Class Enemy

2014 at the Movies: most overlooked

by
Macon Blair in BLUE RUIN
Macon Blair in BLUE RUIN

Talk about “overlooked” – there were some great movies this year that didn’t even get a meaningful theatrical release. Let’s start with Blue Ruin – a completely fresh take on the revenge thriller.

Then there’s the romantic drama a la Twilight Zone, The One I Love, with brilliant performances by Elisabeth Moss and Mark Duplass.

The year’s best documentary – Alive Inside – didn’t even get shortlisted for the best Documentary Oscar. I dare you to watch this movie without tearing up.

I thought that the Canadian comedy The Grand Seduction would become a long running art house hit like The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel or The Full Monty. But, despite being the year’s funniest and most audience-friendly comedy, it came and went quickly.

I loved the darkly droll German slacker comedy A Coffee in Berlin, but only a few other folks saw it in this country.  It was a big hit in Europe – for a reason.

Fortunately, Blue Ruin, The One I Love, The Grand Seduction and A Coffee in Berlin are all available on DVD and/or streaming. Follow the links above to find out how to watch them. But two wonderful films that I saw at Cinequest – the outrageously dark Hungarian comedy Heavenly Shift and the provocative Slovenian classroom drama Class Enemy are not currently available to US audiences. When they are, I’ll let you know.

Best Movies of 2014 – So Far

by
IDA
IDA

I’ve started my running list of the Best Movies of 2014 – So Far and three of them – Ida, The Grand Seduction (I’ll write about it next Thursday) and Locke – you can see in theaters in the next two weekends.

By the end of the calendar year, I will have a Top Ten plus another 8-18 or so. I’m pretty sure that Ida will end up in my Top Ten.

I’ve also included Dear White People, which you’ll be able to see when it gets into theaters in October.  And I’m also considering including the mesmerizing Brendan Gleeson drama Calvary (saw it at San Francisco International Film Festival and it releases widely August 1). I’m also mulling over adding two films that I saw at Cinequest – the outrageously dark Hungarian comedy Heavenly Shift and the provocative Slovenian classroom drama Class Enemy; neither is currently available to US audiences.

Cinequest: best bets for the final weekend

by
CLASS ENEMY
CLASS ENEMY

FRIDAY

  • Friended to Death: this sharply funny indie satirizes our obsession with social media. TMI becomes LOL.
  • Heavenly Shift: the hilariously dark (very dark) Hungarian comedy about a rogue ambulance crew with a financial incentive to deliver its patients dead on arrival.

SATURDAY

  • One of Cinequest’s most thought-provoking films, the Slovenian classroom drama Class Enemy.
  • The British crime lark Dom Hemingway with Jude Law – a probable crowd pleaser.

SUNDAY

  • The Encore Day selections have yet to be announced (except for The Farmer and the Chef and Slingshot), but I wouldn’t be surprised if one of Cinequest’s biggest hits so far, the Israeli caper comedy Hunting Elephants, gets another screening.

Cinequest at festival midpoint

by
photo courtesy of The Wife
photo courtesy of The Wife

The 2014 edition of Cinequest has emphasized comedy, and that has paid off with some of the festival’s biggest hits:

  • The Grand Seduction: Cinequest’s opening night film was this uproarious Canadian knee-slapper – a Waking Ned Devine with random acts of cricket.
  • Friended to Death: this sharply funny idie satirizes our obsession with social media. TMI becomes LOL.
  • Heavenly Shift: the hilariously dark (very dark) Hungarian comedy about a rogue ambulance crew with a financial incentive to deliver its patients dead on arrival.
  • Hunting Elephants: an Israeli caper comedy with Patrick Stewart (as you’ve never seen him).

The other most popular Cinequest hits have been the exquisite Polish drama Ida and the Canadian weeper Down River.  I also particularly like the Slovenian class room drama Class Enemy.

Most of these films are still scheduled to play in the last half of the festival.  Subject to Cinequest’s exhibition rights, I’m guessing that the most likely candidates for Cinequest’s Encore Day on Sunday, March 16 are Ida, Friended to Death, Down River, Hunting Elephants and Class Enemy.

