My favorite event of the year is just around the corner Films will be showing from February 6th thru February 22nd. Schedule Tickets Venues Trailers
Here's one that should be popular. I usually wait til after the festival for bigger foreign films because they'll play somewhere locally after the festival, and I'll have plenty of time to see it. THE WIND RISES DIRECTOR: Hayao Miyazaki - JAPAN Miyazaki, co-founder of the legendary Studio Ghibli, eschewing his typically fictional characters ensconced in a fantasy world, instead brings to life the story of Jiro Horikoshi, visionary designer of one of history’s most beautiful airplanes—the prototype for the Zero WWII fighter. Adapted from Miyazaki’s own serialized manga, which was itself inspired by Tatsuo Hori’s 1937 story of the same name, this epic tale of love, invention, and hope spans decades, sweeping through great historical moments of 20th-century Japan. In what he has said is his last film, the winner of dozens of international awards, Miyazaki dazzles with his usual beautifully rendered flourishes, but this time exploring a grounded, evolved, and sophisticated nostalgia that is a fitting final celebration of art, science, and the impulse to create. (126 mins.) Thu, Feb 6, 2014 at 6:30 PM (Cinema 21 (large theater)) Thu, Feb 6, 2014 at 6:45 PM (OMSI)
This one looks good: AGE OF UPRISING: THE LEGEND OF MICHAEL KOHLHAAS DIRECTOR: Arnaud des Pallières - FRANCE Arnaud de Pallières’s adaptation of Heinrich von Kleist’s 1808 novella, a classic of German Romanticism, explores a fault line between declining feudalism and modernity. In 16th-century France, enterprising horse farmer Michael Kohlhaas (Mads Mikkelsen) runs afoul of a venal baron, who attempts to shake down the farmer as he crosses the nobleman’s woods on the way to market. After events escalate, causing great harm to Kohlhaas’s horses, farmhands, and family, he raises an army and wages war against the baron, who soon sues for peace. But with the clergy and courts adjudicating, will Kohlhaas win the war and lose the peace? The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas was previously adapted for film in 1969 by Volker Schlöndorff and served as the inspiration for E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime. (122 mins.) Sat, Feb 8, 2014 at 3:30 PM (Cinema 21 (large theater)) Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 8:30 PM (Cinemagic)
Real Italian gangster flic: SALVO DIRECTOR: Fabio Grassadonia, Antonio Piazza - ITALY A hit man for the Sicilian mafia, Salvo is solitary, cold, and ruthless. When he sneaks into a house on an assignment, he discovers Rita, an innocent young blind girl who must stand by powerlessly while her brother is assassinated. What follows is an intense exchange, fueled by adrenaline and fear, between the killer and his witness, one that changes their two lives in an instant. The darkness is lifted from Rita’s eyes just as Salvo decides, against his murderous instincts, to spare her life. Haunted by their encounter, both of these damaged souls will attempt to navigate their dangerous next steps side by side. “Salvo embraces crime genre tropes and then stretches them into a new shape, reminding that the confinement of genre can have unexpectedly fresh results.”—Film Comment. Winner of the Critics’ Week Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. (104 mins.) First feature. Sun, Feb 9, 2014 at 2:45 PM (Cinema 21 (large theater)) Fri, Feb 14, 2014 at 8:30 PM (Cinema 21 (small theaters))
TRAP STREET DIRECTOR: Vivian Qu - CHINA “A poignant and engaging mystery, Vivian Qu’s feature debut plunges us into the fascinating world of state surveillance in China as it follows a digital mapping surveyor’s investigation of an ‘off-the-grid’ hidden alley. Li Qiuming works at a digital mapping company, photographing the streets that comprise the maze of China’s ever-changing cities. One day while out surveying, he sees through his viewfinder an attractive woman disappearing into a secluded alley. Unable to forget the mysterious lady who has triggered his romantic imagination, Qiuming returns to where he saw her first, only to discover that the data he collected there was never registered. Even though he stands right there in front of the street sign, Forest Lane has fallen off the map of the city, as if it never existed.”—Toronto International Film Festival. (93 mins.) Sat, Feb 8, 2014 at 3:30 PM (Cinemagic) Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 6 PM (Whitsell Auditorium)
I'm gonna try to go see all these the first weekend. Does anyone here ever attend the festival? Do you think foreign films suck? There are some interesting American films as well.
I love foreign flicks. I think I saw Shaolin Soccer at the film festival years ago. I've haven't lived in Portland since graduating HS, so other than that I've never gone. I did go to the Seattle International Film Fest 2 or 3 years when I was going to UW. I think one of the years me and my wife saw 25 films in the 3 weeks it was going on. To have that much free time would be great, ha.
We were volunteers for the organization that puts it on, so we probably saw half of them with free passes. I still probably spent all of my food money on movie tickets that month, ha.
