THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 25, 1994 TAG: 9409230090
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 148 lines
``Too much of a good thing can be wonderful'' - Mae West
MOVIES, MOVIES everywhere.
They call it ``Festival Des Films Du Monde Montreal.'' Those who have tried to live through it may call it madness - divine madness. It is film fatigue to the extreme. It is perhaps the only place in the world where street arguments break out about the relative merits of Rumanian films vs. Turkish films. And did you catch that flick from India? Or the one from Tunisia? The movie from Norway is a knockout. It's the place where almost every movie is worth at least one party.
It's the World Film Festival. It's 300 movies shown in 12 days. With 300,000 paying customers this year, it upholds its claim to be the most popular film festival in the world. And it's all within driving distance of Hampton Roads.
Every September, Montreal, under the leadership of the feisty, lovable and always energetic Serge Losique, hosts a festival that emphasizes the international nature of film. Losique, the festival's director, is like a bantam rooster, covering the city, crowing about his programming, his guests and, most of all, his audiences. Of late, Montreal has become something of the underdog festival, while its neighbor, Toronto, makes a louder noise by seducing big Hollywood names and films. Producers who screen at Montreal are reportedly being given the snub by Toronto. But the Montreal festival is finding its own distinction by truly being international and going for the unusual.
One of the festival's films, ``Fresh,'' opened in Norfolk before the festival. Another, ``Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,'' will open here soon.
It's a grab bag of film. Truck drivers and ballet dancers were elbow-to-elbow, pushing into crowded theaters. The wares included everything from The Beatles to a violent little film from New Zealand that turned out to be the big winner. You could talk freely with intense directors, nervous distributors, haughty actors - all mixed together in grandiose dinner parties.
And have you ever seen a Russian movie subtitled in both English and French? Then there was the Argentinian film that somehow didn't get subtitled at all. The audience stayed anyway, trying to figure it out visually.
Weird stuff.
Place Des Arts is the city-owned center that houses Theater Maisonneuve, a red-trimmed, wood-paneled auditorium (the equivalent to our own Chrysler Hall) where two major films are screened each night. Just a few blocks away, the Parisien theater complex can screen seven films at once, beginning at 9 a.m. and going into the night. There's also the palatial Cinema Imperial, an old-time movie palace, and three screens in the shopping mall, Complexe Desjardins. Who can believe 300 films are shown, most twice, in this wonderfully centered locale?
My record was seven in one day but, just when I was feeling pretty proud of myself, I was sure to meet someone who had seen another film that they were sure was better. It's like a six-ring circus and woe unto those who try to see it all.
For opening night, Canadian officers, garbed all in red but not mounted, lined the carpet leading into the theater. The film was ``Kabloonak,'' a co-production between Canada and France, a movie about a movie. It's about the filming of ``Nanook of the North'' by Robert Flaherty, with British actor Charles Dance (famous for TV's ``The Jewel in the Crown'') as the attending star. The international flavor of the festival was emphasized by the film being set in Canada but filmed in Siberia. Montreal's Gazette proclaimed it a good choice ``to fulfill the festival's goal as a cultural land bridge between artistic Europe and bottom-line Hollywood.''
The party that followed was at a chalet atop Mount Royal overlooking the city. It's not the easiest place to reach. Justine Priestly was there to push her movie ``Cyberteens in Love.'' Indian prophet and healer Dave Courshesne Jr. was there, busy describing himself as ``Leading Earth Man.'' Bob Hoskins, who was in the city making a movie called ``Rainbows'' with Dan Aykroyd, was there.
The Germans gave a party in a downtown museum, featuring African drummers outside.
The Italians gave a party where Korean actress Yun Choong Hee was the hit. She flew from Paris to represent her film ``The Two Flags'' in which she plays a war widow at the end of the Korean War. Known simply as Yun in Korea, she's made more than 400 movies and is a national celebrity. If she were to go out on the street in Seoul, she'd be mobbed. Consequently, she lives in Paris with her husband, a concert pianist.
Nothing, though, could beat ``Once Were Warriors,'' the runaway hit of the festival. From New Zealand, it's a violent domestic drama about a woman from a once-noble Maori Indian family who now lives with an abusive husband in a slum. Rena Owen, the film's star, had flown back to New Zealand when she got a frantic call to return to Montreal for the award ceremony. She won the ``best actress'' honor, loudly dedicating it to ``the valor of mothers everywhere.'' The film itself won the festival's Grand Priz of the Americas (best film) as well as the public's ``most popular'' award. (It was the first time in the festival's 18-year history that a single film has won both.) Fine Line Pictures plans to release the movie in the United States in January.
The surprise, though, was that the ``actress'' award turned out to be a tie, with Helena Bergstrom, the blond star of ``The Last Dance,'' an entertaining movie about dance contests (the serious side of ``Strictly Ballroom'') from Sweden.
Missing altogether from the winners' circle was hopeful Miranda Richardson who left the city in a huff on the afternoon before the awards ceremony. Richardson, an Oscar contender last year for ``Damage,'' was in Montreal contention for the role of Vivienne, the socialite beauty who was the first wife of poet T. S. Elliot in ``Tom and Viv.'' Elliot is played by Willem Dafoe. It's a dream role for any actress. The woman is mentally unbalanced and ends up in an asylum. Richardson, and her studio, having faced Montreal defeat, are sure to be out there pushing for an Oscar nomination.
A tribute to Steve Martin, including a screening of his latest film, ``A Simple Twist of Fate'' added Hollywood glamour. The film, which is set to open in Norfolk soon, is a loose adaptation of ``Silas Marner,'' about a reclusive man who adopts a lost baby.
Even The Beatles got a screening. The restored version of ``A Hard Day's Night,'' their first movie, was shown. The producer, who flew from Hollywood, said the Montreal screening was a trial to see if there is an audience for a rerelease of the movie. He was pleased with the turnout and is now trying to muster financial support for The Beatles' return to U.S. movie theaters.
Controversy broke out surrounding the violent movie called ``Bandit Queen.'' The movie is purported to be the true story of Phoolan Davi, the most infamous female bandit in the history of India. She was accused of murdering 30 men. The movie suggests she had good reason. From India, where the real ``bandit queen'' currently lives, and has married into high society, came a condemnation and an official government ban on the film. Indian journalists attacked director Shekhar Kapur. They claimed the movie reflects unfavorably on India and the caste system. The director countered that ``only those who shut their eyes to the truth are opposing the film.''
The most notable new trend, one likely to sweep the United States next summer, is the showing of outdoor movies. Thousands filled the streets when the festival screened ``Toward the Within,'' starring the musical group Dead Can Dance. The concert film featured singers Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry performing a mixture of medieval liturgical chants, Middle Eastern dance music, incorporating both traditional instrumentation and new technology. It was shown on an outside wall of The Meridian Hotel with mobs of people gathered on all sides. It was a movie in a football-game setting.
Montreal has a population of 1.3 million, and it seemed they were all at the movies. Sellouts were ordinary. Some local people take vacation during this week to get the most out of their festival tickets. They go to movies all day and most of the night.
You have to admit, there's nothing else quite like it - even in the movie world. It's movie fatigue galore. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
MALOFILM
Miranda Richardson is the troubled wife of fames poet T.S.
Elliot[sic] in ``Tom and Viv.''
Temuera Morrison and Rena Owen star in ``Once Were Warriors,'' the
runaway hit of the festival.
by CNB