Palm Springs at Night

I remembered my pass this morning and wore my new BassEarth shoes. Light as a feather, good support and very comfy… highly recommended. I started my day with “Hello, How Are You?” a delightful comedy from Romania. Gabriel and Gabriela are a nice middle class couple with a teenage son. Gabi [the guy] was once a promising pianist but broke his hand and now travels with the symphony turning pages for the pianist. He is well liked and even a bit too much by some of the women in the group. Gabi [the gal] was studying tom be a psychologist but instead became a wife and mother. She now runs a dry cleaning store. Serendipitously they are both simultaneously introduced to Internet chat rooms where they explore new relationships unbeknownst to them with each other. I classic screw-ball comedy style signals get crossed, rumors are spread, suspicions grow and their comfortable and dull lives begin to unravel. Wonderful performances all around bring humor and warmth to a contemporary treatment of love’s pitfalls.
With minutes between I took in “The Edge,” a Russian feature about a low security gulag at the outer edge of Siberia. Ignat is a damaged soviet soldier “retired” to work the lumber train at the gulag. His demons make his life difficult there and he goes to find a locomotive said to be on an island at the other end of a fallen down bridge. With the reluctant aid of a young German woman who has been living there he restores the engine, gerry-rigs the bridge and brings the train back to the mainland. Jealousy, bigotry, pride and long hidden secrets soon surface and the gulag is turned on its head. This film will probably be submitted for the Foreign Language Oscar nomination but it has some stiff competition. After a happy hour light dinner at The Tropicale Restaurant and Coral Seas Lounge [****] with my friends Theo and Liza I headed for my last film of the day. “Loose Cannons” was directed by Ferzan Ozpetek [his “Hamam” is one of my faves] and tells the story of a contemporary Italian family in the pasta business. The family starts to dissemble as secrets are revealed. The old ways are on trial in this warm and very funny romp. The gorgeous cast is comprised of wonderful veterans and popular newcomers. Put it on your Netflix queue now; in fact put all three on it.

I'm number one

Mike Leigh has had a string of successful films many of which appeal because of their simplicity and heart. It appears that he gives his actors a great deal of time and space to inhabit their characters. They are all very real and recognizable. No one is any more extraordinary than the others. Tom and Jeri are a comfortable couple dealing gracefully with aging. Tom is a geologist/engineer; Jeri is a psychological counselor working at a local medical facility. They entertain, often spontaneously, a number of “friends” less fortunate than themselves. Broken into 4 seasons the story introduces us to several of Jeri’s colleagues, Tom’s old buddy, Tom’s recently widowed brother and his unhappy son, Tom’s and Jeri’s son and others. The minor roles are also carefully developed some quite well in little or no time. My favorite character is Mary a clerical co-worker who considers herself Jeri’s best friend. Jeri accepts that with great compassion and understanding… to the point of being used. But Jeri’s has boundaries and as broad as they are you best not cross them. Mary defines needy. She drinks too much, smokes too much and is extremely careless in her decisions. She dominates the film and acts as a catalyst in many of the dynamics. It’s a beautiful and understated film and another Mike Leigh masterpiece. With only ten minutes to spare I left one theatre and entered a second for the screening of Todo lo que tu quieras [Anything You Want], a Spanish film by Achero Manas. The plot is such that any information might ruin it for you. It’s about a young successful attorney who suddenly finds himself being Father and “Mother” to his toddler daughter. His decisions are unconventional and potentially dangerous. It’s a bit slow but rewarding in it’s advocacy and compassion.