independent film reviews

This weekend’s recommended picks! Go to the website for the Portland International Film Festival for more details.

A Town Called Panic

An insane surreal stop-motion animated fantasy film featuring toy figurines doing all sorts of things in all sorts of settings.

SHOWTIMES
Sat, Feb. 20 @ 3:45pm (B3)
Sun, Feb. 21 @ 7:45pm (B1)

Chameleon

This Hungarian film follows a Gábor, an office cleaner who thoroughly analyzes the garbage of those he works for. Using garbage as a guide, he carefully targets vulnerable women to take advantage of, but has a conflict when he finally falls in love with one of them.

SHOWTIMES
Sun, Feb. 21 @ 6:45pm (B4)
Tue, Feb. 23 @ 6:15pm (B3)
Wed, Feb. 24 @ 7:15p (B4)

City Of Life And Death

A brutal recreation of the “Rape Of Nanking,” in which more than 300,000 Chinese civilians were massacred by the Japanese army during the late 1930s.

SHOWTIMES
Sun, Feb. 21 @ 7:30pm (WH)
Mon, Feb. 22 @ 8:15pm (B1)

Dawson Isla 10

After Chile’s military coup in 1973, President Salvador Allende’s most trustworthy collaborators are locked up in a concentration camp on Dawson Island. Thirty years later, they return to the island to see how time has healed their wounds.

SHOWTIMES
Sat, Feb. 20 @ 8:15pm (B4)
Mon, Feb. 22 @ 6:45pm (B2)
Wed, Feb. 24 @ 8:45pm (B3)

Reporter

World-traveling investigative New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof takes us into his world, which is full of situations we can never imagine from the comfort of our homes.

SHOWTIMES
Mon, Feb. 15 @ 4:30pm (B3)
Sun, Feb. 21 @ 2:30pm (B1)

Mother

Elderly women in many countries are majorly tough cookies who engage in manual labor and really know how to fight for what they believe is right. Mother is a psychological drama about the mother of a mentally-handicapped young adult, and what she’s willing to do to prove that he is innocent of the crime he’s convicted of.

SHOWTIMES
Fri, Feb. 19 @ 9:15pm (B1)
Tue, Feb. 23 @ 6:00pm (WH)

Passenger Side

From Los Angeles to the surrounding desert of the Inland Empire, Passenger Side follows the story of two siblings who embark on a common road trip, with uncommon results.

SHOWTIMES
Fri, Feb. 19 @ 8:30pm (B3)
Wed, Feb. 24 @ 7:00pm (B2)

The Shock Doctrine

Let’s quote Sundance Film Festival, shall we? They’ve summed it up well: “Based on the best-selling book by Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine seeks to explain the rise of disaster capitalism: the exploitation of moments of crisis in vulnerable countries by governments and big business.”

SHOWTIMES
Sat, Feb. 20 @ 6:45pm (B2)
Sat, Feb. 20 @ 9:15pm (B2)
Sun, Feb. 21 @ 1:00pm (B2)

Vincere

Seen through the eyes of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s first wife, the Australian aristocrat, Ida Dalser, Vincere explores what happens to Dalser after Mussolini rejects both her and her newborn son.

SHOWTIMES
Fri, Feb 19 @ 8:45pm (WH)
Sun, Feb. 21 @ 4:45pm (B1)

Waking Sleeping Beauty

Disney might not be what they used to be, but they’re still a household name. This behind-the-scenes documentary explores Disney’s past, from the mid-1980s until now.

SHOWTIMES
Sat, Feb. 20 @ 1:30pm (B3)
Mon, Feb 22 @ 9:30pm (B2)

Welcome

This French film follows the lives of illegal immigrants who are trying to flee their homelands to reach England, serving as an extremely memorable look into young immigrants and what their experiences as they try to make new lives for themselves.

SHOWTIMES
Wed, Feb. 17 @ 8:45pm (B1)
Fri, Feb. 19 @ 8:15pm (B2)
Sat, Feb. 20 @ 6:15pm (B3)

The Wind Journeys

A film shot in the countrysides of Northern Columbia, The Wind Journeys follows Ignacio Carrillo, an accordion player who goes on one last trip to return his accordion to the man who gave it to him. When a young teenager with dreams of becoming a nomadic musician, the former tries to convince the boy that the lifestyle can only lead to solitude and sadness.

SHOWTIMES
Sat, Feb. 18 @ 6:00pm (WH)
Sat, Feb. 20 @ 12:00pm (B1)

From its opening train hijacking sequence to its creative opening credits, The Good, The Bad, The Weird seemed like a film that would be right up my alley. The first few minutes were so enjoyable that I was quite sure that the goofy, highly stylized film would be one of my new favorites.

Well, that was shooting a little too high. While it was in fact very close to being a perfect over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek masterpiece, it fell slightly short — an unfortunate situation, considering the film is very obviously the collaboration of people who know what they’re doing.

