Deep Focus Film Festival
Now Playing: Columbus throws its hat into the film-fest ring
Given the limited number of screens in Columbus open to arthouse offerings, a festival spotlighting some of the best in world cinema is a godsend. Because the festival was only in its first year and the organizers were unsure of what interest there would be, they only programmed ten films, with at least one potentially high-profile film unavailable for booking. Still, I'd have to say it performed quite well for an unknown quantity, judging by the attendance for the screenings I was in.

The biggest draw of the four films I saw was Friday night's screening of THE ARISTOCRATS (2005, Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette), a documentary about a legendarily dirty joke. Much of the drawing power came from the wide range of comedians who were interviewed (many of whom shared their versions of the joke)- I won't list them all here, but the list is fairly impressive. The film itself is no great shakes as filmmaking, but it's pretty hilarious, provided of course that you don't mind foul language and vivid descriptions of disgusting acts. In the "who knew?" category, turns out Bob Saget and Gilbert Gottfried are really funny after all. Rating: **1/2.

The best film I saw at the fest was the first one I caught on Sunday (and my most-anticipated film that played there). It was MOOLAADE (2004, Ousmane Sembene), a towering achievement from a filmmaker whose other films I need to see. Plot descriptions will focus on the fact that it deals with ritualized female genital mutilation ("purification," they call it), but the film is hardly a one-sided screed. While many Western filmmakers might deal with such a harrowing topic through condescending eyes- asserting their moral superiority by chastizing practitioners of mutilation for their backwards thinking- Sembene approaches the topic through the point of view of the villagers themselves. Genital mutilation has its roots in the male fear of female sexuality, and the tradition legitimizes their superstitiousness, to the point where some of the most passionate advocates for the practice are women who have themselves undergone it. The film isn't quite perfect- its climactic scene ties everything up too neatly- but Sembene often finds ways to subvert audience expectations, particularly in the film's one flashback scene, which doubles back to resolve a story that had seemed sketched-over before that point. Also, the film's ending is a small marvel, a modal shift as jarring as anything since the heyday of Kubrick. Rating: ***1/2.

Another fine selection was BROTHERS (2004, Susanne Bier), which could be summarized as being like a Danish version of THE DEER HUNTER where Christopher Walken comes home instead of staying in Vietnam playing Russian roulette. Bier, a Dogme 95 veteran, uses a handheld camera to heighten the raw emotions on display in the story of two brothers, Michael (Ulrich Thomsen) and Jannik (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), and the strain placed on their relationship once Michael returns from being captured on a peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan. The film's setup is a bit contrived- I have a feeling that the Danish military wouldn't be so quick to declare a soldier dead as they do here- but after the first half hour it's quite effective. Connie Nielsen is also good in her first performance in her native tongue, as Michael's wife who begins to bond with Jannik after her husband's presumed death. Rating: ***.

The problem with not being able to watch everything was that I had to skip some films I was interested in seeing, and I ended up making my selections based on movies I might not be able to catch elsewhere. Thus, instead of buying tickets for MY SUMMER OF LOVE, OFF THE MAP, MURDERBALL, and THE ANIMATION SHOW (all of which will likely have regular Drexel releases later this year), I saw the Japanese horror film ONE MISSED CALL (2003, Takashi Miike). Disappointingly, the film was pretty straightforward by Miike standards, though with a few snazzy touches- the shot of the disembodied hand dialing sticks out in my mind- and an admittedly more coherent plot than, say, JU-ON. I didn't hate this film, exactly, but it's pretty forgettable, and I'm about ready to admit that J-horror probably isn't my cup of tea. Rating: **.