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FILM SELECTION – Films for July 18, 2015 Meeting
Stations of the Cross
Infinitely Polar Bear
Charlie’s Country
Tangerine
Cartel Land (documentary)
The Wolfpack (documentary)
Amy (documentary)
3 ½ Minutes, 10 Bullets (documentary)
Testament of Youth
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
Tu Dors Nicole
Gueros
The Farewell Party
1001 Grams
About Elly
Clouds of Sils Maria
Tuesday, July 21 – The Wrecking Crew
Sunday, August 9 – I’ll See You in My Dreams
Sunday, September 13 – The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and
Disappeared
Sunday, October 11 – TBD today
Tuesday, October 20 (documentary) – TBD today
Stations of the Cross (Germany, released 7-10-15 by Film Movement, drama, 110 minutes,
unrated) dir. Dietrich Bruggemann; IMDb – 7.6 (1,658); RT – 91% (20/22) Top Critics – 83%
(5/6); MC – 69. Awards – Berlin Int’l Film Festival – Silver Bear for Best Script. Also won a
variety of awards, incl. Best Film, in some smaller festivals.
Synopsis - Told in fourteen fixed-angle, single shot, individual tableaus that parallel Christ's
journey to his own crucifixion, STATIONS OF THE CROSS is both an indictment of
fundamentalist faith and the articulation of an impressionable teen's struggle to find her own path
in life. Though from the outside Maria lives in the modern world, her family and her heart are
faithful to a Catholic radicalism that requires sacrifice and devotion at every turn. As she
struggles to balance her own desires with the dictates of her family's faith, she makes ever more
perilous sacrifices, attempting to please a God she worships unquestioningly in the pious hopes
of curing the autistic younger brother she adores.
Review Excerpt – The Hollywood Reporter – Boyd van Hoelj “A German teenage girl struggles
with questions of life, death and faith in Stations of the Cross (Kreuzweg), director
Dietrich Brueggemann’s remarkable and formally rigorous arthouse item that’s closely
modeled on the Via Crucis . . . Though leavened with occasional moments of acerbic humor, this
Berlinale competition title is an impressive but also rather grim cinematic experience that will
please arthouse purists and festival junkies but has a snowball’s chance in hell of a wider
commercial breakout . . . Brueggemann, who wrote the screenplay with his sister, Anna,
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beautifully suggests how religion can offer a crutch or comfort in hard times but at the same time
can be suffocating any kind of personal growth, which is especially problematic for a teenager.
The siblings’ own religious upbringing no-doubt influenced the careful and very realistic way in
which the material is treated, with the film never outright condemning religion but instead coolly
observing the devastating results of simply following the rules imposed by religion to the letter.
This detached quality is further reinforced by filming each chapter in a single take, something
Brueggemann already experimented with in his debut film, Neun Szenen, and by not moving the
camera except at just a handful of key moments . . . Newcomer Van Acken [the lead role – RF]
is a phenomenal find and she’s never less than believably torn between doing the right thing and
being her own person, an impossible fusion that leads her directly down the wrong path toward
the last station, "Jesus Is Laid In the Tomb."
Infinitely Polar Bear – (USA, released 6-19-15 by Sony Classics, Drama/Comedy, 90 min.,
rated R for language) dir. Maya Forbes, starring Mark Ruffalo and Zoe Saldana. IMDb – 7.2
(702); RT – 81% (64/79) Top – 80% (24/30); MC – 63; Awards – Nominated for Grand Jury
Prize – Dramatic at Sundance; Won “Directors to Watch” at Palm Springs Int’l Film Festival.
Synopsis - Maya Forbes autobiographically inflected Infinitely Polar Bear stars Mark Ruffalo as
Cameron, a man who suffers from bipolar disorder. After a breakdown forces him to leave his
family and move into a halfway house, he attempts to rebuild a relationship with his two
daughters, and win back the trust of his wife Maggie (Zoe Saldana). When Maggie decides to go
to business school in New York, they decide that he will move back in and take care of the dayto-day care for the kids. Due to his mercurial nature, this leads to a series of quirky, funny, and
sometimes frightening episodes. Infinitely Polar Bear screened at the 2014 Toronto International
Film Festival.
