VIFF | DAY SIX

By only

Tuesday October 2, 2007

ONLY PICKS: Redacted
It used to be that when Brian De Palma made a new movie, you would go see it. The guy has been in the game for close to 50 years, and is responsible for some serious classics. You know, like Carrie, Body Double, Dressed to Kill and, of course, Scarface. Tell a guy living in a mansion that he just bought four months ago to show you his DVD collection, and he’ll show you his copy of Scarface. Tell that guy to go see the new movie by the guy who made Scarface, and he’ll go. Unfortunately, the past four or five De Palma outings have been despicable. Scarface guy can’t tell the difference between The Black Dahlia and Body Double, but then again, he keeps his twin Sub-Z stocked with Yoo-Hoo and microwaveable Chimichangas because “they that REAL shit.” Anyways, De Palma put the last ten years behind him for this one. Redacted is possibly his most urgent and overtly political film ever, combining actors and real footage to tell a terrible but true Iraq war story – the one where the little girl gets raped by the US soldiers, who then kill her and her family and set them on fire. Classy. Since all the actors are unknowns, the “re-enactment” aspect of the movie doesn’t get in the way like you might expect it to. Instead, everything works incredibly well to produce an angry, scathing indictment of a horribly managed war, and most importantly, to tell a story that everyone should know yet no one does. –CA


Mischief Night
A few months ago we reviewed the brilliant BBC show Shameless, about a broke British family all living together in a small flat, and getting by. From one of the producers of that show and Director Penny Woolcock comes this similarly inspired comedy about a broke English family all living together, and getting by. Again, it is the incredible ability to find humour in racism, poverty and the true meaning of family that elevates this film above simple class comedy. Instead of Halloween, the Brits celebrate Mischief Night, the one night a year when all hell breaks loose. Here everything from race relations, Islamic extremism to childhood trickery comes out, as the wild assortment of characters let loose on the city. Kind of like a British Do The Right Thing but with more levity and self effacing humour. It’s cheeky, honest and intelligent. A real treat with a little bit of trick. –AOT


11:30 am GR3 – Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
12:30 pm GR2 – Great World of Sound
01:00 pm GR7 – Weirdsville
03:00 pm GR1 – You, the Living
04:00 pm GR7 – Redacted or p.147
07:00 pm RID – Normal or p.102
07:00 pm GR7 – Mad Detective
07:15 pm GR6 – Mischief Night or p.143
09:15 pm GR7 – Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead or p.33


_{Location Guide: GR1,2,3,4,5,6,7=Granville 7 | VCT=Vancity Theatre | PCP=Pacific Cinematheque | RID=Ridge}