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Wednesday, June 7, 2006

SIFF Gone Somber!

Posted by on June 7 at 15:43 PM

Day 13: We’ve reached the halfway point!

Yesterday I saw The Forsaken Land (or, as the French had it, prettily, La Terre abandonĂ©e), the Sri Lankan film that shared the Camera d’Or with Me and You and Everyone We Know at Cannes. (The two movies couldn’t be less alike.)

Anyway, it was somber and strange and abruptly, jarringly violent (okay, you’ve seen Hostel or whatever, but stick a sudden shot of a fingernail being pried off into the middle of an art film about frogs and parched holes in the ground—that’s what really gets people to freak the fuck out). I doubt we’ll see it around here again, despite the fancy Cannes prize. And that’s exactly what’s so awesome about SIFF. A surprising little epic of a movie about the vicious aftermath of war, being screened two blocks from my house. (You know nothin’ good’s gonna come to the Harvard Exit the whole summer long.)

Piyasiri.jpg

Tomight you’ve got lots of good choices, including the awesome 49 Up at 6:30 at the Egyptian and the intriguing (and apparently local) Arctic Son at 7:30 at Broadway Performance Hall. David Jeffers over at the intermittently functional Siffblog expresses some interesting displeasure about the print of The Gold Rush they’re screening tonight at the Neptune. His advice? Skip it, and seek out the 1925 version on DVD.

If you’re planning ahead for tomorrow, The Heart of the Game (both screenings, actually) is sold out, so find a friend with a pass or get there really really really early to stand in the rush tickets line. Lucky for you, the movie—which is totally rad—is opening in Seattle next Wednesday the 14th at Guild 45th and Pacific Place.


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I'm sorry for having The Heart of the Game sell out - I told all the other Roosevelt HS parents how to buy tix early and pointed out it was going to sell out.

It's done very well at other film fests nationwide.

Oh, tomorrow night is Samurai film night! Looking forward to that!

oh, sorry, the Japanese Samurai film is Shinobi, gonna be FUN!

so, what did you think of our burning Indian film last night, saw you in the same row.

Thanks for the shout out Annie. We sat behind a family with three little ones at the Thursday show, the oldest. a little boy around seven or eight, lauhed his ass off during the cabin on the cliff bit (makes me feel all warm & fuzzy). Anne Hawkens has also posted something for the Saturday show at the Egyptian. The first two silent films, The Scarlet Letter and Au Bonheur des dames were wonderful, so we know SIFF can get it right. It's a shame member input isn't an active part of the film selection process.

incest father and daughter with mother and son!

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