Man on Wire

Listen to our KPBS Film Club of the Air discussion of the new documentary Man on Wire (opening August 8 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas). The film chronicles the obessions of Philippe Petit who, on August 7th 1974, walked across a wire illegally rigged between New York's Twin Towers, which were at that time the world's tallest buildings. The film's title is taken from the police report that used the phrase "man on wire" to describe the incident. Filmmaker James Marsh documents -- with an amazing amount of archival footage -- Petit's dream project.  Petit himself is a bundle of energy, passion, and enthusiasm as he describes his dreams and the nuts and bolts details of achieving it. Marsh lets the story play out like a heist film. Without ever mentioning 9/11, Marsh invokes the tragedy as he shows the towers being built and the awe they inspired. The fact that Petit and his crew could sneak into those building with bows and arrows and huge cables, and essentially be able to walk away because their prank was deemed to be not malicious reveals a kind of innocence that we may never be able to recapture. The film has a very bittersweet tone as it almost delivers an elegy to a bygone, more innocent time. Just as Petit after his famous stunt seems unable to recapture that drive and enthusiasm we don't seem able to go back and recapture something from our collective past either. Man on Wire is definitely worth checking out.

Jellyfish/Meduzot

The mermaid and the princess? Jellyfish (Zeitgeist Film)

After suffering through the excruciatingly bloated Sex and the City last week, the trim Jellyfish/Meduzot (opening June 6 at Landmark's Ken Cinema) arrives like a breath of fresh air. Light on its feet, deeply human, and fresh in style, this French-Israeli co-production serves up an engaging tale about a group of women struggling with daily life in contemporary Tel Aviv. This isn't the glamorous, fashion and beauty obsessed world of the gals from Sex and the City but rather a much more relatable story about a diverse array of woman coping with disappointments and relationships, and yet still holding out for something better.

Roman de Gare

Dominique Pinon and Audrey Dana in Roman de Gare (Samuel Goldwyn Films)

Roman de Gare (opening May 23 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas) concerns a popular novelist and her ghostwriter. So in keeping with the spirit of the film, director-writer Claude Lelouch initiated the project under the pseudonym of Herve Picard. He only revealed the true authorship of the film when it screened at Cannes last year. This sense of playful deception manifests itself in the Roman de Gare and keeps you engaged through a plot piled high with twists and turns. [You can also listen to the discussion about the film on the KPBS Film Club of the Air by clicking on the player icon above.]

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies

The name's Bond... um, I mean Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath. (Music Box Films)

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (opening May 16 at Landmark's Ken Cinema) is one mouthful of a title. But it does exactly what a good title should do - it conveys something about the film. In this case, it signals that you are in for a spoof on spy movies. Most Americans will assume that it's simply poking fun at James Bond but that's only part of the joke. OSS 117 also refers to a famous French spy who appeared in nearly a 100 novels beginning in 1949, and a handful of movies in the 50s and 60s. So that may explain why the film's been such a hit in France where it plays on their own pop culture. It's been such a homegrown hit that there's already talk of sequels.

Cairo, 1955. Everyone suspects everyone of something; everyone is plotting against or double crossing everyone else; nobody trusts anybody; and the British, the French, the Soviets, the family of the deposed King Farouk, and the insurgent religious sect Eagles of Kheops are all engaged in some sort of covert activity in Egypt. Into this nest of spies, the President of the French Republic, Monsieur René Coty, sends his best weapon: Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, agent OSS 117 (Jean Dujardin). Or as one of the femme fatales he meets says, "numbered like a cow for slaughter." Any way, OSS 117 must discover who killed a fellow spy and restore order to Cairo and the world. Along the way he encounters a bevy of beauties, some with lethal intentions. (You can also listen to my Film Chat about OSS 117 and Son of Rambow.)

Flight of the Red Balloon

The Flight of the Red Balloon (IFC Films)

If memory serves me right, Flight of the Red Balloon (opening May 9 at Landmark's is only the second film by acclaimed Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsaio-Hsien to receive a theatrical release here in San Diego, and the first to open in a Landmark Theater. The now defunct Madstone Theaters played Hou's Millennium Mambo, and the late Ruth Bailey screened his works when she ran the San Diego International Film Festival at UCSD. The San Diego Asian Film Festival has also played his Flowers of Shanghai and Three Times. While the opening of Flight of the Red Balloon is cause for celebration, it's just a shame that the Hou film to receive the best release here in San Diego is not one of his masterworks. But any Hou film is worth seeing if you truly love cinema.

