Telluride Film Festival 1994
(Part 2 of 2)
Film reviews by Wayne Citrin
Copyright 1994 Wayne Citrin
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5
AN UNFORGETTABLE SUMMER (Romania/France, 1994, 80m)
Although the festival went all the way through Monday evening, and was an opportunity to catch some of the films we has missed, we really only had time for one film since Deborah had work the next day and we wanted to get home at a decent hour. We chose the film AN UNFORGETTABLE SUMMER, which was described by one of the festival staff as "one of the jewels of the festival." He was also enthusiastic about the short, which I'll describe later. AN UNFORGETTABLE SUMMER is an historical piece about a Romanian army captain and his wife in the 1920s. In order to protect his wife from the advances of his commanding officer, the captain, a staff officer at the time, requests a transfer, and is transferred to a bleak border post in the Romanian east. He and his wife adapt, but they eventually find themselves in a situation where the moral solution is the one that will destroy them. The film shows how two decent, honest people can find themselves in a no-win situation. The film is presented on a small scale and, ironically, is told through the eyes of the young son, who simply remembers this as "an unforgettable summer," possibly the best summer he ever had. I'd say that this is one of the four best things we saw: ONCE WERE WARRIORS was the best, then LADYBIRD, LADYBIRD, and then a toss-up between this and MURIEL'S WEDDING.
Before AN UNFORGETTABLE SUMMER, we were shown the hilarious and wonderfully strange English short "Franz Kafka's IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE" (England, 1994, 25m). In the film, we see Kafka, in his room at the top of a castle, attempting to write "Metamorphosis" on Christmas Eve, while dealing with disturbances by his various neighbors. Kafka wrestles with the decision of exactly what Gregor Samsa is transformed into ("a banana?"), and eventually learns that he has friends who love him. I chuckle just thinking about it.
Here's a quick list of the other things that played at Telluride this year.
TRIBUTE TO JUDY DAVIS
This included a showing of THE NEW AGE (described in part 1), plus a compilation of Davis clips. I heard that Davis seemed quite shy, and was relieved to get her medallion and disappear. Apparently she doesn't like a lot of her early work.
THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY (USA, 1969, 125m)
A new print of the Sydney Pollack film. Selected by John Simon, the 1994 Guest Director of the festival.
LONESOME (USA, 1928, 69m)
Apparently the most requested film of the festival, although I didn't speak to anyone who had seen it. A silent movie, and a love story.
WRITING FOR HITCH
Live conversations with two screenwriters who worked for Hitchcock, along with excerpts.
TRIBUTE TO KEN BURNS
A tribute to Ken Burns, director of the PBS documentary THE CIVIL WAR, and the new 18-hour documentary BASEBALL. Everyone who saw him said how wonderful he was. The tribute included the fifth part of the nine-part series (it concentrates on the Negro leagues and is apparently the part he's most proud of) and the rest of the documentary premiered on local Telluride cable TV in 4-hour segments over the course of the festival. I caught the fourth part (on Babe Ruth and the 1920s) and it was pretty good. This will appear on PBS later this month.
VANYA ON 42ND STREET (USA, 1994, 115m)
A new film by Louis Malle, with Andre Gregory and Wally Shawn. A sequel to MY DINNER WITH ANDRE? Not quite - it's a film about the rehearsals of a production of Uncle Vanya on Broadway. It sounded intriguing, but I couldn't work it in. One person told me it was "talky" (what would you expect?) and said that it made her husband realize that he didn't like Chekhov.
THE EASY LIFE (Italy, 1962, 105m)
Another choice of John Simon. Didn't see it, and didn't speak to anyone who did.
TRIBUTE TO HARRIET ANDERSON
A tribute to the Swedish actress who worked with Ingmar Bergman. Included a compilation and a "rare screening of the uncut, uncensored MONIKA." Didn't hear anything about it.
QUEEN OF THE TROPICS
A retrospective of the work of the 1950s Cuban musical star and sex goddess Ninon Sevilla. Included a showing of the film AVENTURERA (1949, 95m). Didn't hear anything about it.
SILENCES OF THE PALACE (Tunisia/France. 1994, 127m)
A film about the lives of female servants in a privileged Tunisian family. I wanted to see it but couldn't fit it in. Heard it was good.
"Black Daisies for the Bride" (England, 1993, 50m)
TV film by British poet Tony Harrison. Shown with another short film "A Maybe Day in Kazakhstan" (England, 1994, 26m). Didn't hear anything about it.
FILMMAKERS OF TOMORROW: STUDENTS FILMMAKERS OF TOMORROW: RESUMES
A forum for films by aspiring directors - in the former case, film students, and in the later case, people from other positions. People seemed to like the program.
