Dan's Papers - October 13, 2006 - Dan's Papers Peeked

In anticipation of the Hamptons International Film Festival, running from Oct. 18-22, we took a gander at what this year has to offer and figured we'd give you a little sneak peek.

Fri. 10/20, 1:20 p.m. UA EH, Sun. 10/22 1:30 p.m. UA EH.
This entertaining documentary, directed by Sara Lamm, follows the eccentric life of Dr. Emanuel Bronner. A German-Jewish immigrant who escaped from a mental institution in 1947, Bronner invented the formula for a peppermint-infused, all-natural, multi-purpose liquid soap that can be found in health food stores across America. Aside from being a soap maker, Bronner was a philosopher, who allegedly stated that he was Albert Einstein's nephew. On his soap labels, he printed some 30,000 words of his ever-evolving set of teachings called the "Moral ABCs," which were designed to unite humanity on "spaceship earth."
Dr. Bronner's son Ralph, who has carried on the legacy and teachings since his father's death in 1997, is depicted traveling throughout the country to lecture and spread his father's vision. Besides his wacky behavior and tingling soap, Bronner will be remembered as a man who was concerned with the welfare of humanity.

Fri. 10/20 4:30 p.m. UA EH, Sat. 10/21 11 a.m. Montauk.
Directed by David Gleeson, this film is set in Dublin and follows the trials and tribulations of Joe Yumba, an African refugee from the Congo who seeks shelter in Ireland. As the movie unfolds, we view Joe in his new occupation as a security guard at a bank. While attempting to find peace now that his asylum application has been approved and he has been reunited with his family, we see that his happiness is short lived. Joe comes face to face with the leader of a local gang who offers him a deadly ultimatum. His ethical and moral limits are tested as he must either help these gangsters access the bank's vault or lose his loved ones. Summoning all of his courage and strength to keep his family alive, Joe's true identity and the scars from a past of civil war and bloodshed arise. This film will keep you on your toes as the plot twists and turns allowing viewers to discover that things aren't always what they seem to be.

Oct. 19 3:30 p.m. / Oct. 20 1 p.m., UA EH.
Soap, a Berlin Film Festival award winner, is a dark Danish romance broken up into short, melodramatic episodes similar to an American soap opera. However, although the film strives to resemble American television, its flavor is decidedly European.
The story involves a young woman, Charlotte, who awakes one morning and decides to leave her boring life and her boring boyfriend and move into an apartment in a gritty city neighborhood. She has many lovers, as does the cross-dressing prostitute in the apartment below her. Eventually, the two become reluctant friends, and an attraction builds between them. However, their romance is interrupted by dramatic episodes in both of their lives, and the audience is left to decide how their story will end.
The melodrama of Soap is balanced by the acting of the two protagonists, whose over-awkwardness and preternatural cold-heartedness complement each other. The voice-over, an Amelie-esque, deep voice of reason, asks the audience probing questions about the mental state and capacity of the two main characters through out the saga.
The film is enjoyable to watch, save for a few disturbing moments, yet the ending leaves you flat and craving a sequal.

Oct. 21 10:30 a.m. / Oct. 22 5 p.m., UA EH.
This year's Golden Starfish Award Nominees for Best Short Film include: Shift, a film about a young Asian-American actor who works the graveyard shift in a mailroom to pay for his headshots and learns "how the other half lives" in the process; Patterns 3, a musical about an awkward young couple that uses voodoo dolls to hurt each other while singing about their feelings for one another; and Man Up, a disquieting piece about an overbearing, bordering on abusive, father and his troubled, over-achieving son. Shift and Man Up are carefully crafted films that achieve the same effect of most feature-length films in under an hour. Shift follows Alex, a young actor, from a night job to the house of his spoiled love interest and back again. The audience sees his transformation quickly, as well as his difficulty coping with his triple life as an Asian-American in the lowest levels of Hollywood, a factory worker, and a "normal," college-age kid. This film has the awkwardness of a high-budget student film, yet the story and the acting are advanced beyond the film's sometimes-amateurish direction. Man Up explores one of the more disturbing parent-child relationship patterns using interviews shot in eerie fluorescent-green-lit gymnasiums and locker rooms. The father, a stereotypical ex-soldier who wishes he had advanced farther in rank, explains his theories on how to raise a "tough" young man by constantly conditioning children and removing every comfort from their lives. His son seems emotionally fragile, and the young actor's eyes reflect pain and loneliness beyond his sixteen years.

Oct 19 7 p.m. / Oct. 20 12:30 p.m., UA EH.
Out of Denmark comes an intense film about family and race. Tensions run high in a Copenhagen suburb when a young Arab Muslim man is accused when a white teen is beaten near death. The characters are all intertwined; the police officer who discovers the victim is the boxing trainer of the accused man - the victim is the older brother of the accused's younger brother's girlfriend. All these connections get tested, brothers are pitted against each other, and interracial relationships are pulled apart as prejudices are brought to the surface.

Oct. 21 6:30 p.m. / Oct. 22 1 p.m., UA EH.
Marcia Gay Harden and Joe Pantoliano star in this trying film which tears at the heart. Pantoliano is a father attempting to raise his young son, support his family, and live with his schizophrenic wife (Harden). When the son arrives home from a stay at an aunt's, his apprehension toward his mother is obvious. Her episodes continue to put him in embarrassing situations among peers and in harm's way. But when Harden is hospitalized, both father and son must come to terms with the situation - juggling the dream that the mother will become better, but knowing it may never come true.

Oct. 19, 12:30 p.m & 8 p.m., UA EH.
Directed by David Carl Lang, this movie follows the story of a love triangle, mixed with manipulation, literary ambition, and sexual tension. As the film unfolds, Carter is at a true dead end as a teacher of unmotivated and bored students at a small college. Outwardly pushed by his graduate assistant, Pollard, into a relationship with his student Julia, Carter seemingly surrenders; however, envy and resentment are not far beneath the surface in this awkward and complex arrangement. Soon, the news of Pollard's death unhinges Carter's memories of the past with his former girlfriend, a renowned writer. The cast of characters may seem run-of-the-mill with the inclusion of a brilliant yet jaded author and professor, a talented eager student and a driven graduate assistant and lover, but the balance and treatment of their emotional states makes this film worth every minute.

Oct. 20 6 p.m., UA SH. / Oct. 21 7:30 p.m., EH UA.
When a brother (Sam) and sister (Gray) are so close that they are misconstrued as a couple, they decide to spend a little time apart to find actual significant others. Because they are like two peas in a pod who live together in NYC, are dance partners and best friends, they decide to find dates for each other. The tale takes a little twist when Sam falls for a girl named Charlie, only to have Gray also fall for her. Sibling rivalry has never been this good. Witty dialogue and banter makes this a fun and funny take on love and family. With a star-studded cast (Tom Cavanagh, Heather Graham, Bridget Moynahan) it's worth checking this out before it hits the cinemas.