Pedro Almodóvar’s BROKEN EMBRACES will close festival (The Film Society of Lincoln Center/Sony Pictures Classics)
Alice Tully Hall unless otherwise noted
September 25 – October 11
Tickets: $20 ($10 obstructed view) unless otherwise noted
212-875-5050
http://www.filmlinc.com
Tickets are now on sale for the forty-seventh annual New York Film Festival, which features a rather unusual lineup this year. The selection committee for the forty-seventh edition of the NYFF include Film Society program director Richard Peña and critics Scott Foundas, J. Hoberman, Melissa Anderson, and Dennis Lim, who have chosen twenty-nine films from seventeen countries. While the list features such perennial favorites as Manoel de Oliveira, Marco Bellocchio, Andrzej Wajda, Lars von Trier, Todd Solondz, Jacques Rivette, and Michael Haneke, there is also a large number of less-well-known filmmakers, resulting in what should be an exciting festival. Nouvelle Vague legend Alain Resnais kicks things off with WILD GRASS, while the always inventive Pedro Almodóvar closes the festivities out with BROKEN EMBRACES. Also on the bill is the HD version of THE WIZARD OF OZ in honor of its seventieth anniversary. The screenings are being held primarily in newly renovated Alice Tully Hall, which is oddly advertising half-price tickets for obstructed views (?!).
Friday, September 25 Opening Night: WILD GRASS (LES HERBES FOLLES) (Alain Resnais, 2009), $40 ($20 obstructed view), 6:00
Saturday, September 26, 11:00 am THE WIZARD OF OZ (Victor Fleming, 1939)
Saturday, September 26, 2:15 SWEETGRASS (Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor, 2009)
Saturday, September 26, 5:30
and
Sunday, September 27, 9:15 ECCENTRICITIES OF A BLOND HAIR GIRL (SINGULARIDADES DE UMA RAPARIGA LOURA) (Manoel de Oliveira, 2009), preceded by GET YER YA-YAS OUT! (Bradley Kaplan, Ian Markiewicz, Albert Maysles, 1969-2009)
Saturday, September 26, 8:30
and
Sunday, September 27, 6:00 VINCERE (Marco Bellocchio, 2009)
Sunday, September 27, 11:30 am
and
Monday, September 28, 6:00 KANIKOSEN (Sabu, 2009)
Sunday, September 27, 2:15 GHOST TOWN (Zhao Dayong, 2008)
Monday, September 28, 9:15
and
Tuesday, September 29, 6:00 POLICE, ADJECTIVE (POLITIST, ADJ.) (Corneliu Porumboiu, 2009)
Cristi (Dragos Bucur) is on one helluva boring stakeout in Romanian black comedy
POLICE, ADJECTIVE (Corneliu Porumboiu, 2009)
New York Film Festival
Alice Tully Hall
Monday, September 28, 9:15
Tuesday, September 29, 6:00
Tickets: $20 ($10 obstructed view)
212-875-5050
http://www.filmlinc.com
http://www.ifcfilms.com
The first half of Corneliu Porumboiu’s POLICE, ADJECTIVE is as dreadfully boring as detective Cristi’s (Dragos Bucur) assignment, tailing a student, Victor (Radu Costin), who enjoys a joint with two of his friends every day after school. While Cristi wants to nail the kid’s supplier, the cop’s boss has him on a tight deadline, insisting he arrest Victor if the investigation continues to go nowhere, but Cristi strongly disagrees with putting the teenager away for up to seven years for a crime he believes will soon be abolished by the government. However, the film picks up considerably as Cristi seeks help from various contacts, getting caught up in red tape and public servants who would really rather not be bothered. And when he get called in by the chief (Vlad Ivanov from 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, and 2 DAYS) and gets a long lecture in linguistics, well, you won’t be able to control yourself from laughing out loud. Porumboiu (12:08 EAST OF BUCHAREST) keeps the pace very slow and very steady, but hang in there, because the end is a riot. POLICE, ADJECTIVE won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and is Romania’s official entry for the Foreign Language Film Academy Award.
