Small, bright gems of film
Magic Lanterns Fall Film Festival
By ADAM TANOUS
Express Staff Writer
If you thought the artistic and cultural events of the season were over,
guess again. Kicking off on Friday will be the 12th Annual Magic Lantern Fall Film
Festival. Continuing through Sept. 21, the festival will present 10 independent, art and
foreign films.
Steve Bynum, who has managed the Magic Lantern for its owner Rick Kessler
since 1985, recently spoke about the upcoming festival.
Opening the festival will be the acclaimed independent film "The
Croupier." Directed by British filmmaker Mike Hodges, "The Croupier" is a
complex thriller set in London about an aspiring writer who takes a high pressure job in a
casino as a croupier.
While Jack Manfred, played by Clive Owens, tries to maintain a cool
detached attitude about the world of gambling, he soon finds himself drawn into
relationships with women he meets at the casino. Bynum said the film opened on one screen
in New York. With only word of mouth publicity, it eventually became the highest grossing
independent film of the year.
The New York Times described The Croupier" as a "whip
smart, tongue-in-cheek suspense thriller."
Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said in a review of the film
that it "mesmerizes from its opening image of a roulette ball on the move. A taut
journey inside the world of professional gambling, this enigmatic, beautifully made film
crosses the traditions of film noir with a distinctly modern anomie with results as ice
cold and potent as the vodka its protagonist keeps in his freezer."
Director Hodges is best known for his making of the British gangster
movie, "Get Carter" starring Michael Caine.
In a press release, Hodges described his attraction to the film: "The
casino struck me as a bell jar where its possible to examine human frailty and
foolishness and to either sympathize with it or despise it. Jack treads a fine line
between the two."
"The Five Senses," a film written and directed by Jeremy
Podeswa, premiered at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. At this years Toronto
International Film Festival, the film won the City Award for Best Canadian Film, the
festivals top honor. This drama, pivoting around the five senses, takes place over a
three-day period in Toronto when a young child has disappeared. It is the story of five
characters living and working in the same building who are searching for intimate human
connection. Each character explores a basic sense, as Podeswa said in a press statement,
to "seize opportunity, to stake a claim in life." Starring in this film are
Mary-Louise Parker, Phillipe Volter, Gabrielle Rose, Daniel MacIvor and Nadia Litz.
Also in the lineup for the first week is "The Butterfly," a
Spanish drama about an asthmatic boy learning the lesson of savoring life from a kind
schoolmaster. Kenneth Brannaghs production of Shakespeares comedy
"Loves Labour Lost" is still another offering of the Festival. Branagh has
reset the classic comedy in the 1930s of Fred Astaire. Staged with elegant sets and
costumes, the film also features classic musical numbers from Cole Porter, Irving Berlin
and George Gershwin.
Rounding out the first week will be "East is East," the comedic
story of second generation Pakistani immigrants trying to cope with a traditional arranged
marriage.
Bynum and Kessler have five more films planned for next week, including
"Saving Grace," "Blood Simple," "Shower," "The Tao of
Steve" and "The Original Kings of Comedy."
In the first, Oscar-nominee Brenda Blethyn plays an upper-class British
widow who discovers a way to illicitly maintain her lifestyle (it involves the use of her
greenhouse).
"Blood Simple" is the Coen brothers (producers of
"Fargo") first film noir. This presentation is a directors cut, re-release
of the original film. Bynum described this film as "less stylized and more real than
some of their later ones."
"Shower" won the Best Picture and Best Director awards at the
Seattle International Film Festival. "The Tao of Steve" is a comedy portraying
the amorous escapades of a kindergarten teacher.
Finally, "The Original Kings of Comedy" is Spike Lees
documentary of the stand-up comedy world. Bynum commented that this a film one should see
in the theater. "There is something about the chemistry of an audience that makes the
film," he said.
The Magic Lantern Film Festival began modestly in 1987. Since then, the
festival has expanded to more films shown in a shorter period of time. Bynum and Kessler
put on their festival in both April and September, typically times of the year when there
are not a lot of movie releases.
Bynum said that he and Kessler keep lists all year long of movies they
would like to show. Often it is a long process arranging to get the films here. Bynum said
that many of the independent films only print six or seven copies for
distributionthat makes obtaining the films more difficult than it used to be.
He pointed out, however, that because the Magic Lantern now has a pretty
good reputation for turning out crowds he and Kessler have been able to get many of the
films they want.
Kessler, owner of the Magic Lantern for 26 years, has long been a fan of
the avant garde, independent films. Bynum said of Kessler, "Ive always been
proud of Rick, because he has always run the cutting edge stuff. Early on he ran the first
films of people like John Sayles, Quentin Tarrantino and Spike Lee."
Bynum went on to add, "We do this because we love it. We just hope
our enthusiasm for these films is contagious."
Tickets for the shows are $7, although the Magic Lantern will sell a pass
for all 10 movies for $50. Call 726-3308 for more information.