Chicago International Film Festival: A Second Week Sampler

By Joel Wicklund in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 16, 2014 4:40PM

If our opening week helping of the 50th Chicago International Film Festival's schedule was a little heavy on dead children and dysfunctional families, this selection of films showing during the fest's second week (Oct. 16-23) may help correct the impression that the event is nothing but dour dramas.

Not that there aren't a couple of quite serious movies in this batch. Indeed, my favorite of the fest so far, Concrete Night, isn't going to leave you whistling a happy tune as you walk out of the theater. But this sampling does cover a little more diverse emotional territory and even includes that rare breed at CIFF: a comedy (albeit a gory one). Five of these six films are well worth your time. All films are playing at AMC's River East 21 Theaters.

Clouds of Sils Maria: Juliette Binoche reaffirms her status as one of the best actresses working today in the latest drama from writer-director Olivier Assayas (Something in the Air, Irma Vep). Binoche plays a famous actress uncomfortably navigating middle age and revisiting past glories with both her personal assistant (Kristen Stewart) and an up-and-coming Hollywood star (Chloë Grace Moretz) challenging her on different territory. Stewart doesn't have the presence to hold her own in her many, pivotal one-on-one scenes with Binoche, and despite some gorgeous Swiss landscapes, the movie sometimes seems like it might have worked better as a stage play. But Assayas creates a compelling view of how professional and personal insecurities intertwine and Binoche—bravely putting glamorous appearances directly up against unadorned looks from one scene to the next—is at the very top of her game.

Thursday, Oct. 16, 8:15 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 18, 4:30 p.m.

Concrete Night: The highlight of my festival intake so far, this evocative Finnish drama recalls two Francis Ford Coppola films (Rumble Fish and the unjustly overlooked Tetro), with its gorgeous black-and-white cinematography (with fleeting moments of color), a mixture of stark realism and imaginative dreamscapes, and story of a younger brother finding his way in the shadow of a charismatic older sibling. As a teenager living with a brother about to go to prison and a mother with highly questionable parenting skills, while also grappling with his closeted homosexuality, Johannes Brotherus announces himself as a major talent to watch. But the talent whose work I really need to catch up with is director and co-writer Pirjo Honkasalo, who has credits as a director and/or cinematographer going back more than 40 years. If anything on her resume is half as good as Concrete Night, her career deserves more investigation.

Thursday, Oct. 16, 9 p.m. and Friday, Oct. 17, 6 p.m.

The Editor: This loving and frequently hilarious spoof of giallo films (the distinctive Italian merging of murder mystery and horror) comes from the Canadian film collective, Astron-6, who have won a devoted following with their comic genre homages, Manborg and Father's Day. This is a spot-on reproduction of '70s and '80s gialli, including the oversaturated color palettes, point-of-view tracking shots, a pulsing synth-based soundtrack, off-the-wall plot turns, wildly inconsistent acting, and often terrible dubbing of an international cast. It may be a tad too long, and those not immersed in the genre may find it more goofy than clever, but devotees of Argento, Bava, Fulci and other Italian horror auteurs are going to love this.

Saturday, Oct. 18, 8:30 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 19, 8 p.m.

Human Capital: A movie about the destructive influence of market-driven affluence might not sound like a good time, but this sleek and engaging Italian drama is highly entertaining. Spinning its interconnecting plot threads through different characters' points of view (like a less pulpy Pulp Fiction), it effectively finds a balance between thoughtful, socially aware drama and juicy melodrama. Among several excellent performances, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (sister of model/singer and former First Lady of France, Carla Bruni) really impresses as the unhappy wife of the wealthy investor at the center of much of the action. A Main Competition entry that has already won a pile of trophies at festivals around the world, this is a crowd-pleaser for adults.

Thursday, Oct. 16, 8:30 p.m., and Friday, Oct. 17, 5:30 p.m. Director Paolo Virzi is scheduled to attend both screenings.

Into the Clouds We Gaze: Your time would be much better spent gazing at clouds than watching this drab and pointless portrait of a young Czech man whose entire life seems devoted to turning his car into a neon-lit nightclub on wheels. Though the film is in the festival's documentary competition, there are writing credits and some interviews with the director suggest this may be closer to docudrama, though it's hard to imagine this shapeless picture actually being planned as a narrative.

Friday, Oct. 17, 9:30 p.m. and Tuesday, Oct. 21, 4:30 p.m. Director Martin Dusek and Editor Josef Krajbich scheduled to attend both screenings.

The Well: An apocalyptic drought pits survivors against each other in this thriller with a split personality. Early on, The Well feels like a stark survivalist tale in the vein of The Road, but by the end it's fully in B-movie mode, with heroine and badass nemesis in a fight to the finish. Though the inconsistency makes the film less than fully satisfying, there's a lot to enjoy here, including strong visual composition that recalls some great westerns and several good character actors doing really fine work. Jon Gries, who's been turning in enjoyable performances going all the way back to Real Genius, gets a chance to shine as the patriarch of the band of baddies.

Friday, Oct. 17, 10:15 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 19, 2:30 p.m. Director Tom Hammock and several collaborators on the film are scheduled to attend both screenings.

Next week: a round up of favorite films from the fest not seen in advance. For the complete Chicago International Film Festival schedule, click here.