First and foremost, the film succeeds in a fundamental way with fantastic character development. Familiar Korean actors fill in the roles impressively, with Song Kang-ho (Thirst, Memories Of Murder, JSA) playing “The Weird”, bad ass Lee Byung-hun as “The Bad” (Three Extremes, Hero, JSA), and lesser-known Jung Woo-sung (A Moment To Remember, The Warrior) as “The Good”. Ultimately, they are caricatures, but it works. Song plays the role of the familiar bumbling comedic relief, Lee owns the role of the egomaniac killer, and Jung is almost too perfect as the renegade long arm of the law. The three, as suggested by the title, are vastly different, and Lee and Jung in particular stand strong; the whole film seems to be a teaser leading up to their ultimate showdown.

The film is a visual treat in a cluttered, hypercolored way. With impressive neon lighting that’s notable in nearly every frame, The Good, The Bad, The Weird is home to brightly colored, ornate marketplaces, warriors donning unmatching, richly patterned textiles, and strange leftover war relics. At some points, it literally seems like the costume and set designers just scoured junk stores and pulled home everything with some kitschy collectable appeal, from motorcycles with sidecars to Manchurian-inspired furs and rusty wind instruments. This kind of worldly hodge-podge works with The Good, The Bad, The Weird, because if films could be copy-and-paste collages, this would be one. It is stylistically all over the map, but somehow it pulls together.

With so much going for it, then, The Good, The Bad, The Ugly only falls significantly short in one way. Apparently, the director and editors decided after shooting that they really, really love explosions — from every angle and in every speed. And while the explosions are initially entertaining, they become boring towards the end of the film. There is what seems to be a ridiculous ten-minute clip that switches between shots of running horses and shots of explosions. The over-saturation is completely underwhelming.

Asides from this misstep, though, the film concludes in a satisfying way. As mentioned, The Good… seems to be teasing the viewer throughout its duration, hinting at the ultimate showdown between the film’s three main characters. And despite this built-up anticipation, the conclusion satisfies.

SCREENINGS AT THE 2010 PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL:
February 13 - 9:00pm at Regal Broadway Cinemas (B1)
February 15 - 4:00pm at Whitsell Auditorium (Portland Art Museum)
February 17 - 9:15pm at Regal Broadway Cinemas (B2)

Terribly Happy opens with an outrageous narrative the film claims is based off of true events. In a small town, farmers discover that their cows are sinking into the grass fields, because the fields are really part bog. One cow gets stuck in the boggy field and is eventually dug out. Once it is, though, it gives birth to a calf that is half-human and half-bovine, and all of the women in the town become greatly distressed. The cow has to once again be sunk into the bog for the mental sanity of the people in town. Ridiculous!

Through the years, I’ve taken quite a liking to the black comedies exported by Scandinavian countries. Not quite in line with typical American humor, Scandinavian black comedies are funny in a dry, cynical, and wholly fantastical way; they often revolve around scenarios that are so absurd they become surreal. Terribly Happy begins in just such a fashion, with just such an influence. It perfectly sets the tone for a film that will sink deeper and deeper into crazy comedic scenarios, only… that’s not what happens.

Terribly Happy soon starts to hum to a vastly different tune. Comedy goes out the window, and it becomes a mixed and mashed amalgam of psychological thriller, action, noir, and western. In fact, asides from the beginning and end of the film — which are steeply entrenched in “black comedy” territory — Terribly Happy is quite serious, with slight moments of amusement in the, “this-is-funny-but-not-in-a-laugh-out-loud” variety.

The film follows around city detective Robert Hansen (Jakob Cedergren), who is transplanted temporarily into a small town. He is quite obviously out of place, and one learns early on that he has no one but a wife and kid who do not wish to speak to him. He is, for all intents and purposes, alone. And while we do know his on-screen character to a degree,we soon learn that we don’t really know anything about him other than the fact that he is a man who yearns to do his job as police chief.

As the bizarre inconsistencies of a small town replete with strange rituals emerges, one begins to question who is correctly pointing the fingers and who is behind the mysterious murders and disappearances that take place in the town. Is it the entire town? Is it the film’s ultimate wife-beating villain, Jørgen? Is it Robert? It’s hard to decide, because Terribly Happy is terribly hard to predict. Somehow, the film manages to bend genres and expectations without becoming overly complicated or feeling cluttered in any way.

This weekend is a big weekend for movie-going consumers in Portland. It’s the first weekend of the Portland International Film Festival, and it’s Valentine’s Day. Here are a few of our recommended picks!

About Elly

An Iranian drama that explores what happens when a group on a weekend getaway realize that one of their travelers has gone missing. The most powerful moments in this film lie in the clash between traditional values and modernity, and the film provides a detailed look at gender roles and husband-wife relations in Iran.

SHOWTIMES
Sat, Feb. 13 @ 3:15pm (B3)
Sun, Feb. 14 @ 1:45pm (B4)
Sun, Feb. 14 @ 7:00pm (B4)

Cooking History

Czech filmmaker Péter Kerekes takes sneak peeks into the lives of various military cooks from all over Europe. The film captures viewpoints on 20th century European wars through the viewpoints of food service personnel — certainly not individuals you hear historical tales from everyday.

