SF Intl Film Festival

Occasions like the SF Intl Film Festival 2009 is the main reason to move to the city. Even though I was very ambitious while buying tickets, reality was that it was hard to get out of work early and catch as many movies as I would have liked. I wasted a few tickets, but overall feel vindicated following this event with fervor.

Here are the movies I watched and absolutely enjoyed. I couldnt have picked a better mix of movies, each with its own twists and tales.

Sonbahar (Autumn) - 2008 - Turkish

Beautiful photography - Must see for any nature lover. Didnt know Turkey was such a beautiful country. Its definitely in my list of countries to visit now. Better catch it early, before it becomes a tourist hotbed.

The movie is about a political prisoner, released after 12 hard years, tortured and carrying more mental scars than physical - maybe I'm wrong - mental scars matching his physical. He spends most of his days in his small home town, up in the mountains, where everyone knows everyone. While physically there, he has a very hard time coming back to the present - lives a morbid life - choking from both fearful memories and a fading life. Though still very young, he lacks all interest in life, beaten and weighed down by his past.

Egged by a his childhood friend to rediscover life, he finally shows some emotion after a trip to a mountain lodge in the middle of winter. He screams his gut out, over a valley! Pushed hard, he finally falls in love (if you could call that) with a prostitute who is equally lost in her profession, forging a living away from her country Georgia, selling herself to support her daughter.

If you are looking for a happy ending, this movie is a poor choice. Just as the dude starts accepting his love for the woman, she decides to move and provides him an ultimatum to bring his passport and start a journey. He obliges and as luck would have it, he misses her ultimatum by a few minutes and thus loses her.

Depressing... Nah... The beauty in the movie is its lack of the 'so-called-happiness/happy ending' factor.

Heaven's heart - Swedish

This story is about 2 middle aged couple, going through a mid-life crisis. Both couples wondering if the stoic yet happy life, is all there is to a love life and contemplate infidelity. While one from each couple [one wife and one husband] is intrigued by it, the other pair is strongly taken back by the idea. But, strangely as it may be, the less-confident opposites from each pair find solace in each other and practice exactly the opposite of what they fear the most. While this leads to both the couples' short-term breakup, they also find the reason that they were looking for to start with, a reassurance in their chosen paths and marriage.

Some interesting tidbits about the movie - the setting was very scandinavian that Ikea could learn a few tips (no, not cheap, just very contemporary). The entire movie was shot in 5-6 spots - kitchen, dining table, living room, bedroom and lastly, the balcony of the house. Low budget? Hardly. But, very chic and tight. The opposite of the previous movie - vast in its outdoor experience.

Artemisia - Taiwanese

I was about to write my notes on this movie and found an excellent writeup.

This movie made me laugh, and also gave me enough to contemplate. What would you do if your kids challenge you on a daily basis? What would I do, if ever? But to freak out, is not an option, I suppose. Or is it?

Okuribito (Departures) - Japanese

This is a story about untabooing any taboo you might ever think of. Really. Talk about jobs that you wouldnt do. What classic extremes life has to offer! From a cellist with big dreams to a funeral undertaker. However random your job maybe, if you give it all your heart and soul, there is guaranteed transcending quality about your life - such is the story, so vividly knit. If this movie doesnt move you, ... Surreal. Elegantly told and every character in the movie has a purpose and all of the actors play a wonderful, real, and compact role. This movie is all that "Sunshine cleaning" ought to have been. And sunshine cleaning was not so bad :)