Tuesday, September 29, 9:15 THE ART OF THE STEAL (Don Argott, 2009)
Wednesday, September 30, 6:00 A ROOM AND A HALF (POLTORY KOMNATY ILI SENTIMENTALNOE PUTESHESTVIE NA RODINU) (Andrey Khrzhanovsky, 2009)
Wednesday, September 30, 9:15
and
Thursday, October 1, 6:00 TO DIE LIKE A MAN (MORRER COMO UM HOMEM) (João Pedro Rodrigues, 2009)
Thursday, October 1, 9:30
and
Friday, October 2, 3:00 LEBANON (Samuel Maoz, 2009)
Israeli film offers claustrophobic view of 1982 war
LEBANON (Samuel Maoz, 2009)
New York Film Festival
Alice Tully Hall
Thursday, October 1, 9:30
Friday, October 2, 3:00
Tickets: $20 ($10 obstructed view)
212-875-5050
http://www.filmlinc.com
Claustrophobics, beware. Nearly all of Samuel Moaz’s microcosmic examination of the first day of the 1982 Israel-Lebanon war — the same struggle recently tackled by Ari Folman in the animated WALTZ WITH BASHIR — takes place within a dark, grungy tank. In this tiny space, audiences get to experience the fear building inside company leader Yigal (Michael Moshonov), driver Hertzel (Oshri Cohen), weapons loader Assi (Itay Tiran), and gunner Shmulik (Yoav Donat) as they are suddenly put in the middle of a secret, dangerous mission by commander Jamil (Zohar Strauss) and meet action head-on almost immediately, having to deal with the prospects of killing for the first time. The world outside the tank is seen only through the cross-hairs of Shmulik’s telescopic lens, making everyone outside a potential victim. At times the tension mounts at a breathtaking pace, although the film gets bogged down in too much melodrama as the characters get further developed. As a teenager, writer-director Moaz actually fought in the war, and it was his memories of having killed a man on that very day — June 6, 1982 — that led him to make the movie, which won the Silver Bear at the Venice Film Festival. LEBANON is quite a ride.
Thursday, October 1, 10:00
and
Friday, October 2, 11:30 TRASH HUMPERS (Harmony Korine, 2009), Walter Reade Theater, 65th St. between Broadway & Amsterdam Aves.
Friday, October 2, 6:00
and
Saturday, October 3, 4:15 SWEET RUSH (TATARAK) (Andrzej Wajda, 2009)
Friday, October 2, 9:00
and
Saturday, October 3, 1:00 ANTICHRIST (Lars von Trier, 2009)
Lars von Trier’s ANTICHRIST should, unsurprisingly, prove rather controversial (The Film Society of Lincoln Center/IFC Films)
ANTICHRIST (Lars von Trier, 2009)
New York Film Festival
Alice Tully Hall
Friday, October 2, 9:00
Saturday, October 3, 1:00
Tickets: $20 ($10 obstructed view)
212-875-5050
http://www.filmlinc.com
Generally, Danish Dogme practitioner Lars von Trier makes films that critics and audiences alike are either repulsed by or deeply love. Controversial works such as BREAKING THE WAVES, THE IDIOTS, DANCER IN THE DARK, and DOGVILLE win international awards while also driving people out of theaters. In fact, at his recent New York Film Festival press conference for ANTICHRIST, he was asked how he feels when no one walks out on his work: “Then I have failed,” he replied with a sly grin. Well, there are sure to be many walkouts during ANTICHRIST, a harrowing tale of grief, pain, and despair that begins with a gorgeously shot, visually graphic sex scene followed by a tragic accident. The rest of the film details how the unnamed couple (Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg) deal with the loss of their young child; a therapist, he opts to treat her more as a patient than as his wife, a highly questionable decision that threatens to tear them apart — both psychologically and physically, as the film turns into an extremely violent horror flick in the final scenes. Somehow, we found ourselves pretty much right in the middle of this one, neither loving it nor hating it while admiring it greatly despite its odd meanderings, loose holes, sappy dialogue, and occasionally awkward scenarios. In certain ways, it’s a bizarre amalgamation of Alfred Hitchcock’s SPELLBOUND, Ingmar Bergman’s SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE, Stanley Kubrick’s THE SHINING (and various other Stephen King stories), Roman Polanski’s ROSEMARY’S BABY, Richard Donner’s THE OMEN, Robert Wise’s AUDREY ROSE, and Tobe Hooper’s THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE. Or something like that. Add half a star if you think von Trier is a creative genius; delete two stars if you consider him a certifiable lunatic.
