Philadelphia Film Festival 2008 - Day 11

Sunday Sunday Sunday! Five films today, nothing spectacular and nothing horrible.

First came Empties, a charming film from the Czech Republic about an elderly couple and their search for personal fulfillment. This film does everything right, except for the very very last scene. The story mostly follows the husband as he gets a new job, tries to help coworkers and friends find love, and tries to have an affair with an ex-coworker. During all this, he learns a lot about himself and even more about is wife.

The whole thing leads to a beautiful sequence and a satisfying conclusion. However, after the credits start to roll, we are treated to one last scene that really turns the climax on its head and almost ruined the film for me. It had such a perfect ending, but this extra scene negates it with one split second shot. It really bothered me, but other than that the film is sweet and entertaining and very good.

After that I watched What We Do Is Secret, a bio-pic on the underground punk band The Germs. I didn’t know much about the germs going in, so I don’t know if that helped me enjoy the film or not. I did like the film, its well-made, has a slick underground punk energy, and has a great lead performance by Shane West. The story is a classic sad tale of a rock and roll burnout, but it kept me engrossed until the expected conclusion.

Next came a film I was looking forward to called You, The Living, from Sweden. Its really a series of vignettes around a group of characters. It’s very tongue in cheek and very dark. The film follows no normal story arch, but the vignettes were funny, interesting, well directed, etc. Still, without a common thread the film is just a connection of scenes that don’t seem to work together. It’s an experiment that some might find appealing, but I thought didn’t work as a whole film.

Another film I was looking forward to was Hong Kong’s Triangle. It was directed by Tsui Hark, Ringo Lam, and Johnnie To. With names like that, I was expecting to be entertained. I was entertained, but the film wasn’t great. The story involves a trio of men who steal a priceless ancient golden robe from a museum and then must try to sell it. All the while dealing with a crooked cop, a group of gangsters and an unfaithful wife. There is lots of action and some comedy, but the film takes too many liberties with the characters logic to be really good.

The last film of night was much more entertaining than it had any right being. The Sperm, from Thailand, is the story of a young rock musician who is in love with a model. During a late-night masturbation session, his sperm leaks into the sewer and then becomes mutated. The sperm then infect hundreds of women, who give birth the next day. The babies look just like him, and have only one thing on their mind: masturbation and the production of more sperm. Oh, and there are also aliens.

It’s fast-paced, absurd, and a very funny. It’s not as offensive as I thought it would be. The theme of true love is held throughout, and you can’t help but like the main character and his group of bumbling friends. It was a good late-night film, and it’s cult status is all but assured.

One more day to go!