You won’t catch a cinephile being cynical about the three red-carpet events of the 31st Starz Denver Film Festival.
The opening night, “Big Night” and closing night celebrations are how festivals, patrons and festival- goers get their party on. (Last year’s kiddie version of a red-carpet fete — a screening of “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium” — was a hoot.)
And this year’s three featured films have powerful charms, starting with the opener, “The Brothers Bloom.”
“We’re going to be watching Rian Johnson for years to come,” festival director Britta Erickson says of the 25-year-old director of the film.
His sophomore feature tells the story of two deeply co-dependent brothers who’ve executed elaborate scams since childhood. Now one of them would like to break free from their life of grift. He thinks.
Coming early in the festival, “Slumdog Millionaire” has already garnered festival-circuit accolades. Danny Boyle’s joyous, nerve-wracking ride looks headed for Oscar consideration, even though the wild drama has no recognizable “stars.”
Set in teeming Mumbai, India, it recounts the harrowing and triumphant story of a young chai wallah (tea seller) who is on the brink of winning India’s version of “So You Want to be a Millionaire” when he’s accused of cheating.
The big festival premiere, closing night’s romantic drama, “Last Chance Harvey,” has Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. Enough said.
Of course, that covers only three films. Add other special presentations — like “A Christmas Tale,” “The Wrestler” and “Waltz With Bashir” — and you still haven’t put a dent in the festival’s offerings.
What follows is a way for newcomers and vets alike to attack (gently, gently) the event’s overwhelming number of possibilities.
Beginner’s buffet
The main attraction. There are plenty of choices when it comes to red-carpet events and special presentations. But definitely consider seeing Boyle’s thoroughly thrilling “Slumdog Millionaire.” It opens widely soon after the festival, but watching it in a crowd primed for a movie event can’t be beat.
Wally Pfister tribute. Cinematography is the art of seeing, and Pfister is fast becoming one of the industry’s finest visionaries. Most recently, he captured Gotham’s gloom and doom in director Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight.” The two-time Oscar nom (no doubt headed for his third) will be on hand to introduce two features that reveal his insights: “Laurel Canyon” and “Insomnia.”
Programmers’ delight
Ask festival honchos what their favorite film is at their own event, and they will inevitably and endearingly tell you that you’ve asked a parent to say which baby is their most beloved child. But listen carefully as they walk you through a garden of cinematic delights and point out wondrous blooms and global varietals, and you’ll uncover the ones they really love. Here are some blossoms from Britta Erickson and Brit Withey:
“Waltz With Bashir.” Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman’s animated documentary about his buddies’ military experience during the 1982 Lebanon conflict is visually stunning. But it is also a cultural, as well as personal, reckoning. In a festival already celebrating animation’s place in cinema, Folman’s film is a high point.
“A Christmas Tale.” Acting great Catherine Deneuve plays the matriarch in Arnaud Desplechin’s tale of holiday dysfunction en francais. Though there was little doubt, Mathieu Amalric, who plays a hard-drinking son, proves that his star turn in “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” was no fluke.
“Intimidad.” When two programmers use the word “precious” to praise a film, something’s up. When that film’s a documentary, something’s way up. David Redmon and Ashley Sabine follow a young married couple who move away from their families and their toddler to work nearer the U.S.-Mexico border.
For award gadflies
“Sita Sings the Blues.” Nina Paley’s vividly animated, inventively realized response to heartbreak weaves a cheeky retelling of the classic Indian tale the Ramayana with a more familiar story of a romance gone south. Paley’s feature was recently nominated for a Gotham Award in the “Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You” category.
“The Class.” Laurent Cantet’s docudrama won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in May. And it edged out a number of fine features to become France’s entry into the best foreign feature race. While it tells the story of a teacher confronting the complex lives of his high school students, it also captures the ethnic tapestry that has become France.
“They Killed Sister Dorothy.” Denver-based director Daniel Junge and producer Henry Ansbacher brought home both the juried prize and the audience award from 2008’s SXSW Film Festival in Austin for this dramatic tale of Dorothy Stange, a nun killed in the Amazon for her environmental and social activism.
I-knew-them-when list
“Mar Nero.” Federico Bondi will be awarded the first annual Maria and Tommaso Maglione Italian Filmmaker Award for his story of cultural exchange. Romanian Angela travels to Italy to make money, but as it turns out, she wants to return home.
“Wellness.” There are few David Mamet cadences in Jake Mahaffy’s low-budget drama about a traveling salesman trying to do right by his wife back home, his hostile employer and the vague product, system, er, product he’s trying to get investors for. But there are moments of huckster cruelty in this subtly mesmerizing story. Not only does the director capture the lonesome spaces a salesman carries within, he gets a soul-stirring and, yes, spirit-crushing performance from Jeff Clark.
“Prince of Broadway.” Sean Baker delves into the life of another salesman. This one is a knock-off goods hustler from Ghana whose life becomes even more dicey when his former girlfriend presents him with their child.
A critic’s pick
“Gomorra.” Matteo Garrone’s drama comes into town with hype from Cannes. This drama about the Camorra crime organization is appropriately grim. It is also visually poetic. Working from a book by Roberto Saviano, the film follows a varied group of people. Among them: a gentle kid who joins a gang, two cocky yet boneheaded friends who refuse to take a side in a local mob war and a gifted tailor. “Gomorra” is is a gritty, rending and engrossing film.
