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Recommended Film

Look Both Ways (Sarah Watt, Australia, 2005, 100 min.)

Justine Clark and William McInnes in "Look Both Ways"

Look Both Ways is the first feature film by Australian director Sarah Watt. It is a sensitive, dark comedy about hurt and happiness, life and death and most important, about the possibility for love. This elegant first feature reflects Ms. Watt's unique take on the human condition and the quiet, inner turmoil that human beings confront within the daily routine of their lives. To better articulate the feelings and fears of her characters, the film adroitly mixes animated sequences and flash-photo collages with live action in a manner (or perhaps an homage) that obliquely references Tom Tywker’s Run Lola Run (1999). The film takes place over a hot, summer weekend in Adelaide, Australia, and follows six people as they confront unexpected tragedies that directly and indirectly bind them together as a “family.” The film's "story" is highly engaging, and the narrative arch is beautifully articulated by a cast of characters (including Justine Clarke and William McInnes seen above) who are vulnerable, hurt, flawed, genuine and real. The animated sequences and flash-photo collages are exquisite and add an important dimension to this stand-out, dramatic film. A favorite at the 41st Chicago International Film Festival, this film is highly recommended. Soundtrack includes music by The Arlenes, Lisa Miller, Amanda Brown and Mia Dyson. (CM 10/16/05)

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Recommended Film

Be With Me (Eric Khoo, Singapore, 2005, 93 min.)

Based on the autobiography of Theresa Chan, a 61-year-old blind and deaf woman from Singapore, director Eric Khoo has fashioned a sensitive and beautiful film that examines the themes of loneliness and love (and the difficult journey that human beings often take to get from one to the other). Be With Me opens with a close-up of a typewriter and a blank sheet of paper on which Theresa Chan slowly and carefully types the opening (and recurring) theme of her autobiography. She writes, “Is true love truly there my love?” That question provides the impetus for the emotional arch of Be With Me and propels the film’s examination of the powerful (and often contradictory) nature of love. Director Khoo attempts to answer the question “Is true love truly there?” by delicately interweaving three vignettes about love, longing, heartache and hope. In the vignette “Finding Love,” a bank security guard yearns for the affection of a beautiful businesswoman, who is unaware and oblivious of his existence. In the vignette “So in Love,” two teenage girls fall in love (and then fall out of love) in between a flurry of phone calls, e-mails and mobile text messages. And in the vignette “Meant to Be,” a lonely shop keeper played by Chiew Sung Ching (seen above) mourns the death of his wife and yearns for her lost companionship. All three vignettes are anchored and exquisitely illuminated by the overarching story of Theresa Chan, who plays herself in the film and who retells her story in her own, expressive, unforgettable voice. Minimal dialogue, sensitive cinematography and a beautiful score by Kevin Mathews and Christine Sham make this a memorable and thought-provoking film. Screened at the 41st Chicago International Film Festival, this film is highly recommended. (CM 10/26/05)

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Recommended Film

TheSquid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach, US, 2005, 80 min.)

Jesse Eisenberg and Anna Pauqin in "The Squid and the Whale"

Owen Kline and Jesse Eisenberg in "The Squid and the Whale"

The Squid and the Whale, director Noah Baumbach’s fourth feature film, is a thoughtful and humorous look at a Brooklyn family’s dissolution as it confronts the painful breakup of a marriage that has endured too many years of quiet distrust and unspoken dishonesty. Bernard Berkman (Jeff Daniels) is a Brooklyn College literature professor whose career has stalled. His academic audience has withered to the flirtatious adulation of a smitten, female student and the adoring approval of his 16-year-old son, Walk Berkman (Jesse Eisenberg), a too serious high school student whose intellectual elitism mirrors his father’s academic smugness. Walt’s mother Joan Berkman (Laura Linney) is more centered emotionally, and to the dismay of her going-nowhere husband, her career as a writer has gained momentum and wide-spread recognition. She is adored by her younger son Frank (Owen Kline), who expresses his anguish over the breakup of his parents’ marriage through a series of uncomfortable, coming-of-age pranks. The film’s sympathetic portrayal of the breakup of an “educated” marriage and the realignment of the relationships among the family's fragile members is both honest and sensitive. The film is highly autobiographical and based on the divorce of the director 's own parents. Baumbach's mother was a critic for the Village Voice, and his father is currently a professor at Brooklyn College. Easy to watch and filled with sparkling one-liners, this film is highly recommended. (CM 11/05/05)

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