Preview: First Week of 51st Chicago International Film Festival

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CHICAGO – As the 2015 edition of the 51st Chicago International Film Festival kicks into gear, the first week highlights include many award winning and international film offerings. All screenings are taking place at the AMC River North 21, 322 Illinois Street, Chicago, and the festival runs through October 29th.

HollywoodChicago.com contributors Brendan Hodges and Patrick McDonald have been sampling the festival offerings, and provides this preview to cover the first six days of the event. Over 50 countries are represented, and many of the films from the U.S. will be Oscar contenders. Each capsule is designated with BH (Brendan) or PM (Patrick), to indicate the author.

“Dheepan”

’Dheepan,’ Directed by Jacques Audiard
Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival

A startling story of social displacement and the inevitability of violence, Jacques Audiard’s “Dheepan” won the Palme d’Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. “Dheepan” tells a story about a three Sri Lankan refugees trying to make a life for themselves in France. Despite posing as a husband (Dheepan, where the film gets its name), wife, and daughter – the nuclear family – the three refugees only met a day between their journey to seek political asylum. Played beautifully by Antonythasan Jesuthasan, Kalieaswari Srinivasan, and Claudine Vinasithamby, their play-act as a family manifests astutely observed themes about relationships in general, and the question of who truly feels for the other “family” members is an open one. Audiard’s focus on social realism will be appealing for many; most of “Dheepan” follows the monotonous grind of tasks just to make it by, with many scenes of cleaning, mechanical maintenance, and cooking. Sadly its slow, lumbering pace may be too much for some, and by the time “Dheepan” hits the gas pedal, it may be an instance of too little too late. (BH)

Friday, 10/16, 8:30pm
Saturday, 10/24, 5:30pm

“A Very Ordinary Citizen”

’ A Very Ordinary Citizen,’ Directed by Majid Barzengan
Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival

Yet another terrific film from the ongoing Iranian New Wave, Majid Barzengan’s “A Very Ordinary Citizen” hits hard but doesn’t mind takings its time to do so. This hypnotic allegory follows the 80 year old Mr. Safari, a quiet, withdrawn old timer who struggles with dementia and Alzheimer’s. Soon he gets a call from his son, living outside of Iran, and organizes a visit by the proxy of a beautiful travel agent. Compulsively and with no small amount of confusion, Mr. Safari begins an awkward, creepy obsession with her. What makes “A Very Ordinary Citizen” stand apart from usual festival fare is the delicacy with which its subject matter is executed – long takes and a static camera immerse you into the life of Mr. Safari, balancing realism and symbolic storytellings equally. The past, present and future collide in Mr. Safari’s off-beat, tragic journey, a resonant theme with universal appeal. (BH)

Sunday, 10/18, 11:45am
Thursday, 10/22, 4pm

“45 Years”

’45 Years,’ Directed by Andrew Haigh
Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival

Director Andrew Haigh creates a film that is so realistic in emotional and life circumstances, it might seem like a documentary. Substantial old pros Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling portray a couple on the brink of their 45th Anniversary, and are planning a huge celebration. When a revelation comes to light about the husband’s past, the implications of the secrets behind it slowly begin to unravel their imperfect relationship. Rampling is stunning in her role, she plays all the notes of the situation like a concert maestro. Courtenay makes some key choices about how to generate the character of a person who cannot reconcile or be truthful about his past choices. This is rough road of human feelings, and it culminates in a truthful outreach that everyone can relate to in some way. (PM)

Tuesday 10/20, 6:15pm

“The Assassin”

’The Assassin,’ Directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival

A hedonistic splurge for the senses, “The Assassin” explodes with some of the most beautifully formed visuals this year. Renown for his reputation as a formalist dramas, director Hou Hsiao-Hsien was made famous for his languid long takes, often with the camera positioned with an unusual distance between it and its subjects. Taking place in the Tang Dynestry, we follow a young girl, kidnapped by a witch and raised to be a master assassin (played with silent perfection by Shu Qui). Hsien’s entry into the classic Chinese genre of Wuxia, an ancient tradition of storytelling dealing with assassins and mythic sorcerers, might seem like an odd fit for a director who previously showed no interest in action – he’s far more concerned with space, movement, color, and sound rather than the opaque, muddled plot. In one moment of particular brilliance, Hsien’s camera surveys a boring political conversation between noble lords, only to eventually tilt upwards to show the titular assassin watching silently in the rafters—no wonder he won best director at the Cannes Film Festival. This is challenging cinema by any metric, but “The Assassin” is one of the most rewarding movies playing at CIFF this year. (BH)

Wednesday, 10/21, 6pm
Friday, 10/23, 9:15pm

“A Childhood”

’ A Childhood,’ Directed by Philippe Claudel
Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival

Why are there so many lost souls in the universe? Writer/Director Philippe Claudel offers “A Childhood,” that can partially answer that question. It portrays a French boy named Jimmy who endures his most important days of development in a horrible trap of bad parenting. His mother is an earnest but weak drug addict, living with a monster of a boyfriend who cares nothing for Jimmy and his younger brother. There are small bits of hope among the dread, but it will take a miracle for Jimmy to overcome the psychological scars of his upbringing. The old cliché is “it takes a village,” and the village does emerge for Jimmy, but it is with the truth that is may be too late. (PM)

Wednesday, 10/21, 6pm
Thursday, 10/22, 8:15pm
Monday, 10/26, 3:30pm

“Chronic”

’Chronic,’ Directed by Michael Franco
Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival

A powerful story about caregiving and the ramifications for the psyche of the persons who give that care. The underrated actor Tim Roth portrays a hospice nurse (the caregiver at the end of life) who cannot compromise the emotional separation that is necessary to do his work and move on. There are a series of hospice circumstances with three patients, and the stark presentations allow for an understanding of how the balance can get out of whack, and the patient/nurse relationship can become muddled with the sensibility of impending death. This film never blinks, all the way to the soon-to-be-much-discussed conclusion. Director Michael Franco creates a sympathy play that has a darker soul, and is more reflective of life…and death.

Wednesday, 10/21, 8:15pm
Thursday, 10/22, 8:30pm
Monday, 10/26, 12:30pm

By PATRICK McDONALD Editorial Coordinator, Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com