When the mournful beauty “Rabbit Hole” opens the 33rd Starz Denver Film Festival on Wednesday evening, it will set the tone for one of this event’s most satisfying through-lines: rich performances.
Director John Cameron Mitchell gets lovely, achy turns from Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart as parents who’ve lost their young son. Based on David Lindsay-Abaire’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “Rabbit Hole” limns the divide that often occurs between grieving parents. Mitchell and Eckhart, recipient of the Denver Film Society’s Excellence in Acting Award, will be at the opening night screening at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. The fest ends Nov. 14.
More than 200 films are set to play over the festival’s 12 days: short and feature-length, fiction and nonfiction — and a hybrid or two.
The ambitious volume and international variety (this year’s spotlight on a national cinema is aptly trained on Iran) rebuffs easy summaries. There are narrative features with the pungent flavor of reality (“To the Sea”) and documentaries that feature wilder-than-fiction characters (“Marwencol”).
Still, in plunging into the offerings before things get underway, it’s clear there will be raw, refined and rare turns — beginning with the red-carpet offerings.
As trapped mountaineer Aron Ralston, James Franco pulls off cocky and humble, problem-solving and mortally worried in Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours.”
Natalie Portman gives her all in director Darren Aronofsky’s darkly comedic drama “Black Swan.” Half the fun — and we found the film at times a riot — is figuring out whether Nina, a ballerina, is coming undone or is the target of gaslighting envy. Mila Kunis as Lilly — rival? ally? — proves a fine counterweight. What is it with “That ’70s Show”? The silly sitcom has actually launched some interesting performers.
As Ford factory worker Rita O’Grady, Sally Hawkins (“Happy Go Lucky”) starts out somewhat shy before politely but firmly negotiating for her peers in “Made in Dagenham.” The British period piece, based on true events, has been compared to another labor love letter (“Norma Rae”) with another Sally. We like Hawkins, we really like her. We may like Miranda Richardson even better. She is cool and confident as Barbara Castle, secretary of state for employment and productivity.
And in what might appear like a programming doppelganger, real-life marrieds Jeanne Tripplehorn and Leland Orser give anguished turns as, yes, parents who’ve lost a child in “Morning.” Laura Linney and Elliott Gould do finely muted turns as the doctors Goodman.
On screen, there will be stillness and bravado, to be sure. Filmmakers will have demanded, revealed, mined the gems actors had faith to offer up. Even retrospective screenings honoring Danny Boyle (“Trainspotting”) or Gould (“M*A*S*H”) remind us how vital, vivid and peculiar on-screen acting can be.
“To the Sea (Alamar)”: Five-year-old Natan spends the summer with his Mexican father, a fisherman, before he and his Italian mother head for Rome in the wake of a broken relationship. They fish. They pay heed to the water. They bond. Few films deliver the deeply poetic rhythms of lives lived modestly. This beauty comes from documentary-maker Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio, debuting his first hybrid-narrative feature. (Part of the Festival Cine de Mexico, Nov. 7 and 9, Starz FilmCenter)
“Poetry”: The generation gap is alive and sickening in South Korean director Chang-dong Lee’s exquisitely humane drama about a grandmother who learns both that her beloved grandson has committed a deplorable crime and that her body is betraying her. Mija, played touchingly by Jeong-hee Yoon, is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. (Friday and Saturday, Starz FilmCenter)
“Casino Jack”: From the get-go, Kevin Spacey sets the tenor of George Hickenlooper’s fleet political flick about disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Spacey delivers a frothing monologue while looking in a bathroom mirror. He ends the crescendoing riff with the sign-off: “I’m Jack Abramoff … and I work out every day.” We kept wanting to insert “I’m Jack Abramoff and I approve this message.” The message is not a pretty one. But the filmmaker and his star deliver it with aplomb. (Friday, Denver FilmCenter/ Colfax)
“When I Rise”: Barbara Smith Conrad was young and gifted. So much so that in 1957, the sophomore from n East Texas town was cast in a University of Texas production of “Dido and Aeneas.” Conrad is also black. The opposite role went to a white classmate. The uproar was ugly. The role disappeared. Conrad left. But the mezzo soprano’s story does not end there. Director Mat Hames reminds festivalgoers of documentary film’s wondrous gifts: unearthing the little-known story, introducing the outstanding subject. (Nov. 9 and 10, Starz FilmCenter)
“Marwencol”: Jeff Malmberg’s festival-circuit fave isn’t flashy. And that’s more than fine. The filmmaker didn’t have to gussy up his compassionate and mesmerizing story. He’s got Mark Hogancamp. Brutally beaten outside a bar, Hogancamp began a very personal rehabilitation using art therapy. He constructed a 1/16th-scale village where U.S soldiers, Nazis and curvy gals clash and carry on. It’s a rare film that so reveals a human soul struggling to heal and understand itself. (Nov. 13 and 14, Starz FilmCenter)
“Blue Valentine”: We were fine with the ratings gurus at the MPAA giving the cartoonish violence of action-comedy “RED” a PG-13 nod. But last month when the industry org tagged Derek Cianfrance’s marital drama with an NC-17 rating (seemingly proving desire is scarier than violence) we lost it. (The distributor is appealing the decision.) To quote Seth Meyers on “Saturday Night Live’s” “Weekend Update”: “Really? Really!?” Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are keen and subtle as young marrieds. The film’s been likened to the works of John Cassavetes with its wracked emotions and tight focus on a disintegrating love. (Nov. 7 at the King Center and Nov. 9 at Denver FilmCenter/Colfax)
“How I Ended My Summer”: Moody. Gorgeous. Quietly nerve-wracking. These are a few qualities of Russian director Alexi Popgrebsky’s slow-burning yet icy drama about two men alone at a weather research station near the Arctic Circle. (Nov. 6 and 7, Starz FilmCenter; Nov. 8, Denver FilmCenter/Colfax)
Tickets for the 33rd Starz Denver Film Festival (Nov. 3-14) are now on sale. Go to denverfilm for the festival’s full program and to purchase tickets online.
Opening Night:“Rabbit Hole.” Director John Cameron Mitchell and star Aaron Eckhart — recipient of this year’s Excellence in Acting Award — will attend. Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. Ellie Caulkins Opera House
Big Night:“127 Hours.” Friday, 8 p.m. Ellie Caulkins Opera House. Director Danny Boyle clip-reel tribute, Saturday, 1 p.m. Denver FilmCenter/Colfax.
Closing Night:“Black Swan.”Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m. Ellie Caulkins Opera House
Denver FilmCenter/Colfax Opening Night:“Casino Jack.” Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Denver FilmCenter/Colfax
“Morning.” Thursday, 8 p.m. Denver FilmCenter/Colfax.
The Starz Denver Film Festival Box Office is located at the Starz FilmCenter, Ninth Street and Auraria Parkway on the Auraria campus. Today 2-7:30 p.m. During the festival, tickets are available at all locations one hour before the first screening.
Prices vary according to venue and event.
Opening Night: Film Only $30-$35. Film Premiere & Party $80-$85; Party Only $60-$65
Big Night: Film & Party $30-$35; Party Only $25-$30
Closing Night: Film Only $30- $35; Film & Party $50-$55
Grand opening at the Denver FilmCenter/Colfax: Film Premiere & Party $20-$25
Special Presentations at the King Center on the Auraria campus: $11-$13
Regular Screenings and Panels, $10-$12. Weekday matinees before 5:30 p.m., $6-$10
