[SOMETHING
IN THE AIR screens Friday July
12 th at 7:20 pm and Saturday July 13 th at 9:30 pm.]
Review
by Bob Ignizio
In
SOMETHING IN THE AIR,
French director Olivier Assayas takes a look back to the early
seventies in France, when the “something” in the air was
revolution. It's a somewhat autobiographical film, allowing Assayas
to look revisit his past in a refreshingly non-rose tinted fashion.
Sure, there's a certain amount of fondness for the radical ways of
young revolutionaries, but it's tempered with a wisdom that comes
with age that knows full well the left can be just as capable of
tyranny as the right. It may seem a minor exchange, but when an older
revolutionary cautions the film's protagonist Gilles (Clement
Metayer), “you're young, but be careful what you read,” it speaks
volumes. The film kind of meanders about a bit, but ultimately proves
to be a satisfying snapshot of a particular time and place in history
that, at least here in the U.S., we aren't likely to hear much about.
3 out of 4 stars.
[SIGHTSEERS
screens Monday July 15th at 5:45 pm and 7:45 pm at
the
Mandel Screening Room at the Cleveland Institute of Art's Joseph
McCullough Center.]
Review
by Bob Ignizio
A couple of misfits in love embark on a
vacation across Britain by caravan (trailer for us yanks) and leave a
trail of dead bodies in their wake in SIGHTSEERS.
After the relentlessly grim KILL LIST,
Ben Wheatley's follow-up film is almost a light-hearted romp. Of
course to give credit where due, stars Alice Loew and Steve Oram, who
conceived the film and co-wrote the screenplay with Amy Jump, are at
least as much responsible as Wheatley for whether or not SIGHTSEERS
offers a pleasant holiday to it's viewers. Although it's a well made
film and the performances from comic veterans in the lead roles are
winning, I found myself wanting to like the film far more than I
actually did. The humor is exceedingly dry and dark, and ultimately
it feels as if these travelers, and the film they're in, are on a
road to nowhere. Which may very well be the point, but it doesn't
necessarily make for a satisfying experience. 2 1/2 out of 4 stars.
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