CriterionCast

What To See This Weekend At The Portland International Film Festival

The Portland International Film Festival kicked off this years events tonight with it’s opening film: Lasse Hallstrom’s Salmon Fishing In The Yemen (check out Shawn Levy’s review over at the Oregonian). Over the next couple weeks, the festival will spread across Portland’s many theaters, highlighting some really incredible filmmaking from around the world. There is far too much to see for any one person to see everything, so I thought I’d point out some of the titles that I’m really excited to check out.

If you’re planning on going out to the movies this weekend, here are my picks as to what you should focus on. Some of these are special because they’re Oscar contenders, others because they’re the work of my favorite filmmakers, and some just because the title stood out to me in the program, and the trailer sealed the deal (I’m looking at you, Jiro Dreams Of Sushi).

Here are some links to pages that will come in handy, as you plan your film-going:

The entire film schedule, which can be sorted by film title, by category, by country, or by date.

A list of the venues.

A page with links to many of the films trailers.

The Willamette Weekly’s coverage.

The Portland Mercury’s coverage.

We’ll likely be reviewing several of these films over the course of the next couple weeks, so make sure you check back here. You can also follow us, or me, on Twitter to get up to the minutes news regarding the film festival. You should also be following the NW Film Center’s Twitter page, and while you’re at it, check out their new podcast as well.

I’m linking the days below to their corresponding schedule pages, so you can see what else is playing, in case something you’re interested in is already sold out.

I’d love to know what you all are seeing this weekend, so leave your suggestions in the comments below.


Friday, February 10th

6:15pm – A Cat In Paris (at Cinemagic) – Nominated for best Animated Feature

An enchanting fable about looking past appearances and cultivating unlikely loyalties in times of need, A Cat in Paris turns the streets of Paris into a delicately animated watercolor study. Dino, a cat, lives a double life. By day he lives with Zoe, whose mother is a police detective; by night he sneaks out the window to work with Nico, a slinky cat burglar. Dino’s two worlds collide when he has to team up with Nico to save Zoe from a team of bumbling thieves plotting to steal the so-called Colossus of Nairobi. A humorous love letter to classic noir films and the stylized wit of “Pink Panther” cartoons, children of all ages will root for the undercats in this droll thriller, while the moody cityscape and cool retro jazz soundtrack will appeal to their elders. (70 mins.)

6:15pm – Jiro Dreams Of Sushi (at World Trade Center Theater)

Jiro Dreams of Sushi is the story of 85-year-old Jiro Ono, considered by many to be the world’s greatest sushi chef. He is the proprietor of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a 10-seat, sushi-only restaurant inauspiciously located in a Tokyo subway station. Despite its humble appearances, it is the first restaurant of its kind to be awarded a prestigious three-star Michelin review, and sushi lovers from around the globe make repeated pilgrimage, calling months in advance and shelling out top dollar for a coveted seat at Jiro’s sushi bar. For most of his life, Jiro has been mastering the art of making sushi, but even at his age he sees himself as still striving for perfection, working from sunrise to well beyond sunset to taste every piece of fish, meticulously train his employees, and carefully mold and finesse the impeccable presentation of each sushi creation. (81 mins.)

8:45pm – The Extraordinary Voyage (at World Trade Center Theater)

The magical Georges Méliès, one of the celebrated heroes of Martin Scorsese’s new movie Hugo, was the creator of one of the most unforgettable images in cinema’”the Man in the Moon being poked in the eye by a rocket ship. Now, thanks to one of the most technically sophisticated restorations in film history, the original A Trip to the Moon can thrill audiences once again. This fascinating documentary charts the film’s voyage from production in 1902 to the astonishing rediscovery of a color nitrate print in 2003 and its premiere at Cannes in 2011. (60 mins.)

Presented with the complete hand-painted color version of A Trip to the Moon, the first outer space adventure in the history of cinema, in which six members of the Astronomers’ Club set off on an expedition to the moon, encounter the Selenites and flee their King, and return home to a triumphant parade. (19 mins.)


