The last film of my festival choices for June was called Blind Chance, a Polish film by the director of the recently seen Camera Buff. From 1981, director Kieslowski presents a young man (Witek) who seems to fall from one extreme to the other. At first he is a medical student, but drops out in fourth year. He ends up working for the communist party in Poland, until a girlfriend from the past drops into his life. She works for the underground, but thanks to Witek's loose mouth, she and her band are arrested for printing and distributing political leaflets against the current regime. He chucks the party and moves back to medicine, falling in love with a woman he knew from med school. The film gives a good idea of what life was like in Poland when the Russians marched in, and Solidarity was trying to organize strikes. Many people today are clueless as to these happenings, but I do remember them well. I don't consider this a great film, and Witek's repeated running to catch a departing train soon wearies me. I get the symbolism, but it still wearies me. The ending is very cheap, and not to be taken seriously. Good grief. We have several more films to come by this director.
Next came Deb's two choices. It was our second viewing of Amelie, a film from 2001 by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. We liked it as much or better than the first time around, noting the striking resemblance to the films of Wes Anderson this time around. This film, however, is much better than any film by Anderson I have ever seen. Where Anderson has cold and calculating characters, Jeunet has warm ones. The characters here have both hearts and souls, something Anderson seems to know very little about. The character of Amelie is a little devil mixed with a little angel. She holds the picture together, but is assisted by many terrific performances from minor characters, including the glass man, the people at the cafe (employees and customers), and the best one of all, the simple young man who works at the neighbourhood fruit and veg stand. Needlessly and cruelly mocked by his boss, Amelie effectively takes matters into her own hands. You will never pass another photo booth without thinking of this film. A winner from start to finish!
Leaving Criterion July 31st.
Fremont is a film by Babak Jalali from 2023. A young woman who was a translator for the US military in Afghanistan now lives in Fremont California, working in a small family fortune cookie factory. When the woman who writes the little blurbs for the cookies dies suddenly, she is given the job of writing. She can't sleep at night, and goes to a therapist for help. She eats alone in an Afghan restaurant at night. When she finally sets out to meet a stranger (based on a note and phone number she left to be placed in a cookie), she gets more than she bargained for. The deadpan acting by Anaita Wali Zada as the young woman is perfect in so many ways. Highly recommended.
In local news I broke a piece off of a right molar yesterday. Got it repaired today by our dentist of many years, and it feels a whole lot better. Thank you Dr. Gregory Hanaka!
And we are still playing and enjoying Riven. Finally found the submarine! It's more user friendly now, too.
Mapman Mike
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