SHOWTIMES
Sun, Feb. 14 @ 9:00pm (B3)
Thu, Feb. 18 @ 9:00pm (B3)
Sun, Feb. 21 @ 12:45pm (B3)

Hipsters

Set in 1950’s Moscow, Hipsters shows how musicians can break free in the midst of Soviet conformity. A love it or hate it musical some will swoon over and others will abhor.

SHOWTIMES
Fri, Feb. 12 @ 8:45pm (B3)
Sat, Feb. 13 @ 5:30pm (B2)
Tue, Feb. 16 @ 8;15pm (B1)
Wed, Feb. 17 @ 7:00pm (B3)

Home

What director Ursula Meier has termed, “a road movie in reverse.” As opposed to hitting the open road, one family coops themselves up in their home and slowly drive each other insane.

SHOWTIMES
Sat, Feb. 13 @ 8:30pm (B2)
Sun, Feb. 14 @ 3:15pm (B2)
Mon, Feb. 15 @ 8:00pm (B2)

Mid-August Lunch

Director Gianni Di Gregorio stars in his own film as a money-troubled man who spends his time caring for his elderly mother. Soon, his home is filled with aged women for him to care for, and the film unfolds with stories and interactions.

SHOWTIMES
Sat, Feb. 13 @ 6:15pm (B1)
Sun, Feb. 14 @ 5:45pm (B3)

Protektor

A stylish drama set in Nazi-occupied Prague, which explores the fragility of relationships by means of bright, minimalistic visuasl.

SHOWTIMES
Sun, Feb. 14 @ 12:45pm (B2)
Mon, Feb. 15 @ 2:00pm (B1)
Mon, Feb. 15 @ 7:45pm (B4)

Short Cuts I

Worth it simply for the grotesquely beautiful Next Floor, pictured above. Add 7 more short films into the mix, and you’re getting your money’s worth. ‘Nuf said.

SHOWTIMES
Sat, Feb. 13 @ 12:30pm (WH)
Mon, Feb. 15 @ 1:45pm (WH)

Terribly Happy

A film that begins and ends in typical Scandinavian black comedic fashion, Terribly Happy follows the life of Robert, a city cop who has been thrown into a small town. When murder shows its head, things become confusing for Robert, and a mix of psychological thriller, action, and comedy make the film a genre-bending romp.

SHOWTIMES
Fri, Feb 12 @ 6:45pm (B1)
Sun, Feb. 14 @ 4:45pm (B1)

The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls

The Topp Twins are lesbian twins who are popular amongst New Zealanders in all walks of life. Like a non-American Dixie Chicks mixed with yodeling, the Topp twins are a fascinating duo to hold the camera frame.

SHOWTIMES
Sun, Feb. 14 @ 7:15pm (B1)
Tue, Feb. 16 @ 6:15pm (B3)

Tomorrow night is the kick-off party and film for the Portland International Film Festival. For just $25 (or $20 if you’re a PAM member or Silver Screen Friend), you can socialize with Portland’s film elite and see Tilda Swinton star in the film, I Am Love (Io sono l’amore in Italian).

The film follows a wealthy industrial family, the Recchis, as they celebrate the birthday of the grandfather of the household. Set against beautiful backdrops glowing with opulence and affulence, Italian director Luca Guadagnino explores a wide range of emotion — and what it is to listen to one’s heart against odds.

Head on over to the PIFF website to pick up your passes for the event now. It’s tomorrow. 7:30pm. Go quick!

TICKET PRICES
GENERAL: $10
PORTLAND ART MUSEUM MEMBERS: $9
GROUP RATE (15 or more to a single screening, in advance only; Sunday–Thursday screenings only): $7
CHILDREN (12 and under): $7
SILVER SCREEN CLUB FRIEND ($60 annually): $7
DIRECTOR, PRODUCER and BENEFACTOR members receive free admission with their valid Silver Screen Club cards.
OPENING NIGHT TICKETS: See below
CLOSING PARTY: $15 general; $10 Silver Screen Friend and Portland Art Museum members

Launderette is a short film that takes place in a laundromat — a place that can feel stale and depressing, yet always seems to capture a strange charm when viewed through a lens. UK director Bertie Telezynski’s short film, with cinematography by Alex Nevill, is a personal look at the lives of those who visit the laundromat. By asking laundromat patrons personal questions that skip past inane “small talk” and delve directly into the innermost thoughts of strangers, Launderette manages to capture opinions about beautiful things and memorable childhoods. Many of these questions are fraught with discomfort due to their personal nature, and it’s remarkable that the strangers generally complied with answering. One can’t help but respect the filmmakers for partaking in what must have been an unpredictable and uncomfortable situation.

In the end, my only problem is with the short’s post-production. It may have been purposely dreary, but overall, it feels too unprocessed. Not that overprocessing is a must for every film, but in the low-light conditions in which this short was shot, the colors feel muddled. Nonetheless, if human reactions and social interactions are up your alley, this short will interest you.

You can watch the whole short below.

Laundrette from Alex Nevill on Vimeo.