Cinequest: Class Enemy

by

Class EnemyIn the gripping drama Class Enemy (Razredni sovraznik), a high school class is a pretty typical collection of teenagers – some more rebellious than others, some a little more mature – but generally a potent package of hormones and bad judgement.  One boy has just lost his mother and has anger issues, one artistic girl is very sensitive and another boy is just a smug punk.  The class gets a new foreign language teacher, and he is demanding, humorless, abrasive and insensitive.  The kids are already wary of him when they are rocked by a tragedy – and they explode.

Here’s what is special about Class Enemy.  The kids’ reactions vary, but are true to their individual personalities.  The reactions of the kids and adults are completely plausible, and not the least bit contrived.  And the filmmakers avoid taking the side of any kid or any adult – no character is completely correct.  This story could have been turned into a really trite Hollywood movie about kids united against a mean adult authority figure, but the filmmakers trust the audience to accept the nuance and ambiguity that we experience in real life.

Class Enemy, Slovenia’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar, is an authentic and taut drama.

Best Bets at Cinequest

by
HEAVENLY SHIFT
HEAVENLY SHIFT

17 movies to watch for at Cinequest:

Most likely to be crowd pleasers:

  • The Grand Seduction: In Cinequest’s opening night film, Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges, The Guard, The General, Braveheart) and Gordon Pinsent (Away from Her) play isolated Canadians try to snooker a young doctor (Taylor Kitsch of Friday Night Lights) into settling in their podunk village.
  • Friended to Death: Bromantic comedy about a jerk who fakes his own death to see how many of his social media “friends” will attend his funeral.  Very funny.
  • Words and Pictures: Romantic comedy starring Clive Owen and the ever-radiant Juliette Binoche as sparring teachers.
  • Dom Hemingway: Jude Law and Richard E. Grant star as two cheesy British hoods in a reportedly funny and fast-paced crime caper. Opens widely in theaters in April.
  • Unforgiven: the Japanese remake of Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-winning Unforgiven  starring Ken Watanabe (Inception, The Last Samurai, Letters from Iwo Jima).   Since Clint’s career was boosted by a remake of Yojimbo (A Fistful of Dollars), it’s fitting that his Unforgiven is remade  as a samurai film.
  • Fruitvale Station: the masterpiece debut from Bay Area filmmaker Ryan Coogler, introduced by LA Times and NPR Morning Edition movie critic Kenneth Turan.

Most promising foreign entries:

  • Ida: This Polish story of a young nun who learns that she is the survivor of a Jewish family killed in the Holocaust won the International Critics’ Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.
  • The Verdict:  This Belgian drama won Best Director at the Montreal Film Festival.  I’ll be writing about The Verdict early this week.
  • The Illiterate:  Paulina Garcia, the star of the popular Gloria, stars in this metaphorical emotional Chilean drama.
  • Class Enemy: You’ll be rocked by this classroom drama, Slovenia’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar.  I’ll be writing about Class Enemy early this week.
  • Heavenly Shift: A hilariously dark (very dark) Hungarian comedy about a rogue ambulance crew with a financial incentive to deliver its patients dead on arrival.  I howled at Heavenly Shift, and I’ll be writing about it early this week.
  • Zoran: My Nephew the Idiot: OK, this Italian comedy has a great title, and it was a hit at the Venice Film Festival.  I’ll be writing about Zoran before its US Premiere.

Documentaries:

  • Teenage: Great subject material: chronicling that 20th century American phenomenon – the evolution of “the teenager”.
  • Sex(ed): The Movie: Sampling Sex Ed instructional films from 1910 through today.  Should be a howl.  May be thoughtful, too.  World Premiere at Cinequest.

Something you haven’t seen before:

  • Happenings on the Eighth Day: This is a pure art film, juxtaposing the attempts to create art against forces seeking to censor or obliterate it.  Filmed in the Bay Area by Iranian filmmakers. World Premiere at Cinequest.
  • The Circle Within: A Turkish fable that turns into a psychological drama.  Not a favorite of mine, but it provides a rare glimpse into the Kurdish religion of yezidism.

Here’s the Cinequest program and ticket information.