SFIFF Previews

I’ve now screened three films that will play this year’s San Francisco International Film Festival. Here they are, starting with the best.

And speaking of the best, I’m giving a little more than my usual paragraph to the one that most deserves it.

A The Day God Walked Away, Clay, Monday, May 3, 6:45; Kabuki, Tuesday, May 4,  4:00; Wednesday, May 5 / 4:15. Set during the Rwanda genocide, this intense work follows a young Tutsi woman as she struggles to survive both killers and her own inner demons. I’ve seen many films about genocide, but I’ve never seen one like this before. With all its action and suspense, it’s really about the effect mass murder has on a victim’s mind.

Jacqueline (singer Ruth Nirere in an amazing, near wordless performance) begins the story working for a white family. As the killers approach, she wants to return to her village and save her children, but her employers convince her to hide, instead. If that sounds like a setup for a tearful reunion happy ending, forget it. Writer/director Philippe van Leeuw dashes that hope early on. She has no one to depend on, or save, but herself.

It doesn’t stay that way for long. Hiding in the jungle, she finds a wounded man (another hunted “cockroach”) and nurses him at considerable personal risk. But as they struggle to survive in the jungle without getting caught, it becomes evident that she is suffering from a severe, and totally understandable, state of shock. Refusing to speak to her new companion, her behavior becomes more erratic and dangerous as time goes on.

This is not a catalog of horrible crimes, although it contains many. It’s not a thriller, although the suspense never really lets up. And it’s certainly not a tribute to the determination and resourcefulness of the human spirit. The Day God Walked Away is a character study of a woman driven insane by an impossible situation, and thus making the situation much worse.

B+ My Queen Karo, Kabuki, Thursday, Apr 29, 1:45; Sunday, May 2, 4:15; Wednesday, May 5, 9:15. 70’s radical chic was a strange way to grow up. This Belgium drama views the self-contained world of a 1974 Amsterdam squatters’ commune through the eyes of a ten-year-old girl. Karo’s idealistic and charismatic father wants everything and everyone to be free. Free as in both free love and free rent. Her mother’s view of the world is less romantic, but considerably more practical. Young Karo, meanwhile, tries to live a normal life—taking up swimming, for instance—in this extremely abnormal environment. A moving tale of those who try to live their dreams, and those who have other people’s dreams imposed upon them. Not a must, but worth catching.

D+ You Think You’re the Prettiest, but You Are the Sluttiest, Kabuki, Wednesday, Apr 28, 4:30; Thursday, May 6, 6:15; Clay, Monday, May 3, 9:30 / Clay. Wealthy teenagers hook up badly for sex in this dreary drama from Chile. (Maybe it’s a comedy. I’m not sure, as it was neither funny nor dramatic.) Javier performs badly in bed with Valentina, who understandably prefers his best friend, Nicolás. So Javier spends the night wandering the town, talking to be men and hitting on women. All that might have worked if writer/director Ché Sandoval had created likeable, believable, or even moderately unique characters. But he didn’t—at least not with the leads. There’s a scene with an aging prostitute, flattered by Javier’s attention, that says more about human nature and sexuality than the rest of the movie combined. And two likeable thugs actually succeed in being funny. But the young lovers at the center of the movie are too dull and nondescript to care about.