LFM Reviews Mindfulness and Murder @ IBFF Showcase 2013

By Joe Bendel. Father Ananda is sort of like a Buddhist Father Brown, except he has more first-hand knowledge of the criminal element. The former police detective intended to lead a peaceful existence as a monk, but homicide has followed him into the monastery in Tom Waller’s Thai mystery Mindfulness and Murder (trailer here), which screens this Saturday night as part of the 2013 International Buddhist Film Festival Showcase in the Bay Area.

Father Ananda is a man to be reckoned with, but he had his reasons for leaving the job, as viewers learn over the course of the film. When one of the boys in his monastery’s youth shelter program is murdered, the Abbott asks Ananda to investigate. He will not be getting in the way of the cynical Inspector Somchai, who closes the case half an hour after responding to the call. It turns out the late Noi was a hard kid to love, who was reportedly involved in the narcotics trade. Perhaps he was not the only one. Father Ananda soon uncovers rumors of drug-dealing monks and undercover narcs. Suddenly, a person or persons unknown have taken an unwelcome interest in Father Ananda and his temple boy assistant Jak.

Mindfulness is one of the most picturesque murder mysteries you are likely to see anytime soon. Cinematographer Wade Muller exploits the exotic backdrop for all its worth. Similarly, the monastic setting adds unusual wrinkles to whodunit. Solving the case is not merely a matter of earthly justice for Ananda. There are implied karmic implications for the monastery.

Arguably, Mindfulness is rather a bold selection for the IBFF showcase. There is the clear suggestion it is not unheard of for less savory individuals to adopt monks’ robes as a means of gaming the system. Its portrayal of the Thai justice system is also far from flattering. Yet, there is no denying the virtuous nature of Father Ananda or the appeal of Vithaya Pansringarm’s quietly engaging performance. They are an actor-character tandem worthy of a franchise.

The supporting cast is a somewhat mixed bag, but Ahbijati “Meuk” Jusakul is nicely hardboiled as Somchai, while American-born Prinya Intachai has his moments as Brother Satchapalo, the instant prime suspect. For a random bit of celebrity, former Miss Universe Natalie Glebova (currently based in Thailand) also briefly appears as herself.

From "Mindfulness and Murder."

Waller’s tempo is hardly break-neck, which has its pros and cons. Although it might be limiting for genre fans, the meditative tone perfectly suits the hero and setting. Indeed, watching Father Ananda struggle with the demands of the spiritual and worldly is fascinating (more than even the crime story itself). Recommended for those who enjoy cerebral mysteries, Mindfulness and Murder screens Saturday night (3/2) at the Smith Rafael Film Center, as part of this year’s IBFF Showcase in the Bay Area.

During the Showcase, patrons will also be inspired by Dafna Yachin’s Digital Dharma, documenting the efforts of American academic E. Gene Smith to digitize and preserve the sacred and secular texts of Tibet. Further noteworthy selections include Victress Hitchcock’s When the Iron Bird Flies, a provocative exploration of the Tibetan Buddhism’s surprising international growth during its unfortunate period of exile, and Naomi Kawase’s visually dazzling yet deeply humane Mourning Forest. Check their website for times and venues here.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on February 27th, 2013 at 9:27am.

The Story of a Song: LFM Reviews Hava Nagila

By Joe Bendel. Like Abel Meeropol’s “Strange Fruit,” “Hava Nagila” is a song worthy of its own biographical treatment. It started in the Ukraine and became a staple of Jewish American celebrations, but the identity of its composer remains a controversy. Documentary filmmaker Roberta Grossman tells the story of the song and those who sing it in Hava Nagila: the Movie, which opens this Friday in New York.

