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DCist's highly subjective and hardly comprehensive guide to the most interesting movies playing around town in the coming week.
Washington is a great town for film festivals. There are points in the fall when a new one kicks off every week. It's pretty hard to argue that the massive SILVERDOCS festival isn't the best of the bunch, but for festivals that don't concentrate on documentaries, Filmfest DC is top of the heap, always coming out with an extremely diverse array of programming from all over the world that combines recognizable names and cinematic heavy-hitters with cinematic newcomers and rising talents. The festival kicks off tonight at the Shakespeare Theatre's Harman Center for the Arts with a screening of Japanese director Yojiro Takita's Departures, and continues for ten more days after with over 70 films at locations all over town.
The top of our must-see list? Mesrine, about legendary French criminal Jacque Mesrine, which is positioning itself as an epic crime drama in the tradition of Goodfellas or The Godfather. Director Jean-François Richet filmed the movie as two parts (The Death Instinct and Public Enemy #1, respectively), and casts Vincent Cassel in the title role. We can't look at Cassel without thinking that he looks sort of like the French version of Matthew Lillard, except that Cassel is an amazing actor, and reportedly gives one of the performances of his career here.
There are plenty of other highlights in this year's festival, including Brendan Canty and Cristoph Greene's Wilco concert film, Ashes of American Flags, new films by directing greats Claire Denis, Takeshi Kitano, and Johnnie To, and a screening of the classic French New Wave portmanteau Six in Paris (with shorts from Claude Chabrol, Eric Rohmer, and others, including a collaboration between Jean-Luc Godard and documentary cameraman Albert Maysles). And, Filmfest DC also has what every good film festival needs in the mix: a zombie movie. Kevin Hamedani's ZMD: Zombies of Mass Distruction provides trenchant social commentary and subtle allegory (in this case, regarding post-September 11th U.S. policy) as only zombie movies can: with armies of the undead and plenty of blood, guts, and (we hope) disembowlings.
View the (French) trailers for Mesrine, Part 1 and Part 2.
Filmfest DC opens tonight and runs through Sunday, April 26. See the schedule for full details.
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For inspirational fare, it'll be tough to beat this documentary, which follows the travels of Athens, Georgia teen Darius Weems, who suffers from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, the same disease that already killed his older brother. Darius and his family set out on a cross country trip (his first anywhere outside his hometown) with a final destination of Los Angeles, where Darius is going to get his wheelchair customized on MTV's Pimp My Ride. This may be the first time in recorded history that spinning rims aren't in the least bit tacky. Weems will be in town for this weekend's screening at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, as part of a continuing effort to use the film to raise awareness of, and money to combat, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
View the trailer.
Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue. $8, proceeds to benefit the
Darius Goes West Foundation, which supports the effort to treat and cure Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
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In 1936, former geisha and prostitute Ade Saba killed her lover, removed his genitalia, and in the ensuing police search and the detailed confession that resulted after her capture, became a folk hero of sorts in Japanese culture. Her confession became one of the most read publications in a genre of writing that was already wildly popular in Japan: confessional autobiographies by women criminals. Her legacy has shifted in many ways over the years, but none of that is really the focus of Nagisa Oshima's landmark film about Saba. Oshima is uninterested in telling Saba's life story, preferring to concentrate solely on the relationship between Saba and her lover, and the passions and jealousies that led up to the crime. Oshima didn't shy away from depicting a relationship that was based around long hours of sex in frank and graphic manner, a decision that resulted in his film never having been shown in its intended form in his home country. Oshima couldn't even develop the film he shot at home and had to have it shipped to France for processing during production. It's still debated today whether In the Realm of the Senses, which features a great deal of unsimulated sex between its lead actors, is pornography or not, but leaving behind all the controversy surrounding it, it's recognized as one of the greatest films Oshima ever made.
View the (somewhat NSFW) trailer.
Friday and Saturday at the AFI.
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Pansy Division: Life in a Gay Rock Band
You know you've been around awhile when a genre of music you essentially founded is featured in a mainstream romantic comedy, you're writing memoirs, and people want to make career-spanning documentaries about your band. That's where Pansy Division finds themselves after nearly 20 years together. The title character in last year's Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist plays bass for a queercore band which wouldn't exist as it does in the film without Pansy Division's influence. Founder Jon Ginoli recently authored a book about his time (which is ongoing) with the group called Deflowered: My Life in Pansy Division. And last year director Michael Carmona completed a documentary on the band's career and place in punk rock and LGBT history. Oh, and not one to rest on any laurels, the band also has a brand new record out. Ginoli will play host to a special screening of the Pansy Division documentary here in D.C. next week, at which he'll also play some songs and sign copies of his book. Concert, film screening, and book signing all in one; obviously playing punk rock all his life has taught Ginoli a little something about economy and efficiency.
View the trailer.
Monday at 8 p.m. at the Source Theatre. $10, tickets available the day of the show. Organizers request that you RSVP on Facebook if you can prior to attending.
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Did we mention that D.C. has a lot of film festivals? Filmfest DC isn't the only one getting underway this week. The Korean Film Festival DC 2009 starts tomorrow, and is less of a high-density short duration festival like the Filmfest. This one lasts nearly two months, with a schedule of 20 films spread out over that time, screening at both the AFI and at the Freer Gallery. This weekend's opener is Forever the Moment, a drama by director Lim Soon-Rye (who will be in attendance at both screenings, tomorrow at the Freer, and Saturday at the AFI) based on the true story of the 2004 Korean women's handball team's run at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
April 17-June 10. See the full schedule for a list of films, dates, and times.
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I gotta say, In the Realm of the Senses: great date movie. Almost as good as Audition. Either way, once you get back to your swingin hiptard pad, she'll have your clothes off and be shoving needles into your eyes before you can say, "My face is leaving in five minutes. Be on it."