, with a mosque populated by moderates but run by extremists, because moderates can't come together and work for a common goal. Fascinating and more than a little disturbing.
Then from a dramatic documentary we moved on to a romantic comedy with KARMA CALLING. Opening with the voice of Tony Sirico as the Hindu god Ganesha (aka "G"), we know this is going to be something different. G quickly introduces us (in an animated opening sequence) to the main characters. The Raj family are Americans, living in Hoboken (so it makes sense their god is voiced by Tony Sirico). Dad Ram drives a taxi, but is falling deeper in debt every day. His wife Bebe keeps everything together while working in a lingerie store (appropriately named the Busy Lady). Their eldest son Shyam thinks he's a gangsta rapper, their eldest daughter Sonal is a college grad now working a lousy job in a company that makes artificial plants. And their youngest daughter Jamuna just wants a Bat Mitzvah like all her friends (Jews, represent!) Then we throw in some more characters. Mausi (I think Ram's mother) moves in and immediately tells them all they're doing wrong (like eating meat, being wasteful, being too American and not Indian enough). Radha is a young lady who is arranged to marry a dollar store manager who's a total zero. She needs a hero, like...Shyam? The Hindu gangsta rapper who wrote "Hapa means weed in Japanese"? Yeah, that's perfect for her. Meanwhile Sonal is carrying on a romance with a call center operator who she thinks is in Connecticut, but really "Rob Roy" is in India. If this sounds like a setup for wacky hijinx...you're right. If you think it's too complicated to pull it all together, don't worry so much. Sit back, enjoy the jokes, and trust that G will work it all out in his own way. Maybe giving him a little milk wouldn't hurt, though.
My only regret is that I couldn't stay for the Q&A because I had to rush out to catch the final film of the night, the brutal Korean action flick, THE CHASER. A cat and mouse game with an ex-cop turned pimp and the serial killer (played by Jung-woo Ha of MY DEAR ENEMY, the opening night film) who is taking his girls. At first the pimp (Kim Jung-ho, played by Yun-seok Kim) thinks his girls are either running away or are being stolen and sold by a rival. When he sends one of his girls, single mother Mi-jin Kim (Yeong-hie Seo) to a number that he belatedly recognizes as the last number all his missing girls went to, the chase is on. And I can't say anything else, because I don't want to spoil anything. Police get involved, but poo flung at the mayor of Seoul becomes a huge distraction. It's a tight, tense, brutal thriller that I could throw any number of cliches at ("edge of my seat", etc.) But I'll just end by saying it kept me surprised and a little shocked all through to the end.
And so ends the 2009 edition of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. Awesome, now I'll go get some sleep.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Jason goes to SFIAAFF--Day 10
One final weekend for the festival in San Jose.
First up was a political documentary double feature, starting with the longish short (~30 minutes) A SONG FOR OURSELVES, about Chris Iijima. Chris Iijima was an activist, a folk singer, and an inspiration for a generation of Asian Americans, pioneering a vision of a politically and culturally powerful Asian American identity. The movie's a solid tribute to him, interviewing friends and family to get a brief look at the man.
Next was the longer documentary (~60 minutes), PATSY MINK: AHEAD OF THE MAJORITY. Patsy Takemoto Mink was elected to Congress in 1964 and was the first woman of color in Congress. She spoke out against the Vietnam War, and worked on a lot of civil and gender rights legislation, most notably Title IX. The movie traces her early life, frequent discrimination, eventual triumphs, her failed Presidential bid (nominated by an Oregon grass-roots group), her years out of politics, and her return to Congress in the 1990's. Patsy is definitely an inspiring character, and a true original. But the movie is a less inspiring simple PBS biography, with an unfortunate overuse of voice-over narration. I've seen narration used well and narration used poorly, and this is sadly one of the latter examples. One clear example of unnecessary narration is when she graduates from college as pre-med, but can't get into Medical school because none of them will take women. The voice over narration goes on to explain that she faced gender discrimination. No duh! If you believe you had to spell that out, you must not think much of your audience.
