The Beseiged

REVIEW Vive le Cinéma III! The Northwest Film Center's annual International Film Festival wraps up. BY BRIAN LIBBY, DAVE McCOY, JAMES McQUILLEN AND KIM MORGAN

For more information, check out the Northwest Film Center's festival guide online. THEATER ADDRESSES Broadway Metroplex: 1000 SW Broadway Guild Theatre: 829 SW 9th Ave. Mission Theater: 1624 NW Glisan St. Movie House: 1220 SW Taylor St. TICKETS Single Admission General: $7 Members: $6 Children 12 and under: $3 PASSES Festival pass: $125 Silver Screen Club: $300 Patron pass: $500 Student 5-film pass: $25 221-1156 PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL The Powder Keg (Yugoslavia) Guild: 6:30 pm Wednesday, Feb. 24 THE PLOT:On a single night in Belgrade, a city of raw nerves and anger in a country on the verge of exploding, a series of encounters demonstrates what people can do to each other in extreme circumstances. Intertwining vignettes tell different stories--a man informs his best friend that he's been sleeping with his wife, a thug hijacks a bus, lovers quarrel--but as each story spirals out of control, an undercurrent of violence unites them. THE DILLY: An astonishing, powerful and harrowing work. Director Goran Paskaljevic tends to look away just before his vignettes reach their horrifying conclusions, but he has imbued his film with such a tone of inescapable menace that it hardly matters. Like Before the Rain and Burnt by the Sun, The Powder Keg is driven by vast forces of destruction beyond anyone's control. The title refers to to each of the characters as well as to Yugoslavia itself, and the interwoven stories provide myriad allegories to the Balkan conflict. Paskaljevic asked the best actors in the country to participate in the project, and the performances are stellar; each scene is its own keenly felt drama of cruelty and pain. Do not miss this. THE SCORE: 4 JM I Stand Alone (France) Broadway: 8:45 pm Wednesday, Feb. 24 THE PLOT:An ex-butcher fresh out of prison moves to Lille, France. The jobless, bitter and self-loathing man embarks on what we think will be the road to vengeance. THE DILLY:I don't want to say too much about this film because it must be viewed freshly and without warning (I just warned you). This is one of the most brilliant, shocking, depressing and powerful films to come along in years--indeed, ever--and is not for the easily offended. With innovative sound, editing and camera work, and an amazing performance by its leading actor (Philippe Nahon) this film is worth the hell it puts you through. Disturbing, beautiful and moving, this may be the best film of the festival. THE SCORE:4 KM Little Thieves, Big Thieves (Venezuela) Broadway: 9 pm Wednesday, Feb. 24, and Thursday, Feb. 25 THE PLOT:Amid Venezuela's financial crisis, four friends down on their luck plan a bank robbery. They're caught, but not before they've found damning evidence of fraud by a number of bankers and a government minister. An alternately tense and humorous hostage situation ensues. THE DILLY: It begins amiably enough, and the plot is reasonably clever, but Little Thieves, Big Thieves can't seem to decide whether to be a touching drama or a screwball comedy. The result is a disorganized film that feels like a first draft and never rises above the level of the average made-for-TV fare. THE SCORE: 1.5 JM Dead Letter Office (Australia) Broadway: 7 pm Thursday, Feb. 25 THE PLOT:Alice (Jodie Foster look-alike Miranda Otto) has been writing to her long-lost dad since she was a kid, but her missives never reach him. So she gets a job at the dead-letter office, which is run by Frank (George del Hoyo), a Chilean with a long face and a hidden past. THE DILLY: There's a grain of a good, sad story in this gentle film, but it's obscured by abundant clichés, hamfisted dialogue and extraneous characters. Otto and Del Hoyo have good chemistry; director John Ruane should have exploited it in a leaner film with a smarter script. THE SCORE: 2 JM Summer by the River (Finland) Movie House: 7 pm Thursday, Feb. 25 Guild: 12:15 pm Saturday, Feb. 27 THE PLOT:After the death of his mother, a boy from Helsinki goes out to the eastern forests with his father, who is in search of a job. On a log-rolling crew, the father finds humiliation and then acceptance at the hands of his rough co-workers. Meanwhile young Topi learns about life from the crew's kindly cook. THE DILLY:My Life As a Dog meets Sometimes a Great Notion. This charming coming-of-age story might have veered off into unpalatable sappiness were it not for a sober script, capable performances and engaging cinematography. THE SCORE: 2.5 JM Three Seasons (United States) Guild: 7:15 pm Friday, Feb. 26, and 5 pm Saturday, Feb. 27 THE PLOT:This overlapping, melodramatic narrative explores the lives of four civilians living like outsiders in their rapidly changing homeland of Vietnam. The characters include an American vet (Harvey Keitel) searching for the daughter he's never seen; a young girl hired to help an elderly recluse; a cyclo driver who's obsessed with a prostitute; and another young man struggling to survive by hustling and selling trinkets on the street. THE DILLY: Writer/director/producer Tony Bui's feature-filmmaking debut marks the first American-financed project in Vietnam since the end of the war. It's doubtful Bui expected such a strong a reception for his work: Last month Three Seasons became the first film ever at Sundance to win both the prestigious Jury Prize and the Audience Award for best dramatic feature. It's one of the festival's hottest movies, so get your tickets very soon. THE SCORE: 2.5 DM Besieged (Italy) Guild: 9 :15 pm Saturday, Feb. 27, and 2:30 pm Sunday, Feb. 28 THE PLOT:Shandurai (Thandie Newton) leaves an unnamed African country after her husband is thrown into a military prison. In Rome, where she goes to study medicine, she cleans house for Mr. Kinsky (David Thewlis), a goofy pianist. Kinsky desires his young, attractive domestic help (like, duh), and in an attempt to woo her he acquires rhythm and adopts a spare, if very stylish, aesthetic. But only freeing her husband will win her over. Kinsky proceeds to do so, and, this being a Bernardo Bertolucci film, he beds her just before hubby arrives. Oh geez, I gave away the ending. Sorry. THE DILLY: This isn't the first time that Bertolucci's self-indulgence has scuttled a film, but we can always hope that it's the last. His hyperkinetic camera work suggests that either he needs a prescription for Ritalin or he ought to be making music videos, and his uncanny ability to elicit mediocre performances from otherwise competent actors doesn't help. Thewlis comes off as a bad cross between Jeremy Irons and Roberto Benigni, and Newton struggles valiantly against a hopeless script. On the plus side, there's some good music, both East African and western classical, and the only product-placement shots are for Steinway & Sons. THE SCORE: 1 JM - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Willamette Week | originally published February 24, 1999