The Aspect Ratio


	Chicago International Film Festival by Anna Pulley Irina Palm (Sam Garbarski 2007) It's your typical story: a sick child in need of expensive medical treatment. His parents can't afford it so grandma earns the money by jacking off men through a hole in the wall of a sex club. Heartwarming, yes? Marianne Faithfull plays Maggie, the grandma with "the best right arm in all of London" who would do anything to help her grandson get better. After being denied a loan from the bank and suffering ageist slander at the hands of an employment center, Maggie stumbles upon the creatively titled "Sexy World" night club, where a sign says "hostesses" are needed. Inside the club, she meets Miki (Miki Manojlovic) the sallow, slightly incredulous club owner who sees her potential and offers her a job as a professional masturbator. Desperate and flustered, Maggie accepts, thus starting her illustrious career as Irina Palm aka the Wanking Widow. Shot in muted, washed-out tones, the film's bleak tone is immediately discernible and there are many many scenes of Maggie walking places slowly while the same four notes are played on guitar over and over again. The running time of 103 minutes would have been drastically reduced without her aimless slow walking, but aside from that, Faithfull's performance is both humbling and hilarious. Her transformation from middle aged frump to confident pleasure goddess is uplifting, and Faithfull is quite good at making things as tentative and awkward as possible. Despite the film's mildly outlandish approach to a conventional story, there are many laugh-out-loud moments that make it seem less repetitive and contrived. Like the apathetic hand job lesson administered by fellow sex worker Louisa (Dorka Gryllus) who rolls her eyes as grunts and "oh gods" are heard from the other side of the wall. Also quite endearing are terms like "penis elbow" which is a sprain Maggie accrues due to all her fervent wanking. And the use of Santa hats - worn by everyone from strippers to bank tellers - are evidence of the low-key humor that peppers Maggie's predicaments. For all the obvious sex-related themes, Irina Palm manages to avoid seeming vulgar or porny, unlike the sex tape Grandpa always shows us at Christmas time. Irina is much more subdued than other films of its ilk, like The Full Monty but tugs at the heartstrings just the same. There's even an unlikely romance and the mending of a hostile in-law relationship, if the masturbation doesn't lift your spirits enough. I guess you could say Irina Palm wanked its way into my heart. But in order to stay there, it definitely needs a better sound track. The Walker (Paul Schrader USA) Woody Harrelson has certainly come along way since his days as bumbling bar-goer on Cheers. In Paul Schrader’s latest drama, Harrelson plays Carter Page III, a pristine-seeming Southern socialite known for his charming affectations and witty banter. Carter spends his time escorting the wives on Capitol Hill, playing canasta with the likes of Kristin Scott Thomas, Lauren Bacall and Lily Tomlin. Until he becomes implicated in a murder, that is. Carter is a black sheep with wealthy Southern roots and the film can’t go twenty minutes without someone reminding him of his father’s prominence and respectability. Whereas Carter the III is a tool for rich Senators’ wives, his father helped to indict Nixon! And his grandfather had ties to slavery, but that’s beside the point. Harrelson plays the self-loathing homo with startling resolve. Femmey but not flaming, refined but not snobbish, Harrelson even manages to make his lisp seem like a charming accoutrement in a world where “appearances are everything.” Carter finds out just how true this is when his fellow lady dignitary’s lover is found murdered. He calls the police to report the murder, protecting Lynn (Thomas) from both the affair and that whole pesky being indicted for homicide bit. Carter, however, doesn’t get off so easy. As the plot dwindled on and conspiracies came to light (kind of), I found my attention wavering more towards how dapper Carter’s suits were than to figuring out what was going on. Lengthy political dramas as a whole are somewhat trying in our day of Pfizer-sponsored syndromes and attention-deficit disorders but The Walker’s plot seemed especially meandering and uninspired. The