oscar@utcsrgv.UUCP (Oscar M. Nierstrasz) (09/21/83)
It's all over. The eighth annual Festival of Festivals has come
to an end. The dust has settled and normal life must resume.
All in all I saw 40 feature films and three shorts. Only two of
them had I seen before and a couple I walked out of. The selec-
tion was very good this year. It included both brand new films
from around the world and much older films that may or may not
have been hard to see.
What follows is a summary of all of the films I saw. The cap-
sules are fairly brief, especially those of films that are un-
likely to be screened very often. The films are listed in the
order that I saw them.
---
Balance, La (Swaim, Bob; France; 1983; 102m) ***
This is a fine French crime thriller. The English title is "The
Dimedropper" and refers to the slang word for informers. The
story is about a small-time hood/pimp whom the Paris police are
trying to coerce into becoming an informer. It's exciting,
fast-paced, mean and witty. The only film that out-grossed it in
France last year was "E.T.". This film will be released shortly
in North America.
---
State of Things, The (Wenders, Wim; Germany; 1982; 120m) ** 1/2
Wenders made this movie during a break in the shooting of "Ham-
mett". It's about a film crew in Portugal making a science fic-
tion film. Production ends abruptly when they run out of film
stock and the producer can't be contacted. The film is very
slow-paced and virtually plot-less. It is hard to get much out
of this film without seeing it in the context of the frustration
Wenders was experiencing with Hollywood filmmaking with "Ham-
mett".
---
Return Engagement (Rudolph, Alan; USA; 1983; 89m) ***
A debate between Timothy Leary and G. Gordon Liddy, the Watergate
burglar. Very funny, very bizarre. See this if you possibly
can. A special treat was the presence of Liddy who answered
questions after the screening.
---
Member of the Wedding, The (Zinneman, Fred; USA; 1952; 91m) ***
This was the first film on Rex Reed's "Buried Treasures" series
-- films that never made it but should have. Reed has a tendency
to go on and on about nothing in particular, but his film selec-
tions were generally excellent. This movie was based on the book
by Carsson Mc Cullers and is about girlhood angst at a brother's
wedding.
---
Nothing Left to Lose (Glowna, Vadim; Germany; 1983; 99m) * 1/2
Stupid movie about two fatherless German families who move to the
States and run a service station. Unbelievably stupid ending. I
don't even want to talk about it.
---
Can She Bake a Cherry Pie? (Jaglom, Henry; USA; 1983; 90m) **
Karen Black is deserted by her husband and learns to cope. This
a low-budget New York film with many nice touches but not a lot
to say. The film was written and improvised while it was made,
and it shows. See it for a dollar.
---
Angelo, My Love (Duvall, Robert; USA; 1983; 115m) ***
Very good movie about gypsy life directed by actor Robert "I love
the smell of napalm in the morning" Duvall. The plot, if it can
be called that, concerns a valuable ring stolen from a Greek gyp-
sy family by a Russian gypsy. The movie is more a series of ep-
isodes revolving around this incident. Duvall came to know these
gypsies living in New York city many years ago. The story is an
excuse to show the sort of life they lead. Fabulous performances
are given by the gypsies, none of whom are professional actors.
Highly recommended.
---
If I Were for Real (T'ung, Wang; Taiwan; 1982; 98m) ***
A Taiwanese update of Gogol's "The Inspector General" set in Red
China. Banned in Red China and Hong Kong (which is leased by
Great Britain from Red China), this film is not very complimenta-
ry to Red China. Not at all. A young man tries to get himself
transferred back to Shanghai where his pregnant girlfriend lives.
He masquerades as the son of a powerful official and succeeds in
fooling influential people into giving the transfer to his
"friend"... The movie is "politically correct" (i.e. propaganda)
but very well done. It is clever and funny while bringing its
point home.
---
Fists in the Pocket (Bellochio, Marco; Italy; 1965; 105m) ***
Fascinating early film by Bellochio. (Also known as "I Pugni in
Tasca"). The only film I can think of that is like it at all is
Les Enfants Terribles (Melville, Jean-Pierre; France; 1949; 105m;
screenplay by Cocteau, I think). This is a very black film about
a sick family consisting of a blind mother, an epileptic, a
lawyer (discussed elsewhere on the net), a psychotic and another
not-too-normal sibling Essential viewing for lovers of the
bizarre.
---
Eyes, the Mouth, The (Bellochio, Marco; Italy/France; 1982;
100m) ***
Coincidentally, Bellochio's most recent film ("Gli Occhi, La Boc-
ca") was also scheduled for this year's festival. After making a
big splash with "Fists in the Pocket", Bellochio made little of
note for over fifteen years. This film stars the psychotic from
the earlier film *as the actor of that role*. "The Eyes, the
Mouth" is a commentary on the attitudes that were responsible for
"Fists ..." among other things. Very interesting, but not exact-
ly cheery.
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Illegal Acts (Mossanen, Mose; Canada; 1983; 20m) * 1/2
Ignorable, disconnected film straight out of film school all
about what a rough life homosexuals have. Other things too, but
I'm not sure exactly what.
---
Fourth Man, The (Verhoeven, Paul; Netherlands; 1983; 95m) ***
Very clever, very witty black comedy about a (bisexual?) writer
(the author of the book this film is based on, in fact) who is
seduced by a young woman thrice a widow. Our hero, however, is
less interested in the woman than in her boyfriend whom he, in
turn, attempts to seduce. The whole thing gets very mystical and
very bizarre when the writer becomes suspicious about the cir-
cumstances surrounding the deaths of the woman's previous hus-
bands. There is a good chance this film will get North American
distribution (unusual for Dutch films). See it if you can!
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Catered Affair, The (Brooks, Richard; USA; 1956; 92m) ***
Great old Paddy Chayefsky film starring Ernest Borgnine, Bette
Davis and Debbie Reynold. Borgnine plays a New York cab driver
who has to decide between spending his life savings on a new taxi
for his own business and a catered affair for his daughter's wed-
ding.
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Goddess, The (Cromwell, John; USA; 1958; 104m) **
Kim Stanley is superb as a Marilyn Monroe-like character who
makes her way from Small Town USA to being a Hollywood goddess.
Too bad the rest of the movie wasn't as good as she was.
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More to follow ...