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To Die (or Not)
I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act.
-- G. K. Chesterton
Wednesday, May 24, 2000
One year ago: Limbo King
Two years ago: Nosferatu
Three years ago: Song of Solomon
I see that last year I was getting out to dance during the film festival. How can I counteract my current lassitude?
My first movie today was scheduled at the Broadway Performance Hall, but the venue was switched today to the Egyptian, which is right across the street. I guess they see how the ticket sales are going, then decide at the last minute. The Egyptian is a much larger theater.
- The Lady of Hamre
(IMDB page for this film) Danish. Bente, the elder of a farmer's daughters, must marry the son of the man her dying fathr owes money to, to save the farm. I liked this a lot! Female lead Bodil Jorgenson plays nobility, strength and caring, but she's not just martyring herself in a soap-opera way. I didn't quite understand what caused the story to work out the way it did -- people changed, but I didn't get their motivations. The weirdness of the other families depicted was surprising. Was it living in the town (as opposed to the "good" rural life) that made them so nasty? This was a Dogme 95 film -- natural light and sound.
- To Die (Or Not)
(IMDB page for this movie) Spanish. A series of vignettes showing various people dying or at the point of death, followed by the same scenarios turning out differently. I was amused by the framing sequence where a screenwriter's wife berates him for writing a depressing film! I found myself annoyed by this movie midstream, but by the end I felt more positive. This might be because I liked some of the actors, and disliked others. My least favorite sequence involved something that always squicks me -- someone begging for his life (and this one went on for five minutes, yikes!). Jon Newman said that this was his first walkout of the festival, but I think it was interesting enough to be worth watching.
I got email from Jack. Because of his gall bladder problems, I get nervous if I don't hear from him daily! I picture him on the floor in pain, or taken to the hospital so fast that he couldn't call me. This isn't likely; he's really maintaining fairly well. Tonight he said that his older daughter, who has been on the run and doing drugs for the last year, was at her mother's place, acting strangely, throwing up, and fighting with her mom's current boyfriend. Yikes!
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