On a river in Shangai, a young man (Huang Sheng Huang) proposes to his sweetie, when a cow falls out of the sky, killing his betrothed and uprooting his life. In Buenos Aires, on the other side of the world, a middle-aged loner (Ricardo Darin) runs a hardware store and does his best to avoid human connection. Somehow the two meet each other, separated by language and emotions repressed and unleashed. The title translation is unfairly twee — the more accurate translation would be the simple, A Chinese Tale. It may sound like Extreme Odd Couple, and variations on this dynamic have been told in so many contrived ways that I wouldn’t blame the seasoned cinephile for being suspicious. But Huang and Darin sell a script that’s about character, not just situation. Chinese Takwaway is a satisfying two-hander about loneliness, the need to connect and communicate, and the absurdity of life. Based on a true story, but you’d never guess which part of the story is true. —Pat Padua
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Saturday, April 14 at 6:45 p.m.; Sunday, April 15 at 5:15 p.m. at The Avalon. Tickets: $11
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The Fairy starts off mundanely enough—Dom, a hotel clerk is granted three wishes by guest Fiona, who claims to be a fairy. Predictably a relationship ensues, but it turns out that Fiona is an escaped mental patient. Just consider her a French version of the manic pixie dream girl. But instead of wide-eyed shots and indie music, the film morphs in to an absurdist comedy of errors that combines the surrealism of Michel Gondry’s The Science of Sleep, and the occasional whimsy of Amelie. With a focus on conveying emotion and story with exaggerated physical humor, it takes on the pallor of early Jim Carrey or in its more nuanced moments, Charlie Chaplin. But if you’re looking for a thoughtful film driven by plot and/or dialogue, this might not be it. —Jamie R. Liu
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Saturday, April 14 at 9 p.m.; Sunday, April 15 at 3 p.m. at The Avalon. Tickets: $11
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Grannies are all cute and sweet, right? That’s the misconception that the Basque dark comedy, Happy New Year, Grandma! seeks to turn on its head. Granny Mari is stressing out her daughter Maritxu with her constant demands and troublemaking. So Jose Mari, Maritxu’s husband recruits their daughter (Miren) and son-in-law (Kintxu) to help put grandma in a nursing home while he and Maritxu go on vacation. But Mari is not resigned to her fate, and runs away from the nursing home, wandering the streets of San Sebastian with adorable saucer-eyed wonder. When Kintxu and Miren get her home that’s when the trouble starts. She’s not some innocent troublemaker. She transforms into a manipulative psychopath bent on controlling everyone around her. And she must be stopped. Along with wiping away preconceptions about the elderly, it examines more serious issues like the responsibilities of providing long-term care for a graying population. The film is a surprising thriller. —Jamie R. Liu
View the trailer.
April 15, 7p.m.; April 16 8:30 p.m. at the Goethe-Institut Washington
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DCist’s highly selective roundup of films playing at FilmFest DC continues throughout the festival. See previous coverage here.
