Arts & Entertainment

 

 

Vancouver International Film Festival
Preview, Volume Two

Luke Simcoe, OP Arts Editor

S 0, you’re reading your college
paper, and thinking about your plans for
the evening. Maybe you’ve got a hot
date tonight, but probably not (editor’s
note: if you do in fact have a hot date
tonight, you can stop reading now). In
all likelihood, you’re probably going
to go home after class, make yourself
a grilled cheese sandwich and watch
reruns of the Simpsons and Family
Guy while stalking people on Facebook
(editor’s note: has anyone else noticed
how autobiographical Luke’s pieces
always are). You'll probably be asleep

 

fore the

 

 

 

 

 

AMERICAN |
VENUS

before 11:00.

Hey, who am I to judge, right? If that
sounds like your ideal night, then so be
it. But if it doesn’t, you should make
a point to check out the Vancouver
International Film Festival, which just
so happens to be opening tonight. Now
I know that television has left your
imagination about as limp and lifeless
as Bob Barker’s manhood, so once
again, I’ve sifted through the 300 plus
films that will be screening across the
city as part of the VIFF and picked out
some gems for your consideration.

First up is American Venus
(Canada, 81 min.): “Rebecca de Mornay
stars in Bruce Sweeney’s long-awaited
fourth feature about a gun-obsessed
American woman coming to terms
with her daughter’s coming of age in
Vancouver. Characteristically offbeat
stuff with a fine lead performance.”

Seeing as we’re going through this
alphabetically, Anita O’Day: The
Life of a Jazz Singer (USA, 90 min.)
is up next: “Jazz Icon Anita O’ Day
survived and overcame alcoholism,
rape, abortions, a 20-year heroin habit,
arrests and jail time. Robbie Cavolina
and Ian McCrudden’s intimate portrait
features interviews with O’ Day and her
contemporaries, as well as great footage
of legends like Gene Krupa, Louis
Armstrong, Stan Kenton and others.”

For those of us whose tendencies
tend to lean in the Spike and Mike
direction, there’s Apocalyptic and
Other Anime (Japan/Korea, 97 min.):
“Our annual treat for animation fans,
bringing together the best ‘alternative’
work we found this year in Tokyo and
Seoul. This year’s selection includes
an anti-Shrek charcoal-drawn fable, a
noir thriller about male violence, the
adventure of a small cog in a death

 

ALE

Weal gw ree ita

machine and a vision of the polluted
earth regenerating itself.”

If you’re a fan of ensemble cast heist
movies (see: The Italian Job or Ocean’s
Eleven), you might want to check out
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
(USA, 123 min.): “When two brothers
rob their parent’s jewelry store, they
set off a chain reaction of tragedy and
betrayal. Director Sidney Lumert and an
all-star cast that includes Albert Finney,
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke
and Marisa Tomei bring this heist-gone-
horribly-wrong story to thrilling life.”

You might be missing out on your
MAWO meeting, but it'll probably
be worth it to see Battle in Seattle
(USA, 91 min.): “Stuart Townsend
directed this in-depth look at five days
that rocked the world in 1999. What
began as a peaceful protest escalated
into a full-scale riot that squared off
peaceful and unarmed protesters against
the Seattle Police Department and the
National Guard.”

I’m kind of seeing it as a Taiwanese
answer to Fight Club, but Help Me
Eros (Taiwan, 103 min.) sounds
nifty: “A down and out stock trader’s
loneliness draws him to a suicide
prevention counselor with a thing for
eels, and a betelnut girl with a penchant
for, well, complicated liaisons. Sex,
drugs and amazing cinematography
power this eye-popping erotic comedy.”

It’s an issue in Vancouver too,
so go see It Happened Just Before
(Austria, 72 min.): “A striking mix of
docudrama and art-film techniques,
Anja Salomonowitz’s debut deals with
the global phenomenon of trafficking in
women. Using true stories, she weaves
together the tales of a customs official, a
villager, a brothel bartender, a diplomat
and a taxi driver, all of whom may be

 

involved” (editor’s note: if you don’t
have a hot date tonight, don’t get any
ideas).

Losers and Winners (Germany,
96 min.) sounds interesting: “Required
viewing for anyone wanting to do
business with China, Ulrike Franke
and Michael Loeken’s fascinating
cross-cultural documentary observes
the dismantling of a nearly new
German coking plant by a contingent
of Chinese who will reassemble it back
home... Winner of Best International
Documentary at the 2007 Hot Docs
Festival.”

For a Da Vinci Code that won’t
totally suck, stop by One Hundred
Nails (Italy, 92 min.): “The discovery
of 100 precious manuscripts nailed
(Christ-like) to a library floor is only
the beginning in Ermanno Olmi’s final
narrative feature. One part religious
thriller, two parts philosophical inquiry,
Olmi’s intense drama charts the spiritual
awakening of one man with grace and
intelligence.”

Finally, I’m gonna have to throw my
chips behind the Reel Youth Program
(Various, 105 min.): “Showcasing the
best of youth filmmaking, the Reel
Youth Film Festival is a surprisingly
insightful and entertaining series of
shorts made by youth 19 years and
under. Featuring innovative new
filmmakers from across Canada, US
and beyond, this year’s films were
selected by a youth jury from than
300 submissions. Full of humour and
creativity, this Festival is not to be
missed!”

The VIFF will be running until
October 12, and screening at a variety
of theatres in Vancouver. For more
information, check out www. viff.org.

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