Chicago Critics Film Festival – Day Four Report

The Chicago Critics Film Festival Runs May 17th – 23rd. Stephen Tronicek is covering the event for We Are Movie Geeeks

The shows didn’t start until 3 pm yesterday, so I decided to take a moment to enjoy the city…by going to see Bi Gong’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night in 3D. That was worth it. It may have, in fact, been better than the city.

But at 3 pm, it was time to get back to business. The introducer of Richard Shepard’s The Perfection mentioned that he wouldn’t give it a trigger warning but rather he’d list the very few things that weren’t triggering about it. To me, that sounded a bit like a threat. If a movie leans in too much for the sake of drama, then it might come out false and offensive. The Perfection does, at times. When it works, it’s basically a toned down De Palma joint, complete with diopter shots and overacted sexuality. There’s not a ton of the rough and tumble charm that the grittiness of the era gave De Palma, but there are a lot of impressive gore effects to savor while the plot rolls out.

Five o’ clock brought on the next shorts program, which included one of the best shorts I have ever seen. Stefanie Abel Horowitz’ Sometimes, I Think About Dying is a cheeky story that would have been insufferable if not for the tonal balance, but it gets there through careful performances and even more careful editing. If you get a chance to see it on the big screen, do. The other films in the lineup also had their virtues. Wild Love, directed by Paul Autric, has its tongue firmly rooted in its cheek and proves to be more twisted than I could have imagined. Kate Trefry’s How to Be Alone stars Maika Monroe in one of her better roles since It Follows. Anette Sidor’s F*** You paints a beautiful portrait of unencumbered sexuality, starting off maybe a little uncomfortable, but soon reveals itself to be on the right side of things. Robert Depuis’ The Downfall of Santa Claus is a touching send up to Christmas animation of the past. Carolina Markowitz’ The Orphan has touching cinematography that brings you into the touching story and last but not least Lowland Kids calls to mind the work of Terrence Malick in its beautiful documentary depiction of the disappearing Isle de Jean Charles.

Lulu Wang’s autobiographical The Farewell, the seven o’clock show, is going to be on many top ten lists by the end of the year. It is probably going to be on mine. The film follows Billi (Awkwafina), as she returns home to China to see her Nai Nai (Shuzhen Zhao), who has unknowingly been diagnosed with cancer. Billi must fight her emotions when the family tells her they’ve decided to not tell Nai Nai. The Farewell is the type of modest great film that sneaks up on you while it’s going, only for you to realize you were with it when it’s over. I anticipate seeing the film and its many wonders again.

Wang gave an entertaining Q&A afterward. She spoke about returning to China, about going to her Nai Nai’s with the crew to use the restroom, and most importantly about how Nai Nai, still alive after six years, still doesn’t know that she has lung cancer. I won’t be telling her. Hopefully, you don’t either.

Guy Na Skin is a bit of a tougher pill to swallow. About the redemption of white power movement member Bryon Widner (Jamie Bell), the film is maybe a bit too melodramatic towards that movement, considering that they actively kill people. It should go without saying that we shouldn’t be empathizing with Nazi’s and Skin skirts that line pretty closely, throughout its first act. Once it breaks into the overlong but compelling second act, things get better. Bell gets to flex his acting muscles and Bill Camp (Wildlife) gets to explode off the screen with a riveting performance.

While it wasn’t as strong as Sunday’s, Monday’s selection was still a high-quality crop of films, especially The Farewell. When that comes to your city see it. If you can find Sometimes, I Think About Dying seek it out too. It’s a beautiful portrait of a deeply scared human being.