Saturday, February 11th

12:30pm – Bullhead (at the Whitsell Auditorium) – SEE THIS MOVIE! (here’s James’ review from Fantastic Fest)

In an unlikely setting for organized crime’”the farmlands of Flanders’”Bullhead plunges us into the corrupt underbelly of a mafia-run meat industry, where illegal use of growth hormones on cattle runs rampant. After a detective is murdered, Jacky, a grotesquely muscular man supped up on steroids, becomes suspicious of a potential partnership with a rival manufacturer. Compounding his weariness is the presence of Diederik. Flashbacks into Jacky’s childhood soon reveal the two men are linked by a physically traumatic, life-altering tragedy. A fascinating genre mash-up’”a gritty, gonzo crime thriller with quirky humor, harrowing suspense, and elements of Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’”Roskam’s film is this year’s Belgian submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. (124 mins.)

3:30pm – Unfinished Spaces (at the Whitsell Auditorium)

In 1961, in the expansive first days of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro asked three visionary architects’”Ricardo Porro, Roberto Gottardi, and Vittorio Garatti’”to build the Cuban National Arts Schools’”one school each for dramatic arts, modern dance, ballet, music, and sculpture’”on what had been the golf course of a country club. But before construction was completed, the Revolution took a Soviet turn and suddenly the project was denounced as bourgeois and counterrevolutionary. The story has many more fascinating twists and turns as these radical, magnificent buildings become a prism through which we see the turbulent, ever-shifting history of Castro’s Cuba and follow the fates of the three architects, now in their 80s, who would get a second chance to revitalize their utopian project. (86 mins.)

6:00pm – Found Memories (at Lloyd Mall 6)

Invested with elements of magic realism, Found Memories (‘Stories only exist when remembered’) is a fable set in a forgotten town steeped in a forgotten time. Every morning, Madalena makes bread for Antonio’s old coffee shop, crosses the railways where no trains have passed for years, cleans the cemetery gate, and listens to the priest’s sermon before sharing lunch with the other old villagers. Clinging to the image of her dead husband and living in her memories, Madalena is awakened by the arrival of Rita, a young photographer attracted to a ghost village where time seems to have stopped. They forge a deep relationship, which builds to have a profound effect on both of their lives, as well as on the rest of the aging villagers. ‘A gentle, poetic film in which one can delight in getting lost, if just for a little while.’’”Toronto International Film Festival (98 mins.)

8:30pm – The King Of Devil’s Island (at World Trade Center Theater)

This gripping true story of an uprising in a brutally run Norwegian reform school in 1915 is told in an epic style that won the Best Film Prize at the Norwegian Film Awards. Located on a remote island in the Oslo fjord, the Bastoy Boys’ Home was established as a place to reform wayward teenagers’”using beatings, manual labor, and rigid discipline to keep the youngsters subdued. But when newcomer Erling arrives on the island and starts to question the authority of the abusive ‘housefathers,’ he finds more than a murmur of support from his fellow inmates. Determined both to escape and to reveal the institution’s corruption, Erling has to choose between himself and the friends he has won. Starring Stellan SkarsgÃ¥rd as the school governor. (120 mins.)

8:30pm – Patagonia (at Lake Twin Cinema)

In the midst of the stunning mountains of Patagonia is an almost mythical community of Welsh natives, born of settlers from the 1800s. Evans incorporates the culture and countryside of both countries to tell the tales of two women. In Cardiff, Gwen and husband Rhys have felt a strain on their relationship. When Rhys is sent on a photographic project to Patagonia, Gwen sees a chance to repair their relationship with a bit of escapism. In Patagonia, elderly Argentinean Cerys is starting a pilgrimage to the Welsh countryside that was once her mother’s home. Gwen’s quest for meaning in her family’s future leads to unwelcome adventure, while Cerys’s search for the truth about her heritage produces no easy answers. Their stories make Patagonia a film of intimate moments played out against sweeping panoramic landscapes. (118 mins.)


