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Is Seattle A Film Festival Venue?

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The 29th edition of the Seattle International Film Festival has come and gone. As much as I enjoyed the 45 films I saw over 25 days, I have to admit that I'm ready for some big Hollywood explosions and mindless summer fun. Before I traipse off to see Charlie's Angels VIII, I want to share my thoughts with you on this year's festival. More importantly, I want to raise the question: Is the Seattle International Film Festival a destination event that you should include in your travel plans for the future? (photo above: "In July")

If you're going to travel for films, the most important question about a festival is do they get films that you want to see, or are these films that you won't be able to see anywhere else? (Another question might be: Is the festival in a city you want to visit?) I can't really answer the film question for anybody but me, so the first part of this article is about the films I saw. Logistics about the festival and tips on where to eat, things to see between films, and the answer to the "destination festival" question follow the film reviews.

Films to watch out for (both good and bad)

As at any festival, the more films you see, the better your chances of seeing repeated images, scenes, or themes. I like to call it "trendspotting." Trendspotting is even more fun when a festival's theme is No Déjà Vu. Here are some of the emerging trends from SIFF 29.

The repeated sex scene: in L'Auberge Espagnole (France) and Angela (Italy), in both films, a man barks like a dog and the woman giggles while they make love. In perhaps a correlation, neither film was that good.

The non-Hollywood musical: The Other Side of the Bed (Spain), Camp (U.S.), Devdas (India), Bollywood/Hollywood (Canada), Vagabond (Hungary), and Yes Nurse, No Nurse (Belgium) easily filled this slot. While a sing-a-long version of Chicago worked for those yearning for Hollywood star power.

The Other Side of the Bed is a witty Spanish sex farce with singing. The songs aren't particularly memorable, but the production numbers that go with the songs are knowingly funny and the story is fun.

Camp was a perfect concoction of show tunes and silly humor set in a summer camp for teens who want to be Broadway performers. The show tunes are blended seamlessly into a plot that makes each song seem like it was written for this film. It only adds to your enjoyment if you know the stories of the shows that the songs come from. Devdas was a rather disappointing Bollywood musical where the characters were put in montages while other singers sang for them (kind of like a Milli Vanilli video except nobody moved their lips). A more enchanting twist on Bollywood and Hollywood conventions could be found in Bollywood/Hollywood. Though the singers once again didn't so much sing as dance along to someone else singing. Vagabond is an entirely different type of musical where a young Gypsy discovers the redemptive powers of community through folk dancing. The music on screen is all from live performances on street corners or at the cultural hall where he learns dancing.

The precocious 12 year old (or were they 8 year olds): Valentin (Argentina), Elina (Sweden), Whale Rider (New Zealand), and Hard Goodbyes (Greece) each dealt with an overly wise child coping with the world of adults.

Valentin was charming, but definitely slight. It's a very cute film, but doesn't have much to say. Whale Rider and Hard Goodbyes, on the other hand, bowl you over with the power of what they have to say and how they say it. In Whale Rider, winner of both the audience award for best picture and best director, an 11 year old Maori girl bucks tradition to bring Maori attitudes about communalism into the 21st century. In Hard Goodbyes, my favorite film from the festival, a young boy in 1960s Greece refuses to believe that his father is dead. The film is a lyrical look at denial and growing up.

The Embalmer (Italy), sends a politically incorrect message.

The dwarf as sexual analogy:

Both "Wild Dogs" (Canada) and "The Embalmer" (Italy) use a dwarf character to show sexual dissolution. In Wild Dogs, the filmmaker actually has a point to make and the film is engrossing and moving. The Embalmer, unfortunately, is just a big mess of a film with a politically incorrect message to spread about sexual obsession and a gay dwarf who can only be happy by falling in love with a straight man.

The Hebrew Hammer
(U.S.) is a fun
and silly film.

The silly silly film: So Close (Hong Kong), In July (Germany), and The Hebrew Hammer (U.S.) each had such a thoroughly implausible plot but were all equally enjoyable that they all made for memorable viewing. So Close is about two Hong Kong assassin sisters (or is that sister assassins) and the CSI style Chinese American forensics specialist who chases them. There was a lot of slow motion falling glass in this one, but any film that allows stiletto heels to be part of an assassin's arsenal has to be on a must-see list. In July stars Moritz Bleibtreu, so obviously everybody with an eye for an attractive male star should see this one. It's a road movie, and you'll just have to suspend disbelief and go with the destiny/coincidence storyline and enjoy the film. The Hebrew Hammer was billed as the first ever "Jewsploitation" film and the producers weren't kidding. It was hysterically funny with Andy Dick as evil Santa Claus intent on ridding the world of the phrase "Happy Holidays" and getting rid of Hanukkah altogether while Adam Goldberg plays The Hebrew Hammer. The film even steals shots and music from classic blaxploitation films, mostly the Shaft series (definitely not the Samuel L. Jackson remake version).

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