highlights really lean toward Carter’s interactions with his icily aloof companions who of course betray him in the most politely hostile ways possible. Stellar performances by Tomlin and Bacall, who are both Stepford Wives and Femme Fatales wrapped in beige pantsuits and sparkling conversational menace. Also involved in the story is Carter’s lover (Moritz Bleibtreu), a struggling photographer and amateur sleuth who wants Carter to use his influence to help him get a gallery show. They spend their nights in a seedy gay bar called the 18th Amendment (which I had to look up in Wikipedia (the Constitution is just so dry these days!) and refers to the amendment that banned alcohol. Funny yes? See what good learnin’ can do?). Despite the lover’s devotion, Carter can’t seem to bridge his own homophobia and commit to him. It’s hardly “American Way,” as one fat, balding bureaucrat tells him. Indeed, Carter does seem to get along better with his bitchy compatriots than he does with his lover, but who can blame him? (Note to Lauren Bacall - there’s a mah jjong board in my house with your name all over it!) A telling scene of the hypocrisy that eddies around the Capitol is when Carter begins his elaborate undressing ritual, with the coup de gras being the removal of his head of blonde locks. With the wig gone, Carter becomes a vulnerable, small man swathed in plush luxuriance that amounts to nothing in the end. As Bacall puts it, “Let me give you a piece of Washington wisdom. Don’t stand between a friend and a firing squad.” One Hundred Nails (Centochiodi, Dir. Ermanno Olmi, Italy) The synopsis of One Hundred Nails was a lot more exciting than the film itself - how can one not be intrigued by a Christ figure who drives a Ferrari and has a way with the ladies? Sadly, Olmi's highly anticipated follow up to his last film Singing Behind Screens (2003) does everything but hit the nail on the head. The film opens with a melodramatic flourish as the caretaker of a university discovers one hundred religious texts nailed to the floor, and not just any nails you might find at the Crafty Beaver, but the kind you'd kill zombies with. Oh or crucify someone. The audience is kept in some suspense over who would execute such a heinous crime, but then ten seconds later we know it's the professor. Surprise! The Philosophy of Religion prof nee Son of God (Raz Degan) is shown on the last day of class trying to mollify the combined three brain cells of his disinterested students, save for one beautifully haunting "Oriental" girl (Amina Syed) who's obviously Indian and whom approaches the professor after class. They talk about God for a while, then they make out. I can't say that I blame her really. Raz Degan can mount my sermon anytime, regardless of the philosophical drivel that comes out of his pretty mouth. But I'm getting ahead of myself...... (read more)	Reeling Film Fest 2007 AFI 07: Margot at the Wedding AFI 07: Flight of the Red Balloon AFI 07: Secret Sunshine CIFF 2007: One Hundred Nails CIFF 2007: I Served the King of England CIFF 2007: You, The Living CIFF 2007: The Walker CIFF 2007: Irina Palm CIFF 2007: Before the Devil Knows You're Dead Noir City: Part II Noir City: Part I AFI Fest: Curse of the Golden Flower AFI Fest: Days of Glory AFI Fest: Pan's Labyrinth -Ari AFI Fest: Pan's Labyrinth -Lons AFI Fest: The Lives of Others AFI Fest: Time AFI Fest: Inland Empire AFI Fest: The Secret Life of Happy People AFI Fest: The Road AFI Fest: The Art of Crying AFI Fest: Memories of Tomorrow AFI Fest: Volver Reeling: Loving Annabelle Reeling: Filthy Gorgeous, Boy I Am Reeling: Puccini for Beginners, Red Doors Reeling: FtF: Female to Femme Chicago International: Paprika Chicago International: Madeinusa Chicago International: The Fountain Chicago International: Nina's Heavenly Delights Chicago International: Shortbus Chicago International: Syndromes and a Century Chicago International: The Yacoubian Building, The Zero Years Chicago International: Future Filmmakers Chicago International: A Soap, Love Sick Chicago International: Short Films Fantasia Festival: A Bittersweet Life Fantasia Festival: The Woods Fantasia Festival: Funky Forest, Azumi II, The Art of Fighting, My Scary Girl Fantasia Festival: All Out Nine, Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai Fantasia Festival: Train Man Fantasia: The Wild Blue Yonder