It was based on a nigun, a wordless prayer chant incorporated into the services of the Nineteenth Century Ukrainian Hasidic community. To commemorate the Balfour Declaration, it was adapted into the song now commonly heard at weddings and bat/bar mitzvahs. Just who adapted it depends on whether you talk to the Idelson or Nathanson families. Likewise, it means different things to different musicians. To a serious Klezmer artist like Frank London, it is rather a cliché. Yet to old school entertainers like Glen Campbell and Irving Fields, it is a rhythmic crowd-pleaser. Yes, that Glen Campbell. He recorded “Hava” as the B-side to his “True Grit” single and shares some pleasant reflections with Grossman during an interview recorded at his synagogue a few years back.

Indeed, Hava will certainly change many viewers perception of Campbell, but it is the ageless Irving Fields who truly demands his own documentary. Known for fusing traditional Jewish music with Latin dance music, the ninety-four year-old Fields still gigs as a leader six nights a week in Manhattan—and could easily pass for a man at least twenty-five years his junior. The music must keep him young, naturally including “Hava.”

Hava boasts some impressive musician-commentators, including Harry Belafonte (interviewed in the Village Vanguard, where he once performed when Max Gordon also booked folkies), Johnny “They Call Me Bruce” Yune, and Russian indie singer-songwriter Regina Spektor, who relates “Hava” to the Russian Refusenik experience.

Less successful is the rather muddled 1960’s section, in which we are told the Jewish children of the suburbs embraced the song as some kind of folky communal something or other. The film’s chatty tone also becomes somewhat problematic over time. Co-produced by Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman, Hava’s shticky title cards and comedy sketch interludes often feel like a sitcom trying too hard to be irreverent.

Although plenty of talking heads consider “Hava” corny, it is hard to dislike a song so deeply associated with celebration and the early founding of the State of Israel. It is also hard to argue with the likes of Campbell, Elvis Presley, and longtime Israel booster Lionel Hampton, all of whom covered “Hava.” Despite its weirdly inconsistent tone, Hava puts “Hava” in the proper historical context. Recommended for those interested in the intersection of Jewish history and musical tradition, Hava Nagila: the Movie opens this Friday (3/1) in New York at the Lincoln Plaza.

LFM GRADE: B-

Posted on February 27th, 2013 at 9:26am.

The House of the Spirits: LFM Reviews The Condemned

By Joe Bendel. The worst crimes are always committed by altruists, but Ana Puttnam knows her oncologist father is different. She has returned to his home town in hopes of restoring his reputation while he is still alive. However, something or someone in their ancestral home begs to differ in Roberto Busó-García’s supernatural drama The Condemned (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Largely incapacitated, Dr. Puttnam (with two t’s) is not long for this earth. His daughter has brought him back to their stately manor house in Rosales, Puerto Rico – where it all began – to establish a museum dedicated to his philanthropic work. It was here that he established his first free cancer clinic for the poor. However, he has also been dogged by scandalous rumors regarding his early career. She was hoping the villagers would rally to his defense, but nobody seems to want to get involved. As she presses on, strange things start happening in the house. The planned exhibitions are a particular focus of the mysterious venting.

Only two people in Rosales are happy to see the Puttnams return. One is the loyal family retainer Cipriano. The other is the new chauffeur, the one villager willing to present himself for prospective employment. Each has their reasons for their interest in the Puttnam family. Likewise, they are both uneasy with Ana’s plans to revive the family’s big Christmas soiree for the townsfolk. At least she will get some use out of her mother’s old crystal chandelier tree.

It is hard to decide whether The Condemned is really intended as horror film or more of an uncanny morality tale. There is one gruesome death, but it is rather out of place, leading one to wonder if it was a cast-member request Busó-García obliged. Aside from a handful of shocking moments, it is more about creeping dread and the corrupting influence of the past on the present—almost more Tennessee Williams than H.P. Lovecraft.

Cristina Rodlo in "The Condemned."

Still, Busó-García and production designer Suzanne Krim’s team crafted quite a gothic setting. That chandelier tree becomes the indelible image of the film, but the rest of the house is quite atmospheric too. Frankly, Busó-García’s deliberate genre coyness deftly keeps viewers off-balance and unlikely to anticipate the third act revelation.