Review Excerpt – Wall St. Journal, Joe Morgenstern – “Mark Ruffalo is yet again a revelation
in “Infinitely Polar Bear,” and he’s not the only one. This is a first feature by Maya Forbes, yet
many of its accomplishments put far more experienced filmmakers in the shade. Ms. Forbes’s
film is extensively autobiographical. That doesn’t account for her skill as a writer-director, but it
explains her zest for the subject matter and, perhaps, her generous perspective that others will see
as seriously skewed . . . In one sense the movie has us exactly where it wants us, rapt with
attention and riveted by the question of whether Cam will do something awful to his kids. On
that score I’ll say only that the father-daughter relationship is loving, affecting and sometimes
hilarious. Those may well have been the primary colors of the filmmaker’s relationship with her
father; each instance of mental illness follows its own rules. All the same, an alternative
perspective on the story—as a work of fiction—is that it softens the jagged edges of manic
depression and depicts a case of potential child endangerment, with Maggie’s trust in Cam’s
basic stability as another form of delusional thinking. The movie’s title derives from a child’s
charming way of saying “bipolar,” but bipolar bears can also bite.
Charlie’s Country – (Australia, released 6-5-15 by Monument Releasing, drama, 108 minutes,
unrated) dir. Rolf de Heer, starring David Gulpilil (Walkabout, The Last Wave, Crocodile
Dundee) IMDb – 7.3 (673); RT – 93% (27/29) Top – 100% (6/6); MC – 75 Awards – Best
Actor, Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard, also Best Actor at Australian Film Institute
Awards and Asia Pacific Screen Awards.
Synopsis - Living in a remote Aboriginal community in the northern part of Australia, Charlie
(David Gulpilil) is a warrior past his prime. As the government increases its stranglehold over
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the community's traditional way of life, Charlie becomes lost between two cultures. His new
modern life offers him a way to survive but, ultimately, it is one he has no power over. Finally
fed up when his gun, his newly crafted spear, and his best friend's jeep are confiscated, Charlie
heads into the wild on his own, to live the old way. However Charlie hasn't reckoned on where
he might end.
Review Excerpt – New York Times, Nicolas Rapold – “In Australian cinema, the wilderness has
long served as a rebuke to the primacy of Western civilization. With “Twelve Canoes“ and now
“Charlie’s Country,” the Dutch-Australian director Rolf de Heer has portrayed the lived
experience of Aboriginals that are often treated as part of an exotic landscape. Using a
combination of bleak realism, fatalistic humor and a healthy dose of sentimentality, Mr. de Heer
traces the downward spiral of a man who has become a refugee in his own homeland.
The star David Gulpilil, an Aborigine, plays Charlie, who lives in a shack provided by the
government and fitfully feels the pangs of injustice. He leads an easy-come-easy-go existence
that results partly from temperament and partly from destitution; the plot lurches along according
to his clashes with the police.
Unlike those in many art-house releases, this wilderness is not an abstract arena for playing out
alienation but a living, breathing land with deep, abiding significance for Charlie and his fellow
Aborigines cast adrift. Mr. de Heer resists the impulse to give the character an unrealistic ability
to rebel without consequences, and instead features the attrition of alcoholism and malnutrition.”
Tangerine (USA, released 7-10-15 by Magnolia Pictures, comedy/drama, 88 min., rated R or
strong and disturbing sexual content, graphic nudity, language throughout, and drug use) dir.