Anyway, I had to skip out on the last few minutes of PATSY MINK because I made a horrible miscalculation on time (maybe because A SONG FOR OURSELVES wasn't originally listed in the program?) I hate it when I do that, but I skipped over to the other screen to walk into THE EQUATION OF LOVE AND DEATH about 10 minutes late. I came in just in time to see two men talking to a guy with long hair sitting on the railway of a highway overpass. Suddenly he jumps off to his death, landing on a car. The driver gets out, and looks up at the men looking down at him. Suddenly one of the men accidentally drops a magazine. The driver picks it up, and it's fully of pictures of himself clipped inside. So he chases them to find out WTF is going on. And it gets weirder still. The two men get into a cab (I figured out later they were originally in the cab, and stole the magazine from the driver) and escape. The older, dominant one complains of a stomachache and goes to sleep after taking a few pills. The younger one starts going on about the girl he's looking for. The cab driver (oh yeah, who is played by the lovely Li Mi) thinks based on the description he might be looking for a waitress at a restaurant she frequents. He's overjoyed. Meanwhile, his partner wakes up, starts ranting about something, and a knife falls out of his pocket. It becomes clear that they're criminals, and suddenly the cab drive turns into a kidnapping. And it gets weirder still. This is the fast-paced, exciting, dangerous, and also romantic world of THE EQUATION OF LOVE AND DEATH. It's a movie that kept me intrigued from the get-go, and kept surprising me with each new reveal. Absolutely awesome.
Next up was the winner of the special jury award for narrative feature, CHILDREN OF INVENTION. Based on director Tze Chun's true life childhood, it's the story of a single mother and her two children Raymond and Tina (another family picture) are struggling to survive in the Boston suburbs. She works a variety of odd jobs, mostly in direct marketing, but still can't make the payments on their house. Their father has left them, and although he claims to be in Providence RI, he's really in Hong Kong (and doesn't pay hardly any of his court-ordered child support). Nearly homeless, they move into a model home run by a friend of hers. They can live there rent free, as long as they're not discovered. They still go to school, and she goes to a number of odd jobs, but they are forced to live in secret. Things just get worse when the mother joins a marketing company that is obviously a pyramid scheme (worse still, a scheme that targets new immigrants). It could be a wrenching tragedy, but Tze Chun has a unique sense of humor that can wring some laughs out of children left to fend for themselves. The title comes from a series of inventions Raymond has created (e.g., a handheld electric fan + plastic fork + tape = spaghetti spinner), and when mom is gone for a long time they decide they have to make and sell these inventions in order to survive. Very well done.
CHILDREN OF INVENTION is currently playing at many festivals, and they're self-releasing on DVD, selling it after their screenings. I've picked up my DVD ($20), which includes Tze Chun's precursor short, WINDOWBREAKER (which I could've sworn I've seen, but looking back at my archives I didn't. At least not when it played at SFIAAFF 2007)
And finally, the last film I saw Saturday night was Deepa Mehta's HEAVEN ON EARTH. The title is ironic, to say the least, and not just because it takes place in Canada. Chand is moving from India to Toronto for her arranged marriage. However, she doesn't realize she's moving into a family where her mother-in-law berates her, her husband beats her (not so subtly, he's named Rocky), she's responsible for earning a living (with her paycheck deposited directly into her husband's account) and for cooking and serving the whole family. And then it takes a weird magic realism fantasy turn, as a love potion a Jamaican friend gives her to slip into Rocky's drink first nearly kills him and then awakens a giant cobra in the yard. The cobra can take human form, and takes the form of Rocky, but a tender, loving Rocky. The fantasy element is interesting...but just weird. Mostly it's about a woman who gets beaten a lot and can't do much about it. And I'm tired of watching those stories. Overall, this was a big disappointment.
And that was Saturday. Just one last day (5 movies) left to write up.
First up was a political documentary double feature, starting with the longish short (~30 minutes) A SONG FOR OURSELVES, about Chris Iijima. Chris Iijima was an activist, a folk singer, and an inspiration for a generation of Asian Americans, pioneering a vision of a politically and culturally powerful Asian American identity. The movie's a solid tribute to him, interviewing friends and family to get a brief look at the man.
