The eighth annual Independent Film Festival of Boston ended last Wednesday at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, concluding a run of great films that screened at various art house theaters throughout the week. The Daily writers got to see a few more films before the festival ended:
"The Killer Inside Me" (2010): In a small west Texas town, the young Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford (Casey Affleck) is a well−respected man. He has been known as a good boy all his life, and he is seemingly a true Southern gentleman. Though he lives in a small community, no one knows the truth about Lou's dark past. When he was a young boy, he sexually assaulted a young girl, but his adoptive brother, Mike, took the blame and went to prison. As deputy sheriff, Lou is sent on a call to try and run the prostitute Joyce Lakeland (Jessica Alba) out of town. Though Lou has a girlfriend, the schoolteacher Amy Stanton (Kate Hudson), he begins an aggressive sexual relationship with Joyce and plots to exact revenge on the local construction magnate, Chester Conway (Ned Beatty), for the alleged murder of Mike. One murder leads to the next until Lou finds himself tangled in a ghastly web of death.
Based on the eponymous 1952 pulp fiction classic written by Jim Thompson, "The Killer Inside Me" highlights Affleck's acting prowess but fails as a film. Despite a stellar cast and great cinematography, director Michael Winterbottom insults Thompson's original novel by overemphasizing carnal sadomasochism and graphic violence. The viewer is in a constant state of cringing agony as Affleck moves from one gruesome murder to the next in a Western−style "American Psycho" (2000).
In fact, prior screenings have led to an uproar among audiences and Alba even walked out of the Sundance premiere due to the brutality of the film. Though there are several grisly scenes, the film's most harrowing scene follows Affleck as he proceeds to senselessly beat Alba in the face until she slips into a coma. For viewers, "The Killer Inside Me" is overly intense and vicious, squandering an opportunity to compare to "No Country for Old Men" (2007) as the next great Texas−based crime thriller.
"Marwencol" (2010): This documentary screened at the Institute of Contemporary Art in the South End to an almost−packed theater. The story focuses on Mark Hogancamp, a middle−aged man who was beaten so viciously outside a club one night that he suffered severe brain damage. Not able to afford the necessary therapies to recover, Hogancamp decided to build an entire world named Marwencol in his backyard using dolls. Hogancamp's experiment becomes intertwined with his real life so much that it starts to take over, until outsiders begin to see his project as a beautiful story and inspiring art.
Director Jeff Malmberg handles Hogancamp's story perfectly, drawing attention solely to his life and his progress in getting back to the real world. The film flip−flops between Hogancamp's real life and the ongoing narrative story of Marwencol and its characters, drawing the viewer into Hogancamp's life completely. The film won an award at last month's South by Southwest festival and followed up with a Special Jury Prize from IFFBoston because of its emotional, amusing portrayal of one man trying to survive after a traumatic event.
"Micmacs" (2010): There was quite a fuss over this year's closing film, as it was scheduled to be James Franco's documentary "Saturday Night" — until at the last minute, the program directors were informed that it couldn't be shown. Thankfully, they quickly pulled together and got French filmmaker Jean−Pierre Jeunet's new film "Micmacs." Jeunet is most famous for directing the quirky "Amélie" (2001).
This film is about a young man, Bazil, who decides to get revenge on two arms dealers after his father is killed by one company's land mine and he himself is accidentally shot by the other's bullets. He is taken in by an odd family of misfits who live in a landfill, and all have some sort of special talent — for example, one girl can tell any measurement just by looking at something — creating a silly, "X−Men"−like family.
The film is visually stunning, but the real heart of the film lies in that it is able to handle light−hearted comedy with a pretty heavy message about the dangers of arms dealers in today's world.
Like "Amélie," this film is very busy, so it requires special attention on the part of the viewer, as Jeunet sets up multiple intricate cons in order to get the arms dealers where he wants them. If marketed properly, this film could be another major hit for Jeunet, and luckily, it was a wonderful replacement for the last film of the festival.