Sean Baker; IMDb – 6.5 (297); RT – 92% (36/39) Top – 100% (19/19); MC – 84; Awards –
“Director to Watch” at the Palm Springs Int’l Film Festival
Synopsis - It's Christmas Eve in Tinseltown and Sin-Dee (newcomer Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) is
back on the block. Upon hearing that her pimp boyfriend (James Ransone, STARLET,
"Generation Kill") hasn't been faithful during the 28 days she was locked up, the working girl
and her best friend, Alexandra (newcomer Mya Taylor), embark on a mission to get to the
bottom of the scandalous rumor. Their rip-roaring odyssey leads them through various
subcultures of Los Angeles, including an Armenian family dealing with their own repercussions
of infidelity.
Review Excerpt – New York Magazine – David Edelstein – “Sean Baker’s Sundance crowdpleaser Tangerine is a boisterous three-pronged farce that follows two transgender hookers and
an Armenian male cabdriver through the seedier sections of Hollywood on Christmas Eve. Much
of the attention for the movie has centered on its preposterously low shooting budget and camera,
an iPhone 5s with a $7.99 high-def app, a Steadicam rig, and the odd anamorphic lens. The focus
on indie ultrapoverty is a bit misleading, though, since the postproduction spit and polish and
slick soundtrack lift Tangerine far out of the shoestring class, and it isn’t adventurous
narratively, either. What’s extraordinary about Tangerine is that it’s everything an entertaining,
old-fashioned, mainstream Hollywood comedy should be but no longer is. That nowadays you
have to get this kind of stuff via Sundance from directors using iPhones is a drag — the wrong
kind . . . The scenario created by Baker and his co-writer, Chris Bergoch, sounds like it’s from
the Pedro Almodóvar playbook, but the style isn’t camp, high or low. This is a post-camp
transgender comedy, both hilarious and heart-attack serious. You might howl as Sin-Dee storms
into a decrepit motel room full of prostitutes and cowering johns and drags Chester’s little
blonde thing, Dina (Mickey O’Hagan), out by her bleached hair — but you also worry she’ll
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draw blood. When people live this close to the edge, in identities they’ve fashioned for
themselves, every moment seems like a fight to exist . . . To one degree or another, these are
characters with stature — it’s their culture that’s stunted. They deserve a place at the table the
way movies like this deserve a place at the multiplex.
Documentaries
Cartel Land (Mexico/USA in English and Spanish, released 7-3-15 by The Orchard,
documentary, 98 min. Rated R for violent disturbing images, language, drug content and brief
sexual material) dir. Matthew Heineman. IMDb – 7.6 (177); RT – 94% (51/54) Top – 95%
(20/21); MC – 77; Awards – Documentary Direction and Documentary Cinematography
Awards at Sundance; Moscow Int’l Film Festival – Best Documentary
Synopsis - With unprecedented access, CARTEL LAND is a riveting, on-the-ground look at the
journeys of two modern-day vigilante groups and their shared enemy - the murderous Mexican
drug cartels. In the Mexican state of Michoacán, Dr. Jose Mireles, a small-town physician known
as "El Doctor," leads the Autodefensas, a citizen uprising against the violent Knights Templar
drug cartel that has wreaked havoc on the region for years. Meanwhile, in Arizona's Altar Valley
- a narrow, 52-mile-long desert corridor known as Cocaine Alley - Tim "Nailer" Foley, an
American veteran, heads a small paramilitary group called Arizona Border Recon, whose goal is
to stop Mexico's drug wars from seeping across our border. Filmmaker Matthew Heineman
embeds himself in the heart of darkness as Nailer, El Doctor, and the cartel each vie to bring
their own brand of justice to a society where institutions have failed. From executive producer
Kathryn Bigelow (THE HURT LOCKER, ZERO DARK THIRTY), CARTEL LAND is a
chilling, visceral meditation on the breakdown of order and the blurry line between good and
evil.
Review Excerpt – San Francisco Chronicle, David Lewis – “The courageous, scary “Cartel
Land” is a jaw-dropping documentary about two vigilante groups, on opposite sides of the U.S.Mexico border, trying to stave off Mexican drug cartels. When the action focuses on the battle
lines in Mexico, the results are nothing short of spectacular.