Saturday, October 3, 11:00 am CROSSROADS OF YOUTH (CHEONGCHUN’S SIPJARO) (An Jong-hwa, 1934)
Saturday, October 3, 7:00 & 10:00 Centerpiece: PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL ‘PUSH’ BY SAPPHIRE (Lee Daniels, 2009), $40 ($20 obstructed view)
Sunday, October 4, 12 noon HENRI GEORGE’S CLOUZOT’S INFERNO (L’ENFER DE HENRI-GEORGES CLOUZOT) (Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea, 2009)
Sunday, October 4, 3:00 INDEPENDENCIA (Raya Martin, 2009)
The Film Society of Lincoln Center/Pyramide Films
Bruno Dumont’s HADEWIJCH screens at fest
Sunday, October 4, 6:00
and
Tuesday, October 6, 9:15 HADEWIJCH (Bruno Dumont, 2009)
Sunday, October 4, 9:00
and
Monday, October 5, 6:00 EVERYONE ELSE (ALLE ANDEREN) (Maren Ade, 2009)
Monday, October 5, 9:00
and
Tuesday, October 6, 6:00 MIN YÈ… (TELL ME WHO YOU ARE) (Souleymane Cissé, 2009)
Wednesday, October 7, 6:00
and
Thursday, October 8, 9:00 THE WHITE RIBBON (DAS WEIßE BAND) (Michael Haneke, 2009)
Wednesday, October 7, 9:30
and
Friday, October 9, 3:00 AROUND A SMALL MOUNTAIN (36 VUES DU PIC SAINT-LOUP) (Jacques Rivette, 2009)
Thursday, October 8, 6:00 NE CHANGE RIEN (Pedro Costa, 2009)
Friday, October 9, 6:00
and
Saturday, October 10, 12 noon MOTHER (MAEDO) (Bong Joon-Ho, 2009)
Friday, October 9, 9:15
and
Saturday, October 10, 6:00 WHITE MATERIAL (Claire Denis, 2009)
Saturday, October 10, 9:00
and
Sunday, October 11, 11:00 am LIFE DURING WARTIME (Todd Solondz, 2009)
Sunday, October 11, 2:00 BLUEBEARD / LA BARBE-BLEUE (Catherine Breillat, 2009)
Sunday, October 11, 5:00 & 8:00 Closing Night: BROKEN EMBRACES / LOS ABRAZOS ROTOS (Pedro Almodóvar, 2009), $40 ($20 obstructed view)
Michael Haneke will discuss THE WHITE RIBBON and more at festival
SPECIAL EVENTS / SIDEBARS / TRIBUTES/ MASTERWORKS
Alice Tully Hall (ATH)
Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, David B. and Samuel Rose Building, tenth floor, West
65th Street between Broadway & Amsterdam Ave., upper level (SHKP)
Walter Reade Theater, 65th Street between Broadway & Amsterdam Ave. (WRT)
http://www.filmlinc.com
In addition to the main slate of films at the forty-seventh annual New York Film Festival, there will plenty more to see and do, including dialogues with such directors as Michael Haneke and Claire Denis, sidebars investigating Chinese cinema and the avant-garde, special screenings of old classics, and a tribute to the now-defunct New Yorker Films.