Poised and photogenic, Cristina Rodlo is surprisingly engaging as Ana Puttnam, completely avoiding any scream queen theatrics or manipulations. Her work holds up, even as the audience’s perspective shifts. Popular Puerto Rican comic actor René Monclova is also suitably earnest yet appropriately mysterious as Cipriano.

Visually, one can see the influence of the Spanish horror movie renaissance on The Condemned, but Busó-García tells his tale with restraint. While it is certainly slow by the genre standards that may or may not apply, it all more or less comes together at the end. Recommended for those who enjoy their paranormal fare on the cerebral side, The Condemned opens this Friday (3/1) in New York at the Quad Cinema.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on February 25th, 2013 at 2:17pm.

LFM Reviews SFFS’s Artist-in-Residence Ashim Ahluwalia’s Miss Lovely

By Joe Bendel. Technically, it is illegal to exhibit films that are not certified by India’s so-called censorship board. Of course, it happens anyway. For so-called “C-Grade” filmmakers and performers, going legit is a tricky proposition, but Bollywood dreams die hard in San Francisco Film Society Artist-in-Residence Ashim Ahluwalia’s Miss Lovely (trailer here). In addition to the Society’s educational outreach programs for local schools and aspiring filmmakers, Ahluwalia will attend a screening of Miss Lovely and participate in a special artist talk, both of which should be fascinating, because this is a film guaranteed to inspire questions, starting with just how much of his misadventures in underground filmmaking are based on truth.

The Duggal Brothers specialize in grinding out horror-themed sex features for the seamy C-Grade circuit. Vicky is a born user who calls the shots, while Sonu is sensitive and passive by nature. They specialize in production, leaving distribution to their dodgy associates. When Vicky gets ideas about vertical integration, it causes considerable difficulties. However, personal problems will be the brothers’ ultimate undoing.

Sonu is completely enamored with Pinky, a girl from a strictly traditional family, who harbors aspirations of Bollywood stardom. The quiet Duggal Brother is determined to finance and direct a mainstream star vehicle for her, to be titled Miss Lovely. He is even willing to use his brother’s money to do so. Fraternal ties are frayed and secrets are revealed, as the illicit combination of sex and money inevitably leads to tragedy.

Originally Ahluwalia intended to make a documentary about the scandalous C-Grade film industry, but reconceived Miss Lovely as a narrative feature out of necessity. He definitely immerses viewers in the sleazy, dangerous vice world. For the most part, he deliberately eschews the hallmarks of Bollywood filmmaking. Nonetheless, the frequently funky soundtrack goes down smooth.

Hardly a glamorization of C-Grade films, Ahluwalia portrays the Duggal’s enterprise as grubby, exploitative, and thoroughly dominated by underworld types. It is far more a cautionary tale than a Hindi Boogie Nights.Things definitely come to grief pretty darn fast. Yet, somehow the faux cheesy scenes of the Duggals’ naughty horror movies will appeal to a lot of cult viewers’ inner Tarantinos. Indeed, production and costume designer Tabasheer Zutshi’s team does spot-on work fully recreating this lurid environment on-screen.

From "Miss Lovely."

Most importantly, this is clearly a milieu Ahluwalia fully understands. Straddling genres, he toys with crime story elements, but essentially tells a Cain and Abel tale, skewering India’s celebrity-obsessed culture and sexual mores along the way. Stylistically, he spans the gamut from trippily disorienting to in-your-face naturalism. This is kitchen-sink filmmaking at its most relentlessly indie.

Anil George’s Vicky Duggal is a compulsively watchable, almost mesmeric pseudo-villain. Nearly unrecognizable from Gangs of Wasseypur, Nawazuddin Siddiqui revels in cringy pathos as poor Sonu. Frankly, much of the supporting cast-members are essentially hanging on for dear life, but that sort of works given the circumstances.

