The 60th annual Chicago International Film Festival is now underway, with screenings, special events, tributes, and other festivities happening all over the city until Closing Night on October 27th.
Here are five more exclusive reviews of CIFF movies; these films will be commercially released in the coming weeks and available for streaming.
1) GRAND TOUR
The very talented Portuguese auteur Miguel Gomes has made another strikingly original film that is as lyrical as it is confounding.
On the surface, the film takes place during the First World War and tells the story of a British civil servant named Edward, who is running away from his fiance by traveling through Bangkok, Saigon, Manila, and Osaka.
His fiance, Molly, pursues him and, during her travels, meets several interesting characters while coming to terms with her selfish husband-to-be.
Gomes, however, does not tell this story in any traditional form. He jumps between the black-and-white, period-designed fictional story and random modern-day documentary footage of the locations explored throughout.
The unusual stylistic choices continue, with all the characters speaking Portuguese regardless of ethnicity. Arbitrary color sequences consist of real-world puppet shows, Ferris wheels, and voiceovers that switch between actors who never stop telling the story of Molly and Edward even when they are not on screen.
Is it a mess? Yeah. Is it confusing? Sure, sometimes. But, once you get into the rhythm of Gomes' audacious methods, it works beautifully.
The film is split into two halves; the first half is told from Edward's point of view, and the second half is told from Molly's. I enjoyed the much more experimental first half over the more standard last half when it almost (almost) becomes conventional.
It's a weird, vivid, and wildly original tour through Asia that left me with a big smile on my face despite the flaws and challenges. - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
"Grand Tour" opens in December.
2) FLOW
One of the most profoundly beautiful and thoroughly moving film experiences of 2024, this gorgeous animated film from Latvian writer/director Gints Zilbalodis left me in a puddle of my own tears and with a feeling of complete and utter satisfaction.
Cat is a solitary animal, but as its home is devastated by a great flood, he finds refuge on a boat that is eventually populated by a capybara, a lemur, a bird, and a dog. These species must work together to survive and find dry land on Earth's now fully aquatic planet.
It's a simple story ripe with political allegory and humanist metaphors that are neither heavy-handed nor corny. The message of the film is to celebrate our differences and embrace unity.
The story is told without a single word of dialogue through an incredible series of breathtaking sequences that alternate between sublimely sweet, moving, and incredibly funny.
It's also one of the year's most suspenseful and exciting films, highlighted by some of the most intricately designed action/adventure scenes you will see this year.
While watching the sensations erupt across the screen is often a blast, the film is always intelligent and amazingly emotional. There are scenes that moved me so deeply that I had to catch my breath several times.
The animation is staggering, the characters are detailed and brought to life with great depth. In fact, all of the technical aspects of the film are flawless. This truly is as good as animated movies get, and it's one of the best films of the year. - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
"Flow" opens in theaters on November 22nd.
This heartfelt and stately Arabic-language drama from Tunisia is the feature film debut of Oscar-nominated director Meryam Joobeur.
While it has a deeply emotional core and some strong technical elements, the film is very problematic and filled with the kinds of rookie mistakes a first-time feature director sometimes makes.
Briefly, the story takes place on a farm in northern Tunisia as the parents await the return of their sons from fighting ISIS in Syria. When one damaged son returns, accompanied by a mysterious new wife (who is also pregnant), complications ensue.
Joobeur gets some strong performances from her talented cast, and she stages a few powerful scenes, especially in the final act, but they never really come together.
Ultimately, the director overplays her hand with endless blasting close-ups, needless focus tricks, and lots of intense staring meant to convey importance.
The politics are a bit confused, and the message is simplistic. While it looks beautiful and is presented in class, the film is a struggle to get through. - ⭐️⭐️
"Who Do I Belong To?" opens in January of 2025.
4) HARVEST
Based on Jim Crace's historical novel about a farming community undone by politics, male domination, and new-found capitalism, this latest film from Greek director Athina Rachel Tsangari is her first in English.
The time period and location are not specified. It could be the 17th or early 18th century, and considering the accents of many of the main characters, it might be in Scotland. It's definitely before the Industrial Revolution.
It's very muddy, dark, and detailed, with damp, ugly visuals, and the cast is all suitably filthy and unkempt. So, the atmosphere is terrific, but the story is choppy, convoluted, and often dull. The message is hammered home without subtlety, and the politics are obvious and often simplistic.
Despite the sumptuous visuals and a few good performances by the always-interesting Caleb Landry Jones, Harry Melling, and the exquisite Rosy McEwen, this is a pretty heavy slog. I couldn't wait for it to end, which seemed to take forever.
It holds some interest for the technical aspects and a few startling sequences, but overall, this is a misfire. Not terrible, but definitely not good. - ⭐️⭐️
No release date has been set for "Harvest."
5) A REAL PAIN
Starring, written, and directed by Jesse Eisenberg, this exceptional comedy/drama about mismatched cousins (Eisenberg and a stellar Kieran Culkin) who reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother is one of the best and biggest surprises of the year.
It is at once a lovely, respectful, and beautifully shot tour around Poland that will entice anyone with a pulse to plan a trip there very soon. It is also a funny, poignant portrait of people with damaged pasts trying to overcome difficulties and live happy lives.
It is a work of uncommon compassion that director Eisenberg has filled with pain, honesty, raw emotion, and huge, huge laughs. His sharp script and outstanding direction of the actors add to the genuinely effective drama and uncomfortable humor to create an exceptional movie.
This is Eisenberg's second film as a director, and it is a giant step up from his underwhelming previous film, "When You Finish Saving the World. " It is an announcement of a real humanist writer/director in the vein of James L. Brooks or Cameron Crowe. In other words, he's got the goods.
Eisenberg, who is also terrific in the film, has gathered together some very fine actors to play the guide and members of the tour that the cousins are participating in. Will Sharpe (so good in "White Lotus") is fabulous as the harried tour guide; Daniel Oreskes & Liza Sadovy are excellent as the married couple just looking to have a good time; Kurt Egyiawan as a recent Jewish convert who has lived through some atrocities is outstanding; and it is absolutely spectacular to Jennifer Grey back on the big screen with a nice juicy role as a recent divorcee.
But this movie belongs to Kieran Culkin, who gives one of the best performances of the year as the charming, funny, vulgar, outspoken cousin with a truly tragic backstory. Culkin finds such a nimble balance between the anxious comedy and the meditative drama that it is a wonder to behold and a joy to witness. He pulls you in emotionally and sells every single moment with exceptional poise and straightforwardness, which is uncommon in films like this.
Listen, he's gonna win an Oscar for this movie, and he deserves it, and "A Real Pain" is one of the year's best movies. - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
"A Real Pain" opens in theaters on November 15th.
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