The movie begins with an arresting scene that features the cartel members themselves. In a
moment reminiscent of “Breaking Bad,” the outlaws, in the dead of the desert night, cook up a
batch of meth for American customers. One of the cartel members admits that what they’re doing
is immoral, but says their desperate poverty leaves them no choice. It’s one of the few times in
the film where anyone clearly sees right from wrong . . . Director Matthew Heineman, who
deserves some kind of medal for bravery, films the gunbattle scenes from a frighteningly close
vantage point. These you-are-there moments represent the documentary form at its best, offering
a testament to how filmmakers risk everything to tell us important stories. And despite all the
very real mayhem, the cinematography is stupendous — equal to the best of action movies (some
of the credit must go to the formidable editing). . . Heineman has made a film not to be missed,
even if his scenes north of the border fence are a weak link in an otherwise outstanding project.”
The Wolfpack – (USA, released 6-12-15 by Magnolia Pictures, documentary, 80 minutes, rated
R for language) dir. Crystal Moselle. IMDb – 7.1 (535); RT – 84% (62/74) Top – 87% (20/23);
MC – 74; Awards – Best Documentary, Grand Jury Prize at Sundance; Best Documentary at
Edinburgh Int’l Film Festival
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Synopsis - Locked away from society in an apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the
Angulo brothers learn about the outside world through the films that they watch. Nicknamed the
Wolfpack, the brothers spend their childhood re-enacting their favorite films using elaborate
homemade props and costumes. With no friends and living on welfare, they feed their curiosity,
creativity, and imagination with film, which allows them to escape from their feelings of
isolation and loneliness. Everything changes when one of the brothers escapes, and the power
dynamics in the house are transformed. The Wolfpack must learn how to integrate into society
without disbanding the brotherhood.
Review Excerpt – Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan – “The Wolfpack" is very much the
documentary of the moment, showered with all kinds of media attention. And no wonder.
Winner of Sundance's Grand Jury Prize, it tells a story irresistible to our age of rampant
voyeurism and reality TV, yet it also has a potent emotional core that cannot be denied. Even in
the context of Tolstoy's famous dictum that every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way, the
story of the Angulo brothers stands out . . . Though it is not immediately clear as "The
Wolfpack" unfolds, filmmaker Moselle had encountered the siblings a little more than a year
after Mukunda, not the oldest brother but clearly the leader, had become the first to go outside
the apartment on his own. The fact that he wore a mask like Michael Myers in "Halloween"
frightened local shopkeepers, police were called and the confinement system began to break
down. . . . "The Wolfpack" by its nature invites conjecture about what it was exactly that saved
these young men. Yes, their love of movies played a major part, but the human factor is also key.
Several of the brothers credit Susanne ("It's because of our mother, she kept our sanity," says
one), and in a sense they saved themselves. The sibling bond on display is remarkable, and it has
served them well.”
Amy (UK, released 7-3-15 by A24 Films, documentary, 90 min., rated R for language and drug
material) dir. Asif Kapadia; IMDb – 7.9 (1,587); RT – 97% (131/135) Top – 100% (35/35);
MC – 85
Synopsis - Amy tells the story of six-time Grammy-winner Amy Winehouse – in her own words.
A once-in-a-generation talent, Amy Winehouse was a musician that captured the world’s
attention. A pure jazz artist in the most authentic sense – she wrote and sung from the heart using
her musical gifts to analyze her own problems. The combination of her raw honesty and supreme
talent resulted in some of the most unique and adored songs of the modern era. Her huge success,
however, resulted in relentless and invasive media attention which coupled with Amy’s troubled
relationships and precarious lifestyle saw her life tragically begin to unravel. Amy Winehouse
died from alcohol poisoning in July 2011 at the age of 27.
