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Sundance
2001: Day 2
By Paul Fischer in Park City, Utah
Special to iofilm
20/01/2001
Another day at Park City. Another day of highs and lows. At
least, the films are good.
At a
cinema near you
Waiting 40
minutes for the local bus in below freezing conditions isn't the
smartest thing a guy can do, but that's how it is here at Sundance
if you want to make those 8.30am screenings. At least the first
film of the day was worth the effort: Bill Eagles' Beautiful
Creatures is a slick, funny and deadly thriller in the best
British tradition. The
always diverse Rachel Weisz heads a stellar cast of generally
unsavoury characters, in a fun and unpredictable ride, directed
with consistent gusto. Beautiful Creatures has just opened in
the UK (read
The Wolf's review) so you wont have to suffer for your film-watching
like me!
Bedroom
drama
From slick
escapism to stark realism and one of the most profoundly moving
films thus far, In
the Bedroom, a truly astonishing debut from writer/director
Todd Field.
A middle class
New England family is suddenly rocked with a tragedy (which can't
be revealed here) and how that family deals with such events forms
the basis for this subtle, very human and truly remarkable film.
This is an
assured and very intricate piece, one that creeps over the audience
slowly but methodically. Sissy Spacek and Britain's Tom Wilkinson,
who play the husband and wife, give the most flawless and emotionally
subtle performances of the year. Rather than shake an audience
with cliché, Field's work is about the nature of human interaction
and family, confronted with the realisation of death and grief.
It's a spellbinding and haunting work that deserves a broad release.
Face
time with Sissy
So it was
with pleasure that I rushed off to talk to five-time Oscar nominee
Spacek, one of the most gracious human beings this journalist
has ever met, and one who seemed surprised that her interviewer
had actually seen her film. "I think you're the first person who'd
seen it. It was a special film for me," the wonderful actress
remarked. Perhaps a 6th Oscar nomination is on the cards with
this film?
Not all actors
are as gracious as Ms Spacek of course. There
is the British actress whose personal publicist declared her interview
schedule too long, because his client wanted to ski and have fun.
Promoting one's film was clearly a no-no. Another day, another
cancellation.
Big
Brother style comedy
Finally, a
fitting film to end Day 3 is Series 7, a clever and audacious
satire on reality TV. As director Daniel Minahan's comic gem opens,
we see Dawn (a masterful performance by Brooke Smith), seven months
pregnant and already declared "America's longest-reigning contender,"
enter a liquor store and shoot a guy in the back. As
he lies dying, she empties her gun into him. Music plays over
slick computer graphics and the voiceover says: "Five lives stand
between her and freedom."
But don't
worry: it's just a game.
So Minahan's
brilliant parody of reality-based TV shows gets under way.
The rules
of the show are simple: five contenders are randomly selected,
given loaded guns, and wired for television broadcast. The last
one alive wins. Sound familiar? With the current obsession with
reality TV, Series 7 is nothing if not timely. Shot
prior to Survivor craze (contestants were marrooned on a desert
island), this a fast, furious, funny and inventive satire on the
medium and America's fascination with violence. Tautly directed,
crisply shot and edited, it will be irresistable to anyone who
has found themself glued to this new television fad.
And now goodnight
from another day of variety here at Sundance.
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