I'm partial to Budapest Noir. I like noir. For the last film I'd choose 3
Faces over Iceman.I can live with the consensus decisions.Alice Sent from my
Verizon, Samsung Galaxy Tablet
-------- Original message --------From: Joel Johnson
<joel_johnson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Date: 11/17/18 1:40 PM (GMT-05:00) To:
cinemaexp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [cinemaexp] The Last Couple of Spots The
finish line is in sight, but there are a couple of spots for which we need to
make final decisions. Hopefully, the accompanying list does not have any major
surprises. I would like your input for the final two slots. After contacting
Barbara Merson of the MJFF I did come up with a handful of films for us to
consider including in our series. There seemed to be a mutually beneficial
relationship that developed last year with our opportunity to show “1945” and a
bump in the attendance of last year’s MJFF satellite screenings in Waterville.
Unfortunately, we have not had a lot of opportunity to discuss those films.
Perhaps unfairly, I assumed that the IMDb rating numbers and the status of
being a Foreign-language Oscar submission would make “THE WALDHEIM WALTZ” and
“THE INTERPRETER” our best options from that group of films and that everyone
else on the team would reach the same conclusion. Bob—citing a
comment by Abbott—quite explicitly challenged that thinking. The revelation
that the former UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim had a history of
involvement in the Nazi war effort while pursuing high political office in
Austria certainly does serve to remind us of current politics. Do we—and by
extension our potential audience—need or want that reminder? Possibly
not—at least, that seemed to be Bob and Abbott’s thinking. While the film no
doubt offers a lot of granular details about the Nazi-Waldheim
connection and the ensuing controversy when it was exposed, this is not a story
with which “the usual suspects” in our audience would be unfamiliar.
Waldheim had been a world figure and this controversy was covered quite
extensively by American news media during the 1980’s. We have two
films “THE INTERPRETER” (Slovakia) and “THE LAST SUIT” (Argentina) that are
basically road trips. Both have some picaresque qualities to leaven the
tragedy of men revisiting the horror and loss that they experienced as victims
of the Holocaust—“INTERPRETER” having a surviving son looking for closure on
the victimhood of his parents and “THE LAST SUIT” being a valedictory
pilgrimage by an old man to fulfill a promise to someone who helped him survive
the Holocaust. Reviews of both of these films have generally been
favorable, but not without some criticism. “BUDAPEST NOIR” is a
bit different in that it takes place before the war. As noted there has been
criticism of the film for its embrace of the film noir genre. While last
year’s “1945” was set immediately post-war in a rural village, “BUDAPEST NOIR”
takes place in a bustling urban setting with a seamy underbelly. I read all the
critic and user reviews cited on the IMDb webpage. While there were
some issues raised by the critics, there were almost always nuggets of lavish
praise (music, performances, the recreation of the 1930’s period,
etc.) there as well. The user reviews were quite favorable. The war and the
holocaust are certainly foreshadowed, but perhaps not necessarily the
center of the action. I know some of you have mentioned this as your personal
choice, but I’m much more on board with this as perhaps our option.
Were you wondering where “KLEZMER” went? I read the four reviews cited on
the film’s IMDb webpage. While there seemed to be a recognition that it
represented an effort to contribute to the Polish reaction to the holocaust,
the film seemed to be found wanting and be disappointing. Barbara Merson in
discussing it with me labeled it as “grim.” So what film
would you like us to present in the fifth slot on 3/2-3/19? For the final and
sixth slot (3/16-17/19) I offer a choice between “ICEMAN,” the doc “THE SEARCH
FOR INGMAR BERGMAN,” and the Jafar Panahi film “3 FACES.” This e-mail is
probably long enough without revisiting everything presented in prior e-mails.
Personally, I like “ICEMAN,” but there are cases to be made for each of the
others. Perhaps ranked choice might be an option here. My choices: 1. “ICEMAN”
2. “SEARCHING FOR INGMAR BERGMAN” 3. “3 FACES”. Anyways, I hope we can have
some clarity on this by the end of the weekend. Abbott did present a couple of
older French films as possibilities in a recent e-mail. I’m a little bit leery
about having more than one older classic film in our series for reasons I have
previously stated. I’m especially leery about putting something into
consideration this late in the process which has not previously been presented
or discussed. Abbott, I hope you will keep these films in your mind for next
year. I (and I hope everyone else) will try to do that as well. Joel