Review Excerpt – Washington Post, Ann Hornaday – ““Amy,” Asif Kapadia’s sensitive,
superbly constructed, ultimately shattering documentary about Winehouse’s life and career,
doesn’t traffic in the cliches of demons and trainwrecks. Rather, it interrogates them, allowing
Winehouse to come into her own as a gifted, conflicted, self-destructive but deeply resilient
young woman who died far too soon. . . . Meticulously composed of present-day interviews and
splendidly curated archival footage — Winehouse’s reaction to being compared to Dido in an
early interview is priceless — “Amy” rescues Winehouse’s reputation, restoring her to her
rightful place as a jazz interpreter on par with Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan and Tony
Bennett, whom she idolized. But it transcends the usual rise-and-fall structure of conventional
nonfiction biopics. In Kapadia’s assured and careful hands, the film becomes less a portrait of a
tragic artist, whose downward spiral was exacerbated by opportunistic family members and
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colleagues, than a discomfiting mirror held up to her audience. The most withering passages of
“Amy” portray a paparazzi-dependent press eagerly chronicling the more lurid effects of
Winehouse’s afflictions, while late-night talk show hosts make sport of her eating disorder and
drug problems.
These interludes make for queasy viewing in “Amy.” They also make it less about Winehouse’s
addictions than about the pathological compulsions of a culture that can’t get enough of demons,
trainwrecks and the cruel spectacle of self-immolation. In the immortal words of Bennett, with
whom Winehouse recorded her last song before she died, “Life teaches you how to live it, if you
live long enough.”
3 ½ Minutes, 10 Bullets (USA, released 6-19-15 by Participant Media, documentary, 85 min.,
unrated) dir. Marc Silver; IMDb – 7.2 (32); RT – 100% (18/18) Top – 9/9; MC – 76. Awards –
Won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance for Social Impact; Won Audience Choice Award for Best
Documentary at the RiverRun Int’l Film Festival.
Synopsis - In 3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets, two lives intersected and were forever altered. On
Black Friday 2012, two cars parked next to each other at a Florida gas station. A white middleaged male and a black teenager exchanged angry words over the volume of the music in the
boy's car. A gun entered the exchange, and one of them was left dead. Michael Dunn fired 10
bullets at a car full of unarmed teenagers and then fled. Three of those bullets hit 17-year-old
Jordan Davis, who died at the scene. Arrested the next day, Dunn claimed he shot in selfdefense. Thus began the long journey of unraveling the truth. 3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets follows
that journey, reconstructing the night of the murder and revealing how hidden racial prejudice
can result in tragedy.
Review Excerpt – New York Times, Ben Kenigsberg – ““3 ½ Minutes, Ten Bullets” is the rare
trial documentary in which the testimony from both sides seems to corroborate a basic sequence
of events. No one in the film disputes that Michael Dunn, who is now serving a life sentence
without the possibility of parole, shot and killed Jordan Davis, 17, in a gas station parking lot in
Jacksonville, Fla., in 2012. Everyone seems to agree that Mr. Davis had refused to turn down rap
music that Mr. Dunn had complained was too loud. . . . With impressive courtroom access, the
movie, directed by the British filmmaker Marc Silver (“Who Is Dayani Cristal?”), focuses
mainly on Mr. Dunn’s first trial, which ended in a partial verdict after the jury failed to agree on
a first-degree murder charge. Mr. Silver includes excerpts from the trial questioning on screen.
At times, a verdict seems to hang on a few words. . . . The movie builds considerable suspense
around the testimony of Mr. Dunn’s fiancée at the time, Rhonda Rouer, who is hardly impartial.
“3 ½ Minutes” features remarkable audio of her phone calls with Mr. Dunn. He likens himself to
a rape victim who is blamed for wearing skimpy clothes; at another moment, he places the
responsibility for the incident “100 percent” with Mr. Davis, adding that if he had not shot him,
“maybe he would have killed somebody.”
At the time of a fervent national debate on race and justice, part of what is impressive about “3 ½
Minutes” is the cool temperature at which it is often served. Mr. Silver also employs more
emotional material from outside the courtroom, as Mr. Davis’s parents remember how they
settled on their son’s first name or mention how unlikely it was that he would be killed five
minutes from home.