Next was the longer documentary (~60 minutes), PATSY MINK: AHEAD OF THE MAJORITY. Patsy Takemoto Mink was elected to Congress in 1964 and was the first woman of color in Congress. She spoke out against the Vietnam War, and worked on a lot of civil and gender rights legislation, most notably Title IX. The movie traces her early life, frequent discrimination, eventual triumphs, her failed Presidential bid (nominated by an Oregon grass-roots group), her years out of politics, and her return to Congress in the 1990's. Patsy is definitely an inspiring character, and a true original. But the movie is a less inspiring simple PBS biography, with an unfortunate overuse of voice-over narration. I've seen narration used well and narration used poorly, and this is sadly one of the latter examples. One clear example of unnecessary narration is when she graduates from college as pre-med, but can't get into Medical school because none of them will take women. The voice over narration goes on to explain that she faced gender discrimination. No duh! If you believe you had to spell that out, you must not think much of your audience.
Anyway, I had to skip out on the last few minutes of PATSY MINK because I made a horrible miscalculation on time (maybe because A SONG FOR OURSELVES wasn't originally listed in the program?) I hate it when I do that, but I skipped over to the other screen to walk into THE EQUATION OF LOVE AND DEATH about 10 minutes late. I came in just in time to see two men talking to a guy with long hair sitting on the railway of a highway overpass. Suddenly he jumps off to his death, landing on a car. The driver gets out, and looks up at the men looking down at him. Suddenly one of the men accidentally drops a magazine. The driver picks it up, and it's fully of pictures of himself clipped inside. So he chases them to find out WTF is going on. And it gets weirder still. The two men get into a cab (I figured out later they were originally in the cab, and stole the magazine from the driver) and escape. The older, dominant one complains of a stomachache and goes to sleep after taking a few pills. The younger one starts going on about the girl he's looking for. The cab driver (oh yeah, who is played by the lovely Li Mi) thinks based on the description he might be looking for a waitress at a restaurant she frequents. He's overjoyed. Meanwhile, his partner wakes up, starts ranting about something, and a knife falls out of his pocket. It becomes clear that they're criminals, and suddenly the cab drive turns into a kidnapping. And it gets weirder still. This is the fast-paced, exciting, dangerous, and also romantic world of THE EQUATION OF LOVE AND DEATH. It's a movie that kept me intrigued from the get-go, and kept surprising me with each new reveal. Absolutely awesome.
Next up was the winner of the special jury award for narrative feature, CHILDREN OF INVENTION. Based on director Tze Chun's true life childhood, it's the story of a single mother and her two children Raymond and Tina (another family picture) are struggling to survive in the Boston suburbs. She works a variety of odd jobs, mostly in direct marketing, but still can't make the payments on their house. Their father has left them, and although he claims to be in Providence RI, he's really in Hong Kong (and doesn't pay hardly any of his court-ordered child support). Nearly homeless, they move into a model home run by a friend of hers. They can live there rent free, as long as they're not discovered. They still go to school, and she goes to a number of odd jobs, but they are forced to live in secret. Things just get worse when the mother joins a marketing company that is obviously a pyramid scheme (worse still, a scheme that targets new immigrants). It could be a wrenching tragedy, but Tze Chun has a unique sense of humor that can wring some laughs out of children left to fend for themselves. The title comes from a series of inventions Raymond has created (e.g., a handheld electric fan + plastic fork + tape = spaghetti spinner), and when mom is gone for a long time they decide they have to make and sell these inventions in order to survive. Very well done.
CHILDREN OF INVENTION is currently playing at many festivals, and they're self-releasing on DVD, selling it after their screenings. I've picked up my DVD ($20), which includes Tze Chun's precursor short, WINDOWBREAKER (which I could've sworn I've seen, but looking back at my archives I didn't. At least not when it played at SFIAAFF 2007)
And finally, the last film I saw Saturday night was Deepa Mehta's HEAVEN ON EARTH. The title is ironic, to say the least, and not just because it takes place in Canada. Chand is moving from India to Toronto for her arranged marriage. However, she doesn't realize she's moving into a family where her mother-in-law berates her, her husband beats her (not so subtly, he's named Rocky), she's responsible for earning a living (with her paycheck deposited directly into her husband's account) and for cooking and serving the whole family. And then it takes a weird magic realism fantasy turn, as a love potion a Jamaican friend gives her to slip into Rocky's drink first nearly kills him and then awakens a giant cobra in the yard. The cobra can take human form, and takes the form of Rocky, but a tender, loving Rocky. The fantasy element is interesting...but just weird. Mostly it's about a woman who gets beaten a lot and can't do much about it. And I'm tired of watching those stories. Overall, this was a big disappointment.