FilmOut

A Four Letter Word opens this year's FilmOut.

FilmOut San Diego celebrates its tenth anniversary this month, expanding for the first time to a full week of films. The festival was created as a showcase for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender works. The event kicks off April 11 at Landmark's Ken Cinema with the San Diego premiere of A Four Letter Word.

Teeny-Tiny Films Series: Classic Silent Films from France

 
French silent films will screen April 10 as part of UCSD's ArtPower

UCSD's ArtPowe presents the Teeny-Tiny Films Series' Classic Silent Films from France on Thursday, April 10 at 8:00pm at the University's Calit2 Theatre. The event features live music by Scott Paulson's Teeny-Tiny Pit Orchestra and short surprises from Georges Méliès, the Lumière Brothers, and more. Plus the Teeny-Tiny Pit Orchestra has designed the event as an interactive one as volunteers from the audience will be called upon to help. "My goal," says Paulson, "is to get the audience actively involved with the performance. Here is an opportunity to work with the greatest actors and directors of all time."

French and Francophone Film Festival

Blame It On Fidel screens as part of the French and Francophone Film Festival. (Koch Lorber)

San Diego has an Asian, Latino, Jewish, Black, Women's, and most recently an Italian Film Festival so it's only appropriate to have a showcase for French cinema as well.  The French and Francophone Film Festival will take place March 26 through 28 at Montezuma Hall in the Aztec Center at SDSU. Each evening two 35mm films will be screened and admission is free. This is a great opportunity for filmgoers to catch up with French Cinema on the big screen. The event is sponsored by the Cercle Francais/SDSU with the support of Program in French and Francophone Studies and European Studies.

Persepolis

Marjane with her uncle in Persepolis (Sony Pictures Classics)

It's pretty rare to have a year in which two animated films make my top ten and another couple are worthy of mention. But in 2007, Japan's Paprika and France's Persepolis made my 10 Best List, and the American Ratatouille and Surf's Up got honorable mention. Those films not only represent the best of last year's animation but also its growing diversity. Persepolis (opening January 18 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas) is based on the autobiographical graphic novels by Marjane Satrapi.

Marjane Satrapi was born in Iran. She witnessed the fall of the Shah, the early regime of the Ayatollah Khomeni and the beginning of the Iran-Iraq war. Her parents sent her to Vienna to escape Iran's repressive regime. The film Persepolis takes the perspective of the older and exiled Marjane sitting in a French airport and contemplating returning home. As she waits in the airport she reflects back on her life, beginning in 1978 Teheran. Even at a young age, Marjane exhibits signs of independence and freethinking, both of which are encouraged by her family. Her parents are progressive and socially conscious, and some of her relatives were outspoken enough to be imprisoned for their beliefs. In addition, she has a strong-willed grandmother who tries to give Marjane a moral core and a sense of self-reliance.

Persepolis/Interview with Marjane Satrapi

Writer/filmmaker Marjane Satrapi and her self-portrait (Sony Pictures Classics)

Matjane Satrapi was born in Iran to progressive parents. She was educated from a young age at French schools. She currently lives in Paris. Her autobiographical and brilliant graphic novels Persepolis chronicle about sixteen years in her life beginning in 1978 Teheran. She has now brought the graphic novels to the screen as a black and white animated French feature. Vincent Paronnaud co-directs and co-writes the film. I had a chance to speak with Satrapi last year when she was promoting the film during its qualifying run for the Oscars. The film didn't make the short list for Best Foreign Film but it may nab an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Film. Satrapi proved to be as engaging and animated as her film.

Persepolis (opening January 18 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas) made my Ten Best list for 2007.

BETH ACCOMANDO: Tell me why you chose to call your graphic novels, Persepolis?

MARJANE SATRAPI: To understand the situation in any country of the world, you have to know a little about the history of that country. Unfortunately for Iran, everyone knows about after 1979, and everybody forgets this is this big country with 4000 years of history. So Persepolis is the name the Greeks gave to the ancient capitol of Persia, and in Greek it means the city of the Persians. So for me it gave a historical perspective to the story. Plus this one word is a nice word, easy to remember. So for all these reasons I chose this title.