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Since this is my first time covering the Tribeca Film Festival, I feel particularly privileged to be able to see films with little or no advance hooplah, and films that I might otherwise miss when nationally released. Plus, I’ve met some interesting people at the screenings, including the film critic for a Turkish newspaper, whom I ran into on the subway after seeing The Yacoubian Building. We had an all-too-brief discussion on the train, and I gained some interesting insights from her.
That interchange, and the Egyptian and Iranian films I saw that day, emphasized the point that, through the movie medium, we can gain broader knowledge and perspective on other cultures and a deeper sense of our common humanity. The three films reviewed below range from the all-too-familiar to the utterly unfamiliar, and I look forward to sharing more of this unique festival, for which Lexi Feinberg is providing the bulk of the coverage, with you.
[THE MOVIES]
Kettle Of Fish (NY Narrative Feature: Romantic Comedy)
Writer/Director: Claudia Myers
Cast: Matthew Modine, Gina Gershon, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Isaiah Whitlock, Fisher Stevens
Mel: “You’re English.”
Ginger: “Yes, I know.”
Brief Summary: Mel, a fortyish New York jazz saxophonist, has gorgeous women tripping over each other to get into his bed. He’s commitment-phobic, and wakes up one morning wondering whether there might be more to life. Mel’s true love is his goldfish, Cathy, whom he serenades when she’s depressed. He’s been sleeping with Inga, a Nordic beauty who’s a complete bore. Mel decides, on impulse, to move in with her and sublet his apartment for a month. He closes the deal with Ginger, an attractive but somewhat snippy English amphibian biologist. Inga throws Mel and his fish out after Mel acknowledges that she bores him, forcing him to live with Ginger, who’s a handful.
In the meantime, Mel spots a bride on her way to her wedding and is instantly obsessed. In order to pursue her, he gets a job as an elevator operator in the fancy building where she lives with her new husband, a yogurt company CEO who’s an unattractive, self-absorbed ass. Does Mel get the girl, and which one does he get? You’ll have to sit through a lot of laboratory frogs hopping around to find out.
My Thoughts: Here’s a given: romantic comedies are formulaic. The basic recipe is the same, so it must be the quality of the ingredients that makes the difference. I’m not a lover of the rom-com genre in general, though I’ll admit that, once in a while, I’ll leave the theatre after seeing a good one, clutching a sodden Kleenex, convinced that true love exists and all is right with the world. That didn’t happen with Kettle. The ingredients are there, but I found the end result unpalatable. Matthew Modine as Mel still looks like an adolescent with a few wrinkles added, and I found him unconvincing and lacking the necessary charisma to attract an endless parade of beautiful women, soulful sax or not.
Because the bride-chasing subplot takes up so much time, the film feels unfocused. Then there are the fish-and-frog shenanigans that I found overly cutesy and annoying. The film didn’t inspire me to root for anybody, nor did I care if the guy got the girl. On the positive side, Gina Gershon gives an excellent performance as the only character with any depth. Too bad she didn’t have more to work with.
Day Break (Discovery: Drama)
Director: Hamid Rahmanian
Writers: Mehran Kashani, Hamid Rahmanian
Cast: Hosein Yari, Zabi Afshar, Hoda Nasseh, Atash Taghipour, Maryam Amirjallali
“Revenge has an alternative.”
Brief Summary: Based upon true events and set in modern-day Iran, Day Break is the story of Mansour, a young construction worker who has been condemned to death for murdering his abusive boss. According to Iranian law, the victim’s family has the right to waive the death sentence by demanding compensation, exercising forgiveness, or insisting that execution be carried out. For the latter to occur, they must meet the accused before he can go to the gallows. Seen through Mansour’s eyes, the film chronicles his anguish as his victim’s family postpones their visit to the prison over and over.
The film is in part a pseudo-documentary. A camera crew enters the Teheran prison and films the inmates fighting among themselves or partying when someone’s life is spared. Other scenes hone in on Mansour’s inner life, his boyhood recollections, and there’s a recurrent image of a train passing through a lush green landscape that contrasts sharply with the stony grayness of the prison. Mansour’s wait for resolution becomes progressively more agonizing, and his reactions to the tension increasingly violent. What will be his fate?
My Thoughts: I found the courtroom scenes and portrayal of the Iranian judicial system fascinating. Endowing the victim’s family with such power over a killer’s destiny is so different from our system, where the debt is paid to society as a whole, that I felt disoriented. Although I could sympathize with Mansour’s plight, particularly since his act had elements of a crime of passion—a way of avenging the deep humiliation he had felt at the hands of his boss—I wanted to know more about him. I needed to care more. Whatever representation of freedom, the possibility of forgiveness, or other themes the film’s creators intended, I found the train motif to be overdone and somewhat hackneyed.
Prison life as represented here seems relatively free of horror and brutality, to the point that I wondered if it were somewhat whitewashed by the filmmakers. Or perhaps it was intended as a means of bringing Mansour’s personal agony into sharper relief. These reservations notwithstanding, I found Day Break interesting, at times gripping, and recommend it as well worth a look.
The Yacoubian Building (Int'l Narrative Competition: Drama)
Director: Marwan Hamed
Writer: Waheed Hamed
Cast: Adel Imam, Yousra, Nour El Sherif, Hind Sabry, Khaled Sawi, Mohamed Imam
“Whoever loves life, life will love you back.”
Brief Summary: This is Egypt’s most expensive film ever, based upon a best-selling novel and directed by a 28 year old novice. An extremely ambitious and wide-ranging work, 165 minutes long, it is named for a Cairo apartment building built in 1937 as a home for the wealthy. Today, as a symbol of contemporary Egypt, the building and its tenants are somewhat faded. The lower floors are occupied by the relatively well-off, and the rooftop laundry rooms have been converted into apartments for the poor.
The main character is Zaki Pasha, an elegantly-dressed, 65 year-old man about town. He lives in the building with his harridan of a sister, who strongly disapproves of his boulevardier lifestyle. The Pasha is clearly of another era, like the building he lives in. To him, Cairo has lost its elegance, having at one time, in his eyes, outclassed even Paris, but he is determined to remain a gentleman despite the indignities he endures. “I have never hurt anyone,” he says. “The only person I have hurt is myself.”
Interweaving subplots address governmental corruption, the growth of Islamic fundamentalism, the emancipation of women, and, most controversially, homosexuality. Woven throughout is the thread of exploitation of the poor by the wealthy, whether financial or sexual, and the theme that everyone can be bought. Central to the film is the developing bond between the Pasha and Bosnaina, a beautiful, poor girl who lives on the roof of the building.
My Thoughts: I found the Pasha to be an unforgettable character. Initially somewhat repellent, with his leathery skin, dyed hair, and apparent shallowness, he proves to be more a victim than an exploiter, and fundamentally a good man whose love for women is genuine and multidimensional. A major subplot involving the gay editor of Cairo’s French language newspaper and his seduction of a straight, married soldier is brilliantly handled.
This is a highly sophisticated and intriguing film whose main weaknesses are being overambitious and uneven. The subplot concerning Islamic fundamentalism, for example, is relatively weak and undeveloped. Overall, I found The Yacoubian Building absorbing if overlong, with a first-class cast and two characters, the Pasha and Bosnaina, who have stayed with me and whose complex relationship affected me deeply. I highly recommend this film.
[STAY TUNED]
More Tribeca coverage is on the way. Check back regularly at CinemaBlend.com for coverage throughout the festival. We’ve got plenty more in store.