"Music for the Movies: Toru Takemitsu" (USA/France/Japan, 1994, 58m)
A documentary about the film music composer.
MONTAND (France, 1994)
A film biography of the actor.
ED WOOD MOVIES
Mini-retrospective of Ed Wood films, in conjunction with the showing of Tim Burton's ED WOOD. Films shown were GLEN OR GLENDA (USA, 1953, 61m) and PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (USA, 1959, 79m).
THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE WORLD INTO MUSIC (Germany 1994, 90m)
A new documentary by Werner Herzog on the Wagner festival in Bayreuth, Germany.
CROWS (Poland, 1994, 65m)
Film about a young neglected girl who kidnaps another girl in order to be the mother she never had. Heard good thing about it.
"The Parrot" (USA, 1994, 20m)
New film by director Errol Morris (THE THIN BLUE LINE) about a parrot that may have witnessed a murder. Shown with CROWS. Supposed to be good. Morris also demonstrated his INTERROTRON system, a new system to improve interviews by projecting the interviewer's image on the camera lens, thus causing the subjects to look directly into the camera rather than off-camera.
THE BUDDY FACTOR (USA, 1994, 98m)
A comedy about a film grad who becomes an assistant to a studio executive. I wanted to see it but couldn't fit it in. People liked it, and were impressed by the fact that it was shot in 18 days, but some said that it was too much like THE PLAYER. I hope it gets theatrical release, so I can see it.
"Flat" (Mexico, 1994, 14m)
Short film shown with THE BUDDY FACTOR.
MEMORIES AND DREAMS (Australia, 1994, 58m)
Animated reflection on the life of a Czech journalist who emigrates to Australia.
ETERNITY (Australia, 1994, 60m)
Shown with MEMORIES AND DREAMS, about Arthur Stace, a drunken hobo who found Jesus in his 40th year and spent the next 40 years writing the word "Eternity" across the streets of Sydney. For a long time, nobody knew who was writing the word, which became a cultural icon. It sounded interesting.
DUST OF LIFE (France, 1994, 87m)
A story about Amerasian orphans in Vietnam, by Rachid Bouchareb (dir. BATON ROUGE and CHEB). I heard good things about it, and wanted to see it, but couldn't fit it in.
WE, CHILDREN OF THE 20TH CENTURY (Russia, 1994, 85m)
A documentary on marginal children in St. Petersburg by Vitali Kanevski, director of FREEZE DIE COME TO LIFE. Sounded interesting but I couldn't fit it in.
"Zinky Boys Go Underground" (England, 1994, 25m)
Showed with WE, CHILDREN OF THE 20TH CENTURY.
ONE FINE DAY (Italy, 1969, 105m)
Another selection by John Simon. More interesting was the short that showed with it:
"Bris Ads" (Sweden, 1951, 9m)
"Ingmar Bergman directed these TV soap commercials, never before seen in the US."
ARIZONA DREAM (France/USA, 1993, 120m)
Supposedly a big hit in Europe, this is the first American film by Yugoslavian director Emir Kusturica (WHEN FATHER WAS AWAY ON BUSINESS, TIME OF THE GYPSIES). People liked it, but said that it was very strange. What would you expect with a cast that includes Johnny Depp, Jerry Lewis, Faye Dunaway, and Lili Taylor? I wanted to see it, but couldn't fit it in. It'll probably play in art theaters, so I'll get a chance to see it.
"Texan" (USA, 1994, 30m)
Shown with ARIZONA DREAMS. Treat Williams' directorial debut.
DEDEE D'ANVERS (France, 1947, 95m)
Part of a Simone Signoret retrospective. A new print.
CASQUE D'OR (France, 1952, 96m)
Another Signoret film. I heard that the new print looked great. Popular enough to merit a repeat showing.
ROOM AT THE TOP (England, 1959, 117m)
Signoret won a Best Actress Oscar for her English-speaking role in this film.
BULLETS OVER BROADWAY (USA, 1994)
The world premiere of Woody Allen's new film; a surprise entry not in the original program. I didn't see it since I figured I'd have the chance to see it shortly. I heard mixed things about it. Some people thought it was very funny, while other people thought that the joke was kind of thin for a full-length movie. About the Mafia financing a Broadway musical in the 1920s.
ED WOOD (USA, 1994)
Another surprise entry, the world premiere of Tim Burton's new film on the cult director, starring Johnny Depp. Again, I didn't bother to see it, since it will be playing theaters shortly, and since it showed fairly late in the festival, I didn't get a chance to talk to anybody who had seen it.
-- Wayne Citrin citrin@soglio.colorado.edu citrin@cs.colorado.edu
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