St. Anthony Main, Friday, April 25, at 7:20 p.m. and Saturday, April 26, at 6 p.m.
Ireland's official entry to the 2008 Academy Awards Foreign Language category is an immigration story that draws on the experiences of six Irish men who set out for London with big hopes for a triumphant return. The film, directed by Tom Collins, is based on Jimmy Murphy's acclaimed play The Kings of Kilburn Road, and it shifts effortlessly between Gaelic and English, adding to the sense of disillusionment the men feel some 30 years later when they come together for a wake after the death of one of their own. None have succeeded, with the exception of Joe (Colm Meany), whose wealth has come at a personal expense. Jap (Donal O'Kelly) and Git (Brendan Conroy) are alcoholics who can't seem to survive without one another, and Mairtin (Barry Barnes) is hardened by drink and his temper. Kings revolves around their attempt to recapture past glory while mourning a friend whom each of them let down in some way. Collins delivers the story onscreen as if it were still a play, which leads to a somewhat stilted tempo at times, although the actors (in particular O'Kelly and Conroy) fully embrace and convey all the sadness of their characters' unfulfilled lives. In many ways it's a man's story—rounds of pints at the pub, bullshitting sessions, and violent outbursts—but there's a more universal message about the dislocation of immigrants that resonates with anyone who has left behind everything that matters to chase an elusive and unpredictable dream. —Caroline Palmer
SATURDAY 4.26
The Betrayal
Public Enemy: Welcome to the Terrordome
Oss 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies
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St. Anthony Main, Saturday, April 26, at 7:20 p.m. and Sunday, April 27, at 3 p.m.
The killing fields of Cambodia, horrific though they were, have tended to overshadow the devastation of other countries during and after the Vietnam War. Such is the case with Laos, from which Thavisouk Phrasvath and his mother, Orady, the subjects of this first-rate documentary, escaped in 1975 following the disappearance of his father. Phrasvath, who co-directed with Ellen Kuras, covers two decades, from the years he, his mother, and siblings spent surviving poverty and gang warfare in New York, to their return to their homeland. This nearly flawless film gives valuable background on how "neutral" Laos was made a pawn by American forces, which secretly trained guerillas—including Phrasvath's father—and then abandoned them to the mercy of the North Vietnamese. This was not the only betrayal the co-director and his family would suffer. —John Ervin
SUNDAY 4.27
The Unknown Woman
St. Anthony Main, Sunday, April 27, at 1:45 p.m. and Wednesday, April 30, at 7 p.m.
Director Giuseppe Tornatore is probably best known in the United States for his Oscar-winning 1998 film Cinema Paradiso, a charming tale about childhood memories. His latest effort has also earned several awards, but it is much darker fare. Irena (Ksenia Rappoport) is a Ukranian woman who comes to Italy via the sex trade. Her life has been filled with hardship, loss, and pain, and it becomes clear early on that she is on a mission of sorts, perhaps seeking revenge or the return of something precious. Irena finds an apartment and a cleaning job in the building across the street from where she befriends Gina (Piera Degli Esposti), the housekeeper for the wealthy Adacher couple (Claudia Gerini and Pierfrancesco Favino) and their daughter, Tea (Clara Dossena). After Gina has an, um, unfortunate accident on the grand spiral staircase (one of the many Hitchcockian references seen throughout the film), Irena takes over and soon becomes an indispensable member of the household. She bonds with Tea, who has a disease that causes her to bruise easily, and Irena teaches her how to fight back against schoolyard bullies in perhaps the film's most disturbing and psychologically violent scenes. Irena goes too far, but we still root for her as bits and pieces of her troubled past are revealed through searing flashbacks. She is a victim who is trying to regain control in ways that don't always make sense or spare others her tragedy. Tornatore has produced a taut, violent, and unexpected thriller, complete with a masterful score by Ennio Morricone—his shrieking violins combined with yearning piano reveal as much of Irena's trauma as the dialogue. It's not a pretty story, to be sure, but it offers redemption, which is more than many women in Irena's position might expect. —Caroline Palmer
MONDAY 4.28
Beaufort
St. Anthony Main, Monday, April 28, at 7:20 p.m. and Tuesday, April 29, at 7:15 p.m.
In 2000, Israel began pulling its troops out of Lebanon. For a few extra days, a group of young soldiers remained at a mountaintop outpost—Beaufort—under the leadership of Liraz Liberti (Oshri Cohen), a jittery young commander who struggles to reconcile his patriotism with a creeping disillusionment about the military, humanity, and his sense of duty. Joseph Cedar's 2008 Oscar-nominated film settles into the cramped, dusty, and all-too-exposed quarters where the soldiers await their final orders. As mortars and shells fall, they scramble and scrape through makeshift tunnels, agonizing when one of their own is lost. Although the action takes place outdoors as well as inside, Cedar summons an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia. The men must make do in a bad situation—as sitting ducks they cannot retaliate, but they do not flee, either, at least until they are ordered to do so. Beaufort has a tension that seems drawn from the stage—when it manifests itself on the screen, it is difficult not to be drawn into the young men's misery as captured in Liraz's emotional paralysis and Koris's (Hay Tiran) voice of conscience. War is as pointless as the fort the soldiers try to protect, and the journey they follow from the mountaintop is as much about understanding the true self in a state of emergency as it is about celebrating any sort of (hollow) victory. —Caroline Palmer
MORE BEST BETS:
- The Visitor: (opening night film) Thursday
- Encounters at the End of the World: (closing night film) May 1
- Big Dreams Little Tokyo: Tuesday and April 24
- Choke: April 26
- Full Metal Village: Saturday and April 23
- I Was a Swiss Banker: April 30 and May 3
- Katyn: Sunday and April 27
- The Last Mistress: April 27
- Momma's Man: Friday and Sunday
- The Mosquito Problem & Other Stories: April 25 and 27
- Patti Smith: Dream of Life: April 26
- Red Elvis: April 23
- Roman de Gare: Friday and Saturday
- Song Sung Blue: April 26
- Still Life: Sunday
Read more reviews here.
Visit the MSPIFF website, www.mspfilmfest.org, for film descriptions, show times, and venues.
