1991 Mill Valley Film Festival: Short Reviews
Film reviews by Thomas E. Billings
Copyright 1991 Thomas E. Billings
The 1991 Mill Valley Film Festival took place October 3-10. Mill Valley is an affluent, suburban community in Marin County, California. Marin County is the county just north of San Francisco, and is connected to San Francisco by the Golden Gate Bridge. The Mill Valley Film Festival is the "second" major film festival held in the (San Francisco) bay area, the "first" being the San Francisco International Film Festival.
As in previous years, the Sequoia Theatre in Mill Valley was the principal film venue, though there were two screenings at the Regency Theater in San Rafael. The festival includes a wide variety of foreign and domestic films. One of the films screened at the festival, DELICATESSEN, was reviewed separately. Below are short reviews of other films I saw at the festival, followed by brief general comments.
THE REFRIGERATOR U.S.A., 1991, 86 mins; Director/Writer: Nicholas A.E. Jacobs.
The director appeared at the screening, which was the U.S. premiere, and described the film as 25% horror, 50% melodrama, and 25% weirdness. After seeing it, I'd say that is a reasonable assessment. The story concerns a young newlywed couple, the Batemans, who move from Chagrin Falls, Ohio, to New York City. They get a $200/month apartment on Avenue D (D as in diablo or devil), which has a clunky old 1963 Norge brand refrigerator in it. What the Batemans don't know is that the refrigerator is (1) a gateway to hell, and (2) a carnivorous monster that can move around, attack, and eat people! Yes, it's literally the refrigerator from hell!
The plot concerns the Batemans trying to adjust to life in New York City, which is depicted as a hostile place populated with weirdos, while the refrigerator eats both their dreams and their houseguests. The refrigerator as monster is pretty silly, as it growls, slides around, and opens its door (with a red light indicating it is hungry & on the prowl). There is a very bloody scene where the refrigerator eats someone, during which the audience was howling in laughter instead of being shocked or frightened.
Although the film has its funny moments, the film appears to have been done on a rather low budget. The special effects are often corny, and the script is very weak in places. Some of the humor is based on stereotypes. Overall, it's not a very good movie. However, some parts of it are so bad that they're good! This would make a reasonable midnight movie.
TEN YEARS WITHOUT THE RIGHT TO CORRESPOND also known as BURN THE KREMLIN U.S.S.R., 1991, 96 mins., Director/Producer: Vladimir Naumov.
In 1937 Moscow, the dreaded knock on the door at night occurs, and the resident is taken away by the KGB, charged with treason. Before leaving, he gives his young son Misha a photo. The man is sentenced to "ten years without the right to correspond," which is not ten years in isolation, but a euphemism for execution. The son blames the local KGB man for slandering his father, and tries to kill him by dropping a toilet on him.
Several years later, after the war, the little boy is now a young man, a veteran, and wants (legal) revenge on the man who slandered his father. He meets Kolko, his childhood friend, who is also a veteran, and married to a beautiful woman who has a reputation as a nymphomaniac. Here the story starts to ramble somewhat. Misha's plans for revenge finally crystallize after Kolko's wife is kidnapped by the KGB (to serve as a prostitute for KGB Chief Beria)...
This film can be described as a political thriller, of average quality, that is interesting and exciting in the beginning and end, but that rambles badly in the middle. It also provides an interesting look at life under the incredibly oppressive regime of Stalin. A good film, but nothing great.
THE TALE OF THE UNEXTINGUISHED MOON U.S.S.R., 1991, 84 mins., Director: Evgueni Tsymbal.
This film is based on a novel by Boris Pilnyak (Pilnyak was executed for treason immediately on publication of the novel!). The basic story of the film is the death of Defense Commissar Mikhail Frunze in 1925, the number two man in the Soviet hierarchy (Stalin being the number one man). The film shows Stalin arranging Frunze's death via medical operation. Having Frunze die as a result of an operation protected Stalin from suspicion in the matter.
The film moves at an agonizingly slow pace, with very few surprises. The film may interest viewers with an interest in Soviet history (though there is no proof available of the basic allegation made in the film). However, most other viewers will be bored by the glacial pace of the film.
LIFE ON A STRING China, 1991, 105 mins., Director: Chen Kaige.
This is the newest film from Chen Kaige, whose previous films include YELLOW EARTH, THE BIG PARADE, KING OF THE CHILDREN. Set in old China, the film is the story of a blind master musician, who believes that his eyesight will be restored when he breaks (accidentally) the 1000th banjo string. By the time he reaches 998 broken strings, he is an old man, and wonders whether he will live to the 1000th string. He travels with a young blind man, his disciple.
Much of the film deals with how the blind men relate to the world around them. The old man is revered as a saint by the local people, while his assistant falls in love with a beautiful local girl. Ultimately the film has a good moral about accepting disabilities, and/or accepting yourself for what you are rather than what you will be. The major potential drawback to the film is the musician himself; he can be quite cranky at times. If you dislike him, you probably won't want to spend a lot of time watching him. A nice folk tale, but probably won't appeal to a general audience.
Finally, in the category of "didn't see, but wanted to," is the film by Jiri Menzel (Czechoslovakia, 1991), THE BEGGAR'S OPERA. According to the festival description, it is a gentle satire of totalitarianism and corruption. That description could fit his earlier film LARKS ON A STRING, which was recently released in the U.S.
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