Day Night Day Night & The Wedding Director
Due to time constraints and general tiredness I will give two short reviews of the above films.
I finally saw Julia Loktev's Day Night Day Night on DVD. It is a most interesting film. I wasn't sure if I would like it. It follows the last two days in the life of a young woman (Luisa Williams) who is preparing to become a suicide bomber. We don't know her name so the woman will be known as She. We don't know why She is doing this but we know it is quite a commitment on her part. We follow her in her hotel room as she bathes, brushes her teeth, eats, etc. We see how She is trained by members of the group on what to do. We don't know what this group stands for. But we do know that She is supposed to set off a bomb in the middle of Times Square. She has no accent and we can't link this group to any type of religion or politics.
I was riveted by the film. It was amazing to watch Williams face as she prepared for her mission. But when She is wandering around Times Square she finds out that there are many people who are kind. These are the people who would die by her hand.
So what does She do. See the film and find out.
The Wedding Director is the latest from Italian director Marco Bellocchio. New Yorker films decided to release the film with a few screenings at the Museum of Modern Art. That says a lot about the sad state of affairs for foreign films in the US if this film couldn't get a regular theatrical release. But the place was packed.
It is a terrific little film and it stars one of my favorite actors Sergio Castellitto. Castellitto plays a well known director named Franco Elica. Franco is trying to make a new film but is having some problems. So he leaves for Sicily. There is gets involved in filming actual weddings. A sharp tongued Prince (Sami Frey) asks Franco to film his daughter's wedding. The Prince has no qualms about telling Franco he never heard of him. Nevertheless, he accepts. But things don't go as planned. Franco and Princess Bona (Donatella Finocchiaro) fall in love.
All of the actors are spot on. Castellitto is wonderful and Frey relishes his turn as a cad. Finocchiaro is also very good and Gianni Cavina as a director named Smamma
is also terrific. The film has a wonderful way of mixing fantasy with reality. We have to figure out which is which.
The film deals with many things - including some truths about filmmakers and fame. It also deals with death. More than once we are told that in Italy the dead rule.
But the film is also very exuberant and I laughed quite a bit. I don't know if you will be able to see this film in theater but if you can't you should check it out when it comes out on DVD.
I finally saw Julia Loktev's Day Night Day Night on DVD. It is a most interesting film. I wasn't sure if I would like it. It follows the last two days in the life of a young woman (Luisa Williams) who is preparing to become a suicide bomber. We don't know her name so the woman will be known as She. We don't know why She is doing this but we know it is quite a commitment on her part. We follow her in her hotel room as she bathes, brushes her teeth, eats, etc. We see how She is trained by members of the group on what to do. We don't know what this group stands for. But we do know that She is supposed to set off a bomb in the middle of Times Square. She has no accent and we can't link this group to any type of religion or politics.
I was riveted by the film. It was amazing to watch Williams face as she prepared for her mission. But when She is wandering around Times Square she finds out that there are many people who are kind. These are the people who would die by her hand.
So what does She do. See the film and find out.
The Wedding Director is the latest from Italian director Marco Bellocchio. New Yorker films decided to release the film with a few screenings at the Museum of Modern Art. That says a lot about the sad state of affairs for foreign films in the US if this film couldn't get a regular theatrical release. But the place was packed.
It is a terrific little film and it stars one of my favorite actors Sergio Castellitto. Castellitto plays a well known director named Franco Elica. Franco is trying to make a new film but is having some problems. So he leaves for Sicily. There is gets involved in filming actual weddings. A sharp tongued Prince (Sami Frey) asks Franco to film his daughter's wedding. The Prince has no qualms about telling Franco he never heard of him. Nevertheless, he accepts. But things don't go as planned. Franco and Princess Bona (Donatella Finocchiaro) fall in love.
All of the actors are spot on. Castellitto is wonderful and Frey relishes his turn as a cad. Finocchiaro is also very good and Gianni Cavina as a director named Smamma
is also terrific. The film has a wonderful way of mixing fantasy with reality. We have to figure out which is which.
The film deals with many things - including some truths about filmmakers and fame. It also deals with death. More than once we are told that in Italy the dead rule.
But the film is also very exuberant and I laughed quite a bit. I don't know if you will be able to see this film in theater but if you can't you should check it out when it comes out on DVD.
posted by Film Fanatic | 7:20 PM
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