Josh McLane, Rachael
Roberts & Mikal Saint George
Photo By Evan Sung
New York Film
Festival @ Lincoln Center
October 1 - 17, 2004
Click
Here for New York Film Festival Reviews.
Written By Jessica
Cogan
Photographed By Evan Sung
Want to brag about knowing the
latest in cinema? Gloat about having seen the latest
foreign offerings? Wax intellectual when talking
about films (as opposed to “movies”)?
Well, tis the season. In a kind of karmic compensation
for shorter days and cooler temperatures, the fall
brings us the New York Film Festival. In its 42nd
year, this festival offers a mix of legendary filmmakers,
those still in their salad days and a few newcomers.
Here’s what to expect…
The opening night feature is Look
at Me, written, directed and starring Agnes
Jaoui (the filmmaker behind the brilliant The
Taste of Others). Look at Me is a
social comedy set in Paris that follows the interactions
of nasty, self-involved but somehow sympathetic
characters as they navigate their lives and relationships.
The film won the Best Screenplay award at Cannes
and should be a hell of a way to kick off the festival.
Opening and closing nights are
usually when the big floats are on parade. But there
are so many biggies at the NYFF, the parade lasts
all week. If you’re looking to really feel
“film festive” by watching a complicated
foreign film, look for Jean-Luc Godard’s Notre
Musique. Godard’s latest is a blend of
documentary and fiction about war. Instead of following
a single storyline, the film is split into three
segments - Hell, Purgatory and
Paradise - and travels between these after-life
locales and war-torn spots such as Sarajevo. Definitely
a thinking viewer’s film…
If
you’re looking for more cinematic heavyweights,
check out Ingmar Bergman’s Saraband,
the sequel to his 1973 Scenes from a Marriage
that moves the drama to the next generation
- and the power struggle between the couple’s
middle-aged son and his daughter. You can
also catch Eric Rohmer’s latest, Triple
Agent, a film about a Russian general
and his wife, living in Paris and engaging
in political and marital tango.
Perhaps your best shot for
impressing your friends with I-saw-it-first-ishness
is if you can catch Almodovar’s newbie,
Bad Education. The film stars “it
hombre” Gael Garcia Bernal as one of
two school mates who reconnect and reminisce
about their Catholic school days and a particularly
predatory priest. If you’re not chomping
at the bit to see the latest after the brilliant
Talk to Her, well, what the hell
are you doing at a film festival?
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Annika Sundin, JoshMcLane & Rachael
Roberts
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You’ll also want to check
out Tarnation, the documentary by Jonathan
Caouette that chronicles his relationship with his
schizophrenic mother. The film includes photos,
home movies, answering machine messages and more
- some of which was gathered when Caouette when
just a child. Fascinating stuff.
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And just when
you think you can sit before a big screen
no longer, the closing night film Sideways
sucks you back in. Director Alexander
Payne (About Schmidt) brings Paul
Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church together
in this bittersweet buddy film. The twosome
travel California’s wine country and
- as often happens when partaking in the good
stuff - they explore their lives, loves and
places on the planet. Sideways promises
to be a great NYFF find.
So take your pick. You’ve
got lots of good choices and can hardly
miss amongst them. Scoring tickets, however,
may be another issue.
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| JoshMcLane |
The New York Film Festival runs
October 1-17 at the Lincoln Center. For more information,
go to http://www.filmlinc.com/ |