And that was Saturday. Just one last day (5 movies) left to write up.
Jason goes to SFIAAFF--Day 9
And now the festival moves to San Jose, for its second opening night party.
The film was WHITE ON RICE, which was the flat-out funniest film in the festival. Hiroshi Watanabe plays Jimmy, a Japanese man-child and former film extra who has moved to America to stay with his sister and brother-in-law while trying to get back on his feet. His wife has left him and he really doesn't know how to take care of himself. Seriously, she left him 3 months of pre-cooked food, and when he ran out he starved for a while and then came to America. His sister Aiko is extremely (overly?) patient with him, but his brother-in-law Tak wants him out...or dead, either way is pretty good. He does get along pretty well with Bob, his 10 year old nephew (who's a child genius, but ignored in all the pandemonium that Jimmy causes). That's good, since they share a bunk bed. Things will only improve when he gets a new wife. And he has the perfect target--Tak's beautiful neice Ramona (I guess she's only a neice-in-law to him, so it's not that creepy? Okay, it is). Hilarity most definitely ensues. Very hilarious.
Most of the cast was there, as was writer/director Dave Boyle. The Q&A was cool, and then over to the after party at the San Jose Museum of Art. A few drinks, some delicious food (love that guava cake!) and finally I had to hop on the bus home.
The film was WHITE ON RICE, which was the flat-out funniest film in the festival. Hiroshi Watanabe plays Jimmy, a Japanese man-child and former film extra who has moved to America to stay with his sister and brother-in-law while trying to get back on his feet. His wife has left him and he really doesn't know how to take care of himself. Seriously, she left him 3 months of pre-cooked food, and when he ran out he starved for a while and then came to America. His sister Aiko is extremely (overly?) patient with him, but his brother-in-law Tak wants him out...or dead, either way is pretty good. He does get along pretty well with Bob, his 10 year old nephew (who's a child genius, but ignored in all the pandemonium that Jimmy causes). That's good, since they share a bunk bed. Things will only improve when he gets a new wife. And he has the perfect target--Tak's beautiful neice Ramona (I guess she's only a neice-in-law to him, so it's not that creepy? Okay, it is). Hilarity most definitely ensues. Very hilarious.
Most of the cast was there, as was writer/director Dave Boyle. The Q&A was cool, and then over to the after party at the San Jose Museum of Art. A few drinks, some delicious food (love that guava cake!) and finally I had to hop on the bus home.
Jason goes to SFIAAFF--Day 8
Last Thursday was the (San Francisco) closing night gala, even though I was only 2/3 of the way through with the festival.
First they announced the jury award winners:
Best Narrative Feature: HALF-LIFE (and I agree wholeheartedly!)
Narrative Feature Special Jury Award: CHILDREN OF INVENTION (which I saw later in San Jose, and was also great)
Best Documentary Feature: A MOSQUE IN MORGANTOWN (which I saw later in San Jose, and I agree)
Documentary Special Jury Award: DIRTY HANDS: THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF DAVID CHOE (which I missed, and am bummed I missed)
Then on to the closing night film, the Korean movie, TREELESS MOUNTAIN. Another family story, although this one is a family without a father, and pretty quickly without a mother. Jin is 6 years old, and lives with her mom and little sister Bin. Dad is gone, and when things get too difficult mom leaves the girls with Big Auntie to go look for dad. They have a piggy bank, and Auntie promises that every day they're good they get a coin. When the piggy bank is full, mommy will return. The movie stays solidly in the children's' point of view, especially Jin, who has to grow up very quickly. Thing is, Auntie likes to drink and doesn't like to take care of children, so Jin has to take responsibility for herself and for Bin. A big burden to lay on a 6 year old who doesn't quite know what's going on. The movie is quiet, deep, and sentimental without being sappy. And it has some amazing performances by the two child actors (which is also a bit of a theme in the festival--see CHILDREN OF INVENTION, which I haven't written about yet).
