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LAFF until you cry: L.A. Film Fest offers 2 bitter, 2 sweet
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The Los Angeles Film Festival kicks off Thursday, June 18, and ends on Sunday, June 28, and as its press release states, "more than 70 feature films – narrative and documentary - are featured in the Festival, alongside gala premieres, panels and seminars, short film programs, music video showcases, free outdoor screenings, live musical performances, and unique signature events."
An overwhelming and exhilarating experience, even for the most seasoned film festival pro, to be sure.
Here's my pick of four movies that, like the festival, traverse propitious terrain.
Harmony & Me (USA, 2009)
Not since Reservoir Dogs has a Madonna song been used to giddily effect before the first face even appears on screen, but as the movie's title clearly points out: music, lyrics, and a whole lotta "me" are what drive this thoroughly joyful sad sack tale. The plot is very simple. It concerns a guy who can't come to terms with the fact that his girlfriend has dumped him. He hasn't moved on. The guy in this case happens to be that spokesperson for the "mumblecore" set, Justin Rice, a thrift-store shopping, indie-rock musician hipster by way of Woody Allen, which is to say that there's a lot of neurotic behavior, anxiety, and gazing into perpetual confusion going on. Add a cast of supporting (and not so supportive) thirty to fortysomething misfits who mostly mean well and you have a movie that's as much about the heartbreaking cruelty of life as it is about the erratic beauty and wonder of it. Whereas the mumble corps takes its cue mainly from the unflinching cinema of independent film god John Cassavetes and the French New Wave of the '60s, Harmony & Me seems to be channeling more of a late '80s Eric Rohmer vibe, complete with sun (the setting shifting from the conventional Northeast to the under used Southwest, namely, Austin, Texas), the over-examining of relationships, the use of music from the film's own fictional world, the interest in songwriting, and an overall lightheartedness and charm.
Coming soon: an interview with the filmmakers of Harmony & Me.
Dear Lemon Lima (USA, 2009)
From the other side of the coin (and the opposite end of the country, namely, the never used city of Fairbanks, Alaska), comes Dear Lemon Lima and as the movie's title so adroitly points out: if ever there was a movie that reserved its rightful spot next to the sweet and tartly candy at your local confectionary's, it would be this film. The plot is very simple. It concerns a girl who can't come to terms with the fact that her boyfriend has dumped her. She hasn't moved on. The girl in this case happens to be 13, her crush 14, and the endeared from the title, well, a "friend" that might fill About Schmidt's Ndugu with a dose of reality. Add a cast of supporting (and very supportive) ninth grade misfits--including one named Nothing who, aptly, plays the Theremin (!!)--set them on a competitive collision course of self-discovery worthy not just of an Ancient Greek odyssey, but also of a Revenge of the Nerds comparison, and you have a movie that's, ahem, as much about the heartbreaking cruelty of life as it is about the erratic beauty and wonder of it. Quote unquote. But whereas the funny (ha, ha) in Harmony & Me is droopy and droll, the hilarity in Dear Lemon Lima is full of sprite and spirit, more mid-'80s John Hughes than late '80s Eric Rohmer with the prickliness of an Afterschool Special.
Coming soon: an interview with Suzi Yoonessi, director of Dear Lemon Lima.
Zero Bridge (India/USA, 2008)
From the other end of the spectrum (geographically, psychologically, and emotionally), comes Zero Bridge, a drama where the "hero" is more of a "zero" than all the combined sweet losers from the two above-mentioned films. So immoral in character that he approximates amorality, our shameless protagonist, Dilawar, survives the mean streets of Kashmir by exercising petty thievery, completing his ex-schoolmates' homework for profit, writing step-by-step notes on everyday activities, and working on the occasional construction job for his uncle. But what ensues is a totally engrossing journey in search of the slightest hint of morality--and possibly complete redemption--as Dilawar embarks on the emotional equivalent of the physical search that Antonio Ricci takes in Vittori De Sica's masterpiece of Italian neorealism, The Bicycle Thief. But like an everted update of that movie, Zero Bridge tells the story from the thief's point of view, using non-actors (female lead Taniyah Khan has the beauty, name, and radiance to achieve success as a Bollywood hottie) and a hand-held camera to document the odyssey.
Those Who Remain (Los Que Se Quedan) (Mexico, 2008)
From co-directors Carlos Hagerman and Juan Carlos Rulfo (the latter son of famed Mexican writer Juan Rulfo, who with arguably the most important Spanish-language novel ever written, Pedro Paramo was responsible for inspiring Gabriel Garcia Marquez' "magic realism" in One Hundred Years of Solitude) comes this documentary on the plight of not those who come to the United States in hopes of a better life, but rather, of those who, like the title plainly states, remain behind waiting to reunite with their loved ones. Told through the perspective of a handful of families that are found as far south as Chiapas, the film depicts the gamut of human experience, ranging from the heartwarming to the heartbreaking to the life-assuring, commonday small triumphs of its real-life protagonists who are anything but victims. Incorporating musical interludes that at first seem hokey but by the end have won you completely over, Those Who Remain is at times lyrical, at times exhilaratingly funny, at times sad, but poignant throughout, like the magic of life found in everyday reality.
Let's just say it struck a personal chord. . .
Harmony & Me screens Mon, Jun 22nd 4:30pm at The Regent; Fri, Jun 26th 7:15pm at The Regent.
Dear Lemon Lima screens Sat, Jun 20th 7:15pm at the Mann Festival Theatre; Tue, Jun 23rd 4 at the Landmark 8.
Zero Bridge screens Sat, Jun 20th 4:30pm at The Regent; Wed, Jun 24th 7:00pm at Landmark 4.
Those Who Remain screens Fri, Jun 19th 9:45pm at the Landmark 8; Sat, Jun 20th 1:00pm at the Mann Festival Theatre; and Sat, Jun 27th 7:15pm at the Landmark 4.
For more info: visit http://www.lafilmfest.com/2009/.
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