I've been meaning to update since Thursday, but I've been fairly busy, so this update may be fairly lengthy. Friday night, I went with Emily, Doug and Paul Bourque to see Mike Rudick's band Holmes at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge...they were ok, I was pretty tired, so I didn't stay too long.
Saturday morning I was able to run outside (hooray!) and then Katie and I made a quick trip to the Natick Collection. We did some shopping (I got a great sweater at the North Face for $24! and Katie got a hat for the marathon) and grabbed lunch, even though we had to eat on mall benches because the food court was so crowded. Saturday night was fairly uneventful, I got some take-out from Cheesecake Factory (not my favorite place, but I was in the area so....) and watched the first review of today's entry...
The basic plot involves a widowed college professor, Walter Vale, who finds an immigrant couple, Tarek and Zainab, living in his Manhattan apartment. The man befriends the couple, and gets drum lessons from Tarek. In the subway, Tarek is arrested and detained at an immigration processing site in Queens, with the very real possibility of deportment. Walter hires an immigration lawyer, and a story of human rights ensues.
The Visitor is great film, extremely well written, and two stand out performances, Richard Jenkins as Walter and Haaz Sleiman as Tarek. Both were nominated for Independent Spirit awards, and Jenkins is nominated for an Oscar. The relationship that the two men develop throughout the film is quite moving. My only issue (and it's pretty major) is the last 20 minutes or so; story had been moving along at a decent pace (albeit a little slow) and then the climax and resolution just kind of happens. It felt like the director, Thomas McCarthy (responsible for another great film, The Station Agent) realized that he was making a 2 hour film, and not a 3 hour film, and needed to wrap things up. I could kind of tell where it was headed, but I still enjoyed the ride. Definitely worth a rental, if for nothing other than the performances.
Grade: B
Sunday was pretty uneventful as well, hit the gym in the morning, and then last night was Katie's fundraiser at The Point for the marathon. It was a great celebration, great to see some friends that I hadn't seen in ages, and $2 bud light drafts were amazing. I got pretty drunk (drunk enough that Jess and I had to take a cab home) and am sure that a great time was had by all. Such a good time in fact, I was talked into not one, but TWO tequila shots (thank you Nick LaPete), and I'm STILL feeling them today...yuck.
Today was also pretty uneventful, slept til 11 (and was probably still drunk when I woke up), and then I saw the second feature to be reviewed today....
The Class (Entre les murs) won the 2008 Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film festival and is France's nominee for Best Foreign Language film. It chronicles the year of a middle school class in a tough section of Paris. We see the teacher, Mr. Marin develop a relationship with his class, and the hardships that he faces with his students. The film is based on a novel of the same name by François Bégaudeau (who plays Mr. Marin in the film). Much of the discussions between students and teacher veer from the subject of the classroom, and become much more socially, politically and, on occasion, racially charged. The students constantly question authority, and have no problem backing the teachers into a corner in expressing their opinions.
Director Laurent Cantet uses a fly on the wall technique throughout the entire film, you feel almost like a voyeur in the classroom, teachers lounge, and even the students and teachers life's. Parts of the film (mainly the classroom discussions) were improvised, making the film all the more impressive. The real stand outs are the students, many of them playing themselves. It was refreshing to see a depiction of an inner-city school free of most of the cliches that plague many Hollywood films; though there are a few in The Class. My only two quibbles with the film; there is a minor storyline that's introduced (again, dealing with the possibility of deportation, I guess that was a theme for the weekend) that doesn't really go anywhere. The second, is with the translation of the title. In France, the film is titled Entre les Murs, or, Between the Walls...I get that it's about a class, and the title just justifiable, but I wonder if it means something else in French that doesn't translate...oh well....
Overall, the film is exceptional, and it's no wonder that this was the Cannes jury's unanimous choice for best picture. Two of the best films I've seen this year, The Class and Waltz with Bashir, have been in a foreign language. Up next on the screening schedule is the Italian mafia film Gomorrah, which is released on the 27th.
Grade: A
Fairly uneventful week ahead, steering committee meeting Wednesday night, and then Oakmont design meeting on Saturday...hooray! Shout out to Nick LaPete, who is friends with Billy Eichner on facebook! If you don't know who that is, watch this video. It's hillarious.
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