Something tells me the Brazilian movies are going to be a tough sell this year. But in the wake of Chicago’s unsuccessful Olympic bid, it’s worth noting that every year since since 1965 the Chicago International Film Festival has done what the 2016 committee only promised, welcoming people from around the world to compete and share their gifts.
Following are reviews of selected films making their Chicago premieres through Thursday, October 15 (though repeat screenings after that date are also noted); for reviews of films premiering Friday, October 16 through Thursday, October 22, see next week’s issue. —J.R. Jones
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Berlin ’36 Loosely based on historical events, this engaging made-for-TV drama stars the lissome, intense Karoline Herfurth as a Jewish high-jump medalist who hopes to represent Nazi Germany in the 1936 Olympics. Obliged by international pressure to let her train, the Reich nonetheless conspires to knock her out of competition by pitting her against a cross-dressing male athlete (Sebastian Urzendowsky) who’s been raised as a woman by his psychotic mother. A chaste but profoundly emotional bond ensues after the two outsiders are assigned to bunk together in training camp. The movie’s production values fall well short of Leni Riefenstahl standards, but director Kaspar Heidelbach makes the most of an excellent cast and a crisp, unsentimental script. In German with subtitles. 100 min. —Cliff Doerksen Thu 10/15, 6:30 PM; Fri 10/16, 8:15 PM; and Sun 10/18, 11:30 AM.
Chicago Overcoat Veteran character actor Frank Vincent (Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Sopranos) gets top billing in this modest local production about an aging hit man’s last hurrah. Once the top trigger man for the Chicago outfit, Vincent comes out of retirement to eliminate various witnesses before they can testify against a mob boss (Armand Assante), but a series of missteps leads him into the crosshairs of both his colleagues and a grizzled detective (Danny Goldring). Despite the stock characters and well-trod material, this is an engaging tale, enhanced considerably by Vincent’s perfect mix of vulnerability and steely resolve. (For more see Our Town, page 16.) Brian Caunter directed. 95 min. —Reece Pendleton Sat 10/10, 7:30 PM; Sun 10/11, 12:45 PM; and Mon 10/19, 8:45 PM.
Face Tsai Ming-Liang (Goodbye, Dragon Inn) pays vague tribute to Francois Truffaut throughout this slow, self-indulgent, but often shockingly beautiful art film. The premise—one can barely call it a story—involves a Taiwanese director (Tsai regular Lee Kang-sheng) invading the Louvre to shoot a movie about the biblical character Salome, assisted by such Truffaut veterans as Fanny Ardant and Jean-Pierre Leaud. This is best appreciated for its strikingly composed and often dynamically colorful long takes: the most impressive, coming early in the film, shows a snow-covered forest decorated with tall vertical mirrors that create a complex, almost magical layering of reflections and comically baffle a stag that wanders into the frame. The movie climaxes with a piercingly erotic Dance of the Seven Veils by Laetitia Casta, an ironic ending given that Tsai already seems to have been granted his every wish. With cameos by Mathieu Amalric, Nathalie Baye, and Jeanne Moreau. In French and Taiwanese with subtitles. 141 min. —J.R. Jones Wed 10/14, 8:30 PM; Thu 10/15, 8:15 PM; and Mon 10/19, 3:15 PM.
The Maid In the opening scene of this Chilean drama, a middle-class family throws an after-dinner birthday party for the live-in maid, who’s been with the family for 20 years and just turned 41. She’s one of them, the family members insist, but as friction builds between the stout, stone-faced woman and the two eldest children, now teenagers beginning to assert themselves, her limits inside the home become all too clear. Further threatened when the mother decides to hire a second domestic, the maid conspires against a series of unwanted partners, locking them out of the house and framing them for various mishaps. As played by Catalina Saavedra, she’s a guarded, ruthless, but ultimately poignant character, and writer-director Sebastian Silva studies the levers of power inside the little household as if it were the Politburo. In Spanish with subtitles. 94 min. —J.R. Jones Sat 10/10, 4:30 PM; Sun 10/11, 6 PM; and Wed 10/14, 4:15 PM.
Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire With Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey as executive producers, this drama about an obese, illiterate black teen in Harlem practically guarantees some emotional uplift. But when it arrives, eventually, its authority is unimpeachable, so deeply has director Lee Daniels (Monster’s Ball) immersed us in the depths of human ugliness. Played by newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, Clareece “Precious” Jones could hardly ask for a more ironic nickname: she’s raped by her father and verbally, physically, and sexually abused by her mother (Mo’nique), a welfare wastrel determined to keep her daughter locked into the same cycle of poverty that ruined her. A dim light appears at the end of the tunnel when Precious transfers to an alternative school and falls under the guidance of a generous teacher (Paula Patton) and an attentive counselor (Mariah Carey). The girl’s story is almost unbearably painful, and when Precious finally reclaims her own dignity and self-worth, her accomplishment seems genuinely heroic. R, 109 min. —J.R. Jones Wed 10/14, 6:30 PM, with appearances by Lee Daniels and Gabourey Sidibe ($100, $50 for students, seniors, and Cinema/Chicago members), and Fri 10/16, 6:15 PM.
VENUE All films screen at River East 21, 322 E. Illinois.
ADMISSION Unless otherwise noted, all films are $12 ($9 for students, seniors, and Cinema/Chicago members). A 10-admission pass is $110 ($80 for members), a 20-admission pass is $210 ($155 for members). Weekday matinees before 5:05 PM are $5. Special packages for opening- and closing-night galas.
ADVANCE SALES In person: Cinema/Chicago, 30 E. Adams, suite 800 (weekdays 10 AM to 6 PM) or River East 21 (daily noon to 8 PM; beginning October 9, noon until the last film has begun). By phone: Ticketmaster (312-902-1500). Online: ticketmaster.com (48 hours in advance).
FOR MORE Call 312-332-3456 or go to chicagofilmfestival.com.
