2003 Foreign, Alternative and Independent Films - Page 11

Edwin Pereyra · 09-24-2003, 11:49 PM

Capturing The Friedmans

is a remarkable piece of filmmaking. It succeeds where most documentaries fail in that it gives an unbiased examination of its subject matter by presenting as many sides to the story as possible without the filmmaker’s personal views. One never really knows who is telling the truth because for every argument that is made, a corresponding rebuttal is presented in this child molestation case.

Of course, the Friedman’s home videos help in documenting how they actually lived through this entire ordeal. But guilty or not, Andrew Jarecki’s work here is informative journalism at its best.

I just found out that this is only making a one-week run in my city. That is too bad as more people really need to see this one.

Capturing The Friedmans rates

(out of four);

in its own genre.

~Edwin ô¿ô

Next Up: The Magdalene Sisters and Lost In Translation

Kirk Tsai · 10-07-2003, 06:17 AM

Quote:

It succeeds where most documentaries fail in that it gives an unbiased examination of its subject matter by presenting as many sides to the story as possible without the filmmaker’s personal views.

I don't know if filmmakers can ever withhold their own biases, but Steve James' completely different approach in Stevie shows that it is very possible to make a good documentary with an overt presence. Also revolving around a child molestation case, Stevie is less about discovering the truth, as in "Friedmans," than giving us a troubled portrait.

There are common threads, too. Like Friedmans, there are many backstories revealed that are shocking. Participants on screen often directly contradict each other. The subjects of the film are revealing to the camera. During the heartbreaking sequence in which Stevie visits his former foster parents, there is both a beauty and profound sadness.

The picture has two other elements going for it: a sociological attempt to explain Stevie and his behavior, and the participation of James. I personally found James' involvement to be a bit self-serving. Yet, I could not have formed this opinion if James did not honestly show his place and voiced his inner thoughts.

I don't know if it would be too downbeat, but a potential double feature of Capturing the Friedmans and Stevie would be very powerful.

Michael Reuben · 10-07-2003, 10:28 AM

The Station Agent deserves all the critical praise that's been heaped on it. Sorry I don't have time for an extended review, but I wanted to log my recommendation.

M.

Edwin Pereyra · 10-07-2003, 06:54 PM

Thanks for your comments on Stevie. That one is up next on my films to watch.

~Edwin

JonathanG · 10-07-2003, 11:34 PM

Since both Edwin Pereyra and Kirk Tsai mention both Capturing the Friedmans and Stevie, I have to list three other docu's that impressed me

Spellbound - an odd topic for a docu, yet totally engrossig

Step into Liquid - I guess I have a hidden passion for wanting to surf, and this film really wowed me.

To Be and the Have - since I had been an assistant teacher myself, this movie I could totally relate to and enjoy. The scene where one of the students is lost in the wheat fields, the director and DP effectively created a simple yet breathtaking film tableau.

Edwin Pereyra · 10-10-2003, 12:41 AM

The Magdalene Sisters

The events portrayed in this Peter Mullan helmed pic is so unconscionable as it depicts the real stories of four Irish women sent to an asylum for their inappropriate sexual behaviors. But nonetheless, it is a story that needed to be told. There were certain scenes here that were a little hard to take as it stripped these Irish women of their dignity, and most of all, their sanity.

The performances are all very fluid and realized. Further, the film shows the dangers when certain religious teachings are taken to an inappropriate and extreme level.

~Edwin

Edwin Pereyra · 10-12-2003, 09:14 AM

Featured film list updated with the most recent additions of reviews posted here.

~Edwin

Edwin Pereyra · 10-12-2003, 07:53 PM

Before I posted my review of Kill Bill: Volume 1 in the 2003 Films thread, I had actually thought about posting it here first. With all the subtitles in that film you’d think it’s a foreign film. And considering it is being distributed by Miramax, the mother studio of all independent films, and the fact that I also loved it, why not? So, here it is one more time.

Quentin Tarantino’s East meets West martial arts action film is so well-conceived with a storyline that provides intrigue and mystery, a determined and bold performance by Uma Thurman, a solid supporting cast, elaborate action sequences, a pulsating soundtrack, a wicked sense of humor and so many visualized nuances such as the battle at the Japanese garden with light snow falling that it commits to mind so many memorable sequences.

With all the blood, mayhem and carnage, Tarantino’s film is very much aimed at the adult crowd. There is a certain danger though that those who enjoy this picture would be looked upon as endorsing violence in films as a whole. But that could not be further from the truth. This one, as with all other films, is to be enjoyed within its own level of concept, creativity, imagination and art form.

As it is, Kill Bill: Vol. 1 is only one-half of an entire film. But so far this half is a killer and it rates

(out of four). And already, it raises hopes for its second half. Here’s hoping that Volume 2 will be just as good.

~Edwin ô¿ô

Michael Reuben · 10-13-2003, 12:02 AM

I guess there's just no escaping Kill Bill, which is one of the dullest disappointments I've seen all year. (I rank it behind Lost in Translation, and you already know what I thought of that one.) I seem to be in the minority, but I was relieved to find at least one major critic who shared my reaction: Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal. I'll quote an excerpt of his review, because it's far too much trouble to write my own about a film I'd prefer to think about as little as possible:

Quote:

As I sat watching serial beatings, mass killings, a grindingly awful gang rape and fountains of blood emanating from the stumps of severed limbs and a severed head, my thoughts turned not to video-store clerks but to a record-store clerk: Jack Black's Barry in "High Fidelity." At the age of 40, Mr. Tarantino seems, on the evidence of this, to be locked into Barry's special sort of airless, postadolescent geekdom -- phenomenally knowledgeable, emotionally obtuse and cheerfully arrogant when it comes to telling others what's important or trivial, authentic or fake.

"Kill Bill" contains more movie references than I could count, or, surely, recognize. Shot by the ace cinematographer Robert Richardson, and choreographed by the martial-arts virtuoso Yuen Wo-Ping (who performed the same function in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), it's meant to be an elegantly executed -- no pun intended -- celebration of many genres, from the kung fu films produced in Hong Kong in the 1960s by the Shaw Brothers, to Japanese samurai epics and the Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood.

But those earlier movies had an elegance of their own, and an elation that "Kill Bill" entirely lacks -- unless you equate dramatic energy with bodies in collision. "Kill Bill" also lacks the mordant humor of Mr. Tarantino's breakthrough feature "Pulp Fiction." When this new one isn't violent, it's surprisingly dull, in spite of Uma Thurman's impressive performance as The Bride, a survivor of hideous mayhem who is bent on revenge.

The weekend was redeemed by Mystic River, which is about half an hour longer than Kill Bill but never once had me looking at my watch impatiently.

M.

Edwin Pereyra · 10-13-2003, 12:21 AM

Michael, there is nothing wrong being in the minority.

Lew Crippen was also disappointed with Lost In Translation. That makes three regular posters in this indie thread, including myself, in the minority.

I'll have to read Morgenstern's full review on Monday of Kill Bill at the office. Mystic River, which by the way opens wide this Wednesday, is very high on my must-see list.

~Edwin