56th SF International Film Festival
April 18, 2013 The 56th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 25-May 9) is just around the corner. This year the festivities will kick off with What Maisie Knew and will close with the much-anticipated Before Midnight. I can't wait to see what happens to Jesse and Céline (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) in Richard Linklater's last installment to the Before Sunrise trilogy.
Richard Linklater's "Before Midnight" with Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke (Courtesy of the San Francisco Film Society).
Here are a couple of previews from the festival lineup:
Audrey Tautou fans will admire her work in Claude Miller's Thérèse (Therese Desqueyroux, France 2012). An adaptation of François Mauriac's famed novel, Tautou portrays a young wife suffering from a stifling bourgeois existence in southwestern France and her unhappiness culminates in extreme consequences. Her withered soul may be dulled from ennui and social conventions, yet it barely conceals her desire for intellectual stimulation and personal freedom. Breaking from her usual gamine style, Tautou delivers a smooth, nuanced performance that's definitely worth a look.
Audrey Tautou and Gilles Lellouche in "Therese" (Courtesy of the San Francisco Film Society).
Habi, the Foreigner (Habi, La Extranjera; Argentina/Brazil 2013) is a coming of age story set in bustling Buenos Aires. Martina Juncandella displays a radiant naïveté required for the role of Analia, a shy 20-year-old woman who, on a whim, fabricates a new life within the local Muslim community. Leaving her old life behind, she immerses herself in Arabic lessons, daily prayers and a job at a Lebanese grocery, but her cultural experiment soon clashes with her budding romance with the grocer's son.
Maria Florencia's "Habi, the Foreigner" (Courtesy of the San Francisco Film Society).
If you loved the epic Mysteries of Lisbon, you might be intrigued by Night Across the Street (France/Chile 2012), a posthumous release by Chilean director Raúl Ruiz. Using a charming, mischievous mix of philosophy and surreal imagery, an old office worker reminisces about his childhood memories via his alter ego Rhodo. Conjuring up heroes like Long John Silver and Beethoven, the protagonist bridges the gap between our universe and the afterlife with plenty of fantasy plots and intrigues.
Raúl Ruiz's "Night Across the Street" (Courtesy of SF Film Society).
Tickets are available at festival.sffs.org.
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