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My 9 senses of the 31st Hong Kong International Film Festival

 

The 31^st Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) finally came to an end.  This feast of international film screenings took place between March 20th to April 11th 2007.  The films that I screened were shown in two locations:  first is the Hong Kong City Hall (closeby to where I live), and the second is the Hong Kong Cultural Centre (located across the waters on the dark side a.k.a Kowloon) throughout the three weeks.

The HKIFF’s entire program spanned South Korean, Japanese and Latin American, European and American Independent films — a few with Hollywood-star casts, which are pretty much guaranteed to be playing in theatres near you in the coming year.

The best moments for me was to catch French films that I wouldn’t usually feel comfortable venturing out to watch on my own.  And I love the fact that I get to see movies YOU haven’t watched yet. 

I chose my screenings based on storylines/subjects and actors.   Here are the 9 movies I managed to screen at the festival  (scheduling conflicts, plus I was sick last weekend and missed a movie):

1.  Bobby

The story evolves around Robert Francis Kennedy’s last days and his election for U.S. presidency.  This all-star ensemble drama about war, civil rights, sexual politics, and justice as seen through the eyes of the guests and staff present that day.  All star cast include Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, Anthony Hopkins, William H. Macy, Elijah Wood, Linsay, Lohan, Helen Hunt, and Martin Sheen.

2.   Amitiés maléfiques, Les (Poison Friends)

(français) A beautifully crafted French film about André Morney (Thibault Vinçon), darling of the lit department at his French University, holds friends and professors in thrall. With a shock of woolly hair and beady eyes, the pompous twat rules over a small, elite group. He controls not only the tempo of discussion in meals and the classroom, but he also makes crucial academic decisions that affect the future career paths of his good buddies. Morley’s advice, it should be noted, is often sound. That’s not the point; it’s the power he yields. As his circle of writing friends progress, he self-destructs.

3.  Nanking – (Mandarin/English) Documentary about the event of Nanking during WWII, see my previous post – very controversial stuff.

4.  Jindabyne

(English)  The story of a murder and a marriage. A powerful and original film about the things that haunt us. On an annual fishing trip, in isolated high country, Stewart, Carl, Rocco and Billy (’the Kid’) find a girl’s body in the river. It’s too late in the day for them to hike back to the road and report their tragic find. Next morning, instead of making the long trek back, they spend the day fishing. Their decision to stay on at the river is a little mysterious–almost as if the place itself is exerting some kind of magic over them. When the men finally return home to Jindabyne, and report finding the body, all hell breaks loose. Their wives can’t understand how they could have gone fishing with the dead girl right there in the water–she needed their help. The men are confused–the girl was already dead, there was nothing they could do for her. Stewart’s wife Claire is the last to know. As details filter out, and Stewart resists talking about what has happened, she is unnerved. There is a callousness about all of this which disturbs her deeply. Stewart is not convinced that he has done anything wrong. Claire’s faith in her relationship with her husband is shaken to the core. The fishermen, their wives and their children are suddenly haunted by their own bad spirits. As public opinion builds against the actions of the men, their certainty about themselves and the decision they made at the river is challenged. They cannot undo what they have done. Only Claire understands that something fundamental is not being addressed. She wants to understand and tries to make things right. In her determination Claire sets herself not only against her own family and friends but also those of the dead girl. Her marriage is taken to the brink and her peaceful life with Stewart and their young son hangs in the balance.

5.  Arthur et les minimoys (Arthur and the Invisibles)

(English)  Using a dazzling new combination of live-action and ground-breaking CGI technology, “Arthur and the Invisibles” is the story about the true meaning of courage and the endless power of imagination. The film is scheduled for release on January 12, 2007, and stars Mia Farrow and Freddie Highmore — y’know, the kid from Charlie and the chocolate Factory, and featuring the voices of Madonna, David Bowie and Snoop Dog. “Arthur and the Invisibles” was written and directed by Luc Besson and is based on the best selling children’s book, “Arthur and the Minimoys.”

6.  Mon meilleur ami (My Best Friend)

(français) Catherine (Gayet), refuses to believe that her business partner, the unlikeable François (Auteuil), has a best friend, so she challenges him to set up an introduction. Scrambling to find someone willing to pose as his best pal, François enlists the services of a charming taxi driver (Boon) to teach him how to make friends.

7.  Sakuran – (Japanese)

A young kamuro (maid in a brothel) is sold into the red-light district Yoshiwara, and is put under the care of the current oiran, who names her Tomeki. The girl is very rebellious and does not cry when punished, is bad-mouthed and bad-mannered, and talks back and even hits the other kamuros. It is because of this that the more experienced people in the household begin to think that she will be one day a great oiran, since to be an oiran one needs not only beauty and talent, but also have the tenacity to maintain the position.  A funny and witty film with a quirky soundtrack.

8.  Quelques jours en septembre (A Few Days in September) — (français/English)  September the 1st, 2001. Elliot, an American C.I.A. agent holding top secret information on the immediate future of the world, disappears. His sole aim was to meet his daughter Orlando, whom he abandoned ten years before in France. Irène (Binoche), a French agent who used to work with him, and David, his adoptive son, will help him and lead the girl to her father. Chased by William Pound (John Turturro), a strangely poetic hitman, they will defy the dangers of international espionage from Paris to Venice and finally get to Elliot on September the 11th 2001. Juliette Binoche and John Turturro (I didn’t know he could speak french!) starred in this adventure thriller film with actress Sara Forestier and cutiepie actor Tom Riley as comic relief and eye candy blossoming in a love story encapturing the poetry of the film.

9.  Nacido y criado (Born and Bred) (Spanish)

Santi (Pfening) is a successful interior designer with a wife, daughter and happy life in Buenos Aires. When a car accident rips his family apart, Santi puts as much distance as he can between himself, Buenos Aires and his past. He finally surfaces at a desolate airport in the brooding, frozen north of Patagonia where he pays penance through monotonous work. But the ghosts of his past invade the stability of the present and threaten to tip Santi into insanity.

 

I would love to see – A Few Days in September, My Best Friend, Nanking, again.  And I wish I had caught the documentary – The U.S. vs. John Lennon.  C’est la vie — that’s only so much a girl can do in 3 weeks.