Big, bold, and fearless, Miss Lovely approximates the sweep and scale of the Bollywood it rejects. Part expose and part fall-from-grace epic, Miss Lovely is highly recommended for connoisseurs of Indian art cinema and those who simply love films about filmmaking (in all its ragged forms). It screens at the New Peoples Cinema in San Francisco this Thursday (2/28), with Ahluwalia’s Artist Talk to follow next Tuesday (3/5) at FilmHouse, as part of his residency now underway with the San Francisco Film Society.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on February 25th, 2013 at 2:16pm.

The Birth of the Bourekas and Beyond: LFM Reviews A History of Israeli Cinema

By Joe Bendel. Ten Israeli films have been nominated for the best foreign language Academy Award, which is not bad for a small, relatively young country, living with the constant threat of terrorism. While Israeli filmmakers have yet to take home the Oscar, they have become the toast of the international festival circuit. The development of their national cinema is chronicled and analyzed in Raphaël Nadjari’s two hundred nine minute documentary undertaking, A History of Israeli Cinema (trailer here), now available on DVD from Kino Lorber.

Premiering during the final days of 1932, Chanukah in fact, Chaim Halachmi’s Oded the Wanderer is considered the first Israeli feature, well predating UN recognition. Focusing on the ruggedness of nature and the even more rugged protagonist, it became a model for the Zionist-minded cinema that would follow. Ironically, one of the films most effectively swaying world opinion Israel’s way was the product of Hollywood liberals: Otto Preminger’s Exodus, starring Paul Newman. In contrast, the subsequent wave of Israeli films would challenge notions of Zionism to varying degrees.

Arguably, the most popular new movement were the so-called Bourekas films, ethnic melting pot comedies named after the savory Eastern European pastry (which you can find in New York at Café Noi). At times, the humor ranged towards the broader end of the spectrum, but they presented more diverse, less severely stoic characters for audiences to identify with.

Of course, Israeli filmmaking continued to evolve, largely reflecting the same cultural shifts apparent in Western cinema. The “New Sensitivity” school incorporated Cassavetes-like intimacy with the avant-garde sensibilities of European art cinema. As the 1960’s became the 1970’s, films became more overtly political, directly questioning the traditional Zionism of the 1930’s and championing the indigenous and former Arab populations’ claims for exceptional victim status.

From "A History of Israeli Cinema."

It is a frustrating fact of life for Israel’s international supporters that the democratic state’s home grown films are often as critical as those coming from Hollywood and its hostile neighbors, which is indeed reflected in Nadjari’s History. Nonetheless, the lack of love for Menahem Golan’s zeitgeist-bucking Operation Thunderbolt is an unfortunate omission. Golan appears quite frequently as an interview subject, mostly in reference to the early Bourekas films he produced. Nadjari never explores his American interlude as half of the Golan-Globus running Cannon Films, bringing to the world the American Ninja franchise amongst other meathead classics. Technically speaking, they are not Israeli films, but who wouldn’t want to show clips of Steve James and Michael Dudikoff slicing through hordes of ninjas like straw men?

Arguably, Nadjari has a bias towards art films, but so will most of the viewers seeking this documentary out. He has a shrewd eye for selecting illustrative clips and shows the patience to let them play out sufficiently. Even though he shows the very end of Hill 24 Doesn’t Answer, considered the first feature film officially produced in the new state of Israel, it will definitely make war movie buffs want to see the whole thing from the beginning. He talks to just about every filmmaker of stature, including Joseph Cedar (helmer of Footnote), Amos Gitai, Ronit Elkaetz (who also co-starred in Eran Kolirin’s Oscar disqualified The Band’s Visit), and Dover Kosahvili. Being good marketers, Kino also includes trailers for their other Israeli films, which feels more like a DVD extra in this case than merely an attempt to plus-sell. Recommended for patrons of Israeli culture and armchair film historians, A History of Israeli Cinema is now available as a two-disc set from Kino Lorber.

LFM GRADE: B-

Posted on February 25th, 2013 at 2:15pm.