First they announced the jury award winners:
Best Narrative Feature: HALF-LIFE (and I agree wholeheartedly!)
Narrative Feature Special Jury Award: CHILDREN OF INVENTION (which I saw later in San Jose, and was also great)
Best Documentary Feature: A MOSQUE IN MORGANTOWN (which I saw later in San Jose, and I agree)
Documentary Special Jury Award: DIRTY HANDS: THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF DAVID CHOE (which I missed, and am bummed I missed)
Then on to the closing night film, the Korean movie, TREELESS MOUNTAIN. Another family story, although this one is a family without a father, and pretty quickly without a mother. Jin is 6 years old, and lives with her mom and little sister Bin. Dad is gone, and when things get too difficult mom leaves the girls with Big Auntie to go look for dad. They have a piggy bank, and Auntie promises that every day they're good they get a coin. When the piggy bank is full, mommy will return. The movie stays solidly in the children's' point of view, especially Jin, who has to grow up very quickly. Thing is, Auntie likes to drink and doesn't like to take care of children, so Jin has to take responsibility for herself and for Bin. A big burden to lay on a 6 year old who doesn't quite know what's going on. The movie is quiet, deep, and sentimental without being sappy. And it has some amazing performances by the two child actors (which is also a bit of a theme in the festival--see CHILDREN OF INVENTION, which I haven't written about yet).
Jason goes to SFIAAFF--Day 7
My only day of SFIAAFF at the PFA this year, and it was also the last of the Kiyoshi Kurosawa mini-retrospective, and another double feature of revenge movies.
THE REVENGE: A VISIT FROM FATE is probably Kurosawa's most clearly straightforward genre picture (at least of this retrospective). It opens with two yakuza coming into a house and murdering an entire family. Or most of a family, the youngest son hides upstairs. One of the yakuza finds him, but he's the timid and doesn't want to kill, so he lets the kid live. That kid grows up to be a policeman, played by the inimitable Sho Aikawa (best thing about the Kurosawa retrospective: it has made me a Sho Aikawa fan). He's a good cop, but never carries his gun. Not because he's a pacifist, but because he's afraid of what he'll do with it. He's also a loving husband, but when the yakuza he's after go after his wife, he boils over, quits the force, and he gets his revenge (and of course, it involves the yakuza who killed his family in the beginning). Hard core, straight-faced violence.
Then they shows, THE REVENGE: THE SCAR THAT NEVER FADES, same characters, several years later. Sho Aikawa's character is now deep undercover in the yakuza. Or maybe he's really a yakuza now. All records that he was ever a cop have been destroyed, and he's working his way up the yakuza ladder to take out the head. He's now gone full bad-ass mode, with revenge his only motivation. His quest is complicated both by the multiple layers of yakuza hierarchy, and by the policeman who's trying to find him. But nothing can stop him. He doesn't want revenge, he needs revenge like a junkie needs his fix. Kurosawa said this is his first full expression of his directorial style, and it's hard to argue. Pretty awesome.
THE REVENGE: A VISIT FROM FATE is probably Kurosawa's most clearly straightforward genre picture (at least of this retrospective). It opens with two yakuza coming into a house and murdering an entire family. Or most of a family, the youngest son hides upstairs. One of the yakuza finds him, but he's the timid and doesn't want to kill, so he lets the kid live. That kid grows up to be a policeman, played by the inimitable Sho Aikawa (best thing about the Kurosawa retrospective: it has made me a Sho Aikawa fan). He's a good cop, but never carries his gun. Not because he's a pacifist, but because he's afraid of what he'll do with it. He's also a loving husband, but when the yakuza he's after go after his wife, he boils over, quits the force, and he gets his revenge (and of course, it involves the yakuza who killed his family in the beginning). Hard core, straight-faced violence.
