10/13/2002 Entry:
"CIFF - Day Eight"

I had three films planned for day eight. The first was My Sister Maria, a documentary about German actress Maria Schell, directed by her brother Maximillian Schell. Second was a non-CIFF film called Kwik Stop playing at Facets. Third was the first feature in Lucas Belvaux' trilogy following the same characters and events from three viewpoints - On The Run. The problem is I leave for vacation on Friday morning and I really had a ton of stuff to do before I left. I finally decided to jettison one film, and it ended up being My Sister Maria. I have advance tickets for the whole Belvaux trilogy, so I couldn't skip that, and Kwik Stop had come highly recommended by basically every critic in town. I later regretted the choice, but I will write something about Kwik Stop in a separate non-CIFF entry.

The first film in Lucas Belvaux' trilogy, On The Run quickly moved up my list of festival favorites. It will almost certainly land in the top three somewhere. A taut, lean thriller of the highest order, even as a standalone film this would be one of the best things I've seen in a long time. It follows a political radical named Bruno, who escapes from jail and plans to get his old gang back together and settle some old scores. Unfortunately he returns to a world which has changed during the 15 years he has been away, and he has difficulty maneuvering in the new world. His one former compatriot who didn't go to prison is now married with a child, and as he tries to convince her to take up arms again, that the masses are ready for revolt, she screams at him that there are no masses, and you know he knows this is true but fails to believe it. Through the film you sometimes feel sympathetic for Bruno, although as the films gets into the third act he is revealed to be a truly despicable human being. This was completely absorbing from beginning to end, and the final shot is completely unexpected and harrowing. You can just see the pain on Bruno's face as he refuses to believe it can all end like this. Belvaux himself played Bruno, and he does an amazing job, taking up the mantle after his original actor canceled out. The filmmaking is tight, much of the film is shot from the constraints of whatever car Bruno happens to be driving, or the storage shed he uses as a hideout. These cramped, constrained spaces keep the mood of the film tense and claustrophobic, and in the few occasions where Bruno is allowed to stretch out, it doesn't last long at all, always having to run inside to hide again. When I first got out of this, I thought it was a good movie, but as I drove home I kept worriedly looking around at the cops I passed, and I suddenly realized that Belvaux had succeeded in transfering Bruno's constant paranoia on to me. Thats some great filmmaking right there. I tore a 4, but I feel now like I should have torn a 5. I'm truly excited now to see what the rest of the Trilogy has to offer.

Replies: 2 comments

Sorry about KWIK STOP. I hope you didn't consider my review a high recommendation, though it wound up reading a little kinder than I would have liked. Ebert and Rosenbaum were big champions of it for some reason, so I'm sure you're referring to them. As for the decision to jettison MY SISTER MARIA in favor of THE TRILOGY: ON THE RUN, good choice. The Schell documentary is a conceptual nightmare, and incredibly boring to boot. (Incidentially, I just returned from the CIFF Awards Ceremony. I was on the documentary jury, and we somehow gave your beloved BELLARIA a Silver Plaque (4th Place), even though two of the three jurors (myself included) didn't think that much of the film. Don't ask me how that happened; it's too complicated to explain. In any case, our unanimous winner was SISTER HELEN, which I strongly encourage you to check out if you haven't already. I think all the awards winners get special screenings this week. Scott Posted by Scott Tobias @ 10/13/2002 04:23 PM CST

Glad to see Bellaria got some props. I guess I can see why people didn't think it was that much of a film, but I really liked it and felt for the characters, even the irritating/weird ones. Unfortunately my CIFF viweing is probably at a close following my viewing of the rest of Trilogy today. Tonight I am going to see David Sedaris, tomorrow night I am going to see The Chameleons, Wednesday and Thursday I have pinball show related activites to attend, and Friday morning I leave for a week long vacation. Mass chaos. Of the three films I had left that I really wanted to see (Man Without A Past, Morvern Callar, Turning Gate) I may sneak in Turning Gate on Tuesday afternoon if I can get off work early. The other two will be coming around so I don't mind missing them as much. Even that will be a stretch though, all this shit just came together all at once and its crazy nuts. Posted by gdd @ 10/13/2002 06:54 PM CST