Paul Verhoeven's BLACK BOOK

Plus The Lookout, First Snow and some thoughts on Janus Films at SIFF Cinema (Week 5)

I caught three preview screenings this week and it must be suspense thriller season, because all three were suspense thrillers. And each film I watched was better than the one before......the first two films were directorial debuts.....in the third film, a seasoned veteran director showed how it's done......

FIRST SNOW
A capacity crowd filled the Guild Theater on 45th St in the comfy Wallingford district of Seattle for a SIFF-members-only preview of a film that marks the directorial debut of Mark Fergus (screenwriter of Children of Men). The film is called First Snow and it's an OK mystery drama. Guy Pearce (Memento) turns in a very good performance as a fast-talking businessman who has to wrestle with his future, as well as his past. It's not as captivating as "Children of Men" and sometimes a little slow during its 121 minutes, but it's still a fun movie if you like suspense and tension in your movie du jour.
Filmed in beautiful Albuquerque, New Mexico this independent film debuted at the Tribeca Film Fest on May 5, 2006 and it screened at the Santa Barbara Film Fest on the 26th of January this year. First Snow is currently playing in New York and Los Angeles and opens in Seattle this Friday at the Uptown Cinema in Queen Anne. .

THE LOOKOUT
The Metro Cinema theater was almost completely full of folks who were there to see a preview of The Lookout, a pretty darned good suspense thriller starring Joseph Gordon Levitt and Jeff Daniels (as the guy who "dresses like Larry Flynt"). First time director Scott Frank (who also wrote the screenplay) has created a fine, enjoyable movie that moves right along with its plot holes covered up smoothly by some fine acting by Joseph Gordon Levitt (who shines in his role). Jeff Daniels provides solid comic relief and Greg Dunham is memorable as the creepy bad guy "Bone". The Lookout is a fun cinematic ride.
The Lookout is currently playing at The Big Picture in downtown Seattle where Monday & Tuesday all tickets are just $5.00!

BLACK BOOK
The SIFF Cinema was the location of a SIFF-members only preview of Paul Verhoeven's latest film Black Book, an outstanding suspense thriller set during World War II. Carice van Houten portrays an intelligent and strong woman trying to survive while caught up in the turmoil and chaos of war. Intrigue and plot twists abound in this excellent film that doesn't feel almost two and a half hours long. Made in Holland, Verhoeven's movie is not shy when it comes to sexuality and some easily offended folks might turn a little red at the films frank nature.
A few weeks ago I watched Steven Soderbergh's WWII era suspense thriller The Good German and was just a little disappointed with it. I admired Soderbergh's attempt to created a cool WWII suspense thriller but it just didn't seem to gel. Verhoeven, on the other hand, with Black Book, has nailed it!
Black Book played the Palm Springs Film Fest in January (not getting the opening night slot due to it's being a little too racy for Palm Springs audiences) and also played the Miami Film Fest on March 2nd. It opened in L.A. and New York on April 4th and opens in Seattle at the Uptown Cinema in Queen Anne and the Big Picture in Redmond. This film is a marvelous big screen adventure that you shouldn't miss.

JANUS FILMS at SIFF CINEMA (Week 5)
At SIFF Cinema, the Janus Films 50th anniversary movie fest continues! This week Japan was represented with four amazing classics......The Makioka Sisters, Rashomon, Woman In The Dunes and Kwaidan.

My first Janus film of the week was a film I'd never watched, or even heard of before. It was Kon Ichikawa's drama about a family of sisters called The Makioka Sisters which turned out to be a wonderful treat. It was a deep cinematic plunge into Japanese culture. Released in 1983, the original Japanese title is "Sasame-yuki" which translates to "Fine Snow" and I like that title better. (Who changes the names of these films anyway? DOH!) The color print looked beautiful on the SIFF Cinema screen and since this film isn't yet available on DVD, it was cool to be able to see an otherwise unavailable flick.

The second Janus Film I caught this week was one of my favorites, Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon. An utterly fantastic film that draws you into the world of Kurosawa quickly during the woodcutter's walk through the forest, with the woodcutter played by the great Takashi Shimura. You will never see a simple walk through a forest captured so poetically and magnificently on screen.
The print of "Rashomon" was the most worn of all the Janus Films screened so far (I heard it was about 4 years old) and while it was watchable, it made me appreciate even more the beautiful newer prints we've been blessed with for most of this series. Rashomon was the only Japanese film shown this week that wasn't 2 hours and 20 minutes long (or longer!) and running at a brisk 88 minutes, it almost seemed like a short!

My third Janus film this week was Masaki Kobayashi's visually stunning Kwaidan and it was a beautiful new wide-screen print in glorious color that looked simply amazing on the SIFF Cinema screen. The spooky, erie musical score sounded perfect thanks to the state-of-the-art SIFF Cinema sound system and really made this screening a wow experience. Kwaidan is a long movie (2 hours 41 minutes) but it's actually 4 short films put together. The only theme in common with all four stories is the supernatural. If Rod Serling had been born Japanese, he would had been the perfect narrator for this film.
Takashi Shimura (from Rashomon) also appears in Kwaidan (in the third story called Hoichi the Earless), his 2nd appearance so far here at the Janus Series. One of my favorite actors of all time, Takashi Shimura (a descendant of the warrior samurai class) will soon return to the SIFF Cinema screen when he leads the The Seven Samurai during the grand finale of the Janus Film Series at SIFF Cinema.

Woman In The Dunes was the final Janus Film screened this week and it is another film that I'd never caught before, but I had heard of it referred to as a classic many times. And it turned out to be a genuine classic. Absolutely exquisite! The kind of film you can discuss and ponder for quite awhile after the experience. Filmed in luscious black & white, this 1964 film from Hiroshi Teshigahara is a fascinating, gripping psychological drama that features sand as one of the stars of the film. Brilliant, slightly wacky, erotic and frequently gripping, this cinematic gem looked amazing courteous of a brand new print from Janus Films. A mesmerizing cinematic experience.

Thanks again go out to the folks at SIFF and Janus Films for an amazing series of motion pictures. Watching a movie at home on DVD is fun, but there is no way it compares to the experience of seeing a film on the BIG screen with a monster sound system, with fresh popcorn (with real butter) while surrounded by other perceptive movie fans who recognize and appreciate cinematic masterpieces.

Week 6 of the Janus Film series has already begun and features such unmissable masterpieces as Marcel Carné's undeniable classic Children of Paradise, Carlos Saura's Cria Cuervos, Francois Truffaut's timeless gem Jules and Jim and Carl Theodor Dreyer's Day of Wrath. Hope to see you there!