Top Foreign & Indie Picks
Aug 15, 2010Everlasting Moments. 2 discs. color. 131 min. In Swedish w/English subtitles. Criterion Collection, dist. by Image Entertainment. 2008. DVD ISBN 978-1-60465-284-0; Blu-ray ISBN 978-1-60465-303-8. $39.95.
Abused by her loutish if occasionally charming husband, a spirited Swedish housewife (Maria Heiskanen, in an exquisite performance) perseveres in the face of disapproval and self-doubt to pursue her clear-eyed talent at amateur photography. Director Jan Troell marvelously captures the look and feel of Sweden in the early 1900s with an unforced naturalism that invigorates his based-on-a-true-story drama about finding a measure of saving grace under trying circumstances. Bracing and poignant, this ought to transport viewers. Watch the TRAILER.
Lost Keaton: Sixteen Comedy Shorts 1934–37. 2 discs. b/w. 306+ min. Kino Intl. DVD UPC 7-38329-06802-8. $34.95.
Steamboat Bill, Jr. 2 discs. b/w. 70+ min. Kino Intl. 1928. DVD UPC 7-38329-06942-1. $29.95; Blu-ray UPC 7-38329-06952-0. $34.95.
Made after Buster Keaton's silent heyday, the two-reelers in Lost still offer ample proof of his knack for physical comedy. Steamboat finds the Great Stone Face close to the top of his game, following the zenith of The General (LJ 12/09). The tale of an old ferryboat pushed aside by a newer one presages Keaton's career as a silent filmmaker in the emerging era of talkies. The scene in which he escapes unscathed after a house collapses around him is classic. Kino's welcome dual releases should float many a Keaton fan's boat. Watch the TRAILERS: Lost Keaton; Steamboat Bill, Jr.
Mary and Max. color. 92+ min. IFC Films, dist. by MPI Home Video. 2009. DVD ISBN 978-0-7886-1301-2. $24.98; Blu-ray $29.98.
Lonely, beady-eyed, eight-year-old Melbourne resident Mary Daisy Dinkle randomly selects forlorn, obese, 44-year-old New Yorker Max Horowitz to be her pen pal. In an unlikely friendship that lasts 20 years, they share their thoughts on often absurdly funny topics ranging from the commonplace to the cosmic. Filmmaker Adam Elliot (whose delightful Oscar-winning short film, Harvie Krumpet, is included here) works in the charming claymation style of the "Wallace and Gromit" series but with an edge. For the adventurous. Watch the TRAILER.
Night Train to Munich. b/w. 90+ min. Criterion Collection, dist. by Image Entertainment. 1940. DVD ISBN 978-1-60465-285-7. $29.95.
A feisty young woman (Margaret Lockwood) and her scientist father (James Harcourt), under arrest for his value to the Third Reich, are the objects of a rescue staged by a dapper British secret agent (Rex Harrison) impersonating a Nazi officer in Carol Reed's wryly amusing spy thriller. While not quite in a league with the director's best work (The Third Man, The Fallen Idol), this Train takes a few intriguing turns en route to a suspenseful finale atop cable cars traversing a mountainous chasm. For fans of oldies but goodies. Watch the TRAILER.
Owl and the Sparrow. color. 98 min. In Vietnamese w/English subtitles. Image Entertainment. 2007. UPC 0-14381-64632-0. $27.98. Rated: PG.
An orphaned ten-year-old girl working at her mean uncle's bamboo factory leaves her Vietnamese village for Saigon and survives by selling flowers on the street. Befriended by a shy zookeeper whose girlfriend dumped him and a lovely flight attendant engaged in a meaningless affair with a married pilot, the winsome urchin plays matchmaker to great effect. Writer-director Stephane Gauger tells an unabashedly sentimental story of hope triumphing over loneliness in a broadly appealing film even for the subtitle challenged. Watch the TRAILER.