Then they shows, THE REVENGE: THE SCAR THAT NEVER FADES, same characters, several years later. Sho Aikawa's character is now deep undercover in the yakuza. Or maybe he's really a yakuza now. All records that he was ever a cop have been destroyed, and he's working his way up the yakuza ladder to take out the head. He's now gone full bad-ass mode, with revenge his only motivation. His quest is complicated both by the multiple layers of yakuza hierarchy, and by the policeman who's trying to find him. But nothing can stop him. He doesn't want revenge, he needs revenge like a junkie needs his fix. Kurosawa said this is his first full expression of his directorial style, and it's hard to argue. Pretty awesome.
Jason goes to SFIAAFF--Day 6
Tuesday night started with the jury award winner for best narrative, and I agree with the jury.
HALF-LIFE is Jennifer Phang's feature film directorial debut, and it's a wild near-future, near-apocalyptic adventure. It takes place in a Diablo Valley town (oh yeah, it's kind of local to the Bay Area, too, so that was extra cool), and in a future where global flooding, solar flares, and chainsaw suicides are common news fodder. The story is about a family. The father is gone, lost in an accident (maybe?) while piloting an airplane. Daughter Pam sweeps out the airplane hangar and tries to fly herself--by jumping off the roof. Her little brother Tim is even stranger, and is developing telekinetic powers. Their mom spends all day with her live-in leech of boyfriend, who hits on Pam when mom's not around (makes sense, he's closer to her age. But still, gross!). Weird stuff, of course, happens. There are even splashes of animation in there. A thoroughly ambitious debut, that meets its ambitions fully.
Next up was ALL AROUND US, a Japanese modern romantic epic. Kanao and Shoko love each other, and so they get married. They get pregnant, but their infant daughter dies, and Shoko falls into depression. Kanao quits his job as a shoe salesman and gets a job as a courtroom sketch artist. Somehow his laid-back, unflappable demeanor is perfect for both documenting some horribly perverse criminals, and for working in the high-stress, fast-paced job in the news business. But all the time, he's thinking more of poor Shoko. He's the unflappable anchor for her nervous perfectionism, and over the years (several, several years), and through all types of troubles they grow to love each other more and more. At times it's funny (slapstick and dark, grisly humor) and at other times sweet, romantic drama (even melodrama). But it's also very long (140 minutes) and I was very tired, and dozed off a bit at the end. Good news, I can find it on Japanese DVD. Bad news, it's $55. I'll have to think about whether I want to spend that much...I probably do.
HALF-LIFE is Jennifer Phang's feature film directorial debut, and it's a wild near-future, near-apocalyptic adventure. It takes place in a Diablo Valley town (oh yeah, it's kind of local to the Bay Area, too, so that was extra cool), and in a future where global flooding, solar flares, and chainsaw suicides are common news fodder. The story is about a family. The father is gone, lost in an accident (maybe?) while piloting an airplane. Daughter Pam sweeps out the airplane hangar and tries to fly herself--by jumping off the roof. Her little brother Tim is even stranger, and is developing telekinetic powers. Their mom spends all day with her live-in leech of boyfriend, who hits on Pam when mom's not around (makes sense, he's closer to her age. But still, gross!). Weird stuff, of course, happens. There are even splashes of animation in there. A thoroughly ambitious debut, that meets its ambitions fully.
Next up was ALL AROUND US, a Japanese modern romantic epic. Kanao and Shoko love each other, and so they get married. They get pregnant, but their infant daughter dies, and Shoko falls into depression. Kanao quits his job as a shoe salesman and gets a job as a courtroom sketch artist. Somehow his laid-back, unflappable demeanor is perfect for both documenting some horribly perverse criminals, and for working in the high-stress, fast-paced job in the news business. But all the time, he's thinking more of poor Shoko. He's the unflappable anchor for her nervous perfectionism, and over the years (several, several years), and through all types of troubles they grow to love each other more and more. At times it's funny (slapstick and dark, grisly humor) and at other times sweet, romantic drama (even melodrama). But it's also very long (140 minutes) and I was very tired, and dozed off a bit at the end. Good news, I can find it on Japanese DVD. Bad news, it's $55. I'll have to think about whether I want to spend that much...I probably do.
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