10/05/2002 Entry:
"CIFF - Day One"

I was gong to do day by day updates of the films I see at the Chicago International Film Festival, although it seems silly in retrospect since most days I'll only see one film anyways. So, uh, today. Originally I was going to see The Uncertainty Principle and Happiness Of The Katakuris, but I had to skip Uncertainty Principle. So I got tickets to Katakuris right after work, then later on Bethany and I head over to Landmark. The first thing I notice is that there's a dry-erase board at the front listing all the sold out shows so far, which is convenient. Then I notice that it includes Sunday's showing of Russian Ark, which is not convenient. I was going to move the Monday viewing of Russian Ark to Sunday to avoid two films on a work day. Looks like Sunday rush line for us. Tomorrow is still OK though, everything looks good for My Life At McDull, Bowling For Columbine, and either Uncertainty Principle or Afghan Alphabet, depending on scheduling.

The Happiness Of The Katakuris was my first experience with Takashi Miike, someone I had heard a lot about in terms of his being a gore-drenched horror movie guy. This was not that. This was goofy, overboard musical comedy with a deep black humor streak. It was pretty riotous, and a lot of fun to see with a full house. Apparently this was one of seven movies Miike made in 2001, but you would never know it. Actually, this was quite a great piece of filmmaking. It looked great. Interesting bold compositions, edited with a delight that matches the proceedings perfectly. A lot of big wide angle shots, giving a real sense of depth to everything. My only bummer was that it lost a bid of steam in the middle, although after that outrageous song and dance number with Richard, how could it go any farther? They have these ballots so everyone can vote for the audience award, you tear a number from 1 to 5. I tore a 4, and I suspect Bethany tore a 5 (she wouldn't tell me.) Great fun.