Into the Shintoho Mind Warp: LFM Reviews The Ghost Story of Yotsuya

From "The Ghost Story of Yotsuya."

By Joe Bendel. When revenge is promised, revenge must be delivered. One villainous samurai learns this the hard way in Tsuruya Nanboku’s classic Kabuki drama. It was a lesson that would be repeated in thirty screen adaptations. This one is considered the best, but it has not been widely screened in America, as is true for most of the upstart genre studio Shintoho’s late 1940s to early 1960’s releases. In its New York premiere, Nobou Nakagawa’s The Ghost Story of Yotsuya launches the Japan Society’s 2013 Globus Film Series, Into the Shintoho Mind Warp: Girls, Guns & Ghosts.

Iwa’s father is not about to let his daughter marry Iemon. It is not just because he is a position-less samurai. He can tell the man is a bit of a cad. Unfortunately, the proud ronin reacts badly when rebuffed yet again. Killing the man and a well heeled associate, Iemon finds himself beholden to the crafty servant Naosuke to back up his story. Swearing to Iwa he will avenge her father, he instead dispatches her sister Sode’s intended, again with the help of the insidious Naosuke.

As the years pass, Iemon claims to be pursuing retribution in much the same way O.J. was searching for the “real killer.” By now, the sociopathic ronin has tired of Iwa and the constant hassling to make due on his promises. Instead, he covets Ume, the daughter of a wealthy clan leader and the position she would bring. Of course, good old Naosuke has the answer: a poison that first disfigures and then kills. Inviting over Takuetsu, her torch-carrying admirer, to complete the frame-up, Iemon completes the evil deed and embarks on a new life with Ume. However, when Iwa pledged revenge from beyond the grave, she was not kidding.

Yotsuya probably should be classified as a horror film, but by the time Iwa and Takuetsu rise from the dead, viewers are ready to throw in their lot in with the angry spirits. In the tradition of E.C. Comics, Yotsuya is a case of bad things happening to bad people. Nonetheless, it is all kinds of creepy and atmospheric.

From "The Ghost Story of Yotsuya."

Frankly, it is rather flummoxing that Nakagawa is not more renowned amongst genre cineastes. It really ought to rank with Shindo’s Kuroneko and Onibaba. While many focus on Iwa’s grisly transformation, Nakagawa’s patience introducing the supernatural elements, effectively cranks up the tension before the cathartic release. Arguably, it is also a comparatively feminist genre outing, with Iwa’s sister Sode facing their nemesis in the climatic fight sequence, sword in hand, along with an ally making a surprise reappearance.

As Iwa, Katsuko Wakasugi has one of the all time great and gruesome death scenes. She would also be quite scary as an angry ghost, were we not so primed for Iemon’s comeuppance. In a way, the final third of Yotsuya is like a Grudge film in which viewers root for the supernatural force. Likewise, Noriko Kitazawa is appealingly earnest and swings a credible sword as sister Sode. Shuntarô Emi is hissable loathsome as Naosuke, in an enjoyable genre bad guy kind of way. Oddly, Shigeru Amachi (whom Nakagawa would send to Hell as the protagonist of Jigoku) is a bit of a cold fish as Iemon. It is hard to understand why Iwa or Ume would be charmed by him, but his karmic beatdown is certainly satisfying.

Filmed by cinematographer Tadashi Nishimoto (a future Bruce Lee alumnus) in queasy hues of red and yellow, and accompanied by Michiaki Watanabe’s eerie kabuki-esque score, Ghost Story of Yotsuya is a quality production that holds up spectacularly decades later. Recommended for fans of the supernatural who also appreciate psychological depth and archetypal resonance, it screens this Wednesday (2/27) at the Japan Society, with a party to follow featuring the music of Neo Blues Maki. The drool-worthy Shintoho Mind Warp retrospective continues with more screenings over the weekend.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on February 25th, 2013 at 2:12pm.