Rick’s Flicks Picks » This Weekend’s Film Festival Celebrates To Be or Not to Be

This Weekend’s Film Festival Celebrates To Be or Not to Be

30 04 2008

In some ways this week’s lineup is a sequel to the March 12, 2008 This Weekend’s Film Festival theme of “life and death.” However, this week’s five films deal with the latter more directly. Some tackle the issue of dying, or in one case not wanting to die, in satirical ways. One of the entries is a bittersweet drama about a dying man whose last days are filled with family and friends. Two films deal with the troubled health care system. And the final two films argue opposite sides of what to do when one is left disabled. THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY inspired this week’s films. It’s a lineup I have been looking forward to ever since I first say Julian Schnabel’s daring and heartbreaking portrait of a man left prisoner in his own body who inspires with his will to live.

Starting off This Weekend’s Film Festival is the blackest comedy on death ever made — THE LOVED ONE. Tony Richardson’s 1965 cult classic sets out to offend and still retains the power to do so. This anything-goes satire skewers American-British differences, Hollywood, the funeral business, and self-righteousness in general. Dennis Barlow (Robert Morse) is a young Brit who comes to Hollywood to stay with his uncle Sir Francis Hinsley, played with great dignity by John Gielgud. But when the veteran Hollywood artist dies, Dennis is pulled into the world of Whispering Glades, an epic cemetery that offers all the bells and whistles that modern technology can provide. Ruled over by the shadowy Blessed Reverend, played wonderfully by Jonathan Winters, the funeral parlor’s beautiful make-up technician Aimee Thanatogenous (Anjanette Comer) is a true believer in the Reverend’s prescribed way of life. Dennis falls hard for Aimee, but she has long had her eyes on the creepy embalmer Mr. Joyboy, a remarkable performance by Rod Steiger. This cynical look at society pits Aimee’s sacred and naive views of life and death against harsh realities about human weakness and commerce. As I said in my original review, “In the end one could say that they overall themes are that nothing is sacred and society is corrupt to its core.” Whispering Glades is a business that makes it hard to argue otherwise.

For our opening Saturday film, the dry and ironic comedy THE DEATH OF MR. LAZARESCU is a satire of the Romanian health care system. Dante Remus Lazarescu (Ion Fiscuteanu) is an elderly man who gets sick and the film simply watches as ambulance attendant Mioara (Luminita Gheorghiu) tries to get Mr. Lazarescu the care he needs during a Kafkaesque night of trips to hospital after hospital. Upon arrival at the fourth hospital of the night, the characters are drowning in irony. Director Cristi Puiu patiently presents his story, allowing the plot and character development to simply unfold. At some hospitals, Mioara can pull strings with friends, but at many emergency rooms they encounter cocky doctors, tired residents or know-it-alls who think their degree gives them more experience than the veteran Mioara. However, one obstacle Mr. Lazarescu doesn’t have to endue is health insurance; Romania has universal health care. As I said in my original review, “The film is a call for reclaiming compassion for each individual life.” Puiu shows us a reality of little decisions that are made and seemingly minor responsibilities that are taken for granted that add up to a tragedy.

Closing Saturday is Denys Arcand’s Oscar-winning THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS, which chronicles the final days of a man’s life. Part indictment of the Canadian health care system, part celebration of life, the film draws an end of life filled with joy. Remy (Remy Girard) wasn’t the best father during his youth, but now is his last chance to make amends with his son Sebastien (Stephane Rousseau), who has turned out to be his complete opposite. Surrounded by his old friends, Remy looks back on his womanizing past with some fond memories, as well as some regret. As Remy and Sebastien bond, the son even seeks out heroin to help his father deal with the pain he is in. Filled with natural performances, it’s a reflective film on living and learning, and how death makes us pause and take account for the life we have lived. Grounded in intelligence and humor, INVASIONS is essentially human, which moves us. As I said in my original review, “The film welcomes us into the lives of these characters in a difficult time and allows us to share their thoughts and feelings. What’s more beautiful than that?”

The title “To Be or Not To Be” is keenly significant to our final two films. The first explicitly argues that a life without dignity is not worth living, while the latter subtly campaigns that life is all we have. Alejandro Amenabar’s THE SEA INSIDE tells the true-life story of Spaniard Ramon Sampedro, who after becoming paralyzed from the neck down, champions the cause of euthanasia. Ramon strongly believes that without the physical ability to experience all the joys of life, it is not a life worth living. For him the mental toll of not being able to simply touch loved ones or care for his basic needs is too much to bear. His brother strongly apposes his views and a lonely young woman named Rosa tries to persuade him to live. Many of the people in his life, both private and professional, will question their stands on his right to die, even the leader of the euthanasia organization he works for. However, driven by a powerful performance from Javier Bardem, Ramon’s unwavering determination makes us, at least, sympathize with his belief that “life is a right, but shouldn’t be an obligation.” As I said in my original review, “The film is tragic in some ways, but consoling in others.”

While THE SEA INSIDE argues for the right to die, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY showcases the undying will to live. Based on the true story of Elle magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, the film chronicles the hardships of a man who is severely paralyzed at the prime of his life. Truly trapped inside his own body, Bauby, brought to life in an amazingly dedicated performance from Mathieu Amalric, can only blink one eye. Director Julian Schnabel uses many point of view shots to transport us into this man’s condition, allowing us to first hand experience the world through his eyes. People easily step out of his plane of view. Communication is arduous when one must blink yes and no in response to another person reading off the letters of the alphabet so you can spell out what you wish to tell them. Bauby must refocus his desires toward a life, which changed fundamentally over night. With a dedicated assistant to help, he drums up the will to write his own remarkable biography one letter at a time. As I said in my original review, “[Ronald] Harwood’s adaptation… [captures] the complex soul of Bauby from his dry wit to his determination to work past his initial depression and find meaning from his new life.”

So there you go another wonderful lineup of films for This Weekend’s Film Festival. If you have a moment, tell me what you think of these films and the ideas they conjure up. So jog to the video store, rearrange the rental queue, surf Zap2It.com for TV listings or click the links below to purchase these films, and enjoy.