FIVE FILMS REFLECT THE “OTHER”
THE POSSESSION
Many local readers recall a startling story that ran in the Los Angeles Times on which this movie is loosely based. Sometimes predictable and silly, I liked the way the movie story was told and I appreciated the central theme of an ordinary American family having to confront a terrifying evil. For the audience, this film will jolt if you are a believer in the reality of demonic evil. If not, it may remain in the benign or silly category. The story has Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick as the parents of a daughter who is obsessed with an old wooden box she picked up at a yard sale. When the girl’s behavior becomes inexplicably disturbing, then frightening, the family understands too late the Hebrew warning on the box: it contains a dibbuk — a dislocated spirit that invades and devours its human host. This film may not be in the same league as THE EXORCIST, but it does have one of the best horror posters of recent years.
THE IMPOSTER
When a 13-year-old boy disappears from his San Antonio, Texas home in 1994, it’s as if he’s vanished into thin air. And when he apparently turns up three years later thousands of miles away in Spain with a story of kidnapping and torture, his family is thrilled to have him back. But when glaring discrepancies between the boy they lost and the one that has returned are finally confronted, a whole new set of questions arise and the story takes the strangest turn of all. This engrossing film is another instance of truth being far stranger than any fiction. A big recommend. Now playing at Cinema’s Palm d’Or.
SAMSARA
Back in the day, movies like this were considered head-trips that could be enhanced with herbal additives. But there’s no need for such enhancements to get high from the images — and ideas — embedded in this guided, non-verbal, meditation from the makers of the prize winning, much-admired BARAKA. Mesmerizing, pristine images captured in 70mm and great music reveal the inexorable bonds of humanity and nature. This movie is about the enigmatic rhythms, cycles and human rituals that bind us as one living entity. This extraordinary film clarifies who we are. But the “why” remains ever illusive. Stunning does not begin to describe this transcendent movie experience. For one hundred minutes, set aside your preconceived religious and political beliefs and allow this singular film to wash over your senses. See anew a reality you though you knew. Embrace the mystery. Big recommend. Now playing at Cinema’s Palm d’Or.
UMBERTO D
Vittorio De Sica’s 1952 neorealistic masterpiece is an icon of world cinema and one in the small handful of universally lauded films from critics and audiences across the spectrum and over the decades. The simple, poignant drama is a character study about Umberto, a retired civil servant coping with old age and his small pension. He spends his lonely time in his small apartment with his little dog as his circumstances grow worse when he falls behind in his rent. His increasingly desperate conditions are observed with a cool eye and natural performances. Umberto is played by non-pro Carlo Battisti with great authenticity. Timeless in it’s relevance, this new hi-def digital restoration belongs in the library of every serious film buff. The extras include a fascinating 55-minute documentary on De Sica made for Italian TV in 2001. Highest recommendation. Blu-ray. Criterion.
BIGFOOT
This silly, tongue-in-cheek, B-movie knock-off almost delivers the promise of the terrific box art. Bigfoot is really big in this one, maybe 30 feet tall! And he’s properly pissed-off. Where else can you see Danny Bonaduce, Barry Williams, Sherilyn Fenn, Howard Hessman, Brice Davidson and Alice Cooper – yes, Alice C – in one movie? To say nothing of great-looking Bigfoot. At times, this movie reminded me of an Americanized version of the Norwegian hit THE TROLLHUNTR — but not nearly as good.
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