| Day Three |
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Saturday September 8th, 2001 First full day of four films Ken Loach's The Navigators, followed by Bunuel and King Solomon's Table, Suddenly Naked, and my midnight pick Full Time Killer starring Andy Lau.
Okay on with the review of the films...
Title: The Navigators I saw Ken Loach's Land and Freedom at the festival in 1995 and was blown away by the emotional intensitity that he manages to wring from his screenplay and actors. I was not dissapointed by his latest film The Navigators which tackles the issue of railroad privitization in the United Kingdom and the potential human cost of such a move. Made for television in Britain, The Navigators does feel at times as a movie of the week, but the acting and writing throughout is solid and believable. Men who have worked the railroads find that their lives and friendships are in jeporady after the government sells off the publicly own railways and rail lines. As private contractors are forced to cut corners to win contracts, and the men compete against one another to keep their jobs, the tension mounts. Not a happy film by a long shot, but its emotional impact is effective in delivering the message of the film. My ranking system sometime comes up short when ranking films such as this, but the closest rank I could give it is: Intriguing and challenging -- I really liked this movie even if I didn't understand it all.
Title: Bunuel and King Solomon's Table Director: Carlos Saura Running Time: ?? min Country: SPAIN Internet Movie Database Entry An interesting story about film maker Luis Bunuel, painter Salvador Dali and poet Federico Garcia Lorca on a quest to find the fabled King Solomon's Table during the 1930s. The twist of the story is that, the story is narrated by Federico Garcia Lorca and is being told as film adaptation, so that the actors portraying the three title characters often drop out of character to discuss their motivations or their characters historical background. Not nearly as mindbending as say the Saragossa Manuscript, but still an interesting film. Intriguing and challenging -- I really liked this movie even if I didn't understand it all.
Title: Suddenly Naked Director: Anne Wheeler Running Time: 105 min Country: CANADA Internet Movie Database Entry A May-December romance between a middle-aged romance-novelist has-been Jackie, played by Wendy Crewson and wanna-be upstart 20 yr old novelist. As Jackie tries to keep her relationship with Patrick a secret difficulties with their relationship heat up. An entertaining if light piece of film. Enjoyable but Disappointing -- I enjoyed elements of the movie, but was disappointed with some aspects.
Title: Full Time Killer Director: Johnny To & Ka-Fai Wai Running Time: 102 min Country: HONG KONG Internet Movie Database Entry A pretty much paint by numbers Hong Kong action flick staring Andy Lau as Tok a hitman who wants to be number one, a title that currently belongs to O (Takashi Sorimachi). The story is narrated by Lee (Simon Yam) the police inspector that is trying to track down O. Screening note: Andy Lau was present at the screen as was his hordes of admiring fans. It was explained to this gwailo that Andy Lau is a superstar in Hong Kong / Chinese popular culture with both successful singing and movie careers. Fan pages abound on the man if that is any indication. Enjoyable but Disappointing -- I enjoyed elements of the movie, but was disappointed with some aspects.
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