End of February Film Festival

We will get right to movies, but before discussing the (on-going) Festival, I'll talk first about Deb's two choices for last weekend.  The first one was another film by Park Chan-Wook.  The Handmaiden is from 2016, and is one of the more bizarre stories to be told.  A man has his very young niece trained to read erotic literature to a select audience of "gentlemen" once she grows up.  He is a cruel man who prizes rare erotic books more than anything else, and he has an octopus in the basement, in case anyone gets difficult to manage.  We don't realize the octopus connection until we see, later, some of the erotic drawings in the books.  A plot emerges to bring in a handmaiden to the niece, who will inherit a fortune that her uncle badly wants.  The plan is to put her away in an asylum.  The plot is complicated, but not hard to follow.  However, there are many twists and turns, as the niece falls in love with the handmaiden, and vice versa.  There are some heavy duty lesbian sex scenes, some very weird lines from old erotic books,and lots of other fun things in this recommended film.  From a book by Welsh writer Sarah Waters, it was moved to take place in Japanese occupied Korea.

Now showing on Mubi. 

Deb's going away choice was from Mubi.  There is probably no stranger filmmaker working today than Canada's Guy Maddin.  We first came across his work many years ago, and even got to meet him and chat at length when the DIA held a film retrospective weekend of his work.  About twenty people showed up for the films.  Not surprising.  But if you don't try to "get" Maddin, and if like truly strange films, usually in b & w, and you are ready for just about anything except what you have ever seen before, then perhaps Maddin is your ticket to fun and adventure!  He is for us.  Brand Upon The Brain is from 2006, and once you have viewed this film, your brain will be branded permanently.  Told in twelve chapters like a silent serial with sound effects and cue cards (in French!), the film tells of a family of four--mom, dad, Sis, and Guy, who run an orphanage on a deserted island, in a lighthouse.  Dad is a scientist and inventor who is always in his top floor lab, working.  Mother runs the orphanage, hates Sis her daughter, but loves her young son, taking him to bed with her every night.  A teen detective, who is also a harp player, shows up on the island to try and solve the mystery of why the orphans have holes in the back of their heads.  Heard enough?  I thought so.  Anyway, it is a very compelling feature to watch.  I'm surprised it got shown anywhere, but am grateful it did.  Watch for more Maddin madness soon!

Avant-garde madness from Guy Maddin.  It's run on Mubi is now over. 

 

Turning now to the end of the month film festival, I got to choose three films (besides my regular two).  I opted for three more from the Sight and Sound Top 100 list, from the ones showing on Criterion.  This time I started at the far end, choosing films we have not ever seen.  First up came a very taut drama directed by Robert Bresson.  A Man Escaped is from 1956, and is based on a true story, as told by the escapee himself after the war.  A French Resistance fighter is captured by the Germans and held in a prison.  He escapes once, but is recaptured and beaten.  Again he is locked up,this time for months.  The b & w film details his laborious method of escaping; at the last minute he is joined by a young French boy, also captured, who might be an informer.  He has to risk it, however, as his own execution is imminent.  Tied for 95th spot with several other films, this is an amazing display of camera virtuosity, often in tight frame due to cramped quarters.  The story is almost unbelievable.  Quite fabulous!

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

Tied for 90th spot comes Max Ophul's The Earrings of Madame de..., from 1953.  A spoiled woman who acts like a love-struck and flighty schoolgirl sells her diamond earrings to pay off some debts.  Her husband doesn't know at first, but he does find out that his wedding present to her was sold.  Her lover ends up buying them for her, and so on and son.  Lots of ballroom scenes, and a duel at the end, from which we hear the gunshot but do not see the result.  The schoolgirl faints (for the upteenth time) and the movie ends.  Probably a good film, but it does not belong in the top 100.  Certainly not on my top 500 list.

 

Now showing on Criterion.

We have just began the final film of the festival, so tune in by the weekend for an update.  Oh, and we are getting a major snowstorm on Friday.  Yay.

 

Mapman Mike