Sunday, February 12th

12:30pm – Short Cuts 1: International Ties (at the Whitsell Auditorium)

3:00pm – The Extraordinary Voyage (at the Whitsell Auditorium)

5:30pm – Tales Of The Night (at the Whitsell Auditorium)

Renowned animation auteur Michel Ocelot’s new film extends the distinguished shadow puppet style of his Princes and Princesses and Azur and Asmar with black-silhouetted characters set off against exquisitely detailed Day-Glo backgrounds bursting with color and kaleidoscopic patterns. A girl, a boy, and an old man get together in a small movie theater full of wonders where they invent, draw, dress up, and become characters in magical stories. The film weaves together six of their exotic fables, each unfolding in a unique locale’”Tibet, medieval Europe, an Aztec kingdom, the African plains, and even the Land of the Dead. In Ocelot’s storytelling, history blends with fairytale as he whisks us away to enchanted lands full of dragons, werewolves, captive princesses, sorcerers, and enormous talking bees. ‘Instantly timeless! A triumph of intricate craftsmanship!’’”Variety (84 mins.)

8:00pm – Life Without Principle (at the Whitsell Auditorium)

A departure from To’s action films, Life Without Principle is a sharp and complex look at contemporary Hong Kong life in the wake of the financial crisis over the last few years. The film tells the story of three characters: a financial analyst forced to sell high-risk securities to customers in order to meet sales targets, a thug dealing in futures in order to earn enough money to post bail for a friend, and a police inspector suddenly in financial straits due to family obligations. In dire need of money, each is forced to make morally questionable choices when stolen money turns up. With strong performances by his cast, To fashions a powerful depiction of desperation and compromise in a time of financial strain. ‘To shows his mastery of urban space, tension, and action … one of contemporary cinema’s preeminent visual structuralists.’’”Vancouver Film Festival (107 mins.)

8:00pm – Norwegian Wood (at Lloyd Mall 6)

Set in the late ’60s when Tokyo universities were rife with political unrest, Watanabe is a student whose deepening relationship with the emotionally fragile Naoko is haunted by the specter of a past tragedy. Caught between her emotional and then geographical retreat and the expanding world of college life, Watanabe’s loyalty is tested by adventurous best friend and dilettante Nagasawa and the enchanting and strikingly independent Midori. The themes of awakening, loss, and melancholy that ripple through both the novel and the Beatles song from which it derives its name are perfectly accentuated by an evocative score from Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, gorgeous production design, and lush cinematography. ‘A languorous, visually striking movie about life, death, art, freedom, and responsibility.’’”The Guardian, London (133 mins.)

8:00pm – Turn Me On, Dammit! (at Lloyd Mall 5)

Only a woman could tell this wry, astonishingly candid tale of a teenage girl with an unbridled sexual appetite. Fifteen-year-old Alma is consumed by her out-of-control hormones and fantasies that range from sweetly romantic images of Artur, the boyfriend she yearns for, to down-and-dirty daydreams about practically everybody she lays eyes on. Alma and her best friend Saralou live in an insufferably boring little town in the hinterlands of Norway. After Alma has a highly perplexing encounter with Artur, she makes the mistake of telling her incredulous friends, who ostracize her at school. At home, Alma’s mother is overwhelmed and embarrassed by her daughter’s extravagant phone sex bills and constant self-gratification. Throughout, Jacobsen renders the complexities of Alma’s burgeoning sexuality and loneliness with a compassion and frankness that ring true. (76 mins.)


Ryan Gallagher

Ryan is the Editor-In-Chief / Founder of CriterionCast.com, and the host / co-founder / producer of the various podcasts here on the site. You can find his website at RyanGallagher.org, follow him on Twitter (@RyanGallagher), or send him an email: [email protected].