Saturday, September 26
through
Tuesday, October 6 NYFF Masterworks: (Re)Inventing China — A New Cinema for a New Society, 1949 – 1966, comprising twenty films made in the People’s Republic of China between 1949 and 1965, including BIG LI, LITTLE LI AND OLD LI (DA LI, XIAO LI HE LAO LI) (Xie Jin, 1962), KEEP THE RED FLAG FLYING (SONG OF THE RED FLAG) (HONG QI PU) (Ling Zifeng, 1960), and THIS LIFE OF MINE (THE LIFE OF A BEIJING POLICEMAN) (WO ZHE YI BEI ZI) (Shi Hui, 1950), $11 per screening, series pass $45 for any five screenings, WRT
Sunday, September 27 Approaching the Wizard: Flying Monkeys, Ruby Slippers and Yellow Brick Roads in American Cinema and Culture, panel discussion with John Fricke, Jane Lahr, Ned Price, and Robert Sklar, WRT, $11, 11:00 am
Sunday, September 27 HBO Films Directors Dialogues: Marco Bellocchio, SHKP, $16, 2:00
Wednesday, September 30 Chandleresque: Raymond Chandler on Film and Television — An Illustrated Lecture by Adrian Wootton, followed by screening of THE BLUE DAHLIA (George Marshall, 1946), WRT, $15, 7:00
Thursday, October 1 Creating Film Culture: A Tribute to Dan and Toby Talbot and the “New Yorker Years,” conversation with Molly Haskell, Dan and Toby Talbot, and Jonathan Demme, followed by screening of MY DINNER WITH ANDRE (Louis Malle, 1981), and preceded by a reception and book signing, WRT, $25, 5:30
Friday, October 2
through
Sunday, October 4 Views from the Avant Garde, including films by Pier Paolo Pasolini & Giuseppe Bertolucci, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Chick Strand, Michael Snow, Peggy Ahwesh, Ken Jacobs, Stephanie Barber, Lynne Sachs, Ernie Gehr, and many others, WRT, $11
Sunday, October 4 HBO Films Directors Dialogues: Lee Daniels, SHKP, $16, 2:00
Wednesday, October 7
through
Sunday, October 11 NYFF Masterworks: The Films of Guru Dutt — A Heart as Big as the World, including screenings of such films as AAR-PAAR (HEADS OR TAILS) (Guru Dutt, 1954), IN SEARCH OF GURU DUTT (Nasreen Munni Kabir, 1989), and SAHIB BIBI AU GHULAM (MASTER, MISTRESS AND SERVANT) (Abrar Alvi, 1962), $11, WRT
Thursday, October 8 HBO Films Directors Dialogues: Michael Haneke, SHKP, $16, 7:00
Friday, October 9 THE NIGHT OF COUNTING THE YEARS (AKA THE MUMMY) (AL-MOMIA) (Shadi Abdelsalaam, 1969), WRT, $15, 6:15
Saturday, October 10 Pedro Almodóvar’s History of Cinema: A Conversation, with Richard Peña, ATH, $16, 3:30
Saturday, October 10 The Red Riding Trilogy: RED RIDING: 1974 (Julien Jarrold, 2009), RED RIDING: 1980 (James Marsh, 2009), and RED RIDING: 1983 (Anand Tucker, 2009), WRT, $25 for all three screenings, $11 for one, 4:00
Sunday, October 11 HBO Films Directors Dialogues: Claire Denis, SHKP, $16, 2:00
Based on a 1720 Bunraku puppet play by Monzaemon Chikamatsu, Masahiro Shinoda’s DOUBLE SUICIDE is a stagy style-over-substance adaptation that features some beautiful sets, a compelling score by Toru Takemitsu, but an overly dramatized, talky production in which the characters’ devotion to duty and honor ultimately grows weary and frustrating, even if that’s part of the point. Kichiemon Nakamura stars as Jihei, a paper merchant who is in love with a courtesan, Koharu (Shima Iwashita, Shinoda’s real-life wife). Jihei is willing to risk everything — his business, his reputation, and his family, including his wife, Osan (Iwashita in a dual role), and their two children — in order to redeem Koharu and take her away from the red-light district. But wealthy entrepreneur and crude loudmouth Tahei (Hosei Komatsu) threatens to redeem Koharu first, forcing Jihei to decide between his family and Koharu — knowing that either decision could lead to tragedy. Much of what little action there is takes place on claustrophobic sets that evoke the theater, with men dressed in dark clothing, their faces covered, serving as Koroku, or puppeteers, helping things along without directly influencing what comes next. Considered a classic of the Japanese Nouvelle Vague, DOUBLE SUICIDE was named Best Picture at both the Kinema Junpo and Mainichi Film Concours awards. DOUBLE SUICIDE is part of the NYFF Masterworks section of the forty-eighth New York Film Festival, in the series “Elegant Elegies: The Films of Masahiro Shinoda,” which honors the genre-bending Japanese New Wave auteur with screenings of such works as THE ASSASSIN, KILLERS ON PARADE, MOONLIGHT SERENADE, and PALE FLOWER.
British filmmaker Patrick Keiller’s follow-up to 1994’s LONDON and 1997’s ROBINSON IN SPACE is another staggering achievement, a gorgeous pairing of word and image resulting in something fresh, challenging, and unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. The conceit behind ROBINSON IN RUINS is that it consists of found footage taken by a man named Robinson, with text from his rather eclectic notebook; in fact, every shot is carefully planned by writer, director, and editor Keiller, with the narrative added later, intoned by Vanessa Redgrave. The camera barely moves throughout the film’s one hundred and one minutes; instead, it remains still as it depicts a construction site, rapeseed fields, nuclear power plants, a mail slot, and a street corner, the only signs of movement the wind blowing through the trees, a passing car, or industrial smoke. People are virtually nonexistent as Redgrave reads Robinson’s complex treatise on agriculture, architecture, the economic crisis, history, politics, and opium, all centered around, as Keiller said at the film’s press preview, “the problem of dwelling.” ROBINSON IN RUINS is like a tour through a thrilling art exhibition, each piece beautifully composed, coupled with fiercely intellectual poetry that is wonderful to listen to, even if much of it is impossible to understand. The New York Film Festival screening on September 26 will be preceded by Alan Berliner’s short film TRANSLATING EDWIN HONIG: A POET’S ALZHEIMER’S (2010).
The first half of Corneliu Porumboiu’s POLICE, ADJECTIVE is as dreadfully boring as detective Cristi’s (Dragos Bucur) assignment, tailing a student, Victor (Radu Costin), who enjoys a joint with two of his friends every day after school. While Cristi wants to nail the kid’s supplier, the cop’s boss has him on a tight deadline, insisting he arrest Victor if the investigation continues to go nowhere, but Cristi strongly disagrees with putting the teenager away for up to seven years for a crime he believes will soon be abolished by the government. However, the film picks up considerably as Cristi seeks help from various contacts, getting caught up in red tape and public servants who would really rather not be bothered. And when he gets called in by the chief (Vlad Ivanov from 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, and 2 DAYS) and gets a long lecture in linguistics, well, you won’t be able to control yourself from laughing out loud. Porumboiu (12:08 EAST OF BUCHAREST) keeps the pace very slow and very steady, but hang in there, because the end is a riot. POLICE, ADJECTIVE won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, screened at the New York Film Festival and at MoMA as part of the “Contenders, 2009,” series, and is Romania’s official entry for the Foreign Language Film Academy Award.