SFFILM

SFIFF: LEAF BLOWER

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LEAF BLOWER. Photo courtesy of the San Francisco Film Society.
LEAF BLOWER. Photo courtesy of the San Francisco Film Society.

Leaf Blower is an amiable Mexican slice-of-life comedy.  Three young guys are drifting rudderless though their adolescences, doing what teenage males do – wasting time, busting each others balls and achieving new heights of social awkwardness and sexual frustration.  Its first screening at the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF) is on April 24, and director Alejandro Iglesias Mendizábal is expected to attend.

In his promising first feature, director and co-writer Iglesias Mendizábal has created an entirely character-driven portrait of male teen friendship and restlessness.  After all, the only real plot is whether they will find the keys that one of them dropped into a pile of leaves.   But we want to keep watching these guys to see what happens to them, and it’s all pretty funny.

  • Ruben (Alejandro Guerrero) is too cool for school.  He’s sure that he’s the only one in charge of his life – he just doesn’t know where he wants to go.  So he masks his indecision and avoidance by brooding.
  • Lucas (Fabrizio Santini) is nervous and a little hyper, but his bossy girlfriend totally paralyzes him with dread.  He’s always a day late and a peso short, the kind of guy who is stuck wearing his dirty soccer uniform to a funeral.
  • Emilio (Francisco Rueda) is constrained by his status as the fat kid (and I was a fat kid, so I relate).  Self-isolated, he yearns to be more social, but then counterproductively comforts himself with more and more calories.

All three are sexually awakened but inept.   Only Lucas has a girlfriend, and she causes him to sigh painfully every time his cellphone rings.  Ruben and Emilio are so intimidated by females that they’re too scared to even borrow a rake from one.

Come to think about it, Leaf Blower is not a pure coming of age movie because its characters don’t seem to grow or change as a result of their experiences.  It’s more of a “being-of-age” movie because they just are who they are.  Perceptive and observational, Leaf Blower is pretty far away from the American Pie kind of teen comedy.

The 59th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF) runs through May 5. Throughout the fest, I’ll be linking more festival coverage to my SFFIF 2016 page, including both features and movie recommendations. Follow me on Twitter for the very latest coverage.

SFIFF: DEAD SLOW AHEAD

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A scene from Mauro Herce's DEAD SLOW AHEAD, playing at the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival, April 21 – May 5 2016.
A scene from Mauro Herce’s DEAD SLOW AHEAD, playing at the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival, April 21 – May 5 2016.

Dead Slow Ahead is a visually stunning and an often hypnotic film, shot on the massive freighter Fair Lady on its voyage across vast ocean expanses with its all-Filipino crew. Its first screening at the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF) is on April 23.

Are we in for a sea adventure?  Not exactly.  Our guide is first-time Director Mauro Herce.  His camera observes and so do we.  He doesn’t explain what we are seeing – we have to connect the dots.  We see the darkened bridge, the cavernous hold and unfamiliar ship machinery.  The film opens with the beeps and tones of controls on the bridge; then we mostly hear the rhythmic lapping of the waves and the random groans of the ship.  The effect is mesmerizing.

There are dramatic seascapes and some seriously impressive cloud weather.  The few mariners handle the machinery and attend the bulk cargo.  Given the expanse of open ocean and the vastness of the huge ship, everyday tasks seem heroic.

Where does the Fair Lady go?  There are some coastlines, but usually we’re beyond the sight of land.  The end credits thank workers in a series of Mediterranean ports plus Odessa, Port Said, Aqaba and New Orleans.  But the where is not the point of Dead Slow Ahead.

Dead Slow Ahead won a special jury prize at the Locarno International Film Festival.  It’s an impressive debut for Herce – one of those films that gradually envelopes the viewer.

The 59th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF) runs through May 5. Throughout the fest, I’ll be linking more festival coverage to my SFFIF 2016 page, including both features and movie recommendations. Follow me on Twitter for the very latest coverage.

San Francisco International Film Festival: fest preview

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SFIFF59-LOCKUP_NARROW_URL_BlkThis year’s San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF) – the 59th edition – opens on April 21 and runs through May 5.  As always, it’s a Can’t Miss for Bay Area movie fans.

The fest opens with Love & Friendship – director Whit Stillman leaves his preppy comfort zone for the 1790s with a period comedy starring Kate Beckinsale.  The Closing Night film is The Bandit, documenting the real life bromance between Burt Reynolds and iconic stuntman Hal Needham that led to Needham’s Smokey and the Bandit movies (a cinematic subgenre unto itself). The Coen Brothers will appear at a screening of their debut Blood Simple.  Mira Nair will receive an award at the screening of her Monsoon Wedding.

In the See It Here First category, SFFIF presents a number of high-profile movies that are likely to be in theaters later this year:

  • Five Nights in Maine – a character-driven drama showcasing  David Oyewolo, Dianne Wiest and Rosie Perez;
  • Frank & Lola – a dark exploration of jealousy with Michael Shannon and Imogen Poots (and Emmanuelle Devos!);
  • The Family Fang – Jason Bateman’s family dramedy starring Bateman, Nicole Kidman and Christopher Walken;
  • High-Rise – a thriller with Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller and Elisabeth Moss;
  • Our Kind of Traitor – a John le Carré adaptation with Ewan McGregor and Stellan Skarsgård;
  • Southside with You – the re-imagination of Barack and Michelle Obama’s first date; and
  • Miss Sharon Jones! – sure to be a festival crowd-pleaser, this doc from Academy Award-winning director Barbara Kopple (Harlan County U.S.A.) chronicles the salty Dap Kings frontwoman and her fight against cancer.

The calendar of this year’s festival includes a rich program of indies, documentaries and foreign films.  Among the foreign choices, the Must See is the Greek comedy Chevalier from director Athina Rachel Tsangari.  (In 2011, Tsangari brought her hilariously offbeat Attenberg to SFIFF.)  Obviously a keen observer of male behavior, Tsangari delivers a sly and pointed exploration of male competitiveness, with the moments of drollness and absurdity that we expect in the best of contemporary Greek cinema.

I’ll be previewing SFIFF’s slate of docs on Wednesday.

The 59th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF) opens on April 21 and runs through May 5. Here’s SFFIF’s information on the program, the calendar and tickets and passes.

Throughout San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF), I’ll be linking more festival coverage to my SFFIF 2016 page, including both features and movie recommendations. Follow me on Twitter for the very latest coverage.

CHEVALIER. Photo courtesy of Strand Releasing and San Francisco Film Society.
CHEVALIER. Photo courtesy of Strand Releasing and San Francisco Film Society.